Aaron knocked on Lis' door. "Open." she called.
He stepped in, shutting the door behind him. "Heya sis."
Lis smiled. "Heya lil bro."
Aaron rolled his eyes. "I'm still taller than you." he said, sitting next to her on the bed.
"I know. So what brings you by?"
"You know I'm leaving tomorrow afternoon."
"I know, I wish you could stay longer."
"Me too, but I finally got some studio time." he said sadly, he really wished he didn't have to leave.
"AC, I don't need an explanation you know." Lis said, smiling at him.
"Ok." he smiled. "Can we talk?"
"Always." she crossed her legs and looked into his eyes, he was the most serious she'd ever seen him.
"I kinda...well I overheard you and Bri...you're pregnant?"
Lis looked at him wide eyed then slowly nodded.
He smiled. "I figured. Surprised I was right."
"You guessed and didn't tell me?" she teased.
"Sorry, uhm is the baby Nick's?" He watched as she looked away, "Oh shit Lis, I'm sorry. My bro's such a jerk."
"How is he a jerk? He doesn't know anything. What happened that night was as much me as him."
Aaron sighed. "You aren't gonna..."
"AC you all ready know the answer to that...I think there's something else you should know."
"What?"
She took a deep breath. "I'm getting the marriage annulled."
"Annulled? You're giving up on him?"
"It's been nearly three months, he wants to move on, I have to," she looked down at the comforter, "for me and the baby. AC, I'm going to say Rok's the father, he's going to go along with it." Slowly she looked up to see a shocked Aaron.
"I cant believe this!" he said jumping off the bed. More than anything he wanted to go down the hall and knock some sense into Nick.
Lisa watched as AC paced the room, finally his shoulders started to shake and she went over to him, giving him a hug. "You know Aaron, just because I'm not longer a Carter doesn't mean you and I aren't going to be friends."
He looked down at her with tear filled eyes. "You swear?"
"Cross my heart.. Anytime you want you can come see me." she smiled at him, feeling tears stinging her eyes.
Nick watched as Aaron walked into his room, closing the door behind him.
"You okay? You look upset." Nick observed, pushing the picture he had been looking at further beneath the pillow.
Aaron raised an eyebrow. "Thats a mild description of the way I feel. Now I want you to be quiet and listen to me, and don't start saying I'm only 15 what do I know about anything."
"Okay." Nick said slowly, wondering what he was getting at.
Aaron took a deep breath. "I want to know if you're only thinking about yourself Nick cuz this whole moving on, moving out, starting fresh thing may be great for you but what about Lisa? And don't tell me you don't feel anything for her because I see the way you watch her sometimes and I know what happened between you two."
Nick's jaw dropped. "She told you?"
Aaron wanted to laugh and tell him soon enough everyone would know. "I kinda put two and two together. Let me just say one thing Nick, the way you're acting...once you remember every single detail of your life and I know you will, down to the song that played the first time you kissed Lis and you realize how with one little decision you tossed your entire life away, you're gonna hate yourself. Hell I even hate you right now, because right now you don't deserve her."
Nick opened his mouth to speak but no words came out.
Aaron put his hand up. "I'm going to get ready now. Don't bother talking to me tonight."
Han watched Lis walk downstairs in her old hockey jersey. "Well so far we're the only two ready." Han stated, going into the living room and sitting on the couch.
"But Aaron said he was going to get ready, he doesn't take as long as Nick." Lis said, puzzled. She walked into the kitchen and grabbed a water.
"I think Bri's going to meet us there." she called.
Han nodded. "Yeah he mentioned that, went to pick up a cake or something AJ ordered. Who knew watching one lousy hockey game meant all this fuss?"
Nick walked down the stairs then in his jeans and jersey. "When it's the final game of the playoffs." He informed her, his eyes searched the room.
"Where's the others?"
Lis walked in. "We're in here. Uhm Bri's meeting us, AC is still getting ready I guess." she shrugged.
Upstairs, Aaron grabbed his keys and walked down the hall into Nick's room quickly. He knew everyone was downstairs waiting but he'd seen Nick hiding something when he'd walked in on him before. Carefully he moved back the pillow and saw the picture. They'd have to have another talk soon, he thought as he went downstairs.
AJ answered the door as the foursome stood on the front steps. "You guys are the last ones here. Puck was just dropped. Lucky I answered the door."
Han nodded. "Sorry, but we got stuck in traffic."
Nick smiled at his friend and followed the group inside, they walked into the living room where everyone was sitting eyes fixed on the screen. Aaron and Han took the two single chairs which left only the love seat. Nick glanced at Lis nervously, but she was staring at the screen. He grabbed a drink from the table and went over to the loveseat.
Lis waited till they showed the instant replay and looked around for a spot, the only place was next to Nick. Lis cursed her luck but sat down next to him, vowing as soon as the period was over she'd find somewhere else to sit. She couldn't very well stand during the game, since the doctor told her to take it easy.
Halfway through the second period, Brian looked around the room. He was startled to see Lis and Nick sharing the love seat.
Almost sensing his eyes on her Lis looked in Rok's direction. He raised an eyebrow and Lis stood up, heading to the kitchen.
"Need anything?" Jenn asked as she saw Lis get up.
"Just going to get some ice."
"All right. You'll hear us holler if something good happens." Jenn smiled.
Bri got up and snuck out of the room. "Why do I feel like I'm a bad conspiracy movie?" he joked as he walked into the kitchen.
"If we are, I'd like a new script." Lis said seriously. She filled her glass with ice and sat at AJ and Jenn's kitchen table. A minute later the room was filled with a chorus of boos from the living room.
Bri laughed. "Guess something happened."
"Sounds that way." Lis stated. "Did you get the prescription?"
"Yep, right here." He took a paper bag out of his pocket. "The pharmacist ran off some paper too, stuff you should read. I didn't get a good look at, basically what to eat, and what to stay away from."
Lis nodded and put the bag in her purse. "Thanks B, guess we should go back to the game."
"I cannot believe sudden death overtime!" Nick said as he followed the guys into the kitchen.
"Well its tied 3-3, they gotta do something." Kevin said, opening cupboards looking for food.
"True." Nick said, sitting down at the table. He saw Lis' purse sitting on the chair beside him. He glanced up, all the guys were busy getting food and talking about the game while all the girls were in the living room. Okay, this is wrong, he said to himself as he pulled her purse closer. The zipper was open. I'll just zip it up, he thought leaning over. He closed it halfway, seeing a bag marked pharmacy. Well she is my wife, he reasoned as he took the bag out and peeked inside, going pale as he read the prescription bottle. Hurriedly he stuffed it back inside her purse and closed the zipper, trying to act normal.
Brian turned around, seeing Nick looking pale, staring at the wall. "You ok Frack?"
"Huh? Oh yeah fine." Nick answered, feeling dazed.
Brian gave him a questioning look. "If you say so." He picked up the tray of food and went out to the living room.
AJ grabbed a few more drinks. "C'mon Nicky, we'll miss the game!"
"Coming." Nick got up and went back to the group, hoping he could act normal the rest of the night.
~Next Morning~
Hannah looked at Aaron over breakfast. "You all right AC?" He looked a bit stressed out.
"I'm fine, just a little tired." he replied, busy staring at his pancakes.
Lisa walked in then, in her overalls and a swimsuit.
"AC, you want to go for a walk?"
"Sure!" he jumped up and followed her outside. They walked along in silence until they reached the water.
"What's wrong?" he asked, seeing her play with the ring on her chain.
She smiled weakly. "I was just thinking about how happy our Nick would be about the baby." She started shaking so she sat on the warm sand.
Aaron sat down next to her. "It's ok Lis, let it out."
"I'm sorry AC, I'm turning into such a pity case. Forget I mentioned anything." She said quickly, wiping away her tears.
"Talk to me Lis, please. I can't be here for you for awhile, but I'm here right now so please talk."
She rested her head on his shoulder. "He wanted a baby so bad AC, we were thinking maybe while they were doing the studio work I'd get pregnant you know? He even had the names picked out, and for the nursery we were going to use his office since it's so close to our room. Did you know he wanted a girl first? Said he could spoil us both, and I wanted a boy first..." she trailed off staring out at the water. "How am I going to tell your parents? They're going to know me and Rok wouldn't..."
Aaron rubbed her back, trying to calm her down. "Mom and dad won't say anything. I'll make sure they won't."
"You're a good brother-in-law AC." she said, looking at him. "And you're going to make a good uncle."
Aaron sighed. "Not if the baby's Brian's." he looked out at the water.
Lis looked at him. "No matter what Aaron, you're the uncle...and godfather."
He turned to her in shock. "Godfather?"
"Who else would I pick?" she asked, a smile appearing on her face.
Aaron grinned. "I don't know...wow thanks Lis." he gave her a big hug.
Lis smiled, feeling better than she'd felt in a long time. "You know Nick wanted you to be godfather too."
Aaron blinked away his tears. "I'm happy now Lis. You know when you know the due date and everything you have to tell me, I'm gonna be here for sure."
Lis laughed. "You'll be the first one I tell. C'mon we should get back, you have to leave soon."
Reluctantly, Aaron stood up. "I don't want to go now."
"Anytime you want to come back, just show up at the door. Your room's always there." she wrapped an arm around his shoulders and slowly they headed back to the house.
From his balcony, Nick watched the two people on the beach. He leaned on the railing and shook his head, still not believing everything he knew. From inside he heard Brian call his name. Nick decided to wait until Aaron left before he had a certain talk with his best friend.
