"Lil Iz Merjos getting married, huh? That still blows my mind." He said with a small smirk cracking at the corner of his lips, looking up once the waitress brought over their drinks order. He quickly took his glass of whiskey in hand, taking a sip of it to comfort his dry palette. Although he had heard about her recent engagement through the airwaves, this was the first time hearing it from her. Since he had never stayed in touch with past exes, he was unsure what his reponse should be. "Congratulations on the engagement, he is definitely a very luck man. It was an honor to snatch you away for a few months there." He mentioned with a soft chuckle before taking another swig of his drink. "My personal life is nonexistent at the moment," he said as he dropped his gaze for a second, thinking back to the various relationships he had been a part of in the last couple of years that had ended for one reason or another, the woman in front of him right now being one of those. "I had this fling, if you want to call it that, over the summer but since then things have been rather empty. Aside from that, I haven't truly dated in a year in a half or so." Ryan adjusted his seating for a moment, running a hand through his wavy black hair. "I'm neither happy nor upset about that fact. I probably needed sometime to myself after the bouts of anxiety that I've dealt with. Maybe I'll get back out there some day soon." He gave her a small smile, shaking his leg, which was one of the traits that came with his anxiety disorder. "I know, it's weird how I own so much property and it's just myself." Ryan chuckled under his breath to try to defuse any tension that he may have brought to their conversation.

"You're not alone on thinking that, Iz. I'm sure a lot of people would agree with that," he said quietly, tracing his thumb around the rim of his glass. "And at one point, I did see myself like that, you know. A bachelor for life, who will just bounce between relationships and women. That no one would ever tie me down." Ryan sighed aloud, leaning back into a more comfortable stance on his chair. "And dating is what it is. We're not all lucky enough to be madly in love and getting married to their person of their dreams, Ms. Merjos." He added with a soft chuckle, pointing toward the engagement ring on her finger. "I'm tired of dating. It's mentally exhausting to date in this day and age because you have so many communication waves and distractions that ache away at the essence of what love is. At the same time though, I have reached a point where in my life, I'm not implying that I want to get married tomorrow and have kids in a year because that's not realistic when there's no one in my life currently to fit that description and do all of that with. But I do want something real and pure. I love Montana, I love the house I worked so hard to purchase and make my personal domain, but it gets lonely when it's just me and my dog up there. When I first bought that place I remember thinking, 'this is where I want to start a family, where I want to raise my kids in the future.' It's silly to hear that I'm sure, especially coming from me," he shrugged softly, pausing for a second before continuing on. "I do see myself as a husband and father one day, I'm just very paranoid about doing it with someone who I don't feel I'll be with the rest of my life. I don't know if everlasting love exists in this world. That's just a territory that I don't want to fuck up. I was raised by my mom, I never had a dad, I've never even met the guy. He might be dead for all I know. From that experience I learned that when I do have a kid, I'm gonna be there for them. I'm gonna be there for my future wife. And I just envision this really beautiful, comfortable home life." He gazed away as he thought of that future life he hoped to achieve one day, knowing how odd it was to speak about such subject just by the reputation he carried about himself.

He cleared his throat for a moment, taking a sip of his drink after knowing he had spoken about for awhile there, smirking at her comment about his anxiety. "Being who I am does carry quite a bit of anxiety in and of itself, you got that right," he said in a sarcastic tone of voice. His anxiety disorder was something he had never really spoken about with Izzy or any of his past exes, despite the fact it was something he had dealt with for the majority of his life by now. "Anxiety is just something I've always carried with me for as long as I can remember. I'd say a little while after we broke up and I was sort of going through a down period in my life, I looked for professional help and I was officially diagnosed with generalized anxiety disorder. That's one of the reasons why I own that place out in Minnesota now because I'm closer to the Mayo Clinic which is where I see a therapist ever so often." He fiddles with his fingers through his hair, aware that he was bringing a more serious subject to the conversation than he would have liked and probably discuss something that was better suited for him to have brought up when the two were still together a long while ago. "I kind of have to learn to talk about it and be honest with it because I never was before. I know there are some past relationships, probably ours included, where there could have been more there or had it last more if I had sat you or someone else down and said, 'there are certain things I do or say that I really can't explain because I have anxiety and it scares the living shit out of me knowing that I like you but that monster in my head keeps telling me that I'm gonna fuck it up, and you're going to leave me when you see how messed up I am, and I need help.'" His brown eyes had dropped away from her at some point while he spoke. He wasn't yet totally comfortable to speak about his anxiety, but he knew it was something he had to do, even if there was a pang in his chest each time he did. "I-I-I'm sorry... I'm sure you didn't want to meet up just to hear about my sad fucking story. I know there are a lot of people out there who have it worse than me. Everyone with some wealth to their name has to have some loose bolts, right? Boo-hoo, here is a hundred dollar bill to cry into." He jokingly remarked with a gentle, forced chuckle as he looked back up toward her.

Jen had finally returned from her trip to New Jersey. She had decided it would be better to spend the holidays with her family instead of at home alone since her husband was on tour. The pair hadn't really talked much, which was weird considering they were married but ever since the announcement of her pregnancy, Jen could feel Scott's dismay. He didn't have to say anything to her, his actions were quite loud. She didn't hate him, she could never hate him because she loved him too much. She was just disappointed and started feeling more and more depressed as the days went by. It was no secret Jen had problems with depression and was also diagnosed as Bipolar but she had done such a great job at managing it these past few years. It was just this sudden coldness from her husband that had allowed her to feel that sullen feeling she was familiar with. She had put on a brave front for her family, because she didn't want them to worry about her but she knew she wouldn't be able to hide it from Scott. Just being at home made her feel upset all over again. She wasn't exactly sure how to even talk to her husband anymore. She felt like they didn't even really know each other anymore and it hurt her. As she finally arrived at home, she had set her few bags over in the corner in her room. She glanced and saw Scott laying in bed but she didn't say anything. All she did was walk into the bathroom and put away some of her things. It was weird feeling awkward in her own home.

As Jen makes her way back into the bedroom, she glances over at Scott as he pulls down one side of the quilt. Whenever Jen was upset in the past, she was hard to really handle and could be very sarcastic. Everything inside of her is telling her to give Scott the cold shoulder and ignore him but she knows she's worked so hard to improve herself and her attitude. She really did want to work things out but she was just frustrated and hurt. She sighed, not wanting to argue. The only thing she had kept on her mind these past few days was her unborn baby which she had found out would be their son. She walked over to the bed and sat down, but she didn't lay down. Her body was halfway turned to him but not fully, as if she was still distancing herself from him. Her belly had grown larger since she was about 5 months pregnant now. She wasn't sure if there was anything he could say to her right now that would make her feel better. All she knew in her mind was that Scott wasn't on board and would probably feel he should leave her. She didn't want that but she had grown to love her unborn son now and she would do anything that was in his best interests, even if that meant raising him alone.

"You've been drinking, haven't you.." It wasn't exactly a question, more of an accusation from Jen. She wasn't in the mood to deal with him being drunk. It was probably the only time they would ever get to talk about their problems right now and she was even more annoyed that he chose to be drunk for the occasion. "You're so selfish, Scott. All you care about is yourself.." She said this softly. The way she said it, she didn't have any anger in her voice, it was more disappointment. Her tone was low and she already sounded as if she were defeated. It was that mixture of not caring but still caring that most women reflected in their moods when they were beyond done. She didn't want any excuses. She knows all about Scott's past and how he was almost a father before but she doesn't think he should be holding on to that, especially now. In her mind, all she got from him was that she was pregnant and he couldn't be bothered dealing with something as huge as this.

"What you don't get, what you're failing to realize is that I know all of this. I already knew how you would feel. Sure, I thought you'd be afraid and a little hesitant at first but you've been completely cold to me. You don't even care how I am-how we are. You haven't tried to talk to me in days, days Scott. I'm your wife. I'm your pregnant wife. I never asked you to hold my hand or pretend that you're happy but the very least you could have did was to show that you at least cared or worried about us. I've always been careful about talking about children around you or even hinting that one day I'd like a family of my own but I didn't think that once it was happening, you'd completely abandon me." Jen was turned completely away from him now. "Maybe you didn't mean to but you've made me feel unwanted and unloved since I found out I was pregnant. As if I'm just this person that is diseased and you don't want to be around me. It hurts, a lot." She didn't want to cry in front of him but with the added hormones and her already being an emotional mess, she couldn't help it. "And lashing out at everyone doesn't help anything either. If you don't want to do this then I'm not forcing you, do what you want." She got up after saying the last sentence as if she didn't have a care in the world, and headed downstairs.

"I just don't want to be flat on my face after all this is over." Jen said, wiping away her tears. She tries to regain her composure, not wanting to be upset. "What would help you then? I want to help you cope. I don't want our son to ever think you don't care about him or love him because he doesn't deserve that. I'll help you but you have to let me in and stop shutting me out. I did that in the past and I ended up at a dark point in my life which I never want to go back to and I don't want you to go back to it either." She walked slowly towards him, wrapping her arms around him just wanting to feel his warmth and embrace. She didn't even care about the alcohol scent coming from his mouth. It was by far their most intense argument but even so, she still loved him and wasn't about to let their marriage crumble without putting up a fight. "I love you and I always will. I just want you to know that. I just need you, Scott. We need you, please." She felt herself on the verge of crying again. It was partially due to the fact that she felt as if she would slip back into her old habits, but she knew she couldn't because she was pregnant but this argument and tension had put her on the verge of wanting to waste away again. She didn't tell Scott that fearing that it would only worry him more.

"I know but I want to do something..I can't just sit back and watch you hurt, that hurts me too." Jen sighs and nods her head. She had seen the barrage of questions online and while she was fine answering them, she knew Scott wasn't. "I mean I'm not even totally prepared and I don't think I ever will be. I'm scared too, it is my first child after all." She listens to him as he expresses his concern for Weekend's impending doom. "You could always do something else with music. You could start a label, become a talent scout, be a manager, whatever you want. I'll support you no matter what. You guys knew this wouldn't last forever right? It doesn't mean it's the end of the world. Maybe you could even help me with my next album or something. So far I have a bunch of emotional ballads that either talk about being a mother or having a baby, so it's not looking so hot right now." She smiles softly at him, trying to lighten the mood between the two of them. She hugged him back even tighter, loving the way he felt against her. She was glad that they hadn't gotten to a point of no return. "Just promise me you won't drink anymore."

Cassie was excited. Super excited, an emotion which was heightened by something of a new experience; the arrival of a new addition to the family without the fear of childbirth, since this was the first time she herself wasn't the pregnant party. She was so looking forward to Eris arriving today. Their family was already so perfect in her eyes, but the arrival of a new kid, one with her wife's DNA to boot, would just make everything more perfect than she could ever have imagined. A new little bundle of joy would complete what was already such a happy family, bringing everything together for them. The fact Karoliena and the kids were all as excited as Cassie was just made it even better. She felt like she had been waiting forever for this day, such was the excitement, and she was so glad it was finally here.

"Hey, you ok?" She asks Karoliena as she walks into the room, dragging a bag filled with shit she was sure they wouldn't need but was loathe not to pack just in case they did. Cassie smiled and kisses Karoliena on the cheek. She was doing her best not to bring up the fact her wife was scared, even though she knew she was. Cassie was trying to keep calmness the emotion or the hour, theorising that it would help Karoliena feel calm as well. "Are you excited? I'm like....all just nervous energy right now," she laughs, lifting her hand to show how it was shaking. "That is like all excitement," she muses, raising her eyebrows.

When Karoliena whispers about her impending death, Cassie tries her best not to giggle. It was strange to hear Karoliena being so dramatic like this, when she was normally so bold, confident and brave. "It's OK. I'll look after the kids when you're gone," Cassie whispers back, clearly joking to try to make Karoliena feel less on edge. She didn't want her to be scared when she was about to experience the most joyous moment of her life. "Yeah, you know what?" Cassie asks as she squeezes her hand gently. "If I'd have known you were reading stuff like that online I'd have confiscated your ipad, just like I did when Jody started the gambling," she jokes, gently stroking Karoliena's cheek. "Don't worry sweetie. You know I'll be there with you. And if you think I'm letting you die, leaving me alone with these little terrors? You got another think coming," she grins, kissing Karoliena softly. Cassie smiles at Karoliena's shaking hand and grips it tighter to stop the shaking. "Just don't let go of me and you'll be fine. I promise. And to be honest, I technically only did it twice. Two of them come out on the same day. So I'm not all that special," she winks. "You just got to be stubborn. Refuse to let the pain win."