Love Menagerie: Chapter 14: Life Means So Much

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Freddy looked up from the TV as Brittany walked into the family room the next morning, her hair in braided pigtails, overalls rolled up to her calves, and barefoot. Her barely protruding stomach was unseen underneath her outfit. Freddy couldn't help but smile as she plopped herself down in the chair across from the couch where he was lounging. In all the years he'd known her she had never been up, yet alone dressed and ready, early, unless she had somewhere she had to go. Freddy looked down at his boxers and T-shirt and back up to Brittany, who was now bent over, putting on her tennis shoes.

"Um, Britt," Freddy hesitated as Brittany looked up at him, waiting for him to continue with his query, "... it's Saturday."

Brittany rolled her eyes and though she'd been mad at him the night before, looking at him now she couldn't stop herself from smiling. "I'm going shopping," she shrugged as she stood and grabbed her purse and keys from the coffee table.

Freddy laughed and watched as she stood in the middle of the room, watching what was on the television screen. "At eight in the morning ... on a Saturday?"

"Well ... I'm not going clothing shopping. I wanted to go look at baby stuff and maybe start ordering things for a nursery. I want to put one together before I get big. Plus ... I don't wanna hang around here all day, gettin' annoyed with Nick and Sarah."

Freddy sat silently for a moment, thinking about what she'd said about shopping. Lounging around the house all day suddenly didn't sound very appealing. "Baby ... shopping?"

Brittany was intrigued by how interested he sounded. "Yeahhhh," she drawled with a smile, wondering why he was acting so funny.

Freddy paused for a minute before standing from the couch and turning the TV off. "Think I could maybe come with you if I get ready really fast?"

Brittany stood, shocked. She knew Freddy had taken the news of her carrying his child well, but she hadn't expected him to want to go shopping with her for baby stuff. "Um,... yeah," she agreed with a smile, "just hurry up. I wanna be out of here before the 'other two' wake up."

Freddy laughed and rolled his eyes, "Why are you avoiding them?"

Brittany shrugged before leaving the room.

"Oookkay," he mumbled as a smile quickly spread across his face. He didn't understand it, but the more time that he spent with her, the more he never wanted to leave again. With her pregnant with their child, a week suddenly didn't seem like enough.

Maybe she'll come out on the road with me, he thought as he made his way into his bathroom to get ready.

And suddenly the thought that had miraculously never occurred to him before did. What would happen on off-seasons? Freddy lived in Venezuela still; Brittany lived in Florida; and their child would of course live with her. What had he gotten himself into? He didn't have the life for a kid ... and yet, he knew there was no way he could leave Brittany and his son. He just didn't have it in him. He loved them.

Nick

Nick groaned as he sat up in unfamiliar surroundings. It took him a while to remember where he was as his eyes tried to adjust to the morning sunshine coming in through the large bay windows. He stood up from the bed, running his fingers through his hair and looking around the bedroom.

How am I gonna get through to Sarah? Nick thought as he made his way into the bathroom to get ready for the day. His bedhead probably wouldn't make her swoon for him. Although with how mad she was with him, what would?

Sarah

Sarah put the remaining eggs back into the fridge and grabbed a carton of orange juice. If Nick was going to be staying with them, she was going to show him exactly the type of woman he was missing. Wonderful breakfasts and all. Maybe it was immature to rub his losses in his face, but Sarah didn't care. In her opinion, he deserved it. He'd used her and when she'd called him on it, he'd gotten mad at her. She'd been so blinded by him and his charm that it had taken her a while to see how much of a jerk he really was. And yet, she couldn't help but look to the kitchen door every few minutes, waiting for him to walk through it. As mad as she was with him, as much as he'd hurt her, as sick as he made her feel, he still made her tremble just by walking into a room.

Sarah groaned as she thought of him, wishing she didn't have such an incredibly weak spot for Nick Carter.

Freddy/Brittany

"What about this?"

"What if it's not a boy?"

"Hey," Freddy pointed at her, tossing the baby-sized baseball jersey back into the bin of clothes, "I'm not likin' that attitude from you, missy. Even my daughter will like baseball, got that?"

Brittany tried not to laugh, knowing that Freddy was being completely serious. It was important for Freddy that his children appreciate sports as much as he did. She had no doubt that at least one of their children would love sports, since both of them were such avid fans.

Wait a minute, Brittany thought, her eyes widening. Did I just think 'one of our children'? She was not planning on having more with Freddy!

"What's wrong?" Freddy asked when he noticed Brittany had stopped in the middle of the aisle. "What is wrong with you??"

"Huh?" Brittany's head snapped up in attention. How long had she been standing there? "What? Sorry. Nothing. Nothing's wrong. C'mmon, let's check out ... I just want this," she held up a cute bib she'd found.

"Were there any more of those?" Freddy asked, deciding to just ignore the fact that she'd completely spaced out for a full five minutes.

"Yeah," Brittany walked back to the last aisle and grabbed another one, bringing it back to him. "Why? There another baby out there that you're buying things for?"

Freddy rolled his eyes with a dry laugh, "Funny. No. I just thought that maybe ... we should ..." he paused, "... you know, buy doubles of everything."

"What?! Doubles of everything? Why?"

"Well, y'know ... maybe not everything."

"Spill, Fred. What's in your head?"

"Well, you have a house here ... I got the house in Baruta."

"Excuse me?!" Brittany shrieked, her eyes as wide as saucers. "You think you're just gonna carry our baby off to Venezuela and I'm just supposed to take that piece of information lightly? Is that just a side thought to you? An 'oh by the way'?"

Freddy sighed and couldn't help but roll his eyes. As much as he loved her, she really could jump to conclusions. He hadn't said he was going to cart the baby off to another country. He wanted to laugh and scream at her, all at the same time. He took a deep breath. "Brittany, I never said I was taking the baby. If he or she were to come stay with me, you would come too. But if you don't want that, fine. But what am I supposed to do? Never see my child? Move to Florida? Venezuela is where I live. I play baseball in the U.S.; I don't live here. If it weren't for you and our circumstances, I wouldn't even be here right now. I'm here for you! I'm here for our child!"

They were silent. Brittany stood there in a stunned quietude as Freddy stood before her, waiting for a response. Without a word, Brittany walked from the baby store, putting the bib down on her way out. Freddy found her sitting on a bench in the mall, her eyes clouded with tears. She looked up at him as he sat down beside her.

"Gosh, Britt, I didn't mean to make you cry," Freddy said as he wrapped his arms around her shoulders and pulled her against him.

"What am I supposed to do, Fred?" Brittany whispered.

Freddy sighed. She looked as lost as he felt. "I don't know! That's the problem ... I don't know."

Brittany slumped against the back of the bench, her head falling onto his shoulder. Once again they fell back into a silent trance, both discouraged and worried. But Freddy couldn't help but smile when Brittany subconsciously laid her hands protectively over her stomach. And that's when he realized it: They had nothing to worry about. All that mattered was their unborn child. They'd figure everything out when they needed to. For now, all they needed to think about was their baby.

Nick/Sarah

Sarah tried not to look at him as he walked into the kitchen, dressed and ready for the day. Gosh, he looked good and it was hard for her to stop herself from staring. She knew he'd done it on purpose. He'd made himself look incredible to weaken her stubbornness. Well, it would NOT work. She wasn't going to give in. Not now. Nick would have to work harder than taking a shower and gelling his hair for her forgiveness.

Nick silently watched her as he got a glass down for some juice. He recognized the difficulty she was having trying to ignore him. He was glad that Derek had shown him where everything was the night before, so he didn't have to ask Sarah for a glass and juice. Last night had told Sarah his feelings. Today he was going a different route ... play it cool, look good, act sweet ... don't show weakness.

So both of them were as stubborn as oxen ... both were refusing to show how meaningless their lives were without the other. Nick wasn't going to grovel; Sarah wasn't going to give in. So they stood there, their pride controlling their relationship, or lack thereof.

They just stood there. Sarah going for the cheese and Nick for the juice. Their shoulders touching, their eyes locked, their hands touching, their hearts stopped.

"Here," Nick broke their daze, refusing to be subject to the ungodly power that her eyes held. He handed the block of cheese to her, before grabbing the carton of apple juice for himself.

"Thanks," Sarah mumbled, going back to the giant breakfast of scrambled eggs, pancakes, bacon, sausage, toast, and fruit that she was cooking. She hoped Freddy and Brittany would hurry up and return home. She wanted Nick to taste her food, but she didn't want to serve it to HIM. If all of them were there, it wouldn't look like she was serving him breakfast. Her savior came in the form of Brittany's brother.

Derek walked into the kitchen, immediately sensing the thick tension and wishing he'd stayed upstairs a bit longer. "Hey, guys. What's goin' on?" Derek asked, attempting to sound casual. "Where's Brittany and Freddy?"

"I dunno," Sarah smiled, deciding to act as friendly as possible with Derek, when Nick was present. "They were gone when I woke up."

"Brittany said something yesterday about wanting to go shopping for baby stuff. Think Freddy would actually go with her?"

Sarah shrugged, "Guess we'll wait and see when they get back. Should we eat breakfast now or see if they come home soon?"

"Now," Derek rubbed his stomach to indicate just how hungry he was. "They could be forever. You know how Brittany is when shopping."

~ * ~

"Backstreet's back, alright!" Brittany shouted out as she and Freddy walked into the living room, two hours later, to find Sarah, Derek, and Nick sitting around the room, watching the television intently.

Nick looked away from the moving and gave Brittany a strange look. The night before, she'd been yelling at him, and less than twenty-four hours later she was singing his songs and smiling like a drunk idiot? My gosh, he never would have guessed that a day shopping with Freddy could be so therapeutic.

"Hey, Mr. DJ!" Brittany chirped with a wide grin as she abruptly took a seat next to Nick on the floor. "How're you doin', my dear? By the way, sorry for my behavior yesterday. I'm sure your intentions were all good."

Brittany was talking a mile a minute and Nick was so confused, not understanding the complete change in her mood. What was with pregnant women anyway?

Freddy cleared his throat loudly from the living room doorway. He motioned to the now evacuated couch as he caught their attention. Sarah had left and most likely due to the fact that Brittany had come galloping into the house with Backstreet Boys tunes on her lips and apologies to Nick Carter.

Brittany sighed and stood to make things right with her friend, when Nick grabbed her arm to stop her from going. He stood and took a deep breath, "Let me go."