Chapter 26

“Holy shit,” Nick whispered as he stared at the magazine in the gift shop of their hotel. Grabbing one, he paid for it along with the bag of pretzels he had settled for and hurried back to the room he was sharing with Brian.

Brian glanced up at him as he entered and, seeing the bag of pretzels, he grinned. “That’s it, huh? You took half an hour to make up your mind over a bag of pretzels?”

Nick plopped down on the bed next to him and dropped the magazine into Brian’s lap. “Nope. This is what took me so long,” he explained.

Brian stared at the headline and the picture below it. Us Weekly had, for once, been halfway right about something. “Backstreet Ex Pregnant!” the headline screamed and below it, “Brian Abandons Pregnant Girlfriend to Party With Former Playboy!” The pictures below were of Sienna on the day of the Soundcheck party and one of him and Kelly at a club she had dragged him to in May.

“Sienna’s going to be pissed,” Nick murmured. “Not to mention, your very Christian image is now going to be questioned.”

“What devout Christian would have premarital sex resulting in a pregnancy and not marry the woman?” Brian finished for Nick. He shook his head. “How could this happen, Nick?”

“Well, she wasn’t exactly discreet about who she was,” Nick said, but Brian cut him off.

“No, this isn’t her fault. She was crying,” he murmured, running his finger over Sienna’s picture.

“Of course she was crying,” Nick said. “You left her, thinking she had cheated on you. Then, she finds out she’s pregnant with your kids and you still stay away from her.”

“Well, what the hell should I have done?” Brian exploded. “Leave the band to take care of her? Really, Nick, how would that have worked?”

Nick shrugged. “I don’t know, Bri, but I would have done that. We sacrifice a lot to get up on stage and perform, but never family,” he reminded Brian. “Family’s more important than anything.”

“You’re right,” Brian agreed. “I’ve hurt Sienna, Nick. She’s forgiven me and agreed to let me be in our children’s lives, but she’s not going to let me back into hers.”

“At least, not that easily,” Nick told him.

Before Brian could say anything, there was a knock on the door. Nick went to open the door and let a grim-looking Johnny and Kevin into the room.

“What’s up, guys?” Nick asked cheerfully.

Kevin sat down next to Brian and glanced at the tabloid. “Well, I guess you already know what we’re going to ask you about,” he sighed.

Johnny shook his head. “Jive wants to know what our official statement is going to be.”

“Does there have to be an official statement?” Brian wondered.

“You know better, Brian. You’ve been in this business a long time. To stay quiet makes it even worse. It makes it seem like there’s something to hide,” Johnny reminded him. “I need to know if Sienna’s going to say anything to anyone.”

Brian shrugged. “I haven’t talked to her since the fourteenth. I’m not sure if she’ll want to say anything. She’s pretty adamant about keeping her private life private.”

Kevin placed a hand on his shoulder. “Can you call her and find out?”

Brian shrugged again. “I can try, but she’s not too happy with me, right now. Our best bet is to call Liv and find out from her what’s going on.”

Johnny nodded. “Then that’s what we’ll do.”

Two hours later, after finding out that Sienna had refused to speak to any reporters that had arrived on her doorstep and showed up in her shop, Brian, Johnny, and the official Jive spokesperson sat down to write up a formal statement.

The following morning, a note was sent to the New York Times, which had also called to find out what was going on. It simply read, “To those who are curious about the alleged pregnancy of Miss Sienna McKinnon, ex-girlfriend of Backstreet Boy Brian Littrell, the facts of the matter are that Miss McKinnon is indeed pregnant with Mr. Littrell’s child. Mr. Littrell, however, is not dating and has never in the past dated Miss Kelly Monaco. Both Littrell and Monaco are close friends, nothing more. Brian Littrell and Sienna McKinnon are also looking forward to welcoming their child and look forward to raising it together.”

Kelly read over the statement and called Brian. “I like it,” she said when he answered the phone. “It’s strong and brooks absolutely no nonsense. And the fact that you ended it with the two of you raising your children together makes it seem as though there are no hard feelings between the two of you. What does Sienna think?”

“It’s hard to tell what she thinks,” Brian said wearily. “She simply said it was fine and that maybe now she could actually run her shop without any commotion.”

“Give her time, Brian. You hurt her, now you have to deal with the consequences,” Kelly reminded him. “Why don’t you call her? Find out how she and the babies are? It might make her think better of you.”

“Yeah, maybe,” Brian murmured. “I could do that and maybe convince her to let me be there when they’re born, too.”

“Perhaps,” Kelly simply said.

Sienna sat behind the register and pouted. She didn’t want to sit anymore. She wanted to get up and move around. She patted her belly.

“I’m not saying that I don’t mind carrying you guys around,” she told the twins. “But, honestly, I’m not sure how much further I can grow. Maybe it’s time for you to come out and see the world. God knows I need to see the two of you,” she murmured.

When the phone rang, she reached for it. “Sienna’s Flowers, how can I help you?” she greeted the caller politely.

“Sienna? What the hell are you doing still working?” Brian shouted over the phone. “You should be home, resting! Not running around after customers.”

Sienna sighed. “Brian, I’m sitting behind the counter, which is where I’ve been sitting for the last three weeks. Relax. Besides, it’s none of your business what I do or don’t do,” she added.

Brian muttered something, then sighed. “Okay, fine. But those babies you’re carrying are part mine, too. So think about them, too.”

“I am. I promise,” she told him. “Why are you calling, Brian? I thought we cleared up all the drama over my being pregnant.”

“We did,” Brian assured her. “I just needed to know how you were. You’re just about eight months pregnant. How are you feeling?”

Hearing the genuine concern in his voice, she sighed. He hadn’t changed, he still cared. It made it more difficult to let him go. “I want to get outside and run around again. Instead, my back hurts, my legs are swollen, and I have to run to the bathroom every half hour. It’s ridiculous,” she told him. “But then I think about the fact that I’m going to give birth soon to two people. We created lives, Brian, and this is all worth it if we have two healthy babies.”

“Sienna…God, I don’t even know what to say,” he murmured. “I miss you,” he whispered.

Sienna squeezed her eyes shut and tried not to let the words affect her. “I want to say I don’t miss you,” she told him. “But that would be lying and we’ve had enough of those between us. I miss you, too. Every minute of every day. When the babies kick, I wish you were here to experience it with me.”

“What if I was?” Brian asked suddenly. “Would you let me come and be with you? Could I be there for their births?”

“Okay,” she said after a few moments. “Be with us, Brian. But you’ll have to hurry,” she warned him. “I have a feeling that they’ll be born soon, maybe even by the end of next week.”

“Whoa, that fast?” Brian wondered, awed. “I thought you still had another month to go?”

Sienna laughed. “Twins usually come sooner than nine months, Bri. Besides, I don’t think I can grow anymore. I already feel as though I’m going to pop.” She paused. “How can you come, Brian? You’re on tour, aren’t you? You can’t just leave the group to come and be here.”

“As Nick told me once, family is more important than anything,” he told her. “The guys will understand as long as it’s okay with you.”

“It’s okay with me,” she reassured him.

“Great! Then I’ll be there as soon as I talk to the others and clear everything up. See you soon, baby,” he said, excitedly. “Tell the twins I love them and I’ll be there soon.”

“I will. ‘Bye Brian.”

“You want to do what?!” Johnny nearly roared.

Brian stood his ground. “I’m going home to be with Sienna. I need to be there when the twins are born. Before and after that, too,” he told Johnny.

Johnny nearly sputtered. “You know this is a very important summer for all of you, Brian. If you want to make it back in the industry, you have to be here for all of the performances and appearances. How would it look to those loyal fans when Brian, the golden-voiced Boy, doesn’t show up at their concerts because he went home to be with his pregnant, ex-girlfriend?”

“I’d say they would be very proud of him,” Kevin said from the doorway. He came into the room. “I thought you understood us, Johnny. Brian wouldn’t be who he is if he didn’t want to go home. Frankly, I’m surprised he’s still here.”

Johnny sighed. “I understand it’s important to be with Sienna. But you hired me to make sure you guys would do well and make it back into the business. You can’t do that if one of your members disappears from the tour for weeks. Last time it happened, you ended up canceling that tour, remember?”

“Considering that’s a difficult time to forget, of course I remember,” Kevin snapped, his patience wearing. “We gave AJ the time he needed, and, if I didn’t think that the four of us would be fine for a few weeks while Brian went home to welcome his children into the world, then I would suggest postponing this tour, too. Yes, I know this tour is important. We’re doing wonderfully, and our fans are just as amazing as they were four years ago. They wouldn’t love us, though, if we weren’t the men we are. If Brian goes home for such an important reason, they will understand. If he stays away from Sienna, they’ll be disappointed in him as they are right now.”

Johnny blew out a breath. “Okay, all right. You’re right, you’re right. You guys can work fine without Brian for a few weeks. I’ll make the necessary excuses. Go,” he said to Brian. “I shouldn’t have tried to stop you. So, go home and give my congratulations to Sienna, too.”

Brian grinned and hugged the other man. “Thanks, man. You don’t know how much this means to me.”

Johnny shrugged. “Whatever makes you happy, Brian, is what we’ll do. I promise.”

Sienna heard the door open and watched as Shane staggered into the kitchen.

“I swear, I am tired of flying all over the country to photograph these celebrities. They’re nothing but spoiled, arrogant children,” he complained.

Sienna gave him a sympathetic smile. “That bad, huh? I thought Hawaii would be nice and relaxing,” she said.

“Right. Well, you’d think it would be, wouldn’t you? But when you put a whiny Miss Lohan into the mix, all relaxation and fun goes out of it,” Shane grumbled.

Sienna ruffled his hair. “Poor baby. Did you bring me anything back?”

Shane grinned. “Always looking for the take, aren’t you? I didn’t bring anything back for you,” he told her. “But,” he continued when he saw her mutinous look, “I did bring something back for the babies.” He dug out a box from his bag. “Here,” he handed it to her.

Sienna opened the box and grinned as she pulled out the tiny hula skirts. “What if they’re not girls?” she asked Shane. “What am I going to do with infant-sized grass skirts?”

“I think they’re going to be girls,” Shane said. “I have a really good feeling about it.”

Sienna shrugged. “Guess we’ll see, huh? So, guess who’s coming to stay with us for the next few weeks?”

Shane pulled a bottle of water out of the fridge. “Who? And why is your house turning into a bed and breakfast?”

“It’s not turning into a bed and breakfast,” she told him. “And Brian’s leaving the tour to be here when the babies are born.”

Shane turned to her slowly. “You’re joking, right? I thought you didn’t want to be anywhere near him ever again?”

Sienna waved that off. “Don’t be silly, Shane. How could I not see the father of my children ever again? Besides, I’m still in love with him,” she added.

“What! Sienna, honey, the guy didn’t trust you, but you still love him?”

“Shane, I can’t control how I feel about him. It just is and I’ve come to terms with it. I’ve forgiven him, he’s coming here, and he’s going to be here for awhile,” she finished.

“Fine, then I’ll just have to get out of the way so I don’t strangle him,” Shane told her.

“Don’t be stupid, Shane. If you killed him, do you think I’d love you?” Sienna asked him.

“Okay, fine. But if he hurts you again, he’s toast,” Shane promised.

“Deal,” Sienna agreed.

Brian parked his car in the driveway and got out of the car. The door opened, and Shane stepped onto the porch, closing the door behind him. He watched Brian with an unreadable look on his face. Brian strode to the porch and held out a hand.

“Shane, nice to see you again,” he greeted the other man.

Shane looked at his hand then back up at Brian’s face. “Let’s get something straight, shall we? You hurt Sienna, she forgave you, and here you are. If you so much as make her eyes tear up, I will make you wish you had never been born. Is that clear?”

Brian nodded. “Crystal. Now, are you going to let me get into that house or am I going to have to go through you?”

Shane stepped aside, and Brian pushed open the door and entered the house. He walked through the kitchen and found her in the den, stretched out on the couch.

“Sienna?”

She sat up and, seeing him, smiled. “Brian, you made it. Did Shane read you the riot act, yet?”

“Yeah,” Brian smiled at the man next to him. “We cleared everything up.”

Sienna shook her head at Shane. “Jesus, Shane, back off a little. I know how to take care of myself.”

Shane shrugged. “I love you, and I just don’t want to see you crying again.”

She softened. “Don’t worry. Next time, I won’t cry, I’ll get even.” She smiled at Brian. “But, since I know you won’t hurt me again, I don’t have to worry about coming up with various ways to maim you, right?”

Brian swallowed. “I promise, I’d rather cut out my own heart than hurt you again.”

“See?” Sienna smiled at Shane. “What’d I tell you? Now, go away Shane. Go find Marlena and bother her.”

Shane grumbled but left.

Brian watched him go, then turned to Sienna. “I like him. I’m glad he took care of you.”

“Took care of me? Ha!” Sienna shook her head. “It was like being babysat by a drill sergeant. ‘Eat this much at this time,’ ‘Did you take your vitamins?’ ‘Stay off your feet,’ and so on. Who do you think convinced Marlena to make sure I stayed off my feet at work, even when I threatened to fire her? Of course, that might have been because Marlena’s in love with him, but still.”

“Wait, whoa,” Brian stopped her. “Marlena and Shane? Since when?”

Sienna smiled. “Since you left. We fell apart and the two of them came together. It’s really beautiful. So,” she said, changing the subject, “sit and tell me how the other guys are going to continue to do the tour without you.”

Brian smiled and sat next to her.

***

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