[ - ]
Table of Contents [Report This]
Printer Chapter or Story Microsoft Word Chapter or Story
- Text Size +
Chapter Fourteen

When the doorbell rang a couple hours later, I was upstairs changing Brooklyn. Three days of endless crying and missing her daddy had left her with the worst case of diarrhea I had ever seen. I had always rolled my eyes at those people who pinched their nose during a diaper change, but I was eyeing the clothes pins and seriously considering it.

From downstairs I heard the sound of Nick's voice and a very high female's voice answering back. The voice was laced with excitement. It wasn't everyday a person got to interview Nick at his home. I worked a little faster on the diaper. I couldn't help it; I wanted to see what this "Kandy" looked like.

Brooklyn wasn't cooperating. Her little legs kicked at me as I tried to wipe and powder. By the time I got a new diaper under her, she was crying and we were BOTH frustrated. Finally I wrapped her in the kimono that Nick had bought from Japan and smiled. It finally fit her and she looked adorable.

"Ready to go with mommy?" I asked. Her bottom lip quivered, but stopped when I managed to get a pacifier in her mouth. Holding her close and kissing her pudgy cheek, I walked downstairs.

The foyer, living room, and kitchen were absolutely empty. I made my way to Nick's recording studio, figuring that would be the most logical place to do an interview.

I was right.

Nick was sitting on his drum seat in the studio along the wall where his guitars were displayed. He was swiveling back and forth, his legs casually apart, his hands gripping the stool.

Directly across from him was a petite strawberry blonde with the biggest brown eyes and biggest boobs I had ever seen. She could have been descended from Dolly Parton. I didn't know if her eyes were just naturally big but I knew even from a distance that the boobs were most certainly fake. She had set a camera up on a tripod, but the recording light wasn't on. She seemed to be fiddling with it nervously.

As I was sizing Kandy up, out of the corner of my eye I saw Nick wave. I turned to look at him; he smirked and made a 'c'mere' motion. I opened the soundproof door and stepped into the studio.

"Kandy, I'd like you to meet my fiancée, Olivia and my daughter Brooklyn. Livvy, this is Kandy."

Kandy looked up. I smiled and held out my hand; my natural politeness couldn't be stopped. "Pleased to meet you."

She didn't reach for my hand; in fact, her saucer eyes grew even wider.

"Oh my gawd, what happened to your face?"

That was JUST the reaction I was expecting...not. I looked over at Nick in confusion; he was smiling.

"She over judged the power of our treadmill a couple days ago. It's a really bad bruise."

I touched my face. I had almost forgotten about the bruise; the pain had diminished except for when I pressed the swollen skin.

"Oh, yeah," I said. "I accidentally sped the machine up to max," I explained. "I'm a little bit of a klutz."

"That's an understatement," Nick said with a laugh. He got up from the stool and kissed me. I felt his arms slide around Brooklyn and I passed her to him. As he sat back down, Kandy was still staring at me as if I was from an alien. I couldn't help but think she probably hadn't spent much time on a treadmill; there was no way she could run without knocking herself out, if you know what I mean. No sports bra was going to tame her.

"Ouch," was her only reply. Her eyes went back to Nick, but settled on Brooklyn. She seemed surprised.

"This is our daughter, Brooke," Nick said. Right on cue, Brooklyn let out a nice string of drool.

"I didn't know you had a baby," Kandy said.

"She was born in March," Nick said proudly. I smiled; his pride made me love him all the more.

"How'd you learn about this opportunity?" I asked Kandy. She looked at me blankly.

"What opportunity?"

"The webmaster job for the Boys," I explained.

"Ohhhhhh," she said, making the word sound way longer than it should. "I put up one of those job bid things and Mr. Dorough contacted me."

I raised an eyebrow. "Do you know a lot about the Backstreet Boys?"

She shook her head up and down. I did a quick calculation; she would have been about three when they first got together and a whopping nine years old during Millennium.

I felt old.

"I went to Nick's solo tour this year with my older sister. And we went in 2003 too," she said proudly. I saw her look back at Nick and flash a 1,000 watt veneer smile his way. I ran my tongue self-consciously over my own teeth. Nick chose that minute to look at me; I could just tell by the look on his face that he could almost read my thoughts. He looked like he was about ready to burst out laughing.

"So shall we get on with the interview?" he said kindly. Kandy did another enthusiastic head nod.

"Mind if I hold Brooklyn?" he asked. She emphatically shook her head no. It was almost like watching a mime performance.

"I'll just sit over here," I said pointing to the corner. I hunkered down in the corner, feeling like a chaperone observing a first date.

When I was married to Hunter I was never the jealous type. Of course, that hadn't gotten me very far. I didn't particularly like feeling cautious, but Nick was also ten billion times more desirable than Hunter.

"I'll apologize a head of time," Nick was saying as I sat stewing over my thoughts. "I've been sick the past few days. My throat’s a little croaky."

"Oh no," Kandy said. "You sound fine."

I thought she put too much emphasis on fine, but I crossed my legs and feigned interest in Nick's framed award for Millennium.

"Soooooooo," Kandy said, drawing out yet another short and simple word. "Are you excited about the new album?"

"Absolutely," Nick said enthusiastically. "I can't wait to have Kevin back in the studio with us. We want to make a great album that we can promote well into our 20th anniversary."

"Soooooooo, when do you get back in the studio?"

"In September. We want to take about a year and really get this album polished and then we'll embark on a two year anniversary tour."

"What are you looking forward to for the tour?"

"Well, the music, dancing, fans, everything," Nick said. "But it will be even better because this will be Brooklyn's first tour."

I smiled. Nick bounced Brooklyn on his knee; she broke into a happy smile.

Kandy continued to ask really generic questions; Nick answered them politely, but I could tell he was getting bored. I was trying to be good, I really was, but finally I couldn't help it.

"So, how many stops to different Targets do you think we'll have to make on tour so AJ can replenish his underwear?" I asked.

Nick burst out laughing. Kandy looked confused.

"Sorry," Nick said, his face still crinkled into a huge smile. "Last tour, AJ had laundry issues. It was easier for him to toss the old than wash them. Rochelle did all his laundry except the underwear."

"Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhh," Kandy said. I waited for some other comment, but that's all we got.

"So what is your favorite Backstreet Boys song?"

I stifled a groan; that was a question they got at Q&A events all the time. That wasn't something fan club members wanted to sit through again.

Obviously it was a question Brooklyn didn't want to sit through either. Before Nick had a chance to respond, I saw Brooke's face squinch up and I knew exactly what she was doing. Before I had a chance to get up from my chair Nick looked down. Diarrhea was everywhere.

"OH MY GAWD!" Kandy yelled as if someone had just opened fire in the room. Nick stood up calmly as if it was an everyday occurrence to be pooped on.

"I'm sorry," he said. "She's has a case of the squirts. I'll be right back."

As he left the room I noticed the camera was still rolling. As embarrassing as it was, I had a feeling that the fans would love to hear Nick say the word 'squirts.'

Kandy reached over and stopped the camera; her nose wrinkled in disgust. I grabbed some paper towels and began to tackle the seat Nick was sitting in.

"Do any of the other guys have babies?" Kandy asked me. It sounded like she was trying to talk and hold her breath at the same time. My back was turned to her; I grinned.

"Well," I said thoughtfully. "Actually, Brian and Leighanne are going to have a little girl in a few weeks. You've already met Howie's son, James, I'm sure. Oh, and Kevin has a little four year old boy. I don't know if he's potty trained," I said thoughtfully. I knew Mason was potty trained, but the little devil on my shoulder just couldn't help herself.

"Does this stuff happen all the time?" Kandy asked nervously.

The little devil kept poking me with her pitchfork. "Well, last tour James puked all over Brian right before they were supposed to go on Ellen," I said. I began to laugh. "Man, you should have seen the look on his face. That was the last time he played airplane with him for awhile."

"Do any of them not have kids?" she asked.

The little devil told me to go in for the kill. "Well AJ and Rochelle don't right now," I said thoughtfully. "But with any luck by the next tour, they will. We'll have a whole gaggle of kids along. Tours are really becoming a family affair.”

I turned around to see Kandy zipping the bag for her video camera. I held the soiled paper towels in my hand.

"Want anything to drink while you're waiting?" I asked sweetly. She stared at the towels.

"No, I, uhhhhhhhhhhh... actually I better be going," she said.

"Oh, is the interview done?"

She nodded her head up and down. "Yeah, I think so. Tell Nick I'll see him around."

I walked her to the foyer, still holding the towels. She opened the door and turned to look at me. Her nose was still wrinkled.

"It was nice to meet you," she said unconvincingly. I smiled wide.

"And so nice to meet you, Kandy," I said.

She closed the door quickly behind her.

I couldn't help it; I laughed a laugh that would make Dr. Evil proud.

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

A half hour later the kimono was in the washing machine and I had just made sure that Brooklyn wasn't getting dehydrated when Nick's cell phone rang. He looked at the display and pressed talk.

"Hey Howie, what's up?"

I had a feeling I knew what was up. I saw Nick's eyes widened.

"What do you mean what did I do?" He listened for another few seconds.

"What do you mean she quit?" He listened again.

"Well, I didn't do anything. She freaked out about Liv's eye and then she flipped her lid when Brooklyn pooped on me."

Even at a distance I could hear Howie start to laugh. A few more garbled words were said.

"I'm not making this up, dawg," Nick said. After a few more seconds of laughter the line got quiet again.

"Well, if I can be honest, I thought she kinda sucked at interview questions. She told Liv that you hired her off a job bidding site or something. C'mon, man. It's not like we're with Jive anymore. We can afford someone good. We need a Liv."

My eyes narrowed. I coughed. Nick caught my expression and tilted his head.

"I mean, I've already got a Liv. But we need someone good with interviews and junk."

I coughed again. Nick covered the phone.

"You okay?"

"Can I talk to Howie?" I asked sweetly.

"Is it going to get me in trouble?" Nick asked. I couldn't help but smile.

"No."

"Hey How? Liv wants to talk to you."

Nick passed me his phone. I leaned forward on the couch.

"Hey Howie."

"Hey, Liv. What's up?"

"I think I have the answer to your problems," I said.

"Liv, I'd love to have you stay on as videographer, but you're going to be busy with Brooke and..."

"I didn't say me," I said. "But, I have just the candidate. Once you meet him, you'll love him."

"Him?" Howie said.

"Him?" Nick said simultaneously.

I laughed. "Yes, him. Sam's into videography and photography and he loves pop music. He actually finished a stint with Adam Lambert not long ago. If given the chance he would marry Lance Bass and while he loves your music none of you are his type."

Howie laughed. "You’ve got me curious now."

"If he's interested, when can you meet with him?" I asked.

"Just give me a call, Liv. But I’m not making any promises."

I smiled. “That’s good enough for me."

We talked for a few more seconds and then I disconnected. Nick was looking at me in surprise.

"Where did this guy come from?" Nick asked. "And why haven't I met him?"

I laughed. "Well, like I said, he was touring with Adam Lambert during your last tour. I hadn’t talked to Sam for years but we reconnected on Facebook. He actually just moved to New York. And as for where he came from, I grew up with him in Wisconsin. He was my date for prom."

"You went to prom with a gay guy?" Nick asked. I grinned.

"Let's just say I had the best dance partner in my whole senior class,” I said. “And we color coordinated perfectly.”

Nick laughed. “You know, you never fail to surprise me.”

I smiled. “I like to keep you on your toes.”

Nick’s eyes darkened sensuously. “Oh honey, you do that.”

“And more.”

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

Author's note: Soooo...I'm back! I still can't believe what an amazing day I had yesterday. I'm in tears thinking that it's OVER! As promised, I have pictures; I didn't go through and weed out the bad ones yet, but hopefully you guys will get an idea of what I experienced yesterday between soundcheck and the concert (I got to request Siberia!). Click here to view my pictures.