"You know, you're really good with two year-olds. Same maturity level I guess," I said laughing as I spoon fed Charlie the last of his Cheerios.
Brian stuck his tongue out at me then whispered something in Mindie's ear.
"Poopie head," Mindie said, then her and Brian burst into yet another fit of giggles. I rolled my eyes, then got up to wash the breakfast dishes.
"I thought you were supposed to be helping me, which does not include teaching my babies to insult me," I said to him as I put the bowls in the dishwasher.
Brian whispered something else in her ear. Then she walked over to me, giving me a hug and a kiss and then said, "You're pwetty," in her cute little voice.
I looked at Brian and then blushed, before giving her a kiss and telling her she was precious.
"Hey!" Brian objected. "I told her to say it, how come I don't get a kiss?"
"How about a simple thank you?" I said smiling then turned around to put the remaining dishes in the dishwasher. I was startled when Brian actually came over and scooped me up into his arms and then whispered,
"I'd much rather get a kiss," before planting a long and sweet kiss on my lips. It always surprised me how absolutely irresistible he was.
"Me too! Me too!" was heard at our feet, as the twins implied they wanted
Brian to pick them up as well. We laughed and then Brian gently put me down.
"You too, huh?" he asked them before he scooped them up and ran up the stairs with them to the playroom as they howled with laughter. I chuckled to myself as I wiped off the counters and put away the placemats. I was fixing to follow the wild bunch upstairs when the phone rang.
"Hello?" I answered.
"Hello, may I speak to Brian, please?" I froze. How could I not recognize that sickeningly sugary sweet voice?
"Leigh Anne?" I asked coldly. "Is this you?"
"Oh hello, Maggie! How are you? It's so good to hear your voice! I haven't seen you in a while!" she said, obviously faking kindness. I smugly thought to myself that she wasn't half the actress she thought she was.
"I'm good. And you?" I replied with clenched teeth. I wasn't going to put on the friendly act- she knew I didn't trust her and didn't much care for her, so there was no reason to hide it.
"Just fine, thanks. We just wrapped the movie so I've actually got some free time on my hands now. You wouldn't believe how busy Hollywood life can get!" she said cheerily. I'd had enough so I cut to the point.
"So why are you calling Brian here?" I inquired in an icy tone.
"Well, I wanted to ask him a few things about the soundtrack to my movie. He's producing it, you know. I just had a few suggestions and what not that I thought we could discuss over lunch. He gave me this number to reach him. So can I speak to him now?" My eyes clouded over. She knew perfectly well that I knew nothing about Brian and her working together on the soundtrack to her stupid new movie, and she also knew perfectly well the last thing I wanted to do was learn this from her. Of course that was her intention, since she had innocently called where I work, the line she knew I'd answer, instead of just calling his cell phone.
"Um, yeah, sure. Hold on," I said. In a daze, I walked up the stairs to the playroom. Brian was watching Blues Clues with the kids and seemed to be enjoying the show more than Mindie and Charlie. "Brian, telephone. Downstairs," I said, not looking at him. He looked at me, obviously noticing the look on my face, and knew instantly who had just called.
"Um, ok," he said sheepishly, before heading downstairs to get the phone.
I sat down on the couch across from the twins, blankly staring at the screen.
'Why didn't he tell me he was working with Leigh Anne?' I wondered. 'Of course, I know why he didn't tell me. He knew how upset I'd be. But you'd think he'd know how much more upset I'd be finding out from the so called Hollywood starlet herself.' I thought to myself. Just the thought of them spending more than 5 minutes together made my stomach turn.
Back when Brian and I had just become a couple, Leigh Anne had tried every twisted scheme she could come up with to win Brian back. One time she had sweet talked him into going to a big fundraiser dinner with her, and I had told myself I wasn't going to be a jealous and possessive girlfriend so I told him he should go with her. I guess I was also trying to convince myself that she had only good intentions of being friends with him. Now I laugh at my naivete. How could a pouty, self-centered, blond vixen have good intentions when she'd been dumped by the love of her life for someone else?
Well as it turns out, at the dinner there were thousands of people from the press there, since there were so many big names present. The next day I was grocery shopping and nearly fainted when I saw Brian and Leigh Anne kissing on the front of Star magazine, with a headline below it that read, "Backstreet Boy and Leigh Anne Wallace Reunited!" But
Brian explained the whole thing calmly, telling me how she had waited till just the right moment during an interview in front of several photographers to plant a kiss on his unsuspecting lips. I would have just left him then and there after that incident, for fear of having to put up with a brooding Leigh Anne for the rest of our relationship, had I not seen the honesty in his eyes. I knew I could trust him. And I knew that Leigh Anne or not, I could never leave him because I loved him too much.
All these events and feelings rolled around in my head until Brian came back upstairs. He walked over and sat next to me on the couch.
"I'm sorry," he said. He knew I was upset about him not telling me about the soundtrack. "I didn't know how to tell you. I know how you feel about Leigh Anne and I guess I was just spending too much time trying to come up with a way to tell you gently, and she beat me to it."
"I believe that was her goal," I muttered looking at my hands.
"Maggie, look at me," he said tilting my chin up with his finger so that I was looking into his bright blue eyes. "I'm sorry. Don't worry about this. I love you, she won't come between us. We're too close," he assured me as he brushed a tendril of my strawberry blond hair out of my eyes.
"But what if she does, Brian. I don't know how I'd handle if I lost you to that leggy, silicon supported blond," I said, avoiding his eyes.
"Maggie, why are you so worried about her? You trust me don't you?" he asked me, concerned.
"Of course, you know I do. I just don't trust her. For reasons that explain themselves. It's just that sometimes I wonder if when you see her, all those old feelings come back, and you start to miss what you had and regret what you have," I mumbled, still avoiding his eyes.
"You mean you? If I really missed her and regretted being with you, don't you think I would have left a long time ago? Why would I stay this long if I didn't think you were so compassionate, kind, gentle, and more beautiful that any leggy, silicon supported blond would ever be?" he asked me smiling.
"I just don't want to lose you," I replied quietly, looking at him with tears forming in my eyes.
"Maggie, I love you too much. It would kill me if I lost you," he said, pulling me close into his arms and brushing away the tears spilling down my cheeks.
"Thank you," I whispered, kissing him lovingly. "I love you so much." We kissed again, then realized we were being watched. Apparently, Blue's Clues had ended and now Brian and I were the main attraction. We pulled away laughing. "Ok, kids, who wants to go play outside?" I asked them.
"ME! ME! ME!" They yelled excitedly, jumping up and down. They ran down the hall to their room to find their shoes to go outside.
"Hey, I gotta go meet some other producers about the soundtrack. I'm sorry," he said apologetically.
"It's ok. I give you permission," I laughed. He pulled me in for a tight hug and kissed me on top of my head.
"Thanks, love. I'll call ya later," he said before leaving. I sighed. I felt a lot better about the whole soundtrack deal now that Brian and I had talked about it. But I still couldn't help but wonder why Leigh Anne really wanted Brian to work with her, and what exactly was she up to?
