So I've been out of town these past couple of weeks, hence a short delay. And for those of you who kindly read my story, here is the next installment. I hope you've been looking forward to it. Perhaps you'll be pleased. have at it- Mikella

The months following Miley's visit where horrible

The months following Miley's visit where horrible. I, of course, didn't know what had happened. Just suddenly that Norah became distant and reserved. She wasn't as open with me anymore. In the evenings we wouldn't sit on the porch swing and talk into the night like we used to. We stopped playing scrabble on Tuesday mornings because we had nothing better to do. She just wasn't…herself.

This killed me. I didn't know what to do or what I had even done wrong. I was scared. Scared to ask Norah the matter and scared to know what she might tell me.

But I'd felt this before. I remembered. Oh yes, did I remember. My last relationship did not end well like this: the girl getting all secretive and discreet. The flashbacks started returning again, just like when I had first met Norah.

All of the fights and tears came back. I could see her face in Norah's. The sobbing girlfriend shaking her head no in frustration.

"I don't know, Jake, I don't know."

"What kind of answer is that?! What kind of excuse is that? You don't know where you've been almost every night? You don't know where you were that you couldn't call or leave a message? A note?"

" I couldn't! I…I just…I didn't know…"

"Don't give me that, Hannah! If you want this relationship to last you can't be like this. I want to tell you everything. I want to have nothing to hide. And I can't do that if you can't. What's so hard, Hannah? Just tell me. You can trust me..."

"I…I'm…"

"You can trust me, right?"

Trust. That's what every relationship comes down to. A simple matter of putting your life in someone else's hands and looking away. It sounds easy, doesn't it? Just to place your soul into the care of another? It sounds easy, but it isn't. I didn't know that at first. I had nothing of value to put on someone else.

My life up to that point had been simple and carefree. I had been riding on the wings of my success and not giving a hoot for anyone else. It wasn't until Hannah started to shut me out that I realized if I wanted to be with someone, I had to take them on. I would have to allow them to confide in me. And so far, in our relationship, I hadn't been doing that. And that's why…that, my friends, is the true reason why I left.

Norah found out she was pregnant a few months later. I still didn't know of Miley's visit and wouldn't know until almost three years after her death. Mrs. Scott had noticed I was still grieving and had decided to divulge the secret that Norah had taken with her.

We were ecstatic. Well, Norah was. I, on the other hand, was completely scared out of my mind. How could I be a father? I knew nothing on parenthood. Sure, I had played the part a few times in a movie here and there, but nothing serious. There had always been a stage mom right of camera, eager to get her young star back in her hands. I had always been glad to give them back.

Now here I was, stuck with my very own bundle of joy. Eventually, I started looking forward to the birth, to seeing my new son or daughter. A new little person that was all my very own.

Yet still, deep inside, I wondered what it would be like if it was Hannah and I having our first child together. Would she be blonde, like her mother? Or a subtle brown, like me? Of course, she'd have the bright blue eyes of Hannah, my favorite feature of her beautiful face.

I hated myself for having these daydreams. I'm a horrible husband, thinking of another woman besides my wife. Once again, I thought of what she would do if she ever found out. How would she handle it? Little did I know, that after Miley's visit, she wouldn't have minded one bit. Norah would have understood. Norah would have looked away, this time, with the jealousy displayed on her face.