Careless Mistake
by Kelli
Part 18
Early August 2004...
Britney called Justin's cell phone again. He and Mackenzie had been back in LA for four days and she had yet to talk to him once. Of course she talked to Lynn a lot and found out that her little girl was doing just fine, but she still wanted to talk to Justin. She missed him too.
"Hey....it's me......again. I hate it when you're in rehearsals and I'm four hours ahead of you," she chuckled sadly. "I miss you. I guess I'll call your mom and see how Mackenzie's doing."
She started to hang up but then put the phone back up to her face. "Oh, I almost forgot....I've got something to tell you," she said in an excited tone. "But don't try to call me tonight because I'll be coming back to the apartment after the show so I can sleep. I've got the Today show tomorrow....okay, now bye. I love you."
Justin checked his voicemail on his way home from tour rehearsals and sighed as he listened to Britney's message. It would be about midnight there and she was probably sleeping already.
"Damn," he said, hanging up his phone. But now he was intrigued by what she had to tell him.
Justin hopped out of his car and ran up the few steps to the front door and let himself in. He figured Mackenzie would be asleep right about now. She had been every night so far when he got home.
"Hi," he said to his mom, who was sitting in the family room, watching TV.
"Hey," she said, turning the volume down a little as he rounded the couch and sat on the arm of it. "How did rehearsals go?"
"They're going fine," he shrugged. "How was Mackenzie today?"
"She was good. She actually let me read her a whole book," she chuckled.
Justin smiled. "Really? That's good."
He sat there and stared at the TV for a minute before speaking up again. "I can't believe how this week has gone. This isn't how I picture spending time with my daughter."
Lynn patted his leg. "You'll get your chance to. You want me to heat up some dinner for you?"
He shook his head and started to stand up. "No, I'm going to grab something to drink and soak in the shower. I'll take the baby monitor," he said, picking it up.
He leaned down and kissed his mother good night.
When he got upstairs he checked on Mackenzie. If he couldn't hold her at least he could look at her. She looked so peaceful.....and beautiful. His thumb lightly stroked her cheek and he noticed how warm she felt so he pressed the back of his hand against her forehead. Concerned, he decided to take her temperature and got worried when it was a little over a hundred.
He went downstairs and his mom had already gone to the guest house so he ran back upstairs and got the baby book out. He was going to figure this out on his own. The book said to not be alarmed....yet and to give her some kind of baby medicine so he got the Baby Tylenol out of the medicine cabinet and woke her up so he could give it to her. She was cranky as he tried to do this.
"I know, I'm sorry....but hopefully this makes you feel better."
She got a pouty look on her face and started to cry so Justin squeezed the little tube full of medicine into her mouth when she opened it. This made her cry more but she swallowed the medicine and Justin pressed her head against his shoulder and started to hum to her to help her get back to sleep.
She started to get restless so he took her pajamas off so she was only in her diapers because she was starting to sweat a little. Finally this helped her settle down some so he put her back into bed and kissed her forehead before going back to his room. He turned the baby monitor on and took a quick shower.
He thought about Britney being on the Today show and called his assistant to leave her a message to send flowers to Britney's dressing room tomorrow morning. Then he dialed Britney's cell phone even though he knew it would go to voicemail.
"Hey....I hate playing phone tag with you. I want to hear a live voice, dammit," he chuckled. "We had a really late rehearsal tonight but I'm hoping that this weekend when you're here we can make them shorter since we're getting so much done now. I hate not spending time with Mackenzie though. Mom's doing a great job, of course but still.....oh and you have me very intrigued about whatever it is you have to tell me. All sorts of thoughts are running through my head," he smiled. "Anyway....I'm keeping an eye on Mackenzie tonight, she's running a slight fever. I just gave her Baby Tylenol and I'll check her temperature one more time before I go to bed. I'll keep you updated but don't worry about her, okay? Do your show and then we'll talk tomorrow. I love you, Brit. Bye."
He hung up the phone and laid his head back against the headboard of the bed and closed his eyes.
He must have dozed off because when he heard Mackenzie's screams over the baby monitor he lifted his head and had to rub his neck because it was stiff.
"Ow..." he said. He looked over at the clock and about an hour had passed.
The baby book said for Mackenzie to get a lot of fluids if she was sick so Justin went downstairs and grabbed a bottle of juice before going back up to the baby's room. She was sitting up in her crib looking at the door when he opened it and turned on the lights. Her face was bright red and the tears were running down her face. She held her arms out before Justin even got to the crib.
"Awwww, sweetie," he said, picking her up and kissing the side of her head.
She snuggled up against his chest but kept moving her head from one side to the other, almost like she was trying to get more comfortable.
"Here, you want some juice?" he asked, holding the bottle out for her.
She took it from him and rested her cheek against his shoulder as she drank. He took her back to his room so he could get more comfortable while she drank from the bottle. Occasionally he'd glance down at her and she was doing her best to not let her eyes close.
He waited a little bit after she finished the bottle to change her diaper and then he took her back into her room and started to sing softly to her. She finally fell asleep so he laid her in the crib and went back to his room.
It was after ten now and he was getting tired himself. He set his alarm for an hour and a half later so he could give her more Baby Tylenol and then tried to fall asleep.
He ended up waking up three more times throughout the night to give her medicine and take her temperature. It only came down half a degree so he left a message for her pediatrician to make an appointment as soon as they were open.
His mom found him the next morning at the kitchen table with his cheek propped up on the palm of his hand and his eyes shut.
"Rough night?" she asked, which startled him awake.
His hand slipped so he had to quickly recover or his head would have just hit the kitchen table.
"Kinda," he said, rubbing his eye. "Mackenzie's running a temperature so I was up off and on all night giving her Baby Tylenol. It hasn't helped much."
"Oh, the poor thing," she said sitting down next to him. "You want me to take her to the doctor today?"
He shook his head. "No, actually I want to do it. She's my baby....I need to take care of her."
Lynn nodded. "I think I understand."
"I think I'll only be a little late. The guys will just have to understand. We weren't supposed to start until ten today anyway."
"Well, you have a little time before the doctor's office opens up. Why don't you go and try to get some sleep and I'll keep an ear out for Mackenzie."
He nodded and got up from the table and went to his bedroom.
Britney sat in her dressing room on the Today Show set and decided to check her voicemail. She smiled when she heard Justin's voice. Then her face grew serious when he mentioned that Mackenzie wasn't feeling well. This was her first fever....and she wasn't there.
She hung up and dialed Justin's home. Lynn answered.
"Hello?"
"Hi Lynn, it's me...."
"Oh hey, Brit. Have you performed yet?"
"No, I'm about to go on....is Justin there?"
"He's asleep actually. He had a rough night with Mackenzie...."
"Yeah, he left me a message. How is she doing?"
"Honey, she'll be fine. Justin's going to take her to the doctor and he'll get her some good medicine that will bring her temperature down."
"So she's still running a temperature?" she asked, and started to bite her nails.
"Yes, a very slight one."
"So, Justin was up all night with her?"
"Yeah, he'd get up to give her medicine so since I am awake now and the doctor's office isn't open yet, I told him to get a little sleep."
"Oh....okay."
There was a knock on the door.
"Ms. Spears, it's time to go...." a voice from the other side of the door said.
"Okay, thanks," she said covering the mouthpiece of the phone. "Lynn, I have to go. I'll try to call back after the performance and stuff. Tell Justin and Mackenzie that I love them and tell Mackenzie that mommy's thinking about her and I wish I was there," she said sadly.
"I will....you go on now and put on a great performance. Don't worry about us here while you're up there, okay?"
"I'll try," she said. "Bye."
"Bye."
She was led through the crowd to the stage by Rob and thought about Mackenzie the whole time. She stood up on the stage as they put the microphone pack on her and she thought about Mackenzie the whole time. They came out and introduced her....and she thought about Mackenzie the whole time.
Finally she snapped out of it a little bit when the music started and she performed her latest single. Thank God she could almost do this number n her sleep. After that song they brought her back into the studio and sat her down for an interview.
Of course she was distracted but she did her best to keep up with the questions being thrown at her.
Justin woke up and stretched as he walked into the kitchen. Lynn was holding Mackenzie on her lap as she ate breakfast.
"How's she doing?" he asked.
He leaned down and looked into Mackenzie's eyes. They were still a little glassy so he knew she didn't feel well. She held an arm out and looked like she was waving to him so he picked her up and sat her down on his lap as he sat next to his mom.
"The doctor's office called and they can get you in at 9:30," Lynn said.
"Thanks...how much time does that give me?" he asked, trying to look at the clock over his shoulder.
"About an hour. Did you get any sleep?"
He shrugged. "A little."
"Britney called a little bit ago."
"She did? I guess she had listened to my message from last night...."
"Yeah, she was concerned."
"Of course she was. Now she's going to worry. I almost didn't tell her because it's not going to be a big thing, but she'll make it out to be one."
Mackenzie looked up at Justin and smiled, which made him smile back. He leaned down and kissed her head.
"It's amazing, no matter what kind of day you're having....all you have to do is see that smile and everything's okay," he said, smoothing her hair down.
"Especially that smile," Lynn said, smiling back at her. "Did you call the guys?"
"Yeah, I talked to Joey," he chuckled. "He'll understand the most and tell the other guys. At least I'll be there, I'll just be a little late."
"Well, since you're going to be with her for awhile now I'm going to go run some errands this morning. I'll be back in time so you can go to rehearsals," she said, standing up and patting him on the shoulder.
"Okay mom....thanks."
"She'll be fine," she said, turning around in the doorway.
"I know."
Justin took Mackenzie upstairs and got them both ready for the doctor.
"He's not answering again," Britney screamed in the limo ride.
Fe's eyes got big. "Maybe his battery is dead."
Britney glared at her. "I knew I shouldn't have let him take her. Look at what happens. She's sick and I can't get a hold of him."
She threw her phone down on the seat next to her and folded her arms.
"Britney....I think Justin would have called you if there was something really wrong," Fe said.
"I don't want to hear it, Fe. My baby's sick and I'm not with her. She needs her mommy right now," she said, sticking her lower lip out.
When Justin left the doctor's office he turned his cell phone back on. Two new messages. He dialed and listened to them. Both were Britney, sounding frantic, of course.
"What's your mommy thinking, huh?" he asked Mackenzie as they walked to the car.
He put her in her car seat and got into the car and dialed Britney's cell.
"Hello," she answered.
"Hi....finally...."
"How's Mackenzie?"
Justin pulled the phone away from his ear and looked at it a second. "She's fine. The doctor prescribed a little bit stronger medicine to help bring the fever down....."
"Thank God. How is she doing? Does she cry a lot? Does her little face get all red?"
Justin cut her off. "Brit, take a deep breath, okay? I know it's frustrating because you're not here but really....she's a trooper, she's fine."
"You didn't answer me," she almost yelled.
"Oooooookay....she doesn't cry any more than usual and her face got a little red last night while she was crying."
"How did you know she had a fever?"
She, Fe and Rob were walking into a photo studio so she could get pictures taken for a magazine cover she was going to be on.
"I was going to kiss her good night....but before I did I was staring at her and brushed her cheek and it felt warm to me so I took her temperature," he answered her.
"Do you think Lynn could have picked it up on it sooner? I mean, I wonder how long she was like that."
"God, Brit. My mom did raise me....I think she'd know if Mackenzie was feeling warm."
He started up the car.
"Where are you?"
"I'm going to get her prescription right now....is that okay?" he asked sarcastically.
"Is she still with you? Did the doctor say it was okay to have her out this long?"
Justin pulled the phone away from his mouth and groaned as he lightly pounded his head against the steering wheel.
"Are you for real? We're going to the pharmacy and then I'm taking her back home so she can get some rest."
"And I suppose you're going back to rehearsals...."
"Yes, I am."
"Figures."
"Brit, I'm not going to fight with you about this. I'll see you in a couple of days. I love you."
And he hung up on her.
"Your mommy is loosing her mind," Justin said to Mackenzie as he looked at her through his rearview mirror.
When Mackenzie could tell he was talking to her she started to giggle.
