Dim
Conceptions of You
By Anna
They were the bind that kept them in holy
matrimony. Those same rings she had put on twenty years ago never once slipped off
her finger. She could never forget the day she met her prince, which wasn't
exactly how the guy acted when she met him. He looked, to say the least,
stoned, and was no doubt in the process of one of those 'it's-end-of-the-world'
hangovers. Faith just giggled lightly. He was definately
not the kind of guy you'd want to take home to mom.
Who would have thought they would have gone on to dating for four years then
finally tying the knot. He wasn't 27 until they finally did, and he wasn't
thirty until he had his first child and only son Nathaniel. He was a healthy
baby for the most part, a true bundle of pretty much everything of his father
with his looks. He even bobbed his head and clapped his hands to old Journey
albums at five months. He was a strong baby who grew to be a strong man like
his father, as well as their two other daughters. Faith just couldn't believe
all her children were adults. Her youngest, Melanie, had just turned eighteen a
month and two weeks ago.
When Backstreet split up and went their own ways, they had just had Cassandra,
their first daughter. How to describe Cassandra... her lively spirit and
'take-all-attention' attitude still led her to the limelight even after the
youngest was born. She was definately the true
entertainer in the family. Her features, as blonde as her father and as sparkley eyed as her mother, made her drop-dead gorgeous,
and she was known to ham it out on stage as well.
Melanie was immediately titled "Daddy's Girl." Her bouncy blonde
pig-tails and chubby little cheeks made her the poster child for any baby
company, but Nick and Faith had agreed to no public franchising of their
children. No one could believe that someone as wild and rambunctious as Nick
could ever produce anything so innocent and adorable.
When Melanie had entered fifth grade, something happened. Something drastic.
Nick had just signed another two album record contract with the Backstreet
Boy's personal record company and was supposed to fly to LA for two days to
work on the paperwork. Nick never liked planes, and on his way back, it finally
got him. No one could explain it. The weather was fine, the pilots were
certified, the engine was peachy -- it was an accident. That was all that
anyone could really say about it.
A Boeing 767 crashed January 26th, 2030 in Little Rock, Arkansas. Melanie had
bragged on and on about how for her dad's birthday she was going to bake him a
chocolate cake. And then the phone rang, and the words "Is this the Carter
residence?" by some unidentifiable man echoed through the phone. She
replied with, "Yes, it is. How may I help you?" in a relaxed tone,
not a care in the world. And as the man said his next words, the phone fell to
the ground.
The last conversation Faith and her husband had was over the phone. It was a
short "hello, goodbye, I love you, I'll see you in two days" thing
that lasted about five minutes at the max. Nick was in a hurry, and the
business men were practically prying him off the cell phone. Those were always
their daily conversations whenever Nick was on tour with the Backstreet Boys,
and Faith never complained or felt jipped, it was
just the way things were.
News broke out of his passing, and people mourned for a while, but after a few
months, everything settled down -- for the media that is. Nick still had a wife
and three children: one ten year old, who was always fond her father; one
thirteen year old, who deep down inside, always felt the closest to him; and
one sixteen year old son, who loved his father so much, they were practically best
buddies ever since he was born. He also had a thirty-nine year old wife with
light brown hair and hazel-blue eyes, the same one who had led him from the
terrible life he had been living, into the life filled with pure happiness --
only to be shattered that fateful night..
"Nick, do you remember when we first met?" Faith asked Nick over the
choppy cell phone.
"Of course I do," he chuckled lightly. "In front of the
Esmeralda... you were the pool server." Faith giggled.
"You're forgetting something, Nick Carter."
"I was hung-over and you specially ordered me a margarita with a shot of
scotch." Faith smiled and nodded reminiscently.
"You remember," she said lightly. Nick chuckled.
"How could I forget, Bub?" he said, calling
her by her nickname he had given to twenty years ago. "I love you so
much."
"Mmm, I love you, too, Wuv" Faith said.
"I know you have to go." Nick nodded sadly.
"But hey, I'm going to be home in two days. Remember that? It'll go by so sickingly fast you won't start missing me 'til I'm
back."
"I already miss you," Faith said.
"I miss you, too. Give the kids my love, okay? I really gotta go, the
record exec's are getting fiesty.." Faith
giggled.
"I love you, too, Nick. I'll see you in a couple of days."
"Same to you, Bubba. I love you. Good-bye." Faith smiled. She was
going to see her husband in two days. Nick casually spoke softly to his wife,
as if it was the last time he was ever going to speak to her in either of their
lives. That one word. It had to be...
"Good-bye."
The End
