Dawn sat staring at AJ, searching his face for an answer to her question. He looked surprised that she had asked that. Truth was, he was surprised. He knew it would come up, but he didn’t expect for it to come up now, or for her to ask so bluntly.

He didn’t know what to say. He knew what he wanted to say, what he should say, but he hadn’t prepared himself for what exactly he was going to say.

He had come so close to losing her, to losing everything. No matter what, he had to deal with whatever issues he had with Noah on his own. He had to just put it behind him and do whatever it took to get Dawn back. Once she was back home with him, they could concentrate on the future, their future, together.

"Angel, I love you, and I love our children. I want us to put this all behind us and focus on the future".

"You haven’t answered my question, Alex. Do you have any doubts that this baby is yours?"

He looked her in the eye. He had never lied to her in his entire life and he certainly didn’t want to start now.

"No…I have no doubts".

Dawn studied AJ’s face carefully, as carefully as she ever had. She wanted to believe him with all her heart. She had to believe him. She couldn’t stand being apart from him. They had so much together. She wanted to put everything that had happened between them in the last few months behind them and look towards the future. She had to concentrate on what was important.

Even if that meant ignoring the nagging feeling that AJ wasn’t being completely honest with her.

"Angel", his voice broke her concentration.

"Did you hear me? Please, let’s just forget about everything that’s happened. Let’s get our family back together, the way it should be."

"There’s nothing that I want more, Alex", she smiled at him as she took his hand. "Just don’t ask me ever again to chose between you and my career. I’ve never asked that of you. I’ve always supported you one hundred percent in everything you’ve ever done".

"I know, and I’m sorry", he sighed, " I was just upset and I snapped. I’m sorry for all the stress I’ve caused you lately. You know I never want to do anything that would hurt you or the baby. I’ve been so selfish. I promise, things will be different from here on out. I just want you to come back to me. I need you".

"I just don’t know how to get past this. How do we just go back to the way things were before this all happened? Can we?"

He tangled his fingers with hers.

"Things will never be the same…..they’ll be better. It’s just gonna take some work. A lot of work. We can do it, though.  We’ve been through so much, we’ve always come out of it stronger, just like we will this time."

Dawn lay her head back on the pillow and closed her eyes.

"Where do we start?" She whispered.

AJ kissed her hand.

"Hey, look at me".

She opened her eyes and looked over at him. The emotion and sincerity in his eyes made her melt. They were her one weakness.

"I love you, more than anything in the world. I don’t have all the answers. Hell, I don’t have any answers at all. One thing I do know is that we will get through this. We just have to promise to trust each other and always talk to each other when something is bothering us. We used to communicate so well. We just let too many things come between us. We both lost our focus".

"Yeah, I agree. I just want things to be good between us again. I hate not being with you. I want to wake up next to you every morning. I want to fall asleep in your arms every night. I want to be able to kiss you whenever I want…" she felt a lump start to form in her throat and felt like she might cry at any moment.

"Baby, please don’t cry," he got up and sat next to her on the bed.

He started to stroke her hair as he pulled her into his arms.

"We’ll have all that again.   I missed you so much. You don’t know how miserable I’ve been without you. I want you to move back home with me. The house is so quiet and empty without you and Arianna. Please, come home".

She looked up at him and thought for a moment. "I want to, Alex…"

"Then do it", he cut in before she could say anything more. "We can’t work on things being apart from each other. Arianna’s birthday is coming up soon. We could throw her a big birthday party at the house.  Not only would we be celebrating her birthday, we’d be celebrating a new beginning for us".

"She’d love that…I’d love that. I think we need it.  It will be the start of our new lives together".

"Yep, and we can plan for the baby", he placed his hand on her stomach. "We can start setting up his room, thinking up names…."

"Him?" Dawn chuckled. "You are so sure that it’s a boy".

"I know it is. The McLean males are known to be pretty headstrong, you know", he smiled.

"Oh, so I gather you created this baby all by yourself?" She joked.

"Oh Lord, well, with your genes and mine mixed together, this is bound to be one hell of a stubborn kid. We sure have our work cut out for us!" They both laughed.

"You know, I was downstairs earlier, and I saw a little boy running around the lobby. His mother called his name and I thought it was really cool".

"What was it?"

"Dominic. What do you think?"

"Dominic," she said aloud. "I like it!"

"Dominic McLean".

"Now there’s a mouthful!" Dawn laughed. "What about a middle name?"

"Hmm, I don’t know…….we have plenty of time to think about it, though."

"Yeah, let’s think about that later, right now I’m exhausted. Do you mind if I just take a little nap?   You can go tuck Arianna in. I know she wants you to sing her to sleep".

"Yeah", he glanced down at his watch, "I better get going, it’s almost her bedtime".

"Why don’t you get some sleep for a little while, too. Take a shower and crawl into a nice warm bed for the first time in days."

"What are you trying to say? I stink?" AJ laughed as he smelled his armpits.

"Umm, yeah, kinda", Dawn joked back as she crunched up her nose and laughed.

"Yeah, I suppose I have slacked in the hygiene department lately. I’ve been here since they brought you in. I was worried, and…"

Dawn put her finger to his lips to silence him.

"I know. Thank you so much for being here. I know how scared you must have been".

"Scared, hell, I was terrified. I never wanna feel anything like that as long as I live", he pulled her closer to him and held her tight. "I can’t imagine anything worse than that, and I never want to".

"Well, I’m not going anywhere", she smiled as she nuzzled her face in his neck.  "You’re not getting rid of me".

"And I don’t ever want to", he leaned down and took Dawn’s chin in his hands, placing a tender kiss on her lips. It felt so good to kiss her again. He didn’t want to leave, he wanted to stay there all night. He wanted to make up for all the time they had lost, all the time they wasted fighting.

He parted his lips as he felt Dawn’s tongue slide slowly into his mouth.  When their tongues made contact, it sent shivers throughout his body. No one ever made him feel the way Dawn did. They had such a deep connection, physically, mentally and emotionally, that it was impossible for him to imagine being without her.

She ran her hand through his hair and down his cheek as their kiss deepened. He leaned closer to her as his fingers lightly grazed her neck, making her body shudder. She pulled away from him, breathless.

"God, I wish we could do more than kiss", she gasped.

"I know. I wish I could show you how much I love you", he said as he leaned his forehead against hers.

"I hate fighting, but I always loved how we made up", she softly kissed his neck.

It had been so long since they had even touched each other in any way, he thought he  might explode.

"Oh shit", he pulled away from her, "I hafta go. A cold shower is calling my name.  A nice long…..ice cold, shower".

Dawn laughed.  "I’m sorry. Go get some sleep. I don’t wanna see you back here until  morning, at least."

"Sleep? Ha!"

He leaned over to kiss her again.  

O"ne more for the road".

"Tell Arianna that I love her and I’ll be home soon", she said as she kissed him again.

"I will. I love you, Angel", he kissed her lips yet again.

"I love you, too. Now, get out", she laughed, her lips still on his.

"I can’t", he gasped as he kissed her again.

She pulled away from him and playfully pushed him off the bed.

"Go", she chuckled.

"We have baby lotion at home, right?" He asked with a smile as he headed towards the door.

"Yeah, why?" She asked, then laughed when she realized what he had meant by that.

"Oh my God, I can’t believe you", she said, still laughing.

"Hey, it’s all your fault. Now I have to go home all by myself. Poor, horny little AJ", he chuckled.

"Well, have fun, and please spare me the details."

"Oh no, you’re gonna hear all about it tomorrow when I come back. Maybe I’ll even call you later on when I crawl my naked ass into bed".

Dawn laughed as he opened the door.

"I love you!"

"I love you, too", he reiterated as he turned off the light and closed the door behind him.

"Come in," she called, sitting up.

"Hey," D smiled as she turned on the light and walked over to her bed. She gave her a tight hug.

"Hey girl!"

"How are you feeling?" She asked, sitting down on the edge of the bed.

"I’m feeling much better. I can’t wait to get out of this bed," she groaned.

"I’ll bet."

D looked around the room.

"Where’s J? I figured he’d be glued to your side".

"He was here earlier. He left to go tuck Arianna in. She wanted him to sing her to sleep. She misses her Daddy."

"I know she does. She misses her Mommy, too."

"I know. I miss her too."

Dawn looked down at her hands and sighed. She looked up at her friend tentatively.

"I’ve been thinking about moving back in with Alex."

D looked at her in shock.

"When did this happen? I thought you guys were still having problems."

"We had a long talk. I asked him if he still had any doubts about the baby being his and he told me he didn’t."

"Wait, so he told you that he believes the baby is his now?" D asked confused.

"That’s what he said. He wouldn’t lie to me, D. He’s always been honest with me."

It was true. He had always been honest with her in the past, but Dawn still had a nagging feeling that he didn’t completely believe that the baby was his. It bothered her, but she knew that she had given him reason to doubt her. Still, she knew deep down in her heart that she didn’t sleep with Noah, and she would dedicate herself to proving that to AJ. She didn’t care what she had to do. The baby was, without a doubt, the result of their romantic night on the beach.

"So now what?" D asked, noticing that Dawn’s mind was elsewhere. "You are going to move back in with him and forget it ever happened?"

"I’ll ever forget it, but I love him and he loves me. We can get past it. We have too much together to just throw it away".

She saw the look on her friend’s face and knew that she didn’t approve.

"D, I don’t want to be apart from him any longer. Arianna needs him, I need him", she emphasized.

"I’m carrying his child. This baby isn’t growing up without his father."

"His father? Now you’re starting to sound like J," D laughed.

Dawn hadn’t realized what she had said and she had to laugh.

"I guess his theory that this baby is a boy is rubbing off on me," she laughed.

"Are you sure you’re not rushing things?" D asked concerned.

"No, I’m not sure, but I want my family back together, D. I want Alex there when I give birth. After all these scares I need to be with him, and Arianna. I need them so much," she whispered, fighting back tears.

"I know you do. And they need you," D said, sniffing back tears of her own as she sat down on the edge of the bed .

"So I’m going to be all alone again?" D asked sadly.

"I figured you’d jump for joy to get rid of me and have your house to yourself again," Dawn laughed.

"I liked having you and Arianna around. I’m going to be really lonely now."

"What do you mean you’re going to be lonely? You’ll have Nicky," Dawn pointed out smiling.

D looked down at her hands and sighed. Dawn studied D’s face intently. Something was definitely wrong.

"Okay, spill," Dawn instructed, sitting up. "What’s going on with you and Nick?"

"Nothing," D said looking up at her. "I just have this weird feeling."

"What kind of weird feeling?" Dawn asked curiously.

"I’m not sure," she shrugged. "I just have this feeling in the pit of my stomach that all of this happiness with him is too good to be true, that something is going to happen and I’m going to lose him."

"You’re just panicking," Dawn reasoned, stroking her back soothingly. "You aren’t used to being in such a committed relationship and actually being happy. Everything’s going to be fine," she reassured her.

"Maybe you’re right. I’m not used to having someone love me like this. It feels really good and I don’t want it to go away."

"It won’t. True love never goes away. Every relationship has their problems. You and Nick will probably have your share of them but take it from an expert. If you love each other enough you can get through anything."

D nodded and smiled.

"Thank you."

"Don’t thank me, that’s what I’m here for," Dawn smiled, hugging her.

"I guess I should go and let you get some rest," D said, getting up.

"I am a little tired," she yawned.

"You get some rest and I’ll come see you tomorrow."

"Okay. Tell Nicky I said hello."

"I will. Thanks for the advice, Chica."

"No problem, hon. Don’t worry so much."

"Yeah right," D laughed.

"I’ll see you tomorrow," she said as she quietly closed the door and turned the light back off.

Half an hour later, Dawn tossed and turned, trying her hardest to fall asleep. She was exhausted. Her head was throbbing, but no matter what she did, she couldn’t fall asleep. She glanced over at the clock.

"Eleven thirty-six", she said to herself. "I wonder if Alex is still awake".

She looked over at the phone, debating weather or not she should call her fiance’. She knew he needed his rest, but if she knew Alex at all, he wasn’t asleep, especially not as worked up as he had been when he left the hospital. She picked up the phone and dialed the number. He answered on the second ring.

"Hello?" He answered.

"Hey there, sexy. So, what are you wearing?" She asked in a seductive voice.

"Wouldn’t you like to know!" He laughed.

"Oh, I see how you’re gonna be now. And here I thought I would be nice and call you while you’re in bed and try to relieve some of that pent up frustration, but nevermind. I’ll go now. Bye!"

"No, wait!" He yelled. "I’m not wearing anything, I just got out of the shower and I’m laying here butt naked in bed trying to find something on TV".

"Boy, your charm just kills me. We used to have phone sex all the time while you were away on tour. You’ve sure gotten rusty.."

"Oh, is that what you called for?!" He joked. "Well then, let’s see…"

"Nevermind, I’m not in the mood anymore", she jokingly cut him off.

"Awww, Angel, pleeeease?" He whined.

"Nah, the mood is gone. Tell me what happened when you went to go tuck Arianna into bed".

AJ sighed.

"Well, I read her a book, Cinderella, then I sang to her and she fell right asleep in my arms".

"Awwww, I miss my baby".

"I know you do, she misses you, too. She asked about you a million times. I told her you were okay and you would be home soon and we would all be living together again. You know what, though? She’s so young, what do we tell her about the baby that she’ll understand? When do we tell her?"

"Hmmm", Dawn thought. "I don’t know. I guess we can tell her when I get home. What do you think?"

"Well, we could…"

Dawn heard the hesitation in his voice.

"I know what you’re thinking, Alex. I think you’re right, we should wait".

"I just-I…"

"No, don’t. I know what you were thinking. The same thoughts flooded my head after I said it. We should wait to tell her. Just in case, you know, anything happens. How would we explain it to her then?"

AJ was silent, he wasn’t sure what to say. It was a miracle that Dawn was pregnant again in the first place. Then, with everything that had happened recently, with as delicate as the pregnancy was, he had to admit that he was surprised that the baby was okay. It was just another thing telling him that this baby was meant to be, for one reason or another.

"Alex? Are you still there?"

Dawn’s voice snapped him out of his trance.

"Yeah baby, I’m still here. I was just thinking".

"About what?"

He scooted further down on the bed and made himself comfortable.

"I was just thinking how thankful I am for you and the baby and Ari. Everything that’s happened has really made me realize how much I have and how fragile life really is".

"Yeah, I know. And how unimportant some things are".

"Yeah, that’s for sure", he paused as he played with the corner of the comforter, "I love you so much".

"I love you, too".

They were both quiet for a moment. Dawn heard the television in the background and AJ quietly curse as he flipped through the channels then clicked it off.

"Well, nothing’s on. I guess I’ll tuck myself into bed. Did I mention that I was naked?"

"Umm, yeah, I think you did", Dawn chuckled.

"Oh, okay. Well keep talking. Don’t mind any noises you might hear coming from this end of the phone."

Dawn laughed. "Is my poor Alex a little sexually frustrated?" She cooed.

"A little I wasn’t sure if I was gonna make it home! Then, of course, my mom wanted to talk for awhile after I got Arianna asleep. Then Marcus called and wanted to stop by. I told him NO, I had things to do!" He laughed.

"You are terrible", Dawn laughed with him.

"I know, but Angel, it’s been sooooo long," he whined.

"Yeah, I know it has. I’m sorry. After the baby’s born, we’ll ship the kids off to Grandma’s house for
the weekend and lock ourselves in the bedroom and not come out until it’s time to pick them up!"

"Oh, you have no idea how wonderful that sounds".

"Oh, but I do. It’s been just as long for me as it has been for you. I’m a tad bit frustrated myself".

"Aaaw, baby. If I was there, you know I would take care of you. If not for those damned nurses coming into your room every hour, I would be there right now taking care of you in every way imaginable".

"Oh yeah? What would you be doing?" Dawn asked as a sly smile spread across her lips.

"Hmmmm," AJ let out a sly chuckle.

"Wait," Dawn said.  "Say that I'm there, in bed lying right next to you. What would you do?"

"What are you wearing?"

"Hmmm. I’m wearing that short purple nightie that you bought me for our anniversary last year. Do you remember that one?"

"Oh yeah", AJ smiled. "I remember it alright.  Mostly, I remember it in a crumpled ball on the floor".

"Yep, that would be the one," Dawn chuckled.

"Panties?" He asked.

"Nope".

"Oh God", he closed his eyes and let his imagination run wild. "I should have known you were gonna say that".

He felt his frustration build up again as his body responded to the excitement his thoughts were
giving him.

"I know what you like, Alex," she said, her voice barely above a whisper.

"Yes, you do. There’s no doubt about that", he smiled as he slowly started to stroke himself.

"Alex, what are you doing right now?" Dawn asked slyly, already knowing the answer.

"Just keep talking, baby. Tell me what you want me to do to you. Tell me everything. I wanna be inside you so bad right now", his eyes clenched tightly shut as he imagined Dawn there with him. Doing the things to him that, right now, he could only fantasize about.

"Are you nice and comfy?"

"Oh yeah", he whispered as his breath caught in his throat.

He propped his head up against the pillow and closed his eyes, his hand moving slowly up and down his hard shaft.

"Bring it on, baby".

Chapter 59
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