Chapter 27
He sat silently in a rocking chair on
the porch of the beach house the seven guys were sharing until after the
wedding was over. He was comtemplating everything he'd been through in the past
9 months. He remembered the day he'd proposed to her there on that same beach in
front of that same house under the moonlit sky. He had never felt more sure of
anything in his entire life. He remembered how excited he was coming home on
the plane and how anxious he'd been to tell his family and friends. He
remembered that night in the hotel when he'd thought he was going to lose her
and the plane ride home when he would have gladly died to take away her pain.
He thought of all that she'd been through in the past 8 months of treatments
and he thought about the fact that after all of this he loved her more now than
he could ever have imagined possible.
He stared out at the ocean and watched
the waves roll up carelessly onto the shore. He remembered the last time he'd
done this... when he'd run away to the beach with AJ. He'd been stupid then...
foolish. He hadn't believed in himself. Now he knew in his heart that no matter
what happened he could stand there beside her through anything.
He felt the tears fill up his eyes as
he thought about the future and what it held for them. He had always thought
that marriage meant family and children and growing old together. Now he knew
that at least for him and Grace love was about today and right now. Grace
always said, "Tomorrow won't matter if you don't make today count."
Try though he may to live by that
rule, he was still terrified of what tomorrow might bring.
He heard the door behind him open and
glanced up to see Brian now standing there behind him tying his tie. He stood
there for a moment until he'd gotten it as perfect as he could and then walked
over and placed his hands on Nick's shoulders.
"How you doing bro?"
Nick was nervous and scared, happy and
excited all at the same time. He wished he could tell Brian how much it meant
to him that he was there and would be standing in the spot of his best man.
Brian had been the greatest friend he'd ever known since the early days of the
Backstreet Boys when they were so young. He'd been the one who Nick could
always talk to no matter what. He'd heard Grace say it before and he wholeheartedly
agreed that almost everything good he had in his life came from the fact that
Brian was his best friend. If it hadn't been for Brian he wouldn't be standing
here today getting married to his soulmate.
"I'm nervous," he said
looking over at Brian and feeling the butterflies fill up his stomach,
"but I'm excited too!"
Brian held out his hand and pulled him
up off of the chair as the rest of the guys came out and gathered on the porch.
Kevin, AJ, Howie, Aaron, and Joey all surrounded him.
"Mind if I say a prayer?"
Brian asked placing his hand on the back of Nick's neck.
"Please do."
When the prayer had ended and Nick had
hugged each of the guys in turn Kevin looked down at his wristwatch and
whistled loudly getting everyone's attention.
"You guys ready?" He asked
as they all lined up and prepared to walk out to the beach.
"More ready than you could
possibly imagine!" Nick hollered as he took off up down the steps of the
deck and headed towards his destination.
***