The months passed and another school year was over. I was overjoyed to be able to be with Alex every day. He liked it to. I could tell he did. He was growing in leaps in bounds. The older he got the more he looked like his father. The more he looked like him the less he looked like me. I laughed at Alex as he played in the floor of the living room. He was trying to pitch a temper tantrum because his toy wouldn't do what he wanted it to do. I would catch his dark eyes looking at me out of the corner of his eyes. I sighed as the doorbell rang. I ruffled his hair as I stood.

"Alex, stay put. Don't go roaming off again." I grinned as he threw his big bird across the blanket he was sitting on.

Nick sat and stared at the house for five minutes before he could get out. Nick was nervous. He didn't know why but he was. He climbed from the car and walked up the walkway to her door. I shouldn't be here, he thought to himself. But he knew Aj wasn't going to be here any time soon with all his solo stuff and he had to see how she was. He took a deep breath and rang the doorbell.

He could hear her as she started to the door. She was talking to someone. He checked again. There were no cars, maybe she got a dog, he thought. “Hell I haven’t called her. There isn’t any telling what happened”, he mumbled to himself quietly.

I pulled open the door and my heart dropped to the floor. Nick. Oh God. I stood there I couldn't move. Hell I couldn't breath let alone move.

"Mama." I heard Alex call my name before I heard his waddling footsteps. I turned with every intention of slamming the door in Nick's face, but in Alex's normal fashion he was toddling faster than a bat out of hell and was at my legs before I could slam the door. I saw it in Nick’s eyes the instant he saw Alex. There was no doubt who's child he was. My world crumbled. I didn't want him to find out this way.

"Mama." Nick stared at her. She had a kid?! WHOA. Nick saw Liz’s face go white. Why was she so scared, he wondered? Nick looked down as Alex walked up behind Liz. ‘Oh my god. He looks just like Aj.’ Nick thought to himself. God he was Aj's. Nick looked back at Liz. Tears were falling down her face. Nick watched as she picked the baby up and held him close to her. Walking away from him, she left the door open and he took it as an invitation. He entered the house and closed the door behind him. He walked to the living room and saw her sitting in the couch with Alex in her lap. He was playing with her hair, as she seemed to just sit and look at him. She was still crying but she hadn't spoken to Nick since he rang the doorbell.

"I'm sorry." Nick wasn't sure she had spoken until she looked at him.

"How old is he?" Nick sat down beside her on the couch.

"18 months." She ran her hand down his head and pulled him into a hug. She released him and he looked at Nick. God his eyes were Aj's. He’d never seen a child look so much like their parent before in his life. He was a miniature version of Aj.

"Why didn't you tell me?" I sighed at Nick’s question, God this was hard.

"I didn't know. I was never at home when you called after I found out, and you never left a number to reach you at." I wanted to lie. God I wanted to tell him he wasn't Aj's, but this is one thing I couldn't hide. I laughed at myself. Nope, he doesn’t even look like me. "Alex. This is Nick." Alex looked at Nick and then looked back at me. Alex’s eyebrows came together and I heard Nick's slight intake of breath. Yep, just like Aj.

"You want to go to Nick?" Nick held out his hands and Alex went without a fight. Alex had never met a stranger. I couldn't sit still. I stood and walked to the window. I stood there for a while before I turned back and looked at the two of them.

It was almost noon so it was time for Alex's nap. I turned to Nick. I could see all the questions in his eyes. I lowered my eyes. Hell I didn't even know the answers to my own questions, how could I answer his?

"I need to put him down for his nap." I walked over to the couch and picked up Alex, "Come on big guy, it's time for a nap." Almost instantly Alex yawned. I smiled and made my way up the stairs to Alex's bedroom.

Alex was asleep by the time I placed him in his crib. When I turned to leave, Nick was standing at the door.

“What’s his name?” He asked as we descended the stairs.

“Alexander Nickolas.” Nick stopped at the tv where pictures of Alex where displayed. He picked up the most recent and smiled. I had taken Alex out while it was cold and had put a little skull cap on his head.

“I’m sorry Nick. But I had no clue who you were that night.” He turned and sat down beside me.

“Well we figured that you didn’t know. But when did you figure it out?”

“My friend Becca took her niece to a concert and bought a tape. When I saw you all, up there I knew that,” I paused. I had been planning this speech for over a year but now every thing I said made no sense to me.

“Knew what?”

“That I couldn’t tell you then.”

“Okay but Liz, AJ has to know. He has to know he has a son.”

“I know, believe me I know he has to. But please just give me a little more time.”

“Why? Do you need more time? You’ve had over a year.” I stood from the couch and walked to the window looking out over my backyard and all the toys that were scattered there.

“Because it hurts too much right now,” I hadn’t heard him stand and join me at the window. The nearness of his voice startled me.

“You love him don’t you?”

“Yes from that night, I’ve never stopped.”

“Okay. I’ll give you more time. But if you don’t tell him I will.” I nodded. For the first time in over 2 years I let go of the situation. Tears fell from my eyes silently. Nick turned me to him and held me as I cried. The man that I thought would be jaded by stardom held me, a woman he only knew one night, while I cried. When I could cry no more, he pulled away from me and dried the tears on my face with his thumbs.

“I don’t want you to worry about anything. I know when Aj knows he will take care of everything but until then I’ll be here for you and Alex.”

“We don’t need anything.”

“I know but I will here, for YOU.”

“Thank you.”

We left the window and went to the kitchen where we sat and talking about everything that had happened during the last 2 years.

2 hours had passed when I heard Alex waking from his nap.

“Excuse me I hear someone waking.” Nick stood with me and we entered Alex’s bedroom together.

“Hey my little man.” I said as I picked him up.

“He looks so much like him.” Nick said amazed.

“I know, he looks nothing like me.” Nick laughed in agreement. I put Alex on the floor amidst all his toys as we entered the living room.