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Chapter Twenty Eight

When I was married to Hunter, I had been on a first name basis with negative pregnancy tests. With Brooke there wasn’t even a little stick. Our confirmation had come in the form of an ultrasound blip on the screen.

“Liv?” Nick asked, tapping on the door. I had just flushed and set the stick on the counter.

“Yeah?”

“Did you take it?”

“Yup.”

“Well?”

“ I don’t know.”

“Can I come in?”

Hunter had never wanted to come in. He just waited in the living room watching TV. When I came out and told him it was negative he would just sigh and tell me that I must be doing something wrong. I opened the door and peered out at Nick.

“Can I come in?” he repeated.

I nodded. I stepped back and he entered the bathroom. We both stood there staring at the little stick on the sink.

“So how long does it take?”

“Three to five minutes.”

“How long has it been?”

“About two minutes.”

Nick stuck his hands in his pockets. Then he took them out and cracked his knuckles.

“How bout now?”

“About fifteen seconds later than the last time you asked.”

Nick rubbed the back of his neck.

“We’ve been pretty careful,” he said slowly.

“Pretty careful,” I agreed.

“Of course there was that one night…” he said, trailing off. “On the stairs.”

I felt myself blush.

“Yeah, there was that one time.”

“That was an amazing night.”

Nick took my hand. I looked up at him. He smiled.

“Liv, stop worrying. No matter what it’s going to be okay. We’ve done a pretty good job at this parenting thing so far.”

“But, they’d be just a year apart,” I said numbly.

“BJ and I are less than two years apart,” Nick said.

I wanted to remind him that BJ was a little crazy. Sure, she wasn’t as crazy as Aaron, but she was so…sensitive. Then for one crazy moment I was reminded of the conversation I had with Angel less than a month ago. I remembered what I had told her word for word – ‘I wouldn’t mind adding a little boy to the mix.’

It looked like those words might be coming to bite me in the butt.

Nick smiled.

“You know, the guys will never let me hear the end of this,” Nick said lightly.

I closed my eyes. He leaned down and kissed my forehead. The alarm on my cell phone went off.

“Time?” Nick asked. I nodded.

“Time.”

We both took a step closer to the counter. I was glad that he had come in. I was a notorious peeker. He had kept my mind occupied. I picked the stick up and looked down at the screen.

It was a very clear negative.

I was waiting for Nick to say something like ‘Thank God’ or ‘Phew, we dodged a bullet,’ but he sank down on the edge of the tub and looked at me.

“Guess we’ll have to try harder,” he said lightly. I must have looked at him in shock because he laughed, leaning back into the shower curtain.

“I’m kidding, I’m kidding,” he said with a chuckle.

I sank down on the toilet lid, still holding the stick. Nick’s smile faded.

“Liv, are you okay?” he asked seriously.

“I’m fine,” I said softly. “I just feel stupid.”

Nick looked incredulous. “Why?”

“For even thinking…” I waved the stick in the air.

“Don’t feel stupid. It could have happened. When I’m with you I’m extremely lazy in the protection department.”

I smiled. “Gee, I don’t know why.”

“Hm, maybe the fact that we’re days away from you becoming my wife?”

I laughed. “Maybe.”

“You know,” Nick said, still keeping the smile on his face. “I am a little disappointed.”

My eyes widened. “ Really?”

He nodded. “I mean, I don’t want a huge gap in age between kids. Two or three years, y’know?”

I nodded; I felt the same way. “I agree. That way they can relate to each other.”

“Exactly. But by that time we’re going to be smack dab in the middle of our world tour for the new album. I mean I’m up for the challenge but…it’s easier to get alone time at home.”

I smiled. “I know that first hand.”

“Plus you’re a gorgeous mommy-to-be.”

“You just like prego sex,” I teased. He laughed.

“I do. You look cute with a little round belly.”

“I had a huge round belly.”

With a smile I tossed the stick in the trash can.

“Our little secret?” I asked. He nodded.

“Absolutely. But next time don’t hesitate to tell me, okay? I don’t care if there’s a thousand false alarms; I want to be sitting in the bathroom with you for each and every one.”

I smiled. “Deal.”

We both leaned forward and met with a kiss.

I felt good that another crisis was averted. I definitely wanted more children with Nick…

But I also wanted to enjoy my wedding and honeymoon without needing a barf bag at the ready.

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

“So Sam will be here tomorrow,” I reminded Nick. “I offered up one of the guest rooms.” We were on the couch again; Nick was sprawled across the entire length of it with his head in my lap. My laptop was teetering on the edge of his head.

“Is he going to your bachelorette party too?” Nick asked with a smile. I rolled my eyes.

“No, he’s not. Leighanne already promised me it will be clean. I think Sam prefers more excitement.”

“Well, Brian’s throwing mine so I shouldn’t have to worry either,” Nick said his smile transforming into a full out grin. “And I know mine will be alcohol free too. Do I have to worry about you getting any more drunk tattoos?”

“I’m not drinking,” I said. “Ever again.”

Nick chuckled. “We’re having a glass of champagne at the wedding.”

“I know. But other than that...”

Nick’s legs stretched out even farther; his heels were hanging well over the end of the couch.

“Speaking of our parties…my mom offered to babysit.”

My fingers paused over my keyboard. “Your mom?”

Nick nodded. “She’s feeling guilty for putting all her trust in Aaron and blaming me. Plus she’s convinced we’re keeping Brooklyn away from her.”

I sighed. In all honesty I probably was pulling a little bit of a sheltering act.

“What did you tell her?” I finally asked.

“I told her she could babysit as long as she came here to watch her.”

“Will she get mad if I call and check in?” I asked. Nick smiled.

“If she does, she’ll get mad at me too. I’m going to be checking in several times.”

Even though Jane wouldn’t have been my first choice, I couldn’t say no. Nick seemed to be waiting for my approval. I gave him a reassuring smile.

“Okay. That’s fine with me.”

Nick’s attention returned to the TV; I went back to my laptop. Out of habit I went onto Nick’s Twitter. I smiled as I saw no less than three tweets about Brooklyn’s vast intelligence and her new found ability to roll over. I glanced over at his fan counter.

“Hey Nick, do you realize you’ve hit 100,000 fans?”

His arm shot up and reached for the laptop.

“Really?”

For the last six months he had been stuck at ninety nine thousand. Every other day or so the count would inch up; but he had been on a quest for a hundred thousand fans for a long time. In fact, last summer we thought he was going to make it without a problem. By the end of July he had almost reached ninety eight thousand.

“Damn. I’m at one hundred two thousand!” he said. “Sweet!”

“What’s the surprise?”

“What surprise?”

“You promised a surprise once your Twitter reached 100,000 fans,” I reminded him. He looked confused for a moment.

“Oh. I hadn’t thought of what I’d do.”

“I think you should take one of the BSB songs and spoof it to commemorate your achievement.”

Nick grinned. “I do spoofs well.”

“I know you do.”

“Instead of I Want it That Way I could sing I Love my Twitter,” Nick said thoughtfully. “Maybe I could work in some of the stupid stuff I’ve posted. And hey, I could make fun of Brian’s chirps!”

“And the fact that AJ hasn’t updated his status in 132 days,” I said wryly.

“And how Howie still sometimes calls it twitting instead of tweeting,” Nick added.

Nick handed me my laptop and rolled off the couch.

“What are you doing?”

Nick rummaged along the bottom of our coffee table. “I need paper and a pen.”

I raised an eyebrow; he turned and looked at me with the face of a serious artiste.

“It’s going to be a long night, Liv,” he explained.

“You and I are going to write a masterpiece.”

I couldn’t help but smile. The timing was excellent and I had come up with the perfect idea. What better way for Sam to prove himself than to start by recording Nick’s Twitter thank you to his fans?

I just wouldn’t mention that part of the plan until tomorrow.

Besides, Nicky Nick and I had a lot of work to do.