March came and with it Stephen and Jessica’s birthday. They were going to be a quarter of a century old so they decided to throw a big party.   Everyone was invited, even Brian. He didn’t RSVP which was probably a good thing because Jessica wouldn’t know what to say to him if he had showed up.  Nick asked Summer to fly out to LA and go with him as his date.  It was going to be their first official date since they started hanging out again as friends. 

Summer was on the phone with Jess discussing the event.

Summer – “Jess why am I so nervous?  It’s not like we have done all of this already.”

Jess – “Because Nick’s different now.”

Summer – “He’s not that different.  He can still be such a little boy at times.”

Jess – “I know but I am really glad you’re coming and that you guys are working things out.  Is AJ okay with everything?”

Summer – “Yeah he’s so funny.  After Nick and I hung out that first day I talked to him and he told me that if I wanted to be with Nick he was fully supportive, but if he hurt me again he was allowed to break his legs even if they were in the middle of a tour.”

Jess – “Hey I’ll be helping him.  So when is your flight going to be getting in?”

Summer – “I think we leave at 10 something and get in at 2 something your time.  I’m not sure Nick has the tickets.”

Jess – “You’re trusting him with the tickets?”

Summer – “Yeap he said he was taking care of everything.  He took care of it all, the tickets, the rental car, separate rooms.  He is really proud of himself.”

Jess – “Wow I am impressed.  Okay well I’m going to go I have stuff to do.”

Summer – “Okay if I don’t see you before I’ll see you at your party.”

Jess hung up and then stood up and stared at herself in the mirror.  As long as she wore a big shirt you couldn’t tell she was pregnant.  She had been debating about ditching the whole party thing but she knew if she were to do that people would be suspicious.  “What am I doing?”  She walked over to her night table and picked up a picture of Brian.  “How am I supposed to move on when I have your kid inside me?”

The baby moved a little bit, it was the first time and it startled her.  “What do you think I should call and tell him?”

The baby didn’t move again.  “Hey kid I’m talking to you in there.”  Nothing.  “You’re a lot of help.”  She rubs her stomach.  The door bell rings and she goes to answer it.

Reece is standing there with Ollie.  “Hey sister in law.”

Jess – “hey Reece.  Hey Oliver.”  Ollie was about a month old at this point. 

Reece – “Thank you so much for watching him.”

Jess – “It’s not a problem.”  She takes her nephew.  “Ollie and I need some time to bond don’t we.”  He looks up at Jess and smiles.

Reece – “You are so good with him Jess.  You are going to be a great mom some day.”   Jess puts Oliver down in the little playpen she has set up for him.  “Hey Jess can I ask you something?”

Jess – “Sure.”

Reece – “Are you doing okay?  I mean really okay.  I worried about you, I mean after the whole Brian not showing on New Years and everything you haven’t been your self.  Stephen told me to mind my own business but you are my family too and I just want to make sure you are okay.”

Jess tried to hold back her tears.  “Reece, you know better then anyone that I can bounce back.  It’s just taking me a little bit longer this time that’s all.  And don’t listen to my stupid brother, you can bug me anytime you want.”

“okay.  Well I am going to get going.  Stephen is probably going to pick up Ollie in about an hour or so.”

“Okay, have fun at the doctor’s.”

“Oh yeah.  It will be a thrill a minute.”

About an hour later there is a knocking on her door.  She opens it and there stands Stephen.  “Hey I’m here for the kid.”

“Come on.  He hasn’t moved since Reece dropped him off.” 

Stephen goes to pick him up and sees Jess stretching out of the corner of his eye.  Her shirt goes up over her stomach and Stephen can see the little bulge.  “Um Jess.”

“What?”  She sees him looking and pulls her shirt down getting a panicked look on her face.

Stephen stands up again and goes to his sister and hugs her.  “Why didn’t you tell me?”  Jess is crying.  “You know you can’t keep anything from me.  We shared a womb remember.”

Jess – “I don’t know what I’m doing Stevie.”

Stephen – “We’ll figure it out.”  As so many other times in their lives, Stephen feels the need to look after this sister.  “When are you due?”

“July.”

“He doesn’t know does he?”  She shakes her head.  “Have you been to the doctor?”

“I’ve been going to the same one Reece uses.  That’s why I told her I would watch Reece when she had to go in to make sure we didn’t have appointments the same day.”

“Sneaky sis.  Does anyone know?”

“You know.  I haven’t told anyone else because I don’t want to answer all the questions.”

“What about the party?”

“My dress has a high waist.”  He looks at her and raises an eyebrow.  “I’m kind of figuring this out as I go.”

“I can tell.  Do you need anything?”

She shakes her head.  “No, well maybe another hug.”  As he hugs her there is a knocking on the door.

It’s Reece.  “hey I got done at the doctor’s early.”  She sees Jess has been crying.  “What’s wrong?”

Stephen looks at Jess and she nods.  “Jessica is going to have a baby.”

Reece sits in a chair and thinks for a moment.  “Well that explains everything.”

That weekend is the big birthday party.  Nick did go on all of his little tasks except the hotel messed up and it had him and Summer sharing a room.  AJ was nice enough to give his room to Summer and he bunked with Nick.  To keep an eye on things. 

A few hours into the party Howie asked Jessica to dance.

Howie - “So how’s Jess these days?”

Jess - “I’m fine Howie thanks for asking. How are you?”

Howie - “Good. We’re getting ready to start writing for the new album.”

Jess - “Good I’ve worn out my copy of Millennium. Make sure you get more songs this time. Your voice is too nice to be stuck in the back.”

Howie - “Thanks that’s so sweet.”

Jess - “Yeah well don’t tell anyone it goes against this new image I’ve got going.”

Howie - “The bitch one.”

Jess - “Oh you’ve noticed.”

Howie - “Kinda hard not to.”

Jess - “I’m glad it’s working.”

Howie - “Hey not to be rude but are you putting on some weight.”

Jess - “No. I’m just a little bloated from all the food.”

Howie - “Wow then you must have eaten a lot.”  She narrows her eyes at him. “Okay I’ll be shutting up now.”

Jess - “good idea.”  To avoid more unwanted questions Jessica leaves shortly after saying she had a headache. 

That night Nick and Summer linger a little too long saying good night.  They had been getting along really well and they were almost back to where they were.  Except Summer was making sure she didn’t give in to Nick’s charms.

Nick – “I love kissing you.”

Summer – “Me too.  Kissing you that is.”  A couple passes them as they are against her door making out.  Summer breaks away from him.  “Okay maybe you need to go to your room now.”

He kisses along her neck.  “And why is that?”

“Because otherwise I am going to drag you in my room.”

“You say that like it’s a bad thing.”  He stops kissing her and looks in her eyes.

“I’m not ready yet Nick.  Besides AJ will be back from the party as soon as he realizes we’re gone and he will knock the door down.”

Nick kisses her again softly.  “Okay.  I’ll say good night and see you in the morning.”

“Good night Nick.”  With one more kiss she goes in her room.

For the next month every time Jessica is invited to something she has some thing else to do.  Howie thinks it’s his entire fault so he sends her flowers and chocolates and stuffed animals.  Finally she told him to stop because her hotel room has starting to get a little crowded. She still hadn’t found ‘the house’ yet.  

After about a month and a half of avoiding everyone, Loren comes by for a visit. Only Reece and Stephen are still the only ones that know about the baby Jess had been putting off telling everyone else.  Loren knocks on the door and Jess answers it.  One look at her belly and Loren screams.   “Oh my god! You’re pregnant! You’re going to have a baby! Oh my God!”

Jess - “Loren calm down.”  She drags her inside.

Loren - “Calm down you’re pregnant! Does Kurt know does your mom know? Does Brian Know?”

Jess - “No He doesn’t and I don’t want him to.”

Loren - “Have you gone insane you have to tell him!”

Jess - “no I don’t.”

Loren - “Jessica if Brian knew…”

Jess - “If Brian knew he would be with me cause of the baby. You know him. He would do the right thing, we’d get married and he’d move me to Kentucky to be close to his mom. I wanted him to choose me for me.”

Loren - “Honey how long have you known?”

Jess - “Since the beginning of December.”

Loren - “You’ve known for six months and you haven’t said anything.  Oh what do your parents think?”

Jess - “well they don’t know yet”

Loren - “you haven’t told them yet!”

Jess - “I didn’t know how to tell them.”

Loren - “Well hello that’s a great way to break the ice.”   She points at the other girls protruding stomach. “Oh I can so feel a headache coming on. Kevin’s never going to believe this.”

Jess - “You can’t tell him.”   She grabs her hands.

Loren - “I don’t know Jessica this isn’t a little secret it’s kind of big and keeps getting bigger.”

Jess - “Look it’s the middle of May and I’m due on July 12. I know it doesn’t make any sense but I don’t want Brian to come running to me because of this.”

Loren - “He’s going to find out.”

Jess - “I know but let me tell him in my own way.”

Loren - “okay but you have to tell him.”

Jess - “Okay I’ll tell him after the baby is born.”

Loren - “Do you know what it is?”

Jess -  “No I want it to be a surprise.  Reece is on her way to take me to the doctor. Want to come?”

Loren - “Do I! Wait Reece and Stephen knew?”

Jess - “Well yeah I live here it would be hard to hide it from them.”

Loren - “Wait isn’t your dad’s birthday in two weeks.”

Jess - “yeah I’m going to tell them then I guess.”

Loren - “yeah I guess so. I don’t think I’m coming. If I come then so will Kevin and I won’t be able to keep him from telling Brian.”

Jess - “good point.” Knock knock. “Oh there’s Reece.”  Jess opens the door.

Reece - “Hey you ready because I’m kind of double parked. Oh hey Loren.”

Loren - “Yeah we’re ready.”

Reece - “Oh you’re coming too. Good I always cry at these things.”

Jess - “Okay let me get my bag.”

When the doctor does the imagining of the baby, the girls all cry. The doctor says that everything looks very good. When Loren gets back to New York she has a hard time not telling Kevin but she sticks to her promise.