15. Noises Through The Night (Full Chapter)

*Kay, so here is the full chapter, I reeeallly have to apologise for how awful any of my recent posts are on my four blogs. I have a heap of uni work to do as well so I post whenever I have spare time and sometimes end up rushing them :/ So I'm sorry, but I did just finish a major assignment so I felt like posting! And yes this is kind of a pointless chapter I don't really know why I did it haha but there will be more drama soon, just consider this a kind of connecting chapter where not much happens! :)) I'll be posting in WTWC next, then CAHM again because I already have more than the requested comment number! You guys are amazing! <3*

She sat on the edge of their bed, trying not to move too much and wake Jay. He'd fallen asleep in their bed, again. Looking down at her 5 month bump she smiled as she she rubbed lotion on herself. Even though it was only 8pm she felt drained and was happy to be done with bathing and feeding the kids and just getting into bed. She was trying to push her worries to the back of her mind. Safaree had gone out and still wasn't home, convincing herself he was probably just at Drake's she continued getting ready for bed. As soon as she was snuggled up she pulled her phone out to call him, but he wasn't answering. The last couple of days had been really stressful, she had been more snappy and moody than usual so they had been arguing more frequently, hence him leaving to go out that day to avoid her hormonal outbursts. Stopping what she was doing she looked over at Jay who was stirring in his sleep, she put her phone down and rubbed her hand over his back, soothing him back to sleep before he woke properly. Just as she was about to lay down she heard the front door rattling, knowing it was Safaree unlocking it she tried to go to sleep, being in no mood to deal with him right now. He wasn't even attempting to be quiet as he rustled around and stomped up the stairs before staggering into their room. He was drunk.

"Baaaabe?" He was trying to whisper, unsuccessfully. He heard her huff and started laughing like a child being told off. "My bad." Before he knew it she'd hurled a pillow and blanket it at him.

"You outta your fuckin' head if you think I'm bouta let you sleep in here! Hope the couch is comfortable, the spare bed isn't done up." She half yelled and turned back around to lay down again.

"Are you fuckin' serious right now?! I pay the bills in this damn house!" He wasn't prepared for what came next as she threw the covers back, snatched her pillow and stormed towards him, slapped him as hard as she could across his face and marched downstairs. "Damn hormones, the last time I put a baby in her! Shit!" He shook off the stinging pain he felt on his face and flopped on to the bed, forgetting Jay was in there. All Nicki heard from downstairs was her baby screaming, and she automatically knew what had happened and raced upstairs. Pulling him from the bed she scowled at the drunken mess her husband was and took Jay into his own room, trying to stop him from crying.

"Oh baby, it's ok. What a nasty way to wake up? Did he hurt you?" He didn't answer and carried on crying so she figured he was just shell shocked. "Jay, let go. You have to go to bed." She tried to remove his arms from around her neck but he wouldn't budge and his feet kept kicking her bump as he tried to cling on to her even more. Giving up she stood up straight and sat on his bed letting him sit on her knee with his head resting her chest. The plan was to wait for him to fall asleep and then go back downstairs, to her makeshift bed but a banging noise from downstairs made her jump.

Whipping her head around she sat still, looking down at Jay she saw his eyes getting heavy and decided to place him in his bed carefully and quickly, making sure to tuck him in before she left. She didn't want to go downstairs but somebody had to go and see what it was, obviously it wasn't going to be Safaree. The noise was still happening as she stood frozen at the top of the stairs, not breathing. It was definitely coming from downstairs, slowly stepping on to the first step she gripped the railing with one hand as the other lay protectively on her bump. It got louder as she continued down the stairs, feeling the cold suddenly hit her she looked towards the front door and sighed angrily. Safaree had left the front door wide open, she was already angry with him and now this just tipped her over the edge. Grabbing the handle she shut it quietly and made sure it was locked. Even though she knew it was Safaree who left the door open she still felt uneasy about sleeping downstairs alone now so she made her way back upstairs, checking on Alia and Jay before going back into their room. He was still in the same position as he landed in earlier. Face down, diagonally across the bed which meant she would just have to find a space and take it.

"Why he gotta take up so much room?" She tugged at the covers until she got enough to climb under and settled there, hoping the he didn't roll over during the night.

***

"Nic? Baby?" She felt her body being jolted lightly as her eyes fluttered open.

"Hmmm?" She was still half asleep and was getting annoyed with his incessant shaking.

"Alia needs feeding, she won't stop crying and she's not taking a bottle." His voice was croaky and deep, it always was the day after he'd been drinking which made her remember what happened last night. She sighed and turned over to face him, he was sat on his side of the bed with a bottle in his hand.

"well, where is she?" He stood up and went to get the distraught baby as Nicki tried to wake herself up some more, she felt exhausted. Alia's cries grew louder as he approached their bedroom again.

"Here, I've tried her with this three times she won't take it." For about a week now they had been trying to switch her on to formula, but it wasn't going too smoothly and always ended up with Nicki having to feed her herself. She pulled Safaree's shirt off of her body and bunched the covers all up around herself leaving part exposed so that Alia actually had access to her breast, before holding her arms out to take her now screaming daughter. Safaree sighed in relief and his face relaxed as Alia latched on, there was silence at last. His head was pounding from his drunken night and her cries where echoing right through him. He opened his eyes as he lay still and turned to look at his wife. She looked angry, he had a feeling why but couldn't really remember anything from last night. "Babe, I'm sorry for comin' home drunk last night, Ion know what got into me."

"If it happens again, I won't be sticking around to see you the next mornin'. You hear me?" He looked at her remorsefully.

"Yeah, it won't happen again, I promise." Sitting up slowly he moved closer to her and they both looked down at Alia. "Can't believe we gon' be goin' through all this again. It feels like only yesterday she was actually born, It's gone so quick." He kept on watching her feed as he smoothed over her baby curls. He could feel Nicki staring at him and looked up, making their eyes meet.

"You are happy 'bout this aren't you Faree?" She looked worried now, still kind of angry but more worried than anything.

"Babe, of course I'm happy! In fact, I'm over the moon. Let's do some baby shoppin' today." Nicki wrinkled her brow.

"I really want to, but I'm tired and I feel all sluggy. Can we just stay home?" She poked her bottom lip out making him lean forward and kiss her, pulling her lip into his mouth.

She pulled away first. "That's gross, we haven't even brushed our teeth yet you animal!" He laughed at her until the pain in his head made him go quiet, he felt her small hand wrap around his wrist. "Babe? You kay?"

"Mm, my head is throbbin' like a bitch though." After he finished his sentence he looked over at a smirking Nicki and exhaled slowly. "Go on, say it. I know you just gon' do it later anyway." She tried to lean into him but couldn't go too far in case she squished Alia so he moved forward to meet her halfway as their lips made contact.

"Serves. You. Right." She uttered between light kisses.

"Mmm, whatever. What d'you wanna eat?" He studied her face as she twisted her mouth at the corner.

"Surprise me. And bring me my other baby." He knew she was referring to Jay when she said that so he disappeared and came back with a lethargic looking Jay in his arms and gently put him on the bed. "Morning sleepyhead!" All she received was a grumpy stare before he turned over and got comfy.

"Just like his Mom in the morning." Nicki glared at him.

"Hey, he had a rough night. Leave him alone."

"Why? What happened?"

"You really don't remember?" she furrowed her brow as she shifted Alia in her arms, the way she was resting on her was making her arm go numb.

"No." He shook his head, still stood in the door way.

"You full on, like, belly flopped on to the damn bed, with him still in it!" Although it wasn't remotely funny she still cracked a small smile as she said it, it was becoming more amusing only because Jay wasn't hurt.

"Shit, my bad! Sorry liddle man!" He walked back over to the bed and scooped him up, he'd fallen asleep again. "Did I hurt him?" Nicki felt bad now, hearing the sadness in his voice. She knew he would never, ever purposely hurt either of their children.

"No, he's good....I mighta hurt you though." She looked down as Alia stopped feeding.

"What do you mean?"

"I slapped you. Pretty freaking hard too. I'm sorry." She watched his face as he blinked.

"I dont remember, but I prolly deserved it, I'm sorry."

He looked at her tired face and waited for her to say something.

"I forgive you, just please don't do it again? And I'm sorry I slapped you."He could only just make out the last part as she said it mid-yawn, he looked at the clock. It was only 7am.

"Here, I'll take these two. You go back to sleep, you look mad tired." When she didn't object and whispered thank you he figured she was glad. He passed his t-shirt that she slept in back to her as he took Alia from her arms. Admiring her topless body for a moment until it was covered again. He smiled and left the room with a child in each arm, shutting the door behind him with his foot.

***

"Yes, Jay, Drake is coming over. If you ask me one more time, I'll call him and tell him not to." Safaree laughed as he said it. Jay had been asking if Drake was coming ever since he heard his Dad on the phone speaking with him earlier that morning. "Now, go tidy up that mess you left in there." He pointed to the living room where Alia's happy chirping could be heard. It was almost 11am and Nicki was still sleeping, he kept wondering whether or not to wake her but he figured if she was still asleep she must need it, especially with her being pregnant. Suddenly hearing small footsteps hitting the wooden stairs he swiftly moved out of the kitchen. "Jay, what did I tell you before?" He saw his little body tense up as he turned to face his Dad, with an adorable pout which resembled Nicki's. Jay's head dropped as he sat in a temper on the stair he was on. "Tears ain't gon' do nothin' boy. I told you twice, Mommy's tired. You can see her when she's up later, kay?" Jay didn't answer as his crying became more audible, making Safaree feel bad. It was weird actually being able to 'feel' things now. The anti-depressants were making him feel empty and emotionless, he hated it so decided to try not taking them for a while, so far he was happy with the improvement which is why he had to tell Nicki that he had stopped taking them. Hopefully she would be ok with it. "C'mere." He extended his hand out to Jay who took it and climbed into his Dad's arms, he was still crying. "Well if  she gets grumpy then it's your fault." He continued climbing the stairs and made his way quietly into their room. Surely enough she was still asleep. "See? Told you little boy. She's sleep." He playfully popped the 'p' at the end of the word sleep, making Jay giggle slightly. "Right, let's go back downstairs. Drake's gon' be here soon. You excited?" He whispered loud enough for him to hear and he nodded furiously with a huge grin plastered on his little face.

***

"So where's she at now?" Drake was sat comfortably on their lounge room couch. Safaree had just finished telling him about how rotten it must have been for Nicki when he came home drunk last night.

"She's still sleepin'. I should prolly go wake her actually." He glanced at the lounge room wall clock it was past midday. Alia wasn't properly crying yet but she was grumbling and wouldn't take the bottle. Again, so he had no choice really. He jumped up from the couch. "Hey, could you keep an eye on these two for second?" Drake nodded, he loved looking after Jay and Alia, he'd done it a few times whenever they went out for dinner, just the two of them. Nicki liked the fact that Jay loved Drake, she felt safe leaving them with him. as Safaree jumped up the last step he pushed their bedroom door open and panicked at what he was greeted with.....

*Sorry it's another cliffy!! XD haha hope this was ok for everyone :/ Not too boring and pointless.
I really HATE asking for a comment number but like I keep saying, it helps me to know when to post again :) So I will kindly please ask for 10 comments, seeing as this blog has the most followers, as does FY so those two will be 10 comments and CAHM and WTWC will be 8 comments. I'm really sorry and THANKU all soooooo much for actually leaving comments. The other day I was having a REALLY crappy time and opened my email to all ur comments and they made me smile! ^_^ So thannku! Sorry for any typos and Sorry it's a little short haha*

*NOTE*

Kay, just lettin' everybody know I have another new blog, I know, I know kinda dumb seeing as I have 3 others as well as uni work BUT that's why I did it. I wanna see if anyone actually enjoys it and if they do I will continue, I'm not sure if I will pursue the lil idea I had but I'll see how people find it! I'll link it if anyone wants to check it out :D

http://whentwo-worldscollide-onikafaree.blogspot.com.au/ 

14. Noises Through The Night *Sneak Peek*

*Remember this chapter is two months on, hope it's ok for everyone :/ Sorry it's just a sneak peek*

She sat on the edge of their bed, trying not to move too much and wake Jay. He'd fallen asleep in their bed, again. Looking down at her 5 month bump she smiled as she she rubbed lotion on herself. Even though it was only 8pm she felt drained and was happy to be done with bathing and feeding the kids and just getting into bed. She was trying to push her worries to the back of her mind. Safaree had gone out and still wasn't home, convincing herself he was probably just at Drake's she continued getting ready for bed. As soon as she was snuggled up she pulled her phone out to call him, but he wasn't answering. The last couple of days had been really stressful, she had been more snappy and moody than usual so they had been arguing more frequently, hence him leaving to go out that day to avoid her hormonal outbursts. Stopping what she was doing she looked over at Jay who was stirring in his sleep, she put her phone down and rubbed her hand over his back, soothing him back to sleep before he woke properly. Just as she was about to lay down she heard the front door rattling, knowing it was Safaree unlocking it she tried to go to sleep, being in no mood to deal with him right now. He wasn't even attempting to be quiet as he rustled around and stomped up the stairs before staggering into their room. He was drunk.

"Baaaabe?" He was trying to whisper, unsuccessfully. He heard her huff and started laughing like a child being told off. "My bad." Before he knew it she'd hurled a pillow and blanket it at him.

"You outta your fuckin' head if you think I'm bouta let you sleep in here! Hope the couch is comfortable, the spare bed isn't done up." She half yelled and turned back around to lay down again.

"Are you fuckin' serious right now?! I pay the bills in this damn house!" He wasn't prepared for what came next as she threw the covers back, snatched her pillow and stormed towards him, slapped him as hard as she could across his face and marched downstairs. "Damn hormones, the last time I put a baby in her! Shit!" He shook off the stinging pain he felt on his face and flopped on to the bed, forgetting Jay was in there. All Nicki heard from downstairs was her baby screaming, and she automatically knew what had happened and raced upstairs. Pulling him from the bed she scowled at the drunken mess her husband was and took Jay into his own room, trying to stop him from crying.

"Oh baby, it's ok. What a nasty way to wake up? Did he hurt you?" He didn't answer and carried on crying so she figured he was just shell shocked. "Jay, let go. You have to go to bed." She tried to remove his arms from around her neck but he wouldn't budge and his feet kept kicking her bump as he tried to cling on to her even more. Giving up she stood up straight and sat on his bed letting him sit on her knee with his head resting her chest. The plan was to wait for him to fall asleep and then go back downstairs, to her makeshift bed but a banging noise from downstairs made her jump......

* XD lmaooo I LOVE doing that! Anywaay here is a lil something to have seeing as I won't be posting in a while, hope it's alriiiight! Goodnight!! Muuah*

Now I Feel Bad!

Ok, so I didn't realise how many of you actually still liked this one! I was so shocked to see all those comments! Thanku! Now I feel bad if I get rid of it, so I will keep going cause I like writing but the next post might be next week some time. Sorry for the wait and thanks for all the comments! ^__^

*IMPORTANT NOTE*

I think people have lost interest with this story, in comparison to my other two fics so I'm going to abandon it for a while :/ I might come back to it soon, or I may just forget it altogether. Thanku to everyone who did read and comment and thx to the 4 people who kindly commented on the latest chapter too! XD

13. Breaking The News

Nicki was beginning to feel more and more nervous about telling her family that she was pregnant again. She wasn't sure how they would take it considering the last time they saw Safaree he was nothing more than a lifeless mute. After a phone call with her Mother earlier that day Nicki was told that now it would just be Cai and herself coming to visit because Jelani's girlfriend had been rushed to hospital so he couldn't make it either. He sent his sincere apologies though. Mama Carol also had to explain that they would be there in the evening now, instead of noon.

"Babe?"

"Hmm?" He was focused on laying the table just right as Nicki stood in the doorway watching.

"Y'know, Drake never once mentioned a girlfriend never mind a child. Don't you think that's kinda...odd?"

"Ion know, maybe he's just a private guy? Don't like talkin' 'bout his own personal life." He finished putting the cutlery down and walked over to her, pulling her to him gently and kissing her. "Love you."

"Love you too." She tip-toed to kiss him again before pulling away and heading back to the oven, he took a seat at the table.

"So you still having second thoughts 'bout tellin' your Mom?"

"Ion know Faree...I just, I think I should tell her when it's just me and her. Like, nobody else there." Truthfully she was scared about what her Mom's reaction would be and she certainly didn't want a slanging match to occur at the table.

"That's fine, just tell her in your own time. Nobody's rushin' you." He smiled, stood up and hugged her from behind whilst resting his hands on her hardly-there bump. With her other two pregnancies they waited until after the three-month mark to tell anyone, so that they knew they were out of the danger zone of miscarrying. She was less than a week away from being three months pregnant so she figured it would be alright to let slip a week earlier. He pulled away gently and grabbed his medication from the top if the fridge, way out of Jay's reach. Nicki watched him swallow the pills.

"How are they making you feel?" She twisted her lip at the corner as she waited for him to answer.

"They're workin' babe. Stop fretting." He smiled again before leaving the kitchen. However his smile faded as soon as he was out of her view.

At around 7pm everybody had arrived, everybody being Mama Carol, Macaiah, Drake, his girlfriend Michelle and her son Brady. Everything was running more smoothly than she had imagined as they all tucked into the meal Nicki had prepared for them. She and Safaree kept exchanging glances at the table as Michelle bragged on about how much of a child prodigy her little Brady was. Drake looked more than embarrassed but that was as dramatic as meal time got apart from Jay and Brady finding some fun in throwing peas everywhere. Later on when they were all watching TV and talking Nicki slipped off to go feed Alia and see how the boys were getting along in the playroom. She couldn't help but smile at how cute they were, and the fact that Jay was actually interacting with another child his age, nicely. Almost tearing up she managed to control her crazy emotional self and continued upstairs to feed Alia.

"So Safaree, you stoked 'bout bein' a daddy again?" She smiled and took another sip from her glass as Drake hissed at her.

"Michelle!" He shook his head and looked at Safaree apologetically as Mama Carol and Cai turned their attention his way.

"What is she talking about Safaree?"

"Yeah, Nic's not pregnant again is she?" Cai looked shocked.

"Look, I think you'd be best talkin' to Nic 'bout this." He shrugged and stood himself up. "I better be off to bed now. I have an early start, I'll see you two tomorrow. Talk to you later Drake, and Michelle, nice to meet you and Brady." Everybody replied to him as he went back upstairs, passing Nicki on the way.

"Hey, where you goin'?" She held on to his arm as he tried to continue moving past her. "Safaree?" He seemed both angry and bothered.

"I'm goin' to bed. Michelle just dropped you in it with your Mom too. She knows your pregnant."
Nicki cringed.

"Shit....Kay, well you go on up. I'll clear the kitchen and sort Jay." She sighed and kissed him goodnight before slowly descending the stairs.

"Onika, we need to have a talk."

"Mom, I know. Just let me say goodbye to our guests and put my child to bed and I will be right with you." She didn't hold back from snapping because she knew her Mom had something in-constructive to say to her about this whole situation. She only received a huff in return.

Drake apologised profusely to Nicki as he left. She could tell he was mad with Michelle for what she did too.

"Look, I know I shouldn't have told her. I'm really sorry."

"It's fine, it's not like you're the one who blurted it out is it? I was gonna tell her tonight anyway....Just not like this." They both said their goodbyes again before Nicki bathed Jay and put him to bed. Cai was out like a light as soon as he lay his head on the blow up mattress in the office. He knew his Mom and Nicki would be talking in the kitchen or living room so decided to camp out in there.

***

"Are you out of your mind Nika? Another baby, at a time like this?" She wasn't yelling but Nicki could sense she was angry.

"Like I said, it wasn't planned."

"How far along are you?"

"I'll be twelve weeks after this weekend." She sniffed, she had already been crying after telling her Mom about Safaree and how things were going. She didn't tell her about the anti-depressants though, that was business between her and her husband and nobody else.

"Twelve weeks?!" Nicki stayed silent making her Mother relax and realise that her daughter wasn't a little girl anymore, she sighed heavily and shakily before talking again. "If you're happy....Then, I'm happy for you too. I just can't understand how your going to cope with everything. Especially with me and your father being a four hour drive away." She pulled her closer as they sat on the couch, embracing her into a Motherly hug. "I would never, ever doubt you as a Mother Onika. So don't, for one second think that is what I was doing. It's just your situation right now, it's not going to be easy." She felt her nod her head.

"I know Mom, but Safaree is doing so much better now. And we were talkin' 'bout sending Jay to some sort of Day Care place where he can be with other kids his age and....Just, be a kid." She sniffed again and pulled away to sit up straight. "And with Faree lookin' to find work I guess it will be just me and Alia." She used her sleeve to soak up the last of the tears on her face.

"Well, we are only a call away if you ever need us. You know that right? You're strong, everything will be ok." After that was out of the way the conversation lightened up a little bit with Mama Carol talking about how well Cai was doing and how much her Father was succeeding at work. Before they knew it the time was almost midnight.

(Sorry I just want to pass through time quickly!)

Sadly the weekend passed much quicker than she had hoped and she was now saying goodbye to her Mom and Cai, it was Sunday afternoon. There were a few tears shed but Nicki told them she was planning on visiting them in around four weeks time. Once she knew Safaree was really up to it. Now it was early evening and it was raining really heavily, Safaree had taken Jay out for the day after Carol and Cai left. Nicki stayed home because she was tired and was now sat comfortably on the couch with Alia cuddled close to her. She knew she would probably doze off, and she was right but about half an hour into her little nap a knock at the door made her jump, also causing Alia to start crying. Normally Nicki would just go ahead and answer the door but here, she wasn't so sure. They didn't even know anybody, who the hell could it be?

"Nicki? Nicki, you in there?" she relaxed recognising it was Drake's voice and immediately went to let him in, he was drenched.

"Drake? What are you doin' here? It's freaking pouring out there?"

"Safaree texted me, asked me to come check on you." She dropped her shoulders and huffed.

"So he got you on babysittin' duty now?" They laughed as she shut the door and led them back to the lounge-room.

"He's just worried cause they held up in traffic. He ain't want you to start stressin', plus he wanted someone in the house with you as well." She shook her head at Safaree's over-protective ways.

"Anyway, how's things? Y'know? With little Brady and Michelle?" She smiled sweetly waiting for his response but he just looked down. "Oh? Not good huh?"

"We finished, after Friday we got home and I swear the neighbours were prolly close to callin' a riot squad."

"Damn, that bad?" Her eyes kind of popped a little bit making him laugh.

"We weren't together that long, I think she just needed money and a roof over her head. Whilst she was with me she got it but I was sick of her demanding ways." He looked up and folded his lips together, "Anyway, nuff 'bout me. S'goin on with you and all your kids?" He laughed at her horrified expression.

"Nigga I only got two kids!"

"Three if you count the liddle sprog." That sent her into an eruption of laugher.

"Whatever you loon!" They laughed for a while until Nicki turned serious. "Drake, y'know last week when you found that note on your car? What did it say?" Drake looked up quickly.

"Safaree didn't tell you?" She shook her head as he sighed. "Ion know, maybe you should ask him, Ion wanna overstep the mark. I like having him as a friend. Causing shit between him and his wife would prolly do no good." Nicki's head moved back slightly.

"Was it from another woman?....And why would it be on your car anyway?"

"I don't get the feelin' that a woman wrote it, and honestly I don't have a clue."

"Well, just tell me what it said then? Please?"

"Uugghh! I don't even remember that well, it just said something like "Keep away from them" or "stay away from them" or some shit like that. But DON'T go tellin' Safaree I told you, deal?" Nicki looked too worried to say anything. "Nicki?"

"What? Oh, right yeah I promise...I won't tell him." She wasn't looking at him and had her gaze fixed outside as if she was looking for something.

"Y'know he won't let anything happen to you? Stop freaking out." He put his hand on her knee reassuringly.

"Yeah, I know." She smiled at his kind gesture, until Alia started crying. "I knew that silence wouldn't last long." She laughed. "Imma go feed her upstairs and put her down for the night, but please go help yourself to food and stuff in the kitchen." And with that she stood up and made her way upstairs, he couldn't stop himself from watching her. He would never make a move though, he wasn't that low and he could see they loved each other beyond any words could explain. He did however take up her offer of food, he was starving.

As she rocked in the chair feeding Alia she looked down and admired her. Soon thinking about how she was going to be doing this all over again in six months with her new baby boy or girl.  She couldn't actually believe Alia was almost five months old now, she was still so small. Once she was finished she wiped her little face and put her in her crib before heading back downstairs.

"He really likes to paint." She made him jump slightly as he turned around from looking at Jay's "Art" on the fridge door.

"Yeah! I can see that." He laughed and sat down as she did too. "I don't wanna seem like I'm being nosey but, is it hard? Y'know? Having a kid with autism?"

"Well yeah, I think at first we were really overwhelmed but then we realised just 'cause there was a name to his behaviour it didn't mean anything had changed. He was still our Jayson." She smiled at his understanding face and went to get up and get them something to eat before setting a plate of snacks down and taking her seat again. "You're not gonna miss Brady?"

"She never really let me do anything with him. Like, I never got to look after him or stuff like that. She was weird in that way. So I hardly saw the little guy to be honest." Nicki saw how sad he looked.

"Well, her loss. From what I heard you were great with Jay and Lia."

"Safaree told you that?"

"Yeah, apparently Jay was askin' 'bout you when we got home. He told Faree he gave you a truck or a car or one of his damn wheeled toys!"

"Yeah, yeah he gave me his blue truck."

"That's a blessing y'know? He never lets anyone touch that 'part from me and Faree."

"Really?"

"Positive! He must like you."

"I thought he didn't 'cause he never spoke."

"That's one thing you have to understand 'bout him, he never really speaks. If you're 'round him long enough though he'll warm to you." She notice it looked like knowing that lifted his spirits a little. Truthfully he adored kids and not being able to be a part of Brady's life was upsetting him but he hoped one day he'd have what Safaree had. He saw her looking at her watch before speaking quite irritably. "Where the hell are they? Jay shoulda been in bed, like, an hour ago."

"I'm sure they'll be back soon." He looked at his own watch, reading 9pm and started to worry a little himself.

"You can go if you want? I mean you've been here a while and you do have your own life."

"Hey, don't be silly! I'll wait it out with you." The room when silent again until Nicki spoke up.

"You wanna watch a movie or something? Might kill time?"

"Sure." They stood up and went into the lounge room both taking separate couches so they could stretch out. The movie was no less that 15 minutes in and Nicki was fast asleep curled up under a pink blanket. Drake noticed an laughed quietly before turning the TV down in case it woke her. Before he knew it, headlights were shining into the lounge room window. Hearing car doors close, he figured Safaree was back so he turned of the movie and stood up as Safaree entered the house quietly carrying a sleeping Jay, whose head was resting on his shoulder.

"Hey, you made it back then?"

"Yeah, shit I'm sorry! If I'd known the freaking traffic was gon' be that bad I woulda gone the other way." He shook his head. "Listen, thanks for comin' over to check on her. I 'preciate it."

"No problem. Hope y'all had a good day out."

"Yeah, not too bad actually. 'cept the rain tho. Anyway I'll go put him to bed...." He noticed Nicki on the couch. "....And her too I guess! Then how 'bout we have a beer or somthin'?"

"I'm up for that, thanks." He took a seat again whilst Safaree dealt with Jay and came back down to carry and exhausted Nicki to bed. He picked her up like she weighed nothing and they both laughed at how she didn't even stir.

*Ohhhh I'm done with this chapter XD the next one will be fast-forwarded by 2 months kay? I will mention that again in the actual chap though haha. Dead @ u guys who read CAHM, I went to bed after posting and requesting 8 comments thinking it will take YEARS and then I wake up to 11 comments!! smdh but THANKU so much!...I will post when I can haha and I will update FY as soon as possible too ^____^
Anyone else seen the 'I Luv Dem Strippers' video yet? O___O Like, wooow, Nicki is just AMAZING!! ^_^
Well hope this was alright for everyone, it's a drama-less right now I know, but just waait  >:) Sorry for mistakes Muuuah*

12. Road To Recovery

*** Starting where I left off last chapter ***

Upon returning to Nicki's private room Safaree made sure to be quiet as he saw Nicki, Jay and Alia all asleep next to one another on the hospital bed. Alia was still secured in Nicki's arms and Jay was resting on her arm half under her covers. The sheets had finally been changed too. Faye was also in the room, writing on a chart.

"They must be exhausted." She cooed whilst looking at them. He smiled before realising the time.

"Yeah, I should probably get them home soon."

"Well...We could arrange for one extra bed in here if you want? That's all I can suggest, I'm pretty sure two more beds won't fit!" she giggled quietly.

"Well, I'll be fine on the chair but we might need a crib or somethin' for Lia?"

"Of course, I'll arrange for one to be brought up for you."

"You sure? I mean Ion wanna put you outta your way?"

"Don't be silly! I'd be glad too! I'll be right back" She turned around again before exiting. "...Uhm, but before I do go, what happened to your friend who was here earlier? Did he leave?" She was twiddling with the ends of her hair as she asked and Safaree immediately knew that she was feeling a type of way towards Drake.

"Yeah, he left a couple minutes ago. Sorry."

"Oh, no that's fine. It wasn't important." she gave a him a quick smile before leaving. He turned his attention back to his family all still sleeping. He wanted to go home and get some diapers and a clean babygro for Alia and some pyjamas for Jay to sleep in. Then Faye came back into the room quietly.

"I've arranged for some porters to bring up a crib from maternity. I just don't see the point of you driving all the way home at 11pm only to come straight back in the morning!" She smiled widely. He loved how enthusiastic she was, her type of personality and attitude were exactly what they needed to be around at a time like this. She was fairly young, Safaree thought, with quite pale skin and very blonde hair.

"Thanks." He smiled. "I think Imma have to go home anyway though, I need to pick up some stuff for Lia."

"If you're meaning diapers or anything else baby related we do have all of that here. We won't charge you!" she giggled again. He couldn't help but think she was a bit of a bimbo. Not at all in a mean way, just how she was.

"Word? Aight then, thank you." He rubbed his hands together and took a seat.

"The porters should be up soon, if you need anything don't hesitate to ask. I'll be over at the nurses station just outside Onika's room." She motioned to door before smiling again and leaving after he thanked her. He stayed still, just watching them sleep before moving Jay very carefully to a more comfortable position where he was laying down and under the covers with Nicki then he gently took Alia from Nicki's arms. It was a few minutes before the porters arrived, much to his annoyance they were quite noisly pushing the crib in and knocked down some equipment startling Nicki from her sleep. He looked at them angrily making sure to thank them, coldly. Apologising prof

"Sorry babe, they were jus' bringin' up a crib for this one." He nodded his head down to Alia, thankfully neither her or Jay had woken up.

"Oh. How long have a been sleep for?" She shifted a little, her ribs and stomach were still tender from falling over the night before.

"Maybe 'bout an hour. Listen, we really need to talk and I totally understand if you don't wanna tlk right now but we do need to talk." He said it quite nervously, reaching out for his arm she rubbed it soothingly.

"I'm up for talking now. If you are?" He sighed and looked up at her again.

"Yeah...You start though, I won't interrupt. Just listen, and then I'll talk." Sitting back a little he got comfortable and prepared to listen to his wife, like, really listen to what she had to say. She took in a huge breath and let it out slowly before starting to speak, she was rubbing her hand gently on Jay's head as she talked quietly.

"Well, Ion even know where to start. You wouldn't talk to me, you never let me in. To this day I still don't have a clue about how you were feeling or what you were thinking. I guess I just felt, alone." She looked down trying not to get emotional again. "It's been really hard trying to be strong for you and the kids but I felt like I didn't have a choice. I couldn't just break down and cry." She was actually crying at this point, he felt so awful. "I just...I want to know what is going on in your head, I want you to feel like you can talk to me Faree." She really let go after that, signalling to him that she had finished. He reached out for her free hand and held it tight.

"I am so sorry. I never, ever meant for you to feel like that. I honestly can't remember what I was thinking, but I know I felt empty. I mean, shit, I lost all my friends Nic." He started to tremble slightly. "And that kid, he was so fuckin' small and I just couldn't..." Swifty wiping a tear that escaped he shook his head. "There was nothing I could do and I don't know why but I just kept picturing Jay like that..." He stopped again, she knew he was done for now and squeezed his hand reassuringly.

"Hey, look at me." He did what she asked.

"Jay is safe, Alia is safe, we're safe and this little one in here is safe. Nothing is gon' happen to us. I promise."

"I love you. All of you." He skimmed his eyes across his sleeping children before returning his gaze back to her. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you about the anti-depressants, I was wrong for that. I hadn't taken any. Kellie prescribed them but, y'know I always be hearin' 'bout people gettin' hooked on the shit. I didn't want that to happen."

"If Kellie prescribed them babe, she was prolly thinkin' of you in the long-run. If you take them and don't feel comfortable with it in a few weeks you should stop and we'll see what else can be done. But honestly, if she gave them to you I think you should give it a try." She sniffled as she wiped the last of her tears away.

"I understand what you're sayin' and I am more than willing to try it for the sake of my family." He leaned in and kissed her also letting her kiss Alia's little head before he lay her in the pink crib. "Now, get some sleep. Ion know 'bout you but I am exhausted."

"You can't sleep on that! You'll wake up looking like a freaking hunch back!" She whispered loudly whilst stifling a giggle as he tried to get into a comfortable position on the chair.

"Well, move over then! Stop hogging the bed!" He laughed and stood up as she moved Jay smoothly. The bed was extremely wide, so Safaree didn't struggle to fit on. After kissing one another passionately they fell asleep as they always did, with Jay in between them whilst Alia was to the side of Nicki.

*** The Next Day ***

The doctor had returned that morning to talk to Nicki an Safaree about what had happened, as when he informed Safaree about her losing a twin she was sleeping. They left after Faye did another scan just to show Nicki her baby and tell her that she was almost 11 weeks pregnant.

They were both relieved to see the house looking spotless, Drake had obviously tidied up after himself. In a way Nicki was hoping that Safaree would enjoy Drake's company, after all it had been over a month since he really had any contact with anyone other than herself and the kids. Laying in bed that evening Nicki decided to bring the topic up. she was laying flat whilst he was sat upright watching TV with the sound down, he always did that when he watched the news.

"Babe?"

"Yeeeaah?" He prolonged his answer mockingly.

"What do you think of Drake?" She tilted her head his way as he looked down at her next to him.

"Well, at first I thought he was a dick." She couldn't help but laugh at how casually he said it before letting him continue.

"But after yesterday, Ion know I guess he's ok. Still a bit cocky for me, ain't nobody as good at bein' cocky as me!" This was what she missed. Their pointless, stupid conversations. She just smiled at him.

"I think it would be good for you to have a guy friend to have around. Y'know what I'm sayin'?"

"Yeah. I mean we had a good talk yesterday. No arguments, so I asked him 'round for dinner with us on Friday when your family come over." Nicki instantly beamed, she didn't know they were coming.

"How long they coming for? And why didn't you tell me?"

"They stayin' for the weekend so Cai can come too but your dad can't make it anymore. He's got some business meeting to go to or somethin'" He wrinkled his brow trying to think. "...Anyway, your Mom, Cai and Jelani will be over at noon, on Friday."

"Now I'm excited!" She grinned goofily as he leaned down to kiss her. "Wait, so Drake is coming too?" He nodded to answer after pecking her lips briefly, she could tell he was tired. Jay must have been too because he was asleep in his own bed and hadn't yet coming running through to be in their room.

"Oh yeah, Drake said Jay was mad quiet when he looked after him, he just played by himself for most of the day. Never spoke a word."

"Well, he's always like that with other people." She yawned and put her hand on his arm. "I don't know what we can do to help him fit in, y'know, socially."

"I do." She looked at him with a confused face waiting for him to tell her. "Drake's girlfriend is coming along to dinner too, she has a four year old kid as well so they bringing him with them." Nicki looked at him unsurely.

"Babe I don't know if that's such a good idea, I mean wh-"

"Shhhh!" She was about to open her mouth to cuss at him for shushing her like that but seeing his face she didn't. "Faree? What is it?" She whispered, he could hear how scared she was of his weird behaviour.

"Don't you hear that?" Sitting silently they both listened, surely enough she heard what he was talking about and moved closer to his body.

"What the fuck is that?" Her eyes were wide as the slight scratching sound got louder, almost as if it was coming nearer to them. Clutching at his shirt Nicki got even closer to Safaree. She could feel how tensed up he was. Without warning their door started to open.

"Holy shit!" Nicki jumped and lay back almost as soon as she sat up to see what it was. It was Jay walking in, slowly dragging his big beanie bear behind him. It must have been the sound of that being dragged on the wood flooring outside their room for a soon as he got on to their carpet the sound stopped. Both of them were now laughing at stupid they were being, jumping at every little sound.

"Mommy?" Nicki looked down and acknowledged him, pulling him and his bear up into bed with them.

"Jay, baby you gon' have to start sleeping in your own bed soon. Like a big boy, 'cause that's what you are isn't it?" He just nodded and climbed over her to try and get into his place, Safaree intervened and picked him up as he went to stand, unknowingly on Nicki's stomach. They both looked at each other and decided to leave him, after all they were both too tired.

*** Friday ***

The rest of the week seemed to fly by and now they were getting ready to have everyone over for dinner. Sat in the lounge room, Safaree was holding Alia close to his chest as Nicki started talking.

"What if this kid that's coming over tonight is mean to my baby?" she pouted and looked over at Jay who was stacking up all of his toys by size order. When Jay was around two years old they would always find random stacks of toys about the place, it took them ages to actually realise it was him doing it. He was diagnosed a couple weeks later when he turned three.

"I'm sure he'll be fine, Jay can handle his ass anyways!" He said it cockily and turned to look at her unimpressed face.

"My baby ain't gon' be a cocky ass like his father!" She stood up laughing and rubbed her hand across his cheek.

"But I still love you. Even when you're being a major asshole." she kissed him twice before disappearing into the kitchen.

They planned on telling everyone that Nicki was pregnant when they all arrived for dinner. They ahd talked long and heavily about whether or not to tell them about losing one of the babies and decided that they would keep it between themselves and ask Drake to keep it zipped. Nicki didn't want to have to explain it to them all and have everybody knowing. Safaree understood what she was trying to say and they both agreed to always think about that baby on it's birthday. She felt ridiculous crying about losing something she never knew she had but she couldn't help get emotional about it, understandably. But Safaree was always there and with him starting on the anti-depressants things were looking up...

*Ohh sorry guys that's all I have time for tonight :/ I just wanted one chapter where lots of things got resolved or achieved so now Safaree is starting on his mediaction and he and Drake are gonna be little guy buddies, Jay is gonna make a new friend >_> hopefully, the new baby is all good, and now they're about to announce the pregnancy *wipes brow* Now that is all sorted let's just see what happens next >:) I don't know when I will be posting again because I am a bit behind with my uni work right now :// so I will post whenever I can :)) Thanku guys for all the comments I received on chapter 11! I really appreciate you doing that, like a LOT! ^__^ Muuuah hope this was ok for you all!! Oh an I apologise for any typos or other mistakes, like in the last chapter I said Jay had his hands tightly over his eyes -__- I meant ears obviously XD*

11. Silver Lining

*** Starting where I left off last chapter ***

Drake sat awkwardly on the couch with Alia resting comfortably in his arms. Saying she was a cute baby really was an understatement, she was adorable. Across the room Jay was sat watching Drake, trying to weigh him up in his mind. He'd seen this man with his Mom loads of times, so why shouldn't he be ok to like? He stood up and warily walked over to where Drake was sat and held his hand out. Honestly Drake had no idea what to do so he took the small blue truck from the boy's hand and thanked him unsurely. As soon as that was done he returned to where he was playing before and stayed there until Drake called him for something to eat. He had no idea what the hell he was supposed to do with the baby, it was almost 1:00pm and she hadn't been fed since 7:30am. He was clueless about what was going on with Nicki and had no idea how long they were going to be.

***

Sleep was the last thing on his mind as he sat staring at her. She was still snoozing, he was dreading the moment she woke up because he'd have to break the news to her and he was barely holding himself together. He had wondered about calling Mama Carol but thought he would break down if he had to talk to her. Suddenly the nurse entered wearing an apron.

"How long will she sleep for?" He croaked, trying to clear his throat as she set up some equipment.

"Well, we gave her a little something to ease the pain so she'll probably be asleep for a while. Don't worry though, she'll wake soon Mr Samuels." She smiled reassuringly.

"Oh, call me Safaree. Please." He stood to shake her hand. "Thank you for taking care of her and everything." He fumbled with his shirt as he took his seat again, securing Nicki's petite hand back in his. "What are you doing?" He wasn't questioning her, he was just intrigued and wanted to be kept in the loop at all times.

"I'm just doing an ultrasound. It's routine practice, Safaree." She said it in a way that let him know nothing was wrong, he seemed on edge to her. "Why don't you go grab something to eat whilst she is still sleeping?" She knew what the answer would be, and she was right.

"I can't stomach anything right now, but thanks anyway." He leant forward in his chair so he was closer to his wife. When he noticed red staining the sheets where she lay. "What's happening?!" He stood up quickly making the nurse jump.

"Safaree, please. Calm down, that's not unusual for what's happening to her. This would have been happening for a few days now, she didn't mention anything?" She pulled the sheets back, warning him before she did in case he didn't want to witness anything.

"We didn't know...At least, Ion think she knew. Damn sure I didn't know." He grimaced at the sight of the bloody gown as the nurse unclipped it from around Nicki's neck and swiftly put the new, clean one on, she didn't even stir. Binning the stained gown the nurse then jotted down some notes on her chart and asked for somebody to change the sheets after she was finished with the scan. Upon squeezing the gel on to her bare stomach she began moving the equipment around Nicki's lower abdomen and watched the screen intently. He remembered how they both would watch the screen whenever they went for a scan during her other two pregnancies, he couldn't watch this one knowing that they would never see that baby. The nurse stayed like this for a while and he got concerned, looking away from Nicki briefly to see why she was taking so long, he noticed how furrowed her brow was before she pulled back with a confused look on her face. "What is it? Is something wrong?" The worry was evident in his voice as it cracked slightly.

"Safaree, just sit tight for a couple more minutes okay? I'll be right back with Dr Adams and he can answer any queries you might have." She didn't stop to let him ask anything as she walked out of the room, he tried to look at the monitor but what use would that be, he knew nothing about what a scan should look like. It felt like the nurse had been gone for ages, she had in fact being scanning Nicki for so long that in the end she set everything up so that she didn't actually have to hold it anymore. As the door opened Dr Adams was following behind the young nurse as she took him over to the monitor. Fixing his glasses and taking a seat on the wheelie chair he began to look over the screen before starting to speak minutes later.

"It looks like your wife has miscarried unfortunately Mr Samuels, I'm very sorry." Safaree sat motionless before the doctors voice caught his attention again. "But looking at the scan here, there is still a baby visible." Safaree looked between the doctor and the nurse in astonishment, neither were looking at him and they both had their eyes glued to the monitor still. "There is a possibility that Onika may have been carrying twins, she has miscarried one but by the looks of things she is still very much pregnant." There were no words to describe how he was feeling at that moment, obviously he was mortified that they had lost one of the twins but to still be blessed with a baby was amazing to him.

"And y-you're absolutely positive?" He stuttered as he moved to try and look at the screen too.

"Obviously we will have to run some more tests and keep and close eye on her to make sure the remaining twin isn't going to fall subject to miscarriage too. We'll keep her in for the night..." He looked at his watch. "...seeing as it's almost 7:00pm." After taking his gloves off Safaree thanked him more than once and he left.

"Nurse..." he waited for her to say her name.

"Oh my name is Faye, you can just call me that. Sorry I just realised I never introduced myself!" she let out a small chuckle. "Was there something you needed?"

"I just wondered whether our kids could come see her? I mean, we have a 3 month old.." He paused in thought. "..well she's almost 4 months now, and she's still breast-fed I-" The nurse politely cut him off.

"Of course they can come visit, just as long as they're nice and quiet and don't go jumping all over their Mommy!" She laughed again. "Oh, but don't let Onika feed your daughter until we're sure that the medication has worn off and is completely out of her system, kay?" He nodded understandably. "Well, we're about to change these sheets now and then we'll let her go shower, you could bring them back after that if you want?" She chirped as another nurse came in to help her get the bed set ready. Feeling slightly more positive about the whole situation he moved back over to Nicki's side and held her hand again, he didn't know how she would react about losing one of her babies but he hoped she could focus on the positive. This whole situation made him re-assess what was going on his life. From now on he wasn't going to hide anything from her and he was going to make a proper effort with his medication and take care of his growing little family, especially with another one on the way. He smiled tiredly and placed his hand on Nicki's stomach only to feel her hand rest on top of his as she opened her eyes slowly.

"Hey, how you feelin'?" He stood up to kiss her, she kissed him back.

'Uhm, a little groggy but thanks for asking." She kissed him again. "What's going on? Do they know what's wrong yet?" She asked as she winced and tried to sit herself up some more.

"Just take it easy Nic. The doctor has already checked you over twice. And yes they do know what's wrong with you." The way he said it made her feel a little anxious. He noticed this and decided to tell her. "You're pregnant." He smiled and put his hand back on her stomach as she just sat there dumbstruck.

"No, I can't be! I just came on my period a few days ago, they musta made a mistake." She looked at him seriously and that's when he knew he would have to tell her. He sighed not knowing where to start.

"They said you were miscarrying, and then..." He didn't mean to but he motioned to the stained sheets which the nurses were waiting to change. They had been called out for an emergency and said they would be back to do it later. She looked down at the bloodied sheets and her eyes immediately filled with tears.

"You mean I lost our baby?" It was that understandable seeing as she was crying at this point. He quickly jumped up and sat on the bed with her and pulled her into a hug, comforting her.

"They couldn't do anything to stop it. But the other twin is doing ok." He felt her stop and lean away from him so that she could look him in the face.

"Wait, I was having twins?" She sniffled and wiped her puffy eyes.

"Yeah, and although one couldn't be saved, we should be thankful that both weren't taken from us." She continued crying, he didn't blame her though she had just been bombarded with all of this news, some good and some bad all in the space of five minutes. Feeling her stomach growl he asked the nurses if she could go shower whilst he went to get Alia and Jay. He had completely forgotten that Drake was still looking after them. Just as he said goodbye to Nicki none other than the man himself walked through the door with Jay at his feet and Alia wrapped in a pink blanket in his arms. She was screaming. Jay looked most unimpressed with his hands pressed tightly over his eyes as he ran towards Safaree, who was still stood at Nicki's bedside.

"Oh, I'm so sorry! I didn't know what to do! She won't stop crying and there was nothing to feed her so I had no choice but to come here!" He blurted it out quickly, he sounded like an overwhelmed new mother. Nicki automatically held her arms out to take Alia, hearing her crying in distress like that was upsetting her all over again and she had only just stopped with her own crying. Jay was trying to climb up Safaree's leg as he bent over to lift him up.

"You been a good boy?" He got nothing more than a very ferocious head nod and a wide smile. Drake sighed in relief when Alia's screams stopped as soon as she was attached to Nicki's breast. The nurses had okayed her to go ahead and breast-feed.

"So...uhm, how is everything? How'd it go?" It was the most awkward way of phrasing the question 'What's wrong with you?' that Safaree had ever heard, making him smile a little. Looking at Nicki for approval she just smiled and returned her gaze back Jay who was climbing on to the bed now. Safaree had to help him get comfortable next to Nicki and make sure he was in the way of Alia being fed.

"Everything is gon' be ok." He looked up at Drake who was staring at the still bloody bed sheets. Safaree noticed and turned back to his wife. "Do you want anything babe? Imma go get something to eat." Nicki listed the food she wanted and he and Drake went to get it.

"Listen, I just wanna apologise for actin' like an ass towards you. I'm real sorry. And I wanna say also, thank you for today, we really needed it." Drake was shocked at what he was hearing.

"It's really no problem, they're great kids!" He chuckled slightly reminiscing of the day he had with them. "So what was going on with her? They work it out yet?" He placed his hands in his pockets as they continued down to the hospital canteen. And Safaree sighed before talking.

"She was pregnant with twins...She miscarried one this afternoon."

"I'm so sorry to hear that...I didn't know." He felt like he just put his foot in it and ruined their flowing conversation. But he hadn't. Safaree didn't know what it was about Drake, but there was something telling him that he genuinely was a good guy.

"Look, to put aside our differences, you wanna come over for dinner with us on friday? Nic's family are coming over for the weekend." This was Safaree's new start, he was offering an olive branch to Drake and it was up to him whether he accepted or not.

*BAM!! There you have it, chapter 11 :O I actually had to research for this guys -_____- Felt like homework...but fun homework....and I'm pretty sure my Dad is a little concerned as to why I am researching pregnancy symptoms an awl that! XD Anywaaays I may have got some things medically incorrect but, shit I ain't no doctor soo wutevs! >_< I never knew that could happen tho, like, I didn't know you could be pregnant w/twins and only miscarry one! I was gonna have it be triplets and wind up w/her having twins but then I thought she would be madly overwhelmed with a depressed husband an autistic 4 year old, a small baby AND then two newborns!! O___O Ok, well sorry for any typos :// and I might go and update FY now just so that I'm not neglecting it!! But that's it for tonight! *looks at you all sternly* Thanku guys for all of the previous comments!!! Hope this was ok for you all!!*

10. Going Off Track

*** Starting where I left off last chapter ***

"Gimme a chance to fuckin' tell you!" Drake squared up to Safaree as Nicki stood behind her husband, still embarrassed after being caught in the act. She tried to pull at his arm, telling him to leave it but he snatched out of her grip.

"Why you just turnin' up here all the god damn time?! Everywhere I fuckin' look I see your face! Shit!" He wrapped his shirt around himself again and slammed his hand on to the wall just inches away from Drake's head.

"The fuck is wrong wit'chu man?!" Drake edged away from him, not wanting to cause trouble. "Look I only came here to ask you why the fuck you been shovin' notes under my windscreen wiper on my car?" He reached into his pocket and slapped a scrap of paper to Safaree's chest. He looked confused.

"I ain't put shit on your car nigga!" He now had hold of the piece of paper in his own hands and held it out in front of him, after reading it his face was drained of colour as Drake began to think maybe it wasn't him after all.

"Faree, babe what is it?" Her voice was so soft and calming compared to the raised voices of Drake and Safaree. But before he could answer they all looked to the bottom of the stairs as they saw a teary-eyed Jay stood holding onto the stair railings crying, Nicki didn't hesitate to go to him.

"Ohh baby, c'mere." She picked him up and sat him on her hip and he immediately wrapped his tiny arms around her neck, resting his head on her shoulder. "Drake, please, I think you should leave." The way she said it let him know that she wasn't angry, maybe a little embarrassed and upset but not angry.

"I came to sort this out, I'm not leavin' til I know it's sorted." He looked back to an angry Safaree as she disappeared back upstairs with Jay.

"Okay number one, don't speak to my wife like that. And two, I didn't put this on your car." He shoved the paper back into Drake's hand as he threw his pants back on. "Now, I think you should leave." He followed behind a confused and concerned Drake as he showed him to the door. "But whoever did leave you that note was on to something. Take notice." He looked coldly at Drake one last time before shaking his head and shutting the door and locking it. Stood out in the cold he shook his head in disbelief at what just happened until a noise made him turn to the right, he squinted trying to make out what it was as he moved towards the sound. Soon he heard hurried footsteps but they faded as he picked up speed. There was definitely somebody loitering around their house, determining whether or not to let them know he stopped himself. "S'none of my business." He muttered and angrily got back into his car heading home.

In the house Safaree was stood with his back to the front door, he felt like he couldn't breathe and he started to panic about what he just saw. It was only when Nicki put her hand on his shoulder did he return to reality, he jumped causing her to flinch too.

"Faree, what's going on? What did the note say?" She crouched down to his level as he was now slumped on the floor. He stayed silent. "Please? Talk to me?" Still nothing, she sighed and re-arranged the way he was sitting so that she could position herself comfortably between his legs, gently pulling his arms to be around her. She wanted him to hug her the way he had the day before and make her feel safe.

"I won't let anything happen, I promise." He kissed her head gently as she started to worry. Was there something really strange going? Or was it Safaree acting weird because of everything that had happened? Perhaps he was jealous of Drake and didn't want him around? She put all the thoughts to the back of her mind as she tugged at his hands.

"Let's go to bed." Pulling themselves up they retreated back to their room for the night, Jay nestled between them.

***

Stay Away From Them. Those words were imprinted on Safaree's memory from the night before, he was desperately chewing on his nails at the table until a small hand tapping his leg made him look down. Jay was stood holding a painting up, he also had paint across his face, hair and clothes but his proud expression made his father smile.

"What you got there?" He took the painting from him and held it up, noticing the shape had what looked like four legs and a long nose so he figured it may have been an elephant.

"Don't tell me you can't see what that is?" Nicki stated as she walked into the kitchen smiling with Alia sleeping in her arms. "Go on Jay, tell Daddy what it is." She urged looking at his shy little face.

"Hmm lemme think...Is it...an elephant!" He looked down at Jay with a shocked face making him start to laugh and nod his head. He was a boy of very few words. "I knew that's what it was, the kid's an artist! I'm tellin' you now!" He said proudly scruffling up what little hair he had on his head.

"Mkay, now that he's seen it we will put it on the fridge later but you gotta go clean up the mess you made first." Jay pouted as Safaree stuck his tongue out at him, Nicki caught what he was doing. "Luckily Daddy ain't busy so he can go help you!" Laughing at his unimpressed face she pushed them both out to the playroom to clean up.

About an hour later they returned both with fresh clothes on.

"Why y'all got changed?" She rested her hand on her hip waiting for an answer.

"We may have had a paint fight, nothing too serious though. No damage done. I promise." He rested his hands on her waist and kissed her before moving his gaze to Alia in her baby carrier, ready to be put in the car.

"So are you gon' say where exactly you're takin' us too?" She pulled at his shirt making him look back at her.

"Nope." He said as he popped the 'P'. She looked at him sweetly, he really was improving and she couldn't wait for them to be exactly the way they were before the crash. "Here, you go get Jay and I'll put her in the car." He took the baby carrier from her hands as she had only just picked it up.

***

They were about to set off when Nicki looked over at Safaree. He was driving, for the first time since the accident.

"Look, babe if you don't wanna drive, I said I don't mind." She was flicking through a magazine as she sat in the passenger seat.

"No. No I'm good. I got it." Without hesitating he turned the key and started the car, and they were off.
It wasn't a long drive as they soon pulled up to what Nicki presumed was a very small zoo. She stopped smiling, he knew she hated zoos.

"Faree, why we at a zoo? Y'know I hate them, they're cruel!" He put his finger up, silencing her.

"This one is a nice one, the animals got plenty of space and they were rescued ones, like ones that can't be back in the wild cause they injured or whatever." He smiled as her face relaxed a little.

"Well...that's ok then!"

(I can't be bothered describing the whole day out, I'm sorry!)

As soon as they arrived home Nicki went straight to the kitchen to make dinner whilst Safaree bathed the kids and put them in their pyjamas. Jay splashed water all over his and Nicki's bathroom making it almost a death trap for anyone who dared walk on the tiles. Meanwhile he had bathed Alia in her plastic baby bath on their bedroom floor so he could keep an eye on Jay in their bathroom. Once they were all finished he carried Alia down the stairs as he watched Jay bounce down on his butt like he always did. Jay grinned widely when he saw his painting stuck on the fridge, exactly where he had told his Mom to put it.

"Here, sit down your food is goin' cold." She laughed at him admiring his own artwork before picking him up and sitting him in his chair next to Safaree. "I'll feed you before I go to bed, hmm?" She mumbled as she took Alia out of Safaree's arms to let him eat, Nicki felt sick from the winding roads and her motion sickness in the car so she wasn't eating. Their was the usual small talk exchanged at the table until they were all finished, this time Safaree cleared up the kitchen after kissing Jay on his head before Nicki took him to bed.

"I'll see you upstairs as soon as I'm done." He called after her as she ascended the stairs. Nicki placed Alia in the moses basket in their room for a minute whilst she tucked Jay into bed, once she got in his room she heard a rattling sound which stopped as soon as she entered. Jay looked up sheepishly as his Mom approached his bed.

"Jayson, give it to Mommy. Whatever it is." She looked at him sternly and held her hand out as she sat on his bed to make herself look less intimidating. Jay shook his head no. "Well tell Mommy what it is then?" Yelling at him always made it worse so she learned to get her way by doing things like this as he responded more positively.

"Tic-tacs." It came out as the smallest, quietest mumble but she caught what he said.

"Well, baby if it's tic-tacs that's fine! Just don't eat too many and only ONE at a time, and none at bed time. Ion want my baby choking on a mouthful of mini mints." She smiled at him to make him feel less upset.

"They're daddy's." He was now looking at her knowing he wasn't in trouble. Nicki frowned, she knew Safaree really disliked tic-tacs, he always said they tasted like cheap toothpaste and refused to ever buy them.

"Kay well how 'bout I take them and I'll give them back to daddy for you?" He grinned showing off all of his small teeth and moved his hands from behind his back to hand her the tic-tacs, only they weren't tic-tacs at all. Looking at what he had handed her she tried to remain unaffected as she stood up, tucked him in and kissed him on the head. As soon as she got back to her room she hurriedly shoved the container into her underwear drawer, checked on Alia in the moses basket and went to shower. Safaree just missed her as she shut the bathroom door, picking Alia up gently he made himself comfortable on the bed and turned their TV on. He didn't have it too loud seeing as Jay was sleeping, but that wouldn't have mattered after what happened next. The huge bang and crash her heard from the bathroom shocked him as he quickly put Alia down in her basket and ran to the door, opening it in a panic to see Nicki on the floor.

"Shit, Nicki! What happened?!" He moved over to her and turned her over as she winced and automatically brought her hand to her forehead which had a small cut across it. She had hit her face pretty hard too, he thought she would probably have a bit of bruising. "Nic? You ok?" She blinked a few times as she sat up, she was only in her underwear.

"Yeah, I think so." She checked her arms, her elbows where bleeding too. "The fuck have I told you 'bout gettin' the damn water off of the floor?" He looked at her not knowing what to say but her smiling weakly made him relax. "Help me up asshole." He gently pulled her up and let her stand for a minute to regain her balance.

"Here sit down, I'll be back in a minute." He moved her to the edge of the bathtub, sitting her down slowly as well as giving her a towel to wrap herself in. She didn't want to say anything, or make a fuss but she felt really dizzy and decided against trying to stand again so she reached over and started to run a bath instead of showering. Soon enough he returned with a first aid kit. Although she was mad at him for the "tic-tacs"  he was unaware so she stayed sweet and noted to herself to bring it up in the morning. She was angry but more upset than anything.

"Here." He gently took her hand and helped her into the bath once he finished cleaning her elbows and forehead.

"Thanks." she smiled and let her body relax into the water, scrunching up her face as her elbows started stinging. She really couldn't be bothered to wash her hair anymore so she washed her body and got out. She just wanted to sleep. Once she got back into the bedroom Safaree was sat up in bed holding Alia again, waiting for her. Removing her robe she got into bed and shifted to get comfortable as he handed the small baby to her and as soon as she started feeding her she could feel her eyes closing and Safaree would give her a gently shake every now and then to keep her awake. He knew it wasn't a good idea to let somebody who just hit their head fall to sleep, so he kept talking to her to make her stay awake even though she wasn't knocked unconscious. When Alia was done he took her, burped her and put her in the crib in her own room whilst Nicki got herself  snuggled up under the covers. Her ribs and stomach muscles felt tender from landing flat on her front, she knocked the air out of herself when she landed too. Safaree returned and lay next to her, pulling her close to him and rubbing her back as he continued to watch TV until he too fell asleep.

***

The next morning Nicki woke to find herself alone in the middle of their king-sizedbed. She blinked sleepily as the sun beamed through her curtains waking her up even more. She couldn't believe her eyes when she saw the alarm clock flashing 10am, she remembers waking up at around 7:30am when Safaree handed a screaming Alia to her to be fed. She never slept this late, but she did feel refreshed, then she remembered what she had to talk to Safaree about and felt miserable all over again. It was like a chain reaction from then on as her head started pounding and her stomach and ribs felt incredibly tight from the fall in the bathroom. Slowly climbing out of bed she threw her robe on, took the container out of her drawer, slipped it into her robe pocket and headed downstairs.

"Oh look whose up kids! It's Mommy!" That didn't sound like Safaree. And it wasn't.

"Drake? what are...what are you doing here?" He could see how confused she was as she kept wondering what on earth was happening. Why the hell would her husband let him in? He didn't even like him and here he was, sat with their children in the lounge room.

"Look, it's fine. Safaree knows I'm here, but to answer your question; the other night when I was leaving I saw a man hanging around your house. After you told me you heard noises and that note I found it all got a bit weird and I just had to tell you. It's been playing on my mind. He didn't look like he was up to any good..." He trailed off as she turned all the way to face him. "Your face! What the hell happened?" He didn't mean to sound that worried or shocked but her left eye was pretty bruised up and the cut on her forehead was still quite visible. "Did he...?" He widened his eyes as he asked in a low voice seeing as Safaree was only in the next room on the phone.

"Are you seriously asking if he hit me?" She said in a hushed tone as she tightened her robe around herself. He scoffed slightly at the question.

"Can you blame me for thinkin' that?!" He tried to move closer to her, but she stepped away.

"Don't you dare speak about him like that in front of our kids!" He held his hands up.

"Okay, okay. I'm sorry, forget I said anything." He still felt weird just blurting this stuff out seeing as he hardly knew them. Nicki was still wondering what had gotten into Safaree, he left Jay and Alia in the hands of this guy she was sure he hated. Not to mention how much she was now worrying about this apparent stranger lurking around their house, she got goosebumps just thinking about it.

"I slipped in the bathroom yesterday. Jay left water everywhere." She rubbed the back of her neck as he nodded, he still didn't believe her. But before she could ask about the stranger Safaree came through the office door, seeing Nicki out of bed he went over and kissed her good morning. He was aiming for the lips but she twisted away so that he could only get her cheek. "I need to talk to you. Now." Without another word she led him into the kitchen, looking at Drake, Jay and Alia again before shutting the door and putting the Anti-Depressants on the table. His eyes shut slowly as he he sank into one of the kitchen chairs. "Well? When were you gonna tell me?" She asked softly, obviously seeing the look on his face. He looked

"I asked you a question Safaree! Can you please answer me?" He looked up at her solemnly as he asked her a question instead of answering hers.

"How did you find them?"

"Well, that's what I'm most angry about. Jay had them! My god Safaree, what the hell were you thinking!? Imagine what woulda happened if he had got into them?!" She exhaled slowly feeling the room start to spin again like last night. He noticed her breathing faster and sit down slowly.

"Nic-" She cut him off.

"Please, don't talk to me." She really did want to talk to him and help him, but right now she felt like she was going to pass out so she decided to concentrate on breathing slowly and calming down. Standing carefully she made her way over to the kettle to make a drink. Maybe that would make her feel better, then she remembered that she hadn't eaten, she now had an explanation for her feeling faint so she grabbed some bread to toast.

"Uhm, I'm really sorry and I hate to interrupt but, Alia threw up all over herself." Drake entered the kitchen holding her cautiously and handed her to Safaree who stood up to go get her. The little pink babygro she was wearing was stained down the front.

"Ahh!" Nicki hunched over as the pain intensified, gripping on to the sink to keep herself from collapsing because of the pain.

"Nicki?" Safree moved to stand at her side with Alia.

"Ugghh, I think I did something last night when I fell!" She gritted her teeth together as Safaree supported her from falling, Drake didn't know what to do as Jay came bounding through hearing the commotion.

"Come on, we're going to the hospital." Helping her out to the car Safaree didn't even consider leaving Jay and Alia, he didn't trust anybody with them, let alone Drake so he attempted to put them into the car.

"Dude, don't you think they'd be better left at home?" He whipped his head around quickly, but then realised what if it was something serious, he didn't want Jay to have to see anything potentially scarring.
"I can take care of 'em for you?" He really didn't want to leave them with him, he knew deep down that Drake was a good guy after all he just found out that Mama Carol knew him and she had amazing judgements of people, including him.

"If anything happens to either one of them, you'll wish you never offered, but thank you." He was just handing Alia over to him when Nicki moaned again. "Kay, babe we're goin' now just hold on."
Drake, Jay and Alia watched as they sped off before heading back into the warmth of the house. Truthfully he was nervous, he'd never really looked after kids before, especially not a young boy with autism.

***

"Mr Samuels? Safaree stood up quickly still holding on to a sleeping Nicki's hand, all the wires were still attached to her.

"Yes? What's going on? Do you know what's wrong yet?" The nurse gently patted his arm.

"Sir, would you like to take a seat? Dr Adams will be through in a moment, he'll tell you what's happening okay?" Safaree sighed and resumed his seat only to stand up once the nurse left as the doctor came in.

"Please? Can you just tell me what's going on?" He was shaking, all of the memories of being in hospital were flooding back to him.

"Mr Samuels did you know that your wife was around 10 weeks pregnant?" He asked sensitively. Safaree's mind raced back to about two months after Alia was born when they had sex without protection which was usually ok but Nicki wasn't on birth control at that point.

"Wait, what? What do you mean she was around 10 weeks pregnant?" He felt his mouth go all dry as Dr Adams sighed.

"I'm afraid she's miscarrying Mr Samuels" He looked at the Doctor blankly. "She's losing the baby, which explains the crippling pain she was in and-."

"Well can you help her? Can't you do somethin' to save the baby?" He looked at Nicki still sleeping before looking back at the doctor sorrowfully.

"There's nothing we can do at this point...I'm extremely sorry." Safaree squinted and shook his head. As the doctor said it really slowly and sympathetically placing a hand on his arm. "Please don't hesitate to ask for anything if you need it." He said thoughtfully before checking over Nicki and leaving again. Feeling incredibly queasy he reached for the bin and emptied the contents of his stomach, twice....

*-_____- I'm so tired! And I don't like this chap, sorry guys :// I'll try and improve for the next chapter :///// Thank you all of reading and commenting on previous chapters ^____^ Also, after reading the comments on NOW I am going to continue with that storyline, so I will be changing the blog name ^_^ thanks for the comments and feedback on that one too. AND 11 comments on the latest FY chap without counting my own comments that's the most I've ever received for a chapter!! Thanku Guys!! xo Muuuah, also I apologise for any typos :/ *