Dawn and AJ lay in their bed. Dawn was looking through a bridal magazine and AJ was watching the television. He glanced over to see what she was looking at. He cuddled up close next to her and looked as she flipped the pages.

"I like that one," he suggested.

Dawn stopped and looked at what he was talking about.

"That’s a little too short, don’t you think?" she asked, laughing.

"Hell no," he replied seriously as she playfully smacked him with the magazine. "We don’t even have a date set yet," AJ said, whistling.

There was silence for a moment as Dawn continued to flip through the magazine.

"What about tomorrow?" He joked.
Dawn looked at him, rolled her eyes, then turned her attention back to her magazine.

AJ was getting frustrated, he was constantly trying to get Dawn to set a wedding date. He wasn’t sure what the problem was, but he felt like she was reluctant, for some reason. He knew that their lives were a little crazy right now, between his touring and Dawn’s career and possible upcoming tour, he didn’t know when they would ever find the time for a wedding. He hated to keep putting it off, though. He wanted to marry Dawn more than anything. He wanted to make her happy, that was his biggest concern.

"Screw it, let’s just go do it," he suggested. "Let’s just go somewhere and get married".

Dawn looked at him shocked.

"It’s not that big of a deal, besides, your mother would kill us".

He took her face in his hand and redirected her gaze in his direction.

"Baby, it is a big deal. I want to marry you, I don’t want this to keep being put on the back burner. If we wait until we have time, we will never get married".

She didn’t say anything.

"Why is it that every time I bring this up, you shut down on me? It’s almost like you don’t even want to marry me.." his voice trailed off.

Dawn put her magazine down and focused on AJ. She didn’t know what to say. She knew he was right, but it wasn’t that she didn’t want to marry him, she was just scared.

He could tell in her eyes that something was wrong.

"Talk to me, tell me what’s wrong", he whispered as he caressed her cheek.

"I’m scared Alex. I don’t know why. I know it’s stupid," she looked down at her hands.

"It's not stupid.  What are you scared of?" He asked softly, stroking her hair.

"I don’t know", she whispered.

"Is it me? Us?"

"No, if there is one thing in my life I know I can count on, I know it’s you."

"Then what is it?"

"I don’t know, maybe the whole marriage idea scares me. Maybe I’m just afraid that eventually you’ll realize that you made a big mistake, I can’t give you children, Alex. I feel like I’m defective".

He sat up in the bed.

"Alright, listen to me. First of all, we have a child. I may not be her biological father, but I don’t care, she is still my daughter. Yes, I want more kids, and, in time, we will have them. If we were meant to have more, that is. We can adopt if we want. That’s not what’s important to me. You and Arianna are my life, everything else is just, like, background music. You two are the most important things in my life and will always come first. I know I’ve made a lot of mistakes in my life, just like anyone else, but one thing I do know, though, is that I have never been so sure of anything in my life as I am about wanting to spend the rest of my life with you".

A tear rolled down Dawn’s cheek and he gently wiped it away.

"Hey," he said softly, turning her face towards his. "I love you...with all my heart".

"I love you, too," she replied as she gave him a soft kiss on the lips.

"So.. how about throwing a date at me?" He said, smiling.

She thought for a minute.

"How about October of next year?"

"Too far away, but it’s a start," he teased.

"It’s gonna take time to plan a wedding you know, especially with everything that will be going on".
"Hell, as soon as we tell my mother we set a date, she’s gonna have the whole wedding planned for us".

"I don’t want a big wedding, though. I don’t even want it in a church, I want it outside", she continued.

"Okay, sounds good to me".

After a short silence, AJ spoke.

"So, I take it that means you’re definitely going on tour?"

"I really want to, what do you think?"

"Well, I’ll miss you, but I won’t be on tour, so I can bring Arianna out and we can visit you. Plus, I think it’s the chance of a lifetime, I wouldn’t expect you to pass it up. I want you to be happy".

"You are amazing, do you know that?" Dawn gushed.

"Yeah, I know, I know, It’s a hindrance I live with every day," he joked . "Oh, I almost forgot. I ran into an old girlfriend today".

Dawn looked over at him, wondering where that came from.

"Who?"

"Well, not really an old girlfriend, per se, but we went out a few times".

"Uh-huh. I get it, Alex. You were sleeping together," she laughed.

"That’s about the extent of it, too," he replied.

Dawn shook her head at him.

"Why did you bring that up?"

"Oh, she asked how I was and we got to talking. I thought she would be perfect for Nick, so I was thinking about hooking them up, but I can’t do it by myself. I’m a guy, I can’t do that kind of stuff. I need your help".

"So, you want me to help you get little Nicky laid," she teased.

"No, actually, I think they’d be perfect for each other, and not just for sex, you dirty minded little girl".

"Little girl??" She asked, laying him back on the bed and straddling him.

He looked over at her high heels on the floor, then looked up at her with an evil look on his face. She glanced over to where he had looked. She knew what he had on his mind. She bent down and gently ran her tongue down his neck.

"I guess I could help you", she purred. "What are you gonna do for me?" she whispered as she nibbled on his earlobe. It made AJ shudder.

"That’s it, you asked for it", he said as he flipped her on her back and passionately kissed her.


Chapter 3
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