Disclaimer: Same as part 1

Author's Note: Kind of like the movie...but not quite

Pacey and Henry stared at the baby, both trying to take in its presence on their doorstep. They then looked at each other, completely confused. Of all the times for a baby to show up on their doorstep, it had to be now.

"What do we do?" asked Henry.

"I don't know!"

"Look, you don't have to yell at me, okay!"

The baby started crying and their faces turned pale. Neither had ever had much experience with babies, except for Pacey, who for a while hung out with Joey when she would baby sit Alex.

"Why is she crying?"

"I..I..I don't know!"

"Well, how do we make her stop?"

"Jesus, Henry, I don't know! Maybe we should pick her up."

"You pick her up."

"No way, you do it."

"One of us has to pick her up, Pacey. And it's not going to be me!"

Pacey bent over and pulled the child gently out of the basket she was laying in. She continued to scream and both men looked terrified. Pacey nodded to the basket and Henry grabbed it and the diaper bag and they went inside.

Pacey walked into the kitchen, trying to shush the baby into silence. "It's not working, Pacey."

"No shit!"

"So, what do we do?"

"I have no idea."

"Joey would know."

Pacey sent a death stare in Henry's direction, and he immediately regretted his words. Pacey looked down at the crying baby in his arms.

"How could Dawson be so irresponsible?"

"I don't know," Pacey said shaking his head.

"Maybe she's hungry."

"Maybe she needs to be changed."

"Maybe she's sick."

"Does Jen know anything about babies?"

"About as much as I do."

"Oh, God."

Pacey moved the baby to his shoulder, and realized that she needed to be changed. Pacey closed his eyes and took in a deep breath. This was the last thing he needed.

"I think I found out what the problem is."

"What?"

"See if there are any diapers in that bag."

Henry opened it and pulled one out. Pacey walked into the living room and laid the baby on the couch. Pacey and Henry sat there, both trying to figure out how to get the diaper off. Pacey then saw the tabs on the side and pulled them away from the rest of the baby.

"Can you believe we're doing this?" Henry asked.

When Pacey removed the diaper, they both winced as the baby smiled. Pacey turned to the diaper bag next to Henry and pulled out the box of wipes.

"How can something so small make something so disgusting?" asked Henry as he turned up his nose.

"I have no idea."

Pacey cleaned the baby, the put the diaper back on her. Pacey turned to Henry and handed him the baby. Pacey got up and walked into the kitchen.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm going to find Dawson's ass and tell him to get it back home."

"You know they don't have a phone there."

Pacey stopped in his tracks, then turned around to look at Henry holding the baby oddly. "What are you doing?"

"Huh?"

"You don't hold a baby like a football."

Pacey walked over and showed Henry how to cradle the baby in his arms. She smiled up at the both of them, making their hearts melt.

"How are we going to take care of this baby, Pacey?"

"I have no idea. But...when Dawson gets home, we kill him...then hand him the baby."

Pacey looked at the clock on the wall, seeing that he was late for his meeting.

"I have to go get changed."

"Where...where..where are you going?"

"Work."

"And what am I supposed to do?"

"Watch the baby."

"Pacey...I don't know anything about babies."

"Call someone who does."

"Fine...what's the number to Joey's personal line again?"

"You call Joey...and I'll kick your scrawny little ass. Call...call Andie or Jen. They can help you."

"But not Joey."

"Not Joey."

"Fine."

Pacey was dressed and out of their in no time. Pacey was at his office fifteen minutes after that, climbing the stairs rather than taking the elevator. He reached his floor and greeted his secretary.

After his meeting, he rushed home to check on Henry and Mary.

"Henry!" Pacey called.

"He's in the shower," answered Joey.

Pacey looked confused at her being there holding the baby. Jen walked out of the kitchen after her and greeted Pacey with a smile.

"Joey, what are you doing here?"

"Well, Jen told me about your new...room mate...and I thought you could use some help."

Jen decided that the two of them needed to talk, so she quickly exited back into the kitchen.

"Is that the only reason?"

"Well, I had nothing else to do while I'm waiting for the jury to decide their verdict."

"That's it, though?"

"Look, Pace..."

"Save it, Jo." Pacey shook his head, obviously frustrated. "Look, we can handle this. We're not invalids."

"I never said you were. I just thought that you guys could use some help."

"We could...but we're not accepting it from you."

That hurt. Pacey could tell that it had. But he was hurting. She didn't even act like she wanted to fix what was broken between them. He wanted her back. There was no way to fight that feeling. He wanted her to be back in his life as his Joey. Was that so wrong?

Joey took that as her hint to leave. She gently set the baby in Pacey's arms and kissed her on the forehead. "Bye, Mary. Bye Pacey."

"Bye, Joey," he whispered.

Joey walked out the front door, letting the tears fall as she walked onto the elevators. She didn't blame Pacey for being cold to her. She actually was a little relieved. If he hadn't been, that would have meant that their not being together any more didn't mean anything to him. But it did. She could see it in his blue eyes.

"Where's Joey?"

Pacey turned to see Jen standing in the doorway to the kitchen. "She left."

"Why?"

"Because I asked her to."

"Why?"

"She doesn't want me to be a part of her life, I don't want to her to try to be a part in mine."

"That's not fair, Pace."

"Oh...and why isn't it? She told me that we either get married or we break up...I couldn't ask her, Jen."

"Why?"

"I don't want to ruin what I have with her. I don't want to end up hating her."

"And why would you end up hating her?"

"You've seen my parents, haven't you? They used to be like the two of us, what would keep us from becoming them?"

"You are not them, Pacey. You're not your father and she's not your mother. History doesn't always repeat itself."

"I don't want to ever hate Joey."

"Do you think you ever could? Honestly, Pacey."

"I don't think so. But I'm not ready for...eternity."

"Not even with Joey?"

Pacey looked down at the baby that was sleeping in his arms. He always imagined holding his and Joey's child in his arms, rocking him or her to sleep. In the back of his mind, he knew that he would one day have to courage to ask Joey to be his wife for the rest of her life. But just the thought of right now, when everything was so perfect, why did it have to be right now?

"I am," he finally whispered. "I want to be with her for the rest of my life, Jen."

"Then, Pacey, I think you should tell her that."

"I just need to think for a little while," he said, still staring at the sleeping child.

"Oh...tell Henry I have to go, and that I'll see him later. I have an appointment."

"Will do."

"You going to be okay?"

"Yeah. I'll talk to Joey later."

"I'm talking about with the baby."

"I should be. If I have any questions, I'll get Henry to call his mom."

Jen smiled slightly. "Always the boys number one choice. Their mommy."

Pacey laughed, lightly, "Yeah. But not my mommy."

"You can always give Joey a call."

"I could and then again I could nail my hand to this counter top."

"I take that as a no. Pacey, just tell her that you want to marry her, will ya?'"

"I'll think about it."

"Okay, well, I have to go. See ya later tonight."

"You coming back?"

"Yeah...Henry asked me to stay."

"Oh."

"Bye, Pace."

"Bye, Jen."

Jen left the apartment. Henry walked in the kitchen soon after Jen left and met a rather expressionless Pacey. Pacey just sat there staring at the baby in his arms. Henry knew exactly what he was thinking. He'd been thinking and feeling the exact same thing earlier. They were getting hands on experience with being a father. It was so surreal. Something so tiny depended on them for so much.

"How long has she been sleeping?"

"About fifteen minutes." Pacey set her down in the play pen that wasn't there earlier. "Where'd this come from?"

"Oh...you know the couple down stairs that had a baby about four years ago...they heard the crying this morning and asked if we wanted any of their old baby stuff."

"And I take it you said yes."

"Well, it keeps us from having to buy it."

"Good idea."

"So...where'd Jen go?" Henry asked carefully, hoping Pacey wouldn't blow up at him for Joey being there.

"She left...right after Joey," he said shooting a look at Henry.

"Sorry man. I didn't know she'd come too."

"Yeah you did. But...it's okay."

"It is?"

"Yeah. At least now I know that she does still care."

"Pacey...you've only been apart for a day."

"And it feels like years, Henry."

Henry pulled a beer out of the refrigerator and sat at the counter on one of their bar stools. He sat and watched Pacey stare at the floor. Pacey was hurting. He'd never seen his friend in such pain before. He'd seen Pacey and Danielle break up, and he moved on quickly, but he moved on to Joey. This was most definetly killing him.

"So...did you and Joey talk?"

"About what? That she's ready to move past our little touchy feely phase of our relationship into the more permanent aspect of dependence for each other and I'm not? No."

Henry shook his head. Pacey and Joey were both stubborn, but why would they purposely stay away from something that made them so happy over a thing that they were going to do in the future any way? They made no sense to him sometimes.

Pacey opened the refridgerator and pulled out a Sam Adams, then took a seat next to Henry. Pacey took a drink, then set the bottle back down. He played with his hands, then turned to his friend.

"You realize that we're in a lot of trouble, don't you?"

"Yeah. Together, we know about as much about a baby as..."

"As much as we know about babies."

Henry chuckled a little. "Pacey...I'm an only child, and with that comes certain...non-qualifications as being around babies because I've never been around them before."

"You didn't have any cousins or anything?"

"They're all older than me."

"Well, we're pretty much screwed."

"What about you? Why don't you know that much about babies?"

"Never had to know about babies. The only baby I've ever been around was Alexander, Joey's nephew, and I never really had to watch him by myself. I used to hold him and I changed him once or twice...but Alex was a boy...Mary is a girl."

"I know the difference."

"So...all we have to do...is take care of her until Dawson gets home. Then, we castrate him, and hand him the baby."

Henry turned to the garbage can and tossed the bottle in there. "The only question is, can we survive until then?"

"God, I hope so."

Andie and Billy sat curled up on the couch, watching Untamed Heart, when Joey walked in. She tossed her purse on the dinning room table, and turned to see what the two were watching. Joey scrunched up her nose and looked down at the sobbing Andie. The movie did the same thing to her when she watched it. It was one of the saddest movies she's ever seen.

"I love and hate this movie," Andie said as she flipped the TV off.

"I know...why would anyone make such a depressing movie?"

"I don't know. If you think about it...it's kind of bittersweet."

"I would much rather see the sweet right about now."

Andie watched Joey as she ran her fingers over a picture of she and Pacey, that was sitting on the table behind the couch.

"Billy and I are going out to eat...you wanna come?"

"No. I just wanna sit around here and mope if you don't mind."

"Actually I do mind," Andie said frustrated.

Billy excused himself, giving the two women the chance to talk. "So...I take it that by your attitude you saw Pacey."

"Yeah..."

"What happened?"

"I went over there to apologize...and...I saw that pain, and I knew how bad I'd hurt him. Andie...I just started thinking last night, what if Pacey's never ready to get married?"

"He will be Joey. But, you have to fix things first. You hurt him when you told him that. I know that you didn't mean too, but you did. You hurt him in a way I don't really think you knew you could. Believe me, I know how it feels to hurt Pacey, and it's one of the worst feelings in the world."

"I just wish I could fix this."

"You can. Go tell him that you love him, and that no matter what you want to be with him."

"Andie...before I do that...he needs time. I could see that in his eyes. He needs time to deal."

"And how much time do you think he needs?"

"I don't know."

Pacey and Henry were running around the house, frantically trying to find a towel to clean up the baby, who suddenly decided to let her dinner repay them a visit. Not to mention, that she was screaming so much, that neither thought she would ever stop.

"Pacey...how do we get her to stop crying?"

"I don't know!"

"We have to do something...or someone will call the super."

"Why, because of a crying baby?!"

"Yes!"

Pacey looked panicked over at Henry, giving him a look that told him what to do. Henry went quickly to the phone and dialed Joey's number. Henry let it ring twice before she answered the phone. By the sound of her voice, Henry could tell that she was crying.

"Joey."

"Henry," she said sniffling. "What's the matter?"

"We kind of need your help."

"Does Pacey know you called me?"

"Yeah."

"What's the problem?"

Henry held out the phone letting Joey get an earful of the baby wailing in the background.

"Can you help us?"

"Yeah. I'll be over there in a few minutes."

"Thank you," he said relieved.

"Bye."

"Bye."

Pacey stood in front of Henry, with Mary in his arms. She was thrashing around, making it difficult for him to hold on to her. The two looked at each other, knowing that this was going to be harder than either anticipated.

As Joey stepped off the elevator, she heard the baby screaming. She shook her head, and knew that she was a glutton for punishment. But she wanted to show him that she was willing to help him.

She knocked, no answer. She opened the door and found Pacey pacing back and forth with the screaming baby in his arms, gently trying to shush her. Henry ran back into the living room with a bottle in his hands.

"Did you warm it up?"

Both turned to see Joey, a wave of relief washed over them. "No. Am I supposed to?"

"Yes. Put it in the microwave for about 15 seconds and shake it up," she said walking over to Pacey and taking the baby from him. Joey rocked her slowly, stroking the bald head. The baby calmed down, and stared up and Joey.

"How did you do that?" Pacey asked in awe.

"I don't know. She seems to like me."

"Here's the bottle." Henry handed it to Joey, and she sprayed some of it on her wrist, obviously satisfied with it's temperature. She went over to the couch and sat at the corner. Joey gave the bottle to the baby as Pacey and Henry watched in amazement as Joey got the baby to drink her bottle.

"It's all in the technique, "Joey said smiling. Pacey just watched as the woman he loved held a small child and some how, that stirred something inside him. It made him realize that he had no future unless Joey was there in it. He had no reason to go on if Joey wasn't going to be part of his life.

"Now...what is it you boys need to know about this baby?"

"Why is she always crying?" asked Henry.

"Well, it depends. If she's hungry, needs to be changed, or just wants to be held. Babies want lots of attention."

"Those are the only reasons babies will cry?"

"No...sometimes they cry and you have no idea why...you just have to let them get it out of their system."

Pacey just stared at Joey and Mary. The sight of her and the baby was something he never thought he would be able to erase from his head. He wanted to tell her that, and might have if Henry wasn't in the room.

Their front door suddenly opened and Jen walked in, a little surprised. "Hey, Joey."

"Hey. So...Pacey and Henry, now that you know how to heat up a bottle, and evidently you know how to change a diaper," she handed the baby to Pacey, "I leave Mary in your capable hands."

"But, Joey...we don't know anything about babies."

"Neither do first time parents, Henry. Do what they do...play it by ear."

"But Joey..."

"Good bye, Henry. Bye, Pace."

"What I don't get a good bye?"

"Jen...you're coming home with me...why should I tell you good bye?"

"I am?"

"You are."

"Well, bye Henry and Pacey."

Pacey just held the baby, holding the bottle in his other hand the way Joey had been. What was the purpose in her coming over if she was just going to leave them alone with this baby that didn't even belong to either one of them.

Joey and Jen walked out into the hall and onto the elevator. "Okay, Joey, you mind telling me why I just left my boyfriend with his mouth hanging open in the floor?"

"They have to grow up some time, Jen. And I have a feeling that is how they are going to do it."

"A baby?"

"A baby is a bigger responsibility than either of them have ever had to deal with. Who knows what taking care of her could make them see."

"And can I bet that this has something to do with getting a little ring out of Pacey?"

"Yes. Jen, I love him. I always will. But he's not ready to really give up his swinging bachelor hood."

Joey stared down at the floor. She knew that Joey was hurting and she knew that Pacey was hurting. The sooner that Pacey asked Joey to marry him, the sooner the two of them would be happy.

"He'll ask you, Joey. He loves you too much not to."

"I figured that he would have asked me last night...when I asked him about it...but he didn't, Jen. I just got the feeling that maybe I love him more than he loves me."

"That's not true and you know it."

"How? I'm willing to spend the rest of my life with Pacey...and he's not ready to spend it with me."

"Like you said...he's not ready...give him time."

"I will. I'll give him all the time he needs...I just hope he doesn't find something better during our time away."

"Joey...Pacey is aware that you are the only one for him and he is the only one for you...you have to believe that."

"I do. I just wish I was up there right now, and he was holding me in his arms."

"I know."

Jen and Joey went home, and left Pacey and Henry alone to tend to the infant in their apartment. Jen felt sorry for Dawson when he came home, because Pacey and Henry were going to kick his ass, then hand him Mary.