A/N: Thanks so much for the comments, guys. I cannot believe this story has hit the 200 reviews mark. That is absolutely insane, and I am so appreciative to everybody who has supported me along the way. You have no idea how much it means, so thank you! And I hope you like the chapter! :)

Mikayla had gotten an early start to the day. Of course, she pretty much had to considering the number of things that had to be taken care of. She knew that this day had the potential to make or break everything, and the fact that she was counting on Jake to execute the plan properly made her more than a little nervous.

"Mikayla?" She turned her attention to the rapping on her door and quickly went to open it.

"Took you long enough", she said, annoyed as she let Jake in. "I called you an hour ago."

"Chill out. I'm here, aren't I?"

Rolling her eyes, she picked up a box wrapped in metallic purple paper from the coffee table and handed it to him. "Here's the gift. It's all set. Now, do we need to go over what to do once you get there?"

"We've only went over it a dozen times, Mikayla. You don't give me enough credit."

"Well, maybe I would give you more credit if you didn't screw things up on a consistent basis. You're not the only one that it's hurting. Do you have any idea how long it's been since I've seen my son? Since I've gotten to hold him in my arms? He could see me on the street somewhere, and he probably wouldn't even recognize me."

The tears welling up in Mikayla's eyes surprised her. They made her feel weak. And she hated it. She didn't cry. She didn't break down. She never let her emotions get involved. She couldn't afford to. That was when people made mistakes.

She slowly wiped at her eyes and then looked at him. "You need to be going. Do you remember what to tell Miley when she comes to you?"

"Yeah", Jake said, looking down.

"Good", Mikayla replied in a slightly uncertain tone. Then she retrieved the small bag lying on the couch, containing two small white pills. She looked at them for a moment, fighting back an unfamilar pang of guilt. This was why she worked so hard to keep her emotions at bay. She shouldn't have felt guilt. She loathed Miley. For parading around in that stupid wig, acting like she was so much better than her. For getting everything she could ever want while Mikayla hadn't had a moment of peace in years. And if some pain went in Miley's way, that meant that there would be less coming in her own.

"Now, here's the other part", she said in a slightly shaky voice, sniffing as her eyes moved from the bag to Jake. "You need to find a way to slip these into Miley's drink."

He looked at them suspiciously. "Why? What are they?"

"They'll make her happy", she answered in a numb tone. "Just so she won't be concerned with keeping her guard up around you, and you might actually make some progress with her. They dissolve after a few seconds, so she'll never even notice."

Jake reluctantly took the bag. "Uh...okay. But what if somebody sees me? There are people all over the place at these things."

"Just find a way", Mikayla pleaded.

"This cake looks so good", Lilly said as she took yet another peek inside the white bakery box. She was sitting in the party room of the skating rink with Miley and Nick while all the kids were out skating. She suspected that was where her husband had disappeared to as well.

"It should be good", Nick remarked, also looking at the cake. "It came from the most expensive place in town."

"That's what happens when you order from the first place in the phone book", Miley said, giving him a teasing smile.

"Again, I've never planned a birthday party before", he reminded her.

"Oh, you did all this?", Robbie Ray spoke in surprise as he walked into the room. "Wow, Mile. You really do have a keeper."

A satisfied smile crossed Nick's face. It always meant a lot to get a compliment from Miley's dad. The man was accepting of their relationship, sure. He saw that Miley was happy. But he still had that attitude of "Nobody's good enough for my little girl."

Miley smiled. "Yeah, he's pretty amazing."

"Ugh, Jake alert", Lilly said, her eyes motioning to Miley's ex, who was currently paying his way in.

"You two don't get along real good, do you?", Robbie Ray asked, looking at his daughter.

Well, that was the understatement of the century.

"No, daddy. Not really", she answered as she stood up. She didn't really want to do this, but it was pretty much necessary at this point. So she walked to the front of the rink to meet her ex.

He smiled when he saw her. "Miley, hey."

Miley forced a small smile for the older woman in the booth's benefit. She didn't want a total stranger to be able to detect the tension on her part.

"I need to talk to you. Outside", she said quietly.

Jake gave her a strange look but followed her out onto the sidewalk. She really didn't want to do this. He was the last person on the face of the planet that she wanted to ask for help. But she had to think of everyone else. She had to keep them safe. So she showed him the note, hoping that he would know something. Anything.

After reading it, he looked back up at her. "You're not actually going to meet her, are you?"

"I don't know", she replied. "I haven't decided yet. I just need to know if she gave you any clues as to who she is. Anything at all."

He shrugged. "Well, she signed mine."

Miley's eyes widened in surprise. "She signed yours? So you know who she is then!"

"Not exactly. She signed it as 'Lady M.' I know that's not really much help but-"

She let out a groan. She should've known that was too easy. "Okay. You went to meet her, right? Was she armed?"

"I didn't see anything. You still shouldn't go though. That place is in the middle of nowhere. No witnesses around for miles."

Oh, of course. Miley raked her hands through her hair and turned away from him.

"Miley, I'm serious. Don't put yourself in danger like that."

She whirled around to face him again. "I have family and friends that I have to protect. And I'm gonna do whatever I have to do to protect them. That's what you do when you love someone. I know you wouldn't know anything about that."

"That's not true!", Jake argued. "I loved you!"

"No, you didn't", Miley said, shaking her head. "If you had loved me, you would've never hurt me the way you did. Look, I don't want to hate you anymore. I don't have the energy for it. And I hope you are serious about being a better person. But I don't think you are. Because if you were, you would respect the fact that I've moved on with my life and leave me alone."

As she disappeared through the doors, Jake pulled the small bag from his pocket and looked at it. Mikayla did say these would make Miley more receptive to him. And he certainly needed help in that area. Why not? It was worth a shot.

Nick pulled Miley aside once she had came back into the room. "What did he say?"

He had absolutely detested the idea of asking Jake for any kind of help, but Miley had eventually talked him into it. Because as she pointed out, they were running out of time. And they still hadn't been able to find anything on this woman.

"Well, her name starts with an M. And he didn't see any weapons on her when he met her. That's about all I got", she answered with a sigh. "But it's better than nothing, right?"

He nodded. "Maybe if we narrow it down to "M" names, we'll luck up and find her." It was doubtful, but he had to be optimistic. At least he would recognize her if he saw her.

Miley forced a small smile as he moved her out of the path of the steady stream of children coming into the room. None of them bothering to take off the skates, of course.

"I guess somebody told them it was almost time for cake", Nick remarked.

They spent the next few minutes watching as Belle opened her gifts. And the kid certainly was not lacking for anything. Among the gifts were a trampoline, a tea party set, and a karaoke machine. (They would all be regretting that one.) And those were just the tip of the iceberg.

"Okay, this one's from your grandpa", Lilly said as she handed Belle a box wrapped in green wrapping paper. The little girl tore at the paper until it revealed a shoebox containing a pair of pink leather riding boots.

Miley smiled, shaking her head. "Daddy, she doesn't have a horse. Or know how to ride one for that matter."

"Your kid doesn't know how to ride a horse?", Jackson asked in exaggerated disbelief, which earned him a playful jab in the arm from his sister.

"Well, now she can learn", Robbie Ray smiled. "There's one at my house just for you, darlin'. And I'm sure your mama will be happy to show you how to ride him."

Belle looked at her hopefully. "Really, mommy? Will you?"

Miley bit her lip. She really didn't feel comfortable getting on a horse while she was pregnant. All kinds of things could happen. But if she got the chance, she wasn't sure if she'd be able to resist.

"I would love to, but I think grandpa should teach you. He's the best", she said, looking at her dad with a smile.

He shrugged but obviously enjoyed the compliment. And she knew he would never turn down spending time with his grandbabies.

"Okay, next present", Lilly said as she handed a box wrapped in metallic purple paper to Belle.

The child let out a gasp as she unwrapped a box containing a porcelain doll with dark brown curls and large green eyes. "She's so pretty!"

"Wow, that is pretty", Miley agreed. "Who's it from?"

"My bad", Lilly apologized as she sifted through the torn wrapping paper. "I guess I forgot to- oh, here we go. It's from...Jake."

Miley glanced at her ex, more than a bit surprised. She wasn't sure what kind of gift to expect from him, but it wasn't something like this. Something so...Belle. She turned to Nick with a look of suspicion in her eyes. "Something doesn't seem right here."

He nodded. "I was just thinking the same thing."

After the gifts came the cake, which Lilly was cutting into pieces and placing on disposable princess plates. Nick and Oliver were transferring the gifts to the car so they would be out of the way. Miley was taking drink requests from all the kids. As she was pouring one little girl's Sprite, Jake approached her.

"Hey, is there anything I can do to help?", he asked.

She looked at him for a brief moment and then handed the plastic cup to the little girl. "Here, sweetie." She looked back at Jake again. "As a matter of fact, you can finish pouring these drinks", she said, eager to sit down. Her feet were killing her.

"No problem. I can go ahead and pour yours too. Coke, right?"

As great as that sounded, Miley shook her head. She wasn't about to put caffeine into her body. "No, I brought a bottle of water with me", she said before walking away.

"Seriously?", he muttered to himself. It was becoming abundantly clear that he wasn't going to get the chance to get closer to Miley today. Shoot, he could've left this place an hour ago! And now, he was being bombarded by a bunch of little brats screaming out about seven different soda names. Like he was a damn waiter or something.

"Thank you for my doll." Jake looked to his side where Belle was standing. He was a bit surprised considering she usually wouldn't come near him. Not voluntarily anyway.

"You're welcome", he said, pasting a smile onto his face as he reached for the Pepsi bottle.

"How come you're being so nice?", she asked after a moment. In a way that was somehow both cautious and bold.

The question left him slightly uncomfortable. "What are you talking about? I thought I was always nice."

Belle shook her head. "No. Just now. How come?"

Jake suppressed a groan. One of the many things he disliked about kids. They asked question after question after question. And they never took anything for an acceptable answer. He couldn't figure out why Mikayla actually wanted to deal with this on a regular basis. But if he wanted Miley, he had no choice but to take the kid along with her.

So he forced a smile for the little girl. "Because I love you, honey."

"Why in the hell can't you just do what I say?", Mikayla demanded, completely livid that Jake couldn't even complete one simple task. "You slip the pills into a drink. It's not that difficult. Do you honestly think people at a birthday party are paying attention to stuff like that?"

He rolled his eyes, leaning back against the couch. "Listen, I would've done it if I had gotten a chance. But there wasn't one. It's not that big of a deal. Besides, I don't need to slip Miley drugs to get her to be nice to me."

She raised an eyebrow. "Sure you don't. The only reason she is even tolerating you right now is because we're blackmailing her."

"I thought that was the point of the note. I show up to protect her from you, and then she can't help but look at me differently. Why do you want me to risk getting caught drugging her?"

"Never mind", she said in frustration before muttering, "I guess I'll have to take care of it myself."

Jake looked at her in confusion. "What?"

"Nothing", Mikayla responded. "Nothing at all."

He stood up, having dealt with enough crap for one day. "Whatever. I'm leaving."

She watched him walk to the door, but she couldn't let him leave just yet. "Wait", she said in a quiet- but very audible- voice.

He turned around, and she tried to keep any emotion out of her expression. "Did you see him?", she asked as casually as she could manage.

"Yeah."

Mikayla looked down for a moment. "How was he?"

Jake shrugged. "He looked happy."

She nodded slowly and watched him walk out the door.

"Are you sure you want to tell her now?", Nick asked as he and Miley sat down at the foot of Belle's bed that night. "Because we can't really take it back once we do."

Miley nodded with a smile. She really couldn't think of a better time to give Belle such great news than on her birthday. "Yeah, I think it's time to let her in on her baby brother or sister", she said confidently.

Nick nodded. "Me too. I'm glad everybody's finally going to know. It's hard keeping something like this a secret."

"Oh, I know. And I'm really good at keeping secrets."

"I'm ready for my surprise!", Belle announced as she came flying into the room.

Nick smiled and lifted her up into his lap. He looked at Miley. "You hear that, Mi? She's ready for her surprise."

"Okay", Miley said slowly, looking into the little girl's excited eyes. "Belle...how would you feel if we told you that- in a few months- you're gonna be a big sister?"

Belle's jaw dropped. "Really?", she squealed.

"Really", Nick confirmed with a smile. "So what do you think, princess? Are you up for it?"

She nodded eagerly, giving them a huge grin. "I can't believe it! Santa really did make all my wishes come true! You're gonna get married, AND I get a little sister!"

Miley laughed. "Hey, now. It could be a little brother."

Belle thought about the possibility for a moment. "I guess a brother would be okay too. When's it gonna be here?"

Nick looked at Miley. "What, six or seven months?"

The child's face fell at that answer. "That long? Why can't we get it sooner?"

"Well, it needs time to get strong enough to live outside of your mom", he explained. "If it got here too early, it could be really weak for awhile."

"I don't want that", Belle said quickly. "I can wait for it to get strong."

Miley smiled. She was going to make an amazing sister. "Here, you want to feel?", she said, taking a hold of her daughter's hand and holding it against her stomach. "Your brother or sister is right about...there."

"Cool", the little girl grinned. Then her expression changed a bit as she looked back up at her mom. "But how did it get in there?"

Miley laughed nervously. "Uh, well...that doesn't really matter, does it? All that matters is that it's here, and we're really happy about it. Right, Nick?"

"Absolutely", he answered with a smile.

"Me too", Belle said excitedly. "I hope she likes me. Or he. I hope he likes me."

"He or she is gonna love you", Nick assured her.

"Oh, of course", Miley agreed, leaning her head on his shoulder. "And we love the both of you. Very very much."

Nick smiled, his gaze switching between his two favorite girls. Between Miley and Belle and this new little baby, he felt like he was holding the whole world in his arms. And in a way, he was. His whole world.