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Chapter Twenty One – December 12 (A Day at Sea)

-- Olivia --

During the course of the night, I tossed and turned. Several times I got up and replaced Nick’s ice pack with a new one. The right hand side of his face was swelling and turning a deep purple.

It wasn’t the way that I thought our trip to Cozumel would end. My lingerie peeked out from the suitcase as I made yet another trip to the bathroom. Even though I wished our evening had ended differently, I was just thankful Nick was alive.

The sheer terror that I had felt as I waited helplessly outside the nightclub with Leighanne still played through my mind. Howie and Leigh were the first ones I spotted as people evacuated the club; Rochelle and AJ weren’t far behind. The security guard that had followed Leigh and me outside had kept me from going back in the club. Police cars lined up and I couldn’t help but think the worst.

When I saw two guards and Brian carrying Nick out from around the back of the building, I literally thought he was dead. Brian was pulled aside to talk to the cops while the guards brought Nick aboard the ship. I checked him over completely for any gunshot wounds; I was relieved to find out he had suffered only a hard punch to the face. That was bad enough.

Nick woke up around 7:00 in the morning. He got up and headed to the bathroom; I heard him groan as he touched his swollen skin with his fingertips.

“This is going to look great for all the fan pictures today,” he said.

I had almost forgotten our busy itinerary for the day at sea. The Boys were due on stage at 2:00 with fan pictures and individual meet and greets happening directly after.

“Are you going to be okay to perform today?” I asked. Nick poked his head out of the bathroom and nodded.

“Yeah, I’ll be fine,” he said. I heard the shower turn on and a sharp intake of air as the spray hit his face.

Fine, my ass.

Nick walked back into the bedroom twenty minutes later, a towel wrapped around his waist. I headed to the bathroom for my own shower when I heard a whistle. I turned around.

“What is this?” he said. His finger hooked along the lacy black nighty from my suitcase. He held up the skimpy material with sheer appreciation on his face.

“That was for last night,” I said as I placed a line of toothpaste on my toothbrush and began to brush.

“Could it be for this morning?” he asked sweetly. My mouth was full of Crest; I leaned down and spit in the sink.

“Your cheek and eye are busted!” I said. He shrugged.

“So? My cheek and eye don’t have to do a lot of work,” he reasoned.

I gave my teeth a few more rigorous brushes, then gargled with some water. I turned on the shower but before I stepped in, I walked over and plucked the nighty from his hands. He looked at me eagerly.

“Can I take that as a yes?”

I closed the bathroom door behind me, letting him figure it out for himself.

After my shower I slid into the slinky garment. It might surprise you, but finding maternity lingerie was not an easy task. The lacy baby doll opened up underneath my breasts, revealing my belly. Matching lace undies completed the ensemble. I piled my hair up on my head and opened the bathroom door.

Nick was sitting at the end of the bed still in his towel; his eyes were trained on the bathroom like a watchdog. As I walked out, his face broke into a grin. I walked over and straddled his legs. His hands rested on my hips. He glanced up at me.

“All I see is boobs,” he said. “I love it.”

With a laugh he fell back, bringing me down with him. His lips met mine in a long slow kiss as my fingers unrolled the towel around his waist. My fingers traced the line of light hair down his stomach and then went lower still. I brushed his pelvic bone with my finger tips before taking him in my hands.

“I’m healed,” he said breathlessly as I stroked him. His lips grazed my neck, then sucked through the lace at my breasts. I felt his arms tighten around me as he flipped me into the mattress. He took my hands away from him, his chest rose and fell faster.

“I owe you dessert,” he teased. Still holding onto my hands, I saw him lean forward. He took the top of my panties in his teeth.

I can honestly say that Nick gives the best dessert I have ever had in my life; I was pretty sure everyone in the ship heard my appreciation. I had just straddled him once more, him hard between my legs, when we heard a knock on the door. Nick’s eyes widened.

“Ignore it,” he said, his hands pressing down on my bottom. I slid down on him, both of us moaning in pleasure. There was a louder knock.

“Nick, that fax came through!” Howie called out from the other side of the door. I paused.

“No, keep going, keep going,” he said desperately. I nibbled his ear, he spanked me lightly.

“Nick?”

One of Nick’s hands balled into a fist and hit the mattress.

“DUDE HOWIE….LEAVE US ALONE!” he bellowed.

I heard the sound of snickering and then footsteps fading away. I was completely distracted, but with a few touches and caresses, he got me back on track.

As I lay in his arms afterward, Nick let out a soft sigh. I rolled my head lazily against his bare chest.

“I don’t know how I even got you pregnant with all these distractions,” he whispered into my hair. I laughed.

“If I remember correctly, we were secluded at the House of Carter in Los Angeles.”

“Oh, yeah,” he said.

Somehow we both ended up falling asleep. By the time we woke up, it was a little after eleven. We took our time getting dressed. After the craziness of the day before, it was nice to be able to have a little time with no insane fans dropping through the ceiling or a wayward brother punching my fiancées lights out. At noon, Nick met up with Howie and got the fax. As he looked it over and made notes, Leigh sidled over to me.

“Howie said he got yelled at,” she said. I laughed.

“People have a way interrupting Nick and I at the wrong time,” I explained. Leigh nodded. “Yeah, I don’t think any of these Backstreet babies have ever been conceived on tour. It’s impossible with so many people around.”

I pinched James cheek. He covered his pudgy face with his hand and laughed.

I looked over at Nick. I couldn’t wait to be able to hold our baby in my arms.

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

That afternoon, amongst the cheers of the crowd, the Boys ran out on stage for the part of the trip everyone had been looking forward to: the private performance. As I crouched by the stage, taking pictures, I couldn't help but snap a few shots of the audience as Nick ran out. The looks on the fan's faces were priceless. I could almost hear them a rumor of me beating him to a pulp passing through the crowd. AJ had tried to be helpful by giving Nick a pair of sunglasses, but the swelling and bruising could be seen far above and below the rim of the glasses.

"Who can believe this trip is almost over?" AJ yelled out to the crowd. They all booed.

"We've had a fabulous time," Brian said.

"We thought we'd take an hour or so to sing to you. Is that alright?" Howie asked. The crowd cheered.

"The guys already said everything for me, so..." Nick shrugged. The crowd “awed”. I swear that man could burp the alphabet and every single girl in the audience would still be put in a trance.

The guys put on a terrific concert. As I captured my shots, I couldn't help but think that this was the last time I would probably be an official employee of the Backstreet Boys. The next time the Boys went on tour, I would officially be Mrs. Carter and Nick would be not only a husband, but a father. From the moment he had tugged me up on stage for karaoke, my life seemed to have been set on cruise control; my course was set for a long happy life with Nick.

It gave me goosebumps.

After the concert was over, the tour manager stepped in to organize the crowd for group shots. As the first group was lead on stage, the girls couldn't stop from questioning Nick.

"What happened to your eye?"

"Did you get in a fight?"

"Are you still engaged?"

Nick took it all in stride, explaining that there had been a little problem at Club Neptuno the night before but that he would be fine and, yes, he was still very happily engaged. Even though the questions were worded differently, each group asked Nick about his eye and about me.

"Do I look that tough?" I whispered to Rochelle. She laughed.

A half hour later as the last group left the stage, I could honestly say that the Boys made each and every person happy. It was a job well done.

"I'm hungry," Brian said. He dropped down on the stage, his legs and arms spread out wide. Nick took off his sunglasses.

"I need an ice pack."

"I need a cigarette."

"I second some food."

After I got Nick an ice pack and AJ and Rochelle returned from a cigarette break, we all piled into Howie's room. Soon several cruise employees wheeled in carts of food and we sat around, feeding our faces and relaxing.

"Well ladies and gentleman, here's to successfully surviving four days on a cruise ship with our fans," Howie said, raising his glass in the air.

"Are we calling being egged and having fans rappelling through the ceiling tiles a success?" Nick asked.

"Well, besides, that," Howie said. Everyone laughed and raised their glasses.

While I finished up a delectable piece of vanilla bean cake, my attention drifted over to Baylee and James. Baylee had devised a game where he would pop out from under the bed in random places. James, who was sitting on the mattress, thought it was the best game ever invented. Every time Baylee sprung out, James would toss back his head and burst into giggles. I couldn't help but think that even though Baylee was having jealousy issues about his own sibling on the way, he was still going to make a GREAT big brother.

"So, about our next album..." Howie said over the
giggles. I turned my attention back to our group. Brian and Nick groaned. AJ slid his glasses down his nose to reveal his big brown eyes.

"Seriously Howie? We just got done with a two year tour."

"I'm not saying we're going into the studio tomorrow, I'm just saying that a rough timeline would be nice."

"Not March," Nick said. "And not August."

"I've got my CD coming out," Brian said. He rubbed his neck. “I’m thinking about touring this summer.”
I knew that was a lie; he’d be up to his elbows in diapers by mid-summer.

"How about we get back in the studio next September?" Howie said. "The album could drop March 2012."

"Y'know, we could call that our 20th anniversary tour," Brian suggested.

"Yeah, I mean, we could easily run it through summer 2013."

The idea of them hitting the twenty year mark was insane. They all still looked like teenagers.

"Maybe we can talk Kevin into joining us," AJ said lightly.

"Lord knows he could use a distraction," Nick added.

The rest of the evening was spent reminiscing and making plans. Around midnight, we all said our good nights and drifted off to our rooms. Nick was snoring within minutes. I lay awake, thinking about the past few days.

Our cruise would officially end when we docked at 8:00
a.m.

I was glad to know we were almost home.