Should'a been born on the Milky Way Don't wanna belong to the world today Ohh, life's a bitch and then ya die! Should'a been born on the Milky Way I can't believe what I heard today Oh, yeah, life's a bitch and then ya die!
-Life's A Bitch, by Shooter (CD: Dawson's Creek soundtrack)
Kindlin thought he was going to faint. His face was white - well, it was always white, but it was whiter than normal.
Nick slowly eased himself down into a chair and then all hell broke loose. "HOW THE HELL COULD YOU NOT TELL ME THIS?! ALL ALONG, I THOUGHT YOU SOMEHOW WENT OUT AND F*CKED SOME OTHER GUY AND THAT YOU WERE PREGNANT WITH HIS KID! BUT IT'S MINE?! KINDLIN, THAT IS REALLY LOW OF YOU, NOT TO TELL ME!"
Kin's eyes were wide with shock. Wow, did that man have a set of lungs, or what! "Nick... I... don't know what to say."
"You don't know what to say??" Nick's eyes watered over and his bottom lip trembled ever so slightly. "Kin, that's my baby that you're carrying. Does that mean nothing to you?" his voice sounded hurt.
"No! That's not it! That's not it at all..." Kin said in an urgent tone, sitting down on the chair next to his. "Nick... I... didn't think it'd mean that much to you."
"You're kidding me, right? Tell me you're kidding. After all we went through to get Alex back, you thought I wouldn't care about the fact that it's my baby?? Kin, these are my children! I might only be 20, but they're still my kids."
Alex suddenly started to wail over the baby monitor.
Kindlin sighed, "He probably had a nightmare."
"Well, let's go," he stood up.
"No... Um... I think you should," Kin whispered, with tears in her eyes. "Go sing him back to sleep and... and I'm... I'm gonna go."
Nick could tell she was trying to hold her tears in. "You're gonna go where??"
"I'm gonna... leave. Call me and let me know when it's a good time for me to come see Alex," she spoke so quietly that it was barely audible. "I'll come get my things later."
"Kindlin, why are you doing this??" he grabbed her arm as she turned to leave. "You can't just LEAVE. You're pregnant with my baby, and our son is upstairs!"
"I'll have the baby and then you can have it! These kids mean so much to you, but what about ME??"
"What are you talking about?? You're the mother of Alex and the baby! They need you..."
Tears streamed down Kindlin's face as she shouted, only making Alex cry harder, "I'm not talking about what I mean to the kids!!!!" realization of what she'd just said, suddenly came over her.
Nick gulped, his palms beginning to sweat. "Then what are you talking about, Kin?" he whispered, never feeling so nervous in his life. What was she trying to say?
"I gotta go!" Kin quickly ran out of the house and jumped into her car.
~*~ The Next Day ~*~
"Nick, I haven't seen her, okay??... No, Brian is not here!... Nick Carter, don't you trust me?... Oh, that's so sweet of you. Look, I gotta go, bye!" Leigh Anne hung up the phone and turned to Kindlin. "I hate lying! I hate it, I hate it, I hate it! Why are you making me do this??"
"Stop whining." Kindlin sighed. "I'm sorry, Leigh. I really am, but I can't stay there. First of all, Nick Carter hates my guts. Second of all, I basically told him that I wanted him to care about me!"
"First of all," Leigh mocked. "Nick Carter does not hate your guts. Why would he be calling every freaking person he knows, asking where you are, if he hated your guts?? Second of all, he DOES care!"
"Maybe in a 'Oh, yeah... Well, she's the mother of my children' type of way. But that is SOO not what I meant, last night! And he knows it! It was really sorta... humiliating."
"Okay, THIS is why 19 year old's should not be f*cking." Leigh laughed.
"Alright, who just said the F word in my home??" Brian feigned appall as he walked into the room.
"When'd you get home?"
"Just now. Has Nick called?"
"About a thousand times. He doesn't believe me that she's not here."
Brian rolled his eyes, "Hm, I wonder why! Maybe because... she is!"
"But how would he know that?"
"Because we're the only one's in Florida that Kin's gotten close to, so far."
"I think it's mean," Leigh sighed. "He deserves to know where his wife, who's carrying his baby, is... and that she's safe."
"Well, I agree with Kin... Let him sweat it."
Kindlin smirked. "Thanks, Bri."
"No prob, sista!"
"Okay, correct me if I'm wrong, but he didn't do anything to make him deserve this!" Leigh Anne squeeled, not understanding their reasoning.
"Correcting..." Brian laughed. "He's a chump."
"Elaborate...?"
"Kindlin's in love with Nick, Nick's in love with Kindlin-"
"He is not!"
"Is too, Kin. Anyway... moving right along, HE'S A BLONDE AND BLIND DOOFUS!"
Leigh Anne laughed. "This is weird. Have either of you noticed that Bri's sticking up for my friend, while I'm sticking up for Brian's?"
They laughed.
"Hey, Leigh, I have a doctor's appointment tomorrow. Will you come with me?" Kindlin asked, pleadingly.
Leigh smiled, "Of course."
"Thanks! Well, I'm off to bed..." Kin stood up and walked to the guest room, her temporary bedroom. Picking up her favorite picture - a picture of Nick and Alex at the park - off of her dresser, she laid down on the bed. She looked at the picture, intently, before falling asleep, the photograph resting on her stomach.
