-- Three Weeks Later --
Kevin had a surprise for me. You don't not tell a woman you have a surprise for them less than three weeks before Christmas. The mind runs wild.
"Mommm-mmmy, not brown!"
I stared down at the paints. I had mixed the wrong two colors. What was supposed to have been purple looked like baby poop. Or one variation of it, at least.
"Sorry Jakey," I said. He propped his elbows up on the table and watched me like a hawk.
"Put in da red," he said. He watched me put in the red. "Now put in da ba-LUE."
I squirted in the blue. He took my mixing stick and carefully swished it around. I watched his eyes light up as a dark purple appeared.
"Cool!"
People tell me I'm crazy for letting Jake fingerpaint so much. I know it's messy and that there's potential for tie-dyed carpets and walls. Even so, Jake was way too creative for me to tell him he couldn't. Besides, it kept him occupied. I looked at the clock. Kevin would be here in ten minutes.
With the surprise.
"Let's take these to your room, okay?" I asked. Jake nodded. I gave him a cup. He balanced it carefully in his hands. I took two cups and we walked to his room. I had the tablecloth spread on the floor. The roll of large white paper was stretched across it. We put down our cups and went back for the other three.
I was just tying Jake's painting smock around his little waist when the doorbell rang. He let out a happy war-cry.
"It's Kevin-Blake!" Jake shouted.
I had finally explained to Jake about Kevin's stage name. Rather than just call him Kevin, Jake insisted on both. Jake had also told me he's working on his fake name. His first choice? Zorb.
I followed Jake to the front door. He took both hands to twist the knob. He ran backwards and smiled brightly.
"HEY KE--WHO ARE YOU?!"
Those were three words an overprotective mother didn't want to hear. I had a hand on Jake in a flash of a second. I looked out the door and relaxed.
It was Kevin. But he wasn't alone. I saw two little hands wrapped around his leg.
"I brought a friend to play with you," Kevin said happily. He knelt down, pried the hands off his leg, and turned around. There were a couple moments of whispering. I saw a little blonde head nodding. Kev took the boy's hand; I stepped back to let them in.
"Jake, this is my son Mason. Mason, this is Jake and his mommy Shay. They're daddy's special friends."
Mason looked at the both of us. Even though he had blonde hair, he looked SO much like Kevin. I just wanted to scoop him up and hug him.
"Hi Mason," I said. I held out my hand. Mason looked up; Kev nodded. He held out his hand and I shook it.
"I'M GONNA FINGERPAINT! DO YOOOOOOUUU WANNA FINGERPAINT?"
My hardly-ever-shy son didn't bat an eye. He pulled a paintbrush out of his smock and started dancing around Mason.
"Jake calm down," I said. Kevin laughed.
"Mason, do you want to paint?"
"I'm THWEE AND A HALF! HOW OLD ARE YOU?!"
I put my hand lightly over Jake's mouth but he grabbed my fingers and laughed.
"I'm thwee," Mason said quietly. "and a half."
"WHEN'S YOUR BIRTHDAY?"
"Jake, inside voice!" I said.
"July 3!" Mason said. He bounced a little bit. Birthdays were a hot topic in kid-land. I knew this from experience. Jake's eyes got HUGE.
"Mine's July 5! C'MON!"
Before I could stop him, Jake grabbed Mason's hand and pulled him towards his room. Mason glanced back at Kevin, but the birthday thing had broken the ice. The final icebreaker came when Jake handed Mason his paintbrush. The mini-Kev was totally sold. I even saw a smile.
"He looks a lot like you," I said. I could still hear Jake talking a mile a minute. Kevin smiled.
"Yeah those eyebrows are better than DNA," he said. We laughed.
"So, did you know you were going to have him?" I asked. My thoughts went right back to the surprise; I couldn't help myself.
"Kristin and I talked about it a week or so ago. She's in town and I wanted a few days with him. I wanted him to meet you guys. I thought it would be a nice surprise."
Oh, I hoped the look on my face didn't give me away. It wasn't that I was unhappy that Mason was the surprise. It was just---
I had kinda wanted something for me for a change.
"I can't stop staring."
"This is huge Nick."
Lauren and I were huddled over the table. We were both staring down at her hand. The diamond happily glinted back up at us.
It wasn't that I didn't remember proposing. I totally remembered it. Sure, I was hyped up on alcohol and the excitement of the cruise, but our trip to the jeweler played out in my mind like slow motion.
"Change your mind?" Lauren teased. I laughed. After three days of a wicked hangover, we were finally coming back down to reality.
"No. I really want to go for it," I said.
All of the days on the ship ran together. I know that we were chilling on the deck, kinda hidden from view, when I had dropped to my knee. The next day we had paid a visit to the diamond store. Lauren had worn the ring on her right hand for the rest of the trip. Not that it would have mattered. Backstreet Fam and fans alike had been totally shnockered most of the time. I had just watched her move the ring over to the proper finger.
It was official. Nick Carter and Lauren Kitt were officially fiancee'd. We looked at each other. I think I broke into a smile first. I cupped her face and kissed her.
"I can't wait to tell Jake," I said.
"He's going to look adorable in a tux," Lauren said.
"I'm thinking I better have him meet the rest of my family," I said in a rush.
"You're...We're going to have to tell Shay first," Lauren warned. "I should meet her."
"Absolutely. I want to get together before Christmas. Maybe we can go up to Chicago. We'll bring Jake his presents."
"I've already got my present," Lauren said. I had never seen her look happier. For two people that had been anti-ring and anti-children, we were making crazy leaps.
"Are we nuts?" I asked breathlessly. She ran her nails lightly down my face.
"Absolutely," she said. She kissed me again. The table was totally in my way. I broke the kiss and walked to her. I scooped her up in my arms. We both laughed. I had tried to do the same thing the first night of the cruise just as the ship had tipped. We had ended up crumpled up by the window.
"You better have your land legs back," she warned. I headed towards the stairs.
"My feet are firmly on the ground," I assured her. Her palms pressed into my neck. My foot tentatively lifted for the next stair.
"To the bedroom Mr. Carter!" she declared.
"Yes, Mrs. Carter-to-be," I said.
Obviously, that was my new surefire mood-enhancing line. Lauren was clawing at me before we even hit the top step.
It was amazing the difference a little ring could make.
