Part 79
Nick awakened somewhere over northern Florida and turned to watch the sleeping woman next to him. At some point, her head had leaned against his shoulder and her breath warmed his neck. Smiling, he brushed her hair away from her face. Her eyes fluttered open and he smiled again as she struggled to remember where she was.
"Hey sleepyhead."
"Hey, yourself," she yawned. "Are we there yet?"
"Not yet. Is this the way our kids are gonna be?"
"Probably."
"Man, I'm havin' second thoughts about this 'forever' stuff…"
"Nice try, Carter. No backing out now," she grinned, shifting in her seat.
"You okay?"
"Yeah, I just have to …"
"Let me guess," he laughed. "Damn good thing there are bathrooms on our buses."
"Don't start with me. I'll be right back." Unbuckling her seat belt, she made her way to the tiny lavatory at the front of the first class section of the plane.
Nick's eyes followed her until a flight attendant interrupted his thoughts.
"Can I get you anything Mr. Carter?" she smiled, blushing when he turned on the charm.
"Sure. Orange juice? Two, please."
"Certainly, I'll be right back."
Becca was struggling with her seat belt when the flight attendant returned.
"Here, let me help." Handing the juice to Nick, she securely fastened Becca in for the remainder of the flight. "I don’t envy you," she laughed. "I can remember this stage so well!"
"You have children?" Becca asked.
"Just one, a daughter. She's a big fan of yours," she said to Nick.
"Cool!" Nick grinned.
Becca nudged Nick. "Hand me my bag, it's under the seat." As she pulled out a marker, she asked the attendant for her daughter's name.
"Amy," she said. "But why?"
Becca handed the marker to Nick, along with an 8x10 glossy photo for him to sign.
"Wow, she'll love this! Thank you so much!"
"Are you based in Atlanta?" Becca asked.
"That's home for me. Amy has a ticket to your show tonight, and this will make it so much better!"
"Tell her to look for me down front and I'll take her backstage."
"Seriously? She'll die!"
Becca laughed. "No, she'll be okay. I'll take good care of her. And tell her to watch TRL this afternoon, they're running a brief piece on our wedding."
"I wasn't going to ask, but congratulations!"
"Thanks, we appreciate it," Becca replied, smiling as Nick silently watched the encounter.
As they prepared for landing, he looked at her, amazed.
"What?" she asked, laughing.
"Where'd you learn to do that? And what have you done with the shy young thing I married?"
"Oh stop it. I've been taking lessons from Sarah. Look, I'm part of all this now. I can either play along, like Sarah does, or be the most hated woman on the face of the earth."
"Bec, you blow my mind."
"I can think of other things I'd rather-" she whispered, leaning close to his ear and laughing as he blushed.
Billy and Raoul were waiting for them and whisked them to the waiting car with a minimum of fuss. All of their things were already on board Nick's bus, having been pre-loaded in Tampa. All they had to deal with now was a small carryon bag.
********
At the venue, the rest of the gang was engaged in their usual pre-show horseplay when Sarah and Denise arrived.
"Boys will be boys," Sarah tsked, shaking her head.
"Where ARE they?" AJ whined.
"Relax, Age, they'll be here in plenty of time," Brian said.
"He just wants them here so he can rag on Nicky for getting more than *he* did last night," Kevin said.
"Hell YES," he retorted. "Since when have all night bus rides been my favorite part of a tour?"
"Never," Howie answered, grinning.
"Bingo, D."
"Bone, you're not gonna tease them are you?" Sarah asked. "You know how Becca is."
"Damn straight!" he smirked. "You don’t mean I have to stop because Nick's married?!" he asked in mock horror.
"Nah," Kevin said. "Nicky'd think something was seriously wrong if we stopped now."
Sarah just shook her head. She started to make a smartass comment when Denise nudged her.
"They're here," she whispered.
Hand in hand, Nick and Becca practically floated across the room, spotted almost instantly by Brian, who poked AJ to get his attention.
Flawlessly they broke into four-part harmony, and they'd obviously been planning this for a while. "I'll make love to you, like you want me to, and I will not let go till you tell me to …"
Nick smiled as Becca blushed, but miraculously she held her ground, laughing as Kevin pulled Sarah into his arms and spun her around. She smiled, remembering the way the two of them had been before Sarah got back together with Howie.
Just then, AJ ripped open his shirt, continuing the song, "Throw your clothes on the floor, and I'll take my clothes off, too. I've made plans to be with you …"
"Oh YEAH!" Nick said, bending Becca backwards and kissing her senseless.
Everyone gathered around them, hooting, as Kevin looked at his watch and began to time them.
"God, you two, ENOUGH!" Sarah groaned.
"Angel, you remember what it's like to be newlyweds," Howie teased.
Nick helped Becca stand upright and snorted. "Damn, D, it's been what? Two weeks? I bet she's forgotten already."
"Bite me, Nick," Sarah said, winking at him.
"Nah, that's D's job," he shot back.
"Hey, you clowns," Denise called. "TRL is on, come here." Turning up the volume, she moved back so they could all gather around.
"Welcome back to TRL. I’m Carson Daly, your host. Before we play our number one video today, we have a special announcement from the Backstreet Boys. We're pleased – or not so pleased ladies, depending on your point of view- anyway, we're pleased to announce that as of yesterday, there is one less Boy on the open market. Yesterday afternoon, in a private ceremony off the coast of Tampa, Florida, Nick Carter married his fiancée of six months, Rebecca Morgan."
A mixture of applause and groans greeted the announcement and Carson turned and grinned at his predominantly female audience.
"The new Mrs. Carter is a former choir director from Orlando and best friend of Sarah Dorough, who introduced the couple last October."
The camera dissolved to a photograph of Nick and Becca at Howie and Sarah's wedding, and then faded again into a picture of the two couples, tastefully avoiding showing the advanced state of Becca's pregnancy.
"According to our sources, Becca will be joining Nick on the remaining leg of the North American Black and Blue tour. TRL has been promised an exclusive interview with the happy couple as the tour winds its way toward the New York City area. All of us here at TRL wish them the best. And now, the number one video, which we understand played a large part in their wedding plans, here are the Backstreet Boys with "More Than That."
The audience applauded as the video began, and in the dressing room in Atlanta, the eight people gathered around the television also broke into applause.
Kevin patted Nick on the back as Nick hugged Becca. "Well done, Nick, " he said.
"Carson promised to keep it simple and he did."
"Things are gonna be different now, Becca, a LOT different," Howie cautioned. "We should get you back to the hotel before the crowd outside gets any bigger."
"No."
"Becca-" Howie began.
"Howie, I plan to be right down front tonight."
"Bec, I don' know…" Nick looked concerned.
"Look, Nick, I can't hide anymore. It's out in the open and we're just going to have to face whatever comes along." She turned to Sarah. "You'll be there, won’t you?"
Sarah grinned. "I wouldn't miss it. Are you sure about this?"
"Why should YOU have all the fun?" Becca retorted with a smirk. "Besides, it's about time that Nick got to sing to me from out there."
Nick grinned. "Cool, Bec!"
The stage manger called 'places' for their final sound check, and after a quick kiss, Nick followed the others onto the stage.
Becca turned to find Sarah giving her a look and laughed. "Yes, I'm sure! Do NOT give me 'The Look'. Sarah, I want this. Besides," she said wiggling her rings under Sarah's nose, "I've got the rings, baby, he's MINE!"
"And I can see that marriage agrees with both of you," she grinned.
"Oh yeah, it's been all of 24 hours now," Becca laughed. "That's time enough to tell."
"So….. how was it?" Sarah asked, raising her eyebrows.
Becca sighed. "Wonderful. I never knew there were so many places on a boat to-" she broke off, turning bright red.
Sarah hugged her and whispered, "It only gets better, Bec."
"God, if it gets any better I'll die from spontaneous combustion."
"So, he's good?" Sarah grinned.
"Oh, girlfriend, the things he can do with his-"
About that time Billy walked by, mumbling "And they say MEN are pigs…"
The girls cracked up and wandered away in search of food.
*******************
The show was incredible. Other than the show right before the wedding, Becca had only been to the first shows way back in January, and being down front was such a rush. The fan reaction was better than she expected. Except for a few nasty comments she overheard, most of the girls that approached her were gracious and full of good wishes.
Right before the boys took the stage, a shy young girl about fifteen was spotted hovering nearby.
"Be right back," Becca told Sarah. "Amy?" she asked, holding out her hand to the frightened girl who could only nod her head in response. "Are you alone or did your mom come, too?"
"No, we could only afford the one ticket, so she dropped me off."
Becca turned to Sarah with a question in her eyes. Sarah nodded her approval, and Becca said, "Want to sit here with me? We'd love the company."
"Really?" Amy squeaked and began to shake.
"Really! Come on!" Giving her approval to the security team, she ushered Amy into the VIP section just as the lights dimmed.
Once the music began, she only had eyes for Nick, and her eyes followed him hungrily. More than once she found herself slipping into fan mode, until she remembered with sudden shock that she'd be going home with him tonight and every other night for the rest of her life. At one point he caught sight of her dazed statement and seemed to know just what she was thinking. Catching her eye, he winked at her, thrusting his hips in her direction in a promise of what the rest of the night would hold.