January 25, 2002

Nick had just finished a full day at the studio and was relaxing back at the hotel talking to Danielle on the phone, who was back in Tampa.

"I've been having cramps all day," Danielle complained. "Food doesn't even sound good."

"Are they really bad? Is that normal?" Nick asked with concern.

"I don't know, they come and go. I'm not bleeding or anything, so I'm assuming this is normal," she answered. "I wish you were here. I'm so lonely."

"I know, babygirl," he whispered.

She had been by herself since he left at the beginning of the month. And outside of some quick trips to the grocery store or video store, she was pretty much home by herself for most of the month.

She felt her stomach ache, but not with pain. More like a sinking feeling. Then she felt that ache jump into her throat and she choked back tears forming in her eyes.

"No one is here. You're gone. All the boys are spread all over right now. No Sarah, no Leighanne. No Britney. I can't even get a hold of her on the phone and Justin said he couldn't reach her either. So I don't know WHAT'S going on with her. And now, I'm really starting to show, so I don't really want to be going anywhere, cause we haven't announced anything, and you're not here. . ." she rambled in tears.

Nick felt horrible. He felt as though he abandoned her. For the first time he understood how torn she was when she had commitments to school and couldn't join him on the road.

"Dani, he began. "I don't know how to make you feel better."

"You can't. Unless I can get hugged somehow," she sniffed.

Nick closed his eyes feeling her pain through the phone. "I'm hugging you right now, baby," he said squeezing his eyes shut tight.

The next evening. . .

Danielle was pulling into her driveway after coming home from a quick trip to the grocery store. Her cravings were kicking in and so she had thrown on a bulky sweatshirt to hide her tummy and ease her cravings.

She fidgeted with the keys at the front door, trying to see the keyhole over the two bags she was carrying. She finally got in and headed straight to the kitchen and sat the bags on the counter. She was putting away her food and opted to keep the ice cream out and dig right into that. She finished putting the rest away, then grabbed the jar of peanut butter and a spoon and brought her latest craving to the living room with her.

She sat herself down on the couch and looked around for the remote control. It was then she felt hands on her shoulders from behind her.

"Hey Dani," the voice said calmly, holding onto her shoulders.

Danielle jumped, dropping the peanut butter and ice cream onto the floor from her lap. But due to the hands on her shoulders she was not able to get up. In fact, she was frozen in fear. She was afraid to move, afraid to speak.

The voice behind her spoke again, "Don't be so tense, baby. Relax." He began to massage her shoulders. She knew that voice. And the familiarity was not a comfort. She turned her head slightly, and confirmed her thoughts.

"Joey," she whispered.

He smiled and slowly moved his hands from her shoulders, walking around the couch to sit with her. But she jumped up as soon as she could, preventing him from sitting near her.

"What are you doing here," she gasped her eyes darting around the room while still maintaining a fixed vision on him.

"I came to see you," he replied calmly. "Why are you so jumpy?"

"How did you get in here?" she asked nervously.

He reached in his pocket and pulled out his keys. He dangled them in front of her, "With my key?" he offered, smiling.

"That's right," he continued. "I still have my key. I took your not changing the locks or asking for it back to mean, it was okay to come in."

"I-It's not okay, Joey," she said.

"Danielle," he stopped smiling and looked straight at her. "When. . . were you going to tell me?"

She could feel the fear rise in her and her stomach flip when she saw the look in his eyes. Did he know? How could he know?

"Tell you what?" she answered, playing dumb.

He could see the fear in her eyes, and took advantage of that and quickly jumped to her grabbing onto her arms.

"You know what," he said roughly. "Our baby? OUR baby?!"

He knew. She had no idea how, but he knew.

"No, you're wrong. WE do not have a baby!" she yelled.

He held both her wrists in one hand and brought his other hand to her belly where he began to gently feel her. He could feel the tiny bulge and kept his hand there.

"Oh no? What is this? You're not a fat girl, Danielle. You are going to stand there and lie to my face that you aren't pregnant?" he questioned.

"Joe. . . I. . . I. . ." she began.

"Don't even TRY! Don't even try to lie, Danielle. You are a horrible liar, and trust me. . . I KNOW," he cut her off. He kept holding onto her wrists and began to bend down to bring his head to her tummy.

"It's not yours," she said quickly.

He looked up at her questionably, trying to search her face for the truth. He could see she was hiding something in her eyes. Knowing her as long as he did, he knew her inside and out. And she was covering.

"You're going to try and tell me this baby is Carter's?" he asked raising his voice. "Huh? Danielle? I don't think you're that stupid."

"Joey, please," she began to plead.

"Please, what!" he yelled.

"Joey, please, just let me go," she began to cry.

"Tell me the fucking truth, Danielle! Don't fucking lie to me anymore! I'm sick and tired of your lies!" he yelled, now holding her arms tightly with both hands.

"It's Nick's," she said again.

He couldn't tell if she was just scared or really telling the truth. There was no way that baby could be Nick's. He knew in his heart that it was his baby. It HAD to be. For as far along as she was, there's no way it could be Nick's.

"No, you're lying," he said plainly, raising his eyebrows. He slowly let go of her arms and took a step back from her. "In fact, I bet you haven't even slept with him since we made love did you?"

"We didn't make love!" she spat.

"Oh, yes, Danielle, we did," he reassured her. "And, I'd be willing to bet a million dollars that you haven't been with him, have you? Did you remember the love, baby?"

She was getting sick to her stomach. She didn't want to remember anything that happened with Joey. "No, Joey. It was so far from love. Not the Joey that I loved once," she told him quietly, shaking her head.

He tilted his head and looked at her. Maybe she really just didn't remember. Maybe she just needed to feel what they had. Carter has her heart and mind all fucked up. He could take advantage of Nick being gone to be with her. Let her see what they had.

He could see that she was starting to cry. He didn't want her to cry. He walked toward her to comfort her. "Danielle, baby, don't cry," he whispered moving toward her.

She immediately jumped away from him as he got closer, "No! Joey! Do not come near me! You need to get out of here before I call the cops!"

"What?! Danielle! I belong here!" he yelled.

She knew he wasn't going to leave and so she decided that she needed to get out of there. She looked over her shoulder at the front door quickly and attempted to make a run for the door. She lunged for the door and fought with the dead bolt for a moment, but a moment was too long. By the time she got the door open, Joey had ran over there and was slamming the door closed again. He locked the door and saw her run toward the kitchen where there was a back door. He jumped over the couch to cut her off and made it to the doorway before she did and slammed his arm across the doorway, stopping her abruptly in her tracks. She needed to get away. The only option she had left was to try and lock him out of her room and get out the window. They stood there at the doorway staring at each other for a moment, while she calculated her next move.

She made a sudden turn for the stairs and made it halfway up the stairs when she felt his whole body collapse on her back. And then she felt sharp pain in her abdomen. She figured it was pain from the steps digging into her. She tried to wrestle away from him, but he was already grabbing onto her arms and dragging her up the stairs.

"So you want to go upstairs, huh, Danielle? Good idea," he puffed as he pulled her kicking up the stairs.

"Let me go, Joey, please," she pleaded, the pain inside her growing with each second.

"You need another reminder? Is that it?" he asked. He scooped her up off the floor when they got to the top of the stairs and he brought her into her bedroom. She was now in so much pain, that she had no energy to fight him. She could feel a warm gush between her legs, and she was sure that she was bleeding.

He carried her to the bed, totally oblivious to the trail of blood that was behind them and all over his clothes.

"Dani, remember all the nights we made love here?" he asked gently. He laid her on the bed, crying and holding onto her stomach. He laid on top of her and began to kiss her neck, pulling the collar of her shirt down to gain more access to her skin.

She was sobbing. She couldn't fight him, she could only think about the pain within her. She cried out between sobs for him to get off, that she was hurt, but just like before, he wasn't listening.

Oh God, this is happening again, she cried to herself. She let out a loud, "Noooooo!"

Sudddenly, she felt the weight of his body lifted off of her. Am I dead? she thought. Her mind was beginning to cloud and she tried hard to clear her vision through her tears and the fog in her head.

Joey got up from the ground after being thrown off of Danielle to come face to face with Nick, who had just rushed into the room after seeing the blood and hearing Danielle scream.

Nick grabbed onto Joey and threw him to the ground again. He laid a couple punches onto his face. Joey kicked Nick off of him and then grabbed him and threw Nick against the wall, his head hitting with a hard thud.

"Trying to be the hero, huh, Carter?" Joey said through clenched teeth. "Not this time." He pounded his fist into Nick's stomach and then kneed him in the head when Nick bowled over. Nick fell to the floor, gasping for air and trying to regain his control. He had to regain control. He had no choice.

Joey turned away from Nick to attend to Danielle who was writhing in pain, "Danielle?" He saw the blood all over the room and suddenly knew that something was wrong.

Nick got up on his knees and grabbed onto Joey forcing him to fall. Nick then used all the weight of his body to try and hold him down. He placed his palm on the side of Joey's face and held his head into the ground.

"I'm gonna fucking kill you," Nick breathed. "Right here, right now."

"Nick! Nick!" Danielle cried. He looked over and saw the condition she was in, and spent a moment looking back and forth from Joey to Danielle. Torn on what he should do next. Finally, he grabbed Joey by the collar and lifted him up, throwing him against the wall. "Get the fuck out. NOW."

"I'm not going anywhere, Carter. She's mine!" he spat.

"We'll see about that", and Nick pulled a struggling Joey to the stairs. He tossed Joey onto the staircase, making him tumble down to the bottom. Nick ran down after him and made sure he threw him out the door. Joey made an attempt to run back into the house, when Nick quickly slammed the door and locked the deadbolt. He pushed one of the chairs against the door. Praying that he would just go away.

And for some reason, he did. Nick didn't spend much time pondering it, as he ran back up the stairs and saw Danielle huddled on the bed, in a pool of blood. Sobbing and clutching her stomach.

"Baby!" he cried, running to her. "Baby, what's happened?"

"I don't know, it hurts, Nick! It hurts!" she cried.

He was getting blood on himself as he scooped her into his arms and cradled her. He rocked her a bit while trying to figure out what to do next.

"Nick," she said weakly. "Nick, it hurts. And I can't keep my eyes open."

"No! Baby, stay awake. I'm gonna get you to the hospital. He grabbed one of her pillows and carried her downstairs and to the Escalade. He got her into the truck and placed the pillow between her legs to help try and soak some of the blood.

On the way to the hospital, he kept talking to her, trying to keep her awake. She kept murmuring. . . coming in and out of consciousness. He couldn't understand what she was saying, but he was scared. He didn't know what happened. He just knew he needed to get her to the hospital. Fast.

The hospital. . . the next day

Danielle woke up in a hospital room. The room was dark and she couldn't tell if it was day or night, there was a night light by the door and as she began to look around she could see Nick's silhouette sitting in the chair, sleeping near her bed.

She stirred, and her stirring woke him up immediately. He jumped up out of his seat and to her side. She blinked her eyes a few times trying to focus on his face. He held her hand and squeezed it gently.

"Nick?" she said quietly. "Nick, what are you doing here?"

"Keeping you company," he smiled.

"No, why are you here? Aren't you supposed to be in Sweden?" she asked with confusion.

"I came back to keep you company," he smiled again. "You said you were lonely." He held onto her hand and she closed her eyes again.

"Do you remember last night at all, baby?" he asked.

Last night. She was trying to figure out the dream she had. But wait, she was in the hospital. Why was she in the hospital?

"Last night? Nick? Why am I here? What's going on?" she asked, the fear in her voice rising.

"Don't you remember?" he asked again.

"I think so, but. . ." her voice trailed off.

"You were in bad shape, baby," he told her. "I was so scared I was going to lose you. You lost so much blood."

She began to think through her dream, and she remembered Joey, and the stairs and the pain. Everything after that began to blur.

"Joey, he was at my house," she said.

"I know," he nodded. "He's gone now. He's not gonna come back. I've got the locks already changed. I took care of it."

She brought the hand that Nick wasn't holding down to her tummy. The baby. The baby!

"Nick, the baby!" she raised her voice.

"Now, Dani, just calm down," he tried reassuring her and laying her head back on the pillow.

"I don't know what happened last night, but when I got there, you were bleeding. Bad. It was everywhere. Do you remember that?" he asked.

She shook her head, she didn't know if she was bleeding or not. She couldn't remember.

"I got you here as soon as I could," he said sadly. "It was just too late, babygirl."

"What?" she asked. "What are you saying?"

"We lost the baby, Danielle," he whispered, with tears in his eyes.

"I l-l-lost the baby?" she asked again.

Nick nodded and put his head down. He squeezed her hand again. And she pulled them away from him.

"I l-l-l-ost the baby," she said again.

"The doctors said you experienced some extreme trauma that caused your water to break and a chain reaction. They said that you were a high risk pregnancy anyway. All the cramps and spotting you were having? You were bound to miscarry. They were surprised you made it this far without miscarrying," he explained.

She couldn't believe her ears. She had wished to not be pregnant and now here she was. She lost her baby. She should be happy. She should be feeling relief. But at the moment, all she felt was extreme sadness and emptiness. Her baby. Her baby was gone.

"It was a little girl," Nick added.

"What?" Danielle shot a look back to Nick.

"It. . . it. . . was a girl," he said again quietly.

He rubbed the top of her head while she began to cry silently. She had a little girl. A tiny tiny little girl.

Danielle got out of the hospital the next day, on Nick's birthday. She arranged for a small ceremony to be held as a memorial to her little girl. The baby had been cremated, and her and Nick brought the ashes out to the ocean and spread them out into the water.

"Now, Grandma can take care of you, little one," Danielle cried.

Nick held onto Danielle tightly. They grieved together. And Nick knew that he was staying home for good. He wasn't leaving her again. Danielle clutched onto Nick. It always seemed she was leaning on him for support. And his support never wavered. He was her rock.

"We're celebrating your birthday much differently than last year, Nicky," she sniffed looking out in to the water still holding on to him.

"That's okay, baby. There's no place I would rather be. I don't care. . . she was OUR baby," he answered sniffling too.

"Let's go home, Nick," she said flatly. "I don't want to be here anymore."

Nick nodded and drove the boat back to shore to his house. He arranged for her place to get professionally cleaned so she wouldn't have to go back and see a reminder of what happened. She would stay at his house until she felt ready to go back.

In Orlando. . .

"No! She didn't lose the baby!" Joey screamed. "No!"

The person on the other end of Joey's phone just informed him of the news.

"I gotta go," Joey said quietly, his voice cracking.

He walked around his living room and picked up a picture of Danielle. "Our baby, Danielle. OUR baby," he cried.

He broke down and sobbed. He knew that was his baby, and he genuinely wept for the loss. He realized that he no longer had that bond to share with Danielle. It was gone.

He regained his composure and looked back at the picture that he had held limply in his hand.

"We'll just have to make another baby, Danielle. We'll do it right. We'll get married, and have a beautiful baby," he told the picture. "We'll do it right this time."

Chapter 26
Chapter 24
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