Part 5:

Mary Poppins

After rocking him to sleep in the kitchen in her arms Kristin put Nate down for his nap meeting Lily outside of his bedroom door as she was pulling it closed.

“You scared me.” Kristin replied with wide-eyed amusement as she placed a finger to her lips to signal that Nate was indeed asleep.

“You should go and do something for yourself for yourself today Kris.” Lily locked her arm in Kristin’s as they walked down the hall towards the master suite. “That’s what I’m here for, to take some of the stress and pressure off of you, you should take advantage of it.”

Sighing Kris opened her bedroom door guiding Lily inside.

“I know, I know. But it’s so hard to just let go. I mean it’s only been a few hours. I’m still not used to the idea that I have Mary Poppins working for me now.” Laughing she sat down on the couch.

“Kris,” Sitting across from her Lily smiled her most convincing smile.

The exact same smile that convinced her parents she was sane enough to stop her counseling.

The exact same smile that convinced her brother that she was moving to Paris to start her life over.

The exact same smile that convinced her therapist that she was over the past and ready to get on with the future.

The exact same smile that convinced Kris that she had the woman’s best interests at heart.

“I’m not telling you to let go of Nate. I’m telling you to let me do what you brought me here to do. Let me help. Now is as good as time as any to get into the habit.”

Leaning back Kris twisted a strand of hair around her finger. “You’re right.” She said sitting up a little straighter. “You’re right. If Kevin were here and he saw me he would just laugh at the fact that I have this wonderful woman willing to help me and I’m not accepting her help.” Leaning forward she patted Lily’s knee.

“I’m going to go to the gym.” Standing up she grinned. “It’s about time I get this body back into shape!” Turing her size four figure around and marching it to the closet to pick out something suitable for the gym Lily found herself rolling her eyes.

How could Kevin even stand the woman?

* * *

Coasting into a gas station at Nick’s request some of the group headed inside to pick up snacks.

“Kev do you want anything?” Checking to make sure he had some cash in his wallet Nick headed in the direction of the station their publicist and hairdresser in tow.

“No thanks.” Why Nick felt the need to load up on gas station food at this point in their careers was beyond Kevin. The refrigerator and cupboards of the tour bus were stocked with all of their favorite items including gourmet delicacies as well as exotic fruits and cheeses that Kevin only ran across at the high-end parties.

And here was Nick, a grown man begging them to stop for Fun Dip.

“You’re a Fun Dip Nick.” A.J. blasted over the radios from the tour bus he was sharing with Brian and Howie.

“Fuck you man I want some Fun Dip.” Nick shouted back. “If I don’t get some Fun Dip I’m going to hijack this bus and you’ll never see Kevin again.”

“I dare you!” A.J. shot back cackling wildly.

“Hey Jay, you remember that movie Speed. I’m totally gonna pull a Speed.”

“So which one of you is Keanu Reeves?” Brian yelled his voice breaking up over the airwaves.

“I’m Keanu and Kev is going to be Sandra Bullock.”

“Nick give me the stupid radio.” Grabbing for the radio Kevin and Nick wound up on the floor wrestling for it A.J., Howie and Brian cheering them on.

“Need……Fun……Dip……” Nick yelled rolling to the left and whacking his head on the couch the radio still clutched firmly in his grip.

“C’mon Kev let him have his Fun Dip. Our driver says there is a gas station up ahead. We can be in and out of there in twenty minutes.” Howie’s sensible voice rang out over the radio just as Kevin snatched it from Nick’s hand pushing his other hand into Nick’s face to keep him flat on the floor.

And so after much debate back and forth on the radios the caravan finally stopped so that Nick could satisfy his craving for some Fun Dip.

Standing outside of the bus Kevin flipped open his cell phone. Dialing his home phone he expected Kris to pick up on the first ring but instead it rang a handful of times before going to voice mail. Pausing for a second Kevin left his message asking Kris to call him.

“I miss you, I miss Nate.” He whispered as Brian sidled up beside him.

“I MISS YOU AND NATE TOO.” Brian shouted over his shoulder laughing as Kevin hit the end button on the phone.

“So when we said this was going to be a Back to Basics tour I guess we also meant it was going to be a Back to Immaturity Tour as well?” Stuffing the phone in his pocket Kevin leaned back against the bus.

“Oh c’mon, lighten up Kev.”

“Fuck you.”

“Ouch.” Throwing his hands up Brian moved in beside Kevin. “What’s eating you?”

“I just expected that my fucking wife could have waited around for me to call.”

“Did you tell her what time you’d be calling?”

“No.”

“Then isn’t that a lot to expect of her?”

“I don’t like being away from my son Brian.” Kevin spoke quietly tears forming in his eyes.

Brian wanted to say that he understood but in reality he didn’t. He had no children of his own and he did not know what it was like to lose a child, experiencing a pain so deep it made Kevin fearful to turn his back for even a second on his second son.

“I’m sorry Kevin.” Placing a hand on Kevin’s shoulder Brian sighed. “I know you didn’t want to do this tour.”

“Nope.” Shaking his head Kevin wiped a stray tear from his cheek.

“But I’m glad you did. And Nate will be just fine he has his Mama looking out for him and that new nanny she hired. And you know Kristin, she would only hire the best to watch over your son.”

Looking up they both watched Nick come bounding across the parking lot his arms filled with packs of Fun Dip a smile on his face.

“I bought every pack they had. I freaking love being on the road man. Freaking love it!” Tossing a pack of Fun Dip to Kevin and one to Brian he walked up the steps into the bus leaving a pleasant silence in his wake.

“It’s going to be a long tour.” Kevin said sniffling as he pushed away from the bus.

“Yup. But we’ll make the most of it.” Turning Brian headed back in the direction of his bus.

“Hey Kev.” Stopping Brian turned. “Give her a call when we get to the hotel. I’m sure she’ll be home by then.”

* * *

Twenty minutes after Lily had encouraged Kristin to go to the gym Kristin was heading out the front door clad in a stylish pink Juicy sweat suit her matching pink and gray gym bag slung over her shoulder.

Waving from the balcony Lily waited until Kris’s silver Jaguar disappeared down the street before walking back inside clicking the sliding glass door locked.

Winding her way back upstairs to Kristin and Kevin’s bedroom she pushed the door open immediately heading to Kevin’s bureau with it’s scattered photographs, handful of change and chunky silver diver’s watch that Lily had bought him for their three month anniversary lying on top.

Pulling open the top drawer she placed her hands inside pulling from between the piles of soft worn t-shirts Kristin’s cell phone.

Smiling she turned the phone on and noticed that the mailbox was full.

Upon her arrival at the house Lily had spotted the cell phone on the kitchen sink. Waiting until Kris was napping she had swiped the cell phone keeping it downstairs until Kris put Nate down for a nap, whereupon she then switched it to Kevin’s dresser drawers. She had also turned off all of the ringers on the phones throughout the house for a little peace and quiet her first day on the job.

As well as to piss Kevin off.

And judging from the caller id on the cell phone with bold black letters stating “KEVIN CELL” she knew she had accomplished what she’d set out to do.

***

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