Nick was outside in the hospital parking lot, smoking a cigarette.  He had been trying to quit lately, but if there was any time he needed one, it was now.  It had been a very stressful night to say the least.

 

Discovering that Carly was pregnant after the fact was a difficult pill to swallow.  He thought about how he would have reacted if she had told him she was pregnant and had not lost the baby.

 

He took a drag and slowly exhaled the smoke from his lungs thoughtfully.  He had to admit, it would still have come as quite a shock, of course, but he would not have been happy about the news; at least not at first.  It would have taken him some time to get used to the idea.

 

The timing would have sucked first of all because he was about to embark on another world wide tour with the boys, minus Kevin, which involved him being away from his home and Carly for several months.  He would hate to think of her back in LA, pregnant and alone, not to mention if she had the baby while he was gone.

 

What’s with you Nick? You just turned 27 and you’re still not ready for marriage or fatherhood? A lot of men at his age would be, but then again they didn’t come from as screwed up childhood as he had.  His parents had gone through a nasty and bitter divorce and had dragged him and his siblings through it.  He would never want that for himself or anyone.  He admitted he still had to do much soul searching to desire a true companionship in the form of marriage.

 

Did he love Carly? Yes! His felt it with his whole heart; his whole body; his whole being. Would he marry her someday? He suspected the answer would be yes, however, there must be some time involved for their relationship to grow and flourish before that next step was taken.

 

Nick smiled when he just thought of the two phone calls he had just made.  It was definitely a step in the right direction towards making a commitment to her and demonstrating that he would there for her no matter what.  He wouldn’t do that for most of the women he had previously dated; in fact he couldn’t think of any woman he would have done it for except maybe one but that had ended in disaster.  Most of the relationships he had had started out good but fizzled in time for one reason or another. 

 

 

When Nick first exited the hospital, he had gotten into his car and called his Agent.  He asked if he could change his flight reservations from the next morning at 6:30 am to 3:00 pm that same day.  No problem, he had said; he would get back to Nick.  The second call was to Brian explaining the situation.  Of course, Brian understood and agreed to pass the info onto the other two guys.  Someone would meet Nick at the airport to pick him up.  Of course, proper security measures would be taken just as they would be for the rest of the guys when they flew into to Nashville that morning so fans wouldn’t mug Nick.

 

Nick stubbed out his cigarette, took a blast of Binaca, pocketed it and made his way back into the hospital.  He was planning to go in the way he had come out; hoping no one would stop him.  When he arrived at Carly’s room he was shocked to see that she was no longer there.  He turned around in surprise and caught the attention of a male nurse nearby.

 

“Excuse me, Carly Benjamin used to be in this room. Do you know where she was moved to?”

 

“Oh, yes, you must be Nick.  She’s on the second floor in Room 215.”

 

“Thanks.  Do you know why they moved her?” He asked, concerned that something had happened.

 

“We don’t have the facilities for patients to stay overnight in this department so she was moved to the second floor.”

 

“Oh, OK, thanks.”

 

“Nick, can I intrude on you for one moment? My niece is a huge fan and I was wondering if you could sign this paper for her.”

 

Nick smiled.  “Sure.  What’s her name?”

 

“Melody.”

 

Nick scribbled a little note to her, signed it Nick Carter and handed it back to him.

 

“Thank you so much! She will be thrilled!”

 

“No problem.  Can you point me in the right direction?”

 

“Sure.”

 

A few minutes later and Nick was making his appearance in Carly’s new room.

 

 

Nick wasn’t surprised to see that Carly was still sleeping.  He was glad actually; she looked so peaceful.  He noticed that someone had made up a cot for him and was grateful to just crash on it until morning.

 

 

The sound of a blood pressure cuff being ripped off and two muted voices woke Nick the next morning.  He squinted at the bright sunshine pouring through the windows and sat up.  He rubbed his eyes and stretched, opening his eyes just in time to see a nurse exiting the room.

 

“Good morning.  Nick, what the hell are you doing here? You’re supposed to be on a plane to Nashville!” Carly tried to act like she was mad at him, but she was actually very glad to see him next to her.

 

“Well, Good Morning to you, too.”  Nick said sarcastically, but he was smiling at her.

 

“Baby…” Carly began, but he cut her off.

 

“Scoot over.”  He said, moving to lie down next to her on the bed.  He put his arm around her and brushed her hair away from her eyes.

 

“Look, I know you told me to go, but there was no way I could go.  You need me.  I need you.  I wanted to be there for you in whatever way possible.”

 

Carly’s eyes welled up with tears.  “Thank you so much.  Thank you especially for not listening to me.  I’m so glad you’re here.”  She smiled, squeezing his hand.

 

“Wait… what about Nashville?” She added, remembering what he was really supposed to be doing today.

 

“I had my agent reschedule the flight until 3:00 today.  I’m already booked and everything.  So that means you need to get your butt out of here before then so I can take you home before my plane leaves.”  He grinned.

 

“Oh, don’t worry, I’m more than ready to leave.  It will be nice to be home.”  She sat up a little and winced.  “Well, at least I think I am.  That kind of hurt.  I think the meds wore off.”  She laughed, rubbing her stomach.  Dr. Holloway had warned her that after the D & C she may feel some pain and she obviously was.

 

“Well, let me call the nurse.”  Nick said, looking for the call button.

 

“No, I don’t want to take any; they make me sleepy and I want to wide awake today—at least while you are here.”

 

Nick smiled.  “Okay.  But are you going to be alright?”

 

Carly nodded.  “Yeah, I’m better, thanks.”

 

“So, how you really feeling, I mean mentally? And be honest.”

 

Carly sighed.  “Well, I’m better, but I’m still very sad.” She looked down.

 

Nick propped her chin up with his finger so she would look at him.  “Carly, what you went through was very traumatic.  It’s okay to be sad.  I don’t want you be heroic around me.  You know, I’m sad, too.”  He said, honestly.

 

“God, Nick, I’ve been so selfish thinking of only me and I wasn’t thinking that you may be feeling the same thing.  I’m sorry.”

 

“It’s alright.  If there was ever a time to feel selfish, you’re entitled.” 

 

“God, you’re too good to me.  Okay, well, I’m sure you have a ton of questions and I owe you some explanations.  Let me just go into my explanation of everything and if you have more questions, just let me know, okay?”

 

Nick nodded.

 

“OK, first of all I had no idea that I was pregnant before I miscarried.  According to the doctor, I was only four weeks along, so it was really too soon to know.  I had just missed my last period and I’m not usually regular so I didn’t think anything of it.  And in case you’re wondering, I wasn’t trying to get pregnant and yes, I was on birth control.  And I know you were the father, or at least I’m pretty darn sure you were.  And the reason for that involves a fairly long story; do you want to hear it?”

 

Nick nodded, unsure if he was.

 

“Alright, about six months after Derek and I began dating, he proposed.”  She noticed the surprised expression on Nick’s face.  “Yeah, he did.  Since we were engaged, we just sort of stopped using birth control figuring that if we got pregnant, it would be no big deal because we were getting married anyway.  Plus the fact that we were both getting older—I was 27 and he was 35 at the time.  That actually had a lot to do with it.  Derek was scared he couldn’t get a woman pregnant since he not used birth control with his last girlfriend and she had not conceived, even though they had tried to.  So, when after six months I didn’t get pregnant, I suggested we both get tested.  I was a little concerned myself that Derek was sterile and I wanted to be sure, too.   And it turned out that Derek did have a low sperm count.  The doctor told us that within a year I could possibly get pregnant because I was fine and the fact that Derek did have some viable sperm, but it may or may not happen.  I was crushed because I had always wanted kids or at least one child.  Derek was pretty upset, too.  He blamed himself and even though I assured him it was okay, he was still upset about it and we really went through a rocky period for a couple of months.  We had hoped to stop thinking about the issue and just concentrate on the wedding plans, but we started fighting so much and being so stressed out about everything that we both decided to take a break from even doing that.  We almost broke up, but just managed to barely hang on.  It was like we were in limbo.  I was so stressed that I started eating a lot and well, within three months I had gained 20 pounds I’m ashamed to say.”  Nick looked at her.  He couldn’t imagine that extra weight on her now incredibly fit and sexy body.

 

“And then one day I looked at myself in the mirror and decided that was it.  My happiness was not going to be dependent on Derek, our relationship or that fact that we may or may not get married or have children together.  I came to my senses and started dieting and working out; seeking to gain my self-esteem and body back.  It was like Derek was going through same epiphany and during my weight loss process, he started getting himself back mentally and came to me and apologized and told me he wanted to work things out no matter what.  He was very supportive of me, which made the weight come out so much faster.  Soon I was looking good and things had improved for us.  We had an opportunity to buy our house in La Verne from my Aunt soon afterwards for a great price, so we decided to go for it.  Oh, God, Nick, I’m so sorry I launched into that huge explanation – I could have spared you all those details, I’m sure, but you know what, it felt so good to let it all out and that I could be honest with you about everything.”

 

“I’m glad you told me all that.  So, were you and Derek still planning to get married?” Nick asked, curiously.

 

“Oh, no, I didn’t tell you that part.  We decided to put any wedding plans on hold indefinitely and any talk about a baby, although we didn’t use any birth control.  It wasn’t until after the first time you and I had sex that I got on The Pill.  I knew it would take a couple of weeks until it was effective, but I wasn’t planning on having sex with you again, at least not so soon.”  She blushed and Nick smiled, remembering that day he had come over her to get his watch.  That sexual escapade on her couch had been hot.

 

“So, was the point of your story that I was most likely the father and not Derek?” Nick said.

 

“Oh, yes! That’s what I trying to say.  So, yeah.”

 

“Wow.”  Nick said, trying to digest everything.  He had never gotten a woman pregnant before to his knowledge, but then again he hadn’t tried to.  He had tried to be careful about that and use condoms and at least ask if his sexual partner was using anything.  He remembered Carly telling him when they first started sleeping together that she was on The Pill, so he didn’t pursue it any further.

 

“Wait, a minute, why did you start using The Pill after the first time we had sex? Were you planning for us to have it again?” Nick asked.

 

Carly smiled at his sheepishly.  “No, but a girl can always dream, can’t she?”

 

“Damn, you little witch.  You put me through the wringer after that first time we slept together, playing the high and mighty ‘good girl’ card, making me feel like a dog.”

 

“God, I know! I felt bad about that afterwards.   It was just that you scared me, Nick Carter.  You scared the hell out of me!” She laughed.

 

“Why?”

 

“Why? Because I knew there was potential for me to fall in love with you! That would mean the end of my relationship with Derek and starting a new one with a frickin’ celebrity! I was petrified!”

 

Nick thought about her statement.  Huh.  He had never stopped to consider why he had thought of her as the ‘ice queen’ when they had first met.  It all made sense now.

 

“Did I answer all your questions? Are you okay with everything?” Carly asked, afraid that she had scared him away.

 

“Yeah, I’m good.  Carly, I’m sorry you lost the baby, I really am.  And you know what? I’m glad I was the father.”

Carly looked at him, stunned.  She wasn’t expecting him to say that.

 

“Really? Nick, we never talked about marriage or kids and how you felt about them, even though I really wanted to talk to you about it.  It seems like sex was always in the forefront of our minds!” She smiled.

 

“As it should be!” Nick laughed.  “No, seriously, Carly, I want some time for us to get to know each other better, but marriage and kids with you someday is a definite possibility.”

 

The thought of it thrilled Carly to no end and her heart soared with joy.  It took away the mental anguish and physical pain she was feeling and she would be forever grateful to him for that.

 

Nick held her close and she held him back just as tightly.  “Hey, thank you for finding me and bringing me here.  You have been so wonderful and I really appreciate it.”  She said, with a tear in her eye.

 

“You’re so welcome, sweetheart.  I swear, Carly, I thought you were dying when I saw your blood! I panicked! I didn’t want to lose you.  I’m so glad that you are going to be okay.  You are going to be okay, right?”

 

Carly smiled, pulling away and looking at him. 

 

“Yes.  I mean, I still have some healing to do mentally and physically, but I think I will be fine.  In fact, once the doctor gives me the okay to go home, I’ll be ready.”

 

 

Within 30 minutes, Dr. Freeman came in to check on Carly.  He said that her bleeding had stopped, she was able to be taken off of her IV and once she ate and was able to walk around, she could be probably released by late morning.

 

 

It was 11:30 when Nick helped Carly up the steps of her house.  He opened the door for her and Carly walked inside.  Derek grabbed her and held her tightly.

 

“Carly, oh my God, I’ve been so worried! Baby, I’m here for you.” 

 

Nick slowly walked up behind the hugging pair and thought, Oh, shit, I have to deal with this now…