All actions and decisions have consequences... If you are enjoying this, please let me know, a review or a PM is always appreciated and I always reply :)

Update/Authors Note: I've had some feedback that this is getting a bit 'dramatic'; in response ... I planned for this fanfic to last quite a while, I wanted to explore the sort of issues that I'm sure LM has planned for the future. I need to inject drama put them in situations that make them think about their relationship. I promise not to drag things out for the sake of it and I have some great moments planned, bear with me! J x

Peeling open her eyes, Jess tried to ignore pounding in her head, it felt like a small woodpecker had taken up residence there and was boring a hole through her skull. Her eyes felt red raw from having left her contacts in for far too long and her mouth was dry and papery. She tried to lift up her head but immediately the pounding intensified, so she lay back on the pillow and turned to her side. Nick was lying, face down, almost spread eagled on the bed. He was still wearing his shirt from last night, but was naked from the waist down. Attractive, she thought. Clearly they had a good time last night.

Trying again to sit up, she noticed she had managed to put on her pyjamas but all of the buttons were done up wrong. Slowly she began to undo and redo them so she could make a trip to the bathroom. After they re-entered the bar, things had taken a very drunken turn as trays of shots were passed around and the whole group joined in with the beer pong game. Jess remembered having far too many shots, then standing on a table singing along to 'I'm Every Woman' on the jukebox, then her mind went a little fuzzy.

"Urgghhhhh," Nick groaned beside her as he awoke and lifted his head off the pillow. He blearily opened his eyes and let out a loud yawn. "Someone turn of that pounding sound, please…"

"Nick, there is no noise, you're hungover,"Jess replied unsympathetically. She reached to the night stand and picked up the glass of water she had remembered to put there the night before. She took a long gulp of the unpleasant, room temperature liquid before handing it to him, "Drink," she ordered.

Nick obeyed, turning around and pulling himself into a seating position before gulping down the remains of the glass. "Man, that night turned crazy! I can barely remember anything." He sighed and leant back against the wooden headboard.

"I hope you can remember some of it," Jess teased, rubbing his head. Nick laughed.

"Yeah, it's not a total blank. Actually Jess, there is something I wanted to tell you-" Nick was cut off then there was a quick knocking at the door.

"Nicky? Are you decent?" It was Bonnie. Nick quickly pulled the covers over his bare bottom half.

"Yeah Ma, what's up?" Cautiously Bonnie opened the door and stood in the doorway beaming at the couple sat together on the small bed. Jess felt a little odd – this wasn't the usual way you wanted your boyfriend's mom to see you. Plus she knew she looked a mess, smeared make up and crazy hair. She made a mental note not to drink that much again.

"I wanted to see if I could borrow Jess for a few hours! All the ladies are heading to the spa to get manicures and relax before tomorrow and I thought Jess would like it."

"Oh Bonnie, that would be awesome! It's been so long since I've been pampered," she grinned, turning to Nick, "You can manage with me for a little while can't you?"

"Yeah, sure, I guess…" Nick's voice trailed off.

"Great!" exclaimed Bonnie, "We need to leave in about 30 minutes, is that ok?"

"Sure, I'll just go jump in the shower," Jess replied and with that she hopped off the bed and picked up her towel, following Bonnie out of the room.

Nick sighed, he had wanted to tell Jess about the little accident last night. Guess I'll have to tell her later, he thought. With that he slid back down the bed to try and get a few more precious minutes sleep and ignore the nagging feeling in his stomach.

The time to talk had not arrived at all during that day. Jess had spent a blissful 3 hours being indulged at La Boheme spa and had had the chance to get to know the rest of the bridal party. She'd realised they were all very nice girls as they made an effort to get to know her and involved her – as well as regale her with stories of the hi jinx the Miller boys had gotten up to as children.

By the time they had gotten back to the Miller household, it was empty. Nick, Jamie and the other men had went to get their final tuxedo fittings and then to hit the bar. Nick had left a note for Jess, Probably won't be back before the rehearsal dinner, mom will give you a ride. I hope you had a great time.

Love Nick

PS, need to have a little talk when I see you.

Jess pondered briefly what he could need to talk to her about, before laying out on the bed and trying to sleep off the rest of her hangover.

Arriving at Bambino's Italian restaurant, Jess felt thoroughly refreshed. A long nap followed by a warm, bubbly bath had perked her up and she finally felt human again. She had chosen to wear a bright red, lace covered dress with a lower front that she normally wore. It was sexier than her usual style but she was feeling pretty confident today and felt like expressing it. She had also straightened her wavy hair and it was now hanging down her back, almost reaching her waist. Satisfied she looked a little different than usual she had strode inside with Bonnie.

The restaurant was a typical, clichéd Italian place. With faux Italian art on the mock terracotta walls, red and white checked table cloths and wine bottles being used as candle holders. The table that they were to sit at was at the far end of the restaurant, it was long, with almost all the seats already taken. The men from the wedding party were being somewhat loud and laughing together about some unknown joke, clearly their afternoon at the bar went well. They approached the table and Jess spotted Nick who waved and gave her a small smile. She was disappointed to see that the seats all around him were taken, they hadn't seen each other all day and she yearned to talk to him. Nick saw her disappointment and mouthed 'Sorry' before Marcie's voice rose above the din, "Jess! Jess! I saved you a seat! C'mere!" Jess turned and smiled at Jess and Deann before heading over to sit with them.

Because of the large numbers it had taken forever for their orders to arrive. But the wine had flowed freely and once again the wedding party was becoming very merry. Now I know where Nick gets his taste for alcohol from. She smiled at him across the table as he drank iced whiskey from a tumbler. The candlelight had softened his face and he looked happy and relaxed. Her heart did a little jump. She didn't often have time to reflect on the past couple of crazy months. Still she couldn't believe what was happening, how she was in love with her handsome, kind, charming best friend and he felt the same.

"So, Jess, you never really told us about how you two got together. You're roomates right?" Deann's sudden question interrupted her from her daydream and she swung around to face her.

"Yeah, I moved into a loft with him and two other guys a couple of years ago. But we've only been dating for two months." Jess finished her glass of wine and reached for the bottle to refill it.

"So, who made the move? I bet it was you. Jamie said Nick's not exactly the go getter type," with that Deann laughed and Marcie joined in.

"Actually, he was the one who first kissed me and first, well, you know," Jess raised her eyebrows.

"Oh tell! I love a good romance story!" Marcie begged. Jess filled the girls in on the happenings that had led to her and Nick being a couple, the first kiss, the first time, Cece's wedding and their first real date.

"Wow," said Deann, "Now that is a good story! Jamie just bought me a drink in Magoo's and asked if I wanted to go out and that was it. So much for romance!"

"So what's it like, y'know," Marcie interjected, winking at Jess and glancing in Nick's direction.

"Marce that's a little personal, you only just met the damn girl!" Deann playfully pushed her friend and Jess smiled weakly. It was an awfully personal question, but Jess felt like giving a little away.

"Let's just say, I have no complaints. It's, well, amazing. We've pretty much been constantly at it since we started dating," Jess giggled and took another sip of wine. It was definitely loosening her lips. Just then the food began to arrive, "Oh look, food!" Jess cried. She was ravenous and quickly began to tuck into her tortellini as Marcie and Deann began to share some of their own awful dating stories.

Standing outside the restaurant waiting for the taxi, Nick took the chance to finally talk to Jess. "Jess, you look beautiful tonight," she smiled happily at him, "I'm so sorry about the seating, I tried to keep you one and they guys said I was whipped," he pulled a sad little face at her that made Jess smile. She wrapped and arm around him and pulled him close.

"It's okay. I've actually had a really nice day getting to know the ladies. Dea and Marcie are a little crazy that's for sure."

"I'm glad, I really wanted you to like everyone. Look, we still need to talk about something, when we get back home?" Nick's face looked serious and Jess was again quizzical.

"Yeah of course, hey Nick, is it anything I should worry about?"

"No, no, just something a little private," and with that he placed a kiss on her cheek and they finally their taxi arrived and they quickly pushed inside with Deann and Jamie.

It seemed that the party was continuing at the Miller house. The living room was packed with people talking loudly over the sound of the TV in the background. In the kitchen, Bobby was filling up the fridge with bottles of beer from a box and Bonnie was fixing more snacks for her guests. Nick and Jess pushed their way through the crowd and Nick grabbed a beer and Jess poured herself a glass of cool water to clear her head.

"You Millers know how to celebrate Nick! How long will this go on for? Jess asked as she took a long drink.

Nick took her arm and led her to the door onto the back porch, pushing it open and leading her to the faded swing seat that hung at it's centre. "Well, as we all have to be up pretty early tomorrow I'd say everyone will be done by at least sunrise," with that they both let out a giggle and Jess rested her head against his shoulder, looking up at the lightly stay covered sky. "Jess, about what I wanted the talk about," Nick shifted to his side so he was facing Jess and rested his beer bottle on the back of the swing.

"Yeah, I was wondering what all that was about," Jess replied, mirroring his pose.

Nick suddenly looked nervous and began to pick at the material of his jeans. Jess swallowed heavily, scared at what he was going to say. "You see, last night, it…it broke," he lifted his head to see a confused expression cross Jess's face.

"It?" she asked.

"It," he repeated, with greater emphasis, nodding his head and gesturing with his free hand. He took a large gulp of his beer.

Jess's brow furrowed. What was he talking about? What broke last night? There wasn't anything here capable of breaking. They had flown to Chicago (no cars), she knew her phone was in her purse….Then sudden realisation hit. The glass of water in her hand tumbled out of her grasp, spilling water all over her dress. She quickly jumped up and her heart began to race, "Are you trying to tell me the condom broke?" Nick slowly nodded, slightly scared by the high pitched tone her voice had taken, "And you waited 24 hours to tell me?" her voice was getting louder.

"Uh-huh," Nick replied quietly. She stomach drop. She was panicking. This could not be happening.

"What?! Are you crazy? Didn't you think that was a piece of information that I might like to be aware of? Why on Earth didn't you tell me straight away?" She was breathing heavily now as Nick slowly rose from his seated position. "Well say something Miller!"

"Jess, shh, someone's going to hear…" he began. Jess eyes widened and she plumped her fists on her hips defiantly. Pursing her lips she engaged Nick in a cold stare. "You were just in such a good mood last night after you'd been so sad so I thought I'd wait until the morning… But then I didn't get the chance." He pushed his hands into his jeans pockets. This was going a lot worse than planned.

"Well initial error of judgement aside, could you not have called me? Came and talked to me in the bathroom? Not gone to the bar with the guys? Geez Nick, this is serious. What if I'm pregnant? We are NOT ready to be parents. How would we manage, on YOUR salary," she sat down again and put her face in her hands and murmured, oh God, oh God and rocked back and forth.

Nick's heart sank. He hadn't really thought this through at all. He sat down beside her and tried to put an arm around her shoulder. What if she was pregnant? She was right. How could he ever support a child?

"Get off me, I'm so mad at you right now," she forcibly pushed him away. She felt hot tears begin to well in her eyes. "This is not the kind of thing you keep quiet. I thought I could trust you." She looked up at his with tear stained eyes, for the second time in 24 hours, and Nick's heart began to break a little.

"Look, I'm so sorry Jess. I'm an idiot, I thought I was helping," he placed a hand on her knee, "Look, first thing tomorrow, we'll head over to the family planning clinic-"

"Tomorrow is Sunday Nick," she said cutting him off, "It will be closed. The morning after pill is only effective for 72 hours. We could go on Monday, but…"

Nick finally understood the gravitas of what she was saying. She, Jessica Day, may be pregnant with the child of an irresponsible, casually employed bartender with no future prospects. Fine as a boyfriend, but not as something serious.

"I don't know what to say." He replied simply.

"Yeah Nick, well neither do I," and with that she picked up her purse and stormed back into the house.

He caught up with her at the bottom of the stairs and took hold of her arm, "Wait, Jess, we need to talk about this…" She looked up at him though her bangs.

She pulled his hand away from her arm and with a flat, emotionless voice said, "Nick, I need to think and I don't want to talk to you right now. Don't follow me." Then she quickly raced up the stairs until he heard his door close with a bang,

She lay on the cool sheets of the bed and tossed and turned. Pregnant. I might be pregnant. A baby. A child. Nick's baby. Our child. I want a baby. But it's too soon, far too soon. How would we care for it? We'd have to move. Nick would need a better job… Then a vision of Nick cradling a new born baby popped into her head, gazing at it lovingly. Then, a toddler with chocolate brown eyes and righteous curls taking their first steps into Nick's arms and saying, 'Poppa' as Jess smiled. Her mind whirled. What did she want? Would Nick make a good father? Would she make a good mother? Her mind continued to turn these questions over and over until finally, exhausted, she fell asleep.

Next time, a Miller family wedding? Will Jess ever forgive Nick? Are they about to become parents?