“So you’ll be over in like half an hour?” Justin asked into his cell phone as he turned left at a streetlight.

“Yeah. I’ve got to finish up a few things here but I’m gonna come straight over. Is Kate coming?”

“Nah. I called up Craig and Mike though and they’re coming over around seven.”

“And the game’s at seven thirty?”

“Yeah.”

“Want me to bring anything?”

“Pick up some beer. I don’t think we’ve got much at the house. I’m gonna see if Bren will make us some pizza or something.”

“Cool. Okay well I’m gonna finish up this shit so I can leave.”

“Alright. See you later.”

“Bye.”

Closing his phone, he dropped it back into his jacket pocket. He leaned back in his seat and flipped on the radio as he drove down the street. He had been in a meeting all day and was glad to be on his way home.

As he drew closer to the house, he pulled out his phone, deciding to call Brenna to see what she was up to. But there was no answer at the house nor on her cell. Once he was done calling the various numbers he was near to the house anyways and figured he’d find out where Brenna was when he got there.

The house was silent when he walked in and he dropped his keys and jacket on a bench near the front door. He called Brenna’s name once and then began to walk through the house, looking for her. In the kitchen he found her purse sitting on the table and heard her cell phone beeping. He reached in and saw she had two missed calls. The first was from him and his stomach turned when he saw the other call was from Drew.

What the hell is he calling for?

It had been a week since the lunch with Drew and he had been glad that there had been no talk of getting together again. He didn’t like Drew and had no desire to start hanging out with him. He also didn’t like the idea of Drew calling Brenna either. Drew had caused enough problems between Brenna and him in the past and he didn’t want any involvement with Drew again.

Quickly scrolling through the recent calls on her phone, Justin assured himself that Drew hadn’t called in the past few days and he put her phone back where he had found it.

The door leading to the back door was unlocked and he went outside onto the patio. His eyes scanned the backyard and rested on Brenna’s figure laying on a lounge chair by the pool. She didn’t move as he walked towards her and as he neared he could see that her eyes were closed and she was asleep.

When he stepped to her side, he grew still as he looked down at her. She was wearing a bikini and this was the least amount of clothing he had seen her in since before the accident. Even with his careful scrutinizing, it was sometimes hard to see the evidence of her pregnancy. Now though, with only a bikini on, he could see the small bump on her usually flat stomach. It brought a smile to his face and he couldn’t keep his eyes off her stomach. Although Brenna didn’t remember life before the accident, he did remember everything and he remembered how much he and Brenna had been looking forward to having a baby. And even though everything had changed, he was still just as excited as he had been before and nothing would change that.

There was a slight breeze picking up and he decided to wake Brenna up, not wanting her to catch a cold.

“Brenna,” he said, touching her bare shoulder.

Her face scrunched up a bit and her eyes opened slowly as her face turned towards him. He smiled and leaned his face down to give her a quick kiss.

“Hey,” he said, squatting down beside the lounge chair.

“Hi. Did you just get home?”

“Yeah.” He was quiet for a minute and his eyes briefly drifted down to her stomach. “Trace, Mike, and Craig are coming over to watch the basketball game in about an hour. Is that okay?”

She nodded and he smiled. “Good.” He leaned down and kissed her again, this time making it deeper. He lifted up his hand as he kissed her and gently let it rest on her stomach. She tensed a bit but then relaxed and he let his fingers slowly move over her stomach, feeling the swell of it for himself. It was truly an amazing thing to realize their baby was in there.

Brenna shied away from him after a moment and he pulled away, letting his hand slide to his side.

“It’s kind of cold out here,” he said. “Did you want to go back in?”

She nodded and sat up. He stood up and offered her a hand to help her up. She leaned down and picked up a book and a bottle of water from the ground and then he began to walk with her to the house.

“Did you want me to make something to eat while you guys watch the game?” she asked as she stepped into the kitchen.

He smiled. “I was going to ask if you would. Thanks, Bren.”

“What did you want?”

“Can you make pizza?”

“Sure. I’m just going to get changed first.”

He followed her upstairs and to their bedroom. “Did you want to watch the game with us?” he asked as he watched her grab some clothes.

“No,” she said simply before disappearing into the bathroom.

Justin waited until she came back into the room in a pair of jeans and a long sleeved t-shirt. A slight smile came to his lips when he could see her rounded stomach through the shirt. She went to the door and he followed close behind her, letting his hand rest on the small of her back as they went down the stairs. In the kitchen, she went to pull out some food from the fridge and he hoisted himself up on the counter. He watched her as she measured out ingredients.

“When is your next OB appointment?” he asked.

“A week from Wednesday.”

“I think I have a meeting that day. I’ll reschedule.”

“You don’t have to. I can go by myself.”

“No, I want to come. It’s not a problem to reschedule.”

“Okay.”

He gripped the edge of the counter with his hands and leaned his upper body forward a bit. “What kind are you making?”

“I thought maybe a pepperoni and a Hawaiian. Is that okay?”

“That’s awesome.” He bit his lip and was quiet for a moment. “So have you talked to Drew since lunch last week?” he finally asked as nonchalantly as possible.

“Drew? No. I think Kate said he was back in Chicago.”

“He called you today.”

She glanced up at him. “Today? At home?”

“No, on your cell.”

She frowned in confusion and put down her measuring cup to look up at him. “My cell?”

“You had some missed calls and one was from him.”

“You went into my purse and looked at my phone?”

He nodded and found her expression unreadable. “It was beeping,” he said as an explanation.

“Oh.” She went back to the pizza dough and no words were spoken for a moment. Finally she spoke quietly. “Kate told me all about what happened with Drew.”

His head jerked up to look at her. “She did?”

“Mm hmm.”

“So then you know why I don’t like him.”

“Yeah. He seemed really nice at lunch though.”

“Yeah well he may be a nice guy but he’s a nice guy in love with my wife,” he said flatly. “And that’s not okay.”

She raised her eyebrows as she looked down at the dough on the counter.

“Brenna,” he said when she didn’t respond. “That’s NOT okay.”

“I know,” she said softly, beginning to knead the dough.

He stared at her as she concentrated on the dough. Drew had always been something they disagreed on and he didn’t know why he thought things would be different now.

The sound of the front door opening pulled his eyes away from Brenna and he leaned his head forward to look down the hallway and see Trace coming into the house.

“Hey,” Justin said as Trace came into the kitchen.

Trace set the twelve pack of beer on the counter. “Hey. Hey, Brenna.”

She gave him a smile. “Hi, Trace.”

He looked over everything on the counter. “Whatcha making?”

“Pizza for you guys.”

Trace smiled. “Awesome. You’re the best, Bren.”

She smiled again. “I know.” She turned to put the dough in the oven to rise and Trace turned to Justin and made a motion of a rounded stomach on himself and mouthed ‘Wow’. Justin grinned and nodded. After a minute, Trace excused himself to go to the bathroom and Justin slid off the counter as he left the kitchen and went over to Brenna who was wiping off the counter. She glanced over her shoulder at him and he smiled.

“What?” she asked.

He put his hands on her hips and turned her around to face him. She gave him a questioning look but instead of saying anything, he moved his hands up to her waist and gripped it. He hoisted her up onto the counter, causing her breath to hitch in her throat.

“What are you doing?” she asked.

He smiled and shrugged and she laughed softly.

“What is with you today?”

He cocked an eyebrow at her and shrugged again. His hands dropped to her hips and he leaned forward to kiss her. Brenna seemed hesitant but he coaxed her with his mouth to relax and she eventually did. He moved his hands to rub up and down the outside of her thighs before letting them rest on her hips again.

Brenna pulled her head back after a moment. “Trace is in the bathroom. He’ll be back soon.”

“So?” he replied. “He’s seen us kiss before.” He made a move to kiss her again but she kept her head back.

“But that was before,” she said softly.

The corner of his mouth turned up a bit. “I know, Bren.” He moved his hands from her hips to the edge of the counter and his head dropped down as he sighed.

“Sorry, am I interrupting?” Trace’s voice asked.

“No,” Brenna quickly said. She moved to the edge of the counter to get down and he straightened and stepped back so she could slip off the counter. She went over to the sink to run some water and turned her back to him. It was quiet until Trace spoke.

“Hey, I never heard that song you were recording.”

“It’s in my office. We can listen to it in there.”

Trace followed Justin out of the kitchen and down the hallway. “So did I interrupt?” he asked once they were out of earshot of Brenna.

“No,” Justin sighed. “She wasn’t into the idea of doing anything while you were here.”

Trace laughed. “That never used to stop you guys before.”

“Yeah. That was before.” Justin went into his office and began to look through a cd rack.

“You can actually tell she’s pregnant now, hey?” Trace asked. “Before I couldn’t tell at all.”

“Yeah, I know. The past week I’ve been able to tell.”

“So do you think it’s a boy or girl?”

“No idea.”

“What do you want it to be.”

Justin pulled out the cd. “I don’t care as long as it’s healthy.”

Trace smirked. “Don’t give me that line. You must have a preference.”

Justin smiled and went over to the cd player. “A boy would be really cool.”

“I could totally picture you guys having a boy.”

“Me too.” He pushed play on the stereo and then sat down in his desk chair. “The song’s being released in two days for radio play.”

Trace nodded and sat down on a chair. After listening to the song, they sat around and talked until Craig and Mike arrived. As his friends got settled in front of the TV, Justin went to the kitchen.

“It smells great in here,” he said, going over to the oven and opening it to look inside. “When will they be done?”

“In a minute,” she said, pulling some plates out of a cupboard. “Here.”

“We don’t need plates for pizza.”

“Yes you do.”

“Bren,” he whined.

She raised her eyebrows, the hand holding the plates never wavering. He finally sighed and took them from him. She got a pleased smile on her face and went over to the oven and opened it.

“Are you going to have any?” he asked, passing her the oven mitts.

“I had some soup already.”

“Oh. So what are you going to do tonight?”

“I don’t know. Watch some TV upstairs maybe.” She pulled the pizza from the oven and after cutting it, she helped him carry it to the entertainment room. She disappeared soon after that, leaving the four guys alone.

It was close to eleven when Trace, Craig, and Mike left. Justin brought all the dishes to the kitchen and cleaned up and then made his way upstairs, turning off the lights as he went. The door to his and Brenna’s bedroom was shut and he eased it open silently to find the room dark. As his eyes adjusted, he could make out Brenna’s form laying in bed and he was a little disappointed. He had been wanting to spend some time with her.

He quietly made his way through the room and to the bedroom, shutting the door before turning on the light. The room smelled like jasmine and he figured she had taken a bath that evening.

He got ready for bed quickly and then went back into the dark bedroom. He felt his way to the bed and got in. As he did, Brenna sighed softly and rolled toward him onto her stomach, with her face turned towards him. She didn’t respond when he said her name so he shifted closer to her and laid on his side. He wasn’t too tired so for the next while, he laid there content to watch her sleep.