Christmas With Family
Chirstmas With Family
Sequel to Flight To Paradise
©1999-2000
By Sarah
Chapter 2
"Well, what did he say?"
"That he would do it."
"Great, when is he getting here?"
"He’ll be getting here tomorrow at four-thirty, I have to pick him up at
the airport."
"This is great, Kevin, really great. Now if your cousin is as good
a singer as you say he is…"
"Trust me, Lou, Brian is amazing, he sings all the time, he can sing for
this if he can do it for school and church."
"I hope you’re right, Kevin, this auditioning people is coming up with
nothing, Brian is our last hope…."
Kevin smiled at his reflection and slowly came out of his reverie.
‘That was back when it all started, right before the Backstreet Boys started.
I can’t believe it’s been fifteen years since that day, it seems like yesterday.
And look at us now, practically legends in the music business and we still
all are involved in it somehow. AJ manages, Brian produces, Howie
produces, I manage and produce, and Nicky…’ Kevin’s thoughts trailed.
The more he thought about Nick, the more hurt he felt. ‘God, why
did I push him to do that? I never should’ve made him perform,’ Kevin
said to himself, putting his head in his hands.
"Kevin, I’m sick, I can’t perform tonight, there’s no way."
"Yes there is, Nick, you have to perform, it’s the last concert of the
year! Come on, get ready, we have less than ten minutes."
"No, Kevin, I can’t, I’m gonna ruin my voice and probably do something
worse to myself that can’t be fixed!"
"Dammit, Nick, you’ll be out on stage in ten minutes or I’ll personally
drag you out there, we are not going out without you and disappointing
all those people! They paid good money to come see the last concert
of the year from us and we’re gonna give them the best we’ve ever done."
"Kevin, you don’t get it, I can’t sing! I’ve been trying, but I can’t!
Nothing works, nothing helps, I sound like shit and I don’t want to go
out there and embarrass myself and disappoint all those people because
I have a cold!"
"You will go out there, Nick, now get dressed, you have five minutes."
‘And that was the night Nick nearly died. What the hell was I thinking?’
Kevin thought, rubbing his eyes to keep himself from crying. ‘Right
after his solo, he collapsed, just collapsed on stage. Everyone was
so scared and he wasn’t breathing…God, I was so stupid! When we got
him to the hospital, they said it wasn’t a cold, but the beginning stages
of pneumonia…and performing every night made it worse. I can’t believe
I pushed him, I can’t believe I did that to him.’ Kevin shook his
head and moved his hands from his eyes, looking back into the mirror and
looking into his own eyes, remembering what had happened.
"Nick, I’m so sorry, I shouldn’t have pushed you, we all knew you were
sick, I should’ve just believed you," Kevin said, looking at the pale figure
on the hospital bed. Being in the hospital itself was bad enough,
it brought back a lot of memories, but when it was his little brother lying
in front of him, barely conscience, it broke his heart.
"Kevin, man, there’s nothing that you can say to make him better.
He knows you didn’t mean to push him, we were all pushing ourselves, even
he was pushing himself. He was telling me yesterday how sick he felt,
but still wanted to perform. We all pushed ourselves, Kev, don’t
just blame yourself," AJ said, trying to make Kevin feel better.
"But I pushed him tonight, I told him he had no choice but to get on stage
and perform, no matter how he was feeling," Kevin protested, not bothering
to reach up and wipe away the tears that were falling.
"Kevin, don’t blame yourself, he wanted to perform, he could’ve stayed
backstage and refused to go on, he’s done it before," Brian pointed out.
"But this time was different, I threatened to drag him out there if he
didn’t come out, I treated him so badly," Kevin said.
"Kevin, there’s nothing we can do now but wait, so stop blaming yourself,
Nick is the only one who could’ve gotten Nick out on that stage, and he
did," Howie said, walking in the room.
They all stared at Nick in silence as the machines connected to him beeped
away, rating how he was doing every few seconds. Kevin walked forward
and leaned against the bed, looking at Nick’s sleeping face.
"I’m sorry, Nicky, I never should’ve done that, please don’t give up,"
Kevin whispered. As soon as he finished, the machine next to Nick’s
bed on the other side started letting out a loud, ear-piercing alarm, and
Kevin backed away from the bed as doctors flooded the room.
"Everyone out, please!" Someone yelled, pushing Kevin to the door.
He stumbled out into the hallway and watched in shock as the doctors started
CPR on Nick and called out directions and orders left and right, trying
to save him before it was too late.
"Kevin?"
Kevin looked over to the door of the room and managed a strained smile
as Elaina walked over to him.
"Honey, what’s wrong, why are you crying?" Elaina asked him, wiping
away the tears on his face.
"I was just thinking…thinking about that night Nick…" Kevin couldn’t finish
his sentence before getting too choked up.
"Oh, honey, its ok, Nick survived, he’s fine, and he’s doing better than
ever. You saw him for yourself a few weeks ago, he was having a great
time at the music convention, singing and dancing and even showing off
his new group that he found. He’s a great manager and producer, that
incident never really affected him," Elaina said, giving Kevin a hug.
"Yes it did, he still hasn’t talked to me, he won’t talk to me. Even
though it’s been nearly five years since that happened, three years since
the last concert we all did together, he still won’t talk to me," Kevin
pointed out.
"Kevin, sugar, listen to me," Elaina said. She led him to the bed
and sat him down, sitting next to him and facing him. "Kevy, you
have to let it go, maybe you did push him a little far, but so did everyone
else. Jeff was backstage right before you, pushing Nick to get ready
and get out there, Brian was back there, telling him he had to get ready
and perform, and then you went backstage to get him. He was going
to stay backstage, but right at the last second, he came out and said he
was going to perform. I was there, I saw him, he was coughing and
sneezing, but he said he wanted to go out there, he wanted to perform.
It’s not your fault, don’t blame yourself, no one could’ve stopped him
that night, no one."
Kevin sighed and looked down at the rug. He nodded and waited until
Elaina left the room before looking up, looking back at the mirror.
"Guys, twelve years. Twelve years we’ve been doing this, can you
believe it?"
"No, and its all about to end."
"Brian, its not going to end, this is just the beginning, we have the rest
of our lives ahead of us, nothing can stop us, we’re the invincible five
that can overcome anything."
"Nicky, what are you smoking and why aren’t you sharing?"
"Shut up, AJ, you know what I mean. We started out as five guys with
a dream, and look at us now, five guys at the top of the world and going
out with a bang, only to come back before anyone knows it with the biggest
and best thing that’s ever happened in our lives."
"I agree with Nick, guys, this can only get better as time goes on.
We’re well respected in the business now, we’ve all had offers to do so
much with the talents we possess. We’ve all decided to manage and
produce, haven’t we? And Brian, look at him, he’s got an offer already
to buy a record company."
"No I don’t, Howie! It’s an offer to produce for a new group that’s
coming out, an R&B/Hip-hop group. They’re really good and I’m
seriously considering taking the job."
"Then do it! Sarah would be thrilled for you."
"Yeah, she was telling me the other day that she had some news for you
too."
"What? What did she tell you, Nick?"
"I’m not saying a word, all I can say was that she was really excited and
she wanted you to be happy when she told you the news."
"What news?!"
"Who knows, maybe she’s pregnant," Kevin intervened in the conversation.
He looked at Nick, who wouldn’t look at him. "Am I right, Frack,
is that what she said?"
"I’m not allowed to say what she told me, Brian, but I’m telling you right
now, its big," Nick said, pretending Kevin didn’t say anything.
"Is Kevin right? Is Sarah pregnant?" Brian asked excitedly.
Nick didn’t say anything, he just walked out of the dressing room.
"He’ll never talk to me," Kevin said, depressed.
"He will, Kev, just give him time, he’s just excited because of tonight.
I mean, who wouldn’t, broadcasting live from Radio City Music Hall in New
York City is the Backstreet Boys in their last concert of their fifth world
tour, the concert to end all concerts! I mean, come on, man, I’m
so excited, I can barely think straight. Just remember, even after
tonight, we’re still all friends, remember to keep in touch with each other,
call every week just to bug the hell out of each other," AJ said.
"Yeah, I’ll call AJ’s at seven in the morning to see whether I woke him
up or caught him on his way to bed," Brian said jokingly.
"You never know, da Bone rarely sleeps!" AJ exclaimed, smiling as
he rushed out of the dressing room.
Kevin smiled and looked at his cousin
as Howie ran out of the room after AJ, calling something to him.
"Its time, Kev, the performance of our lives," Brian said.
Kevin nodded and looked down at the ring on his left hand, the wedding
ring that was placed there exactly five years ago, one that matched the
ring on Elaina’s hand. He twirled it around his finger, thinking
about how excited she was that she could bring their four year old daughter
to the last concert her Daddy was going to do, just to see him perform.
Courtney had never seen Kevin perform live, just on videotape.
"But is it worth it if Nick and I aren’t talking? I mean, we’re separating
on bad terms, I don’t want to go out like that. He won’t talk to
me, he won’t even acknowledge that I’m alive. For the last two years
it’s been this way, and its only gotten worse."
"Kevin, the only thing I can say is give him time. He’ll come around,
I know he will."
‘But he never did. I was right, Sarah was pregnant, and Nick never
called me, never talked to me, and never wrote me letters after that.
I got all the information from Brian, only got invited to Nick’s wedding
because Sarah felt bad and conned Brian into letting her bring me and Elaina
along. I’ll never forget the look on Nick’s face when I showed up,
he had a happy look, then it disappeared and his face showed nothing to
me, no emotion displayed. We all sang at the wedding, it was mine
and the guys’ gift, but Nick never said anything to me. He thanked
the other guys, but not me. I heard everything from Sarah and Brian,
from when Nick’s wife had her first baby, to when Nick bought his own record
company. Out of all of us, he’s the most successful, and yet he hasn’t
forgiven me, he won’t talk to me at all.’
"Daddy! Look it, I drew you a picture!" Courtney exclaimed
as she ran into the room and jumped onto Kevin’s lap.
"Really? Wow, that’s beautiful, Courtney," Kevin said, looking at
the paper. It was a mess of scribbles and had a faint resemblance
to boxes and triangles.
"See, there’s you, there’s me, and there’s Mommy. And look, Mommy’s
holding my little brother," Courtney said, pointing to a dark scribble
in the page.
"Yeah, I can see, did you show this to Mommy?"
Courtney nodded. "Yup, and you know what she said?"
"What?"
"She said that if she has a little boy, she hopes he looks just like you."
Kevin smiled and gave his daughter a hug. She had dark brown hair
that was pulled back into pigtail braids and bright green eyes that were
so full of life and happiness. Everytime Kevin looked at her, though,
he didn’t see her hair and eyes that resembled his so strongly, but he
saw that she had her mother’s angelic face. Kevin once saw a picture
of his wife when she was Courtney’s age and she had the same cherubic face
framed with vibrant red hair and the contrast of pale blue eyes.
Though Kevin loved the contrast of his wife’s looks, he admitted to himself
that the combination of Kevin’s hair and eyes with Elaina’s face, Courtney
was going to be a beautiful girl and she had a personality to match.
"Come on, Daddy, Grammy made cookies and she said I had to get you before
I could have any," Courtney said, standing up and pulling on her father’s
hand. Kevin followed his daughter down the stairs and into the kitchen
where his mother was holding the phone to her ear as she pulled a sheet
of cookies out of the oven.
"Yes, ok, I understand. Great, thank you, Jane, ok, I’ll see you
soon. Ok, bye," Kevin’s mother said, hanging up the phone.
She spotted Kevin coming and smiled. "Hey, Pumpkin, I was just coming
to get you."
"Too late, Courtney got me first, she wants those cookies," Kevin said,
helping his daughter sit on a stool on the opposite side of the island
counter from the stove.
"She always wants my cookies," his mother said, smiling. She sat
a plate of chocolate chip cookies on the counter and handed one on a napkin
to Courtney.
"Thank you, Grammy," Courtney said.
"You’re welcome, honey."
Kevin looked at Courtney as she started on her cookie, then suddenly, the
conversation his mother was having on the phone registered in his head.
"Mom, who were you talking to?"
"When, honey?"
"Just now, on the phone."
"Just a friend of mine, why do you ask?"
"Because you said Jane. The only Jane I know of is Jane Carter."
"So?"
"So why were you talking to her?"
"Kevy, stop being so nosy and eat your cookie, that’s all you’re getting
until after dinner tonight," his mother said, turning around and pushing
the plate of cookies towards him.
Kevin looked skeptically at his mother and selected a cookie from the plate.
"If I didn’t know better, I’d sat that you were avoiding the subject."
"Kevin, private conversations remain private in this family, you know that.
If I wanted to tell you what our conversation was about, I would.
Now, if you don’t mind, take your daughter outside and play on the swing
set while I cook," his mother said, not facing him as she started stirring
something in a pot.
"Ma, since when do you have a swing set outside?" Kevin asked, getting
up and walking to the backdoor. He saw a brand new swing set outside,
complete with a slide and monkey bars.
"Since I knew that I was going to have grandchildren and great nieces and
nephews," she said. She shooed them out of the kitchen and Kevin
watched as his daughter ran for the swings, jumping on one and pumping
her legs to go higher. He sat in a lawn chair and crossed his arms,
trying hard to not drift into another daydream about the mistake he made
five years ago.
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