Careless Mistake
by Kelli
Part 64
August 2006.......
Britney smiled on her drive home. She had just been a speaker for a children's organization luncheon and doing things like that made her feel good. It made her appreciate her family even more. The children in this organization were mostly foster children. It was a good organization and she was proud to be a part of it and talk about it when she could.
When she pulled into the driveway she noticed that Justin had his SUV pulled out in front of the garage because he had been detailing it. She got out of her car and briskly walked inside.
"Hello," she said as soon as she stepped into the kitchen. She set her purse down on the counter and looked around the room. It was still fairly clean which either meant they hadn't had lunch yet or Justin took them out to eat.
"Justin?" she yelled.
She walked toward the hallway when something caught her eye outside. She laughed when she saw Justin holding Chase in the pool while Mackenzie swam around in her arm floaties and inflatable ring.
"Good idea," she said before jogging upstairs to change.
Within a few minutes she had her bikini on and joined them outside.
"Mommmmmyyyyyy!" Mackenzie yelled when she saw Britney walking toward them.
"Hey," Justin said, turning around to look up at her.
"Hey guys," she smiled at them. "Having fun?"
"Yeahhhhhh," Mackenzie screamed as she giggled and paddled around.
Britney laughed and walked over to the steps that led to the shallow end of the pool.
Justin walked over toward her as she lowered herself into the pool.
"This feels good," she said, meeting him in the middle of the shallow end.
When Chase saw her, he started to gurgle and splash his hands in the water.
"Hey there baby," Britney said, taking the baby from Justin.
She held him up and kissed his cheek as she brought him down.
"My turn," Justin said, moving in closer to her. She settled Chase on her hip and leaned in to kiss Justin. When he pulled away, he gave her one more quick kiss.
"How was your luncheon?" he asked, squatting down in the water a little more.
"It was good," she nodded. "I got to meet a few more kids in the program. It makes me feel good to see them at functions like this. They get people paying attention to them and taking care of them. I love the looks on their faces."
He smiled. "Yeah, I'm sure it's rewarding."
"Mommy look," Mackenzie said so Britney looked over Justin's shoulder at her daughter.
She started to kick her legs and splash water everywhere, including Justin's face. When she stopped he wiped his face and got an evil grin on his face and started to swim toward her, which made her squeal and try to swim away.
"Come here you," he teased as he reached out and grabbed her foot, pulling her toward him.
She tried to scream but ended up getting water in her mouth and coughing.
"Justin," Britney warned.
"Oh she's fine. Come here," he said, holding her and taking the ring from around her body so she only had the arm floats on. "You're fine," he said, patting her back.
"Bad daddy," Mackenzie pouted as she coughed a little.
"Yeah, you tell him," Britney agreed.
She started to walk a little closer to them but didn't want to get into the deeper water with Chase in her arms so Justin came closer to her. As soon as they were close enough, Mackenzie held her arms out for Britney.
"Mommy," she said with a sad look on her face.
"Honey, I can't hold you and Chase at the same time in the pool," Britney said, shaking her head. "Stay with daddy."
She started to cry, which caused Chase to cry.
"Oh Lordy," Britney said, trying to bob Chase up and down as much as she could in the pool.
Justin swam away with Mackenzie to try to distract her. He'd throw her up and catch her, letting her fall into the water as he caught her. Finally both children settled down. When Justin swam back to Britney, Chase had his head resting on her shoulder and she was sitting on one of the steps of the pool.
"He hasn't had his nap yet," Justin said.
"Why not?" Britney asked, looking down at Chase.
Justin shrugged. "We've been busy today....haven't we Mackenzie?"
The little girl nodded. "We clean car, mama."
"You did?"
Mackenzie's eyes got big and she nodded again. "Yeah."
"Well from what I could tell, it looked like you did a good job."
She continued to nod, which made Britney chuckle. She leaned over and kissed Mackenzie's cheek.
"So, what did you guys do for lunch.....anything?" Britney asked.
"Gwilled cheece," Mackenzie said.
"Yum. And you helped clean up the kitchen too?" she asked in surprise.
Justin eyed her as Mackenzie nodded.
"What are you getting at?" he asked.
"Well.....it just didn't look....."
"It was too clean?" Justin interrupted her.
She slightly shrugged. "It hadn't looked used today, Justin."
"Mommy doesn't think we can be in the kitchen without making a mess," he said, looking down at Mackenzie.
"When was the last time you cleaned up after yourself like that?" she asked, getting a little defensive.
"Last time I made lunch," he said matter-of-factly.
She rolled her eyes. "Whatever."
"I'd splash you with water right now but I don't want to disturb Chase. By the way, he needs a hair cut."
Britney looked down at the top of Chase's head. "No he doesn't. The curls are a perfect length right now," she said as she let her fingers run through them.
Justin groaned. "He's going to hate you one day," he chuckled.
"You're the only one who hates your baby pictures. Everyone else thinks they're adorable and that's the way they feel about Chase."
Now it was Justin's turn to roll his eyes.
"I haven't been able to enjoy this pool much this summer," Britney said, looking around. "I miss it."
"Well...." Justin started as he clutched Mackenzie tighter to him and grabbed Britney's arm and started toward the steps, "Let's put the munchkins down for a little nap, grab the baby monitors and come back out."
She was following him up the steps and they walked over to the table where there were a bunch of towels.
"Down daddy," Mackenzie said.
Britney dried both she and Chase off and headed inside since he was asleep at this point. Justin struggled with Mackenzie, who kept wanting to run around the pool. He finally got a good hold of her and wrapped her in a towel. He carried her inside, with her trying to wiggle her way out.
"Down daddy."
"No, Mackenzie. You didn't listen to me when I told you not to run around the pool. Remember what I told you about that?"
"Down daddy."
He carried her to her room and set her in her crib. She laid flat on her back and started to kick her legs while she cried.
"Have a good nap," he said before checking the baby monitor and shutting the door behind him.
Britney found him leaning back against the closed door with his eyes shut.
"Terrible twos," he murmured.
"And I thought we were going to be lucky and have an angel," Britney said, patting his chest. "Come on, daddy, let's go down and have some grownup fun."
She grabbed his hand and led him back downstairs and to the pool. Justin set both of the monitors on the table. He turned Mackenzie's down since she was still throwing a fit.
When he turned back around, Britney was already in the pool drifting in the water on her back. He dived right in and swam up to her, grabbing her waist. She laughed and wrapped her arms around his neck.
"Hmmm, see, this is the way our pool should be enjoyed," she said, throwing her head back. He couldn't resist the temptation of her bare neck so he started to nibble on it.
"Your mom is going to meet you guys at the airport tomorrow, right?" she sighed.
"Yep," Justin said in between nibbles.
She tried not to think about Justin and Mackenzie's trip away from her and Chase. They were going to be gone a week.
"I'm glad your mom is going to be there, she'll get to see Mackenzie again."
He nodded and continued his assault on her neck, moving his way down to her collar bone. When she didn't respond to him he pulled his head back a little and looked at her.
"I thought you were okay with me taking Mackenzie."
She wrapped her legs around his waist and continued to cling to him. "I am. I'm just going to miss her," she pouted.
"Well, I'm going to miss Chase," he added.
"I know," she sighed.
"Brit, I can leave her......"
She shook her head. "No. Your mom is going to be there and Mackenzie is looking forward to seeing her. Besides, this will give me a break from being mommy of two."
"Sexy mommy of two," he said with a devilish grin.
She smiled back and leaned into him for a kiss. Before she realized it, her back hit the side of the pool and she reached down into his swim trunks and started to massage him.
He threw his head back and groaned. "Not here," he chuckled, removing her hand.
She untangled herself from him and quickly made it to the steps, grabbing a towel and a baby monitor on the way. He was a little stunned that she got away so quickly but he hurried up himself when she started to remove her bikini top once she walked inside the house. He grabbed a towel and the other baby monitor and was met with a kiss as soon as he stepped inside.
Britney took the monitor from him and set it down on the counter next to the other one. She threw his towel on the ground as his hands found her bare breasts.
"What's gotten into you," he mumbled into her hair.
"We need to make up for lost time for next week," she giggled, pushing him to the ground.
She straddled his waist and started to move back and forth while she leaned down to kiss him again. He had to steady her hips or he was going to loose it fast. The made love on the kitchen floor, right inside the door.
Justin stayed lying on the flat of his back when Britney stood up and picked up her bikini from off the floor.
"That was fun," she said, pushing her hair behind her ears.
Justin was still trying to catch his breath as he chuckled. "To say the least." He lifted his head and looked around. "I think this is a first for this spot in the kitchen."
She smiled at him. "Come on, let's go take a shower."
She leaned down and helped him stand up. They didn't need to grab the monitors this time since they were going to be on the same floor as the kids.
After a nice long shower Britney put a new bikini on and went back outside to lay out by the pool. Justin found her there, laying flat on her stomach. He sat on the lounge next to her and gently slapped her butt.
"Hey, let me put some sunscreen on you," he said, reaching over her for the bottle.
She moaned and turned her head to the side to look at him.
"Just humor me," he said.
She didn't protest because it meant he'd get to rub her back. She loved spending as much time with him like this before either of them went away.
"I wish you could come with me," Justin said. "I hate receiving this honor by myself."
He was going to be getting a plaque for his charity and the contributions it had made to New York inner city schools and while he was in New York he was going to do a little press for it and try to raise more awareness for his foundation.
"Me too.....but the doctor doesn't want Chase to fly right now," she said, starting to feel sad again.
"I know. You don't have to tell me the reason, I was just saying...."
Chase had a little chest congestion a week ago and it was finally clearing up and the doctor didn't think it would be good for him to fly across the country until he was completely finished with the antibiotics.
"You going to be okay alone?" he asked, breaking the silence.
"Yes. Besides, Jenny is in town and she's going to stay with Chase and I a couple of nights. It will be fun."
"Okay. I don't think it's hit Mackenzie that she's not going to see you for a week, yet."
"That's why I'm not making a big deal about it around her. She'll throw you a fit if she realizes that I'm going to be away from her long."
Justin nodded and continued to massage her lower back.
She smiled. "I think you've gotten every spot now."
"You complaining?" he chuckled.
"No."
Once the kids woke back up, the family spent more time around the pool and enjoying the nice summer day with each other. Justin decided to bar-b-cue so Britney was inside tossing a salad. Mackenzie was helping her by picking the olives out of the jar, one by one.
"Don't put your hand in your mouth," Britney warned her.
"See," Mackenzie said, holding an olive out for Britney to see.
"Yeah....yummy."
Mackenzie nodded and stuck it in her mouth.
"Okay, miss helper, that's enough help for today, thank you."
She took the bowl away from her and they went back outside.
"Daddy I hep mommy," Mackenzie said, walking over to Justin and wrapping her arms around his leg.
"I'm sure you were a big help."
Britney looked over at Chase, who was sitting in a highchair, playing with his teething ring.
"Oh, I forgot to tell you, right after you left this morning, Mackenzie was playing with Chase on the family room floor and he lifted himself up on his arms and rocked a little," Justin said over his shoulder.
"You're kidding? And I almost missed his first crawl?" she asked in a surprised tone.
"Well, I think he was waiting for you," Justin chuckled. "You're the one who motivates him to do anything. He's a big mama's boy."
"Just like his daddy," she smiled with pride.
Justin chuckled. "True, true.....So....the moral of the story is, don't let him crawl until I get back," he teased.
Britney smiled and bit her bottom lip. "Yeah, I'll try. How about I just have the camera handy, in case it happens...."
He set the tongs down and closed the lid to the pit, scooped Mackenzie up in his arms and walked over to where Britney was sitting.
"Well, I guess that will have to do if it happens, huh?" he asked before leaning over and giving her a quick kiss.
"Daddy, don't kiss mommy," Mackenzie said, pushing Britney away from them.
Britney acted like she was hurt. "Why? You want me to kiss you?" she asked, grabbing her off of Justin's lap and pulling her onto hers.
Mackenzie started to giggle as Britney placed kisses all over her face.
"Mommy no," she said.
Justin watched his girls and chuckled. He looked up at Chase when he started to make noise, almost like he knew they weren't paying attention to him.
"What, you want in on the action too?" Justin asked, going over to get him out of the highchair.
Justin sat back down next to Britney and Mackenzie who were still playing with each other.
"Bah ba ba ba ba," Chase yelled as loud as he could, which caught Britney's attention and made her laugh.
"Oh my.....we're a little jealous, huh?" she asked, tickling his stomach.
~*~
Britney walked Mackenzie out to the car. Mackenzie could tell something was going on so she clung to her mom and rested her head against her shoulder.
"You give grandma a big hug and kiss for me okay? You're so lucky you get to see her," Britney said, trying to make light of the situation.
Mackenzie nodded.
"Will you remember to do that for me?"
She nodded again. Britney lowered her into the limo and buckled her into her car seat. She gave her one more kiss before handing her her dolly.
"I love you."
"Wuv you," Mackenzie mumbled.
Britney turned around so Mackenzie wouldn't see her cry. She quickly walked to the door just as Justin came out. She walked right into his arms and he held her tight.
"I know," he said, before kissing the side of her head. "We'll be back before you know it."
She nodded, but couldn't say anything.
"Chase is in his playpen, I just gave him a kiss goodbye."
She pulled away and looked up at him and nodded.
"Okay."
He wiped the tears from her face before leaning down and giving her a slow kiss.
"I'll miss you," he whispered.
"I'll miss you too."
"I love you."
"I love you, Justin," she said before giving him one more kiss and going back into the house.