Making it to the second trimester with both her and the baby intact quickly became Jude's main goal the second she found out the dramatic drop in miscarriage odds after the first trimester. Taking in every book and word of advise her doctor, Chelsea, gave her, she was fully confident in her ability to make this goal possible. Her only enemy now, was time. With five weeks remaining in her first trimester, the hours passed like days most of the time, and the days like weeks. Tommy urged her to keep her anxiety in check, and she did by throwing her mind into work as much as she could; and aside from the sickness Jude swore wasn't limited to mornings (and that who ever coined the term should be shot) it wasn't a difficult thing to do, especially when working with Tommy on his album. Their progress has been minimal but productive; Darius was in the dark, any they've successfully recorded and mastered three songs, breaking Tommy's bet of only making it to two before Darius found out. Bouts of bickering came and went as usual, the last one consisting of a stern argument from Jude, insisting that Tommy remove the line "I see angels and devils and God when you come" from his latest project to no avail.
The house searching hit the back burner to wedding plans as of the last week when Jude began to notice a slight, but defined, bump emerging from her abdomen. While elated at the sight of it, she was determined to get married before wearing a dress could become a problem. Tommy argued he didn't see any difference, but he's learned over the last couple weeks that arguing with Jude about stuff like this was completely fruitless. She sees what she sees, end of conversation. One thing Tommy did notice, and was coming to greatly appreciate was the still-expanding growth of her chest. Jude rolled her eyes at this, but was secretly pleased by this new progress, especially since it's opened up a whole new category of wedding dress options.
Sadie, who can be considered the wedding planner by this point, has been trying to push Tommy and Jude into a big wedding; insisting that they'll only get married once (well, in Tommy's case, twice) and it needing to be a big deal. They shot the idea down profusely, both wanting a small, beautiful wedding without any craziness. Sadie thoroughly disputed the matter with no progress. They were determined to get exactly what they want in every aspect of they're lives.
I miss the sound of your voice, I miss the rush of your skinAnd I miss the still of the silence as you breathe out and I breathe in If I could walk on water, if I could tell you what's next I'd make you believe, make you forget
Come on get higher, loosen my lips Faith and desire in the swing of your hips Pull me down hard, and drown me in love So, come on get higher, loosen my lips Faith and desire in the swing of your hips Pull me down hard and drown me in love
I miss the sound of your voice, the loudest thing in my head And I ache to remember all the violent, sweet, perfect words you said If I could walk on water, if I could tell you what's next I'd make you believe, make you forget
Come on get higher, loosen my lips Faith and desire in the swing of your hips Pull me down hard, and drown me in love So, come on get higher, loosen my lips Faith and desire in the swing of your hips Pull me down hard and drown me in love
I miss the pull of your heart, I can taste the sparks on your tongue And I see angels and devil and God when you come...
Jude scowled and yanked the CD from the player in her laptop, returning it to its paper sleeve. It was only the rough draft, she tried to remind herself of that, and that there's always time to talk him out of it. A glance at the clock informed her it was just about 3AM, reminding her she's had incredible trouble sleeping lately. Between work and wedding plans and feeling nauseous, there really hasn't been much time for it.
"Here, babe." Tommy murmured tiredly from behind her, handing a mug over her shoulder, "Maybe this'll help."
Jude set her laptop aside and inhaled the warm scent of tea, "What kind is this?"
"Ginger - it's supposed to help nausea." Tommy rounded the couch and retrieved Jude's laptop, taking a seat next to her
"You can go to bed if you want, babe." Jude offered sympathetically, sipping at her drink, "I'm probably going to be up all night."
Tommy cleared his throat, his exhaustion evident in his drooping eyes, "No, I'm fine. I've got work to do anyway."
Jude moved over and rested her head on Tommy's upper arm, sitting quietly while he reviewed the latest material given to him by the work-at-your-own-pace online GED guide. Having had really no expectations at to how well he'd do with school work, Jude wasn't really surprised at how well he was doing - he's always been a quick learner - she was just proud. He's made his way to to a high school level in only a matter of a few weeks. She watched him work through equations for a while, ones she actually know how to do herself, and finished off the last of her tea, waiting for it to take effect.
"Feeling any better?" Tommy asked a few minutes later, taking the empty mug from her hand and setting it on the end table
Jude sighed and wrapped both arms around his bicep, her head still resting on his shoulder, "Not really." She answered, feeling the sloshly feeling rolling around in her stomach, "I am tired, though."
Tommy switched over to Jude's demo file, skimming over the titles of her latest mixes, "What are you working on?"
"The new Drunk Talk demo."
Tommy barely hid his eye roll; Darius' newly signed band had been assigned to Jude immediately, and ever since they've come off as a bunch of morons with big egos. "Stupid band name." He muttered
Jude smirked, "They're not so bad - they're new song is actually pretty good."
"You're sticking up for a pop band?" Tommy chuckled, "I've gotta hear this."
"It's not bad" Jude insisted
Tommy brought up the file and opened it in ProTools, "Do you come up with this intro?"
Jude nodded, "Yup. This was only lyrics when I got my hands on it."
"Catchy," He commented before adding the vocal track to the mix, "Has Darius heard this yet?"
Jude shook her head, "It's due tomorrow."
Tommy listened through the song in it's entirety with a slight sting of envy; this song was going to jump to the top of the charts, making this a second number one produced hit from Jude, the first being Brendon's song, Not Your Birthday. The bands he had, Karma included weren't doing much of anything chart wise. "Who knew you'd be so good at making pop albums?"
"Not me," Jude pursed her lips thoughtfully, "It's actually pretty weird."
"I blame the pregnancy." Tommy joked
Jude smirked, "That's right - peanut's half boybander." She inhaled with a quiet shake of her head
"Wondering what you see in me?" Tommy guessed
Jude nodded, "Yup."
Tommy grinned and leaned down to press a kiss to her temple before closing the webpage, giving both him and Jude a look at the ultrasound picture Jude was using as her desktop, one that was taken this morning for her week nine check up with Chelsea. The little flicker of a heartbeat plainly visible this time. "I'm starting to think it's a boy." Tommy said
"Really?" Jude answered, surprised; they'd both been thinking it was a girl "What makes you say that?"
Tommy shrugged, "Just a feeling."
"I still think it's a girl."
"Well, I guess we'll have to wait and see."
Jude smiled softly at the thought of her baby. Boy or girl, she was happy. Her and Tommy have been in quiet debate as to when to find out the sex, though. Chelsea encourages keeping it a mystery until birth, but they've been unsure, both wanting to plan ahead, but still tempted by the thought of a surprise at delivery.
Slowly, and with a somewhat pained groan, Jude stood, the action dropping the hem of Tommy's t-shirt to hang mid-thigh; the bulge of her breasts plainly visible. Tommy watched her walk away with a small, longing, groan of his own, wishing they had more time for that half of their relationship.
Late into the next day, Jude departed from studio B, a paper sleeve in hand, and headed for Darius' office. Having already discussed taking the weekend off for Tommy's birthday, she didn't expect any trouble when reminding him she and Tommy won't be in the following day. "Hey, D," She said flatly, still feeling queasy, "I have the demo you asked...for." Her words trailed off when she looked up and found two pairs of eyes staring at her; one Darius, and the other Brendon. "What's going on?"
Darius grinned the grin that meant Jude wasn't going to like what he was about to say, and spurred a new kind of nausea in Jude's stomach, "Have a seat." He said cheerfully, bringing a frown from Jude - she'd been hoping this would be a quick chore.
Once she was seated, Brendon gave her a smile similar to Darius' "Hey, tiger."
Jude muttered an indistinct greeting under her breath, not making eye contact with him, too busy staring at Darius
"As you know," Darius begun, "Brendon here only has one more performance before being crowned Canada's Instant Star."
"I know." Jude mumbled, still confused as to why Darius let Brendon in on the fix that would eventually name him the winner. When Brendon found out, though, he didn't change his tactics at all like Jude expected he might; he's been a strong competitor, actually.
"The finale's on Sunday." Darius edged
Jude caught on immediately with a claim of, "I'm not doing the finale, D. We discussed this."
"That discussion happened before I heard your new single."
Jude glanced between him and Brendon, confused, "What new single?"
Darius wordlessly lifted the remote that controlled his stereo with a glint that made Jude nervous. Less than a second later, the sound of her own voice flooded the room, singing in a melody she hadn't even thought about in weeks:
Just gonna stand there and watch me burn?
Well, that's alright because I like the way it hurts Just gonna stand there and hear me cry?
Well, that's alright because I love the way you lie I love the way you lie
"What the hell?" She demanded, the familiar, painful lyrics bringing a wince to her eyes, "You recorded me?" She shrieked at Brendon
Brendon offered a somewhat apologetic smile, "It's too a song to let sit on a shelf."
In a rush of anger, Jude shoved up from the chair and yanked the CD from the stereo, "I don't care what you think, this doesn't belong to you, D."
"It was recorded in my studio," Darius reminded her lightly, "Which legally makes it our property now."
"I don't care," Jude said defiantly, "I don't want to release it."
"And according to your contract, you don't have to." Darius said, "But you do have to add it to the Gmajor library if you're not going to use it."
"Why?" Jude glared at him, knowing there was a bottom line here, "What do you want with it."
"Brendon needs a song for his finale performance, and with him rapping on that track? Gold."
Jude scowled down at Brendon, angry at him for the first time in a while. Since that horrible article about them surfaced, and speculators named them an affair couple, she's been keeping her distance, seeing him only at work, no exceptions. But in these last few weeks working together, they'd managed to bloom a friendship Jude thought to be sincere, so this betrayal not only pissed her off, it hurt her as well. "You want it?" Jude asked him
"I came up with some wicked verses." Brendon announced cockily, "But I don't want it unless you're singing on the chorus."
"Too bad." Jude spat
"Okay," Darius stood, cutting to the chase, "Either you put in the library for another artist to record, or you sing it with Brendon at the finale."
"I can't do that, D!" Jude argued, "It's too personal."
"This would be a huge boost on my career." Brendon said, "And yours too."
"Do you have any idea how big this is gonna hit?" Darius continued Brendon's thought, "World wide number 1"
"I don't care." Jude hissed through her teeth
Darius shrugged, "It's up to you. I'll give you the night to think it over."
"I won't be in tomorrow."
"You have to be...if you insist on not using that track, you and Brendon have to get started on a finale piece asap."
"But D-"
"I'll need Tommy in too," Darius added coldly, "I'm sure there's something that needs to get done around here - like his album, for starters."
Jude's mouth fell slightly ajar, "How did you-"
"I have ears all over," Darius told her, "And I don't like you and Tommy working behind my back like that - you're lucky I don't shelf the whole thing right now."
"Darius," Jude demanded, appalled, "You can't it away from him-"
"I can." Darius rounded his desk and crossed his arms, "And I might, depending on what you decide."
Jude furrowed her brow into an almost pained expression, "Are you saying if I don't do the finale you'll stop production on Tommy's album?"
Darius only shrugged in response before offering a seemingly friendly smile, "Talk to you in the morning, Jude."
Jude glared down at Brendon before storming from the office.
Hey, I just wanted to take a second to thank everyone who has read and reviewed this story, and my other one Let me Stay. Your comments are so kind and flattering and I truly appreciate it! 3 Thank you so much.