It had been a relaxing Saturday all to myself.  Meg had taken Jackson over to Nick’s hotel earlier in the day on her way out of town for the weekend.  It made me smile to see how excited Jack was to be spending the day with Nick. Jackson was asking when he could spend the night with his dad, so I figured when he dropped him off that night, I would discuss it with him.  I had spoken with Melanie the morning after Nick had brought Jackson home and told her things were going well.  She seemed cautiously optimistic but warned me to keep my guard up.

I looked over as I heard my cell phone go off.  “Hey you…” I said answering it when I saw who it was.

“Hey there,” Donnie’s smooth, deep voice said.  Donnie and I spoke pretty regularly.  He had become a really close friend over the last couple of months.  He had a crazy shooting schedule with Blue Bloods so we hadn’t seen much of each other, but I had met up with him a couple of times for a hotdog in Central Park with Jackson while he was on break shooting scenes.  “What are you doing right now?” he asked.

“Just relaxing at home watching some stupid Lifetime movie,” I replied.  “Jackson’s with Nick…”

“Well, I’m right around the corner shooting a location shot, I was calling to see if you were doing anything in about an hour – how about I bring some carryout over and satisfy some of those pregnancy cravings?” he asked.

“I think Nick’s dropping Jackson off around nine, so that would be fun…” I answered him. 

“What’s your request?” He laughed. 

“How about some Thai…” I responded.

“Done, see you in an hour…” he said hanging up.

I went to take a quick shower to make myself look presentable.  I threw on a pair of yoga pants and a soft, light blue v-neck t-shirt.  I looked down at my growing bump.  You could definitely tell I was pregnant at this point.  In two short weeks, I would know what I was having.  More importantly, I would know if my little surprise would have the potential to save Jackson’s life.  Dr. Glassman had already spoken with my doctor and they had agreed that I was at an extremely low risk and that doing the tests to determine if the baby would be a match would be fine.  I was both excited about this and extremely nervous.  It was our last hope.

I had called downstairs to tell the doorman to let Donnie up when he arrived.  The doorbell rang at exactly 6:30.  He was always on time.  “Hey sweetie,” he said as he walked in the door.  “How are things going?” he put the food down on the table and pulled me into a friendly hug.

“I’m good…” I said as I started to pull down some plates and put them on the counter.  “Things are going well with Nick, no drama so far…” I pulled a beer out of the refrigerator and threw it to  him.

“Thanks, babe…” he said catching it.  “What way do you think things are headed with Nick?” he asked me.

“You know, Donnie, honestly I don’t even really have time to think about it.  With the Jackson’s stuff going on, running the business and now this little surprise…” I trailed off as I rubbed my stomach.  “…I haven’t even given myself much a chance to process it.  Plus, I don’t know what’s going on with Lauren.”

“I don’t think Nick knows what’s going on with them half the time…” Donnie smirked.  “That was like a soap opera on tour.  She was always pissed, he was always pissed.  One night, she actually kicked AJ off his own bus so she could ride with Rochelle.  So AJ had to go ride with Nick, and it was just ridiculous.” He started to laugh.

I couldn’t help but laugh with him.  “I can’t really say anything bad about her, I haven’t seen her that much.  I do know that I don’t want her around Jack until Nick and I talk about it.  If he’s serious about her, that’s one thing, but if it’s going to be off and on, I don’t want him confused…”

Donnie nodded.  “Been there done that, I don’t bring girlfriends around my boys and I don’t plan to until someone’s got a ring on their finger.  So, everyone better put their parka’s on because that’s not happening until hell freezes over,” he chuckled.

“Donnie…don’t say that, you’re going to make someone really happy someday,” I smiled at him.

“Any chance that would be you?” he asked, his eyes twinkling.  “I’m just joking with you…” he said pulling me over towards him.  “I just enjoy hanging out with you, you’re almost like the little sister I never had…” he said.

“I feel that way too…” I said giving him a kiss on the cheek.  “I’m glad I have you for a friend.”  We turned on the TV and I made him watch an episode of the Real Housewives of New Jersey. 

“This shit is ridiculous,” he laughed.

“I watch it as an escape, I love trash TV” I joked with him as the doorbell rang.  I looked over at the clock, it was only 8:15. 

“I wonder who that is,” I said getting up.  I answered the door and Jackson came bounding in nearly knocking me down with 4 helium balloons. 

“Hi, mommy,” he said excitedly running back to his room.  Nick walked in the door, and I immediately realized he wasn’t alone.  Standing behind him, holding his arm possessively was Lauren.

The silence hung thick in the room, as my eyes darted to Nick’s, whose eyes had darted to Donnie’s. 

“Well, this is interesting,” said Nick sarcastically, breaking the silence.

“I was just thinking the same thing,” I said dryly crossing my arms, looking at Lauren.

“Hey, Whitney…” Donnie said coming from around the back of the couch.  “I was just getting ready to head out, I’ve got an early call tomorrow.  I’ll give you a call later…” he said making a hasty retreat to the door. 

“Nick,” he said nodding as he walked by Nick, who looked like he didn’t know what to say.  He looked at me to say something, but then he realized that Lauren was still behind him.

“Hello,” I said extending my hand to her.  “We really haven’t been properly introduced. She looked was though she wasn’t sure if she wanted to shake my hand or slap me.  Nick just looked like he had swallowed something that he really didn’t like.  What did he expect though, really?  He hadn’t even warned me.

“Dad,” Jackson came running out of the back of the apartment.  “Come see the Death Star, I started building it…” he looked at me and I nodded my permission for him to go back to Jackson’s room.  He reached his hand for Lauren.

“I’ll stay right here, Nick…” she said.  “Just don’t be too long, I want to hit a club tonight…” she called after him.

I grabbed the dirty dishes from mine and Donnie’s dinner and headed into the kitchen.  Lauren promptly followed me.

“Would you like something to drink, Lauren?” I asked her sweetly.  “Feel free to make yourself at home in the living room,” I said, hoping she’d take the hint.  Could this situation get anymore awkward?  Apparently.

“Cut the bullshit, Whitney.” She  hissed, her eyes boring into me.  “Don’t pretend that I don’t know what you are trying to do.” She said moving closer to me.

“And what exactly am I trying to do, Lauren?” I answered icily.

“You’re trying to get Nick back.  It’s not going to work, he’s happy with me nothing that you do is going to change that…” she placed her hand on her hip.

I moved closer to her and whispered forcefully back to her, hoping Jackson would remain blissfully unaware of what was going on in the kitchen.  “The ONLY thing I am trying to DO, Laruen is help Nick and Jackson establish a healthy relationship.  That is my only concern right now.  I would however, like to remind you that MY son, is not YOUR concern.  If you understand that, we’ll be just fine…” I said standing my ground with her.  Both of us locked eyes for what seemed like an eternity until I saw Nick in the doorway.

He looked extremely uncomfortable.  “Everything alright in here…” he asked nervously.

“Just fine, Nick…Lauren and I were just getting acquainted,” I said looking at her with a sweet smile dripping with sarcasm.  “Sounds like you guys have plans tonight, I certainly don’t want to keep you…” I said as I began herding them to the door. “I’ll give you a call this week to make arrangements for your next visit.” I said as I opened the door, ushering them out.  I was definitely going to be reconsidering the overnight visit now in light of this latest development.  Nick and I would definitely be having words.

Nick barely had a chance to say “sounds good,” as I closed the door on the two of them.  Now I understood what Melanie had meant when she said she was “cautiously optimistic”.  This could go south quickly.

I sent Donnie a quick text to tell him I was sorry for how things had ended that night.  I certainly didn’t want to cause any tension between him and Nick, but I think that was a foregone conclusion now.  I finished cleaning up the kitchen and went in my bedroom to finish up some work on my laptop.  I was just getting ready to turn the light off when I heard the text on my phone go off.  I picked it up expecting to see a response from Donnie.  To my surprise, it was from Nick.

DONNIE?  WTF, Whitney?

Are you kidding me?  I thought to myself. 

Nick, he’s a friend, nothing more.  Not that I owe you an explanation.  We can talk more about this later.  You don’t say who I do and don’t talk to.  Have a good night.  I’m tired.

Nick quickly responded.

You’re pregnant with my baby.  Do you think I want this getting out?  Have some common sense.

I was getting heated now.

Common sense?  Really?  Like you introducing Lauren to Jackson without even telling me.  Sure, if that’s what you call common sense,  I’ll pass.

This was going nowhere good. I started to get a sick feeling in my stomach.  His response caught me off guard.

Look, you’re right.  I’m sorry.  She just showed up last night without even telling me.  Things are really weird with her right now and for reasons I can’t go into, I have to keep the peace.  I don’t know where things stand with her and I don’t know what I want, and I don’t know why I’m telling you this other than I’ve had four bourbon and cokes.  If you say you and Donnie are friends, that’s cool.  We’ll talk more later.  Hang in there…

I had to reread the text three times.  He was so up and down.  This was crazy.  I turned off the light and drifted off to sleep.

The next morning I woke up and looked outside to a beautiful morning.  Jackson has already woken up and was watching cartoons.  I decided to make us some breakfast and we could go have a fun day in Central Park.   As I was putting the pancakes on the plate, I noticed my phone going off.  I looked down and saw it was Melanie.  Strange.  My lawyer calling me on a Sunday?

“Mel, what’s up?” I said picking up the phone.

“Whitney, Judge Powell has called an emergency meeting for tomorrow.  How could you let this happen?  Do you know anything about this? He is not happy…” she started rambling on.

“Whoa, whoa….”  I said stopping her in mid-sentence.  “What are you even talking about?”

“So you don’t know?” she said, slight relief overtaking her voice.  “Um, I’m guessing you don’t read TMZ…” she began as a knot started to form in my stomach.  I rushed into my bedroom and grabbed my laptop.  My heart starting to beat out of my chest.

“No,” I said as I began furiously typing in the website address.  There on the sleazy website TMZ, the very top story on the page was a picture of Nick and Jackson playing in Central Park and the headline “Nick Carter’s Secret Son”.

Tears began falling down my cheeks. “Oh, Mel,” I whispered to her.  “How could he do this?”