The Gift
Chapter 21
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The limo took Brian and Lainie directly to Brian's house. Lainie's eyes grew huge when she saw the enormity of the mansion. It was a giant red brick house with gables and tons of arched windows. The landscaping was unbelievable, and there appeared to be gardens in back, too.
"Oh wow," she said softly. "This is your house??"
"Yours too," he laughed, squeezing her hand lightly.
"Oh yeah. I forgot," she said, laughing lightly. This was just incredible. She shook her head as she looked around. As soon as the limo stopped, Lainie started to opened the door.
"No, wait," Brian said, smiling. "The driver'll get that for you."
"Oops. I forgot. Not used to this star treatment," Lainie said, swallowing hard. This was a lot to take in. The driver opened the door, and Brian slid out first. He held his hand out to Lainie and helped her out of the car. They walked up the sidewalk to their home, hand in hand. Lainie glanced around, trying to take everything in, but there was just so much stuff! Brian unlocked the door and scooped her up in his arms again.
"Gotta carry you across this threshold now," he laughed. "Since this is gonna be our home."
Lainie rested her head on his shoulder as he carried her inside. Instead of putting her down immediately, he started walking up the stairs.
"Where are you taking me?" she laughed.
"To the bedroom," he said quietly. "Gotta christen the house, ya know."
"Ohhhh you're bad," she giggled.
"Nooo. I'm good."
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"Let's try something new," Brian said, kissing a path down the center of her chest. He loved the taste of her skin. She was just so sweet, he felt he could devour her.
"New?" she questioned warily. "What kind of new?"
"Oh, I think you'll like this," he laughed. He laid down on his back and motioned for her to climb onto him. She straddled him and looked down into his sweet, beautiful face. Her husband... Brian, this sweet man, was hers. Forever. Just the thought brought tears to her eyes. Then she felt his erection beneath her, and she laughed. Brian used his hand to guide himself into her. She sucked in a deep breath and closed her eyes as he began to move her hips with his hands. The feeling was overwhelmingly pleasurable. She took over the rhythm as she braced herself with her hands on his hard stomach. Brian put his hands behind his head and watched the rapturous expression on his wife's face. Within just a few minutes, Lainie had reached her first climax, and she collapsed on top of him, breathing hard. He kissed her lips gently, then rolled over on top of her. He began to thrust in and out of her slowly, sending tiny shockwaves through her body. As the weight of his body pressed against her, she wrapped her legs aroud his narrow hips, pulling his as far into her body as she could. He kissed and bit at the tender flesh of her neck, savoring the sweetness of it. Lainie found herself forced over the edge into another orgasm, and her walls tighted around him again. Brian kissed her deeply as his thrusts became more frenzied. Within a few more minutes, he came too, throbbing, pulsing his hotness into her. Afterwards, they lay in each others arms, Lainie softly stroking Brian's chest. She surreptitiously surveyed his body with her eyes. It was the first time she had actually seen him naked in the daylight. God, he was beautiful. She could see the well-defined muscles of his stomach, and he had the cutest belly button she had ever seen. She laughed to herself when she noticed the sparse blonde fuzz on his chest. There were so many things she didn't know about him, but she was enjoying finding them out.
"I love you," she whispered, kissing his chest.
"I love you, too, baby."
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"You ready to do this?" Brian asked, holding her hand.
"I guess we don't have a choice, do we?" Lainie laughed nervously.
"Not really. It's not like we can hide it forever," he said, giving her hand a gentle squeeze. They pulled up to the recording studio, and Lainie saw AJ standing against the building smoking a cigarette.
"I thought he quit," she muttered to herself.
"He's always quitting," Brian laughed. "It's really not funny, though. I shouldn't laugh. He's gonna ruin his voice. God's blessed him with a gift, and he's gonna throw it away for the sake of those lung darts."
Lainie nodded. Brian parked the car and hopped out. He ran around to her side and opened the door for her. Lainie laughed.
"You're such a gentleman," she said, kissing his cheek.
"My mom would kill me if I was anything but a gentleman," Brian laughed.
"Speaking of your mom, she's gonna kill you when she finds out you ran off and got married," Lainie laughed. Her laughter covered her nervousness. She was really afraid of meeting Mrs. Littrell. What was the woman going to think when she found out they had run off and gotten married after only knowing each other a week? This was gonna be hard. But not as hard as the meeting she was about to have... Nick... They had to tell Nick what they had done, and Lainie had a feeling it wasn't going to be as easy as Brian thought.
Brian held her hand and they made their way up to the door.
"Hey AJ," Brian said. "You comin' in soon?"
"Yeah. I'll be in in just a few minutes. As soon as I finish this smoke. When the hell did they make this a non-smoking building anyway?" AJ growled. "Oh, hey Lainie. Surprised to see you here." He walked over and hugged her tightly.
"Hey AJ," she said nervously. AJ backed up and scrutinized the expression on her face.
"You're up to something," he said quietly, raising an eyebrow.
"Who me?" Lainie choked.
"Yep. That answers my question. You're definitely up to something. Wanna fill me in, or do I have to guess?" AJ said, smiling.
"Just come on inside," Brian said. "We'll tell you all about it."
"Uh oh. Sounds serious," AJ said, throwing his cigarette butt on the ground. "Let's go. I've gotta hear this."
The three of them walked inside and to the recording studio. Nick was just finishing up his part of a new ballad. Lainie stood with her back against the wall and listened to his sweet voice. She closed her eyes and smiled.
"Ok, Nicky, that's it," the producer said. "Come on out."
Nick walked out of the booth and saw Brian and Lainie. His brow furrowed slightly.
"Hey guys. What's going on?" he asked, hugging Lainie.
"We've got something to tell you guys. Where are Howie and Kev?" Brian said.
"In Ron's office," Nick answered. "I'll go get them."
"No, we'll all just go down there. I want you guys all together when we talk about this," Brian said, grabbing Lainie's hand and pulling her down the hall. When they entered the office, Kevin looked up and smiled. A glimmer of gold on Lainie's finger caught his eye and his mouth fell open.
"Oh shit," he muttered, but he couldn't hide his smile. Brian sat down in one of the chairs and pulled Lainie down in his lap. Lainie looked around the room uncomfortably, as all eyes were on them.
"Guys, I've got something to tell you," Brian said, a huge grin on his face. "Lainie and I... got married the other night."
The room was deathly silent, then Kevin started laughing. He came over and hugged Lainie.
"Oh man," Kevin said. "Lainie, welcome to the family. You be good to him, ok?"
"Congratulations!" Howie exclaimed. "Little sudden, but I trust your judgement, guys."
"Sudden?" AJ cried. "Are you crazy? You two barely know each other! What the... what were you thinking?"
"AJ," Brian said, "we love each other. Very, very much. We want to spend the rest of our lives together. We have the next 70 years to get to know each other."
AJ smiled a little. "You know what? This is so un-Brian-like. I just have to laugh. Congratulations, Lainie. You got yourself a good man. I still think you're both nuts, but I wish you all the best." AJ hugged Lainie.
"Just wish it could have been me, beautiful," he whispered in her ear, his comment unheard by any of the others.
Nick stared at them without speaking. He shook his head slowly, turned, and walked out of the room.
"I should go talk to him," Brian sighed. Lainie got up off his lap and Brian went after Nick.
"Nick," Brian called, running down the hall. Nick waived him off, but didn't speak. Brian caught Nick's arm, but Nick wrenched it from his grasp. Nick pushed the back door open forcefully and walked out. Brian didn't give up.
"Nick, talk to me," Brian pleaded.
"Fuck you," Nick muttered.
"Please talk to me," Brian said, grabbing his arm again. Nick stopped and turned to face Brian. The fury in his eyes was palpable. He stared silently down at Brian for several seconds before he spoke.
"You knew I liked her, Brian. You KNEW it. Why? Why her? Of all the girls in the world, why Lainie?" Nick questioned. Brian could hear the anger and the hurt in Nick's voice. He could see it written all over Nick's face.
"I'm sorry," Brian said quietly. "Wait. No, I'm not sorry. I love her. I've never felt like this about anybody in my life. It's like it was meant to be. You don't... didn't... love her. You just lusted after her. You know I'm right, Nick. Don't try to deny it, either. I love her, and I want her to be my wife... for the rest of my life. Now, if you can't be happy for me, then that's your problem. But I'm not gonna apologize for the rest of my life for this."
Brian turned and went back inside. He was pissed. Nick had no right...
Nick leaned against the building and looked up at the sky. He sighed deeply. He did love Lainie. He just didn't realize it until it was too late. She was with Brian now, and there was nothing he could do about it. This realization, as clear as it was, did nothing to disipate his anger.
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Brian went into the recording studio, which was quiet and empty.He turned off all the lights and played back the tracks th others had already recorded. He lay back on the soft leather couch and closed his eyes.He had to calm down before laying down his tracks. He took several deep breaths and felt some of the tension in his body easing. The door opened slowly and Lainie entered the room. She knelt beside him on the floor and kissed his forehead.
"I'm sorry about all this," she whispered.
"No, you have nothing to be sorry about," he said, smiling sadly. "If he doesn't like it, that's his problem, not ours. I love you, Lainie Littrell. I love you more than anything in the world. I'll never, ever be sorry for loving you. I don't care what anybody thinks. You're my angel."
Lainie rested her head on his chest, and he twirled her hair in his fingers. She could hear his heartbeat returning to normal, and his breathing slowing. The door opened and the producer came back into the studio.
"Ok, break it up, lovebirds. B-rok, you've got work to do, buddy."
Lainie sat up and Brian went into the booth to record.
"Should I leave?" she asked the producer quietly.
"Nah. Don't you wanna see how he works?" the guy answered, laughing.
"Actually, I would," Lainie said, laughing. She watched in awe as Brian laid down his tracks for the same beautiful ballad Nick had been singing earlier. Lainie closed her eyes and let Brian's sweet voice wash over her. He finished in just two takes, and the producer was amazed.
"I think you're little wifey's gonna have to come in with you every time, Rok. She seems to inspire you. That was awesome, man!"
"Thanks," Brian said, smiling. He took off the headphones and came back into the room. "You ready to go?" he asked, grabbing Lainie's hand.
"Yeah. Let's get outta here," she answered. "What're we doing tonight?"
"Ohh... I thought I'd show you the sights," he said, smiling brightly. "We've got to go to my favorite club. I wanna show you off."
Lainie felt her stomach turn over when he said that. Clubs were not her thing. She was so nervous, and the butterflies in her stomach were going nuts.
"I have nothing to wear to a club," Lainie said quietly.
"Well... then we'll just have to fix that, won't we?" Brian laughed. "You know, they do have malls here."
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Lainie and Brian walked hand in hand through the huge mall. Brian took her directly to his favorite store and began searching the racks for the perfect outfit. Lainie stood back and watched, laughing.
"What are you? About a size 5-6?" Brian asked over his shoulder.
"Yeah. I guess that'll work," she said, laughing. She had never had anyone pick out clothes for her in her life. This was too funny. Brian pulled out a pair of low-cut black leather pants and a silver shimmery halter top. Lainie's eyes grew wide with skepticism as she stared at the outfit.
"You've got be kidding," she said, shaking her head. "There's no way I could go out in public like that."
"Just try it on," Brian said, smiling. "Come on... for me...."
Lainie rolled her eyes and took the outfit to the dressing room. She squeezed herself into the pants and pulled the top on. She found she couldn't wear a bra with it, and that discouraged her a lot. She stared at her reflection in the mirror. No way... Not a chance in hell was she wearing this. Wayyyy too much flesh showing. She pulled her hair up on top of her head to get the full effect. She did look pretty good... but still. Toooo much skin.
"Lainieeee..." Brian called softly. "Lemme see."
"No way," she laughed.
"Come on," he pleaded, resting his forehead against the dressing room door. "Please."
Lainie sighed heavily and opened the door. A wide smile crossed Brian's lips and he nodded vigorously.
"Damn, I'm good," he muttered. "That outfit is just... incredible."
"I can't wear this," Lainie said flatly.
"Why not?"
"Because... it's... it's... TOO LITTLE!" she exclaimed.
"Nooo. It looks incredible on you. God, you've got the most beautiful body," Brian's arms encircled her waist and he pulled her to him. She could feel his semi-erect penis through his jeans, and she was glad he was wearing a sweatshirt that would cover it up. "Take it off and I'll go pay for it."
Lainie sighed. "Ok, ok." She peeled the clothes off and threw them over the top of the dressing room door. Brian went to pay while she put on her jeans and t-shirt.
"Ok," Brian said. "We've got two more stops."
"Well alright," Lainie laughed. "Where are we going?"
"First, we're going to my hairdresser. He'll do something with your hair. Then we'll get you some new makeup."
"Brian, I like my hair and my makeup," Lainie said slowly. She wasn't sure if she liked this shopping trip they were on.
"Oh, baby, I do too! I just want to enhance your beauty," Brian said, smiling.
"Ok. If you really think so," she said, looking down and feeling very self-conscious again. Brian lifted her chin and kissed her softly.
"I love you, Lainie," he said. "I love you so much. I just want you to be happy with yourself."
"I know," she said, looking down again. "I just sort of nervous. I just realized how much scrutiny I'm going to be under, you know. Being the wife of a Backstreet Boy. You know, girls are gonna be picking me apart when this gets out."
"Don't pay any attention to any of that stuff. I love you, and that's all that matters," he said seriously. He knew she was going to be really upset by some of the things that would be said about her. He had seen it before with his former girlfriends, as well as girls the other guys dated. He knew it would be ten times worse since he actually married Lainie. He was a little worried for her...
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22