For Every Dark Night, There Is a Brighter Day

Jace just sort of stared at Robyn. He still looked furious - well, as furious as a four year old could - and she doubted his opinion of Jimmy had changed in the past few minutes. He was just so used to Jimmy giving him whatever he wanted. "Don't care," he finally said. "Daddy's mean. He yell at me! I hate him!"

"Stop saying that," Robyn scolded, swatting Jace's bottom again. His blue eyes welled up with tears. "You do not hate your Daddy. And he only yelled at you because you did something bad. We told you to wait until we said it was okay before you went out on the stage, but you ran out anyway. Now we're going to go back outside there and you're going to apologize to your Daddy. And give him a big hug and kiss. Because he loves you very much and I know you hurt him by saying you hated him." Robyn hadn't missed the absolutely heartbroken look on Jimmy's face when Jace had shouted at him. Even though they both knew Jace didn't mean it, it had definitely stung Jimmy to hear those words coming from his son's mouth, Robyn just knew it. She grabbed Jace's hand and took him back out to Jimmy. "Now, apologize to your Daddy," she instructed.

---

"Well, if we got a room, we'd have to leave pretty early in the morning," Matt said. "We're supposed to leave at seven to get on the road for the next show. But I don't mind if you don't. And we'll definitely go dancing too, if that's what you want." Matt raised his middle finger into the air at Brian as he walked by. He didn't particularly care to have Brian's input on any part of his relationship with Cassie, since deep down he still hadn't forgiven the guitarist for sleeping with Cassie the last time. Matt followed Cassie down the hall when she pulled him away, wondering why she was taking him away from everyone else. If they were going to go dancing and then get a hotel room with enough time to enjoy each other before they went to bed. "We should probably get going soon, baby," Matt said, kissing her lips softly. "I know you want to spend a little alone time together, and so do I. And I'll need to go to bed a little early since I have to get up so early. So come on, I'll call us a cab."

Jimmy looked up when Robyn and Jace approached him, quickly sniffling and acting as if he hadn't been crying. But looking at Jace just made his heart break even more, which caused even more tears to roll down his cheeks. When Jace caught his eyes, he stopped in his tracks before racing over to Jimmy and hugging him tightly. Jimmy sniffled as he scooped Jace up into his arms, hugging him back. "I sorry, Daddy," Jace said. "No cry."

Jimmy rubbed Jace's back, cradling him against his chest. "I know," he said. "I love you so much, Jace. But you can't say stuff like that. It hurts. And you've gotta start listening to your mom and me or we won't be able to give you as much freedom as we do. Okay?"

Jace nodded and clutched onto his dad, sniffling as tears of his own left his eyes.

---

Cassie nodded her head. She walked out of the venue with him, waiting as he called a cab. She was excited to spend more time with him since he'd been in and out of the house for the past couple of weeks. She walked to the cab with him when it got there, climbing in with him and cuddling into his side. The last time they'd actually danced together had been at Robyn and Jimmy's wedding, which felt like it had been ages ago even though it had only been a couple of months. "I can't believe you proposed to me. How long have you even been considering it?" she asked as she looked up at him. "I totally wasn't expecting it at all." She was still trying to process the whole ordeal herself. It didn't feel real. It felt like a dream, but it wasn't, which made it even better. She glanced from him at the ring, admiring it.

Robyn's heart broke for Jimmy even more when she noticed that he'd started to cry. She hated seeing him cry. But she was glad that Jace had actually apologized and it warmed her heart to see Jace in Jimmy's arms. It always had. "Jace, why don't you see if Daddy wants to come home and watch a movie with us tonight?" Robyn suggested. She knew Jimmy and the others would need to leave early tomorrow morning to get on the road for their next show, but she thought it would nice for them all to spend a little time together before Jimmy had to leave again. "We can pop some popcorn and everything. It'll be fun. And didn't you get a new movie for Grandma the other day? Scooby Doo, right?"

Jace nodded his head, still holding onto Jimmy. "Yeah, Scooby Doo," he said. He craned his neck up to look at Jimmy. "You come watch, Daddy?"

---

Matt wrapped his arm around Cassie's shoulders as she snuggled against his side in the cab. It felt nice to have her close to him again after being practically on the road for so many weeks. "I've honestly been thinking about proposing to you ever since I found out you were pregnant," Matt answered, smiling at her. "And I'm glad you weren't expecting it, because I wanted it to be a surprise. And I hope you're not too mad at me for putting you on the spot onstage like that. I just wanted everyone to know how much I love you and that we're going to be a family." Matt leaned in to kiss Cassie softly, paying the cab driver when they reached the dance hall. It had been the best thing he'd been able to find; a club of sorts that played both dance music and slow songs. "Did you want something to drink, baby?" Matt asked leading Cassie over to the bar. "Sprite? Ginger ale? Or something to eat? I know their cheese fries are fan-fucking-tastic."

Jimmy sighed heavily as he looked at himself in the mirror. He was a bit nervous as this was the first time in what felt like forever that he and Robyn would be leaving the house without Jace. They had just finished moving into their new house a few weeks ago, although they still had unpacked boxes everywhere. Mostly it was his fault since he was too lazy to sort through old stuff that needed to be sorted through. He and Robyn were about to go on a date, and they were leaving Jace in Robyn's mother's hands. Yeah, she'd shown up out of nowhere and wanted to be a part of her daughter's life again. Jimmy had been pretty wary about letting her into their lives, but he decided that since she had lost her father, the least he could do was give her mother a chance. It was only fair, right? He was nervous to leave Jace alone with this woman he barely knew, but Robyn trusted her, so he had to as well. And he trusted Robyn, and he knew she wouldn't leave Jace alone with someone she thought was a danger to him.

He walked out of the bathroom and into the living room, smiling down at Jace. "Are you going to be a good boy for your grandma?" he asked.

Jace nodded, although he was a bit upset since he wanted to go with his parents. "Yeah," he said.

"I promise we'll be back soon, okay?" Jimmy said, kneeling down and ruffling his hair. "Me and Mommy just need some us time, you know," he said. "Some time to spend together without everyone else around."

Jace nodded and wrapped his arms around Jimmy's neck, hugging him tightly.

---

Cassie paced back and forth in the bedroom she now shared with Matt in their apartment, biting her lip almost hard enough to make it bleed. She was scared to death, and on the verge of having an anxiety attack. She was now twelve weeks pregnant, and was already showing. She had a small baby bump, which everyone loved to touch all the time. Especially Matt. But about two weeks ago, talking to Brian, she had realized that she'd slept with both Matt and Brian in the span of 24 hours, both unprotected. That meant either of them could be the father. And when she had told Robyn, the other girl insisted Cassie get a paternity test. She didn't want to, because she believed with all of her heart that the baby was Matt's, but she did anyways. And hearing the results had broken her heart. The baby was Brian's. How was she even supposed to tell Matt? He would be devastated, and probably would hate her. He'd want to break up. She looked down at the ring on her finger, sniffling as tears formed in her eyes. She didn't want to lose him. She walked over to the nightstand and grabbed her phone, dialing Robyn's number. When the other girl answered, Cassie could clearly hear her rushing around her bedroom, getting ready for something. "I don't mean to bother or interrupt you, but I just needed to tell somebody," she whimpered, rubbing at her eyes. "Brian is the dad."

Robyn honestly couldn't believe they were going to leave Jace with her mom. She hadn't seen the woman in almost five years, but when she'd shown up at her uncle's two weeks ago, she said she was clean and Robyn believed her. Her relationship with her mother wasn't nearly as toxic as the one she had with her father. Robyn had actually seen her mother growing up and when she was little, she used to cry and beg to go back to her mother whenever she had to stay at her aunt and uncle's. Robyn was just finishing with her makeup when her phone rang, and she answered immediately when she saw that it was Cassie.

"Brian is the dad?" Robyn whisper screamed, absolutely shocked. She'd been hoping that Matt was the dad, but of course she'd known there was a possibility that it could be Brian, with Cassie having slept with the both of them so close together. "Have you told Matt yet?"

---

"Cassie baby, I'm home!" Matt called out as he walked into the apartment. He was so glad that he and Cassie finally had their own place, and since they were engaged with a baby on the way, they definitelty needed it. It had two bedrooms so the baby would have a nursery, and Matt couldn't wait to decorate it. He couldn't wait to find out what they were having and pick out a name and hold the baby in his arms. The idea of being a dad was still a little scary to him, but if Jimmy could do it at eighteen, Matt could do it now. He was a little confused when Cassie didn't answer him, since he was sure that she was home. But then he heard her voice down the hall in the bedroom and he headed that way, stopping with his hand hovering over the doorknob when he heard what Cassie was saying.

Brian was the father of her baby? Not him? Of course he knew Cassie had slept with both of them close together, but he'd never thought that Brian would be the father. The baby Cassie was carrying, the one he'd been so excited about...it wasn't his. He wasn't going to be a dad. Suddenly Matt was angry, so angry he was seeing nothing but red. He turned around and left the apartment, slamming the door shut behind him. He made the drive over to Brian's apartment in record time, shoving his way inside when the other boy opened the door. "You motherfucker," Matt hissed, glaring at Brian. "I'm going to beat the shit out of you."

"What the fuck are you talking about?" Brian asked.

"Cassie's baby!" Matt shouted. "It's not mine." Brian still seemed confused, so Matt continued. "It's yours."

Jimmy smiled, hugging Jace back. He patted his back and let him go before he went to the bathroom where he knew Robyn was. He stopped outside the door, his eyes widening when he heard what she said. He didn't want it to ruin their night, though, so he didn't want to talk about it. He reached up and knocked on the door. "Robyn? Baby, you almost ready?" he asked, biting his lip gently. He was ready to go already, to be able to spend some alone time with his wife. It was still so surreal to him, that he was married now. He would occasionally look down and see his wedding band and get surprised all over again. They'd gotten their names tattooed on each other's ring fingers when they'd come back from their honeymoon, so if they didn't have to wear their rings, everyone would still know they were married. It was probably one of his most fond tattoos. He loved it. And he couldn't wait to get one dedicated to Jace. But first he had to come up with some extra money since most of what he was making was going into the house payment.

---

Cassie jumped when she heard the front door slam, her eyes filling with tears when she realized Matt had heard her. "I think he just found out," she muttered. "And he left the house. I need to go find him before he does something stupid. I'll call you later." She got up, rushing out of the apartment and to her car. She got in and started it, trying to think of where Matt would have gone. It was obvious, though. If he was angry, he would have gone straight to Brian's. She frowned when she got a sharp pain in her lower stomach. She'd been having random sharp pains for about a week now, and had had some spotting, but she didn't think anything of it. She figured she was just having some cramps and she thought the spotting was normal. She backed out of the parking space and drove to Brian's, not surprised to find Matt's car beside Brian's. She parked and got out, rushing to the front door, which was swung open. She stepped inside, just in time to hear the end of the argument.

"That's my baby," Brian hissed, glaring at Matt.

Cassie's eyes widened when Matt lost it, and the two boys began throwing punches at each other. "Guys, stop it!" she hissed, rushing over and grabbing onto Matt's shirt. She pulled him away from Brian, standing between the two of them. "Please, stop."

"Yeah, call me later, I need to know more about this," Robyn said, hearing the click as Cassie hung up the phone. There was definitely going to be a lot of drama if Matt had found out that the baby was Brian's, especially if that's where he'd gone. But Robyn could worry about that later, when Cassie called her back. For now she was going to concentrate on Jimmy and the rare alone time they were going to have tonight. She looked up when Jimmy knocked on the door, slipping on her wedding band. Even though she and Jimmy had gotten each other's names tattooed around their ring fingers, Robyn still liked to wear her rings. "Yeah, I'm ready," she said, getting to her feet. She smiled as she went over to Jimmy, leaning up to kiss his lips softly. "Just let me tell Jace bye and we can go." Robyn went into the living room, smiling a little at her mother sitting on the couch, before she crouched down. "Jace, come give Mommy a hug before we leave," she said.

Jace dropped the toy he was playing with and ran over to Robyn, throwing his arms around her neck. "Bye bye, Mommy," he said, squeezing her tightly. "Love you."

Robyn's heart swelled. She would never get tired of hearing that. "I love you too, baby." She gave him a kiss on the cheek before getting back up, looking over at Jimmy. "You ready?"

---

"Cassie's baby is mine?" Brian asked, still sounding unsure.

"Yes, it's fucking yours," Matt spat. "But don't think I'm going to let you anywhere near the baby or Cassie. I've had fucking enough of you fucking up my relationship. So stay the hell away from Cassie."

"You can't keep me away from the baby," Brian said. "You know why? That's not your baby. That's my baby," he hissed.

Matt felt his anger boil over, and he swung his arm out, catching Brian across the cheek. Brian recovered quickly and threw a punch of his own. But Matt was so angry he didn't care about the pain, and he continued to swing at Brian until he felt something tugging on his shirt, his eyes widening when Cassie stepped inbetween them. Matt gritted his teeth together, moving Cassie out of the way so he could get one last swing at Brian. Brian stumbled back just a little before he fell onto the floor, knocked out cold. Matt gave Brian and Cassie one last cold glance before he stormed out of Brian's apartment, getting into his car and speeding away.

Jimmy grinned as he watched Robyn with Jace, nodding his head when she looked at him. "Yeah," he said. He turned to Robyn's mom. "You have our numbers if you need anything. I left some money on the counter for pizza. Jace likes pepperoni and pineapple on his." He smiled at her and took Robyn's hand, leading her out to the car. He opened the door and helped Robyn in before walking around to the other side and getting in. He started the car and began driving, letting out a small breath he didn't know he'd been holding. "I can't believe we're leaving him alone. It feels so . . . weird. I don't think I like it." He let out a nervous chuckle as he glanced at Robyn, wondering if she felt the same way. It wasn't because of her mom, her mom had proven to be a lovely woman that Jimmy felt he could trust at this point. It was just leaving Jace, not bringing him with them, it was so foreign.

---

Cassie's eyes filled with tears as Matt stormed out, feeling another sharp pang in her lower abdomen. She gasped and reached out to grab onto the wall, her knees going weak from the pain. She looked down at Brian, moving her foot over to kick his arm. "Brian!" she hissed. "Wake up!" She frowned when he didn't budge, another sharp pain searing through her. She whimpered as she slowly limped out to her car, using all her strength to climb up into it. She let out a breath as she started the engine, pulling the door shut and backing out of the parking space. She began to drive to the hospital, using one of her hands to call Hannah. She asked the redhead to meet her at the hospital but pleaded with her not to tell her mother. Cassie didn't know what was going on, and her mother was so excited to be having a grandchild that she didn't want her to know something was wrong.

She got to the hospital and stumbled in, gripping onto the counter when she got there. "I-I don't know what's wrong with me," she whimpered. "I'm pregnant and it hurts." She looked down when she felt something wet on her thighs, seeing a red stain showing through her jeans. She frowned deeply as the woman came rushing around the desk and got her into a wheelchair. They took her back immediately to see what was going on.

Robyn followed Jimmy out to the car, looking over at him when he spoke. "It's not like we've never left him alone before," she said. "It's just been awhile. But he'll be fine. Let's just enjoy this very rare alone time, okay?" Robyn smiled at Jimmy, giving his hand a squeeze before reaching for the radio knob. When they reached the restaurant, she climbed out of the car, waiting at the front of the car for Jimmy and taking his hand as they walked inside. Even if she felt a little bad about leaving Jace behind for the evening, she was looking forward to spending a few uninterrupted hours with Jimmy, spending time with each other without Jace constantly bugging them. It had been awhile since they'd really had a date, what with Jimmy being busy with Avenged Sevenfold and everything. If Robyn remembered correctly, the last time they'd really been alone was their honeymoon. "Everything looks so good, I don't know what I'm going to get," Robyn said, looking over the menu. She looked over at Jimmy, since they were sitting in the same side of the booth, and leaned her head over on his shoulder. "I'm so excited that we got this house, you know," Robyn said randomly. "It's so great, I feel like we're really adulting now."

---

Matt sort of drove around blindly, not really knowing where he was going. He didn't want to go back to the apartment, because he was sure that's where Cassie was going to go and he didn't really want to see her right now. Deep down he knew this wasn't really her fault, that if it had been her choice he would be the father, but he was still angry at her. If she hadn't slept with Brian in the first place, the paternity of the baby wouldn't have even come into question. Part of his anger stemmed from heartbreak as well, because no matter how much they pretended, that wasn't Matt's baby, and it never would be. Brian would want to the baby's father, and Matt would only be its stepfather. It wouldn't be the same. Matt didn't know how long he'd been driving around when his phone rang. Seeing that it was Hannah, Matt almost ignored it, but decided to pick it up anyway. "If you're calling to tell me I'm an asshole or to defend Cassie, don't bother," he said before she could say anything. "I'm allowed to be mad about this, I--"

"Shut up for a minute, would you?" Hannah interrupted. "I'm not calling to bitch at you, surprisingly. I'm calling because Cassie just called me and said she's going to the emergency room."

Jimmy chuckled. He wished he could order the whole menu, but he didn't have the money for that. He looked down at her and snorted. "Adulting? Yeah, I guess we are," he said. "But you know, we've kind of been adulting since the day you found out you were pregnant. You know, I'm actually really surprised. I thought I'd be living with my parents until I was at least thirty, but hell, I moved out before I even turned 18." He grinned, proud of himself. "And I have you to thank for that. And Jace, too. He's given me a lot of responsibility. Without him, I'd probably still be doing a lot of stupid shit I shouldn't. But it's a lot easier to not do stupid shit when you have a kid." He smiled as he reached down and took her hand, squeezing it. "What do you think about maybe adding another one to the picture soon?" He knew they'd talked briefly about it before, when she'd thought she might be pregnant, but he just couldn't stop thinking about it lately, what with Cassie being pregnant now.

---

Cassie sat in the hospital room, sniffling as she rubbed her stomach. She was waiting for the doctor to come in, and her heart was racing a mile a minute. She had a feeling she knew what was wrong, but she didn't want to believe it. She prayed she was wrong. She looked up when there was a knock on her door, quickly wiping her tears away as her doctor came in. "Hello Cassie," the woman greeted, a sad look on her face. "I'm afraid it's bad news. It looks like you've had a miscarriage. Since you're farther along in your pregnancy than most women with miscarriages are . . ."

Cassie tuned out what the doctor was saying, her heart shattering into a million pieces. So she had been right, she had lost her baby. More tears filled her eyes and she found it hard to hold them back as she stared down at her stomach. Her baby was gone. She was bleeding it out of her body as they spoke. Unable to stop herself, she let out a sob, and the doctor stopped speaking. The woman frowned as she looked at Cassie, quickly pulling the papers from her clipboard. "I have a few pamphlets here for you to read," she said, setting them down on the table beside the bed. "There's one in there for a counselor. You should call, it might help. I'm sorry, dear." She walked out of the room, and Cassie burst out into tears, wrapping her arms around her middle. Why hadn't she come in sooner? Maybe they could have saved the baby, but she was so stupid. And now it was gone. And she never would have even known if it was a boy or a girl.

"I know this," Robyn huffed playfully, giving Jimmy's shoulder a shove. "But there's just something about buying a house that really makes you feel like an adult." She felt Jimmy squeeze her hand, smiling at his next words. "I think we can think about that soon," she said softly. She knew Jimmy was eager to have another baby and honestly, seeing Cassie be pregnant was making Robyn want another one, too. She'd been wanting to wait a little longer, maybe at least until Jace was in school, but she didn't see how that was going to make things any easier on them and seeing Cassie just made her want to be pregnant again. And seeing Matt get excited about being a daddy made her want to see Jimmy be a daddy again. "I mean, we're in our new house, Jace is long out of diapers and starting kindergarten next fall, and we're married now. Most importantly, we're not seventeen anymore," she added, laughing. She squeezed his hand back. "So yeah, I think we can think about having another baby soon." When the waitress came back to take their orders, Robyn told her what she wanted and handed over her menu, slipping her arm through Jimmy's and leaning against his shoulder. "You know, if we're really going to decide that we want to have another baby, we'd better take advantage of nights like tonight. Because you know they'll happem even less if there's a new baby around. Oh, and let's not tell anyone we're thinking about it until I'm actually pregnant. I want it to be a surprise!"

---

"What the fuck do you mean she's going to the emergency room?" Matt asked. He was a little hurt that Cassie would call Hannah to tell her that before him, because well, he was her fiancé. "Just never mind, I'll be there in like fifteen minutes." Matt hung up the phone and tossed it into his passenger seat, cutting through a parking lot and heading towards the emergency room. He killed his engine and hurried inside, going to the front desk and telling the woman sitting there that his fianceé had just come in. When he told the woman Cassie's name, she got this sort of sympathetic look on her face, and that's when Matt knew something was wrong. The woman told Matt what room Cassie was in and he hurried off in that direction, his mind racing about what could possibly be wrong. Even if he was angry, he didn't want her to be hurt. When he stepped into the room and saw Cassie crying, he felt his heart break. "Cass, what's wrong?" Matt asked, walking over to her. "What happened?" He noticed the papers on the table next to the bed and he reached for them, looking over the pamphlets. One in particular caught his eye, and he pulled it out of the stack. Dealing with Miscarriage. Miscarriage? Is that what happened? Cassie lost her baby? "Cassie, are...are you okay?" Matt asked gingerly, setting the pamphlets aside.

Jimmy grinned as he listened to her. He was excited she felt the same way as him, and now he was more excited than he had been. He nodded in agreement. "I do too," he said. "And hey, maybe this time we'll actually have the opportunity to do some trying first." He smirked and wiggled his eyebrows at her. To this day, he still found it weird that he'd managed to knock her up the first time she'd ever had sex. But he guessed all it really took was one time to happen. And even if it did happen the first time again, he would still insist on "trying." He looked down at his menu, trying to decide on what he wanted. "Do you know what you're getting?" Honestly, he could order the whole damn menu and be pleased with what he got, so he would probably just pick blindly and enjoy whatever he got. He wasn't a very picky eater, which was a good thing when it came to Robyn cooking. Jace, however, was the opposite. But that was probably just because he was so young.

---

Cassie looked up when the door opened again, expecting Hannah, surprised when Matt entered the room instead. She'd managed to hold back her tears until Matt asked if she was okay, unable to stop herself as they came down in floods. Was she okay? No. She didn't know what she was at this moment. She felt so numb, but at the same time, so heartbroken. She felt like the worst person in the world right now. She could never do anything right. She was the biggest fuck-up in the world, and she wouldn't be surprised if Matt decided to leave her. She kept her hands on her stomach, as if holding it would keep the baby inside her. She knew the baby hadn't been Matt's blood-wise, but it was still his baby too. It had been their baby. And even if she had actually had the baby, it would still be theirs, and she would hope he would have felt the same way. "It's all my fault," she finally sobbed, reaching up with one hand to wipe the snot from her nose as she sniffled. "If I wasn't such a fucking slut, this wouldn't have happened." If she hadn't opened her legs for Brian, she wouldn't have gotten pregnant and she wouldn't have killed her baby.

Robyn rolled her eyes playfully when Jimmy mentioned something about having an opportunity to try this time. Sure, they hadn't really had to try last time because she got pregnant the very first time she had sex, but that didn't stop them from having a lot of sex. "Are you sure you want to have another baby?" she teased. "Or do you just want an excuse to have lots of sex? You're a little horndog." Robyn started to look over the menu, shrugging her shoulders when Jimmy asked if she knew what she was getting to eat. Honestly she had no idea what she was even in the mood for. "I think I'll just get a cheeseburger," Robyn finally said. "With onion rings, so I can take them home for Jace." Jace absolutely loved onion rings, and Robyn always tried to save him some whenever she ordered them at a restaurant. Sometimes she even ordered a separate side just for him. "So if we have another baby, do you want a boy or a girl?" Robyn asked. "I for sure want a little girl. Because I love you and Jace more than anything, but you drive me absolutely insane and I don't think I can handle another one of you. I'd have to be hauled off to the looney bin."

---

Matt realized he'd said the wrong thing when Cassie started to cry again. He noticed how her hands never left her stomach, and he felt awful, like maybe his argument with Brian had caused Cassie so much stress that she lost the baby. "It's not your fault, okay?" Matt said. He hesitated for a second before he wrapped his arm around Cassie's shoulders, rubbing her upper arm. "And you're not a slut. I don't ever want to hear you say that about yourself again, okay? This didn't happen because of anything you did. Cassie, I've been there pretty much since you found out that you were pregnant and you've done everything right. Sometimes this just happens. Something was wrong with the baby and your body knew that. And we can have another baby. Well...you can have another baby. I'll just have a baby. But we can have one together, okay? We'll have a baby and we'll get married and we'll be a family. But this isn't your fault. If anything it's probably mine, because I don't know how to control my fucking temper."

Jimmy snorted. "Just because it's a girl doesn't mean it wouldn't be like me," he said with a smirk. "Imagine a girl like me. Put a period on top of that. Sounds even worse than Jace and I combined, don't you think?" He laughed at the thought, imagining how Robyn would deal with that. He honestly didn't think he would even be able to handle that, and he could handle pretty much anything the world threw at him. He'd only ever chickened out once before, and that was when he first found out Robyn was pregnant. That had been his stupid, teenage brain thinking, though. Not the man he was today. He'd grown so much since then, so much since he'd met Robyn. He didn't know what kind of state he would be in now if it wasn't for her.

---

Cassie sniffled, whimpering softly. She glanced up at him, figuring this would have been the last straw for him. She figured he would have left her, given up on her after what she'd done this time. She'd made so many mistakes and it was as if she hadn't even learned from any of them. She did stupid stuff without thinking because she was so used to her parents deciding everything for her. She rubbed at her eyes and leaned into his touch, resting her head on his shoulder. "It's not your fault, Matt," she muttered. "You didn't do this." She shook her head as she looked down at her stomach. "I've been having cramps for a week now. I was spotting, but I read that that was normal. I didn't think anything of it, and I should have come in sooner."

Robyn scoffed at Jimmy's comment about a period, rolling her eyes. "Why are men so scared of girls on their periods?" she asked. "I could handle that, easy. I'm a girl, remember? Plus, she'd be more like me, not you, you goober. I'll make sure of it. She'll be a little angel, just like her mother." When the food arrived, Robyn moved away from Jimmy a little so they would have room to eat. They could cuddle at the movies after dinner. "So what movie should we go see after dinner?" Robyn asked, munching on an onion ring. She was going to have to order another side of them for Jace, because she had a feeling that she was going to end up finishing these off. "And don't say I should pick, I hate picking the movie. And I picked last time, so it's your turn to pick." Robyn honestly didn't care what movie they watched, she just wanted to spend a little time with Jimmy. With Jace, they hardly ever got any alone time and if they had another baby, that time would become even more rare. So she wanted to take advantage of the opportunity while it was in front of them.

---

"Well isn't it normal sometimes?" Matt asked. He had no idea how pregnancies worked, what was normal and what wasn't. He'd never really thought about it until Cassie got pregnant, because the last pregnant girl he'd been around was Robyn and back then he was too young to care. "Why don't we go back to the apartment?" Matt suggested. "We can order in and just lay around with Bella and watch TV. Or maybe we could build a fort and set up a little movie theater or something. I don't know. But I just think it would be best if we left the hospital." Matt knew that at some point he had to go apologize to Brian. The fact that Cassie's baby was his wasn't really his fault, even if he'd slept with her. Matt had already been angry about that, had already gotten violent with Brian over it, so he couldn't do it again. But for now Matt decided he should worry about Cassie, because she'd lost her baby and she was obviously hurting.

Jimmy chuckled. He pulled his phone out and looked up on Google to see what movies were playing, looking at all the titles. "Hm," he mumbled. "You don't want to pick, huh? Alright. I'm gonna close my eyes and randomly choose one. We have to go see it, whatever it is." He closed his eyes and scrolled the screen up and down a bit before finally placing his finger flat on the screen. "There," he said as he opened his eyes. He looked down and laughed when he realized he'd chosen a child's movie. "Alright, guess we're going to see that. Too bad Jace isn't with us." He grinned and pecked her cheek before he started eating. "And it's not that I'm scared of women on their periods. It's just . . . I remember how moody you used to get after Jace was born. And I can't even imagine if she got pregnant in high school. Holy shit. You were terrible! I honestly worried every day towards the end that you would randomly decide to break up with me."

---

Cassie sniffled, reaching up and wiping her tears away. "Okay," she muttered. She honestly just wanted to go home and sleep forever. She wanted to sleep forever and never wake up, but she knew that wouldn't be fair to Matt. It would just be another selfish thing she would do to hurt him. And she was tired of hurting him. For some reason, Brian just brought out the worst in her, and she hated him for that. Even though it wasn't really his fault. She slowly moved off the bed, whimpering softly at the pain in her abdomen. It was probably some of the worst pain she'd ever been in. Even worse than the car accident she'd been in years ago, because not only was it physical pain, it was emotional as well. She got to her feet, wobbling a bit as she reached for her clothes. She felt so weak and broken, like she would never be good enough for Matt again. She thought for a moment before glancing over at him. "Why are you still with me?" she muttered. "I'm such a fuck-up. All I ever do is hurt you."

"I'm not going to see some stupid movie," Robyn warned Jimmy, watching him google the movie showings. When she saw that he'd picked a kid's movie, she shook her head. "No way!" she exclaimed. "I want to see a movie we couldn't watch with Jace. I guess we can just wait until we get to the theater to choose a movie." Robyn picked up her burger and took a big bite, making a face when she got a mouth full of mayonnaise. Hearing what Jimmy said about her being awful when she was pregnant, she reached over and slapped him on the arm. "I wasn't that bad, you asshole," Robyn hissed playfully. "I was pregnant. My back hurt, my feet hurt, towards the end I had to piss every five minutes. Pregnancy sucks and you were a lot more irritating back then than you are now. And our daughter won't get pregnant in high school because we'll make sure she knows how to get some scrawny little doofus to put on a condom," she added teasingly, poking Jimmy in the ribs.

---

Matt stood back as Cassie got up from the bed, reaching out to steady her when he noticed her wobbling. When she spoke, he frowned. "Let's not talk about that right now, okay?" Matt suggested. "You're not feeling well and I don't want to get you worked up anymore." Once Cassie had pulled her clothes on, Matt helped her out to his car, waiting until she was inside before he walked around to get in the driver's side. He would have to bring her back for her car later, or maybe see if Hannah could come and get it, but for right now Cassie was too weak to drive. Back at their apartment, Matt made sure Cassie was settled wherever she wanted to be before he let Bella out to use the bathroom, leaning against the door frame as he watched her sniff around the patch of grass. He still wasn't sure just how he felt about everything that had happened. Even if the baby was his, up until a couple of hours ago, Matt thought it was. And if things had continued, Matt's anger would've faded and he would've wanted to be a part of the baby's life. With Brian around, he never would've felt like the baby's father, he would've been the baby's stepdad and that was something, right?

Jimmy gasped when she slapped his arm. "Ouch," he hissed, rubbing his arm. "I'm very sensitive! And I know you were hormonal and whatnot, but damn!" He listened to her and jumped when she poked him in the ribs. "What is it with you tonight, Mrs. Handsy, huh?" He reached over and poked her in the side and then in the stomach, smirking as he began to tickle her. "You just can't keep your hands to yourself, can you? I don't blame you, I'm a fine piece of ass." He grinned and leaned down, nuzzling his face into her neck and pressing kisses to her soft skin. Luckily there wasn't really anyone else around them so unless a waiter came over, he could technically do whatever he wanted to her. Well, maybe except full-on sex. He'd save that for later.

---

Cassie curled up on the couch, wrapping herself up in a blanket and resting her head on a pillow. She kept her hand pressed against her stomach, feeling like that was the only connection she had left with the baby she was currently expelling from her body. She stared at the ground until she heard Bella bound back inside, unable to help but let out a small giggle when the dog ran over and began licking her in the face. "Bella, stop!" she whined, reaching out from under the blanket to grab her by the collar and pull her back. "Your breath isn't that great and I don't think your daddy would want to kiss me if I smelled like dog breath." She sighed softly as she scratched Bella's ears, glad the dog could distract her a bit, even if for only a few moments. She pulled Bella onto the couch with her, cradling her against her chest. "Sometimes I wish I had gotten a chihuahua, but I wouldn't trade you for anything in the world." She pressed kisses to the top of Bella's head, glancing over when Matt came back in.

"And yet you want me to get pregnant again," Robyn said, laughing. "I hate to tell you this, but I'll probably be just as bad the second time around as I was with Jace. Growing a human is hard work and since you're usually the closest person around, I'm going to take it out on you. And it's only fair, since you're the one that put that little human inside of me." Robyn turned her attention back to her food when she'd finished speaking, letting out a soft yelp of surprise when Jimmy started to tickle her. "I see someone thinks very highly of themselves," Robyn teased, tilting her head to the side just a little when Jimmy started to kiss her neck. She had no idea why he was doing this in the restaurant, but she didn't mind being a little flirty with him. "But I do have to admit, you are pretty cute," she continued. "But why don't we save this for later? Maybe when we're at home and Jace is asleep? Then I can show you just how handsy I can be." Robyn slid her hand up Jimmy's thigh, giving it a little squeeze before she moved away from him, giving him an innocent smile as she picked up an onion ring and stuck it into her mouth.

---

"Alright you big lug, it's time to go back inside," Matt said. He went to Bella and guided her back inside, shutting and locking the door behind him. When he made it into the living room, he saw Bella cuddled up with Cassie on the couch, and he put a fake pout onto his face as he sat down on the loveseat. "That's fine, I see how it is," Matt said, turning on the TV. "Nobody wants to cuddle with poor old me. I'll just sit over here all by my lonesome." Matt kicked his feet up on the coffee table as he surfed through the channels. He finally chose something that he thought Cassie might like too, tossing the remote to the side. They'd only been sitting there for about ten or fifteen minutes when Matt's phone started to ring, and he frowned when he saw Brian's name flashing across the screen. Did that idiot really think he wanted to talk to him right now? Even if he knew he shouldn't be, Matt was still a little angry with Brian and he didn't want to bring up what had happened while Cassie was still so fragile.

Jimmy pouted. "You're no fun," he whined, his eyes widening when she slid her hand up his thigh. "Oh, fuck that, you little tease!" He huffed in frustration, wishing he could just fuck her on this table right now. But that wasn't an option, so he was forced to wait. He continued eating, nearly done with his food. "Do you think you might want dessert or would you rather save room for popcorn and snacks?" He wouldn't mind paying for dessert. Honestly, he could probably eat until he exploded, but he knew she might not feel the same way. He picked up the dessert menu, looking at it. "Oh, look at that. Chocolate mousse. That's good." He handed it to her before taking a sip of his drink. He couldn't help but worry in the back of his mind that something at home was going wrong. But that was just his paternal instinct kicking in. He knew everything was fine. He tried to ignore it, thinking about other things. Like chocolate mousse.

---

Cassie looked over when Matt's phone began ringing, frowning when she saw the look on his face. She slowly sat up and walked over, taking his phone and setting it aside. She sat beside him and curled up into his side. "It's just you and me today," she murmured. "Please?" If the call was important, they could leave a voicemail, but she had an idea by the look on his face that it was probably Brian. Which meant it probably wasn't that important to Matt. She rested her head against his shoulder, sighing softly. She hoped she wasn't making him uncomfortable by being so close. She still was unsure how he was feeling about her right now, but she just hoped that for now, he'd allow her to cuddle up with him. She wanted to ask him, in fact, but she didn't think he wanted to talk about it. She bit her lip for a moment as she thought, knowing she needed to think out what she was going to say before actually saying it for once. "I understand if you want to take a break, or break up altogether," she said after a moment. "I've hurt you so many times. You deserve better."