‘You can do this, girl,’ I tell myself, pacing the backstage area for the Christmas special Josh and Cassie set up for me on ABC and shake my hands nervously.

Cassie takes one look at me and smiles, leaning on the wall. “You’ll nail it like you have everything else up to this point, even in your newfound condition.”

I snap my body around to look in her eyes. “Thanks. At least I get to sit on my ass for most of it.”

She giggles. “True, and the real question is when you plan on telling your fans?”

I plop onto the foot rest by the chair, my shoulders slumping and I drop my head into my hands. “Well, I’m about five in and the tour ends in six if we don’t take a break between the States and overseas, but we’d have to call a meeting to see what everyone says.” I lift my head and rub my palms on my jean clad thighs.

“So you want to push to have it done a month or two before you have this planned shocker,” she observes with a raised eyebrow.

“Sounded better in my head.”

“It seems that since you’ve been with Josh that any time you score, you wait till it’s nearly too late to even tell anyone except me.”

I look away from her. “So, what about those Lightening players?”

“When are you telling him?”

“I dunno. Do you think he’d be mad?”

“I think he’d be thrilled and worried about you touring near the end of it.”

“Would Nick be mad if he doesn’t find out as early like last time?”

“They knew when I did cuz we were on tour!” I argue.

“What about when we toured together before?” Nick asks, bringing my attention to himself and see Josh there as well.

I feel my face heat up and look away. Josh walks over to me and envelopes me in his arms. “Baby?” he questions, rubbing my stomach. I snap my head up to look in his eyes. “Thank you, mami,” he replies with, kissing me so lovingly and sweetly.

I pull away and eye him curiously. “How?”

“We’ve been together long enough so that I can just look at you and know something’s up, once in awhile I can figure it out.”

Nick’s head is darting back and forth between us, confusion etched into his features. “What in the fuck did I miss?”

Josh smiles at me and I return it. “Nothing you won’t know soon enough. How far?”

“Five.”

“Weeks?”

“Yes.”

Nick is now annoyed. “What about five weeks?”
“You’ll find out closer to the end of the tour.”

~*~A Couple Days Later, New Year’s Rehearsal~*~

Nick still hasn’t found out and he’s been pestering the three of us who know what it is. Everyone else is questioning us why Josh and I are grinning like robbers who just got away with grand larceny without evidence pointing in our direction. Aaron, Justin, Chris, Hayley and Nick have been pestering us for answers since Josh figured out the news. Kailey has been running around rearranging the schedule for all of us because of it coming to her attention, planning to be done by the middle of my 7th month.

I get up when Wade walks in and he smirks at me. “What in the hell is so funny?” I demand.

“Seems to happen on every tour now.”

“Fuck off!” I shout, flashing him the middle finger.

“You mad, bro?” he retorts, laughing.

I scrunch up my face and throw my balled up sweater at him, hitting him in the face. He jumps like a scared child, making him stop laughing like an ass and I take over with my hands on my abdomen. “You mad, bro?”

“Not funny,” he grumbles. “Get in position.”

I fluidly go through the routine, seeing as we’ve been working on it for the past month or two and he is way too pleased. “What now?”

“Just that come next year, you’ll have to relearn all of this again.”

“Go find your on call girl.” My entire crew of back up dancers cachinnates and I smirk at my success.

“She can piss you off and make everyone else laugh at the same damn time, making her my favorite out of all the women JC’s ever been with,” Justin comments, chuckling.

“Why, thank ya,” I comment from the floor, having laughed at his comment to Wade.

Justin reaches his hand out for me, helping me off the floor and pulls me to my feet. “No problem. He was being a dick and deserved it.”

“If only you knew what he was busting my balls about.”

“I have an idea,” he comments, his fingers brushing my stomach and his eyes locked on mine.