The Pianist Ch 09

Nic actually heard her before he saw her. She was laughing with the cashier, and there was no way he could ever forget or mistake that laugh. Her back was facing him, so it wasn't until she picked up her take out off the counter and turned that he saw the bulge.

She's fucking pregnant. Very pregnant, he thought his mouth agape. He stood back as she finished talking; she still had not turned around to see him standing there in shock.

"So when's your due date?" the cashier asked.

"March 16th," Allie replied.

March 16th he thought. Nine months before would mean she conceived in June. They were together since mid-June. Could it be his baby? Was Allie having his baby and she wasn't going to tell him? Rage started to boil inside him, and he walked up to stand right behind her, waiting for her to turn around.

The cashier stopped speaking, almost as if she was afraid to continue on. She knew Nic, knew that he and Allie used to frequent the dinner, and right now he didn't look happy. Allie wondered why the cashier had suddenly clammed up. And then, a very familiar scent hit her, a scent she knew intimately, a scent that she still loved and got lost in. She closed her eyes, and barely whispered his name, "Nic."

She turned, and her stomach bumped into him, as he was dangerously close to her. Still he did not budge. She looked up into his eyes, the gray eyes that once were filled with love, and saw an icy cold stare, filled with rage. It was an expression she had never seen from him before and it terrified her.

He grabbed her hand. "Let's go," he said as he began to pull her out of the diner.

"Nic," she began to protest.

"Don't," he commanded. "We are not doing this here, now let's go before I pick you up and drag you out of here."

Nic pulled her down the block to his apartment, not looking back at her. He had a million questions and emotions running through his mind. He let go of her just to unlock the door, and then pulled her inside, slamming the door behind them.

Allie jumped. She didn't think he would hurt her, but had never seen him angry, let alone as furious as he was at this time. She cast her eyes down to the ground, knowing the current situation was of her own doing.

"Is it mine?" he asked her.

She began trying to plead with him, unable to look him in the face, "Nic, I-"

He cut her off, "Goddamnit Allie is the baby mine?"

"Yes," she mumbled, barely audible.

"I can't believe it. I can't believe you never told me. Was that your plan all along? Was I just some stud horse to knock you up?"

"No. I tried to tell you, but-"

"Really? You did? Because I don't remember you ever approaching the subject with me. I don't remember you ever saying 'Nic, I'm pregnant and it's yours.' Did you know when we were still together?"

"I found out the day we broke up," she told him flatly, still unable to look at him.

"Then why the fuck didn't you tell me. I can't believe you'd do something so, so-"

This time it was Allie's turn to cut him off. She stood up and began yelling back at him. "Well gee, let's see, Mr. Rock and Roller, I was going to tell you, but you came in to my apartment that night telling me that you were leaving me to go on tour. What was I suppose to do Nic-tell you so you could just walk away? What would have been the point?"

Nic began to replay the night they broke up in his head, her distance, her coldness. She thought he was abandoning her. "Allie, I wouldn't have left you and the baby. I mean the tour was a temporary thing, not permanent, but if you would have told me, I wouldn't have gone," he said softly.

"Yea right Nic, I'm pregnant, just give up your dreams and your career. We'd been dating like what, two and a half months."

"Allison, I loved you. I would have stayed. Not a day went by when I was on tour that I didn't think of you. After everything, I still love you...and I think you still love me too." He took a couple steps toward her. "Al, look at me."

She continued to look at the ground. He couldn't still love her, he was just trying to be a nice guy and own up to his responsibility. He reached her and cupped her face in his hands, tilting her head up so she had to look him in the eyes. "Tell me that you don't love me," he commanded.

Nic's eyes reached down into her soul and found the truth, pulling it from her being, where she tried to bury it those months ago. Allie couldn't take anymore. Her emotions and hormones had been on a roller coaster ride the last three plus months. She broke down and began to cry. "I can't. I can't do this again. I don't have the strength to lie to you again. I do love you. I never stopped."

That was all Nic needed to hear. He pulled her close and held onto her, intending on never letting her go.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry," she bawled.

"Shhhh, it's okay baby," Nic held her tighter, stroking his hands up and down her back trying to sooth her. She quieted after a few moments, and he pulled her down onto the couch with him. He wiped the tears from her eyes with thumb, and kissed her eyelids, her cheeks, her nose, until he found her lips. He kissed her lightly at first, but quickly took the kiss deeper, probing her mouth with his tongue. Months of want and desire were pent up and needed to be released. The fire was still there for both of them.

After a marathon session of make-up sex, Nic and Allie lay in bed together, clung to one another. Nic gently stroked his hand over her belly. Just then, he felt his child kick for the first time. Overwhelmed with emotion, he knew that he never wanted to lose either of them. He rose from the bed and went to his dresser, removing the small box he purchased so many months before. He pulled Allie up to sit on the edge of the bed, and got down on one knee on the floor.

"Allison, I love you more than life itself. Will you make me the happiest man alive and do me the honor of becoming my wife, as well as the mother of my child?"

Tears rolled down Allie's face as she just nodded her response. He removed the ring from the box, and slid it on her trembling hand, before rising up to embrace her.

Epilogue:

Nic's loft was a tad bit bigger and cheaper than Allison's apartment, so they moved her stuff into his place. Well, Nic moved it; Allie was too pregnant to do anything and just watched. Allison and Nic were married in a small ceremony and reception on Valentine's Day in the club where they met all those months before. Though she was very pregnant, she insisted they be married before the baby was born. The glow of pregnancy reflected in her happiness on this momentous day, and she was a beautiful bride.

Mom and Dad welcomed Baby Alexandra Marie Marchetti into the world on March 17th. She weighed 7lbs. 7 oz...