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"Okay, let me see if I get this right. You want time off to go get pregnant?" Tina asked.


Jill rubbed her eyes again, trying to explain it to Tina one more time. The headache she had was making it tough to even see her, posed in her expensive designer suit. Red, as usual.


"Is that really so tough to understand?" Sabrina asked her. "Not all of us are done having babies."


"Some of us haven't even started." Tina said back to Sabrina.


"Stop it, both of you!" she snapped. "I have enough of this crap with Aaron and his mother! Yes, Tee, I want a two week vacation at the beginning of March and if I get pregnant then or later, I will want more time off."


"We'll get everything lined up." Sabrina said.


"Well, this is just great!" Tina snapped, getting to her feet. "And what are we going to do with the work load? We are barely holding down the fort over at corporate legal services."


"So, let me get this straight!" Jill snapped, getting to her feet to meet Tina's challenge. "As long as you're in some kinda crisis, we have to be supportive and take up your work load! If I want to do one little thing for myself and my husband in 10 years, I can't!"


"I haven't had those kinds of problems in years!" Tina yelled.


"Not since your ex-husband died in prison, yes I know. I'm the one who put him there!" Jill yelled back.


Sabrina saw Tina almost cringe. When things had been bad, really bad, Jill had forfeited everything to be there to take care of Tina. They had both seen her through so much.


"I’m sorry, you're right." Tina said quietly, lowering her eyes.


"Tee, girl, I don't want this to be difficult. I promised Aaron years ago I'd have another child. Right now, Jane is 9 and I didn't want this kind of age gap between children. He really wants this. He talked about it all night." Jill said, sitting back down.


"Is it what you want?" Tina asked.


"Yes. When Nick and Lexie lost their baby, then they got married. . . yes. I want to do this. I love Aaron and Jane. I want to have another baby with him." Jill said, dropping her head in her hands.


"I'm sorry. That was stupid of me." Tina sighed, walking to the window of Jill's office and looking down at the city.


"I'm sorry I said what I did about your ex." Jill said to her back.


Tina only shrugged her shoulders.


"What are we going to do about the work load?" Sabrina asked them both.


"Let's take on a couple more lawyers." Tina said.


"There are some rumblings that Lisa Andrews might want to come west again." Jill said.


"Really?" Sabrina asked.


"Her work with SDR is going well, but her conflicts with Jive are starting to cause Howie some legal problems. He's taken on about a dozen of Jive's acts since the trials started." Jill said. "They are starting to slap him with contract violation lawsuits and whatnot."


"SDR is big enough to handle that." Tina said, turning back to the other women.


"Yeah, but he's taking on Nick too. He's putting a lot of resources into Nick's next album. I'm thinking that Howie and his company might be Jive's next target." Jill said.


"If you need me to help out, you know I will." Tina said.


"Thanks. He may need a few more sharks in his tank." Jill said. "I don't know anything other than what Lisa's told me. Lexie isn't involved with Howie's company and Nick'll be new there. . ."


"Have Lisa keep in touch with me. I've done plenty of entertainment contract work." Tina said.


Sabrina had been quiet most of this time. Supportive as usual. Jill looked over at the little brunette beside her. She had been Jill's best friend since before college; she'd been around longer than Aaron and his crazy Carter family.


She wasn't the force that Tina was in the courtroom with corporate raiders and mongers; then again, she didn't have Tina's motivations. Sabrina Carlson's practice was Family Law. Defender of women, children and even men when they needed her. And Jill? She was pretty much a "Jill of all trades" as they liked to tease her. She kept the balance between the two extremes: Tina and Sabrina.


"I'll tell her." Jill smiled.


"What's so funny?" Sabrina chuckled.


"Who is going to keep you two in check if I’m ever gone?" Jill laughed.


"I can hold my own." Sabrina laughed, knowing her dry sharp tongue could hold Tina's temper in check.


"That you can, woman." Tina giggled, remembering how she had rallied the troops for Nick's plight.



Nick was clutching Lexie's hand as usual as the plane descended into LAX. The drinks he had taken in first class weren't quite enough to calm his flight nerves. He seemed a little more nervous than usual.


"Baby? What's wrong?" Lexie asked. He let go of her hand and flexed his fingers.


"Oh, gesh, I'm sorry." He muttered.


"Nick? What's up?"


"Nothing. . .no really, it's nothing." He sighed with a slight smile after seeing her concern.


"You're a little more uptight than usual." She said gently. He gave a great sigh.


"I think I'm a little nervous to see CJ again."


"Why?" she asked, completely puzzled.


"Well, because we're married now and you'll be living there. . ."


"Nick, I've been living with you for eight months."


"I know, I know. It's different now."


"Well, yeah, we're married but what's going to change that much? I took this quarter off from school and I'll be around a lot more. I'll still take her to school and we'll go do things like we always did."


"I. . .I'm worried about her."


"Why? What's wrong?"


"I don't want to talk about it here. Tonight after we're home and she's in bed." He nodded.


"Okay." She smiled. "We can talk later."


At home. She reached over, took his hands, and gave them a great squeeze. He spared her a little smile and leaned over to rest his head on her shoulder.


Jill and Aaron were at the airport with the children to pick them up. CJ ran into Lexie's arms and then into her Dad's. The adults hugged and actually made it to luggage pick up before the press found them. Aaron loaded everyone up in his car and they drove off, away from the flurry.


"You guys have a good flight?" Aaron asked, looking over at Nick in the front next to him.


"It was fine." Lexie said. Aaron chuckled.


"I don't know, Nicky here is looking a little green." He teased.


"Shut-up, Aaron!" he groaned, but Lexie could tell his stomach was upset from the landing.


"So, how was Hawaii?" Jill asked.


"It was beautiful. I hadn't been in years! AJ picked the best hotels; we went to every island. We had great weather. . . it couldn't have been more perfect." Lexie smiled.


"You guys look so tanned." Jill laughed.


"You look beautiful, Lexie." CJ beamed as she nestled into her arms.


"Well, thank you, sweetie. I hear you're doing great in the spelling contests." Lexie said.


"I studied just like you told me to. I got third place last week."


"Third! Jill didn't tell me that! That's great!" Lexie laughed, hugging her.


"I did a model for science class and I got an A!" Jane said from the front seat between Aaron and Nick.


"You did? What was your model of?" Lexie asked.


"It was of the life of a Maple Tree. We did this whole class project about trees and the environment." Jane said.


"You're really good in science, Jane." Lexie said.


"I want to be a doctor. I've got to be good in science!"


"A doctor?" Nick chuckled. "Not a lawyer like your mom?"


"Naw, that's boring." Jane said, looking up at Nick. With that, everyone started laughing.


"How about being a singer like your Dad?" Aaron asked.


"Naw, I don't like people following me around all the time." Jane said seriously.


"It's more than that." CJ said. "Uncle Brian said it's a lot of work, like going to school."


"Uncle Brian's not that famous." Jane said.


"Uncle AJ is!" CJ protested.


"Uncle AJ is weird." Jane said back to her.


"He is not!" CJ continued to protest.


"That's enough!" Aaron laughed. "AJ is not weird. . ."


"He is too!" Jill laughed.


"Jill, don't encourage her!" he smiled. They were all laughing as Aaron pulled up in front of Nick's house. Nick and Lexie's house, now.


Aaron and Nick carried their bags inside and up to the master bedroom. They opened them up and distributed the presents to the girls and Aaron and Jill. The rest were sorted out to be mailed later. Jill and Lexie took the girls downstairs for some juice when Aaron pulled a felt jewelry box out of Nick's carry on. He opened it up and let out a low whistle.


"Hey!" Nick snapped, trying to get it from him.


"Those are some serious karats, my brother." He said, staring at the diamond necklace in the box. He snapped it shut and gave it back to Nick, who tucked it into his nightstand. "For Lexie?"


"Of course." He smiled.


"Has she seen it?"


"No, of course not. I found it in Maui. I'm gonna give it to her when I leave to go to record in Orlando."


"She's not going with you?"


"No, we decided to keep CJ in school here. She's been through so much, we need to stabilize her life now." Nick smiled.


"How you going to make it without your wife for all that time?" Aaron smiled, plopping himself on the bed as Nick sorted through the dirty laundry. Nick stopped sorting and smiled. "Oh god! Now he's going all goofy eyed on me." Aaron moaned, throwing himself back on the bed.


"She's my wife." Nick blushed at Aaron's dramatics.


"No shit. I was there!" he laughed at Nick.


"Shut up, Aaron! I've never had a wife before." Nick joked, carrying the dirty clothes into bathroom to toss down the chute.


"Yeah, it's about time." Aaron muttered.


"What did you say?" Nick asked from the bathroom.


"Nothing!" he hollered back.



"Mom?" the young girl asked of her absent-minded mother. She waited another heartbeat. "Mom? Mom, are you okay?"


Tina looked back at her daughter and smiled. "I’m fine, baby. I was just thinking. Where's Willow?"


"She's still in her room finishing her homework." The 15-year-old redhead said to her in that soft musical voice of hers.


"What can I do for you?" Tina smiled.


"I need you to sign these so Willow and I can take Driver's Ed this quarter." She said, slipping the paperwork on the kitchen table, under her elbow.


"Driver's Ed? You two aren't really old enough are you?" Tina chuckled, knowing both of her girls were old enough.


"Mom!" the girl moaned.


"It's okay, I'm just teasing, Becka!" Tina laughed, reaching for a pen.


"You're gonna have to get me and Willow's birth certificates so we can get learner's permits."


"I know. I'm familiar with the law." Tina chuckled as she filled out a paper for each of them. Becka threw her arms around her mother.


"Thanks, Mom!" she squealed.


"Hey! Don't think I’m gonna let either one of you drive the Porsche!" Tina laughed as Becka squeezed the last of the air out of her.



Nick and Lexie tucked CJ into her own bed for the night and headed downstairs to finish the conversation from the flight home. Nick and Lexie settled into the den as she started the computer to check the email.


"So, what did you want to talk about on the plane?" Lexie asked him.


"CJ."


"I know you're worried about something, what is it?" she asked.


"Christine."


"Her mother? What? Has she contacted you?!" Lexie asked, turning in her chair to face him as he sat on the couch going through the mail.


"No, no. Not at all! I don't understand with all the publicity why she hasn't yet. Especially with you and me getting married. . .I just can't help but think that she might one day."


"Well, I guess that could happen." Lexie nodded, giving him her full attention.


"I was hoping to talk to Jill tonight. We've got some legal issues to work out with us getting married."


"Really? Like what? You wouldn't let her write up a pre-nup."


"Oh, I don't need one of those." He said, waving her off. "I'm concerned about my will, and custody of CJ if something was to happen to me or you for that matter. I want to make sure you two are taken care of."


"Nick. . ."


"We already know these things happen, Lex. Look how you fell and we lost the baby. Howie had that stroke a couple years ago. AJ has gotten sick. . ." he sighed, "I just want to be prepared. Right now everything is in my name and I know my mother would challenge you for custody of CJ."


"Who would get her now?"


"I think it is Jill and Aaron first, then Angel." He said. "Aaron had Jane before I had CJ and it made sense. Mom was pissed, but it was my decision."


"Concerned with what she would do?"


"With CJ? Yeah, kinda. She might try to get her into the business. I want CJ to decide for herself. Being born to famous parents isn't a one way ticket to fame for yourself." He said. "I wanted her to have a sister or something. Jill and Aaron seemed like the most logical choice."


"When was the last time you wrote your will?"


"When Christine left. It was necessary so if I died and she came back, Jill and Aaron would have something to fight with to keep CJ in the family." He said.


"What are your plans now?" she asked. He put the mail aside and got up to walk over to the desk where she was sitting. He hiked his hip up and sat, leaning up against the desk. Lexie couldn’t help but notice how he had begun to twist his wedding ring.


"That's what I wanted to talk about. If anything happens to me, I want you to have everything, of course. You'll need it to survive and take care of CJ." He said. "I'd like you to adopt CJ."


"Really?"


"It makes sense. I mean, you are her stepmother now and you're really the only mother she's known. After Chris left, I haven't had anyone near her. I didn't trust anyone to take care of her. It would make it perfectly clear to my family who I want to raise her if I can't."


"I. . .I'm flattered Nick. Really, I am." She said stunned, looking up at him.


"Then you'll do it?" he asked her.


"Of course, I'd love to."


"Good, we can talk to Jill in the morning and she can work on it before I go to Orlando."


"You mean Sabrina. We'll have to have Sabrina work on it."


"Why?"


"Aaron didn't tell you? Jill's taking time off from the firm in March. She and Aaron are going to try to have a baby this year." Lexie smiled.


"He didn't tell me that! That dog!" Nick laughed.


"I don't think he wanted anyone to know yet. I think Jill's getting pretty excited about it and spilled the beans." Lexie smiled.


"Jill say anything else about it?"


"No, but she asked about our plans. . ."


"And you told her what?" he smirked, leaning down to kiss her lips gently.


"I'm sorry, Nick. I'm not ready. . ." Lexie began to stammer, getting to her feet.


"Sh, sh, it's okay, Lexie. I know." He soothed her, taking her in his arms.


Nick could feel Lexie's heart pounding in her chest as he held her. He didn't want this for her. He wanted her to have all the happiness he could give her, but he realized that there was still some healing to do. As hard as he tried, he couldn't make the pain go away, but he would try to smooth the bumps as they came. Nick kissed the top of her head and squeezed her one last time before she settled down to read email from everyone.


He got off the desk and walked back to the couch, that matter settled at least. He sat down and continued his shuffle through the mail. He glanced up several times to see her, head on her hand shuffling though the email. Her dark hair resting over the shoulder in a ponytail, not unlike his own. She was beautiful and he was madly in love with her.