Things were hectic at the moment. I was busy with a tough course load and working part time.  Nick spent all his time rehearsing for the upcoming Backstreet Boys tour. Their song Everybody (Backstreet’s Back) was released in August. It was climbing up the charts. At the end of the year they would be starting out on a 60 city tour.

Nick and I hadn’t spent a day together since he helped me move into my apartment. This time around Nick and I were handling our relationship much better. That’s not to say that I was happy no seeing him. I missed him more than life itself. It was hard not seeing him or talking to him everyday.

I was realistic enough to know that he was working hard on his dream. There was no jealousy involved. Every time I heard him on the radio, it made me smile. I was already a devoted fan of Nick and the other guys, too.

I was sitting on the couch attempting to right a lesson plan on fractions. My mind was not on fractions. A knocking on the door pulled me out of my thoughts.

“Just a minute.” I set my stuff down and ran to the door.

“Baby girl.” Nick picked me up and twirled me around. Then he placed a kiss on my lips.

“What are you doing here?”

“I have the evening off. I needed to see you.” He kissed me again, sticking his tongue in my mouth. My hands cupped his ass. We were making up for lost time.

“Nick…I…need…you….now.” I panted. I took his hand and led him to my bedroom.

“Ashy…..it’s been so long.” He closed the door behind us.

Within seconds my clothing was in a pile on the floor. I noticed Nick wasn’t playing fair. He was fully clothed.

“Nick, you need to take this off.” I pulled his t-shirt off and threw it on the floor.

He quickly took his jeans and boxers off. Next thing we were on the bed.

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

“Nick…are you awake?” I poked him in the upper arm.

“Mmmm.” He stirred, but continued sleeping.

“Nick, you need to wake up now.” I shoved him to awaken him.

“Ashton what is it?” He snuggled closer to me.

I was nervous to have to tell him. I didn’t want him getting mad at me. Lying in the darkness made it a little easier to tell him.

“Nick, I just realized that I haven’t taken my birth control in like two weeks. I needed to get it refilled, but I got busy.” I said quickly.

“What was that?” Nick sat up, looking half asleep.

“I haven’t taken my birth control in two weeks and we didn’t use a condom.” I started to cry.

“Oh fuck.” Nick ran a hand through his hair.

“What if I’m pregnant?” My body shook. I could barely breathe. I think I was having a panic attack.

“Baby girl, calm down. Breathe slowly. In and out, in and out.” That only made me start crying harder.

“Don’t…say….that”

“Baby, put your head between your legs. You need to calm down.”

I did what he said. Slowly I was able to breathe. Nick had turned on the light. He was rubbing my back.

“Sorry, I’m acting like a psycho.”

“It’s okay. You can’t get yourself all worked up.” He continued to rub my back.

“But, I was so stupid.”

“You’re not stupid. I should have used a condom.” Nick sighed.

“What are we going to do?” I fell back on the bed. Nick kissed my forehead.

“The thing is Ashton, it doesn’t matter. We love each other. We are going to get married. If God wants us to have baby now, then we will be parents. Sure the timing kind of sucks, but we are just going to deal with whatever comes our way. We will deal with it together.” Nick looked me directly in the eyes as he played with my hair.

“How did I get so lucky?” I whispered.

“I don’t know. I think we have to thank Kevin for it. Without him, we would have never met. Baby girl, I love you. Neither of us are to blame. We both were forgetful. Whatever will be will be. I love you and nothing can change that.” 

“I love you, too.”

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After Nick left, I decided to call my mom. I needed to hear her voice. I missed her.

“Hello!”

“Mom, I miss you.” I cried quietly.

“Ashton, what’s wrong?”

“I did something stupid.” I curled up on my bed.

“Sweetheart, tell me what happened. I’m sure it’s not that bad.” Ann attempted to comfort her daughter.

“Oh mom. Let me start at the beginning. Nick and I got back together. Well we had a sex ban for two months. That kind of sucked. Anyway he took me on this romantic evening. Mom, he bought be a beautiful dress and took me to dinner. Then he gave me the claddagh ring back.”

“Sweetheart, that is wonderful. You two are perfect for each other.” Ann beamed.

“Nick proposed to me that night. I said yes. We are going to wait a long time before we get married. I love him so much.”

“Wow! Congrats. I’m so happy for you. You found a special guy.”

“I thought you would be pissed.”

“Ashton Jeannette watch your language. Why would I be mad? I trust you and the decisions you make.”

“Thanks mom. I appreciate that. Anyway, fast forward to tonight. That is where all the trouble started.”

“What happened?” My mom questioned.

“Nick came over. We haven’t seen each other in like almost two months. He’s been busy with getting ready for the tour. I’ve been busy with school.” I paused trying to collect my thoughts.

“Okay. Go on.”

“Well we had sex. Then I realized that I haven’t taken my birth control pills for two weeks.” I sobbed. “I forget to renew my prescription because I’ve been busy. It only gets worse.”

“Oh, Ashton.” Ann’s heart was breaking for her daughter.

“Nick didn’t use any protection. What am I going to do if I’m pregnant?” I bawled. I felt another panic attack coming on.

“Sweetheart, you got yourself into a fine mess. Did you talk to Nick?”

“Yes. He said that if I’m pregnant, we will be parents. He said that we will deal with whatever comes our way.” I started to calm myself down, when I listened to what Nick had said. He wasn’t going to dump me.

“He seems very mature about it for only being seventeen. You’re just going to have to go to the doctor’s and see what happens. You can’t change what happened. It’s in the past. You and Nick need to figure out your future.”

“But mom this will change everything.” I started to freak out again.

“First you need to calm yourself. Stressing out won’t help the situation. Make an appointment with a gynecologist as soon as possible. Then you and Nick can decide what to do.”

“Thanks mom for being so understanding. I love you.”

“I love you, too.”