“Thank you. You’ve been a great audience. Have a happy and safe Holiday.” The Backstreet Boys took a final bow before running off stage.

Nick began heading toward his dressing room. “Hey Nick, don’t forget the Christmas party is tonight.”

Nick turned to AJ. “I’m not coming.”

“What?”

“I’m not coming.” Nick repeated.

“And why not?”

Nick smiled widely. “Because my wife will be calling me tonight, and I’d much rather be talking to her than getting drunk at a party.”

“Oh right, the lovely Dakota. Why didn’t she come with us this time?”

“She’s pregnant.”

“Are you serious?”

“Yes. I know I told you, you just have a bad memory.”

“How far along is she?”

“The baby is due just after the new year.”

“That’s exciting.” Nick only smiles. “Um, Nick, we are on tour straight through the new year. You’ll miss the birth.”

“Nick’s smile faltered. I know. That’s why I got so angry when these extra dates were added. If it wasn’t for these extra dates, I’d be home now with no chance of missing the birth. Not to mention I’d be with my wife and her family on Christmas instead of in a lonely hotel room. Not to mention we do have a concert tomorrow afternoon. It just isn’t fair.”

AJ pulled Nick into a hug. “I’m sorry you’ll miss the birth of your first child.”

Nick only shrugged. “I’m gonna go get ready to go back to the hotel so that I can wait for my phone call.”

AJ smiled. He was happy that Nick found a girl that he loves so much. “Ok Nick. I’ll make up an excuse for why you aren’t at the party.”

“Who needs an excuse? I’m sure they will understand that I want to talk to my wife.” With a smile on his face, Nick rushed off toward his dressing room.

He was ready to head back to the hotel in minutes. He yelled goodbye to the other guys as he left the venue and headed to the hotel and up to his suite. His phone was always within reaching distance in case Dakota called.

By the time he reached his room, Dakota still hadn’t called. He wasn’t worried because they didn’t talk about a specific time in which she would call. He was just anxious to talk to her. He stripped down to his boxers and starred at his phone willing it to ring.

He started laughing at himself. Starring at his phone will not result in Dakota calling faster. He made himself comfortable on his bed and turned on the TV waiting for phone to ring and to hear his lovely wife on the other end.

He settled with a station and got settled in bed. His phone was beside him on the bedside table. As he was waiting for his phone call, he couldn’t stop yawning and before he knew it, he was asleep.

He was jerked awake by the ringing of his cell phone. He then realized that he had fallen asleep and he quickly reached for his phone. “Hello?” He said groggily.

“Nick? Did I wake you up?”

“Dakota.” Nick smiled. “Yeah, you woke me up, but that was my fault. I fell asleep waiting for your call.”

“If you’re tired, I’ll let you go.”

“I’m tired, but I’m not too tired to talk to my wife on Christmas Eve. How are you baby?”

“I’m good. Our little one is kicking up a storm over here.”

Nick sighed. “I wish I were there. I want to feel the baby kick. You weren’t far enough along in your pregnancy for me to feel it before I left.”

“I know Nicky. But just keep telling yourself that this will not be my only pregnancy.”

“I know. I just hate that I’m missing this. I’m missing the birth of my first child.”

“I don’t know what to tell you Nicky. I mean you tried to get home, management won’t allow it.”

“Yeah, that really sucks. Put the phone by your stomach. I want to sing to the baby.”

“What are you going to sing?”

“I don’t know. Some Christmas song.”

“You should sing Silent Night.”

Nick chuckled. “If you say so. Now put the phone by your stomach.”

“Ok Nick.” Dakota put the phone by her stomach. Nick started singing Silent Night to the baby.

When he finished the song he said, “Baby, even though I won’t be around when you are born. I love you and I will be there soon after.”

Dakota had taken the phone back to her ear in time to hear what Nick said. “Oh Nicky, you are so sweet.”

“What?”

“I heard what you just said to my stomach.”

“Oh.” Nick yawned.

“Nicky, you’re tired. I’m going to let you go.”

“No, I want to talk to you longer.”

“Nicky, we can talk tomorrow after you rest. Now go to sleep baby.”

“Ok. I love you.”

“I love you too. Merry Christmas Nicky.”

“Merry Christmas.” They hung up the phone and Nick fell asleep almost instantly. He had a smile on his face.

He woke up the next morning to a knock on the door. He was comfortable and he didn’t want to get up. He wanted to go back to his dream where he was actually on time for the birth of his child. Whoever was knocking on his door was not going away, so he got up headed to the door. His hair was sticking up on one side and completely matted to his head on the other. He didn’t care what he looked like when he opened the door.

Kevin was on the other side and he started laughing when he saw Nick. “So I guess I woke you up huh?”

“Sorta. I was awake, I just didn’t want to get up. What’s up Kev?”

“Are you ok?”

“Yeah, I’m fine, why?”

“You weren’t at the Christmas party yesterday.”

“Oh, that. Dakota was going to call me and I didn’t want to miss her phone call to get drunk at a party.”

“How is Dakota?”

“She’s doing good. She said the baby was kicking up a storm last night.” Nick said with a bittersweet smile.

“I’m sorry that you can’t be with her during this time.”

“It’s not your fault Kev.” Nick’s phone rang and he darted to the place where his cell phone lay. “Hello…Hey Baby.” Kevin smiled at Nick’s happy smile and quietly left the room so that Nick could have some privacy.

Hours later, there was another knock on the door. Nick quickly opened the door. “Hey Nick.”

“Hey D. What’s up?”

“We have to start getting to the venue. Are you ready?”

“Yep, let’s get this over with.”

“Nick, that’s not a good way to look at our concerts.”

“Howie, it’s Christmas Day and my wife is days away from having a baby. Yet I’m here getting ready to go on stage. Tell me again why I should be excited.”

“I never thought about how hard this is on you. But do our fans a favor, and don’t let it interfere with your performance this afternoon.”

“I won’t.” Howie and Nick leave the room to meet the other guys down in the lobby so that they could head out to the venue.

It was the middle of the concert. The fans couldn’t tell that Nick didn’t want to be on stage. One of their songs had just finished. The boys were doing what they do best, fooling around and having fun on stage. None of the guys noticed when one of the stage hands entered the stage to tell the band member closest to off stage something. The drummer stopped the guys performance when he said, “Nick, you have a phone call.”

Nick turned around, “What? Since when are we allowed to receive phone calls while on stage?”

The drummer replied. “Trust us Nick. You would have killed the stage hand if we had waited to give you this message until after the concert.”

Nick turned to his band mates completely unsure as what he should do. Kevin spoke up. “Go Nick. We can handle this until you get back out.”

“Ok. I’ll be right back everyone.” The crowd screamed. Nick chuckled as he walked off stage. The stage hand handed Nick his cell phone. “Hello?”

“Hi Nick.”

“Hello Mrs. Parker. Is something wrong?”

“Not at all Nick. Well except for the fact that you are still calling me Mrs. Parker. I think my son-in-law can be a little bit more familiar.”

“Sorry. It’s habit that I haven’t gotten out of yet.”

“So break that habit Nick.”

“If nothing’s wrong then why did you call?”

“Dakota went into labor.”

“What? She’s still like 2 weeks from her due date.”

“That’s ok Nick.”

“Are you sure it’s ok?”

“I’m positive Nick. Now, try to get here as fast as you possibly can.”

“I will. Thanks for calling.”

Nick hung up the phone as the other guys came off stage for a costume change. Brian approached Nick who was changing into his street clothes instead of his next costume. “Nick?”

“Yeah?”

“What are you doing?”

“Getting changed.”

“Into your street clothes?”

“Yeah, I’m not going back on.”

“What? Why not?”

“Dakota went into labor. I’m going to her.”

Brian smiled. “Congratulations.”

“Thanks Bri.” Nick pulled on his sneakers and ran from the room.

Kevin approached Brian. “Where is he going?”

“He’s going home.”

“WHAT? Why?”

“Dakota went into labor.”

“Oh. That’s a good reason for leaving.”

The remaining four Backstreet Boys went back on stage. Kevin began speaking. “Before we continue the concert we have a little announcement that needs to be made. It’s about our missing member.” Kevin watched the audience realize that Nick wasn’t onstage. “Nick is on his way home. I’m sure you all know that he and his wife were expecting a baby. Well, his wife went into labor tonight.” The crowd screamed.

Nick ran up to the ticket booth in the airport. All he had with him was a little carry on bag. He trusted the rest of his band mates enough to realize that Nick didn’t bother packing and one of them would end up doing it. He was out of breath from running through the airport. “How may I help you sir.”

“I need a ticket for your next flight to Tampa.

“Where’s Nick?”

“Nick is coming. He’s trying to get here in time.”

Dakota screamed as another contraction hit. Tears were streaming down her face. “I’m so afraid that he won’t make it.”

“Honey, it’s a good possibility. He is on the other side of the country.” Her contractions were getting closer and closer together.

The doctor entered the room and checked Dakota’s dilation. “Dakota, it’s time to push.”

“No, my husband isn’t here.”

“I’m sorry Dakota. This baby is not going to wait for your husband. You have to push.”

An hour later, Dakota fell back against her pillow breathing heavily as a baby’s wail filled the room. “It’s a girl.”

One nurse filled out the birth certificate with Dakota. The other nurses were cleaning up the baby. Before she knew it, the baby was being placed in Dakota’s arms. She smiled down at her perfect little girl. Tears filled her eyes as she held her little miracle in her arms. Her tears weren’t all happy tears. Nick had missed the birth of his daughter all because his managers felt that the fans deserved more concerts.

A nurse entered the room to take the baby to the nursery. As soon as that nurse left with the baby, another nurse came in to move Dakota to the post partum room, where Dakota would recover from delivery.

Shortly after she was settled, a nurse came in with a bassinet and the baby. Dakota carefully sat up and watched her little girl sleep for a few minutes. Soon she felt herself falling asleep. She lied back down and fell asleep with a small smile on her face. Her life couldn’t be better. Now if only Nick would arrive.

Hours later, Nick arrived at the hospital. At the front desk he was told where Dakota was and given directions on how to get there. With minimal trouble, he found the room. He opened the door slowly and smiled when he saw Dakota sleeping peacefully. He opened the door further and quietly slipped in. He placed his bag on the chair and stood over Dakota for a few minutes just watching her sleep. He walked over to the bassinet and gazed at the baby. When Dakota was pregnant, they didn’t want to know the sex of the baby. He smiled when he realized that he had a daughter. He reached down and gently picked her up. Her eyes were open and he could see her shining blue eyes. He smiled down at her as he sat besides Dakota’s bed.

A couple hours later, Dakota woke up. She was facing the bassinet and sat up quickly when she realized that the baby wasn’t in the bassinet. She couldn’t figure out where her baby could be. She rolled over quickly and smiled when she saw Nick sleeping in the bedside chair holding their daughter. She was so happy that Nick finally made it that she just had to wake him up. “Nick?”

Nick stirred and woke up. He looked down at his sleeping daughter before he looked into Dakota’s eyes. “Hey.” He said sleepily.

“Hey you. Come here.” She patted space on the bed next to her. Nick stood up and sat on her bed. Dakota kissed Nick softly. “I’m glad you’re here.”

“Me too. She’s perfect.”

“She is.”

“Her name is Rachel Lynn, right?” Nick asked.

Dakota blushed. “Actually no.”

“No? I thought that’s what we decided on if we had a girl.”

“It is what we decided on, but as a last minute decision I decided that since she was born on Christmas that I wanted her to have a name that reflects that. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you.”

“It’s ok baby. So what is her name then?”

“Holly Noelle.”

“That’s pretty.”

“You like it?”

“Yes I do.”

“You aren’t mad that I changed my mind about what to name her?”

“Not at all. All I care about is that I’m here with you and Holly on Christmas.”

“I love you Nick.” Dakota kissed him.

Nick pulled back. “Thank you.”

“Thank you? For what? Loving you? Kissing you?”

“Well there’s that, but mainly for giving me the best Christmas present ever, our daughter.”

“In that case, thank you for loving me enough to try and get back before the end of the day.”

“I would have preferred getting here before the birth.”

“I know that. I would have preferred you got here before too, but I understand that you were on the other side of the country and you couldn’t get here faster than you did. Besides, you’re here now, and that is all that matters. Merry Christmas Nicky.”

“Merry Christmas.”

Nick and Dakota lied down on her bed with Holly in between them and fell asleep. Shortly after, Dakota’s mother entered the room silently. She smiled when she saw the small family sleeping on the bed. She was glad that Nick finally made it to the hospital. She pulled her digital camera out of her bag and took a picture of Nick, Dakota and Holly sleeping on the bed. She hurried out of the room before any of them woke up. She went home and quickly set up her camera in the printer dock and printed the picture. When the ink dried, she flipped the picture over and wrote a message on the back.

She went back to the hospital. This time when she entered the room she smiled to see that Nick and Dakota were awake and baby Holly was asleep in her bassinet. “Hello.”

The new parents smiled. “Hi.”

“I’m glad you made it Nick.”

Nick smiled. “I’m glad I made it too.”

Dakota piped in. “Me to. Better late than never, right Nick?”

“Absolutely.”

Mrs. Parker smiled at the exchange. “I was here earlier, but I rushed out to do something before you woke up.”

“What did you rush out to do?” Dakota asked.

“Well…” She fished in her bag for the picture she took and handed it to the couple.

Dakota gasped, “Oh mom, it’s perfect. I love it. Can we keep it?”

“Absolutely darling. I printed that for you two.”

Dakota handed the picture to Nick. He smiled at the picture as well. He then noticed that there was writing on the back, he smile grew wider at the message on the back.

“What Nick?”

It says “Baby’s First Christmas” on the back.

“Ok you two. Holly is awake, and I want a picture of the entire family on her first Christmas.”

Dakota giggled. “But you already have one.”

“Well, this time, I want one where the entire family is awake.”

Dakota changed her position so that she was sitting in between Nick’s legs and using his chest as a back rest. Mrs. Parker put Holly into Dakota’s arms and took the picture as Nick and Dakota gazed adoringly at their little girl.

Nick leaned down and kissed the top of Holly’s head while Dakota was holding her. “Merry Christmas Holly.”