Part 3

Back to normal

A/N: I own nothing...

It's 7 o'clock on a Thursday morning in September. Not wanting to wake Angela, Jordan rolls out of bed and shuts the alarm off. Maddie, who was now in middle school had to be at school by 8 o'clock, so he headed downstairs to make her breakfast.

They'd formed an easy routine in the 6 weeks he'd been home. He tried to let Angela sleep in every morning while Maddie got ready and then he would drop her off at school before returning home to spend the day with Angela. Not having to work everyday definitely had some perks.

He and Angela spent most days at home, hanging around the house. He spent all day making sure she was taking it easy and Angela spent all day trying to get him to quit babying her. He cooked most meals for them because he thought she shouldn't be on her feet for very long. He helped with the housework because he didn't want her overdoing it. He went with her to the grocery store and to doctors appointments and to run errands because she didn't need to be driving. He was only trying to make things easier on her, but she thought he was smothering her.

In the kitchen, Jordan fills the coffee maker with water and turns it on. Reaching in the cabinet, he pulls out a box of pancake mix and a bowl and gets to work. Once the pancakes are done, he calls to Maddie. "Come on, Mad. Get a move on. Your pancakes are getting cold."

Maddie walks in the kitchen with a scowl on her face. "Dad, you don't have to yell. I'm right here." She is so not a morning person. Seeing her plate, she starts to complain. "Why did you make pancakes? I don't want pancakes. I was going to eat a poptart."

"Madison, just eat your pancakes so we can go. You don't want to be late, do you?" He leans against the counter drinking his coffee. "You've got lunch money, right?"

"Yes, Dad, I've got lunch money."

"And you're riding the bus home?"

"Yes. I did my homework and I finished my report, too." Rolling her eyes, she sighs. "Anything else you want to know?"

"Well, since you asked, where did you get that smart mouth? Excuse me for trying to be a good parent." Chuckling, Jordan puts his empty cup in the sink and walks over to kiss her cheek. "Finish up, I'm going to start the car."

He heads out to the garage and starts Red. Maddie had told him when school started back that he had to take her to school in Red everyday because "that car was super cool." He didn't mind because it gave him a chance to take her out everyday.

Jordan VO: They don't make cars like this anymore. She's definitely a classic. She brings back so many memories. Ahhh...I spent all of my teenage years in this car.

Sitting behind the wheel, Jordan can't help but think about how things used to be, before they grew up and life took over. He remembers all the times he and Angela spent inside this car. He remembers all the late nights sitting under the stars with the top down, he remembers all the drives with her sitting right beside him, her head on his shoulder and his arm around her. For that reason alone, he would never get rid of her.

Maddie opens the passenger door, pulling him out of his memories. "Alright, Dad. Quit dreaming about your car and take me to school. If I'm late, you have to sign me in and I don't want all my teachers acting stupid over Jordan Catalano."

Shaking his head, he backs out of the garage.

Angela rolls over onto her side and pushes herself into a sitting position. She gets up and heads to the bathroom, the place where she seems to spend most of her time. After flushing the toilet, she moves to the sink to wash her hands and brush her teeth. Looking up at the mirror, she frowns at her reflection.

Angela VO: God, I'm fat! Just look at me, I'm swollen up like a balloon. Look at my hands, if they swell anymore, I'll have to take off my wedding rings. And my feet, do I even have ankles anymore? I've got 6 more weeks of this? Ugh!

Sitting on the side of the tub, Angela starts to cry. That's how Jordan finds her.

"Babe, what's wrong? Are you ok?" He wipes the tears from her face.

"No, I'm not ok. Have you looked at me, Jordan? I'm fat! I look like a freaking whale!" She sniffles and reaches for the toilet paper so she can blow her nose.

"Aw, Babe, you aren't fat. You're pregnant. In a few months, you'll be back to normal." He sits beside her and holds her hand. "You look beautiful to me."

"Oh, shut up. Don't lie to me. I can see myself in the mirror." Growling in frustration, she goes back to the sink to wash her face and runs a brush through her hair.

"Angela, you aren't fat. There's nothing wrong with the way you look." He follows her back into the bedroom. "You're only upset because your hormones are all out of whack. It's nothing to cry about."

"My hormones? Did you just tell me my hormones are out of whack? What do you know about it? You aren't carrying a bowling ball around under you shirt!" Opening the closet door, she starts searching for something to wear. "I don't have anything that fits anymore." She pulls one of his t shirts off the hanger and not finding any pants, slams the door.

She starts rummaging through his dresser drawer and pulls out a pair of sweat pants. "Hell, it doesn't matter what I wear. All you're gonna let me do is sit on my ass anyway. No wonder I'm getting fat because you shove food down my throat and you don't let me do anything for myself!"

Trying not to laugh at her little tirade, Jordan just sits in the chair by the window and listens to her go on. "Just remember, when I weigh 200 pounds that it is your fault!" Continuing to mumble to herself, she pulls her nightgown over her head.

She reaches for his shirt, and he gets up and takes it from her, throwing it in the chair he just got up from. Pulling her against him he steals a kiss. "Red, you are not fat. You aren't. In fact, I think you look pretty sexy all swollen with my baby inside of you." He runs his hands down her back, across her hips and around to caress her belly. Kissing her again, he presses himself against her. "Want me to show you how sexy you are?"

He turns her around with her back to him and moves in front of the mirror. Running his hands over her naked breasts, down her sides and across her very round belly, he looks at the their reflection. "Angela, even if you were fat, which you aren't, I would still think you were the sexiest woman alive." He starts kissing his way across her shoulder and up the side of her neck. "Can't you tell how much I want you?"

Turning her back to face him, he holds her face in his hands. "You're beautiful to me. That's all that matters." Kissing her deeply, he pulls her to the bed with him. Pushing her down in the middle of the bed, he strips his clothes off and removes her panties, before laying down beside her.

"Remember the night I called you at 2 am? You told me that I wouldn't want to fantasize about your pregnant body. Well, you were wrong. I think about you all the time. I think about you like this. Your hair's on my pillow and you're looking up at me with those gorgeous green eyes. Your breasts, swollen with milk for our baby. You're belly, round and firm, is holding our baby. I don't want you less. I want you just as much."

Jordan kisses her and continues to caress her all over. She runs her hands through his now short brown hair. He moves his hand down between her legs and slips his fingers inside. Slowly moving it in and out, he moves his mouth down to her breasts. He continues to stroke her as he rains kisses down her body, across their baby, making his way to her center. He removes his fingers and starts caressing her with his mouth and tongue.

Angela, holding his head, moves against his mouth. She starts breathing hard and moaning, whispering his name. She pulls her knees up and grabs his shoulders with both hands. She arches her back and moves her hips off the bed. He can tell she's almost there, so he moves up between her legs. Holding himself up, he looks down into her eyes as he slowly enters her.

Staring down into her eyes, he starts to slide in and out. Not wanting to put his weight on her stomach, he leans down and kisses her still holding himself up. She has her hands in his hair, holding him in place as she deepens the kiss. As she lifts her hips to meet his thrusts, he starts to move faster. She lets go of his head and wraps her hands around his arms.

Her head falls back, exposing her neck to him. He starts kissing and sucking on her neck and across her chest, before pulling one of her breast into his mouth and sucking hard. He feels her body tightened around him as she comes apart. His lips move back to hers. Whispering her name, he follows her over the edge.

Careful of her belly, he moves over beside her, pulling her to him. He reaches down and pulls the covers up over them and wraps her in his arms. After a while, he asks her, "Still worried about how you look?"

"Uh, no, not at the moment." Pulling back to look at him, she smiles. "Can we start out everyday like this, except without the crying part?"

"Oh, you liked it, did you? I think that can be arranged." Throwing the covers back, he gets out of bed and pulls his jeans back on, leaving them unbuttoned. "Let's get you downstairs so you can eat."

"Oh my god! Listen to you. If you keep on, you'll have to roll me down the stairs!" Getting up, she pulls his shirt over her head and tries to bend down to retrieve her panties from the floor. "Ugh! See, I can't even bend over!"

"Hey, my son needs to eat. Come on, I like you just the way you are." He grabs her hand and pulls her out of the bedroom, wearing nothing but his shirt.

Later that afternoon, Jordan is in the garage with the radio on, so Angela decides to sneak up to the guest room next door to their bedroom to clean out the closet. They were planning to fix it up as a nursery, but they hadn't gotten around to it. She starts unstacking boxes and sitting them on the floor by the window. She picks up a box and turns to set it on top of the new stack when it tips out of her hands. She looks on helplessly as photos spill out all over the floor.

Getting down on her knees, she starts gathering them up when she realizes that they were all photos from when they were in high school to when she and Jordan got married. The box had been in the closet since they moved into the house over 9 years ago. She starts to look through them with a smile on her face.

Most of them are of her and all her friends. There are a lot snapshots of her with Rayanne and Ricky, her and Sharon, and some of them all together. There were shots of Jordan's car, the loft, and Residue playing at Vertigo. There were shots of Jordan's graduation, her graduation from summer school. Shots of her pregnant with baby Jay. She laughed to herself thinking about how Brian had taken all of these pictures of them without them even knowing. When he had started dating Dani, he had brought her the box.

There were tons of shots of her and Jordan together, under the bleachers, in the hallway, sitting together in Katimski's. In every picture you can see how much in love they are. They were always touching in some way, holding hands, hugging, kissing. There were a lot of pictures of them kissing. One in particular caught her attention.

In this shot, she was sitting on the back of Jordan's car and he was standing in between her knees with his arms around her. Brian had taken it in the parking lot at school. It looked to have been their Junior year, Jordan was a Senior. Shane and Tino were leaning against the passenger side of the car and Rayanne and Ricky were standing off to the side. Rayanne was looking at them with pure hatred.

Angela was taken aback by the realization of what she saw on Rayanne's face. She starts flipping through more of the pictures and can't believe how many there are of her with Jordan and Rayanne looking on with a similar expression. It saddened her to realize that it was right in front of her the whole time, but she had been so wrapped up in Jordan that she didn't see it.

Curious now, Angela uses the bed and pulls herself up off the floor, leaving the pictures scattered around. She heads downstairs to the den and grabs their wedding album from the shelf. She starts to flip through the pages. Rayanne, who had been her maid of honor, was standing just behind Angela during the ceremony. In every shot, Rayanne was staring straight at Jordan with a look of longing on her face.

In every shot of her and Jordan at the reception, Rayanne was in the background scowling. During their first dance, as they cut the cake, while they were talking to friends and family, all of them were the same. Closing the album, she puts it back on the shelf and goes back upstairs to pick up the pictures. Shoving them all back in the box she closes it, puts in on the stack and goes back to the closet.

As she continues to sort through the closet, she can't stop thinking about Rayanne's expression in all of the photos. She can't believe that she had never noticed it before. She starts thinking back to all the times she would ask Angela about their sex life, about how she always said things about Jordan. It was all starting to make sense.

Angela VO: What happens when you think you know someone, then one day, you find out it was all a lie? What do you do? Do you just pretend that it doesn't matter to you? And how do you get past it? How do you just set the hurt aside?

Having lost interest in cleaning out the closet, Angela leaves the room, shutting the door behind her. She's coming down the stairs as Maddie is coming in the front door. All thoughts of Rayanne are forgotten.

"Hey, Mom. How ya' feeling today?" Ever Jordan's daughter, she worries about Angela. She walks over to hug her.

"I'm fine, Mad. Just a little tired. How was school?" Maddie sits her backpack on the bench in the hall, before heading in the kitchen for a snack. Angela follows behind.

"It was cool. I signed up for band. I want to play the drums, since we can't play guitar in the marching band. And I made a 91 on my math test." She starts rummaging in the fridge, deciding on a slice of cheese and a glass of milk.

"That's great, baby. Be sure to tell your dad, he'll be happy." Jordan walks in from the garage with grease on his hands and his shirt. After giving Angela a quick kiss, he goes over to the sink to wash his hands.

"Tell dad what?" He goes to the fridge and gets a slice of cheese and pours himself a glass of milk.

As Maddie starts telling her dad about the marching band and her math test, Angela leans against the counter watching her husband and her daughter, who are just alike. Both eating their cheese and drinking their milk.

Angela VO: Why should I worry about things I can't change? My life is pretty damn good just the way it is.

More than likely, I won't update until Monday. Thanks for reading...As always, please review. I hope you all have a great Easter. ~gagirl29