"Nick we need to talk." Those words had been on Nicks mind since the moment he'd gotten off the phone with Lily. It had been a month since their last conversation, or should he say argument, and he missed his wife. He missed her more than he ever thought possible. He'd known he loved her, but it hadn't dawned on him just how much, until he realized that he could really lose her. He didn't want to lose his wife. She was the best thing that had ever happened to him, and he'd taken her for granted. He'd been played, and played well. Billy had known that he would put business before Lily, so he'd used that as a way to deepen the chasm that had already sprung up between them.

Nick ran a hand through his hair. Billy had known about Sharon and Noah and yet he hadn't told Lily. He wanted her to find out, but he hadn't told her. Nick should have told her, he should have told her everything before they were married, but was a coward. So now here he was, here in a hospital room, looking down at his wife, who lay still with her back to him. How had it gotten to this point?

"Please talk to me," Nick said to her back. It wasn't the first time he'd said the words, but they fell on deaf ears. He knew she was awake, because she'd been talking to Neil before he entered the room.  

Silence.

He sighed, "I'm so sorry I hurt you."

Without warning she turned around to face him, tears filling her eyes, "No, you're sorry you got caught.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~About Twenty-four hours ago~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 Lily knew she should have told Nick she was coming to Newman, but she'd been too distracted to call. Her conversation with Sharon kept replaying itself in her mind. She felt like she was missing something, but she didn't know what. Was Nick having an affair with Sharon? The crafty look in her eyes and her smug tone where enough to raise a red flag. Lily just couldn't shake the feeling that there was something going on between Sharon and her husband, but the worst part, was that she wasn't sure how much she cared. And did she even have the right to care after she'd slept with Billy?

Shaking the thought from her head, she stepped off the elevator when the door opened, and walked toward Nick's office.

***

"I thought you left town."

"Now why would I do that when we have so much to discuss?" Sharon said, as she walked toward Nick's desk. "You and I have some unfinished business."

Nick stared at her. His green eyes took in the tight pale blue sheath she wore that molded to her womanly curves in a way that made his manhood twitch. "We don't have shit to discuss."

"Our son isn't shit."  

Nick stood at her words, "So now you want to get down to it."

"I should have gotten to it the moment I came to town, but I wanted to see if you would come clean with the little lady, but you haven't. You didn't even tell her I was here," she said, standing in front of his desk, a clutch in one hand, the other on her hip.

"How do you," he paused taken aback by her previous statement. He didn't want her to know she'd caught him off guard.

"How do I know you haven't told her I was in town?" she asked. "Well, I saw her in Crimson Lights, and I must say she's grown up to be a lovely young woman. You must be so proud. It's too bad you're no more than a cheap corner store knockoff, with crooked seams that will always remind her you are not the real thing."

"Shut the fuck up. You don't know shit about my marriage," he said, seeing red at her words.

"I know enough," she replied with a toss of her hair.

 He moved around the desk and invaded her personal space. "I don't know what you think you know, but..."

Staring up at him she scoffed, "Are you really trying to intimidate me with your height?" She stepped closer, "Because I can assure, I've gone up against bigger men than you, and they all ended up kissing my ass." She watched amused as he fidgeted at her close proximity. "Literally."

"You're such a whore."

She tsked, "Now is that the way to speak to the mother of your son."

Nick started to speak, but stopped. He wasn't going to beat around the bush, and pretend he didn't know what this was about. Sharon only wanted one thing, the thing she always wanted. "My father gave you enough money when you told him about...your situation. It's not my fault you didn't spend it wisely."

Nick watched as her face turned two shades red.

"You son of a bitch," she said. "My problem? Nick, really? So I guess I fucked myself." 

"How much do you want?" he said, ignoring her outburst. He didn't have time to deal with her dramatics. 

"You gonna go get daddy to pull out his check book, in order to make our," she accented the word, "problem go away."

Nick cracked his neck, his hands where clenched into fists at his side. He'd never hit a woman, and he probably never would, but that didn't mean he wouldn't choke the shit out of her.

"Well guess what? I don't want your money. I have my own.  You see I spent daddy's money quite wisely. And it also doesn't hurt that I just made a killing from selling my cosmetics company sooo...you can take your daddy's checkbook and shove it up your ass."

"What do you want?" he ground out.

"What I can't buy for Noah, a name." She said and stepped closer. "I want my son to take his rightful place in the Newman fold."

Nick stared at her. She thought to shock him, but he'd always known this day would come. The day that he would have to tell Lily the truth, because he'd known after Sharon left town, she wouldn't be satisfied with just the money. Fuck!  He'd hoped he and Lily would have already started a family, before she returned. That they would be in a good place, but no, they were farther apart than they'd ever been. Nick had been so certain that when this day arrived, he would tell his wife, and they would agree that Sharon was unstable, and decide to raise Noah together. Shit!   

Sharon stared at him. She could see the wheels turning in his head, but there was nowhere to go, and they both knew it. "Think fast Nicholas, and think hard, but no matter what you think of, soon, and I mean within twenty four hours, the entire world is going to know that you have son."

"Are you threatening me?"

"No, I'm promising you," she started to leave, but came up short when Nick reached out and grabbed her arm.

"Don't push me Sharon," he growled in a low voice, "You really don't want to push me."

"Let go," she said, trying to pull out of the iron grip he had on her arm.

Nick tightened his hold. "You want to fuck with me Sharon?" he asked, pulling her closer. He smirked when she stumbled forward and her body crashed into his. He took his free hand and wound it in her hair.

"Let go of me," she said, her breath coming faster.

 "Why? I know how you like rough," he said, and used her hair to tilt her head back so she could look him the eye. "You want me to claim Noah? Fine, I will. But know this," he said, his face close to hers.

He could feel her tremble beneath his touch and knew she was angry, scared, and turned on. Sharon was a twisted bitch and he used to enjoy her, but not anymore. She thought he was the same naïve eighteen-year-old she first met, but she was sadly mistaken.

"The moment I claim Noah as my son, is the moment you lose him as yours."

"What?" she asked staring into the green twin flames of his eyes.

"If Noah is going to take my name, then he can't have a whore like you for a mother."

"You," Sharon said between gritted teeth, "You will not take my son."

"Oh," he gave her hair a yank and smiled when her eyes grew wide and her body jerked against his. Her large breast rubbed against the white oxford shirt he wore. He started to get hard. "But I thought he was my son.  Isn't that why you're here? You want me to claim Noah, and I'm willing to, but on my terms."

"I will not," she started, but froze when the hand that was on her arm moved to press lightly against the column of her neck.

"Who are you Sharon? Do you really think any judge will give you custody over me?"

Sharon felt hot. Her body was burning, and it didn't hurt that she could feel his hardness pressed against her belly. She wasn't surprised that he was turned on. Nick had always enjoyed a little S&M, because she'd taught him to enjoy it. She'd witnessed Nick's dark side, the side she knew he hid from Lily, but this...this was something else. He wasn't just turned on, he was angry. And Sharon knew from experience, S&M and anger were a volatile cocktail, because it could go too far and someone could really get hurt.

"Nick," she licked her lips, "Let. Me. Go."

"Now why would I do that?"He asked. "You came into my office. I didn't invite you. You laid down your cards and I chose to pick them up, and now you want me to let you go? Why Sharon, why should I," he bent forward and ran his tongue over her ear, "Let you go?" He smiled as he felt the ripple of pleasure go through her.

"I don't want this," she was slightly breathless.

"You do, Sharon you really do."

"No, I don't," she said.

"Then why the fuck did you come here?"

"I want Noah to be recognized as a Newman. I want," She said and blinked. Her breath started to come faster and she could feel tears gathering behind her eyes. "I want you to claim our son, I want you to give him," she blinked once as an errant tear slid from her right eye. "I want you to give him what I never had." A father, she finished in her head.

Nick was about to speak, when he heard someone gasp. His eyes flew to the door where Lily stood with on hand over her mouth. "Li...Lily," Nick said extracting himself from Sharon. "Lily I..." He didn't know what to say. He didn't know what she'd heard. He watched as she stood in the door looking like a deer caught in headlights.

"How," she began.

"Lily, it's not..." Nick took a step towards her. "It's not what you think," he said as he continued to walk forward, leaving Sharon blinking back tears. Nick didn't care about Sharon or her false tears. He only cared about the woman in front of him. The woman he'd realized too late, he loved more than anything in the world, even Newman.

"Stop," she said.

"Lily," he said, still moving.

"I said stop," her voice cracked.

He stopped. "How much did you hear?"

"Oh Nick," she said, raising a hand to her chest. She couldn't have just heard what she heard. She walked up to the office and heard angry voices. Nick was one of the voices, but she wasn't sure who the other one belonged to until she peaked in the door to see them standing close. Her heart began beating wildly when she saw Sharon, and she was sure that her earlier assumption was right. She was about to leave when she heard the words my son, which froze her to the spot. She watched Nick yank Sharon forward and touch her in a way he'd never displayed with her. She'd watched as long as she could, before turning away, but she ended up speaking instead. Lily felt as if someone had knocked the breath from her body. She couldn't breathe. She had to get out of there.

"Oh God Nick how could you?"

"Lily..."

"A son," she said, the word barely above a whisper. "You have a son, a son who you denied." This can't be happening. "Nick, how...how could you deny your own child?" This was the worst part. She could deal with his cheating, she had no room to talk, but how could she be married to a man who would turns his back on his only child? Lily felt like she was staring at a stranger.

"Baby let me explain," he pleaded.

"You can't explain this," she said. "You can't explain to me how you could turn your back on your own child." Lily closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She needed to get her breathing under control. She looked past Nick to Sharon, who was still standing near his desk. "How old is he?"

"Lily..."

"How old is he?"

"Five," Sharon answered without pause.
"Oh my," Lily blinked several times, her chest felt like it was about to cave in on itself. "Oh my God," she said, shaking her head as tears streamed down her face. "No...No, Nick no, tell me this isn't true."

Nick could feel his world tilt as the life that he'd built with Lily began to crumble into dust. "I," he began, but stopped. He couldn't lie to her. Staring into her eyes, he said the only thing he could, "I'm sorry."  He made to move forward, but she turned and ran.

Lily felt like she was going to be sick as ran down the executive hallway of Newman Enterprises. She could hear Nick calling after her, but she didn't stop until she got to the elevators. She pressed the down button over and over again in hopes that the elevator would move faster.  Her heart was pounding in her chest, while tears streamed from her eyes.

"Lily," Nick called. She could hear his shoes on the hardwood floor. "Lily please, let me explain."

Lily looked over her shoulder at him; he was bearing down on her. She couldn't...she couldn't' talk to him. She looked up at the panel above elevator doors; the lift was still eight floors away. She turned to the left and spotting the staircase, she moved toward it.

"Lily," Nick said, finally at the bank of elevators. "Please."

"Nick leave me alone," she said, and opened the door to the stairway.

"No," he said following behind her, "Dammit let me explain." He grabbed her arm and tried to yank her to him, but she pulled away.

"No, Nick, I'm done, we are done."

"No the fuck we're not, "He yelled and grabbed her arm again.

"Nick let go," she pulled, but he held her tight.

"We are not done." His voice reverberated around the stairwell. "You are mine, you are my wife. I am not going to let you run off to him."

"Let me go," she said, trying to yank her arm out of grip. She reached for the arm rail with her free hand for leverage.

Nick tightened his hold on her arm, and tried to pull her in, but couldn't because of the grip she had on the arm rail. "This is not over," he said, pulling her in, and just as suddenly he let her go with enough force that she lost her footing and fell down the stairway.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Present~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Lily," Nick said, "Please let me explain."

She stared at him, but didn't reply. She wasn't sure if she knew what to say. She was so confused. It had been almost twenty-four hours since her fall. She'd been in an out of consciousness all night. She hurt. Her head hurt, her body hurt, and her heart hurt. She felt sore inside and out. She wanted to take something strong to make it go away, but her doctor wouldn't give her anything stronger than the meds she was on.

She wanted it all to go away. She wanted to go back to the day she agreed to marry Nick, and tell him the truth. The truth that she felt the moment he'd asked her. That she wasn't ready to get married, and she wasn't over Billy. Sadly, if she'd only told him- instead of burying her emotions down into the cavern of her mind so that she couldn't feel them- none of this would have happened, and Nick wouldn't have abandoned his son. At least she hoped he wouldn't have.

"Lily, please say something."

"What is his name?" she asked. She'd heard them say a male name, but she couldn't remember what it was. She wanted to know the little boy's name, so it would be real for her. It wouldn't truly be real until he had a name.

"Lily..."

"What is your son's name?"

Nick didn't want to tell her, she needed to let him explain, but he could tell by the look in her eyes that she wasn't going to be moved from this course no matter how much he wanted it.

"His name is Noah."

"Have you ever seen him?" she asked, wanting to know. She needed to know. Oh God she hurt.

"Only once," he said, and Lily watched as his eyes took on a faraway look. "Sharon sent me a picture of him after he was born, but that was it."

"Did you ever want to see him?"

Lily waited for his answer. She could tell he was trying to figure out what she wanted to hear.

"Yes, and no. In the beginning I wanted to see him. I wanted to be a part of his life, but I knew, or at least I thought," he ran a hand through his hair, "I thought I would lose you if-"

"No," she said firmly. "Don't you dare you use me as an excuse."

"What else do you want me to say?" he asked, and went on when she didn't respond. "I loved you, and I didn't want to lose you. You were, you are one of the best things to ever happen to me." He reached for her hand, which lay palm down on the bed, but she moved it out of his reach. "Sweetheart, I am so sorry that I've hurt you, and I'm so sorry that," he trailed off.

His chest constricted as he looked from the large purple bruise on the right side of her forehead, to the ones that marred her arms. There were others he couldn't see, because of the white sheet that covered her. But those bruises were nothing compared to the gash she had at the nape of her neck, that required five stitches to close.

Lily watched Nick scan her face and arms. She could see the anguish, and self loathing in his eyes as he looked at her. She knew he blamed himself for her fall, and no matter how angry and disappointed she was, she didn't want him to blame himself for something that was no more than an accident.

"Nick don't," she said. "This wasn't your fault."

He shook his head sadly, "It was my fault, if I hadn't grabbed you, if I hadn't let you go so hastily, or if I'd had quicker reflexes-"

"Nick, this was an accident, there are plenty of things that you can blame yourself for, but this isn't one of them."

This, this was why he loved her. He'd broken her heart, and her trust in him, yet she lay in a hospital bed trying to make him feel better, when only her forgiveness would do that. He needed her. It had taken him too long to realize the depths of his love for her. The fear of losing her caused him make some stupid decisions, and now he had to live with the consequences. He couldn't lose her, not now, especially not after they'd finally accomplished what he'd always wanted.

"How are you feeling?"

She knew what he was asking, and she didn't want to talk about it. She couldn't talk about it. Lily blinked. She could feel the unwanted tears coming.

"I'm in pain. My body aches, my head hurts, and my heart feels as if it's been ripped out of my chest. You already know how I feel," she said angrily. "So why are you asking me this?"

Nick didn't know what to say, but they had to talk about it. They had to discuss the situation. He felt as if the room was holding its breath waiting for this moment, or maybe it was just him. It was their second chance, and he wasn't going to let her pretend that they didn't have one.

"Lily, I know you're hurting," he let out a harsh breath. "Hell, I know that I'm one of the main reasons you're feeling this way, but we need to talk about it."

"There isn't anything to about," she said and turned away from him.

"How can you say that," he put a hand on her shoulder to turn her back to him.

"Nick please. I don't want to discuss this, and neither do you." She wasn't ready. She needed time to come to grips with everything, and she knew if he continued to push her, he would soon live to regret it.

"Dammit Lily," Nick said frustrated. "I know I hurt you, and I know that you're angry with me, but we cannot just sweep this under the rug." He reached out and touched her shoulder again, "I know this is a surprise, but we need to talk about the baby."