May 16, 2015
“Hey, can I get another tote of those blue shirts?” Jessica called out.
“That,” Spencer huffed, hitching up her shirt as she bent down to grab said tote, “is a very good question. I’m afraid it’s less up to me than it is to the two little brats laying on my bladder.”
Nevertheless, Spencer managed to heft the tote up and rest it against her growing stomach, then waddle to the door with it. A thin curtain was all that separated the rest of 3CG’s offices from the front office, which had been transformed into an entirely Hanson themed store. Spencer whistled as she rested against the doorframe, and Jessica took the hint, quickly rushing forward and grabbing the tote.
This was not Spencer’s first Hanson Day, but it was without question her worst. Two years ago, the Amberly drama had still been too fresh for Spencer to want to see any of Zac’s fans, and he understood that. The previous year, she had reluctantly taken a small part in the festivities, working in the Hanson Store “warehouse” and watching the lectures and concerts from backstage. This year, despite being roughly the size of a beached whale, she had agreed to take part again.
Over the last few years, since taking her relationship with Zac public—something that she hadn’t be able to avoid when news of the attempted murder broke—Spencer had found that it was a delicate balance to keep her privacy while also keeping his fans happy. She eventually settled for something in between Natalie and Nikki’s approaches, using her public social media accounts to provide just enough information to let the fans see who she really was while also keeping close control over what they were privy to. Her pregnancy had been one thing she wanted to keep private, especially given how soon it had happened after the wedding, but she had dropped a few coy little hints in the form of tweet exchanges with Natalie about baby names and such. Now, at six months along, she knew that any fan who saw her during the “holiday” weekend would know the truth.
The bowling tournament was that morning, so the crowd at the store had thinned quite a bit. Zac always took it upon himself to emcee the tournament, Spencer knew, and not knowing for certain when he might be back made her antsy. As she gathered up every item requested by those running the storefront, Spencer continuously checked her cell phone to see what time it was and try to guess if Zac might be done with the tournament yet.
“Whew!” A voice called out, and Spencer’s heart leapt when she recognized it as Zac’s. “I always forget how long of a bike ride that is.”
“Look who decided to grace us with his presence,” Spencer remarked, propping her feet up on a tote of DVDs and fanning herself.
“Well, you know, I have to appease the masses,” Zac replied, a huge smirk on his face. He adjusted his ponytail, which had presumably come loose during his bike ride, and took a few steps closer to Spencer. “How are you holding up here? Keeping everyone in line?”
“Ruling the place with an iron fist,” she said. “And a massive headache. And aching feet. And somebody line dancing on my uterus.”
Zac made a face. “You really have a way with words, you know. Really painted a picture there.”
“I do what I can,” she replied, grinning.
“Well, I’m afraid my adoring public awaits,” Zac said, nodding toward the curtain that kept the crowd of fans from realizing he had arrived. If they had known, Spencer was sure they would be much louder than the low murmur of noise that carried through to her.
Spencer sighed heavily, the sound mostly exaggerated. “Alright, alright. I’ll just be in here, dying. Don’t mind me.”
Zac chuckled, then gave Spencer a quick kiss on her forehead. She knew she was being a little unfair, wishing he could stay with her. He belonged to his fans—at least the sane ones—as much as he did to her. She knew that, and for the most part, she understood it. It was only in moments of sheer exhaustion, like she felt right then, that her patience was tested.
When Zac vanished through the curtain, the sound in the other room rose to a shrill level that did nothing to ease Spencer’s headache. Still, she couldn’t resist the urge to pull herself from her chair and inch closer to the door, hoping to get a peek and perhaps hear a bit of what Zac said to the fans.
“How are you and Spencer doing? Congrats on the wedding, by the way,” a fan said.
Spencer bristled a bit at this fan so casually referring to her by first name, but she forced herself to stay calm. She knew that, as much as the fans felt like they owned Zac, a few of them felt a similar sense of ownership over anyone who bore the Hanson name. It was absurd, but it was just one of many absurd things she had to adjust to.
“We’re doing really well,” Zac replied. “Really, really well.”
“Congrats on the baby!” Another fan nearly squealed.
Even though she had done nothing to outright deny the baby rumors, fueled by her tweets and a few photos that didn’t entirely hide her bump, it still surprised Spencer to hear a fan simply take the rumor as fact. No, it wasn’t that surprising, she reminded herself, but it was still crossing the line entirely to mention the rumor to Zac’s face.
Spencer pushed the curtain back just enough to show Zac’s face to her; she just had to see his reaction. He had always wanted to keep his personal life just that—personal—and she didn’t foresee him reacting well to this, but Zac was nothing if not unpredictable.
“Who said anything about a baby?” Zac asked somewhat teasingly, although his brow was furrowed in what Spencer recognized as purely concealed frustration.
A fan just out of Spencer’s sight stuttered out, “Oh, well… umm, I mean, we just heard. We thought that she was—“
“It’s okay,” Zac cut her off, raising a hand to silence her. “We hadn’t really confirmed it yet, but yes, we are pregnant.”
“We?!” Spencer poked her head through the curtain, too shocked by Zac’s words to consider the crowd of fans who were now staring at her. Barely registering the giggles she’d caused, she continued, “Are there currently two babies playing hopscotch on your insides? Because if so, then yes, we are pregnant. If not, it’s still just me.”
Zac laughed loudly. “Well, you heard the woman. She’s pregnant. With twins. And I may need to go get myself out of the doghouse now.”
“Well, congratulations to both of you,” a fan said.
Zac quickly thanked them for coming and rushed back through the curtain. Spencer took a step back, realizing that she’d confirmed the rumor without planning to at all. There was a dull roar coming from the other room that sounded like nothing so much as the rumor mill churning, and Spencer collapsed into her chair with Zac right there to catch her.
“On the bright side, I think you made a good impression on them,” Zac said, grinning.
“I think you’re an ass,” Spencer shot back.
“You’re not wrong,” he said. “So I stuck my foot in it. It being my mouth. It’s happened before, and it’ll happen again.”
“You know I hate when guys say ‘we’re pregnant’. No, we are not. I am. You might be gaining some sympathy weight,” Spencer paused to poke Zac’s stomach, “but I’m the one with actual human beings growing inside me. I’m the one with the stretch marks, varicose veins and massive craving for chocolate. I’m pregnant. Not you.”
Zac chuckled and reached out to pat Spencer’s knee. “Hey, I offered to carry one of them for you. Divide the labor up a little more evenly, you know. But since I can’t do that, how about I help with that chocolate craving?”
“Glacier?” Spencer asked, perking up a bit at the thought.
Zac nodded. “Won’t take a second to run over there, if I don’t get stopped by too many fans.”
“So you’ll be back in an hour,” Spencer replied.
“Probably,” he replied, chuckling. “But I’ll be as quick as I can. Any requests?”
“Hmm… sea salt caramel, caramel banana, caramel maple bacon…”
“I’m detecting a theme here,” Zac remarked.
“Just go before I find something else to complain about,” Spencer said, nudging him toward the door. “I mean, these hormones. You never know when they’ll strike.”
Zac chuckled. “Yeah, yeah. You just like having the excuse to be a bitch.”
“Never needed one before,” Spencer said. “It’s kind of nice to get away with it, and have people still want to talk to me and pet my stomach and such. Actually, I take that back. The stomach petting thing is not so cool. Warn those fans that the first one of them to do it pulls back a bloody stub, okay?”
“You can go out and deliver that warning yourself,” Zac replied, laughing.
“Just go get my chocolate,” Spencer said.
Zac gave her a quick kiss on the forehead and another reassurance that he would be back soon. Spencer doubted that, but she was willing to wait if she knew she would be rewarded with her favorite candy. She would wait anyway, because she knew that in spite of those few moments when he stuck his foot in his mouth, Zac was good to her. She might have to share him with the fans sometimes, but she did not doubt his devotion to her and those two little future soccer players occupying her uterus.