MARRIAGE OF CONVIENCE - Part Two

TORONTO, CANADA...
TWO AND A HALF MONTHS LATER...

The antiseptic smell of Toronto University's Health Services was making my stomach turn with massive amounts of nausea as I sat on the cold table waiting for the nurse practitioner to come into the room. I looked around the room staring at the posters that were on the walls that spoke of 'SAFE SEX', 'AIDS', 'CANCER', and 'SEXUALLY TRANSMITTED DISEASES'.

Oh boy, I said to myself. I hope that I don't have any of those. But wait a minute, I am here because I didn't have safe sex, so I guess that I could have AIDS or a sexually transmitted disease, since I don't know how many people that Nick Fucking Carter has been with. Well, I know that I don't have cancer so I guess that means it must be something that I don't want it to be because then I will have to see Nick again, who is back with that bitch of a fucking whore of an ex-girlfriend.

"Hello, Miss Carpenter, my name is Helen Kirsch and I am the nurse practitioner," a short, dark-haired Indian woman said as she came into the examination room in a doctor's coat holding her hand out to shake mine.

"Hello," I said shaking her hand.

"Well, the nurse took your blood test to the lab and it should be back by the time that we finish this," she said as she looked at the chart. "So, Miss Carpenter, tell me again why did you decide to come today?"

"Well, I haven't been sleeping well for the past few weeks and plus I have been nauseated like crazy that I have not been able to get up in the morning for my classes, but I know that I am not running a temperature because I've checked that over and over again and it's been normal," I told her.

"Well, let me check you out and we will see what the results from your blood test says. So when was your last cycle?" she said as she put my chart down and grabbed her stethoscope off her neck and put it around her.

"Almost three months ago," I said to her, which caused her to gasp softly.

"Okay, and when was the last time that you had intercourse?" she asked me.

"About two and a half months ago," I told her looking down at my feet as she checked my ears.

"Was this your first time?" she asked.

"Yes," I whispered.

"Okay," she said as she grabbed the blood pressure cuff and put it around my arm. She put the stethoscope against my arm and began to pump up the cuff but as she did, the nurse that had taken the blood and checked my temperature earlier came in and gave her an envelope. The nurse showed it to the practitioner, who nodded, before laying it on the tray next to us. The nurse smiled at me before leaving the room.

"Well, your blood pressure is a little high, but I think that is just stress from school and other issues that I think that you are having," she said to me.

Lady, you don't know half of it, I said to myself as she wrote down my blood pressure before picking up the envelope. I watched as she opened the unsealed envelope and carefully removed the paper that was inside. She looked at it and wrote something down on the chart before looking up at me.

"Miss Carpenter, you probably know what these results say, don't you?" she said to me.

"Yes, but I was hoping that it wasn't that," I told her.

"Well, there are options that you can do, but right now, I want you to take some of these brochures and look at them before you decide anything," she said going over to an arrangement of brochures that hung on the wall. I watched as she pulled out some of the brochures before handing them to me. I took them from her extended hand and put them in my lap before watching as she grabbed the prescription pad that was in her coat pocket and put it on the table.

"Until you decide what you want to do, I am going to give you a prescription for a anti-nausea pill that will help with your stomach and a few vitamins because your iron and other essential vitamins are very low in your body right now," she said handing me two prescriptions as she finished writing them.

"Thank you," I said to her.

"You're welcome and if you need to talk to someone, I am here," she said as I stood up grabbing my book bag, plus my jacket since it was a mighty cold day in Toronto for the middle of July, but I didn't care since I loved the cold.

"Thank you," I said as I began to exit the room, but stopped as the practitioner spoke to me once again.

"Miss Carpenter, I don't know if you want to hear this, but congratulations," she said to me.

"Thanks," I said a little less enthusiastic as I walked out of the office and went down the short hallway back to the main window to pay for my services. As I paid for my services and turned to leave, I noticed that a friend of my sister's was sitting in the waiting room with her arms around her latest boyfriend.

Wow, I wish that could be me, but now all I have from Florida is nausea and a person that is going to be depending on me in the future, I said as I hugged my middle trying to avoid the girl, but her boyfriend ran into me knocking the brochures out of my hand.

"Oh my gosh, Sierra, I'm sorry, Dave is very clumsy," Ashley, one of Dawn's friends, said as she leaned down to help her 'clumsy' boyfriend as she called him, pick up the mess that we had created.

"It's okay," I said as I picked up my stuff.

"Wow, Sierra, you are pregnant," Ashley said as she held a brochure that said: SO YOU ARE PREGNANT, WHAT DO YOU DO NOW?

"Yeah," I said as I took the brochure as she held it out to me.

"Congrats," she said before going off as the nurse from earlier came out and called her name.

"Thanks," I said trying to sound enthusiastic as I grabbed my book bag that I had put on the floor and walked down the hall to get out of the Health Services building. I walked out of the building and across the sidewalk to the lawn that led to bus stop that was on the other side. As I got to the bus stop, I opened my book bag and tossed the brochures into the bottom of the bag.

I don't need any more people congratulating me on something that I didn't even want to happen, but I guess being pregnant with Nick's baby isn't that bad or is it? Let's see. Not bad because I get to have a part of him with me for the rest of my life and bad because I don't get to share it with him. Well, it was your fault that you did get involved with him and that you did go to his home, have unprotected sex, and then left him without even saying good-bye. Not smart, Sierra. Not smart at all, my mind raced with these thoughts as the large gray and blue bus pulled up to the stop and opened its doors. I got onto the bus and noticed that I was the only one on the bus other than the driver, a Chinese student, and a Goth couple sitting in the far back.

"Good, no one that I know," I said to myself as I sat down in the front seat closest to the door. I sat there for a few seconds watching the road as the driver pulled back out into traffic before noticing a few clouds in the sky. I frowned to myself knowing that I would not be able to go to sleep since I hated thunderstorms and the last time that I was at peace during a thunderstorm was a night that I had spent with Nick. My mind began to wonder to that night.

******
Flashback...

The third night that we had been in Florida, Nick had decided to stay with me at the condo to watch a late night movie, while everyone else went to Howie's club for the night. As we had gotten halfway through the movie, it had been to storm and I had crawled into his lap in fear since I had always hated thunderstorms.

"Shhh, baby girl, it's okay, I'm here," Nick whispered into my ear as he wrapped his strong arms around me.

"I know, but I just hate these darn things," I told him as I tightened my grip around his waist as another clash of thunder rang out through the night.

"You know that you just sounded like, Alima, when you said that," Nick said to me. In the past three days, Nick and the rest of the guys had gotten to know each of us girls since they hung around the condo all the time that we knew each other like the back of our hands.

"What do you mean?" I asked him looking up into his aqua blue eyes that were slightly darker than before.

"You said 'darn' instead of saying 'damn'," Nick said as he softly caressed the side of my face. "It was cute, but I think that I like it better when you are aggressive," he said to me.

"And when have I aggressive in front of you," I asked him.

"The first night at the beach. I would say that slapping me was a little aggressive, but I know that I deserved it," he said.

"Damn straight that you deserved it," I said sitting up from his lap and turning my body so that I could put my legs across his and straddle him. I sat there looking in his eyes for a moment before he spoke to me.

"Oh, just the way I like you," Nick said to me as he leaned forward and captured my lips in a soft kiss before leaning back and looking into my eyes.

"Don't you mean that's the way I like it," I said singing the last part of the sentence mimicking one of the songs of the Backstreet Boys.

"Well, I guess that's because somebody told me that you're not my kind, so have I lost my mind. You keep on doing all the things I like, you've got me hypnotized, but that's the way I like it," he sang softly as he leaned up and kissed me once again. Nick kissed me a little harder causing me to fall over on the ground with him lying on top of me. The feeling of Nick's weight on me and his lips caressing mine caused me to forget all about the raging storm outside, but a loud clash of thunder brought me out of my dream state.

End of Flashback...
************

The sound of thunder and the sudden halt of the bus brought me out of my dream telling me that we had arrived at my destination. I grabbed my bag from the seat and pulled my umbrella out since I noticed that it had started to rain. I put my umbrella up as I got off the bus and headed towards my car that was sitting in the middle of the large slightly empty parking lot. As I got to my small dark green Ford Escort, I pulled my book bag to the front and opened the front zipper open grabbing my car keys. I closed the zipper as I reached down and unlocked the door. I pulled the door open making sure not to hit the car next to me as I threw my book bag into the front seat of the car. I got into the driver seat pulling my umbrella down as I did. I threw the wet umbrella into the floor of the passenger side before closing the door.

As I started the car, my CD player came to life playing the CD that Nick had made me. I sighed to myself listening as the first strains of "Like A Child" began to play before hearing Nick's own voice singing the song instead of AJ's raspy voice. I pushed the off button on the CD player bringing the radio to life, which the local radio station was just cutting off from commercial and going to a new song, which just happened to be "Everybody (Backstreet's Back)".

"Arrgh, I can't get away from them," I said as I shut the radio off and pulled out of the parking lot heading towards the apartment that I shared with the other four girls. I continued onto the apartment, but as I stopped at the stop sign which was near to the apartment, I looked at the clock noticing that it was 4:15, which meant that all four of the other girls would be home by now. "Great, I guess that I won't get peace," I said to myself.

I pulled into my parking spot next to the Jeep that Aph's parents had given her as a graduation present. I sighed to myself knowing that everyone was there since the other girls always drive home with Aph from school on Tuesdays and Thursdays since I usually had a late class and also stayed at the library for the after hours to help the librarian cleanup from the day. I got out of the car grabbing my bag and umbrella from the passenger side of the car. I put my umbrella up before throwing my bag over my shoulder and locking the door to my car since we lived in such a public area that I didn't want my car to get stolen, since it was the only thing that I had ever bought by myself.

I walked up the steps to our second floor apartment closing my umbrella before I got to our door. I grabbed my key to open the door, but I was suddenly startled as Dawn opened the door revealing Alima and her looking ready to go somewhere.

"Si, what are you doing home early?" Alima asked as she saw me standing there.

"Yeah, sis, what are you doing home. Whoa, you look like shit," Dawn said as I walked into the living room, which caused light to shine on my face.

"Gee, thanks, sis," I said to her.

"Si, what are you doing home?" Aph said as she came out of the kitchen with Heaven, who was holding a plate of macaroni and cheese in her hand.

"I felt sick, so I decided not to go to my class tonight," I said hanging my jacket up on the rack next to the door.

"Whoa, Sierra the Perfect Student skipping a class. Man, there must really be something wrong with you," Dawn said as she held her hand up to my head as she followed me.

"There's nothing wrong with me," I said as swatting her hand away as I dropped my book bag onto the floor next to the hallway that led to the bedrooms. "Right now, I just don't feel good and I am going to get some Tylenol for this headache that I am getting and going to bed."

"Okay, well, Al and I are heading to the video store to get a movie for us all to watch tonight since we don't class tomorrow, so you can join us later to watch if you want," Dawn said to me as she followed me into the kitchen.

"Yeah, I guess I will if I feel better," I said to her as I opened the fridge to get something to drink to take with the Tylenol that I had gotten.

"Okay. Well, get some sleep and Mom called earlier saying that she wants to talk to you because you haven't talked to them in a while," Dawn said to me.

"Okay, I will call her later," I said to her knowing that all our mother wanted to do was yell at me for not coming to visit or for taking too much onto myself or for doing something that would ruin my life.

"You better. I will talk to you later," she said as she disappeared from the kitchen before saying from the door, "Al and I are taking your car, Si."

"Okay, but you better put gas into it, so I can get to work tomorrow," I said to her from the kitchen door.

"Okay, I will," Dawn said as I watched her leave as she shut the door behind Alima and herself. I stood there shaking my head before walking over and grabbing my book bag from the floor.

"I'm going to get a nap," I said to Aph and Heaven, who were sitting on the couch watching a Buffy the Vampire Slayer rerun, knowing that the two of them weren't listening to a word that I was saying since they were both Buffy worshippers. I shook my head and stalked off toward my bedroom hoping that I could get at least a few minutes of peace to get some sleep since I had only sleep for about three hours all week long.

*****
Dream...

"Come on, Sierra. You gotta push just one more time for me, baby. Come on, just one more big push and the baby will be here," the familiar masculine voice of Nick spoke into my ear.

"No, Nick, I can't. It's too much for me," I said to him.

"Come on, girl, just one more big push. Please if not for you, for me and the baby," Nick told me.

"Okay, for you," I said as I pushed one last time as I felt the baby slip free of my body. I watched as the doctor took my baby that began to cry and handed the baby over to Nick, who took the baby and began to walk out of the room.

"Thanks for my son, Sierra," Nick said as he took the baby and walked out of the door with him in his arms.

End of Dream...
*********

"Noooooo," I screamed which caused me to wake up from my dream in cold sweats. As I screamed, Aph and Heaven came running into my bedroom.

"Si, what's wrong, sweetie?" Aph asked as she sat down on the bed taking me into her arms trying to comfort me.

"He...he...he took my baby," I said as I cried into her shoulder.

"Si, what are you talking about? Who took whose baby?" Heaven asked as she sat down on the other side of me.

"I dreamt that Nick took our baby. After he was born, Nick took the baby in his arms and walked out of the room with him," I said.

"What are you talking about? Nick took your baby, but you don't have a baby," Aph said to me.

"You're not even pregnant," Heaven said looking at Aph.

"No," I said to her.

"No? Huh? Si, you are babbling. What are you talking about?" Aph said looking at me concerned.

"I went to Health Services today because I have been sick every morning for the past three weeks and I haven't had my period since we got back from Florida," I explained to the two of them. "Plus Nick and I didn't use anything when we made love that last night."

"WHAT?" Aph and Heaven said at the same time.

"I got fucked by Nick fucking Carter of the fucking Backstreet Boys and now I am carrying his fucking baby that he probably won't even give a fuck about and that is if I fucking tell him," I screamed at the top of my lungs as I got up and punched the wall where Nick was smiling back at me from the Backstreet Boys poster that I had on the wall.

"You are pregnant," Heaven said to herself.

"Si, why didn't you tell us that you were sick or that you even had sex with Nick," Aph asked me.

"Because I didn't want you guys to ride me about doing something that stupid knowing that I would probably never see him again," I said to her.

"You are pregnant," Heaven said to herself.

"We wouldn't do that to you, but at least you aren't a virgin anymore," Aph said to me.

"Aph, I may not be a virgin, but I am also pregnant with a pop star's baby. I did the one thing that I told you, Heaven, Al, and Dawn not to do. But who was the dumb one? I was the one who went down to Florida and got herself knocked up by a Backstreet Boy," I said to her.

"Knocked up? Who's knocked up?" Dawn asked from the door of my bedroom.

"Sierra," Aph said.

"Si, you are pregnant. By who?" Alima said as she followed Dawn into the room.

"Nick," I said quietly.

"Did you just say 'Nick' as in Nick Carter of the Backstreet Boys?" Dawn said.

"Yes, I said Nick. I am pregnant with Nick's baby," I said to her.

"What are you going to do? Are you going to tell him?" Alima said.

"I don't know how in the world I would since I don't even have his number, plus I don't know if I am going to keep it," I said going to look out the window at the steady rain that was coming down.

"You want an abortion," Dawn said to me. "But how can you do that to Nick's baby? I thought that you loved him and I know that he loves you."

"I don't know if I want an abortion or not, but it has come to my mind," I said to her.

"You can't do that. Hell no. There is no way that you will ruin your life by doing that," Heaven said finally coming back to her senses.

"Ruin my life? Yeah, and what would it do if I tell Nick? It would ruin his life and his career, and I really don't want to be the 'Yoko Ono' that breaks up the Backstreet Boys," I said to them grabbing Nick's leather jacket from my desk chair and putting it on.

"Where are you going?" Aph asked me as she saw me grab my keys after putting the jacket on.

"Out. I need some air and time to think," I said to them.

"Okay, but don't do anything rash, okay?" Aph said as the four of them followed me out of the bedroom and to the door.

"I won't. I'm not that stupid," I said as I opened the door after grabbing my umbrella and walked out of the apartment hoping that I could forget about everything for just a few minutes for one night.

*******

Aph closed the door behind me as I left. She turned to say something to the other girls, but her cell phone that was attached to her jeans began to play "My Heart Stays With You", which was her ring tone for Howie. The thing that the girls hadn't told me was that every since we had left Florida that they were still in contact with their 'men' as they called them.

"Hello," Aph said answering the phone nodding at Heaven, Alima, and Dawn, whose faces looked like they wanted to talk about this later.

"Sweetie, what's wrong?" Howie's concerned voice said from the other end.

"How could you tell that something was wrong?" Aph said to him.

"Well, you didn't answer the phone in your normal tone, plus the first thing you usually say when I call is that you love me, so what's wrong?" Howie said to her.

"Nothing. It's just Sierra," Aph said.

"Sierra, what about Sierra? Is she still moping about Nick?" Howie said.

"No, it's worse than that," Aph said to him.

"How can it be worse than moping. She isn't thinking of committing suicide over Carter boy is she," Howie said getting a little more concerned.

"No, it's worse than suicide, hon. But before I tell you what's going on, is anyone else there with you?" she asked him.

"Yeah, Brian, Nick, and AJ are here, while Kevin's in Kentucky to visit his mother. But they are downstairs in the entertainment room. We were going to watch a movie, but I felt like calling you, so I went to the kitchen to call you since Si and Nick don't know that we are still talking or dating with a lot of phone sex," Howie said which caused Aph to slightly laugh.

"Howie, you amaze me sometimes," Aph said to him.

"How?" Howie asked her.

"Just how you put things like 'dating with a lot of phone sex', because that is something that I wouldn't think that Sweet D of the Backstreet Boys would say," Aph said.

"Only to his girl, not to anyone else. Now, don't change the subject, honey, and tell me what's wrong with Sierra?" Howie said.

"Uhh, remember when you said that she said good-bye after spending the night with Nick, did he mention anything about 'making love' to her," Aph questioned him.

"Yeah, he said that they did but that the next morning, she was gone. Why?" Howie asked her.

"Well, Sierra's...Uhh, how should I put this?" Aph said.

"Baby, just say it. Okay?" Howie said to her.

"Sierra's pregnant with Nick's baby and she is thinking of having an abortion without telling Nick about the baby," Aph said in one breath.

"WHAT?" Howie squealed into the phone. "Did you say that Si's pregnant with Nick's baby and wants an abortion?"

"Yeah," Aph said.

"When did she find this out?" Howie said.

"This afternoon. She went to the school's Health Services and they told her about it. Howie, what am I going to do? She can't just give up the baby, especially not without telling Nick," Aph said to him starting to halfway cry out of concern for her friend.

"Sweetie, calm down and listen to me. I will handle telling Nick and the rest of the guys. I want you to go and make sure that Si doesn't do anything rash without telling any of you, okay?" Howie said to her.

"Okay," Aph said to him.

"And baby?" Howie said to her.

"Yeah," Aph said.

"I love you," Howie said to her.

"I love you, too," Aph said to him before the two of them hung up saying that they would talk to each other later.

******
ORLANDO, FLORIDA...

"Damn, how am I going to do this?" Howie said out loud to himself as he put his cell phone on the counter after hanging up from talking with Aph.

"Do what, D?" the sudden voice of Brian shocked Howie that he almost jumped out of his skin.

"Holy shit, Bri, you scared me. You trying to give a man a heart attack or something," Howie said holding his hand against his heart.

"Nah, D, just coming to check on what you were up to. Plus I was getting something to drink," Brian said going to the fridge and getting out a bottle of Lipton's Iced Tea. "Now, what do you gotta do that you don't know how you gonna do it?"

"That made no sense at all, bro," Howie told him as he went to the pantry to get some of the chip bags that were in there, so that they could eat those while watching the movie.

"You said that you don't know how you are going to do something and I was wondering what that something is," Brian said trying to clarify what he had said earlier.

"Well, I just got off the phone with Aph and she told me something that I really don't know how to react to, but I guess that all of us are gonna have to deal with it," Howie told him.

"Geez, D. What is it? Is she pregnant or something?" Brian said with a little laugh since he knew that the two of them had been 'fuck bunnies' as Sierra had plainly put it the first morning that they had spent with the girls.

"No, Sierra is pregnant with Nick's baby and she is thinking of having an abortion without telling him," Howie told Brian, which caused him to spit out the iced Tea that he had in his mouth.

"WHAT?" Brian said so loud that it echoed through the entire house causing a twin pair of feet to come running up the steps.

"What's going on? Brian, why did you scream?" Nick asked as he came into the kitchen with AJ on his heels.

"Brian screamed because I told him something and Nick, I think that you better sit down for this one," Howie said to the man that he had called his younger 'brother' for so many years now.

"Dude, what is it?" Nick said to him crossing his arms over his chest. "If this is about the whole thing with Sierra, then don't even start because I am way over her."

"Yes, Nick, it has something to do with Sierra, and will you please sit down? All of you better sit down since I don't want Brian to almost have another heart attack, like he almost did a few minutes ago," Howie said as he sat down at the kitchen table motioning for his three friends to join him.

"Okay, what is it, D?" AJ said as he turned the chair around so that he could sit on it backwards with his head leaning against his arms, which were on the back of the chair.

"Nick, please don't be mad at us or with the girls, but we meaning Brian, AJ, Kevin, and myself have all still been talking to the girls and..." Howie started but was interrupted by Nick.

"So what, bro? I told you that I am totally over Sierra, now what does this have to do with me?" Nick said trying to get Howie to get to the point of all this nonsense.

"Nick, don't interrupt. You gotta hear him out," Brian told him.

"Fine," Nick said sitting there trying to give the conversation his utmost attention, even though he knew that the guys were probably just trying to get him to talk to Sierra or get back with her and stop moping around the house.

"...and if you don't go up there and stop her, she is going to have an abortion," Howie was saying but noticed that Nick wasn't really paying attention to him. "Nick, did you even listen to a word that I just said?"

"Yeah, yeah, but I don't care about whatever is going on up in fucking Canada, I have a life here," Nick said to him pushing his chair back and getting up to leave.

"So, you don't care that Sierra is pregnant with your child and is thinking of having an abortion without even telling you about the baby," Brian told him.

"WHAT? Sierra is what?" Nick said stopping in mid-stride.

"I knew that you weren't listening to me. Aph told me on the phone that Sierra is pregnant with your child and wants to have an abortion. And unless you thinking that she is too good or too damn innocent for your sorry ass, then you better get up there and stop her before she does it?" Howie told him as he got up from his chair and walked over to Nick.

"Oh my fucking Lord, I'm gonna be a daddy. Holy fucking shit, I am going to be a father," Nick said as the reality of Howie and Brian's words sunk into his thick skull.

"Not unless you stop her from having an abortion," Howie said to him.

"Holy shit, I gotta get up there. I gotta go to her and get her back. Guys, you gotta help me. I need to get Sierra and my baby back," Nick said as the realization of Howie's words sunk in causing him to start to cry.

"Don't worry, bro. We will help you. Let's just hope that John doesn't figure this out until we have time to sort things out," Howie said mentioning the name of their manager, who had been on their asses about everything lately.

"Yeah, and let's make sure that Kevin doesn't figure this out too soon or he will be on our butts, too," AJ said to them as he watched Brian comfort Nick, who looked like he was going through shock.

"Yeah, but I think that I have an idea on how to calm, Kevin, but first we need to deal with trying to get a plane to Toronto without being recognized and without using a private plane," Howie told them as AJ and him began to plan the whole thing.

*****

While the two of them were doing that, Brian took Nick into the other room since he was now in major shock from the news. Brian sat Nick down on the couch and gave him a new bottle of water that he had taken out of the fridge as they left the kitchen.

"Frack, you okay?" Brian said to him as he opened the bottle for his best friend.

"Yeah, Frick, but I still don't believe that I am going to be a dad. Man, my parents are going to kill me or at least my mom will because I think that my dad could handle this," Nick told him trying to sort out everything in his mind.

"Nick, I don't think you need to worry about your parents just yet, I think that first you need to talk with Sierra about what is going on and try to sort out things with her, because you never know what is going to happen next," Brian told him.

"I know, Frick, but I think that I already know what I am going to have to do and my mother, the managers, and Kevin won't have any say about it," Nick said as he took a gulp from the water bottle.

"Okay, bro, but don't do anything that will bring harm to yourself, to Sierra, or to the baby, because those are the things that should be important to you right now," Brian told him.

"They are, bro. And I know just the way that I am never going to lose Sierra again," Nick said as his mind began to work over all the details of his plan on getting Sierra back into his life. Because for the past three months, all he could think about was Sierra and on the outside, he may be over her, but on the inside, all he could think about was her and their time together.

No matter what it takes, I will get you back into my life and that is where you will always be, Nick thought to himself as Howie and AJ came into the room and began to tell them the plan on how to deal with their managers, Kevin, and on how to get to Canada without being noticed.

TORONTO, CANADA
TWO DAYS LATER....

The humming of the engine began to get on the nerves of the other three passengers as they sat in the car next to Nick as he stared at the apartment building. They watched as he reached to turn off the car for the hundredth time that day, but sighed as he dropped his hand once more.

"Nick, sitting here won't solve anything," Brian told him from the passenger side seat.

"I know, but what am I supposed to tell her?" Nick said staring out the window.

"Well, bro, think of something to say and let's get out of here because people are beginning to stare at us," AJ said from the backseat, where he was sitting next to Howie, who was on his cell phone trying to get a hold of Aph but all he could get was her answering machine.

"Okay, okay," Nick said as he reached for the ignition and turned the key causing the car to turn off.

"Good, Frack. That was step one and now, step two is to open the door and get out of the car," Brian said as he grabbed the handle of the door watching as Nick took a hold of his own door handle. Nick opened the door and got out of the car pulling the baseball cap further over his eyes as a couple came down the steps staring at them before going across the parking lot to get into their own vehicle.

"Good, bro. Now, come on. They live on the second floor in 2B," Brian said as he came over and put his arm around Nick to encourage him to move. The three guys moved towards the steps behind him, but stopped as Nick stood at the bottom of the steps staring at the top of them.

"I can't. I can't do this," Nick said turning around to leave, but the three faces that stared at him as he turned told him that he had to do this. "Fine, fine. I will go," Nick said giving up as he walked up the steps toward the woman that had left him without a single word with hope that she would accept his offer.

***********

The sun shining through the window caused me to wake up with a groan. Man, I hate having a bedroom on the east side of this damn apartment, I thought to myself as I rolled over towards the other side of the bed, but as I did this, the first wave of nausea hit me and I bolted from the bed towards the bathroom that I shared with Aph. As the last remnants of last nights dinner came up and I was finally finished giving my offerings to the 'porcelain God', I sat completely down on the floor taking the wash rag that hung over the side of the bathtub and held it to my face since it was still wet and still cold from Aph's shower this morning. Aph had tried to awaken me earlier and see if I wanted to go to the mall with them for their weekly shopping spree, but I moaned and groaned until she finally gave up and let me sleep.

"Damn, I hate this. I hate that man for doing this to me and I hate my heart for letting me fall in love with him," I cursed out loud before suddenly hearing the sound of someone knocking against the front door. "God, who could that be? If it is someone other than the girls, I am going to give them a piece of my mind," I said as I pushed myself up off the floor as another louder knock came from the living room.

"Geez, hold your damn horses, I'm coming," I said as I grabbed the crackers that were sitting on the kitchen counter before heading towards the door to cuss out whoever decided to disturb my moment of cussing out the world, but as I opened the door, I had dropped the wrapper with crackers as I saw the man that I had begun to hate these past two months standing in front of me.

"Hi, Si. Can we come in? I need to talk to you," Nick said to me with a faint smile on his face. I couldn't say a word to him, but all I could do was stare at him before looking past him to see the smiling faces of Brian and AJ, who were standing next to Howie, who was on his cell phone.

"I...I...I don't think so," I finally said as I pushed the door shut, but was stopped as Nick stuck his foot in the door.

"Sierra, we have to talk. I know about the baby and I know what you are planning on doing," Nick said to me.

"How do you know...about the...baby?" I said trying to push the door shut against his foot.

"Aph called Howie the day that you found out and that is why I am here," Nick said.

"What? Aph called Howie? I am going to kill her after I kill all four of you. Now, go away, I don't need you," I said as I held the door, but my grip loosened a little so Nick pushed the door and it opened behind me, which caused me to run.

"Sierra, please listen to me. Please come back and listen to me," Nick said coming after me as I ran to the four steps that led towards the bathrooms and bedrooms. As I got to my bedroom, I slammed the door behind me and locked it leaving him on the outside of the door.

"Sierra, please open the door and let me in. We need to talk. For the baby's sake," Nick said to me.

"The baby's sake? That's all you are thinking about. How to keep your ass out of trouble? So you come up here and say that we need to talk for the baby's sake. Well, you know what Nick. You can take those words and shove it because the baby and I don't need you or your money or whatever you came here to offer me," I screamed at him.

"Si, I am not here to save my ass. I am here to help you and to let you know that I will help you with the baby. I am also here to tell you that I still need you in my life. Please listen to me," Nick said.

"No, go away," I screamed at him as I continued to listen to him try to convince me to come out of the room or at least open the door so that we could talk.

***********

About ten minutes later, Dawn, Aph, Alima and Heaven pulled into the parking lot of our apartment to see a car that had been rented from Enterprise sitting in the old empty space next to Sierra's little Escort.

"Geez, I guess that someone is finally moving into the old apartment next to ours," Aph said.

"I hope that they are cute guys," Dawn said as she got out of the Jeep before turning around to get her bags.

"The only cute guy in your life better be me," the raspy voice of AJ said from the bottom of the steps to their apartment.

"Oh my gosh," Dawn squealed as she dropped her bags and ran to him jumping into his arms hugging him as he spun her around.

"AJ, what in the world are you doing here?" Aph said as she closed her door and Dawn's after picking up Dawn's bags.

"We came here with Nicky to solve the Sierra crisis. Howie is upstairs trying to help Nick convince Sierra to come out of her room. She locked herself in there about 20 minutes ago," Brian explained as he came up behind AJ, who was in the middle of a big make-out session with Dawn.

"Boy, I guess I better go help Howie with that because I think that there is someone that you need to say hello to. Come on, Al, let's go help the other two," Aph said as she went past Brian as she saw how shy Heaven was being with everyone around to see Brian and her hello.

"Where's Kevin?" Alima asked as Brian.

"In Kentucky. He still doesn't know that we are here. We came down here incognito, so we wouldn't get caught," Brian told her.

"Oh ok," Alima said as she followed Aph up the stairs to the apartment before turning around and watching as Brian and Heaven finally managed to get close enough to each other to hug. "Geez, guys. Stop acting like love struck teenagers and go ahead and kiss," Alima said before running up the stairs as Heaven looked like she was about to go after her and strangle her, but Brian kept hold of her waist and whispered something in her ear that caused Heaven to grin evilly.

**************

"Sierra, please open the door. I really do want and need to talk to you," Nick said as he sat on the floor in the hallway next to the door.

"No. Go away," I told him for the millionth time.

"Sierra. Come on. I am not leaving until we talk this through," Nick said as he looked up to see Howie standing in the living room talking with Aph, who nodded at something that Howie was saying, before coming up the steps.

"Sierra, it's Aph. Can I come in?" Aph asked me as she knocked on the door.

"No, because I know what you are trying to do. You are going to let Nick into the room," I said to her.

"Sweetie, I won't do that, just let me in and we can talk," Aph said to me.

"Fine, I will let you in, but Nick has to first get up from the floor and go away," I told her.

"Okay, sweetie. I will make him leave," Aph said to me as she looked at Nick who was shaking his head mouthing that he wasn't going to leave. Aph leaned down to him and whispered, "Go in the living room and talk with Howie. I have a way of getting you in there, but you gotta trust me first."

"Fine," Nick said as he got up from the floor and went down the hallway going into the living room with Howie, who was sitting on the couch with Alima.

*************

Every since I had slammed my bedroom door in Nick's face, I sat on my papasan chair holding the large velvet green teddy bear that Nick had gotten me on the fourth night that we had been in Florida. The guys had taken us to Disney World as a treat and Nick had won me a teddy bear doing one of the basketball shooting games that were on the boardwalk. The whole time that he sat outside of my door I could hear him pleading with me to open the door and to let him in, so that he could take care of the baby and me. That was something that I didn't need, I didn't need him to take care of the baby or of me, but what I needed was for him to tell me that he loved me and wanted me for me, not to fix a mistake that the both of us had made.

"Si, sweetie, Nick's gone. Can I come in now?" Aph said to me. I got up and went to unlock the door. I opened it a little and saw Aph standing there by herself with no one around her. I opened it further and let her in before quickly shutting it again.

"Okay. What do you want to talk about?" I said as I went over and sat back down in the chair.

"Si, why won't you talk to Nick? Why won't you just let him help you? Because this is not only your problem, but his too," she said to me.

"Oh, is that what I am now. A problem. No, wait a minute. My baby is the problem, right? But you know what Aph, the baby isn't a problem because I won't let him or her become a problem. You see I didn't want to tell Nick because I knew that this would ruin his life and his career, but I guess that didn't work, since you opened your mouth and blabbed to your lover about me being pregnant, so I guess I can't do that. Well, you know what Aph, I don't need your help, I don't need anyone's help or sympathy because I can deal with this on my own," I told her as the tears that I had been holding back since I figured out that I was pregnant began to flow down my cheeks.

"Sierra, first of all, no one said that you or your baby was a problem. I don't know where you got that idea from and secondly, I told Howie because you were going to do something that would change your life forever and something that you would never have forgiven yourself for. Sweetie, there is a man out there that loves you more than his life and his own career that is why he is here. Do you know that he is here risking his career and public disapproval because he loves you and wants to take care of you? But if you think that he is too good for you or you are too cheap for him, then go ahead and ruin your life, but if you think that he is still the man that you gave yourself to and the one that you fell in love with, then you can come out into the living room and tell him that yourself," Aph said to me before going to the door and beginning to open it but stopped at my words.

"Aph, do you really think that he loves me?" I asked her.

"Yes, I do, and that is why I bloody hell think that you should talk with him. It is the least that you can do," she said to me.

"Okay, I will talk with him," I said to her as she opened the door.

"Good," she said as she looked down the hallway at Howie, who was staring at the door waiting for her. Aph just nodded and watched as Howie got up from the couch and went to find Nick.

**************

After getting the 'okay' from Aph, Howie got up from the couch and went to the front door. He opened it up to find that AJ, Dawn, and Heaven were standing next to the door talking and turned as they heard him come out.

"Where's Nick?" Howie asked them.

"Talking with Rok," AJ said pointing in the opposite direction of where they were standing. Howie turned to see that Brian and Nick were both standing at the opposite rail of the balcony looking out into the field of trees that were behind the apartment building.

"Hey Nick," Howie called out to his 'little' brother causing both him and Brian to turn around. "Aph told me to get you. I think that she's ready to talk," Howie said to him.

"Okay," Nick said as he walked back towards the apartment with Brian in tow. As he got to the door, Nick went past Howie and into the apartment. Howie followed him with the four others behind him.

***********

Reality began to set in as Nick knocked on my bedroom door after I told Aph that I finally wanted to talk to him. The silent "COME IN" that was spoken didn't even feel like it was coming from my own mouth, but as the tall blond-haired man that had once been the "boy heartthrob" to thousands of girls across the globe walked into my bedroom as if he was on a mission to find something that he had lost and had finally succeeding in getting the first clue to how to get it back.

“Marry me?” Nick said to me as he walked into bedroom.

“What?” I asked him.

“I want you to marry me,” Nick said to me.

“For your sake? Or what?” I asked him still shocked from the words that came out of his mouth.

“No, it is not all for my sake. I want to help you raise the baby and I want my son or daughter to know his father. I don’t want to be another one of those statistics that says ‘rich guy knocks girl up and strands her’,” Nick explained me.

“Nick, you did not leave me stranded. I mean yes, I was shocked that I was pregnant and thought about...” I started to say, but Nick interrupted me.

“Thought about getting rid of the baby,” Nick said trying to finish my sentence.

“Yes...and no, but how did you know?” I asked him.

“Howie told me that Aph called him and told him that you wanted to get rid of ‘our’ baby,” Nick said trying to emphasize the word ‘OUR’ to me.

Damn her. That’s how he found out about something that I never wanted to do. I am so going to kill her, I said making a mental note to kill my friend.

“Now, will you please say that you will marry me?” Nick said as he kneeled next to the papasan chair that I was sitting in. The blue eyes that stared me in the face knew my answer before I could ever say anything to the boy that still in this situation captured my heart with all of the words that he spoke. But I would soon see if was my decision would be the right one.

*************
LEXINGTON, KENTUCKY...

7:45 P.M. EST...

Alima looked at the large house that was in front of her and began to get nervous about going up to the front door of the house as the cab driver said that this was her stop.

“That will be twelve fifty, miss,” the cab driver said as the driver stopped the car.

“Okay,” Alima said as she opened her purse, which was next to her, before grabbing her wallet and extracting a ten and a five from the pocket before giving it to the man in the front seat.

“Here you go, ma’am,” the man said giving Alima her change before getting out of the car and going to the back of the cab to get Alima’s bag, which was in the truck.

As the man grabbed her suitcase, Alima got out of the cab looking at the large house in front of her as she began to contemplate what she was doing here.

Why? Why in the world am I in front of the house of the mother of the man that I love so much? Oh yeah, I remember Brian – of all people – sent me here to tell Kevin what is going on. But how do I tell Kevin about Nick and Sierra? I know as soon as I tell him that he will either be upset or...

Alima could not finish her thoughts as the front door to the house opened to show the man that she had fallen in love with during her vacation in Florida. All of the thoughts escaped her mind as she stared at the man in his tight blue jeans and black t-shirt.

“Alima?” Kevin questioned the young woman that was standing near the back door of the cab. Alima, still in shock from seeing the man that she loved so much again, could not speak, but just nodded. But that was enough for Kevin as with two quick steps, he was off of the porch and had the woman that he had just been speaking to his mother about in his arms. “Oh, I’ve missed you so much.”

“I’ve missed you, too,” Alima said finally finding her voice as she found herself wrapped in the arms of the man that she loved so much and had missed more than anything else that she had missed in all of her short life.

Without setting her down onto her feet, Kevin lifted her up higher, so that he could kiss her lips. The kiss continued for a few minutes before the two of them were interrupted by a female voice.

“Kevin Scott, please do that inside before you are mobbed by a group of fans,” the voice of Kevin’s mother, Ann, spoke to him.

“Sorry, Mom,” Kevin said. It was those words which brought Alima back to reality. Alima looked away from the bright green eyes of Kevin and looked at the woman who was standing in the doorway to the house. From the woman’s features, Alima could tell where he had gotten most of his features, but knew that the features that were not from his mother came from the missing parent in Kevin’s life.

After setting Alima back onto her feet, Kevin took her one hand into his before grabbing her suitcase, which he took into the house. As they walked into the house, Ann Richardson began to ask questions of her son.

“Kevin, did I teach you no manners or are you not going to be nice enough and introduce this young lady to me?” Ann said half-way scolding her son for his lack of manners.

“Sorry, Mom,” Kevin said to her. “And, yes, I will introduce you to this beautiful girl. Alima Speaks, this is my mother, Ann. Mom, this is Alima Speaks. She is the girl that I was telling you about.”

Telling her about. Oh my gosh. Was it good that he was talking about me or bad, Alima thought to herself before Ann’s words set the decision on her question.

“Well, Alima, it is so nice to finally meet the girl that has captured the heart of my baby boy,” Ann said moving over to Alima and giving her a hug. “But what brings you to Kentucky? I thought that Kevin said that you lived in Toronto.”

“Yes, ma’am, I...” Alima started to say, but was interrupted by Ann.

“Please call me Ann. All that ma’am stuff makes me sound old, which I may be, but I don’t want people to know that one,” Ann told her.

“Okay...Ann,” Alima said still hesitant of calling this woman by her first name. “I am from Toronto, but I was actually sent here by Brian.”

“Brian? Why would Brian send you here...” Kevin started to ask before realizing, “unless something is wrong or is going on. What’s going on with them, Al? Why did Brian call you or should I ask why in the world was Brian in Canada? And why...”

“Hold on, son. You are overwhelming the poor girl. Please come into the kitchen. I will make some tea, or coffee if you prefer, and you can tell us what is going on,” Ann said as she led them into the kitchen and pointed Alima to the bar, which she could sit down at with Kevin and explain what was going on.

“Tea sounds great, Ann,” Alima said as she sat down before turning to Kevin, who had placed her bag near his chair as he sat down next to her.

“Yes, Mom, tea sounds great,” Kevin said without turning away from Alima, who was looking at him.

“Okay, dears,” Ann said as she filled up the tea kettle with water before placing it on the stove. She turned the stove on and then came around the counter to sit down at the table, so she could hear what was going on.

For the next few minutes, Alima explained about everything that was going on. She told the everything from the beginning to the end, starting with the fact that I did not go to school the day before yesterday to her getting out of the cab and being here.

“...So, I am here because Brian sent me here to tell you, while they – meaning AJ, Howie, Heaven, Aph, Dawn, and Brian, of course - go with Nick and Sierra,” Alima explained to the two of them as thoroughly as she could, even with the interruption of the tea kettle blowing its whistle telling Ann that she had to get up to fix the tea.

But Alima did leave a few things out of the whole picture. Those few things were the fact that I was on the verge of getting an abortion and the simple fact of where they were going.

“Those poor dears,” Ann said as she placed the cups of tea with the sugar and honey in front of the two of them.

“Poor dears, my ass!” Kevin exclaimed causing his mother to look at him with shock.

“Kevin Scott, watch your language,” Ann said scolding him once again.

“Sorry, Mom, but it’s true. I told Nick from the first time that I meet Sierra that she was a bad influence and bad trash,” Kevin said completely forgetting that Alima was one of my best friends. Kevin’s horrible words about me caused Alima, herself, to go off on Kevin.

“Sierra is not a bad influence or even trash. She is in love with your friend and that’s why she agreed to go with him to Vegas,” Alima said getting a shocked face from both Kevin and his mother. “That’s right, Kevin. That’s where they are going. The two of them are going to Vegas to get married.”

“Well, then that’s where we are going,” Kevin said grabbing his cell phone, which was on the coffee table.

“Kevin, all I was supposed to do was come here and tell you, not fly to Vegas with you. Besides, what are we going to do there?” Alima asked him.

“Stop this madness. That’s what we are going to do. I am going there and putting some sense into that boy’s head,” Kevin said before the airline finally answered the phone.

Southwest Airlines! How may I help you?, the woman’s voice on the other end of the phone said.

“Yes, this is Kevin Richardson of the Backstreet Boys. Is there any way that I can get two tickets for a flight out tonight to Las Vegas?” Kevin requested.

I will check, sir. Where will you be flying out of?, the woman asked him.

“Standiford Field in Louisville, Kentucky,” Kevin said to her.

Hold on one minute, sir, the woman said to him.

“Oh and ma’am, can you make sure that my guest and I won’t be seen. I don’t want the press to find out about where I am going,” Kevin said.

Of course, sir, the woman said before pausing a few minutes. She returned to the phone about 30 seconds later and said, Mr. Richardson, the only thing that I have for two people is a 12:15 am direct flight to Las Vegas International Airport.

“Sounds great,” Kevin said to her. Okay, sir. And we already have your number and everything for the payment, the woman said to him.

“Good. You did put it on my private card,” he said to her.

Yes, Mr. Richardson, I did and your tickets will be at the Southwest Airlines desk, the woman said before asking. Is there anything else that I can help you with?

“No, ma’am. I can handle the rest from here,” Kevin told her saying thank you and good-bye before hanging up the phone. After placing his phone onto the counter, he turned to his mother and said, “Sorry to cut my visit short, Mom. But I really have to go and figure this mess out.”

“I know, son. But please don’t do anything rash or anything that you may regret later,” Ann said kissing her son’s cheek as he got off the chair and went up the stairs leaving Alima with her. And feeling that something else was going on, Ann turned to the young girl and asked her, “Now, dear, I know that there is something that you were not telling him.”

“Yes, there was,” Alima said to her as she felt a tear drop on her cheek.

“Don’t cry, Alima dear. Everything will be fine,” Ann said leaving the subject of what wasn’t told as she hugged the young girl that was in front of her.

I have a feeling that my boy is going to marry you, my dear. And I think that he picked a very good choice, Ann thought to herself hoping that her son and this wonderful young girl knew what they were doing, but also praying that everything would be alright for Nick and his soon-to-be “young wife”.

ON A PLANE TO LAS VEGAS...
At the same time that Alima arrives in Kentucky...

The sun was turning a bright, reddish orange as I sat on a plush chair of the private first-class of a Southwest Airlines flight bound for Las Vegas. I continued to look out the window as I heard someone whisper something to Heaven, who had taken the seat next to me, before feeling her get up from the chair. Without even looking, I knew who had sat down in the seat next to me. The oh-so-familiar scent of Gravity and the smell of ocean water filled my nose as the man that I had learned to love in such a short amount of time took a hold of the hand that was lying on the mahogany table that was between each of the seats.

“Sierra? Will you please look at me?” Nick’s voice said to me. When I did not turn my head towards him, he continued what he wanted to say, “I promise you, I did not come to you or to Canada to save my ass. I am here to help you and to let you know that I will help you with the baby. And it was true when I told you that I still need you in my life. Did anyone tell you what happened that day you left me alone at my house?”

“No, and right now, I don’t care,” I told him trying to ignore him and his words.

“Well, even if you don’t care, I was worried about you. If you want to know, I...” Nick started, but stopped.

“Nickolas Gene, I don’t give a crap what you said or what happened,” I said to him. “Please just say what you wanted and leave me alone until we have to speak to each other.”

“Fine,” Nick said giving up a little before finally saying, “I just wanted to tell you that I will be in Vegas doing a couple of shows for my CD. So, here...take this.”

Nick grabs into his back pocket and pulls out his wallet. Nick gets one of his credit cards out of his pocket. He sets it onto the table that is between us.

“I don’t need your money, Carter,” I told him.

“Take it and don’t question me. Take it and go buy the stuff that you and your friends will need,” Nick said to me.

“I told you I don’t...” I began, but Nick stopped me by pressing his lips hard to my mouth. I wanted to pull away from him, but I couldn’t as Nick placed his hand onto my neck keeping my mouth pressed to his for the next few minutes. I was getting into the kiss, but I suddenly remembered that I was not going to let myself fall for his charms and pushed him back, but could not, so I made it look like I was opening my mouth for him; yet, as he tried to put his tongue into my mouth, I bit down onto it.

“What was that for?” Nick asked as he jumped back.

“That was for fucking touching and kissing me. When I say that I don’t want your money, then I mean it,” I told him.

“I don’t care if you need it or not. You are taking it with you,” Nick said picking up the card and throwing it at me before getting up from the seat.

“You son of a bitch,” I said taking the card and throwing it back at him. “I don’t need your fucking money.”

“FINE!” Nick yelled at me before going back to his seat that was next to Brian, but found that it was occupied by a sleeping Heaven. Nick looked frustrated to find her there, but then moved to the only other empty seat in the plane besides the one that was next to me.

“Excuse me, ma’am, is everything okay?” a stewardess asked me.

“Yes, everything is just peachy keen,” I told her before I turned back to look out of the window.

A million and one thoughts began to run through my head as I felt tears begin to fall down my cheeks.

I don’t need his money. I can survive on my own. You might have first been a burden on me, but I know that you are the innocent one in this situation, so I don’t blame you. I just blame the other person that is responsible for you. I know that he is just here to save his ass because how could someone love me. Trent was right when no one would ever love me. I mean how could Nick Carter actually love someone like me, I thought to myself before falling asleep with my hand on my stomach.

*********
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA...AUGUST 28...
THE NEXT AFTERNOON

After landing in Las Vegas the previous evening, the four of us girls went to a separate hotel suite as the boys continue on to their usual suite. As soon as I got to the hotel room, I immediately found one of the bedroom and went to sleep knowing that this was the only way that I could get rid of the memories and thoughts of what I was doing half-way across the country in Las Vegas. But now as Aph, Dawn, Heaven and I stood in the dress boutique that we found on the second floor of the casino hotel, I could feel my feelings of wanting to “run away” from this problem, but most from that man, began to come back to me as I stood in front of a large three-part mirror wearing a semi-formal white wedding dress that fit my body so perfectly.

“I think that I’m going to be sick,” I said as I picked up the A-line dress before running to the hallway and to the room that was marked for the woman’s bathroom. As soon as I got to the bathroom, the small salad that I had had for dinner came up as an offering to the “porcelain God” that I had come to know so well over the past few weeks.

After the last of my lunch had come up, I cleaned myself up before moving over to sit down on one of the two chairs that were against the wall next to the door of this one-person bathroom. As I sat there, I heard a soft knock on the door before Heaven’s voice spoke to me.

“Sierra, babe, are you okay in there?” Heaven asked me.

“Yeah...I think,” I told her.

“Can I come in?” she asked me.

“I guess,” I said to her before lifting my hand and unlocking the door for her. As I unlocked the door, I heard her move the handle before opening the door.

“Are you sure that you are okay?” Heaven asked as she came in and closed the door behind her.

“Yeah, I’m just peachy keen. In a mess that I can’t get myself out of, but I am just peachy,” I told her.

“Do you want to talk?” Heaven asked as she sat down in the other chair.

“What’s there to talk about? I’m almost twenty-three years old and I’m going to be a mother to a baby that does not even know how I feel. And now, I am supposed to marry a man that I don’t truly know,” I told her.

“Babe, the man that you ‘are marrying’ truly does love you. I mean I’ve heard it from Brian a million...” Heaven started, but I interrupted her.

“Please I don’t want to hear...” I said, but she stopped me.

“I know that you don’t want to hear this, but you are going to listen to me. After we left Florida, Brian told me that Nick was distraught because you didn’t even say good-bye. He also told me that Nick wanted to do anything in the world to get you back,” Heaven explained to me.

“And why didn’t he? It took me, or should I say Aph, to tell him that I was pregnant in order to get him to come to Canada to even see me,” I asked her.

“One simple reason was probably that he was scared that you did not love him or maybe some other factor came into play, but I really don’t know the answer to that one. Si, I have seen in your eyes how much that you love that boy and I know that neither you nor him can tell that to each other, but you will see that it is true,” Heaven explained to me.

I looked at her before looking down at the dress that I was wearing. “Do you really want to know the truth?” I asked her as the tears that I had been holding back began to fall.

“You know that you can always tell me the truth,” she said to me.

“The truth to this whole situation is that I love Nick more than anything and I do love this baby. You know that I would never do anything to hurt another person,” I told her.

“I know, Si. But I want to ask you this one thing,” Heaven said to me.

“Okay?” I said to her.

“Do you really want to marry Nick? If not for your sake or for his, but for the sake of my god-child that you are carrying,” Heaven asked me.

“Yes, I do,” I told her before lightening up the situation by saying, “I’m already in the dress, so I can’t go back now.”

“Yes, you are,” Heaven said laughing at my comment. “Come on. Let’s get this dress paid for.”

“How?” I asked her looking at the price. “This dress is two-hundred and fifty dollars.”

“Easy,” she said before grabbing into her purse and pulling out a credit card. “We use this.”

“Heaven, you are not pay...” I began to say, but she interrupted me.

“No, I am not paying. Here,” she said handing it to me. “Look at the name on the card.”

That bastard, I said to myself as I read the card that Heaven had handed to me. On the card in perfect typed letters was the name – NICKOLAS GENE CARTER.

“He gave it to me after we got off the plane yesterday. He told me to use it for whatever we needed to get you ready, even if you began to protest,” Heaven explained to me.

“Protest? I feel like doing a lot more than protesting,” I told her.

“Come on, Si. It’s not your money...well, not yet,” Heaven said giving me a wink.

“True, very true,” I told her before laughing at the comment that she was getting at.

“Now, come on, girl. Let’s get you out of this dress and go shopping with YOUR money. You know that always makes us feel better,” Heaven told me.

“Yeah, you are right,” I told her before the two of us got up and left the bathroom to pay for the dress before having a true adventure with Nick’s money.

********

After paying for the dress, the other three girls and I decided to make good use of Nick’s credit card and buy them some new dresses, too. But as we were exiting the dress boutique, all four of us heard a familiar voice speaking to a voice that I had not wanted to hear.

“I am sure that they are around here somewhere,” Alima’s voice told the person next to her.

“Yes, but I think that we should have asked at the front desk,” the bass voice of Kevin said to her.

“Why ask the front desk when we are right here?” Dawn asked the two of them as they walked right past us in front of the dress store.

“See, Kev, I told you that they were here,” Alima said as she gently smacked Kevin’s arm.

“Yes, you did,” Kevin said before looking past me and asking the rest of the girls. “And where are the rest of the guys?”

“At the House of Blues with Nick doing his rehearsal,” I explained to him, but I knew that Kevin was avoiding me and my answer as he asked again.

“Where are the rest of the guys?” Kevin asked again.

“Excuse me, Mr. Richardson, but I just told you...” I started, but Heaven stopped me by grabbing my arm.

“Kevin, Sierra just told you where they were,” Alima said to him.

“Don’t worry, Al. By the way, Kevin, they are at the House of Blues with Nick,” Heaven explained to him.

“Thank you, Heaven,” Kevin said before turning to Alima. “I will be back, sweetie.”

“Yeah,” Alima said before turning her head, so that Kevin would kiss her cheek instead of her lips.

“Be back soon,” Kevin said.

“Later,” all of the other girls said, but I spoke out the loudest.

“Bye, assho...” I began to say, but Heaven covered my mouth.

“Sierra, calm down. You know that man is very stubborn. But we do have some shopping to do,” Heaven said turning to lead me to another shop in the casino’s mall, but we were stopped by Alima’s words.

“Shopping? How can we go shopping? We are college students. We don’t have money,” Alima questioned.

“Easy,” Heaven said. “With this we can.”

“Heaven, you can’t pay with your...” Alima started to say, but was stopped as Heaven said.

“I am not. Look at the name on the card,” Heaven told her. Alima took the card from her friend’s hand and found that stated at the bottom of the card in simple, typed letters was the name: NICKOLAS GENE CARTER.

“Nick’s credit card? How? When?” Alima asked her.

“It’s a long story, babe,” Heaven said putting her arm around her friend’s shoulder. “And how about I explain as we go find some sexy outfits to knock the socks off of those sexy men of ours.”

“Okay,” Alima said a little nervous, but she quickly came back to herself as she said. “Do you think that I can find something sexy enough for Mr. Richardson?”

“Hell yeah, girl. With your looks and his horniness, you will be on a bed making love in no time,” Aph said as we walked off to find dresses.

As Aph said the words making love, I began to have strange feelings once again in the back of my mind as my head began to wonder about what would happen tonight, when I was left alone in a room with Nick or if that would even happen.

********
LAS VEGAS’S HOUSE OF BLUES...

As Kevin got to the House of Blues, he could see Nick standing on the stage trying to practice one of a part of his song trying to get the volume of his microphone right. Kevin could see that AJ and Howie were sitting on either side of the auditorium, while Brian sat on the far edge of the stage.

“How does that sound, guys? Too loud or what?” Nick asked not prepared for the voice that answered him.

“It sounds fine from back here,” Kevin told him.

Nick looked up to see the man that he had known as his “oldest brother” for the past ten years was standing in the back of the auditorium staring at him. Brian, Howie and AJ all got up and moved to the middle of the stage as Kevin made his way to the front of the room as Nick moved to sit down on the edge of the stage.

“Hey, Kevin,” Brian said to him. “What are you doing here?”

“If you were coming to stop me and Sierra, you won’t be able to,” Nick said before Kevin could answer.

“Well, no. I was planning on stopping you at first. But...But I actually came to see if I might witness a wedding or at least be able to,” Kevin said to him emphasizing the word, BUT.

“Guys, how about we give these two a bit of time to talk?” Howie suggested.

“Yeah, I am getting kind of thirsty,” Brian said getting Howie’s drift as he turned and winked at AJ. AJ didn’t understand Brian’s winking for a few seconds, but finally got it as Howie shoved his arm.

“Oh yeah, Rok. I am getting thirsty,” AJ said following Brian and Howie to the door at the side of the stage that was marked with the sign. BACKSTAGE AREA - PASS ACCESS ONLY.

“Don’t rough him up too much, cuz,” Brian told him before following Howie and AJ through the door as Kevin leaned against the stage next to Nick.

“Why? Why did you come?” Nick asked the man next to him.

“To protect you,” Kevin said being honest for the first time in a long time. “I wanted to make sure that you knew what you were doing.”

“Yes, Kevin, I think that I do,” Nick said to him. “For the first time in my life, I feel like I am doing the right thing.”

“I am sure that you are, but can I ask you a simple question,” Kevin said to him.

“Of course,” Nick said to him.

“Why?” Kevin questioned.

Nick sat there for a few seconds contemplating what he would tell the older man next to him before finally speaking as he found the right words. “Because I love her and for the fact that if I didn’t do this right now, I would never have been able to meet my child.”

“Never been able to?” Kevin asked him before realizing what Nick was trying to tell him.

“Yeah, that’s right. Sierra was thinking of getting rid of our child. A baby that I helped to create out of love for a woman that has truly changed my mind,” Nick explained to him. “Now, do you see why I am doing this?”

“Yeah, I do,” Kevin said to him before putting his hand on Nick’s shoulder. Nick looked up into his emerald greens eyes with his baby blue ones as the older man said. “Then if you are sure that you know what you are doing, then let’s go and get you married.”

*******
LAS VEGAS’S CHAPEL OF LOVE...

Las Vegas’s Chapel of Love was the one place that the Boys knew would probably have the least amount of photographers or people hanging around, so that’s where Nick decided that we would go through with this. So after Nick’s little discussion with Kevin, the five boys and the five of us girls piled into a limousine at our hotel before heading to the Chapel of Love.

As we got to the chapel, everyone piled out of the limo with each boy holding his hand out for his girl, but the thing that shocked me the most was not that Nick took a hold of my hand, but that he would not let my hand go as we walked toward the door of the chapel. I tried to remove my hand from his, but he kept a hold of it as if I was going to run away from him. As we entered, I could hear Brian begin to laugh behind Nick and myself as we saw that the receptionist for the chapel was a man dressed as Elvis.

“Welcome, ladies and gents, to the Chapel of...uh huh...Love,” ‘Elvis’ said to us.

“Hello,” Nick said to him.

“What can I do for you?” he asked us.

“We want to get married,” Nick said holding up his and my hand to the Elvis. “Is there anyway we can do that, right now, and without getting too much attention?”

“I can see what I can do for you,” ‘Elvis’ said to us before looking at his book. “I have a spot opening in about 5 minutes. How is that for you?”

“Perfect,” Nick said to him.

“Will this be cash...uh huh...or charge?” ‘Elvis’ asked us.

“Cash,” Nick said before giving the man the right amount for the ceremony.

“Thank you. Thank you very much,” ‘Elvis’ said to us before motioning to the seats that were behind us. “Please have a seat and we will be right with you.”

“Thanks,” Nick said before leading us over to where the other guys and girls were standing.

“So, what did...Elvis...have to...say?” Brian asked still laughing from seeing the Elvis impersonator.

“He said that they should have a spot opening in about 5 minutes,” Nick explained to him.

Yes, I have five more minutes where I can run, I thought to myself before saying. No, Sierra. You are here, so you have to do this. Remember it’s NOW OR NEVER.

*********

About ten minutes later, everything was ready. Nick and AJ were standing at the front of the chapel, Dawn stood in place as my maid of honor, while Heaven, Aph, Alima, Kevin, and Howie sat in the pews of the small chapel. And yes, here I was standing at the back holding Brian’s hand waiting for the music to start.

“Nervous?” Brian asked me.

“A little, but nothing that I can’t handle,” I told him.

“Ready,” Brian asked as the music to the Wedding March began.

“As ready as I’ll ever be,” I told him as we walked down the aisle and as we got to the end, he placed my hand into Nick’s. Nick half-way smiled at me before the two of us turned to the man that was standing in front of us in what looked like a choir robe. Nick nodded at the man, who would be our minister, before he began our “ceremony”.

“Dearly beloved, we gather here today in the presence of family, friends and in the presence of God to celebrate the love between Nick and Sierra. And so through Nick and Sierra today we remind ourselves of the love in our lives. Let us bow our heads in prayer. Dear God, our Father, touch all of us with the awareness of your infinite love. Let us feel your presence in our lives this day and all our days from here on. Give Nick and Sierra your special blessing on this their wedding day as you send them forth into life together. They will henceforth be one. And we, their witnesses, are reawakened this day to the power of love. Amen,” the minister said before looking at us.

“Nick and Sierra, know now before you go further, that since your lives have crossed in this life you have formed ties between each other. As you seek to enter this state of matrimony you should strive to make real, the ideals which give meaning to both this ceremony and the institution of marriage. With full awareness, know that with this ceremony, you are not only declaring your intent to be joined in marriage before your friends and family, but you speak that intent also to your creative higher powers. The promises made today and the ties that are bound here greatly strengthen your union; they will cross the years and lives of each soul's growth. Do you still seek to enter this ceremony?” the minister questions us.

"Yes, we seek to enter,” Nick and I say at the same time before the minister continues.

“Nick, Sierra, would you two please face each other for the exchange of vows?” the minister says as Nick turns to me and takes my hands into his as he looks me in the eyes. Nick, please repeat after me. I, state your name...

"I, Nickolas Gene Carter...” Nick says before pausing as the minister continues.

“Take you Sierra Nicole Carpenter, to be my wife, my partner in life and my one true love,” the minister says.

“Take you Sierra Nicole Carpenter, to be my wife, my partner in life and my one true love,” Nick repeats.

“I will cherish our friendship and love you today, tomorrow, and forever. I will trust you and honor you,” the minister says.

“I will cherish our friendship and love you today, tomorrow, and forever. I will trust you and honor you,” Nick repeats to me.

“I will laugh with you and cry with you. I will love you faithfully through the best and the worst, through the difficult and the easy,” the minister says.

“I will laugh with you and cry with you. I will love you faithfully through the best and the worst, through the difficult and the easy,” Nick repeats.

“What may come I will always be there. As I have given you my hand to hold so I give you my life to keep. So help me God,” the minister says.

“What may come I will always be there. As I have given you my hand to hold, so I give you my life to keep. So help me God,” Nick repeats

“Sierra, please repeat after me. I, state your name,” the minister says.

“I, Sierra Nicole Carpenter,” I repeat.

“Take you Nickolas Gene Carter, to be my husband, my partner in life and my one true love,” the minister says.

“Take you Nickolas Gene Carter, to be my husband, my partner in life and my one true love,” I repeat.

“I will cherish our friendship and love you today, tomorrow, and forever. I will trust you and honor you,” the minister says.

“I will cherish our friendship and love you today, tomorrow, and forever. I will trust you and honor you,” I repeat looking up into Nick’s eyes.

“I will laugh with you and cry with you. I will love you faithfully through the best and the worst, through the difficult and the easy,” the minister says.

“I will laugh with you and cry with you. I will love you faithfully through the best and the worst, through the difficult and the easy,” I repeat.

“What may come I will always be there. As I have given you my hand to hold so I give you my life to keep. So help me God,” the minister says.

“What may come I will always be there. As I have given you my hand to hold, so I give you my life to keep. So help me God,” I repeat.

“I need the rings please,” the minister says before AJ and Dawn hand both rings to the minister as he lays them on his bible. “Traditionally, the marking of the passage to tile status of husband and wife is marked by the exchange of rings. These rings are a symbol of the unbroken circle of love. Love freely given has no beginning and no end, no giver and no receiver for each is the giver and each is the receiver. May these rings always remind you of the vows you have taken. For, the wedding ring is the outward and visible sign of an inward and spiritual bond, which unites two loyal hearts in endless love. It is a seal of the vows Nick and Sierra have made to one another. Bless O God these rings, that Sierra and Nick, who give them, and who wear them, may ever abide in thy peace. Living together in unity, love and happiness for the rest of their lives. Nick, please take Sierra's ring and repeat after me.”

Nick takes the ring and slides it halfway down my ring finger.

“I give you this ring as a symbol of our vows, and with all that I am, and all that I have, I honor you. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, With this ring, I thee wed,” the minister says.

“Sierra, I give you this ring as a symbol of our vows, and with all that I am, and all that I have, I honor you. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, With this ring, I thee wed,” Nick says before he slides the ring all the way down my finger.

“Sierra, please take Nick's ring and repeat after me,” the minister says to me. I take the ring and slide it halfway down Nick's ring finger.

“I give you this ring as a symbol of our vows, and with all that I am, and all that I have, I honor you. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, With this ring, I thee wed,” the minister says.

“Nick, I give you this ring as a symbol of our vows, and with all that I am, and all that I have, I honor you. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, With this ring, I thee wed,” I repeat before I slide the ring all the way down his finger.

“Let us pray: O God, Lord of life and love eternal, author of all good and giver of all joy, we thank you for the gift of marriage. We bless thee for the joy that Nick and Sierra have found in each other and for the covenant that they have made before thee. Grant, O Lord, that Nick and Sierra may dwell together in unity and love all the days of their life. Give them health, prosperity and peace. Strengthen them to obey and serve thee, that they may walk in the steps of Jesus Christ and when the joys and sorrows and all the good and evil of this passing world are ended, inherit thy promises and share in thy eternal Glory. O God, look too in favor upon us and all our homes. Defend us from evil from within and without, and supply our needs according to the riches of thy grace - that directed by thy spirit, we may look to the good of others in word and deed and grow in grace as we advance in years. We ask it through Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, saying together as one, the prayer he taught us,” the minister says before looking at the rest of our small congregation.

“OUR FATHER WHO ART IN HEAVEN, HALLOWED BE THY NAME; THY KINGDOM COME, THY WILL BE DONE, ON EARTH AS IT IS IN HEAVEN. GIVE US THIS DAY OUR DAILY BREAD; AND FORGIVE US OUR TRESPASSES, AS WE FORGIVE THOSE WHO TRESPASS AGAINST US; AND LEAD US NOT INTO TEMPTATION, BUT DELIVER US FROM EVIL. FOR THINE IS THE KINGDOM, THE POWER AND THE GLORY, FOREVER AND EVER. AMEN,” everyone says.

“Now a blessing upon the two of you. May your marriage bring you all the exquisite excitements a marriage should bring, and may life grant you also patience, tolerance, and understanding. May you always need one another -- not so much to fill your emptiness as to help you to know your fullness. A mountain needs a valley to be complete. The valley does not make the mountain less, but more. And the valley is more a valley because it has a mountain towering over it. So let it be with you and you. May you need one another, but not out of weakness. May you want one another, but not out of lack. May you entice one another, but not compel one another. May you embrace one another, but not out encircle one another. May you succeed in all-important ways with one another, and not fail in the little graces. May you look for things to praise, often say "I love you!" and take no notice of small faults. If you have quarrels that push you apart, may both of you hope to have good sense enough to take the first step back. May you enter into the mystery that is the awareness of one another's presence -- no more physical than spiritual, warm and near when you are side by side, and warm and near when you are in separate rooms or even distant cities. May you have happiness, and may you find it making one another happy. May you have love, and may you find it loving one another,” the minister says. “Let us pray. Bless this marriage, as Nick and Sierra begin their journey down the road of life together. May they respect each other's likes and dislikes, opinions and beliefs, hopes and dreams, and fears even though they may not always understand each other. May they rest in the knowledge that no matter what happens by holding on to each other things will work out for the best. Most of all, dear God, help them to keep the torch of love burning with the fire that they now share in their hearts. Amen. Sierra Nicole Carpenter and Nickolas Gene Carter - in God's presence and before this company, you have made your promises to each other to be helpful and faithful in your life together. In as much as you have pledged your love to one another in this fashion, I now declare you to be husband and wife, in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen. You may now kiss the bride.

Nick leaned down towards me and softly pressed his lips against mine in a gentle kiss.

“In the eyes of our Father in heaven, these two people are one. They have made their decision, so from now until the end of this age, I charge you to do everything in your power to see that this union remains solid and strong, happy and prosperous. Woe be to any person who would tamper with the union of Sierra and Nick. This is a miraculous thing and it is of God. In accordance with the laws of the state of Nevada, the city of Las Vegas, and as a representative of the Holy Spirit of God, I now pronounce you husband and wife. Ladies and Gentlemen - Mr. and Mrs. Nickolas Carter,” the minister finally says.

After the minister said those words, everyone began to clap as they moved from their seats to come and hug us. And as I was hugging Alima, I noticed that a strange man with a camera around his neck left the chapel. But before I could think anything else about it, Brian – who had become very hyper since talking to Elvis – picked me up in a giant bear hug.

*********

After leaving the Chapel of Love, everyone was getting very hungry for food, so Nick asked the driver of the limo where we could go and eat at without being seen and the driver suggested a little restaurant on the outskirts of town. As we were driving, I noticed that a car was following us, but was trying to make it seem as if they weren’t following us. But within five to ten minutes of leaving the chapel, the ten of us were all walking into the small, quaint restaurant. And of course, with a couple of autographs and a “gift” on the side, the ten of us were seated at a large table in the back of the restaurant.

A few minutes later as everyone was ordering their drinks, I heard the door open with a ding and the same man that I had snuck out of the chapel come through the door. I watched as he spoke to the young girl that the guys had spoken to and saw the girl point to our table, which caused me to become very suspicious.

“Nick?” I said trying to get his attention as he spoke with Brian and Heaven.

“Hang on a sec, Frick,” Nick said before turning to me. “Yeah?”

“That man at the cash register. I think that he is following us. I mean he was at the chapel and he was just talking to that same girl that you were talking to. And...” I said trying to tell him what was going on, but he just gently kissed my lips to quiet me before saying.

“Don’t worry, baby girl,” he said to me. “It’s just your imagination.”

“Yeah, Si, there are a lot of people in this town. How could one person follow us from the chapel to here?” Heaven – who had been listening to our conversation – said to me.

"Yeah, you are just a little tired...and nervous. It’s been a long day,” Nick said agreeing with Heaven’s word, but I could tell that he hesitated when he said the word nervous.

What could he mean by nervous? I mean I just married a teen idol and a pop star. Who should be nervous about that? Huh? It’s not like I could do anything about it. I mean what can one per... I began to think to myself, but Nick’s voice broke me out of my thoughts.

“Are you okay, Si?” Nick asked me.

“Yeah, I am. I guess I am just tired,” I told him.

“Well, then, let’s get some food, so we can get you to bed,” Nick said which caused the whole table to begin to “ooh” at Nick’s words. “Come on, guys. I mean, so that I can get her to sleep.”

“Yeah right, Nicky. We know what you were thinking,” AJ said to him.

“No, I am not,” Nick said trying to defend him. And so it was for the rest of the time, we were eating. Nick trying to defend himself from every little word that he would say. For instance, when he asked me if I wanted a bite of his food, AJ told me not to bite too hard or I might damage Nick for life. But the all time favorite of AJ’s was when we were leaving the restaurant and Nick asked me, if I was coming.

“Are you coming, Si?” Nick asked me.

“With an ‘o’ or a ‘u’,” Alima asked Nick.

“What?” Nick and I asked at the same time.

“She wanted to know if you meant for her to come with an ‘o’ or with a ‘u’,” AJ explained.

“Oh, you guys are terrible and gross,” Nick said as he pushed AJ and Alima, who were laughing their butts off, out of the restaurant.

*********

On the way back to the hotel, I sat on the side closest to the door, which allowed me to look out the window of the window. I stared at the millions and millions of blinking lights of Las Vegas’s strip as I began to let my mind wander about what would happen back at the hotel when we got back.

Will I be staying with him? Or will this be another one of those MARRIAGE OF CONVIENCE that I have heard so much about? Or will he actually love me and...

My thoughts rambled on and on, but they were stopped as Nick, who had been holding my hand the entire time, squeezed it before leaning down and whispering, “It will be all okay.”

With those words, I knew that he was trying to figure out what I was thinking about, but he was partially true with his interpretation of me being worried. But worried was not the only thing that I was feeling sitting next to this man.

********

As we reached the MGM Grand Hotel and Casino, I noticed that the same car that had been following us back from the restaurant was now sitting on the other side of the entrance and that I could see a small flash in the window of the car.

Probably just the blinking lights from the city, I thought to myself as Nick helped me out of the car by taking a hold of my hand. I noticed that as we walked into the hotel, Nick did not let my hand go at all. Even as we got onto the elevator, Nick held my hand as he pressed the button, which read thirty, while Brian pressed the button twenty-four.

Different floors? Why? Don’t put me too far away. No, don’t get out, I thought to myself as everyone piled out of the elevator car, except for Nick and myself. As Nick felt my hand begin to tremble, he leaned over and once again assured me.

“Don’t worry, baby girl. I will take care of you,” Nick said to me as the elevator doors closed and sent me up to my destiny. But would my destiny be what I imagined it to be? Only the man next to me knew that answer.

THIRTIETH FLOOR OF THE MGM GRAND...

The elevator doors opened on the thirtieth floor of the MGM Grand to show a small hallway that lead to a large set of double doors. Nick kept a hold of my hand as he led me to the double doors before grabbing into his pocket and getting the key card that was used to open the door. As Nick opened the door to the room, I had to let go of his hand and begin to wander through the room.

“This place is amazing,” I told him as I wandered through the very, very spacious living room.

“Yeah,” Nick said following me and watching as I stared at the amazing living room, dining room, and kitchen that were on the first floor of the hotel suite that Nick had rented for the nights that he was in Las Vegas. And yes, I did mean first floor because off to the side of the living room, there was a set of winding stairs that lead to the second floor, which I assumed housed the bedroom and the bathroom of the suite. As I began to take my first step to go upstairs, Nick stopped me by taking my hand. “Si?”

“Yes,” I said looking at him.

“Hang on. I want to show you something,” he said to me. Nick took my hand and led me to a large set of two glass, French-style doors. He dropped my hand and used both of them to open the set of doors. The sight that was in front of my eyes amazed me as I took in the view of Las Vegas’s skyline. As I moved onto the balcony to look over the Las Vegas skyline, Nick stayed back and leaned against the door watching me.

“Wow, this absolutely amazing and beautiful,” I said to him.

Just like you, Nick thought to himself before saying, “Yes, it is. Some people like it up here, but others, like Brian, don’t. But I think that it is absolutely beautiful and very peaceful.”

“Yes, it is very peaceful up here,” I told him as I wrapped my arms around my upper body to protect myself from the semi-cool air. I didn’t notice that Nick had moved to stand behind me until I heard him speak to me.

“Cold?” Nick’s voice surprisingly whispered into my ear.

“A little,” I told him, which was true because the sudden close range of his body began to rise my temperature. Without any other words, I turned in his arms and looked up into his now pale blue eyes. The two of us stared into each other’s eyes, but my stare was broken as Nick lifted his hand and moved a piece of hair out of my face before running one of his long fingers down my cheek. As he did this, I turned my face and looked out toward the skyline once again. I could slightly hear disappointment in Nick’s voice as he spoke again.

“If you are still cold, I had room service draw you a warm jacuzzi bath upstairs,” he told me before leaning down and pressing his lips softly to my temple.

“Okay,” I said to him, but as I walked off, Nick stopped me by saying my name.

“Sierra?” Nick said to me.

“Yes, Nick,” I answered looking at him.

“I...” Nick started, but after a second or two, he just shook his head and said, “Never mind. It was nothing.”

“Okay,” I said knowing that it must have been something, but I just turned and left Nick to what he was thinking. As I got to the steps, I could see that he was turned toward the skyline and was leaning on the railing of the balcony watching the world pass by.

*********

About twenty minutes later, I began to relax in the hot water of the jacuzzi bath as I breathed in the scent of the bubble bath. I closed my eyes as I took a deep, cleansing breath enjoying the smell of lavender. He remembered, I thought to myself.

I heard the bathroom door open and gently close; smiling to myself I knew that he had entered. Without opening my eyes, I could feel as he came and stood next to the large whirlpool tub. I sighed to myself as I heard his husky voice ask.

"Can I get your back?" Nick asked.

Opening my eyes, I could see that he was only wearing a pair of baggy pajama pants. Without words, I sat up letting the bubbles cover the right places. I turned sideways in the deep water so that my back was to Nick. He dipped the terry-cloth sponge into the water and brought it to my wet shoulder. Nick massaged my back, wiping away the bubbles. I closed my eyes as I felt Nick's gentle lips on my shoulder. He kissed up my neck and I tilted my head to meet his lips. I reached back and put my hand on his face as our tongues intertwined. Nick brought the sponge to her stomach and slowly worked it up to her breasts. But as he reached my breast, I broke the kiss, which caused Nick to stop.

“Did I do something wrong?” he asked.

“No,” I told him.

“Okay,” he said before starting over again softly singing a part of his song as he this time avoided certain areas.

After finishing massaging areas of my body with the sponge, Nick put it onto the side of the tub before standing up. As he stood, he offered me his hand and I took it as he helped me out of the tub. But Nick surprised me as he lifted me into his arms carrying me over into the bedroom and over to the bed that was near the balcony doors. The song that came onto the stereo caused me to softly sigh and remember our “first night” as he laid me down on the bed before lying down on top of me reclaiming my lips in a sweet, tender kiss that caused me to moan against his. He reached up linking our hands together as he began the sweet torture of my body that he knew he could claim as his for one night, and hopefully, for more.

As he slowly began to once again descend down my body, the gentle plea that came from my mouth in the form of a whimper was the only clue that he needed to continue the sweet torture that he was performing on my body, but the sweet torture was not only a release for me, but also a release for him from the pain that had been ripping at his heart these past few months. A stream of light from the moon flooded through the window as he began to run his silky tongue down my neck before reaching the top of my left creamy breast. He gently took the mound into his hand causing me to shiver under his hand as he lightly ran a finger across my swelling nipple that tightened under his touch as he began to knead the mound. But the movement that sent the most waves of shock through my body was the feeling of his hot, silky tongue flicking out of his wet mouth across my right breast causing the nipple to harden before he closed his mouth over the nipple suckling it like a newborn child. The feel of his hot mouth against mine caused a deep gruntal moan to escape from the bottom of my throat as he stopped kneading my breast taking its nipple into his mouth doing the same thing to it as he had done to the other.

Once satisfied that he had paid attention to my creamy breast and now harden nipples, he ran his tongue along the bottom of each breast before kissing a gentle trail down to my belly button placing a wet, warm kiss against it as the tip of his tongue snaked out and delicately licked around my belly button. He gave me a devilish grin for the first time that night as he slide down to the small pair of emerald green bikini briefs that covered a mound of hair that already glistened from the wetness that I had for him. He put his hands on the side of my briefs and slid them down my body and off my body throwing them to the floor.

"Baby girl, I'm going to use my mouth and fingers to make love to you. This will get you ready for me, okay," Nick said explaining what he was about to do to me, which I really appreciated since this was the first time that I was doing any of this.

With a gentle nod and smile from me, he took two fingers and delicately spread my nether lips causing my whole body to shake as I felt his hot breath on my dripping wet core as he gently took my swollen nub into his mouth causing a gasp to escape my mouth. He carefully sucked my nub as he gently took a finger stroking my aching slit causing my hips to lift from the bed meeting his finger as he inserted one long finger into me. My moaning began to get louder as he stuck one more finger into me joining the first before pushing them in and pulling them out in a slow, torturous rhythm that caused me to grip the bed sheet as he made me ready for him. He could feel that I was near the edge of my ecstasy, but stopped him torture as he heard my softly whimper to him.

"Please, I need you inside me," I moaned to him as he slide his fingers out of me completely before kissing his way back up my body stopping to drop sweet, little kisses on the places that he had tortured before. As he got back to my now pouting lips, he gently kissed my lips easily slipping his tongue into my mouth as I opened my arms welcoming him into them as I sat up with him, as he sat up onto his legs, before I ran my hands down the flesh that covered his muscular back before running my hands down his chest to the top of his boxers I ran my hands into them moving them around his body to cup his tight ass into my hands, which caused him to lift himself from his legs, giving me enough room to remove his pajama pants. He lifted off the bed for a moment letting me slide them down his legs and off his body throwing them to the floor with the rest of our clothes. As they were discarded, I saw that his erection was hard and ready for me as much as I was ready for him.

"I will be as gentle as I can but this is probably going to hurt again," he said looking into my eyes.

"I know," I said shaking a little.

"Baby, you just have to calm down. If you don't want to, then we can stop," he said to me.

"No, don't stop. I want this," I said to him.

"Okay, baby, now, I just want you to keep your eyes on me. Okay," he said to me.

"Okay?" I said he laid us both back down onto the bed covering my body with his as our mouths meet in another heated kiss. I gently moaned into his mouth as I felt his tip near my now throbbing core as I ran my hands down to his back gently raking my nails down it as I wrapped my legs around his waist.

"Do you want me to go quick or slow?" Nick asked me as he broke our kiss.

"Fast, it didn't hurt as much when you did that the last time," I told him as I began to close my eyes.

"No, baby, keep your eyes on me," Nick said as he gently kissed my trembling lips as I opened my eyes to look at him. "I love you," he said to me.

"I love you, too, Nicky," I said to him as he pressed his tip to my throbbing area before saying.

"Here we go," Nick said as he entered me, which he did in one fluid movement causing my insides to spread to its maximum capacity filling me completely and causing me to slightly moan in pain as my body got used to his size once again.

"Baby, I'm going to stay just like this until you tell me to move. I'll move when you are ready," he said wiping away a tear away that had come from the side of eye. All I could do was softly cry and whimper as the pain took my body before suddenly being released as I felt him gently lean down and softly sing the song that was playing in the background.

"So now I come to you, with open arms. Nothing to hide, believe what I say. So here I am with open arms hoping you'll see what your love means to me," Nick softly sang to me as he gently kissed my lips. I kissed him back more passionately as I softly pushed my hips up against him. Nick took this as a sign to continue on. The two of us moaned together as he began to pull out of me before pushing back into me completely in a long, torturous motion setting our pace for that evening. The two of us continued this motion until I felt my walls begin to clamp around him in my own orgasm as he grew hard in me signaling his own release deep inside of me as we came together in deep gruntal moans against one another's mouths. As we came down from our ecstasy, he pulled out of me rolling onto his side trying not to squish me.

Without words, he wrapped his arms around me pulling me close to his body as I was lying with my cheek pressed against his chest, listening to his pounding heart as he softly caressed my back as he fell asleep to the feeling of my body next to him. In the back of my mind, I knew that in the morning that the real world would once again come to life and my night with him would be only a memory and gone forever. But for now, I laid there in his arms enjoying the feeling of being next to him.

Yet, as I fell asleep I could hear Nick’s voice breath a simple phrase into my ear.

“I will always love you, Sierra Carter,” Nick whispered before the two of us fell asleep not knowing what would happen the next day.

THE NEXT MORNING...AUGUST 29, 2002...

The sun's delicate rays cast a golden glow on every curve, muscle, and tattoo that covered the man beside me. His minimal breathing told me that he was still in a deep sleep, but I couldn't sleep, not in this man's arms. In the back of my mind, I knew that if I had fallen asleep in his arms that I would wake up to find him gone and that I would be back in my apartment in Toronto with all of this being a dream.

Yet, as easily as I could, I pushed myself up onto my elbow holding myself up as I gently began to trace the pair of feet tattoos that I had fallen in love with in the short time that I had actually known him. The feeling of his chest going up and down under my finger caused me to shiver knowing that this was real that I wasn't dreaming about this whole thing. After tracing the ones on his chest, I moved my hand and began to trace the outline of his shark tattoo that was nicely placed on top of a floating American flag. The simple movements of my fingers across his skin caused a soft moan to escape his mouth before he rolled over letting me go and laying on his side making the tattoos on his back appear to me.

With a single finger, I traced the musical note that was delicately placed on his left shoulder blade. This motion didn't bring a sound out of him but he simply slept through each movement. The motion that caused him to roll over once again was the simple movement of my finger tracing the "K" of his KAOS tattoo that went down his back. As he rolled over, I noticed his eyes begin to flutter open and look at me.

“Morning,” he said to me.

“Morning,” I said back to him.

“Sleep well,” he asked.

“Yes,” I said lying to him since I had not slept the entire night.

“You sure. You look a little pale,” Nick said to me.

“Yes, I...” I began to tell him, but I began to feel that familiar nauseous feelings in my stomach again as I could feel last night’s dinner begin to rise.

“Si, are you...” Nick started to ask, but was stopped as I threw my hand over my mouth and ran for the bathroom with a simple two word phrase.

“Excuse me,” I told him as I threw the covers off and ran for the bathroom.

********

After finally getting into the bathroom and upchucking everything that I could as an offering to the ‘porcelain God’, I sat back onto the cool tiled bathroom floor. The coolness of the floor made my entire body begin to feel better from the “hot flashes” that I had been having.

“Bloody morning sickness,” I said quietly to myself as I laid my head back against the wall of the bathroom. Just as I was about to close my eyes, I heard a knock on the door before Nick’s semi-concerned voice spoke to me.

“Si, are you okay?” he asked me.

“Yes,” I mumbled out before I could hear him open the door as he spoke again.

“Can I come in?” he asked me.

“Sure,” I said to him as I opened my eyes to see him standing in the doorway with the same pajama pants that he had worn the night before. As he came into the door, Nick stared at me for a moment or two.

“Morning sickness?” he asked as he went over to the sink and wetted a wash cloth for me. He wrung the wash cloth out before coming over to me and squatting down on the floor next to me as I answered him.

“Yeah, something I’ve gotten used to,” I told him.

“What have you gotten used to?” he asked me.

“The morning sickness,” I told him. “It’s just a normal part of this.”

“Yeah,” he said before trying to hand me the wash cloth. “Here.”

“No, I am too tired. Can you please?” I asked him.

“Of course,” he said as he used the wash cloth to gently caress my face. As he did this, I stared in his beautiful blue eyes wondering if I could ever detect or know what he was truly feeling for me.

“Nick, I...” I began to tell him, but there was a knock at the door.

“That’s probably the breakfast that I ordered for us,” Nick explained as he handed me the wash cloth.

“Oh...okay,” I told him as he got up from the floor and walked out of the door. As he left, my mind whispered the words that I wanted to tell him: I love you.

********

After leaving the bathroom, Nick grabbed his robe from the bed and threw it on as he walked to the door as the person on the other side impatiently knocked once again.

“I’m coming. Here, just bring it on...” Nick said to the person thinking that it was room service, but Nick was sorely mistaken as Kevin barged into the room with his seven other companions. But before Nick could ask what was going on, Kevin began to ramble on and on.

“How could this have happened? I told you that we had to be careful, but no, it has to go and blow up in our faces. Can you tell me what in the world gave you the nerve to call these people and tell them about this? And how did they...” Kevin asked in his rambling, but Nick stopped him by saying.

“What in the fucking world is going on here?” Nick asked causing Kevin’s words to ‘hush’ other than a simple phrase.

“Here,” Kevin said shoving a paper at him.

“What is this?” Nick asked as he took the paper and turned it. As he did, he received a mighty shock as he saw that the front cover of the paper had a picture of Sierra and himself the CHAPEL OF LOVE. Nick read the title of the article - Secret Las Vegas Wedding for Backstreet Baby.

“Frack, it gets worse,” Brian told him as I exited the bathroom in a terry-cloth robe.

“What’s going on?” I asked shocked to all of the girls and the guys in the room with us.

“Si, babe, someone figured out about the wedding and now, it is in the paper,” Heaven told me.

“Yeah, but as Brian said, it is worse than just the paper,” Alima said as Brian had gone over to the television and turned it on. Brian flipped the channel to MTV, which showed the MTV NEWS 1515 symbol before showing John Norris who began to speak.

*******
MTV News 1515:
Mysterious Wedding Special

“This is John Norris back the breaking story here at the MTV NEWS 1515 news table. It seems as if secrets reign in the world of boy bands as the youngest member of the Backstreet Boys Nick Carter marries a mysterious girl in Las Vegas. Al Morris, a correspondent for the Enquirer and frequent follower of all members of boy band fame, brought this to our attention last night as we received an early copy of this morning’s Las Vegas Gossip. And right now, as I told you before the break, we have Suchin Pak in Las Vegas with Mr. Morris,” John said before the scene went to the lobby of the MGM Grand, where Suchin was standing with the man, who we assumed was Al Morris...

**********

But I recognized him as the man that was following us throughout the day yesterday.

“Nick, that’s the guy who followed us yesterday,” I told him.

“Damn, it is the guy from the restaurant,” Nick said before we turned our attention back to the TV listening to Suchin’s talk with the man.

********
MTV News 1515:
Mysterious Wedding Special

“Mr. Morris, you say that a person – who told you wanted to remain anonymous - gave you a call about this event which occurred last night. Is this true?” Suchin asked him.

“Yes, ma’am, that is true,” Mr. Morris told her. “I received a call in my office in Las Vegas about 10:30 yesterday morning, which told me that Mr. Carter and his companion were planning on getting married.”

“And do you happen to know the name of his ‘companion’ as you call her or any other information about what occurred or how this came to be?” Suchin asked him.

“No, ma’am, I don’t. But I do know that Mr. Carter and the rest of the Backstreet Boys are staying in this very hotel with five girls, and who one of which happens to now be ‘Mrs. Carter’,” Mr. Morris said.

“Do you have a description of the young woman?” Suchin asked him.

“Yes, I do. She’s come about to the height of top of Mr. Carter’s chest. She has long brownish-blond hair and very big blue eyes that were sparkling like crazy. It also seemed as if she was glowing,” Mr. Morris said to Suchin.

“Thank you, Mr. Morris, for your time,” Suchin told him. “John, back to you.”

“Thank you, Suchin,” John Norris said. “It seems as if the mysterious new Mrs. Carter will be mysterious until Mr. Carter, himself, comes out with an explanation. So, Nick, if you are watching. Let us know what is going on. Until then, this is John Norris with MTV News 1515, where if it deals with music, you hear it first.”

*********

“Damn, damn, damn,” Nick said as he got up from where he was sitting next to me. “I think that I am doing the right thing and here it goes, blowing up in my face.”

“Nick, don’t talk like that. It didn’t blow up. Well, not really. I mean you and I know that we were very careful,” I told him.

“If we were careful, then we wouldn’t be in this mess,” Nick half-way yelled at me.

“Well, then if that is how it is, I am out of here,” I told him as I got up and began to walk to the door.

“No, Sierra, wait. You can’t leave. Knowing the press, there will be a million and one of them outside and in the hotel. You can’t risk being seen,” Howie, who seemed to be the calmest of the group, said as he gently held my arm.

“Fine, but I am not staying in this room with him,” I said pointing to Nick as I walked over to the stairs and went up them ignoring Aph and Heaven as they both called my name.

**********

Just as I walked up the stairs, Nick tried to follow and apologize for being such an ass, but his cell phone rang at the same time as Kevin’s did. Nick grabbed the phone from the coffee table, where he had left it the night before, and saw that it was his mother.

“It’s my mom,” Nick said to them before Kevin stated who was calling him.

“And this is our manager, John,” Kevin said to all of them showing them his cell phone that he had in his hand.

“Great,” Nick said to him before answering his phone.

**********
NICK’S CONVO WITH HIS MOTHER...

“Hello,” Nick said answering his phone.

Nickolas Gene, when were you going to tell me that you were getting married? the voice of Jane Carter said to her.

“Well, it just come up, mom. I wasn’t really planning on doing this,” Nick answered her.

Then why in the world did you do it? I mean there has to be a reason. Plus, I really did not want to hear this from the news that my oldest son ran off to Vegas and got married, Jane said to him.

“Well, Mom, remember that girl that I was telling you about. The one that I meet at Howie’s club. Well, she was the one that I married and I had a very good reason why,” Nick said to his mother.

And that is? Jane asked her.

“Well, Mom, Sierra’s pregnant with our child,” Nick said to her.

What? My baby boy is going to have a baby, Jane said to him before he could hear her call out and says, Bob, Aaron, Nick is going to have a baby that’s why he got married.

With who, Mom? Aaron’s voice asked him.

Sierra Carpenter - the young girl that Nick met at Howie’s club and was telling us about. The one in the picture, Jane answered her youngest son before hearing her oldest son’s voice.

“Mom?” Nick said trying to get her attention.

Yes, Nick, Jane said.

“Listen, I got to go. John wants to talk to me,” Nick said as he noticed that Kevin was motioning for him to speak to their manager, John.

Okay, Nick. But please call me back and when you get to Florida in a few days. You better bring your WIFE with you, Jane said to him before telling Nick ‘bye’ as the two of them hung up.

*********
KEVIN’S CONVO AND
THEN NICK’S CONVO WITH THEIR MANAGER...

“Hello, this is Kevin,” Kevin said answering the phone on its third ring.

Kevin, it is John. Have you seen the paper or MTV this morning? John asked him.

“Yes, I was just watching it,” Kevin told him.

Okay, then you know what is going on? John asked him.

“I know a little of what is going on,” Kevin said to him.

Okay, then you must have heard from Nick because I tried calling him to see if I could get some answers, but his phone was busy, John told him.

“Yes, I did. Actually, I am in Vegas with Nick and the rest of the fellows,” Kevin told him.

Oh good. I have a sane mind in the middle of the insane, John said before asking. May I speak with Nick?

“Sure,” Kevin said before motioning to Nick, who was on the phone with his mom that John wanted to speak to him.

“Mom?” Nick said listening to his mom before telling her. “Listen, I got to go. John wants to talk to me. Okay...Bye.”

Nick ended his call with his mother before taking Kevin’s phone into his head and speaking to the Boys’ manager, “Hey, John, it’s Nick.”

Nick, what in the world is going on? How can you go and get married without telling me or the rest of the management team? John asked him.

“I’m sorry, John. But it was a sudden thing and I didn’t really have any time to call you or anybody else,” Nick explained to him.

But you had enough time to call the press, huh? John questioned.

“No, I would never do that. Actually, the press finding out is puzzling me as much as it is puzzling you,” Nick said to him.

Well, can I – as your manager – please know the name of your wife? I mean we will have to take care of this situation, since I have already been getting phone calls from MTV, VH1, and every other damn media in this god-forsaken country,John said to him.

“Sure,” Nick said to him. “It is Sierra. Sierra Carter.”

Not going to tell me the whole truth, are you? John asked him.

“No, not yet. It will all come out at its own time. But I am sure that you will be wanting us to go somewhere right,” Nick asked him.

Well, yes, I have actually spoken with the executives at MTV and they want you and possibly your wife to make an appearance on tomorrow’s episode of TRL, John tells him.

“Well, I guess that ‘we’ have no choice,” Nick said to him.

Good. Then I will have tickets for you, your ‘wife’, and the boys for the morning flight to New York City, John said to him.

“Well, is there any way that you can book about four extra seats?” Nick asked him.

For who? John asked.

“Sierra’s friends and sister. They are here in Las Vegas with us and I don’t think that she would feel very comfortable without having the rest of her friends there,” Nick explained to him.

Okay, I will see what I can do. And Nick, you better explain everything when you get here or you and I will be in a bigger mess and bigger hole than we ever thought that we could dig ourselves out of, John explained.

“I will. Don’t worry,” Nick said to him before the two of them said their good-byes as they hung up the phone.

**********

“So what happened? What did he say?” Brian asked his best friend.

“Well, it seems as if we are going to New York City, so that Sierra and I can go on TRL and explain what we did,” Nick said.

“Oh boy,” Aph said more to herself than to him.

“What’s wrong, my love?” Howie asked her.

“Well, it won’t be bloody easy to tell Si that she has to go on national television and tell a world of ‘pop star’ and ‘boy band’ fans that she had married one of their heartthrobs,” Aph explained to him.

“Yeah, I know,” Nick said looking up the stairs at the closed bedroom door.

***********

After feeling my heart break as Nick yelled at me, I went into the bedroom, where the same man, who had broken my heart, had made love to me just the night before. I sighed to myself as I undid the robe that I was wearing and grabbed Nick’s black JOURNEY t-shirt that I had taken from him so long ago before laying back down on the bed. I could feel the tears begin to come to my eyes as I turned over and took the pillow that Nick had slept on into my arms hugging it tightly to my chest.

Smells like a mixture of Herbal Essence’s Fruit Fusion and Gravity, I thought to myself.Damn that man for smelling so good and for breaking my poor heart. Why did he have to blame me? I wasn’t the one who climbed on top of myself and got myself knocked up. No, I had to fall in love with the man that every woman in the world desires and the man that everyone pictures as the perfect gentleman. But how can he be that, when he takes a poor girl’s heart and rips it apart so many freaking times. Why and how can he...

My rambling thoughts were interrupted as I heard a soft knock on the bedroom door. I waited to see if anyone would say anything, but no one said anything as they knocked again.

“Yes?” I asked.

“Sierra, may I come in?” Nick’s voice asked me.

“I guess. This is your hotel room, too,” I told him as I flipped over and lay so that my back was toward the door, which opened to reveal Nick with a serious look on his face. Nick did not say anything as he just walked into the room and closed the door behind himself before coming over and sitting down on “his” side of the bed. Not knowing what to do, Nick stayed on the one side of the bed and stared at the bedroom door. After almost five full minutes of total silence, Nick finally spoke by saying.

“I’m sorry,” he said to me.

“For what? Breaking my heart? Yelling at me? Or what?” I asked him causing him to turn to look at me. I sat up and turned to look into his eyes.

“For all of the things that I did,” he said. “I should not have yelled at you. I was just very frustrated and...Damn, I don’t know what to tell you.”

“Well, then, just answer my questions,” I said to him.

“Of course,” Nick said to me.

“Do you want to stay married? And do you really want to do what we are going to have to do?” I asked him.

“Yes, I want to stay married,” Nick said before explaining. “And secondly, if you are asking about the baby, then yes, I am ready and totally willing to do what I have to do to keep you and the baby.”

“Okay,” I told him before repeating myself again, “Okay.”

“Good,” Nick said before looking down as he said, “Um, there is something that I have to tell you.”

“What’s that?” I asked him.

“Well, I talked to my mom...and she really wants to meet you,” Nick said seeing my ‘nervous’ look, before saying, “but the problem is that I spoke with John, our manager, and he told me that he wants us to go on TRL.”

“Well, that doesn’t seem like a problem. I mean you have been on there several times,” I told him.

Nick shook his head and said, “No, when I said ‘us’, he meant ‘you and me’.”

“WHAT?” I half-way squealed. “No, no, no. I am not going on national television.”

“Well, I really can’t talk about this by myself, plus it would help us to let the world know what is going on. Or actually, a version of what is going on,” Nick explained.

“What? What do you mean – a version?” I asked him.

“Well, we are going to tell the whole truth,” Nick explained. “I am going to tell them that we had known each other for a long time and had decided to get married, which we were going to do in next spring, but something came up.”

“Yeah, something really came up,” I said. “But I still don’t feel comfortable going on national television.”

“Don’t worry,” Nick said putting his arms around me. “I will be there for you.”

“Okay, Nick, I trust...” I began to tell him, but we were interrupted as Nick’s cell phone rang again. Nick left his one arm around me and grabbed his phone looking at the caller ID to see who it was and was shocked to see the phone number that was on the screen.

“No, it can’t be,” Nick said more to himself.

“Who is it?” I asked as Nick answered the phone.

*********
NICK’S CALL FROM WILLA...

“Hello?” Nick said answering his phone.

Hello Nick, the annoying and shrill voice of Willa Ford said into his ear.

“Willa?” Nick asked looking at me. Nick saw me cringe as he said the name of his ex-girlfriend.

The one and only, she told him.

“What the fuck do you want?” Nick asked her.

What I always want? You, she told him.

“Well, I’m sorry but you can’t have me. Because if you hadn’t heard, I got married,” Nick told her.

I know. Al Morris told me, Willa said assuming that he didn’t know that the world knew about his marriage to me or about MTV’s interview with Al Morris.

“I know that the world and Al knows,” Nick said shocking Willa.

Really? She asked him.

“Yes, really, but how do you know Al?” Nick asked getting a little suspicious.

The truth? she asked him.

“Yes,” Nick said to her.

Well, I know, Al, because I call him to follow you, Willa told him. And I know all about your little spawn with that blond-brown bitch of yours. I even have your phone tapped and a private investigator following...

“YOU FUCKING BITCH,” Nick said getting so pissed that he threw his cell phone and smashed it against the concrete wall of the hotel’s bedroom.

***********

“Nick, what happened?” I asked him before the bedroom door flew open as the rest of the gang came into the room.

“Yeah, Nick, what...” Brian began to ask, but Nick stopped him by saying.

“THE FUCKING BITCH SENT THAT FUCKING PHOTOGRAPHER. SHE WAS TRYING TO RUIN ME IN ORDER TO GET ME BACK. WHAT THE FUCK DOES SHE THINK THAT IS GOING TO DO? DOES SHE FUCKING THINK THAT I WOULD WANT HER AFTER WHAT SHE DID TO ME? FUCK NO,” Nick screamed at the top of his lungs causing his entire face to become really, really red before he began to have trouble breathing as he continued his rant. “I AM SO...GOING TO...GET HER BACK!”

“Nick, calm down. You are going to give yourself a heart attack,” I told him trying to calm him down.

“What gave...her the...right?” Nick asked still out of breath from his screaming.

“What is going on?” Brian asked again as Heaven walked off to find Nick a paper sack.

“Willa...the fucking bitch...called that...Al guy...and sent him...after us,” Nick said trying to explain what had happened.

“What?” Kevin asked. “How in the world did she do that?”

“She has...me and my phone...bugged,” Nick explained to him as Heaven came back with a paper bag.

“This is fucking great. I knew that something...” Kevin said.

“Here, Nick. Breath into this,” Heaven said interrupting Kevin as Nick’s breathing became a bit worse.

“O...kay,” Nick said to her as he took a few deep breaths from the bag as he began to calm down. “Thank you, Heaven.”

“You’re welcome,” Heaven told him.

“Yeah, Heaven, thank you, but Nick, what are you going to do about Willa? How could she have bugged your phone or your house?” Kevin questioned.

“She has her ways,” Nick told him as he remembered that one of Willa’s old school friends had been going to school to be a cop or even an FBI agent.

“Well, we are going to have to do something about it,” Kevin said to him as he took his cell phone and began dialing John’s number.

“Kev, what are you doing?” Alima asked him.

“Calling John and telling him that we figured out who started this entire mess,” Kevin said to her before Nick told him.

“Kevin, will you please see if John can put a restraining order on that bitch of a woman? And see if he can get my house un-bugged?” Nick asked him.

“I will see what I can do,” Kevin said finally feeling for the first time in the past three or four months that he actually mattered in Nick’s life.

***********
THE NEXT DAY...AUGUST 30, 2002...
MTV STUDIOS – NEW YORK CITY...

“...Also, back in the news, after his surprise marriage this weekend, Backstreet Boys Nick Carter has now put a restraining order on his ex-girlfriend, singer Willa Ford, who it seems for the past year had been tapping Nick’s home phone and cell phone, plus had a private investigator following Nick around telling her everything that he was doing. For what we know, the restraining order states that Willa cannot come within 500 feet of Nick or any other relative of his or any of the other Backstreet Boys or she will be arrested for harassment. If charged for such a crime, she could face up to 6 months in jail,” John Norris said before saying. “And that’s all the news for right now, back to you, Carson.”

“Sounds very suspicious and buggy, doesn’t it?” Carson Daly, the host of TOTAL REQUEST LIVE, asked.

“Yes, it does,” John said to him.

“Well, thank you, John. Any how, I know that you must have noticed these three chairs on the stage. Well, we have a pair of very special guests for their first live interview since their nuptials on Saturday. Please welcome Nick Carter and his WIFE,” Carson said, which caused the entire studio audience to go crazy.

Nick and I walked out of the back hand-in-hand with Nick shaking hands with some of the fans before leading me to the stage, where Carson was standing. Nick shook Carson’s hand before he motioned for us to sit down on the two chairs that were facing the other chair.

“Hello, Nick. Welcome back to TRL,” Carson said to him.

“It’s good to be back,” Nick told him.

“Yes, it is,” Carson said to Nick before looking at me. “Well, Nick, if our audience, could you please introduce the woman next to you?”

“Of course,” Nick told him before saying. “This beautiful woman next to me is my wife, Sierra Nicole Carter.”

As he introduced me, I noticed that some of the audience members were clapping, but some of the girls in the audience were making sad or angry faces at me.

“Hello, Sierra. Welcome to Total Request Live,” Carson said to me.

“Hello,” I said to him.

“Not a woman of many words, huh?” Carson asked.

“No, I am not,” I told him.

“Okay,” Carson said before saying. “Well, then Nick, maybe we should ask you. How did you and Sierra met? And what lead to this surprise wedding of yours?”

“Well, Carson, Sierra and I have actually known each other for about two years now. I met her backstage at a Backstreet concert and we hit it off as friends at first, but last summer, Sierra came down to Florida with a few of her friends and we ran into each other again. And from there, we began to date. And so this past summer, when I was up in Canada – where Sierra is from, I ask Sierra to marry me and we wanted to announce our wedding, but something came up and we decided to keep the wedding to ourselves and let it be only family and friends,” Nick explained telling Carson the story that he had come up with on the plane ride to New York from Las Vegas.

“And if you don’t mind me asking, what came up that you decided to surprise us with a quickie wedding in Las Vegas?” Carson asked him.

“Well, Carson, that is another surprise that Sierra and I have for the world,” Nick said to him.

“Another surprise?” Carson said.

“Yes, Carson. My wife, Sierra, and I would like to announce that we are going to having a baby,” Nick said which caused most of the girls in the studio to ‘sigh’ and ‘groan’ as they put their hands to their mouths.

“I guess that changes everything,” Carson exclaimed.

“Yes, it does,” Nick said to him as he squeezed my hand to assure me that everything was all right.

“So, Nick, did this change things with your friendship or anything with the other boys?” Carson questioned.

“No, they were all very supportive of us and very happy about what we were doing,” Nick said keeping up with his lie, since he knew that no one would want to hear that he was feuding with Kevin.

“So, does this mean that there is a new album coming out soon?” Carson questioned.

“Yes, it does. Actually, we are...” Nick said beginning to explain what was happening with him and rest of the Boys. But at this point, I began to block out their words as I searched the faces of the audience and could see how most of the girls did not like that their favorite heartthrob was now off the market. But now, I couldn’t change a word of what had been said or anything of the actions that had been done.

*************

After the segment was over, Nick and I shook Carson’s hand and went backstage. As we got back to the dressing room, I sat down on the couch trying to control my shaking hands, but the next phrase out of Nick’s mouth caused my entire body to begin to shake.

“Move in with me?” Nick stated.

“What?” I asked him.

“I want you to move to Florida and live with me,” Nick said. “Howie and Brian have asked Heaven and Aph to move in with them. AJ and Dawn have already started their planning, and I know now that Kevin doesn’t want to live without Alima. So, move in with me.”

“Excuse me,” I asked him confused because I was not even sure of what he was speaking about. “What do you mean that my baby sister is already planning on moving in with AJ? When did this or Al moving in with Kevin, or even Aph and Heaven moving in with Brian and Howie begin? I wasn’t told anything about this.”

“Well, they were talking about it yesterday and on the plane,” Nick explained to me. “And they didn’t want to tell you because they already knew how much stress that you were going through.”

“Stress? You don’t know half of the stress that I am going through,” I told him.

“Well, then tell me what you are going through. I am your husband and I really do want you to move in with me,” Nick said to me.

“You want me to move in for my sake or yours?” I asked him.

“For both of our sakes. I want to take care of you and our child,” Nick explained to me. “So will you move to Florida and live with me?”

“I don’t know what I am going to do,” I told him as someone knocked on the door to the dressing room. Nick, who was standing next to the door, opened it to reveal Dawn.

“Gwenyth Dawn Carpenter, why didn’t you tell me that you were going to move to Florida to live with AJ?” I asked as I saw my baby sister come through the door.

“Well, he just asked me a few days ago and I didn’t have time to tell you. I was, but I didn’t want to stress you out,” Dawn said.

“Will everyone stop trying not to stress me? It is not working,” I told her.

“Sorry, sis, but I came to tell you that Mom is on the phone for you,” Dawn said to me pointing to her phone. “Both daddy and her saw the interview with Nick after Uncle Glenn told them to change the channel.”

“Oh great. Just what I needed,” I told her taking the phone as she offered it to me. “But this doesn’t mean that you are off the hook.”

“I know. I know,” Dawn told me as she left the room to allow me to talk with our mother.

*************
SIERRA’S CONVO WITH HER PARENTS...

“Hello,” I said after putting the phone to my ear.

Sierra Nicole Carpenter, why didn’t you call me and tell me that you were getting married? my mother’s voice said into my ear.

“Sorry, Mama, it was a short notice,” I told her.

What did that young man mean that he has known you for a long time? Isn’t he the young man that is on your sister’s and your wall? she asked me.

“Yes, Mama, he is the guy that is in the picture. And I have known him since...” I tried telling her, but I was interrupted as she spoke to my father.

Jim, give me the phone back. Please calm down, my mother’s voice said.

“Mama?” I asked a little worried before hearing my father’s angry voice on the phone.

Sierra, you have defiled the name of Carpenter. Getting pregnant and having a child out of wedlock. I disown you. You are no longer allowed in my home. You are disgrace to me and are no longer my daughter, my father yelled before hanging up the phone. I knew that Nick had heard what my father had said from the look in his eyes.

“DADDY!!!” I screamed as I heard the dial tone begin in my ear.

*************

The sound of the dial tone caused the tears that I had been holding back began to fall down my cheeks in a torrential downpour. I dropped the phone onto the floor as I fell to the floor in a pile of tears, hiccups, and shaking. The sight of me must have caused Nick to become extremely worried or concerned for me because he dropped down next to me and wrapped his arms around me trying to soothe me.

Without knowing how to say what I would want to hear, Nick told me by singing a part of the song that could explain his feelings and explain that he would always be there for me, even if a part of my family wasn’t.

NICK’S HOME IN TAMPA, FLORIDA...
TWO WEEKS LATER...SEPTEMBER 14, 2002...

Nearly two weeks after my father had practically disowned me, I was standing in front of my new home with no idea of what I was doing here and why I was moving in with this owner of this home. Well, I guess it was the simple fact that I finally told Nick that I would move in after he got me calm enough to tell him what had truly happened on the phone with my father. So, now, here I was moving into Nick’s large Tampa home, which was right next to the Gulf of Mexico, while Nick was gone to Sweden with the guys to take care of recording some songs for their new album. The girls, who all had decided to move in with me down to Florida and continue their studies Central Florida University in Orlando, were helping me to move in.

“Wow, this place is huge,” Dawn commented as she got out of Aph’s Jeep, which she had brought down to Florida.

“Yes, it is,” I said to her before turning to the two large men that were carrying some of my stuff up to the house. “Hold on, gentlemen. I need to unlock the door.”

Followed by the girls, I walked up the short pathway to the porch of the large house before going up the stairs. I went up the stairs and across the porch before putting the key that Nick had given me into the lock. I opened the door before opening it as I went to turn the home’s alarm off. I punched the button before telling the men.

“Just take those boxes upstairs to the room that is at the end of the hall,” I told them as I remembered that I had specifically told Nick that I wanted a room to myself until I felt comfortable, which he did argue for a few minutes before respecting my wishes of the comfort.

“Yes, ma’am,” they said to me.

“But isn’t the room with the double doors Nick’s room?” Alima asked.

“Yes, it is,” I told her.

“Then why aren’t they taking the stuff there?” Dawn asked.

“Because I am not staying with Nick,” I told them.

“But Sierra, he’s your husband,” my baby sister said to me.

“Yes and what about it?” I asked her.

“Well, we assumed that you would be sleeping with him,” Alima told me.

“Well, Al, you know what they say about assuming. It makes an ass out of you and me,” I told her as I walked up the stairs to go to the room that I had picked as my own leaving the girls to roam the house by themselves.

********

Nearly three hours later, I was wondering around ‘my new bedroom’ placing my items in their place. The rest of the girls had gone down to the kitchen to get themselves something to eat, but I didn’t feel like it since my stomach had been bugging me. As I was placing an item onto one of the shelves, I noticed the side of my reflection in the mirror that was on the closet door.

“Wow,” I said as I noticed that my stomach, which had been flat nearly two weeks ago, was now slightly pooching out from the weight that I had gained over the past few weeks. With the ending of my periods of morning sickness, I had noticed that my appetite had gotten more and more hearty, but I hadn’t notice how much until this moment.

With this view of my body, I smiled at the small human being that I was carrying in my stomach before I turned to place the glass frog that I had had in my hand on the shelf. But as I turned, I felt a sudden wave of dizziness and nausea go through my body. In order to hold myself up, I grab onto the shelf dropping the frog that I was holding onto the floor with a loud thump and shatter, which the girls must have heard because I could hear them yell for me before running up the steps.

Holding onto the shelf, I tried to straighten myself and talk to them, but it didn’t work as the last thing that I could see was Heaven entering the room with Aph’s voice calling my name before my world turned to black.

*********
A DAY LATER...SEPTEMBER 15, 2002...

I was awaken, what seemed like an eternity later, to the voices of Aph speaking to what sounded like Howie. The blinding lights of a clean, antiseptic room that had the smell of what my mind registered as sickness registered in my head and I knew that I had to be in a hospital from the colors of the wall and the smell that flooded my senses.

"She's waking up," Howie's soft voice said to Aph.

"What...what happened?" I asked finding my voice a bit shaky as I felt a weight sit down onto the bed. “How...long?”

"Calm down, sis. You passed out yesterday morning while at Nick’s house and knocked your head," Dawn’s voice told me as I suddenly felt the pain of my head flood into my body as I tried to sit up with my eyes.

“No, don’t try to sit up,” Nick’s voice said close to my head. From the smell of his Gravity and from the weight of the blanket, I could tell that he was sitting on the bed. I could feel as Nick’s hand grabbed mine and squeezed it.

“What are you guys doing here?” I asked Nick as I slowly opened my eyes letting them adjust to the light.

“I called them, babe,” Heaven said to me.

“Oh,” I said to Heaven before hearing a knock on the door to the room. Heaven, who was standing close to the door, opened it to show a young doctor.

"Ah, Mrs. Carter, you have come back to us. How do you feel?" the smiling, young doctor said to me as he entered the room.

"Haven't felt better," I told him as I lay back onto the bed.

"Well, it seems that you have been feeling like this for a while. And I am sure that you may want to know the reason," the doctor told me.

“Yes, we do,” Nick told the doctor before I could answer.

"Well, as far as the bump that is now on your head, you will be fine. We had to put a stitch or two, but they will fall out themselves. And if you feel pain, you may take some pain medication, but don’t take any aspirin,” the doctor said, which caused me to feel the band-aid that was on my head.

“Okay,” I said to him before hearing Nick ask the doctor.

“Do you have a reason that she passed out?” Nick asked.

“Well, there are several reasons why,” the doctor said.

“And they are?” Nick questioned.

“Well, first, it seems as if your wife is having too much stress, which is not healthy for her or the babies,” the doctor said.

“Babies?” Nick and I asked at the same time.

“Yes, Mrs. Carter, you are pregnant with twins. We had to do an ultrasound because of your pregnancy to make sure that the fall that you had did not harm your children and we discovered that you were pregnant with twins,” the doctor explained.

Wow, twins. Why didn’t I suspect this? I thought to myself before listening to the doctor as he continued to speak.

“...and stress is not the only reason that you passed out, Mrs. Carter. I am afraid that you have what we call gestational diabetes. Plus, you are showing symptoms of pre-eclampsia, or what most people call toxemia.”

“Gestational diabetes?” Nick asked the doctor a little confused.

“Yes, gestational diabetes,” the doctor said.

“But I don’t have diabetes,” I told the doctor.

“Mrs. Carter, since you passed out, we tested your blood sugar to determine if this was a problem and it was very high. Plus, some pregnant women who have never had diabetes before but who have high blood sugar – glucose – levels during pregnancy, such as you have, are said to have gestational diabetes, or pregnancy-induced diabetes. Gestational diabetes affects about 4% of all pregnant women - about 135,000 cases of gestational diabetes in the United States each year,”

“What caused it?” Nick asked him thinking that either he or I did something.

“Well, Mr. Carter, we don't know what causes gestational diabetes, but we have some clues. The placenta supports the baby as it grows. Hormones from the placenta help the baby develop. But these hormones also block the action of the mother's insulin in her body. This problem is called insulin resistance. Insulin resistance makes it hard for the mother's body to use insulin. She may need up to three times as much insulin. Gestational diabetes starts when your body is not able to make and use all the insulin it needs for pregnancy. Without enough insulin, glucose cannot leave the blood and be changed to energy. Glucose builds up in the blood to high levels. This is called hyperglycemia,” the doctor explained.

“So, what can she do to treat that?” Nick questioned, asking most of the questions.

“Treatment for gestational diabetes aims to keep blood glucose levels equal to those of pregnant women who don't have gestational diabetes. Treatment for gestational diabetes always includes special meal plans and scheduled physical activity. It may also include daily blood glucose testing and insulin injections,” the doctor explained. “And seeing how high your blood levels are and the fact that she is pregnant with twins, plus the threat of preeclampsia, then we will probably go with all of the treatments, including the injections and testing.”

“And what does preeclampsia do?” Nick questioned the doctor after he finished speaking about the diabetes.

“Well, preeclampsia can cause your blood pressure to rise and puts you at risk of stroke or impaired kidney function, impaired liver function, blood clotting problems, pulmonary edema (fluid on the lungs), and seizures. In the most severe forms, it could cause maternal and infant death. Because preeclampsia affects the blood flow and placenta, babies can be smaller and are often born prematurely. Ironically, sometimes the babies can be much larger,” the doctor explained.

“What are the symptoms of it?” Nick questioned.

“Well, they include vision trouble, migraine-like headache, nausea, swollen hands or face, and having trouble catching your breath,” the doctor explained.

“So, how can it be treated?” Nick asked him.

“The standard course of treatment for eclampsia is magnesium sulfate,” the doctor explained to us. “But if, you don’t take the medication or ignore the symptoms, then it may result in eclampsia. Pre-eclampsia is so named because it was originally identified as a disorder preceding eclampsia. There is a potential complication though with eclampsia or preeclampsia, these are known as eclamptic convulsions. These convulsions, which lead to temporary loss of consciousness, look no different from epileptic fits…the spasms stop the mother from breathing, make her bite her tongue and sometimes cause urinary incontinence. Eclamptic fits usually occur as a third-stage complication of severe pre-eclampsia. But sometimes they arise out of the blue, without any evidence of preceding disturbances. These seizures can occur at any time in the second half of the pregnancy. Left untreated, eclamptic seizures can result in coma, brain damage, and possibly maternal or infant death.”

“So, who actually gets preeclampsia?” Nick asked him.

“Preeclampsia occurs in 5-8 percent of all pregnancies, though it is most common in first-time pregnancies. Some research suggests that one's risk of preeclampsia is increased with a first pregnancy with a new partner/husband, however recent research suggests that the key factor in that increased risk is not the new husband, but in fact, the most significant risk factors for preeclampsia are: previous history of preeclampsia, particularly if onset is before the third trimester; history of chronic high blood pressure, diabetes or kidney disorder; or family history of the disorder (i.e., a mother, sister, grandmother or aunt who had the disorder),” the doctor explained before asking me. “Do you know if anyone in your family has had such disorders as diabetes or high blood pressure?”

“Well, I believe that my father has high blood pressure?” I explained to him.

“Well, then Mrs. Carter, I am going to keep you over night again to monitor your blood sugar and your blood pressure,” the doctor explained. “But because of all of these symptoms that you are presenting, I will need you to do the following things each day: check your blood sugar level, give yourself a injection of insulin, check your blood pressure levels, and take the medications that I will be prescribing you.”

“Yes, doctor,” I told him.

“Very good,” the doctor said before saying. “I will have the nurse come in this afternoon and show you how to use the insulin injector, plus check your blood pressure. Until then, Mrs. Carter, try to relax and get some more rest.”

“Yes, sir,” I said watching as the doctor left before hearing Nick speak.

“Holy fucking shit,” Nick said as he must have realized something.

“What’s wrong, Frack?” Brian questioned from Heaven’s side.

“Twins. We are having twins,” Nick said.

“Yeah, Nick, we are,” I told him before watching as the ‘congratulations’ and ‘way to go’ comments began to flood around the room as the girls and the rest of the Boys hugged Nick or myself. But I wasn’t listening or even paying attention to what was going on as reality began to set in about what was happening to me and my body as my mind began to ramble on and on.

Could I handle this? Could I handle being pregnant with twins and caring for them after they are born? Will Nick be able to handle this? Will he ever begin to love me for being me and not the mother of his children? Or will something happen that will cause him to leave me? I questioned myself hoping that all I was doing was just judging myself and Nick’s feelings for me. Or was I?

2 MONTHS LATER...NOVEMBER 21, 2002...
(FIVE AND A HALF MONTHS PREGNANT)

Two months after finding out about being pregnant with Nick and my twins, finding out about having diabetes, and of course, symptoms of pre-eclampsia, my world with Nick began to settle into a familiar life with one another. I, of course, had to quit my classes for the semester under my doctor’s request and stay at home under “as little stress as possible”. Nick and the Boys decided to move their recording sessions to Orlando or one of the other Boys’ homes, so that Nick could be close to me. Because of this, Nick would arrive around eight or nine o’clock each night and eat dinner with me before watching television or a movie with me as he wrote songs or played with his pugs, which had become my closest friends while Nick was gone during the day. Nick would sometimes come to my room, which was still separate from his, during the night and lay down with me as he gently caressed my stomach, which had grown several inches over the past two months that I had to change my entire wardrobe. The girls had helped to pick out my maternity clothes, which they did to make me try to feel wanted, but it didn’t work. Speaking of the girls, they do come and visit me as much as they can, but since they got in and continued their schooling at Central Florida University, their lives became very hectic and busy.

Yet, my life at Nick’s house had become so routine, ordinary, and simple over the past two months, that is seemed as if the possible spark of love that Nick had started to show in Las Vegas had seemed to disappear from our relationship. On questioning Nick about his feelings for me and for our children, he told me to trust him and to trust that he would never leave me or our kids, but one evening around eight o’clock, the spark that I had started to wonder about fizzled into nothingness as I received a phone call that changed Nick and my trust of one another for the worse.

“Hello,” I said answering the phone.

“Hi, it’s me,” Nick said.

“Nick, where are you?” I asked hearing noises in the background of Nick’s phone call.

“I’m sorry, Sierra. But, I’m going to be late tonight, so don’t stay up and wait for me, ok?” Nick said to me.

“Where are you?” I asked again.

“Say that again...You’re really dropping out...” Nick’s voice said to me before I began to hear static. “I think my battery must be low...listen, if you can here me, Brian, Howie and I are going to a place nearby...alright. I got to go!”

With those words, the phone disconnected our conversation as I began to think. Why did those words sound so familiar? I thought to myself as I rubbed my large stomach as I walked off toward the stairs to go and take a bath, since Nick would not be home to eat dinner. But the realization of where I had heard those words did not hit me until about two hours later as I received another phone call that changed Nick and my relationship for the worse.

********
SIERRA’S CONVO WITH WILLA...

“Hello,” I said answering the phone on its third ring.

Yes, is this Sierra Carter? a shrill, laughing voice said to me.

“Yes, it is. Who may I ask is calling?” I asked thinking that it was probably a press person or someone that wanted to speak to Nick, but I was totally wrong as the person answered my question.

This is Willa Ford, Nick’s ex-girlfriend said into my ear.

“What do you want?” I asked her.

Well, I was just wanting to know if you wanted to know where you husband was, she questioned me.

“I know very well where he is,” I told her giving her a slight lie.

Are you sure? Because if you aren’t, then I can let you speak to him, Willa said before I could hear her say. Nicky, say hi to your wife.

Hello, Nick’s voice, which sounded both drunk and sleepy, said into my ear, which caused me to drop the phone onto the floor.

********
THAT NIGHT...HOWIE AND BRIAN’S CONDO...

With tears falling down my cheeks, I grabbed my backpack that was in my room throwing clothes into the bag as I grabbed the keys to my Ford Escort that Nick had brought over to his home a few days after I moved in. I slipped down the steps as easy and quietly as I could, and quietly walked to my Escort, but as I got in the driver side and turned on the car, my heart broke once again, because the radio came on and the song "I'LL NEVER BREAK YOUR HEART" began to play. I wiped the tears out of my eyes and slowly drove down the driveway, onto the street, hoping that I would never have to see or hear those words again. As I continued to drive, the music changed as I heard a soft rumble of thunder. The song that came onto the radio was perfect for my situation as I drove.

As the song was getting to the third verse, the rain that had begun to softly fall onto my car began to be torrential as I headed onto the highway. Highway? Why the highway? I asked myself, not knowing where I was going. Well, let's see. I can't go to Kevin's because he would surely yell at me; and there is no way that AJ because neither he nor Dawn could keep the secret of where I was.

I continued to drive for about 20 more minutes in the now, pouring down rain as I read the next sign: ORLANDO – 5 MILES. "Heaven," I softly whispered to myself as I pulled off the highway and onto the exit. After a bit of searching, I found the driveway to Howie and Brian’s condo hoping that the girls were there and had not gone with the boys to the club. To my luck, the lights to the house were on and as I pulled into the driveway, the front door opened to show Heaven standing there putting an umbrella up and coming over to the car for me.

“Sierra? What are you doing here? I tried calling you, but...” Heaven began to say, but stopped as flash of lightning caused her to see my tear streaked face. “Oh my gosh, Si, what happened?”

“Nick, he...he...” I began to say, but I could not bring myself to say the words.

“What in the world happened here?” Kevin’s voice asked from behind me. Neither Heaven nor I had realized that Kevin had pulled into the driveway behind me. He had been on his way to pick Alima up and take her back to his house, but never figured that he would see me sitting in my car crying.

"He's gone. He went to..." I said before sobbing again as I remembered hearing his voice.

"Come on, girl. You are coming with me," Kevin said to me. Kevin helped me to my feet before picking me up in his arms. Heaven watched as he pushed the door closed with his foot before going to open the front door. Heaven opened the door for him and followed him as he carried me into the guestroom, which was located next to the living room. Kevin laid me on the bed before leading Heaven out of the room to let me sleep since I had fallen in his arms from crying.

Probably had a rough time, Kevin thought to himself before closing the door behind him.

*************

“What happened? Why was she crying?” Kevin asked Heaven after leading her into the kitchen, which was away from the door.

“I don’t know why,” Heaven told him as the two of them heard someone enter the room. Both looked up to see Alima and Aph standing there.

“Kevin, you didn’t call and tell me that you were already here,” Alima said.

“I was going to, but I had to first help Heaven with Sierra,” Kevin explained.

“Had to help with Sierra?” Alima asked before hearing someone crying. “Who is crying?”

“Sierra,” Heaven told them.

“Sierra, why is she bloody crying?” Aph asked in her usual manner.

“Well, that’s something that we don’t know,” Heaven explained.

“Did she say anything?” Alima asked.

“Yes, all she said was Nick’s name and then she kept repeating ‘He’s gone...He went to...’” Heaven explained.

“Well, didn’t Nick go to the club with Howie and Brian?” Alima asked them.

“Yes, he did,” Heaven said before whipping out her cell phone.

“Who are you calling?” Aph asked her.

“Brian,” Heaven said. “Because I am going to get to the bottom of this.”

“Well, I don’t think that you need to,” Alima said.

“Why?” Heaven asked her.

“Because they just pulled into the driveway,” Alima told her.

“Good. Maybe we can get to the bottom of this,” Heaven said to them as she got up from the kitchen table and went into the living room, so that she could speak to both Howie and Brian.

*************
HOWIE AND BRIAN’S CONDO...
THE NEXT MORNING...NOVEMBER 22, 2003

After speaking with Brian and Howie, Heaven slowly opened the door to the guest bedroom to see me lying in the same position that Kevin had laid me a few hours earlier. She walked over to the chair next to the bed and sat down on it before softly saying my name.

"Sierra? Sierra, babe, come on. Wake up," Heaven said to her.

I rolled over and looked at one of my best friends before starting to cry again. As Heaven noticed that I was crying, she got up and sat down on the bed before holding me as I cried.

"Shhh, girl, it's okay," Heaven said to me. As Heaven said these words, I began to remember what had happened earlier in the evening and I began to cry again. I covered my face before saying in a sobbing voice, “Why did he do this? Why this? Why?”

“Shhh, it’s okay, girl,” Heaven said to her as she rubbed her friend’s back. My crying stopped a few minutes later as I finally looked up at Heaven. “You want to tell me what happened?”

“Nick called me earlier and told me that he was going to come home late because he was going out with the Boys. I was fine with that, but then right before I showed up here...” I began to tell her, but tears started to fall again. “But before I showed up here, I got a call from Willa, who asked me if I knew where Nick was. I told her that I knew, but she asked if I was certain and I said ‘yes, why?’ and that was when she let Nick tell me ‘hello’. And I knew that it was him because I could feel it in my heart. Heaven, I am very mad at Nick for doing this, but in a way, I want him back. I finally figured out that I do love him more than life itself. And I want him back.”

“I know, sweetie. I know and don’t worry about it. You will get him back,” Heaven said to me.

“I know you can’t promise me that, but I hope that you are right,” I said to her.

“I hope so, too,” Heaven said. “How about we go and get you something to eat?”

“Yeah,” Erica said to her before noticing that she was sweaty and still in the green male pajama set that she had borrowed from Nick. “I am going to freshen up first, but can I borrow some clothes. I am freezing.”

“Sure, girl,” Heaven said before getting up and taking one of Brian’s sweatshirts and an old pair of boxers out of the drawer. “Here. Go ahead and shower in the bathroom. I will make you something to eat.”

“Heaven?” Erica said.

“Yeah?” Heaven said.

“Thanks for everything,” Erica told her.

“You’re welcome, girl,” Heaven said to her before leaving the room with Dawn behind her.

************

Twenty minutes later, I walked out of the guest bedroom to see that everyone who had been here earlier was sitting in the living room. Brian looked at me and got up as he heard me close the door. Brian came over to me and said a phrase that I didn’t think that he needed to tell me.

“I’m sorry, Si. Please forgive us,” Brian said talking about Howie and himself.

“No, Brian, don’t be sorry. Neither you nor Howie nor I should be sorry. It was Nick who did this, not you,” I told him before saying, “Now, please tell me. Did Nick go home and stay with her?”

“Yes, Nick did stay with Willa, but...” Brian said.

“But what?” I asked. “Brian, if this is going to be an excuse, please do not try and help your friend.”

“No, it is not an excuse. It is the truth,” Brian said. “I didn’t figure this out until after we spoke to Carl, the bartender. We went to find Nick, but Willa had already found him. She got Nick drunk and used something to drug him.”

“Drug him? She drugged Nick,” I said.

“Yes, Si, she did,” Howie said. “Carl found this after they left.”

I took the folded piece of paper that Howie had and saw that inside of it was a small pill. As I looked at it, Heaven recognized it from her studies of being a nurse.

“That’s Xanax,” she told me.

“What’s that?” I asked her.

“It’s basically a muscle relaxer. It is given to people with anxiety to help them relax,” Heaven explained. “This stuff mixed with Alcohol makes the effects worse on the person. The person is basically useless and is willing to do anything you want.”

“Drugged or not? I decided that I am going to stay here until Nick comes and apologizes to me himself. I won’t be able to forgive him until he can show me that this was something that he never wanted to do,” I said telling them my final decision.

HOWIE AND BRIAN’S CONVO WITH NICK AT TABU...
FOUR DAYS LATER...NOVEMBER 26, 2002...

It had been four days since Brian and Howie had told Nick about what Willa had done. Four days without seeing me. Four days without seeing anyone. But to Nick, four days was enough as he got one of the bouncers from Howie’s club to let him in, so that he could talk to Howie about what he could do to get me back.

Nick took his sunglasses off as he walked into the club carrying the only thing that he needed to get me back. From his spot near the door, he could see that not only was Howie sitting at the bar chatting with the bartender, but also Brian. Nick sighed to himself as he walked over to the bar and sat down onto the stool a few seats down from Brian and Howie, who had not noticed his presence.

“Please tell me that you are not ignoring me, too,” Nick said speaking for the first time to them in four days.

“Holy begeezes, Nick! What are you doing here?” Brian said turning to see his friend sitting at the other end of the bar.

“I came to ask for your help,” Nick said to them.

“Our help? With what?” Howie asked already knowing the answer to his question, but wanting to hear the answer from Nick himself.

“I need your help to get my WIFE back,” Nick said emphasizing the word WIFE.

“And how do you think that you can do that?” Brian asked him.

“The only way that I know how,” Nick said before showing them the object that he had brought with him.

“A guitar?” Brian questioned seeing Nick’s guitar case.

“Yeah, a guitar,” Nick said continuing as he noticed that both Howie and Brian were about to say something. “Listen, guys, I know that I was a pain in Sierra’s ass the past few months. And I know that what I did was totally wrong. And I know that she will probably not forgive me, but I want to at least try. From the bottom of this broken heart that I have right now, I am truly sorry about what I did to her. And I do really love her. Can you help me at least try to get her back?”

“Well, it is going to take a lot more than a song to get her back,” Brian told him.

“Yeah, Nick, she was pretty torn up about what happened. I don’t even know how...” Howie began, but Nick interrupted him.

“Howie, leave the ‘how’ and ‘what to do’ to me. I just need you to let me use your club and, of course, you two to somehow get Sierra here,” Nick said to them.

“Okay, buddy, you can use the club,” Howie said to him.

“Thanks, Howie,” Nick said.

“No problem, Nick, but...and I do mean, but you have to do the rest of the work, if we get her here. Right?” Howie said.

“Right. All I need is you to get Sierra here,” Nick said to him.

**********
HOWIE’S CLUB, TABU...TWO HOURS LATER...

After much, much persuasion, I finally gave in to Howie’s pleas to go to his club to see a performance. I really did not want to go, but Heaven told me that it would be good for me to get out of the condo for a bit. As we arrive at the club and get into the performance room, Howie leads me to a set of chairs that were set up to face the stage. As I sit down, I notice that there are only enough chairs for the girls, AJ, Howie, and myself.

“Howie, where are Kevin and Brian? I thought you said that they would be...” I began to say, but my question was answered as the lights in the club went down as a spotlight shown onto Kevin, who was sitting on the stage playing the piano. As I listened to the beginning of the song, I knew exactly what he was playing.

Do I have to cry for you? I said to myself before my thoughts were answered as I heard Nick’s voice in the darkness.

“Don't want to close the door,” Nick sang before another spotlight came on to show he sitting on a barstool holding his guitar as he sang his song for me.

As Nick got to the end of the chorus, a third spotlight came on to show that Brian was sitting on the stage behind a set of drums, which he started to play perfectly as Nick got to Brian’s starting point.

After Nick had sung the last part of the song, the entire room was quiet as everyone turned to look at me. In the darkness of the club, Heaven – who was sitting next to me – could see that I had a few tears running down my cheeks. I cried because I didn’t know what else to do. Should I forgive him or should I just get up and leave? But my questions were answered as Nick set the guitar down before getting off of the stage. Nick came over and kneeled on both knees in front of me taking my hands into his as he spoke.

“Sierra, I love you. And I know that I have been a pain in your ass these past few months. And I know that what I did was totally wrong. And I know that you will probably not forgive me, but I want to at least try to work this out with you. From the bottom of this broken heart that I have right now, I am truly sorry about what I did to you. And Sierra...” Nick said to me as he came closer to my face. “I meant it. I really do love you. I love you more than anything else in this wor...”

As had as he tried, Nick could not say the word ‘WORLD’ because of the simple fact that I placed my lips onto his and kissed me like there was no tomorrow. After kissing Nick, I told him what was going on in my mind.

“Nick, from now on, we are going to live life one day at a time. Who cares about yesterday or tomorrow? Let’s live NOW. Not tomorrow, not yesterday; all we need to care about is NOW. Will you do that for me?” I told him.

“Yes, I will do that. I will do whatever it takes to have you come home,” Nick said. “Will you please come home?”

Looking into his beautiful ocean blue eyes, I breathed the one word that he wanted to hear against his lips. "Yes," I told him as his lips softly crushed against mine. With this action, everyone knew that for now – everything was all right between the two of us.

*********
NICK AND SIERRA’S HOME IN TAMPA...
THAT NIGHT...

As we arrived at OUR home, the pleading in his strong, beautiful eyes made me forgot all the rest of the world and focus on just him and me. I slowly walked over to him taking his hands into mine, pulling him up the stairs. Nick looked at me with pleading, yet questioning eyes as I breathed that one word against his lips. "Yes," I told him as I softly pressed my lips against his. His lips began to play against mine in a sweet, yet sexual motion, I could feel one of his arms slowly run down one of my legs as the other wrapped around my back hoisting me up into his arms and carrying me up the stairs to his bedroom. Our lips continued to be pressed together as the fluid motion of him doing that motion caused a slight moan to escape the back of my throat. I opened my eyes and gazed into his eyes finding the love and passion there as he slowly laid me down on the bed. The softness of the bed became a new feeling to me; everything in this man's arms became a new feeling for me. I lifted my hand and stroked his cheek as he looked into my soft blue eyes, before slowly leaning forward and brushing his soft, cool lips against mine in another kiss.

He slowly pulled back, breaking our kiss as he gazed into my eyes. A soft, whispered, “I love you,” came from my lips as his hands slipped down my body until they reached my hips. Tears began to form in my eyes as he softly pulled back and said the words that I wanted to hear: "I love you, too." As the tears now streaming down my face fogged my vision, he pulled me closer to him and wiped the tears away with the pad of his thumb before our mouths met in another heated, passionate kiss. He slowly and carefully slid his body over mine, as he slid his tongue into my mouth caressing my tongue in long, sensual strokes once again. His soft, strong hands slowly lifted the sweatshirt that I had been wearing over my head before he slowly broke our kiss as he trailed sweet little kisses down my neck and onto my chest. He smiled at me sexily as he slowly set his lips over my bra-covered nipple of my left breast. He softly kissed it before moving over to the right one and doing the same thing. He softly kissed my lips as he took one of his fingers and undid the hooks of my bra, which connected in the front. He slowly pulled my bra off before kissing my bare breasts.

After softly kissing each breast, he slid slowly down my body kissing every inch of it before stopping at my swollen belly softly kissing every inch of the place where my child with this man was sleeping peacefully. I softly laughed until I felt his finger slid down into the pair of maternity pants and into the pair of panties that I had on. I gasped as he slid one of his fingers into my wet center, feeling and see how wet I already was for him. My gasps became moans as he slowly slid another finger in before he began to pull them out and in, in long, sensual strokes. My breathing became ragged as I felt myself coming but he pulled his fingers all the way out before he quickly slid off my shorts and panties with one hand as he licked the other hand off.

He found his way back to my mouth and kissing me passionately letting me taste myself for the first time from his lips as I slid my arms up and around his back. Our tongues started an intimate war as I slid them down his back until I felt the soft silk material of his sweat pants. I slowly slid them off, leaving him in his boxers. The moment where he threw his pants to the side, I could see that he was very much in a state of arousal and he saw my eyes staring at him. He softly smiled to himself before saying, "Don't worry. I will be very gentle. I promise you."

I couldn't speak to him, but I just simply nodded and watched as he lay back down on top of me. As he kissed me once again, he guided my hands to the bottom of his shirt. I followed his motions and in one fluid movement, the sweatshirt that he had been wearing was now on the floor with the rest of my clothes. As he lay back down on top of me, the now naked, soft, cool skin of his body against mine made goose bumps appear all over my body and this brought a soft, sweet laugh from his lips. The soft laughter from his lips became an icebreaker for the whole situation as I reached up and pulled him back down to kiss his now laughing lips.

As he once again lay down on top of me, I slowly broke our kiss and said in a soft, yet sexual voice. "I need you, I want you," I said before lifting my legs around his back sliding them down to the waistband of his boxers. The material slid easily between my toes and I slid them off of him tossing them to the side with my leg. I linked my legs back around his waist as he stopped us for a moment looking into my eyes as if to ask me if I really wanted this. The pleading look of pleasure, pain, and sorrow filling my eyes told him that the both of us needed this moment. "I'll be as gentle as I can," he said before he slowly slid into me. The pain of his entry and the pain of my heart falling apart became one in the same as he stayed that way for a few moments letting me get used to him. He looked into my eyes for a sign to continue, I didn't answer the unspoken question but I softly kissed his soft, sweet lips as he knew my answer. He slowly started to thrust in and out of me in long, full filling strokes.

As he did this, he softly began to kiss my neck again as we became faster and faster. I began to moan deeply and threw my one hand up to the bedpost to hold on for the ride of my life. He kept hitting my sensitive, hot spot as he pulled in and out of me. I could feel my climax coming as my walls tightened around him as his thrusts got deeper and deeper into me. The both of us came together in cries of passion, that he softly muffled by kissing me deeply as I began to say the same three words again as he shot his load deep inside of me.

He softly pressed his damp, strong body against mine, so not to crush me, as we caught our breath. After we found our breath, he softly pulled out of me before rolling onto his back - taking me with him. I was lying with my cheek pressed against his chest, listening to his pounding heart as he softly caressed my stomach causing me to drift off to sleep.

********
THE DAY BEFORE THANKSGIVING...
NOVEMBER 27, 2002...SIERRA’S OB/GYN APPOINTMENT...

The next day - without telling Nick, who was going to be at the studio with the Boys - I went to downtown Tampa to my appointment with my OB/GYN. But I knew that either Brian or Howie must have told Nick. Why do I say this? Well, for the simple fact that while I was lying on the bed waiting for the doctor to come in to do my sonogram, the door to the room that I was in opened up in a hurry to show Nick standing there.

“Sierra, why...” Nick tried to say, but the nurse from the front desk stopped his words as she came in behind him.

“I’m sorry, Mrs. Carter, but he just rushed by the desk after I told him that you were already back here,” the nurse said.

“It’s okay. He can be here,” I told her pausing before saying the rest of my words. “He’s my husband.”

“Oh, I’m sorry,” the nurse said before leaving the room. As she left, Nick took the silence to mean that he could speak.

“Why didn’t you tell me? Do you not trust me?” Nick asked me.

“Nick, I was going to tell you, but...” I said trying to explain but I could as my doctor came back into the room.

“Hello again, Sierra. You do know what we are doing today, right?” the doctor says.

“Yes, I do,” I told her before she notices Nick.

“And who is this young gentleman?” she asked.

“Dr. Wilson, this is Nick, my husband,” I said introducing them.

“Oh, hello, Mr. Carter, it’s nice to finally meet you,” she says as she puts some blue gel on my stomach, so that she could have a clear signal with the sonogram and the heart monitor.

“You, too,” Nick said to her before she asked.

“Mr. Carter, are you staying or leaving?” she asked as she places the end of the heart monitor onto my stomach.

“I guess that I am leav...” Nick says about to go to the door, but stops as he hears a soft whooshing sound. “What’s that noise?”

“That’s your babies’ heart rates,” the doctor said as she was checking the babies’ heart beats.

“It sounds fast,” Nick says as he must have decided to stay with me came and stood by my head.

“No, they are supposed to sound like that,” the doctor explained to him before asking me. “Are you ready for the sonogram, now?”

“Yes,” I told her before she brought the sonogram machine over. She turned the monitor on before placing the receptor rod onto my stomach. She moved the rod around a little before pointing to two small figures that were on the screen.

“You see right here?” the doctor asked us.

“Yes,” I said.

“Right here, you can see your twins very distinctly,” the doctor said before asking. “Would you like to know the sex of the babies?”

Before answering, I looked up at Nick, who was gazing at the screen in awe. “Nick, do you want to know?” I asked him.

“Ye...Yes,” Nick said to me.

“Okay, then,” the doctor said after seeing me nod. “Well, right here and...right here, you can see that you are having both a girl and a boy.”

“Wow,” Nick said to me. And from that moment on, I knew that somehow these two tiny babies that were in my womb were the ones that were going to keep Nick and me together from now until something bigger than WILLA and bigger than OURSELVES would tear us apart.

**********
BRIAN AND HOWIE’S CONDO...
LATER THAT SAME AFTERNOON...

After leaving the doctor’s office, Nick tried calling all of the guys at the studio, but he found out that all of them had actually gone over to Brian and Howie’s condominium to relax for the rest of the day. So, since I had driven my little Ford Escort to the doctor’s office, Nick followed me in his Durango back to Brian and Howie’s condominium complex, where we found the entire gang hanging out at the basketball court of the complex. So, after I parked my car next to Aph’s Jeep, Nick came over and helped me out of the car after he parked next to Howie’s Corvette.

“Hey, guys, how was the appointment?” Brian asked hoping that everything had been settled between Nick and me.

“Great,” Nick said as he held my hand as we walked over to where they were.

“And?” Alima asked.

“And what?” I said to her.

“Did you find out what the sex of the babies is or not?” Alima asked.

“Yes, WE did,” Nick said emphasizing the word WE.

“And?” Aph, Alima, Heaven, and Dawn asked at the same time as I didn’t say anything, but keep the suspense going.

“Should we tell them?” I asked Nick.

“I don’t think so,” Nick said as the two of us pretended to leave.

“Sierra Nicole Carpenter-Carter, you better tell us or...or...” Dawn said trying to figure out something to say.

“Or what, baby sis?” I asked turning towards her.

“I don’t know,” Dawn said before saying. “But it did make you stop.”

“Yeah, yeah,” I said to her.

“So, are you going to tell us or what?” Brian asked.

“Okay, fine. We are having both a...” Nick said to them trying to keep the suspense up.

“Both a...what?” AJ said getting a little impatient with us.

“Nick, just tell them,” I said to him.

“Okay, okay. The doctor told us that we are having both a girl and a boy,” Nick said to them. But nothing prepared us for what happened after he told them. For the next few minutes, all we heard was the following phrase as everyone decided to hug us.

“OH MY GOD!”

“HOLY SHITE”

“WAY TO GO, NICKY!”

“CONGRATULATIONS, MAN!”

Finally after five minutes of everyone saying ‘congratulations’ to us, Heaven asked the most obvious question that would follow such a commotion.

“So what are you going to name them?” Heaven asked us.

“Uh...uh...” Nick said before turning to me.

“Well, we haven’t really thought that far,” I told her.

“I have a suggestion,” AJ said to us.

“What’s that, AJ?” I said to him.

“Well, you can name the girl, Dakota, and of course, you can name boy, Alex or Alexander,” AJ said to us.

“No, Angelita and Michael,” Howie said.

“What? How about Ian and Enid?” Aph said.

“Um, how about Jerald and Kaitlyn? Or Zachary and Caroline?” Kevin said getting into the conversation as he told both Alima and his names for the babies.

“Hey, I am the aunt. I should be able to help name them. And I think that you should name them Gwenyth and Andrew,” Dawn said to us.

“Whoa, guys. Whoa,” I said. “Those are all wonderful names.”

“Yeah, but we...we should have a way to decide the babies’ names,” Nick said.

“Like what?” AJ said.

“I don’t know,” Nick said.

“Okay, what about a competition? Since everyone is in such a competitive mood,” I suggested.

“Okay,” Nick said before Brian finally spoke up.

“Well, since I am sure that Nick and Sierra probably have some kind of name in mind, the rest of us should be in the competition. So, how about we do a b-ball competition? The girl who makes the ball from the free throw line can help name the girl and the boy who makes the ball from the three-point line can help name the boy,” Brian suggested.

“Okay,” AJ said grabbing the ball from Brian before continuing, “But you know that you are going to win, Rok.”

“You never know,” Brian said. But true to AJ’s words, Brian did win; yet, the shocker from the girls was that Heaven had won for the girls.

“Been practicing?” I questioned her.

“Yeah,” Heaven said before whispering. “I had a personal coach.”

“Oh,” I said after seeing Brian wink at her.

“So, Brian, what name do you suggest?” Nick asked him.

“Well, what name are you thinking of?” Brian asked.

“Well, being me, I was going to name him after me,” Nick said before turning to me. “If that’s okay with you?”

“Yes, it is,” I said.

“Okay, then,” Brian said. “How about Gabriel? I mean Nickolas Gabriel sounds good. Right?”

“Nickolas Gabriel,” Nick said. “I like it.”

“Me, too,” I said before turning to Heaven. “Heaven, what are you thinking of?”

“Well, I always like the name Celeste, but what are you thinking of?” she asked me.

“Well, I have learned to love the rain so much that I was thinking of Raine with an ‘e’ at the end,” I told her.

“Okay,” Heaven said before saying. “How about we add an I-A-L to Celeste and make it Celestial Raine.”

“Hmm, Nickolas Gabriel and Celestial Raine Carter,” I said. “Yeah, I like those.”

“Okay, then,” Nick said before lifting my shirt up to show my bulging tummy. Nick got onto one of his knees and put his hand on my stomach as he spoke to our babies. “Did you hear that, you two? Your names are Nickolas Gabriel and Celestial Raine. I mean I will probably call you Gabe or Raine, but everyone else will probably have their own names for you.”

“Ooh,” I said feeling a mighty kick.

“Dang, I felt that,” Nick said.

“Felt what?” Brian said.

“They kicked me. So, I guess that means they like their names,” Nick said, which caused the rest of us to laugh, before getting up as Brian – who had the basketball – threw it at him.

“Yes, they may like their names. But I can still kick your as...” Brian said about to say a bad word, but I stopped him.

“Brian, don’t use that language around my babies,” I told him.

“Sorry,” Brian said before correcting himself. “Can I say that I can still kick his booty?”

“Yeah, you can say that and do it,” I told Brian before Nick and him ran off to play a game of b-ball with Brian, Howie, and Heaven on one team, while AJ, Kevin, and Nick were on the other.

*********
NICK AND SIERRA’S HOME IN TAMPA...
THE NEXT DAY...NOVEMBER 28, 2002 (THANKSGIVING DAY)...

The next day was Thanksgiving Day, which was pretty special for the entire group, because for once all of the guys were going to be together for Thanksgiving. Why was that? Well, that was because Nick and I had invited them to our home in Tampa for dinner and everyone had, of course, accepted our offer. So, with only an hour before everyone was going to arrive, I was walking from Nick and my bedroom to the linen closet that was down the hall to get some fresh towels for the guest bathroom as I noticed that the room that I had slept in when I first came to Florida was locked and Nick had put a sign on the door that said: DO NOT OPEN UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE.

“Nick?” I called out to him since he was in the bedroom getting dressed after his shower.

“Yeah,” he called out to me as he came to the door and looked into the hallway. I turned to see that he was standing there with his dress shirt still open and his hair still wet.

“Uh...uh, what is this note for?” I said finally pulling my eyes away from him and putting my hand on the door.

“No, don’t,” Nick said coming to my side in two quick strides and taking my hand in his.

“Don’t?” I asked him. “Nick, what are you hiding?”

“Nothing. It’s a surprise,” Nick said to me.

“A surprise?” I asked him.

“Yeah, a surprise...” Nick said turning me so that I would follow him as he continued. “That I will show you when the rest of the gang is here.”

“Oh, okay,” I said to him still curious about this ‘mysterious – no entrance’ room.

***********

About two hours later, the ten of us were sitting around Nick’s huge dining room table about to have Thanksgiving dinner as Nick asked Brian to do the honors of saying “Grace” for us.

“Frick, would you say grace for us?” Nick asked.

“Sure, Frack,” Brian said before everyone bowed their heads as Brian began. “Gracious Lord, we are here to thank you for this wonderful dinner and for the nourishment of our bodies. We also thank you for the opportunity for us to be together. Lord, we are also asking you to bless everyone at this table, especially those who are yet to be born. Please be with Sierra when it comes time for her to deliver Nick and her children. And Lord, please watch over all of us this holiday season and please keep us under your wings as we try to stay together as a family without all the bickering that has been in the past. In your name we pray - Amen.”

“Amen,” everyone said.

“That was wonderful, Brian,” I said squeezing Brian’s hand, which was lying on the table top, as everyone else began to pass the food around.

“Thank you, Si,” Brian said leaning over and kissing my cheek.

“Hey, hey, Frick. Watch who you are kissing,” Nick said as he was passing food around.

“Don’t worry, Frack. I know. Besides, I was just kissing her as a friend. Plus, I do have my own woman. My own piece of heaven,” Brian said putting his hand in a really bad spot, especially since Heaven was wearing a short skirt.

“BRIAN!” Heaven squealed.

“What?” Brian said.

“You know what you did,” Heaven said scolding him.

“Gross, guys. Not at the table,” I told them. “Besides, we better eat this food before it gets cold.”

“Amen to that, sister,” AJ said picking up his piece of turkey and taking a big bite.

**********

An hour and one eaten turkey later, Nick clicks his fork against his glass, which caused everyone to look at him. Nick stood up and began to talk as he got everyone’s attention.

“Everyone, I have a small announcement or actually a small surprise to show Sierra that I wish all of you to be a part of. As you know, a few days ago, no one heard from me for at least four days,” Nick said to us. Everyone knew what he was talking about, but didn’t say anything as he continued. “During those four days, I did a lot of thinking and a lot of work, too. What did I think about? Well, I thought about my future with you, Sierra, and our future with our two wonderful children. And from so much thinking, I decided I would do something for you and for the babies. So, if you would, would everyone please follow us?” Nick asked as he took my hand helping me up from the chair as everyone rose. Nick lead us through the house and up the stairs before making us stop in front of the door with his sign.

“DO NOT OPEN UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE! What? What is this?” Dawn questioned.

“You will see,” Nick said as he took the sign down before saying. “Sierra, I did this as a gift to you and a gift to our babies. I hope that you like it.”

“O...kay,” I said having to pause in my words as Nick opened the door to reveal a nursery that he must have put together during those four days. Inside of the room were two cribs, two dressers, two changing tables, a toy chest, a rocking chair, and two swings, but the thing that I noticed most was that the entire room was decorated in my favorite thing – WINNIE THE POOH. For the room, Nick had gotten everything for a baby that had either Winnie the Pooh or Tigger on it, and I...I fell in love with it.

“Oh my gosh!” I gasped putting my hand over my mouth.

“Do you like it?” Nick asked.

“No...” I said causing Nick to stare at me before I continued. “I love it. Thank you...thank you so much.”

“You’re welcome, my love,” Nick said to me as he hugged me before moving my head up, so that he could kiss me. And that was exactly what he did, he kissed me like there was no tomorrow and like we were the only ones standing in that room.

********
LATER THAT NIGHT...

A few hours after the rest of the gang had gone back to their homes, I was lying in Nick and my bed staring up at the ceiling as I was thinking over the past few months with this man. I smiled a little to myself before I softly turned my head to look at the man that was lying beside me. I pushed a strand of hair off of his forehead and tucked it back before I placed a soft kiss on his forehead.

My attention turned to my middle, where I felt a soft kick. I placed my hand on my swollen tummy before I my soft grin grew larger knowing that I would soon have such beautiful babies and maybe even able to keep Nick’s love.

I slowly got off the bed carefully, trying not to wake Nick, since he had a long day tomorrow since the guys were going back to work on their new album. I put my robe on before going to the nursery. As I got into the room, I carefully went over to the crib that was against the wall before gently rubbing my hand over the soft material of the baby blanket. I ran my hand over a small newborn outfit, wondering how two such small people could be coming into my life. I was brought out of my daydream as I felt two arms slide around my waist from behind as two hands gently covered my large tummy.

"What are you doing up, baby girl?" Nick's sleepy voice whispered right into my ear before he softly placed a kiss just below my earlobe.

"Just admiring this stuff," I said placing my hands over top of his.

"Don't worry, baby, everything will be fine," he said to me. I softly turned my head and looked into his beautiful blue eyes. I knew my love for this man would never end, but would he ever truly LOVE me.

"What are thinking about?" he asked as he turned me in his arms before tucking a stray piece of hair behind my ear.

"About how lucky I am," I said to him before he tucked my head under his chin before he rewrapped his arms around me.

"Not as lucky as me," he murmured into my hair before he softly placed a soft kiss on my forehead.

"Well, lucky, we better get back to bed and get some sleep," I said to him.

"You're right, but I am thinking of something else," he said to me before he leads me to our bedroom. He helped me out of my robe before we crawled back into our bed.

As we were lying face to face, Nick softly ran his finger over my lips. To his surprise, I softly took his finger into my mouth. I could hear him groan softly as I sucked on his finger. He urged me softly and easily onto his lap, so that I lay with my belly facing him.

"Kiss me," he said with a combination of pleading and passion. I slowly leaned forward and rubbed my mouth lightly against his. His tongue darted over my lips before sliding inside and taking me with his mouth. My heart pounded softly against my chest as I could feel Nick's heart pounding against my palms as I spread them softly across his chest.

Nick wanted to softly pull my large T-shirt over my head, but stopped at my neck as if he didn't want to pull his mouth away from mine. With a sigh, he pulled away as he tugged my shirt softly over my head. He ran his hands softly over my bare torso before moving down to my panties, that he slowly pushed low on my belly.

"Oh, Sierra, you have no idea what seeing you like this does to me," Nick softly whispered to me as he looked at me with his beautiful eyes. "But you will. Up on your knees, sweets."

"Why?" I said to him before doing as he told me to do.

"You will see," he said to me. He stroked my swollen tummy softly before kissing every inch of it. He ran his soft, sweet hands over my swollen breasts before lightly kissing my swollen, hard nipple.

"Nick, please," I pleaded with him softly.

"Come on, baby. Tell me what you want," he said to me as he slipped two of his fingers into my wet center.

"I want you, Nick...I want to feel you inside of me," I said gasping as he thrusted his fingers in and out of me.

Nick softly removed my panties before lifting up my bottom, so I could help him remove his boxers. After they were discarded, he softly helped me take him inside of me. I softly moaned in pleasure as he filled me completely.

"Baby, open your eyes," Nick said before I opened my eyes to look into his beautiful ocean blue eyes. "You are so beautiful."

Nick softly drew my mouth to his before he softly cupped my bottom as he led us in a mind-bending rhythm. Everything but the two of us faded from my existence.

Lifting one hand, he stroked my jaw as he consumed me with his mouth and tongue, echoing our deeper intimacy. Swollen with anticipation, I felt my body tighten around him. The combination of passion and please became too much. I shattered around him, my climax shuddering through me.

Nick gave a low groan that vibrated through my mouth, through my being, as he spilled his pleasure into me. After gaining our breaths back, Nick helped me lay on my side with a pillow under my large tummy for support. Nick softly wrapped his arms around my belly, protecting our little babies and me. "Good night, baby," he softly whispered into my ear before placing a soft kiss below my ear lobe.

"Good night, Nick," I whispered to him before falling asleep in the warmth of his arms.

Sitting in my husband’s ICU room was something that I never wanted to do, but that’s what happened after I received the worst message of my life from Brian, who had become one of my closest friends and was, of course, Nick’s best friend in the entire world. How did it come to this? How did I get here? Well, it all happened about three weeks ago as I was sitting in Nick and my home in Tampa waiting for Nick to get back. For the past few weeks, Nick had been going to Brian and Howie's home in Orlando to work on the album. But that one horrible night, as I waited for Nick, he never came home. I still remember – he was two hours late and hadn’t even called me.

************
FLASHBACK TO JANUARY 13, 2003...
TWO WEEKS EARLIER...

I had been sitting on the couch watching a “made for TV” movie waiting for Nick to arrive as I noticed a pair of blue and red lights begin to flash on the wall of the living room. I began to wonder what in the world was going on. Of course being seven and a half months pregnant, I had to push myself up from the couch in order to walk over to the window to see what was going on.

To my shock, I saw a Florida State Trooper car standing in my driveway, but the biggest shock was when Brian got out of the back seat of the car. After seeing this, I began to “waddle” (the penguin walk a pregnant woman does) myself to the door as the door bell rang. As I got to the door, I opened it to find Brian standing there with one of the two uniformed officers that I had seen.

“Hey, Brian, what’s going on?” I asked him before I even saw the tears on his cheeks.

“Si, it’s Nick,” Brian said to me.

“Oh my...what...what happened?” I asked Brian in shock of hearing him say Nick’s name.

“Si, there’s been an accident and...” Brian began to tell me, but I jumped to conclusions as usual and spoke.

“He’s dead, isn’t he?” I asked him as I began to cry.

“No, Si, Nick’s not dead. He’s just really, really hurt,” Brian said to me as he gave me a hug and rubbed my back.

“How hurt?” I asked him.

“I don’t know, yet. I came here with these gentlemen after they came and got me. All I know is that he was in an accident right outside of Orlando and he’s hurt pretty bad,” Brian explained to me.

“Where is he?” I asked Brian.

“He’s in Orlando at the hospital. Howie, Aph, Heaven, and Dawn are already there. AJ went to Kevin’s to get him and Alima. And I thought it would be best if I came to get you with these gentlemen,” Brian explained to me.

“Oh, okay,” I said still in shock.

“Come on, ma’am, we will take you to the hospital,” one of the troopers said to me.

“Okay,” I said. “Let me just turn the lights off and lock up.”

“No, Si. I already told Billy to do this. He’s down at the gate,” Brian explained to me.

“Oh...okay,” I said to Brian as he lead me to the State Troopers car.

END OF FLASHBACK...
**************

When Brian and I did finally get to the hospital, the doctor was just telling everyone what was going on. Finding out that I was Nick’s wife, the doctor explained to me that the accident that Nick had had caused three things to occur: first, he had sprained his wrist from holding onto the steering wheel; second, he has a gash on his head from a piece of glass; and last and worst of all, the accident caused a piece of metal to be driven into his leg, which had cut down through to the muscle and is stuck in the bone. And so this is why Nick had to have surgery, so that they could get this part repaired or he would never walk again. And that was exactly what the doctor did; he performed the surgery on Nick’s leg and repaired the wound.

*************
FLASHBACK...
JANUARY 14, 2003...NICK’S HOSPITAL ROOM...

The surgery to repair Nick’s leg took nearly eight hours to complete since the surgeons had to be careful and not ruin any more of Nick’s muscle in his leg. But now, here I was, sitting in Nick’s room waiting for him to wake up. And I must have fallen asleep waiting for him because all I remembered happening next was the sound of Nick’s voice telling me to wake up.

“Si, come on, baby girl. Time to wake up,” Nick’s voice said in my head.

“Nick?” I asked before opening my eyes to see his blue eyes staring at me.

“Yeah, baby girl, it’s me,” Nick said to me.

“Oh, Nick, I’m so happy to see your beautiful eyes and hear your wonderful voice,” I told him.

“I’m happy to see you, too,” Nick said to me before using his hand, which had not been bandaged, to lift my face, so that he could kiss me. “I love you, baby girl.”

“I love you, too,” I told him as I let the tears that I had been holding in fall down my cheeks. END OF FLASHBACK...

************

Yet, even after Nick woke up with any complications and was ready to do what he could to get out of the hospital. Nothing prepared him or me for what happened when Nick was finally ready to leave. The night before he was supposed to be able to leave the hospital, Nick began to get really sick, but it got worse as he started couching up blood. So, after performing a few tests, the doctors found their conclusions to be true. Nick had contracted double pneumonia, which was going to cause him to stay in the hospital for two more weeks. And this was where the biggest pain for me started. Actually, after first, I didn’t notice it. But finally, the stress of all of these trials and tribulations that Nick and I had been going through over these past few months had started to wear on me. During the day before Nick’s accident and surgery, my OB/GYN had put me on bed rest, but being here in the hospital with Nick had made me completely forget about the bed rest. But another thing that it also made me do was forget to take the medication that my doctor had prescribed for my pre-eclampsia and the diabetes. But this was not the worse thing that happened to me. It all came to be on a strange and daring afternoon in the hospital’s cafeteria as a tall, dark haired “friend” of mine began to show his evil side once again.

Finally after two more weeks in the hospital after his surgery to repair his leg, Nick was getting better from the pneumonia and was about to be able to be released from the hospital. Knowing this finally made me happy and I really did not want to alarm Nick with what was going on. And what was going on? Well, as I finally realized that I had forgotten my medication, I noticed that it was already too late. The signs that the doctor had told me to look out for were starting. I noticed that I was getting much weaker and that both my hands and my feet had begun to swell more than their usual “pregnancy” swelling. But I keep telling myself the same thing over and over again.

No, Sierra, don’t tell Nick. It will worry him and it will cause him to stay in here longer. And you don’t want that, do you? Do you want to make the pain worse for Nick?

The same thoughts had been questioning me over and over again. And in my head, I knew that I was lying to Nick as he questioned the swelling in my hands.

“Si, are you okay?” Nick asked me.

“Yes, Nick, I am. Why do you ask?” I said to him.

“Well, your hands are puffy. They are really swollen,” Nick said showing me where my wedding ring was cutting into my hand. “See your ring is even getting small for your hands.”

“Don’t worry, Nick. It’s normal,” I told him.

“Well, I think that you should either call Dr. Wilson and tell her or go and talk to one of the OB’s here,” Nick said to me.

“Nick, I talked to her already,” I said lying to him. “She said that it was completely normal. I am just retaining water more water because of the babies.”

“Okay, baby girl, I trust you,” Nick said before asking. “Have you eaten anything, yet?”

“Um...no,” I said actually telling him the truth.

“Sierra, that’s not good for you or for the babies,” Nick told me.

“I know, Nick. I know,” I told him.

“Well, then, you better march your cute butt down to the cafeteria and get yourself something to eat,” Nick said to me.

“Nick, I will be...” I told him.

“No, Sierra. No ‘ifs’, ‘ands’, or ‘buts’. Go right now. I mean look here comes Brian and Heaven,” Nick said seeing our friends in the hallway. “I am sure that they will stay with me. Won’t you, Rok?”

“Won’t I what, Frack?” Brian asked coming into the room with Heaven.

“Stay with me, while Sierra gets something to eat for her and the babies,” Nick said.

“Of course,” Brian said.

“See?” Nick said to me.

“Fine, fine. I will go,” I said to him trying to push myself up from the chair, but it was no use. So Brian, after seeing my struggles, came over and helped me up.

“There you go, girl,” Brian said.

“Thanks, Bri,” I said to him before turning to Nick. “I will be as fast as I can.”

“Okay, baby girl. But you can stay down there if you want. Because I will be fine up here,” Nick said to me.

“Okay, but I will be back,” I told him.

“I know, baby girl. I know,” Nick said to me as I waddled myself out of the room.

**********

About twenty minutes later, I was finally sitting in the cafeteria getting something to eat for me and the babies as I noticed Kevin, who had not really been at the hospital these past few weeks, come into the cafeteria. I could see that he was looking around for someone, but as his green eyes focused on me, I knew that he was looking not for someone – but for me.

“Hello, Kevin,” I said as he got to my table.

“Don’t hello me,” Kevin said standing there with his arms crossed over his chest.

“What? Kevin, why are you being so rude?” I asked after hearing his harsh words.

“Leave,” he told me, which caused me to ask my same question again.

“What?” I asked him.

“I want you to leave and to leave my friend alone,” Kevin told me.

“Kevin, what in the world are you talking about?” I asked him.

“You are the cause of all of this. He was coming home to you when he got into that accident. He was with you, when he got sick. And it’s because of you that we have to postpone the album release,” Kevin explained.

“Kevin, what are you talking about? How is this all my fault?” I asked him.

“You know what I am talking about. You were the one who out of all the girls got yourself knocked up. You were the one who got Nick to marry you. You were...” Kevin started to say, but I interrupted him.

“Excuse me, Kevin. But I didn’t want to get pregnant and I was the one who didn’t want to get married. I was plainly going to take care of this myself, but it was Nick, who came to Toronto and found me,” I told him.

“I don’t care what you have to say. Just go!” Kevin tells me before starting to yell, which caused most of the people in the cafeteria to look at us. “LEAVE! GO BACK TO WHERE YOU CAME FROM AND LEAVE NICK ALONE!”

“Fine, Kevin. I don’t know why you are saying these things or blaming me. But yes, I will leave, but remember this, Mr. Richardson; I will never stop loving him. I will never stop loving Nickolas Carter no matter what you or anyone else says,” I said pushing myself up from the chair and marching myself toward the door to the cafeteria with my head held high.

I won’t let this man get to me. I will do as he asks. I will leave, but I know that somehow, someway, Nick is going to come for me, I told myself as I walked out of the hospital and halted a cab that was letting someone out.

“Where to, ma’am?” the driver asked as I got into the back of his cab.

“Tampa, please. 1000 Ocean View Drive,” I told him.

“Sure thing, ma’am,” the driver said before pulling away from the hospital and away from a man that could cause so much pain with a single pair of words.

**********

After leaving the hospital, I went back to the home that I shared with Nick in Tampa. But all I did was grab a small duffel bag and pack whatever I needed or wanted. But as I left Nick’s home and got back into the waiting cab, I didn't decide go back to Canada, where Kevin wanted me, but I made a different choice. In all my thoughts of what I could have done to hurt Kevin and in the only way that I knew that Nick would find me, I went to the one place that only he and I knew about.

Two hours after the cab left Tampa, I was standing in front of Nick's ‘new’ home – the one that he had built in Marathon. This was the home that he hadn't even told the guys about. This was going to be OUR home away from home. Our place to raise our babies without the rest of the world knowing where we were. And this was where I would stay until either I had to go back to the hospital to have these two wonderful babies or until the man that I knew loved me more than anything else in this world would come for me.

TWO DAYS LATER...JANUARY 27, 2003...

I had been here in Marathon for a day and a half, now. While here, I began to notice that the signs of my preeclampsia were becoming worse and worse. My feet and face were starting to swell more than the normal size for a pregnant woman. The headache that I had had for the past few hours was slowly getting worse.

“Bed. Maybe that’s a good idea. Maybe if I hop into bed and a good night rest it will make me feel better much better,” I said to myself as I changed into one of Nick’s large t-shirts and climbed into the large, soft king-size bed that Nick had put into the master bedroom.

**********

A few hours later, I was still laying on the bed having trouble sleeping as I suddenly felt the nausea that I had been having begin to come up and making me want to throw up. I slowly sat up in the bed, but as I did, I noticed that the room was slightly blurry. I get up and slowly make my way to the master bathroom, which was close to my side of the bed. I barely make it to the toilet as the small amount of food that I had ate over the past day and a half decided to come up.

**********

Unknown to me, as I was sitting in the bathroom throwing up what I had ate, the front door opens and Nick comes in on crutches because of his leg. He is being followed by Brian, Heaven, Howie, and Aph.

“Sierra? Sierra, are you here?” Nick calls out for me hoping that his assumptions about me coming here were true. “SIERRA?”

**********

As I saw next to the toilet finally relieved that the nausea had quit for a moment, I could hear a sound from downstairs, but my ears were ringing so bad that I could make out the noise until I suddenly heard Nick’s familiar scream of my name.

“SIERRA? SIERRA, ARE YOU HERE?” Nick’s voice called out.

“Nick! Nick, up...here,” I said before calling out as loud as I could. “NICK!”

*********

“SIERRA?” Nick called out again before Brian stopped him as he said.

“Wait a minute, Nick. I think I heard something,” Brian said quieting his friend. After a few seconds of silence, all of them heard the same thing that Brian had heard.

“NICK!”

“Sierra? Oh my world, that’s her,” Nick said as he hobbled himself over to the stairs.

“Nick, you can’t get up them,” Howie tells him.

“Watch me,” Nick said as he threw his crutches up the stairs before getting on his hands and one good leg. With the support of these three limbs, Nick pulled himself up the stairs determined to get to his wife. As he gets to the top of the stairs, Nick can hear her throwing up as he grabs his crutches. Followed by everyone else, he follows the noise and goes to find his wife.

***********

As Nick gets to my side, he drops himself onto the bathroom floor and puts his arms around me. I could feel as he softly caresses my forehead.

“Oh my gosh, baby girl, you are burning up,” Nick tells me.

“No, I’m cold. I’m very, very cold,” I tell him before someone turns on the light, which causes my eyes to start to burn. “No...please...turn it off.”

“Brian, turn them off,” Nick said before asking me. “Si, what’s wrong? What hurts?”

“My eyes...” I told him trying to catch my breath, but I couldn’t. “They hurt. And my head...hurts. And my ears...are ringing.”

***********
*THIS PART IS TOLD FROM THE NARRATOR’S POINT OF VIEW*

From the swelling that he could see from the brief moment of light and from being told about her vision, plus the cold chills that were shaking her body, Nick could tell what was happening to her. “Heaven?” Nick said looking up at her with tears. “It’s happening, isn’t it?”

“Yeah, Nick, it is,” Heaven said as she moves past Brian to sit by my other side.

“What’s going on, sweets?” Brian asked.

Since Nick had told her about the preeclampsia, Heaven decides to tell Aph, Brian, and Howie, who were staring at us like they were lost puppies searching for their moms. But just as she finishes telling them, Sierra starts to go into a seizure. As this starts, Nick puts her on the ground as Heaven – who is going to school to be a nurse – tells him, “Hold her arms and legs down, so that she doesn’t hurt herself.”

“Okay,” Nick said to her.

“Howie, please call 911 quick,” Heaven said.

“Already doing it,” Howie said as he was holding his phone to his ear.

***********
HOWIE AND HEAVEN’S 911 CALL...

911 - What is your emergency? the operator said as she answered the phone.

“I need an ambulance sent to 1 Carter Way,” Howie said to the woman after getting the address. “My friend’s wife is having a seizure.”

Okay, sir. Does she have a history of these? the operator asked him.

“No, ma’am, she does not. But she’s also eight months pregnant,” Howie explained to the woman.

Okay, sir, I am sending an ambulance to you, right now, the woman said to him.

“Thank you,” Howie said to her before Heaven asked for the phone.

“Ma’am?” Heaven said as she had the phone.

Yes? the operator said.

“Ma’am, the young girl is eight months pregnant with twins and has been complaining of symptoms that are common with eclampsia. She was diagnosed with preeclampsia during her third month of pregnancy,” Heaven explained.

Okay, ma’am, I will let the paramedics know, the operator said. Their ETA is about 5 minutes.

“Thank you, ma’am,” Heaven said to her.

***********

After about five minutes, the ambulance pulled up to the house as Aph, who had been waiting for them, let the paramedics into the home. She shows them where Nick and Heaven had placed Sierra onto the floor of the bedroom.

“Ma’am, can you tell us what we have here?” one of the paramedics asked Heaven as he put an oxygen mask on Sierra’s face, while the other checked her vitals.

“Yes, sir. She’s 22 and is eight months pregnant with twins. We found her throwing up and she was speaking to us before a seizure of her entire body occurred,” Heaven said.

“BP is 130/100,” the second paramedic said to the first.

“Okay. Now, sir, can you tell me what her symptoms have been before the seizure occurred?” the paramedic asked Nick.

“She told me that she was having trouble seeing and a really bad migraine-like headache. She was also throwing up, when I arrived,” Nick explained to him. “Her hands are also swollen and she was having trouble catching her breath right before the seizure occurred.”

“Is she on any medication?” the first paramedic asked.

“Yes, she is on these,” Nick said seeing my bottles sitting on the counter.

“Magnesium sulfate?” the first paramedic commented looking at one of the bottles.

“Yes, it is for...um, what is that called...clam...eclam...” Nick said having trouble remembering.

“Preeclampsia, sir?” the second paramedic asked as he was putting an IV into Sierra’s arm.

“Yes, that’s it,” Nick said before watching as the paramedic’s face becomes very worried as the one called in for a helicopter to come. “What? What’s wrong?”

“Well, sir,” the first paramedic said to him. “If we don’t get her to a hospital within the next few minutes, then you will lose her and the babies.”

“No...no, that can’t happen,” Nick said starting to get very, very worried.

“Don’t worry, sir,” he told Nick. “We have a helicopter coming and will be waiting down on the beach.”

“May I go with you?” Nick asked.

“Of course,” the paramedic said. The second paramedic ran down to the ambulance and came back with a backboard. The first paramedic, along with Nick and the second paramedic, helped to get him to get Sierra onto the backboard.

“Sir, can you help us?” the paramedic asked Nick.

“No, but Brian can,” Nick said showing the paramedic his leg.

“Okay,” the first paramedic said before showing Brian what to do. Nick watched as they lifted Sierra up from the floor using the backboard before carrying her out of the room.

“Heaven, Howie, can you two help me up?” Nick said.

“Of course,” Howie said as he took one of Nick’s arms, while Heaven took the other. The two of them got Nick up from the floor and helped him get out of the room on his crutches. As he got to the steps, Nick watched as Brian helped to put Sierra onto the stretched before watching paramedics raise the stretcher, so that they could move her out of the house.

“Wait for me,” Nick said as Heaven and Howie helped him down the stairs. As he got to the bottom, Nick followed the paramedics as they took Sierra to where a helicopter was waiting for them. The paramedics from the ambulance helped the air-paramedic to get Sierra secured into the back as the pilot helped Nick into the passenger side of the helicopter, but as Nick was getting into the helicopter, Brian questioned him about where they were going - having to yell at him because of the helicopter’s propeller still turning.

“NICK, WHERE ARE THEY TAKING YOU?” Brian yelled at Nick.

“The helicopter is taking her to Orlando General. They have the best staff for this type of situation,” the pilot explained to Nick hearing Brian’s question.

“BRIAN, ORLANDO GENERAL. WE ARE GOING TO ORLANDO GENERAL,” Nick yelled to him.

“OKAY, WE WILL MEET YOU THERE,” Brian yells at Nick before the pilot closes the door and races to the other side.

“YOU ALL MAY WANT TO STEP BACK,” the first paramedic said to them. So, Brian, Heaven, Howie, and Aph all of them moved and were standing at the edge of the beach watching as the helicopter took off taking away two of their friends.

God, please...please don’t let him lose her, when they just got each other back, Heaven prayed before following Brian back to Nick’s Durango, which they had come in.

Same old boy
Same sweet girl
Five years down the road
There’s going to be a little one and she says it’s time to go
Doctor says the baby’s fine but you’ll have to leave
’cause his momma’s fading fast and
Johnny hit his knees and there he prayed

Take the very breath you gave me
Take the heart from my chest
I’ll gladly take her place if you’ll let me
Make this my last request
Take me out of this world
God, please don’t take the girl

******************
AROUND ONE A.M...JANUARY 28, 2003...

The pale green walls of the waiting room that Nick continued to pace in was driving him totally insane. But all he could do was pace and wait for the doctor to tell him what was going on. After arriving at the hospital, the paramedics took Sierra away from him and would not tell him anything about what was going on. So many questions were running through his head as he wondered what was happening behind those two metal doors that the rush of doctors and nurses had taken Sierra through.

The only thing that made Nick happy was when Brian, Heaven, Aph, Howie, AJ, Dawn, Kevin, and Alima come through the door of the hospital. Brian could see that Nick was on the verge of breaking down, but as he and the rest of the gang showed up an older man wearing surgical scrubs came into the waiting room.

“Mr. Nick Carter?” the man asked Nick.

“Yes, I am Nick Carter,” Nick told him. “How is she?”

“Well, your wife, Sierra, is currently suffering from what is called eclampsia. And this is...” the doctor told Nick.

“Yes, I’ve heard all of this before. I just want to know how she is?” Nick said interrupting the man’s words.

“Well, Mr. Carter, since your wife is having full-blown eclampsia, she is going in and out of conscious. Plus, she had another eclamptic seizure, while here in the emergency room. So, there is only one thing to do that we can right now. And that is...” the doctor told Nick but he interrupted again.

“What? What is the only thing that you could do?” Nick asked.

“The only cure is delivery of the babies. The babies must be delivered immediately, regardless of how long it has been, to save both your wife's and the babies’ lives,” the doctor explained to Nick. “And because of her semi-conscious state, the only thing that we can do is do a Cesarean on her.”

“Fine. Do what you have to do?” Nick asked him.

“Okay, but first, you will need to sign some surgical-release forms for her and then if you would like, a nurse will come and let you stay with Sierra during the surgery,” the doctor said.

“Yes, thank you,” Nick said to the doctor.

“Well, don’t thank me until both your wife and your children are awake and doing better,” the doctor said leading Nick to the nurse’s station for him to sign some forms to let her be operated on.

**********

About twenty minutes later - after he was put into scrubs - Nick hobbled into the operating room on one crutch as the nurse lead him to where Sierra was. Nick stood there a few seconds as the nurse told him.

“You can sit here, Mr. Carter,” the nurse said pointing to a chair that was right next to Sierra’s head. As he sat down, Nick noticed that the doctor was putting a yellowish-tint dye onto Sierra’s well-protruding stomach.

“Mr. Carter, if you don’t want to see us cut your wife, you may want to stay behind the curtain,” the doctor told Nick as he saw that he was watching them.

“Okay,” Nick said as he moved back to sit behind the curtain that the nurse had put up around Sierra’s neck. Looking at her, Nick wanted so much to hold her and to tell her that everything was going to be okay.

“You can hold her hand, if you want,” the nurse that had been checking the vitals said to him.

“Okay,” Nick said before watching as the nurse took his hand and placed it under the sheet, so that he could hold Sierra’s hand. As he took her hand, the tears that he had been holding back finally begun to fall down his cheeks. But to Nick, the best sound in the world that came from those heart-breaking minutes was the moment that he heard his son and daughter give their first cries.

“Congratulations, Mr. Carter, you have a healthy son and daughter,” the doctor said to him. “Okay, let’s close her up.”

After hearing the doctor tell him ‘congratulations’, Nick had to use the back of his hand to rub away the tears that were falling as a nurse came around the corner to show him two beautiful, little babies.

“Sierra, it’s our...” Nick said turning to his wife, but stopped as he remembered that she was the one who was asleep on the metal table.

“Mr. Carter, would you like to hold them?” the nurse asked him.

“I don’t...” Nick began to say, but the nurse told him.

“Young man, come over here and say ‘hello’ to your children,” the nurse told him. Nick got up from his chair and hobbled over to the nurse leaning against the table as she placed his son and daughter into his arms.

“Congratulations, Mr. Carter, and happy birthday,” the nurse said to him.

“Happy what?” he asked her.

“Well, Mr. Carter, it is the 28th of January and having three daughters of my own, I know who you are,” the nurse told him.

“Uh...thank you,” Nick said not realizing that his twins were born on his birthday.

The nurse, who notices Nick’s leg, brings over a wheelchair for him to sit in as he holds them. Nick sits there a few minutes before he suddenly hears something being to beep really loud. Nick turns back to the table where Sierra was laying and notices that the heart monitor was flat-lining.

“Her pressure dropped too quickly, doctor,” the nurse told the doctor.

“Get me a crash car and start CPR on her,” the doctor ordered before seeing Nick still sitting there. “And will someone please take Mr. Carter and the babies out of here?”

This causes a nurse to try to take the babies, but Nick wouldn’t let them as he is pushed out the door screaming his wife’s name:

“SSSSSIIIIIIIEEEEEERRRRRAAAAAA!!!!!!”

1. BLOW YOUR MIND - Nick Carter
2. I'LL BE YOURS - Nick Carter
3. OPEN ARMS - Journey
4. I'LL BE THERE FOR YOU - Backstreet Boys
5. THUNDER ROLLS - Garth Brooks
6. DO I HAVE TO CRY FOR YOU? - Nick Carter
7. DON'T TAKE THE GIRL - Tim McGraw

UPDATED: JUNE 2ND, 2005

WEBSITES

HOMEPAGE
MARRIAGE - PART ONE
MARRIAGE - PART THREE