Kate's phone chirped notifying her she had a new text. The third one in two hours.  She had been able to ignore it till the third chirp but the sound was getting irritating.  She moved slowly out of bed trying not to wake Nick.  It didn't work.
"And just where do you think you're going?" he said sleepily.
"Gotta turn that phone off," she said.

Nick jumped out of bed before Kate could.  He grabbed his jeans off the floor and handed her the phone that was still in his pocket from the previous night.  He crawled back into bed.
"There, now you don't have to go anywhere," he said.
Kate smiled at him and lay back against her pillow.  She checked her text messages while Nick's hand rested on her belly.
 
JULIE:  Heading down to breakfast.  Come join us!
JULIE: Going to the pool.  Meet you at the rooms?
JULIE: Are you ignoring me?  It's like 11:00 get up! Let's go!
 
She sent a message back.
 
KATE: Can't. I gotta rest today.
JULIE: Why? Nick keep you up too late? Lol
KATE: Doctor's orders.
JULIE: What DR?
KATE: Ship's DR
 
Kate couldn't count to five before Julie was pounding on the door. Nick groaned but Kate chuckled. 
"I don't even have to guess that its Julie's at the door."
"Yes, but could you please put some pants on before you answer the door?" Kate requested.
Nick looked down at his grey boxer briefs.
"What? Don't I look proper?" he teased.
"Well, I'd hate for Julie to see you like that, and then ditch Alex and try to steal my man," Kate smirked.
Nick laughed as he slipped on pajama pants.  Julie's insistent knock came again.
"Yeah, Yeah. Hold your horses!" Nick said to the door.
As soon as he pulled the door open Julie pushed past him and knelt by the bed.
"Kate, what happened?" Julie asked, worry creasing her brow.
AJ came in behind Julie but he stood by the door with Nick.
"I had some spotting last night.  The doctor told me to take it easy and to see my doctor when I get home."
"OMG! Are you ok?"
Kate nodded.
"Is the baby alright?"
"Yes," Kate said calmly.
Julie let out a sigh of relief. Then she lightly smacked Kate's arm.
"Why the Hell didn't you call me?!"
"Sorry, I left my phone in the room," Kate said, smiling at her friend.
"You never leave your phone," Julie said.
Nick was getting angry that Julie was more concerned about her knowing than how Kate was doing.
"She was a little busy, Julie," he said angrily.
Julie turned to look at him.
"I know Nick.  I'm just teasing her," Julie said defensively.
Kate knew she needed to diffuse the situation before they got possessive over her.
"Nick, could you please go get me something to eat?" Kate asked.
"I think that's a good idea.  I'll go with you," AJ agreed as he pulled Nick out of the room.  Julie climbed onto the bed and laid on Nick's side of the bed while Kate filled her in on what had happened.
 

"How are you holding up?" AJ asked, gripping Nick's shoulder as they walked down the hall.
Nick sighed, "I didn't get much sleep last night."
"I bet.  But she's going to be ok, right?"
"Yeah. The doctor told her to take it easy, that she was doing too much strenuous activity."
"Ok, no more performances. Check!" AJ said, trying to make Nick laugh.
Nick smiled.
"Actually I'm glad I have you alone.  I want to talk to you about tonight," Nick said seriously.
AJ raised an eyebrow.
"You know we agreed not to pick our girls for the prom queens," AJ reminded him.
"Oh, yeah. I know that. I already told Kate that but..." He hesitated, stopping in the deserted hallway, looking at the floor. AJ stopped and looked at him.
"I can't be without her."
He looked up at AJ.
"I could have lost them both last night."
"But you didn't," Alex said.
"I don't ever want to." He took a deep breath.  "I want to marry her."
AJ couldn't have been more shocked.  Nick didn't believe in marriage.  After his parents had split because of his fame he'd sworn he'd never get married.  AJ knew Nick had been softening to the idea of marriage after seeing how happy Brian and Howie were, but he never expected this.
"Congratulations, man!" he said, hugging Nick.
Nick smiled. "So, I'm going to need your help."
Nick described his plan as he and AJ filled a couple of trays of food for him and Kate.
 

Kate ate breakfast in bed while the four of them talked of their plans for the day.
"Well, I was hoping to hit the pool today but I am sure we can come up with something else we can do,” Julie said.
"We can still go to the pool.  I'll just find a lounge chair and read," Kate said.
"Ok, but I'm carrying you to the pool," Nick said.
Kate shook her and Julie laughed at Nick's overprotectiveness.
"What happened to keeping us a secret?" Kate said.
"Yeah. I pretty much don't care about that anymore," Nick said.
 
He carried Kate up to the ledo deck pool.  Julie found a couple of lounge chairs for them.  She set their bag on the table between them.  Nick kissed Kate's forehead.
"Ok, text me when you’re ready to leave."
"Ok I will. Now go get your work done," Kate laughed.
The guys left them by the pool so they could go work; it was time for them to be Backstreet Boys.
Julie and Kate spread on sunscreen and pulled out their books.
 
Julie was surprised when a short time later, someone splashed her feet.
"Hey girls! Get in here," Lauren said from the pool.
Julie and Kate exchanged a look.  Julie was getting hot and the pool did sound good.
"Go!" Kate told her.
"I don't want to ditch you."
"You're going to be in the pool three feet from me. I'd hardly say you’re ditching me.  Besides I'm reading and you know how absorbed I get.  I won't even know you’re gone."
"Are you sure?" Julie asked.
"Yes. Now go before I throw you in."
Julie laughed before getting up and joining the others in the pool.
"Why isn't Kate coming?" Tessa asked.
"She's tired.  I think she over did it last night," Julie explained.
"Oh poor thing!" Lauren asked.  "Is she ok?"
"Yeah. She just needs to rest."
 
Julie watched as Kate went back to her book. It didn’t take her long to get lost in the pages. Julie went back to enjoying the cool water of the pool. On the main stage, a giant Twister mat was brought out. Julie laughed as she watched the guys get called on stage to join in. Someone from the crew started picking girls randomly from the crowd. Julie laughed when Lauren raised her hand, looking over at Julie and Tessa as if waiting for them to do the same. Julie kept her hand down; reminding herself she could play Twister with Alex anytime.
 
Kate felt a little flutter in her tummy.  She put her hand over the spot and smiled.   She closed her eyes, leaning her head back on the chair. 
"I'm glad you're ok, little one," she said quietly.  She began thinking about what her baby might look like.  Would it have Nick's blue eyes or her dark hair?
 
Julie was holding on to the edge of the pool in the deep end, watching as each one of the guys was losing the Twister game.  Nick and AJ were the only guys left, Kevin, Brian, Howie and Matthew, already sitting off to the side. Julie laughed as Nick missed his Left Hand Yellow, because he had looked over to glance at Kate. 
 
Julie had already seen that Kate had fallen asleep. Tessa was sitting in Julie's lounge chair so she could catch a few rays before prom. Julie was grateful, she hadn’t wanted Kate to be left alone while she slept.
 
Nick came up to the edge of the pool and knelt down to talk to Julie.
“Is she doing okay?” he asked.
“Yeah. I think resting in the sun is the best thing for her. She has on a lot of sunscreen, so no worries. But she needs the Vitamin D." Julie laughed. “I am about to go laydown in the lounge next to her. Any chance you send someone over to get us in about an hour, so we can have time to get ready?”
“Sure. Not a problem. I just wanted to make sure she was ok.” 
Julie smiled at him. She was happy he was concerned. It showed he really cared.
"Oh hey, can I steal you for a bit first?  While Tessa is with Kate?"
"I suppose," Julie said confused.
She climbed out of the pool and headed to the lounge chair to grab her towel and swimsuit cover.   She left Tessa sleeping beside Kate while she caught up with Nick. 
He led her to the mall that was onboard the ship.

"What are we doing here?" Julie asked.
"I need your help.  And you can't tell Kate," Nick said seriously.
Julie eyed him suspiciously.
"I'm going to propose and I don't know what kind of ring she'd like or her ring size."
Julie grabbed him into a hug.
"OMG! Congrats!"
He chuckled hugging her back.
"Thanks but you can't tell her.  I want to surprise her."
He led her to the jewelry store as they looked at rings.
"So when's the big day?" the salesman asked.
Julie looked up embarrassed.
"Oh, we're not getting married.  He's proposing to my sister."
Nick raised an eyebrow. Sister?  He knew they weren't sisters, but why would she say that.
"What tone of metal are we looking for?" the salesman asked.
"White gold or platinum," Julie answered.
The salesman started pulling out different styles for them.
"Oh how about this one?” Nick said. 
He held up a 2 carat pear shaped ring.
"No," Julie said.
"Not big enough?" Nick asked.
"Too big," Julie answered.
She pulled out a simple 1/2 carat round stone on a plain mounting.
"This is more her style."
He tsked at her, "I want her to have something more special than that."
"Well, she only wears silver colored jewelry and she likes round and princess cut stones.  I talked her into a pear shaped ring once and she never wears it."

They whittled their way down thru the stock.  Julie left Nick with three to choose from.  One had a floral design to the band and held a round stone, the second had a twisted band with a round stone and the third had a textured band with a heart shaped stone.
"But which one should I get?" he asked Julie.
"You have to choose.  She'd like any of those but it will mean more to her if you pick it."
Julie left him to decide and returned to Kate.
 
She was still asleep.  Julie woke Tessa, who was more than glad to take off and go get ready for Prom Night. Julie wasn’t worried about getting ready. Kate could be ready in five minutes and she wasn’t planning on curling her hair so she wouldn’t have to wait for her hair to dry. She closed her eyes and enjoyed the heat of the sun on her skin.
 
When Kate opened her eyes, Nick was standing over her.
"What are you doing back so soon?" Kate asked.
Nick looked around.  The pool area was fairly deserted. 
"Where did everyone go?" Kate asked confused.
"I'd imagine they are all getting ready for prom," Nick said.
He scooped her up in his arms.
"Oh. I must have fallen asleep," Kate said disappointed.
"What's wrong?" Nick asked.
"Nothing," she said.
He knew she was lying, of course.  The look on her face said that much.
"Do I need to take you back to the hospital?" he asked. 
He didn't think it was anything like that but he wanted to make sure.
"No," Kate said resting her head against her arm that was around his neck. "I just can't believe Julie left me there asleep."
Nick smiled, "She didn't honey.  She was beside you when I came to get you, then she ran back to her room to get showered so she can come help you get ready."
That made Kate feel better. Although she still felt like she had missed out by sleeping thru the afternoon.
 
Nick had decided the easiest way to help Kate shower, was to shower together. She told him she didn't need any help but he insisted.  Once she was dried off and wrapped in a robe he finished getting ready.