I think I waited a little longer than I wanted to to update, but I have my reasons. We're moving our house out and putting a basement and a new house in. We'll be out of the house this Thursday morning (July 7). The house is due in around the 11th and we should be fully settled with everything unpacked and in around the end of the month, if not earlier. I'm really not sure. I think I'll be able to update from where we're staying at, and I'll have the third chapter up ASAP.

Thanks to:

Paige Halliwell-Matthews: Thanks!

AsherSmasher: Aw, thank you so much! I love hearing that I have talent!

scullymulder: I have two email addresses on AOL. I still have the Squrl name, but I can't get on it! I forgot the password! So the only one I'm on is Hopefully I can remember the password...maybe...someday...I hope...lol, how sad is that?

PunkRokPixie: Thanks, and I know! I hate the login screen! It's hard to find my way around now, and we were just fine before! And why did they have to change the ratings, too? Ugh, I hate the K and T and K+ and M and crap...It's so confusing! How are we supposed to know if 9-year-olds can read our stuff or not? I miss the PG13 and PG and R and ratings that we're used to!

notanothernonamer: I like your name! Yeah, this is my only fic in a character's POV. I liked writing it a lot.

piperleo4eva: Yeah, I know! Now we know who's been reading our stories and we can also know who's not reviewing! We can single them out now, though...You know, use it against them...

Alyssa Warren: Yeah, it's nonmagic. I don't really like writing magic fics, but I will read them. I think it makes it a little complicated.


Chapter Two - At the Office

I jumped when Sarah dropped a pile of papers on my desk.

"Falling asleep on the job?" she inquired, referring to the fact that I had been half asleep in my chair.

I shook my head. "Never. I'm just tired."

She raised one eyebrow at me. After a second, she leaned over my desk, putting her hand on the papers she'd dropped there to steady herself. "Monica called."

I looked up, interested. "When?"

"...Like...ten minutes ago..."

I had a feeling Sarah was keeping something from me. "...And...?"

She looked guilty. "And...And she said she was coming by."

"What?" I stood up quickly.

She must have been startled, because she stepped back and put her hands up in surrender. "I'm sorry, I tried to talk her out of it, but she refused and said she'd be here in like fifteen minutes."

I took in a deep breath. Monica. Here.

Crap.

This wouldn't go well...


Sarah convinced me to continue working and I added up some expenses of our company for the next ten painstaking minutes. I hadn't seen Monica since the night she walked out and I wasn't expecting to see or hear from her after I hung up on her the day before. I shouldn't have been so nervous about seeing her. I shouldn't have, but I was.

She showed up ten minutes later than she said she would. I was almost mad at her for that. When she did show, I pretended not to notice. She was standing in my door and I was refusing to make eye contact with her.

"Leo."

Nope.

"Leo," she tried again.

Nothing.

"Leo, for God's sake will you at least look at me?" she cried.

I finally turned to her. My eyes fell on her stomach and memories flooded my mind. I looked away, turning my gaze to her eyes. She looked guilty, but it was a different kind of guilt that I'd noticed in Sarah's eyes. This was pain.

"I'm sorry, did you say something?" I asked her.

She looked hurt and a part of me was glad for it.

"We need to talk."

"There's nothing to talk about," I said, pushing out of my chair and walking out of my office. She followed.

"The hell there isn't!"

I tried to ignore her.

"You have to hear me out! You have to hear what I have to say!"

I whipped around to her. "Fine, Monica, what exactly do you have to say?"

She looked stunned for a few seconds, but then she stepped back and composed herself, smoothing her shirt out. She looked up at me. She was shorter than me by a few inches, with wavy blonde hair just below her shoulders and blue eyes and a gym body. When I first met her, she spent most of her spare time at the gym.

"That...was Joe you heard."

"I know that."

"But it wasn't what you think."

"What did I think?" I hissed.

She gulped. "We're not back together, Joe and I. He was just...He..."

"Save it." I turned my back to her again and walked away. I heard her shoes on the floor as she followed.

"Leo, please! Hear me out!"

I turned to her again. "I don't want to hear it, Monica!"

"Well God damn it, Leo, I don't care! It hurt me, too, you know! Don't think it didn't! I lost my baby, my child!"

I sighed and tried to be understanding. "I know that, don't you think I do? But what you did was wrong. How was I supposed to know if that baby was even mine?"

"I don't want a Maury life, Leo," she said, and I knew she said that because Maury was one of her favorite shows.

I almost laughed. "This is past Maury. This is Jerry Springer."

She glared at me.

I wanted to say, "And this is the part where they all shout 'Hoe!'"

But I didn't.


Two days later I was still living in the aftershock of my encounter with Monica. I hardly got any work done and I was unable to concentrate. When I went home I just sat on the couch with my dog and usually fell asleep there. It wasn't very comfortable waking to a large Siberian Husky on my legs or stomach. Toby (I know, not too clever of a name) was an enthusiastic roommate, and he kept me company. It was Monica who had talked me into getting a puppy, and I never regretted it, of course, except for the potty-training part of having a puppy. The floor through my entire house was covered in newspaper for weeks.

But that's not the point.

The point was that now I took some comfort in my dog, and he was such a good companion. He seemed to listen when I petted his ears and told him about what happened at the office. I know, it must seem strange to know that I talk to my dog, but admit it, lots of people do.

Ring! Ring!

I glanced lazily at the phone, then at Toby. His ears perked up and he looked at me with questioning eyes. I raised an eyebrow at him.

"Should I answer?"

He literally smiled. I swear he did. His large mouth opened and he started panting. I looked upside down off the arm of the couch and reached for the phone. It took some stretching with Toby on me, but I finally got the phone off the charger. I looked at the Caller ID.

Peterson, Michael

That was my sister, Ashley. She married Michael two years ago. She's three years younger than me, making her twenty-three then. I know, she was married when she was young, only twenty-one, but she and Michael were high school sweethearts, and he won our parents' approval. He was definitely part of the family.

I pressed the 'Talk' button on the phone and put it to my ear. "Hello?"

"Hey!"

I immediately pulled the phone away from my ear. "Whoa, whoa, whoa! Easy, there, what's the matter?"

"Nothing, sorry. I just haven't talked to you in like four days. Wondering what my brother's up to," Ashley said.

"Okay...How are you?"

"Fine. Better than you, it sounds. What's wrong?"

I ran a hand down my face to try to wake myself up a little better. "Um...I, uh...had a fight with Monica."

"Another one?"

"Yeah, but this was the grand finale."

"How'd it go?"

"She came to my office..."

"Oh, God..."

"She was saying things about getting back together...She's living with Joe, like she said she might be."

"She's living with Joe but she wants to get back together with you?"

I could hear the amusement in my sister's voice.

"Yeah."

She laughed out loud. When she calmed herself, she said, "I'm sorry."

I smiled. Suddenly I heard a baby crying in the background at Ashley's house. "What was that? A baby?"

"Yeah—Oh...Michael!" she yelled away from the phone. "It's his sister's baby, we're watching her while she's at work."

"Aw. What's her name?"

"Who? His sister? She's not single, Leo, if that's what you mean."

I laughed. "I meant the baby."

"Oh! Sorry! Uh, Ally."

"Cute."

"Yeah, you can have her. At least until six, when Alyssa—sister—comes home."

"Nope."

"No? Why not?" she whined.

"I don't do babies."

"Whatever...Listen, I gotta go. I'm sorry about the crap with Monica. Don't worry about her. You'll get over her and get through it. Call me if you need something."

I nodded. "Sure."

"Love you."

"Love you, too."

"Bye." She hung up.

I looked at the phone after pressing 'End'. I sighed and set the phone down on the floor. I looked at Toby. His eyes were on me, his ears up. He gave a little bark and tried to scoot up on my chest, using his paws to move.

"What are you doing?"

He stopped abruptly and stared.

"What?"

He barked.


Okay, now Piper's gonna come in in the next chapter. Like I said, I'll update as soon as I can. Right now we're finishing packing up the house. My mom and brother are waiting till the last moment, and my room is done and done now! I'm on top of things! I'm ahead! I'm winning! (I'm leaving now)

-Scout