Chapter 24 - Just Hit Static

            Over the next month or so, Alyssa turned avoiding Nick into an art form. Instead of continually stressing over the predicament she was in, she threw herself into preparing for motherhood. By immersing herself in her pregnancy, she found little time to worry about the whole Nick and Sean situation. She'd decided to at least try to put it onto the backburner for a while. She did after all have until March to figure out what she was going to do. In the meantime she devoted herself one hundred percent to her child. Being a first time mother, there was so much to learn. With so many of her friends already being mothers, she had thought that she was pretty knowledgeable about pregnancy, but Alyssa was finding it to be a whole other ball game when she was the pregnant one. She was surprised to find it actually fairly easy to hide from her personal problems if she forced herself to focus on learning as much as possible about the changes going on in her body.

            Her coffee table was now littered with various baby books and magazines that she had picked up recently at Border's, and of course her new bible, What to Expect When You're Expecting, was tucked safely away on her bedroom nightstand. Her refrigerator was now fully stocked with only the kinds of foods that Dr. Spencer had recommended and she usually arranged to go walking with Callie or Kim every day as light exercise. Her spare time was spent posting on an online message board for expectant mothers. It filled her with a bit of a relief being able to talk to other pregnant women. Granted, most of their pregnancies were meticulously planned and there were no surprises when it came to the identity of their baby's fathers, but at least they seemed to be going through the same symptoms that she was and it was nice having someone to commiserate with.

            Besides battling morning sickness which Alyssa began to seriously wonder who coined the term because it seemed as if she was sick at all hours of the day, Alyssa also found herself running to the bathroom a lot more frequently than usual. She'd always thought that the excessive peeing didn't start until later on in her pregnancy, but she quickly learned that it started now and only would get worse in the coming months. Between all her trips to the bathroom and the throwing up, Alyssa wondered how she was going to make it when school started up again next month. Thankfully enough she was assured by many woman on the message board that by then the worst of her morning sickness should be over with. In addition to all of this, even though it was too early for her to really be showing yet, she did notice her pants fitting slightly tighter and a thickening in her middle that hadn't been there before. But the worst were her breasts. Already they were feeling swollen and tender and none of her bras seemed to fit quite right. Lately she'd been finding only sports bras to be comfortable and she figured that she'd probably have to break down sometime next week and go shopping for some more comfortable maternity bras. And to think they're only going to get bigger, she realized with a smirk. Who needs a boob job? By the time I give birth I'll definitely be at least a D cup.

            Everything seemed to be going as well as could be expected under the difficult circumstances. At least until that day in mid August when she received an unexpected package that just brought all the painful memories that she was trying to suppress right back up to the surface. She was babysitting Gavin again for Kim and had just put him down for a nap when a brown UPS truck pulled up in front of her house and she heard her front doorbell ring.

            She hurried to answer it finding a delivery man holding out a brown box. "I have a package for Alyssa Robinson?"

            "That's me," Alyssa answered as she reached out to accept the box and signed his clipboard. She wondered what it was and who it was from. She hadn't ordered anything online recently and there weren't any special occasions looming close by. Not being able to wait another moment after the delivery man disappeared back into his truck; Alyssa brought the package inside and tore open its contents. The first thing that lay on top was an envelope with her name on the front. She ripped it open and pulled out a simple white card with blue lettering across that read Congratulations! On the inside of the card she gasped when she recognized Nick's familiar scrawled handwriting.

Dear Alyssa,

            I wanted to send you a little something special to congratulate you on the baby. I know how much you've been hoping and praying for a child of your own, and I'm glad that your prayers have finally been answered. You're going to make an amazing mother and I can't wait to hopefully be a part of your child's life. In the mean time here's a little something to keep the little squirt snug and warm in.

                                                                                                                        Nick

            Alyssa felt a lump beginning to rise in her throat which she quickly swallowed back down. The tone of the card sent a little bit of a chill through her, particularly the line about not being able to wait to be a part of the baby's life. Oh, trust me... You're a WAY bigger part of this baby's life than you even realize, she thought to herself. She knew that he only meant it to be more like the role of an Uncle, but it was still a painful reminder of the mess that she was currently tangled up in.

            Trying to fight back her emotions, she dug deeper into the box and pulled out a soft yellow fleece baby blanket. She could tell just from the texture of it that it was of very good quality, almost too nice to use for a newborn baby. When did Nick become so thoughtful? she frustratingly thought. They'd dated on and off for almost ten years now and he never once had been so kind and considerate until now of course when it was too late. It figured. She stuffed the blanket back into the box as she blinked away tears. This whole hiding the truth from Nick thing would be SO much easier if he decided to be a selfish asshole. Why was it that now he chose to do the decent thing?

            All Alyssa knew was that she was now more confused than ever. And then she was hit with the chilling revelation that no matter how hard she tried to distract herself with baby books and online pregnancy forums, she couldn't completely hide from the truth. She was going to have to make a major decision and she was going to have to do it soon.

***********

            Later on that same night across LA, Nick was just settling into bed for the night at the condo. He'd been feeling absolutely perplexed and a little hurt at Alyssa's obvious avoidance of him. He wondered if he'd done something wrong that he was unaware of. She hadn't even bothered to tell him herself that she was pregnant and Nick had been pretty sure that he'd be one of the first people she'd call under the circumstances. He just didn't get it. Was she really that wrapped up into her pregnancy that she didn't even have time for their friendship anymore?

            "Women... I'll never understand them," he muttered as he crawled between the covers of the bed and punched his pillow a little to fluff it up. He made himself comfortable and closed his eyes. He was just one step away from a deep sleep when he heard his cell phone ringing far off in the distance of his self consciousness. Groaning a little he tried to ignore it, but the phone kept ringing. Acting on impulse his hand floated over to the nightstand and he picked it up without even bothering to see who was calling, which turned out to be a big mistake. "Hello?" he groggily answered.

            "Hey Nicky! Did I wake you?" Shayla's familiar perky voice invaded his ears.

            Ugh... Speaking of women I don't understand, he thought to himself. "Yea... I was just about to fall asleep," he admitted, ignoring the Nicky comment. Hopefully she'd get the hint.

            "Oops my bad!" she giggled.

Nick could hear a loud thud on the other end of the line that sounded like she had fallen or knocked something over. "Uhh, you ok?" he asked warily.

"Yea, sorry I just tripped going up the stairs. I just got in from this really awesome party at the Playboy Mansion. Too bad you missed it. It was wild! You'd have had a great time. So many really hot, gorgeous, half naked women walking around. I mean I'm completely straight and even I had to admit that I was turned on."

Just by the way her words were slurred and the way she was babbling on, Nick could tell almost immediately that she'd had more than her fair share of alcohol at this party. It all made sense now. She was drunk dialing him, purposely trying to say things to get a rise out of him, so that somehow in her twisted little mind he'd go crawling back to her. He should know better than anyone. How many times had he done the same thing to many a girl, Alyssa included? Drunk dialing was a nasty habit that he'd finally grown out of, but he supposed that this was his punishment for years of offense. Karma was a bitch like that sometimes.

Knowing from experience how to handle drunk dialers he tried to steer the conversation into convincing her to go to bed and sleep it off. He knew damn well that if he hung up she'd only just keep calling. "Sounds like you had a good time. Lot's of alcohol there I bet, huh?"

"Oh, yeah! I'm completely toasted, but I feel great!" He could hear another noise that sounded as if Shayla had flopped across a soft surface such as a couch or a bed. "It must've been those damn jello shots. I think I had about twenty of them, they were so fucking good."

Nick's eyebrows rose in concern. "You didn't drive home, did you?" Even though their relationship had definitely been stilted as of lately, he couldn't be as heartless as to not to worry about whether or not she got into a car drunk. She was still technically his wife, so if anything happened to her he'd have to be the one to pick up the pieces.

"No, of course not. I was on assignment, so I had a driver. Thank God for editing! I hope they won't be able to tell how messed up I was during the parts I filmed," she continued to babble on. "So, what are you doing?"

Nick sighed. "Honestly? I was trying to go to sleep until you called."

"Oh yea... Duh! You did say that. So... does that mean you're in bed?"

He rolled his eyes at the phone quickly losing her patience with her. Dude, did I sound this retarded in my drunk dialing days? he wondered. Even though he knew that it would probably go right over her head, he couldn't fight the urge to answer back sarcastically. "No, I'm in the bathtub."

"The bathtub?" Shayla sounded confused. "Why would you sleep in there? Isn't that uncomfortable?"

I should know better than to use sarcasm on a drunk person. "I was being sarcastic sweetie. It was a joke. I really am in bed."

"Well, you don't have to be so testy about it. Sounds to me like you need to get laid..."

"Oh, you have no idea what I need," he found himself saying before he could even stop himself. Luckily Shayla seemed to interpret his words a little differently, saving him a whole lot of explanation.

"I think that maybe I do," she replied. "I'm lying in bed too and I'm pretty lonely. I miss you not being here." Her voice lowered several octaves. "I'm wearing that gold mini dress you love. The backless one that barely covers my ass. And guess what I have on underneath?" She paused for a moment or two for dramatic effect. "Nothing."

Nick lay there for a moment processing everything that she'd just said and he had to admit, under normal circumstances he'd be really turned on right about now. But there was something about the situation that just wasn't doing it for him. Maybe it was the sloppy way in which she slurred out her words, which totally ruined the effect of her sultry tone of voice. Or maybe it was more than that. Maybe it was the fact that he just simply wasn't attracted to her anymore. Whatever it was, for once he could not think of a single damn thing to say in response, so instead he stayed quiet.

"I really wish you were here right now," Shayla moaned, making Nick wonder what exactly was going on, on the other end of the line. She paused seeming to wait for Nick to come back with some sort of sly response, but it never came. Losing patience, Shayla sighed in frustration. "Are you alive over there Nick? Did I give you a heart attack or something?"

"I'm here," he distantly responded. "I'm just really tired though. I think I should just go to bed and you probably should too."

He could practically picture Shayla's mouth gaping in indignation. "Are you serious?" she asked. "You seriously want me to stop? Are you feeling okay Nick?"

"Yea, I'm fine. Just tired. And you're drunk. We shouldn't be doing this."

He heard her snort on the other end of the line. "Since when did you become such a gentleman?"

Nick's voice rose a little as he began to lose his patience. "I just don't think that this is the answer to our problems. You're drunk and probably have no clue what you're saying and doing and I think that things are complicated enough already between us. Get some sleep and we can talk tomorrow morning when you're sober if you want."

That's when the dam burst open and the waterworks began to pour out, further confirming to Nick that she was completely unfit to have this conversation. "I just miss you Nick!" she sniffled. "It's really hard for me you know. Now all your stuff is gone and it just seems so real. You're never coming back, are you?"

Nick sighed, not wanting to go down this road tonight. "I didn't say that. I just need a little more time."

"More time? You've had almost three fucking months! I can't live like this anymore Nick. You have to make up your fucking mind! If you're going to divorce me just do it already and get it over with! Don't leave me dangling here with false hope."

He sat there silently not wanting to admit that even in her drunken stupor she was completely right. He wasn't being fair to her, but he just wasn't sure what he wanted. He was pretty sure he didn't feel the same way he once did about her, especially after his night with Alyssa, but as selfish as it sounded he didn't want to completely let her go either. As it was Alyssa had all but completely abandoned him. He didn't want to end up completely alone. "We'll talk about this another day," he tried to assure her. "I'm going to hang up now. Try and get some rest."

Before she could get another word in edgewise Nick ended the call and lay back down. He needed to make some major decisions in his life and soon. If he didn't decide what he wanted to do about this Shayla situation it was only going to get worse.

Little did he know that his life was about to get a hell of a lot more complicated and his relationship with Shayla was about to become the least of his worries.