Julie couldn’t help but laugh the moment their door shut. The looks they were given as they walked to their room, was priceless. She set the plate on top of the small table in the room and kicked off her shoes. She had just reached for the zipper on the side of her dress when Alex stepped up beside her and set down the plates he carried.

“Let me help you with that,” he whispered in her ear. Goose bumps erupted all over at the feel of his warm breath on her bare skin. She turned to face him so he could access the zipper easier. Alex took his time unzipping her dress. The zipper wasn’t very long, yet he took forever to get it all the way down. He faced her and helped to slide the fabric off her one shoulder and the dress fluttered down to pool at her feet like deep water.

She stood before him in her navy blue panties and bra. The strap went across her chest from the inner side of the left cup and over her shoulder to hook on the back right side. He looked hungrily at her full breasts as they almost spilled out of her bra. He stepped up to her, capturing her lips with his as his hands worked to free her bosom from the gilded cage that held them firm. Julie let out a sigh of relief as her breasts were released from the bra. Alex laughed against her lips at the sound before kissing her again. As the bra fell to the floor, he helped her step out the fabric that was piled around her.     

Julie reached for his jacket, intending on helping him out of it, but he gently grabbed her hands, pulling them away. She looked at him a little confused. He just chuckled, not saying a thing. He turned from her to go to the food. Julie just stood there, becoming even more confused as he put a bite of food in his mouth. She sat down on the very edge of the bed as he turned around. He smiled at her but didn’t say anything. Julie knew he was hungry and she had been the one to tell him he needed to eat, but why did she have to be mostly naked while he ate? When he turned around again to take another bite of food, she got up and headed to the bathroom. Before he even realized she had moved, she had shut the door.

Julie wasn’t trying to be mean; she just didn’t want to sit there mostly naked. She grabbed the bathrobe that was hanging on the wall and put in on.  She decided to go ahead and let her hair down while she was in there. She took the French twist out and fluffed her hair with her fingers. Most of it was still wet, where it had been twisted up right after her shower. She knew Alex loved the smell of her shampoo so when she ran her fingers through it, she could smell it and she knew he would be able to as well.

Just then, there was a knock on the door. Julie didn’t open it; she just took a deep breath in, let it out and said, “Yes?”

“Baby, is everything okay?”

He sounded truly concerned so Julie opened the door just a crack. He was still fully dressed. She looked him up and down. He even had his shoes on.

“Yeah. Everything is fine. I was just getting cold sitting there.” She had a hint of humor in her voice, but he didn’t hear it. He put one hand on the door, giving it a little pressure. Julie leaned into the door, stopping him from opening it.

“Babe, let me in.”

“I don’t think so.”

“What is going on?”

“You tell me. You undress me and then ignore me. You wouldn’t even let me get your jacket off.”

He laughed whole-heartedly. Julie looked at him with complete confusion written across her face. He reached into the bathroom just enough to be able to place one hand on Julie’s cheek.

“Come out and I will explain. Please.”

Julie sighed, like she was upset. She opened the door the rest of the way. He laughed again when he saw she had on the bathrobe.

“Really?” he said.

“I told you, I was cold.” That wasn’t really the truth. The cabin was warm since the sliding glass door to the balcony was open. Julie breathed in the briny scent of the ocean as she stepped into the room. Alex had turned off the main room light and only had on the small lamp on the desk. The moon was shining bright and the light spilled into the room.

Alex came up behind her and reached for the ties of the robe, but Julie gently pushed his hands away. She stepped away from him and went over to the table and grabbed a plump strawberry off one of the plates. She turned to face him while she placed it in her mouth. She took a small bite of the juicy berry, sucking on the tip to get more flavor out. She watched as his eyes got a little bigger. He took a step forward as she took another bite. He reached for her robe ties again, but she pushed him away. She turned her head to be able to look him deep in the eyes.

“I thought you were going to explain,” she said, “why I was mostly naked and you were fully dressed.”

He took her free hand before he spoke, taking her close to the opened balcony door.

“When you came out of the bathroom, right before the Prom, I saw the hunger in your eyes. I could see that you liked how I looked in my tux and then you told me that after Prom, you were all mine.”

Julie nodded, she remembered. He still looked so good in his tux, but that didn’t explain why she was almost naked.

“So when we came in here, I had a plan, since you promised to be all mine. I wanted you to see me in my tux while I did things to your body you would never forget.” Julie felt her cheeks flush bright red.

“I needed to have a few bites of food first; otherwise, I might have devoured you.”

Julie laughed at that. He always seemed to be able to make her laugh at just the right time. She now understood what he had planned and it made her blush again just thinking about what he would have done to her. He kissed her hot cheek, moving to her lips. Julie’s arms went around his neck and she didn’t protest as he untied her robe. Her arms left his neck so that the robe could fall to the floor along with the unfinished berry.

Nick proudly walked Kate to the dance floor, her hand in the crook of his arm. He pulled her to a stop close to the stage.

"May I have this dance?" he asked.

He took her right hand in his left and rested his other hand on her waist. Kate gazed up into his blue eyes. She suddenly realized that they matched. She laughed at herself for being 'so observant'.

"What's so funny?" Nick asked.

"I just realized that we match." Kate laughed.

Nick laughed, "Wow you're good, hon. I've been in this tux for what? Five hours?"

"Hey, I never said I was the brightest light bulb in the box." Kate laughed. He pulled her closer, pulling her right hand on his shoulder and wrapping his left hand on her waist. Kate laid her head on Nick's shoulder as the danced in a slow circle. Nearby Kevin was dancing with Lauren.

"Hope you don't mind that I didn't sing to you," he said.

"Why would I mind?" Lauren asked, surprised that he thought she'd be upset.

"Well, I just thought that since all of BSB was singing to their girls..."

Lauren smiled at him.

"Kevin, we only met two days ago. Brian and Howie are married; Nick and Kate are getting married and AJ and Julie, well, they just belong together. I didn't expect any of that attention. Now, if we're dating next year..." She laughed.  Nick led Kate back to the table to rest.

"You know what sounds good right now?" She asked coyly. He raised his eyebrows.

"Dessert," she laughed.

"As you wish, my lady," he said dramatically and Kate laughed.

"Anything in particular you want?"

"Chocolate."
 

As Nick went to get her dessert, Kate looked down at her left hand. It felt so odd to have a ring there. And this was no small ring. The stone had to be a whole carat. She didn't think she'd ever seen a heart shaped diamond before and the band was a beautiful white gold with flowers engraved on it and diamond chips for center of the flowers.

"Excuse me." Kate looked up to see a group of girls standing at the edge of the VIP section. "Can we see your ring?" the blonde girl pleaded. Kate smiled. She stood up and walked over to them. She held out her hand so they could see it.  "OMG! You are so lucky."

"How does it feel to know you're marrying a Backstreet Boy?"

"When is your baby due?"

"Is it going to be a girl or a boy?"

The barrage of questions was coming at Kate faster than she could think of answers much less answer them. Nick walked up behind Kate. He slid his free hand around her waist, the other holding a plate of dessert.

"How are you girls doing tonight?" he said to the group.

"Nick, omg! I can't believe you're getting married!"

"That was so romantic!"

"What a beautiful ring!"

Kate just smiled as Nick stood there, interacting with his fans. She liked this part of him. The part that was grateful to his fans for enjoying the music he had written. No fan was too small to be acknowledged, no reasonable request denied. After he answered all the girls questions, Nick lead Kate back to the table to enjoy their dessert. Since the party was starting to clear out they decided to walk back to their room.

"Can we stroll on the deck?" Kate asked. It seemed like a silly request but it sounded so romantic, to be able to say 'We strolled the deck.’  Nick smiled and led her up the stairs and out onto the deck. They held hands as they walked, Nick on Kate's right. He sighed contentedly.

"Penny for your thoughts?" Kate said. He brought her knuckles to his lips.

"I'm so glad you said yes," he said.

Kate laughed loudly, "Yeah, like I could have said no and not been thrown overboard."

Nick laughed "Oh I see, you didn't want to go swimming so you agreed."

"Well yeah!" Kate said sarcastically making Nick laugh harder. They walked on in silence for a while, each lost in their own thoughts. Kate lifted her left hand, admiring her ring.

"Do you like it?" Nick asked timidly.

"It's the most beautiful ring I could imagine. But you shouldn't have spent so much money."

"I wanted to get you a bigger one but Julie said no."

"Julie?! She knew? That little sneak."

Nick laughed, "I swore her to secrecy." Kate smiled up at him.

"It was very smart of you to get my BFF's opinion."

"Well she helped me narrow it down."

"I love it, Nick and I love you." He bent his head down kissing her, and then wrapped an arm around her as they continued to their room.

Kate stood out on the small balcony outside their room. The cool night air felt good. She had changed into her pajamas while Nick had gone in to have a shower.  She was lost in thought when he came out of the bathroom and joined her. He wrapped his arms around her from behind.

"What are ya thinking about?" he asked.

"Why you asked me to marry you," she replied. He turned her gently in his arms.

"Because, I love you."

"I was afraid that it was just because of the baby."

"Come here," he said leading her inside.

He sat on the end of the bed and she sat next to him. He looked into her hazel eyes trying to read her thoughts. He placed a warm hand on her belly.

"I guess technically you could say it's thanks to this baby." Kate was confused by the way he worded that phrase.

"So if I wasn't pregnant you wouldn't want to marry me?" Kate asked.

"I didn't say that." Nick said quickly. He paused to put his thoughts in order before he continued. "Last night when I saw the blood in the bathroom it hit me that I could lose you. And as much as I love this kid, the thought of losing you scared the hell out of me."

"But you don't believe in marriage," Kate said.

"Have I ever told you that?"

"No." she admitted sheepishly, "I read it in one of your interviews."

"I never use to. My parents had a messy divorce and I never want to go thru that but," he paused not knowing how to continue. Kate rubbed her hands over his bringing his eyes back up to her.

"Nick I only believe in three reasons for divorce. If you cheat on me I'd leave, if you hit me I'd leave or if you hurt my children, I'd leave. Everything else can be worked out."

"Kate you know I'd never…" She interrupted him.

"I know. That's why I'm telling you this." She sighed in frustration. "The problem with people today is that we live in such an instant gratification society that people think that if things get hard they can just leave but that's not the way it's supposed to be."

Nick put an arm around her, pulling her against him. They sat in silence for a few moments each in their own thoughts. Kate pulled back to look up into Nick's eyes.

"I do love you and I will be honored to be your wife but I'm not in a hurry. Do you mind if we wait till after the baby is born?"

"There's no rush."

 As they climbed into bed next to her he began to realize what Brian was talking about all these years. It was like Kate knew how he was feeling and automatically adjusted to him. The idea of marriage scared the hell out of him but Kate; but he'd do anything for her and their unborn child.  As he lay there with Kate in his arms he began to imagine his life with her. His thoughts drifted to their child. Would it be a boy or a girl? Dark like Kate or blonde like him? What would they name it?