Dressed only in their beachwear attire: t-shirts, shorts and sandals, Corinne and Nick entered the hospital room on the 2nd floor.
Screams as well as, Corinne’s mom, Bonnie greeted them.
“Hey honey." She kissed her daughter and then turned to Nick. "Hi, I’m Bonnie. You must be Nick.” She smiled at Nick and to his surprise, reached over to give him a hug.
"Yeah. It's so nice to meet you, Bonnie.” Corinne was right about her; he liked her immediately. That was pretty generous of her, especially after Corinne's relationship with Kevin had just ended. He knew that her parents had to have liked Kevin and probably missed him.
Bonnie Whitman was a petite woman with dark brown salt and pepper hair which was pulled up into a hurried bun and she looked a little tired.
“Same here, Nick. Corinne, Megan has been asking for you. Nick, you might want to wait in the waiting room with my husband, Peter. I’m sure you won’t want to be around this.” Bonnie said, motioning to the bed where Megan was wailing with pain.
“Dad’s out there? I didn’t see him on the way in.” Corinne said.
“I think he went to get some coffee.”
“Well, let me go introduce them and I'll be right back.” Corinne said, but Nick stopped her.
“Corinne, it’s okay. I think I can manage. You go take care of your sister.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.” He gave her a kiss on the cheek and walked back down the hall. Corinne stood there and smiled. She really lucked out with him. When she heard her sister’s cries again, she rushed to her side.
“Meg, how are you doing, hun?” Corinne sat next to her and grasped her hand.
“Corinne, I’m so glad you’re here! Oh…” She started her Lamaze breathing again and Corinne helped her through it.
“What am I, chopped liver?” Amber asked, sarcastically.
“Hi Amber.” Corinne gave her a quick hug and then went to Megan’s side.
When she had a minute, she got the details of her sister's condition from her mom. Could she get an epidural? No, her mom said, she was already dilated to eight centimeters, so it was too late for that. Wow, so fast, Corinne said. Yes. Her mother reminded her how quick her own birth was; she practically plopped right out after one hour. Yes, Corinne, remembered hearing the story--many times. So, it shouldn’t be too much longer, she thought. Corinne knew from personal experience a little bit about childbirth.
Nick walked back down the hall towards the waiting room. A tall man who looked to be in his late 50’s was sitting on one of the chairs against the far wall, drinking coffee and reading a newspaper. No one else was in the room. Even if Nick didn’t know who the man was, he would have guessed it was Corinne’s father. They had the same face; same beautiful eyes; same poised stature.
“Mr. Whitman, I’m Nick Carter, your daughter’s uh…” Suddenly, Nick didn’t know what to say. Did they know about him or did they still think she was with Kevin? That nervous feeling came back to haunt him again.
But Peter smiled at him which helped put Nick at ease. He stood up, offered his hand and said, “I know who you are, Nick. Corinne has told us about you.” He shook Nick’s hand and they sat down. However, the butterflies still toyed with Nick’s insides.
“So, how’s the singing business these days?” Peter was the master of small talk. Being a businessman, he had to adapt to all kinds of social situations.
Nick laughed. “Uh, well, good, sir.”
“No, I’ll have none of that sir. Call me Peter.”
“Okay, Peter." Nick laughed nervously. "We’re supposed to start working on a new album next week and then back on tour within a few months.”
“Oh?” He said and then Nick regretted saying that. Maybe Peter thought that was an unacceptable environment for daughter. But she is 34 after all…
“Well, good for you. Hey, have you read any of Corinne’s work?” He was obviously a man proud of his daughter’s accomplishments.
“No, unfortunately, but I would like to.”
“Well, ask her about it later. She’s probably too modest to say anything, but she is a really fine writer and assistant and we like having her at GarnerWhitman.” Apparently, Nick thought. Family is a good thing. He was glad that so far it seemed like Corinne had a close and happy one.
“Amber, what the hell are you doing?” Corinne hissed at her sister.
“Calm down, Corinne, I’m giving her some water.”
“She is not supposed to have any water. Ice chips only.” Corinne held up the cup of ice chips.
“Oh. Well, I’m sorry, I didn’t know. I guess you’re the expert.” Amber said, sarcastically.
“No, I’m sorry. I know you were just trying to help.” Amber always had a way of bringing out the worst in her; she had since they were little. More water must go under the bridge, she thought. Try harder, Corinne.
“Amber, it’s okay. Ah… another one!” Megan said and clutched her stomach as another contraction hit her. While her mom and sister tended to Megan, Amber took a walk down the hall.
“Oh, hi, Daddy. Who are talking to?” Amber lit up when she saw Nick. What a hottie, she thought. Amber was 36 and newly divorced. She thought it might be kind of fun to hook up with a new guy while she was in town.
“Oh, Amber, this is Nick, Corinne’s new boyfriend. Nick, this is my middle daughter, Amber.”
Nick stood up and shook her hand. Amber’s face fell. How come Corinne always got all the hot guys? She thought. She was always the pretty one and the lucky one. And what happened to Kevin anyway?
“Hi! Nice to meet you.” Nick said.
“Hey.” Amber said.
Nick looked at Corinne’s middle sister. She was attractive. Not as attractive as Corinne he thought, but then again, he was biased on that matter. Amber had short light brown hair, brown eyes and a slender body. She was good enough looking that he would guess she her pick of men. He wondered what her story was.
“Corinne tells me you live in Minnesota.”
“Yes, Minneapolis.”
“Do you like it there?
"It's okay. I just got divorced, so maybe I'll move here. Who knows. I've gotta go.” And with that, she turned and left.
It appeared that Amber suddenly wasn’t interested in Nick now that he wasn’t available.
“Just ignore her. Amber marches to the beat of her own drum.” Peter said as if to excuse his daughter’s behavior. Nick sat back down and continued talking with Peter. He much preferred that anyway.
Two hours later Corinne came over to tell them the good news.
“It’s a boy! She named him Tyler James.” Corinne smiled at her Dad. Tyler was her dad’s middle name. She saw a tear in his eye and it touched her.
“Dad, you can go see your grandson.” Peter left and Nick smiled at Corinne.
"Congratulations, Auntie Corinne."
"God, that's weird to hear, but weird in a good way." She laughed. Then she put her hands on Nick's chest, looked up at him and said, “Thank you so much for being here; for meeting my family and waiting. It means so much to me!”
Nick smiled at her. "It's no problem. You're dad is very cool."
"Oh, I'm glad you like him." Corinne smiled.
"And Amber is... different." He was searching for the right word.
Corinne laughed. "Oh, you got to meet her? Yeah, that's definitely a good word to describe her. Amber is complicated and we haven't always gotten along, but I love her, of course."
"Yeah, I know what it's like to have to put up with a difficult family." He said.
Corinne looked at him. She just bet it was difficult. She had gleaned some information about the Carter parents and siblings over the past few months she had known him and she knew it hadn't always been easy for Nick. Her heart went out to him.
"I'm sorry you had to put up with so much shit from your family." She felt compassion for him and gave him a big hug.
Nick kissed her head, touched at her concern, but things took a different turn when she inadvertently rubbed up against him. Her touch, her scent, her sexy body...
“Nicky!” Corinne suddenly pulled away, laughing.
“It's your fault. I can't help it if you have that affect on me.” Nick smiled sheepishly at the fact his erection brushed against her thigh.
“Hey, I wasn't complaining.” Corinne said. “If only we could get away to do something about it.” She raised her eyebrows and kissed him.
“Eh hem.” Nick and Corinne turned to see Kevin standing there holding some flowers.
“Kevin! Hi!” Corinne pulled away, the deep blush of embarrassment staining her cheeks. She smoothed her clothing in an attempt to hid her humiliation. Shit, she didn't want him to witness them kissing. She still cared about Kevin and it was bound to hurt him to see their affectionate display.
Nick was feeling about two inches tall right now. He felt like crap that one of his best friends saw him kissing his ex-girlfriend. It was not supposed to turn out this way. The guilt of what he did to his friend tormented him.
"Hey, Kev." He said sympathetically.
"Hey." Kevin barely acknowledged him.
“Um, I just came by to give these to your sister. Congratulations on being an aunt.” Kevin, deciding to be the bigger man, said to Corinne. All the while his insides were churning with jealously and hurt. Damn you, you both, he thought.
“Thank you. They're beautiful. I'm sure Megan will appreciate them.” She went to give Kevin a hug as Nick stood there awkwardly. Corinne wondered how Kevin knew about Megan's baby and then she knew. Her mom must have called him.
"Well, I've gotta go. Could you give these to her and tell her congratulations for me?" Kevin pulled away quickly, handed the flowers to her and walked away.
"Wait!" Corinne caught up with Kevin at the bank of elevators. "Don't you want to see my family? They would love to see you again."
Kevin hesitated. He did miss her family. Except Amber, maybe, but even she had her moments. But there was no way he could be around Corinne and Nick any longer. It broke him up to see them entwined in a lover’s kiss when he first approached them. They looked like they were in love and having the time of their lives, whereas he was still recovering from his broken heart. A part of him had hoped that he would catch Corinne here alone, or at least without Nick around, so maybe they could possibly talk… but, no, that wasn’t meant to be.
The elevator doors suddenly opened and some people walked out past them.
“No, I’m going to go. Take care of yourself.” He got in and that was it. The doors to the elevator closed and Corinne felt a door to her heart also close. She felt a tear fall down her cheek. Suddenly realizing Nick was probably watching her, she quickly brushed it away.
Corinne walked back to Nick and said, “Baby, I’ll be right back. I have to go talk to him.”
"Go." Nick said even though he didn't want her to. He was unsure if old feelings would arise to make them do something rash in the heat of the moment. He sighed. He had no choice but to trust her.
"Kevin, wait!" She caught him just outside the entrance sliding glass doors.
He turned to look at her and that's when she saw his beautiful green eyes flooded with tears. He made a valiant effort to hide them, but there was no hiding the fact that he was dying inside.
"Oh, Scotty..." Her heart was breaking for him.
"It's Kevin." His voice was deep and choked with emotion.
"Kevin, I'm so sorry..." What else could she say? At that moment she felt like crying herself. Had she made the right decision? Suddenly six months of dating the man standing in front of her flashed before her eyes and she doubted herself. But then a vision of a tall, blonde-haired man she had fallen head over heels for filled her head and she knew she had made the right decision. She loved Kevin, but she was in love with Nick.
"It's okay, Corinne, I get it. I got it before when you told me it was over, but don't expect me to be happy about it." He said seriously. But did he really get it? A part of him was still confused about what had happened between them.
Corinne nodded. She didn't blame him. It would take time and she was more than willing to give it to him.
"I understand. But for what it's worth, I care about you and only want the best for you." She said with emotion.
"Yeah and apparently, it's not you. Go have a happy life with Nick, Corinne." He said and turned and walked towards his car.
Her heart wrenched and she was wracked with guilt. But how could blame herself? The heart wants what the heart wants and what it wants is a life with Nick Carter. She sighed, hurting for Kevin but knowing she did the right thing. He would find someone right for him and she could live her life knowing that she didn't compromise. She followed her heart and was true to herself. After all, didn't the Backstreet Boys sing about things like that?
