Chapter 9
"yyyyyaaaaaawwwwnnn," I
yawned for the fifth time in the last couple of minutes. I stretched my feet
out in front of me curling my toes around the edge of the coffee table and
leaned back into the couch. I was sitting in the living room between Joey and
Kristin, Kelly was curled up at Joey's feet and Kevin was seated across the
room in Nick's recliner. We were watching some movie the guys had rented, but I
could barely keep my eyes open. When I failed to stifle yet another yawn Kevin
shot me a look across the room and stood up grabbing the blanket off the back
of his seat.
"That's it cuz, you are SO taking
a nap. No arguing!"
Kristin hopped up off the couch and
grabbed one of the pillows for me to lay down on and I obliged knowing that
trying to argue with Kevin Richardson would be futile anyway. I stretched out
across the couch as Kevin covered me up with the blanket. I laid my legs across
Joey's lap and he took my feet in his hands and gave them a gentle massage as
Kevin returned to his seat and unpaused the movie.
"You know..." I said looking
down towards where Joey was rubbing my aching feet and staring at the
television screen.
"Know what?" He questioned
looking down towards where I lay.
"Nick might be a little jealous
if he could see you right now." I laughed and Joey winked.
"He should be." He continued
giving me a foot massage as I settled back against the pillow and closed my
eyes. I couldn't remember the last time I'd felt so exhausted. I had spent most
of the day cleaning the house and unpacking more boxes anxiously awaiting
Nick's arrival home. It would be his first night in our new house and I wanted
it to be special. I had checked off the last red X on the calender yesterday
and smiled. He should be home in a few hours and the guys were going to cookout
hamburgers on the grill. I could feel my body relaxing now, the sounds of
whatever movie they were watching echoing in my head.
I wanted to be well rested when he got
home so I allowed myself to drift off to sleep.
~~~~~~~
Nick climbed out of the car and
stretched his legs flipping his sunglasses up on his head as he took in the
view of home. The six weeks he'd been gone had felt like an eternity. When he'd
left to go on tour it was 80 degrees and the flowers were still blooming. The
leaves on the trees were green and the air had smelled of freshly cut grass.
Today however, while it was still bright and sunny there was a distinct chill
in the air that made him pull his jacket up around his face to keep the wind
away from his ears. The yard was covered in a layer of fallen leaves and the
trees were nearly bare. He could tell that they had a fire burning in the
fireplace and he could smell the burgers on the grill out back. He reached into
the backseat and grabbed his bag as Brian and Gracie's older brother Harold
came around to help him with his suitcases.
"Thanks again for picking me up
man."
"My pleasure."
Kevin had called Nick the night before
and let him know that Grace would be unable to meet him at the airport. She had
been in to see her doctor that morning and her counts were too low for her to
be out in public during flu season. Nick had hated the idea that she wouldn't be
the first person he would see when he got off the plane but he knew it wasn't
worth the risk.
The two men walked to the back of the
house together to find Kevin and Joey grilling out burgers on the deck. Kevin
smiled when he saw Nick and waved hello as he walked down the steps to greet
his cousin, embracing him tightly in a hug.
"We've missed you man. Did y'all
have a good tour?"
Nick hugged him back taking in the
moment. Kevin had always been like an older brother to Nick and to know that he
had been here for Grace the entire time he'd been gone on tour... Nick didn't
know how to thank him.
"We did. It was long though and
of course I had too many other things on my mind..."
"Yeah, understandable. But I
heard the fan base was incredible."
"It was, but then again, it
always is."
"True." Kevin said taking
Nick's bag and leading him up the stairs to where Joey was flipping burgers.
"Dinner should be ready
soon." Joey said as he handed Nick a bottle of Ale-8. Nick looked at him
questioningly.
"Man, if you're going to live in
Kentucky you've got to at least give it a try."
Nick smirked and took a sip of the
Kentucky famous soda making a horrible face and pretending like he was gagging.
"This stuff is god-awful!"
He laughed handing it back to Joey.
"You my friend... are
un-american!" Harold said reaching across Joey and taking the bottle from
Nick. He took a long swig and sighed. "This is the good stuff."
Kevin patted Nick on the back and
laughed, "If it makes you feel any better, I'm a pureblooded Kentuckian
and I think it tastes like crap."
Nick couldn't help but make fun of the
looks on Joey and Harold's faces. They all stood and talked for a few more
moments before he couldn't stand to wait any longer.
"Where is everyone else?" He
asked looking over at Kevin.
"Well, Kel and Kristin are inside
looking at wedding magazines like they've been doing every spare moment for the
past six weeks." He rolled his eyes as he pointed through the glass doors
towards the kitchen table where the two women sat surrounded by stacks of
magazines, "And Grace is upstairs asleep. She's been up there for about an
hour now."
Nick frowned. He hated this disease.
The Gracie he knew was as crazy as he was, off the wall and always having fun
and it was these types of things, the napping in the middle of the day or going
to bed earlier at night that let him know her illness was hitting her hard.
"Is she alright?" He asked
Kevin his face showing an expression of deep concern.
"What? Oh, yeah she's okay. She's
been working hard all day today and she was just really tired. She said to wake
her up before you got home, but we wanted to let her sleep."
"Oh, okay." He said relaxing
just a little bit. "That was probably for the best. I'm gonna go up and
see her now though... I don't think I can wait any longer."
"I don't blame you." Kevin
gave Nick another quick hug and watched him walk inside. He paused briefly to
give Kristin and Kelly kisses and hugs before he vanished from the kitchen and
headed up the stairs towards the guestroom. Kevin watched until he was out of
sight.
"God I'm glad he's home," He
said reaching across Joey and grabbing the bottle of Ale-8 out of Harold's
hands.
"Yeah... they need each
other." Joey replied watching Kevin take a sip of his drink.
"Just as I suspected." He
said handing the bottle back and wiping his mouth on his shirt, "That
stuff still tastes like shit."
"Apparently," Harold said
raising his eyebrow at Kevin, "all of the Backstreet Boys are
unamerican."
Kevin elbowed his cousin in the ribs
and they all laughed.
"And I agree..." Harold said
as he looked into the house where Nick had disappeared moments earlier,
"those two definitely need each other."
***
