A/N: Heyyy, guys... You know I love you, but what's with the lack of reviews? I miss all you lovely reviewers, come back to meeee! :'(

Weird review-lack freak-out over... Hi. Yup, guess what... TOMORROW IS LWMS'S FIRST BIRTHDAY! *blows one of those party blower thingies*. I am soooo happy that it's been a whole year and we're still running strong! (Thanks to Argie... where are you hun? :'/)

I really hope you guys enjoy this chapter, because in celebration, I've made this a chapter that's just full of fluff fluff FLUFF! I really hope you guys enjoy it! See yaz at the bottom...

I don't now own SWAC.

Chapter 58 - Rebecca's First Birthday (Part II)

Tawni's POV

I smile at the picture I'm looking at on my phone, waiting in the car for Nico to get here. It's a picture of me, Sonny, and her daughter – my goddaughter. Rebecca. I grin at the sight of her adorable face, before looking out the window for the fiftieth time to search for Nico, but he's nowhere to be seen. I sigh, exasperated. Nico and I are supposed to be going to pick up Grady and Mel, his girlfriend (yes, Grady does have a girlfriend. Crazy, right?) and then we're going to go see Sonny, Chad, and the little birthday girl. But, judging by the time Nico is taking to run his "errand", we're gonna be a little late. I give up for searching for my boyfriend and instead just let my mind wonder.

My goddaughter is one year old! It's awesome, it really is. It's also hard to believe that this time last year, we were all sat outside the hospital room, listening helplessly to Sonny's screams and Chad's comforting while we were stuck out in the hallway, unsure of what would happen and praying for the best. In fact, at about this time last year, I think I was driving Sonny speedily to the hospital while she cried out in pain.

Yup. Good times…

After a few more minutes, Nico comes running up the sidewalk, hiding his hand behind his back. He climbs into the car and I give him a quick peck on the cheek.

"Hey, babe." I giggle stupidly. Hey, you can't blame me! I'm in love… "What took you so long?"

"O-oh," He stutters out, before smiling kindly, "I just had… something to pick up."

He then puts on his seatbelt and grins and pretends like everything's perfectly normal.

So what is it that had him so hesitant a second ago?

…Huh.

Strange, strange boyfriend…

But I love him. (I have to say, I was going off Tawnico, but after writing this, I ship them again :P)

I decide that Sonny and I need to catch up the second I catch sight of her. We haven't seen each other for ages… we need to get talking again! I've missed my best friend… yes, Sonny is my best friend. I know I never would've thought that in a million years back when we were on So Random, but hey. I've grown up. I've realised – Sonny Munroe is a pretty awesome young lady.

We talk for like, an hour, while everyone around us does various other things. During our conversation, I notice how tired she looks. Huh, probably the effects of having a baby daughter. It's got to be (though very rewarding) extremely tiring. That also explains why Chad looks equally as exhausted. But, what it doesn't explain is why... why he has a cut lip. Thinking of it, it also doesn't explain what's wrong with his hand, which is tied up in a bandage.

It also doesn't explain his attitude towards his bandage…

"Hey, Chad!" Nico says at one point, smiling at him friendlily, "What happened to the hand? You get in a fight or something?"

Now I know Nico meant that as a joke. I just know him like that. So what got me really suspicious was when Chad smiled sadly back, gave Sonny a hesitant look, before turning back to Nico and saying;

"Something like that."

That makes the cogs in my brain spin like mad.

Okay… okay… stay calm Tawni… let's think about this…

Both of the pair looks tired.

Chad looks like he's been in a fight.

That look he shared with Sonny was… highly suspicious…

So what? Did he get into a fight that she knows about?

Or… maybe… because they're both tired… oh no.

Maybe they got into a fight.

Ohh… no.

Sonny's POV

I don't know what fuels her odd behaviour, but suddenly, Tawni wraps her arms around me while we are sat talking. She strokes my back comfortingly, muttering incoherent things into my ear.

"Oh, sweetie… I know it must be… You haven't told anyone else, I bet… Honey… you can tell me…" She says gently, placing her hands on my shoulders and pouting at me. I blink. What the…?

"Um… sorry, Tawni but… I have no idea what you're talking about."

She frowns, "That's what I expected." She then launches into a hug again, only much tighter and for an even more unknown reason than the previous.

"Tawn, are you okay?" I say, half-worried. She makes a softy sobbing noise into my shoulder, before lifting her head again and sighing.

"I know what's wrong." She says, putting her hand on my shoulder. Again. Seriously, what's going on?

"Care to inform me…?" I ask, and she nods slowly.

"Chad and you… there's no easy way to say this… I mean, you probably haven't told anyone else, but it must be devastating…"

What the heck? Devastating? What happened that was so devastating…?

…Oh no.

"You know?" I say worriedly, and she nods. She knows? How could she know? How could she know that the baby died? (Awkward mix-up… :P) "Who told you?"

She shrugs, "No-one. I just knew." She pats my belly softly and I just blush. The baby bump has gone now, I suppose… "It's okay." She says, "You can talk to me about it…" She looks over in the direction of everyone else, her eyes narrowing. She leans in closer to me and drops her voice level. "But, if you wanna talk away from the offender… then maybe we should leave up to your room or something."

Um…? "Offender?" I repeat. She nods, not taking her eyes off the crowd of people. I follow her gaze to see she's glaring at Chad, who is cuddling with Abby and Rebecca, grinning. He looks a whole lot happier than he has since yesterday… wait.

"Chad's the offender?" I ask. She nods slowly.

"That jerk…" She says, "He shouldn't be doing this to you. He deserves to be punished… after all those times he said he loved you…" She drags her eyes away from Chad to meet the shock on my face. Her face falls when she sees my reaction. "Aw, sweetie…" She then pulls me in for a big hug.

"T-Tawni…?" I stutter out, not really sure anymore whether Tawni and I are actually talking about the same thing. "This whole thing isn't Chad's fault…"

"Then who's is it?" She lets out a small laugh, "Yours? I doubt that. You're far too sweet to start a fight…"

My jaw drops open. "F-fight?" I gulp. She nods.

"I know!" She says, "Chad Dylan Cooper… gosh, I knew he was a heartbreaker, but I never thought he'd hurt someone… especially you… and whoa. He's your husband, for crying out loud! I never would've expected this, not from Chad…"

My heart sinks as I realise what Tawni thinks is going on… "Tawni…" I gasp out. She looks at me sympathetically, "We're not fighting! Chad's… Chad's not hurting me, no way!"

She pouts, resting a hand on my knee, "Sonny, Sonny, Sonny…" She says, shaking her head slowly, "Denial doesn't help at all."

I have to try really hard not to yell or cry out at her ridiculous accusations. I don't wanna cause a scene, and I especially don't want Chad to hear what he's just been accused of. "He's not hurting me." I say, "What even made you think this?"

"Well…" She sighs, counting on her fingers, "You both look so tired, you could be the walking dead…" She has a point. But still, that doesn't mean anything… "The looks you've been sharing since we arrived have been kind of suspicious… and, to top it all off, I mean, look at Chad! He looks like he got in some arm wrestle that went wrong!"

I look over at my husband, who is gently caressing his wounded hand, trying to sooth the pain. I see him wince when he touches a particularly tender part of his hand, before he smiles to try and mask his pain.

I gulp.

"Okay, Tawni, I see your point… but there's a perfectly logical explanation for all this – I can assure you…"

"Prove it." She says sternly, folding her arms.

"Okay…" I sigh, "First off – we're parents, Tawni. We have a one year-old daughter – does that explain why we're so tired? Second, if Chad was harming me, then wouldn't I have the bruises and cuts, not him?"

Her mouth drops open. "Are you harming him?"

I bite back my anger, "No!" I squeak. She blinks.

"Then… what's with the bandage? And the lip?"

"We had a…" I drop the idea. I don't wanna tell her what happened. That would mean telling her about the baby… "We had a problem last night…"

"Not a fight?" She question. I nod.

"Not a fight." I assure her. She suddenly relaxes.

"Phew!" She grins, "I was worried for a second! So… wait… what was up with all those weird glances you've been giving each other?"

Not wanting to keep the truth from my best friend, I take her hands in mine and try my best to smile at her. "We, um… we lost the baby yesterday."

Her eyes widen, "Oh, gosh, Sonny! I'm so, so sorry; I-I didn't know; I…"

"No, it's okay." I stop her, "We're gonna be fine."

She smiles a little, hugging me, before whispering into my ear, "You sure you'll be okay?"

"I'm sure."

"Give me a call if you ever need to talk, okay?"

I grin, "I will. Promise."

"Good!" She giggles, pulling away from the hug. "So… you still haven't explained what's up with Chad's hand."

Before I can answer, I feel a pair of arms wrap around me notice the bandaged hand sat contently on my chest. I giggle.

"Chad's hand was damaged," He tells Tawni, "after he was a total idiot."

"Not a total idiot…" I say, but he puts a hand in my face to shut me up and I take the hint graciously. He continues, I can tell by the tone in his voice that he is smirking.

"I hurt myself on purpose, cos I was stupid and mad about what happened to our baby." He says, "But you know what? I was being stupid, because I still have the most important woman in my life, and I still have our beautiful little baby girl too… so what's the problem?"

As he finishes his little speech, Chad slumps down next to me, shooting me a megawatt grin, and Tawni coos.

"Aww!" She squeals, "You two are soooo cute! I can't wait to get married, someday… it sucks not being married."

"You have Nico, though." I point out, looking over at my friend who is now playing peek-a-boo with Rebecca. I grin. Nico'll probably be a natural father, just like Chad. He's proved himself to be awesome with Rebecca.

"Yeah…" Tawni sighs sadly, "He doesn't seem interested in all that… we've known each other for, like, half our lives; we've been dating for almost two years, I mean, I love Nico… but he knows how to keep a girl waiting in suspense!"

Chad grins next to me, also looking over at Nico, "Trust me – if my information is correct, you won't be waiting for much longer…"

"What information?" Tawni blinks. Chad clears his throat noisily.

"Oh, just dude's intuition. No biggy. But trust me – the dude loves you. It won't be much longer."

Tawni nods slowly, looking over to her boyfriend, who is walking towards her with a big grin.

"Hey, beautiful…" He says, kissing her lightly on the cheek. Chad elbows me softly, before whispering something in my ear.

"It won't be much longer…" He repeats, this time, a lot slower. He seems really, really convinced… hmm…

Chad's POV

The moment Tawni drags Sonny over to 'chat', Nico saunters over to me, smiling nervously.

"Dude, I brought it." He says, and I grin.

"Good one. And you know what you're gonna say to her?"

"Um… just about…" He stammers. I put a supportive arm around his back.

"Trust me, buddy – I've been through this. I know how you feel. It's tough – I know it is. But trust me, it'll be less scary once you just pop out that question. Promise." I finish with a smile. He smiles right back at me.

"Thanks, man." He says, before noticing my little girl tugging at his leg. "Well, hey there, little one!"

"Hiiiii." Rebecca coos, reaching up to ask for a lift. Nico picks her up, resting her carefully on his arm. Hey, what can I say? Dude's a natural.

Everyone leaves a few hours later, leaving me, Sonny, and Rebecca alone. Dad and Melanie come back for Abby and take her home, and it's about four o'clock when the doorbell goes again. Sonny is clearing away all Rebecca's little random presents, and she looks up at the door with confusion.

"Hmm, I wonder who that could be…" She says, picking up Rebecca on her way to the door. She opens it to reveal Josh and his little girlfriend (yes, still Zora. By the way, they're still big fat flirts to each other, and total pranksters. Some things never change). Josh greets Sonny happily, taking Rebecca from her as Zora attacks her with one of their girl hugs. They coo each other's names, shouting random questions into each other's ears, and I just watch them, smirking. Josh comes up next to me, bouncing Rebecca up and down on his arm until she settles into a comfortable position. He laughs at my amused expression.

"Our girls." He says, patting me on the back, before greeting his little niece with a friendly smile, and she babbles back goofily in response.

"Josss-yyyy!" She giggles, her speech slurring slightly. It's hilariously cute when she does that. Josh passes her carefully over to me like a box of fragile china, just as Zora and Sonny join us from the doorway.

Zora is working on some sort of movie, from what I can remember, so Sonny and I didn't really expect her and Josh to show up. If they were gonna show up, I thought it would be with the others – Tawni, Nico, Grady and Mel. Even though So Random has finished for all the cast of that time, it's very rare for when you see one ex-Random, to not see another lingering around somewhere. Apart from Sonny, of course – she is my first and last sight every day – but apart from her, it's very usual to see Tawni and Nico or Nico and Grady or whatever little pairing, just hanging out. Remember how tight the Randoms used to be? Hasn't changed, at all.

It's totally different for me and the old Falls kids, you see. I probably still keep in touch with two of my old cast members – Ferguson, although I haven't seen him properly since before Rebecca was born, and Chastity, though I've only spoken to her by the phone since the show ended. I mean, sure, I liked my cast, but the Randoms? They were more a family. And families stick together until the end.

But then, I suppose Zora has been spending most of her time with Josh nowadays and less with the Randoms. They are – it pains me to say this – a perfect match. My brother, with one of my ex-enemies? It's kind of funny to think about it that way. Yup, they're just another Romeo and Juliet story. Ha.

"So, what brought you guys here?" Sonny asks them with a smile.

"Well, we weren't gonna miss the birthday girl's special day, were we?" Zora asks, tickling the little girl in my arms on the tummy, which receives a happy little giggle from her.

"Wouldn't miss it for the world." Josh agrees, before rooting around in his pocket, "Oh, and, we had to bring her present too…"

I watch, along with the rest of the small party (apart from Rebecca, who is contently playing with her fingers) as Josh fishes a small velvet box out of his pocket. My eyes widen. (Thanks to mrpuppy for this bit ;) Ain't mrpuppy so smart for giving us such an adorable Zosh scene?)

"Um, Josh, are you sure that's Rebecca's present?" I enquire, raising an eyebrow, "Isn't she a little young for jewellery?"

"Yeah…" Zora says, her jaw dropped open completely. Josh grins cheekily.

"Oh, yeah… this is for someone else…" He says, studying the box like he'd never seen it before. He passes it to Zora, with a small, shy smile on his face. She stares at the box, opening it to reveal a little ring with a shimmering green pendant on it. She looks up at Josh suddenly, her mouth wide with shock, yet happiness.

"Josh…" She utters. He shrugs.

"I thought I'd follow in the steps of my bro and give ya this." He admits, "We're still a little young for the whole marriage thing, but we've been together for a while now and I thought it was time I gave you something to show you how much I appreciate and, well, love you."

Zora's smile just grows and grows during Josh's little speech (who could've thought Zora and Josh would be ones of romance and stuff like this?), and Sonny squeals, clutching me tight.

"Remember when we were young and in love?" She coos. I laugh.

"Yeah. Are you tryna say we're not young now?" She just laughs, "I'm serious!" I chuckle, "We're twenty four, hun. Is that really that bad? And besides… 'young and in love'? Even if you think the 'young' bit is over, the 'in love' bit sure ain't." (I think they're 24 anyways :P)

Sonny grins, "No way."

We watch, hugging, Rebecca still struggling in my arms, as Zora slips the ring onto her finger and hugs Josh tightly, flinging her arms around his neck.

"I love it!" She squeals, kissing him lightly on the cheek, "I love you."

"I love you too, babe." Josh grins, squeezing his girlfriend, before turning to face me and raising an eyebrow at me. "Dude, I forgot to ask you – what happened to your hand, man?"

I think fast, remembering the excuse Dad accidentally made up for me earlier, "I suck at DIY." I excuse myself. He laughs.

"I know." He says.

Nico's POV

Okay… chill, man… you can do this…

While Tawni is picking up some of her Coca Moco Cocoa, I run though what I gotta do in my head.

You can do this… c'mon, just say it. The minute - no, second - you see her. Remember what Chad said? Trust him, he's been through it.

This will be easy…

Maybe.

"Nico?"

Here it goes…

Tawni's POV

I ask Nico to drive me to my favourite shop after we drop Mel and Grady – the last shop that sells Coco Moco Cocoa in the whole of America. And yes – I still love it. So sue me.

I come back from the shop and get in the car to see Nico, sat in the driver's seat, looking like he's off in his own little world. Huh. Well, that's new… Nico never daydreams. He's too suave for that kind of thing (and I never thought 'suave' would be my type, by the way… but hey, things change).

"Nico?" I say carefully, putting a gentle hand on his knee. He looks up at me, smiles, and puts the car into 'drive'. The car comes to life as engine revs and he turns on the radio, giving me a soft smile. 'Marry You' by Bruno Mars blasts through the speakers, and I grin, dancing like an idiot in my seat (I know that song would be, like, 8 years old here, but oh well. Let's pretend it's not ;)). Nico watches me with a smirk on his face for a few seconds, the engine till roaring, before he lets the engine die down. I watch as he looks down at his feet, slightly troubled. I frown at him.

"You alright, baby?" I ask him gently. He smiles up at me.

"Fine." He says, "I was just thinking, um, do you wanna…" He rubs the back of his neck, holding my hand with his free one. He looks me in the eye, tries for a smile, "I mean, I was thinking we should…"

"Yes?" I say, raising an eyebrow, trying to give him a helpful little push. But apparently, his little word vomit isn't over.

"I mean, I've talked to Chad about it, and I've had an awesome time with you… I think… well, I've been trying to say all day that…"

He trails off into silence, and I put a hand on his knee again, trying to not get impatient with him. Nico rarely gets nervous, but when he does, it's bad. I remember his first So Random show. We were fourteen. He was still that suave, cocky kid, but at the same time, I had a feeling that he was just hiding behind that act. But hey, Hollywood changes you. Soon, the act becomes who you are. I would know. Anyway, about Nico's first week. He came to introduce himself to me. I could tell he had a crush on me, because he kept tripping over his words, and then he blacked out. At the moment I thought he was ridiculous, but looking back it's just adorable.

"You were saying?" I say. He bites his lip, looks at me one last time, before shaking his head and revving the engine once more.

"I'll tell you later." He says in complete monotone. Before I can say anything, we're gone, speeding down the road about 10 miles faster than the limit allows. I swallow hard, watching his face. He looks upset, then angry, and, when we finally get into our road, disappointed. I put a hand on his shoulder comfortingly, and he looks up at me with a small smile. I smile back, making his grow in response. And then, he takes a long, deep breath.

"Tawni." He mumbles quietly. "Will you…" He sighs, swallowing loudly. And then, holding a small box with a ring sat delicately in it, he speaks once more.

"Will you marry me?"

My jaw drops. My heart speeds up. Tears spring to my eyes and my lower lip quivers. I am almost certain I heard him wrong – only a few hours ago, I was moaning to Sonny and Chad about how Nico was most likely never going to propose.

Yet… look at my situation now:

The beautiful ring in his hand;

The eager, yet slightly shy, smile on his face;

The thumping of my heartbeat – it is so loud, I am pretty certain he can hear it, see it, feel it.

Could it… could it be? Is this really happening? I pinch myself, but the image in front of me doesn't fade. Nico is still there, and so is that ring.

"Wh-what?" I whisper, checking one last time. A tear of joy trickles down my cheek, and I brush it away before Nico can comment on it.

He grins, taking the ring out of its place in the box, holding it out for me between his thumb and his index finger. "Will you marry me… please?" He adds with a cheeky smile. I try to laugh, but it all comes out as a weird, giggly, choking mess. Nico laughs.

"There, there, babe." He pats my back tenderly, and I stop choking. "You okay?" He checks, raising an eyebrow at me.

"Yes." I say softly. He smiles and nods.

"Good. So… about my question…"

"I already answered it." I tell him, laughing a little as he blinks obliviously at me. I had a feeling he wouldn't notice…

"Huh?"

"I said; yes." I repeat, unbuckling my seatbelt and hugging him tightly, "I will."

Nico hugs me back, and I feel as his cheeks widen from smiling. I remember Chad earlier, how he was saying he didn't think we'd be not engaged for much longer…

Nico told him he was gonna propose, didn't he?

I chuckle quietly to myself. I suppose I should've seen that coming – Chad is married, after all. He's the perfect one to go to for advice.

"I love you." I tell Nico, and he chuckles.

"I love you too, baby."

I giggle, "And now I know how Sonny and Chad feel."

A/N: What did I say? Fluff? And cliche too! Yay! I suck when it comes to using cliches :P But hey, I hope you loved it anyways. We had Channy, we had Sonny/Tawni friendship, we had Zosh, we had Tawnico, and we had adorable lil' Abby and Rebecca. Soo... Yup! I hope that was good enough for you!

Please review for mee! Because I'm stuck for ideas as to what to bring next and I need your lovely inspiration!

Happy Birthday for tomorrow, LWMS!

In Loving Memory of my beautiful Grandma Irene Pollard. You will be solemnly missed and loved forever.

~Amy. xxx