Chapter 11

“JC, are you sure this is a good idea?” Joey asked as they entered the hospital, making their way towards the elevator.

“Yeah.  Why wouldn’t it be?” JC answered stopping in front of the elevator and helping Kylie press the button.  “That’s it.  Just push right there.” he told her.  He knew what Joey was referring to but he was trying really hard to ignore him.

“C, you know what Tommy said yesterday.  This is going to start an all out war.  Calling Mahogany and telling her you’d come pick Abby up.  Going against his wishes like that.  Do you really want to start something you can’t finish?” Joey persisted.

JC’s head shot up and he looked at Joey.  “What makes you think I can’t finish it?”

Joey shook his head in disbelief.  “You are aware that if Abby actually leaves with us, this is going to cause problems with her and Tommy.  And not only that, it’s only gonna piss him off that much more.”

“He’ll get over it.” JC shrugged walking into the elevator when the doors opened.

Joey followed JC in, leaning against the far side of the elevator.  He watched his friend, studying him.  “You’re doing this on purpose.” he blurted out.  “You want to cause problems between them, don’t you?”

JC looked over at Joey innocently.  “I wouldn’t say that.”

“Aw, come on, C!  Don’t play me like that.  I’m not stupid.  It’s very evident what your doing.  I just hope you thought this all the way through.  Not only are you putting Abby in a bad position but you’re also putting Kylie in one as well.  They live with the guy.  Kylie lives with them!  Do you think it’s gonna be healthy for her to hear them fighting all the time?”

“If they’re as in love and happy as they’ve said they are then they won't have anything to fight about.” JC shrugged.  He didn’t want to admit to Joey that he hadn’t thought about how this would effect Kylie.  That idea had never really crossed his mind.  And now that it had he was starting to rethink his little plan.

“Whatever!” Joey grumbled thoroughly annoyed with JC’s attitude about the whole thing.  He walked off the elevator as soon as the doors opened and began making his way to Abby’s room.  JC following a short distance behind him.

When they got to Abby’s room, she was sitting on the hospital bed fully dressed watching the TV.  Joey walked through the door and cleared his throat.

Abby looked at them questioningly.  “What are you guys doing here?”

“We’re here to pick you up.” JC said cheerfully, walking over to the bed and handing Kylie over to her.

“Uh…I thought Mahogany was going to pick me up?”

“I called her and told her not to worry about it, that me and Joe would do it.  She had a photo shoot this morning anyways and said she woulda been rushing around, so it all works out for the best.  Besides, I knew you would want to see Kylie, and we woulda had to bring her to your place later anyways, so what’s the difference?”

Abby looked at him skeptically.  She knew if she allowed Joey and JC to take her home that Tommy would flip out about it, but he did have a point as far as the whole Kylie thing went.  And Mahogany was already gone doing her thing.  She honestly didn’t really see what the big deal was anyways, and as it stood now she really didn’t have a choice either.  “Ok, whatever.” she finally said turning her attention to Kylie.

JC grinned.  “Good.  So what are we waiting for?  You ready to go?”
 

The group made their way into Abby’s apartment.  JC carrying Kylie, Joey carrying Abby’s bag for her.  Abby sat her keys down on top of the coffee table and looked around the room.  It was a mess.  Beer cans sitting all over the place.  She couldn’t believe it.

She looked up at Joey and JC and noticed the looks on their faces as they looked around the room.  “Uh….sorry about the mess.  Tommy apparently doesn’t know how to pick up after himself.  It doesn’t normally look like this.” she blushed, rushing to grab the beer cans and throw them away.

Joey stopped her. “Abby, you’re in no shape to be cleaning up this mess.  Don’t worry about it.  Trust me when I say I’ve seen much worse.  You just sit down and relax, and I’ll pick this up for you.”

“Ya know…it was really nice of him to have a party while his wife was in the hospital.  Cause that’s really what it looks like went down here.” JC said looking around.

Joey turned and gave JC a dirty look.  “Would you shut up!” he muttered.

“What?” JC questioned.  “It’s the truth.  His wife’s in the hospital and he’s back her holding it down by having a party and leaving one hell of a mess for her to clean up when she comes home.  That’s not a very caring thing to do, if you ask me.”

“Nobody asked you.” Joey glared.

“Ok, guys that’s enough.” Abby interrupted them.

Joey turned and looked at her.  “You’ll have to excuse him.  He seems to have misplaced his brain today.”

Abby chuckled at Joey’s comment.  She’d never seen those two bicker at each other the way they were and it was more than amusing to her.

Joey went about picking up all the beer cans and although Joey fought her on it, Abby helped him.  And while they were doing that, JC had laid Kylie down on a blanket he had spread out on the floor, and was looking around Abby’s living room.  His eyes drifted to all of the photographs that were displayed around the room.  Tons of pictures of Kylie from a newborn to current.  JC had no doubts that Abby would have a lot of photographs of their daughter, with her being a photographer and all.

His eyes settled on a picture of Abby and Tommy.  Their wedding day.  Abby was wearing a beautiful white wedding gown, Tommy in the basic black tux.  JC fought the temptation he felt to hurl the picture across the room, and instead continued to study it.

He had seen many photographs from weddings.  His parents, family members, and friends that were married.  And the couples always looked so happy and in love, but he just didn’t see that in this picture.  They stood, Abby’s hand in Tommy’s before the pastor, however there was no smile on Abby’s face.  No adoration.  The only emotion JC could interpret from Abby’s face was one of fear or unhappiness.  He told himself this was yet another sign that Abby was not meant to be with Tommy.

JC turned away from the picture when Abby sat down on the sofa with a sigh.  “You ok?” he asked.

Abby looked up at him with a faint smile.  “Just tired is all.  My arms throbbing, but I don’t want to take any of my pain pills because Tommy won't be home for around another five hours and I don’t wanna pass out while I’m here all alone with Kylie.”

JC nodded in understanding and made his way to set beside her on the sofa.  “Actually, I had an idea.  Feel free to tell me no, but…well…um…” he stuttered nervously.

Abby studied him.  “Spit it out JC.” she chuckled.

“Well, I was thinking that maybe I could keep Kylie for a few more days.” he said waiting on her to flip out and tell him no, but that didn’t happen.

“You want to keep her for a few more days?” she questioned.

“Yeah.  Well, see your not really going to be able to take care of her real well with your cast.  And you’re still healing from the car accident so you really should rest for a few more days before taking on the chore of looking after a small child.   And well I’d like to spend some more time with her.”

“Oh.  Well, I figured that you’d be going back to Cali.”

“I’m not going anywhere right now.  You need…” he stopped before he could finish that sentence.  He was about to tell her that she needed him there, but knew that wouldn’t go over well.  “You need to rest.  And we need to figure out how we’re going to arrange this whole thing with Kylie.” he covered.

“Well, you know I don’t object to you spending time with her.  And honestly I think it would be good if you continued to spend time with her so she gets to know you better.  It’s evident she’s already very comfortable with you.  I guess that would be ok.” she agreed.

“Really?  No arguments or fights?” JC asked surprised.  He was just positive she was going to fight him on his idea, he couldn’t believe she was giving in so easily.

“I think I kept her from you long enough JC.” Abby said looking down at her cast.  “I don’t want to keep her from you anymore.”

JC was about to tell her that he understood, when Joey walked back into the room.  “OK, that’s all done.  I even took the trash down to the dumpster for you.  Do you need anything else before we high tail it out of here?” he asked.

“Abby, said I could keep Kylie for a few days Joe.” JC informed him happily.

“That’s good.” Joey smiled.

Abby looked to Joe.  “So how long are you going to be in town?”

“Only a day or two more.  This trip really wasn’t planned.  JC called the night of your accident upset and wanted me to come out here for support.  But I gotta get back to Florida.  Got some things on my schedule this coming week.  And I miss my lil’ girl.” he grinned taking a seat in the recliner.

“So your not gonna be at the hotel with JC?” Abby questioned and JC’s ears perked up.

“Don’t tell me your not gonna let me take her if Joe’s not there.  That’s not fair.” he began to argue.

Abby looked at him amused.  “I wasn’t going to say that.  I was simply asking.  I think your doing a good job from what I’ve seen, and you gotta learn sometime.”

“You scared me there for a sec.” JC said settling back into the sofa.

Abby sighed and looked around the room, her eyes settling on her daughter playing happily on the floor.  “If you’re going to take her for a couple days I should probably put a bag together for you.”

Joey snorted.  “I don’t think the kid needs anything!”

Abby looked to JC for answers as to what Joey’s statement meant.  “I went shopping.” he shrugged.

“Yeah, and he bought the whole damn store too!”

“She has clothes, diapers, and all that stuff?” Abby questioned.

“Yeah, I got her a couple outfits, and diapers.” JC answered.

“And a traveling crib, car seat, toys, play pin, and a bunch of other stuff.” Joey added.

“Ok, so I went a little overboard.  WHATEVER.  I missed the first year of her life, I think I’m entitled to spoil her a little bit.” JC huffed crossing his arms over his chest , pouting at the way Joey was making fun of him.

Abby laughed at JC.  He looked so adorable sitting there pouting like a small boy.  She missed the pout.  He had always given her that pout.  She missed so many things about him, and about the time they spent together.  She sighed and shook her head, as if to rid herself of the memories that were beginning to fill her thoughts.  Those were things she needed to forget.  Especially, if she was going to make this whole situation work.

“Well, if you’re going to keep her for a few more days she’s going to need more clothes.  She goes through a couple outfit’s a day.” Abby said getting up from the sofa.

“Yeah, I noticed.” JC chuckled and got up to follow her.

Abby turned and looked at him.  “What are you doing?”

“I was gonna help you pack her bag.”

“I can get it myself, JC.” she said motioning for him to sit back down.

“Well, I wanna see her room.  Or am I not aloud to see my daughters room?”

Abby sighed.  “Of course you can see her room.  Come on.” she said and looked at Joey.  “Can you keep and eye on her a sec?”

“Sure, no problem.” Joey smiled getting up form the chair to lay on the floor next to Kylie as Abby and JC made their way upstairs.

JC followed Abby down the short hallway.  All the doors were shut, so he wasn’t sure what door went where.  He was hoping to catch a glimpse of Abby’s bedroom, although he wasn’t really sure why he would want to see the room and the bed that she shared with her husband, but something inside of him wanted to.

Abby walked to the end of the hallway and opened the door on the left walking into the room, JC following closely behind.  He stopped in the doorway and looked around the room decorated in a soft pink, with fluffy white clouds painted on the walls.  As his eyes scanned the room he took in Kylie's beautiful white crib and the stuffed animals that lined it.  When his eyes focused on the other side of the room he noticed a twin bed.

“Why do you have a twin bed in here?  She’s to little for that isn’t she?”

Abby looked back at JC and he could have sworn he saw a look of panic cross her face, but she quickly composed herself.  “Sometimes I sleep in here with her when she’s fussy.  It’s just easier to have an extra bed.  And it’s also for when we have guests over since we only have a two bedroom.”

“Oh, ok.” JC said, not totally believing her.
 
 
 
 
 

Chapter 12

JC continued to look around the room as Abby packed a small bag for Kylie.  He made his way over to the closet to look at all of Kylie’s little clothes that were hanging from miniature hangers.  He couldn’t help but smile at that site.  It was only yet another reminder of how small and fragile his daughter was.

He noticed some of Abby’s clothes also hanging in the closet as well.  “Do you still wear this stuff?” he asked shuffling through the clothing.

“Huh?” Abby asked not sure what he was talking about as she folded another sleeper and placed it in the bag.

“These clothes in here?  Do you still wear them?” he asked again.

Abby looked back over her shoulder and seen that he was looking through the closet.  She couldn’t remember JC being this nosey before, but it seemed he was just checking everything out this time around.  “Um…we ran out of closet space in the other closet so I store some of my stuff in here.” she shrugged.

JC nodded and turned around making his way over to the twin bed that Abby had the clothes laid out on and was individually folding them up.  So he picked up an article of clothing and mimicked her, folding the small outfit and then placing it in the bag.

“You know we do have some things we need to talk about.” he stated out of nowhere, although somehow Abby knew that he was going to bring this up sooner or later.

“Yeah, I know.” she responded staying focused on her task.

JC reached out and grabbed her hands to still the folding and packing process.  “Can you please look at me.  I would like to talk about this now, while we’re alone.”

Abby looked up at him warily.  “I was hoping we could actually wait a few days to have this discussion.”

“Why wait?  I think this is as good a time as any.  We really don’t need to put it off any longer.” he said motioning for her to sit down on the bed.

Abby sighed as she sat down on the bed.  “JC, I just done want to get into another argument with you.  I know this is all my fault and I know I messed up and I’m truly sorry and I know nothing I can do will make what I’ve done right.  But I just don’t want to fight about it.”

“Who said we were going to fight about anything?  I just wanted to know how you plan on sharing custody with me.  We don’t have to fight about this, Abby.  We can just agree that you’ll move back to California and then everything will be fine.” he said as if it were really that simple.

Abby laughed at him, thinking he was joking.  She could have sworn he was joking the way he had said it.  He made it out like it was the easiest and simplest thing in the world.  “Just move back to Cali, huh?” she chuckled.

JC smiled.  “Yeah.  You and Kylie can stay with me.  Or I can get you a place.  Whatever you want.”

Abby looked at him sharply, realizing he wasn’t joking.  He was serious.  “I can’t move back to California, JC.  Have you lost your mind?”

“Well, then how am I going to see her?  I need her close by so I can see her on a regular basis.” he retorted.

“Well, if you want to be close to her then I guess you’ll have to move out here, cause I can’t move to Cali.”

“Why not?  My house is in California.  You are more than welcome to stay there.  And you always said you didn’t want to live in Vegas anyways, so it’s a win, win situation.”

“But this IS where I’ve lived for almost the last two years, JC.  This is where my work is.  Where my family is.” Abby argued.

“Your family?” JC questioned, eyeing her.

“Yes, my family JC.  My husband and my daughter.”

“Why did you go and marry him when you knew you were having my baby?  Why did you do that, Abby?” JC asked softly totally switching the subject.  “Why didn’t you just come to me and tell me?”

Abby looked at him in shock for a moment.  She didn’t want to have this conversation again.  They had already had this conversation and it started an all out fight.  She didn’t like it when JC was angry at her and the last thing she wanted to do was fight with him.  They seemed to be getting along for the moment and she just wanted to keep it that way.  Was that really too much to ask?  Apparently so.

“JC, we’ve had this conversation already.  I told you why.” she sighed.

“Yeah, but it still doesn’t make sense to me, Abby.  I just don’t understand why you kept this from me.  I know what you say your reasons are, but it doesn’t make sense to me.  I just wish you’d tell me the truth.” JC said looking into her eyes.

“I did tell you the truth, JC.  I was scared and I didn’t want to be around you at the time.  You hurt me.  I couldn’t be around you like that, so I moved on.  Tommy was a good friend to me and when he found out I was pregnant, he offered to marry me and raise the baby with me.  I told you all of this already.  I wasn’t lying.”

“So you don’t love him?” JC questioned.

“YES!  Of course I love him.”

“But you just said…”

Abby cut him off.  “That doesn’t mean I don’t love him.”

JC was growing angry.  Just hearing her say that she loved Tommy was enough to make a fury build inside of him.  “How can you love someone that treats you the way he does?”

“How does he treat me, JC?” she retorted.

“He yells at you.  Trashes the house and leaves it that way for you to clean up when you get out of the hospital.  He doesn’t seem to be a very loving husband.  How can you love him?  He treats you horribly from what I’ve seen.  What is there to love?” JC demanded angrily.

Abby’s anger grew.  Who was he to question her?  Sure, he had a right to question her where Kylie was concerned, but this had nothing to do with Kylie.  He hadn’t even mentioned her name.  This was all about Abby and her love life, which was none of his business.  “I guess I just have a habit of loving people that treat me like shit.” she snapped back.

JC froze, knowing exactly what she meant by those words.  “Abby, I…”

“Just stop while you’re ahead, JC.” Abby said as she got up and stuffed the rest of Kylie’s clothing into the bag and zipped it closed.  “I think you should go now.  I don’t want to fight with you.  I’m tired.  I’m in pain.  And for Kylie’s sake I do not want to fight with you.”

JC stood up taking the bag from her.  “I didn’t mean to upset you.  It’s just hard for me to understand all of this.  It’s going to take time for me to adjust.”

“I understand that, JC.  But in the meantime you need to get used to the fact that I’m happily married to Tommy.  I cannot and will not move to California with you.  And if you want to see Kylie then you’ll have to figure that out on your own.  You have the right to ask me and talk to me about anything that pertains to Kylie, but you DO NOT have the right to question me about my life.  You lost that right a long time ago.” she said and then walked out of the room.

JC stood there for a moment thinking about all of the things that had just been said.  She was right.  He had treated her badly before, so who was he to judge how someone else was treating her.  But still he couldn’t quite allow that fact to sink into his head.  He loved Abby, and sure he had messed up, but he had seen the error of his ways.  All he wanted was the chance to make it right.  But it was all to obvious that this battle was only beginning and it wasn’t going to be as easy as he thought.  Especially, with Abby fighting him every step of the way.
 

“Honey, I’m home!” Tommy called out as he walked through the apartment door chuckling slightly.

When he received no response, he walked further into the apartment.  He spotted Abby sleeping quietly, stretched out on the sofa.  He walked over to the play pin that was setup in the corner of the room expecting to find Kylie dozing as well since it was so quiet, but when he got there and found it empty his brow scrunched up in confusion.

The thought then occurred to him that perhaps she was upstairs, so he quietly made his way through the living room back to the entry way and up the stairs to Kylie’s room.  He entered her room quietly and walked over to her crib only to find it empty as well.  Now he was really confused.

Tommy made his way back down stairs and kneeled down beside Abby, shaking her gently to wake her.  “Abby. Abby, wake up.”  When he saw her eyes flutter open as she stirred, he questioned her.  “Where’s Kylie?”

Abby blinked several times trying to focus on Tommy’s face.  She had taken her pain pills after JC and Joey left with Kylie earlier that afternoon and passed out on the sofa.  It appeared that the meds were still in her system as she was still feeling very groggy.

“She’s with JC.” Abby said softly and then tried to roll over to go back to sleep.

“WHAT?” Tommy shouted, whipping her back over to face him.  “Why the hell is she with him?  It thought he was going to drop her off this afternoon?”

“Ow…watch the arm!” Abby whined, as she jerked away from Tommy.  “Joey and JC picked me up from the hospital and JC asked if he could keep her a few more days since I still needed time to rest.  I didn’t see anything wrong with it, so I let him take her.”

“Have you fucking lost your mind?” Tommy yelled, throwing his hands into the air as he stood upright.

Abby slowly sat up on the sofa and looked at him.  “Would you stop yelling?  You’re acting crazy!  What’s gotten into you lately?”

"What’s gotten into me?  WHAT’S GOTTEN INTO ME?” his voice grew.  “You shipped my kid off with some other man, that’s what’s gotten into…” he stopped abruptly.  “Wait…did you just say they picked you up from the hospital?”

Abby sighed she knew that wasn’t going to go over well, but she also knew she couldn’t lie either because he would find out one way or another.  “Yes, JC and Joey picked me up.”

“I thought I made it clear to him yesterday that Mahogany was going to pick you up?  Where the hell was she?”

“She had a photo shoot this morning.  It was easier for Joey and JC to come pick me up.”

“He’s doing this shit on purpose.  I just know he is.  He’s trying to tear us apart!” Tommy yelled.

“Would you quit acting like a lunatic?!  What’s the big fucking deal?  Why are you acting like this?” Abby demanded her temper flaring.

Totally ignoring her Tommy continued his rant.  “I’m going over to that hotel right now and getting her.  I do NOT want him around Kylie!  This is going to stop.  And it’s going to stop here!” he said as he started to march off towards the front door.

Abby was on her feet quickly and going after him. She grabbed his arm and began to tug on him, trying to pull him away from the door.  “TOMMY NO!” she yelled.  “Stop this craziness.  She’s not yours, you can’t do that!”

Tommy jerked his arm away and shoved her, sending Abby to the floor.  She was so shocked that he had actually pushed her to the floor like that, she didn’t know what to do, and just sat there.  Tommy also froze.  He hadn't meant to push her to the floor like that.

He quickly rushed to her side.  “I’m sorry Abby.  I didn’t meant to do that.” he said, reaching out to her.

“Don’t fucking touch me!  You’re being a jackass Tommy and I don’t know what the hell has gotten into you but you need to get it together!” Abby yelled, scrambling off the floor and running up the stairs before he could see her break down into tears.

Tommy slowly moved over to the recliner and threw himself back into it.  Clutching his hand to his throbbing head, he was trying to make sense of his actions just moments before.  He was just so angry and determined.  He didn’t know what had come over him, but here lately it seemed to be creeping up inside of him more frequently.

All he knew was that everything had been perfect for him and Abby.  Until January that is.  After she had ran into JC at the mall that day things had slowly began to go down hill.  She had brought up telling JC about Kylie several times after that run in, and Tommy had repeatedly talked her out of it.  He knew that keeping the truth from JC about Kylie was tearing Abby apart inside, but he also knew that if she told him, then the perfect little life they had created would go down in flames.  And now he was seeing just how right he had been.
 
 
 
 

Chapter 13

Abby laid on the bed in Kylie’s room, staring off at the ceiling.  Her tears finally subsiding.  She was crying for so many reasons.  So many reasons, that she couldn’t keep track of them all anymore.  She wanted so badly for the whole mess to be over, but she knew it was only the beginning.  The beginning of her inner battle.  That was what worried her the most.

Tommy was right when he had said she still loved JC.  She knew it.  Tommy knew.  And Abby was pretty sure that even JC knew it.  But she had a different life now.  Maybe it wasn’t the life she had always dreamed of having but it was her life none the less.

She loved Tommy in his own special way.  He had always been good to her.  Been a good friend.  And he was an amazing father to Kylie, but he seemed to be changing and that scared her.

Abby could understand Tommy being upset about JC’s pending relationship with Kylie.  Tommy had been there since she was born.  He had taken care of her.  Looked after her, and JC’s sudden appearance was going to change all of that for Tommy.  But it wasn’t like he didn’t know.  It wasn’t like he had thought Kylie was really his daughter the whole time and he had just found out other wise. So although some of his actions were understandable, a lot of them still weren’t.  Case in point; him pushing her.

She sighed and closed her eyes.  She just wanted to sleep and forget about the madness that was surrounding her at the moment.  She was sure that things were going to get worse before they got better, and she needed to get back on her feet before that happened.  But she knew they were already off to a good start.
 

( Next day )

“I’ll be home right after work.” Tommy said as he moved around the kitchen stuffing documents into his briefcase that he needed to take to the office.

“Ok.” Abby said concentrating on the magazine she was reading as she ate her breakfast.

Tommy sighed and looked over at her.  She had hardly spoken to him since they had got up that morning.  He knew he had been out of line the night before but it annoyed him that she was acting this way about it.  He had apologized, what more did she what?

“Abigail?”  He said trying to get her attention.  When she only responded with a “what” without looking up at him he slammed his briefcase down on the table, causing her to jump.  “Abigail, look at me!” he demanded.

Abby looked up at him with startled eyes.  “What?” she questioned.

“I’m trying to talk to you and you’re ignoring me.  Quit acting like a baby and talk to me.”

“I was talking to you.  I answered you.  What more do you want?”

“Don’t play like you don’t know what I’m talking about!  You’re sitting there ignoring me.  You wouldn’t even look at me when I was talking to you.  I don’t want to play these games with you.  I told you I was sorry about last night.  I didn’t mean to push you, I was just pissed off.  But I apologized, that should be enough.”

“Oh, so you push me and then apologize and that’s supposed to make it all ok?  Sorry, it doesn’t work that way Tommy!” she said getting up from the table, shoving the chair in and moving towards the living room.

Tommy followed her.  “Well, what the hell am I supposed to do then?  Gravel at your feet?  What do you want me to do to make it up to you?”

“You can’t make it up to me!  So just leave it alone!”

“You’re being really stupid about this!” he growled heading for the front door to leave.

“Yeah, I guess I have no right to be upset about it.  I mean it’s nothing when your HUSBAND shoves you to the ground!  That’s NOTHING to be upset about.  I’m making a big deal out of nothing!” she yelled.

Tommy was halfway out the door when he heard her words.  He stopped and stormed back into the living room stopping right in front of her.  “What’s that supposed to mean?  Why’d you say it like that?”

“Say what like what?” she glared at him.

“You know what!  Why did you say husband like that?” he yelled.

“YOU KNOW WHY!” she yelled back.

Tommy reached out and grabbed her by her shoulders and began to shake her.  “What the hell is wrong with you?”

“Hey, hey, hey….what’s going on in here?” Joey questioned walking into the entryway.

Tommy froze, his hands still tightly grasping Abby’s shoulders.  He glared at her.  “This is all your fault.” he muttered to her so only she could hear, then turned around and seen not only Joey standing in the entry way, but JC was also standing beside him, Kylie securely tucked on his hip.  Both men were staring at him incredulously.

“Nothing’s going on.  I was just leaving.” he huffed shoving past them to leave, slamming the door on his way out.

Joey and JC watched him leave, and then turned back to look at Abby who was still standing in the same spot with a mixed look of fear and confusion written across her face.

“Care to explain what the hell that was about?” JC said, as he walked over to Kylie’s playpen and sat her down.

Abby tried quickly to compose herself.  “That was nothing.” she said running her good hand through her hair to push it back out of her face and walking towards the kitchen.  “We were just having an argument.”

“I’ll say.  We could hear you clear out in the parking lot!” Joey stated watching her closely.  He glanced over at JC and they shared a knowing look.

“Well, people get loud when they’re upset, Joey.” Abby said as she disappeared into the kitchen.  She needed to regain her composure.  She could not let them see her like this.  Her mind was racing, trying to come up with a believable explanation for what they had walked in on.  She just didn’t need this right now.

Joey followed her into the kitchen.  “Abbs, I know it’s none of my business but I don’t like what I seen when I walked through that door.  What the hell’s going on?” he asked with pleading concern filled eyes.

Abby sighed.  “You’re right Joey it’s none of your business.  It’s not what you think it was I can assure you of that.  We were just arguing about some stuff.  Not a big deal, so don’t get all worked up about it.”

“How can I not get worked up, when I walk through the door and see your husband of all people shaking and yelling at you?  Especially, when you just got out of the hospital!”

“He wasn’t shaking me.  I stumbled and he was trying to steady me.” Abby lied.  She didn’t know he’d actually seen that part.  She had assumed they’d only heard the argument.

“Don’t lie to me, Abby.  I know what I saw!” Joey eyed her.

“We both saw it.”

Abby looked from Joey to JC, who was leaning in the doorway to the kitchen.  “Look it’s not what you guys think so drop it ok.  You know me better than that.  You KNOW I would NOT tolerate a man hitting on me or anything like what you’re suggesting.”

“But you’ll let him shake you?” JC questioned.

“UGH!” Abby grunted as she threw her hands in the air and barged past JC into the living room.  She walked over to Kylie and picked her up and started chattering to her in a sweet motherly tone.  Trying her hardest to ignore the two men she knew were staring at her.  She could feel their eyes burning into her back.

“Abby, we’re not trying to be all up in your business but we’re concerned.  You can’t fault us for that.” Joey said quietly as he approached her from behind.

Abby closed her eyes and looked down at Kylie’s smiling face.  “There’s nothing to be concerned about, so please just drop it.” she said without looking at them.

Joey glanced at JC and he could see the anger in his eyes.  He had to admit that he was impressed JC was restraining himself as well as he was.  Hell, he was impressed that HE was restraining himself as well as he was.  When they had made it to the door and seen that it was partially opened and heard the yelling going on inside they decided to go on in.  Nothing had prepared them for the site they were greeted with.

Joey’s first instinct was to snatch Tommy up by his hair and ring his neck, and Joey was pretty positive JC was feeling the same way.  But he knew he would not get anywhere with Abby by pressing her.  He just had to trust in the fact that she was telling the truth and that this was a one time event.  He couldn’t imagine the stress she was under with everything going on.  Or the problems this whole thing must be causing between her and Tommy.  So it was somewhat understandable that they were fighting and arguing.  But that still did not give Tommy the right to put his hands on her.

Joey sighed.  “Fine, I’ll drop it.  But if I see him with his hands on you like that again, I swear to God you cannot hold me responsible for what I’ll do to the guy.  I mean it, Abby!”

“You don’t have to worry about that, because it won't happen again.  Just let it go.” she said, turning to look at them.

JC still stood in the doorway between the kitchen and living room, not saying a word at the moment.  Although she could tell from the look on his face that he was thoroughly upset and had a million things he wanted to add to the conversation, but wasn’t.  She said a silent thank you for that.  She didn’t need both of them on her back.

“Whatever you say, Abbs.  You just remember what I said.” Joey stated before walking off towards the kitchen to get himself something to drink.

Abby looked back at JC again.  He was still standing there just staring at her.  “Just spit it out and get it over with.  I can’t stand you staring at me like that.” she told him.

“It’s not my business, Abby.  But let me say this.  He pulls that shit when Kylie’s around, and we WILL have some major problems!”

“JC, he would never hurt Kylie.” Abby objected.

“Yeah, like I’m sure he would never hurt you, but he just did!  And I don’t appreciate that shit either.  But he’s your husband, and you told us not to worry about it, so I’ll leave it alone for now.  But I agree with Joey.  If I see him with his hands on you like that again.  Or if he so much as raises his voice to you while Kylie is in the same room, shit WILL hit the fan!  And I’m not joking.” JC stated firmly and then he too turned into the kitchen to get something to drink and to try to collect himself before he really just let it all go and blew up.

Abby sighed and looked down at Kylie again.  She was all smiles and giggles that morning.  She looked happier than Abby could ever remember seeing her.  Obviously her time with JC was going well.  At least she could take some comfort in that, seeing as nothing else was going right.

Abby sighed. “What a way to start the day.”
 
 
 
 
 

Chapter 14

(2 weeks later)

Abby sat on the sofa watching JC play with Kylie on the floor.  Things seemed to be settling into a fairly normal routine.  JC was still keeping Kylie with him at his hotel at night, but during the day he would bring her over to Abby’s so that she could see her.

It was just easier for JC to keep her for a while, not only to forge a better bond with his daughter but also because Abby still had her arm in a cast and she was limited in the things she could do.  And quite honestly JC didn’t want Tommy doing those things for his daughter so he just chose to do things the way they had been.

A lot of the tension seemed to be settling down.  JC made sure that he was gone every day before Tommy got home, as to not get into another altercation with him.  He was still mentally reeling from what he and Joey had walked in on a couple weeks before.  So he knew it would be best if he just avoided the man, unsure of what he would do if he seen him.  OK, so he knew what he would do, that was the point in avoiding him.

JC and Abby were getting along a lot better as well.  They weren’t arguing and bickering over things, instead they were laughing and dotting over their daughter together.  JC couldn’t help but feel that, that was the way it was supposed to be.  It almost felt like they were a family.  Almost.  There was that unequivocal fact that Abby was married to another man, and he couldn’t have her the way he WANTED to have her.  But he hoped that in time that would change.  In fact he was counting on it.

JC had changed his mind set on how he was going to go about his whole plan to win her back.  Originally it had been to just cause as many problems as he could between Abby and Tommy so they would fall apart from each other, but after seeing the little incident that day, he changed his mind.  He was worried that by doing that he would be putting Abby in danger, no matter how much she protested that Tommy would never hurt her, something inside of JC told him she didn’t know what she was talking about.  So instead he decided he would just worm his way back in through her heart.

He knew she still loved him.  He could see it in her eyes whenever she looked him.  It really annoyed him that she was being so stubborn about her feelings and fighting it so hard.  If she would only give into the temptation he knew was there they would both be a lot happier.  But then he also knew that marriage was something that Abby took seriously.  And he was ALMOST upset with himself that he was purposefully trying to ruin her marriage.  If he thought she was really happy with Tommy he wouldn’t bother, because above everything else he wanted her to be happy.  And if Tommy was able to do that for her, then he would have just left it alone.  But JC knew that Tommy didn’t make her happy and he could and he was determined to do just that.

Smiling as he watched Kylie do her own little dance to a song that was playing on a TV commercial.  It was Kylie’s favorite, whenever it came on she always reacted to it.  JC looked up at Abby where she sat on the sofa, an adoring smile on her face as she watched her daughter.

“She really likes this commercial.” JC commented trying to initiate a conversation.

Abby looked over at him.  “Yeah, she really does.  It so funny to watch her when it comes on.” she said her eyes returning to Kylie as the commercial went off, but she continued to dance along as if it was still on.

JC sat up from his previously slouched position and continued to watch Abby.  He had been running over these thoughts the last few days in his head, trying to work up the courage to ask her.  He was really worried that she would say no, so he was hoping he would be able to talk her into it.  He knew he had to ask her now because time was running out and he had put it off for far too long already.

“I’m leaving the day after tomorrow to head back down to Orlando.  Johnny needs me there with the rest of the guys to go over some album details.” JC said suddenly out of no where.

Abby looked at him a little surprised.  JC could of sworn he seen a trace of disappointment pass quickly through her eyes before she pushed it aside and appeared to not be concerned about it.  “Ok.  So I take it that tonight will be the last night that you’ll be keeping Kylie then?”  Abby quickly scolded herself mentally for saying that.  It was a stupid statement.  Of course it would be the last night, he was leaving the day after.

“Well, actually.” JC paused giving her a hopeful look.  “I was gonna see if it would be ok if I took her with me to Florida.”

Abby went to protest but JC quickly continued.  “Wait…before you say no, hear me out.  All the guys want to see her.  And you know I told my Mom and Dad about her last week and well they’re in Orlando right now, so they were hoping I’d bring her with me so they could see her.  And Johnny wants to see her too.  You‘ve still got your cast so you really shouldn‘t be here alone with her during the day while Tommy is at work, so I think it would all work out.”

“JC…” Abby sighed.  The thought of her daughter being on the other end of the country and not getting to see her did not sit well with Abby.  It was hard enough when JC took her back to the hotel with him each night, let alone not being able to see her at all because she would be all the way in Florida with him.

“Come on, Abby.  Please.  You know I’ll take good care of her.  You don’t have to worry about anything.  You know I wouldn’t do anything to put her in harms way.  And…”

Abby cut him off.  “JC, it’s not that I think she wouldn’t be ok with you.  I trust you completely with Kylie.  You’re a very good father and I know you wouldn’t let anything happen to her.  But I’m off work for the next few weeks because of my arm.  And I honestly cannot imagine being here without her.  I’ll go crazy worrying about her if she goes with you.  Even though I know I don’t have anything to worry about, a mother still worries.  It’s only natural.  I just don’t think I can do that.  How long would she be gone?”

“A couple weeks.” JC said hesitantly.  He knew she wasn’t going to go for that.

“A couple weeks?”  Abby questioned.  “I don’t think I can do that JC.  I’m sorry but seriously I’ll go insane if I have to go a couple of weeks without seeing her.”

Hook, line and sinker JC thought.  “ So go with us.” he said.

Abby looked at him questioningly.  “Go with you?  Have you gone mad?”

“No.  Seriously, it would be cool.  You wouldn’t have to be without Kylie.  I would get to have my baby girl with me (and the woman I love, he thought) and the guys would get to see you too.  I know Justin for one is aching to get his hands on you.” JC smirked.

“I bet he is.” Abby rolled her eyes.  When Justin had found out about everything going on the previous week, she received a not so pleasant phone call from him.  Needless to say he wasn’t a happy camper and he didn’t even try to hide that fact in the least.

“Come on, Abby.  It’ll be fun.  When was the last time you went to Florida?”  JC pressed, he was determined to talk her into this.  He needed to get her away from Vegas.  Somewhere neutral so he could work his charm on her.

“When I was a teenager.  With my parents.”  Abby sighed.  The thought of getting away for a while was VERY appealing to her.  And the thought of getting to see the guys again was also appealing, she had really missed all of them and their corky ways.

“So see.  It’ll be fun.  We can take Kylie to the beach.  Disney World.  All those places when I’m not at WEG.  Kylie would love it.  And I’m sure you could use a nice little vacation.  So what do ya say?” he smiled perkily at her.

“JC…”  Abby sighed.  “It’s not that simple.  Are you forgetting that there is another person I need to consult on this?  I can’t just up and take off whenever I want to.  I’ll have to talk it over with Tommy and see what he says.”

JC rolled his eyes inwardly.  Like Tommy was going to agree to something like this.  It was already evident he was doing everything he could to keep Abby away from JC.  Any time they had made plans to take Kylie out somewhere on the weekend, Tommy had come up with a reason for why Abby couldn’t go.  He wondered if Tommy even knew that JC had been coming over during the day.  But that wasn’t a question to be asking at the moment.

“Fine.  You talk to him, but I honestly think it would be good for you to get away.  And Abby needs to meet her grandparents and her other uncles.  Joey, isn’t the only uncle ya know.” JC smirked.

“Yeah, I know.  And Justin’s not going to let me forget it either.” Abby said repeating one of the things Justin had told her while reaming her out on the phone the week before.
 

(later that night)

“You want to WHAT?” Tommy questioned.

“Go with JC to take Kylie down to Orlando for a week or two.  He has to go back and finish up the final stuff with their new album and his parents are down there and they really want to see Kylie.  He asked if he could just take her with him, but I don’t think I could go that long without seeing her.  So then he suggested I go.  All the guys want to see me and they really want to see Kylie.  Joey’s the only one that’s seen her.” Abby rattled off.

“You’re serious?” Tommy asked incredulously.  He could not believe she was even thinking about going to Florid with JC.  Well on second thought he could believe it.  What he couldn’t believe was that she had actually asked him if it was ok.  Of course it wasn’t ok.  He wasn’t stupid, he knew exactly what JC was up to.

“Yes, I’m serious.  I wouldn’t have brought it up if I wasn’t.”

“I don’t think so. I just don’t think that’s a good idea.  I think you should just send him packing that way me, you and Kylie can get back to our lives.”

“But I want to go, Tommy.  I haven’t seen the guys in so long, and I miss them.  And JC’s parents have the right to see their granddaughter.”  Abby defended.

“So tell them to come here then.” he retorted.

“Ugh!” Abby grunted.  She knew this was going to be a battle.  But this was one battle she was going to win.

Abby wanted to see the guys and she wanted to go.  And she was determined that regardless of what Tommy said she was going to do what she wanted.  “Well, ya know what.  I’m not going to do that.  The Chasez family are really sweet people, and they’ve never been anything but nice to me.  I’m not going to be a bitch about it just because you want to be an ass.  And I’m also not going to stay here just because you don’t like the idea of me going.  So just to let you know Tommy, when you come home tomorrow, I won't be here.  I’ll be on my way to Florida!”  Abby stated matter of factly, and then marched off into the other room to call JC and tell him to make the flight arrangements.
 
 
 
 
 

Chapter 15

“I still can’t believe Tommy actually agreed to this.” JC said as he settled into his seat in the private jet Johnny had chartered for them.

When Johnny found out that Abby was going to be traveling with JC for sure and that they were bringing Kylie along, he decided to get a private jet rather than have them fly commercial.  They needed to figure out how they were going to deal with this whole issue of JC having a child before they gave anyone the chance to find out about it by showing up on a public plane with their daughter in tow.

“Yeah.” Abby said quietly concentrating on her magazine.

JC studied her, something wasn’t right about this whole thing and her meek response told him everything he needed to know.  “He didn’t agree to this did he?” he questioned.

Abby looked up at him.  “Not exactly.  But it doesn’t matter.  He’ll get over it.” she said returning her attention to the magazine.

JC smiled to himself.  This was what he needed.  He needed these next two weeks with Abby to make her see where she really belonged.  And of course that was with him.  And the fact that she had so blatantly gone against Tommy’s wishes to go with him in the first place was a step in the right direction.
 

A few hours later their plane had landed and they had been greeted at the airport by Joey, Justin, Lance and Chris.  They sure were a sight for sore eyes as far as Abby was concerned.  It had been so long since she had seen any of them other than Joey in person that she couldn’t believe how much they had all changed.

The guys had all greeted Abby with bear hugs and kisses on the cheek.  And then immediately went to gush over Kylie, who JC was carrying proudly on her ever present spot on his hip.

Since Joey had already seen her he didn’t make as big of a fuss as the other guys did.  And boy did they make a fuss.  Justin was bouncing her all around, talking to her in a squeaky voice, which Kylie loved and laughed at.  Lance tickled her and made over how much she looked like Abby, but how she definitely had JC’s eyes.  And Chris was just insane.  He made up his own baby babble to talk to her and as they made their way through the airport people looked at him as if he was from another planet.

Rather than going back to JC’s house first, they headed straight for the WEG compound.  They had a brief meeting scheduled for that afternoon and Johnny wanted to see Kylie, so it had been agreed that they would go there before anywhere else.

While the guys were in their meeting with Johnny going over everything they needed to take care of over the next week, Abby took Kylie out to the small playground area that was constructed behind the building.  Amongst all the other things that Johnny had on the premises.

Abby settled Kylie into a infant swing, and then gently pushed her.  Kylie was beside herself in joy as she laughed hysterically while her mother continued to push her, each time going a little higher in the air.

JC, Johnny and the rest of the guys watched the two from a window in the conference room they were seated in.  They’d already gone over their schedules for the following week and when the Abby/Kylie situation had been brought up by Johnny, JC’s eyes had reverted to the window lost in thought.  Everyone else’s eyes and thoughts following JC’s.

“So how are we going to handle this?” Johnny asked, breaking the silence that had settled over the room.

“I think that Abby should be present for that particular meeting.  She needs to have a say in this as well.” JC stated, still watching the girls outside.  Abby was now laughing right along with Kylie.  Her laughter was infectious.

“I have to agree with JC on this.” Joey stated.  “She definitely needs to have a say in this.  You guys all need to figure out how you’re going to announce this and what exactly you’re going to say.  That way there’s no room for questions later.”

Johnny looked at Joey and smirked.  “Got it all figured out huh?”

“Hey, I’ve been through this already.  Although, my situation was a lot easier considering me and Kelly were actually together.  And people knew about it from the beginning.  JC’s situation is more delicate.  Nobody knew about Abby.  And now here out of nowhere JC’s got a kid, with some girl nobody knew about and to top it off the girl he’s got a kid by is married to someone else.  I think you all should really think long and hard about how you want to lay this one out.  Because you KNOW there’s going to be a shit load of questions.”

“All that anyone needs to know is that Kylie is my daughter and Abby is her mother.  The rest they have no business to know.  In all honesty I don’t think they have the right to know any of it and I wouldn’t even be considering this press release if it wasn’t for the fact that I know that eventually word would get out, because I have no intentions of hiding my daughter.”

“But you know they’re going to ask questions.” Lance interjected.  “They’re  going to want to know why you’re announcing it now all of the sudden, when Kylie’s a year old.  You know they’re not going to settle for anything but the whole story JC.”

“Yeah, well they’ll get over it.  I’m not going to drag Abby and Kylie through the mud with this whole thing.  And besides that’s a very personal story and they don’t need to know anything about it.” JC huffed.

“We’ll figure it out.” Johnny said hoping to stop the blow up he could already see coming from JC.  He could tell JC was already getting agitated by the whole thing and the last thing they all needed was to be arguing over something they had no control over.  “Well, I think that does it for today.  You’re all free to go and I’ll see you in here bright and early Monday morning.” he smiled.

“Bright and early my foot!” Chris grumbled as he left the room and Johnny snickered.

JC and the guys made their way through the winding halls of the compound and exited out the back door of the building that would lead them out to the area where Abby and Kylie were still playing on the swings.

“Having fun?” JC asked, as he and the guys approached.

“She is.  My arm is getting tired.  She won't get out of the swing.” Abby shook her head.

“See that’s what you get for being handicapped.  If you had two good hands you coulda switched off.” Chris told her.

“Yeah, I chose to have a broken wrist Chris.” Abby sneered sarcastically at him.

“I know.  You always did like it rough.” he smirked

“And how would YOU know how I like it?” Abby questioned placing her hands on her hips glaring at him playfully.

Chris shrugged.  “JC, told me.” and then turned and strutted off laughing to himself.

JC’s eyes grew big as Abby turned to glare at him.  “I didn’t tell him shit!” he was quick to defend.

Justin laughed.  “You’re in for it now, C!” he said smacking JC on the back before walking off with a chuckling Joey and Lance.

Abby continued to stare him down.  “I swear to God, Abby.  I never told them anything about our private moments.  That’s personal.  You know how I feel about that stuff.” he raced to continue.

Abby tried hard not to crack a smile.  She could almost see a sweat breaking out on JC’s forehead as he tried to explain.  She didn’t believe Chris, she knew he was joking.  But it sure was fun to watch JC squirm.  Finally though, a grin cracked through and she smirked at him.  “I didn’t honestly believe him, JC.” she said as she started to walk off in the same direction the guys had already departed in.

“Funny!“ he grumbled and watched her retreating back.  “Hey, what about Kylie?” JC called after her.

“You see if you can get her out.  Since she’s Daddy’s Lil’ Girl.  She wouldn’t get out of the swing for me.  You can fight her.  I’m going inside to get something to drink.”

JC watched her until she disappeared into the building then turned his attention to a giggling Kylie in the swing.  “You just wanted Daddy to come play with ya, huh?” he smiled at her giving her another gentle push which only made her giggle louder.

JC chuckled at her.  Her laughter really was infectious.  It was almost as if they were actually communicating.  Like she understood what he said and knew exactly what she had been doing when she refused to get out of the swing for Abby.  “That’s what I thought baby girl.  It’ll be our little secret.” he said smiling as he continued to push her in the swing.

The next couple of weeks were going to be quite interesting.
 
 
 
 
 

Chapter 16

( Saturday - the following day )

Abby looked back through the side mirror on JC’s black Mercedes ML500 SUV.  She was watching as Joey and Kelly followed behind them.  They were on their way to Disney World.  They had decided the day before that they would take the kids to Disney together, as a little group outing.  An outing that only the parents could understand.  Besides Justin, Lance and Chris had other things planned for the day anyway.

When she was satisfied that they were still behind them, she turned her attention to the road before them.  JC was driving, and Kylie was happily fastened into her car seat, in the back seat.

Abby was thinking over the previous evening.  After they had finally left th