Jaden (4 months later)

The last time I saw Rebecca was the last time I've heard from her. Thankfully enough, it's been and stayed that way for 4 whole months. Everyone who's anyone would know that I've been laid off of work for three of those months because Nicki was just getting bigger and bigger and Simon wanted me to stay home with her until he allows me to come back to work at headquarters.

While I was away from work, I got some news that Rebecca had gotten fired from headquarters and surprisingly, she left peacefully and didn't cause a scene. I really appreciated that from her since I wanted this family to be at peace and she understood that. I knew she wouldn't be immature enough to keep bothering us at a time like this. I also appreciated Simon for still promising me a paycheck for not being at work.

I could see why now.

When Simon told me to stay home and chill with Nicole for this long, I thought it was going to be an easy task. You know, buy her food, exercise with her, and kiss her goodnight but, HELL NO!

I didn't think taking care of a pregnant woman could ever get this brutal! I've had tons of headaches, backaches, knee aches, and every other ache you can imagine. The woman is mad all of the time, nothing I do is right, and all she does is curse at me for everything.

And none of that is a stretch!

I almost got decapitated when she threw a knife at me for bringing the wrong flavored Doritos home!

But recently, she's been a little sluggish... It made my life easier but it kind of worried me. Janet told me not to be too concerned but I couldn't help myself. I was new to this and by the way Nicki was acting now, I thought that baby was going to come out any moment.

Right now, I was in the middle of preparing her a Jamaican omelette. It took me ten tries and eight slappings to get it perfectly right in the past but now, it's safe to say that I'm a pro at it... Hopefully she thinks so.

"Nicki your food is-" I stopped when I noticed that she was right next to me, digging through some cabinets. I watched as she pulled out a box of Skittles.

"Nicki, you can't eat those." I told her with an eyebrow raised.

She opened the box and shrugged, obviously not caring, "I'm hungry."

"That's why I'm cooking for you." I chuckled. "You need to eat healthy, that baby is due in a week. We have to make sure it doesn't come out with diabetes."

She glared, "What are you trying to say? Are you calling my baby fat? Are you calling me fat?"

"N- no! I just want you to eat this instead... Please."

She looked at the omelette then rolled her eyes, "No."

"Yes!" I corrected and snatched the box out of her hand, "Eat it."

"Fuck you, give me my Skittles!"

She tried to grab them but I tossed them on top of the fridge so she wouldn't reach. That only angered her but it was for her own good.

"Jaden!" she roared and threw a fist at me but I caught both of her hands and laced our fingers together instead.

I calmed my voice to her, "Stop battering me for a minute and listen..."

She sneered at me, "You just threw my only food over the fridge... Why would I listen to you?"

I smiled and gently kissed her cheek, "Because I love you... You want to see a magic trick?"

"Are you going to make a knife disappear in your throat?" she smirked.

I chuckled nervously, not sure if she really meant that or not. "No... I'm gonna bring your Skittles back. Close your eyes."

She shook her head then did as I said, "If you lie to me, I'm going to shove a spatula in your nose."

I winced then turned her to face the stove, moving the spatula away for safety reasons, "Can't you go one sentence without threatening me?" she only smiled at my question, amused. I wasn't surprised about that. "Okay, open."

When she opened her eyes, I sang "Tada" and gestured towards the omelette.

She stared at me with zero expression, "How stupid do you think I am?"

"I didn't say you were stupid but..." I drifted off of my sentence when she began to place the omelette on a plate. "Oh... Okay, cool." I smiled, slightly confused.

I guess she's in the mood for it now.

She gestured me to follow her to the living room as she told me, "Dr. Walton called."

I walked with her then sat next to her on the couch, "When? What she say?"

"She called earlier, while you were cooking this piece of shit omelette... She wanted to see us today or tomorrow."

I nodded, "Okay, but first of all, my omelette is not trash. You didn't even try it yet."

She shrugged as I continued, "What did you tell her?"

"I don't- ooh..." she winced from the baby's kick then just rubbed her belly and ignored it. "I don't know, I was going to ask you."

I put my hand over hers and smiled, "Tomorrow sounds good."

She nodded, "Good. I was hoping you'll say that because I'm not feeling it today." she ate a big piece of omelette then rested her head on my chest.

I put my arm around her, "You feeling okay?"

She nodded, "Do you have to ask every single day? I told you, I'm fine."

"I just want to make sure, baby..." I mumbled before turning to the T.V and staring at the screen, not really watching. I kept thinking about this whole experience. I wanted to be the best father I could be and make sure that my child doesn't make the same mistakes I've made in my past. I didn't want it to be a heartbreaker or a player. I didn't want it to grow up around other thugs or immature jokesters like I did. I will do all in my power to make sure my child will grow up with a bigger legacy than the one Nicki will leave with.

Nicki is truly an iconic woman. I've never seen someone so powerful and as strong as she is even though some of her moments aren't the most impressive, she always seems to come back and amaze everyone. That's the person I want our child to look up to.

I looked down at Nicki just so I could admire her and tell myself how lucky I am to have her but, I already saw her looking up at me with a sweet look in her eyes. A look I hadn't seen in a long time and it made my heart melt inside me and made me wonder what was on her mind right now.

She silently sat up and gave me a tender and unexpected kiss on my lips before she stood up to put her empty dish in the sink. I didn't know what the meaning was behind that kiss but it made me smile. It's been months since she's kissed me like that. As she headed to the kitchen, one of our newly hired maids smiled and took the plate to begin washing it.

I watched as Nicki came back to take a heavy seat next to me, rubbing her belly with a pained expression.

I gave her a small smirk, knowing it was the baby's kick. "You didn't complain about my food, you liked it?"

She tiredly leaned away from me so she could lay down, "It was good... For once."

Oh shit! It was good!

"I knew you would like it... Now, get up. We're going for a walk."

She groaned, "Is it 9 already?"

I nodded and groaned, mocking her voice, "Yeah, it is..."

I helped her up then began to lead her to the door. Dr. Walton made us go for walks at least twice a day so that Nicki's labor will be easier when the time comes. Since we're over achievers, we ended up doing them 3 to 4 times a day.

"Ready?" I asked.

She nodded, "But I only want to walk around the neighborhood today... I feel like I'm going to pass out."

I nodded and held a finger up before I rushed to the fridge to get her a water bottle, "You won't pass out. Just keep your head up and keep your breathing steady."

She nodded and grabbed the bottle, "I'll remember that.. Let's go."

When I opened the door, Simon's guard immediately came with us and began to join the walk. He was ordered by Simon to never leave us out of sight so he would always do these with us and sometimes I would forget he's there because he's so quiet.

As we walked, I found myself occasionally looking over at Nicki. We barely started and I knew she was already exhausted. I decided to start a conversation to help keep her mind off of that exhaustion and desire to sleep.

"Hey, is it cool if I ask what the gender is now? I know Dr. Walton told you at the last appointment."

She smirked, "I told her not to tell me."

"What? Why?"

She chuckled softly, "Because you and everyone else keeps asking me. It's much simpler to answer with I don't know than to repeat over and over that it's a boy or girl and then have to repeat over and over what I might name it when I don't even know that answer."

"If it's a boy, we should name him Jaden jr." I smiled and she laughed.

"How about no, that's corny? I like Hunter."

"What about Diana for a girl?" I nudged her with my shoulder because I really like that name.

She gently grabbed my hand. Her palms were a bit sweaty but I still held on tight as she suggested a different name, "It's cute... I guess... How about Katana?"

"Like the sword?"

She nodded, making me chuckle.

"Okay," I gazed at her belly to think for a moment then my eyes made their way back to hers as I suggested, "how about Carson for a boy?"

"Or Stryker..." she said with a small gasp of interest.

I rubbed my chin, "Hunter, Katana, Stryker.... I'm guessing you'll like Spear?"

"For a girl, yes that's adorable."

I laughed. She wants to name our baby after something tough like weapons. It's cute, I guess, but I'd rather keep it more simple for our first kid. "Okay. For a boy, what do you think about Nicholas? Named after you." I suggested.

She opened her mouth to counter that with something else but, then paused to think. I think she actually liked that one. "Interesting... For a girl, we'll name her after you. Uh... Jade?"

I grinned, "Jade Nicole Brown for a girl and... Nicholas Jaden Brown for a boy."

She snickered at that, "You mean Greene? I'm not changing my last name..."

WHAT?!?!

"Wait, you're not?! I was just gonna-" I quickly stopped myself when I realized what I was about to say. "Nevermind... That's fine..."

NO IT'S NOT!!! I'VE BEEN HOLDING THIS RING IN MY POCKET EVER SINCE TYLER HELPED ME BUY IT! SINCE REBECCA RUINED THE ORIGINAL PLAN, I ENDED UP HAVING IT WITH ME FOR ALMOST A YEAR!

I sighed to myself.

I've been waiting for the next right moment to ask her and now she's telling me that she doesn't want to get married...

And I still owe Tyler $2,000 for helping me buy the fucking ring!

My thoughts were interrupted when Nicki suddenly stopped and yanked her hand away from me, "What's wrong?" she asked.

I blinked back into reality, "Wh- what? Nothing. Why?"

She raised an eyebrow and chuckled humorlessly, "You were squeezing my hand really hard..."

I sighed and reached for it again and kissed her hand, "I'm sorry..."

I'm sorry for all the trouble I went through so I could be with you for the rest of my life.

It didn't matter much... Nope, not at all because I knew Nicole only and forever will only love me no matter what. Her being single and picky for more than 20 years, it was understandable that she wouldn't want to be so committed yet and a piece of me still thinks she still has a sweet spot for Jackson but I'll leave that aside for now. Jackson told me already that he doesn't look at Nicole the way he used to anymore. In fact, he's already moved on and is talking to the hot gymnast he met from the morning gym sessions he goes to before work.

"Oooh..." I heard Nicole squeal and she let go of my hand to bend over.

Harris and I quickly grabbed her to keep her up. "You good?" I asked, trying to see her face.

She nodded, rubbing her belly, "I told you to slow down." she panted.

Dammit. I need to stop doing that.

So much was going on in my head that I keep zoning out my surroundings.

"Let's get her to that bench." Harris suggested.

I agreed, "You think you can make it over there?"

She nodded, "I think so..."

I gave her a minute to breathe and gulp down some water before walking towards the bench. I felt bad for her because one, I did that to her and two, I couldn't even begin to know what she was feeling at the time. She's good at hiding some of her pain and she made it looked a lot easier than it probably was. She was tired and sweaty and I could tell she was having to constantly focus on breathing steadily.

"Easy now..." Harris said as we helped her sit on the bench by the park.

"This baby just keeps getting stronger... I love it." she panted with a smile.

Her words made me feel a little less guilty, "It doesn't bother you?"

She shook her head then rested it back, "No. It hurts but at least I know it's healthy... And really active... It's funny, Dr. Walton told me the more I move, the quicker the baby should fall asleep but it just refuses to."

I chuckled and massaged her shoulders while Harris fanned her with a newspaper, "Don't worry, just one more week and you won't be sharing your body anymore."

"That's all I want..." she sighed.

I nodded with a smile, "And after that happens, I'll treat you to some amazing back rubs."

Jackson's told me about her trembles that were triggered each time I touched the scars hidden under her tattoo. Apparently, physical touches were the cure to stop those. It's how he's helped her before when they were more severe so I thought simple massages could do the trick just the same.

She smiled at the offer, "Looking forward to it."

"Great." I took her hand now, "Ready to finish the walk? Our house is not that far." I asked, sitting next to her.

"Not yet..." She fanned herself, "But since the house isn't far, you could go bring me a cup of ice."

"Ice?"

"Crushed."

I laughed, "Alright... I'll be right back." I squeezed her hand before I began to head back to the house.