Nikki drove to Amanda and AJ's house and parked her car in the driveway. She rang the doorbell and AJ answered the door.

"Hey Nikki what's up?" he said.

"Not much. I just stopped by to see if Amanda wanted to go Christmas shopping with this afternoon."

"Yes I would!" Amanda said as she waddled toward the door. She grabbed her purse and kissed AJ good-bye.

"Amanda you're supposed--"

"Bye honey!" Amanda interrupted then walked out the door. "Whew! Boy am I glad you came over because AJ is driving me nuts!" she said as she got into Nikki's car.

Nikki laughed as she pulled out of the driveway. "What is he doing now?"

"He's just being overbearing. I mean I know I'm supposed to be resting but that doesn't mean he has to run my bath water for me."

Nikki busted up laughing. "He ran your bath water for you?"

"Yes!"

"Well, that doesn't sound too bad."

"It's not bad it's just annoying because he won't let me do anything for myself. It's like he has to watch my every move. It gets annoying after a while. I'm like AJ I'm pregnant not paralyzed."

Nikki laughed again. "I think it's sweet."

"Well, it's not. It's annoying. I love AJ with all my heart, but man he can be very annoying sometimes."

"Just try to ignore him until the baby comes. After that he'll calm down."

"I dunno about that. He's already doing stuff to prepare himself for that."

"He'll calm down. AJ's like a child with a new toy. He'll be all excited about it for a while then when the newness wears off he'll calm down. All men are like that when it comes to new things."

"I hope you're right," Amanda said with a sigh.

"Trust me on this one," Nikki replied as she parked into the parking of the mall.

The two of them went into the mall and spent the entire afternoon shopping. When they had gotten everything they needed, they stopped by the food court for lunch. They both ordered a sandwich from the sandwich shop and sat down at a table.

"So what are you going to name the baby?" Nikki asked. "Do you know yet?"

Amanda nodded. "If it's a boy we're going to name it Alexander James. If it's a girl we're naming her Alexandria Michelle."

"Aww that's so cute! AJ's determined to name his first child after him I see."

Amanda laughed. "Well, it's important to him. Besides I like both of those names. They're both very beautiful names."

"Yeah I agree with that," Nikki said.

"So what are you and Howie doing for Christmas?"

"Well, we're having dinner at his mom's house. She's going to have this huge dinner prepared. It should be fun. What about you two?"

"We're going to AJ's mom's house. It's going to be us, his mom, and his grandparents. I'm sure it'll be fun, but at the same time I'm kinda nervous."

"Why's that?"

"Well, because I've never met his grandparents before. I'm not sure if they'll like me or not. AJ has told me a lot about them, and I'm not sure if I'll give them the right impression you know? Getting along with AJ's family is very important to me."

"I'm sure you'll be fine. I mean you're a really nice person. Why wouldn't they like you?"

"I dunno, but there's always the small doubt in my mind."

"Don't worry about it. Are you ready to go? I've gotta get these presents home before Howie gets back."

"Yeah I'm ready," Amanda said as she got out of her chair.

The two of them left the mall and Nikki dropped Amanda off at her house. "I'll see you later Amanda," Nikki said as Amanda got out of the car.

"Bye," said Amanda.

Nikki drove out of the driveway and went back to her house. She grabbed the bags of presents and hurried to the store room of the house. Suddenly she heard the sound of Howie opening the front door. Nikki hid the presents in a large box and quickly left the room.

"Hi honey!" Nikki said with a smile.

Howie smiled. "What were you doing?"

"Nothing, why do you ask?"

"Because you've got the word secret written all over you. Were you hiding my Christmas presents?"

Nikki grinned and walked over to Howie. "Maybe...maybe not," she said then kissed him.

Howie stared at her for a moment then laughed. "You know I'm too tired to figure this out so I'm just gonna let this slide.

"Figure what out?"

Howie laughed and picked Nikki up by her legs. "Okay you asked for it!" he said as he walked toward their room.

"Howie put me down!" Nikki said while laughing.

Howie plopped Nikki down on the bed and straddled over her. He gently kissed her on the lips and smiled. "I love you," he said gently.

"I love you too," Nikki replied back then continued to kiss him.