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Kevin smiled at Tara as she emerged from her vehicle and began to remove their son from his car seat. Meeting them halfway, he couldn’t contain his grin as Chris sprinted toward him as fast as his little legs would carry him. Stooping down, he scooped the toddler up into his arms and began tickling his belly. Hearing Tara’s melodic laughter, Kevin looked up and immediately frowned. She looked tired with dark circles beneath her dull hazel eyes. Her hair was swept up in an unkempt ponytail and she wore no makeup on her pale skin. He also noticed that seemed rather out of breath.

“Are you feeling okay?” he questioned her quickly. She looked like death warmed over.

Tara nodded feebly and smiled. “I’m fine. I just didn’t sleep well last night and I think I might be coming down with a cold. That’s all.”

Kevin wasn’t entirely satisfied with her answer. He’d never seen lack of sleep and a cold make a person look that run down, but he didn’t push the subject. Reaching out he took the bag she was holding and slung it over his right shoulder, while holding onto Chris with his left arm.

“So, you have everything, right? My cell phone number and my Mom’s number in Alabama?”

Kevin nodded. “I have them on the fridge. But everything will be fine so you don’t need to worry,” he winked and added, “Get some sleep maybe, but don’t worry.”

She smiled sheepishly and shrugged. “Sorry, but that comes naturally when you’re a parent. You know that.” Turning her attention to Chris she fussed over him for a moment. “Now you be good for Daddy. I’ll be home in a couple of days.”

“Bye Mommy!” Chris cried happily and leaned into her. He placed a sloppy kiss on her cheek and grinned.

“I love you, baby.” Ruffling his hair she turned to Kevin. “Thanks again for keeping him on such short notice. If you need me call me.”

“Will do,” he nodded. Giving her a quick kiss on the cheek he smiled again. “I’m serious about getting some rest. You look like crap.”



Breaking apart a roll, Nick glanced up at Howie who seemed very surprised at his confession. Not only surprised, he now seemed a little nervous and Nick sensed he might even be feeling slightly disappointed. Nick shifted uncomfortably in his chair noticing the tension that had settled between them.

“So… AJ doesn’t know?”

Nick shrugged and averted his eyes feeling ashamed. “I don’t think so. I mean, I’m still alive aren’t I?”

Howie remained silent for a moment. He opened his mouth to say something, but stopped as if he were trying to make sure he would say the right thing. “Have you talked to her since? I mean, have you tried to sort out what happened?”

“Not since that day, no,” he shook his head. Fiddling with the cloth napkin on the table, he continued to avoid Howie’s questioning gaze. “She doesn’t want to talk about it and I can’t call her. It would be suspicious.”

Howie only nodded.

“Hey look, man, I’m sorry I just kinda dropped all of this on you. But I felt like I was gonna lose it if I didn’t talk about it.”

Howie’s attention snapped to Nick. “Don’t apologize; I’m flattered that you trusted me enough to tell me. Don’t think that I’m judging you because I’m not. I’m just trying to put myself in your shoes, but I’m having a hard time doing that. I have to be honest, man, I don’t know if I would want to be in that position.”

Just as Nick was about reply, his cell phone began to ring. Glancing at the caller ID he was more than a little surprised to see Bianca’s number flashing across the screen. He looked at Howie and excused himself from the table. “I need to take this call.” Making his way toward the bathroom, Nick stepped inside and answered the call before his voicemail picked up. “Bianca?”

On the other end, Bianca sat with her back pressed again the headboard of her bed and her knees hugged to her chest. Wiping her eyes, she tried to control her sobbing. “Nick! I’m so glad you picked up.”

His mind racing with possibilities of things that could have happened, he tried to force his heart from his throat. He had not expected to hear her sobbing uncontrollably on the other end. “Bean what happened? Are you okay? Did something happen with AJ?”

“N-no… nothing like th-that,” a cry hitched in her throat.

His breath came out in a relieved whoosh and he felt his heart beginning to resume a normal rhythm. “What happened?”

“Nick… I-I… I don’t know what t-to do!” she had been sobbing so badly that she was now beginning to hiccup.

“Okay, baby, calm down. Take a deep breath and try to tell me what’s going on, okay?”

“Mmhm.” He listened as she sucked in a deep breath, still hiccupping, and expelled it slowly. “I didn’t know who to call, Nick, but I couldn’t call AJ yet.”

“It’s okay. You know I’m here… just tell me what’s happening,” he probed gently.

She took another deep breath and tried to force back a fresh wave of tears. “Nick… I’m… I’m p-pregnant.”

Nick felt himself begin to choke, but quickly regained his composure. Clearing his throat, it was his turn to take a deep breath. “How far along are you?”

“I dunno exactly. If I had to make a guess, I’d say about seven or eight weeks.”

Nick felt the color drain from his face as he stared at his reflection in the mirror. Turning on the tap, he splashed cold water on his pale face and braced himself against the counter. “You’re sure?”

“I just took an at home test and it’s positive… no mistaking that,” her eyes welled up with unshed tears. “I called my doctor and made an appointment, but it’s really not even necessary. I’m pregnant, Nick. I know I am.”



Brian placed the telephone back on its cradle and nodded to himself. Talking to Nicole had gone better than he had expected and things seemed pretty normal between them. As far as he could tell, she wasn’t angry with him for the way he acted before dropping her off the night before. She did admit, with good reason, that she had been a little disappointed that the wonderful evening ended so abruptly. Still, he had a nagging feeling in his stomach. Things with Nicole may have been fine, but he felt that things with Julie were unfinished.

Once again he reached for the telephone, but this time he dialed Julie’s number. It only took three rings before she picked up.

“Hello?” her voice seemed cautious.

“Hey Jules,” he said quietly.

“Brian.”

He winced at her cool tone, but made sure he sounded unaffected. “I just wanted to call and… well, ya know… just check on you.”

“I’m fine,” she said sounding confused. “I don’t want to be rude, Brian, but why are you really calling?”

Brian sat shocked for a moment, trying to put it into words. “I… well… after last night I just… I wanted to make sure you were okay. Things felt a little unsettled last night, you know? I don’t want things to be weird between us after what happened…”

Julie absorbed his words, but remained quiet. How could things not be weird? They had already crossed that line and it’s not like they could go back and change what happened. “Well, things are fine I promise. I’ve really got to get going, but thanks for calling.”

“Jules wait!” he called although it was too late. She had ended the call.

Across town, Julie leaned against the wall cursing herself. Swiping a tear from her cheek she took a deep breath and ignored the pain swelling inside her heart.



Mia quietly slipped into Howie’s office after she made sure he was still in the shower upstairs. She was almost never by herself and this would be her only chance to get what she needed for Mitch. He was adamant that if she didn’t get moving with their plan, she would be sorry.

As quickly as possible, Mia began shifting through the papers that lay scattered across the large oak desk. Every so often, she would fold something up and slip it into her purse. When she felt satisfied that she had retrieved enough of what Mitch would need, she made sure everything was back in its proper place. She cast one final glance around the roomy office and nodded to herself. Mitch would be pleased.

“Hey babe,” she heard Howie call from the top of the stairs. “Since you didn’t get to join Nick and me for lunch, do you wanna go to dinner tonight?”

“Sure. That would be nice.”

“Is there a special place you’d like to go?”

“Uh… no. Anywhere we go will be special to me, baby,” she called back sweetly. “I’m gonna go back to my place to get ready, though. Do you want me to meet you back here or what?”

“I can pick you up,” Howie offered. “If you want.”

“Okay. I’ll go ahead and get going then and I’ll see you in a bit.”

Once outside in the cool air, Mia took a deep breath. She’d gotten everything they would need to pull this off and she knew Mitch would be delighted. This had to take off some of the stress he’d been putting on her for the last few weeks. Smiling to herself, Mia slipped into her car and started home. She would have to look especially good tonight since it would be her last night with Howie.