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“Argh!” I slammed the new flip phone Howie had bought me shut and growled in frustration as my fifth call in a row to Kevin’s cell phone went to voicemail. Amelia yelped in pain and rubbed her side in the passenger seat, prompting me to press harder on the accelerator with my foot. “What time were they supposed to take off?” I asked.


Amy took in and let out a couple of deep breaths. “Two-thirty,” she gasped. I glanced at the indiglo clock on the dashboard and sighed. 2:32, but those things never took off on time, did they? “He must have already turned his phone off,” I said sadly.


“Try Howie,” she suggested.


I don’t know why I hadn’t thought of that. I knew him well enough to know that he wouldn’t turn off his own cell until the last possible moment, but as his phone rang once and went to voicemail, too, my heart dropped. “His is off, too.” Amelia’s bottom lip started to quiver. “But don’t worry,” I said cheerfully. “Labor usually lasts hours. They’ll be in the air until about 6:30 or 7. I’ll try again, then. He can still probably make it back here in time.” I don’t know why I thought that would make her feel better. She simply groaned at the prospect of enduring several more hours of this.


The traffic light in front of the hospital turned red as I approached it, and Amelia screamed as I tapped on the brake. It was one of the most terrifying sounds I'd ever heard in my life. I gasped and looked over at her with wide, fearful eyes. "Amy?"


Her eyes were clenched shut and she was doubled over with her chin against her chest and her hands splayed across her taut stomach. "It hurts!" she cried. " It really hurts."


I reached across the seat and gave her forearm a little squeeze. "We're almost there," I soothed. "Then we can get you an epidural. I hear those are really great." I slammed my foot on the accelerator as the light turned green and whizzed through the intersection and into the parking lot.


While a nurse examined Amelia in the ER and got her checked in, I called Chrissy, Mel, and Cassie to let them know what was going on. Chrissy said that she would drive in from Tampa as quick as she could, and Cassie and Mel were headed to the airport. Apparently, Carson wasn’t happy about it, but whatever. It’s not every day your best friend and roommate gives birth. Though I knew it was futile, I tried Kev’s cell phone one more time. I hung up dejectedly, and for a moment, considered calling my friend’s parents, but then decided that Amy was going to have to be the one to make that decision. Soon, a nurse and an orderly wheeled Amy out of the ER on a gurney headed towards the elevators. As if on cue, she cried out in pain, very effectively announcing her presence. I hurried alongside them, brushing her hair out of her red face. It was soaked with sweat, even though I, myself, was freezing in the hospital air conditioning. “Maybe you can get that epidural when we get up to your room. Won’t that be great?” I said cheerfully with a nervous smile.


“Oh, honey, there’s no time for an epidural,” the nurse informed us authoritatively. “She’s already at nine centimeters. By the time anesthesia would get there, she’ll be ready to push. I’m sorry, but it’s too late.” Amelia groaned in frustration and my heart sank for her.


Less than an hour later, she was in stirrups and I was standing at the head of the bed, cheering her along as she pushed. She screamed and fell back against the bed, breathless, as she limply let go of my hand. My hand was happy for the reprieve from her grip, and thankfully, I was starting to get some feeling back in it, but she scared me a little. “Amy?”


“I can’t do it anymore,” she panted. “It hurts so much. I’m so tired, Em.”


I sighed and put a wet washcloth on her hot forehead. “I don’t think you really have a choice, Amy,” I told her.


“Nope!” her doctor butted in from down below. “I can see his head, Amelia. Just give me a couple more big pushes, okay? Then we’ll have us a baby.”


She looked up at me, her bottom lip quivering. “I want my mom,” she whimpered. In a way, I totally understood where she was coming from. She was scared, vulnerable, and having a baby with no father there to witness it. If I’d been in the same situation, an understanding and reassuring hug from mom would have definitely made me feel better.


“Let’s call her when she has a grandbaby to hear about, okay?” I placed my left hand in hers and pushed her back up to a sitting position with my right. “Let’s do this.” She clenched her teeth in determination and tucked her chin to her chest as she pushed one more time, screaming out in pain as she did so. One more push, and there was a wiggly, screaming, gooey, red baby in the doctor’s gloved hands. It was both the grossest and most amazing thing I’d ever seen.


Two hours later, while an exhausted Amelia slept in her bed and a little pink baby boy who looked just like Kevin Richardson slept in a clear plastic bassinet beside her, my phone rang. It was Kevin. I picked it up off the bedside table and slipped out of the room and into the hallway so I didn’t disturb them. “Hey,” I answered.


“Why do I have thirteen missed calls from you?” he asked frantically.


“He’s beautiful, Kevin,” I gushed.


“You were supposed to call me if anything happened!” he roared.


“I did! Thirteen times!” I reminded him. “I was planning on calling you as soon as you landed-- you made good time, by the way. We hoped you’d be able to make it back here in time, but it all happened so fast, Kev. Her water broke while she was sitting on the couch about an hour after you left, and we came straight to the hospital, and she was already nine centimeters. Truth be told, I don’t think those were Braxton Hicks contractions that she was having last night.”


Kevin groaned. “You’re probably right.” He paused. “Is he okay? I mean, he’s a little early. How’s Amy?”


“They’re both great! Both sleeping right now. The baby’s a little small, but the pediatrician says he’s perfect!” I assured him.


“Crap.”


I furrowed my brows in confusion. “What?”


“Fans. Tons of ‘em.” He sighed. “I have to go, but go home and get the webcam and laptop I bought Amelia last month and bring them to the hospital. I’ll call you back soon, okay?”


********************

“Howie, I have no idea what I’m doing,” I whined into the cell phone I was holding between my ear and my shoulder as I fumbled with the mess of cords spread out across Amelia’s hospital bed.


“Is the ethernet cable plugged in?”


“Which one’s the ethernet cable?”


“The blue one.”


I looked at the cords sprawled across the bed, then checked the back of the laptop that was sitting open on the bedside table, then checked the floor to make sure I hadn’t dropped something. “What blue one? There’s no blue one.”


“Uh- yellow?”


“Yes!” I grabbed the yellow cord and plugged it into the computer. “Now where does it go?”


“Check the wall beside the bed. There should be a plug-in that looks like a phone jack, but wider,” he said calmly.


I crouched down beside the bed. “Got it!”


“Now, open up the webcam program and make sure the light on the camera is on.” I did what he said, and voila! There was my boyfriend’s handsome face on the computer screen.


“Hey! I see you!” I said excitedly.


“Hey, babe.”


“Where’s Kevin?” Howie moved out of the way, and Kevin came into view. He was sitting on a chair in what I assume must have been an airport conference room of some sort, because they hadn’t really had time to go anywhere else. The rest of the guys were just a little ways behind him. He smiled, bouncing one leg up and down nervously as he leaned towards the camera. I made sure it was positioned on Amelia and the baby, and sat back to watch.


“Here he is!” Amy cooed excitedly, cradling the sleeping baby and leaning forward a little herself. Kevin immediately stood up and crouched down in front of the webcam, as if he were going to get a close view. “Five pounds, thirteen ounces, twenty inches tall, and check out that hair!” She pulled off the little blue cap to reveal that Baby Boy Richardson had a head full of straight black hair, just like his daddy.


Kevin raised one hand to his cheek, and his mouth opened slightly in awe of the sight before him. “He’s so handsome….” he cooed back. “I have a son!” he announced excitedly. “Hey guys! Come see my boy!” The rest of the Backstreet Boys gathered around, each of their faces filling the screen around Kevin’s.


“Oh, he’s cute!” Brian exclaimed. “Hey there, little buddy!” He gave a little finger wave. “I’m your cousin, Brian!”


“I’m your uncle, Nick!”


“I’m Howie.”


“And I’m AJ.” Then AJ looked up from the baby and stared straight at Amelia. “He’s gorgeous, Amy. Congratulations,” he said softly.


“Thanks, Alex,” she answered with a smile.


“I’m a dad!” Kevin said happily, his green eyes shining with pride. Then, all of a sudden, he got this scared look in his eyes and backed away slowly. “Oh my God, I’m a father.” He slumped back into the chair and stared at Amy and the baby, dumbfounded, as he gulped down the lump that rose in his throat.


Howie stooped down beside him and gave him a hearty pat on the back. “And you’re going to be a great one!” he said cheerfully.


Amy pursed her lips and cocked her head to the side thoughtfully. “I had that moment, too. Right after they placed him in my arms. It’s-- overwhelming. I know.”


“I missed it,” Kevin said to no one in particular. “I can’t believe I missed it.” He buried his face in his hands and groaned. Then, he stood up abruptly. “I’m going to see if I can get a flight back to Orlando,” he told Amy. “I don’t care if we’re supposed to shoot a video in the morning. We just had a baby!” He headed for the door, his bodyguard hot on his heels.


“Uh, Kev?”


“Yeah, Brian?”


Brian gulped nervously. “They’re shutting down a terminal here at LAX for us tomorrow.”


“Yeah. So?”


Kevin’s cousin placed a hand on his arm gently. “So… I’m not sure we’ll be able to make that happen again soon enough for the single release.”


“Oh.” You might as well have just told Kevin that the world was ending.


A few hours later, after Cassie, Mel, and Chrissy had made their visits and left again, he showed up in Amy’s room carrying a bouquet of flowers and a little blue teddy bear. “I chartered a private jet,” he told us. “I’ll go back early in the morning.” It was such a rock star thing to do, but I couldn’t blame him at all for dropping so much money in one fail swoop. The look on that man’s face when he saw his son for the first time in person was priceless. Then, when Amy placed him in Kevin’s arms, he cried. I know you’re shocked. I slipped out while they discussed what they were going to name him.

Scott Ewan Richardson became the best kept secret of 1999. Kevin slipped in and out of the hospital and flew back to Los Angeles without any media detection, and we took the baby home a couple days later without a single camera in our faces. Still, though, I couldn’t shake the feeling that I was being followed.