A/N: Here's the next chapter guys! So most of you seem to think Miley's pregnant. Guess we'll see. :)
A few days later, Miley still wasn't feeling much better. Which was odd since Nick and Belle hadn't been sick anywhere close to this long. Hers just seemed to go on and on. She was starting to think it was the flu, since that generally lasted a lot longer than a normal stomach bug.
"Mommy, are you feeling better yet?", Belle asked as she hopped up on the couch next to her. "You can come eat ice cream with me and daddy."
"I don't think so, baby", she said weakly. "Just eat some for me, okay?"
Miley figured this was the one benefit of being sick. She got to get out of seeing Jake today. But they would see how serious he was about changing soon enough.
She forced a small smile as Nick came into the room. "Hey."
"Mommy's still feeling bad", Belle informed him with a frown.
"This bug is sure taking it's toll on you, huh?", Nick sighed, sitting on the coffee table across from her. "You want us to pick up something for you while we're in town? What about one of those milkshakes you like so much?"
"Sounds good", Miley nodded. "Could you pick up a pizza too? Meat lovers?"
"Can do", he agreed. He turned to Belle. "You might want to grab a jacket before we go, princess. It's a little cool outside."
Belle gave him the puppy dog look that always seemed to work on Nick. But Miley wasn't having it. She pointed to the staircase. "Jacket. Now." The child let out a sigh but did as she was told.
"Are you sure we shouldn't talk to her about this before we go?", Nick asked worriedly. He was concerned, to say the least, about how Belle would react when she saw Jake. And he was going to have to deal with this without Miley's help.
She shook her head. "We know how she'll react if we tell her beforehand. I don't want Jake near her any more than you do, but I don't think we have much of a choice here."
"I know. I just don't know if I can watch her get hurt, Miley. We both know not to believe anything he says. But kids take everything they're told for the truth."
"Yeah, I realize that."
"I'm ready!", Belle announced, running back down the stairs clutching a purple jacket in her hand.
Nick smiled and lifted her up into his arms. "Okay, we should get going then." He looked at Miley. "Make sure you call me if you need something, okay? We can be back here in ten minutes."
"I hope you feel better, mommy", Belle added.
"Thank you", she said, forcing a smile. "And I will call if I need something, but I'm sure everything will be fine."
Nick gave her a faint smile and then brought himself to leave. He hated leaving her alone for any amount of time while she was feeling so bad. Especially when she had taken such good care of him while he was sick.
After he had left, Miley flipped through some channels in an attempt to find something remotely interesting on TV. News- no thanks. Keeping Up With the Kardashians- ha! Double no thanks. Sixteen and Pregnant- ugh, really? She eventually settled it on an American Idol rerun from way back in season two.
"TV really has gone down the drain", she muttered to herself as the doorbell rang. "Come in!", she called. Ordinarily, she wouldn't invite random strangers into her house but she was almost certain of who it was. And she really didn't want to get up.
"Hey", Lilly said as she walked in, closing the door behind her. "You're going to love me. I was at Cairo's and I picked you up a chicken melt", she said, setting the bag down on the coffee table. "I know it's your favorite."
"Thanks", Miley said with a small smile as she forced herself to sit up. Though she couldn't help but wish that chicken melt was a slice of meat lover's pizza. With stuffed crust. God, that sounded amazing.
"And I have something else that'll make you smile." Her friend tossed a magazine into her arms. The headline read, "Hannah's Whirlwind Romance Over." Then in smaller print, "Jake Ryan on what went wrong with the blonde starlet."
"Thank God", she said, unconsciously breathing a sigh of relief. She was sure she would have to answer all kinds of questions about this when Hannah went on that afternoon talk show next week. But hopefully, it would be completely done with afterwards.
"Yep, looks like you're in the clear for now. Once you get over whatever it is you've got anyway", Lilly remarked. "And you better not still be contagious."
"Just try not to get too close to me, and wash your hands often. You should be fine."
"It's probably the stress from the whole Jake and Hannah thing", the blonde commented as she took a sip of her soda. "Stress does make it harder for you to get well. I really hope you've gotten all that under control, Miley."
She nodded. "Me too. I guess we'll see soon."
Lilly let out a slight laugh, and shook her head.
"What is it?", Miley wondered.
"Oh, I was just thinking about the last time I was as sick as you. My 'stomach virus' ended up being a baby girl."
Once they got to the ice cream shop, Nick spotted Joe and his kids in a back booth. He ordered Belle an ice cream cone and then they approached them. "Hey, man. Thanks for coming."
"Uncle Joe, look how much ice cream daddy let me get!", Belle said, proudly displaying her two scoops of vanilla on a waffle cone. Her mom never let her get that much.
Myles held up his own double scoop of chocolate ice cream. "This is why daddies are more fun to go places with."
Joe laughed. "Well, I don't see the harm in an extra scoop of ice cream. As long as you don't tell your mom." He looked back up at Nick. "Miley still sick, huh?"
He nodded. "Yeah, it's weird. It's like one minute, it looks like she's feeling better and then the next, she's throwing up again. I don't know, man."
He heard the bells above the front door ring, and saw Jake out of the corner of his eye. Might as well get this conversation over with, he decided. He put his hands on Belle's shoulders and looked down at her. "Okay, princess. Daddy needs to go take care of something for a few minutes. I need you to stay with Uncle Joe, okay?"
"Okay!", Belle chirped, climbing up into the booth with Myles. Nick proceeded to meet Jake at the front of the shop.
"Outside", he said, pointing to the door.
Jake rolled his eyes and followed him outside. "Where's Miley?"
"At home. That's not a problem, is it? Because I was under the impression that this little outing was so you could see Belle."
"Right. I just kind of assumed-", Jake trailed off, remembering he had to stay civil. "Never mind. What is it?"
"I just thought we should get some things straight before she sees you", Nick stated. "Don't pull any bullshit with her. She's just a kid, and this is gonna confuse her enough as it is."
"I never intended to. Look, I know you and Miley think I have some kind of evil agenda, but I don't. I just want to see my little girl. That's it."
Nick shook his head. "Fine, have it your way. But don't be surprised if she's not all too thrilled to see you."
"That's right", Miley uttered, remembering how Lilly had thought she was coming down with something when she was actually pregnant. But that couldn't be the case for her. Could it?
"What's wrong?", Lilly asked, taking note of the strange expression on her friend's face.
She pulled her phone from the coffee table, and went to the app that she had always referred to as her "lifesaver." It was so much more convenient than having to keep up with all that on her own. But she wasn't prepared for the words on the screen.
18 Days Late. Period just started? Tap here.
This couldn't be right. How in the hell would she not notice if she was that late? Besides, she and Nick always used protection! Add that to the fact that her doctor had freakin' told her it would be nearly impossible. She couldn't be pregnant!
"How could that be?", she wondered aloud.
"How could what be? Miley, what is it?", Lilly demanded, annoyed that she didn't have the first clue as to what her friend was talking about.
Miley turned the phone around to let her see. The blonde let out a gasp. "Oh my God. Are you pregnant?"
"I don't know! I mean, I don't know how it could've happened!"
Lilly crossed her arms and gave her a look.
"You know what I mean!", Miley exclaimed, her eyes growing large. "We've always been safe. Always! I know it's not a hundred percent but..."
"Miley, a condom not working is more common than you might think. I thought me and Joe were being so careful right after we got married. Yeah, Myles was born a week after our first anniversary. Things happen."
"But my doctor said-"
"Your doctor was obviously a total quack", Lilly said, cutting her off. "Didn't he tell you all that stuff before you got pregnant with Belle? And that pregnancy was successful. So, there's no reason why you wouldn't be able to do it again."
"Yeah but-"
"No buts. We're getting you a pregnancy test. Right now", Lilly informed her, pulling Miley up to her feet.
She allowed Lilly to drag her to the car, even as she continued to protest that this wasn't really necessary because there was no way she was actually pregnant. She was just sick. And her period was late because of all the stress with Hannah. There wasn't a baby inside her. That was completely and totally ridiculous.
"What do we have to go outside for?", Belle asked as Nick carried her out into the parking lot. "I didn't get to tell Uncle Joe about my tooth coming out yet."
"You'll get to tell him later", he assured her. "There's just something we have to do right now. But I promise I'm not leaving you, okay?"
Belle gave him a confused look. "What?"
"There she is. Hi, honey!" Nick rolled his eyes as Jake approached them with a huge smile. He knew the other guy was going to be as fake as hell.
He felt the child's arms tighten around his neck. "Daddy, I wanna go home", she said in a trembling whisper.
"We will soon, I promise", he said, looking into her eyes. Her terrified eyes.
Belle shook her head. "Mommy's sick. She needs us. We have to go home, daddy."
"Hey, baby girl. It's so good to see you", Jake said with a smile. "Can I get a hug?"
Nick felt like he was going to lose feeling in his neck because she was holding onto him so tightly. "You don't have to", he whispered, before turning to glare at Jake. "She doesn't have to."
"Right", Jake uttered after a moment, obviously disappointed. He reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a pink box with a twisting white bow. "Here, I got you a little something."
Nick resisted the urge to roll his eyes. When all else fails, try and buy the kid's love. Belle reluctantly reached out to take the box, and then proceeded to cling to him again. "Thank you", she said quietly.
"You're welcome. I hope you like it."
Belle looked back at Nick. "Can we please go home now?"
Jake let out a frustrated sigh. How in the hell was he supposed to make this kid like him? Kids like presents. He already did that. What else did they like?
"Yeah, I think we should be getting back", Nick agreed. After all, Jake had gotten to see Belle. There was never a time specification for how long he got, and frankly, he didn't deserve one second in Nick's opinion.
"Wait", Jake said as they had started to leave. He looked at Belle, knowing he had to get something accomplished here. "I know I haven't been around for awhile, and I'm sorry for that. But I promise things are going to be different now. I love you, honey."
Belle didn't respond, probably because she was as confused as Nick feared she would be. Damn it. He had told Miley they should talk to her about this beforehand.
"Well, we should be going", he said, anxious to get his daughter out of that situation. "Have a good one, Jake."
Lilly impatiently knocked on the bathroom door. "Miley, open up! What does it say?"
Miley opened it, giving her friend an annoyed look. "Lilly, the result hasn't came up yet. Calm down."
"Oh." The blonde walked into the room and sat down on the edge of the tub. "How much longer?"
"About a minute", she replied, leaning back against the wall. "This is crazy. I mean, I can't actually be pregnant."
"You wouldn't be happy?"
"Of course, I would", Miley replied, before letting out a sigh. "I don't know. I mean, I always wanted two or three kids. I had kind of given up on that idea though. The circumstances for having them were always so terrible."
"That's totally understandable", Lilly said softly. "But those circumstances are completely different now. Miley, you're about to marry an amazing guy. He loves you like crazy. He loves Belle like crazy. And he would love this baby like crazy. You know that."
Of course she knew that. Nick would probably be thrilled. But she didn't know how to feel. The idea of having another baby did make her feel hopeful, excited even. She would get to enjoy the experience for the first time. And it would be with the right guy. But what would she do about Hannah? Disappear for a few months? Try and hide it for as long as possible?
"We'll figure out something", Lilly said, as if she were reading her mind.
"Lilly, I'm scared", she admitted. "I mean, a baby would change everything. Me and Nick- we aren't even married yet. We're still getting things together, you know? And I just got my career back on track."
"Nobody's telling you that you have to be a stay-at-home mom, Miley. You can still sing. And when you aren't able to be there, this baby would have a great dad. A great sister. An aunt and uncle who would be more than happy to help. Plus Jackson, Oliver, your dad, Nick's parents...that child would not be lacking for anything, I promise."
That was true. This child would be born into an incredible family, surrounded by so much love. And she would have the support that she never had before. The more she thought about it, maybe she was just scared to fall in love with the idea of a baby that didn't even exist. Or one that she would ultimately lose because something went wrong again.
"Hey Miley?" She looked up at the sound of Lilly's voice. "You might want to check the test."
Her eyes strayed to the white stick lying on the counter. She took a deep breath, and flipped it over.
"Mikayla! Open the door!", Jake shouted, banging on the apartment door. It was the least she could do considering he was the one paying for the damn place.
"What the hell do you want?", she hissed as she finally opened it, holding her phone away from her as if she didn't want the person on the other end to hear.
"I need your help. Miley's ignoring me, and Belle still doesn't want anything to do with me. And I did everything you said!"
"Gee, and here I thought they would welcome you back into their lives with open arms", she said sarcastically as he walked past her. She rolled her eyes and shut the door. "You're going to have to wait. I'm on hold right now."
"It can't wait", he replied. "I don't have a lot of time left before she gets married. And how am I supposed to convince her that she still loves me if I never see her? But if I try to see her more, she's going to think that I'm forcing my way back into her life-"
"Which you are", Mikayla interrupted, annoyed. "You're just going to have to be patient- if that's even possible for you anyway."
"Aren't you hearing anything I'm saying?", Jake exclaimed in exasperation. "I don't have time to be patient!"
She groaned. God, she couldn't wait until he eventually got Miley back and she could be done with him. Sometimes she wondered if this crap was even worth it. But when she heard a small voice come on the line, she knew that it was.
"Mommy?"
"Miley?", Nick called as he followed Belle into the house, shutting the door behind him. "We're back!"
Upstairs, the sound of his voice shocked Miley back into reality. She looked at Lilly helplessly. "They're back! What do I do?"
The blonde put her hands squarely on her friend's shoulders. "You're going to go downstairs and act completely natural."
"How?"
Lilly sighed and grabbed her hand. "Come on. Trust me, you'll be fine."
They walked downstairs, Miley inwardly freaking out because she had no idea how to act natural in a situation like this.
"Hey, baby. You feeling better?", Nick asked as he approached them. He couldn't help but notice that Miley looked a little freaked.
"She feels much better", Lilly assured him. "Right, Miley?"
She forced a small smile. "Right. Yeah, I feel a lot- a lot better. Uh, so how did it go? With Jake, I mean?"
Nick shrugged. "About as well as we expected. Belle was pretty shaken up about the whole thing."
Miley frowned. "Is she okay now? Where is she? I should go talk to her."
"Hey, she's okay now. We had a pretty lengthy talk about it in the car", Nick informed her. "She took some pizza out on the deck. I did remember the pizza by the way."
"Did you remember the syrup?", Lilly joked.
Miley glared at her, and Nick just looked confused. She decided that she suddenly had something at home that needed doing. "Okay, well I'm gonna leave you guys alone. Congratulations", she grinned in a sing-song voice.
As they watched Lilly leave, Nick scratched his head. "Okay. Any idea what that was about?"
"Kind of. And it's kind of important", she admitted, taking a deep breath. "See, I was late."
Okay, he officially did not understand women. In fact, they confused the hell out of him. "Late for what?", he finally asked. "I'm sure whatever it is, you can reschedule."
"That's not what I'm talking about", Miley said, shaking her head. "My period was late."
His eyes widened. Was she saying-
"Nick, I'm pregnant."
"P-Pregnant?", he repeated in a state of shock. She nodded, biting her lip nervously. Then, he promptly passed out onto the floor.
LOL. Poor Nick never saw that one coming. Yes, she's pregnant! :) And now you know that Mikayla IS the mystery girl. (I think most of you thought that already though haha)
Anyways, let me know if you liked! :)