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Author's Chapter Notes:
Tri this is SOO all your fault! LOL jk I lurvvveee u! LOL Anyways I wrote an entire chapter today in class, yes it was THAT EFFING BORING. anyways things are going to be DEFINITELY picking up as the story progresses. And my plan of getting to chapter 30 by Christmas just might happen.

Chapter Seventeen: Ballad Of The Missing Pooch



Nick frantically called every pound he could get a hold of in Florida trying exactly how to locate Layla. He’d called the adoption service he’d gotten Layla from and they’d read him the riot act. Only after he explained he was having his mother watch Layla for him while he was away recording did they offer to help. He called the shelter where they said Layla had been and she’d been moved. So he spent much of the last week and a half trying to locate her. It made it worse as well, the fact that the tabloids were quick to jump on the story ripping on Nick for trusting his mother again. It was bad enough that he was kicking himself but the fans, the media to join in only added insult to injury.



“Nick go to Florida and go find your dog man.” Brian offered.



“But what about work?” He asked.



“Screw work go rescue your dog and take her back to LA, Alyssa is there she’ll take care of Layla when you come back.”



Nick sighed and opened his laptop clicking on the internet to order tickets for a flight to Florida. By the time he ordered the tickets he noticed that he’d been left alone in the studio. He walked out back seeing AJ light up a cigarette taking a long drag. It had been two years nearly since his last cigarette but still he could feel the nicotine rush through his veins. “Alex, hand me a smoke…”



AJ looked at him strangely, “You’re kidding right?”



“No, just give me one.” Nick replied sharply taking one from AJ’s pack and placed it between his lips lighting it. He inhaled the smoke and coughed a little his body having gotten used to being smoke-free. He took another drag or two and realized what he was doing. He looked down at the cigarette with a pensive expression. How had his life made a complete 180 on him?



A week and a half later...



Nick walked up to the pound the third that morning alone. “Hi I’m here about a female pit-bull mix that goes by the name Layla?”



The lady behind the desk looked at her papers and smiled, “She’s here all right, do you have ownership papers?”



“What?”



“Papers, that she belongs to you we can’t release her unless we can prove you own her.”



Nick scratched his scalp, “They’re at home in LA, and Layla was staying her Florida with my mother while I was on an extended business trip.”



“Well I can’t release Layla to you until I see proof of ownership.”



“Fuck.” Nick muttered in frustration. “Do you take faxed copies?”



“Yes of course.”



Nick dialed Alyssa’s cell hearing it ring. “Hello?”



“Hey baby can you go in my closet and find the ownership papers for Layla?”



Alyssa got up from her spot in the office and made her way to their bedroom. “Sure give me like 20 minutes to find em and I’ll call you back. What do you need them for?”



“Because they won’t release Layla without them.” He said sighing sitting down on one of the hideous orange plastic chairs in the room. He put his head in his hands worried sick about his prized pooch. He’d grown really attached to Layla she’d become a great companion to him lately just being a friendly face whenever Nick and Alyssa would fight or be on the outs.



Meanwhile Alyssa rang off and scurried into Nick’s closet taking down boxes and searching through them finding old pictures of him and his family. Undeterred she opened the drawers moving clothes aside and stopped seeing a bunch of books all of them on pregnancy and fatherhood. She picked one up with the title What to Expect to Expect When You’re Expecting: An Expectant Father’s Guide To Pregnancy. She saw the stressed spine a clear indication he’d cracked it open more than once. She grinned seeing certain pages dog-eared and marked on with a highlighter. Something he no doubt picked up from her time in college when she’d sit and mark up her textbooks. She sighed and placed the books aside seeing a folder labeled “Layla”. She opened it seeing all the documents Nick said he needed. She grinned and rushed back into the office to call Nick for the fax number. After she faxed the documents she went into the bathroom hating how the pregnancy made her feel the need to go every five seconds it seemed.



As she pulled down her underwear she noticed something red against the pale cotton of her undergarment. She looked at it for a long moment and realized she was spotting. Growing nervous she changed her underwear and went to the phone calling to move her appointment with Dr. Petrarch to that afternoon. Just after she rang off with the office the phone rang again and she answered it hurriedly sighing when she heard her mother on the other end.



“Are you all right sweetheart?” Mary asked worried about her daughter.



Alyssa sat on the couch in the office and sighed, “I started spotting…is that normal?”



Mary swallowed hard and looked around the room seeing a picture of her family. “Are you under a lot of stress?”



“Yeah, Nick’s mom, the show, work, just everything right now and I do not need this to be happening to the baby.”



“Well sweetie you need to decompress, if not for your sake for my grandchild. Your doctor will probably put you on bed rest soon if you continue this pace dear. Why isn’t Nick helping you?”



Alyssa rolled her eyes a little, “He’s been in Nashville recording and now he’s in Florida trying to get Layla because Jane gave her away to the pound!” She exclaimed all in one breath. “And besides even if he was here we’d be fighting anyways, it seems it’s all we do lately is nit pick everything little thing the other does.”



“Well it’s normal dear, don’t worry, spotting does happen it’s an indication that the stress you’re under is making the baby feel it too. So slow down for me please.” She reasoned with her tone soft and full of concern.



Alyssa sighed knowing her mother was indeed right, and hopefully everything would soon be set right. All she needed was clearance from the doctor and she’d be okay with going on maternity leave early. She just wished Nick could be there with her.



That afternoon…



Nick brought Layla over to his friend James’ house after successfully retrieving her. “I have to go to LA and find some way of getting her back there.”



“Charter a jet?”



“Yeah probably” Nick shrugged. “It’ll take a few days to even arrange it.” He added as his friend pat him on his shoulder.



“Hey I like Layla so we’ll be fine, I’ve got three pit bulls myself so no worries she’ll be taken care of.”



“Yeah…I think I’ll crash here until I can arrange something for Layla and I to go back to LA together.” Nick decided, LA could certainly wait an extra day or two couldn’t it?



Meanwhile Alyssa folded her hands over her stomach as she waited for Dr. Petrarch to enter the room. She looked around surveying the little treatment room seeing various models and pictures of Dr. Petrarch holding new born babies all with names, dates and weights written on them.



“Hello Alyssa…” Dr. Petrarch said as she walked into the room. “So you’re spotting right?”



“Yes and since I had a miscarriage once I was worried it would happen again.”



Dr. Petrarch smiled and had her layback. “Well we’ll do an amniocentesis today and you’ll find out in a few days whether or not there’s any possible defects.”



“Defects?”



“Yes, any of them are treatable and rarely ever cause a huge problem. Pretty much this is to test for down syndrome and other types of brain problems for the baby. I know he has an irregular heart beat, it’s still pretty weak it’s not as strong as it should be for this far along in the pregnancy, but even if he has a heart problem there are so many advances that will be able to give him a normal and happy life.” She explained as she prepped Alyssa for the procedure.



Alyssa swallowed hard and took it all in, her baby…could be in danger and she felt completely helpless at that point. How could she protect him if her own body decided to hurt him? She clenched her jaw as the sharp pain of the long needle began to pierce her stomach. She closed her eyes letting a few tears of pain and sadness escape as she clutched the sides of the table. More and more she wished, Nick were there beside her to hold her hand and reassure her everything would be ok.



That evening…



Alyssa walked slowly through the aisles of the supermarket holding onto the cart as she found some things she needed on her list. She was taking things slower now, just because she knew she had to, even called Jennifer to tell her that she was going on maternity leave early and was put on minor bed rest with the ability to get out around town but only for an hour at a time. She sighed a little as she grabbed a box of Lucky Charms throwing them into the cart knowing that Nick might want them when he’d get home.



“Still hasn’t changed has he?” A familiar voice said behind her. She whipped around seeing Amanda’s smiling face. “Hey you.” She said with a grin.



“Amanda!” Alyssa exclaimed giving her a hug.



“Holy crap are you pregnant?” Amanda asked seeing the baby bump.



Alyssa chuckled a little, “Yeah and engaged…” She said flashing her the ring Nick had put there just a few short months before.



Amanda’s jaw dropped and she chuckled a bit, “Well, Nick finally grew up I’m glad. I’m getting married myself.” She said flashing her ring.



Alyssa smiled at her, “That’s awesome Amanda, really that’s cool.”



“So how far are you?”



“Five months almost.”



“Wow four more to go!”



“Actually technically five…no one tells you but a pregnancy is actually ten months.”



“You’re kidding?”



“Nope. Nick’s been in Nashville and for the past two weeks has been trying to get his dog back.”



“Oh yeah I saw that all over the tabloids, I can’t believe that Jane did that, I mean I know she can be pretty horrible but damn…She’s never been one to do that to an animal before.”



“Yeah I almost can’t wait to hear what excuse it is this time. I mean Nick even paid her…”



“Yeah I’m sure. But how’s everything with you two?”



Alyssa shrugged, “It’s been rough honestly, we’ve been having problems ever since the show started back in February, and it hasn’t dissipated since it ended.”



Amanda gave her a concerned look, “How long have you two been dating, over two years right?”



“Three years this October…”



Amanda sighed, “Three year itch…”



“What?”



“Nick and I started having more and more problems after our second anniversary. And it wasn’t long before I found out about you. And then when you joined us for the summer? It became clear that he was much more interested in you…”





Alyssa’s face contorted in thought, was that what was happening to her and Nick? Were they falling apart like he and Mandy did?



Amanda noticed the look on her face, “He’s friends with another woman isn’t he?”



Alyssa looked over at her and nodded, not liking the fact that Amanda could see right through her. Nick normally wasn’t friends with females, the only female friends he’d ever really had aside from his sisters was Alyssa, and her friends. So for him to become friends with Emma, it was odd to her that he would hang out with her but then it all made sense. Emma was friends with his sister, like Alyssa had been friends with Leslie all those years before. Was he experiencing the same conflict he had about Alyssa?



Late that night…



Nick trudged into the spare bedroom of James’s home and threw himself on the bed, tired and a little bit more than tipsy from drinking and playing poker with his boys. He was happy he was able to get Layla out of the pound safely and without much incident now he had to charter a jet just to take her home since pit bulls weren’t allowed on commercial flights. He spied his sidekick over on the nightstand and picked it up dialing Alyssa’s number from his speed dial. He heard it go to voicemail and frowned ending the call without leaving a message. He knew it was late in LA but he didn’t care he wanted to talk to his fiancée but apparently she was already asleep for the night. Sighing in defeat he scrolled through his contacts and pressed send when he found the number he was looking for.



“Hello?” Emma said groggily answering her phone.



“Heeyyy. Em.” He slurred a little.



Emma sat up a little turning on her light, “Nick?”



“Yeah that’d be me…” He said giggling slightly.



Emma thought for a moment, “Nick, have you been drinking?”



“Shh don’t tell anyone I’m supposed to be on a diet.” He said in an almost childlike whisper.



Emma laughed and sighed, “I promise your secret’s safe with me. So why didn’t you call Alyssa?” She asked wondering why exactly he chose to call her over his fiancé.



“Because she’s being a brat and turned off her phone. And I wanted to talk…so you were the first number I called after hers.”



Emma sighed a little, dismayed that she was the back up plan when his girl wasn’t there for him. She couldn’t deny the slight thrill she got from hearing from him at all. She’d be lying to herself if she hadn’t developed a liking to him, but at the same time she kept her distance as well. He was after all engaged to be married, about to become a father, she definitely did not want to cause herself the heartache of falling in love with someone who was so hopelessly in love with someone else. “So how much exactly did you drink?”



“Hmmm I lost count after five…” He said hiccupping a little.



Emma sighed knowing she’d have to do this to be a good friend to him and to be okay for herself and her own moral fiber. “Maybe you should get some sleep then, you’re going to have a bitch of a hangover in the morning.”



“Boo…no sleep…I wanna see the sunrise…” He said dismissing her idea.



“Well Nick I’ll let you go do that then, some of us have class early in the morning.” She suggested yawning a little.



“Sorry I called so late…” He muttered.



She sighed and looked around her bedroom, “It’s okay I’m glad you called, get some rest okay? I’ll talk to you soon.”



“Sure we gotta go over those business proposal idea thingees right…?” He said slurring a little and stifling a yawn.



“Yes, go to sleep okay?”



“Yeah sure…” He said as they rang off. He rolled onto his stomach thinking about everything, his love for his fiancée and starting their family, to his attraction to Emma…then to his mother and the tabloids…why did life always have to have so much drama? He thought to himself as he slowly drifted off to a dreamless sleep.

 

 

As always R&R!!

Chapter End Notes:
And again thanks to Tri whose been inspiring me WAYYYY too much lately.