Don't you know how much I love you?
A/N: I own nothing...
Jordan VO: Angela's pregnant? So, that's what's been going on with her. Wow. We're going to have another baby. That's just...WOW.
Jordan is sitting up on the bed with his back against the headboard. He can hear Angela in the bathroom brushing her teeth. He's a little surprised, but he's not upset or anything. He didn't need to hear her throwing up to figure out that she was pregnant, because he knew her body well. She was so slim, even being in the early stages of pregnancy, he could tell a difference. His mind had started putting everything together before she ever jumped out of bed and ran for the bathroom.
He pushes his hands through his hair and just leaves them there. That's how Angela found him when she came back into the room. When they make eye contact, she's the first to look away. He can see her biting her lip and she looks terrified. Jordan slides back to his side of the bed to make room for her beside him, but she doesn't sit down. She walks over and picks up her shirt from the floor and pulls it back over her head.
"Angela, come here." Jordan pats the bed beside him.
"I'm just going to go down to the kitchen and make some tea. You want something?" She grabs her robe off the back of the chair and heads toward the door.
"You can make some tea in a minute. Come over here and talk to me." She ignores him and continues out of the room. Jordan gets up, goes over to his dresser and pulls out a pair of pajama pants, quickly shoving his legs into them. He's walking down the hall pulling them up. "Babe, slow down."
She's already half way down the stairs when he gets to them. He catches up to her when they reach the kitchen. He takes her by the hand and turns her around to face him. She's crying and she won't look him in the eye.
Jordan VO: This is just fucking great! I haven't said anything yet and she won't even look at me.
"Angela, why are you crying? C'mon, look at me." He puts his hand on her chin and pulls her eyes up to his. "Why are you so upset?"
She pulls away from him and moves over to the counter. She takes the coffee pot over to the sink and fills it full of water before returning to the coffee maker. "What do you want for breakfast, Jordan? I'll fix you something."
"I don't want anything right now. What I want is for you to tell me why you're so upset. What did I do? I didn't say anything, so I know that can't be it." He moves over to the breakfast bar and pulls a stool out to sit down. "I want you to talk to me."
She doesn't say anything. She walks over to the stove and grabs the tea kettle. He can tell she doesn't want to talk about what just happened in the bedroom, but he's not going to let it go.
"Angela, I've already figured out that you're pregnant. God, it explains everything! That's why you were upset with me last week for not staying another night, isn't it? Were you planning to tell me then? And that's why you were sick, right? You could have told me on the phone, you know?"
She's standing in front of the sink with her back to him. He gets up and walks over to her, putting his arms around her waist and pulling her back against him. She doesn't relax, just holds her body stiff.
"Angela, say something." He takes her by the shoulders and turns her around to look at him. She's still crying. He's not upset about the baby, or the fact that she hadn't told him. He doesn't understand why she's upset. "What is it?"
She reaches up to wipe her face and takes a deep breath before looking him in the eye. "Jordan, I know that you don't want this baby. You made it perfectly clear when you first started touring that we weren't going to have another child until you were finished with your music career. I didn't plan for this to happen, but I am pregnant and no matter what you say, I'm keeping this baby." Having said that, she walks past him and out of the room.
Jordan is left standing there with a confused look on his face.
Jordan VO: Wait a minute. What the hell just happened here? What did I say?
Angela is sitting on the sofa watching TV late that same day. She and Jordan hadn't talked since their confrontation in the kitchen that morning. She had went to take a shower and when she came back downstairs, Jordan was nowhere to be found. When she went to the garage, she noticed that Red was gone, the other Red. Jordan very rarely drove her anymore. He always seemed to take her out when he needed to get away from everything. Angela was always teasing him that he loved that car more than he loved her.
Angela VO: Where is he? He should have been home long before now. I really do need to talk to him. I can't believe what I said to him this morning. I didn't give him a chance to say anything. He must hate me. I knew how he felt about another baby, maybe he's more upset than I thought he would be.
She sits there for almost an hour before she hears the garage door open. A few minutes later, Jordan walks into the den with Maddie in tow.
"Hey, Maddie. I didn't think you were coming home until tomorrow. Didn't you and Grandpa have plans?"
"Hey, Mom! Nah, we didn't have any plans. I was just hanging out with Uncle Jamie." Maddie walks up to Jordan and puts her arms around his waist. "Isn't it great? Dad came home a day early. He picked me up from Grandpa's and we went out to the lake for a little while." She walks over and hugs her mom before running up the stairs.
Jordan is just standing there looking at Angela not saying anything. Angela puts her feet on the floor to make room for him to sit beside her. "Jordan, please come and sit beside me. We really do need to talk." He doesn't move, just continues to stand just inside the door looking at her.
"Jordan, I'm sorry about this morning, I overreacted. My hormones are all over the place. I'm sorry that we didn't talk like we should have. Please come sit with me." He slowly walks into the room, but he sits in the recliner instead of beside her on the sofa.
"Just tell me this, Ang. Why would you think I wouldn't want our baby? Do you think I would make you get rid of it? Have I not shown you over and over again what you and our family mean to me? I don't get it. Don't you know how much I love you?"
"Jordan, I know that you love me. I do. I just can't help but remember how you were before Maddie was born. I've been pregnant twice before and both times we went through hell. We both know that we weren't ready to be parents when we were teenagers. Then when I became pregnant with Maddie and I was sick the whole time, you and the band were just starting to get recognized. You spent so much time with me during that 9 months that it delayed your first tour. You had to push it back more than once. You don't remember all that?"
"How could I forget, Angela? But I still don't understand why you're upset." She turns to look at him and she can see the hurt in his eyes.
Angela VO: Maybe I'm overreacting. Maybe I was so worried that he would be upset and he really wasn't. Now I've pushed him away and hurt him with my insecurities.
"Jordan, you told me that you wanted to wait until you were done touring. I understand that. With my history, I certainly don't want to go through this pregnancy alone. I can't ask you to cancel the rest of your tour to stay home with me."
She looks and down as tears start to fall from her eyes. He gets up from his chair and sits down beside her. He takes her hand in his and moves it to his mouth for a kiss. "Angela, babe, look at me." She wipes her eyes and looks up at him. "Baby, I love you. I know we didn't plan this, but that doesn't mean I want this baby any less. If you'll stop trying to guess at how I feel and pay attention, you would realize that I'm happy. You should have told me when I was home last week. Hell, you should have told me when I called you that night, or when we talked on Saturday. You could have told me any one of the times we talked."
"Jordan, I know. I guess I was just scared. I don't want you to be mad at me." He puts his arm around her shoulders and pulls her into him.
"Angela, I'm not mad. Think about it. When we were kids and I took off to LA, you were terrified of how I would react when I found out that you were pregnant. I could have been an ass and left you back here to deal with it all on your own. I was scared out of my mind. What did I do? I got in my car, rounded up the guys and came right back here to you. We dealt with it together. I didn't give up anything to be with you."
He pauses for a minute, trying to find the right words. "See, the thing is, when we found out we were having Maddie, I was so happy and I was scared at the same time. You had a rough time of it with both pregnancies. I wanted to be here with you. I wanted to make sure you were safe. You did go through hell with her, but she's here and she's healthy. It didn't stop me from pursuing my dreams, we just had to postpone it for a little while. You guys got to travel the world with me and the boys before she had to start school."
He rubs his hand up and down her back. "Hell, I don't even remember us talking about having another baby. What did I say to make you feel this way?"
"Well, it's not like we had a conversation about it, not really. It's just things you've said over the years." She sits up and pulls away to lean against the arm of the sofa.
"God, Angela, the thought of losing either you or Maddie scares the hell out of me. I don't think I could handle it if we lost another baby, either. After all this time, I've finally accepted that baby Jay's death wasn't our fault." Jordan looks down before continuing. "I guess I just meant that I wanted to be with you if we were having another baby. I don't want to be on a tour bus worrying about you and the baby."
"That's just it, Jordan. You are on tour. You can't just cancel that rest of it. And when this tour is over, you guys will have another tour and you'll record another album and the cycle will start all over again."
Sighing loudly, Jordan runs his hand through his hair and looks up into Angela's eyes. "Angela, I wasn't going to tell you this, but I can't have you sitting here at home all stressed out and pregnant. I don't won't you to worry about anything." He takes her hands in his. "When we wrap up this tour in New York, we're going to be taking a really long break. Shane and Tommy are getting tired of life on the road and I'm ready to be home with you and Maddie. I was planning to surprise you with the news, but I think you need to know now."
Angela's face breaks out into a beautiful smile. "Jordan, are you serious? Baby, that's wonderful!" She launches herself into his arms and gives him a long wet kiss. They start to lose themselves in each other when Jordan hears Maddie coming down the stairs and pulls away.
"Ewwww, you guys! Don't do that in front of me." She sits down on the other side of Jordan. He puts his arm around her and pulls her close.
"Maddie, guess what. I just told your mom that I'm coming home in August. I'm gonna be home with you guys for a long time." He kisses her on the forehead. "What do you think about that?"
"Awesome, Dad! Then you can tuck me in at night and help me with my homework. And, Dad, you can take me to school! I'll be so cool, the only girl in middle school with a Rock Star for a dad!"
They all laugh and Jordan hugs both of his girls to him. "Hey, Mad. That's not all. You're going to be a big sister, too. Won't that be fun?"
"Yeah, whatever. That's cool." She gets up from the sofa and heads to the kitchen. "Mom, what's for dinner? I'm hungry."
Angela and Jordan stare after Maddie as she leaves the room. They look at each other and start to crack up. Angela lays her forehead against Jordan's. "I guess I better go find your daughter some dinner. You hungry?"
"Yeah, I am. But first, I need to know. Are we good? No more misunderstanding?" He looks into her eyes and kisses her on the nose.
"We're more than good. You don't know how happy I am. I can't believe that we're going to have a baby and you're going to be home with us for the foreseeable future! Think you can handle a life of boring domesticated existence, Mr. Catalano?"
Smiling happily, Jordan whispers to her, "I'm counting the days, Mrs. Catalano."
Angela gets up from the sofa and reaches for his hand to pull him up. As she turns to leave, he pulls her into his arms. "Angela, I love you. Don't you ever forget it." He kisses her tenderly before taking her hand and leading her to the kitchen where their daughter is rummaging through the refrigerator.
A/N 2: I'm having a lot of fun writing this story. I've decided to write this in parts. This is the end of Part 1. Part 2 to follow shortly. Please review and let me know what you think so far. Thank you for reading! ~gagirl29