"Anybody home?" I shouted, as I made my way into the house. 

"In here, J," Sophia shouted back, from the kitchen.

"How'd the talk go with Brian?" she asked, closing her magazine to give me her full attention.

"It was interesting… that's the only word I can use to describe it.  He's really sorry about what he did and everything, so I didn't give him too much of a hard time.  He was so out of it from all the medication they have him on, I'm shocked he was even awake," I shook my head, laughing to myself at how wasted Brian had been.

"Well, I'm glad that's behind us."

"Me too.  Now we can concentrate on more important things… like picking out a name for the baby, setting up a room for it, and - "

"AJ, calm down," she laughed.  "I'm only 3 months pregnant!  I'm not even showing yet."

"But that means we only have 6 months left to prepare everything!  There is shopping to be done, baby," I exclaimed, getting myself excited all over again.

"6 months is a long time, AJ."

"But I wanna pick out names!  I have so many cool names picked out."

"Oh, joy," she mumbled sarcastically, rolling her eyes.  "Lets hear some of your ideas."

"Are you sure you're ready for this? They may seem a little - uh - odd to you."

"I figured as much.  Shoot," she smiled, bracing herself.

"Alright.  If it's a boy he should be named Cameron Alexander."

"Cameron?!" she shrieked.  "You've got to be kidding me."

"Let me finish, sweetheart.  If it's a girl she has to be named Destiny Jade."

"That has to be the ugliest name I've ever heard of.  No child of mine will be named Cameron or Destiny.  No way.  We have to come to an agreement.  Here's my choices - "

"Ugh, you suck.  I know I'm gonna lose this battle," I mumbled.

"Of course you are.  Ahem, boy:  Lucas Scott.  Girl:  Alexis Rain."

"Alexis Rain is cool, but Lucas Scott is just plain awful.  Alexis McLean has a nice ring to it, unlike Lucas McLean," I stated.

"Then lets hope we have a girl," she grinned, pressing her lips to mine. 

"Sophia, don't do this to me," I groaned, as she ran her tongue along my neck.

"Why?" she asked, a confused expression painted across her face.

"Well I don't wanna get you pregnant again.  Then you'd have to carry two babies around."

I watched for her reaction as she looked at me, then closed her lips tightly as she looked down to the floor again. 

"What?" I questioned, scrunching up my eyebrows in confusion.

With that, she burst out into hysterical laughter. 

"Uh, what?" I repeated, laughing uncomfortably.

"AJ, I don't think that's even possible," she replied, still laughing uncontrollably.

"It's not?  Are you serious?  You can have sex while you're pregnant?"

"I think so.  Once I start to get all fat I don't think we should, but I'm only 3 months ya know.  God, AJ, you're so stupid."  She clamped her hand over her mouth, starting to laugh all over again.

"Jeez, how am I supposed to know?  I've never been through this before!" I said defensively.

"Aww, baby, I know.  You're so God damn cute, you know that?  I can't wait til we have this baby.  You're gonna be the funniest daddy."

"Well I'm glad you find me amusing," I shrugged, a smile playing on my lips.

"I find you very amusing… not to mention the fact that I think you're incredibly sexy."

"Is that right?  Now I know why you married me."

"Aw, damn, you discovered my secret," she whispered, bringing her lips to mine and ending the conversation. 

Nick's View

I stood nervously in front of Colleen's house, waiting for her to open the door.  I went over what I wanted to say in my head, knowing that I was going to mess up once we were face-to-face.

"Wow, that was quick," she smiled, motioning for me to come in.

"I think fast, I guess," I shrugged, accepting her invitation.

She nodded, grabbing my hand and leading me to the kitchen table.  "Want something to drink?"

I shook my head 'no' and watched as she took a seat across from me. 

"So, what's going on?" she asked.  I could tell she was anxious to hear what I had to say.  Every time our eyes met she would look away.  A sign of nervousness.

"Well I'm just gonna say what I feel.  I had this whole speech planned, and it was pretty damn good too.  But sitting here now looking at you… I wanna say something totally different.  To be honest, when you told me how you felt this morning, I was completely shocked.  I was happy, of course… but also completely taken aback.  I thought about it for a few hours and I came to the conclusion that I couldn't be with you.  In my opinion, it wasn't worth risking the idea that I would end up hurt again, ya know?"

She nodded slowly, urging me with her eyes to continue.

"So I came here with the idea that I would reject you.  I wanted to let you know that we could only be friends.  But then you opened the door, and all of that kinda flew out the window.  That scares me because you have so much power over me.  It's like when I'm with you I lose all control," I shook my head, taking a deep breath, and releasing it slowly.

"Uh, what exactly have you decided about us, Nick?" she murmured, her hand nervously tapping the table.

"I wanna take it slow, ya know?  I don't wanna jump right into a relationship with you because I don't think either of us is ready for that kinda thing."

"What do you mean by slow?"

"I'm thinking we should have a first date, second date, that sorta thing.  Almost like we're starting all over again.  I think it'd be good for us.  What do you think?" I asked, anxiously meeting her gaze.

"I think that would work," she smiled, reaching for my hand. 

"Great.  So - um - do you wanna go out, like sometime?" I stammered, trying my best to sound like a loser.

"Like, of course!" she laughed.

"Excellent," I nodded, flashing her a cheesy grin.  "I'm, like, the happiest boy in the world!"

"Are you really?"

"Oh yeah."

"So what time do you plan on picking me up, Nickolas?"

"Hmmm, how does 7 sound?"

"Sounds good to me."

"Alright, I'll see you then."  I made my way to the front door, not really sure how the 'goodbye' thing was supposed to go. 

"Yeah, see you then," she mumbled, a slightly pained expression on her face.

"What's wrong?"

"It's just, well… I don't know," she shrugged, throwing her hands up in confusion.

"You don't know how to act now, right?"

"Yeah, I guess that's what it is.  We've already slept together Nick, and now we're starting from the beginning so I don't know if I should shake your hand, hug you, or kiss you goodbye."

"I know exactly what you mean, Col.  I was thinking the same thing.  Maybe a simple hand-shake would be sufficient for the time being," I said, reaching my hand out.

"Maybe," she replied, as she extended her hand to mine.

"That didn't seem right, Col, did it?"

"Nope, not at all."

"I guess that's a good sign, huh?"

"How do you figure?"

"We both want more than a hand-shake from each other.  We're gonna be ok."

"Yeah, we're gonna be just fine."

Colleen's View

I watched Nick with a smile on my face as he drove away.  We hadn't even discussed what we were gonna say to Brian.  I really want to tell him on my own because Nick doesn't exactly have a way with words. 

The loud ringing of the phone brought me back to reality.

"Hello?"

"Hey Col, it's Brian."

"Hey, Brian.  You're conscious!"

"Yep, pretty much."

"So, what's up?"

"Actually I wanted to know if you'd like to come down to the hospital and eat lunch with me.  I'm pretty lonely over here."

"Ew, hospital food?"

"Yep, hospital food," he laughed.  "Please?"

"Ok, fine.  I'll be there in 20 minutes."

"Good.  See ya then." 

"Bye."

I hung up the phone and hurriedly dialed Nick's cell phone number.

"Yeah?"

"That's how you answer your phone?" I asked, holding the phone away from my ear.  He was blasting some crappy music. 

"Col?  I'm sorry, I didn't know it was you.  Hold on."

He must've lowered the music because the sound died down and I was able to hold the phone correctly. 

"Ok, I'm back.  What's doing?"

"Brian called… he wants me to have lunch with him at the hospital.  Do you think I should tell him about us?"

"There's nothing to tell him, Col.  There is no 'us' right now, remember?  We're taking it slow."

"Oh, yeah, you're right," I mumbled, my heart sinking. 

"Is that all you needed?  Cause I really have to go."

"Yeah, that's all."

"Alright.  I'll see you at 7."  With that, he hung up the phone.

What the hell was that about?