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Chapter Twenty Eight – January 28

“I can’t believe I’m going to a Lamaze class on my birthday,” Nick said as we drove to the hospital.

I laughed. “Is there anything else you wanted to do when you turned 31?” I teased.

It was our third week of class. I had taken so many breaths and “hee-hee’d” so many times that I thought I could do it in my sleep.

The first week of class was memorable. Of the six other ladies in my group, three of them were my age. The looks on their faces when Nick Carter walked through the room was priceless. When we went around the room for introductions, the girls erupted in giggles like they were thirteen as Nick flashed a smile and said ‘Hi, I’m Nick Carter.’ I was just waiting for one of them to ask Nick to sign her belly; they were more interested in us then on what the instructor was saying.

The second class wasn’t much better. Our instructor had brought out birth balls and we all went through the various ways to use it. I clumsily tried to maintain my balance on the ball; Nick played interference as I wobbled back and forth. After we “mastered” the squatting position, we were supposed to balance on the ball while leaning over pillows. Our partners were to straddle and rub our backs.

As I was enjoying the massage, Nick had leaned down and whispered right next to my ear. “I have other plans for this ball.” I think I blushed enough that even the tips of my ears turned red.

One of the other girls must have thought the sight of Nick Carter in the doggie / straddle position might be worth something to the outside world. Out of the corner of my eye I saw her take a picture on her cell phone. Nick heard the telltale snap as well. Neither of us was amused. I didn’t want my gigantic behind on the cover of some magazine and I think Nick just wanted to get through a normal part of life without being photographed doing it. Nick had thrown a grand dame of a diva fit that had the instructor playing interference. In the end, the woman’s birth ball went flying angrily past Nick’s head and towards the wall as the instructor confiscated her phone and kicked her out.

So, for week three, our group was down to just the six of us. Our instructor had announced that there was going to be a special surprise. Now Nick loves surprises, but as we sat on our yoga mat, my back right against his chest and his arms around me, I heard him whine as the instructor held up a DVD.

“Not on my birthday,” he complained, only loud enough for me to hear. “I thought they’d wait until the last week. Y’know, the week we’re going to miss.”

I stifled a laugh. “How bad can it be?”

It was pretty bad. Lamaze classes are big in convincing women that there is no need for epidurals; that things can be done the natural way. As Nick and I watched the baby crown and the mother still calmly “hee-hee’d,” I knew that was not what I would be doing. I could already hear me screaming and breaking people’s fingers. What made the tape worse was that after the so-called “normal” delivery, they also showed deliveries where doctors had to shove their hands into no man’s land to turn the baby around, skin was cut, forceps were used, and an actual breech birth took place. By the end I was a sweaty mess just thinking about it. As the instructor turned the lights on, I could see that some of the partners had bowed out halfway through. In fact, Nick seemed to be the only calm one.

“That was awesome,” he said appreciatively. I looked at him like he was crazy.

“Awesome?” I asked, my voice an octave higher than normal. “She can just stay where she is.” I said, pointing towards my belly.

Nick laughed and helped me up. The ones who quit halfway through the video came in and quietly began to pack up their partner’s mat. As Nick rolled up our yoga mat, he actually began to whistle.

I threw my hands up in the air. “I’m scared!” I said in a loud whisper. He stopped and looked up at me in surprise.

“Scared?”

“Yes! I freaked out when I got my hair caught in the jet tub. That’s nothing compared to…to…” I pointed to the TV. “that!”

Nick rested the rolled up mat against his side. “Listen, it looks bad because you’re looking at it head on.” He looked around and lowered his voice. “Plus, the video was bad editing. Didn’t you see the epidural coming out of the first ladies back? Why do you think she was so calm?”

My eyes widened in surprise. Me, the video editor, hadn’t noticed. I was too busy looking at what was going on at the other end. Nick broke into a wide smile.

“It’s going to be okay,” he assured me. He kissed me softly.

“So how about some birthday ice cream?” he asked hopefully.

After we put our stuff in the car, we stopped by a Coldstone Creamery for ice cream. I bought Nick a “Birthday Cake Remix” and for myself, a “Peanut Butter Cup Perfection.” We sat down on a bench outside and swapped flavors.

“So,” Nick said, casually licking the back of his spoon. I paused mid-bite. His “so’s” were never good.

“So?” I repeated.

“I got a phone call yesterday from People,” Nick said. “They want to do a photo shoot of us in the baby’s room.”

“Really?”

Nick nodded. “Yeah. They think it’s funny I’m having the first Backstreet girl,” he said with a laugh.

I had a mental image of a similar photo shoot with Brian and Leighanne. I could see them sitting by Baylee’s
crib, barefoot. Nick seemed to read my mind.

“I’m not cheesing it like Brian did,” Nick said. “I teased him about that forever. I’m surprised his face didn’t crack.”

I laughed. “I thought it was cute. He was excited!”

“Well, I’m excited,” Nick said. “I’m just not going to be a dork about it.”

“You’re always a dork about it.”

Nick did another slow lick of his spoon. “Be nice. It’s my birthday.”

I had remained fairly mum about the whole “birthday” thing all day. In the morning I had given him the two presents he had asked for: a new copy of the movie Aliens on DVD and a new pair of drumsticks.

What Nick didn’t know was that I had Angel as my partner in crime. While we were at Lamaze class and eating ice cream, Angel was getting the house ready for a surprise party of epic proportions. Brian, Leighanne, AJ, and Rochelle were there along with some of Nick’s other close friends and music buddies. Howie and Leigh weren’t able to come because of a Lupus charity event; Kevin said there was something happening at home and gave his regrets. I had ordered up one of those cakes like you see on Ace of Cakes with all of Nick’s favorite things: the Buccaneers, music, boats, and of course the baby. I hadn’t even seen that yet. I couldn’t wait.

After we finished our ice cream, we got back in the car and headed towards home. Nick pulled up to the house and I stifled a laugh. Everyone must have parked several blocks down; the house looked completely calm and quiet.

I stood behind Nick as he fiddled with the key in the lock. The door swung open; all was quiet for a moment, and then…

“SURPRISE!”

Brian jumped out wearing a clown wig and what looked like red lipstick and blew a handful of confetti right in Nick’s face. Angel outdid herself; streamers hung everywhere and she had even made handwritten signs that said “#1 Bro” and “Birthday Boy.”

“What the—“ Nick said with a laugh as he brushed bits of confetti from his face. I laughed. He turned around and looked at me.

“Was this your idea?” he said. I smiled.

“I had a little help.”

At that moment, Angel sidestepped Brian.

“Yeah, we’re double trouble,” Angel said. Nick scooped her up in a big bear hug and looked around as everyone came out from behind couches, chairs, and curtains.

“Howie and Kevin couldn’t be here,” AJ said as he and Rochelle walked up. AJ handed him two huge, oddly shaped packages. “We got you these.”

Nick gave him a look and tore the wrapping off of one. A huge blow up doll fell out and leaned against Nick’s hip.

“That’s Howie,” AJ explained. Nick ripped the wrapping off the other. Another doll fell out. This one had a mustache and goatee crudely drawn with Sharpie.

“And Kev.”

Nick held both up to eye level, then glanced at AJ.

“You’ve given me some really weird gifts for my birthdays, but I think this takes the cake.”

“Speaking of cake…” I said. I glanced at Angel; she nodded excitedly.

I took Nick’s hand and pulled him into the kitchen. Baylee was already sitting on a bar stool, his eyes wide as he stared up, up, up at the cake.

The bakery had outdone themselves. On the bottom tier, they had sculpted a miniature Nick dressed in a Buccaneers uniform standing on a pier as racing boats flew along. The second tier was decorated in red and black music notes, guitars, and drums. The third tier had a white crib and a huge “3-1” made out of what looked like child’s building blocks.

Nick walked all around the cake, shaking his head.

“I love it,” he finally said. He looked at me. “You got the hierarchy right too.”

I smiled.

“First comes football, then comes music, then comes Nick with a bay-bay carriage,” Brian sang.

“Damn straight,” Nick said. I took a quick picture of him by the cake with my cellphone. Afterwards, Nick glanced over at Baylee and handed him the cake server.

“Dish it, buddy.”

---------------------------------------------------

Two hours later there was what amounted to a carcass of a cake left. Nick and his “boys” had drifted outside. The girls and I sat around in the living room.

“How’s it going?” I asked Leighanne. She smiled. Her belly was a perfect round bump. I never had a perfect round bump. Grr.

“I’m feeling better…finally. What about you?”

“Eight weeks to go,” I said. I smiled. “Not bad. My mom’s actually moving down here in three days.”

“Just in time for Nick’s promo tour,” Rochelle commented. I nodded.

“I’ll be busy down here,” I added. “The wedding planner is coming down February 7 to talk to me about flowers and stuff.”

“Do you have your location?”

I nodded. “The planner e-mailed us pictures of three different beach locations in Key West. Nick and I both liked the same one.”

The location was about the only thing we had…except for the wedding party. One night a week ago, we sat at the kitchen table in front of the computer where we had pictures of all of our “potential” candidates.

“I’m asking Brian to be my best man,” Nick had said. I felt a pang; I had a feeling that Nick had always thought Aaron would be able to take that honor.

“I’d like Leighanne to be my maid of honor,” I said. It had been a toss-up between her and Angel, but Leighanne was the first real best friend I had that hadn’t turned their back on me. That was saying a lot considering the whole “Brian in Los Vegas” incident.

“Howie, AJ, and Kevin are givens for groomsmen,” Nick continued.

“Well Leigh and Rochelle are givens for me. Maybe Angel could walk with Kevin?” I suggested. Nick nodded.

That left us with a little problem. I still had Leslie, BJ, and Taryn.

“I can’t not have your sisters in the wedding,” I said. I knew it was a double negative; I didn’t care.

“Well Taryn already said she doesn’t want to be in it. She likes keeping a low profile. But you’re right about Leslie and BJ.”

I sighed.

“I can ask my buddies Andrew and Matt,” Nick suggested. “We can pair the girls up with those two.”

And so, we had a wedding party of six. Looking around at the girls, I was reminded that I needed to ask them to stand up for me.

“Nick and I decided on our wedding party,” I said out loud. “I’d love it if you two could be my bridesmaids,” I said, looking at Rochelle and Angel.

“Of course,” Angel said happily. Rochelle nodded.

“Absolutely.”

I looked over at Leighanne. “I want you to be my maid of honor.”

She looked surprised. “Really?”

I laughed. “Really.”

“Well, it’s not going to be easy finding me a dress,” she warned. I shrugged and smiled.

“We’re natural born shoppers. I think we’re up for the challenge.”

At that moment Nick poked his head in. He was wearing blow up Kevin on his back.

“Hey Livvy?” he called out. I looked over and laughed.

“Yeah?”

“This is the best birthday ever.”

I blew him a kiss as Brian pulled him back outside. When Nick was happy, I was happy.