Careless Mistake
by Kelli
Part 17
Early August 2004...
Slowly Justin opened the door to Britney's apartment in New York and looked around. He smiled brightly when he caught a glimpse of his daughter sitting in her play pen in the room at the end of the hallway. She was sitting up looking his way because she had heard the keys jingling.
She starts to giggle and let out a happy scream as Justin approached her.
"Heyyyyyy there's my angel," Justin said as he reached down for her.
Her arms immediately went out as he lifted her from the play pen. He gave her so many kisses on her face that she closed her eyes and scrunched up her nose as one of her little fists pushed his face away. He chuckled.
"Sorry, did daddy give you too many kisses? Huh? Am I only allowed so many," he asked smoothing her curly hair back. "One more," he said before kissing the side of her head and cradling her cheek against his shoulder. "I missed you so much. Your daddy loves you, you know that, right? Even when you don't see me, I'm always thinking about you," he said as he rocked back and forth.
"What about mommy?" Britney asked from the doorway.
He turned around and smiled as he saw the other beautiful vision in his life.
"Same goes for mommy," he said walking toward her.
She met him halfway and put her arms around him and Mackenzie as he slid his free hand around her waist.
"She's never out of my mind even when she can't see me," he whispered before leaning down a little and capturing her mouth with his own.
"Good....mommy feels the same way."
"She's sitting up pretty good, huh?" he asked bouncing Mackenzie up and down a little as she studied the buttons on his shirt.
"Yeah....she's a smart girl. I think she just wants to get out into the world and explore it."
"Hmmm, I wonder where she gets that from," he kidded as he took her hand and led her to the couch.
The three of them sat down. Justin adjusted Mackenzie so she was more comfortable on his lap. He hadn't seen her in weeks and he wasn't going to let her go unless he had to.
"What else is she doing?" he asked, leaning on his side a little so he could look at Britney. His arm rested on the back of the couch and he started to play with her hair that was draped over her shoulder.
"I took her to the doctor yesterday and she's gained a couple of pounds and grew an inch since the last appointment. I told the doctor she knows the color red," she laughed.
"What did he say to that?"
"He was impressed. I told him that I used different objects and put them in different hands and that she picked the red one each time."
"I'll have to see this," he said, glancing down at Mackenzie who was staring up at him with her big blue eyes. "You gonna show off for your daddy?"
She smiled at him, which only brought out his smile more.
"God, she's so beautiful, isn't she? I think she's gotten more beautiful since the last time I saw her."
"I won't argue with you," Britney said as she combed her fingers through Mackenzie's fine curls.
"Her hair is lighter....did you highlight it?" he teased.
Britney threw her head back and laughed, which made Mackenzie giggle and kind of clap her hands together.
"Yeah after we went to the tanning booth together," she said.
"I knew she looked tanner too," Justin said making a face at Mackenzie and leaning in toward her, giving her a kiss when he reached her cheek.
She giggled again.
"She looks so much like you....that's probably why I can't keep my eyes off of her."
"Uh uh....hold on," she said, standing up and walking behind him. "Your mom sent me this...."
Justin didn't turn around, he kept looking at his daughter while she watched Britney. Britney came back with a picture in her hand. She sat down next to Justin again and held the picture out.
"Look at that and tell me that she doesn't look like you at this age...." she said.
Justin took the picture from her and had to hold it up a little higher so Mackenzie wouldn't grab it and he looked back down at her and then the picture again.
"Okay she looks a little like me....but where's that one picture of you as a baby. I thought she looked exactly like that...."
Britney leaned over and kissed Justin's cheek. "She's the best of both of us.....how's that?" she giggled.
"Except that she got my curly...." Britney stopped him with a mind blowing kiss.
"I love your hair," she said when she pulled away. Her fingers were running through his short curls as she stared deeply into his eyes.
"I love you," he said before leaning into her again and tasting her lips.
Britney let her tongue slide in between his lips and teased his. Slowly she turned her head and almost got lost in the kiss until Mackenzie pulled her hair.
"Ow," she laughed, holding the spot where Mackenzie pulled.
"I love you too, angel," Justin said, kissing the top of her head and chuckling.
"Am I going to get abused every time I pay attention to your daddy?" Britney asked her as she tickled the little girl.
"Well, you're going to be black and blue because I plan on having you pay a lot of attention on me."
She laughed.
~*~
"What time do you have to leave tomorrow?" Britney asked when Justin came into the bedroom after giving Mackenzie her eleven o'clock feeding. She had been sitting up in bed, waiting for him.
"We'll have to leave around ten. You've got an appearance tomorrow, though, don't you?" he asked, standing over the bed with his hands on his hips.
"Yeah....it's going to be taped though so I don't have to be there until nine. Rob's picking me up a little after eight," she said almost in a sad tone.
Justin went into the bathroom and when he came out, Britney had scooted down a little and was laying on her right side, facing the middle of the bed. He looked at her for a second before sliding in under the covers and laying next to her. He brushed the hair away from her shoulder and she just stared at him.
"Only four and a half days," he said.
She blinked and nodded. "I know," she said softly. "Doesn't this feel nice?"
He smiled. "Yes...."
"I mean, it just seems so natural to have you here," she said reaching out to touch his bare chest. She watched as her finger traced a line.
"I must say....it feels pretty good," he chuckled.
She could feel his chest vibrate as he laughed. She scooted over and rested her ear on his chest and listened to his heart beat. He lightly ran his fingers across her shoulders and on down her back.
"Justin?" she said without looking up.
"Hmmmm?" He kept his light touches up, sending shivers down her spine.
"Do you think we would have gotten back together if we didn't have Mackenzie?"
He thought about how to answer.
"Actually....I think we would have been together sooner...."
She wasn't expecting that answer so she lifted her head to look at him.
"Whhaattt?"
"I had been thinking about you a lot more last summer and I was going to talk to you about trying again....this was even before we slept together."
"But what makes you think I was ready?" She rested her chin on her hand which was resting on his chest.
"Maybe you weren't at that time but I think by fall we would have realized it was going to happen...."
She cocked an eyebrow. "But I don't get why it would have happened sooner than it did when I was pregnant with your child."
"Because you were pregnant you were more cautious. You held me a back just a little to make sure our feelings for each other didn't have anything to do with Mackenzie. So, you had to make sure that what we had was us and not the fact that we had a baby."
A slow smile of realization appeared on her face. "That does make sense," she giggled.
"I thought so," he shrugged. "See, I can be a smart guy sometimes."
"I think you're very smart, all of the time," she said as she started to place kisses on his chest.
He watched her until she reached his neck and then he looked up so she had ample access to his neck, chin and jaw line. Finally she made it to his mouth and he couldn't hold back any longer. He touched her cheek and angled her head so he could deepen the kiss. His tongue explored hers and she moaned under the touch of his other hand that was now gently massaging her bottom. His hand went down a little further and pulled her leg so that it was resting on his. Her hands immediately went to the waistband of his boxers and she tugged at them so he'd remove them. He did, without breaking the kiss.
He did an intake of breath when she took him in her hand so he reached down and found the hem of her nightgown and pulled it up and over her head and then his mouth attacked her breast.
"I don't want foreplay tonight, Justin," she panted. "Make love to me now."
He didn't even lift his head. He took the leg that was draped over his and he flattened it against the bed and pulled his body so that it was slightly resting on hers and he tugged her thong off in one move and spread her other leg apart. He kissed his way from her chest up to her neck and slowly entered her as he did. Her fingernails dug into his shoulders as he filled her. She raised her hips a little and they slowly started to rock.
Britney's automatic mommy timer woke her up at four am that next morning. She was waiting for Mackenzie to cry for her four am feeding. She rolled on to her side and faced Justin who's back was to her. She smiled as her eyes traced the silhouette of his broad shoulder, down his arm and then to his waist, which was covered by the sheet. Making love with him every time was like the first time. It was like she discovered something new about him each time and he discovered something new about her. She reached out and lightly traced the guardian angel tattoo on his back and smiled gently.
Suddenly she could hear Mackenzie's soft cries on the baby monitor so she quickly turned over and shut the monitor off and got up out of bed. She pulled her robe from her closet and put it on while she walked down the hall toward the baby's room. She sighed as she walked into the room. This would be her last time getting to really be with her for almost a week.
"Hey there sweetie," Britney said as she scooped her daughter up into her arms.
She walked down the hallway toward the kitchen and she got a bottle out. She stuck it in the microwave for a few seconds to warm it up a little bit, the whole time rocking Mackenzie in her arms and humming to her. This quieted her down a little but she was still whimpering a little because it did nothing to appease her hunger. When the microwave buzzer went off Britney took the bottle out and grabbed a burp cloth on her way to the family room. She took a seat, propping Mackenzie up on her lap and started to feed her the bottle as she picked up the remote and turned on the TV. This had been her routine for some time now. It almost felt like clock work with her. She flipped stations and let Mackenzie hold the bottle herself. She was a noisy drinker and Britney would look down at her once in awhile and smile at her because of some of the noises she was making.
"You look most like your daddy right now," Britney whispered, brushing a short curl off of her forehead. "With your blue eyes so big like that.....and your hair....."
Mackenzie kept a watchful eye on Britney while she drank from the bottle.
"Daddy's going to take you back to your house in LA today. Mommy's not going with you, though," she said shaking her head. "Not this time. He'll take such good care of you, though. And you'll get to spend time with nana....you always have fun with her. She likes to read to you," she said with a smile.
She took a deep breath so that she wouldn't start to cry. "But remember that mommy loves you sooooo much and I'll get to see you and daddy in a few days, okay? You'll like this much better. You can get all the attention from daddy and nana instead of everyone from my crew," she chuckled. "But I'll be thinking about you the whole time and I'll be loving you. Don't ever think that I don't love you because I'm not there. It's just like how I tell you every night that daddy's thinking about you and loving you no matter where we are...."
She sniffled a little bit. Mackenzie stopped drinking and let the bottle slip out of her mouth.
"Oops," Britney giggled. "I guess that means you're done, huh?" she asked as she put the burp cloth over her shoulder and then placed Mackenzie over that shoulder and began to firmly rub her back in circular motions.
She turned her head a little when she heard a noise from the doorway.
"Hey," a very groggy Justin said.
"Hi....I tried not to wake you," Britney said softly.
Mackenzie was trying to turn her head when she heard her daddy's voice.
"I didn't hear her cry," he said, rubbing his eye and walking toward them.
"My body just knows when to wake up now....I was awake when she started to cry."
He started to stroke her hair. "Come back to bed....bring Mackenzie," he said, before he started shuffling back to the bedroom.
She smiled at the sound of his gravely voice and stood up, picking up the bottle. Mackenzie burped on the way down the hall, which made Britney giggle.
"Is that all I need to do is walk with you a little?" she asked, patting her back and then kissing the side of her head.
Justin was laying in bed, with his hands propped behind his head. He held out the sheet for her as Britney slid in next to him.
"You getting in some last minute mommy time?" he asked, caressing the baby's cheek.
"Yeah," Britney said sadly as she handed Mackenzie the bottle again.
"I saw your schedule.....you're not going to have time to think about it..."
Her shoulders slumped a little.
"Sorry, that didn't come out the way I meant it to.....I know you'll be thinking about her. But maybe you won't have as much time to worry about it so that it makes you sad."
She nodded.
"I'm being silly," she sighed. "I'll see her in about six days, right?"
"Right and you're not being silly. This will be your first time away from her this long...."
Her lower lip started to quiver.
"I can't believe how much I'm going to miss her...." she said as she started to cry.
"Oh baby," Justin said as he sat up and put an arm around her and kissed the side of her head. "It's okay....just let it out now."
Mackenzie let the bottle fall out of her mouth and she started to cry as well. Justin had his hands full. He took her from Britney's arms and held her in his free arm and started to rock his two ladies back and forth and hum.
Within a couple of minutes both of them were sleeping. He carefully laid Britney's head on the pillow and then stood up and took Mackenzie into her room and put her in her crib. He quickly changed her and then left her to sleep.
When he got back to the room, Britney's arm was already sprawled out where he was going to lay so he lifted up her arm and then wrapped his arm around her as she snuggled up closer to him. He smiled as his eyes slowly drifted shut.
