Noortje’s POV

I felt a lot better now that Tony was with me. Somehow I always knew something was going to go wrong, but I kept denying it and shrugging it off. Everything was going too well, nothing ever goes right in my life. I didn’t know why I had been so stubborn; I should have already gone to the hospital before Tony got on the plane. But when I was on the cold hard floor of the bathroom, I wanted nothing more than him, I didn’t care about anything else. I almost lost the baby… I almost got myself killed…

Austin had stayed with us for a couple of days and would leave the day after Tony had gone to get his bags from the tourbus. And today was that day. Tony had already left and it was now just me and Austin, and Bailey of course, who could ever forget Bailey. She had forced me to take my seat on the couch again and was now more protective than ever. I was supposed to stay in bed, but I reckoned that was too boring, so I always came to sit here instead. This way I didn’t feel like I was slowly rotting away in the bedroom.

“Here you go,” Austin handed me a cup of hot chocolate before sitting down far enough so Bailey wouldn’t get mad at him.

“Thanks,” I took a sip of the steaming liquid. My cravings had nearly completely stopped, the only thing I couldn’t live without was hot chocolate. It was the only thing that made the pregnancy bearable at this moment. Spud was starting to give me sleepless nights and terrible back aches. I couldn’t wait to pop this baby out.

“So, how are you feeling?”

“A lot better, tired and achy, but a lot better.”

“You should ask Tony to give you a massage when he gets back,” Austin suggested and put his cup of coffee on the coffee table.

“Yeah, like that will help. He knows how to work his fingers, but not his hands.”

Austin choked on some coffee and looked at me. It took me a while to realise what I had said, “no, I didn’t mean it like that!”

“Yeah, sure…” Austin raised his eyebrows and chuckled.

“I meant he can play guitar really well! Not that!”

“I totally believe you,” he rolled his eyes, “you sexual human being.”

“No,” I whined, “I don’t even like it when fingers are being used during sex!”

“Oh, I should tell Tony that for future reference.”

I playfully slapped his chest, “he already knows.”

“Does he now?”

“Yes. I’ll have you know that this,” I pointed at my belly, “did not just happen in one go like the first time.”

Austin’s whole mood changed, “yeah… I heard the doctor say something about you nearly having another miscarriage.”

“I didn’t tell you about that, did I? But it’s fine. Tony and I weren’t prepared back then and we didn’t even know I was pregnant. I keep having to tell this story over and over again and I don’t get it. I’m pregnant now, right? Why dwell on the past when there’s a baby in the future?”

“That’s very well said. I just didn’t know how you felt about it.”

“I think it devastated Tony more than me, long-term. Of course I was upset with myself for the first couple of weeks, but I got over it pretty quickly. Tony, on the other hand, started thinking about it later, and it sparked the idea of trying ‘for real’.”

There was a silence after that; not an uncomfortable one, but a nice one. I had some time to think back and evaluate everything that had happened over the last year: Tony and I getting together, Tony and I breaking up and getting together again, the miscarriage, the whole Vic incident, becoming pregnant. What was in our future, except for the baby, that is.

I took another sip of my hot chocolate, getting whipped cream on my nose. Austin looked at me and laughed, “you’re my soulmate. Where have you been all my life?”

I chuckled and wiped the cream off, “I don’t think your girlfriend or Tony would like that. Having best friends of the other sex isn’t really prefered by partners.”

“Shh, they don’t need to know.”

----
Tony’s POV

I punched in the code on the tourbus and opened the door, walking up the steep steps. Everybody was in the front lounge and they all looked at me. They were making me feel very awkward… like I wasn’t welcomed.

“Tony! You’re back!” Jaime broke the silence.

“Umm, yeah,” I scratched the back of my head, “not for long, though. I’m just here to get my stuff.”

“You’re not staying?” Vic asked while he got up from his spot on the floor.

“No, I have to go back home. But my plane is only leaving in four hours, so I have some time with you guys.”

“How is she doing?” Vic followed me to the bunks. The others soon came as well. They all wanted to know how Noortje was doing.

“She’s on bedrest,” I scavenged around in my bunk for things I needed to bring back with me and got out one of my suitcases, “When I got there she was in a lot of pain. Apparently she almost had another miscarriage, but they managed to fix her up. Austin’s with her right now.”

“Austin?” Mike asked, “what is he doing there?”

“They were flying back home from San Diego. He just happened to be there when I ran out to follow the ambulance. He offered to stay with us until I get back home today.”

“That’s nice of him.”

“Yep.”

I collected all my stuff and crammed into my suitcases. Som how everything fits in when you go, but not when you’re coming back. It was always like that. Traveling a lot would make you think that I found a solution, but it just got worse over time. The amount of times I had to throw things away because I couldn’t fit them in anymore was way too high.

I joined everybody back in the front lounge, putting the bags close to the door, “so, how’s tour going?”

“Umm, good, we’ve had to figure out a way to play the new songs without you,” Jaime explained, “we sort of make it work.”

“Oh, about that. I sorted out with Jay that I can play at the LA show. I know it’s close to the end of tour, but I’d like to play. It’s not too far away from home, so I can drive the short distance, maybe take Noortje with me.”

“Seems like a good idea to me. All the kids have been asking where you disappeared to. We haven’t told them, of course.”

“Noortje and I came up with an idea to announce it to the fans…” I proceeded to explain them our plan, and they happily agreed to help. Now all I needed was some of our other friends to help as well. The plan was simple, but I liked it. It could either go right or completely wrong. Hopefully nobody found out before Spud was born…

Notes

So Noortje's fine and they finally have a plan to tell the fans! But was is the mysterious plan? Will it work out?