Emily was sitting in her living room watching tv when her stepsister, Brizee, came in.

        “Hey Briz,” Emily said.

        “Hey,” Brizee said.

        “What’s wrong,” Emily said.

        “I got the job as a dancer, for the Backstreet Boys,” Brizee said.

        “Did you know before you got the job,” Emily said.

        “No, what’s worse is that I will be paired with Nick,” Brizee said sitting down.

        “Oh boy,” Emily said.

        “How am I suppose to go onstage and dance in front of hundreds of fans with my ex-husband,” Brizee said.

        “Does he know,” Emily said.

        “I’m sure by now he does, I can’t do it,” Brizee said.

        “Yes, you can, you have to, for Jason,” Emily said. Brizee looked at her son sleeping in the crib.

        “The son Nick doesn’t know about, another reason for him to hate me,” Brizee said.

        “Nick is the one who broke your heart, he had the affair, he deserved everything you did, he doesn’t deserve to know about Jason,” Emily said.

        “But he is still Jason’s father and I don’t think I can let Jason grow up without knowing his father,” Brizee said.

        “Just go out and do your job and make a living for you and your son,” Emily said. Brizee watched her son sleep and thought about what Emily said.

Meanwhile…..

Nick was sitting in his house, looking at a picture of him and Brizee on their wedding day. He missed her terribly and knew he broke her heart when he had cheated with another woman. It happened one night on a tour. Brizee had stayed home for security reasons. He was feeling lonely and went out with AJ to a bar and a girl had started flirting with him. He danced with her and started flirting back. He don’t know why but he drank too much and ended up in bed with this girl. The next morning, he woke up with a headache and the girl smiling at him. He got dressed and ran out of there. Three days later, Brizee had joined them on the tour and told Nick that she was pregnant. The girl showed up at the hotel they were at and Nick saw her and ignored her. He hugged Brizee close to him. The girl came up to them and told Brizee about the one night stand. Brizee looked at her husband and saw the truth on his face and got her stuff and told him the marriage was over and left the hotel. He got word that Brizee had suffered stomach pains and was at the hospital and he went and she told him she had a miscarriage and it was his fault and told him that she wanted a divorce. She yelled at him to get out and he slowly walked back to the hotel and went to his hotel suite and fell apart. He sat on the floor by the sliding doors and just stared out at the sky. Brian, Howie, and AJ had came in and talked to him. Although they were angry at what he did, they couldn’t turn their backs on him when he needed them the most. They stayed with him and kept him busy. The divorce papers arrived at the next tour stop and he signed them and sent them back and went into seclusion after the tour was over. It’s been a year since his marriage ended and he could not get past the heartache of losing the love of his life.

Nick stared at the ceiling and put the picture down. Brian, Howie, and AJ came in.

        “Hey Frack,” Brian said.

        “Hi,” Nick said. Brian sat down and saw the picture.

        “We were at the tryouts for backup dancers, only we were behind the mirror watching, only they didn’t know it, Brizee was there trying out,” Brian said.

        “She was,” Nick said.

        “She made it, Nick, she got the job,” Brian said.

        “I knew she would, she’s always been a great dancer,” Nick said.

        “She’s your new partner,” AJ said.

        “What,” Nick said.

        “Fatima watched the five girls who made it and she thought Brizee would be best paired with you, she didn’t know about the past between you and Briz,” Howie said.

        “How did she take the news of being paired with me,” Nick said.

        “We could tell she didn’t like it but she acted professional about it, to Fatima,” Brian said.

        “She’s probably hating it, she’ll probably quit,” Nick said. Brian looked at AJ.

        “We caught up with her, she said she wouldn’t, she needed the job,” AJ said.

        “She is getting alimony from me, a good amount to keep her comfortable and set for life, unless she got married,” Nick said.

        “Have you gotten a letter saying that,” Howie said.

        “No, but why would she need a job if she’s getting money from me,” Nick said.

        “We don’t know,” Brian said. Nick got up and went out the door. He went to Brizee’s house and rang the doorbell. He stood there with his hands in his pockets. The door opened and Brizee stood there.

        “I guess you heard,” Brizee said.

        “The guys just told me, but I have to ask, they said you told them you needed the job, why would you need a job if you are getting money from me,” Nick said.

        “Your lawyer stopped sending the checks on your request,” Brizee said.

        “I never told him anything,” Nick said. He got out the phone to call his lawyer when he heard a baby cry from inside. He looked at Brizee.

        “Is that a baby,” Nick said.

        “TV,” Brizee said. Nick went past her and saw Emily and saw the crib and he went and saw a baby in the crib, crying. He looked at them.

        “You have a baby,” Nick said.

        “He’s my baby,” Emily said picking him up.

        “Yours?” Nick asked.

        “Yeah,” Emily said.

        “Funny, because AJ said he saw you four months ago and said how hot you looked in your bikini, it’s odd that he would say that if you were pregnant, he didn’t say anything about you being pregnant,” Nick said.

        “He said I was hot,” Emily said.

        “Yeah, he did, he would have said something about you being pregnant,” Nick said looking at the baby and saw his eyes and he looked at Brizee. She knew that he knew the truth.

        “You didn’t miscarry, you were still pregnant, you lied to me, I know I hurt you deeply by cheating but you kept my son from me!” Nick said angrily.

        “You deserved it, Nick,” Emily said.

        “Oh really, I deserved being kept in the dark about my son, Emily,” Nick said.

        “Emily, take the baby upstairs,” Brizee said softly. Nick texted the guys to come over. Emily went upstairs with the baby.

        “I know what I did was wrong, I know I hurt you, but keeping my son from me, lying to me, I knew I deserved you leaving me but lying to me, telling me the baby was gone, that a chance of fatherhood was gone, that destroyed me, Brizee, after I left the hospital, I went back to my hotel suite and sat on the floor by the sliding door and just stared at the sky, I completely fell apart, you made me think I lost everything, I knew I lost you, but our son, you made me think he was gone for good!” Nick said. Brian, AJ, and Howie came in.

        “What’s going on,” Brian said.

        “Brizee here never had a miscarriage, I have a son, she kept him from me, she was never going to tell me about him, she was going to hide him from me, even had Emily cover by saying the baby was hers but I caught her in the lie with the fact that AJ saw her four months ago on the beach in a bikini with no pregnant belly,” Nick said.

        “You have a son and never told anyone,” Brian said.

        “My family are the only ones who knew,” Brizee said.

        “Briz, Nick knows what he did was bad but keeping him from his son is not right,” AJ said.

        “I’m sorry, I wanted to tell him but I was afraid!” Brizee said sitting down.

        “Afraid of what,” Brian said.

        “That he would hate me for lying to him, that he would be so mad that he would take him away from me,” Brizee said. Nick sat down beside her. She looked at him.

        “I would be mad, yes, but I would never take him away from his mother, he needs you, he needs both of us,” Nick said. Brizee cried and nodded.

        “I’m sorry,” Brizee said.

        “What’s his name,” Nick said.

        “Jason Nickolas Carter,” Brizee said.

        “You gave him my name,” Nick said. Brizee nodded. Emily came downstairs with Jason. Brizee took him and gave him to Nick who gazed down at his son. The guys gathered around him and looked at the baby.

        “My son, guys, he has my eyes,” Nick said.

        “He looks like a Carter baby, for sure,” Brian said.

        “Briz, I know we can’t go back, I know I destroyed things, but I want you and Jason to move in with me, you can have your own room next to Jason’s,” Nick said. Brizee looked at him and nodded.

Three days later, she and Jason were living at Nick’s house. Brizee was making a bottle for Jason when Nick came in. He was rubbing his head.

        “You okay?” Brizee asked. He shook his head as he got out a package of frozen vegetables and put it on his head and sat down at the table.

        “Dumb AJ,” Nick said.

        “What did he do,” Brizee said.

        “We were playing basketball and we collided and bumped heads, man, he is so hard-headed,” Nick said.

        “I bet, he should have looked where he was going,” Brizee said.

        “He wasn’t, Emily was there and he was showing off for her, I think he has the hots for her,” Nick said.

        “Well, he don’t have to try so hard, she’s totally in love with him,” Brizee said.

        “Are you serious?” Nick asked.

        “No, he’s all she talks about,” Brizee said. Nick sent AJ a text.

        “They would make a great couple,” Nick said.

        “Oh yeah,” Brizee said. She went upstairs and fed Jason. She sat down and rocked him to sleep. Nick came in and watched her lay their son in his crib. He stood beside her and watched him sleep. Nick looked at her. She looked at him. They were soon kissing and she jumped into his arms and he carried her out of the room and into his room and closed the door. They collapsed on the bed and removed each other’s clothes and made love. Afterwards they laid there staring up at the ceiling.

        “Oh god,” Brizee said softly.

        “Yeah,” Nick said.

        “Nick,” Brizee said.

        “I swear I didn’t plan this,” Nick said.

        “I know,” Brizee said.

        “And I swear I’ve never been with anyone else,” Nick said. Brizee looked at him.

        “Nick,” Brizee said.

        “The last time I slept with someone, it destroyed our marriage,” Nick said softly.