Thanks for the reviews, guys! Here's the next chapter and hope you like! :)
The days passed, and Miley gradually began to relax again. She knew it was a waste of time to worry about and overanalyze things that were out of her control. So she resolved to focus on the things that were. Starting with her pregnancy.
She was being careful to do exactly as her doctor said this time. Eat enough, take her prenatal vitamins, avoid caffeine, show up for regular checkups, etc. She wanted to do everything in her power to make sure this baby was born healthy and on schedule. Probably the biggest factor was her avoiding stress. And while that was nearly impossible for her, she was really going to try.
And since Nick was so adamant that she keep her stress levels down, she had been spending a lot of me-time. The local spa had quickly became her favorite place in town. She decided to treat Lilly to some mani-pedi's there that day.
"This is so relaxing", the blonde said, leaning her head back against the massage chair and looking at Miley in the one beside her.
Miley smiled. "Yeah. One of the perks of being pregnant."
"Psshh. I only went to this place like once when I was pregnant. Then again, I guess I didn't have nearly as much stuff to stress about as you."
"Sometimes, I can hardly keep up with it all", she admitted. "But all that drama is just gonna have to take a backseat until this baby comes. I don't want to risk something happening to him or her. It's funny how something so tiny can mean so much to you."
"Oh my God. You're pregnant?"
They both turned to see Oliver standing in front of them, looking stunned.
"Uh, well-", Miley started to speak.
"Oliver, what the heck are you even doing here?", Lilly asked, motioning around at all the women. "I know you're not getting a pedicure."
"Um, no. I came to see if Jen was done with her cucumber facial relaxation thing, and of course she isn't. Even though she's been at this place for like seven hours. But when I want to watch one basketball game, it's 'Ohhh, why don't you ever wanna spend time with me? You don't love me!' And then I feel bad so I give her money that she spends doing crap like this!"
"See, the root of the problem is that she doesn't feel loved", Lilly explained. "All you have to do is show her a little appreciation every now and then and she won't feel the need to spend her time, not to mention- your money, making herself feel loved with expensive spa treatments."
"Hey, I do make her-", Oliver started to protest. Then he stopped and pointed an accusatory finger at Lilly. "Wait a minute. You're trying to change the subject!"
She shrugged. "It was worth a shot."
"Miley, are you really pregnant?", he asked.
She nodded. She wasn't going to straight-up lie to one of her oldest friends. "Yeah, I'm pregnant. But please don't tell anyone, Oliver. I'm not ready for everybody to know yet. It's still early."
He sat down in the empty chair across from them. "Whoa. Well, congratulations?"
"Thank you", she said with a smile.
"So, do you guys like try to get pregnant at the same time or something?", Oliver wondered, looking from one girl to the other.
"Hey, I am not pregnant!", Lilly said firmly.
"Yeah, but you just had a baby not too long ago. And now, Miley's pregnant too. And your other kids are in the same grade."
"Oliver, your kid is in the same grade as ours", Miley pointed out. "And considering we weren't even in contact when our kids were born, it is obviously a pure coincidence that they're all the same age."
"Sure", he replied. "And to make it even weirder, I'm still betting that our two end up together."
Miley rolled her eyes in a playful manner. "Well, I guess I could do worse for an in-law."
"What do you think, birthday girl?", Nick asked as he skimmed over the section of party accessories in Walmart for Belle's birthday. "We could do a princess party or a Spongebob party or look, how about a sports party? That would be cool."
"Daddy...", Belle whined.
"No, seriously. We could get one of those football pinatas. Oh come on, you know that sounds awesome. And you could have all your friends wear their favorite team's stuff. Make sure you tell them no Seahawks attire is allowed though."
She put her hands on her hips. "Daddy, I don't even have a favorite team."
Nick smiled. He was so relieved that she was getting back to her normal self. After he had assured her dozens of times that no strange woman was going to hurt him or Miley. And even then, she'd been awfully reluctant to believe him. Shoot, Miley had been awfully reluctant to believe him.
"Your team is the Niners by default, kiddo", he grinned, ruffling her hair. "Can't beat five Super Bowls."
"Don't the Steelers have six?"
"Wow, maybe we do watch ESPN too much", Nick said beneath his breath. "Okay, well if you don't want a sports party, what's it gonna be? And if you don't like any of these, we can still try the party store."
Belle picked up the princess plates and put them into the shopping cart. "I like these."
"How did I ever figure?", he said playfully as he retrieved the matching napkins and a few other things that would fit the theme. He figured Miley would be way better at this, but he didn't want to stress her with it. So he was being Mr. Party Planner this year.
Nick laughed at the next item on the list. Five bottles of syrup. At the rate things were going, this might last Miley a week or two. He had always heard that women could have strange cravings when they're pregnant. And he was prepared for the pickles and ice cream. But syrup with pizza? God, he didn't know how Miley ate it.
"Mommy's so weird", Belle commented as he tossed her mother's requested items into the cart. "How come she eats so much nasty stuff now?"
"Nasty stuff just tastes really good to her right now", he answered, not really knowing what else to say.
"Why?"
"Well...it just...does."
She crossed her arms. "That's not an answer, daddy."
"Okay, it isn't. But you'll find out soon. I promise", Nick assured her before realizing he had forgotten something on the opposite side of the store. "Invitations. Crap. I guess we should go back. Those are kind of important, aren't they?"
Belle nodded, letting out a giggle. So with a sigh, he started back in that direction, fighting through tons of people. He always managed to pick the busiest times to go in this place.
"So this is gonna be a pretty big party, huh?", he remarked. "Your whole class plus all these family members. It's a good thing we were able to reserve the skating rink."
"Do we really have to invite Jake?", she asked, looking up at him. "I don't want him at my party."
Nick sighed. "I think so, princess. But he'll only be there for a few minutes. And you'll be so busy playing with your friends, you won't even notice."
At least he hoped she wouldn't. But he knew Jake would irritate the hell out of him for the brief time he was there. Better him than Miley though. That's why Nick had been making such an effort to tolerate her ex lately. He knew that she couldn't deal with the stress that would result from Jake getting angry. But he was still secretly holding on to the hope that the other guy would eventually give it up and just leave them all alone.
Mikayla took a brief look around the Olive Garden parking lot before hopping into Jake's car. "Ghost is clear", she said as she shut the passenger side door.
"Why can't we just talk inside?", he asked. "I haven't ate lunch yet."
She breathed in slowly, hoping to refrain from insulting him this early in the conversation. "Because we can't be seen together in public", she said, as if this was incredibly obvious. "Miley, Nick, and everyone they know are going to be on the lookout for me now. You don't need for them to see you with me. That would blow up everything."
"Well, could we speed this up then?"
"Fine", she said, taking a piece of paper out of her purse. "Miley will find this today."
Jake looked at it for a moment and then back at her. "What's this going to do? Other than scare the hell out of her anyway."
Mikayla rolled her eyes. "The point is to scare the hell out of her! It is going to make her desperate to find out who's doing this. And who's she going to go to?"
"Uh, the police?"
She slapped her hand against her forehead. "You! She's gonna go to you! Because she knows that you've had some form of contact with me. Do you understand? This is the perfect opportunity for you to get close to her."
"You said breaking them up from the outside wouldn't work", he reminded her.
"Well, we can't afford to leave this in the hands of you 'changing.' Whether you like it or not, she's in love with Nick. And not only will this improve your standing with her, it will create conflict between them. He won't trust you under any circumstances. She will. Because frankly, the girl's not all that bright. At least you two are compatible in that area."
"You know, you act like you're so much smarter than me. But at the end of the day, I'm the one with a successful career and more money than I know what to do with", Jake pointed out in an annoyed tone. "You're just a washed up diva who needs other people to do her dirty work for her because she's too big of a coward to do it herself. Face it, Mikayla. You're pathetic."
Mikayla pointed to herself in disbelief. "I'm sorry, you think I'm pathetic? I'm not the one who is creepily obsessed with getting my ex back when said ex does not want me!"
"Oh, no. You just want to see someone put a bullet through your ex's brain! That's so much better!"
"He deserves it", she said with a shrug.
"Whatever", he said, giving the argument up. "Just tell me what I need to tell her when she comes to me for help."
The corners of her lips turned slightly upwards. "That sounds more like it."
"Hey, baby", Miley grinned, kissing her fiance on the lips as she walked into their living room.
"Hey, yourself", Nick said, forcing a smile back to her. He was completely exhausted from all the errands she had given him, but he didn't want to let on. She looked like she was in too good of a mood for him to drag it down.
"So, how many of my errands did you actually get done?", she asked knowingly.
"All of them", he answered proudly, motioning to the completed checklist on the coffee table.
Her eyes widened a bit. "Wow. And I was going to consider half of them a success. You even made it through Walmart?"
"Yep. And you're gonna be shocked, but I've already gotten most of the stuff set up for the party. Belle picked out a princess theme, of course."
Miley nodded dramatically, hiding a smile. "Of course."
"And even more important, I remembered your syrup."
She laughed and kissed him on the cheek. "You are the best. But you really don't have to keep doing everything. I'm pregnant, not paralyzed."
"Oh no no no", Nick said in an insistent fashion. "You know what the doctor said. No stressing. I'm perfectly capable of taking on more for the next few months. Besides, you're the one who's gonna have to give birth. And I'm guessing that's way harder than planning a birthday party."
"You have no idea", Miley said, cringing at the thought. That was the one part that she was not looking forward to. She had always heard that it was more difficult for a woman to get over a C-Section, but it couldn't be worse than normal delivery in her opinion. Especially when you're an idiot teenager who honestly believes it would be better without the drugs. She wouldn't be making that mistake again.
"What's it like?", he asked curiously. He had never watched somebody give birth before, except on TV. And he seriously doubted it was that easy.
"Oh, just like your whole body is being ripped apart. Which it is. And it lasts forever."
He grew a bit nervous at that. "How long is forever?"
"Well, I was in labor with Belle for twenty-two hours", she informed him.
His eyes widened in terror. "T-Twenty-two hours? But it could happen a lot faster, right?"
Miley shrugged. "Depends. Just think, all those hours of me yelling obscenities at you and breaking every bone in your hand because I'm squeezing it so hard. Sounds fun, huh?"
"Not really", Nick replied honestly.
"Oh, speaking of the baby", she said, grabbing a Barnes & Nobles bag from the table. She proceeded to pull out a book entitled "1000 Most Popular Baby Names."
"Names already?", he asked, giving her a questioning look. "We don't even know if it's a boy or a girl yet."
"But it's never too early to start thinking about names", she pointed out with a grin. This was the part she was excited about. Since she had found out she was pregnant, there had been several names that would float through her head, but she had never talked any of them over with Nick.
He reluctantly followed her to the couch. "Okay. So, you wanna look at boy or girl first?"
"Boy", Miley answered immediately. She wasn't sure obviously, but she really believed that it was a boy. Maybe it was because she wanted one so badly, or maybe it was mother's intuition or something. Not that she wouldn't love a little girl just the same.
"So do you want to do the initial thing?", Nick asked, looking at her.
"What do you mean?"
"You know, like M or N for one of our names. Or B so it'll go with Belle's. A lot of people like for their kids' names to start with the same letter."
"I hadn't really thought about doing that", she said slowly. She did like the idea of doing something cool with the initials though. She placed the book back onto the table. "Okay, I have an idea. Lets do something before we actually start looking at names. For the boy names, we each come up with one that starts with N- for you- and then a middle name that starts with M- for me. For the girls, we do the opposite. Then we come up with a boy name that starts with a B and a middle name that starts with an N. The same with the girl, except the middle name starts with an M."
When she finished explaining, Nick was more lost than ever. "Uh, can you repeat that?"
Miley sighed and grabbed some paper. Then she proceeded to write out the rules, which he seemed to understand a lot better the second time. "See. Just to see what we come up with if we do something with the initials."
Nick watched her start scribbling in a hurry, which made him nervous because he didn't even know what names to put down. He eventually just chose some random ones that he liked, hoping they sounded okay.
"Okay, lets see it", she said after he finished.
"What? No way. You first."
She sighed and flipped her piece of paper for him to see. He suddenly didn't feel so badly about his own choices anymore.
"Boys-", he started to read aloud. "Nicholas Michael and Bentley Nicholas."
"You don't like them", Miley frowned, noting the expression on his face.
"No, I like them", Nick assured her. Okay, that was BS. He really didn't want to name his kid after himself. He wanted them to have something that was their own.
"And girls-", he said, looking back at the list. "Mallory Nichole and Brooke Mallory. Hey, this isn't fair. You're just re-using the same names! No wonder you got done so fast!"
"I never said we couldn't do that", she pointed out. "Now, lets see what you've got."
He reluctantly slapped the list into her waiting hand. "Okay", she said with a smile. "Boys- Navarre Michael and Braxton Nathaniel. Well, at least we have a middle name in common. But Navarre? You can't be serious. Is that even a real name?"
"Yes. And I like it! It's different. No kid wants to have a name that everybody else has too."
"But most kids do want to have a name that people will actually know how to pronounce, baby. Okay, and for the girls- Melody Noelle and Brienna Michelle."
"In my defense, it's hard to think of good names when you're rushing me", Nick said quickly.
"Well, with the exception of Navarre, I think yours are pretty good", Miley admitted with a smile. "I do like Melody and Braxton."
"And from yours, I like Bentley and Brooke."
She smiled. "So those are the ones we'll keep for consideration then."
He nodded and gave her a quick kiss. "Sounds good. I'm about to go check on Belle, okay?"
"M-kay", she agreed, leaning her head back against the couch as he walked upstairs. Not two seconds after he had disappeared, she heard the doorbell ring. "Seriously?", she said to herself as she forced herself up off of the couch.
Miley opened the door, but there was nobody on the other side. "Great", she muttered. "I get up and it's just a couple kids playing ding-dong-ditch. I'm pregnant, you little juvenile deliquents! You better not be doing this crap when I'm having to waddle all over the place!", she shouted, her hormones suddenly getting the best of her.
But before she could slam the door, she noticed the envelope on the doorstep. Curious, she bent over to pick it up. It didn't have anything on it; just a plain envelope. Slowly, she closed the door and opened it. She carefully pulled out a strange piece of folded up paper and unfolded it. And then, her fingers began to tremble as she realized what it was.
Hiding outside a few feet away was a shell-shocked Mikayla, who could hardly believe what she just heard. "She's pregnant?"
A/N: So, what did you think? BTW I wasn't really serious about most of the name choices in this chapter. And it's still WAY early for that. But you can let me know if you liked any of them, and I will definitely consider it! The options were:
Boys: Nicholas, Navarre, Bentley, Braxton
Girls: Mallory, Melody, Brooke, Brienna
Or feel free to suggest your own! Thanks! :)