I held Beth against me, her head resting lightly on my shoulder as she slept peacefully, as I walked through the mall. I hadn’t been to the mall in ages, finally getting the chance when Nick and AJ had a ‘guy thing’ to do. I wandered into the jewelry store, the bag carrying Beth’s nappies and feed seeming heavier by the moment. I turned round when I head whispering behind me to see three teenage girls stood by the doorway. The fell silent as they saw me looking at them and kept nudging each other. Great! Some more fans who are gonna give me a hard time!
“Excuse me?” I turned round to find one of the girls, the one with red, curly hair, stood close behind me.
“Yes?” I replied, trying to keep the edge out of my voice. Beth shifted in my arms, slowly waking from her sleep.
“Are you Nick Carter’s girlfriend?” I nodded, hoping the girl wouldn’t cause a huge scene. “Oh wow! So this is Elizabeth?” I nodded,
“Beth… are you a fan of the boys?” The girl seemed sweet enough, so why not be polite.
“Oh yeah! I love them. Especially Nick.” I tensed… a Nick fan… maybe she wouldn’t be so sweet to me. “Oh don’t worry,” the girl continued, obviously noticing my apprehension. “I’m not gonna go crazy. I just wanted to see Nick Carter’s daughter. And she is beautiful.” I smiled in relief and held Beth away from me a little so that the girl could get a better look.
“What’s your name?” I asked, as she took one of Beth’s small hands in her own.
“Eliza,” she said, smiling at me. “You’re Laney… right?” I nodded. “I know this may seem a little… silly… But I seriously love Nick, and although I’m completely jealous of you… I think it’s great… and he seems to really love you and Beth.” I grinned,
“Thanks… you know I get really scared whenever his fans approach me in case they get mad or something. But thank you for being so nice. I’ll have to tell Nick about you.” Her face lit up.
“Serious?” I nodded,
“Yeah. He gets worried about me, especially when I take Beth out. So he’ll be pleased to here that not everyone hates me.” I laughed a little. Eliza smiled again. I checked my watch. “Damn! I’m sorry, I have to go. It was nice meeting you Eliza.”
“You too.” As I left her two friends raced over to her giggling and smiling.
“I don’t know why Nick couldn’t do this himself,” I said to Beth as she sat in her car seat next to me. “I’m sure whatever it is he’s doing with AJ isn’t that important!” Beth gurgled a response, and I smiled at her cuteness as I pulled into Brian’s driveway.
“Hey!” Brian exclaimed running over the car. “My two favorite ladies are finally here.” I smiled and waited whilst he got Beth from the car and then followed me inside.
“Well Bri… my lazy ass boyfriend wanted me to give you this.” I handed him the buff envelope and took Beth from him.
“I’ll make us a cup of tea… you look like you could use one.” I smiled and followed him into the kitchen as he opened the envelope.
“What’s all that?” I asked as Brian looked through the wad of papers from Nick. He looked up and grinned,
“Nothing of your concern young lady.” He skimmed the top page and then put all the papers back into the envelope. “Now, after you’ve had this cup of tea, you’re gonna leave Beth with me and…”
“Brian, I don’t want to leave her,” I protested.
“Sorry Laney, no arguments!” He handed me the tea and sat down at the table with me. “Then you’re gonna go home.” I raised my eyebrows in question. “Just do as I say… I swear, all will be revealed,” he finished in a silly voice. I didn’t like that look in his eye. Mischievous.
“Well… okay. But if anything happens to my daughter I’ll kill you Mr. Littrell.” Brian just smiled and shook his head.
“You’ll thank me Miss Mitchell,” he muttered, before quickly changing the subject.
I sighed as I pulled up outside our house. Wow! Our house! Who’d have thought that when I came to stay with my aunt all this would happen in such a short amount of time? I breathed deeply as I made my way up to the front door and slipped my key into the lock. The house was pretty dark, except for the kitchen, so I headed in that direction.
“Oh…” As I walked through the main room I saw some candles lit in front of the small coffee table, and cutlery was all set out. I smiled, then continued to the kitchen. Nick was stood in front of the sink, an apron tied around his waist and he was up to his elbows in dirty washing-up water. He looked so adorable as he tried to quickly wash up all the saucepans and spoons he had used, so I just stood and watched him for a moment. Finally Nick turned around to check if there was anything else left to wash up.
“Holy s….” he exclaimed.
“Oh, sorry… you just looked so… I don’t know…” His face suddenly fell.
“It was all supposed to be ready for you… now it’s all ruined!” I stepped towards him,
“Nick, it’s not ruined,” I said softly, handing him a towel so he could dry his hands.
“Yeah, it is,” he replied. “It was supposed to be all romantic, but now… damn it!” I wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled his face down towards me. His hands rested lightly on my hips.
“Nick…” I whispered, my mouth inches from his. “It’s the thought that counts. The fact that I saw the mess you made to do all this for me makes it even better.” I lightly kissed him, pressing my lips against his.
“Yeah?” Nick questioned, once I’d pulled away. I nodded,
“So… are we going to eat?” He smiled and pushed me out of the kitchen, gesturing for me to sit at the coffee table. I sat down and waited. I smiled to myself. Obviously he had wanted me to come home to find the candles lit, the food all ready and him just waiting.
“Here you go.” Nick set the plate of food in front of me. Spaghetti. My favorite. “I made the sauce myself,” he said proudly, sitting down opposite me.
“It looks great!” I replied, taking a sip of coke. Nick crinkled his nose,
“Sorry… I would’ve got wine… but I forgot.” I reached over and squeezed his hand,
“That’s okay, I don’t like wine anyway.” He looked relieved and then picked up his knife and fork.
“I hope it tastes okay.” We sat in a comfortable silence as we ate, with me complimenting him on his cooking every now and again. He had gone to so much trouble it almost made me want to cry. Once we had finished, and had dessert (a chocolate pudding type thing) I stood up to take the plates into the kitchen. Nick reached for my hand, “Leave it. I’ll do it tomorrow…” I smiled and Nick stood up, still holding on to my hand. “Laney, I love you… and I wanted to say I’m sorry for how… unsupportive I was through the pregnancy. I love you and Beth so much… and I feel so bad about not…” I silenced him by pushing my lips against his, and pressing my body against him. Nick opened my mouth with his tongue and I moaned as his hands moved across my body. Before it could go any further Nick pushed me away. “Wait… let me finish.” I tried not to feel insulted as I sat down on the couch. He kneeled in front of me and took my hands in his. “I promise you that I am going to be there 100% for Beth… and you… and if my career,” he swallowed hard. “And if my career suddenly interferes too much with that, then I’ll stop.”
“Nick…” He cut me off,
“No Laney, I had responsibility now. I really hope that it doesn’t come to that… but it might. So I’m telling you now, that you two are more important that singing.” I almost choked. I knew that by important he meant that whilst he would give up singing for us, he wouldn’t give up us for singing. I’d have to make sure that he would never need to give up singing for us. I smiled,
“Nick… whatever happens, I’ll support your decisions. Now are we done?” Nick nodded. “Good.” I pulled him to me, wanting nothing more than to feel him close to me, to kiss him, to love him. And for him to love me.
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As Long As You Love Me
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