Falling Stars (47 page)

I
turned around quickly.

"Sorry.
I thought you were getting sick again."

She
started laughing.

"What?"

"Did
you seriously just turn around because I'm in the shower?" She laughed
louder.

"Yeah,
I guess I did," I started laughing too.

"Uh-huh,
so what happened to Mister "
I've seen every part of your body
"?"

Turning
back around, I was about to tease back, but the outline of her body against the
steamed up glass was too much for my inner pervert. I couldn't speak and before
my brain could catch up with my body, I was standing with my hand on the shower
door, sliding it open.

Without
removing my clothes, I stepped inside. Wrapping my arms around her, I pulled
her to me. As I pressed my lips to hers, I could smell her scent intensified by
the steam. Her skin, wet, was so amazing. My hands slid over her curves.

"Uh,
your clothes are getting soaked." Mia had a look of amusement on her face.

My
sweatpants started to stick uncomfortably to my skin. That's when my brain
finally caught up. Leaning back, I looked at her. We both started laughing at
my drenched clothing.

"Sorry,"
I mumbled.

"You
say that a lot," she quipped and then turned back around to finish.

I
stood captivated by her smell and the sight. My pants tightened from arousal
rather than the water, as visions of pressing her against the cool tile and
fucking her senseless entered my head. However, just as I had the thought, she
squeezed past me and got out of the shower.

She
left the water on. I stripped out of my soaked clothes and showered. When I
realized my 'problem' wasn't going anywhere I switched the water to cold before
I climbed out to dry off.

Many
hours later, I sat backstage at our final concert. Waiting for the girls
finished up their set, I realized how much I hated being away from her. I got
up to head to the side stage.

"Where
you going?"

"Go
watch them finish." I shrugged.

Halfway
down the hall, Jackson's presence appeared.

"So
what are you going to do man?"

"About
what?"

"Well
let's see…about Mia, the baby, you know, so don't fucking play stupid." He
rolled his eyes.

"She's
going to have the baby," I answered.

"I
know that asshole. What are you going to do?"

"I
don't know Jackson, it's not like I've had a lot of time for it all to absorb."
Sighing, I stopped walking. "I still have to find out what she's going to
do. I mean is she going to stay in Seattle? Is she going back to Whidbey
Island, and all that shit? I just don't know yet."

He
patted my back.

"I'm
sure you'll work it out, though you guys are going to be swarmed by the paps
now." He raised his eyebrow. I let that sink in. I hadn't even thought
about the way they are going to attack her. We started walking again.

We
got to the side stage and there they were. The same carefree, upbeat
performance, but Mia wasn't her normal self. Something was off. I couldn't
figure out if she wasn't feeling good again or if she was just worried. They
started their last song and we rushed off to get ready.

After
the show wrapped up and we got back to the hotel, I packed up some clothes and
went to the girl's room. Laney smiled when she let me in. I headed to Mia's
room.

"I
think she's already asleep," Laney said, walking by me toward her room.

Opening
the door, she lay curled up against a bunch of pillows. I climbed onto the bed
and hovered over her sleeping body for a few moments just staring. Pulling
myself out of the trance, I slid the pillows away from her and replaced them
with my body.

"Christopher,"
I froze thinking I woke her, but her breathing stayed even and she curled up to
my chest. I settled in. "Christopher," she said again. I brushed stray
hairs away from her face.

She
sighed, "I love you."

I
stopped breathing for a few minutes I swear.

Did
she just say…She was sleeping Christopher, don't take it as much more than a
dream.

Smiling
wider than I had in forever, not caring if she meant it, I fell asleep. She
said it and that was all I needed right now.

*
* * * *

During
our whole performance, I couldn't get my mind to settle. It was distracting. I
knew I cared about Christopher, that was obvious, but he's in love with me.
Did
I love him?

A
part of me screamed yes, while the more logical side was beating the hell out
of the yes side. It was the worst time to have an internal struggle but I
couldn't get past it.

We
couldn't have gotten back to the hotel fast enough for me. Taking a hot shower,
I threw my exhausted ass into bed. Even though I was exhausted it was so hard
to sleep with…well without him. Bunching up my pillows, I draped myself over
them to get comfortable. I don't remember anything after that.

I
woke up to another intense knot in my stomach and bolted for the bathroom. This
was getting old already.

Swinging
the door shut behind me on my way to kneel before the porcelain god,
Christopher stopped it and was right next to me in matter of seconds.

I
groaned.

"What
can I do?" He asked with concern.

"Get
out," I heaved.

"Not
likely," he responded.

I
waited until I knew I wasn't going to throw up again.

"It's
gross, get out of here," I shoved at him. He didn't budge. After my
stomach settled, I stood up and Christopher held my sides. Pushing him out of
the bathroom, I closed the door behind him, and hopped in the shower.

Once
I dried off and wrapped up in a robe, I walked out to my room.

Christopher
sat on the bed with the TV remote in his hand and a food cart next to him. I
raised an eyebrow to him.

"I
ordered some breakfast," he smiled unsurely. "I'm hoping none of it
makes you sick." He went to lift the lids.

"Wait!"
I protested.

He
stopped and looked at me.

"Tell
me what is first, before you unleash the smell."

"Ummm…scrambled
eggs, toast, bacon, and orange juice?"

I
bit my lip thinking it over.

"Okay."

He
lifted the lid and the smell of the food filled the room. I thanked my lucky
stars when the only feeling in my stomach was famine. My mouth started to water
and my stomach growled.

Christopher
patted the bed and I smiled. Sitting down, he handed me a plate. We ate side by
side on the bed and watching TV. It was a comfortable silence.

"So,"
He broke the silence. I turned my head to him, taking a bite of toast. "What's
the plan?" He kept his eyes on his plate in front of him. His nerves were
noticeable.

"The
plan?" I spoke around a mouthful of toast.

"Yeah,
you know. I mean…the tour is over and well," he motioned to my stomach "Are
you going back to Whidbey Island?"

"Well
that's where I live," I answered quietly. Now I was catching on to what he
wanted to discuss.

"Yeah,"
he breathed out.

"Listen,
I'll keep you in the loop on things. I mean, I won't keep you out of anything.
Of course depending on what you want to be included in." I let my voice
drift off, feeling as if I was rambling.

He
didn't speak for a few minutes.

"I
don't like being away from you." His eyes were still on his plate and this
time it looked like he was pained.

"Oh,"
was my brilliant response. "I…uh…hmph…I don't know what to say." I
took a deep breath. "Christopher my family is in Whidbey Island and we're
leaving tomorrow. I don't expect you to –"

"What
if I want to?" His eyes found mine and stared intently into them. "I
mean, would you care?"

"You
can't seriously want –"

"I
do." He grabbed my hand and laced our fingers together. "Although,"
I waited for him to finish. "There could be complications." He looked
nervous again.

"Complications?"

"Mia,
are you prepared for the photographers, the reporters, paparazzi?" He gave
me a concerned look. "Your band alone is going to draw a lot more
attention and now with me or the rest of our band near yours it's going to get
insane." He paused. "And, of course, once they discover you're
pregnant…with my child…they are going to have a field day."

I
furrowed my brow.

"Why
would they find that out?"

"You
don't think they will?" He raised a disbelieving eyebrow at me.

"I
hadn't thought about it," I sighed. "I guess I'll have to talk to
everyone."

He
nodded.

I
lay myself back onto the bed and started thinking everything over. The sound of
plates clinking drew my attention. Christopher cleaned things up before he
curled up next to me, his head on my chest. Placing my hand on his head, he
lightly hummed.

"I
really like when you do that." He nestled closer to me.

"This?"
I rubbed his head. He nodded and hummed again. I laughed silently.

After
laying together for about twenty minutes or so, his cell phone rang. He groaned
and rolled over to answer.

"Yeah?"
"Alright" "Yeah," "I'm coming!" He hung up and
sighed. "Nicholas wants us all in our room."

I
nodded.

"I'll
be back though, okay?" He turned looking for approval.

"Okay,"
I sat up. He leaned over and kissed me before grabbing his shirt and heading
out the door.

A
very strange butterfly sensation plagued my stomach and I thought maybe I was
going to get sick again, but I wasn't nauseous. Trying to sort out the feeling,
I realized what it was. I was falling for Christopher.

Una
worked out some security details for our house and families. She'd gotten a
gate and security system installed at our house in Whidbey, as well as set John
and Linda up with a security system, just in case. The next measure was hiring
security guards for us. Along with Bishop and Phillip, we would also have Joe,
Marc, and Ben protecting our home. They were three large muscled New Yorkers
who were a little rough and scary to look at, but friendly after you talked
with them.

Everything
was in place when we got home. We invited Andrea to stay with us, since she
didn't have her own place nearby. We moved her into the guest room.

Jackson,
Elliott, Jimmy, and Christopher all went to their home in Seattle. Two days
later Elliott and Christopher arrived. Elliott took his stuff directly to
Serena's room, making himself comfortable. Christopher was hesitant about where
to go, which I found amusing.

"You
remember where my room is right?" his eyes looked seemed to sparkle even
more beautifully than they already did. He nodded. "Well get lugging."
I motioned him up the stairs. I headed to the kitchen, my second favorite room
in the house.

Having
picked up an even bigger appetite than I already had, I was sure I could
definitely out eat Elliott. It was borderline disgusting and Laney wasn't
afraid to tell me so. She often referred to me as the garbage disposal. Hence,
my baby's nickname Oscar – since, according to Laney, it lived in a garbage
can.

Serena,
Elliott, and Ryan were becoming a cute little family. Elliott and Ryan were so
close now I think it would kill either one of them if they couldn't be
together. Ryan was always following Elliott around, asking him questions or
just wanting his attention. I gave Elliott major credit. He handled Ry like he
was a pro.

Laney
was going to Seattle to be with Jackson for a few weeks, before they came back
here for the holidays. Kat was an enigma more than usual. She didn't
immediately come back home with us, saying she was going to hang in Seattle for
a while, but would be home in about a week. It was odd, but that was Kat. She was
a free spirit who simply lived her life and typically kept to herself.

After
talking to Una about all the concerns with paparazzi and such, she ensured that
more precautions taken.

My
second doctor's appointment arrived and we were given the due date mid-June. I
would also be having another ultrasound at my next appointment. I hadn't gained
any weight yet, which was not a shocker since I was still getting sick in the
mornings, but they still wanted to keep an eye on it. Christopher was
practically taking mental notes of everything the doctors and nurses said.

Christopher
was adamant on being involved in my appointments and everything he could.
Between his schedule and mine, we often ended up separated. I also realized
just how much I hated when he wasn't with me. And when he was around, he was
annoying me about eating, sleeping, and vitamins.