"I have missed you so much." Cody kissed me passionately as he picked me up at the airport.
"I missed you too." I wrapped my arms around him and took in his beautiful scent. It was hard to explain, but Cody always smelled vaguely of the stage, like he performed so much it had just become a part of him.
He slung my duffel bag over his shoulder and led me to the car. "So, I know you probably really want to just relax, but the boys and I are having a party and they want you there. Maxx in particular."
"Of course he does." I muttered. "Well...I'm not really feeling up to a party. Can't we just-"
"Please, Al?" Cody took my hand, one still safely on the steering wheel. "I promise we won't stay for long."
I sighed and nodded "But I need to talk to you, preferably when you're not driving..."
"Are you alright?" Cody's grip on my hand tightened. "Can't you tell me now?"
"Not while you're driving. I'll tell you at the party. Whose place is it at?" I glanced out the window so his puppy dog eyes couldn't break me.
"Dan's since he has a pool and Jacuzzi. Don't worry, I brought a swimsuit for you." Cody said, the concern slowly leaving his voice as he began talking about the party.
When we arrived Maxx practically flew to my door. "Did you tell him?" He hissed, helping me out of the car.
I shook my head and opened my purse to reveal a small box wrapped in silver paper. "I didn't know we were going to a party."
"You both suck at communicating with each other." Maxx informed Cody.
"Right. Like you and Brie are any better. You gave her the wrong tour dates once." Cody rolled his eyes, handing me my black bikini. "This one was clean. Why don't you go change and I'll see you out back." He kissed my cheek. "Come on, Maxx."
"Actually, I need to talk to Alyssa." Maxx said "I'll catch up." Cody frowned and looked like he was going to protest, but thought better of it and headed inside the house. "You are going to tell him, right?" Maxx asked.
"I was going to do it when we get home, but now he's going to be drunk and I don't want to do that." I sighed "Not that I mind drunk Cody, but..."
"No, I understand." Maxx ran a hand through his blonde hair. "Tell him now. Go change into your swimsuit then give it to him." He pulled the box out of my purse. "What is it?"
"A surprise." I laughed, taking it back. "Do you really think I should tell him in front of everyone else? How are they going to react?"
"Uh...they kind of already know." Maxx said sheepishly. "Dan and Zach overheard Austin and me talking about it with Brie and they told their girlfriends and..."
I groaned, pinching the bridge of my nose. "I'm not even that surprised." I admitted, walking into the house. "Go distract him, alright?" I walked into Dan's bathroom, changing quickly. I put my purse back out in our car along with my clothes. "Please, please let this go well." I whispered as I took out the silver box.
"There she is." Cody wrapped an arm around my shoulders. His eyes flickered down to my breast and I couldn't help but smirk. My stomach hadn't shown up yet, but my breast had swelled and I now filled the bikini better than I had in the past.
"You're staring." I teased him.
"Sorry, you're hot." Cody kissed me hotly, his arms molding my body against his.
"Hey, no PDA." Zach called from the pool, splashing water on us.
"I'll be right back." Cody said, jumping into the pool and dunking Zach under.
I rolled my eyes and took a seat at a table. Brie flocked to me almost immediately, quickly joined by Austin's girlfriend Andrea. "Hi." Brie grinned, handing me a drink. I opened my mouth to protest, but she was already talking. "It's non-alcoholic, don't worry. And I made sure Dan had food that was safe."
"Thank you, Brie." I smiled at my friend.
"We marked yours with an umbrella so you can't lose it." Andrea smiled and sat on the arm of my chair, her eyes flickering to my stomach. "Does he know?"
"No, Andrea, you know that." Brie huffed.
When I first moved to Florida I was really nervous I wouldn't have friends. At college I had my girls, but they were all currently living in New York. Back in California at Ronnie's house I had Andy and Juliet and all of Falling In Reverse. But here I was really only close with Cody and I worried I'd be friendless. I'd been wrong. Maxx quickly introduced me to Brie and we became best friends. I think she was mostly relieved to have some girl company, especially since we lived in the same building.
Austin had introduced us to Andrea eight months ago. She was a childhood friend of his who had moved back to Florida. Brie and I soon decided it was our personal mission to get the two together. They were now going six months strong and I hadn't seen Austin this happy with a girlfriend before.
"I really do appreciate it. There's never anything non-alcoholic at these parties." I told the girls.
"I mixed it back at our apartment and brought it." Brie shrugged, also handing me a small gift bag. "And we know it's early, but we saw this and just...couldn't pass it up." Andrea giggled and pushed it closer to me.
I raised an eyebrow, cautiously opening the bag. "Oh my god." I laughed seeing the little onsie with music notes all over it. "It's beautiful."
Brie beamed proudly.
"Oh, Cody's coming back." Andrea warned and I quickly stashed it away. "I'll let you guys talk then." She winked at me and went to join Austin. Brie scurried after her towards Maxx.
Cody frowned "Uh, do Brie and Andrea know what it is you have to tell me?"
"Apparently everyone knows." I shook my head "It was just Austin and Maxx." Cody's confusion grew even more and he sat down in front of me. "I think this will explain..." I pushed the silver box towards him. My heart threatened to beat right out of my chest.
All eyes turned to Cody as he unwrapped the paper and lifted the lid. "What..." He pulled out the teal pacifier. I'd chosen the color to match his band's symbol. He then also took out the positive pregnancy test and looked up at me. "You're pregnant?" he said quietly.
I swallowed hard. "I'm sorry." I found myself whispering.
Cody got up and for a terrifying second I thought he was going to walk out, but instead he knelt in front of me. "Why are you sorry? This is amazing." He murmured, kissing my stomach. He pulled me into his arms. "We're going to be parents."
"You're not mad?" I whimpered, clinging to him tightly.
"Al, I told you I wanted kids." Cody laughed, kissing me happily, tears in his eyes. "This...this is amazing. You're pregnant!" He kissed me again.
"But...the timing's off and we-"
"Hey, we'll work through all that." Cody wiped at my tears and I wiped away his. "We're going to do this. Alright?"
"Alright." I smiled weakly, letting him wrap me in another tight hug.
"She's pregnant! I'm going to be a dad!" Cody shouted out to our friends, the laughter rumbling in his chest.
"We know!" His band responded, coming over to congratulate us anyways.
"When do we tell fans?" Cody asked that night as we were curled up in bed.
"After he's born?" I joked, kissing him before he could complain. "I'm teasing. Let's tell them second trimester. Risk of miscarriage goes down then and I'll be showing, so we can put out a photo."
Cody nuzzled his head into my neck. "You think it's a boy?"
"Mhm." I nodded.
"No, she's a girl." Cody decided "And she's going to be as beautiful as her mother." He rubbed my back "We need to get you a doctor's appointment." He sat up suddenly.
"Friday at 10am." I pulled him back down. "I set it up while I was with Ronnie. I checked with Maxx that nothing Set It Off wise was happening."
"Friday." Cody echoed, wrapping his arms around me. "I love you so much, Alyssa."
"Good, I love you too, now sleep. I'm tired." I laughed, closing my eyes. I was just drifting off when Cody spoke again.
"Can I tell my mom? And my sister...we need a crib..."
"CODY!" I hit him with a pillow. "We have time. I'm only eight weeks. Sleep."