"Well I was just in town and wanted to drop by and say hello."

"How'd you find out where I lived?"

"I have my ways." JC said as he tried to look past the door at her.

"Did Jerry tell you?"

"No, no. He didn't me tell me anything. I asked around after Joey saw you in the shop across the street." He said trying to hand her the Danishes.

"You guys are like roaches. When I see one of you, I always know there are four more close behind somewhere."

"Are we going to keep talking between the door or are you going to invite me inside." he smiled dangling the bag of Danishes in front of her face.

"Well you just came to say hello. So hello, and goodbye."

Laura grabbed the pastries and went to shut the door but JC put his hand up, "Wait. Can I please come in? I really need to talk to you about something."

"About what?"

JC thought for a moment and then said, "The song...I need to explain this to you so that there are no misunderstandings later on."

Laura stood there and looked at him for a minute before shutting the door. JC stood on the other side waiting to hear the chain being removed, but instead he heard silence. A few moments later, his eyes lit up when he heard the chain and the door sliding open just a crack. He pushed the door slowly and looked around for Laura. He walked in and shut it behind him. He looked to his left and noticed two bar stools up against the other side of the kitchen counter. He saw Laura washing off some lettuce and tomatoes in the sink and went to sit down on a nearby stool. Laura moved up closer to the sink and continued to wash dishes.

"It's all my fault really. I dug it out of the trash that day...in the studio." JC hesitated as he thought back. "He accidentally got a hold of it when I went to take in my release forms for the video. I was working on it while I was waiting and I must have mixed it in with the forms by accident."

Laura rolled her eyes and continued to wash and separate the lettuce as JC tried to explain his side. He noticed that she seemed nervous.  Her hands were shaky as she started to cut veggies and she barely moved from the spot she was in. She just continued to cut and never responded to anything he said. The only thing that could be heard in the apartment was the knife as it hit the cutting board.

"Why are you so quiet? You'd be down my throat by now." he smiled.

Laura looked past JC and out the patio window. He turned around to see what she was looking at. When he looked back towards Laura, her back was turned to him and she was looking in the fridge.

"Will you please talk to me?"

Laura never turned around. JC got up from his chair and made his way around the counter into the kitchen. She turned her body sideways and started looking at the soda's that were sitting in the door of the refrigerator. He walked up behind her and begged, "Laura, say something...Anything. You're scaring me with this silence."

Laura slowly turned around and JC's face turned completely white. He took a few steps back and leaned against the counter to keep from falling to the floor. "You're...." He said as he starred down at her protruding abdomen.

"Pregnant?" Laura asked as she watched JC's reaction.

"Is it...Is it..."

Laura looked up towards the ceiling in shock as she let her jaw fall open in disbelief that he would even think to ask her such a question. She pushed past him and walked over the her front door and opened it. "I think it's time for you to go."

"Wait, wait, wait...I'm sorry. It's just." JC took deep breaths before finishing, "Why didn't you tell me?"

Laura slammed the door shut. "Well lets see..." she walked over to the couch and sat down. "I called you about ten times. I left messages for you and received no call back. I even resorted to sending you a letter, which was returned to me as refused...I got the point that you didn't want to have anything to do with me after that, JC."

"I doubt you ever called. I never received your messages."

"Well I figured the messages I gave to Rachel would have slipped through the cracks, but I never would have thought Laticia would disregard my calls...Unless you told her to!"

JC paced the room. He glanced over at Laura through the corner of his eye and he tried to make sense of it all.

"Can you please stop pacing? It's making me nauseous." Laura complained.

JC went and sat down on the couch next to her. Laura tried to wiggle over to the far end to get away from him. "How far along are you?"

"Just about 6 months now." Laura replied as she shifted a pillow that was behind her back.

JC rubbed his forehead, "Why didn't you call one of the guys to get in touch with me about this?" The more he thought about it, the more pissed he became. It felt like he was living out the past all over again.

"I wasn't going to chase you down. When my letter was returned 'refused' I took that as my cue to not bother you anymore. I didn't want anyone else involved. This is between you and me."

The anger inside him was bubbling to the surface, struggling to get out. "I've seen you more than three times in the past six months, Laura. You had plenty of opportunities to tell me!"

"I didn't have intentions of continuing the pregnancy." she blurted out.

JC whipped his head around to look her in the eye. "What?!"

"Did I stutter? I was trying to tell you that night at the Pussycat Dolls show. But when I heard Nikky calling for his 'Da Da', I didn't want to put you in a difficult position again. You were with your new family...You seemed happy. I didn't want that to change."

"So you figured you would run off and disappear out of sight forever while you raised that baby?"

"No...I wasn't going to have 'that baby.'" she mocked.

JC let his head fall into his hands. "An abortion? Wow...That says a lot about how much you cared for me."

"You know what...Let's not get into all that fuckin shit about how people feel. I'm sure to puke if you do." Laura got up from the couch and made her way over to the table to finish preparing the box for FedEx. "I don't want anything from you JC. I don't want to have anything to do with you from this point on."

"Well that's going to be impossible, Laura."

"Why?"

"Because that is my child you are carrying. We're going to have to deal with each other for at least the next 18 years."

"No. I don't want that."

"What about what he or she wants?" JC asked as he pointed to her belly.

"I'm sure the baby will agree with me that its not fair that they won't be the one who gets most of your time and affection. I'd rather not have you in his or her life at all, then just every other weekend. And judging by everything you have done since you found out Nikky was your son, I'm sure you'd agree with me. So all you have to do now is get up and walk out that door and never look back."

"Who are you?" JC asked in disbelief.

"The same person, I've always been." Laura said as she placed the box on the table near the front door. She walked back into the living room and started to fold a basket of clothes that had been sitting near the hallway to the bedrooms.

"I guess I am starting to see your true colors now. It was hard to see the real you through all that bullshit you were feeding me." JC commented.

Laura continued to fold clothes and sucked in her teeth at everything he was saying. But she did not fight back. JC walked over next to her and lowly talked into her ear, "I wonder if that was your plan the entire time. You and all your lies and deceit. You probably talked Rachel into going with Jerry."

Laura turned towards him and brought her hand up and smacked him across his face as hard as she could. The sound of her palm hitting his face seemed to echo throughout the apartment. "If turning me into the villain is what helps you sleep with her at night, then so be it."

"So you're not denying anything? Not going to deny that you lied to me...Just like you did a few months ago when I asked was there something I needed to know."

"I could stand here for hours and try to prove that I never lied to you. I didn't know Rachel was with Jerry until you came over to my house, shaking and sobbing when you caught them together. I didn't know she was seeing him again behind your back until you came and told me. I found out she was pregnant when Jerry blurted it out to you during an argument after court. She told me that she was pretty sure the baby was Jerry's. She begged me to keep it to myself, and I did...If you would have asked me, I most likely would have told you. But you never questioned it. And I was saved from having to see you hurt all over again." Laura threw the shirt that she had been folding back down into the basket and crossed her arms before looking up at him. "But I'm just wasting my breath here. You are going to believe what you want to believe. And I don't like being called a liar in my own home." Laura walked over to the front door and opened it for him. "Now, get the fuck out before I call security to remove you."

"Laura, we need to work this out. If not for us but for the baby." JC walked over to her and tried to touch her stomach. Laura pushed his hand away and looked out into the hallway so as not to make eye contact with him. Tears were falling down her cheeks.

"We have squash it all and think about this instead of our own problems." he pointed out as he touched the top of her stomach.

"I don't want you here. Just go, please." Laura begged as she finally looked up at him. JC reflexively placed his thumbs on her cheeks to wipe her tears.

"I want to be here. I wouldn't have went through all this trouble if I didn't. It's like something was pulling me here. And now I know why. We've gotta deal with this right now."

"I'm dealing with this everyday on my own. And that's how I want it from now on. You don't trust me. You think I'm full of shit all of a sudden. I don't want my child growing up discovering that daddy secretly hated mommy."

"I don't hate you."

"Then what do you feel, JC?"

"I care." JC tried to hug her. He got one arm around her and Laura momentarily let her head rest on his chest, before pushing him away. JC tried again to put his arms around her. But Laura started pushing him. "Please get out...Get out!" she started to raise her voice, but JC continued to try and console her. "Just get out!!" she yelled.

The woman across the hall opened her front door to see what was going on. JC knew that was his cue to leave before someone called security. "Okay. I'll go. But just know that this isn't the end."

As soon as JC stepped out the door, Laura slammed it in his face and screamed through the walls, "It never began, asshole!!!"

JC went to yell back at her through the door, but grew silent when her heard her loud sobs. He saw her shadow through the crack of the bottom of the door and noticed that she had slid down to the floor crying to herself. He touched the door and looked up towards the heavens and prayed that things would become more clear soon before heading back downstairs.

Laura sat on the floor and cried aloud. The woman across the hall lightly tapped on the door and asked if she were okay. She struggled to get up and opened the door slowly. She was just about to utter that she would be fine until she doubled over in pain holding her stomach. "No. I think there is something wrong."