Nick was sitting at the table with the guys while their wives kept Jess company in the bedroom. She had started to become more and more fidgety since she was placed on bedrest for the last month. "It'll be nice to see Coach again." Schmidt said with a little smile.
"Yeah, I haven't seen him since Ferguson's funeral." Winston said. "He's been pretty busy in North Carolina."
"It'll be nice to have him back in town. With the girls tied up with Jess maybe we can hit the town." Schmidt said making Winston and Nick look at him, his smile dropping a bit before they heard a knock on the door.
"Hey!" Coach cheered as Nick opened the door. "This is your place now?" He asked as Nick let him in.
Nick gave a nod. "Winston decided to play a prank, so Jess and I got this place." He said as they walked over to Schmidt and Winston sitting in the kitchen. "Want a beer?"
"Uh, yeah." He said taking the beer Nick offered. "So why is everyone just sitting here instead of out partying?"
"Nick!" They heard from the hall making him drop his head, holding his beer. "Jess is getting out of bed!"
"Cece!" Another voice scolded.
"I told you I'd tell on you!" Cece told her.
"What are you like five?" Aly could be heard laughing.
"Just tie her down!" Nick called back as they listened to the women's voices.
Coach looked at Nick. "Oh, you're having that kind of fun?" He teased as Nick looked at him before setting his beer down and walking towards the hallway.
"Jess is on bed rest and she's not taking it too well." Schmidt told him as Coach looked at him confused.
"Jess." Nick said as he started following her out of the room the other women following him. "You can't be up running around." He said, making her flash a look as she continued walking, the blankets still wrapped around her. "Just because you have the blankets does not mean you're in bed, Jessica." He said.
"I can't just sit there anymore, I'm going crazy." She argued. Mumbled questioning the 'going' part of her statement had her glaring at the two men sitting at the table to the side who quickly tried to hide.
"I have an idea." Cece said. "Bed rest is all about staying off your feet and relaxing. So, what if we went to the spa? It'll get you out like you want but it'll keep you calm and relaxed and off your feet like you need to be."
Jess looked at Nick as he shrugged, and she smiled. "Yes!" She yelled as she started running towards the bedroom, tossing the blankets to Nick as she passed him.
"Jess!" He called after her, but she was down the hall already. He looked at Cece. "You sure this will be okay?"
Cece nodded and looked at Aly who shrugged. "As long as I wasn't doing anything, and wasn't walking around a lot it was fine. It's just to try to prolong things a little longer." She explained. "It'll be good for her to get out of the house for a little bit. We'll go to the spa, drive around a little and bring her home."
Jess walked out dressed and ready to go, looking happier than she has in weeks. "Whoa!" They heard making everyone turn to look at Coach. "I just… I didn't realize…. You're huge!" He stumbled over words as the faces of the three woman changed.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Cece asked, walking closer.
"Run, run as fast as you can and never look back." Schmidt whispered harshly as Coach began to panic. "Evasive maneuvers!" Schmidt yelled as he jumped up making everyone look at him. He shifted nervously. "I… I love you." He said as Cece narrowed her eyes at him.
Nick stepped closer to Jess, putting his hand on her back. "Make sure you take it easy and be safe." He said, turning attention back to getting Jess out into some fresh air. "Have fun, love you."
Jess gave him a quick kiss. "Love you too." She said before she started for the front door. "Run before he changes his mind!" She teased making the two women run after her as Nick let out a breath once the door shut and the three men turned to look at Coach.
"What the hell was that?" Schmidt asked. "You could have gotten us all killed!" He said distraught.
"I didn't know!" He said. "I thought it was a joke or something! You know like a new saying, like when pigs fly." He said defending himself.
"What do you mean you thought it was a joke?" Nick asked. "I texted you when we told everyone!"
"I know but I thought it was a prank or something. Man, I don't know!" He said almost crying. "They were so scary."
"Yeah, and you have no idea what they're capable of." Schmidt said. "It's like they become superhuman little monsters. You just don't know."
Nick walked back over picking his beer back up. "So, she's really pregnant? Like really having a kid?"
"No, it's a turtle." Nick said taking a drink as Coach looked at him. Nick rolled his eyes and gave him a look. "Yes, it's a kid. what…?"
"Jess isn't so sweet pregnant. She's just as scary as Cece is every day." Winston said earning a look from Schmidt. "What? You telling me she's not scary?"
He paused and shrugged. "Well not all the time." He said, making Nick chuckle and shake his head. "You sure she's allowed to be out like that though?"
Nick shrugged. "Sadie told her to rest, like Aly said, the bedrest is to just basically stay off your feet and relax. It's not a bad idea to get her out for a bit. She is going a bit crazy locked up in here."
The men fell silent for a moment. "Well since the girls are out, why don't the men play?" Coach smirked looking at the others. "Come on, let's go out on the town and have a good time, just the guys again." He looked at them. "Come on, it'll be fine. We go out, have a few drinks check out some spots…"
"Spots?" Nick asked. "Like a strip club." Coach smirked at him. "Last time you made us go I almost lost Jess. She went out drinking with Cece and ended up with some really big guy in her bed that I had to knock out and we ditched in the elevator." Nick told him.
"There was a guy in Jess' bed?" Schmidt asked.
Nick looked at him. "He apparently took things differently and thought it would be a good idea to get naked and try to get her to go along with it." He explained. "Not taking that chance again."
"You weren't serious at that time." Coach said with a shrug. "Now you're married, not like she'll do that." He laughed.
"No, she'll do something worse." Nick said.
Schmidt and Winston nodded. "You don't know Jess like we do, she's just as scary. She'll do unspeakable things." Winston said.
Nick chuckled again. "She's not that bad as long as you don't call her fat."
"That was one time, and it was before we knew she was pregnant, and I didn't even call her fat. I suggested she put the deserts down." Winston defended himself.
"That's the same thing, man." Schmidt said. "Learn how to talk to women, we can't risk another attack."
Nick looked at them and smirked with a little nod. "You know what. Let's go out. How often do we get to have a guy's day without the kids and wives and all the pregnancy craziness?" The others shrugged. "Let's have a guy's day out." The others gave in and agreed smiling as they started out to the car to start their first guys day in years.
Cece smiled as she spoke with Aly while they waited for Jess to finish getting dressed. They had just had a full day at the spa with a nice lunch, just the girls. Jess paused as she finished dressing, feeling a slight pain in her belly. Not much different than the feelings she had been having for the last few weeks. She paused as it took her breath away a moment before she finished getting ready and leaving to join the others. "Alright, drive around and back home."
Jess nodded as they walked to the car and started driving around the city. Finally, Cece said it was time. "Wait." Jess said from the back seat. "I don't want to go back yet; I can't go back to laying around the apartment. Can we drive out to the desert spot for a little bit? Get a little more air and all?"
"What desert spot?" Aly asked.
Cece smirked looking at her friend in the mirror. "It was where things started to really change." Jess smiled remembering her moments with Nick through the years and how much things had changed.
"Nick was going to move in with his girlfriend and he ended up driving out into the desert and threw the keys out there somewhere and we had to go get him, Schmidt and Winston and things happened, and we got stuck out there for the night."
"Jess threw her keys too and stranded us all there." Cece said.
"I never threw my keys." Jess smirked as Cece looked at her.
"You what?" She asked.
"I never threw my keys. I just didn't want to have Nick leave so I tried to postpone it as much as I could, but I realized something. That as long as Nick was happy, that was all that mattered." She shrugged, remembering her realization that she needed to let him go.
"So, what happened?" Aly asked.
Jess smiled. "The next morning, I 'found' my keys on the ground and got everyone back. We dropped Nick off and went home to the loft and then we heard Nick's insane music." She paused and smiled remembering the feeling she had when she heard it start up and knew Nick was home. "Nick walked out on his girlfriend and came back to the loft."
Aly gave a little gasp. "For Jess." Cece added with a smile. "He's a real ass but he's really not that horrible." Jess smiled but soon jumped feeling the little pain again, brushing it off again as the pains and soreness had been gradually getting more frequent over the last several months, which is why she had been placed on bed rest in the first place.
The women drove out to the spot Cece and Jess smiled remembering the night with their friends, telling Aly everything, teasing about how stupid Schmidt was. Just taking the time to relax sitting together before Jess said she was getting tired but still didn't want to go yet. Cece and Aly decided to give their friend a little longer on probably the first and last day she would be able to leave the official bed rest stuck in the apartment.
"No, no, I'm good." Nick said as Coach tried to get a stripper to give him a lap dance. "This is ridiculous! Why do we keep ending up here?"
"Coach." Schmidt said trying to break his friend away from watching the strippers. "Coach, is there anything, you know, you want to talk about?"
"What? Why would there be?" He asked, blowing him off as he threw more money at another dancer.
"Because when you're upset you talk us into going out and we end up at the strip club until you spill it." Nick said. "So why are we really here?"
Coach looked at him. "I want to ask May to marry me but…" He paused nervously. "I don't know what to do?"
"That's it?" Schmidt asked. "Just take her out to a nice dinner and ask." He shrugged.
"No, it can't be that. It needs to be something…. something special, something big, I want everyone to know how much I want to marry her."
"You're looking too big." Winston said. "Think smaller. She's not going to go for the big thing, most women like the small things."
Coach looked over at Nick as he sat drinking as his mind wandered to Jess, hoping she and their child were alright and almost ready to go home. "What about you?" Coach asked. "Nick?" He said, breaking him from his thoughts. "You got something for me?"
Nick looked at him and shook his head. "Winston's right." He shrugged. "I mean the best thing is to not overthink or over plan. Just tell her how you feel and ask her to marry you."
"It can't be that simple." Coach said.
Nick shrugged his head. "Well, it is, and it isn't. You're never going to feel like it's enough but trust me it is."
"Maybe." He said as he thought about what they told him then turned back to the strippers. The men sat talking and drinking for another couple hours as they tried to calm Coach's worries and talk him through what to do so they could leave but he refused until he felt ready.
Schmidt's phone rang and he smiled. "It's Cece." Nick looked at him, concerned but waiting to hear what was going on. "My beautiful Cece, are you having fun on your girl's day out?" He asked listening. "of course, I have the card, I never go anywhere without it, you never know what is going to happen." He furrowed his brow and looked at Nick.
"What?" He asked worried.
Schmidt shifted the phone. "They drove out to the desert spot and now the car wont start." He said as Nick furrowed his brow. "We need to go out there, I have the triple A card to get the tow truck out there." He said as Nick nodded. "Cece, we'll be there as soon as we can."
Schmidt hung up as Nick stood. "Alright, times up, we need to go." He told Coach who shook his head. "The girls car broke down; we need to go get them." Coach looked at him. "Look, you're never going to be ready, you're always going to find a way to push it off the moment is never right, trust me no matter how hard you try it will never be right and everything will be a mess. You need to just suck it up as ask her or stay the lost Coach wandering around, woman to woman and never getting what you're looking for."
"That's deep Nick." Coach said looking at him.
"I have my moments. Now up you go we have to get Cece, Jess and Aly from the desert." He said, reaching out and pulling him to his feet as they finally made it to the car and started for the spot, all three sharing their engagement moments and how they weren't perfect but all that mattered was they were with the one they loved.
Nick's phone rang making him look down at Cece's name, making him furrow his brow. He answered it and put it on speaker. "Cece?"
"Nick…. Did you happen to go with Schmidt to come get us?" She asked.
"Yeah, we were all out together."
"How far out are you guys?"
"Probably another ten minutes. What's wrong?" He asked a feeling building in his gut.
"well, our little Jess decided she didn't want to ruin the day out by telling us she's in labor." Cece said.
"What?!" Nick yelled as Schmidt and the others looked at him on the phone.
"Jess went into labor at some point and never told us about it and now she's in labor, like really in labor." She explained.
"Call an ambulance." Schmidt said. "We'll meet you at the hospital and we'll get the car later."
"I already called but you're going to be closer, and it'll be faster to get her in the car and moving." Aly said. "Just get here and we can get her to the hospital before the ambulance even gets here." She explained. Winston pushed the peddle, driving as fast as he could, navigating the roads as he made his way out to the girls as fast as he could.
"Jess." Cece could be heard saying. "Jess, take a breath, here, look, it's Nick." She said holding the phone out.
"Nick…" Jess said, sounding out of breath.
"Yeah, Jess. Listen we're on our way, Winston's going as fast as he can, we'll be there in a few minutes. Just hang on, we're coming." He said before they heard her grown as she felt another contraction. "Jess." He said wanting nothing more than to be with her at that moment.
"It's another contraction." They heard Aly say. "They're seven minutes apart."
They sped out to the spot, sliding to a stop. Nick was out of the car before it even came to a stop. "Jess!" He yelled running over where they had her laying in the back of Cece's minivan, her head in her best friend's lap as Aly watched over them. "Jess!" Je said worried as he reached them.
"Nick." She said, looking at him.
"Come on, let's get you in to the hospital." He said as he reached out to get her out of the car, wrapping his arm around her as Schmidt and Winston prepared the back of Schmidt's van for her to lay down. Jess stopped in pain again. Nick watched her, fear and worry clear on his face for a moment before he tried to pull it together.
As Cece and Nick got her into the van the others climbed into their seats. "I'm done, I don't want to do this anymore, I'm not doing this." Jess said as she felt another contraction.
"A little late for that." Cece said with a little smile, holding her hand from the seat in front of them. She looked at Nick as he had Jess lean against him, holding her other hand looking up front as Winston started making his way to the hospital, Aly canceled the ambulance, Coach was starting to freak out and Schmidt was trying to shut him up.
Aly kept tabs on how Jess was doing, counting the minutes and seconds of the contractions. "I think the baby's coming. Now, it's coming." Jess said as the others looked terrified. Aly shifted to try to be more helpful, looking under her dress before looking up at Nick, Cece, and Jess.
"Okay, it's definitely coming." She said.
"Winston, drive a little faster!" Nick yelled towards the front.
"I'm going as fast as I can. We don't want to get pulled over and stopped." Winston called back.
"Winston now is not the time to be driving cautious." Aly called as calmly as she could.
"Winston." Cece said turning to lean forward between the two men arguing. "If you don't start flooring it to the hospital, I will personally make you suffer for the rest of your life however short that may be." Winston glanced at her; the terror clear on his face as he sped up.
Cece turned back to grab Jess' hand again, looking at Nick who was trying everything he could to try to help her best friend. He could get on her last nerve and at times he would infuriate her, but he really did love Jess with all his heart, and she could deal for that. He gently ran his hand over Jess' head, trying to talk to her, to calm her as she started to get anxious and afraid.
"We're almost there, just a little longer, you're going great, Jess." He said as she leaned against him as Aly tried to keep an eye on how close they were to having to deliver the baby in the car on the way to the hospital.
"Nick, I'm sorry, I should have just stayed home." She said, looking up at him as he shook his head giving her the little turtle face.
"We can talk about how right I was and get all the told you so's out later." He told her as she gave a little smile.
"How much further?" Schmidt asked glancing back at his best friend.
"We still have like ten minutes to go." Winston said trying to pass people where he could and get to the hospital as fast as possible, hopefully before the actual birth.
Jess cried in pain, squeezing Nick's hand making him wince. "You're doing great, Jess." Aly said. "Just breathe."
"Don't hold your breath, you'll pass out, trust me you don't want that." Cece told her. "Slow breaths, you got this." She reassured her friend before looking at Nick as he held Jess, watching Aly as her cop training took over as she tried to keep them calm.
Winston skidded into the drive of the emergency room as they piled out and started into the hospital. Jess started walking, holding her belly before her legs went out, nearly taking Nick with her to the ground as she had another contraction. "Okay, here we go." Nick said as he pulled her into his arms and carried her into the emergency room.
The friends waited in the waiting room, Cece paced worried about her friend, they all sat silently wondering what was going on when they saw Nick walk out taking a breath. "How's Jess and the baby?" Cece asked as they all ran over to him.
"They said it's definitely time, they're getting her ready and kicked me out." He said frustrated after trying to argue to stay at Jess' side.
"That's normal." Aly said as Nick gave a little nod, nervous.
"Mr. Miller." A nurse said making everyone look over. "You can come back in."
Nick took a breath. "You got this, man." Schmidt said. "Oh, a bit of advice, don't let her grab your hand, I mean I swear Cece broke my hand."
"Shut up." Cece said. "Take care of our girl." She said as Nick gave a little nod and walked back in while the others retook their seats to wait for the news of the newest member.
Coach looked at the others. "We really need to stop going to the strip club."
The others looked at him. "I think that would be a very good idea." Cece said as she started pacing again.
Nick stood leaning on the rail with a smile watching Jess holding their son. The door opened making them look over as the group made their way in. "Oh my god, he's adorable." Cece smiled brightly going to her best friend's side.
"Well, that was crazy." Schmidt said as Nick smirked and nodded. "How is everything?"
Nick nodded again. "Good, the doctor wants to keep them a couple days to make sure but he's completely healthy and Jess…" he glanced at her as Cece held the baby boy. "She's got some pretty good pain meds for now." He smirked.
"So, what's his name?" Winston asked looking down at the little face.
"Reginald Schmiston." Jess said with a little giggle.
"What?" Cece asked confused. "Is she serious right now?" She asked, looking at Nick.
"You got a problem with the name?" He asked as she looked at him. He started to laugh. "No, no, that's the pain meds talking." He said with a smirk. "It's Reginald Mitchel."
"Reginald?" Schmidt asked as Nick smirked at him.
"A bet's a bet." He said as the others looked between the two. "There was no way we were doing the whole thing, but you get part of it."
"What's that mean?" Aly asked confused before Nick explained that he had lost a bet but he and Jess couldn't do the full one, so they used part of it and named him after the bears quarterback. Schmidt grinned before he patted his friend on his shoulder watching as baby Reginald was passed amongst the friends.
"You know you didn't have to fulfil that bet right?" Schmidt said.
Nick smirked and gave a nod. "We kind of got used to it." He shrugged as his friend smiled and they continued to watch the newest member of their group.
Nick walked with Jess to their door, baby Reginald was sleeping in the car seat as Nick set it down to unlock the door, letting Jess in first and following her with the car seat and bags. As Jess flipped the switch, they heard the cry of Surprise making the two stop seeing their friends all smiling happily at them. "Welcome home, Jess." Cece said as she walked over pulling her friend into a tight hug.
Jess smiled happily looking around. "You guys…. You didn't have to do that." She said, looking at Nick as he smirked. They walked further in as Nick set the car seat on the table and the others gathered around as Jess carefully unbuckled him so Cece could hold him.
"Congratulations, man." Coach said walking over patting Nick's shoulder. "Hey, listen. Thanks for the talk. She said yes."
"Tha's awesome, man! Congratulations!" Nick said as they looked over at May as she joined the other women fussing over the baby. "She's great, I'm really happy for you." He said patting Coach on the back.
"So, how's it feel to finally join the daddy squad?" Schmidt asked with a grin.
"Don't." Nick said shaking his head. "Yeah, don't call it that. It's… it's not right."
"Yeah, no, you're right, probably not…. Not the best name." Schmidt said nodding in agreement.
"Nick." Jess said as she walked over. "Can you give me a hand?" Nick nodded and walked with her down the hall as their friends enjoyed the new little Miller.
"I can't believe Nick's a dad now." Winston said. "I mean I thought he'd always be like forever just Nick."
"Now I didn't see any of you being dads." Coach said.
"We never saw you getting engaged." Schmidt said with a smirk. "Congrats by the way." Coach smirked before they saw Nick walking back out with Jess who walked towards the group and sat on the couch as Cece walked over handing the baby to Jess.
"They do look good as parents." Winston said as the other two nodded watching as the two talked to the women. Nick sat on the coffee table handing things to Jess as she got more situated on the couch and the women surrounded them. The friends had come a long way form those wild boys trolling for women to the adults, the husbands and fathers they were today.