OF ALL THE CAMPSITES, IN ALL THE WORLD

Chapter 10 

Kevin and I had a fabulous time on the cruise and by the time that we got back, Chloe was pregnant and Leighanne was weeks away from her due date. The guys had gotten the tour organized and were getting ready to leave. Kevin had just enough time to do his laundry and pack again before he had to leave. I had decided to stay home for this tour, there was a few things that I wanted to get underway for the guys as far as press conferences goes. And Brian hated leaving Leighanne, but she was in no condition to travel. I promised him that I would be with her and call him the minute she went into labor.

The guys were gone for three weeks when I began to think that I was pregnant myself. I was sitting at work and a sudden wave of dizziness and nauseous over came. I had been having them frequently over the past couple of days. I had made notes and realized that I was indeed late, but brushed it off as being stress and the result of the cruise. I went on with my day, I was going to Leighanne’s for dinner that night and I didn’t want to be sick. By the time that I got to Leighanne’s I was fine. She had made a fabulous dinner and we had a blast together, as usual.

By the time I got home, it was late. And the feeling of nauseous washed over me again. I decided to just go to bed and go see my doctor in the morning. I didn’t get that far. Leighanne called me in the middle of the night to say that she was in labor. Her mother was coming to stay with the kids and I was going to take her to the hospital. The first thing I did was look to see where the guys were and noticed that they weren’t that far away. The were only in New York, as long as Brian could get the next flight out, he should be here in a few hours.

I picked up my cell phone so that I could still get going and inform Brian. “Hey Bri, how’s it going?” I said calmly as he answered his own cell phone.

“Everything is fine Syd, we just finished the show, what’s up? Is Leighanne okay?”

“She’s fine, but you may want to stop at an airport.”

“What?” He asked with worry.

“Now don’t go getting all worried, I am on my way to your house. Leighanne called me a couple of minutes ago, she is in labor.” I explained.

“Okay, I am on my way. Tell her I love her.” He finished and hung up.

When I got to Leighanne’s I quickly got her in the car and to the hospital. She was extremely calm. Laughing it off when I asked her about it that she was an old pro by now. Time seemed to drag by. Her labor was progressing, but not fast. Brian would have lots of time to get here. As we sat in the hospital room, a fresh wave of nauseous came over me.

“Woah.” I said as I grabbed my stomach.

“What’s the matter?” Leighanne asked with concern.

“Nothing.” I said brushing it off with a wave of my hand. When Leighanne gave me a look I smiled, “I just have been feeling sick lately. That’s all. It comes and goes.”

“Have you had a pregnancy test?” She questioned.

“No, I haven’t had time.” I confessed.

Leighanne picked up her buzzer and called for a nurse. Ten minutes later she entered the room, “Yes, Mrs. Littrell?”

“I was wondering, Sydney is feeling a little ill, is there anyway that we can run a pregnancy test on her?” Leighanne said.

“Leighanne? We are not here for me, you are going to have your baby. That is more important.” I told her.

“Forget it, we have lots of time before anything serious happens with me, Brian isn’t here yet and you need to know.” Leighanne pointed out. “Now go!”

There was no way that I was going to argue with Leighanne. I sighed heavily and stood to follow the nurse. She told me what to do and left me alone. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to have a baby, it was just that this was Leighanne’s night. She needed a friend with her since Brian wasn’t here yet. I quickly did my thing and then went back to Leighanne.

We talked for a bit, about anything, not really noticing the time. Four hours after I had called him, Brian came running into the room. Glad that Leighanne hadn’t had the baby yet. Just as I was about to leave, the nurse came into the room to give me the results.

Leighanne stopped talking when she came in, which caused me to turn my head. “So what’s the verdict nurse? Are we going to have to come back?”

“What, Leighanne, what are you talking about?” Brian asked.

“The test was positive.” She said. She handed me a piece of paper and turned to leave, “You will want to get in contact with your doctor.”

I sat back down in the chair that I had just vacated. “Oh my.” I whispered.

“Would someone tell me what is going on?” Brian demanded. “Who is going to come back and why do you have to go to the doctor?”

“Brian, relax. Sydney is pregnant.” Leighanne said.

“All right Kev.” Brian cackled.

I left them then and went home. I was still in a daze, I wanted to call Kevin, but I also wanted another opinion. I trusted the hospital, but my own doctor would tell me when the baby was due. I managed to sleep for a few hours and then went to see my doctor. Sure enough, I was roughly three weeks pregnant. The baby had been conceived just at the start of our honeymoon, probably the first night that we were married.

I looked on my schedule to see where Kevin was that day, they were in Washington State. I went into the office and got the address of the venue that they were playing at that night and then I got on the phone. I called the venue and asked them if they could give me the number for the best florist in town. Once I had their number I called them and ordered the biggest bouquet of flowers that they had in the store. I told them to add lots of baby things to it and what to put on the card and that it had to be delivered to the venue that day. I told them that money was no object, they just had to do what ever was humanly possible to get it to Kevin today.

They assured me there would be no problem. I went through my day, getting a phone call from Brian that Leighanne had a boy. I congratulated them and told Brian that Kevin didn’t know yet that I was pregnant so he shouldn’t tell him. He was going to fly back for the show that night and finish the tour. There was only a few weeks left, so Leighanne was fine with it.

I had decided to treat myself that night, I left work early and headed for my favorite restaurant. I hadn’t heard from Kevin yet, so I assumed that he hadn’t had time to look at his flowers. The florists had called me when they were delivered, so I knew that they were there. I ordered my favorite meal and once it was ready I went home. I quickly changed and got settled in the TV room, putting in an old movie. I was half way through when the phone rang.

“Hello?”

“Hi honey.” Kevin said with a different sound to his voice.

“Hi sweetie, how are you?” I looked at the clock, “Uhm ... shouldn’t you be on stage right about now?”

“Howie is doing his solo, so I have some time. Listen the reason I am calling is that I got this weird bouquet of flowers today?” He started.

“Oh really? What is so weird about it?” I asked playing dumb.

“Well, the flowers are beautiful, but there is baby things all around it. The card has my name on it, but it has to be for Brian, right?” He explained.

“Well, I don’t know. Maybe you should open the card and be sure.” I suggested.

There was quiet on his end as he opened the card. “Well, all this says is congratulations daddy. What does that mean?”

“Well honey, it goes like this. Our first night as husband and wife has produced something.”

Again there was silence on Kevin’s end, until he finally said something, “You mean you are pregnant?”

I wish that I could have been there to see his face, “Yup, about three weeks, so like I said, it would have been on our wedding night.”

“Wow.” I heard him sit down, “I am going to be a father. Wow!” I laughed at his response. He was so cute. We talked for as long as we could, but he had to get out on stage, so we reluctantly hung up.

When Kevin made it back after the tour, the first thing he did was talk to my stomach. He was tickled pink by the idea of being a father. I couldn’t wait until the morning sickness was over. The time seemed to fly by. In the months since I found out I was pregnant, the guys had gone on two tours, when it came closer to my due date, they stopped touring and worked on another album. Our group of ten friends was quickly growing. Leighanne and Brian had three children of their own and had decided that was enough. Hani and Nick were thinking about another, that would give them two. Ally and AJ had decided that one was enough for now and Chloe and Howie were going to have another crack at it.

I was on maternity leave for as long as I wanted, but I couldn’t wait to get back to work. I had lots of ideas about things for the guys to do. It was about three weeks before my due date when I got a visit from a process server at home. It took my by surprise because as far as I knew there should be no reason for anyone to be suing me. As I sat looking at the documents. I noticed they were addressed to me and Kevin, but had my maiden name on then. I almost died from shock. I picked up the phone and called Kevin and told him that he had to come home immediately.

I don’t know where he was, but he must have been close, five minutes later he was home. “What’s going on?” He asked as he blew through the door. “Is it the baby?”

“No honey, they baby is fine. Here take a look at these.” I said and handed him the papers.

He was quiet as he read them, “What is this?” He asked as he looked at me.

“Do you remember that little girl Jordan that I introduced to you guys at the first fan conference thing that I did?” I said.

“Yeah.”

“It’s her.” I reached for the papers, “Her mother died and in the will her mother named us as Guardians. She has no family. Veronica wanted us to raise her daughter.” I explained.

“We can’t raise someone else’s child.” Kevin stated.

“Kevin, we don’t a choice. From what this says, if she doesn’t come with us, she goes to a foster family. I couldn’t do that to that girl.” I said.

“Well maybe there is family that she doesn’t know about.”

“Well we have to be in New Orleans in three days for the reading of the will. We have to be there. She loved you guys, you were the world to her. Do I ever tell you what her mother said to me that day?

“No, what?” Kevin asked as he paced around the living room.

“She told me that was the first day she had seen Jordan smile since her father died. Kevin, we have to go get her.” I said.

Kevin spun around to me, “Are you crazy? You are three weeks away from having my child. I am not dragging you across the United States so that we can go collect some child that isn’t ours.”

This was when I got mad, he obviously didn’t understand what I was saying. “Kevin, I am not asking you if we can go, I am telling you that we are going. And if I have to do it by myself, than so be it. But I think that you should be with me.” I stated and left the room.

I reached for the phone and dialed the airline that we always used. I booked two tickets for the following day and just hoped that Kevin would come. I then called the lawyers’ office that the letter had come from and told them that we would be there the following day. I asked him for the name of a good hotel and then called there for a room.

I slept fitfully that night, partly because of the way Kevin was acting, partly because of the baby and mostly because of Jordan. She was 10 years old when we met, she would be 13 now. That was a bad age, all the hormones and body changes and everything. Did I want to instantly have a child that age? How was I going to handle her and my own child?

When I woke in the morning, it was early and I noticed that Kevin was all ready up. I crawled out of bed and reached for my robe. I wanted to know if Kevin was going to come with me. I stepped out into the hallway and heard Kevin talking to someone in the living room. I didn’t want to eavesdrop, but who would be here so early in the morning? I made my way down the stairs as quietly as I could, not an easy task being almost nine months pregnant. I stopped at the bottom step and peeked into the living room.

Kevin was sitting in the chair that we had closest to the fireplace, he had it turned to face the picture of his father that we kept there. That’s who he was talking to. “How can I take another child into my home when I hardly know that child? I don’t what kind of home she grew up in. She could be on drugs for all we know. She could have killed her mother. Who knows what happened to her father all those years ago.” Kevin dropped his head into his hands, I could see his body shake with the emotions that were going through him. “Dad, I know that you raised me to love everyone, but I don’t know if I can do this. I so much want to know that you are proud of me and what I have done with my life.” Kevin suddenly whipped his head up and stared intently at the picture of his father. I could see the tears running down his face, he reached his hand up to touch the picture and then dropped it as though he had been filled with peace. “I love you dad and I miss you.”

I stepped into the room and walked over to Kevin. I lightly placed my hand on his shoulder. “Are you okay?”

“He was here. He told me what to do. He said that he was proud of me.” Kevin whispered as he looked up at me with tears running down his cheeks.

“What?” I thought that Kevin had been up too long and was a little delusional.

“My dad. I knew that he would help me decide what to do. I looked up at his picture and it was like it came to life. He told me that we should take Jordan into our home. He said that he has been watching me and protecting me. Remember when I dislocated my shoulder on the first Millennium tour?” I nodded my head, I didn’t want to speak and interrupt him, I could see the glow that was coming from his eyes as he talked. “He said that it would have been worse, but he was there with me, making sure that I wasn’t hurt.”

I got on my knees in front of Kevin, I didn’t know what to say to Kevin. I was awed by what he said. He had seen a ghost, how was I supposed to react to that? “Kevin, I ...” I stammered.

“Shhh, don’t speak.” Kevin whispered as he placed his finger on my lips. He awkwardly pulled me up so that I could sit on his lap, not an easy task. He held me close and spoke mainly to our baby, telling him all the stories about his father that he could remember.

It was about an hour later that I looked up at the clock “Oh my god, Kevin, we have to get to the airport. Our plane leaves in an hour and a half.” I jumped out of his lap and ran upstairs, well actually waddled as fast as I could.

I quickly changed and packed a bag for the both us, yelling at Kevin to get changed and get the truck ready. We hadn’t had a chance to tell anyone what was going on, so no one knew where we were going. I threw our bathroom things into the suitcase and went downstairs, telling Kevin to get the suitcase to the truck. I grabbed a few things from the fridge and met Kevin outside. It annoyed me that he was so calm, but I knew that as soon as we were on the plane, that I would be fine.

We made it to the airport with only twenty minutes to spare. We ran through the airport and got on our plane and that was when I relaxed. But now what would we tell everyone else? How were we going to explain Jordan to them? Not that it mattered much, but we were basically taking a stranger into our house. It was only a couple of hours to New Orleans and Kevin and I managed both to fall asleep. We woke up as we heard the landing gear come down.

There was a car there, arranged by the lawyer that we were supposed to meet. As soon as we got to the hotel I called him and arranged a time for us to meet with him, before they read the will the next morning. I asked how Jordan was doing and where she was at that time. I was assured that she was fine, she was staying with a foster family for the moment.

"Can we see her?” I asked.

“Sure.” Mr. Stewart said as he reached for the phone and made the arrangements. Once he was done, he looked at Kevin and I. “I have to admit that I am a little surprised about all of this. You are young and obviously expecting a family of your own, why were you chosen to look after her child?”

I looked at Kevin and then back to Mr. Stewart. “A few years back, we met Jordan and her mom at a conference.” I paused for a minute and then looked at Kevin. “Mr. Stewart, do you know who my husband is?”

“No, I’m sorry I don’t.” He answered.

“If you don’t have any young children, you probably wouldn’t. I am a member of a pop group. The Backstreet Boys.” Kevin explained.

Mr. Stewart smiled to himself, “Ahhh, a name that I know. My granddaughter loves you guys.”

“Well, when we met Jordan and her mom, I was organizing an event with the guys. Jordan was a little scared so I took her with me for the day and she spent the day with the guys. When I met up with her mom at the end of the day, she explained to me that she hadn’t seen Jordan that happy since before her father died.” I looked at Kevin and then back to the lawyer, “I guess that day had an impact on her. I had spoken with them both a few times since, but not in the last year or so. I had no idea that this would happen. We don’t even know how she died.”

“It was cancer. It was very sudden. They only learned about it a month ago.” Mr. Stewart explained.

I felt Kevin’s hand tighten on mine. I knew what he was thinking. That his father knew that Jordan’s mom died of the same thing that he did and that is why we were all being brought together. “Well,” Kevin started as he stood up, “Thank you for your time today Mr. Stewart, we will be back here tomorrow morning with Jordan. We would like to go see her now.”

Mr. Stewart gave instructions to the driver that he had hired for us, and we were on our way. Neither one of us said anything while we drove through New Orleans. I was a little worried about the place that Jordan was staying in, I had seen some horror stories about foster homes. I wanted to get her out as soon as possible.

I was pleasantly surprised when we pulled up to a huge French style home. There were several kids running around in the yard and an older couple sitting on a porch swing. I spotted Jordan instantly on the step, just watching everyone. When Kevin and I got out of the car, some of the kids stopped dead in their tracks. As we walked over to Jordan, she spotted us and smiled, she jumped up and ran for us. And upon noticing that I was pregnant, she leaped into Kevin’s arms.

“You came.” She cried.

I ran my hand over her head, “Of course we did. Didn’t I promise that if you needed anything, we would be there for you.”

There were a few kids that had gathered around Kevin, obviously knowing who he was. While he talked with them, I went over to the foster parents. “Hi, I’m Sydney Richardson.”

“Hello, I’m John and this is my wife Mary. Jordan is a wonderful girl.” He said.

“She is. I was a little shocked when I got the lawyers’ letter the other day. I had spoken with Veronica, her mother, a little over a year ago. But I had no idea that this would happen.” I told them.

--> chapter 11

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