Brad nodded "good, sounds wonderful. Anyway, you two have fun, I need to head out to meet Lisa. I'll talk to you later. Take care, Nick" he said and left. Nick didn't bother responding to Brad, instead he turned to Mesy "how're you feeling?" he asked her gently as the hand that was on her hip traveled up slightly to rest on her stomach.

"Okay... murvous what else? Other then kinda tired from the big meal and going around earlier." Mesy smiled some and she did look a bit tired.

Nick smiled softly and kissed the top of Mesy's head "well, enjoy the meals while you can still keep them down. Now you have two choices. We can stay here for a bit and let the kids play, or we can go home. You could sleep in my old bed if you want, or right here. Your choice, I'm fine with whatever you choose" he informed her.

"I really don't want to pull the girls away from their fun... your old room? Only if you come in there with me." Mesy smiled some as she looked up at Nick. She was so thankful that him and his brother didn't look that much alike... she didn't think she would be able to stand that... and in the begining she may have thought Nick was Brad and then she wouldn't have trusted him... even in her kid form.

Nick shrugged "I don't mind. It's just a matter of do you want to sleep up there or down here, because I don't mind either way. I'll probably end up going to sleep anyway" he responded as he relaxed his head into the chair and rocked it slightly.

"Your room" Mesy smiled and yawned a bit when Nick started rocking the chair. It wasn't really that she was phisicly exhosted... more like mentally thanks to the last few days. First there was the presure of Elizabeth walking in right before... well ya know, then there was her getting her kids back, then being bugged about a wedding, meating the man she had hoped to never see again, facing her past as they talked, finding out she was pregnant... then knowing that they didn't want to tell anyone yet and worrying that that would somehow slip and the family would learn before the wedding... she had been stessed about all of this and worried about Nick... how much stess could he take?

(he he he ya know after some time they won't be able to have sex anymore so then Nick won't have really any way to let out his stess XD I think that's when he brakes what do you think? Evil ain't it XD )

((malicious, i love it. Nick: Hey! quit torturing me! me: no way, it's too much fun =D ))

Nick smiled and stood up, carrying Mesy up the stairs and to his room. He laid her on the bed and climbed in next to her. He put his arm around her and began to stroke her hair. "Don't worry, ok? Everything will be alright. Just relax" he said in a soothing voice. He hoped he could get her to fall asleep, just so she can have some release from the stress that was on her mind. The same stress that was on his as well.

(lol *snickers a bit* no way... ow and love the avi!)

Mesy smiled and nodded as she curled up to Nick leaning into him and closing her eyes a bit. "I love you." she smiled some then reopened her eyes for a breif moment to kiss him on the lips then closed her eyes again and leaned her head on his shoulder. She yawned some and was soon fast asleep in Nick's arms.

((thanks! =D I"m working on a new rp charcter: a biker/mechanic punk. so I'm making my avi be the visual representation of her. Haven't been able to use her yet, but soon (= ))

Nick smiled when he heard Mesy's steady breathing. He was glad that she was asleep, and relaxed. He continued to stroke her hair to ensure she stayed that way. It wasn't long before he fell asleep, though he wasn't as relaxed as she was. He was plagued by memories of his teenage years. Memories of all the addictions he'd gone through and what they did to him. It's amazing he still managed to graduate law school.

(okay do you think we skip some? Say that Hena and Heiwa accidently let that slip through and a week later Nick's parents found out and started hounding him? Though skip father then that and say it's been about 5-6 mounths? And that's when they can't go at it cuz Mesy's like really showing now? And of course like Nick goes out to work and meats his brother after work and Brad gets him to finaly break? What do you think?)

((hmm, evil. yeah, let's do about 6 months later, they'd already be married by then, but still. do you want to start the torture, or shall I?))

(can you I is bussy)

((ok))

It'd been a hard six months for Nick. Starting with his parents finding out about Mesy's pregnancy. Thankfully, they'd found out about it a couple week before the wedding so there was no action taken, just a lot of scoldings and lectures. That, of course, was just the beginning. He'd slipped up just enough to want to keep drinking, though he hasn't gotten drunk again yet. Days were long at work and they were always full of stress. He'd finish work and go straight home, but he would disappear into his office for more hours, emerging only to eat dinner. He tried to spend time with his family, but he always had so much work that he had to do. Most night he ended up falling asleep at the desk.

One day, though, Brad caught him before he went home. "Come on, you need to relax and you won't do it if you go home" he told Nick. Brad had been keeping his distance from the home, but Lisa was there many times, and she'd seen what'd been happening to the family. It was up to Brad to get him to relax. Nick, too tired to argue, just agreed and followed Brad, unaware that they were headed towards the local bar.

Mesy had been worried since Nick had started to seem to distance himself... then she was even more worried that there might be problems when she was due because she was worrying so much. Many nights she had had to go and wake Nick to come to bed after he had fallen asleep at his desk. Stress had only seemed to grow as Nick family found out that Mesy was pregnant though thankfully that stress didn't last too long... though she knew the tension was still there. She was starting to actually show now though she didn't really care.... she was too worried about Nick to really care anyways. One day she really started to worry... Nick was supposed to be home by now... where is he?... she thought as she pased some... then just sat down at the kitchen table to wait for Nick hoping he would be home soon.

He'd slipped up... he wasn't plastered, but he was still drunk. Plenty drunk. "Feel better?" Brad asked. Nick groaned and shoved his glass away "no. I broke my promise to Mesy. I... I can't go home now. Why the heck did you bring me here? you know I promised her that I would stop drinking" he accused. "I brought you here to help you, idiot" Brad replied.
"What!?! How is breaking my promise going to help me? You've officially ruined my life, numbskull!"
"You're burying yourself in work that you don't even have to start for a few months, let alone now! You're distancing yourself from your family. I'm sorry, but I'm not the one that ruined your life, you are"
"You made it worse!"
"No, I'm helping you. Now get up, I'm taking you home"
"I can't go back"
"If you don't go back then you'll be abandoning Mesy, Hena, Heiwa, and whatever the heck you're naming the baby! You'll be forcing Mesy to raise them on her own. I may have ruined her life, but you picked it up again... if you leave now... then you'll just ruin her life even more. More so because she trusted you, loved you. Way more than she ever did me"
"Then I'll go back tomorrow when I'm not drunk!"
"Go back now and face her. She doesn't know I took you out... she's probably sitting up, waiting for you to get back. You're going no matter what. Even if I have to knock you out to get back there, you're going"
"I'm not going" Nick stubbornly declared. He was scared of facing her. He knew what happened the last time he was drunk. He wasn't talking about the one time when he got tipsy and Mesy threw out the alcohol. He's talking about the time he took her life. "Brad... you know--" he never got to finish his sentence because Brad punched him in the face, knocking him out cold.

Twenty minutes later, Brad dragged Nick, who was starting to come around, into his house. Brad nodded a greeting to Mesy as he passed her, making his way to their bedroom. "Get in there" he commanded as he threw Nick onto the bed. He left and returned to where Mesy was. "Alright, let me give you the low down of what's going on. Nick's drunk. I took him to the bar for two reasons: one, I know alcohol calms him down, but that was just my excuse. The main reason I took him there is because I'm trying to help him get over his addiction so he can actually heal his relationship with you" he explained, keeping his distance from Mesy.

"Mesy stared at Brad when he walked in not expecting him and saw Nick... she wasn't mad so much as worried. "Okay... I kinda get that though you don't get them person... wait... you were trying to get him to feel bad about doing it and to show him he shouldn't even think about it... was that what you were aiming for?" she asked not stuttering when she spoke to him now. She had gotten over her problems with Brad... it wasn't worth it and it just would stand in the way of the kids relationship with his kids... and she didn't want that in the least. Calmly and with a slight smile she gestured to a seet wondering if he would actually sit or not... he didn't have to worry now like she didn't and she wanted to show him that she was over it.

Brad nodded his head in thanks and sat down in the offered seat. "Partly. The other half is that your idiot of a husband has to literally see what it's doing to him, otherwise he won't really fight it. He will abstain from it, but he won't fight it. I had to make him realize what this was doing to him. I did it before he met Elizabeth, too, when he was doing all sorts of things he shouldn't. It's pretty bad when your younger brother has to fix you up. Anyway, I tried the same tactic that I tried the last few times, I hope that it has the same effect, but there is a possibility that I just made him worse" he admitted

"I hope you're right... if not he might sober up when the baby's here... I... don't think I could... that either of us coudl escape it if it ever happened again... we made a deal... we told you about that... that's why I'm so scared of him getting drunk again... if that ever happened again the girls would be parentless... well... now they wouldn't but I still don't think that they're completely comfurtable with you yet..." Mesy murmured softly and hoped that Brad was right... she hoped that even if he wasn't then Nick would truly sober up when she had the baby.

Brad nodded "well... he was further gone with drugs, cigarettes and gangs when I tried it earlier. So it should work. As for the other part, I'll take him to my place if it looks like he's that drunk. I was careful with how much he drank, though. I wanted him to relax and open his eyes to what was happening, but I also knew what could happen, so I kept watching his condition to make sure he never got that bad. But if I was wrong and it looks like it'll be a problem, you just get out of the room, I'll take care of him, ok?" he explained.

"Okay... thanks... I trust that if you could stop him from all that then this shouldn't be too hard... I mean drugs are normally harder to let go of... right." Mesy smiled some hoping that Brad could help Nick with this.

Brad nodded "normally they are. I'm pretty sure they are in this case as well. Did he ever tell you about that time of his life?" he asked, curious to see how much Nick revealed to her. They may be married, but that doesn't mean that Nick told her the skeletons in his life.

Mesy thought and shook her head. "And ya know I didn't tell him anything until I thought that the girls were here... that was after I was back and me and Nick started talking about our pasts... well part of them..." she murmured softly having a feeling Brad would ask why she didn't know the girls were in the city to begin with... it didn't bother her to tell though.

brad was silent for a few moments as he debated what to tell Mesy. Finally, he turned to her "for about five years, from the time he was 10, to the time he was 15, he was heavily involved with gangs, drugs, cigarettes, and just about anything that came with it. It's a miracle he managed to pass school. If you ask him now, what I did, he would say I just sat back and let it happen, because that's what he saw. What he didn't see, though... was that I sent him email messages all the time, showing pictures or the effects of what he was involved in. He didn't see that when it was late at night, I'd track him down and bring his high head back home. I'd clean him up and get him ready for the next day. It was a hard process, helping him. I can't exactly remember what I did, but I know that I was more involved with his life then he thought I was. Truth is... he pushed everyone but me out of his life after Amy, our sister, died. He pushed me out a year later. By the time he started all that... it was if I didn't even have a brother... I wasn't too keen on that idea" he explained.

He turned to the doorway when he heard someone emerging. Nick stumbled out, rubbing his head. "Ugh, Brad, you numbskull, what'd you do that for?!" he demanded. "I told you, I was taking you home one way or another. You chose the hard way" was Brad's calm reply as he stood up. He walked over to Nick to keep him there and away from Mesy. "I can't be here" he protested "yes you can. I'm here to make sure you don't do anything you'll regret. That means taking you home to be with your family, as well as protecting them from you. Don't you see what this is doing to you?!" Brad asked.
"Of course I see it! But I can't quit! I've tried and you know how well that worked!"
"Summer of '99" was Brad's soft reply. Nick froze and he stared ahead. "You've done it before. And you've been in worse condition then you are now" he finished. He noticed that Nick wasn't violent, so he waved Mesy over. Nick needed her right now.

Mesy listened quietly to Brad nodding some then looked up when Nick got up and walked out of their room. She didn't get up as Brad did and kept Nick away from her. She slowly stood as she was waved over noting how Nick wasn't violent and walked over to Nick looking at him softly and quietly... she didn't really know what to say more or less to do right now.

Nick looked away and his whole body tensed up when Mesy came over. After what seemed like an eternity, but was only a few seconds, he turned to her. "I'm sorry... I'm sorry that... that I've been distancing myself from you, from the twins... I'm sorry that I've been burying myself in work that I don't need to even think about yet... I'm sorry for putting you through so much stress, even though you're already plenty stressed enough with the baby. I'm sorry that I couldn't keep my promise to you" he told her quietly, tears beginning to well up in his eyes. He was tired, slightly drunk, and he'd come to a realization of just how much he'd been hurting his wife. He still felt like he should leave, he didn't even stand a chance at deserving her. But he stayed because he knew Brad would drag his sorry behind back home if he didn't. that, and in the back of his mind, he was aware of his deal with death.