CHAPTER 51


Three months later -

Charlotte and Cooper are babysitting for Charley, Michael Nikolas and Hope. Harper's having a sleepover at Addison's house with Addison's granddaughter Rosie.

Cooper lies on the floor and stacks blocks with thirteen month old Hope Charlotte. Two year old Michael Nikolas runs and slams into Cooper. "Oh!" Cooper yells out. "Careful Michael."

Charlotte teases "Be easy Michael, grandpa's old."

"I wanna see you get down on the floor and play, granny." Cooper gives it back to Charlotte who's reading a book with five year old Charley. Charley is the spittin' image of Andie with his red hair and blue eyes. He even has epilepsy just like his momma.

"Charley and I are just fine on the couch reading." Charlotte tousles his red hair." Aren't we, buddy?"

"Yeah." Charley turns the page. "You read this page Nana."

"Okay," Charlotte looks at the book.

"Me want it." Two year old Michael Nikolas tries to grab the book out of Charlotte's hand. "No, Michael, Nana is reading with Charley."

"Me want it!" Michael tries to pull the book again.

"No!" Charlotte firmly tells the tot. Michael turns red in the face, he walks over to Cooper and Hope, kicking down the blocks they just stacked into a tall tower. Hope cries, Cooper picks her up. "It's okay Hopie, Michael is sorry."

"No sorry!' Michael picks up a cardboard block and throws it at Hope.

Cooper looks at Charlotte. "This kid reminds me of Nicky, sweet one minute and throwing a temper tantrum the next."

"Put him on a time out, Cooper."

"Why can't you?" Why do I have to be the bad guy?"

"Because I'm reading to Charley."

"I'm his grandpa. I'm not going to be the bad cop."

"He's never going to respect you Cooper. You need to teach him right and wrong."

Cooper thinks a minute before picking two year old Michael up. "You have to sit in the time out chair for two minutes."

"Noooo!" Michael kicks and screams. "Nooo!"

"Remind me why people have kids again." Cooper says to Charlotte as he carries Michael Nikolas to the time out chair.


Chase walks in the bedroom to find Michelle watching tv. He drops an envelope down on the bed. "What's that?" She asks.

"It's an invitation to Noah and Marley's engagement party."

"When is it?" Michelle asks.

"In three months, So we don't really have an excuse not to go. They're giving everyone plenty of notice. Plus he's my brother, I have to go. I want to go."

Michelle takes a deep breath and sighs. "I'll go with you."

"There are going to be babies there including Lila's daughter, Clove, who's the same age our first baby would be if you didn't miscarry. Are you going to be able to handle it?"

"Do I have a choice?" Michelle puts the remote down.

"It's been seven months since we lost the second baby. Addison said we could start trying again four months ago."

Michelle sighs.

"What's wrong?" Chase asks her.

Michelle looks down at the blanket as she talks. "I know we got married because we both wanted to start a family right away and I know you want to start trying again but I can't, Chase. I can't go through that again. Losing the first baby at six weeks was bad enough but losing the second baby at eighteen weeks and delivering the baby dead was sheer torture. I can't do it again, Chase, I don't have it in me. I won't survive losing another pregnancy."

"What do you want to do, Michelle?"

"What about adoption?" Are you into that?"

Chase sits on the bed next to Michelle. "I could get into adoption but I would want to adopt an older child from foster care."

"But I want a baby." Michelle looks at him with teary eyes.

"We can still have a baby. You can get pregnant. You're not infertile. We just had bad luck with the last two. The next time it'll work out for us. I know it will. The third time's a charm." He rubs her knee.

Michelle runs her palm down his cheek. "I know you want a baby so bad and I want to give you one but I'm terrified Chase. The day Addison said that the baby was gone was the worst day of my life. I can't do it again."

"It's not going to happen again." Chase squeezes Michelle's knee. The next time it'll work out you'll see. I have a plan."

"What's your plan?" Michelle furrows her brow, interested.

"We're not going to try to get pregnant."

"Huh?"

"I mean no more looking at the calendar to make sure we're together on your fertile days, no more ovulation predictor kits, no more Viagra for me. We're just going to do it whenever the moods strikes us without birth control and when it happens, it happens, no pressure. It could take a month or a year, no pressure and in the mean time we can look into adopting an older child."

"Can we hold off on the adoption for a little while?" Michelle asks.

"Why? I thought you wanted to start a family right away?"

"If we adopt a child out of foster care that child is going to come into our home with its own issues which is fine but I'm not at the point that I can be a full time mother to a child with issues. I need to get my own issues under control first. So you understand?"

"I understand." Chase kisses her on the head.

"Can you just hold me tonight?" Michelle asks.

"Sure." Chase wraps his arms around her while they lie in bed and watch tv.


Andie and Nicky lie in bed together in the afterglow. "Ahh!" Andie lies her head on Nicky's chest. "It's so nice to have you home permanently, to know that you don't have to leave and go on the road again in a few days."

"Mmm..." Nicky puffs on his cigarette.

"It feels like it did when we were first dating. The kids are all out of the house. We can be as loud as we want."

Nicky exhales his smoke before telling her, "we better be careful, we don't want to end up with baby number five."

"Hey, that reminds me." Andie lifts her head up. "When are you getting that vasectomy you promised me you would get after baby number four?"

Nicky screws up his face. "Do I have to, Belle?"

Andie screws up her face now. "Don't tell me you want another baby?"

"No, no, no." Nicky puffs on his cigarette. "Not after all we went through with Hope but I don't want to snip my guys."

"You promised."

"Come on, Belle, you're asking me to cut off what makes me a man."

"They don't castrate you." Andie laughs. "They just snip off some little tubes in there so you can't make sperm."

"But that's what makes me a man. I don't want to fire empty bullets. And what about my singing voice? I might start singing like a woman if I let them chop off my manhood. This could ruin my career." He jokes.

Andie back slaps his arm. playfully. "I should send you to talk to my momma, the sexologist. She can explain all about vasectomies to you and how they don't make you less of a man."

"Did your dad ever have one?"

"I don't know." Andie furrows her brow. "It's not something we talk about over lunch.

"It's kind of sad when you think about it."

"What?"

"Your brother Chase and Michelle are having so much trouble trying to produce one healthy baby and we have four. Maybe we should have a kid for them."

"I hope you're not serious." Andie looks at Nicky.

"We're both very fertile. Don't you wanna help someone less fortunate out like your brother." Nicky puffs on his cigarette.

Andie responds "We had a lot of issues when Hope Charlotte was born and I was pregnant with her. She was far from healthy."

"But she's doing okay now. Chase and Tess could be thrilled to have a baby like Hope."

"I wonder how Tess and her baby are doing?"

"That came from out of the blue." Nicky leans over to put out his cigarette in the ash tray on the bedside table

"My parents said that Tess's baby looks a lot like my brother when he was small. It's possible he could be Chase's."

"Why didn't Chase do a paternity test?"

"Tess's boyfriend told Chase that the baby was his son. He has dark hair and blue eyes like Chase."

"I wonder if that's why Tess is dating Damien? Since he looks like your brother she's using him as Chase's surrogate?"

"Maybe?" Andie shrugs. "Damien could be lying to Chase because he doesn't want him back in Tess's life."

"Your brother should do a paternity test."

"My brother doesn't believe Tess would ever keep his child away from him. Tess knows how bad Chase wants to be a dad. It wouldn't be like Tess to be that vindictive to keep Chase and his son apart."

"Yeah," Nicky nods. "That doesn't seem like Tess. She wouldn't do that."

"I guess it's not Chase's son."

"Why do you sound so sad?" Nicky asks.

"I kinda hoped it was." Andie sighs.


Next Chapter- Three months later Noah and Marley's engagement party.