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Author's Chapter Notes:
I know it's been a LONG time. I want to try and finish this story eventually. But here is a new chapter. Thanks for being patient and any feedback is appreciated.
After the funeral, things were quiet around the Carter house. Aaron was involved in his schoolwork, AJ was busy at the tattoo shop, Amanda had her hands full at the club and Nick dove head first into writing. It had been a while since he'd worked on anything new and he loved the creative process. As he tapped the pencil on the desk he was writing at in his studio and hummed a tune to himself, his cell phone buzzed in his pocket. It was his manager, Howie.

“Hey, D. What's up?”

“Can you come down to the main office tomorrow morning? There's something we want to talk to you about that I think you'll be quite thrilled to do, it would be a great career move.” Howie asked. Nick frowned. He hoped it wasn't another bribe to do tour dates or something. Nick liked to play at his wife's club. He was close to home and could spend time with his son and daughter….and he saw Amanda every day. He didn't want to change that for anything.

Nick was big on family and it meant more to him than anything since he was orphaned at a young age by his mother who abused him. He had just recently reconciled with his father, who he had believed to be the bad guy for many years. Robert Carter was the nicest man Nick had met and was thankful that Brian had found him.

“All right, Howie. Sounds good. I'll see you in the morning then.” Nick replied before hanging up. His stomach growled and he guessed it was time to stop working and go in the house to find something to eat, he'd been working for almost an entire afternoon and hadn't even had lunch. He turned off the light on the door of the studio that said “Do Not Disturb” in red letters and headed into the house.

“Hi, honey. You're done early…” Amanda said as Nick kissed her on the cheek. Her brown eyes watched him get a bottle of water from the refrigerator and take a long drink.

“Yeah, Howie called and wants to see me tomorrow.”

“He isn't on you about touring again, is he?” Amanda asked, although she knew that was a touchy subject..she tried not to ask many questions about Nick’s conversations with his manager. Howie and Nick had a strange business relationship.

Nick set the water bottle down and kissed Amanda again, his arms at her waist.

“Not at all, baby. It's something else. I'm gonna go down to the office tomorrow and see what it's all about. Want me to start supper?” he asked as he heard a baby crying in the other room. Nick moved to get it but Amanda put her hand on his chest and smiled.

“That's Bryan… I'll get him. He's been cranky today. I tried to get him to nap but he won't stay asleep for more than a half hour.”

“How about this…I'll get him to sleep and you can start supper? I put the chicken to thaw out this morning in the sink.” Nick whispered, kissing her cheek. Amanda looked unsure but Nick knew she needed a break and was happy to oblige. She turned to get supper going as he left the room, heading for the baby’s bedroom. His daughter Celine was on the floor, playing with a doll as he came in.

“Hi, Daddy.” Celine said, looking up at him. He smiled at her and picked up the crying baby, holding him against his chest. He smiled at his children….he'd never pictured himself being a father let alone to a boy and a girl. Bryan clung to him and sniffled into his father's shoulder as Nick bounced him gently. His phone vibrated, and he sighed. Balancing the baby, he took it out of his pocket.

“Hey, you told me to let you know when I was in town. I'm in town for the weekend, let me know when it's good for me to come over.”

Nick had completely forgotten about the surprise he'd been planning for Amanda, who was a huge New Kids On The Block fan. It was almost her birthday and as a surprise Nick was going to have the band come and sing to her on stage during his set. Nick had met Donnie Wahlberg a few times at awards shows and finally exchanged numbers. He knew that this would make his wife very happy and it had been a huge challenge keeping it a secret, he hadn't told anyone.. Not even AJ.. AJ was horrible at keeping secrets.

After putting Bryan back in his crib, Nick kissed Celine and went to find Amanda in the kitchen, grabbing her butt playfully as he walked past her. She giggled, stirring the pasta on the stove. Nick leaned in and kissed her on the cheek.

“What took you so long?”

“Oh, the baby was just fussy.” Nick said. He sat at the table and began to help chop some vegetables for the salad. Just then, Aaron came in with Michelle, their dog.

“Nick, did you ever find out if…oh.. Never mind.” the teenager said, noticing Nick's expression. Amanda looked puzzled, putting a hand on her hip and then smiling.

“What are you up to?”

Nick smiled sheepishly and set the knife down, sighing. He had sort of told Aaron what he was up to but not all of it.

“You look beautiful today.” he said, grinning at her and gazing longingly. She picked up the loaf of bread and playfully hit him with it. He dodged, heading to the other side of the counter.

“Don't think I'm letting you off the hook, mister.” she said, patting him on the ass as he walked by.

Nick laughed at Amanda's expression and caught her small smile, he knew she liked his humor.



The next morning, Nick went into Howard Dorough’s office, wondering what the urgency was. He sat in the waiting room for a while before Howie’s secretary showed him in. The office was on the 15th floor of a Miami high rise and had a amazing view of downtown. It was decorated in black and purple right down to the carpeting and walls.

“So what did you want me to come down here for?” Nick asked as he walked into the room, but he stopped when he saw a young woman sitting at the desk across from his manager. She got up and smiled, holding out her hand to shake his.

“It's so great to meet you, Nick. I have been a long time fan. I'm Savannah.”

She looked a lot like Amanda but her figure was a bit fuller. Amanda was lean, but this girl had curves. Nick caught his eyes wandering and stopped himself to remind himself he had a wife and two children at home.

“Howie, I can meet fans anytime. What is this about?”

Savannah and Howie laughed.

“Nick, this is not just a fan. She was signed to the label recently and we thought you'd like to mentor her.”

Nick nodded, not sure about this idea. The girl was beautiful. It made him uneasy.

“Mentor?”

“She's a new artist.. I thought it would be great for your image to help new artists. Like JC Chasez did for you when you moved to LA. You told me a few months ago about it and it gave me the idea.”

Nick wanted to smack him. He knew if Amanda saw Savannah she would immediately distrust him. He smiled and gave a quick nod, and Howie continued talking. He discussed recording among other things but Nick wasn't listening, he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket.

Let me know when you'd like to talk more about the thing we discussed.

It was from Donnie. Nick replied back and pretended to listen to what his manager was saying but he found his mind going off in another direction. He wanted Amanda's birthday to be perfect and hoped she wouldn't find out the surprise before it was time.



“I gotta know what he is up to, AJ.” Amanda said, sitting down on the couch across from him with the baby, as Bryan giggled. He was getting bigger by the day and was the spitting image of his father.

“Well, I can't help you….I'm out of the loop.”

“He's just being so sneaky, and then there were those weird calls the other night that he wouldn't answer.” Amanda frowned.

AJ chuckled, turning on the TV and sipping at the drink he'd just picked up off the coffee table.

“Maybe he's cheating on you.”

Amanda and AJ stared at each other and then started laughing.

“He'd never. After everything he did to get me. He'd never do it. You're crazy, Jay.”

“It was just a joke. You and I both know he wouldn't. That man doesn't have a unfaithful bone in his body.”

Amanda laughed again but deep down, that nagging feeling something was going on wouldn't go away. Nick was hiding something and she was going to find out.