Careless Mistake
by Kelli
Part 59
Late January 2006.......
Justin reached over and rubbed Britney's back. She was staring out the window of the tour bus, holding one of Mackenzie's dolls in her lap. She rested her chin on her forearm.
"You seem nervous," he said, finally breaking the silence.
She shrugged, but didn't answer.
When she still didn't budge he scooted closer to her back and pulled her shoulders so that she had to be closer to him. He kissed her ear.
"What's wrong?"
She leaned back against him and started to gently rub her stomach. When he noticed her movement he covered her hand with his.
"Something wrong with the baby?" he asked, trying not to get alarmed.
"No....it's just that now we'll have to share this with everyone," she sighed.
He smiled. "Well, I don't think you were going to be able to keep it a secret much longer anyway."
She chuckled softly. "No, you're right. He's growing so fast."
"You've been saying he for the last week. Is there something you saw on the ultrasound that you're not telling me?" he teased.
She smiled and turned her head so she could see him. "No, of course not. Just call it a hunch."
"Okay, so he is already beginning to show quite a lot and has been for awhile now. What makes you feel this way about it now?"
"Now I'm going to be doing interviews. Everyone's going to ask and pry into our personal lives," she said softly.
"Like that hasn't happened before...."
"It's just different now, J. It's not just you and me we have to worry about. We have two more important little people in our life who depend on us to keep them safe."
He stretched out his leg, grabbed her waist and turned her so that she was facing him now.
"I think we've done an excellent job with one of them already."
"Yeah," she smiled. "We have, haven't we?" she asked, looking down at the doll in her hands.
He nodded. "So, just keep on answering the questions like you always have since Mackenzie's been born. This will still be ours," he said before kissing her forehead.
"I'm stupid for worrying," she said snuggling up to him.
"No mama, the doctor said it was fine to go to New York. I wouldn't have done it if he didn't feel it was safe. I don't know why he doesn't want me flying.....yeah, I know." She looked up at Justin. "He's not going to let me get stressed.....neither is Fe. Right," she chuckled.
Justin was helping Mackenzie put a puzzle together on the table of the bus as he kept an eye on Britney while she was on the phone with her mother. They had been on this bus for three days now and they were all getting pretty restless.
"You've got the TV schedule, right? Okay, you better watch," she chuckled again. "I love you too. I will. Bye."
She hung up the phone and set it down on the couch next to her. When she looked over at Justin and Mackenzie she was greeted with a concerned look.
"What?" she asked Justin.
"You doing okay?" he asked.
"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?"
He shrugged. "No reason."
"I'm getting a little stir crazy on this bus. I never realized how hard this would be."
His eyes were now on the puzzle. "Good thing is that we're almost there. We get to sleep in our own beds tonight," he said, wiggling his eyebrows up and down.
"Ohhhh I can fix up the extra bedroom into a nursery while we're there," Britney said, clapping her hands together. Justin only chuckled and shook his head.
They both looked at Mackenzie when she started to cough.
Britney immediately reached for the little girl's forehead.
"She feels a little warm, but I think it's warm on this bus," she said, standing up. She walked back to the back of the bus.
Mackenzie looked up from her puzzle and watched her mommy walk to the back.
"Mommy?" she asked, looking at Justin.
"She'll be back," Justin said, running his hand over her hair. "You are a little warm. Are you sick, baby?"
Mackenzie just stared at Justin with her watery eyes.
"Ti-ahd," she said, rubbing her eyes.
Justin leaned over and pulled her up on his lap and pushed her head down so it was resting against his chest. He kissed the top of her head.
"Here," Britney said, looking at the thermometer in her hands. "I never remember how to use this. Oh right," she said, sticking the strip on Mackenzie's forehead.
"She's been coughing since yesterday," Justin said.
"Yeah, but this cough sounds yucky. We might need to stop and get some Baby Tylenol and see if that helps."
Justin glanced up at Britney. "If she is sick and is contagious, you should probably stay away....."
Britney's eyes got big. "I can't do that."
"We'll see. I'm going to ask the doctor once we're in the apartment. I don't want to take any chances."
"I know but....."
Justin shook his head and looked back down at Mackenzie. "Don't," he warned her.
Britney sat back and gently rubbed Mackenzie's cheek. She glanced at the clock and then took the strip off of her forehead and looked at it.
"It's a-hundred and one," she said.
Mackenzie started to cough again.
"Okay, thank you doctor," Justin said before hanging up the phone.
Britney walked back into the family room of their New York apartment.
"What did he say?" she asked, pulling her hair up off of her shoulders.
"He just said to call him in a few hours after we've given her a couple doses of the Tylenol."
"What did he say about me?"
"He just said to be cautious.....whatever that means," Justin shrugged.
Britney bit her bottom lip. The phone rang and Justin answered it.
"Oh, hi Fe. Yeah, she's right here," he said before holding the phone out for Britney.
"Hi girl," Britney said once she took the phone.
"Hey. I guess you got in okay, huh?" Fe asked.
"Yeah. We're just exhausted. That's a long bus ride. Oh and Mackenzie is sick on top of that so....."
"Oh no, I hope she's okay," Fe said in a worried tone.
"Yeah, she'll be fine. Just running a slight temperature. So, what's up?" she asked, rubbing the back of her neck as she sat down on the arm of the couch.
Justin walked over to her and started to massage her neck and shoulders.
"Just a slight change of plans...."
"Uh oh. Fe, don't tell me you added anything, I don't think my body can handle that...."
"No, no. We just changed an interview, but it means you've got four interviews tomorrow and only two on Thursday."
"Four? Are they all TV?" Britney asked. Justin's hands were starting to make her feel relaxed.
"No, two of them are television, one is radio and one is magazine," Fe rattled off.
Britney sighed. "Okay. What time are you going to pick me up?"
Justin worked on a knot on her left shoulder.
"Nine."
"That's not too bad, I guess."
"Just get some rest tonight, okay? Let Justin take care of that sick little girl of yours...."
"I want to take care of her. I'm her mom," Britney snapped.
Justin squeezed her shoulders and pulled her back a little closer to him.
"I'm sorry, Brit. I didn't mean anything by it....."
Britney lowered her head and rubbed her forehead. "I know. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to snap."
"It's okay, but take my advice and get some rest. It sounds like you need it."
"Yeah...."
"See you tomorrow, honey. Let me talk to Justin, please."
"See you tomorrow. Here," she said, handing the phone to Justin as the back of her head rested against his chest.
Justin looked at the phone for a second before taking the phone.
"Hello? Hey....yeah, it was long. Okay, I will. Don't worry about it. Well, it depends on how Mackenzie is feeling tomorrow." Justin's hand was still resting on Britney's shoulder and he would squeeze her shoulder once in awhile for reassurance. "Okay.....bye Fe."
He hung up the phone and threw it down on the couch but then continued to massage Britney's shoulders.
"You okay?" he asked.
"Yeah," she shrugged. "That feels good, don't stop."
"I have a great idea. Let's spend the rest of the evening watching TV in bed. I can make some sandwiches and we'll have our own little picnic...."
"Don't baby me, Justin."
"That's not what I'm doing. We've had a long three days and you're going to have more long days coming up. I think we just need to take it easy tonight."
She sighed and closed her eyes. "You're right, it sounds like a good idea."
"So go on," he said, giving her butt a tap.
She stood up and glanced back at him with a cute smile on her face.
"I'm going, I'm going."
He watched her as she left the room, with a smile on his face the whole time.
"God I love that woman," he said, shaking his head as he stood up and went into the kitchen.
~*~
Katie Couric walked down the hall of the studios of The Today Show towards the green room where Britney Spears was waiting in. She held a few note cards in her hand and knocked on the door as she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. Slowly the door came open and Britney's smiling face appeared on the other side.
"Hi Britney," Katie smiled.
"Hi," Britney returned and opened the door wider. "Come on in."
Katie smiled and walked into the room when she turned around she gasped and touched Britney's stomach. "Oh, I had no idea. Congratulations."
Britney giggled. "Thanks. We've been trying to keep it to ourselves but I can't hide it anymore," Britney said, rubbing her stomach.
"No, I don't think you can at this point," Katie said, crossing her arms. "I was just going to go over a couple of things we'll cover today, but I guess I'll add one more thing?"
"Okay," Britney said.
"Just let me know how much you want to talk about this," she said, nodding towards Britney's belly.
"Oh.....why don't you just bring it up and I'll see what I feel like divulging," she said, still rubbing her stomach.
They talked about a couple more things, like the movie and her music career before Katie left the room.
"This might not be so bad," Britney said to herself.
Fe knocked on the door and came in. "Hey....I saw that Katie stopped by," she said.
"Yeah, she wanted to go over what we were going to talk about. She's really nice."
"Of course she is," Fe said with a swipe of her hand. "Everything's going to be fine."
Britney took a deep breath. "Yes, it is."