"Hello?"

"Nick? What the hell?"

"I...just a minute, okay?"

I set the phone down and walked quickly out to the kitchen with Dani. I grabbed a bottle from the fridge and tossed it in the microwave. Hopefully that would calm her down until I could get off the phone. As we walked back to the living room, I offered her the bottle and she took it eagerly. With a sigh of relief I picked up the phone again.

"I'm sorry. Had a bit of a thing here."

"So it's true, huh?" The caller drawled. Kevin. Brian had already ratted me out. They were probably all already against me and anything I had to say.

"Yes, it's true. But don't believe everything Brian told you."

"Brian didn't tell me anything, I saw it on the internet this morning. Kristin found it first. What's going on Nick?"

"That's why I called." I took a deep breath for courage and continued. "Brian called today and was pretty upset. I want to explain myself. On a lot of issues."

"You want us all there?"

"Here would be easier. But I'll go wherever."

"I can get everyone there. Later tonight?"

I considered. "After seven, Dani should be in bed by then."

"Dani?"

"My daughter."

"Your...daughter." Kevin repeated slowly. "You really have a daughter?"

"I'll explain everything later Kev, I promise, just get everyone here. Please. I don't want you guys mad at me for this. For anything."

"We'll be there, but we're coming at six. I want to meet Miss Dani Carter."

Kevin hung the phone up with a sharp click. At least I knew he was true to his word. All the guys would be here, whether they wanted to be or not.

I looked down at Dani and smiled, she had fallen back asleep, her bottle had fallen out of her mouth and some milk dribbled down her chin. I wiped it up gently with my sleeve and carried her to her room. She stirred a bit when I put her down and then settled. I kissed my fingers and patted her cheek gently with them before leaving her room.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Okay Carter. Clean up time. Company coming in..." I glanced at my watch. "Two hours! Shit!"

I still had all the parcels from our mondo shopping spree spread all over the living and dining rooms. Thank God nothing had needed to be refrigerated.

I took all the kitchen items together and cleared a shelf for Dani's things. Her bottles, liners, formula and little cups and bowls all went in nicely. I piled her new clothes on the couch, I'd take them in when she woke up and put them in her dresser. I lined her toys up against the wall in the living room and folded the blanket we had played on the other night, then set it with the toys. Her bouncy seat was still in the kitchen, that was alright there. I gathered all the medical stuff and dumped it in the bathroom cupboard to be sorted out later. I still needed to find out what some of it was for. Her new and old diaper bags were tossed in the front hall closet. Wipes and extra diapers and the diaper pail joined the pile on the couch for Dani's room. All I had left was her stroller. I pulled it out of the box and searched for the instructions. Fortunately I only had to snap in a few parts, connect part A to part B, give a pull and a push and it was together. Thank God. I set the instructions with Dani's other papers on a side table and wheeled the stroller out to the garage. Next I gathered all the garbage and empty bags and tossed them in my trash bin out back.

Back in the house, I collapsed on the couch. The place looked cleaner than it had in a long time. There were a few dishes in the sink, but they could wait. I called to order pizzas and then climbed into the shower. I leaned against the dark green tile and let the water cascade over me. It was hard to believe this would be my life now. Running around cleaning my house, watching a baby, not eating, not sleeping...no time for anything. I heard Dani cry softly and finished my shower in a hurry. I wondered if she could bathe with me next time, then maybe I could sit, kind of relax and enjoy it. I'd have to remember to ask Mom next time we talked. Maybe I could take her swimming too. I smiled at the thought. Dani's howls were getting louder, so I toweled off quickly and wrapped the towel around my waist to go get her.

"Hey Dani girl. What's up? Did you miss me?"

I cuddled her close and her smiles and coos told me all I needed to know. I changed her and then carried her into my room and laid her on my bed while I threw on jeans and a t-shirt. The doorbell sounded and we dashed downstairs. I was expecting the pizza guy so I did a frantic wallet search before I opened the door. I got a surprise when I opened it. All the guys AND their respective female partners. Damn it. This was just for the guys, I didn't want all the chicks there too.

"I know what you're thinking little bro." Kevin announced as everyone entered. "But we thought the girls could keep Miss Dani Carter amused while we talk." He took a seat on the couch. "After we meet her, of course."

I still stood by the door, a little stunned. I shut it firmly and shifted Dani to my shoulder before I entered the room. Brian and AJ refused to look at me, Kevin looked a little bemused and Howie was just smiling. Good old Howie. All the girls were looking at Dani expectantly, wanting to take her from me, but not wanting to ask.

"Well, okay, this is Dani." I turned her around so that everyone could see her. She made some little noises and was smiling, but I could feel her pushing towards me. She was nervous of the big crowd of new people. "She's my daughter."

Kristin reached out for her first. "She's gorgeous Nick. May I hold her?"

I gave Dani a kiss and passed her over. The females swarmed around her and Dani disappeared from view. I didn't hear her complaining though so I gestured to the guys. "Shall we sit at the table or outside?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The pizza finally arrived, so we split that up and then sat around the dining room table. This was serious business here.

"So Nick." Kevin began. "You have a daughter."

"Yes." I mumbled around a mouthful of pizza.

"There must be more to this story."

"I got home late the other day. I'd been out recording and then clubbing with Tony. I woke up and someone was pounding on the door. When I got down there, she was there waiting for me."

"Just the baby?" Howie questioned.

I nodded and swallowed. "Just Dani in her seat and a bag full of clothes and stuff."

Brian looked up at me. "Her mother just left her there?"

I nodded again. "I brought her in, fed her and stuff. We went to the doctor's the next morning. I had a blood test and found out, she's mine. 99.9% certainty."

"You didn't know before that?" Brian again.

"No idea. You guys all know how fucked up I was last year. I screwed around one night and fucked up big time. I don't remember Dani's mother, she never contacted me after we were together, ever. The first I knew about her was when she showed up on my doorstep."

"And she really is yours?" AJ asked.

"She's mine." I confirmed.

"And all the while, everyone thought it would be me fathering bastards around the country!" AJ uttered a quick laugh. "No one expected Boy Wonder here to be the first Backstreet father! How many brothers and sisters does she have waiting for you?"

I shot AJ a look that could kill. "Dani is not a bastard child!"

"She's illegitimate! And you fucked around, you admitted it! You don't even know what her mother looks like!"

My hands clenched into fists and I half rose out of my chair. Kevin pushed me back down and pointed at AJ. "You're out of line, man. Take it easy."

"How did you feel about all this?" Kevin sat back down across from me, looking at me like he was almost studying me.

"I was upset, scared, mad, everything, you name it. I don't know how to look after a baby! But I'm going to try. I have to try my best."

Kevin cracked a small smile.

"You never thought about giving her up? Her mother seemed to think it was alright."

"Never. She's mine Kevin, and I need to take care of her."

I heard AJ laugh again, quieter this time. Ignoring him, I turned to Brian. "You understand now? I've been running around in circles since she arrived. You guys are important to me, of course I was going to tell you about her. I wasn't trying to hide anything. Mom took us out shopping that day because I had no clue what all we needed. I forgot all about the girls that saw us."

Brian offered a slow smile. "I understand Nick. I'm sorry I jumped to conclusions. She's a beautiful girl. I guess congratulations are in order?"

Before the others could say anything, AJ cleared his throat. "First, speaking of not trying to hide things...how about this CD you're doing? The group just not good enough for you anymore?"