A/N: Hey, everyone! Thanks so much for the wonderful reviews! Now, here's your next chapter!

On the car ride home from the mall, neither Miley or Nick could convince the kids to start talking about their Christmas wishes. Something about how they wouldn't come true if they told. Which was complete hogwash, but what were they going to do? Tell two six-year-olds that there is no such thing as Santa? No way.

"We can keep a secret, you know", Nick assured them.

Myles shook his head. "Nuh-uh. Santa sees everything. You're not getting me on the naughty list, Uncle Nick."

Miley laughed as they pulled into the driveway. The kids ran ahead to the warm house while she and Nick lingered outside for a moment.

"See, this is what happens when you tell them that Santa is watching them all the time", he joked, slipping his arm around her waist.

"Yeah, yeah. So, that may have backfired a little bit", she admittted.

Inside, Joe and Lilly were trying every trick in the book to pry the ring off of her finger. Nothing seemed to work. When they heard noisy footsteps combined with the slamming door, they began to panic.

"Oh, no! This is not good", he muttered. Quickly, he hopped back to the chair on his good leg. "Just act natural, and don't let Miley see the ring."

Lilly grabbed the blanket at her feet, and threw it over her body, being sure to hide her hands. Not two seconds later, the kids scampered into the room.

"Daddy!", Myles said excitedly, jumping onto his lap.

The sudden impact was met with a groan from Joe. "Son, can you try to stay off of the broken leg, please?", he implored, shifting the child to the other leg.

"Aunt Lilly, I got to meet Santa!", Belle informed her as she climbed up onto the couch.

"Really? Did you tell him what you wanted for Christmas?"

The little girl nodded. "It's gonna take magic though. But Santa has magic, so he can make it happen."

Suddenly, Miley and Nick came into the room. Lilly glanced nervously at Joe, and moved her hands deeper under the blanket.

"Hey, guys", she said in an innocent tone. "Did you have fun?"

"Because we didn't have any fun at all", Joe said quickly, suddenly feeling nervous himself. "We just stayed here...in this same spot...not doing anything. And definitely not anything that you would be mad about."

Myles rolled his eyes. "Daddy, what did you do?"

His transparency was met with a glare from his wife. "We didn't do anything, baby", she said in an attempt to cover. "Nothing at all. Oh, wait. We did watch that football game. The red team lost...nine to six."

Miley sighed, and turned to Nick. "I think we should try not to leave them alone anymore."

"Yeah", he agreed. "No more alone time for you guys for awhile."

Lilly tightened her grip on the blanket. "Psshh. What kind of trouble do you really think a pregnant woman and a guy with a broken leg could possibly get into?"

"Normally, not very much", Nick replied. "But considering it's you two..."

Miley laughed. "Okay, well, I'm going to go upstairs. I have...something to take care of."

"Good luck", Nick said with a faint smile.

She smiled gratefully back at him. "Thanks."

The phone rang once, twice, three times. Miley pressed it tightly to her ear, almost hoping that it would go to voicemail. Not that she would know what to say in a message either. Then, she heard her dad's voice.

"Hello?"

Tears welled up in her eyes as she struggled to formulate words. What could she say?

"Hello? Is anybody there?"

"Daddy?", she finally squeaked out, tears streaming freely down her cheeks.

"M-Miley?" His voice cracked with emotion, and it just made her cry even harder. She was praying to God that he and Jackson would understand. That they could be a family again.

"Y-Yes. It's me."

"Oh, baby girl. It is so good to hear from you. I can't tell you how good it is."

"Really?", she asked, her voice a mix of hope and surprise. "You're not...you're not mad at me?"

She heard a slight laugh on the other end. "Darlin', the only person I'm mad at is myself. I should've fought harder to keep you in my life. And I'll never forgive myself for not doing that. I guess I just assumed that you didn't want me around. Can't say I blame you. I shouldn't have given you such a hard time about Jake. If you love the boy, you love him. That's just how it is."

Miley shook her head, wiping a tear away with her finger. "No, you were right. You were always right. I should've listened, daddy. But I was stupid and thought that I knew everything. I didn't. Not even close."

"What happened, Mile?"

"It's nothing. Jake just turned out to be a completely different person than I thought he was. So, I finally walked away. And I've never been happier. In fact, the only thing that's missing in my life now is you and Jackson. I don't want you to be missing anymore", she said quietly. "That's why I was hoping that y'all could come up here for Christmas."

"I can't think of any place that I'd rather be...", her dad spoke. "...than with my kids and my grandbabies. Lord, I haven't seen my little Belle since she was a baby. I bet she's growin' like a weed."

"Yeah. Do you want me to send you a picture?"

"Nah, I think I want to see her in person. She looks just like her mama, doesn't she?"

Miley smiled. "That's what everyone says. So, when you said 'grandbabies', I'm assuming Jackson has kids too?"

"Well, one. Cortland. But we call him Cory. You know, your brother is surprisingly good at the whole parenting thing, Mile."

"I can't wait to meet the little guy", she said softly. "And I can't wait to see y'all again. I love you, daddy."

"I love you too, darlin'."

Nick had pictured a lot of things going wrong when he finally proposed to Miley. But the ring getting stuck on his sister-in-law's finger was not one of them.

"How could you guys do this?", he lamented. "I leave you alone for a couple of hours, and you guys completely screw everything up!"

"Hey! It's your fault!", Joe pointed out. "You hid the ring in our couch! Why didn't you just take it to your place? What if Miley had been the one to find it?"

Lilly nodded. "And girls can't help but try on pretty rings. This is a very pretty ring by the way. Nice choice."

He sighed. "Yeah, I was hoping she would like it. If I ever get it off your finger to give it to her!"

All of a sudden, Lilly's eyes lit up. "Lotion! This happened to my mom one time, and she used lotion to get the ring off! I have some in the bathroom."

She and Joe looked expectantly at Nick, who began to make his way upstairs. Once he got to the upstairs hallway, he ran into Miley. Literally.

"Oops, I'm so sorry, baby", he said, putting his arm around her so she didn't fall.

"That's okay", she said happily. "I talked to my dad."

Nick's eyes widened. "That's great. Did you ask him about Christmas?"

Miley nodded. "He's coming. Him and Jackson and my little nephew. I have a nephew, Nick! And my dad isn't even angry with me. I don't know why I didn't do this a long time ago. I missed them so much, and I'm finally going to get to see them again. I can't wait."

He smiled, and pulled her into a hug. "I'm so happy for you. I can't wait to meet them."

She laughed softly, and pulled back. "I know. I can't wait for you to meet them either. They're going to love you. I know they will. I mean, they might be a little hesitant after Jake. But you're nothing like him, and they'll see that. Thank you so much, Nick."

"For what?"

"For giving me the courage to do this. You've been so amazing and supportive and...I love you so much."

Nick gently brushed a stray tear from her cheek. "I love you too, baby. So much."

Miley gave him a small smile, and brushed her lips against his. In that moment, she had never felt so blessed. She had the most wonderful boyfriend in the world. The most awesome friends in the world. A beautiful daughter that she loved more than life itself. A father and brother that she couldn't wait to see again. She had a lot to be grateful for.

The rest of the day passed without much excitement. They managed to get the ring off of Lilly's finger without Miley noticing. Nick stayed to help Miley prepare dinner. The kids got a hold of a roll of wrapping paper, and "wrapped" some presents for them all. Lilly and Joe had their usual argument over what to watch on TV. Same old, same old.

At least until that evening at approximately 8:17. Miley and Nick were picking up the stray pieces of wrapping paper that the kids had gotten all over the place when they heard a female scream coming from the living room, followed by a male one.

They hurried into the living room where Lilly was already making her way out of the room. Joe was following her on his crutches.

"What's going on?", Nick asked in concern.

"My water broke!", Lilly shrieked. "We have to get to the hospital now!"

"Now!", Miley repeated in shock. "But you aren't due for five more weeks!"

"I know!"

Nick turned quickly to Miley. "Okay, we have a woman in labor, a man that can barely walk, and two kids that are going to be getting cranky at any time. What are we going to do?"

She felt paralyzed. If the doctors couldn't stop the labor, Lilly's baby would be premature. And she knew all too well the dangers that premature babies face. She couldn't watch her best friend go through that. She didn't have it in her.

Nick could sense that she was beginning to panic. He put his hands on her shoulders. "Miley, it's going to be okay. Can you help Lilly to the car? I'm going to go get the kids, and we'll be there in no time."

Miley forced a nod, and followed his instructions.

Thirty minutes later, they had arrived. Lilly had been taken to a room. The kids were sleeping on the couch at the far end of the waiting room. Nick and Miley were sitting next to the door, wanting to be ready for any possible news.

"This is so not good", she said for the tenth time, which only served to stress herself out more. "The baby's going to be premature. That can cause so many problems, Nick!"

He gently rubbed her back. "Baby, it's going to be okay. These are good, capable doctors. Lilly and the baby are in the very best hands. And she isn't that premature. Everything will be fine."

"How are you so calm about this?", she wondered. "This is your niece's life we are talking about!"

"I just have faith that everything will be okay", Nick said simply.

"Faith doesn't get you anywhere", Miley said quietly. "I had faith that Ethan was going to make it. But you know what? He didn't."

"Miley-"

"And I realize that Lilly is farther along than I was. I get that. But things can still go wrong. This baby can't die, Nick. You don't understand!"

He cupped her face in his hands. "I do understand, baby. Better than you think I do."

The look of distress on her face changed to confusion. "What do you mean?"

Nick sighed. He hadn't talked about the abortion since he was sixteen. They had agreed to never bring it up again. But that didn't mean he never thought about it.

He took a deep breath. "When Macy and I were dating, she got pregnant."

Miley couldn't help the gasp that escaped her lips. "W-What? Did she...get rid of it?"

He nodded. "Yeah. We had agreed that it was the best option. We were so young. Neither of us wanted a baby. I wanted to give it up for adoption, but she didn't want to go through the pregnancy. So...she ended it. It messed her up bad. She had to get away almost as soon as it was over. I tried to pretend like it didn't affect me, but it did. I don't know that I've ever admitted it until now."

She gently squeezed his hand. "Nick, I am so sorry. I had no idea."

"No one does. Not my parents, not my brothers...", he trailed off.

"And you feel so alone", she said, finishing his thought. "You feel like you're the only person in the world who loved that baby. Who wanted to see him grow up. Who misses him."

"Yeah. It still hurts sometimes", Nick admitted. "But my point is that Lilly is not Macy. She's taken good care of herself. She and Joe want this baby. And the more I think about it, I think babies can kind of sense when they're wanted, you know? In fact, I think this little girl is in such a rush to get here because she knows what an awesome family she's coming in to."

Miley gave him a small smile. "You're amazing."

"You're pretty amazing yourself, Stewart", he said softly as she laid her head on his shoulder. They both dozed off feeling a strange sense of peace.

Six hours later, Nick's eyes opened in response to a touch on his shoulder. He looked up to see his brother standing in front of him with a giant smile on his face. He slowly sat up, waking Miley up as well.

"Did Lilly have the baby yet?", Miley asked, fully alert already. "Is everything okay?"

"She's great", Joe assured her. "And so is the baby. The kids are in the room with Lilly already. I was going to let you guys sleep, but Lilly is dying for you to see the baby."

Nick smiled at Miley. "I told you."

Miley tossed her head back in relief. "Thank goodness."

Nick stood up, and held his hand out to his girlfriend. "What do you say we go meet our baby niece?"

They followed Joe down the corridor until they came to Lilly's room. The exhausted blonde looked up with a smile as they entered. Myles and Belle were on both sides of the bed looking at the baby.

"Miley", Lilly uttered in a tired-yet-happy tone. "Can you promise me something?"

"Anything", she answered as she approached her friend.

"If I ever mention getting off of birth control after this, whack me across the head with a brick."

Everyone laughed.

"Oh, you know she was worth it", Nick smiled.

"Yeah, she was", Lilly said softly. She looked up at Miley. "Do you want to hold her?"

"Absolutely", Miley responded, gently taking the pink bundle from her mother. She peered down at the infant. She hadn't seen a baby this beautiful since Belle. She couldn't tell who the baby looked like yet, except for the dark hair that was obviously her father's.

"She's gorgeous", Nick said, tenderly touching the baby's tiny hand.

"She is", Miley agreed. "Have you guys decided what to name her yet?"

"Well...", Lilly began. "...after kicking around names for a while, we realized something."

"What?", Nick wondered.

"Well, our first kid over here...", Joe said, motioning to Myles. "...was named after Miley and me. Myles Joseph. So, we wanted kid number two to represent my lovely wife and my wonderful brother."

Nick looked surprised. "Bro, I'm honored and everything. But I can't let you name a girl Nicholas."

Miley giggled. "I don't think Lilly would go for that anyway."

"Absolutely not", Lilly confirmed. "But after toying around with variations of my name and Nick's name, we came up with one we both liked. You want to tell them, Joe?"

"Sure. Nick and Miley, meet Lilliana Nicole Lucas."

"Ana for short", Lilly added.

"Oh, that's beautiful!", Miley breathed. "I love it."

"Well, I guess there's just one thing left to say", Nick cooed at the baby in his girlfriend's arms. "Welcome to the world, Lilliana Nicole."