The Trip

“What?” Nick and Katie said together. “You’re a father?” Katie asked in disbelief. “No, I’m not I swear.” Nick said. The news report came back on. “Yesterday, Nick Carter, from the Backstreet Boys, was seen with a women and two children. A little girl, who resembled Nick, and a little boy who resembled the girl he was with. We followed them all day. They started their day at Burger King, then went to the mall, after that Nick and the girl when to a house and dropped off the children and went to the beach for sunset, where they were extremely close. After sunset they went to a different house, which was full of people including the children they were with earlier that day. Nick and the girl spent the time in the pool with the children. Later that night, everyone left, except for the children, we saw Nick and the girl carry them upstairs and into a bedroom. Nick never left the house. Last night they fell asleep watching a movie. We have a photographer out by the house now, waiting for them to wake up. We will keep you posted.” Kurt said as pictures of Nick, Katie, Emily, and Jordan passes through the screen. Katie looked over at Nick in shock. She could tell that he was boiling mad. He looked at her and then he walked out without saying a word. A few seconds later, Katie heard some yelling. Emily and Jordan came downstairs. “Did Nick leave?” Jordan asked. “No, lets go get some breakfast.” Katie said getting them out of the living room before they heard Nick yelling. Emily and Jordan sat down at the kitchen table, while Katie got bowls for them, and herself and Nick. She was in the middle of pouring cereal in Emily’s bowl when she heard Nick stomp in. Katie turned around to see him. She could tell he was very mad but when he saw Jordan and Emily he quickly wiped the madness of his face and acted like everything was fine. “Hey Nick.” Emily said. “Hey sunshine.” He said putting on a fake smile, which still looked great. He sat down in his chair while Katie poured him a bowl. “I hope you like Frosted Flakes, it is all we have.” She said smiling at him. “Its fine.” He said returning the smile, this time a real one. “Nick, can you and I go play basketball today with your friend Brian?” Jordan asked. “Actually me and Katie were going to go out today, but we will do it soon buddy.” He said looking across the table at Katie for approval. She gave him a looked that said it was ok, and then they started eating. They soon finished and Katie changed. Then they took Emily and Jordan home. “How about we go to Charleston’s so we can talk.” Nick suggested. “Fine with me.” She said then drove to the restaurant. “So what are we going to do?” Katie asked Nick when they were seated. “Well, while you were changing I called the management.” Nick said. “And?” “And they were ready to take my head off. But they called MTV and we are going to have a live press conference.” He said. “What do you mean live?” she asked. “Well, it is going to be a normal press conference, but they are going to break in so it is on TRL and some news casts are going to be there to.” He explained. “Oh, so when are you leaving?” She asked. “Well, I was hoping that you would go with me.” He said. “You do?” She asked slightly shocked. “Yeah.” He said. “Where?” “New York.” He said. “Wow, that is a little far for me. I mean I just got here.” She said, “and I have hardly spent anytime with my grandparents.” She added. “Oh.” Nick said disappointed. “For how long?” Katie asked noticing his disappointment. “Just two days.” He said. “I guess two days isn’t long.” She said. “So you’ll go?” “Yeah.” Katie smiled. “So when do we leave?” She asked. “Tonight, our flight leaves out of Fort Meyers at 7:45, we’ll get in at midnight and then we have Thursday just to ourselves, and then Friday we have the conference and then come home.” He explained. “Ok, I’ll go.” She said. “So since we are leaving out of Fort Meyers, do you just want me to pick you up?” He asked. “Sure. At 6:00?” She asked. “Sounds good to me.” He said. They ordered a very small meal and then left. “I think I should get home and pack, plus the guys are probably calling me nonstop.” Nick said. Katie said ‘ok’ and then drove him to Burger King. “Katie?” He asked breaking to silence between them. “Yeah?” Katie asked looking for her exit. “Willyoubemygirlfriend.” He asked quickly and bluntly. “What?” Katie asked not understanding. “Will you be my girlfriend? I know I am leaving for tour in a month but I really want you as a girlfriend.” Nick asked waiting for her to answer. “So will you?” He asked her after a minute. “Yeah.” She said still in shock. Katie pulled into a parking spot and looked at Nick. “So I will see you at 6:00?” Nick asked. “Yep.” She said. He smiled and then leaned in for a hug. “Bye.” She said. “Bye.” He said then Katie drove off to pack.

*~*~*

Nick walked into his house after the two-hour drive home. He looked at his answering machine and saw that he had 4 new messages. He hit the play button and listened to them. “Nick! Where the hell are you! I just watched the news and we really need to talk!” Nick heard Kevin yell. “Nicky getting hitched and having kids! That is something I never heard before. She is hot Nick!!” AJ said. Nick just laughed at his friend and went to the next message. “Nickolas, call me when you get home.” His mom, Jane, said. “Nick this is Brian. The management is going crazy. I have been trying to call you forever. Where are you, and why don’t you have your cell on? Call me when you get home.” Nick’s best friend said. Nick hit the ‘end’ button and then tried to decide who to call first. He picked up the phone and decided to call his mom. “Hey.” Nick said when he heard his mom answer. “Nick?” She asked unsure. “Mom, that is pretty sad you don’t even know when you favorite son calls.” He joked. “Nickolas Gene Carter, what am I hearing on the news?” She asked. Nick could tell she was angry. “Mom, that is my new girlfriend, and her two little cousins. It was a big misunderstanding. We are going to New York tonight, for a press conference.” He explained quickly so she would hear his full side of the story. “Do I know this girl?” She asked. “No, she is from Indiana.” He said. “How did you two meet?” She asked wanting to find out about Katie. “Ok mom, Her name is Katie. She is 18. She is from Indiana. She doesn’t have a father, and she is the greatest girl I have met. And we met when I was flying home, two days ago.” He said knowing all the questions she was going to ask. “You have only known her for two days and you two are already dating?” She asked. “Yeah, mom she is great, I know you will love her.” Nick said smiling. “Those aren’t your kids right?” She asked. “No mom, they are Emily and Jordan, her two younger cousins. She was watching them, and that is why they were with us. They are 7 and 8.” Nick said slightly laughing realizing that if they were Katie’s kids she would have been 10 when she had them. “If she is from Indiana, what is she doing in Florida?” Jane asked, knowing that Nick doesn’t like long distant relationships. “She is spending the summer with aunt and cousin Becky. She has a lot of family that lives down here that she never sees.” Nick explained. “So when do I get to meet her?” Jane asked. “Well, she doesn’t like to fly so I don’t know if she will like flying all the way to California, but I will try and talk her into it.” He said. “Nick, I have to go pick up Aaron, but I want you to call me later, so we can talk about her. I don’t like finding out about your girlfriends from the news.” She said. “Ok, mom, I will call you when I get home from New York.” He said. “Ok honey, I love you.” “Love you too.” He said and then hung up. He then decided to take his cordless phone up to his bedroom and start packing. He decided to call Brian next, considering he would be the calmest one. He called him and explained everything to him, and then told him to call Kevin and the other guys, since he was sick of telling the story. He packed and soon left to Katie’s house.

*~*~*

At 6:00 exactly Katie heard a knock on the door. Becky went to the door and saw Nick on his cell phone. “Hey.” She whispered not wanting to disturb his call. She motioned that Katie was up in her room. He smiled and then walked up. He walked in to see Katie was also on the phone. She smiled at him and motioned for him to sit on her bed. “Ok mom, I got to go. I will call you tomorrow morning.” She said rolling her eyes. Nick let out a little laugh and then went to talking on his phone. Katie hung up with her mom and then sat next to Nick. He talked for a few more minutes and then hung up. “We have a problem.” Nick said seriously. “What is it?” Katie asked. “The management messed up our room arrangements, and they only have one room for us.” He said. “Well,” she thought for a minute, “does it have two beds?” She asked. “Yeah.” He said. “I guess it is ok then.” Katie said. “Are you sure? I don’t want to push you to go.” “No, I guess it is fine, you already paid for my ticket and everything, and I told you I would go, I can’t go back on my word.” She said. “Just don’t tell my aunt.” She added. “I won’t.” Nick said relieved that she was still going. “So are you ready?” He asked. “Yep. I just need to say good-bye to Lora and Becky.” She said. They both walked out of the room. Katie went to the back porch to find, Lora, Becky, and Carmine all there. “We are leaving now.” Katie said. “Have a good time.” Lora said. They all said their goodbyes and then left.

*~*~*

“Have you ever been to New York?” Nick asked Katie while they were getting ready to take off. “Nope.” She said holding onto his hand tighter as they took off. “Everything is going to be fine, don’t worry.” Nick reassured her. She leaned down and rested her head on his shoulder, and before he knew it she was fast asleep. He smiled and rested his head back and also fell asleep.

*~*~*

“Katie, baby, wake up.” Nick said to Katie whom was still asleep on his shoulder. Katie stirred and then opened her eyes. “Are we there?” She asked stretching. “Yeah, we just landed.” He said. She looked out the window and saw a great view of the city. “Wow.” She said. Nick laughed and then stood up. Katie did the same and they got their stuff and left the airport. They got to the hotel, which was twenty minutes away from the airport. They checked in and then went to their room. Katie opened the door, threw her bag on the ground, and plopped down on the nearest bed. “I am so tired.” She said exhausted. “You slept the whole way here.” Nick said with a small laugh. “But get your rest I have a surprise for you tomorrow morning.” He said. “What is it?” Katie asked excited. “You’ll see.” He said. Katie looked at him and could tell she wasn’t going to get it out of him. She just shook her head and said, “I am going to take a shower.” Then walked into the bathroom. Once she was done, she dried her hair and got her pajamas on. She walked out of the bathroom and saw Nick asleep. She walked over to him and pulled to covers up over his shoulders and then gave him a kiss of the forehead, and then went and fell asleep in her own bed.