For weeks I keep the secret from AJ. One day in October, Rae, B, Aurora, and I are all at the mall. We stop at the food court to get some lunch.

" Hey Frick, isn't that Mal?" Nick nudges Brian. Brian looks.

" Yeah, it is" He says. " Whose the baby?"

" I don't know. Let's go find out!"

They walk over to our table. " Hey ladies!" They say.

" OH, hi Brian. Hi Nick" I say. " This is Rachel and Bekah" I say pointing to them. " And Aurora" They wait for me to say WHO she is. But when I don't answer they ignore it.

" Well look at the time, we have to get going!" I say as I take Aurora out of her high chair and we leave.

" Wonder who the baby was" Nick says.

" Well she obviously doesn't think it's our business, therefore we'll drop it. Got it?" Brian says sternly.

" OK" Nick says. " Hey you think that brunette will go out with me? Rachel was her name"

Brian laughs and smacks Nick playfully.

" Mallori, how much longer is this going to go on?" B asks. " You going to hide her every time they come around?"

" No"

" Well she really won't have to worry much longer" Rae says from the backseat. " They are going on their tour in a couple days" I sigh with relief

As the months pass I work, take care of Aurora, and go to school at a local community college 2 days a week. AJ is gone on tour so I don't have to worry about telling him. But I still can't decide on how and when I'm going to tell him.

They get off their tour in mid-December. I'm leaving for Colorado on the 23rd and I won't be coming back until January 10th, so we can celebrate Aurora's birthday with the family. The day before we're leaving the phone rings. It's AJ.

" Well the fellas and I. Along with Amanda are going to go to a club for a birthday party kind of for me" He says. " And I was hoping you'd come too"

" Ok, sure. When is your birthday?"

" January 9th"

My heart stops. How weird is it that Aurora was born the same day as her father? " I can't"

" Why not?"

" Well I am going to be in Colorado until the 10th of January"

" Oh" He thinks for a second. " Well we can wait until you get back. Me and Nick can have a joint birthday"

" I don't want you to change your plans just for me"

" Nah, it'll be cool!" his voice softens, " Promise me you'll come?" I hesitate. " Sure"

" Thank you!"

" Sure. Well I have to get going. Have a great Christmas AJ"

" You too"

We hang up.

The next morning Rae and B come with us to the airport, they are going home too for Christmas. When we get to the airport my parents and grandparents are there to pick up Aurora and I. My mom scoops her up and gives her a big hug. " OH I've missed you so much!" She says. My dad gives me a hug. I see my grandpa he hugs me and says:

" How's it goin Fiddle-Faddle?" Which is a nick name I got from him.

" Good, grandpa, good" I say.

The next morning my whole family goes out for breakfast. While we're waiting for our food to come my we're all talking.

" So how's the new job Mal?" My uncle asks.

" It's wonderful!" I say. " Great hours too!"

" That's great"

" So do you have a boyfriend?" Amber, my sister asks.

" No" I say. " But I found Aurora's father" They all freeze. When I don't say any more, my mom says:

" Well..."

" Well what?"

" What did he say?" " Nothing, I haven't told him yet"

" Why not?!"

" Because, when the time comes I'll tell him" They drop it and we go on with breakfast.

We have a wonderful Christmas. Two weeks later we celebrate Aurora's 2nd birthday. After every present she opens she yells. " Look mommy! Look!"

On the 10th, we go back to Florida. We find out Nick and AJ decided to have a joint birthday party. I get Betty to watch Aurora again for a little bit. Rae, B, and I all go to the club where the party is at.

As soon as we get there Nick and Rae go dance. And B goes to dance with Kevin. I go with Brian. We're dancing when I hear my pager going off. I look and it's Betty's number with a 911. I pull out my cell and call her back.

" She has a really high fever and she is crying. I thought I should let you know" Betty says.

" I'll come get her right now" I say.

" Mal, you don't have to, she'll be fine"

" No, I'll come get her"

" OK"

I hang up. " Shit!" I yell. " Bekah has my freaking keys, where is she at?" Brian shrugs. " What's wrong?" I ignore him and go look for B. I run smack dab into AJ on my way.

" Oh, sorry" I mumble. " Where the hell is Bekah?! I need my keys!"

" Why what's wrong?" he asks.

" Nothing, look, I really have to get going" He takes my arm.

" Why, what's wrong?"

" Look I just do!" I say getting impatient. " Damn it! Where is she?!"

" Look I'll take you"

" No"

" Yes. Now let's go!" He says.

When we get to Betty's I ring her bell. AJ stays in the car. A few minutes later I come back out with Aurora who is crying.

" It's OK baby" I say to her. " Mommy is here"

" Who is that?!" AJ asks completely lost.

" My daughter"

" Your what?!"

" Just get me home please!"

" OK" A few minutes later we're in the house. I hand Aurora to AJ as I run to get the phone.

AJ begins to rock her in his arms. He lightly sings to her. Her eyes are open and she is staring at him.

" You sure are pretty little girl" He whispers. " Just like your mama" It hits him again. ' God she's a mom!'. He remembers me telling him about Will and I were on a break. And he figures that when he found out she was pregnant he left her. " Sad" he mumbles.

" Well the doctor said give her a luke warm bath and some baby Tyenol, and she'll be fine" I say as I walk into the room. I see AJ rocking her. I walk over and she outstretches her arms.

" Mama!" She squeals. I pick her up.

" Come on pumpkin" I say. " Thanks AJ, good night"

" Night"

After I give her a bath and her medicine and put her to bed I come back downstairs. AJ is still sitting there looking at all the pictures of Aurora.

" Oh, hey Bekah and Rae called. Nick's house is closer to the club and they are staying there" AJ tells me. " They just called"

" Oh, alright" I say. " I thought you were going home though"

" I was."

Against my better judgement I find myself saying " You can stay here"

" Are you sure?"

" Yes"

" I'd like to"

" OK" his cell goes off. It's Amanda he tells her where he went.

" OK, so what's her name?" He asks.

" Aurora"

" That's very pretty"

" Thanks"

" SO where is her father?"

" Around"

" Oh" He can tell I don't want to talk about it so he drops it.

" So, do you want something to drink?" I ask.

" Sure, what do you have?"

" Pepsi, Coke, water, Milk"

" I'll take a Coke"

" OK, be right back" I go into the kitchen and come back with a glass of water and a Coke.

We sit on the couch. I turn on the TV and on one of our movie channels ' Titanic' is on. I start to laugh.

" Oh God..." I sigh.

" What?" AJ asks laughing.

" Me, Rae, B, and Dustin were all the theatre seeing this movie."

" And...?"

" My water broke!" He begins to crack up.

" Oh man!" He says after he can talk again. We finish watching the movie. It's about 2 a.m.

" Well I'm going to check up on Aurora" I say. " You can sleep in my room. I have a couch in my room"

" Sounds cool" he says as we go upstairs. I go into Aurora's room to check on her. She is sleeping soundly. I go into my room and AJ is looking around.

" Nice room" he says.

" Thanks" I go into my closet to change. I come back out in a pair of pajama shorts and a T-shirt. He is sitting on the couch without his shirt.

' Damn! He is so sexy!' I say to myself. I take a deep breath and try to contain myself. As I pull my sheets down my robe falls off the bed. I bend over to pick it up and AJ checks out my ass. He looks me up and down. He can feel himself hardening. He can't resist it. I gets up. I feel his breath on my neck.

" I want you" he whispers in that sexy, seductive voice of his. " Do you want me baby?"

I want to yell ' God yes! Take me now!'. But instead I nod. His hand slips up my shirt. His hand is warm. It reaches higher and higher. It cups a breast. I moan as he plays with it. He turns me around and lifts my shirt up over my head. He lays me down on the bed. He kisses all over my bare chest. Soon he slips my shorts off. I tense up and moan as he slips a hand in between my legs and fingers around. Finally he gets his pants and boxers off. " Condom" I say. I can not get pregnant, again. He gets one out of his wallet. He puts it on. He spreads my legs apart and slips in. Going faster and faster. It's even better than our first time. I start to moan. I scream out his name a number of times, being in pure ecstasy. I finally go over the edge. Minutes later AJ does too.

We lay together in the bed. Our sweaty bodies against each other. He holds me in his arms. As my breathing steadies, I remember Amanda.

" AJ!" I said.

" Yes baby?" He breathes.

" Remember Amanda?"

" Yes"

" You realize you just cheated on her?" I laugh.

" I know. But I don't feel bad" He says. " I don't know. Probably because I know at this very moment she is probably in bed with some other guy"

" What makes you think that?"

" Because, I know she has been cheating on me" He says. " Or I think she has been. Finding other guys numbers that have fallen out of her purse. Crying out loud I went in her purse to get some gum, and I find a condom in a package with a number on it!"

" Are you serious?"

" Yes!"

" Man, that's just wrong"

" Yeah, I know"

I lay across his chest. I begin kissing it. " You know" I sigh. " They are right when they say the second time around is better"

" What do you mean?" He asks with a laugh.

" Our first time, was wonderful, but this is even better!" He smiles and pulls me up to his lips. Kissing me. Letting his tongue slip into my mouth. His hands cup my ass and he squeezes causing me to giggle.

" You are loving this" He observes.

" Well, this is the first time I've had sex in 2 and a half years!"

He laughs. " Well I have gotten you back!" WE flip so he is on top of me again. Just as he's about to insert me, I hear Aurora crying. That snaps me back into reality. He rolls off me.

I get out of bed and put my robe on. I walk next door to her room. She is standing in her crib reaching to get out. I pick her up. I try to rock her back to sleep. But she won't go. So I bring her into my room. AJ is laying naked in the bed. I throw him his boxers. He laughs as he puts them on. I lay Aurora between us. She easily goes back to sleep.

The next morning I wake up to Aurora's crying. I look at the clock, 7 a.m. Why isn't she in the bed? I know I put her there last night between AJ and...AJ was not in the bed. There was no trace of him. Could it be? I thought to myself, I dreamt the whole thing. Tonight was the party. I wasn't particularly glad it was all a dream. But at least the whole secret was still a secret.

I get out of bed and get Aurora out of her crib.

That night we go to the club and have the party. I get no pages or calls from Betty saying something happened to Aurora. I go home that night, so do B and Rae. And I go to bed alone.

On Valentines Day I planned on staying home with the person I love. My daughter. Kevin asked Bekah to go out with him and Nick. Nick asked Rachel to go out. So Aurora and I stayed home. We got some McDonalds, and listen to music and hang out just the two of us. Around 8:30 I give her a bath and by 9 she is asleep.

I go downstairs and turn on the TV. After about an hour I hear the doorbell ring. I sigh and get up. I wonder who it is. B and Rae didn't have their keys because they are staying at Nick's after dinner because the restaurant is about an hour from our house and only 15 min from Nick's. So I figure it's probably one of them. But when I answer the door I must have been truly surprised because AJ, who it was, says.

" Surprised huh?"

I laugh. " Yeah I am. What're you doing here? Why aren't you with Amanda?" His smile fades. " Well I wanted to spend time with someone who doesn't lie or cheat"

" What do you mean?"

" Well, I went over to her house to get her. She thought I was going to pick her up at 7. I picked her up at 6. I find her in bed with another guy, an ex boyfriend."

" I'm so sorry" I say giving him a hug.

" Yeah, well I figured someone else should have these flowers and share this wine with me" He smiles. " I am actually amazed you are at home. Not on some hot date"

I laugh nervously. " Well..."

" I called Kevin earlier and he said he was taking Bekah out with Nick and Rae, and I asked if he knew if you were going somewhere, and he said no you weren't"

" Oh, pretty big loser I am, huh?"

" Nah...No way!" He smiles. " Well, would you like some?" He asks motioning the wine.

" Uh, I'm not a big drinker, but I guess one glass wouldn't hurt"

" Yeah, It's Valentines Day"

" That's right"

" Oh," He says. " Happy Valentines Day my dear" He hands me a dozen roses.

" Oh, thank you very much" I say.

We begin talking as we drink our wine. We laugh and share stories.

" Oh Lord, remember when we first met?" I ask. " Oh God, when we went to that water park and your shorts almost came off in the wading pool!" we both crack up.

" Oh, God I am having more fun with you than I ever had with Amanda!"

I smile. When I look at him again he is staring at me with a serious look.

" What?" I ask.

" Just thinking"

" About?"

" What it would be like to kiss your soft lips"

I smile. He leans in and kisses me. We kiss more and more and before I know it we're both upstairs on my bed. He is pulling all my clothes off. He kisses all over my body. When I am in just my panties he grins.

" V-day panties" He says about my red panties. He massages my woman hood through them as I moan. He slips on a condom and inserts me, making sweet love to me.

Afterwards we both fall asleep.

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