MARRIAGE OF CONVIENCE - Part Three

NOTE: None of these chapters are up yet, but I am working on the story, so they will be soon. Just check out the titles and see what is going happen. This will be updated soon...

TWO HOURS LATER...JANUARY 28, 2003...

Anyone coming into the waiting room could tell that something serious had happened to someone that the young man in the corner loved. Sitting in the corner of the small waiting room was Nick, who was crying so hard that his entire body was shaking from the tears. In the seat next to him was Brian, who put his arms around his friend and held him as he rubbed his back. On the opposite side was Kevin, who had come to the hospital with everyone else, watched the young man’s shaking body and watched as his cousin rubbed the young man’s back. In his mind, he knew that he should go over to Nick and tell him something. He knew that this was his fault because he was the one that made Sierra leave. Kevin looks down to see Alima sleeping against the side of his chest.

I should go over there and tell him something. I mean if anything ever happened to Alima, I know that I would be breaking down just like him. But should I tell him about the fight that Sierra and I had in the cafeteria or does he already know, Kevin thought to himself. Kevin, stop talking to yourself and go over there. He needs you to tell him that you are sorry.

With those words, Kevin tried to gently move Alima without waking her up, but it didn’t work as she opened her eyes and looked at him sleepily before asking, “Where are you going?”

“Just to talk to Nick,” Kevin said to her.

“Are you sure that is wise?” she asked him as she sat up. Kevin had told her about what had happened in the cafeteria that day and knew that Nick would certainly not be happy with Kevin right at this instant.

“Yes, baby, I have to,” he told her.

“Okay, but be careful,” she told him.

“Don’t worry, I will,” Kevin said pressing a kiss to her forehead before walking over to where Nick and Brian were sitting.

********

As Brian sat next to his friend rubbing his back, he could hear that Nick keep repeating the same three lines over and over again. And Brian kept giving him the same answers.

“She's can’t leave,” Nick said.

“She won’t, Nick. She won’t,” Brian said back to him.

“I need her,” Nick said to him.

“I know, buddy. And she needs you, too,” Brian would answer back to him.

“I love her,” Nick would say to him.

“I know that, Nick, and so does she,” Brian told his friend as he started the same routine over again.

“She's can’t leave,” Nick said.

“She won’t, Nick. She won’t,” Brian said back to him.

“I need her,” Nick said to him.

“I know, buddy. And she needs you, too,” Brian would answer back to him.

“I love her,” Nick would say to him.

“I know...” Brian said beginning to give his same answer, but stopped as Kevin came to stand in front of him saying Nick’s name.

“Nick?” Kevin said to him.

“She's can’t leave,” Nick said repeating his lines as he ignored Kevin. “I need her. I love her.”

“Nick, I came over here to talk to you and to tell you that I am really sor...” Kevin said trying to apologize to Nick, but as he started to say ‘SORRY’, Nick’s head popped up glaring at Kevin.

“SORRY? WHY THE HELL ARE YOU SORRY? YOU ARE THE REASON THAT SHE LEFT. YOU TOLD HER TO LEAVE AND NOT TO COME BACK. WHAT KIND OF FUCKING FRIEND TELLS THEIR FRIEND’S PREGANT WIFE TO LEAVE THEM? YOU ARE THE REASON THAT MY WIFE – WHO I LOVE MORE THAN ANYTHING IN THIS WORLD - IS IN AN OPERATING ROOM,” Nick screamed at him pushed himself up using a cane, instead of his crutches, as he blamed Kevin for making her leave and putting her in this situation. The night that Alima had been told by Kevin about what had happened and finding out from Nick that Sierra was gone, she had told Nick about what had happened in the cafeteria.

Hearing Nick blame him for things that he didn’t cause made Kevin become mad and yell right back at Nick: “I TOLD HER TO LEAVE BECAUSE SHE WAS USING YOU NICK. ALL SHE EVER WANTED WAS YOUR MONEY AND YOUR CAREER. SHE DOESN’T CARE ABOUT YOU OR YOUR LIFE.”

Those words caused Nick to throw his hand up and try to punch Kevin square in the jaw, Kevin grabbed his hand and threw it away, but that took him away from seeing Nick’s other hand come up and punch him in the gut. With these two actions, arms and fists began to fly as the two of them got into a physical fight right there in the middle of the hospital.

“NICK, KEVIN, STOP IT,” Alima screamed getting up from her chair at Nick’s first attempt at hitting Kevin.

“GUYS, BREAK IT UP. COME ON. STOP THIS INSANITY,” Heaven yelled at them before the other guys come over and try to break them apart. Since Nick’s weight was off-balanced by his sore leg, Brian put his arms around him and got a hold of Nick pulling him back, while AJ and Howie grabbed both of Kevin’s arms attempting to hold Kevin back by putting him onto the floor. Feeling them try to hold him, Kevin tried to push them off and go after Nick again, but was stopped as Alima came over and sat down on his chest.

“KEVIN SCOTT RICHARDSON, DON’T MOVE FROM THIS SPOT OR I AM LEAVING YOU,” Alima yelled at him, which caused Kevin to stop struggling at the idea of losing her.

“Listen, guys. We are all under a lot of stress, but this won't solve anything. Right now, all we can do is wait and pray that Sierra will be all right,” Howie told them.

“Howie is right, guys,” Heaven said helping Brian to get Nick up into his seat and give Nick a tissue for his nose, since he was bleeding.

“Howie may be right, but I seriously don’t want HIM here right now,” Nick said motioning to Kevin, who Howie, AJ, and Alima, finally let stand up after he calmed down. Hearing those words and wiping away the blood from the side of his lip, Kevin glared at Nick as he spoke.

“FINE,” Kevin said loudly before telling Nick. “Listen, Carter, I try to say my apologies, but if you don’t want to listen to me, then fine, I will leave.”

“Kevin, don’t...” Alima said watching as Kevin turned to leave the waiting room.

“I’m sorry, baby. I have to go. I’m not wanted right now,” Kevin told her before leaving Alima standing in the waiting room as he pushed open the door and walked out of the room. As he left, Alima’s legs gave out underneath of her and she sat down on the ground crying.

“Shhh, babe, it’s okay,” Heaven said sitting on the ground next to her friend.

“No, it’s not, okay. I was the one who told Nick about Kevin. I was the one who ruined their friendship. I was the one who...” Alima said trying to defend Kevin’s actions, but Heaven stopped her.

“No, Al, you are not the reason for any of this. Kevin and Nick just have some things to work out that aren’t your fault. None of this is your fault,” Heaven said holding her friend.

“I know, but I’m just scared. I’m scared for Nick, I’m scared of losing Si, but most of all, I’m scared that I’m going to lose Kevin,” Alima said.

“Don’t worry, babe. Kevin loves you very much and I promise you that you will never lose him. And Al...” Heaven said getting her to look up at her.

“Yes?” she said looking up at Heaven with tear-streaked cheeks.

“We are all scared about losing Sierra, but remember, we just have to pray that she’s all right and that she will be fine,” Heaven told her.

“I know, I know,” Alima said to her friend hoping that everything would turn about for the best for Nick and Sierra, but most of all, that everyone would be able to become friends once again.

*************
HALF AN HOUR AFTER KEVIN LEFT...WAITING ROOM...

It had been nearly half an hour after Kevin left when the doctor finally came out to speak to Nick and tell him what was going on with Sierra.

“Mr. Carter?” the doctor said coming into the room.

“Yes?” Nick asked.

“I wanted to inform you that your twins are both very healthy and sleeping peacefully in the nursery,” the doctor told him.

“Thank you, but how is Sierra? How is my wife?” Nick questioned him.

“I’m sorry, but your wife has gone into a coma because of the loss of blood from the surgery, and the eclampsia that had occurred in her body,” the doctor explains to him.

“But all she had was a little high-blood pressure and gestational diabetes,” Nick said a little confused.

“Yes, sir, but after she had the babies, her blood pressure went really low causing her to go into a really rough seizure making her flat line as you saw. This is what has caused the coma,” the doctor explains to him.

“Will she...she ever come out of it?” Nick asks him.

The doctor tells him, “She may or may not. It is her fight now.”

“May I see her?” Nick asked him.

“Of course,” the doctor said before turning and leading Nick to the room that they had taken Sierra to.

****************
SIERRA’S PRIVATE HOSPITAL ROOM...

As the doctor shows Nick the room, he stands in the doorway for a few minutes looking at his wife, who was laying in the middle of a large hospital bed that engulfed her entire tiny body. Nick could see that a few machines were hooked up to her. He recognized them as a heart and breathing monitors.

“Mr. Carter, you can talk to her if you want,” the doctor tells him.

“Will she hear me?” Nick asked him.

“Yes, she will,” the doctor said leading him over to a chair. Mr. Carter, many people in comas are just in shock and don’t know or don’t want to deal with what is going on in the outside world, so their bodies just shut down. Their brains are totally functioning, but they just need a little encouragement to come back.”

“Oh,” Nick says as he sits down in the seat that the doctor showed him to.

“Don’t worry, Mr. Carter. She will be fine, just talk to her,” the doctor tells him before leaving the room. Not knowing what he could or could not do, Nick gently takes her hand into his trying to avoid the IV and wires that were connected to her body.

“Sierra? Baby girl, it’s Nick,” he says not knowing what to say. He sat there a few minutes before continuing a one-way conversation with his wife.

“Si, the doctor said that you can hear me, so I am going to talk to you and tell you that we have two beautiful little babies. They are both very beautiful and remind me so much of you. Actually, little Gabriel has big blue eyes just like me, but he has your nose, which is a good thing. And little Raine has blue-green eyes, which reminds me of your eyes on a rainy summer day,” Nick said wiping the tears from his eyes as he confessed. “Did you know that your eyes change colors with the weather? I never noticed until I saw you standing on the deck worried about the rain that was coming in.”

As he told her about the changing of her eyes, he knew that he had to tell her about what had happened in the waiting room.

“Speaking of change and worrying, I was so worried about you and how you were that I got into a fight with Kevin. And I don’t mean just a yelling fight, we had that too, but we actually got into a physical fight. But I told him that I cared about you so much that I didn’t care what he said to me,” Nick said before starting to pour his heart out to the woman laying on the bed.

“Sierra, I don’t want to lose you. I don’t want our babies to grow up without a mom. I want them to get to know and love the woman that I know. But I know that you are probably scared and I am scared, too. But I want you to know that you mean everything in this world to me. And I want you to know that I am going to marry you again when you get out of this hospital. Only if you want to do that, but I would. I would do it in front of the entire world this time to show them how much you mean to me,” Nick said before her before making a promise.

“Baby girl, right now, I am going to promise you that I am going to stay right here until you open your beautiful eyes. You hear that, baby girl. I am going to stay right here until you open your eyes,” Nick confessed to her before breaking down as he said, “Sierra, I need you to open your eyes and tell me that I am fool for sitting here crying, but I know that I am not. I am not a fool. I just want you to wake up. Please, baby girl, please wake up.”

After sitting there, telling her everything that he could think of, Nick fell asleep with his head next to hers as he held her hand. But there is a simple little thing that he doesn’t do, and this simple thing is that he doesn’t tell her that how much he loves her, actually he doesn’t even tell her that he loves her. Could this bit of missed information play a part in Sierra’s stubbornness and her not wanting to wake up, yet? Or does she just want to block the world out for a while until she can figure out what is going on with her family and her life? There was only one person that could answer these questions and she was the one who was sleeping so tightly that she didn’t want to wake up. So, until these questions could be answered, all Nick could do right now was sit and wait for her to come back to him.

SIERRA’S PRIVATE HOSPITAL ROOM...
A FEW WEEKS LATER...FEBRUARY, 9, 2003...

A few weeks later, Nick is still sitting in Sierra’s room keeping a visual on her to make sure that he was there when she woke up. All through these past few weeks, the rest of the guys – excluding Kevin – where there with him for support and so were the girls. In fact on this particular day, Brian and Heaven had come to visit Sierra and be with him. Brian and Heaven walked into the door to see Nick sitting in one of the chairs of the room feeding little Gabriel his bottle as he sat there humming. A day after the twins were born, Nick had been allowed to take them home, but he didn't want to take them away from Sierra. So, instead of taking them away, he turned a part of her private room into a nursery with a small portable crib for the babies to sleep in. As he gets closer to Nick, he can see that his friend is worn out and needs to sleep, which he was sure that Nick hadn’t done for days or even a week at that.

“You need to get some sleep,” Brian tells him making Heaven and himself present to the young man.

“I’m fine, Frick. Don’t worry about me,” Nick tells him.

“Nick, don’t take this wrong, but you look like crap. You need to sleep or you will make yourself sick. You don’t need to get sick again. Pneumonia and a broken leg were bad enough,” Heaven told him.

“Listen, guys, I am fine,” Nick said looking up at them for the first time. “Besides, who is going to watch Si and take care of these two?”

“We will,” Heaven said.

“Yeah, Frack, Heaven and I will watch her and the babies,” Brian tells him. “So, please just go home to get a few hours of sleep or to go to the condo and get some sleep there.”

“But Rok, I don’t want...” Nick started, but Heaven stopped him.

“Nick, listen to me. Sierra would not want to see you like this. I promise you, when she opens her eyes, she will not want to see a half-dead, sleep-deprived, semi-unshaven husband,” Heaven explained to him.

“Fine, fine,” he said getting up as Gabriel finished his bottle. He placed his son against his shoulder and gently patted his back, so to burp him.

“Good,” Brian said before putting out his arms. “Now, here. Give me, Gabe.”

“Okay,” Nick said to him handing the little boy over to Brian before saying, “Raine still needs to be feed.”

“Don’t worry, Nick. We can handle it,” Brian said.

“Okay, but please, no matter what happens, call me if anything happens. I don’t care what it is, please call me,” Nick tells them.

“Don’t worry, Nick. We will call you,” Heaven said picking up Raine before sitting down in the chair that Nick had abandoned.

“Good, then I...I will go and get some...sleep,” Nick said.

“Good, Frack. Now, go,” Brian said reassuring him before Nick finally leaves the room.

*****************
FOUR HOURS AFTER NICK LEAVES...

Nick had been gone for a little over four hours as Brian and Heaven are still watching the babies and now, talking with Dawn, AJ, Howie, Aph, and even Alima, who had all come to see the babies. After talking and looking at the babies for a few minutes, Howie and Aph informed them that Nick had showed up at the condo.

“Oh by the way, Nick showed up at the condo right as we were leaving,” Howie said.

“Did he go to sleep?” Heaven asked.

“He told us that you and Brian told him that he needed to get some sleep. So, I showed him to Brian’s room, since it was the cleanest,” Aph said to Heaven.

“My room?” Brian said.

“Yeah, Howie’s room is a little messy,” Aph explained.

“Eww gross, guys,” Alima said to them.

“What?” Aph and Howie asked at the same time.

“Any ways, what happened after he went into my room,” Brian said trying to change the subject.

“Well, he lies down onto your bed and put his hand over his eyes. I asked him if he wants something to change into, and he tells me yeah, but as I get back he is already a slee...” Aph tells him, but notices that Brian isn’t listening any more.

“Brian?” Heaven asks also noticing that Brian wasn’t listening.

“Her heart is speeding up,” Brian told them before repeating what he said as everyone looked at him as if he had two heads. “Sierra’s heart is speeding up. Look at the monitor. It’s going faster than it was.”

“What?” Dawn asked looking up at the heart monitor. “Why is it doing that?”

“I don’t know,” Brian said to her. Brian was the first to notice the monitor that is monitoring Sierra's heart was starting to flash as it showed her heart speeding up. He knew that something was wrong, since he was the most in-tuned with things like that from his own experience. Brian looks over to see that Sierra face is showing a large amount of pain.

“Si?” Brian asks getting up from his spot and going over to her. As Brian goes over to her, he can hear that in her comatose state Sierra was moaning, no whimpering in pain. “Something’s definitely wrong. She’s whimpering?” Brian tells them.

“Howie, AJ, will one of you please go and get a doctor,” Heaven says as she goes over to where Brian is.

“Okay,” Howie says as he goes to find one.

“Brian, what’s happening?” Dawn asked.

“I don’t know. But I think that she’s in pain,” Brian said.

A few seconds after Howie left, he returns with a doctor, plus two nurses. The doctor looks at Sierra before asking, “When did she start doing this?”

“Just a few minutes ago,” Brian said to him.

“Okay,” the doctor said.

“Her BP is 100 over 90, doctor. But her temperature is rising. It’s about 102 right now,” the nurse that had been checking Sierra’s vitals tells him.

“Okay,” the doctor tells her before saying, “Nurse, there are way too many people in here.”

“Okay,” the other nurse that was in the room said before telling everyone. “I’m sorry, but you have to leave the room.”

“But she’s my sis...” Dawn begins.

“I’m sorry, but you really have to leave,” the nurse said.

“Fine,” Brian says helping Heaven to get the babies as the nurse pushes them all out of the room. The six of them go out into the hallway to wait for the doctor. A few seconds later, they watch as an orderly brings in a stretcher before one of the nurses that had been in the room comes out and goes over to a phone. Brian moves further down and listens to what she is saying.

“Hello...Yes, Dr. Wilton needs a free operating room...For a patient on the fifth floor...Fever...Abdominal pain...possible hemorrhaging into the abdomen region...” the nurse said into the phone.

As she was saying this into the phone, the doctor comes out of the room with the other nurse and the orderly, who are pushing Sierra on a stretcher.

“What’s happening?” Brian asks the doctor. “Where are you going?”

“Sir, we are going to the operating room. We have to take her back into surgery because she is bleeding into her abdomen. The long duration of the bleeding has given her an infection in her abdomen,” the doctor explains to Brian.

“How could this have happened? Infection? How long could it have been?” Brian said.

“I don’t know, sir, but it could have been since she had the babies,” the doctor tells him.

Before Brian can tell him anything else, the doctor walked away leaving them in a state of shock. With that, Aph turned toward Howie who read her unspoken request and whipped his cell phone out to call Nick.

“Come on, Nick. Pick up your ph...” Howie said into the phone before hearing Nick’s sleepy voice on the other end of the phone say ‘hello’ to him.

*************
HOWIE’S CALL TO NICK...

Hello, Nick said answering his phone.

“Nick, it’s Howie,” Howie tells him.

Oh hey. Sorry, man, I was asleep, Nick said to him still not sure where in the world he was.

“It’s okay, Nick, but I wanted to tell you that I am at the hospital,” Howie said.

Hospital! Nick said realizing what was going on and becoming fully awake before asking, What’s wrong? What happened?

“Well, it’s Sierra,” Howie said.

I know that, D, but what happened? Did she wake up? Nick asked.

“No, Nick, she didn’t. The doctor came and...” Howie said not knowing what to say.

Howie, please just spit it out. What’s going on? Nick told him.

“Sierra’s back in surgery. They think that she may be bleeding into her stomach,” Howie said to him. “She also has a fever from an infection in her abdomen caused by the bleeding.”

WHAT? Nick asked so loud that Howie had to pull the phone away from his ear. How could this have happened? How long?

“The doctor said that it could have been since she had the twins,” Howie explained to him.

Okay, D, I am on my way there, Nick said to him.

“Don’t you rather want someone to come and get you,” Howie said not really sure of what state Nick was in to drive.

No, D, I will be fine and there in a few, Nick telling Howie this as his good-bye.

“Later, Nick, and be careful,” Howie told him.

I will be, D, Nick said before hanging up the phone and hoping that he would make it to the hospital to find that Sierra was out of surgery and okay.

HOSPITAL WAITING ROOM...AN HOUR AFTER HOWIE’S CALL...

About an hour after Howie had been called, Nick arrives in the waiting room to see that everyone is looking very worried. From what it looked like from their faces, Nick knew that it had to been serious. Nick turned to Brian, who was sitting on one of the chairs holding Gabriel, while Heaven sat next to him holding Raine. Nick made his presence noticeable as he began to question them.

“Did you figure anything out?” Nick asked.

“No, Nick, we haven’t,” Heaven told him.

“How did this happen?” Nick asked his best friend how his wife could have to go back to surgery for bleeding. “Brian, please tell me how this happened.”

But no one in the room could tell him what was going on or how this could have happened to her. “I don’t know, Nick. I really don’t know,” Brian tells him as he gave Gabriel to Dawn, who was next to him. Brian noticed that as he spoke, Nick began to look like he was about to break down once again. Brian walks over to the young man and put his arms around Nick.

As Nick hears Brian tell him those words, he does break down right in the middle of the room. As he is sitting there, his ears finally registered the music that was playing in the waiting room. The radio was just starting to play the last part of Tim McGraw’s “DON’T TAKE THE GIRL”. As Nick listened, he knew that somehow this man in the song knew what he was going through.

As Nick listens to the song, he sang the last part of the song to himself hoping that God would hear this as his prayer.

**********
TWO HOURS AFTER NICK’S ARRIVAL...

It took two more hours after Nick’s arrival back at the hospital for the doctor came out of the double doors that lead to the operating rooms.

“Mr. Carter?” Dr. Wilton said recognizing Nick.

“Dr. Wilton,” Nick said looking up at the man before asking. “How is she?”

“She’s in recovery right now, Nick. We stopped the bleeding and put her on some antibiotics for the infection. But rest assure, Sierra is resting comfortably. She will be out soon,” the doctor told him.

“How did this happen?” Nick asked.

“Well, during the rush to get her closed after the C-Section, the doctor must have nicked the side of her stomach. The nick in her stomach caused blood to fill up her stomach and abdomen. The excess blood and fluids caused her stomach to become infected, but the antibiotics that we gave her should help with the infection,” the doctor explained to him.

“Okay,” Nick said. “Thank you, doctor.”

“You’re welcome, Mr. Carter,” he said before telling Nick. “After we get Sierra back to her room, one of the nurses will come out and tell you when you can go and see her.”

“Okay,” Nick said shaking the doctor’s hand before turning to the rest of the gang with an utmost relief.

**********
SIERRA’S HOSPITAL ROOM...HALF AN HOUR LATER...

About half an hour later, Nick is finally allowed back into the room to see Sierra. After putting the twins – who he had brought into the room - back into their crib, Nick sits in the seat that is next to her bed. As he sits there, Nick takes her hand and holds it.

“Sierra, baby, I am so sorry that I left you. I knew that I should have stayed,” Nick said to her. “But the doctor said that you are going to be fine, now. And you know what, that news makes me very happy. You know why? I will tell you. It makes me happy because I thought I was going to lose you again. And I didn’t want to lose you. I love you too much to lose you. I want to live and grow old with you, not without you.”

As he says those words, Nick softly beings to sing an acapella version of the song, "With or Without You" from the group, U2.

********************
FROM HERE ON...
THE POINT OF VIEW GOES BACK TO SIERRA’S...

“...thought I was going to lose you again. And I didn’t want to lose you. I love you too much to lose you. I want to live and grow old with you, not without you.”

Those words that Nick said at the end of his speech to me were the ones that I heard as I woke up from what seemed like an endless sleep. I opened my eyes and could see that Nick was sitting next to me singing. I stayed quiet trying to listen to what he was singing and after struggling a bit, I could hear his words, which caused me to start crying.

As Nick finishes the first chorus of the song, I decide to make my presence noticeable as I move my in his hand. This motion caused him to look up to see that I was actually looking at him with tears in my eyes.

“Si? Baby girl?” Nick asked not really sure that I was truly awake.

“H...Hi,” I said not really sure how my voice sounded, but as I said those words, Nick practically jumped up from the seat that he was sitting on.

“Oh my world, I am sorry happy to see your beautiful eyes looking at me,” he said as he sits on the bed easily taking me into his arms.

I gently move my arms and put them around his body. Nick just sits there holding me in his arms. As he holds me, I softly whisper trying to get my words into his ear, but they are against his neck as he holds me so tightly.

“I love you, Nick,” I whisper to him finding that my voice was still a little rough from being asleep.

Nick feeling my breath on his neck realizes that I said something and asks, “What did you say?”

“I said that I love you,” I told him. Nick gets off the bed for a second before leaning close to me. He is really close with his lips almost touching mine.

“I love you, too, baby girl,” Nick says to me before kissing me gently on the lips.

After about twenty minutes, the doctor had come and checked me out telling both Nick and me that it was a miracle that I could be awake so soon. Nick just smiled at me and enveloped me into his arms once again as the doctor left the room. When he finally let me go and looked at me with the biggest smile that I had seen. I had seen a million Carter smiles in my time with Nick, but this was one that I wanted to cherish for the rest of my life. It wasn’t one of his ‘million-dollar Carter’ smiles but it was just a smile that told me that Nick was just happy to see that I was awake and healthy. As Nick stared at me with those big blue eyes, I remembered that I had not gotten to see our babies. In the back of my mind, I remembered that the doctor told Nick and me that the babies were born and that we had a healthy baby boy and girl, but after those words my world went blank and to black. Remembering this caused me to want to see the two of them.

“Nick, how are the twins?” I asked him.

“They are fine, sweets, and actually, they are here,” Nick said getting up from the bed and going over to show me the make-shift nursery that he had put together in the room. After seeing that, I asked him the ultimate question, which made him smile even harder.

“Can I see our babies?” I asked him.

“Of course, baby girl,” he said before getting up and going to get the babies. I watched him as he got up from the bed and hobbled over to the crib that was sitting near the window of the room. I watched as he put his arms into the crib and picked up a beautiful little baby that was wrapped in a blue blanket. From the color of the blanket, I knew that this had to be our son, Nickolas Gabriel.

“Come on, little buddy, your mommy is awake and you are finally going to see her beautiful eyes that I have been telling you about,” Nick told the little baby as he brought him over to the bed.

“He’s so big,” I commented as Nick brought him over to me.

“Yeah, the doctor said that both of them were bigger than he expected them to be. Little Gabe here was almost seven pounds, five ounces,” Nick said as he gently placed our baby boy into my arms.

“Seven pounds?” I asked looking at my baby, who stared up at me with the same blue eyes that I had woken up to.

“Yeah,” Nick said before moving back over to the crib and getting our little girl. Nick leans down and picks up our baby girl into his arms as he continues to talk. “Yeah, and this little sweetie was just a few ounces sigh of her brother.”

“A few ounces?” I asked him.

“Yeah, just a few at seven pounds exactly,” Nick told me.

“Wow, they were big,” I commented to him.

“Yeah,” Nick told me before saying. “Here. Move Gabe to your one arm.”

“Okay?” I said to him as I moved my little boy to my left arm not sure of why Nick asked me to do that until he laid our little girl into my right arm.

“There you go,” Nick said.

“Yes, I finally have my little Gabe and my little Raine,” I told him.

“Yeah. One big, happy family,” Nick said to me.

After he gives them both to me, Nick stands there and watches as I am holding both of them. He could see that tears were beginning to fall down my cheek. As I hold them both in my arms, Nick says, “Si, listen. I am going to go and tell the gang that you are awake. Okay?”

“Okay,” I said to him smiling as I looked up.

“Okay,” Nick said to me before turning and leaving the room.

**********

While letting me continue to hold the babies, Nick goes back to the waiting room, where the gang had been waiting for him to come back. As Nick entered the room, no one was prepared to see the smile that was on his face. Brian, who had been watching the door for Nick to return, was the first to notice Nick standing there.

“Nick?” Brian said a little confused about the smile that was on his friend’s face.

“She’s...she’s awake,” Nick said to Brian.

“What?” Heaven asked him as she heard those words.

“Sierra is awake. She’s sitting up in the bed and holding our babies,” Nick said.

“Nick, are you sure?” Dawn questioned him.

“Of course, I am,” Nick said not believing that these people don’t believe him. “If you don’t believe me, then come with me.”

Nick turned and opened the door holding it open for them. Everyone looked at each other before finally getting up and following Nick as he said, “Come on, guys. I am not holding this door for exercise.”

“Okay, Nick. Let’s go,” Brian said to him.

***********

As Nick lead them back to the room where I was, he noticed through the window that I was still sitting there holding our little babies in my arms. As he opened the door, he could hear that I was humming to them.

“Hey, baby girl, are you ready for some company?” Nick asked me.

“Of course,” I told him. “I mean I haven’t seen our friends for weeks.”

“Okay,” Nick said before holding the door open to show Brian standing behind him with Heaven holding his hand.

“Oh my world, you were telling the truth, Nick,” Heaven said to him.

“What? You guys didn’t believe that I was awake,” I said to them.

“Well, no...no, we didn’t,” my baby sister’s voice said from behind Heaven.

“Dawn?” I asked.

“Sierra!” Dawn said quickly moving around Brian and Heaven, so that she could come over and gently hug me. This gave everyone the cue to come into the room and gently hug me after Dawn actually let me go and breath from her squeezing me.

“Darn, it is so good to see all of you,” I said to them before noticing that someone was missing from the group. I did the one thing that no one thought that I would and asked them, “Where’s Kevin?”

“Uh...he’s...” Nick said not sure of what to say.

“He went home to get some rest,” Alima said to me, but from the way that she said it, I knew that she was lying; yet, I just went with their story.

“Oh okay,” I said to them.

***********

After nearly spending an hour with me, the nurse finally said that everyone had to leave.

“I’m sorry, but visiting hours are over,” the nurse that had been doing rounds said to us.

“Okay,” Brian said. “We were just leaving.”

Everyone tells me ‘good-bye’ and that they will stop by tomorrow before leaving. After this, Nick notices that the babies are asleep and puts them into their crib. I am watching him as he does this and can tell that he is thinking of something, which seems to be truly frustrating him.

“Nick, what’s wrong?” I asked him.

“Nothing...it’s nothing,” he said turning to look at me before coming to sit down in his chair.

“Come on, Nick. I know that it is something. I can tell from how frustrated you are getting,” I told him. “Now, please...talk to me.”

“Fine,” Nick said to me before asking, “Why did you leave that day? Why did you leave the hospital?”

“I...I...” I said not knowing what to say. Noticing my struggling, Nick tells me the ultimate thing.

“Si, I know that Kevin told you to leave,” Nick said to me. Those words caused me to suddenly remember the conversation that Kevin and I had had on the day that I had left the hospital.

*************
FLASHBACK OF THE CAFETERIA SCENE...

“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...

END OF FLASHBACK...
*************

After having that flashback, I tell Nick exactly what he wanted to hear. I knew that telling him what Kevin had said would probably cause Nick to go insane, but I knew that I had to tell him.

“That day, Kevin told me that I was the cause of all of this. He said that you were coming home to me when you got into your accident. He said that you were with me, when you got sick. And it was because of me that you guys had to postpone the album release. He told me that I was the one who - out of all the girls - got myself knocked up. I was the one who got you to marry me. After he told me that, I told him that at that time, I didn’t want to get pregnant and I was the one who didn’t want to get married. I told him that I was plainly going to take care of this myself, but it was you, who came to Toronto and found me,” I told him. “But Kevin told me that he didn’t care what I had to say. He told me to just go! He told me to leave and go back to where I cam from and to leave you alone.”

As I am telling him this, I notice that Nick is getting a little steamed from what I was saying. Noticing this, I tell him: “Nick, no matter what Kevin says I will always love you.”

“I know, baby girl,” Nick tells me. “And Sierra, I will always love her, too.”

“I know, Nick,” I tell him yawning as I repeat my words. “I know.”

“Wow, baby girl, that was some yawn,” he said to me.

“Yeah...I guess I am tired. I thought after being asleep for weeks that I wouldn’t be tired, but I guess not,” I said to him.

“Well, you may think that you would be awake, but your body still needs to rest,” Nick tells me.

“I guess so,” I said to him. “Will you stay with me until I fall asleep?”

“Of course, baby girl,” Nick said. “I won’t leave you.”

“Okay,” I said closing my eyes as Nick pulled the cover around me and kissed me gently before gently singing to me.

**********************
NICK’S PHONE CONVO WITH DAWN...

After watching me fall asleep, Nick decides to call Dawn and ask her to come to the hospital and watch me and the babies for a while.

Hello, Dawn said answering her phone.

“Hey, Dawn, it’s Nick,” Nick said to her.

Nick? What’s going on? Is something wrong with... Dawn said beginning to question her brother-in-law.

“No, nothing’s wrong. I just need to you to come and watch Sierra and the babies for a while,” Nick said to him.

Okay, I can do that, Dawn said to him. But if you want me to come there, when where are you going?

“I have to go and talk to someone,” Nick told him.

Nick, what’s going on? Who are you going to go and talk to? Dawn asked him.

“Fine,” Nick said. “You are just like Sierra sometimes. I always seem to have to answer your questions.”

Thanks for the compliment, Nick, but where are you going? Dawn asked him.

“I’m going to...I’m going to talk to Kevin,” Nick told her.

Kevin? Why are you going to talk to him? Dawn asked him.

“I have to go and talk to him about a few things. But don’t worry, I will be back before Sierra wakes up,” Nick said to her.

Wait a minute. Sierra doesn’t know about this, Dawn said to him.

“No, she doesn’t. And I want to keep it that way until I get back. I am hoping that I can maybe bring someone back with me,” Nick said to her.

Okay, Nick. I will come to the hospital and watch Sierra. But please promise me that you won’t get yourself into anything that you can’t get yourself out of. Remember, you are still an injured man, Dawn said to him.

“I know, girl. I know,” Nick said looking at the air cast that was still on his leg. “And I promise that I won’t get into anything that I can’t get out of.”

Good, Dawn said to him before telling him. I will be there in about twenty minutes.

“Okay, good. And Dawn?” Nick said.

Yeah, Nick, Dawn said to him.

“Thanks,” Nick said to her.

No problem, Nick. You are family now and that’s what families do. They stick together in good times and in bad ones, Dawn said to him.

“I hope that you are right, girl,” Nick tells her before telling Dawn good-bye as they hang up. After hanging up the phone, Nick sat there in the chair watching me sleep as he hoped that he was doing the right thing by talking to Kevin and getting him to come and talk to me.

“Don’t worry, baby girl. I will bring him back here and then we can all start over with a clean slate,” Nick said promising me this as he sat there holding my hand as he waited for Dawn to arrive, so that he could go and hopefully bring into back into his life and the life of his babies the man that he had considered a father figure and an older brother for so long.

About an hour after leaving the hospital when Dawn arrived, Nick pulled his Durango into the long driveway before parking in front of the large white house with dark blue shutters. Nick got out of his Durango picking up the cane and putting it into his left hand before closing the truck door behind him. Nick takes the cane into his right hand before slowly hobbling up to the front door. Nick rings the doorbell knowing that this is where he was since Alima was saying that she was going to visit him there later. Nick stands there a few minutes and rings the doorbell again before hearing footsteps coming to the door and someone shouting, "Hold on. I'm coming."

Nick has his head down as the door opens and the deep voice of the man that he had called his older brother and father for so long asked, "Nick, come on in. What are you doing here? I thought that you would be at the hospital with Sierra."

"I was, but I came here to speak to you," Nick said as he hobbled into the room before following Kevin into the living room after he closed the front door.

"Sure, bro. What is going on?" Kevin says as he sits down on the recliner across from Nick, who is sitting on the couch.

“I wanted to know if I could get an answer about something that’s been bugging me,” Nick said to him.

“Okay,” Kevin said. “If I can help with anything, just ask.”

“Okay,” Nick said before asking the one question that he wanted to hear the answer to from this man. “What happened the day that Si left the hospital?”

“Nick, I...” Kevin begins, but Nick stopped him.

“Listen, Kev. Si told me her part, now I want to know from you,” he said to him.

Kevin tells him about the argument that they had as the scene plays over in his head.

*****************
KEVIN’S FLASHBACK...

“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,” he told her.

“Kevin, what are you talking about? How is this all my fault?” she 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...” he started to say, but she 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,” she told him.

“I don’t care what you have to say. Just go!” Kevin tells her before starting to yell, which caused most of the people in the cafeteria to look at them. “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,” she had said to him.

END OF KEVIN’S THOUGHTS...
*************

“...and no one heard or knew about what I had told her because we were in the cafeteria,” Kevin tells him before saying, “Nick, I am so sorry about the whole thing. I know that I was acting like a jerk, but was just trying to look out for your well-being. But I guess from what happened at the hospital and how Sierra told me that ‘no matter what she would always love you’, I somehow knew that she truly does love you.”

“It is okay, Kevin. You don't have to apologize to me, but to Sierra,” Nick tells him.

“But I don’t know how,” Kevin tells him.

“Just tell her what you told me and she will understand,” Nick said to him.

“Okay,” Kevin said about ready to stand up as he said. “Let’s go and talk to...”

“No, Kev, wait,” Nick said stopping him as he said. “There’s something else that I need you to help me with.”

“What’s that, Nick?” Kevin said honored that Nick was asking him to help him with something.

“Well, after we were on MTV that day to tell about the wedding and the babies, Sierra’s father had disowned her. And I was hoping that you could...” Nick says before Kevin finishes.

“Help to get Sierra’s father to talk to her,” Kevin tells him.

“Yeah,” Nick said to him.

“I don’t know what I can do, but I can try,” Kevin said as he agrees.

“Okay,” Nick said to him.

“Do you have their number?” Kevin asked him.

“You want to do this, now,” Nick questioned.

“Now is the best time, Nick. I mean if we don’t do this now, she may never be able to talk to her parents ever again,” Kevin told him.

“You’re right,” Nick says as he gives him the number.

*****************
KEVIN’S CONVO WITH SIERRA’S MOTHER

Hello, a female voice said from the other side of the phone.

“Hello. May I speak to Linda Carpenter please?” Kevin said asking for my mother.

This is she, my mother told him.

“Mrs. Carpenter, this is Kevin Richardson. I am a friend of Nick Carter and your daughter, Sierra,” Kevin told her.

Hello, Mr. Richardson. How can I help you? she said to him.

“Well, Mrs. Carpenter, I was hoping that you could get your husband to come to Florida and meet Nick and your grandbabies,”

My grandbabies? my mother said not knowing that I had had twins.

“Yes, grandbabies. Your daughter and Nick have a little boy and a little girl,” Kevin said to him.

Oh my, my mother said. I’m sorry, Mr. Richardson, but I don’t think that I could get my husband to come with me.

“Well, maybe I can talk to him about your daughter,” Kevin suggested.

I’m sorry, but Jim’s not here right now, she told him.

“Well, Mrs. Carpenter, I am calling on behalf of Nick, who is standing right next to me. And he said that if it was possible that you would bring your husband to Florida that he would have the tickets ready for you,” Kevin said to her.

I’m really not sure if I can talk him into doing this, but I am sure that I would be able to come, my mother said giving in a little.

“Well, that would be wonderful,” Kevin said before telling her. “If you would like to know, Mrs. Carpenter, your daughter would really like to see both you and your husband.”

I know that, Mr. Richardson, but Jim is a very stubborn man when it comes to these things, my mother told him.

“Stubborn? That reminds me of someone else that I know,” Kevin said looking at Nick, who just smiled at him knowing that he was talking about me.

Well, Mr. Richardson, I will do my best to get him to come with me, but that is no guarantee that he will come with me, my mother told him.

“Well, Mrs. Carpenter, if you need any assistance at all, you have Nick’s and my numbers. You can call us at any time and we can see if we can help,” Kevin told her.

Thank you very much, Mr. Richardson, my mother said.

“You’re welcome, Mrs. Carpenter,” he said to her before the two of them hung up the phone with a ‘good-bye’ knowing that it was up to my mother to get my father to come and see me.

*********

After speaking to my mother, Nick brings Kevin to the hospital and into the room. I become a little “worried” about the whole deal of Kevin being in the room, but my worries are silence after Nick tells me, “Don’t worry, baby girl. Kevin and I have talked. And he wants to talk with you.”

“Oh,” I said to him.

“Now, will you talk with him?” he asked.

“I guess,” I told him.

“Good,” Nick said before turning to leave.

“Nick, where are you going?” I asked him.

“While you talk to Kevin, I am going to go and talk to the doctor. I am going to see when I can get you home,” Nick explained.

“Nick, I...” I began, but Nick stopped me by saying.

“Don’t worry, baby girl. Everything’s going to be fine,” he told me before leaving the room. As Nick left the room, there was silence between Kevin and me as I look out the window, while Kevin sits on the chair that Nick had used during his whole visual of me. The silence was broken as Kevin spoke.

“Sierra, will you listen to me?” Kevin said to me causing me to look at him.

“I guess,” I told him.

“Okay,” Kevin said before continuing as he said, “I am so sorry about this whole thing. I know that I was acting like a jerk, but was just trying to look out for Nick’s well-being. But I guess from what happened and how you told me that no matter what you would always love Nick. With those words, I somehow knew that you truly do love him and would never hurt him.”

“But you decided to hurt me instead,” I told him. “Instead of protecting Nick, you hurt both him and me.”

“I know that, Sierra. And I am truly sorry,” Kevin told me. “I don’t know any other ways of saying sorry and I was hoping that talking to you would help you to forgive me.”

“Forgive you? Kevin, I forgave you months ago, but you never listened to me. All you did was continue trying to protect a boy that has grown up into a man in front of you,” I said causing Kevin to look at me. “That’s right, Kevin. Nick is grown up and now, he is a father. All this time, Nick has looked at you as a father figure and what do you do? You don’t only hurt the one person that he has fallen in love with, but also the friendship and brotherhood that he has cherished for such a long time.”

“Wow, I never thought of it that way,” the older man told me.

“Most people don’t think of it that way, but Nick has grown up. He’s a grown man that has two kids that he wants all of his friends to know and love,” I told him.

“Well...if you want to know...I do want to get to know and to love those two babies,” Kevin told me.

“I know you do, Kev,” I told him before asking, “Now, are you going to just sit there or are you going to give me a hug?”

As I asked him that question, Kevin looked at me for a few minutes before getting up and hugging me as he said to me, “I’m so sorry, girl.”

“I know, Kev. I know,” I told him before letting him go.

“Can I tell you something, Si?” Kevin said to me as he sat back down.

“Of course, Kev,” I said to him.

“You know that I have not gotten to see the twins,” Kevin told me.

“Well, we can solve that,” Nick’s voice says from the door. The two of us look up to see that Nick is standing in the doorway.

“Nick?” I said to him.

“Don’t worry, baby girl. I wasn’t listening,” Nick said to me before explaining, “I got to the door as you two were hugging and I heard Kevin ask to Gabe and Raine.”

“Oh okay,” I said to him before Nick hobbles over to the crib that was sitting near the window of the room. Kevin and I watched as he put his arms into the crib and picked up a beautiful little baby that was wrapped in a blue blanket. From the color of the blanket, Kevin knew that this had to be Nick and my son, Nickolas Gabriel.

“Come on, little buddy, you get to meet your uncle Kevin,” Nick told the little baby as he brought him over to Kevin.

“He’s so big,” Kevin commented as Nick brought him over to him.

“Yeah, little Gabe here was almost seven pounds, five ounces,” Nick said as he gently placed our baby boy into his arms.

“Seven pounds?” Kevin asked looking at the baby, who stared up at me with the same blue eyes as Nick.

“Yeah,” Nick said before moving back over to the crib and getting our little girl. Nick leans down and picks up our baby girl into his arms as he continues to talk. “Yeah, and this little sweetie was just a few ounces sigh of her brother.”

“A few ounces?” Kevin asked him.

“Yeah, just a few at seven pounds exactly,” Nick told me.

“Wow, they were big,” Kevin commented to him.

“Yeah,” I told me.

“Kev, move Gabe to your one arm,” Nick said to him.

“Are you sure about this?” Kevin asked him.

“Yeah,” Nick said as Kev moved the little boy to his left arm before Nick laid our little girl into his right arm.

“There you go,” Nick said.

“Wow, they are very beautiful,” Kevin said to us.

“Yeah,” Nick said to him as he sat on the edge of the bed next to me watching as Kevin held our little babies. But nothing prepared Nick or Kevin for the next thing that came out of my mouth.

“Be their godfather?” I said to Kevin.

“Who? Me?” Kevin asked.

“Well, Nick really can’t be there godfather, so yes, I am talking to you,” I told him.

“Are you sure?” Kevin asked me.

“Yes, I am sure,” I told him.

“Wow. I never thought that you would ask me something like that,” Kevin said to us.

“Well, if you don’t want the job, then we...” I said to him, but Kevin stopped me.

“No, no. I will do it. I would love to be their godfather,” Kevin told me. And with those words, I knew that Kevin and my relationship had truly finally gone from enemies to friends. But my biggest question was would my babies ever get to know their maternal grandparents? I guess only God knew the true answer to that question, but for now, I knew that until then, that my babies would have a godfather that would care for them from now until the end of time.

*********
A FEW WEEKS LATER...MTV STUDIOS...
MARCH 9, 2003...

“As everyone remembers back in January of this year, Backstreet Boy Nick Carter was involved in a serious car accident that hospitalized him. Well, most everyone doesn’t know that a few days before Nick was to be released, his wife, Sierra, was hospitalized with complications of her pregnancy, which seems to have caused her to go into a coma. But a nearly a month ago, Sierra came out of the coma and now, nearly two weeks after being released from the hospital, we here at MTV and TRL have four special guests,” Carson Daly said as he was hosting TOTAL REQUEST LIVE. “Please welcome Backstreet Boy Nick Carter, his wife Sierra, and their twins.”

Nick and I walked out of the back with Nick carrying Gabe as I carried Raine. Nick led us to the stage, where Carson was standing. Nick and I carefully shook Carson’s hand before he motioned for us to sit down on the two chairs that were facing the other chair.

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

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

“Yeah,” I said to him.

“Well, it seems as if we need some introductions,” Carson said to Nick and me. “Who are these two little cuties?”

“Well, this big boy right here is our son, Nickolas Gabriel,” Nick said as the audience began to ‘awe’.

“And this little girl is our daughter, Celestial Raine,” I told him.

“Wow, strong names,” Carson told us. “How did you come up with those names?”

“Well, Brian helped me to come up with Gabriel, and Brian’s girlfriend, Heaven, helped us come up with Celestial to go with Raine,” Nick explained to him.

“That’s cool how you got the others involved,” Carson said to us before saying. “Now, Nick, could you or Sierra please explain to the audience about the circumstances of Sierra’s hospitalization?”

“Well, Carson, in the beginning of her pregnancy, Sierra was diagnosed with preeclampsia,” Nick explained.

“And what is preeclampsia?” Carson questioned.

“Well, preeclampsia can cause a pregnant woman’s 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, which happened with us. Actually, the doctors were surprised to find that both Gabe and Raine weighed more than seven pounds,” Nick explained to him.

“Seven pounds? That’s a good size,” Carson said.

“Yes, it is,” Nick explained.

“And was the preeclampsia the cause of your hospitalization, Sierra?” Carson asked me.

“Yes, it was. My hospitalization was caused by complications from eclamptic seizures,” I told him.

“Eww, that sounds bad,” Carson said.

“Yeah, it was,” Nick told him.

“But Nick, I think that you have something special for your wife,” Carson said causing me to looking at Nick.

“Something special?” I asked.

“Yeah,” Nick said before saying, “Well, first, if I may, I would like to bring out some special guests. If that’s okay, Carson?”

“Of course,” Carson said.

“You can come out, now,” Nick said as my mom and my dad come out from the back, where Nick and I had entered. I was so happy to see, but the thing that made me happier was the fact that my father came over to me and hugged me.

“I am so sorry, baby,” my dad told me.

“It’s okay, daddy,” I told him before he tell me.

“I will always love you and I wanted to tell you that I was just afraid of losing my baby girl,” my dad said to me.

“Don’t worry, daddy,” I told him. “You will never lose me.”

“Awwww, that’s so wonderful,” Carson said before saying, “Nick, you said that you had something else to do or say.”

“Yes, Carson, I do,” Nick said before handing Gabe to my mother, who had sat down in Nick’s chair. Nick grabs into his pocket and pulls out a shiny round object before doing something that I never thought he would do. Nick got down on one knee in front of me and took a hold of my hand as he spoke to me.

“Sierra, in front of everyone here, I want to tell you that I love you more than anything else in this world. I will always love you and I want to know if you would do something for me,” Nick asks me.

“Anything,” I told him.

“Marry me?” Nick said to me. “Sierra Nicole Carpenter-Carter, in front of everyone in the world, I am asking you to marry me again.”

“Oh my...” I said looking at Nick with tears as he showed me a ring that had three diamonds on it.

“Will you?” Nick asked me.

“Yes,” I told him. “Yes! A thousand ‘yes’s’.”

As I told him this, Nick put the ring on my finger before kissing me like there was no tomorrow, but for us there was a tomorrow, the next day, and forever. But for the simple fact that Nick had done this proposal on TV, it seems as if this was an invitation to show the entire world our love as MTV offered to host a ‘televised’ wedding for us. A little worried about this, Nick agreed to this after persuading me a bit as he told me that this was our way of showing the world and my parents that nothing and no one would ever break us apart.

************
NICK AND MY TELEVISED WEDDING
TWO MONTHS LATER...MAY 11, 2003...

St. Thomas Catholic Church in downtown Tampa Bay was almost already filled with massive amounts of people as our ushers, who happened to be Brian's brother, Harold, and Kevin’s brothers, Jerald and Tim Richardson, continued to seat people in their respective places. As the three of them were doing this, two songs that I loved by a new artist were playing. The songs were “Magic of Love” by Lionel Ritchie and Russell Watson, plus “I Just Don't Know How I Got By” by Russell Watson. Up in the balcony, the news crew for MTV were set-up taping the ceremony for their live broadcast of our wedding. Dave Holmes and Carson Daly were among the crowd chatting with people as they entered the church. Chris Connelly and Suchin Pak are among the people inside, talking with them, while John Norris and Kurt Loader were up in the balcony hosting the show for MTV before the ceremony was finally going to start.

“...Welcome back to our special coverage of the wedding ceremony of Backstreet Boy Nick Carter and his fiancée, Sierra Carpenter. Right now, we will take it to the floor for the start of the ceremony,” John Norris said as the camera angle moves to the floor camera to show the processional of special people being seated. The special music to accompany the processional of special guests and the bridal party is THE PRAYER sung by Russell Watson and Lulu.

Harold Littrell, Jerald Richardson, and Tim Richardson each light the candelabras that are in the front of the church before proceeding down to the aisle, where they are to escort the special guests. Harold is the first to walk down the aisle with Helen Jean Neal, who is Nick’s maternal grandmother. Jerald is the next to walk down the aisle with Lisa Spaulding followed by Doug Spaulding, who are Nick’s maternal grandfather and step-grandmother. Next, Tim walks down the aisle with Barbara Carter followed by Charles "Chuck" Carter, Nick’s parental grandparents. Harold comes back up the aisle with Shirley and Burt Carpenter, who are my paternal grandparents. After them, Harold comes back up the aisle with Linda Carpenter, who is my mother. Finally, Jerald comes back up the aisle with Jane Carter, Nick’s mother, followed by his father, Bob Carter.

After each of them are seated, the Minister and Nick enter from the side and proceed to the front. After they enter, Howie Dorough and Aphrodesia McCarthy enter and proceeds to the front, followed by Brian Littrell and Heaven Leigh Snow, who are followed by Kevin Richardson and Alima Speaks. After the three pairs come down the aisle, Nick and my Best Man and Maid of Honor, who are AJ McLean and Gwenyth Dawn Carpenter, follow them. After two of them go, next to follow them is Nick’s little brother, Aaron Carter, who is our Ring Bearer. After he enters, he is proceeded by Nick’s little sister, Angel Carter, who is our flower girl. The two of them sit down next to Nick’s parents, who are sitting with Nick and my twins in front of them. As they reach the front, Jerald and Tim go to the end of the aisle and begin to unroll the aisle runner before the minister announces.

"Would the congregation please rise for the arrival of the bride?" the minister said to them.

The congregation rises as the processional music, which is the Traditional Wedding March from “Lohengrin” by Wagner begins to play. Two of the Boys’ bodyguards, Andre and Billy, open the big doors at the end church which were closed at the end of the bridal party procession. The doors opens to reveal me in my wedding dress, which is an ivory A-line dress with a beautiful tiara in my hair, which has been pinned up. I am being escorted down the aisle towards Nick by my father, Jim Carpenter. The two of us proceed down to the front until we get to the front row of pews, where we are met by Nick. My dad puts my hand into Nick's before whispering to Nick, “Take good care of my baby girl.”

“I will, sir,” Nick said to him before the two of us proceed to our spot in front of our minister.

“Please be seated,” the minister said before beginning the 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.”

“Amen,” the congregation said before the minister looked 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.

“Next, Nick and Sierra have requested that now I ask Aaron Carter to come to the front to recite a poem called I LOVE YOU by Roy Croft,”

Aaron, who was sitting down next to Nick and his family, stood up and came to the microphone before beginning, “I love you, not only for what you are, but for what I am when I am with you. I love you, not only for what you have made of yourself, but for what you are making of me. I love you, for the part of me that you bring out. I love you, for putting your hand into my heaped-up heart, and passing over all the foolish, weak things that you can’t help dimly seeing there, and for drawing out, into the light, all the beautiful belongings that no one else had looked quite far enough to find. I love you, because you are helping me to make of the lumber of my life, not a tavern, but a temple. Out of the works of my every day, not a reproach, but a song. I love you, because you have done more than any creed could have done to make me good, and more than any fate could have done to make me happy. You have done it without a touch, without a word, without a sign. You have done it by being yourself. Perhaps that is what being a friend means, after all.”

“Before we get to their vows, there is one special thing for the ceremony that we must do. Nick has asked to sing a song that he wrote for his bride-to-be, Sierra. Nick?” the minister said before handing Nick the microphone.

“Si, baby, this one is for you,” Nick said to me before the music to ‘I GOT YOU’ started to play.

“Thank you. 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 Florida, the city of Tampa, 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.

As he says this, Nick and I turn to the crowd, who are all now standing on their feet applauding us. The organist begins to play "The Wedding March", from Mendelssohn's "A Midsummer Night's Dream", which is the traditional recessional music. As the music begins to play, Nick and I begin to walk back down the aisle with my arm wrapped around his ready to finally begin our life together once again as a happy and healthy married couple.

And so with the ending of the beginning of this tale, Nick and I began our lives with the utmost happiness and the utmost love for one another. And what had once begun as a marriage of convenience had turned into one of true love between a pair of star-crossed people that were probably - in many ways -never meant to be together. But as the words of the vow of marriage say, “What God has put together, let no one put asunder!” So, from now until the day that my family and friends would put me in six feet under the ground would I love the man that I had come to call my best friend, my lover, my companion, and in front of the entire world, my husband –- NICKOLAS GENE CARTER.

1. WITH OR WITHOUT YOU - U2
2. DON'T TAKE THE GIRL - Tim McGraw
3. WHO NEEDS THE WORLD - Nick Carter
4. I GOT YOU - Nick Carter

WEBSITES

HOMEPAGE
MARRIAGE - PART ONE
MARRIAGE - PART TWO