Cece, Schmidt and Jess sat in a booth at the bar all hunched around the table. "You sure Nick's not going to find us in the open like this?" Cece asked looking at the door nervously.
"I'm sure. He thinks I went shopping and he's home with Reggie and Mario. He probably doesn't even know I'm gone." She laughed. "We have all the time we want."
"So how are you going to get him there?" Schmidt asked, turning back to the papers.
Jess shrugged. "His mom wants to have us visit with Reggie. She hasn't seen him in almost a year now. It won't be that hard to convince him to go. It's once we're there that it's going to get rough but I already talked to his mom so we should be able to pull it off." She explained. "Winston took care of booking the place, I need you guys to get there and set things up. Bonnie and I won't be able to get there till later and we can help finish things up."
"We have the flight booked and we're all set, we haven't told Ruth yet, we don't want her to slip." Cece said. "Nick is going to have no idea what's going on." she smirked.
"It's easier to plan something like this when you can lie without giving it away." Schmidt said. "I'll take the papers and we can pay the place when we get there and get everything started. Just worry about getting him there."
"We got this." Jess smiled brightly as the three worked on more details of colors and decorations as well as what food and drinks to have available and games or entertainment to keep the children occupied.
Jess was working on packing the bag for Reggie and herself making Nick pack his own as they got ready to visit his mother. Jess smiled as she watched Reggie run around the room as he played with his toys. "Mommy play too." He smiled looking up at her with the same brown eyes as his father.
"Mommy has to finish packing so we can go visit Nana." She said.
He looked at her and pouted with the same little turtle face that matched his father's, making Jess give a soft laugh. "We can play once we get to Nana's tomorrow." Nick said from the doorway. Jess smiled at him as he smirked looking at her. Reggie sighed and went back to playing by himself. "You almost packed? It's only going to be like a week." He said as she went back to work.
"Yes, I'm almost done. I want to make sure we don't forget anything. Are you sure you got everything?" She asked giving him a look.
"What's there to forget a few shirts a few pants some boxers and socks and I'm all good." Jess shook her head as she closed the bag. "We should get to bed soon. It's going to be a really long day tomorrow."
"I know." Jess sighed as she pushed her hair back from her face.
Nick watched her finish her work before he took the bag from her and carried it out to the living room, placing it beside his and Jess' bags. "You okay?" He asked watching her worried as she walked to the fridge grabbing a water. "You seem a bit off."
"I'm fine." She said shaking her head, worried that he might be catching on that there was something going on. "I'm good, I'm just tired." She said quickly. "Like you said we should get to bed, tomorrow's going to really long."
Nick caught her as she turned to go down the hall making her turn back into a loving kiss just like their first kiss all those years ago in the loft. Jess wrapped her arms around his neck as he pulled her closer, his hands around her waist. "Mommy! Daddy!" They heard making them part looking at each other.
"He was your idea." He mumbled making Jess laugh. Nick kissed her again. "I'll get him." He said watching her smile at him as he walked into the second bedroom that was supposed to be an office, but he decided it would be perfect for their child. He had worked with the other guys to make it perfect when they found the baby would be a boy. "Reg, what's going on?" He asked looking around the room as Reggie sat pulling clothes from the drawers.
"Ready for Nana." He said holding up clothes.
Nick laughed as he walked over picking the boy up and setting him on his feet. "Mommy already packed everything we need. All you got to do is get some sleep and tomorrow we'll get to see Nana." He said as he got the boy ready for bed. He dramatically picked him up and put him in the bed making his son giggle. "Alright you go to sleep now, we have a big day tomorrow." He said as Reggie nodded, turning in bed letting Nick tuck the covers around him, giving him a little Chicago Bears teddy bear to hold as he slept. "Good night."
"Night, night, Daddy." He said looking over at the door he smiled. "Night, night Mommy." He said
"Good night, baby." She said softly as Nick stood up from beside the bed walking over to Jess. They took one more look at the boy as he yawned before turning off the light and closing the door behind them, leaving it cracked to let a little light in for him.
"He'll be my mom's problem in a day." He joked as they made their way to their room across the hall. Jess smiled watching him get ready for bed as she got lost in thought. "Jess." He said making her look at him. "You sure you're okay?" He asked worried as he walked over to her. "You've been spacing out all day. What's going on?"
Jess paused, thinking about everything that was going to be coming in the next couple days and more. She took a breath and walked over to her dresser. "I was going to wait until your birthday, but I think maybe I should give it to you now." She said as she pulled out a bag as he watch confused. "Happy early birthday, Nick." She said handing him the bag.
Nick looked at her a minute before he opened the bag and found fabric. He pulled out a Bear's jersey that said Daddy, then one that said Mommy, another that said Reggie and a little one that said baby. He looked at the shirts a moment before he looked at her, still holding the baby shirt in his hand. "Jess…." He trailed off. "Are you… you're pregnant?" He asked making her nod with a little smile watching him smile brightly before he jumped from the bed, wrapping her in his arms.
Jess laughed before she pulled him into a deep kiss. "So, you're happy I take it." She said watching him shrug as if he wasn't excited to be a father again. Nick bent, pulling her into a deep loving kiss as he picked her up and carried her to their bed for the night.
"Nana!" Reggie called as he ran from the rental car to greet his grandmother as she came out front. Nick smirked watching his son and mother interact in person after so long.
Bonnie hugged him tight, making him giggle. "Oh, you're getting so big." She said as he grinned at her. she looked up as Nick and Jess made their way up the walkway. "It's so good to see you here, Nicky." She said hugging him just as tight.
"It's good to see you too Ma." He said as they parted, and she turned smiling at Jess.
"And Jess." She hugged her. "My favorite daughter in law." She said softly, putting her finger in front of her lips as they parted and smiled. "Come in, we're just getting ready for dinner. We saved you seats and have it all ready." She said leading them into the house. Nick dropped their bags by the stairs as they took their light coats off. Nick pulled Reggie's jacket off and they went to the kitchen finding Jamie, Deeann and his kids already at the table.
Jamie stood up to greet them with smiles and hugs. He sat back down as Nick picked Reggie up, putting him on the chair to eat. "He's so big." Jamie said.
"He's going to be two next month." Jess smiled as she gave her son a plate of food, the family settling in together like they had been together all along. Jess looked around at how normal everything felt and was glad she had started doing video calls with them when Reggie was born.
Jess looked at her phone as it buzzed. Nick looked over as she pulled it up to look at the screen. "It's Cece." She said as she stood and walked out to the living room letting the others continue catching up. "Cece?" She answered.
"Jess, I've got Winston and Aly on the line with Schmidt and me." Cece said.
"Jess, we just got to the hall and…." Schmidt started. "Jess, it's closed."
"What?" Jess asked. "No, I talked to them last week. Are you sure you're at the right place?"
"We're at the right place." Winston chimed in.
Jess sighed. "What are we going to do now? We don't have time to book another place or find food or-."
"Take a breath." Cece said. "It'll be alright. We're here, we'll figure it out."
"I'll make a couple calls around to some old friends." Winston said. "See what I can figure out, you just keep him in the dark."
"I can do that." Jess nodded.
"Jess." Nick said as he walked out.
Jess jumped. "Nick." She said turning to look at him.
He looked at her a minute. "Everything alright?" He asked suspicious.
Jess nodded, humming her response. "Yeah, uh, Cece just…. wanted to ask me to help with… Ruth's school work when we get back." She said as he watched her another moment before he nodded and went back to the kitchen. She let out a breath as she pulled the phone back up.
"You lie like that and he's going to know in five minutes." Winston said.
Jess sighed. "I know, I know." She scrunched her face. "I panicked." She said.
"Look." Aly said. "You just enjoy some family time with Nick, Reggie and Nick's family. We'll do the work out here and get everything set up. Don't think about this until it's time."
"I can't make you guys do all this. It was so much work to get it set up in the first place, now with no time…" Jess said.
"Jess, shut up and have a little overdue family time." Cece said. "Just not too much, Reggie's enough." She said a smile in her voice.
Jess smiled, almost telling them the big news but decided to wait until this party was done. "Thank you guys." She said before hanging up and wandering back to the kitchen, retaking her seat as Jamie told another story.
"Everything okay?" Nick asked, worried, as she sat back down.
Jess nodded. "Ruth had some stuff that Cece couldn't figure out and Schmidt's working late so she wanted to see if I could help." She explained, her lie more together and formed.
"Already passing Cece? Must be pretty easy stuff." Nick teased as Jess rolled her eyes.
"You know Schmidt and I are the smartest." She said. "I mean you were put at the same table as Cece." She said as he just smirked at her. Jess turned back to Jamie's story as they spent the rest of the night talking about the children and events they missed.
The next morning Jess woke up first and made her way to the kitchen for coffee. She found Bonnie sitting at the table drinking her own coffee. "Good morning, dear." Bonnie smiled. "Is Nicky still sleeping?"
Jess nodded. "He usually sleeps pretty late, or until Reggie decides to jump on him to wake him up." She smiled as she took a seat at the table.
"He's going to be so happy." Bonnie smiled. "Are you sure there's nothing I can do to help with the party?"
Jess shook her head and rested her head in her hand looking at her mother-in-law. "Cece, Schmidt, Winston and Aly got here last night, they went to pay the hall and found out it was closed."
"What? Oh no." Bonnie said looking just as upset as Jess felt. "Maybe we could have it here."
Jess shook her head. "Nick would definitely know. He's a lot smarter than he lets people think. I know he's already onto me." She sighed. "Cece and the others are working on finding another place and getting everything set up for us. As soon as I know what they have we'll have to let everyone know the place changed, we still need to get everything to the place, and set up, make sure there's food and cake and then there's the trouble of getting Nick to go there without knowing anything."
Bonnie reached out taking Jess' hand making her stop. "He's going to love it, no matter where it ends up or if he knows or not. He loves you, that's all that he'll see anyway." She said making Jess smile. The two looked up hearing a yell and giggle before a thump.
"Reggie got up first." Jess said before there were giggles and quick foot steps down the stairs. Reggie laughed as he ran into the kitchen, Nick behind him. Jess smiled catching her son. "You waking Daddy up again?" She asked.
"He needs to work on his aim." Nick said shifting as Jess smirked at him.
"Did you sleep well last night?" Bonnie asked.
"Not too bad." Nick answered as he poured his coffee.
"I wasn't talking to you." Bonnie said as Nick made his turtle face and sat beside Jess who gave a little giggle.
"I forgot, when you have a kid, you don't matter." Nick said as Bonnie waved at him to shush him as Jess giggled. "Hey, you hungry, Reg?" He asked.
"Yeah!" He cheered in his mother's lap. "Mommy breakfast." He said looking at her as Jess smiled.
Jess stood up handing Reggie to Nick to hold while she started on breakfast for everyone. Nick tickled Reggie making him squeak with laughter as Bonnie smile watching her son play with his own child. Jess set a plate on the table as Nick lifted Reggie into his arms as he stood. "Alright, eat your breakfast." He said setting him in the chair and ruffling his wild hair. "Want some help?" He asked Jess.
"I'm always up for help." She said with a little smile. Nick kissed her cheek and got to work helping to make breakfast for the three adults. "Here, give this to your mom." She said handing him a plate.
"Here you go, Ma." Nick said setting the plate down. "Jess is one of the best cooks." He said as Bonnie smiled and started eating. "How's breakfast, Bud?" He asked Reggie who smiled his fork clutched in one hand and his mouth full. Nick smirked, turning back to help Jess finish his and her breakfast.
When they were done Jess wiped Reggie's face. "Alright wiggle worm, let's go get ready." She said pulling him up onto her hip before heading up stairs to get him ready as Nick smirked at his wife carrying the boy as he giggled.
"I'm so happy you're here, Nicky." Bonnie smiled as Nick smirked. "You haven't been out here since before Reggie was born."
Nick gave a little nod. "Yeah, I'm sorry, Ma. Things got a little messed up after Reggie was born. Jess went back to work, and I had to fill in at the bar until we found a new bartender and it just never matched up being able to get out here again."
"It's alright. You're here now. That's what matters." She smiled before they heard giggles.
Jess was working on getting Reggie dressed when her phone buzzed. "Winston, please have some good news for me." she said softly.
"Actually, I do." He told her. "I found an old friend that knows someone that got us into the back room of the Indigo. I'll send you the information, Cece and Schmidt are working on letting all the guests know it moved, the timing will all be the same. We can get in about noon to start setting up, guests will get there about two and we can get Nick there like three-thirty or four."
Jess let out a breath. "Winston, you're a life saver." She said as she pulled Reggie's clothes out. "Now to figure out how to make this work on my end."
"Just tell Nick you're going out." Aly said.
"I wouldn't just go out; he'll know something's going on." She said.
There was a pause before Aly offered another idea. "What if you and Nick's mom went out? Maybe do like girl shopping and bonding, I really doubt Nick would see that as weird or want to go."
Jess thought about it and gave a little smile. "I think that might work. Thanks so much." She said with a smile before she hung up. "Alright, little man, let's get you ready for the day and then you can run around and play with Daddy." Reggie looked at her moment before letting his mother get him ready for the day and was released to run down to his father.
Reggie giggled as he ran down and back to the kitchen where Nick was sitting with his mother. "Ready, Daddy." He smiled brightly.
"You ready for a crazy day?" Nick asked as Reggie grinned and nodded as Jess made her way into the room with a little smile. "So, what did you want to do?" He asked Jess.
She paused a moment. "You were talking about that baseball game, why don't you watch it with Reggie and your mom, and I can go do some shopping. I mean we haven't really spent much time together." She said looking at Bonnie. "If that's alright with you."
Bonnie smiled happily and nodded. "Of course, it's alright with me. I'd like a chance to get to know the woman that took my Nicky." She said as Jess gave a smile. Nick looked at his wife a moment before Reggie started jumping around calling for his father to play with him. "I'll go get ready." Bonnie said standing up and starting for upstairs.
"Doubt we'd be able to get much done with that energy." Jess said with a smile as Nick stood up.
"You sure about this?" Nick asked. "My Mom likes you, especially after what you did for the funeral, but she can be pretty rough."
Jess nodded. "It'll be fine." She smiled. "I got her to like me last time, now she'll love me."
Nick chuckled. "I don't think that's how it's going to work, but you can try." He told her leaning down kissing her as they wrapped their arms around each other. "Mom's amazing but she's not as happy and nice as she puts on all the time. You sure you can handle that?"
"Everyone has good in them, and I always manage to bring it out." She said.
Nick couldn't help the smirk, the two sharing a kiss again as Reggie yelled, scrunching his face. They parted smiling at each other, listening to their son. Jess took a breath as they pulled apart to take care of their rambunctious son while they waited for Bonnie. It was only another ten minutes before Bonnie made her way back downstairs watching Jess giggle as Nick grabbed Reggie and lifted him up making the boy squeal.
"Mommy!" Reggie called making Jess walk over taking Reggie from Nick.
"Oh, how foolish." Nick said. "Mommy can't save you!" He teased as he wrapped his arms around Jess and started tickling her sides.
"Nick!" Jess scolded as she squirmed laughing as Reggie tried to save her. Nick stopped tickling as she leaned back into him, both laughing as Reggie grinned.
"Save Mommy!" He said with the brightest smile. Nick chuckled as he held Jess closer.
"You sure did." He said before glancing over, seeing his mother at the doorway. "Alright, time for some guy time and let Mommy and Nana go shopping." He reached out taking Reggie and settling him in one arm. "Have fun, Day." He told Jess.
"Behave, Miller." She said with a smile before he kissed her and walked her and his mother to the door. Jess and Bonnie made it to the car and Jess let out a breath.
Bonnie looked at her. "Are we going to get ready for Nicky's party tonight?" Bonnie asked, watching as Jess nodded. "What's the matter?"
"I've never really out right lied to Nick before." She said looking at Bonnie. "I've not told him something and I've avoided a conversation, but I've never actually lied about what I was doing or where I was going or any of that."
Bonnie rested a hand on her arm making Jess look at her. "It's not something that he's going to hold against you. There are good lies and there are bad lies, this is a good one. Besides, never tell your husband everything, it's the little secrets that keep it interesting." She said as Jess smiled at her mother-in-law.
She nodded and took a breath. "Okay, let's get going and make this a party for Nick to remember." She started explaining the setbacks and how the others had been able to come through for them and get everything set up last minute to make this work.
Jess pulled into the parking lot and the two women started walking towards the front door. "Jess!" They turned seeing Cece smiling as the four ran over to them. Cece hugged her friend.
"Thank you guys for doing this with me." She said as she hugged them all.
"Of course." Aly said with a little smile.
"Nick's going to love this." Winston said. "Come on, we can take a look at the place and start planning it out and we can bring the stuff in." He said leading them into the restaurant bar. They looked around the room, talking about how to arrange it to make it work best before they started bringing the decorations in, leaving Bonnie to supervise and do the smaller things. Jess took a breath as she looked around at the now decorated room.
Cece was setting up the table with the cake as Schmidt worked on setting up the music. Winston and Aly were finishing details for the decorations. Cece walked over to her friend and smiled. "Nick really is going to love this."
"I hope so, I know he's worked really hard to make my birthday's so special, I just want to make this really special for him." Jess explained, looking around worried.
Cece reached out, turning her friend to look at her. "Nick absolutely loves you; you know he's loved you since you moved into that loft, and it's only grown over the years. No matter what you give him he will love it and cherish it. Trust me that boy could be handed a rock from you, and he'd keep it forever." She said making Jess giggle as the women smiled.
Jess paused a moment before she gave a small smile. "I'll be right back." She said before she walked off towards the bathroom. Cece furrowed her brow before following her friend.
"Jess?" Cece asked as she walked into the bathroom and found Jess throwing up, forgetting to even lock the stall door. "Jess, you okay?" She asked. Jess took several slow breaths before she pushed away from the toilet. Cece wet a paper towel and handed it to her friend as she bent down. "Jess…"
She took the paper towel, wiping her mouth and drying the tears in her eyes. "It's nothing."
"Who do you think you're talking to?" Cece said making Jess give a little laugh. "Come on, you sick or something?" She asked worried about her.
Jess shook her head. "I'm not sick. Everything's fine." She said as Cece narrowed her eyes at her friend. "Cece, really, I'm not sick."
Cece stared at her before she gasped. "You're pregnant!" She yelled. Jess put her hands over her mouth, shushing her. "You're pregnant?" She said lower with a little smile as her friend nodded. "Does Nick know?"
Jess nodded again. "I told him before we came out here." She said with a smile. "No one else knows. I didn't want to have that being a mess in all of this mess and we haven't told his family yet, we just wanted to have a bit with everyone for now." She explained.
Cece smiled and gave a nod. "Your secret's safe with me for now, but you keep this up and it's going to be so far out of the bag even Winston and Schmidt are going to know." Jess nodded as Cece pulled her to her feet. "Come on, things are perfect and the guests are going to start arriving."
Jess took a breath as the first guests started showing up. Jess didn't recognize them making her turn calling Winston over to help. It was nearly three when the group stood looking at the guests who had grabbed drinks and settled in, talking, and mingling with each other. "I think we're ready." Jess said pulling her phone out and calling Nick. "Hey, Nick."
"You have enough of my mom already?" Nick teased. "Need some saving?"
Jess smirked hearing him. "Yeah, I think I might need a little. We're stopping at the Indigo for some dinner. Can you meet us there?"
"Yeah, let me get Reggie ready and we'll be on our way." He said as he stood, going to get their jackets. "See you in a few minutes. Love you."
"Love you too." She said before they hung up and Jess let out another breath, nervous about talking to him in the middle of this all and lying to him yet again.
"You did great." Schmidt told her as she gave a little smile. They settled in talking, waiting for a glimpse of Nick at the front door. "He's here." Schmidt told her as she started to panic.
"Sweetie, take a breath, it's almost over." Cece said calming her friend as the others let the guests know Nick had arrived.
Jess nodded and stepped towards the doorway as the hostess pointed Nick to the back. She gave a little wave, making Nick catch sight of her and start walking towards her, Reggie sitting in an arm. Jess stepped to the side as Nick stepped through the doorway as everyone yelled surprise. Nick froze before he looked at Jess who smiled at him.
"Happy Birthday." She said making him give a little chuckle and look back at the crowd as they started walking closer. Jess took Reggie as the guests all wished Nick a happy birthday, greeting their old friend and catching up quickly. Jess held Reggie on her hip as she tried to pull his jacket off with one hand. She looked up as Nick turned helping her. "I got him, you go enjoy your party." She told him with a smile.
"You're really amazing, you know that?" He said watching her sway slightly, Reggie sitting patiently on her hip.
She gave him a loving look. "I love you." She said.
Nick smirked, "love you too." He said before he was pulled into a conversation. He glanced back finding Jess walking over towards the bar to the side where Schmidt was standing with Cece, Winston and Aly. Nick started walking over looking at them. "You guys came all the way to Chicago?"
"Jess needed help." Cece shrugged.
"So, you came for Jess?" He asked looking at them as Jess set Reggie on a seat.
The others shrugged and gave little nods. "Yeah, pretty much." Winston said.
"We love Jess more than you, and she needed us so here we are." Cece added as Nick smirked at them. Cece smiled before she reached out hugging him. "Happy Birthday, Nick." The others smiled, wishing him a happy birthday.
"Nick Miller." They heard as he turned around to see a blond woman. "It's been a really long time."
"Uh, this is a private party." Winston said looking at the woman.
"You don't recognize me, Winnie?" She asked looking at him as he and Nick both furrowed their brows.
"Marie?" Nick said as it clicked. "Marie Thrallis." She gave a little smile.
"I heard you moved; didn't think I'd see you back around here." She said.
"I did, I moved to California actually." Nick said.
"Daddy." Reggie said as he reached up. Nick picked him up as the boy laid his head on his shoulder.
Marie watched Nick as he held the boy, rubbing his back. "Guess getting someone pregnant was bound to happen." She said with a sarcastic smirk.
Nick glanced at her before looking at Jess as she moved closer to him. "Marie, this is my wife, Jess. Jess this is Marie." Nick introduced.
"We dated in high school before he left without a word." Marie told Jess.
Jess looked at Nick and gave a little nod as he looked back at the woman. "He's been known to do that." She said as Marie looked at Jess confused. "It's nice to meet you. You're welcome to stay for the party if you'd like."
Marie looked confused at Jess' reaction to meeting an ex-girlfriend and one Nick had just up and left. Aly talked to Nick about calling Winston's sister to take Reggie to their mother's so he can take a nap and not have to have them watching him all the time. While Nick was occupied Marie looked at Jess. "Why are you…. not bothered?"
"I know a lot more than you would think about Nick." Jess said. "You're not the only one he's left like that."
"He left one woman on a train and ran." Cece said as Marie looked at her.
"He still moonwalks away from me." Jess sighed. "He did it to me while we were packing to come here." She said as Marie still looked confused. "Look I've known Nick since I moved in as a roommate with him, Winston and Schmidt. His room was across from mine, I know a lot more than I really want to, so meeting an ex-girlfriend isn't a big thing."
"You were a roommate?" A man asked as he walked over. "Not surprising he made the moves."
"I mean I would have started before you even moved in." Another man said as Marie rolled her eyes. Jess looked at the two before she glanced at her friends.
"You know she's married to Nick, right?" Schmidt asked with a little laugh.
"Doesn't mean it's written in stone." The first man said as Jess opened and closed her mouth a couple times. "Marriage isn't what it's all cracked up to be anyway." He said with a shrug.
"Uh, Joe, how many of those drinks have you had?" Winston asked as he, Schmidt and Cece shifted closer to Jess as she looked confused at what was happening. "Seems like you should slow down a bit."
"Winnie, I'm just saying." He said waving off Winston. Aly took Reggie to carry him to the side and call Winston's sister to come get him.
Nick looked back at the group watching them as they seemed to be guarding Jess, then he heard the second man. "I mean even being married doesn't really mean anything, it's just a paper. You ever want to…" He trailed off giving her a suggestive face.
"Yeah, I don't think so." Nick said looking at the two men. Nick stepped in front of Jess, blocking her from them. "Looks like someone's really been getting into the juice. Maybe try some actual juice for a bit." The men held their hands up.
"All I'm saying is if I had a roommate like that, I'd be jumping too." Joe said.
"I think you should go sit down for a while." Nick said as he turned the two men and patted their shoulders sending them off towards tables. He looked back at Jess as she looked from them to him. "You okay?"
Jess nodded. "Yeah, just, never…. That was…" She couldn't quite find the words.
"Well now we have to give them an award." Schmidt said. "They managed to make Jess speechless." He teased as Jess looked at him. "You have had guys hit on you all the time, you have never been so lost for words over a situation, ever."
Cece nodded. "He's right, I mean even in the most awkward spots you find something to say."
"I'm just surprised they would be so blatant." Jess said.
"Well, I'm hungry, we missed lunch for you, and I deserve food for just knowing you." Cece told Nick. "Come on Schmidt." She said pulling him to get food as Winston turned to Aly.
"Those guys are idiots; they've always been idiots." Marie told Jess. "Way more than even this one. Just ignore them, they get drunk and start mouthing off all the time." She said as Jess nodded. Marie looked at Nick a moment. "Happy birthday, Nick." She said making him give a nod before she wandered off to join others she knew in the party.
"Jess, I'm sorry, back in high school…" He started.
Jess stepped forward kissing him as he wrapped his arms around her waist. They parted, looking at each other. "Nick… we've been through a lot; I know a lot more than I should about your love life." She said with a smile. "A lot of which I had a hand in screwing up…. You know mine, but if we go back to Portland, we'd probably run into something similar."
"Really?" He asked looking unconvinced.
Jess smirked. "No, probably not." She said as they laughed. "My point is… I don't care what went on or who you dated or any of that. I love you."
"That's all that matters." He said softly pulling her into another kiss. "You, Reggie and the newest addition to the Day-Miller family." He kissed her again as they stood taking in the moment.
Jess smiled at him before she started pulling him towards the party. "Come on, enjoy your party." He smirked before the two joined everyone, celebrating Nick's birthday as Jess smiled, pulling off one of the best presents for him.