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Chapter Four

Nick sighed as he sat in his recording studio trying to think of a new song to write. He played a few chords on his guitar to get a feel for the tune, writing them down quickly before adding on to it. The sound didn’t feel right though. He needed to feel the music. Sighing in exasperation, Nick erased what he’d done, putting the guitar down before slapping the pencil and paper down on the table next to him. He placed his elbows on the table, burying his face in to his hands. His life had become a mess.

Ever since Stephanie had walked out on him, Nick honestly had lost all inspiration. He was lost without her. In love. That was the feeling that Nick had when he thought about Stephanie, saw her, had felt her touch, heard her voice. She was his perfect match. They were having a child together and he had a sick feeling that he’d never even be able to be a part of its life. A silent tear fell from Nick’s eye as he thought of this and how badly he had messed up. Stephanie had warned him about Willa, telling him from the start that the woman was no good. Nick had trusted the woman who’d taken his money, his dignity, using him for her own pleasure up until the point of getting all that she wanted from him. How had he been so stupid? When would he ever learn and gain some common sense instead of having the world take care of him and tell him right from wrong all of the time.

“God, I am a moron.” Nick muttered to himself, the sound muffled as he groaned in disgust with himself

The truth was, he felt like he was nothing without Stephanie. His life was meaningless. He had no heart, soul or desire for anything. She had been what kept him going through the hard times. Nick honestly felt that she was the one, making him look past his fear of commitment and marriage. She had been that special someone that made him think that just maybe they wouldn’t be so bad. Stephanie had been his ‘one’. Nick truly believed that with all that was in him and up until the kiss with Willa, Nick had been pretty sure that Stephanie had felt the same. Would he ever get the chance to prove to her that their love and relationship had been real, or was she going to shut him out forever? At this point, Nick was going for the latter.

Closing his ocean blue eyes, Nick tried to squeeze away more tears. God, his life had become pathetic. He’d always had a rather sensitive heart and soul, but this just iced the cake. It had been three months and he was still moping over the woman whom he wanted back more than anything. In fact, he spent endless nights trying to write songs about his pain on top of ones that he would sing to her to win the woman back. Nothing ever sounded good enough though, as the words didn’t sound worthy of Stephanie. Hence his frustration that day. He’d locked himself away for yet another day to try and concentrate in hopes that he might come up with something good. As always though, his inspiration was gone

Nick’s concentration was broken by the phone ringing shrilly in his ear. He had half a notion not to answer it, really not caring about whom was calling. In the event that it was something serious though, Nick decided to just talk to whomever was calling. Taking in a deep breath while wiping away his tears of sadness, he reached over plucking the cordless phone from its stand, clicking the ‘talk’ button before brining it to his ear.

“What’s up?” he answered, wincing at how his voice sounded, as he heard a tear-clogged throat, evident that he’d been crying.

“Nicky! I’m so glad you answered!”

Nick winced now, truly regretting answering, or not checking his caller ID first. The sound of the woman’s voice was like nails screeching along a blackboard to his ears and about the last thing that they wanted to hear. The woman always popped up at the worst moments, crawling out of the woodwork when he finally thought that he was rid of her for good. Once again, stupid. Nick should have known better than to think that it would happen. And wasn’t he just thinking about her and how she had messed up his relationship? Nick swore that sometimes, he made things happen through telepathy or something.

“What do you want, Willa?”

“Just to see how you’re doing,” she cooed sweetly, “I know that you returned from the tour last week and decided to give you a chance to settle back in before calling.”

“How kind of you.” Nick stated stiffly, his already depressed mood taking a turn for the worst with every second that passed in which he was on the phone with the woman.

“Anyways,” Willa continued, her tone upbeat, “How are you and Stephanie.”

Nick grunted. The woman was definitely pure evil. How he had not seen it before he’d even gotten involved with her in the first place was a question he asked himself on a weekly basis. He looked down at his arm at a small scar trailing along it from a time she had stabbed him with a butter knife. It wasn’t that bad...nothing that he’d needed to go to the hospital for. That was besides the point though. She was crazy, and Nick kept falling back in to her trap. No more though.

“You know as well as I do that me and Steph are on outs right now,” Nick told the woman with a disgusted tone about his voice, “It was in the magazines everywhere and still is in a few.”

That was the truth too. The articles varied from the split being Nick’s fault to Stephanie’s. They all pretty much said the same thing though. That the once inseparable, happy couple was officially done with Stephanie left estranged with the child they’d created together. A few of them had said that Nick had been cheating on his girlfriend with Willa for months. It was mostly bull shit, but Nick didn’t even have the energy to care or try to correct anything. What was the point? It wasn’t like a correction would bring Stephanie back to him

“That’s too bad.” Willa stated without an ounce of sincerity in her voice. Nick could at least tell that much.

“What do you want, Willa?” Nick asked again, his heart aching for Stephanie even more. He wondered if the pain would ever go away...

“Honestly, I was wondering if you’d like to get together sometime.”

There it was...the true motives for the woman calling. It always resorted in her wanting to see him. Which lead to her trying to win him back in a romantic way. She was like a leech. A blood sucking, no good leech. Willa never got the hint. Nick knew that he would have to tell her no again, and this time, stick to his word.

“I don’t think that’s such a good idea.” Nick told her.

“Please? I miss seeing you. I haven’t seen you since you took off to make up the tour since Kevin’s accident.”

“Willa, no. I honestly don’t think so. You’ve already messed up my relationship.” Nick stood his ground.

“C’mon Nick,” she said softly, “You know that you want to see me too. It would just be to talk. Lets meet at Starbucks or something. No strings attached.”

Nick hesitated. The woman was persistent. Again, his energy was low and he didn’t have the strength to argue. He knew that she wouldn’t give up until she got her way. He honestly wanted nothing to do with her any longer though. If he’d just stood up to her to begin with, he would still have his girlfriend.

“Nick? Just to talk...I promise.”

Nick knew that he should have known better, but before he could stop himself, he found himself saying, “Okay...”after a huge hesitation, “But only to talk...nothing more.” he was quick to inform her. He wanted to slap himself for agreeing, the last thoughts before hanging up the phone being, When will I ever learn?

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“C’mon, Laru Laur... come here baby girl.” Jaime called to her daughter from her position sitting Indian style on the floor.

Lauren’s attention had been distracted by a small bug ladybug that was crawling across the floor. She had stopped, watching it with intense concentration before poking at it. The seven month old girl jumped slightly when the bug spread its tiny red wings and flew away to higher, safer grounds. Jaime laughed lightly at how adorable her daughter was.

“I swear, she’s got the personality of Nick more than her mommy or daddy.”

Jaime sprung up a little, the sound of AJ’s voice startling her as he came in to the room. He knelt down next to her, giving his fiancé a hug and small kiss on the lips before sitting down next to her completely. Jaime rested her head on his shoulder as she laughed at Lauren. AJ proved a good point. Lauren was always around Nick and she was definitely starting to act like a little blonde with a short attention span. She was a sweetheart none the less, though.

“Yeah...well...” Jaime chuckled, her voice trailing off as Lauren looked at her and AJ, her eyes lighting up.

“Come to dada.” AJ held his arms out to her.

Lauren stared at her parents for a second longer before letting out a gleeful coo, crawling quickly to her daddy, a large smile formed on her mouth. AJ laughed as she crawled right in to his lap. AJ laughed, scooping the little girl up in to his arms as he hugged her tightly, kissing her forehead. Lauren giggled happily, wrapping her arms around AJ’s neck in a hug that took her entire small body to manage.

“Oh, I see how it is,” Jaime joked, leaning over to kiss Lauren on the cheek, “You are such a little daddies girl.”

Lauren just turned her head to face Jaime, giving her a toothy grin with what little teeth that she had. She never moved from her fathers lap though, settling herself comfortably within his arms as she let out a small yawn. AJ’s heart leapt to his throat as he hugged her again, never knowing he could love something so much...besides his Jaime. His daughter gave him a whole new meaning to his life though. He was responsible for another life entirely. It was something that would scare most people, and it even freaked him out sometimes. He knew that he wouldn’t change it for the world though. This was his family.

“She loves her mama more than anything,” AJ was quick to convince, smiling at Jaime. He kissed her cheek before saying, “And so do I.” Jaime blushed slightly, her AJ always finding the most amazing times to confess his true feelings for her. They were always unexpected moments, but they came quite often.

“And I love her daddy more than anything,” Jaime smiled, thinking back to the night that they’d created Lauren. God, how she’d like to relive that night. After all...her daughter needed a little baby brother or sister...

“I’ve been thinking...” AJ brought up, interrupting Jaime’s thoughts as he pulled her in closely to his side, “Since the tour is over and all...and we’ll be having some time off...why don’t we start planning that wedding of ours?”

Jaime pulled away from AJ as she looked at him in shock. She could not even begin to describe how many times she’d thought about their wedding, her insides in excited knots of apprehension, wanting to bring it up to him more than anything. No wanting to be the typical pushy bride to be, Jaime never once had mentioned the wedding, deciding that when AJ was ready to start planning, then he would bring it up on his own time and terms. And here he was, doing just that.

‘Are...are you serious?”

AJ laughed and nodded, “Yes, baby. I am serious. I can’t wait to be married to you. I think that we should start planning things out so that we can do it by next summer at the latest.”

Jaime knew that her eyes must have lit up like a town full of Christmas lights at his confession. It excited him to see that the girl of his dreams seemed to be just as enthusiastic about their future together was he was. He could see it in her green orbs and by the bright smile on her petite face. AJ felt tingles of love vibrate through him as he cupped her face in his hands, pulling her in for a big kiss as Lauren cooed, breaking up their romantic moment as both of them laughed.

“Besides that...”AJ said between laughs, “I think little Miss Lauren wants her parents to get hitched,” Jaime rolled her eyes at this, but honestly couldn’t picture him looking and more sexy than he did at that moment with his goatee perfectly shaven in a white wife beater and black, baggy athletic pants. It was a casual, lazy look. He was gorgeous though, “So, what are your ideas on the wedding?”

“Depends on what you mean.” Jaime mentioned seductively.

AJ laughed at this, “I think your mind is more on the honeymoon...which will be spectacular. I can promise you that. But the actual wedding. What are your thoughts?”

Jaime smiled at the thought of her dream wedding since she was a little girl, growing up in Ohio. It didn’t involve a priest, but however a judge marrying herself and her future husband. She had never been big in to religion, so she preferred not to have it done in a church. However, Jaime had the ultimate wedding in her mind with the perfect, romantic setting. One in which she’d love to have AJ agree to.

“I know you have something on your mind, babe. Spill.”

“Well... honestly, I would love to be married on the beach,” she confessed with a smile, “Right by the water as the sun is setting with the skies a palate of oranges, purples and pinks...the alter lit up with white lights with a path of white lights leading up to it with white carnations and roses as flowers...” her voice trailed off as a small smile formed on her lips at the picture that had formed in her head.

“Is that what you want?” AJ asked, his brown eyes connecting with hers to read her mind and get a feel for how serious she was about the idea, because to him, it sounded amazing. It sounded perfect. The wedding sounded simple, yet exquisite. They could invite as may people as they liked and fancy things up, making the setting around them perfect. Her idea was beautiful, in AJ’s mind, bringing out the sap in him.

Jaime nodded her head after a slight pause, hoping that AJ’s question wasn’t a bad thing, meaning that he disagreed totally, hoping that she would think up something better. Jaime couldn’t lie though. The wedding was something that she wanted. If AJ didn’t like it, then they would just have to compromise.

“It is.” Jaime replied with all seriousness.

“Then that is what you shall get.”

Jaime looked at her fiancé startled, not expecting this response, “Really?” she asked

“Really.” AJ replied, already looking forward to making the dream a reality.