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Chapter 37

Claire sat with her hand raised in front of her, absently twisting her wrist back and forth and admiring the way the diamond on her left hand sparkled in the sunlight that streamed through the tiny window. She nearly jumped when a large hand clamped over hers, pulling it gently across her body and up to a pair of soft lips. She turned her head to the right, where Nick sat smirking.

“You wanna quit flashing that rock everywhere?” he asked in a playful tone. “People are gonna start to wonder what you’re doing, and then they’ll see the ring, and they’ll see me, and by the time the entertainment news airs tonight, everyone will know-“

“Sorry,” she replied with a sheepish giggle. “I didn’t realize I was doing it. I can’t help it; it’s still so new and… beautiful.” When Nick let her have her hand back, she brought it up to admire the engagement ring once more before dropping her hand to her lap, determined not to look at it again.

It was hard though… the ring was beautiful. She’d never dreamed of owning a piece of jewelry so fine. Nick had just picked it up for her a few days earlier, nearly a month after they’d placed the order for the custom-made ring with Nick’s jeweler.

“I just want something simple,” she’d insisted that day in the jewelry shop, while the jeweler, a friend of Nick’s, showed her various selections, each as elegant as the next. “Small and simple.”

Of course, Nick had argued with her. “Don’t worry about the price,” he’d told her; he wanted her engagement ring to be nothing short of dazzling. The sweet little half-carat diamonds solitaires she was admiring just wouldn’t do; he thought she deserved more.

In the end, they had compromised. The stone she’d chosen was one-and-one-half carats, half the size of the three-carat rock Nick had wanted to place on her finger. It was oval-shaped, colorless, and flawless, set in a platinum milgrain band that was encrusted with one-fifth-carat canary yellow diamonds. The canary yellow had been Nick’s idea – they were rare, he said, and he wanted her to have something special and unique. She’d finally agreed on it, though she couldn’t help but wince when she thought of the fortune it had to be costing him. She never did find out the final cost of the ring – he refused to tell her. All she knew was that she loved it. Nick had good taste, and astonishing as it was, he knew what he was talking about when it came to jewelry. The ring had turned out absolutely gorgeous, and even now, after days of wearing it, she couldn’t stop looking at it.

She placed her right hand over it so that she could not look, knowing Nick was right. They were sitting in the first class section of an airplane; someone was bound to notice if she kept flipping her hand around, and Nick wasn’t ready for that yet. He’d kept their engagement tightly under wraps, not wanting the press to get wind of it yet. She was fine with that; the thought of being thrust into the spotlight just for being Nick Carter’s fiancée made her nervous. She’d kept it to herself too, for the most part. Her family knew, and so did Dianna, but her co-workers and other friends, even Jamie, were still in the dark. She didn’t feel too bad though, for no one on Nick’s side knew a thing. Not even Brian, AJ, Howie, and Kevin.

“I’m saving it for the trip,” he’d told her. “I want it to be a surprise.”

The guys would get their surprise that afternoon, when she and Nick landed in Los Angeles. The five of them were reuniting for five days, during which they would meet with their manager and record label to discuss a new Backstreet Boys album. It had been a year and a half since the last one had been released, and there was no point in planning a tour for that album now. Over the phone, the five guys had decided it was time to just get back in the studio and start fresh. The meetings that week would determine exactly when and how that would happen.

Claire was just along for the ride, but she couldn’t have been more excited. Except for Howie, she hadn’t seen any of the guys in months, and she’d only been to California once, with her family. It would be a lot different going there with Nick, no doubt.

As it turned out, she was right.

When the plane landed, they were met by a couple of bodyguards and taken to a large, silver Escalade. Claire climbed into the backseat of the luxury SUV with Nick and watched out the tinted windows in awe as they drove away from the bustling LAX. Freeways that swarmed with honking cars eventually turned to quiet suburban streets lined on both sides with sprawling mansions.

“This is Kevin’s place?” Claire asked, when the SUV stopped at one of the houses.

“This is it,” replied Nick, throwing his door open. Claire could tell he was excited; he’d missed the guys more than he had let on. She opened her door as well and climbed out, meeting up with Nick at the front of the Escalade. He gave her a quick smile and reached for her hand before walking the rest of the way to the front door. The door swung open before either one of them had a chance to knock, and they were greeted not by Kevin, but- “Baylee! Hey, bud!” Nick exclaimed in surprise, looking down at the two-and-a-half-year-old, who had managed to get the door open himself.

Instantly, Brian appeared behind his son. “Hey guys!” he said with a Kentucky drawl and a wide smile. “We guessed right, Bay – it’s Nick and Claire! Remember them?”

Baylee nodded obediently, no sign of recognition on his innocent face, which bore a striking resemblance to Brian.

“Gosh, I can’t believe how big he’s gotten,” Claire said, shaking her head. It was amazing how fast kids grew, especially at that age.

“Oh, don’t I know it,” replied Brian with the proud grin of a father. “Well, don’t y’all just stand out there, come on inside.” He stepped back and moved Baylee out of the way so that they could enter the house. Brian gave Nick a big brotherly hug, slapping his back warmly, and then hugged Claire as well. “You both look great,” he said as he led them further into the foyer. “Come on this way, the rest of the fellas are hanging out in the living room. Howie got here about half an hour before you did, and J’s here, and Kev-“

Just as he said the name, Kevin appeared in the doorway that led to what Claire supposed was the living room. “Hey, there y’all are,” he said with a smile and came over to hug them both, as Brian had. “I’m glad you could come out with Nick,” he said to Claire as he hugged her lightly.

“Hey, me too. I appreciate the invite,” she replied. “Your house is beautiful, by the way.”

“Thank you. I’ll give ya the grand tour in a little bit, if you want. The rest of the gang’s in here, so come on in.” He led the way into the living room, which was already crowded with people. Baylee had run back into the room and was now sitting on a large couch beside his mother, Leighanne. AJ and his girlfriend Mary occupied the loveseat, and Howie and Kevin’s wife Kristin sat in armchairs. Hugs and hellos were circulated, while Kevin, suddenly realizing there were not enough places for everyone to sit, scrambled for more chairs.

“Nick, take a seat,” directed Kevin, pointing to one of the lush recliners as he sat down on one of the hard-backed chairs he’d dragged in from the kitchen. Claire saw Nick glance from Kevin to the recliner, which Kevin must have been sitting in before. She recognized the expression on his face as he realized Kevin was giving up his seat for him and expected him to protest. His mouth opened as he started to say something, but then he stopped, shrugged, and walked over to the recliner.

Kristin, who was sitting in a matching upholstered chair, sprang up instantly and said, “Claire, sit here.”

“Oh, I’m fine over-“ Claire started to say, but Kristin had already walked over to sit next to her husband on the other kitchen chair. Claire sank down into the upholstered chair beside Nick. As she straightened her shirt and reached up to tuck a stray lock of hair behind her left ear, Leighanne gasped.

“What’s on your hand?” she demanded, sliding off the sofa and slinking over for a closer look. Unable to conceal her grin, Claire held out her left hand, the diamond on her ring sparkling as it caught the light. She heard the gasps of surprise go around the room, and then all eyes shifted to Nick, who sat with a big goofy grin on his face.

“Wow… congratulations!” Brian was the first to say. “Nick – when’d you pop the question?”

“On our six month anniversary,” Nick answered, an adorable blush tinting his cheeks. “July 1.”

Brian’s mouth fell open comically. “A month ago?? And you didn’t tell us??” He pretended to look hurt.

Nick chuckled and exchanged glances with Claire. “We wanted to surprise you,” he explained.

“Well, you definitely did, Nicky! Congratulations, you two,” said Howie with a bright smile. The others echoed him, and of course Kristin and Mary had to come up alongside Leighanne to admire Claire’s ring.

“It’s beautiful,” Leighanne said. “I love the yellow.” She held out her left hand to show Claire her own canary yellow diamond ring.

“Our boys have good taste,” Claire agreed, shooting Nick a smile. “Nick certainly knows his stuff.” Nick smiled back, looking pleased.

“Oh, Kaos knows a lot about the ice,” said AJ. “But if you want a real jewelry expert… you know who to come to, baby.” He winked, and Claire smirked.

“Thanks, J, I’ll keep that in mind.”

Conversation flowed easily as everyone caught up with each other. AJ and Mary had spent the summer traveling, while Kevin and Kristin had stayed in the area, doing various home improvement projects. Howie had been writing songs and working for his charity, and Brian and Leighanne had had their hands full with Baylee.

“He’s cute, ain’t he?” Nick asked later that night, as he and Claire were driving to their hotel.

“Who?”

“Baylee. He’s a cute kid.”

“Yeah, he is,” Claire agreed with a smile. Brian’s son had entertained them all at Kevin’s house earlier. Once he warmed up to people, he was just like Brian – a goofball, and a little ham, ready to steal the show with his antics. He was adorable.

“Bri and Leigh are lucky,” Nick said, after a moment’s silence. Claire didn’t answer right away. Instead, she looked over at him. His expression was unreadable in the dark interior of the car, but she was sure there had been a wistful tone to his voice.

“Yes, they are,” she replied softly, as her mind raced. What had he meant by that? ‘Bri and Leigh are lucky’ – just that? Or ‘Bri and Leigh are lucky’ – I’m jealous? ‘Bri and Leigh are lucky’ – because they can have children, and we can’t? Maybe she was reading too much into a simple statement. Or maybe she wasn’t.

They’d only really talked about having children once… the time she had told him she couldn’t have children. He had seemed okay with it then, but they were engaged now, and things were different. Maybe having children – or not having them - hadn’t been an issue two months ago, but now that they were getting married, it was. It had to be. They would have to talk about it again, and soon. If, deep down, he’d always had his heart set on having children of his own, she needed to know.

He needs to know too, she told herself. He needs to know the whole story. She cleared her throat. “Hey, Nick? Can we talk, when we get checked into our room?”

Now it was his turn to look over at her. “That doesn’t sound good,” he said with a nervous chuckle.

“I’m sorry,” she apologized with a quick laugh, realizing she’d asked that question way too gravely. “It’s nothing bad. There’s just something I think we should talk about, when you feel like it. If you don’t want to tonight, we-“

“No, no, we can talk tonight,” Nick assured her quickly. “I wanna hear what’s on your mind.”

Claire nodded and smiled slightly in relief. Good, she thought. I want to hear what’s on your mind too.

***


AN: Want to see a picture of the engagement ring? Go here: http://www.dreamers-sanctuary.com/bmsncwedding.html