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Chapter Thirteen – December 7 (Welcome to Miami)

Somehow in the time between the Masquerade video shoot and our arrival in Miami, I had forgotten how early 4:00 a.m. was. To make matters worse, we had an hour and a half flight from Tampa Bay to Miami. Thus, Nick and I had been awake since 1:00 a.m.

“This is a good time to go to sleep, not to wake up,” Nick said as a car took us to the warehouse.

“We better get used to it,” I said, stifling a yawn. “Once the baby comes, we’re going to be up at all hours of the night.”

The car dropped us off at our location and then took off to our hotel where all of our luggage would be (hopefully) waiting. Nick immediately spotted a Starbucks. He walked over and pressed his face against the window.

“It doesn’t open until 5:30,” I said. He groaned.

Nick wasn’t much of a coffee drinker; but I had a feeling he needed that jolt of caffeine.

Taking his hand, we headed into the warehouse. The crews had obviously been hard at work for the past day or so. A fake ocean backdrop with a cruise ship deck and boating dock was in one corner. A bedroom, a restaurant, and an ATM machine were in the other three corners. Nick was eying the bed like a man who had found an ice cold Coca Cola in the middle of the desert.

A large billboard hung from the ceiling. Pictures of four absolutely gorgeous girls were displayed right in a row reminiscent of the Boys billboard in The Call.

“Hey Nizzle, want to switch verses? That bed’s looking awfully inviting.”

Nick and I turned to see AJ and Rochelle over by the food table, steaming cups of coffee in hand. They both looked tanned and extremely happy.

“No way, man. I will gladly offer to shoot first,’ Nick said. AJ flipped him off.

“Alright guys,” Howie called from the other end of the warehouse. “Over here for instructions!”

AJ, Rochelle, Nick, and I headed over to where a small group was already assembled.

Leigh was standing by Howie. James was holding onto a folding chair, looking up at his parents adoringly.

“Dadad, mamam,” he chattered happily. Howie smiled down at him. James let go of the chair and walked a few steps. He plopped right down on Howie’s foot. At the same time, a remote control car zoomed past him; James let out a loud squeal. Glancing over to the right, I saw Baylee with a remote in his hands.

Brian was straddling a folding chair. He was wearing a short sleeve blue shirt, but had a scarf wrapped around his neck.

“It’s cold in Atlanta,” he said, catching my gaze. “We just got off the plane and my body hasn’t caught up yet.”

I laughed and looked around for Leighanne.

“Where’s Leigh?”

“Oh, she’s back at the hotel. She’ll be here later. She wanted to get the puppies settled in the room.”

“Shall we get started?” Howie said. Everyone gave a nod (or in Nick’s case, a yawn).

Howie started off by introducing the director, Wesley Praxton and the choreographer, Lisa Guaciolli. Wesley took over, passing around story boards and fleshing out the vision a little more.

“I’m hoping to get a good start on your individual scenes this morning. You’ll be spending the entire afternoon with Lisa learning your chorus choreography.

“I volunteer to go first,” Nick said. I stifled a laugh.

Twenty minutes later, Nick came out from the dressing area wearing loose pajama pants that hung off his hips perfectly and nothing else. My mouth went a little dry. The extra ten pounds he had gained didn’t hinder his abdomen, most of it had gone back into his face, for which I was thankful. Nick was at his finest when he pinchable cheeks. A hair stylist followed behind him, putting a last few drops of gel into his hair to spike it up.

“How do I look?” Nick said. I smiled.

“Edible.”

That was probably the wrong thing to say to a man that had to refrain from sleeping with his pregnant fiancée.

“If I didn’t have hair and makeup done I’d really like to try dunking my head in ice again,” he said. I smiled sheepishly.

Nick followed the director over to the bedroom set. Brian brought me over a chair.

“How you feeling Liv?” he said.

“Thanks Bri,” I said with a smile as I sat down. “I’m feeling pretty good.”

There had been a time when there was a possibility that Brian was the father of my baby. I had hoped that when we received the good news that the baby was Nick’s that things wouldn’t be weird between the two of us. Luckily, it wasn’t. Brian sat beside me, watching Nick crawl under some blankets. A set designer carefully positioned the sheets for an optimal shot. Even the placement of Nick’s face on the pillow was changed several times. I looked over at Brian; he was grinning ear to ear.

“Do I need to turn on my camera?” I said suspiciously. Brian let out a little whistle.

“Might not be a bad idea,” he said.

I turned on the camera as Nick’s verse of the song started to play. Nick’s “girl” came over and nudged his shoulder. She was dressed in an extremely short, low-cut red dress. His eyes opened sleepily as she mimed the words ‘I have a place to go.’ She proceeded to grab the keys and phone from the nightstand by Nick’s head.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Brian reach into his pocket. The next second Nick was screaming. Covers were kicked away, Nick’s white ass fell out of his pajama bottoms, and his bare feet hit the floor. Brian fell out of his chair laughing.

And I had caught it all on tape. I stood and walked over to get a closer look at what was going on. Several set designers had already gathered.

“There’s something slithering in that bed!” Nick said, his voice higher than I had ever heard it before. “It crawled over my feet!”

Two women cautiously began to strip the layers off the bed. A remote-controlled fake-looking gel snake lay innocently at the foot of the bed. I could just imagine how it must have felt to have that slimy sticky thing slid over your feet. I shivered at the same time I started to laugh.

Nick looked around for the culprit. Brian was still on the floor laughing. Hiking his pajama pants back over his behind, Nick tackled Brian just as he started to get up. They fell back down on the floor in a heap of playful hits and jabs.

“That was not funny!” Nick said as he yanked the remote control from Brian’s hand and threw it halfway across the warehouse. Brian was still laughing; I think he begged to differ about the humor level.

After Nick had calmed down and the set was reassembled, they began a second take. Then a third. Then a fourth. By the seventeenth take, I was ready to crawl into the bed with him and take a nap.

Finally, the director declared the scene a success. Nick sat up and stretched.

“Wake me up when it’s time for me to dance,” he said as I walked over. I shook my head.

“No, you’re not getting off that easily,” I said.

By this time, Brian had been taken into hair, makeup, and costuming. I saw Leighanne walk in, clutching a big cup of Starbucks. Nick’s eyes lit up; not at her, but at the cup.

“I’m going to run over to Starbucks,” he said. I grabbed his arm and pointed towards the dressing room.

“You’re not going over there half naked,” I said. Nick looked down; it was almost as if he had forgotten he was dressed only in pajama pants.

“Right,” he said. With a kiss on my cheek, he ducked down the hallway. I walked over to Leighanne.

“Good to see you,” I said happily. She took a big sip from her cup then hugged me tightly.

“It’s good to see you too, Liv,” she said. “You look great.”

“So do you,” I said. She always looked beautiful, but this morning I noticed that she looked more tired than I had ever seen her before. She laughed and shook her head.

“I’ve felt better. Hopefully some sea air will perk me right up.”

Baylee ran over, still holding the controls to his car. She knelt down to get a hug and kiss, then looked around.

“Where’s daddy?” she asked Baylee.

“Makeup,” Baylee said. Coming from any other kid, the thought of daddy in makeup would be weird, but for Baylee it was a normal day in the life of a Backstreet Boy’s son.

I pulled my chair over to Brian’s set and got another folding chair for Leighanne. She sat down, resting her cup on her lap. The smell wafting from the cup smelled familiar.

“What did you get?” I asked. “It smells great.”

Leighanne looked down at the cup in surprise. “Oh, just a coffee mix. Coffee always smells good when you can’t have it, right?”

I nodded. I hated coffee and even pregnant I couldn’t stand to walk down the coffee aisle. I was sure I had smelled her drink before, but I couldn’t place it.

Brian came out to the set and spotted Leighanne straight away. After a hug and a kiss, he walked over to the restaurant table in the middle of his set and sat down. Baylee climbed in the seat across from him.

“No buddy,” Brian said lightly. “We’re not eating. Daddy’s working.”

Baylee scrambled off the chair and took off in the direction of James. The little car he controlled zipped over wires and around legs like lightning. If Baylee didn’t end up with a singing career, he just might be destined to be a race car driver.

Brian’s scene went rather smoothly, albeit with Brian there are always a few outtakes. One shot had him wearing the menu on his head; another had him putting his watch up to his ear like the battery had stopped. Even though he had less takes than Nick, by the time we heard the final ‘Cut!’ it was lunchtime.

“We’re a little behind schedule,” Wesley said. “After lunch you guys will still go learn the choreography and then we’ll have to shoot AJ later tonight. I don’t think we’ll get to Howie’s scene and the chorus until tomorrow.”

We broke for lunch. I watched Brian help Baylee get a plate. I sat back down in my seat with a plate of delicious smelling BBQ chicken. Nick took Leighanne’s chair; I had no clue where she went.

“Is this yours?” Nick said, picking up the Starbucks. He had downed a Strawberries and Crème and declared that the sugar had rejuvenated him. I shook my head, but took the cup.

“It’s Leigh’s,” I said. I looked around and not seeing her, I pried the lid open and took a bigger whiff; then I took a sip.

The drink in the cup was definitely not coffee.

It was ginger tea.