~January 8, 2003~

"You're supposed to paint the nail, not the toe," Katie giggled, "That tickles."

"Well if you would hold still..." AJ grabbed Katie's wiggling foot with his free hand, tickling the bottom with the hand still holding the nail polish brush.

"You're going to get nail polish everywhere!" Katie wiggled around some more.

"That, my beautiful women, will be your fault.  You're going to knock over the bottle with all this flailing!"

"Flailing?  I do not flail!"

AJ released her, laughing hysterically as he did his horrible imitation of Katie flailing around and yelling, "No!  Please don't!  That tickles!"

Katie crossed her arms over her chest and glared at AJ.

"Aww babe, I'm sorry.  I think it's cute," he leaned down and pressed a kiss to her forehead.

Katie stuck out her lower lip in a pout.  She typically would have put up a fight, protesting his comments, but she just didn't have the energy to really fight him on the point.

"Can we finish now?" AJ settled back onto the floor in front of her to finish his paint job.

Katie slowly nodded, feeling a little nauseous.  She stuck her unfinished foot back out for him, but quickly pulled It back to stand up.

"Everything okay?" AJ asked.

Katie shook her head no, "I don't feel good."

AJ scooted out of the way as Katie dashed for the bathroom.  He closed up the nail polish and followed her to the bathroom, only to find her hunched over the toilet.

"Babe, you okay?"

"I think so.  I've been feeling a little off all day."

"Getting sick?"

"I don't think I have a fever or anything...I don't know.  I don't want to get you sick, you guys have so much to do."

"I'll be fine babe.  I'm just worried about you.  Do you want me to take you to the doctor tomorrow?"

"You've got Backstreet stuff to do.  I'll be fine."

"I can miss a few hours."

"I'll go, I'll get one of the girls to go with me or something."

*****

"Fertile Mertyl," Leighanne laughed.

"Umm, what?" Katie looked up, her brows furrowed in confusion.  She'd been too busy going over this in her head to really hear what Leighanne was saying.  Until that comment.  Hearing those words pulled her right back into the conversation.

"You're new nickname.  Fertile Mertyl."

"Don't call me that.  It's so...weird.  Besides, I'm not fertile."

"Well one of you is.  This is the second time you've been pregnant in less than a year!"

"Leigh, you can't tell anyone.  Not even Brian.  I don't want Alex to hear from anyone else."

"I promise I won't tell him until I know you've told Alex.  When exactly are you going to tell him?"

"I don't know.  After what happened last time...I don't want to screw this all up again."

"You won't.  He'll be thrilled.  You know Bri and I have been trying...it would be cool to be pregnant at the same time."

"Slow down there...I don't want to jinx anything."

Leighanne pulled Katie into a hug, "If it's meant to be, this one will stick."

"I hope so.  I don't know if I can deal with another miscarriage."

"We're all here for you.  No need hiding anything from any of us this time around.  We all love you."

"I know you do.  It's just scary."

"It's always scary.  Alex will be thrilled though.  I just know it."

Katie nodded, knowing that Leighanne was right.

"Congratulations."

*****

"Hey babe.  Feeling better?" AJ asked as he walked into the kitchen.  He'd just come home from a long day of meetings with the Backstreet Boys.  He'd been thinking about her all day, wondering about the doctor's appointment and hoping that she was feeling better.  He'd much rather have skipped the day of meetings to be home with her, but he knew he had to work.

"Eh...a little.  I'll be fine though," Katie sat at the counter picking at a muffin.

"So it's just the flu then?"

Katie shook her head no and swallowed the bite of muffin she'd just taken.

"So what it is?" AJ called from inside the refrigerator.

Katie watched him rummage through the fridge for a snack, "Nothing that won't clear up in about nine months."

"Nine months?  That doesn't sound so good," he closed the door, holding a yogurt.

"Yeah...nine months, give or take...and everything will be..." Katie paused, trying to find the words to finish that sentence.

"Back to normal?" AJ suggested.

Katie laughed, "Not even close."

"You've got me completely confused here babe.  What's going on?"

"How would you feel about converting one of those extra bedrooms?"

"Into what?" AJ's brow creased in confusion, "Stop changing the subject."

"I'm not.  I was thinking we need to convert the bedroom right next to ours into a nursery."

"A nursery?"

"Yeah," Katie paused, hoping it would all click for him, "Think about it...nine months...nursery..."

"You're...we're...really?"

Katie nodded, bracing herself for any possible reaction.

"Wow.  We're having a baby."

"So...you're okay with it then?" Katie asked hopefully.

"Of course I am!  We're having a baby!"

"Still think things will go back to normal?" Katie laughed and opened her arms for AJ to come to her.

"Things will never be normal again," he grinned and leaned against Katie, her arms wrapped protectively around him.

"They will be...just a different kind of normal."