In the earliest hours of the morning, Nico wakes to the sound of Jackie getting violently ill. He can hear her crying & wretching at the same time & he gets himself up to go check on her immediately. He finds her crouched in front the toilet, apparently done being sick, just sitting there crying, huge sobs making her back heave up & down. He's seen this kind of thing before, having spent so much time gigging in bars, but he knows Jackie didn't have anything to drink at all yesterday. He kneels down beside her, gently lifting her head off the rim of the bowl, letting her cry on him instead. "Are you okay, Jackie?" he asks, feeling kind of stupid & useless, "Maybe you should get to a hospital?" But she just goes on sobbing, so he picks her up & carries her back to the bedroom, so they can sit on her bed to cry. "Nico...I think...I think...I might...might be..." she sobs each word out & then bursts into tears so hard she can't speak at all. "You're pregnant, aren't you," he says, and it's not a question. He didn't think it was possible for her to cry any harder, but she does. "I love you, Jackie," he says, not knowing if she even cares if he loves her or not, if it will make any difference to her.

How she manages to fall asleep on him, he can't imagine, but after a few minutes of intense crying & sobbing in his arms, she passes out. He tucks her into her bed, and as the sun is already up & he won't be able to go back to sleep, he goes downstairs & makes some breakfast.

Jackie comes down shortly after he finishes cooking & joins him for breakfast.

Nico waits for her to say something, anything, but she's awfully, terribly quiet, and he can't wait anymore. "Jackie, I know I'm nobody..I'm not even employed, and I have no business asking you this...I've told you how I feel, that I love you,...and I think we should...I mean, I want to marry you...I want to do right by you & our baby..." I never bothered him before, dealing with women who had all the power, being just a play-thing to them, because he just did it for the money, so he could pay his rent & still have his schedule free for late night gigs & rehearsals at all hours. But this is a whole different world & it hurts his pride to actually be in a position of dependence, to have nothing to offer the woman he loves & who is now carrying his child, nothing but himself. The silence gets heavier as he waits for her to respond.

Finally, she answers, her voice very soft & hoarse, "Nico, this isn't the 19th century. A baby is no reason to marry someone....And I don't know that I want a baby...." It's like she dropped a bomb on him: it takes Nico some time to recover from the shock. He sits staring with his mouth open, his fork held halfway up to his mouth.

Finally, he gets up from his chair to face her. "Jackie, I know I can't tell you what to do, and I'm in no position to ask you anything, but, this is as much my responsibility as yours. It's my baby, too... You've never told me if you love me or not Jackie, but I do love you, I want to marry you & I want our child....At least consider that before you..before you make any decisions..."

"Do you really mean it when you say you love me?" Jackie asks him. She's torturing him..."Jackie, I know it is hard for you to trust me, because of how I've lived, but please, please, let's put that behind us, okay? I've never lied to you, I've never thought of you like, like other women, okay? I love you, Jackie, and I've never said that to anyone, no matter what they were paying me. I love you, Jackie & I will still love you if you kick me out on my ass & send me home. If you let me stay with you, I'll say it everyday, and I'll mean it every time. I love you, okay? Do you believe me yet?" Jackie falls into his arms: she's crying again.

"Jackie, do you love me, at all?" he finally asks her, because he doesn't think he can live another minute without knowing how she feels about him. Especially now. "Yes, Nico, I do love you. I tried not to...," she says finally.

Nico is too overjoyed for words now, he can only express his hapiness physically. And he doesn't let himself think about the future, if she will accept his offer marriage, if she will keep their child. He can't consider the possibility that she won't