"You miss her." Justin stated matter-of-factly as he looked over at JC who was starring off into space.

"No...It's not that." He replied as he looked down at the mixing board.

"You don't have to lie." Justin commented as he wrote something down in his notebook.

JC brought his hands down away from under his chin. "I just wish I could have talked to her more. I was curious as to where she was living now. How she was doing...Things like that."

Justin watched his best friend as he fiddled with buttons and faders trying to seem like he was unfazed by what was going on his personal life. "JC...You are really going to sit there and tell me that not one piece of you misses Laura in the slightest?"

"I miss her. But it's something I am going to have to deal with."

"Well only for the rest of the month. The two of you have to go into the studio with Michael Stewart soon right?" Justin asked.

"Yeah. It's around the same time you go up there to work on your stuff right?"

"Yeah, Rachel was interrogating me earlier about it. You must have her really paranoid." he laughed.

"I don't know why. I don't go anywhere unless it is for work. I don't do anything unless I am working...And she is right in toe every time I turn around. Part of me wants to believe that she missed me and that she is trying to make up for lost time. But another part of me thinks she is trying to keep tabs...Like I am the one who is prone to cheat out of the two of us."

Justin never looked up from his work, when he asked, "You fuck her yet?"

JC looked over at Justin in shock. "Where did that come from?"

Justin rolled his eyes at JC's ignorance. "You knew I was going to ask."

JC got up and looked out the door and up the steps to see if anyone was around. He shut and locked it behind him before sitting back down. Justin was steady writing when JC leaned in close to him and said, "We didn't start sleeping together till very recently. And the second time...it was terrible."

"What did she do?"

"It wasn't her...It was me."

"What? You couldn't get it up?"

"Noooo!" JC defended. "I'm in bed...Doin' my thing...And I call out Laura's name."

Justin covered his mouth his balled up first and exclaimed, "Ooooooo….You didn't?!"

JC nodded his head. Justin's mouth dropped wide open as he let his pen fall. "What did she say?"

"She stopped me and asked what I said, and at the time I really didn't notice that I had said Laura's name. So she told me and all I could do was apologize, but she wasn't havin' it. She went on and on all night about how I must still be fucking around with Laura...knowing damn well that I have no idea where she is right now...And she starts in on how I must still be in love with her, and all this other bullshit to try and make me feel bad."

"Were you thinking about Laura when you were with Rachel?"

JC sat there in silence for a few moments and nodded. "I mean, I know I was wrong for doing that. I was so used to being with this one person that we had our own groove. It's hard for me to get back into the old groove with Rachel. I'm trying my best to erase the visions I have of Rachel and Jerry in my head. And to keep myself excited I have to visualize certain things. All guys do it. I just made the mistake of calling out the wrong name. I know I am wrong, and I've been trying to make up for it, but she is taking this guilt trip to the extreme...She's acting like she is some fuckin' angel, and you and I both know she is far from getting her wings."

"Then why are you with her?"

"Nikolas."

"That's a sorry ass reason to be with someone, JC. My parents tried that before they got divorced. It didn't work. It caused more harm than good."

"My biggest fear is that my child will have to grow up without me in his life everyday."

"Yeah...It's well and good what you are trying to do, but you forget that he is going to be without you when we go on the road and do promotion and things like that. We are gone months at a time. So either way he is going to be without you, man."

"I only want to be away from him if it is absolutely necessary. There is such a thing as bringing him on the road with us. I see how you are your dad aren't as close as either of you would like and I just don't want that. I just need time to get back into the swing of things. Learning to forgive and forget. It's not like I don't still love Rachel."

"Yeah but are you in love with her is the bigger question. I could never see myself spending the rest of my life with someone that I am not in love with. I'd be miserable."

Justin went on to explain his ideas of love and marriage. JC kept fading in and out of the conversation into his own thoughts. Justin had noticed his constant gazing off into space and asked, "Are you okay?"

With a disturbed look on his face he said, "Something just doesn't feel right today."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Laura let her head fall against the steering wheel as she sobbed quietly to herself. After a few minutes she looked up into the rear view mirror and wiped her eyes. She pulled down the brim of her baseball hat and grabbed her small duffle bag before getting out of the car and walking towards the building.

"Ma'am can I speak to you for a minute?" someone called out from the sidewalk.

Laura didn't look towards the woman and just kept walking up the path.

"It will just take a moment, Ma'am!" she yelled over.

Laura ignored her and opened the doors to go inside. She rang the bell and waited for someone to answer. A larger man opened the door and asked her name. He looked down the list and check it off and allowed her entry. She walked up to the front desk and waited for the receptionist.

"Good morning. You'll need to fill these out for me and I also need a urine sample." The woman handed her a little plastic cup and a clipboard with a small stack of papers attached to it.

Laura disappeared into the bathroom. When she returned, she placed the cup into a plastic bin and went and took her seat and started to fill out the paperwork. As she read through everything, tears began to slowly trickle down her face. When she was done she returned the papers to the woman and re-took her seat. She looked around at the other women sitting in the waiting room and noticed a couple quietly speaking amongst themselves. The man was leaning in towards the female whose head was on his shoulder. He let his fingers slide in between hers and held her hand tightly before kissing her lightly on the top of her head. She tried her best to focus her attention towards the television but her mind couldn't help but wander.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"How many?"

Laura looked up at the ceiling thinking quietly to herself. "Maybe two. I think a girl and a boy would be nice."

"Oh yeah?" JC asked as he let his fingers walk along her stomach. Laura looked down at him and smiled, "Yeah."

"Have you ever thought of what they would look like? Color of their eyes? Hair?" he questioned as he looked up at her while letting his lips graze her abdomen.

"You know I am ticklish there..." she giggled. JC smirked and blew air out of his mouth over her navel as he waited for her answer. "Hmmm...I never really put anymore thought into all that detail."

"The girl would most likely have your eyes. Maybe long curly hair and the cutest dimples. And of course the boy would have deep blue eyes..." he stated confidently.

"Oh really?" she grinned as she ran her hands through his hair as he kissed her sides and worked his way back to her stomach.

"My princess will have to be as beautiful as her mother and of course my little prince charming will inherit his father's good looks and charm."

"Just as long as he doesn't inherit your cocky attitude." Laura joked.

JC dawned a shock look on his face before tickling Laura almost to tears. Buddy hopped up onto the bed and began to playfully tug at JC's shirt to protect her. She then got the upper hand and returned the favor before losing her balance and falling on top of JC's chest. They both laid there starring deep into one another's eyes while struggling to catch their breath.

As JC was watching Laura, her face suddenly turned red before she let her head fall into his chest.

JC pushed her hair back trying to look at her face as he asked, "What? Did I scare you with all the baby talk?"

"No. It's just..." She finally looked up at him"...Everyday that I am with you, I become more and more dependent on these moments..." She then slowly ran her index finger across his lips. "...You're like coffee to me. I can't get through my day without you."

JC leaned up and kissed her gently on the lips while he turned her onto her side so they could face one another. Laura let her nose rub up against his as she closed her eyes and let the warm feeling of his tongue on her neck soothe her. "Mmmm." he moaned. "Our daughter will never be allowed to hang out with you alone...Ever."

Laura laughed, "Why not?"

"With all these lines you are throwing my way, she will all the boys in the playground eating out of her hand by the time she is 6."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Laura?" The nurse called out into the waiting room.

Laura grabbed her bag and followed the woman into the back. They went into a small room and sat down on the couch. The woman went over everything that was going to happen during her appointment and handed her a Valume to take.

"No one pressured you into coming here today right?"

"No, ma'am. No one really knows except my best friend."

"You did not inform the father of your decision to terminate your pregnancy?"

"Well it's a long story, but I don't want to disturb his life with this, and I am not ready for the added responsibility right now. My job keeps me on the road a lot..." The nurse could see Laura was having a hard time discussing the matter.

"If you need more time, we can always re-schedule your appointment."

Laura cleared her throat trying to push back the tears. "No. I've had plenty of time to think this through."

With that, the nurse took her into the lab where another nurse drew blood. Laura was then instructed to go and change into a gown and wait for the doctor. She sat on the edge of the table and looked around nervously. Her fingers were trembling and she was doing everything in her power to keep herself from crying. The nurse came in and took her blood pressure. The doctor soon walked in and greeted her. The nurse then instructed her to lay back on the table. The loud sounds of the paper underneath her made Laura jumpier than usual. The doctor asked her to scoot down more while the nurse helped her put her feet in the stirrups.

"Okay, now this is going to be cold against your belly." he said before pushing the gel substance from the tube onto her lower stomach. He pulled the equipment cart closer and took the device and slid it across her stomach as he looked at the screen. "Yeah, this seems to be showing you at about 14 weeks now."

Laura nodded in agreement that he was right. He looked at the screen again and said "I think I might be seeing two sacs here...Let me look again. This machine has been giving me trouble today."

Laura's eyes lit up. 'Twins?' she thought to herself.

"Ah, no it's just one baby." The doctor almost stopped in mid sentence at his mistake in saying baby. "Right now, I need to double check with you, because by law we have to inform you on the status of your pregnancy before we conduct the procedure. Are you still sure you want us to proceed?"

Laura laid there for what seemed like an eternity as she looked up at the ceiling and thought to herself. Tears were rolling down the sides of her eyes when she looked over at the doctor and said, "Yes, I'm sure." She shut her eyes tightly and tried to take her mind to another place as he told the nurse to prepare to start the procedure.