Standing in Shallow Waters
By Aysia Anderson (a.k.a. Nikki)

  Prologue:

"I've come to a conclusion on exactly why Camille is pregnant eighty percent of the time!" Joey Fatone stood up amongst a group of his peers in the backyard of his friend's home with a glass of vodka in hand. They all had gathered for men's night in hopes of clearing their minds and being rid of their women. "Now, if you really think about this the answer is crystal clear."

“What’s your brilliant deduction, Joseph?” Lance Bass asked, sitting between the man of the house and his partner in crime, Cornell “Nelly” Haynes.

“There’s an six week waiting period before you’re allowed to have sex with your woman after she’s given birth, right? Now tack that on to the nine months of Justin not getting any. The second that those extra six weeks are over he’s jumping her from all angles like a dog in heat!”

“That is not true at all!” Justin laughed loudly with his friends, pointing at Joey with his index finger while holding a bottle of beer with his other fingers. “I don’t wait for shit. Pregnant sex is some of the best ass I’ve ever gotten in my life!”

“Oh, no!” Lance scrunched up his face at the prospect of mating with a woman while a bun was in the oven. “That isn’t right at all, man.”

“Those of you that don’t agree with pregnant sex raise your hand.” Justin challenged and observed that the only hands to go up were those that belonged to the men whom had never experienced it. “I rest my case. Lance and Chris, you’ve been outnumbered.”

“See, now, what I want to know is how JC would even know what its like to sleep with a pregnant woman when he’s not a father?” Chris jumped to his feet with gumption causing the other men to nod their heads in agreement that they wanted an answer to his question as well.

“Hey, that’s my business.” JC sipped from the mouth of his bottle before asking, “Can you keep a secret?”

“Yeah, man.” Joey took a seat next to him ready to be engulfed with new information.

“Good, so can I.”

Camille rolled her eyes as she stepped out onto the patio with a bowl of chips in one hand, a plate of finger sandwiches in the other, and a swollen belly full of baby. “What happened to the days when women sat around and gossiped? You guys are always over here telling each other’s business like a bunch of school girls.”

“Catholic school girls,” Chris added with a smirk as Justin set down his beer bottle, jumped up to his feet, and relieved his wife of the products that she was carrying.

“Baby, I told you that you don’t have to wait on us. I just want you to relax, ok?” He handed off the chips and sandwiches to his friends and immediately went about babying her.

“See, there’s no question as to why the woman is pregnant all the time. He can’t even keep his hands off of her now!” Joey exclaimed, pointing out to everyone his friend planting light kisses on his wife’s lips and rubbing his hand over her bulging belly.

“I can’t say that I blame him.” JC growled causing the other men to bust out into laughter at his forwardness.

“Watch out now,” Justin warned protectively. “I’ve had about enough of ya’ll making your snide remarks about my wife. We all agree that she’s fine but she’s off limits.”

“I don’t know, man.” Lance shrugged his shoulders and gave Camille the once over, “I’m thinking about trying out that pregnancy sex.”

“Oh, good grief! I’m leaving now!” The stunned young woman’s mouth hung slightly agape as she headed back into the house with her husband shaking his head at his friends and following her inside.

“I thought you were taking a nap, baby?” Justin closed the sliding glass door behind them and traveled with her to the kitchen pantry.

“I was but I couldn’t sleep.”

“Are we being too loud? We can move everything to Joey’s if you need.”

“No,” Camille shook her head. “I just couldn’t get comfortable is all it is. Erykah’s doing somersaults in there. Could you get that for me?”

Justin nodded and reached up high on the top shelf to hand his wife a bag of chocolate chip cookies from Mrs. Field’s. “Warm baths calmed Nikki and Grant down. You want me to run some water for you upstairs?”

“I can do it,” she pried open the bag with a smirk and reached in for a cookie. “Go back outside and entertain your guests.”

“What guests? Those chumps live here!”

“I’d have to agree with you on that,” Camille smirked and stood up on her toes to deliver her husband a kiss. “I’m going upstairs now, okay?”

“Alright,” he kissed her again before allowing her to back away, “I’ll be up to check on you in ten minutes.”

Justin stood patiently in the kitchen, watching her make her way down the hall and up to the second floor, before returning outdoors. He didn’t like her running up and down the stairs and straining herself when she was pregnant. He’d prefer her to just stay in one spot where he could take care of her but she was too strong-willed for that.

“Where’d mama go? Did we run her off?” JC asked as Justin reclaimed his seat next to Lance.

“She went back upstairs to try to relax.” He replied. “I don’t remember her being in so much pain with Nikki or Grant. We’re running back and forth to the doctor all of the time to get her medication to relieve it.”

“Hmm,” Joey drummed his fingers on the armrest of his chair, “have you gotten any scans taken?”

“Yeah, they haven’t found anything so I guess Erykah is fine and they’re saying Camille is perfectly healthy.”

“She is throwing up a lot, though, isn’t she?”

Justin nodded his head again, eyebrows furrowing, “I’ll be right back. I’m going to check on her.”

Camille closed her eyes tightly, holding her stomach, as the wave of excruciating pain ricocheted all throughout her body nearly blinding her. Unsteadily she held herself up by bracing a shaky hand on the bathroom counter fearful that she may take a tumble. Her head was spinning and her breathing was becoming erratic just as a light knock was heard at the bathroom door.

“Oh, God!” she moaned out painfully, unable to move from her current position.

“Baby?” Justin’s voice asked through the door. “Baby, are you okay? What’s going on?”

“Justin,” Camille whimpered hopelessly, “I need you to come in here right now!”

The door handle jiggled a few times before his voice came again, “Sweetie, you have to open the door for me.”

“I can’t,”

“Cam,”

“Justin, I can’t get to the door. I’m so serious.” Tears began to pour from her closed eyes just as a steady stream of liquid started trailing down her leg. “Shit! My water just broke!”

On to Chapter One...

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