Chapter 9

Brandon cancelled the call after it went into Kelly's voicemail again. Placing his cell phone on the night table he let out a frustrated sigh, pacing up and down their bedroom nervously.

When she cancelled his first call nearly two hours ago he did not give it much thought, but when she did not call back and all his other calls went into her voicemail he found it difficult to stay calm. He almost called Steve half an hour ago, but finally decided against it. Maybe she was still at Jackie's, or on the way home...or maybe something happened to her...he quickly pushed that thought away.

With one last hopeful look at his cell phone that still remained mum he walked out of the bedroom. He had to occupy himself with something before he'll go crazy with worry. He tiptoed first to Caleb's room than to Grace's, seeing that both kids were sound asleep it did not left him with much to do. He turned around to return to the bedroom when his eyes fell on the door of the future nursery. Taking a few steps he pushed the door open with the palm of his hand walking into the empty room that has been lit only by the moonshine.

Their little girl was due in less than three months but they had yet to paint the room and decorate it. They had no clothes for her, no stroller, carseat or other necessities and the name talk ended with, nothing will happen if she is nameless for a few days, the fate of a third child. What a waste difference to the time when he and Amanda were expecting Caleb. Before he could go further down the memory lane he heard the front door open and close. Heading outside he noiselessly closed the door behind him, moving downstairs.

"Where the hell have you been?" The words were out quicker than he could even think about them.

With her back to the stairs and not having heard him come downstairs, Kelly jumped a little. When she turned around he could see her tear streaked face as she stood there silently.

"Are you okay?" The worry set in again overshadowing any anger that he felt. Seeing her shake her head no he moved forward wrapping her in a hug as good as her ever growing belly allowed him to.

"I'm sorry." He could hear her words coming out between the sobs as she buried her head into his chest.

"Sorry for what?" He asked utterly confused, rather sure she was not apologizing for getting him worried in the past hours.

"For..." He felt her fight the tears that were preventing her from speaking. "..screwing up your life."

Instinctively he pulled her closer stroking her back and not saying a word. During time that they were together again they went through this several times. It was like a never ending circle. No matter how many times they talked it over there was always something that brought it back.

He felt her sobs subside and took her hands guiding her to the living room, both of them sitting down on the sofa before he spoke. "Kel, you got to trust me."

"I trust you." Kelly said brushing the tears away from her cheeks, suddenly feeling ashamed in front of him.

"No." Brandon shook his head. "You got to trust that this is what I want and not something I was forced into. You got to trust our relationship."

Kelly breathed in and out nodding subtly, her eyes wandering away.

"I love you, Kelly." Brandon spoke again.

"I love you too." She spoke, her eyes on him taking in his face with a hint of smile.

"Good." He moved closer to her, taking her hands into his their eyes not parting. "I wouldn't want anyone else to give me two daughters and care about my son as if he was their own."

He could see the first hint of smile on her face too. "That's not hard at all, he might look like his mom, but he is all you."

"Oh, yeah. Charming like his dad." Brandon grinned.

"Sweet and charming." Kelly grinned too, leaning in and giving him a soft kiss. "Thank you."

"You're welcome. Now you can tell me what triggered this." Brandon leaned back against the sofa.

"I told my mum she can't see the kids until she stops giving them expensive gifts every other day." Kelly sighed mirroring Brandon's actions. For the moment she decided to leave out the conversation she had with Erin afterwards.

"Kel, it was the right thing to do." Brandon assured her.

"I know. Yet I hate that thanks to me she is upset once again." Kelly mumbled.

"It was inevitable." Brandon mumbled.

"I agree, but it still does not make me feel any better about myself and what I did." Kelly sighed digging the nonexistent dirt from under her fingernails, anything that would prevent her from looking directly into his eyes.

"She will come around." Brandon assured her running his hand over her cheek making her finally look at him.

"What if not?"

"She will. She cares about you and she loves the kids. It's just a matter of realizing that she does them no good if she continues this way."

"Do you have an answer ready for everything?" Kelly grinned.

"Not everything." Brandon returned her smile before he spoke again with a smirk on his face. "But I'm an expert for your ever returning worries fueled by completely messed up hormones."

"You!" Kelly grabbed a pillow hitting him playfully Brandon moaning in a feigned pain trying to grab the pillow out of her grasp. The two of them carefully wrestled on the sofa laughing along. It did not take too long before Brandon had Kelly pinned on her back holding her wrists above her head. Leaning down he kissed her tenderly, letting go of her wrists as his hand moved down to caress her belly.

"Just before you came, I have been in her room and realized how unprepared we are." He spoke, laying on his side, smiling when their daughter kicked exactly where his hand was.

"We still have time." Kelly assured him.

"Not really. She is due in less than three months and you will be tired and uncomfortable towards the end so we won't get much done."

"I guess, you're right." Kelly gave in. "There is always something going on. The move, Grace, now the issue with my mom, and everything that concerns her just sort of gets pushed aside." She sighed, placing her hand over Brandon's.

"I know we were just joking down at the beach, but I really do like the name Audrey." Brandon confessed.

"It's cute. Maybe we should finally open the baby name book we bought weeks back." Kelly agreed.

"You can, but you won't find a prettier name." Brandon teased her.

"Oh boy." Kelly rolled her eyes. "So it's Audrey or nameless for life?"

"As I said, you can still look into that fancy book." He grinned.

"You are terrible."

"But you still love me."

"Very much so." Kelly confirmed, moving on her side so she was facing him, her belly pressed into his. "This name battle can wait, but now that you brought this up we really should go baby shopping rather sooner than later."

"How about this weekend? I'm sure the kids won't find anything they need in the stores, because they already have everything thanks to your mom." He grinned.

"Sounds good to me." Kelly confirmed.

"It's a deal then. I just hope I have enough money on my credit card." Brandon teased her.

"Don't start again Walsh." Kelly hit his belly playfully snuggling closer to him both of them laughing.

"Mrs. McKay." Dylan said pushing the door to their apartment open and standing aside. "I'd carry you over the threshold, but I have my hands already full." He grinned holding Ethan who was passed out in his arms.

"You are lucky that I don't dwell on traditions." Brenda chuckled walking inside.

"I thought so, considering we just eloped not even an hour ago." Dylan followed her, promptly disappearing in their bedroom. When he come back seconds later he already found her seated on the sofa admiring the sleek white gold band on her ring finger.

"Here she is, the light of my life." He spoke moving in her direction.

"You are becoming cheesy McKay." Brenda shook her head playfully.

"You are bringing out this side of me." He grinned, landing on the sofa next to her.

"What else do I bring out?" Brenda asked with a similar grin on her face.

"Hmm...pretty much everything else that's good about me." He laid his arm around her shoulders.

"Good answer." Brenda chuckled.

Dylan pressed a kiss on her cheek before letting his lips trail down her neck.

"What do we do now?" Brenda asked her mind elsewhere.

"I don't know." Dylan shrugged.

"I mean, we got married. Do we call everyone and tell them or just wait and see? You can tell I'm sort of new to this secret wedding business." She chuckled.

"You wouldn't believe it, but it's my first time too." Dylan laughed. "I don't know Bren, if you want to call everyone and tell them right away I'm fine with it. It's not like our wedding is this gigantic secret that we have to keep." He shrugged.

"True." She mumbled fidgeting with the ring on her finger. "We will call our parents tomorrow and tell the rest once we are in New York at the end of the week." She said finally.

"Good. Now that we have this figured out we can go on with the wedding celebration."

"Always just one thing on your mind." Brenda rolled her eyes.

"Well, I was actually talking about the early dinner that should be here any minute, but now that you mentioned it, we can continue in that direction afterwards if our son has no other plans than a bottle and clean nappy for this particular evening." He grinned wrapping her in his arms. "I love you Brenda McKay." He pressed a kiss on the crown of her head.

"It has a nice ring to it, doesn't it?"

"The best one." Dylan concluded.