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Chapter Eleven – November 26 / November 27

“I want to go to the airport,” I complained as my mom stood up from the bed. Nick shook his head.

“No, you’re staying in bed, doctor’s orders.”

“The doctor didn’t say I had to be on bed rest. I’m sure the ride to the airport won’t kill me.”

Thanksgiving evening had been eventful, to say the least. Nick and mom took me to the emergency room while Angel and BJ stayed behind to clean up. Luckily, Nick’s celebrity once again got us in to see a doctor quickly; the ER was packed from turkey-related incidents. The contractions didn’t come often, but when they did I wanted to scream. After a slew of tests, the doctor came in and sat down.

“Nothing to worry about, just Braxton-Hicks contractions.”

“This early?” I asked.

“Well, they’re more common from the 28th week on, but it’s not out of the question.”

“What would bring them on?” Nick asked.

“Long periods of standing, lifting, stress of any kind, excessive sexual activity,” the doctor counted off on his fingers.

Nick reddened. I felt myself blush.

“Well I did lift that turkey today,” I said awkwardly.

“And the food fight didn’t help,” Nick said. “Very stressful.”

My mom just watched me with a knowing look. The doctor smiled.

“Well just take it easy. Moderation is the key.”

The moment we had gotten home, Nick had carried me to bed. The contractions had completely disappeared, but with Nick and my mom on the watch, there was no way I was going to be allowed to get up. I had spent the day before watching TV with my mom; now it was time for her to leave.

My mom leaned down, kissing my cheek.

“Don’t worry sweetie,” she said with a smile. “I have a feeling I’ll be back down here really soon.”

My eyes widened. “You mean---“

She shrugged. “If the house sells I’ll take it as a sign.”

My mom gave me another hug and kiss; Nick leaned down and did the same.

“I’ll be back in an hour,” he said.

With a little wave I sank back in the pillows. Baby Carter gave a couple kicks.

“I know little one,” I said, stretching my fingers across my stomach. “We’ll be up and at ‘em soon.”

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By the time Nick got home, I was going insane. I couldn’t help but think about everything that we needed to do. I had a doctor’s visit in a few days and then we had less than a week to get packed and ready for the cruise. I hadn’t forgotten that I was the official video and photographer for the trip.

I had snuck out of bed and was tiptoeing towards my recording equipment when Nick walked into the room. I looked up guiltily.

“What are you doing?” he asked.

“Who me? I was just going to the bathroom.”

He pointed in the other direction. “The bathroom’s that way.”

“Ugh,” I threw up my hands. “I need something to do. I want to get my equipment ready for the cruise.”

Nick frowned. “I don’t think you should work the cruise.”

I looked at him in surprise. “Why?”

“Because it’s a lot of work. You’ll have to be getting up and down all the time. You heard the doctor; you shouldn’t be carrying heavy stuff and being on your feet for hours at a time.”

I folded my arms across my chest. “Nick, you know as well as I do that the only thing I was guilty of was excessive sexy time.”

He exhaled heavily. “I’ll admit that I need to take a few more cold showers, but still…”

I shook my head. “No buts. I can’t wait for the music video and the cruise. I’ve missed having all you guys together.”

Nick smiled. “You’ve missed all the trouble we get into.”

He came over and picked up my bag and set it down on the bed. I sat back down, looking up at him. He kissed my forehead.

“Okay. You have your bag, you’re in bed. I’m going to get my guitar and come back up here. You can make sure you’re camera still works while I try out a new song for you.”

I prepared the video camera for an intimate Nick Carter bedroom performance – not that type of bedroom performance. That had already brought about contractions. I put in an empty card just as Nick walked back in, guitar in hand. He sat at the end of the bed, and turned towards me. He smiled.

“Ready?”

I nodded and turned on the camera. He laughed a little at the sight of the green light and gave a little wave.

“Hello everyone. This is Nick Carter. We are just about two weeks away from the first ever Backstreet Boys cruise. I’m sure you might be wondering what I’ve been doing in the down time. Well, I’m engaged and my daughter is going to be born in March so we’ve been busy preparing for parenthood.” He crossed his eyes. “I’ve also been working on my next solo album. I thought I’d share a song with all of you that I wrote for my fiancée, Olivia. It’s entitled All My Heart.”

I looked at him in surprise; he met my eyes and smiled. He spent a moment testing our his chords, then his eyes fluttered closed and he began to sing and strum.

Love falls softly round your head
Falls soft as snowflakes on your bed
I breathe and kiss your sleeping eyes
My love is real, no alibis

And you know the way I love you
I've loved you from the start
You know how I love you
Love you with all my heart

Love sits softly on your face
I don't want to be in another place
You lie sleeping in my bed
And thoughts of love fill my head

I want to star in all your dreams
Enter your life on moon beams
See you tomorrow in dawn's light
While you're with me I'm alright

And you know the way I love you
I've loved you from the start
You know how I love you
Love you with all my heart

I felt a tear slip down my cheek as he sang. When the last chord rang out around the room he opened his eyes and looked back at the camera.

“I hope you enjoyed that sneak peek of my work for the new record. And for those of you going on the cruise, see you soon.”

I had the camera follow him as he fell down beside me on the bed, his guitar resting along his stomach. I pressed stop. He looked up at me with those blue, blue eyes.

“What did you think?”

I smiled, my hand resting on the side of his face. “You wrote that for me?”

“No, I wrote it for Bitsy,” he said. He laughed. “Of course I wrote that for you.”

“That was absolutely beautiful,” I said. I wiped another tear from my eye. “Did I tell you how much I love you?”

Nick grinned. “Oh, maybe once or twice.” He set his guitar on the floor and scooted over to rest his head on my stomach. He lifted my shirt up and kissed my skin gently.

“Hello, baby girl. What did you think of dad’s song?”

He pressed an ear to my belly. I felt her move slightly.

“Ah, I put you to sleep, I see,” he said as if he was carrying on an intense conversation. “Well, I’ve got to tell you that you scared daddy on Thanksgiving. Don’t do that again. We want to see you but not until you’re fully cooked.”

I laughed. “Yeah, my belly button’s still an innie, not an outie. She’s not done yet.”

He pulled my shirt back down and looked up at me with the sweetest face I had ever seen. He was back in caretaker mode.

“You hungry?”

I shrugged. “A little. Doing nothing all day doesn’t really work up an appetite.”

“Well,” Nick sat up. “I’m going to go whip up something. While I do that you can entertain yourself with making me sound good on that video you just took.”

I shook my head. “I don’t need to do anything to make you sound good.”

He winked and stood up. “I’m like Tropicana, I’m 100% all natural.”

I rolled my eyes as he headed back downstairs. I prayed he wouldn’t burn down the kitchen; his idea of whipping something up was dialing delivery. I tensed up as I heard the sound of actual pots and pans being pulled out, but I turned my attention back to the laptop.

I couldn’t wait for the fans to hear my song.

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Chapter note: Lyrics from freelyrics.co.uk