Brian and Alicia had never been happier than at this moment. Ryan had been with then for almost two months now and she would have another baby in about four weeks. Ryan was the sweetest baby Alicia had ever known and she was very proud of him. He was already walking easily and she always had to keep an eye on him. She was still working at the magazine but her office was at the house now. That way she could get some rest when she needed it and she could stay with her family. Their were still living with Nick and Sabrina. Nick loved the baby and was always playing with him. Her friendship with Sabrina had changed a lot in the past weeks. She knew Sab was mad because she had took Ryan with them but she couldn't imagine living without that little boy who brighten every single day of her life. She had tried to explain it to Sabrina but seeing that she didn't understood, or didn't wanted to understood, she had given up. She wasn't going to jeoperdize everything because her friend couldn't see that this was what she wanted. One day, Sabrina would understand, she was sure of it.
"Honey, I'm home!" Brian yelled.
"I'm upstairs sweetie!" She responded.
He went into her little office and found her working on her computer. He came up to her and kissed her on the cheek.
"Is that it? Only on the cheek?" She pretended to be offended.
"You want more? Than that's what you'll get baby!" He leaned over but before their lips touched the baby started to cry in the room next to the office. They sighed in unison. "Let's go get him."
"OK, but I'm getting a raincheck with this!"
"You very well know that you don't need a raincheck for that!" They walked to Ryan's room hand in hand and the baby was happy to see both of them. He immediatly stopped crying and waved his hands in the air so his dad would pick him up, which Brian did. He changed him and they went downstairs. Nick was entering by the front door.
"Nicky! How's my bud?" Nick said, taking Ryan from Brian's arms.
"Why do you insist on calling him Nicky? His name is Ryan!" Brian said, laughing.
"Hey! He's so much like me, and besides, his middle name is Nickolas, so why not call him Nicky?"
"Because he'll be all mixed up! Can you please put him on the floor now, he's big enough to walk!" Brian said.
Alicia took Ryan by the hand and started to put on his coat. "I'm taking him to the park sweetie. I won't be long but he needs to take some air."
"Take your time. I'll start to make supper."
Alicia left and Brian and Nick headed to the kitchen. Nick sat at the table while Brian started to boil water. Knowing that Nick's silent meant that something was wrong, Brian sat with his friend. "What's wrong man?"
"It's Sabrina. I don't know what to do Brian. She's always gone! I don't see her anymore."
Brian nodded. Sabrina had been working a lot lately and he knew it was hard on Nick. "I know it was easier for you when she was coming with us on tour but you can't blame her for wanting more out of life than following her boyfriend around. Nick, she's just starting out. She has to work hard if she wants to make it big in that business. You should know that."
"All I know is that I want her with me. Always. So if she won't come with me, I'll go with her."
"What exactly are you saying?"
"Brian, if I have to quit the Backstreet Boys to be able to see my girlfriend, I'll do it. It hasn't been going that well between us for the last couple of weeks but that's only because I never see her. I will do everything in my power to make things work between us, even if that means the end of my singing career."
Brian got up, not believing a word he had just heard. Suddenly, he was really mad at Nick. "Are you crazy? You're going to give up on everything you've worked so hard to accomplish and let it just slip away from you for a girl? For God's sake, Nick, you're only 19! Give yourself a chance to live! You and Sab'll be fine, believe me! Your relationship is way more important to Sabrina then you think. Anyways, what the hell would you do if you would quit?"
"I'd go to college and play basketball. Then, I'd get a good and stable job. Nothing like this crazy business. And…"
"Let me finish that nice little bed story for you. You would marry Sab, have a bunch of babies and live happily ever after. Is that right? That's really what you want? Do you really think you'd be happy to live that way?"
Nick didn't looked so sure anymore. "I'd have Sab… "
"Nick, you belong in show business. You've been born for that kind of life. Just like Sabrina. Give you and your girl a chance to work on your schedules to be able to spend more time together but don't give up on who you are so easily!"
Nick was mad too now. "Are you telling me that I can't do anything else than sing? Is that the only thing I'm good at? Why can't I go to college and work like every other human being in this country? Are you saying I can't just live a normal life?"
"I'm just asking you if you sincerely think you're fit for that kind of life. Won't you find it boring after all we'll lived? Touring? Singing? Concerts? Fans? Writting songs? Travelling around the world doing what we love?"
"I love Sab! That's what I love! I'm not going to discuss this with you anymore, my decision is taken. I'm leaving the Backstreet Boys. I'll miss this life, I'd be lying if I said the opposite. But most of all I'll miss you Brian, and all the guys. This is over for me."
Brian stared blankly at his friend. He knew that Nick was dead serious. "Fine. Do what you want. But if you quit, I'm quitting too. There's no Backstreet Boys without Nick Carter."
"You're crazy Brian. I'm not going to let you quit because of me!"
"Don't worry Nicky, no ones going to quit." Brian and Nick jumped at the sound of Sabrina's voice. She and Alicia were standing in the doorway and had been listning to the conversation. Alicia looked ready to collapsed with her big belly and Brian made her sit on a chair. He started to rub her shoulders while Nick and Sabrina started to argue.
"There's no way I'm going to let you do that because of me. We're young, we're strong, we can work this out Nicky. We've got our whole lives in front of us to enjoy together. Let's take the time to have fun and do what we love while we still can. Because maybe someday it'll be over for us. Someday, but not today."
"Why won't you let me quit if that means that we can be together? Do you stay with me only because I'm a Backstreet Boys?" He knew the second these words had came out of his mouth that he was wrong and that he had made a big mistake to say such a thing.
"I can't believe you just said that. I would love you no matter who you'd be. I just want you to be happy."
"Oh, oh."
Everyone looked at Alicia. Her eyes were wide open in fear. "Baby, what's wrong?" Brian said.
"My water just broke."
"Oh, oh." Nick repeated. "What do we do now?"
Alicia started laughing. "There's not much you can do Nick!" She looked at Brian, who seemed about to panic. "We better go to the hospital since the baby's going to be premature. Nick, could you please take care of Ryan?"
"Of course. Are you ok?"
Alicia smiled. "Let's go Brian."
*At the hospital*
After 9 hours of hard work, Alicia was ready to give birth. With Brian and Sabrina each holding one of her hands, she was told by the doctor to start pushing. She tried to stay focused but she didn't had a lot of strenght left after all this work. She was finally going to have her baby.
"Come on sweetie, you can do it!"
She tried to smile but she knew that it was time to push again.
"Keep pushing Alicia, I can see his head!" The doctor said.
Alicia continued to push until her face was all red and she knew she couldn't take this kind of pain much longer. Suddenly, she felt the baby slip out of her body like some kind of miracle.
"Congratulation Mme Crew. You have a beautifull girl!"
She started to cry silently when the doctor put her baby in her arms. Brian kissed her and then kissed the baby on the forehead. "Delilah." She wispered, amazed by the life she was holding. She looked at Brian. "I love you." She murmured and then drifted to sleep.
"She needs some rest now. You can all see her tomorrow." The doctor told them.
Brian and Sabrina left the room and smiled to Kevin, Howie and Nick, who was holding a sleeping Ryan in his arms. "It's a girl!" They all hugged Brian and congratulated him.
Ryan woke up and rubbed his eyes. "Daddy!" He said, jumping from Nick's to Brian's arms. "Daddy, where's my mommy?"
"She's sleeping right now Ryan. We have a very special surprise for you." Brian took him to look at his baby sister throught the glass window. "You see the baby over there? It's your sister."
Ryan's eyes grew wide. "Who daddy?"
"It's your little sister buddy. Her name is Delilah."
"Ooooh. She's little."
Brian laughed. "Yeah, she's beautifull." He took him back to the others and asked Nick to take him home and put him to sleep. Everyone except Sabrina left after promising to be there first thing in the morning. Brian slept on a chair next to Alicia. Sabrina also slept in Ali's room.
The next morning, Brian was the first one to wake up. He looked over at Alicia who was peacefully asleep. He remembered the event of the day before and felt a wave of happiness hit him. But not for long, as he realized that the sheets were covered with blood.
"Sabrina!" He screamed. "Go get the doctor!"
Sabrina woke up and, noticing the blood, ran out of the room to get some help.
Brian knew that Alicia was still alive and breathing but he didn't knew how serious was her condition. Two doctors and a nurse ran in the room and immediatly started to examine her.
The first doctor started to scream orders. "Wake her up! Now! Sir, stand back please! There's way too much blood here! We've got to stop the bleeding!"
Brian started to cry and became hysterical. He ran to Alicia and started to talk to her. "Baby, come on, wake up, sweetie, I'm here. It's me, Brian! Please Alicia, we have a beautifull baby that needs her mom. Delilah and Ryan needs you Ali. And I do too. I love you." He started to shake her shoulders but she wasn't responding.
"Get him out of this room!"
Brian was dragged away from Alicia. He and Sabrina had to wait in the hall.
"She's going to be fine Brian. You know how strong is Ali." She tried to convince herself and Brian at the same time. Sabrina was crying too and she was very afraid for her friend. She remembered how badly she had treated her over the last weeks and she felt so guilty.
A doctor opened the door. "Sir, I'm going to explain what is going on. It's not looking very good. The placenta seperated from the uterus too quickly. This caused cuts in the uteral wall and it started to bleed. She was exhausted yesterday and she slept through internal bleeding. It accumulated inside of her and it's not very visible until there's a lot of blood loss. We tried to give her a blood transfusion and it might work but she was very weak. Her heart is having trouble to pump. She's in a very dangerous situation right now but you can go see her if you keep it quiet. All we can do now is wait."
They rushed inside the room only to see Alicia, lying in the bed, very weak. Brian sat beside her with tears running down his cheeks. "It's going to be fine Ali."
She slowly shook her head. "Sab, you're wonderfull. I feel so lucky to have you has a friend. You were there for me when I needed you and I'll always be gratefull for that." She turned to Brian. "I want you to know just how happy I am because of you Brian. I've never been happier." She took a pause. Her last bit of strength was slipping away. "Please take good care of Ryan, Delilah and yourself. Look after Sabrina too. I love you." She gave him a last look full of sadness and closed her eyes. She was gone. It was over.
"No." Brian whispered. "Ali, please, don't do that to me!" He took her in his arms and holded her very tight. "We still have so much things to do together." He looked at the doctor, who shook his head.
"I'm so sorry Sir."
Chapter 12
Chapter 14
Chapters Index