what wasn't expected , tish.

[micah orsino ,]

Micah and Kade had been sitting in traffic one day. They had both gone to Jared’s because Micah had left his wallet in the staff lounge the night before, and he didn’t have a car. So, Kade had offered to give him a lift over. It wasn’t an inconvenience or anything. At the time, Brit was still fully functional and not at all damaged because a car had hit her. She was with Cooper, and she didn’t care to let her man go help out his slightly insane friend retrieve a wallet that had some “vital information” that Micah would discuss in front of Brit. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust her. It was just that she was better off knowing only what she needed to know. Basically, it was just safer for her not to get involved. Kade had asked what this information was on the long ass elevator ride down to the ground floor of their apartment building, and Micah had told him without hesitation. Brit probably had a lot of reason to suspect that Micah had some done some pretty dirty deeds in his day, but she didn’t know the details. Kade had probably told her whether or not her guesses were true, but Micah didn’t think that she would be one to be interested in knowing exactly how Micah disposed of the bodies and how he got away with arson. Anyway, what was in the wallet was a card with a name and a number. The name and number belonged to a very powerful man in New York City, one that was networking Micah and making him a part of his chain of sorts. That name and number could never be discovered, or it could mean a lot of trouble for that very powerful man. In turn, that would mean more than a lot of trouble for Micah and the people that he loved. It had been the most careless thing in the world for him to do, leave that inside his wallet which he had left in the lounge. But, Ali had been there, and when she was around his clothes just didn’t seem to stay on like they usually do. His wallet had fallen to the floor, and the most he had done with it after was pick it up and put it on the counter.

Thankfully, that’s exactly where it was when Micah ran back to get it. He wasn’t a religious man at all, but he was praising Jesus as he locked the bar back up and got back into the car with Kade. Getting to Jared’s hadn’t taken them long, and Micah figured it would be the same quick drive home as it always was. He was anxious to get back to the apartment because he and Ali had plans, but it didn’t look like he was going to be able to make them. There had been a horrible car accident, and it brought traffic going both ways to a dead stand still. Kade knew ways around the city that he could take to get back to the apartment building, but by the time he went to back up, he was so boxed in that there was no way in hell that he could make it. Micah had suggested just flooring it and making a way through it, but then he realized that this car was little. Most of the other vehicles around them could eat it. They were stuck where they were. Kade shut the car completely off to save on gas, turned the key back in the switch, and they sat and listened to the radio for awhile. Kade called Brit to let her know why they weren’t home yet, and Micah had to call Ali to let her know that he wasn’t going to be able to make it to whatever kind of date she had planned out for them. She was disappointed, but she understood. Micah certainly couldn’t help it and contrary to what some of the upstate hippies might believe, Kade was not God. They couldn’t get out of this one. The radio was their only company, the two men not talking much at all. That happened a lot with Kade and Micah, but Micah knew better than to think that it was because they just didn’t have anything to say. Kade and Micah could talk for hours and still come up with a good conversation, but it was more like they were just comfortable with the silence. That’s what happens when you’ve been friends for as long as these two have.

They had been sitting there for about half an hour when Kade leaned forward and turned the radio down a little. Micah had been daydreaming out the window but the change in volume had brought his attention back to the traffic jam they were still sitting in and that Kade apparently had something that he wanted to say. “So…Brit told me something pretty interesting awhile back.” Micah waited, but Kade didn’t continue. What, was Micah supposed to guess? ”She’s not pregnant, is she?” Yeah, that had been the first thing that Micah had guessed. It really wouldn’t have made sense for that to be right, though. Micah knew Kade, and he wouldn’t have kept something like that from Micah for too long. Or from Zach or Hunter. Or anyone really. Kade could keep a secret really well, but that was something that most people don’t tend to want to hide when it’s with someone that they really love the way Kade loves Brit. Kade took a second to respond to that. “No, she’s not.” Damn. Micah loved kids, and let’s face it, he would have loved to see Kade and Brit have one. “But Tish is.” That ended all thoughts that had been running through Micah’s mind at that point. Everything went blank. All of his energy went to trying to comprehend what his friend was telling him. Tish. Tish Martin. She was pregnant? ”No fucking way. How does Brit know?” Kade had sighed and shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t know. I guess she’s been there, and it’s a woman thing. They pick up on it when we don’t even know what the hell we’re looking for.” Micah processed that and decided that it made sense. Tish wouldn’t tell Brit, but Brit had been pregnant before. She knew what the signs were; she knew what differences meant that a woman was having a child. Both men seemed to take the information and ponder over it awhile before sitting back in their seats. Micah was really thinking about this. Kade was probably trying not to make it obvious that he was watching Micah as he thought about it. Micah knew now that Kade had probably come to the question before Micah had, which was about ten minutes after Kade had told him the news.

”There’s a possibility that this baby could be mine, isn’t there?” “Yep.” ”Damn.” Micah still loved kids. Hearing this and putting it together didn’t change that. And it wasn’t so much that he didn’t want a child with Tish. He’d rather be the father of this baby than it be some guy that passed on poor genetic traits and causes God knows what to happen. Hell, he’d rather be the father just for the simple fact that she would know who the father is, but he just didn’t know if he could be a dad yet. He had practically raised his younger brothers and sister, and he always did a good job with Cooper (better than Hunter EVER did), but it was just the idea that he would be the father. That a life had come into this world partially because of him. It was a whole new idea, and one that he hadn’t thought much about. Not to mention that Aliana would freaking kill him. Micah had never cheated, but Ali probably wouldn’t be able to see it that way. She’d see it that another woman was carrying his child. And there would be even more drama between them after they had finally worked through all that other shit they’d had. Micah was quiet the rest of the time that they were in the car. Kade didn’t push for anything, either. He just turned the radio back up and let Micah have his time to process and deal with what he had just told him. Really, Tish should have been the one to tell him. Micah knew that, but he was glad that Kade had told him. He was glad to have a heads up that way he didn’t react the wrong way when, or if, Tish ever did tell him. This way, he had time to think about it and be able to be calm and rational when it all came out into the open. Ah. Who the hell did he think he was trying to fool? Calm and rational weren’t words that went with a situation like this, especially when Micah Orsino was involved in it.

For the next few weeks, Micah had been looking. He had searched the apartment that he and Tish shared for any sign of a pregnancy test that she might have taken but came up empty. He went looking through her purse, looking for appointment slips from a doctor office or something, but he couldn’t find anything there, either. He had even gone to the point of tearing her room apart one day while she was out. Micah was very good at snooping and spying, though, and he always put everything back the way that she had had it, not giving her any reason to believe that he had even touched her things. But, it was after all of this that Micah realized what he hadn’t found. Heroin. Tish was a hopeless addict to the stuff, and yet Micah hadn’t found one ounce of anywhere. No syringes, nothing. Then, when he started watching her a little more closely, he realized that she didn’t drink. At Jared’s, she used to down whatever she could get her hands on and go off flirting with the closest good looking man. Now, she stayed sober and worked behind the bar. Then, he noticed the clothing. Tish was a thin little thing with amazing curves and a body that he had appreciated many, many times. She wasn’t afraid to show a little skin. Actually, Micah thought she quite enjoyed it. But, now she didn’t. She wore t-shirt that didn’t show off that curvy body of hers, and she wore sweat pants a lot more often than he could ever remember her wearing them before. Damn. She was pregnant. And she hadn’t told him. That one kind of stung a little. Micah knew pretty much everything there ever was to know about Tish Martin. She told him things that she didn’t dare tell anyone else, and he’d seen her naked so many times that there just wasn’t anything left to share between the two anymore. So why the hell would she keep this one from him when he could very well be affected by the outcome of it all?

He couldn’t do it anymore. He couldn’t walk around pretending that he didn’t know when he very well did know. Micah was usually so good under pressure, but this was freaking him right the hell out. Tish was his best friend, and the baby that she was carrying could be his. Theirs. He really needed to know, and he really needed her to tell him. Ali had noticed that he was a little bit more stressed, and she had questioned him about it. He had just told her that he was worried about Tish, that she was going through some things and he didn’t know what to do about it. There was no lie in that at all, and there was no need to piss Ali off any sooner than he had to. Anyway, Micah decided to just put it to an end. It was a snap decision made the moment that Tish walked in the door that evening. Micah had been sitting in the chair, watching TV when she had come in. He looked at her, looked back at the TV, and then turned the TV off. He placed the remote back on it’s little stand before bringing those blue eyes of his to look at Tish. ”Are you pregnant?” There. That was the question that he had been trying to find a way to ask every since Kade had told him. Now that he had said it, he realized that it had been a lot easier than he had been making it out to be, but that was usually how things went. Micah was just glad that he could finally have an answer, which he was sure that he already knew the answer to. But, this would open the door to a conversation, and it was one that had been put off entirely too long in what was his honest opinion of the matter.

[tish.ღ.martin]

It’s not my time I’m not going
There’s a fear in me it’s not showing

Tish had had so many things on her mind lately. She’d been struggling with a secret and doing everything that she could to hide what she knew was the complete and total truth. The funny part was, Tish had thought she had been doing a good job covering up her secret. She had thought that up until Brit clearly pointed out that she wasn’t. She should of known that she couldn’t hide it, especially from Brit or the other girls, but that hadn’t stopped her from trying. The thing was, when Tish pushed the sheer terror from her mind, she was actually kind of excited about this thing. The more she thought about it, the more she realized that she really wanted a reason to just stay in one place and relax. She wanted something for herself more than just what she had been living in the past. She hadn’t fully realized that until she moved in with Micah. He had given her a home and a fairly stable foundation to lay her head on, and there weren’t any strings attached. There were nights that Tish could just lay down and go to sleep, and be able to do it alone, with no one else. Since Micah’s relationship with Ali had started, her and him had stayed in their separate rooms. For the first time since leaving Fate she felt like she had a friend in the world again. For a girl like Tish, one friend in this world felt better than anything else in the world.

What was the most shocking thing of all, though, was that she found that there were people here who actually cared about her and what happened in her life, and that she, in fact, cared about them too. She had friends in people she had thought would hate her until the end of time, yet she had found one of them behind her more often than a lot others, and she didn’t quite know how to explain it. Tish wasn’t one who had found friends in many places, and not loyal ones at that. She was always running and always afraid of what was around her, and now she was someplace safe… where she didn’t have to worry about someone trying to hurt her. Tish had always been able to stand up for herself, but having Micah across the hall set her mind at ease in ways that she couldn’t explain. Not that Tish ever said anything about her new found safety and security. That just wouldn’t be Tish, though she was pretty certain that a lot of people understood. She’d stayed in Seattle for several months now, which was a record for her. She was comfortable here, and comfort wasn’t something that she was completely used to.

That comfort had been a welcome change to the usual chaos that made up her life. And now she found herself pregnant, and with no idea who the father was. It didn’t get much worse than that. Just when her world had gotten somewhat nice it had been flipped upside down, and she found herself staring into the headlights once again. The thing was, this was something she couldn’t run away from. She’d never, ever had a problem that she couldn’t run away from. That guy in New Mexico, the drug dealers in Florida, the psycho killer in North Dakota; she’d always been able to run away from them. She’d always been able to find safety somewhere else… if only temporary. And now she was sinking fast into uncharted waters. Tish owed Brit so much. The girl had found out quickly, and had comforted her in ways that she hadn’t thought possible. She was starting to realize that she’d been entirely wrong about Brit for years, and that she’d never truly appreciated the friendship she’d once had from the girl. It was Brit that had encouraged Tish to go to the hospital in the first place to see a doctor, and then helped her pay for it. She’d made sure Tish had what she needed, and helped Tish keep herself clean. Tish had gotten rid of her heroin, and thrown all the syringes out so that she wouldn’t be tempted to go and dip into Micah’s hidden stash. Whenever Tish got to a point when she needed the drug, she found Brit or called Brit or somehow got in touch with Brit. She had a one person support group, but so far she’d managed to stay off of the stuff.

There was just one little problem with keeping this thing under wraps, and that was that she was now starting to show a little. She had retired her usual tight fitting clothes for looser fitting clothing, and had once gone half way down the street before she realized that it was Micah’s shirt she had grabbed before she ran back and had to change. Though he hadn’t been in her bedroom for months now, she still found random articles of clothing that belonged to him from time to time. Anytime she came across something that belonged to him, she’d simply laugh and toss it into his room, then continue with what she was doing to begin with. That wasn’t the point, though. It hadn’t taken long for her whole wardrobe to be made up of baggy shirts and sweat pants. She still wore jeans from time to time, but the whole of her tight fitting, skin revealing tops had been shoved to the back of her closet. It was something that no one seemed to notice, which had surprised her a lot. She’d have figured that they would have. It just went to show how ignored she really was. It seemed that everyone was still reeling in the aftermath of all the things that seemed to go wrong oh so fast. She was just another small blip on the radar, and she knew that her moment of hiding would go up in smoke eventually.

And that moment seemed to be today. Tish had just gone out to pick up some groceries, because they seemed to be out of almost everything. She had just walked through the door and thrown her stuff on the counter when she felt the hair on the back of her neck stand up. She turned to see Micah’s pretty blue eyes looking at her. His gaze went from the TV to her and back again before he finally shut it off and returned his gaze to her. She looked at him questioningly, not completely sure what these looks were for. She hadn’t even started putting the groceries away. It was clear in a second, though, with him uttering only a couple small words. ”Are you pregnant?” Crap. She had thought that he was watching her a lot lately. He had been more observant and interested than usual. She watched him a second, her dark eyes holding his and then she sighed, adverting her gaze. “Who told you? Was it Brit? Or Kade?” Brit had figured it all out, and Tish had told her everything. She hadn’t expected Brit to keep it a secret from Kade either. Brit told Kade everything, and she knew that. Still, she had been hoping that neither of them would tell Micah, that she could do that herself. It seemed that she had put it off too long. Tish had wanted to tell Micah, she had, but she hadn’t found the right time. Everytime she had went to do it, she had froze, or something had happened to divert her from the subject.

Tish slowly moved from the kitchen counter and into the living room, taking a seat on the couch, her hands clasped together between her knees. She let her dark eyes stare at the carpet below her feet before she finally let her gaze drift back to Micah’s blue eyes. She didn’t know what she expected to find there. She had never been here before, and she wasn’t exactly sure what to say or what to do. “I wanted to tell you… I just never seemed to be able to do it.” When she opened her mouth that was all that came out. She bit her lower lip, her eyes not straying from his face. She waited for him to say something… anything really. She couldn’t take the unending silence. “Are you mad?” That was actually her greatest fear at this point. She didn’t know how he would react, and she was almost certain that he’d figured out that there was a great possibility that it was his. She’d seen Micah’s temper maybe once or twice… and it had never been pretty. Tish had always vowed to never be on that side of it, and she really didn’t want to start now. She knew that she should have told him… but it just hadn’t worked out. There was nothing that she could do to change that now.

[micah orsino ,]

It was very true that Micah was a man that had experienced a lot of women in his time. He was twenty-two years old, but he had already lived a very full and exciting life. In his own home town, a sleepy little place, Micah had managed to raise all sorts of hell and have so much fun in those first eighteen years. After that, he’d left and found a new life for himself. He’d traveled the world, seen parts of it that some people only imagine getting to see. He had held many women in his arms, and had loved and let them go. Most of them, he had let go and not even known their last name. Some of them were just faces without names, seeing as he had been so drunk or caught up in it that he just hadn’t caught a name at all. With all of those women, he had been lucky in more than one way. He was careful about what he did, and he wasn’t about to father a child that grow up not knowing who their real father was. Protection was a must for Micah, but he knew that sometimes, the condoms didn’t always work. He had been lucky in the way of never getting a call that he needed to come be subjected to a paternity test for a boy or girl that had been born to one of those women that he had been with once upon a time. But, in light of recent events, Micah couldn’t help but to wonder. He knew that some of those women wouldn’t have remembered his name. What if something had happened, and they didn’t know who to call? Or, what if they were like Tish and just didn’t tell him about it? Maybe they thought that their child was better off not knowing the wild, eccentric man that had mated their mother and then left without so much as a second glance backward. It was possible that Micah had a son or a daughter out there, and he didn’t even know it. There really wasn’t anything that he could about that fact, though. There was no way that he could call up each and every woman that he had ever been with and ask. Micah had definitely thought about it, but he knew that there was no good and easy way to call and be all, “So, you don’t have any kids that could possibly be mine, do you?”

Throughout all of it, there had only been one time that Micah had ever gone through a pregnancy scare. It had been his senior year of high school, and he had been dating this girl that was in his class. Melanie Teague had been her name, and the two had had a great thing going. She was fun, smart, energetic, and the two were just a good match. They’d been voted class couple, even though they had only been together for a couple of months. Everything had been going so well. Her family loved him, his family loved her. Micah was really happy with it, and so had she. Only, that all came crashing down one night when she had come over to sit with him on his back porch and look up at the stars. It was something that they did often, something that gave them a chance to cuddle and whisper sweet things and do all the little sweet things that couples that age did. Only, Melanie hadn’t been so happy. She wasn’t talking, and every time she looked at Micah, it looked like tears were about ready to spill out of those dark eyes of hers. Micah had asked her what was wrong, but she claimed that it was nothing. It was later when she finally found the courage to tell him that she was late, and that she thought she might have messed up and missed a pill. Damn. Micah had taken it well, though, and they had gone out to supposedly get some ice cream. That was the story they spun for his parents, anyway. They had really gone down to a local drug store, but three pregnancy tests, and a liter of Coke. Melanie drank and took the tests, two coming back negative but one coming back positive. It would have been so much better had they all been negative. That one positive left them paranoid, and that meant going to one of the women’s clinics the next day for another test. As it turned out, Melanie wasn’t pregnant, which was a relief to the both of them. But, the scare left Mel distant, and Micah still thinks to this day that it was the reason she let him go so easily as she did after graduation.

That was one of the women that he had called lately. Not to find out if she had any children that were his, but to talk. This whole situation had brought back the memory of their scare, and had brought back some good times that they had shared as well. She had sounded more than glad to hear from him, most people in his hometown not knowing of his whereabouts for nearly two years now except for the occasional e-mail or postcard that he sent. She was glad to hear that he hadn’t died on one of his dangerous excursions, and she was happy to hear that he was doing well. He left out the part about the drug dealing and the murders, telling her that he had his apartment that he was sharing with Tish and a job at a bar ran by no other than Kade Trent. Melanie knew all of these people, and she was interested in hearing about them too. Micah learned that she was engaged to some tourist that had come into town and found a reason to stay. She asked about him, and he had told her that he was seeing someone and that it was a serious relationship. Melanie had liked hearing that, hearing that Micah had finally found a girl that kept him standing still instead of always running to the next place that came to mind. Then, Micah told her that yes, it was a good thing, but then there was this other girl that was pregnant with there being a chance that it was his child too. That she had tried to comfort him in, telling him not to stress and to just let it be. If it was his child, it was his child. There was nothing that anyone could do about it now. Melanie had always been good like that, finding the good and not getting hung up on things. Micah had doubted that when their pregnancy scare had seemed to push her away from him, but he could understand that now. She had only been seventeen years old. Of course she had been scared to death. Her parents would have been pissed right the hell off, and she was in such terror of the idea for the fact that she was still young and had her life ahead of her. She hadn’t gotten hung up, nor had she blamed Micah, but she had gotten a taste of what her life might have been like and she had decided that wasn’t the way she wanted it to be.

It had been a pep talk, and Micah had appreciated it more than Melanie could have possibly known. They hung up after what was probably around a hour and a half phone conversation, and Micah had felt a little bit better. He had felt kind of bad that he had called up an ex from nearly three years ago to talk about his problems with rather than talk to his current girlfriend, but there was no way that Ali would understand this. For one, she had never been there. For two, she was already sore about the fact that Micah lived with Tish. She was always hinting that she wanted Micah to move into that ridiculously huge mansion of hers, but he wouldn’t abandon Tish like that. Micah wanted to be with Ali. Most people just didn’t see it because the two were so different, but there was something about the girl that just made him want more. He wanted to tell her and to vent all of his problems to her, but he couldn’t do it yet. Part of it was him not wanting to hear her bitch and complain about it like he knew she would. Part of his was afraid that she would break off their relationship. He was going to have to tell her, though, and he most definitely would. It was going to be hard, but he’d do it. He probably wouldn’t tell her about the phone call that he had made to Melanie, though. Just to keep things simple. It was bad enough that Tish was pregnant and that there was a good chance the baby was his. Telling Ali that he had also called up an ex that he had thought that he had gotten pregnant years ago would really make her want to turn around and walk away from him. It was true that Micah didn’t make things easy for their relationship, but she had her faults as well. And she was most certainly learning what it was like not to have a man that made things easy for her.

Ali was usually the woman that was number one on his mind, but Tish was keeping that spot occupied at the moment. Micah and Tish still talked as much as they ever did now that he was with Ali. They saw each other everyday, and worked beside one another at Jared’s almost every night. She was still his best friend, and he was still hers. It was just amazing to Micah that he had missed this. But, she had done a good job of hiding it, too. Had they still been sleeping together like they used to, he was sure that he would have noticed it. Ali was in the picture now, though, and Micah was a loyal man that didn’t cheat. There had been moments when he and Ali were just starting out that Tish has been a major temptation to him, but he had held fast to what he thought was a relationship with high potential, and it had paid off. Still, now he wished that he would have at least taken a peek at her or something. There had to be a bump that she was hiding, and he would have seen it and known about it rather than having to be told by another one of his friends. Tish seemed to put that together as soon as she heard the question that had left his lips. That could have been taken as an insult. What, he wasn’t smart enough to figure it out on his own? Did she really think that he couldn’t put it together, or was it that she thought that she had so little of his attention these days that he just wouldn’t notice? Micah hadn’t noticed, this was true, but in all fairness, he hadn’t known what he was supposed to be looking for. Who had told him that she was pregnant? Was it a good idea to tell her? Micah didn’t want her to be upset with the person that had told him, but he really couldn’t see himself lying to Tish. ”Kade. But, Brit was the one that told him, if you want to get technical about it.” She had probably figured as much. Kade and Brit didn’t have secrets, especially not after what they had just been through. If Brit knew something, Kade was bound to know it. And, Kade probably felt sorry for Micah and thought he’d be the friend to break the news to him.

In that way of answering, Tish had told Micah that yes, she was pregnant. There was no denying it, and no beating around the bush. Micah’s question had been blunt. It was only fitting that her answer be that way too. Micah didn’t really feel any different with her confirmation of it, though. Shock might have been there had he not already known, but he had known. He still felt anxious, a little bit of fear, but there was excitement mixed in there along with the rest of it. Why or how that had gotten in there, he had no idea. His blue eyes stayed on her as she moved slowly from the kitchen into the living room, taking a seat on the couch. He leaned forward a bit in his recliner, watching as she didn’t make eye contact with him at first. The silence was about to drive him crazy. She had just told him that she was pregnant and he thought that there should definitely be more talking going on. She hadn’t been quiet all that long, but Tish then spoke, her eyes finally looking up at him. Micah listened as she told him that she had wanted to tell him sooner. He could see that. It was something that was a big deal, and she was probably really scared. He was quiet then himself, waiting for her to say something else. She seemed to be waiting for him to say something, but once again she was the one to break the silence first. Her question was what brought shock out in him. Micah almost didn’t believe that she had asked it, and wanted to think that it was just a misunderstanding. But, he knew he’d heard her, and that she had asked if he was mad at her. Micah got up from the recliner and moved to take a seat beside of Tish on the couch, sitting so that he was turned facing her, and taking her hands into his. ”Tish, in all the years that I have known you, I’ve never once been mad at you.” His voice was soft and low, kind of sweet but with a serious undertone. He wanted her to know that he meant it as he looked into those pretty eyes of her.

”I’ve worried about you, I’ve been annoyed at you for some of the stupid things that you’ve done, but I can’t be mad at you. You’re my best friend. Even this, you keeping something like this from me doesn’t make me mad. It just makes me wonder why you didn’t think that you could tell me about it.” That pretty much summed it up. When Tish went out partying, he worried over her. Micah knew that she was a big girl and could handle herself, but if someone slipped her the wrong kind of drug or drink, he knew would could happen. He was annoyed that she seemed to think so little of herself at times and let man after man use her when she clearly could do better, but anger wasn’t an emotion that he could ever feel for this girl. ”And you know, it doesn’t even matter if I’m…involved in it or not. I’m going to be here for you and this baby. You better believe that this kid is going to have to put up with my crazy ass and learn all kinds of bad habits from me.” This was when his lips turned up into a smile, this tone taking on a more easy going and relaxed sound as he spoke. Micah wasn’t one to stay serious for very long if he could help it, and just like Melanie had said, there was nothing that they could do about this now. What’s done is done. It was time to accept it and take it for what it was. ”Now let me see that bump you’ve been hiding,” he practically demanded, his voice showing some of that excitement that he felt bubbling up inside of him. He looked down to her stomach for a moment before looking back up at her. ”So are your boobs any bigger? How far along are you? Do you know?” Micah had no idea how anyone knew how far along they were, but he wanted to know if Tish knew and how much longer he had to wait. As for the part about her boobs, well, that was Micah for you. It was odd how excited he felt now that he was actually talking about this with Tish, but that was also a Micah thing for you.

[tish.ღ.martin]

It’s not my time I’m not going
There’s a fear in me it’s not showing

Tish had known so many guys in the twenty years of life that she had lived. She’d never experienced anything that she could really consider a relationship with anyone, and most of the time she had found herself in a different guy’s bed every night. The closest Tish had ever come to a real relationship was one of her few friends with benefits. No one had ever really considered Tish the kind of girl that they wanted to spend a good portion of their time with, and she’d never bothered to win their affection. There had been one guy in her past, but he was psychotic, and one of the many that wished her ill. Tish had the tendency to ruffle feathers in all the wrong places, and she had upset more than one person in her life. It was because of her ability to irritate people that she’d killed the guy in New Mexico. He’d threatened her life, and she had fought back. An accident and fight in self defense by all means, but that didn’t mean that it hadn’t scared the hell out of Tish. If it hadn’t been for Micah, Tish would have had to deal with police and lawyers and might even be in jail at this point. Pretty girls never do good in prison, especially pretty girls like Tish. She’d gotten out of that one by the skin of her teeth really, and no one in the sleepy little town was any wiser. Still, that wasn’t the first time that Micah Orsino had saved Tish’s ass, and it certainly hadn’t been the last.

In all her years, Tish had never found someone that she could connect with as well as she did with Micah. He was her best friend by a long shot, if not simply for the fact that he knew everything there possibly was to know about her. A lot of those things weren’t pretty, and most of them could probably land her in jail for life, but she knew her secrets were safe with Micah, just as his were with her. Tish would never, ever tell anyone anything that could harm Micah. She’d never even put herself in the position where she could. She’d easily put herself in harm’s way if it would protect him, and she had a funny idea that he would do the same for her. She’d never met anyone so loyal to her, and for a while that had been shocking to her. She’d never done anything to get that from him, and she couldn’t even tell you how they’d become friends. It had all just happened, and she was kind of thankful that it had. Tish honestly didn’t know what she’d do without the boy, and she had so much to thank him for. That was kind of a mushy thought for Tish, and you’d never once hear her say it out loud. The fact that Tish could care even somewhat for someone’s well being was shocking in itself, and she wasn’t about to give people the shock of their lives to find out that Tish’s heart wasn’t as cold as they thought it was.

”Kade. But, Brit was the one that told him, if you want to get technical about it.” Tish had figured as much. Surprisingly enough, she wasn’t mad about it. She would have rather told him herself, but considering how she had recently failed at every attempt she figured this was probably for the best. Tish wasn’t upset with Brit or Kade. She should have known that it would get to him before she could tell him. That just seemed to be the way things happened. This feeling was weird for Tish, though. Fear wasn’t something she regularly experienced, and she’d been in plenty of positions to be afraid. Right now, though, sitting on that couch with Micah watching her, well, it damn near scared her to death. Maybe it was because this was about as deep as Tish had ever gotten as far as feelings went. She’d never really opened up to anyone, even Micah, about how she was feeling, and somehow this was more personal than anything she’d ever done with him. Then there was also the fact that it wasn’t just her life that she was messing with, but his, and possibly another guy’s. Tish had no way of knowing whose baby she carried, though she secretly knew whose she wanted it to be. It’d be less painful for everyone that way. The thought that it might be Kale’s kid made her shutter. That wasn’t a place she wanted to go. Ever. That man didn’t deserve to reproduce. What was the Lord above THINKING when he gave Kale that ability, anyway?

”Tish, in all the years that I have known you, I’ve never once been mad at you.” That rather long sentence filled Tish with so much relief that she didn’t know exactly how to express it. She was sure that it showed through in her eyes, though, and so she felt that there was no need for words. That was true, Micah had never once been mad at her, though there were probably some times that he had every right to be so. Tish wasn’t perfect, and she sometimes did things that she really shouldn’t. For the most part, though, there were people out there that had more reason to be mad at her than Micah did. Tish also realized that any other guy in Micah’s position would probably be furious and about ready to ring her neck. But that wasn’t Micah, and Tish knew that. Still, it didn’t stop her from worrying. ”I’ve worried about you, I’ve been annoyed at you for some of the stupid things that you’ve done, but I can’t be mad at you. You’re my best friend. Even this, you keeping something like this from me doesn’t make me mad. It just makes me wonder why you didn’t think that you could tell me about it.” Tish lowered her gaze, looking at where he held her hands in his, them warming her colder ones. It seemed like her hands were always cold nowadays, though she was pretty sure that was from the emotions soaring through her and not so much because of the baby. Tish knew that Micah worried about her. He was the only one that ever had. And she knew that she had managed to annoy him at times, though there probably wasn’t a person in the world that could say she hadn’t done the same to them. Hearing that he couldn’t be mad at her relieved her too, in ways she would never be able to say, and she kind of relaxed a little bit.

Tish herself wondered why she hadn’t been able to tell Micah now that he finally knew. It wasn’t anywhere near as bad as she thought it would be, but Tish knew deep down why she hadn’t told him. She had been a burden in his life since the day she had come to Seattle. He had welcomed her into his home… and his bed as it might be… and had never once wanted anything in return for it. Anything that he did concerning how they lived he checked with her first, and she had a funny feeling that if it were not for her he’d be living with Ali. She felt like she held him back from things, and caused him to worry about things that he didn’t have to. She hadn’t wanted to burden him with any more of her problems, and she knew it. She hadn’t wanted him to have to deal with this, even if it was his kid. She knew, though, that she should have told him and given him the choice on whether he wanted to be involved. She knew that he would be, though, because that was just how Micah was. He wouldn’t leave her hanging or alone in this world. Even when they had been separated and miles away from the other he hadn’t left her out to dry. He’d always been there for her when she asked him to be, even if it was just over the phone. ”And you know, it doesn’t even matter if I’m…involved in it or not. I’m going to be here for you and this baby. You better believe that this kid is going to have to put up with my crazy ass and learn all kinds of bad habits from me.” For some reason, this brought tears to her eyes. No one had ever been so kind and caring to her. Never, ever. It wasn’t something she was necessarily used to.

And as far as the baby learning bad habits from Micah… well, it’d have a lot to learn from Tish too. It wasn’t a secret that Tish was no saint, and wasn’t necessarily either. Micah didn’t have to be around for the child to learn bad habits. Still, the words brought a smile to her lips, and she felt so stupid for worrying over this whole thing. She released one of her hands from his and brushed her own tears away. She wasn’t even totally sure why she was crying at this point. She knew that they were happy tears. The knots in her stomach had unwound itself, and she felt a little bit lighter than she had originally. Micah’s next words caught her off guard, and she couldn’t help but laugh when she heard them. ”Now let me see that bump you’ve been hiding.” Tish didn’t hesitate. She grinned at him and then slowly lifted her shirt up so that her stomach was showing. There you could clearly see her “baby bump.” She looked over at Micah as she saw him looking at her, and then watched his blue eyes come to her face. ”So are your boobs any bigger? How far along are you? Do you know?” She laughed again, letting her shirt fall down over her stomach again. She shook her head at him, seeing that the moment between them was completely gone. That was how it was with Micah, though, totally serious one minute, and completely insane the next. She’d once wondered if he was bi-polar or had some other behavioral problem. Then she’d learned that that was just Micah, and the fact that he could take anything serious should have been the biggest shock of all.

“Well, I don’t know about my boobs…” she left it at that, giving him that look that said he’d have to figure it out for himself, though for once she was just kidding. That in itself felt weird to her. It was probably the first time she’d went in that direction and actually not meant it. What was this world coming too? “But, I’m six months, according to the doctor Brit took me too.” She held his gaze. Six months was such a long time ago. It was hard to believe that she had been here that long. She had never been in one place for more than a couple of weeks, and here she’d been in Seattle for more than six months. Anyone who knew anything about Tish would know that that was something of a miracle, and she wasn’t entirely sure what had kept her here that long. She guessed that she liked having the foundation under her feet. Here with Micah was the closest thing to a home she’d had since she was young, and she actually kind of liked that feeling. There were people here that she cared about, and who she was fairly certain cared about her. In the end, it always seemed that what they said was true. Every girl eventually wanted to be wanted, to have someone care about them and maybe even love them. Tish knew that love wasn’t in her forecast, but having people that cared about her was more than she could have ever hoped for.

“Micah I…” she hesitated a minute, searching for the right words to say. She couldn’t quite figure out how exactly to express what she wanted to say. “… I want to thank you. For being here for me.” She figured that only he would realize how much that truly meant to her. After all, Micah did know everything. She offered him another smile, then leaned forward and wrapped her arms around his neck, finally giving in to the urge she had to hug him. It was kind of funny for Tish, resisting urges. She’d never done that before either. When she felt his arms around her, it was then that she realized just how much she’d needed that. Not just the hug, but for someone to be there for her. She’d never have asked him to do it, even if she had wanted it more than anything else. It wasn’t like Tish to ask for things, especially things she didn’t feel she deserved. Her old friend self doubt there again, shouting in her ear. It was true that Tish always thought little of herself, that she didn’t deserve anything except for what she got. Living on the streets, selling herself. That’s what she had always felt she deserved, and nothing more. She certainly didn’t feel like she deserved someone as great as Micah in her life. That probably was the only thing that made her cling to him more than she did to anyone else. She was just too selfish to let her friend go. She sighed softly, and suddenly the tears were back in her eyes, finding herself bringing them back to that serious moment they’d been in only moments before. “I’m really scared, Micah. Terrified.” She never would have said that to anyone else. It was the truth, though. She was terrified by what was to come, and what was already happening, and she had no idea how to deal with it.

[micah orsino ,]

Micah knew that he had been around when his mother had been pregnant with his younger siblings. He hadn’t been old enough to remember much about the time she had been pregnant with Tyler, but he did remember some of when she had been pregnant with Michelle and Michael. Not that he was all that interested in it, then. He just knew that Mommy’s belly had gotten bigger and somehow that meant that he was going to have another baby brother or sister to put up with. Other than that, Micah hadn’t ever been around a pregnant woman. Sure, he knew the gist of the idea and what happened and all, but he really didn’t know anything about what one was supposed to do or anything. That was something that he was kind of worried about with Tish. He was sure that she didn’t have a lot of knowledge of the subject either, and he sure as hell didn’t know what to do to help her. He knew that there were no drugs or drinking for her, and that she would have to carry the baby nine months, but that was really about it. Well, other than the delivery of the baby was something very painful and that he should be glad that he was the male in the equation and not the one trying to push the baby out. That was a lesson that he’d learned in health class after being forced to watch “The Miracle of Life,“ and he’d never forgotten it. Women really were the stronger of the sexes. He wasn’t afraid to admit it. But, other than that and what he’d needed to know to pass health class, he’d never had to know anything else about it. It’s not really something that one just does research on in their spare time, though Micah knew that he’d be looking for some information on it now, seeing as he found himself in a place where knowing it would be pretty important.

Seeing as he really wasn’t all that well informed about what was going on with Tish or this baby, Micah should have been scared out of his little mind. Not only for himself and the fact that this might be his child, but for Tish and what was going to be happening with her, too. Her body was harboring another life into this world. She was the one that was going to have to go through all of that pain, and after that her life would have to be completely different. Micah knew that she had quit using heroin and stopped drinking for the time being. That in itself was a huge change, and a major accomplishment. But, just because she wasn’t pregnant anymore didn’t mean that she was going to be able to fall back into that kind of lifestyle. Her priorities would have to change; he life would have to change. Micah should have been terrified in that moment, knowing how his friend had been living. She had moved from place to place, selling her body in exchange for food and a place to stay. And her drugs. She was a flirtatious little thing that liked to play around with men, which had gotten her here in the first place. She rarely had a good roof over her head, and the foundation beneath her feet wasn’t the greatest. Though, since having been in Seattle, Tish had changed a lot of that around. She was still the same Tish, but she had stayed here and let Micah take care of her by letting her stay in their shared apartment without paying him any kind of rent. She had a job that paid well enough, and Micah wanted her to keep that money for herself. It was all part of his little plan to help her get on her feet on her own without her realizing it, but he was sure that she could probably piece it together. She had her own money, and therefore could leave that old life behind. It had just been the matter of getting her to drop that old life. This baby coming along might just be the ticket.

Maybe that’s why he really wasn’t as terrified as he should have been, though. He knew that Tish, along with all the help and support she was bound to get from her friends here, could do this. And no matter how it turned out, if he was this baby’s father or not, he was going to be able to do it, too. Aliana might get pissed at him for putting in so much time with Tish and the baby, but she was just going to have to learn to share and to deal with it. Micah almost hated putting his foot down with that woman because she just wasn’t used to being told no. It always started fights, but they had made it through enough fights that now there wasn’t really anything else left to fight about. Anyway, this wasn’t about her. If she and Micah stayed together, he was sure that she would be involved with the baby in some way, shape, or form, but right now she didn’t have a say. Micah had already made up his mind, and anyone that knew him knew what that meant. He was a stubborn man. He wasn’t stubborn past the point of reason or logic, but once his mind was made up about something, there was no way in hell that he was going to change it unless he had a very good reason to do so. Micah could see no such reason coming in at any time with this situation. Tish was someone that meant a lot to Micah, and he was a very loyal man. He put his friends and family first always, taking care of himself last. Ali was also one of these people. Micah loved Ali, and he’d do most anything for her, but he had to take care of Tish as well. Ali was just going to have to see that Micah could balance it all without him cheating or her somehow finding a way to think that it was him wanting to leave her. All sorts of drama was coming their way out this one, he knew. Yay for them.

God, he really needed to stop worrying about him and Ali. Though, worry wasn’t really the prominent emotion that was coursing through him, nor was it fear. Micah just felt happy, and excited. He and Tish had just shared in one of the few serious moments that had ever occurred between them, and now they were back to being themselves. Well, Micah was at least. He wanted to get involved with this pregnancy. He wanted to know what was going on and how things were going. Hell, he’d be thrilled if she asked him to tag along to a doctor’s appointment, and he’d be the most freaking happy man on the planet if he got to be there when this baby was born. He wasn’t going to ask for these things, though. Those were personal decisions that Tish would have to make. If she wanted him there, she would ask. Micah was usually pushy and let it be known to the people around him what he wanted, but he would take the back seat on this one. But, surely should understand if he just dropped a few subtle hints here and there. Why wouldn’t he want to be with her through this? When they had all been living in Fate, North Carolina, they were always together for just about everything. Micah and Tish had shared everything, and he had helped her through some things that a lot of other people would have turned away from and put her directly in prison for. Why wouldn’t he want to be there and help her through this one, something that was so much more of a big deal than anything else that they had ever been through? Micah might not know a lot about pregnancies and all that, but he knew about babies. He was great with them, and he was already getting excited about being Uncle Micah again, or Daddy, whichever it may be, and getting to be with Tish’s baby.

He had let her tears go uncalled, knowing that she didn’t cry often and that she was probably hating the fact that she was doing it now. Instead, Micah had gone on and requested to see what she’d been hiding all this time. Seeing that little belly on her was just too cute, and Micah hadn’t been able to help but to smile. Tish had always been thin, never seeming to put on one single pound. When she had lifted up her shirt for him to see, there was a visible bump there. Not huge like what she would eventually be, but it was something that would have most certainly been seen has she still been wearing those skin tight shirts of hers. But, his mind had been racing, and he had asked her his questions. She laughed, and he was glad to see that smile on her face and to hear it. What? She didn’t know about her boobs? The look that she gave him told him that she wasn’t going to tell him anything else and that it was up to him to figure it out. Well, how the hell was he supposed to do that? It’s not like she was wearing shirts that would let him see it easily, and he didn’t think that groping her to find out was a good idea. But, if she’d let him… No, Ali would definitely shoot him for that. His mind was taken away from such thoughts when she told him how far along she was. Six months. That seemed like a long time, and it seemed to Micah that she should definitely be bigger than she was. Was there something wrong with the baby? No, she would have told him that, right? She would have just told him when she was telling him everything else. Maybe it was just different with everyone. He didn’t know. But six months seemed like such a long time. To him, it didn’t feel like she had been in Seattle that long. It didn’t feel like he had been in the city that long. But, when he took a moment to think about it, he knew that it was right, and that six months ago, he and Tish had been sharing a bed here and there. She was pregnant by someone she had met in this city, and Micah’s name was on the list.

When Tish spoke and said her thanks to him, Micah just smiled back to her. ”It’s not a problem, and it’s not like you really have a choice.” That was true. Micah would go to any extreme to make sure that she was taken care of. And, when she had first shown up in the city, she had tried to say that she was just going to go out and see where she ended up staying. Micah had seen right through it. That meant she was going to go do her usual exchange of sex for a place to stay that night, and he didn’t even want to hear about it. He’d practically made her stay with him, and after that, he didn’t let her try to talk him out of his offer to let her stay there. Micah was always there for her. Even when he had been traveling around the world, it was Tish that he always tried to look up first when he got to a point where he could try to get a hold of someone. Sometimes he found her, sometimes she was moving around almost as much as he was and he couldn’t figure out where she had went to. But, he had always made it be known to her that he would be there as soon as it was humanly possible to be if she needed him. Then, Tish leaned forward and wrapped her arms around his neck. Well, this was something that he hadn’t seen coming. The last time that he had held her hadn’t been in such an innocent, friendly way. Tish Martin wasn’t one to hug just anyone when there weren’t other things meant by it, and Micah felt special to have her embrace now. He didn’t hesitate in letting his arms wrap gently around her middle, holding her as close as he could but remembering that she was a bit more fragile now and taking that into consideration. He just held her there, letting her find all the comfort in him that she needed to find. Tish wasn’t one to ask for help or anything of the sort, so Micah would let her have whatever she wanted while she was letting so much of her emotions and vulnerable side be shown to him.

It was when he heard a sight pass through her lips that he knew that the slight moment of energy and happiness had turned back over to a serious one. That was fine. Micah didn’t do serious often, but he would be whatever she needed him to be. Her admission, though, made him flip right back over into that mode without even having to think much about it. Tish didn’t tell just anyone that she was scared, nor was she a woman to admit her fears. This was major, and Micah almost didn’t know what to do with it. He sat in silence for a moment, letting one of his hands run soothingly up and down her back. ”Me too,” he said finally, his voice back to that soft tone that it had held before. ”But it’s okay, Tish. If you ever had a right to be scared, it would be now. Just know that I’m not going to let anything happen to you or your baby. You couldn’t get rid of me even if you wanted to.” If she hadn’t learned that by now, then she really didn’t know much about him. But, Micah knew that she knew it. He had this annoying persistency about him, and he was just that loyal. Once someone was his friend, he would do anything that he could for them. That was just the way that he had always been. Micah still held her gently in his arms, a little silence coming between them. He didn’t want her to focus on things that were negative, though. Instead, he wanted her thinking of good things, and he was just the one to get her back to it. ”Do you know if it’s a boy or a girl? Thought of any names yet?” he asked, his voice still soft and comforting. He still felt that excitement in him, him really wanting to know the answers to these questions as well as knowing that they would get Tish’s mind in a better place than thinking of how terrifying this really was.

[tish.ღ.martin]

It’s not my time I’m not going
There’s a fear in me it’s not showing

”It’s not a problem, and it’s not like you really have a choice.” Tish couldn’t help but smile at this. Micah was going to be there for her. He was going to stand by her side and be there with her through all of this. That brought her more joy than she could really explain. Tish had never had anyone insist that they would be there for her, and it was a feeling that she didn’t want to get used to. Micah wasn’t always going to be there to bail her out. She’d love to think that he would. She’d love to think that he’d always be around to take care of her, but she knew that wouldn’t happen, and she’d be stupid for thinking that he would. Tish had accepted a long time ago that the only one there to look after her was her. She’d managed to keep her life going and managed to stay alive. She hadn’t done things in the best way, and she certainly hadn’t been the best person, but she’d made it this far on her own. She knew that if it hadn’t been for Micah, though, that she wouldn’t feel a lot of the things that she was feeling. She knew that if he hadn’t stepped in and taken it upon himself to look after her that she’d be worse off. Still, she didn’t want to get used to the way things were, mostly because she knew that it just wouldn’t last. Eventually everyone would go their separate ways, and she would be left by herself once again, staring into the unknown.

Except now she’d have a child by her side. She’d have to care for a baby, and help it grow. Could she really do that? She knew she couldn’t do it the way that she had been living before, and she knew that she would never be able to do it alone. Tish had come a long ways from where she’d been before, and what would happen when she had this baby? She didn’t know if she’d manage to stay off of everything she’d given up, and whether or not she’d be able to take care of a kid. Tish had never been around kids, except for her younger sister. But she’d never had to deal with the baby stuff. She’d been young when her parents died, and she had no idea how to raise a child properly. She’d been thrown into a world that made her grow up faster than she had too, and she knew that that wasn’t the way a child, any child, should be raised. She would never, ever let her kid be put into the same position that she herself had been in. She didn’t talk about those days much, but they were some of the worst in her life. She’d never let on to how much those days had scared her and how much they’d hurt her. All she could do was make sure that her own child never had to go through that, and she’d do anything to make that not happen. Tish didn’t know if she could do it, though. They say that every woman has this instinct to them that tells them how to be a good mother; that most women just know how to be a mother. Tish wasn’t so sure if that was true, because just thinking about it made her come up blank. It terrified her in ways that she’d never felt before, and hoped she’d never feel again.

”Me too.” Tish was surprised by that. The thought that Micah Orsino was afraid of anything was enough to make anyone laugh. Micah wasn’t afraid of anything, anything at all. In all the years she’d known him, he’d never once been afraid of anything, even stuff that common sense would of told him to be afraid of. The thought that he was afraid of her unborn child was almost laughable. How come something so small, and not even born yet, scare Micah? Tish felt his hand running up and down her back, and she couldn’t help but feel comforted by that. Just having him that close to her made her feel ten times better. It was like holding him close made her realize that he was really there, and that he wasn’t going to leave her. Tish kept waiting for Micah to get tired of their embrace and push her away, but he never did, and she wasn’t totally ready to let him go. Instead, she held him just a little bit tighter, not realizing that she even did it at first. She couldn’t help it, though. Micah had been so good to her, and she didn’t deserve any of it. A part of her kept waiting for him to just wake up and realize that she didn’t deserve what he had given her, and to kick her out. It was one of her greatest fears, that he would turn her away, but she didn’t voice it. She kept that to herself, and she always would.

”But it’s okay, Tish. If you ever had a right to be scared, it would be now. Just know that I’m not going to let anything happen to you or your baby. You couldn’t get rid of me even if you wanted to.” If he was trying to stop her tears, he wasn’t succeeding at all. Her tears flowed a little quicker from her eyes, and she buried her head on his shoulder, feeling bad for the tears that she soaked his shirt with, but unable to pull herself together. Tish didn’t want to get rid of Micah, though, so she figured that him leaving anytime soon was something she didn’t have to worry about anytime soon. Not only that, but his promise that he wouldn’t let anything happen to her or the baby… that was what had gotten to her the most. Anyone else might not realize what that meant. Micah did, obviously, but the fact that he was willing to make that promise… that he was willing to be there for her. There weren’t any words for that that she could think of to explain how much that meant to her. She would probably never be able to say it, either. Not to mention the fact that she’d never, ever be able to pay Micah back for anything that he had done for her. The thing was, she felt like he didn’t even care whether or not she managed to pay him back. He seemed to do things for her to pick her up in this world. When she lost her ground and stumbled he always seemed to catch her, and only once she’d regained her footing did he let her go out on her own. She couldn’t think of anyone else that would have done the same things for her.

”Do you know if it’s a boy or a girl? Thought of any names yet?” Was that excitement that she heard in his voice? She knew he was changing the subject, and she was really grateful. She took a moment to gather herself up before she finally managed to pull away from Micah’s embrace. She offered him a smile, then wiped the tears from her eyes and face again. When she’d collected herself completely, she looked over at him. “I don’t know. They wanted to tell me, but I didn’t want to know.” She didn’t know why she didn’t want to know, but she just didn’t. She wanted to wait and find out when the baby was born. She didn’t want to know before then. “I kind of hope it’s a girl, though. I don’t think I could handle a guy like me… or the possible fathers.” That was a scary thought right there. She would hope that a girl would be easier tamed, and easier to control. But, then again, it hadn’t worked for her. Still, that didn’t stop her from hoping for it. “As for names… not really. I really like name Lily… for a girl… but other than that I don’t really know.” She leaned back and rested her head on the back of the couch, her dark eyes not leaving him. She was quiet for a minute, then decided to go ahead and ask her question. “Any suggestions?” She grinned up at him. If there was anyone in this world that deserved the right to pick out names for her child, whether he was the father or not, it was Micah. He was her best friend, and he had offered to help her out and look after her and her son/daughter. If that didn’t give him a right to have a say in something as simple as names, then she didn’t know what did.

[micah orsino ,]

This was just so different. Micah and Tish weren’t like this. Ever. He couldn’t even really remember the first time that he had met this beautiful, red haired girl, but he knew that from that day on, these kind of moments just didn’t happen. Micah was so fun loving and just plain out crazy sometimes that he really didn’t seem like he could be serious. Some people looked at him that way; that he was just the goof and the guy you went to when you were looking for a fun time. For the most part, they were very right to look at him that way. He was always good for entertainment, loving to tell jokes and sometimes saying things that were funny without even really meaning it. Then, there was the fact that he was the king of throwing parties. When Micah Orsino had one, everyone was there just because they knew that there would be liquor out the ass and it was bound to be wild and fun. And then when it wasn’t his party that Micah was at, he was always one of the lives of it. He knew how to party and do it right. He was just one of those fun guys that nothing ever seemed to phase. He did things and took dares that no one else would even consider, and he always pulled off the best pranks. Hell, this was the guy that had gotten away with arson and murder, though that wasn’t a well known fact at all. He was just that kind of guy. It was the serious side that they didn’t often see, and a side that Micah didn’t chose to take up often either. Him serious was often considered to be a scary thing. When Micah got serious about something, you knew that it was a big deal and something that wasn’t to be taken lightly.

Tish was a lot like Micah in that kind of aspect. She was a fun loving girl that always tended to be the life of the party no matter what. That’s probably what helped her and Micah become as close as they are. They’re lifestyles were similar, and that kind of let their personalities mesh well together, too. Plus, Micah knew Tish. Her emotions weren’t something that she shared to easily. She rarely opened up to anyone, and tended to be one of those girls that pulled on a mask. She could be whoever someone wanted to be as long as it meant that she didn’t have to reveal who she really was to them. That’s how Micah thought of it, at least. She was always true to the person that she was, but she went out of her to keep people from knowing that too. It was complicated, something that one only figures out about the girl after being around her like Micah had been. The whole idea behind all this, though, is that Micah and Tish just didn’t get serious. Look at the relationship that they had. Micah didn’t know how their little friends with benefits thing had started, either, though he was very sure that they had both been drunk at the time. They had slept together time and time again, but neither of them had ever breathed a word of it turning into something more serious than what it was. That wasn’t something that either of them had wanted, and to them it wasn’t a big deal. They were friends that shared in casual sex from time to time. Why sit down and talk about it and just ruin the good thing that they had going for them? That was what Micah had always thought when it came to it. Some of his friends had wondered how he was able to take it as easily as he did, but it was never anything major to him. He and Tish just weren’t like that. They were in it for the fun of it all; no emotions or seriousness involved.

All of that explained why this was odd, different, and new. Tish and Micah had had their serious moments before, like when he told her about his crimes, or when she told him about hers. Those were always serious because they knew how much trouble they could get in if they got caught. Plus, Tish knew that Micah didn’t like killing or burning down houses or whatever else he had done. He did it when he was mad or angry, or felt that it was something that had to be done. He didn’t regret any of it because he could always justify his actions, but he knew what he did affected more than just those that he’d gone after. That’s what bothered him sometimes, but he was able to push it away from his mind easily most days. Then, Micah knew that Tish hadn’t meant to kill that guy in New Mexico. She hadn’t meant to do a lot of things, and she didn’t like a lot of the things that she did. Those were the only serious times that they had gotten, and sometimes they were even able to joke about it, making it not really serious at all. This moment that they were sharing in here seemed to be going like that for a little while, the way that Micah’s randomness had taken him from serious to lighthearted talking and making Tish laugh, and then back to serious again. Though, as Tish admitted her fears, and Micah did too, it reached what was so different. They were touching down on emotions. Micah had sometimes gone to Tish and ranted and vented out some of his issues that he was dealing with, but it never got this deep. This was almost like uncharted territory, though it wasn’t all that hard to deal with. It was just odd to be here with Tish, her burying her face against him as her tears came quicker than they had before. Micah hated tears. He hated to see people that he cared for cry. Hell, he even hated to see people that he didn’t even know cry. It was just so sad, and he was the one that would do anything that he could to get those tears to quit falling. In this situation, though, Micah didn’t do anything. It was best to let these ones come. Tish just needed to get it out, and he was kind of glad that he was the one that was there. This was what she needed, and she wouldn’t have done it with anyone else. That he was sure of.

Micah was good at changing the subject without really changing it. They were still talking about this unborn child of hers, but he was focusing on the positive rather than the negative. And it didn’t hurt that these were questions that had been on his mind ever since he had found out that she was pregnant. No matter how scared for her or himself he was, he was still excited that there was going to be a new baby in the world, and that he was going to get to a part of its life. That was just Micah. When she heard him ask these things, Tish finally pulled away. Micah knew that there would be a damp spot on his shirt to show for those tears that she had cried, but he didn’t care at all. It would dry. He watched as she wiped her tears away. She had moved away from him slightly, but it was just enough that he couldn’t wipe her tears away before she did it herself or else he would have. She might not have liked it, but he still would have done it. God, why wouldn’t she want to know what the sex of her baby was? Micah would want to know as soon as it was able to be determined. He liked surprises, sure, but it would just eat away at him not knowing what the baby was and how to refer to it. See, calling it an it just felt wrong. But, it was Tish’s decision. Her baby, her rules. He felt a small smile touch his lips as Tish told him that she hoped that the baby was a girl. That seemed fitting. A baby girl with Tish’s pretty red hair. Micah would like that, too. Plus, she definitely had a put when it came to dealing with a guy like her or this child’s possible fathers. Micah had tried to put a list together for himself, and he had come up with two other guys that he could remember that she’d been with. Zach Cool and Kale Davis. Zach wouldn’t be bad. He was crazy as hell, but his genetics weren’t terrible, seeing as he was a good guy. Kale…well, the saying that we don’t get to pick our parents is very true and would be held to this baby.

”Aw, come on. I’m not too bad of a candidate for a father, am I?” he joked, giving her a quick wink and letting her know that no offense had been taken to what she’d said, and that she didn’t need to answer him. But, Micah didn’t know who all else was on that possible father list. He might not be the best one. Anyway, she kept talking, answering his question about whether or not she had been thinking of names. Again, he didn’t know how she did it. If and when Micah was ever told that he was going to be a father, he’d be writing down name ideas then and there. Tish was six months pregnant. She only had so much time before she needed to decide on a name. And had she even thought about buying anything for it? Oh Lord. What had she gotten them into? But, at least she did have one name in mind. And he loved that she asked for suggestions from him. He smiled a little wider. ”I like the name Lily,” he told her, thinking that Lily Martin didn’t have a bad ring to it at all. It was actually a cute little name, if Micah were being perfectly honest. ”You should name her that if she’s a girl. Now, if he turns out to be a boy…” Now he grinned slightly, trying to come up with boy names off the top of his head to suggest to her. He was sure that they didn’t need to name the kid right now, though. They had three months. ”Well, I personally like the name Micah, and we could all call him Mike.” He was kidding, of course, in no way expecting Tish to name her child after him and not even sure if he like the idea of it. That would be confusing, even if they did shorten the child’s name. People called Micah Mike as well. Him and the kid would both be turning to look at who had said their name. Not a good idea.

”Seriously, though, I’ve always kind of liked the name Nathan for a boy. Then there’s Jared, but I’d bet you anything that Hunter’s going to name his first boy that, or at least have it as a middle name…” Micah had been surprised to hear that Kade hadn’t named his son Jared, you know, after hearing that Kade had a son. But, Kade had said that he didn’t want to do that; he and Vivian had thought about it, but that wound had still been too new at that time to even think about going there. Micah and Jared had been close, and he’d love to honor his passed friend by keeping his namesake, but Micah wasn’t going to take that kind of honor away from his family. And this might not even be his child. ”Oh God, middle names…” He was also willing to be that Tish hadn’t thought of middle names, either. And he’d heard that middle names were hard to decide on because you had to get one that sounded right with the first and last name. Then he looked at Tish, a little questioningly. ”So…You’re six months pregnant and you haven’t picked out a name, you don’t know if it’s a boy or a girl, and you don’t have one thing for this kid?” He sighed teasingly. ”It’s a damn good thing that you finally told me about this. Who else was going to get your ass in gear and get all this done? Don’t pregnant people usually have some sort of shower or something where they get stuff? Have you thought about one of those?” That really didn’t seem like something that Tish would do. He couldn’t even picture it, really, but it was an opportunity for people to buy you things. Why pass it up?