Going
Home
With
the tour going in full swing, time passed quickly. Before they knew it, it was
September and they were in Raleigh, NC.
“Mama!”
Bianca squealed, running to hug her mother. “I missed you so much.”
“Oh,
I missed you, too, sweetie,” her mother said with tears in her eyes. Seeing
Brianna walking towards her, she said, “And how’s my other favorite girl?”
“I’m
doing fine,” she said hugging Bianca’s mom.
“Mama,
I want you to meet the guys. Wait here,” she said and walked to their bus. A
few minutes later, she came walking back followed by the five guys. “Mama, this
is A.J., Howie, Brian, Kevin, and Nick.”
“Nice
to meet you.” Bianca’s mom smiled sincerely.
“So
you’re Bean’s mom?” Brian grinned.
“That
I am.” The guys all gave Bianca’s mom a hug and just as she was about to tell
her mom about her relationship with Nick, she heard a deep voice.
“Hey,
Bean.” A tall dark-haired guy walked over to her and gave her a hug.
Bianca
broke away uncomfortably. “Hey, Eric. Mama, can I talk to you for a second?”
When
Bianca and her mom were out of earshot from the rest of the group, she looked
at her mother with frustration and asked, “Why is he here?”
“He
wanted to come see you tonight, so I gave him the extra pass that I had. I
didn’t think you’d mind.”
“Why
did he want to come?”
Bianca’s
mother smiled. “He came to get you back.” Eric and Bianca had broken up a few
months before she had gotten her record deal and her mother had always liked
him. Now, he thought he could just show up and automatically have her back.
“Well,
mom, I’m not going back to him. I’m seeing someone.”
“Who
sweetie?” Her mother was confused, but still looked happy for her.
“Nick.
I was about to tell you when Eric walked up.”
“Oh.
He seems really sweet but be nice to Eric please?”
To
herself she thought, ‘I’ll try, but I can’t promise,’ but to her mother she
said, “I will.”
Walking
back over to the group, they overheard Eric telling them who he was and how he
knew Bianca. “Eric,” Bianca interrupted, “this is Howie, A.J., Brian, Brianna’s
boy-friend Kevin, and my boy-friend Nick. I’m opening for them. You know... the
Backstreet Boys?”
“So,”
Kevin broke in, “we’re taking everyone to lunch”
“Okay,”
Bianca’s mom answered. “Brianna, honey, your parents are on the way.”
“Good,”
Brianna said, squeezing Kevin’s hand.
As
they waited for George and Irene, Brianna’s parents, Brianna pulled Bianca to
the side and asked her about Eric. When Bianca told her his plan, Brianna
laughed. “Are you serious? He actually thinks you’re gonna drop everything just
because he shows up?”
“Yeah,”
she smirked. Just then, they heard Bianca’s mom talking to someone.
“It’s
so good to see you,” they heard her say.
“You,
too, Shirley,” a woman replied.
“That’s
my mom!” Brianna beamed. When she rounded the corner she found her mom greeting
Bianca’s mom with a hug.
“Mama!”
she said as she gave her mother a big hug. “Where’s daddy?”
“He’ll
be here in a minute. He had to stop and talk to someone; you know how your
father is,” she smiled. When he walked up, Bianca greeted both of Brianna’s
parents at once.
“How
are both my girls?” Brianna’s father asked smiling.
They
smiled and introduced the guys. “Mama, daddy, this is Kevin,” Brianna told
them. Her parents greeted them warmly.
“So,”
her mom smiled, “this is who our daughter has talked so much about. It’s nice
to finally meet you in person.”
“Yeah.
We’ve heard so much about you,” Brianna’s dad said shaking Kevin’s hand.
“I’m
glad to finally meet you, too. Brianna talks about you constantly.” Kevin
smiled and took Brianna’s hand.
“Okay.
Come on everybody. We’re taking you to lunch,” Bianca said.
“Don’t
you think you should invite Eric? To be nice...” Bianca’s mother whispered. She
gestured toward him sitting in a chair off to the side.
“Would
you like to come,” Bianca asked through clenched teeth. Obviously happy, he
jumped up out of his chair and followed the others.
*THAT
EVENING*
“Thank
you for lunch,” Shirley said to the guys.
“It
was no problem, Mrs. Parker,” Brian smiled.
“Call
me Shirley. You’re making me feel old.”
“Well,
mama, we have soundcheck so I have to get going, but I’ll see you after the
show.”
“All
right. See you in a little while,” she said hugging her daughter.
Everyone
but the guys and Bianca left the stage. “You know what, Bean?” Nick said taking
her hand.
“What?”
“I
don’t like that Eric guy’s attitude. He’s way too cocky.”
“Don’t
worry, baby. I don’t like it either.” With that they parted and went to get
ready for the show.
*THE
NEXT MORNING: A LOCAL RESTAURANT
“I’m
glad you came to see me perform. I really do miss you and everybody. I miss
home, too, but I love the reason I have to be here,” Bianca told her mom as
they enjoyed breakfast together.
“So,
tell me about Nick and you. He seems nice enough,” her mother smiled.
“Well,”
Bianca blushed slightly, “we’ve been dating about a month. He was really
excited to meet you, too.”
“Really?
So everything else is working well?”
“Yes
ma’am. Everything’s going about like I expected.” They continued talking about
everything they had missed in each others lives for the past two months.
*AT
THE SAME TIME*
“So,
I’m glad you and daddy could make it. Bianca was really glad you were here.”
Brianna gave her mother another hug good-bye.
“Oh,
we were glad to be here. The show was wonderful. We wouldn’t have missed it for
the world,” Irene replied.
“I
know. Kevin was glad to finally be able to meet y’all. He really likes you. I
hope you feel the same way about him,” she said looking her mother in the eye.
“We
like him. He seems to be a true gentleman and it’s obvious he loves you,” Irene
continued sincerely, “but, to be honest, I wasn’t sure about him before we met
him face-to-face. I didn’t really feel comfortable with the age difference.”
“What
do you mean?” Brianna questioned.
“Well,
we thought that with him being so much older than you...” Irene trailed off.
Looking uncomfortably at her daughter she asked, “You two are being careful,
aren’t you?”
“Mama,”
Brianna said rolling her eyes, “I’m 20 years old. I know how to be careful, but
just so you know, we haven’t even had sex. Yet.” Throwing in the last part
caught her mother off guard.
“Yet?”
she asked. “Well, I know you’re responsible.” George and Kevin, who had been
putting bags in the car, walked up before Irene could continue.
“Are
we ready to go?” George asked as he put his arm around his wife’s shoulders.
“Yes.
We’ve already said good-bye to Bianca and everyone else,” she said smiling up
at him.
“Okay.”
He opened her car door. “Bye, sweetie,” he said as he kissed Brianna’s
forehead.
“Bye
daddy. Bye mama. Love you.”
“Love
you, too,” they replied in unison.
“Call
me when you get home. Be careful,” Brianna said a little sadly.
“We
will,” her mother replied. With that, they drove off as Kevin and Brianna stood
watching. Brianna missed them already.
*2
HOURS LATER*
“Hey,
isn’t tomorrow an off day, too?” Brianna asked Kevin as they lay in bed back at
the hotel.
“Yeah.
Thank goodness. Why?”
“I
kinda miss home...and we’re so close...”
“I
know where you’re going with this,” Kevin began playfully. “Don’t give me those
big, teary eyes either.”
“Please,
Kevin?” Brianna pleaded. “Can we go see the rest of my family?”
Kevin
sighed. “I can’t say no to that,” he replied with a laugh. “I guess so...”
“Great!”
Brianna exclaimed jumping up from his arms. “Thank you, baby. I love you. I’m
gonna go tell Bianca.” Kissing him, she went to tell Bianca the good news.
***