December 15, 2000 Tampa, Florida

Tina didn’t hear the cab pull up, or the slam of the front door, but she was thankful Parker had been sent off with one of his new friends when she heard Nick screaming through the house.

“Tina!” he hollered and she knew it would take him a while to quickly look through the oversized home before he’d find her sitting out on the patio in front of the pool.

It gave her a few moments to myself to try and fight back her grin.

“Didn’t you hear me calling you?” he asked as he walked through the back door. Glancing up, she took him in for a moment wishing sge had some control over his wardrobe since his oversized polo shirt and one size too big jeans did nothing to hide the fact that he’d gained weight on tour.

“Yup,” she nodded and looked back down to the book she was reading, “I was ignoring you.”

She didn’t see it coming but suddenly the words scrambled in front of her eyes as the novel was torn from her hands and thrown into the pool. Tina gasped and looked over at the slowly sinking mess of paper before turning back to Nick, “What is wrong with you?”

“What’s wrong with me?” he asked rhetorically, pulling the chair that her feet had been resting on away from the table so he could sit on it, “You left me at the airport!”

“Sucks, doesn’t it?” she asked him, smirking. When Nick had given her the dates and times for his flight home from the Asian leg of the tour she made a point of filing them away for future reference, safely in the recycle bin. After the way he’d forgotten about their arrival in Japan, knowing she would have a child and more bags than one person should have to carry, he didn’t deserve to have her show up at the airport with his precious car and a little greeting party to welcome him home.

“You’re a spiteful bitch,” he spat and she was wide eyed, wondering what on earth had crawled up his butt to put him in such a bad mood.

All she had in her was a laugh as she shook her head and looked at him pitifully, “It was supposed to be a joke, Nick. I thought we’d be able to laugh about it later... you’re all about the pranks the rest of the time why is it so terrible for me to get you back for something you did to me? Was making you take a cab really the worst thing I’ve ever done to you?”

“I just don’t get it,” he said, standing up again so he could pace, “You sit around here on your lazy fucking ass all day in the multi-million dollar house that I paid for, driving around in the cars that I paid for, your parents living in a guest house that I fucking paid for, eating food, buying clothes, doing whatever it is you want with the money coming straight out of my bank account yet you have no appreciation for what you have. Instead you strut around like Queen of the castle; acting like the world fucking owes you something. Well sorry; the world doesn’t owe you anything. You’re no different from every other teenage mother that got knocked up because she was so desperate to get stuffed on spring break.”

His words were like a slap to the face and tears she didn’t know she had rolled down her cheeks as she watched him rant. She tried to think of anything she could possibly say in response to his comments but it was all so out of left field that nothing came to mind. Not living together really was the most tasking part of their  relationship. They had no time to talk, and they rarely saw each other, so in the end little things always managed to build up and by the time they were together again they were huge things. They had no idea how to live together considering they spent so much time on our own. She, just like he, became accustomed to being alone so when he was around it was like having a guest overstaying their welcome except they were in each other's space, bathroom, and bed.

Tina needn't say any more because her mother’s voice cut into the painful silence.

“If you don’t want us here, we’ll leave,” she stated and Tina knew then she had heard the entire transaction. Nick didn’t even bother to turn around and face her, just kept looking straight ahead while he was scolded by Tina's mother, “We didn’t want to come here.”

“Okay,” Nick said, “You can leave then because I didn’t want you here either. I can’t even tolerate my own mother, why would I want someone else’s hanging around all the time.”

“If we go I hope you realize your wife and child would be coming with us. I’m worried that you actually want that.”

Still looking at Tina, Nick smirked, “We’re not married,” he reminded her, much to her displeasure, “and they’re not going anywhere.”

“Have you told him yet?” her mother asked, finally bringing Tina into the conversation and she just shook my head.

Nick raised an eyebrow, finally taking a quick check behind him to the other woman, “Told me what?” he asked before turning back.

With a heavy sigh she wiped her eyes and ran her hands through her hair, “I’m pregnant,” Tina admitted, throwing her hands up in frustration.

“You have to be kidding me,” he laughed and brushed back his own locks, “when?” he asked, but she was pretty sure he already knew the answer.

“Probably my birthday,” she said and he nodded as if that would have been his guess.

Clearing her throat, Tina's mother Lynn popped back in again, “You know what this means, right? That means you’re going to have two young children. You two need to get your shit together and start thinking about whether you’re going to be able to keep this up in 5 years when your kids start asking why Daddy is never home and why you two fight all the time. It’s not fair to Parker and it’s not fair to the baby you’re going to have to be in this constant state of tension. It’s like a soap opera, and it needs to end.”

“What do you expect me to do? What do you people want from me?” Nick asked, finally turning his body fully to face her mother, “This is my job, my career we’re talking about and I will not throw away everything I have worked so hard for.”

“It wasn’t much of a problem to expect Tina to throw away everything for you, was it?” Lynn asked and the question hung heavily in the air.

With a very heavy sigh Nick grabbed the chair he’d been sitting in, pulling it over closer to Tina's before taking a seat. With their knees almost touching he leaned his elbows against the tops of his thighs, “What do you want me to do?”

“Take us with you,” she suggested since it hadn’t even been option thus far, “We’ll go on tour with you and then you’ll be able to see us whenever you want...”

“No,” he answered shortly, shaking his head, “I don’t want Parker growing up on the road.”

“Would you rather he grows up without his Dad?” she asked pointedly, and saw a flinch on Nick’s face, “We just want to be with you. How can you hold that against us?”

He took a long pause to think and she started to get hopeful when his head nodded slightly, “I don’t want him to grow up without me there, but I don’t want him staying in a different hotel every night and not living like a normal kid should live.”

“As much as it pains me to say it,” he scratched his head, “I’m going to have to consider taking a break from the Backstreet Boys.”