I hear him say " Ok, bath over!" He laughs. " You're going to shrivel up like a little prune!" She giggles. He wraps her in a towel and walks out. He sees me standing there. " Oh, hey" He says. " She is all squeaky clean!" He says kissing her nose. He is so good with her. " Well, let's get you some jammies" He says. I hand him the pair I took out of her diaper bag. " Thank you!" HE says as he takes her onto his big bed. He lays her down and dries her off. Then puts her diaper on. Then puts her socks on. And puts her jammies on. I watch as he does it all. HE does it with pure ease. He is a natural.

" Alex, honey!" We hear Denise call. " I have to get going, it's getting late. Bring that little girl down her for me to say good bye"

" Ok mom" He says. He picks her up. " Let's go say bye-bye to Grandma!" We walk downstairs.

" OK, bye honey, I'll see you later" she says to Aurora giving her a bug hug. She says bye to us and leaves.

" Mallori, you know, I was at the store, and I thought, that if you ever needed to stay over, we'd need somewhere for Aurora to sleep. So I got a play-pen" He says proudly.

" What're you saying?"

" Well, I mean it's already 10:15...And it takes 45 minutes to get back, so..." He pauses. " Why don't you just stay here?"

" I don't know AJ" I say a little shaky about it.

" Oh, come on Mal" He pleads, he gives me those puppy dog eyes. I sigh.

" Please?" he begs.

" Oh fine!"

He smiles. " Thank you" He takes Aurora in his arms. " You are gonna stay at daddy's house tonight!" She giggles.

" OK, well she needs to get to sleep" I say. " What room are we in?"

" Well, I got a monitor thing too" He smiles.

" Jeez, you went all out!"

" Yeah I know. I'm hoping she stays over more than just this once. I'm going to be the best daddy alive!"

I laugh. But I still don't know if I'm doing the right thing.

" Well, I was thinking, you know...Aurora can sleep in the room next to mine. And you and I can share my bed" He has that sly grin and laughs. " Please, come on, we've made a child!"

I blush, " I know that!"

AJ kisses Aurora good night and follows me upstairs. We put her in the play pen and turn the monitor on. We go into his bedroom.

" Do you have something for me to wear?" I ask. He begins to look in his drawers. He pulls out a NIKE T-shirt. " Thanks"

" No problem" he says. He walks into his bathroom. I begin to change believing AJ will be in the bathroom for awhile. First I take my hair down, letting the curls fall over my shoulders. I begin to unzip my dress, letting it fall to the floor. So I'm standing there in just panties and a bra. I reach over to unsnap my bra, but it gets stuck. I feel it unsnap and fall. My heart begins to beat faster and faster as I feel a pair of warm hands touch my stomach. I feel his sweet breath on my neck, and smell the scent of his cologne.

" AJ" I begin " You were the one who said we shouldn't be doing this"

" I know" he snickers. " But, God, you just affect me in unimaginable ways"

I laugh. " Oh do I?"

" Yes" He kisses my neck. His facial hair tickles my neck.

" AJ we shouldn't"

" Are you sure?" He asks as his hand slowly inches lower and lower. His hand massages me as he slips a finger in. I gasp. " I'll stop if you want, just say so"

I shake my head ' no'. Although I know I shouldn't be doing it. He then takes his finger out and steps away from me.

" No, you are right, we should stop" He says. " I'm sorry Mallori"

" No, I am glad we didn't" I say. " We really should only be doing it if we are in love...right?"

He walks away without answering.

" I'm going to go sleep in the room with Aurora" I say. I walk out of the room. I lay down on the bed next to Aurora's crib. She is sound asleep. I lay down on the bed and begin to cry. I end up crying myself to sleep. The next morning I wake up and look over at the crib. Aurora is gone. I panic. Finally I hear her giggling along with AJ's voice. I get out of bed and walk out into the hall way.

" Morning" He says.

" Morning" I mumble to him. But then Aurora runs towards me yelling " Mommy!" and I say, " Good morning my little angel!" And give her a big hug.

" Um the fellas were wondering if we wanted to go to lunch this afternoon" AJ says.

" OK"

" And, I think we should inform them about Aurora"

" OK"

" And we're going to Nick's"

" OK"

" OK" He repeats. " Do you want me to come by and pick you up?"

" I guess. Considering I don't know how to get to his house"

" OK. Will you be ready by noon?"

" What time is it now?"

" 9"

" Yeah, if we leave now" I go back to my room to change. I come back minutes later. " OK, say bye to daddy honey"

" Bye daddy!" She says. He smiles.

" Hey can you have her wear that new outfit I bought her?"

" Yeah, I suppose" I get the outfit and leave.

When I get home Rae and B are getting ready.

" There you are!" B says. " Where have you been?"

" AJ's"

" What happened?" Rae asks.

" His mom met her and loved her. By the time it was time to leave it was really late so we slept over. AJ and I almost had sex again, but he backed off. Now I have to go get Aurora and myself ready" I go upstairs. Three hours later B and Rae go on their way to Nick's. I wait for AJ. He comes by and gets us. He now has a car seat in the car. We get her in the car and I get in.

" Mallori, " He begins. " I'm sorry about last night"

" Don't be"

" But..."

" Don't"

" Fine" We drive the rest of the way in silence.

When we get to Nick's AJ gets Aurora out. He carries her to the door. Aaron answers the door.

" Who is that?" He asks.

" You'll find out soon Air-Boy" AJ says.

" OK. Who is she?" he asks.

" I'm Mallori" I answer. " Who are you?"

" Aaron"

" Oh, nice to meet you"

" Thanks. I have a twin sister"

" DO ya?"

" Yeah!"

" That's cool, girl or boy?"

" Girl. Her name is Angel" he says. " I also have 2 other sisters BJ and Leslie! And then my brother is Nick"

" That's so cool!" I say. He likes me.

" Well, AC, you gonna let us in?"

" Oh, yeah" He says letting us in.

We go out to the backyard. Everyone is there.

" Hey it's Aurora!" Brian says. " Who is she?"

" My daughter" I say.

" Yeah, we need to talk everyone" AJ says. He looks at Jane.

" Aaron, Angel, and Leslie, why don't you go inside?" Jane, Nick's mom, asks.

" Mom!" They whine.

" GO, please" Bob, Nick's dad, says. The all file into the house. They let BJ stay, after all she just turned 19. She is old enough to hear.

" OK" Kevin says. " What's going on?"

" Well..." AJ begins. " Aurora isn't JUST Mallori's. She is mine also" They all are in shock. " Yours?" Nick asks.

AJ nods. " She is 2 years old. As of...When was her birthday? She never told me!"

" January 9th" Rae, B, and I all say at once.

They all laugh. " Wow, the same day as her daddy!" Nick says. " Wow, AJ a dad, that's kind of scary" AJ shoots him one of those ' watch it man!' looks.

" I didn't say you wouldn't be a good daddy, which you will be, you'll be a great dad!"

" Ok Nick" AJ says. " You can stop sucking up"

" OK" Nick says and we all laugh. I feel weird though, I know everyone's eyes are on me. Thinking, ' Why did she wait so long to tell him?' and ' Is it really his, or she just trapping him?'

Which makes me uncomfortable. But I know they are cool and they aren't going to judge me.

Aurora runs all around the back yard with Aaron and Angel. I'm watching her and eating a cheese-burger with everyone else. AJ and I are both on the porch swing. We actually look like a normal family he has his arm around my shoulder. We're swinging, but I know it probably doesn't mean anything. He wants to be a part of Aurora's life, yes, but my life is another story to him. AJ goes into the kitchen. I get up to get something to drink, I hear AJ talking to the fellas.

" Man, what's going on here?" I hear Kevin ask.

" What do you mean?" AJ asks.

" Ok, so Aurora is your daughter, so you think?"

" Yes she is, just look at her! Yo can tell she is mine!"

" Ok, well how do you know Mallori isn't just trapping you in this. I know it's a terrible thing to think, and I know Mallori is a great person, but I find it weird she kept it a secret"

" Well, she doesn't care for me that way. I'm her baby's father, she probably wouldn't have told me at all, and gone on raising Aurora all by herself, I admire her for doing it all alone for two years. I don't know how much she gave up when Aurora was born, but whatever she did is no big deal to her because Aurora is her life. She is a great mom, but I want Aurora to have what I lost. A father, and I plan to be a damn good father to this child. But that doesn't mean I have to be with Mallori, to be Aurora's father!"

" True, but Bone" Howie says. " What are you going to say when you get hounded by the press about you having an illegitimate child"

" Damn it you guys" AJ says getting angry. " You act like I'm the only freaking person you fucked someone and got her pregnant!"

" Watch your mouth AJ!" Nick yells. " I have a little brother and sister running around here"

" Sorry Nick" AJ says. " But, really, I admit, I shouldn't have had sex with her. But I did. And I have a gorgeous baby girl. I love her so much. I found out about her two days ago, and I love her like I've been there from day one! And I mean, I'm here to make sure Aurora has a good life, Mallori doesn't want me to help her out. And I'm not going to"

" AJ, don't you understand?" Brian asks. " You aren't going to get to be there as much as Mallori will be. Remember we tour...We are rarely home to see our families"

" I know this" He says.

" Are you saying you don't care about Mallori that way?" Kevin asks.

" Well, I mean...No, not exactly" He says.

" You know none of this would have happened if you kept your pants on or at least covered it" Nick mumbles.

" You know shut the hell up!" AJ says. " All of you can sit here and criticize me. You can sit here and blame me that it all happened. You know what it takes two to make a baby, if she hadn't opened her legs and let me fuck her then we wouldn't be here either! So get off my fucking back and get on hers too! It's not my fault it happened. If she hadn't kept it all a secret we would have been able to figure it out sooner before it got out of hand! So fuck all this shit!" They are all shocked, then even more when I walk into the room.

" You God-damn mother fucking prick!" I scream. " Get the fuck out of mine and Aurora's life you piece of shit!" None of them speak. " Don't you ever talk about me that way, I don't want or need you! And you will be lucky if you EVER see your daughter again. She is mine, not yours! Don't bitch me out about not telling you! When we first met you didn't give me your number or address, I gave you mine. And you fucked me and left me!"

" Mallori..."

" No!" I yell. " This is the last time you'll see your daughter, you don't deserve her you, bastard!"

His face looses all color as I run out to the backyard. " B or Rae or someone, can you take me and Aurora home please?" I ask. B looks up from where she was talking to Kevin.

" Sure" She says. " What happened?" I ask. Rae comes with us. I explain everything on the way.

" What're you going to do?" Rae asks. " You aren't going to keep him from seeing Aurora are you?"

" Yes I am"

" Mallori..."

" No!" I say. " I know what I'm going to do. I am going to go back to Colorado for awhile, stay with my parents"

" What about work?" B asks.

" I'll talk to Mr. Lee and ask him if I can just fax my editorials to him. That's what I'm working on for the next few months. Writing editorials. I'll write them at home, and fax them to him. He said once that he would do that if I ever needed to go back home for some reason. Also I am on Spring Break, so I can go"

" Mallori, but why?"

" Because, I need to get away from AJ" I say. " You guys, it'll only be for like a month. And I'll probably come right back" They both sigh.

By the next week I am on my way to Colorado. I am staying with my parents. They're thrilled that Aurora is back. I start work again and I finally feel at ease about everything.

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