I had just finished my doctor’s appointment. I wished Nick would have been there, but there would be others. Alex was watching the kids for me. I sat in my car, waiting for Nick to pick up his phone. He didn’t answer and his voicemail came on. Nick was probably busy in the studio. I decided to leave him a message.

“Hey Nick. It’s me. I just got out of the doctor’s. Everything is fine. The baby is healthy and so am I. Our bundle of joy is due on February 22. I love you. Call me when you get a chance.”

I closed my phone and started the car. I couldn’t wait to tell everyone we were having a baby. Nick and I were going to tell everyone after he got back from L.A.

When I got home, I could see Alex and the kids playing in the yard.

“Mommy, Alex paints his nails like a girl.” Rachel blurted out.

“Rachel Joy Ann, please use your manners.” Alex smiled at me.

“Everything okay?”

“Alex everything is fine. I just miss Nick.” I sat down on a step. Alex sat down beside me.

“When’s he coming home?”

“In about a week. He’s been gone for three days and I miss him terribly.”

“I’m glad you’re back together. You two are the perfect couple.” He put his arm around me.

“We’re hardly perfect. Enough about us. How is the wedding planning going?”

“Good. We both want something small. I think the guest list is about seventy-five people.”

“Cool. I can’t wait. Marriage isn’t so glamorous.”

“I know.” Alex’s phone rang. “Hold on. Hello.”

“AJ, I need your help.”

“What’s up man?” Alex stood up and walked over to the pool.

“Umm…the paparazzi took some photos of me at this club last night.”

“What kinds of photos?” Alex knew trouble was brewing.

“Well…ummm….I…I...”

“Spit it out. I’m at your house right now. She’s like three feet away from me.”

“Oh, shit. They were photos of me with some women. Aaron and I went to a club last night. He had all these women at our table. The one ended up kissing me. I stopped it right away but it’s now online.”

“You’re a dead man.”

“She told me to go out and have fun. I didn’t think this was going to happen.” Nick sounded worried.

“What are you going to do?”

“Tell her the truth.”

“You’re doing the right thing. She’ll be mad, but she’ll forgive you.”

----------------------------------------------------------

I was still waiting for Nick to call me. I was started to get worried and a little annoyed at him. I got my laptop and decided to check my email.  I received one from my friend Marla. It contained a picture of Nick and some woman kissing. I closed my laptop. He wouldn’t. He couldn’t. He didn’t. Nick would never do this to me again. There had to be some kind of misunderstanding. I grabbed my cell phone and dialed his number. His voice mail came on. He was avoiding me.  I sent a text message. SAW THE PIC. CALL ME ASAP! I was pissed beyond belief. A minute later my phone rang.

“Ashton, it’s not what you think.”

“What do I think Nick?” I asked rudely.

“I went out with Aaron last night to this club. He met and bunch of girls and invited them to sit with us. The one girl got a little carried away and kissed me.”

“Okay.” I was at a loss for words.

“I didn’t kiss her. Some stupid photographer snapped a picture. Now it’s all over the internet.”

“Why didn’t you tell me? I had to find out in an email.” I was more upset that he didn’t tell me than about the picture.

“I was afraid to tell you.” He answered honestly.

“We practically just lost a year of our marriage by not communicating and you’re afraid to talk to me.”

“Ash, it’s not like that. I was going to tell you, but I didn’t know how.”

“Gee, Nick how hard is it to say the paparazzi took a picture that was misconstrued. Nothing happened” I raised my voice.

“You’re right. I’m sorry.” He said quietly.

“Nick, I love you. It hurt when you avoided my call today. I was so excited to tell you about the due date and everything else. You chose to ignore me rather than deal with the situation itself. Maybe our marriage isn’t as strong as I thought it was.”

“Ashton, I know I need to work hard on communicating with you. This last year, I got good at hiding everything. It’s going to take time for me to learn to communicate effectively.”

“I know. I am as closed off as you are. We are just going to have to open and honest with each other even if we know it might hurt.”

“I’m excited about the baby. It might come early and be born on Brian’s birthday.”

“He would love that.” I laughed.

“You that we conceived this baby that day when I came home from Brian’s in Atlanta.”

“That was the worse day of my life. You told me you were moving out. It’s funny how it ended up being one of the best days of our lives.”

“God works in mysterious ways. I love you, babe.”

“I can’t wait to you come home.”

“Me neither. I’m counting the days. I should be back next Friday.”

“I will count the days. It’s late here. I’m going to go to bed. “

“Night.”