I did a slight time jump here, but you will see why at the end. Thank you for your continued support! This story makes me smile as I write, and I hope I can keep writing the characters well as the story moves along. I'm excited for what's next! Happy reading :)


11 Weeks Later-Summer

"What do you mean, you haven't registered for your baby shower yet?" Schmidt asked Jess, astounded. She was sitting at the table and doing her best to ignore him, but he was persistent.

"Because I'm only 16 weeks pregnant," Jess answered.

"That means you have only 24 weeks left to plan the perfect baby shower," Schmidt huffed. "Technically about 18. You don't want to have your shower right at your due date."

"I thought someone else planned the baby shower for me?" Jess asked, confused. Schmidt clamped his lips shut. He had forgotten about that part.

"Also," Jess added. "The fact that you know how many weeks I have left kind of weirds me out."

"Well, I do research," Schmidt started.

"And the other fact that you're wanting the perfect baby shower concerns me too. Are you secretly a woman?" Jess asked, knowing it would irk him.

"I care about our baby, okay?" Schmidt snapped.

"'Our' baby?" Jess asked, alarmed.

"Yes! The baby is the loft's baby. The baby belongs to all of us," Schmidt said firmly.

"I strongly disagree," Jess said adamantly.

"I'm the godfather, so..."

"We haven't even decided that yet, Schmidt," Jess cut him off.

"Right," Schmidt said pretending she's right. He winked. "Gotcha."

"Are you planning our baby's shower without me?" Coach asked, coming in then.

"Oh, not you too," Jess moaned.

"Yes, I am. Your ideas are terrible," Schmidt told Coach irritably.

"How is a basketball party terrible?" Coach demanded.

"Are you even hearing yourself? It's a baby shower not some party for hooligans," Schmidt snarked.

"What would you do if it was a girl?" Jess asked, curious. She couldn't help herself.

"It's gonna be a boy," Coach argued. "There's so much masculinity in this loft that it will have rubbed off on your fetus."

"Okay, ew," Jess said, wrinkling her nose. "That's just wrong on so many levels."

"You can't do a basketball party for a girl anyway," Schmidt threw in, gleeful.

"That's some major gender inequality right there!" Coach said, indignant. "But if it was a girl, I'd do a ballerina party instead."

"And what, invite a bunch of famous dancers here?" Schmidt taunted.

"Okay, that's enough," Jess intervened. "Neither of you are allowed to plan my shower."

"But I'm going to have it catered," Schmidt whined.

"No!" Jess cried. She got up and grabbed her purse from the hook.

"Where are you going?" Coach asked.

"To get away from your nonsense," Jess answered, slamming the door shut behind her.

"She was referring to your ideas," Schmidt said to Coach.

"Nuh uh, man. She was referring to your ideas," Coach argued.

"I don't have time for this," Schmidt growled. "I have caterers to call." He stormed off. Jess needed to have a nice shower, and he was going to pull it off.

...

"Hey, little lady," Nick said as Jess sat down at the bar. He was wiping down some glasses.

"Schmidt is driving me crazy," Jess groaned.

"The shower thing?" Nick asked. "Yea I know. He kept trying to make me get involved."

"Why is it that he thinks our baby is their baby too?" Jess asked.

"I dunno. Why does Schmidt do, think, or say anything?" Nick laughed. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm okay," Jess answered dully. She had been experiencing morning sickness for the past while and hating it. Nick was extremely grateful that he was incapable of being pregnant so as to avoid the nastiness of vomiting all the time.

"Hey," Cece said, appearing from the back. She caught sight of Jess's face. "Oh, no. The shower again?"

"He's relentless," Jess sighed. Ever since the first ultrasound, Schmidt had gone nuts with the whole shower thing. He was obsessed.

"Look, I'll just tell him I'm doing it," Cece said. "That should stop him."

"You would think," Jess responded. "But this is Schmidt we're talking about here."

"Just leave it to me," Cece smiled at her. She had her ways of handling Schmidt.

"So how are things with Buster anyway?" Jess asked, changing the subject. She craved talk of things other than the baby.

"I'm breaking up with him," Cece sighed.

"Why?"

"It's just not clicking, and it's not because of the age difference," Cece said before Jess could open her mouth.

"Cece single again," Jess mused.

"It'll be nice," Cece smiled.

"Here," Nick said, handing her a plate of carrots. "These are good for the baby."

"Thanks, Nick," Jess replied. She was glad he was taking an interest. Cece gave her an eyebrow waggle behind Nick's back as she got back to work. Jess ignored it. Nothing was going to change about their relationship. They had agreed on that.

...

Later that evening, Nick was sitting with Winston and Coach. Schmidt was on the phone for something to do with the shower.

"It'll be nice to have my son sit and watch the games with us," Nick commented. Winston looked at him.

"You know it could be a girl, right?" he asked.

"It's a boy," Nick dismissed.

"Nick, there is a fifty percent chance it will be a girl," Winston said adamantly. Nick processed this for a second before his eyes widened.

"Fifty percent?! Those odds are terrible!" he cried. "No way. My swimmers are men. It's gonna be a boy."

"Um, newsflash Nick. Your swimmers are also girls," Winston commented.

"Don't you dare say that about my boys!" Nick shouted. "You'll confuse them!"

"I think a little girl would be adorable," Coach said. "Until she becomes a teenager that is. Then you'll have problems."

"No," Nick said strongly. "It's a boy. I can't have a girl. Girls like glitter and ponies and...and pink!"

"Man, how did we get so stereotypical?" Winston asked. "She could like purple or yellow or green or, God forbid, blue too, you know."

"Guys also like horses," Coach interjected. "Ever watched cowboy movies?"

"Ugh! No," Nick said loudly. "I have to have a boy."

"Why?" Winston asked. "What would be wrong with having a girl?"

"I need someone to carry on my name," Nick said.

"Nick, Nick Miller, or Miller?" Winston asked.

"Nick!" he cried. "I want a Nick Jr."

"You could call a girl Nichole," Coach suggested.

"I am not gonna ruin my good Nick name with that," Nick said grumpily.

"Nick name," Winston chuckled.

"Guys, I'm serious. I have to have a son. A daughter will break my heart when she finds another man in her life that's better than me, and she won't need me anymore," Nick said, tearing up.

"Is that what this is really about?" Coach asked. "You think she won't need her Daddy when she's grown up?"

"I dunno," Nick sniffed, his voice muffled.

"Your baby, boy or girl, will love you forever, Nick," Winston assured him.

"I'm home," Jess said, coming in. Nick got up and hugged her tightly, still crying a little.

"Our baby can't ever not need me," he said into her shoulder.

"Um, okay?" Jess said. She looked at Winston and Coach, who gave her a sympathetic look back.

"Good, you're home," Schmidt said. "I need your opinion." He held up photos.

"What am I looking at?" she asked. Nick straightened up and squinted at the photos too.

"They're desserts, Jess. Pick one," Schmidt said, annoyed.

"I said you're not in charge anymore," Jess told him. "Cece is."

"Cece! My God, what have you done? I mean, I respect Cece and all, but no. No, this has to be done right."

"Schmidt? Let it go," Jess said.

"I can't," Schmidt said. "I have to do this."

"No, you don't, buddy," Nick said, clapping Schmidt's shoulder.

"It's in Cece's hands now," Jess added. Schmidt looked hurt, and he went into his room and returned with an enormous binder. He slammed it down on the table.

"It's all hers now," he said, going back into his room and shutting the door. Jess and Nick stared at the book.

"What all goes on at a baby shower exactly?" Nick asked.

"I thought I knew," Jess answered.

"Don't we have an ultrasound appointment tomorrow?" Coach asked from the couch.

"Ugh, you guys! Stop it," Jess said. "And yes, we do."

"Can we come again?" Winston asked eagerly.

"No, you can't."

"Aw, man."

Jess was annoyed on the surface, but a part of her deep down felt honored and loved that her friends cared about the baby so much.

The Next Day

"I can't wait to see the baby," Jess said to Nick, excited. It would be a lot bigger from their last appointment. It had taken quite an effort to sneak out of the loft without the others noticing. They had even stepped over a napping Winston by the door. He never woke up, which slightly alarmed Jess. She tried not to think about it. Then, Sadie came in and smiled at them.

"You ready?"

"Yes!" Jess exclaimed.

"Glad to hear," Sadie laughed.

"Can you tell if it's a boy?" Nick asked.

"Well, I can try and see," Sadie answered. "It's not always right, though, but it's fairly accurate."

"I wanna know," Nick said immediately.

"Hey, maybe I don't want to know," Jess commented.

"Oh, come one. You want to know," Nick scoffed.

"You're right. I do," Jess smiled. She wanted a girl. She wanted to teach someone how to knit and sew and talk to about girl things. Sadie started the procedure, and the image came up on the screen. After a moment, Sadie's face changed.

"Oh my God," Sadie said.

"What? What?" Jess asked, panicking. "Is it an alien? Am I having an alien baby?"

"If there's an alien in there, you better tell us," Nick demanded, trying to remain calm. Sadie started to laugh.

"No," she said. "Jess, you're having twins."

There was a shocked silence.

"What did you say?" Jess asked. She had been prepping for one baby, not two.

"You're having twins!" Sadie exclaimed.

"How, how, h-h-how did you miss that the first time?" Nick asked, stuttering. He felt like he was going to freak out again.

"Well, in an early ultrasound, sometimes a twin can be missed," Sadie explained. "But there are definitely two babies in there, and there are two heartbeats now. Sometimes in early stages, the two heartbeats can sound at the same time, making it appear there's only one."

Jess and Nick listened, and sure enough, there were two whooshing sounds echoing in the room.

"Wow," Jess said, eyes wide. "Twins!"

"Twins," Nick echoed.

"Congratulations," Sadie smiled at them. Jess looked at Nick, who was starting to get bulgy eyes again.

"It'll be all right," she reassured him. "The second baby can keep the first baby company."

"What if they set things on fire? Twins do that," Nick said quickly.

"Nick..."

"Twins are weird! They have a secret language and have weird mind connections," Nick went on. "I wanna know what our babies are saying, Jess! I have to know!"

"Nick, calm down," Sadie instructed.

"I'm having a heart attack," Nick said.

"You're having a panic attack," Sadie corrected calmly as Nick slid to the floor.

"Nick, please. It'll be okay," Jess tried.

"Twins," Nick kept repeating. "Twins, twins, twins."

"Nick..."

"I need air!" Nick shouted, running out the door suddenly.

"Good luck," Sadie said to Jess, giving her a sympathetic look. Jess got dressed and hurried after Nick. She started laughing as she ran. Twins. Of course. Nothing could be simple could it?


I couldn't help myself with the twin thing. I wanted to shake things up. I don't intend on doing anymore time jumps that are longer than maybe a week or two. Stay tuned ;) Thanks for reading!