"I thought you might be at Jackie's with Brian. I was just about to go over there," his mom said as she walked towards him to give him a hug. "How are you?"
"Great, you?"
"Never better now that my son's here."
"Do you still wanna go to Aunt Jackie's? Brian's there."
"Why not? Let's go." She and him got in his car and drove to the Littrell's.
Ding-dong. Brian answered the door. "Aunt Ann! Hi!" They both hugged as Mrs. Littrell came to greet her and Kevin.
"Long time, no see, cuz," Brian said to Kevin.
He laughed. "How long has it been? Half an hour?"
"Yeah," he said regretfully. "I thought I got rid of you," he joked. "Come in the living room. Me and Harold are watchin' some MTV."
"Hey, Kev," said Harold.
"Hey. What's up?"
"Nothing much. Just here to visit mom and see Brian."
::: "You said it's been too long since you've had some…" :::
"Hey, it's the Jordan Knight video," said Harold.
"You know the girl in the video he's flirting with?" asked Kevin. "She was in our 'As Long As You Love Me' video."
"Is she free?" joked Harold. They all started laughing.
Jackie and Ann sat in the kitchen with a cup of coffee listening to the laughter coming from the living room. 'Millennium' was playing in the background.
"How's Kevin?" asked Brian's mom.
"He's great. He seems really happy. How's Brian? Or should I say B-Rok?"
She laughed. "Oh, he's still Brian Thomas Littrell in this house. He's okay. He had an argument with his girlfriend, Lisa. Do you know her?"
"From what Kevin told me, she can be pretty cold at times. Is that true?"
"I wouldn't doubt it. Anyway, he was kinda gloomy when he got here but now that he's home with his family, he seems pretty happy."
::: "It takes a lot to know what is love…" :::
"It's our song!" said Mrs. Littrell. "I cried when Brian played this song for me for the first time. I never knew he could write such a beautiful song. I love the song that Kevin wrote too."
"I'm so proud of him and the rest of the group. They've come a long way."
"I'm proud to be a Backstreet Mom. Or should I say The Perfect Fan?"
"Let's just say a perfect mom," replied Mrs. Richardson.
"Yeah, I like that."
"Hey, Lindsey." Howie kissed her as they stood on her porch.
"I'm gonna miss you when you're gone," she said, still in his arms.
He stroked her blonde hair and looked into her blue eyes, "So will I."
She smiled. "You better!"
"Unfortunately my parents aren't here. They've gone on this once-in-a-lifetime trip. I told them not to pass it up. I couldn't tell them not to go."
Lindsey gave him a sympathetic look. "I'm sorry."
"Well at least I have you." They kissed again, only longer. Howie yawned, showing he was obviously very tired.
"Do I bore you that much?" she joked.
He laughed. They got in the house and went upstairs to her bedroom. He purposely fell on her bed and closed his eyes. Lindsey's back was turned as she hung his wind breaker in the closet. "What do you want for dinner?" There was no answer so she walked to the bed.
Howie opened his eyes, only pretending to sleep. He gave a fake yawn. "Gee," he almost said in amazement. "You really do bore me!"
Lindsey took a pillow he wasn't using and whacked him with it.
"See how you treat me? You're boring and abusive!"
She gave him a quizzical look.
"What?"
"I'm trying to figure out why they call you Sweet D," she replied.
"Shut up," he said as he laughed.
"You haven't answered my question. What do you want for dinner? I'll make you anything. We'll call it a special 'Welcome Back Dinner.'"
"You don't have to do that. We can just order Chinese."
"Good. You're better off with take-out. My cooking sucks."
"Some housewife you're gonna be."
"Housewife?!" she laughed. "Let's not go there just yet."
Nick knocked on the door of his parents' house. Oddly, the door was locked and he didn't have a key. His sister, Bobbie Jean (also known as BJ), answered the door. A smile formed on her face. "Mom! Dad! Nick's home!" They both hugged each other and Nick came in. His other siblings-the twins, Angel and Aaron; and Leslie-came running downstairs. His parents, Jane and Bob, came too. It was a big family reunion in the hallway. Everyone hugged and talked as they walked in the living room.
"You're just in time. Dinner's ready."
"What's cooking?" asked Nick.
"Nothing. The pizza delivery guy's here."
The Carter family ate dinner and pretty much went back to everyday life. Nick washed the dishes and played video games with this brother Aaron for a little bit. "You've been practicing, you little booger, haven't you?"
"You got that right!" said Aaron. "I've gotten better at this game! It won't be an easy win for you anymore! It may even be a hard loss."
"You may talk the talk but can you really play the game?"
Aaron started singing. "All you people, can't you see? Can't you see? Nick won't be receiving his big victory." Soon after he sang his clever little parody, he won the game.
"I'll get you," warned Nick as he walked out of the room. He walked around the house looking for his dad who was sitting in the living room. "Hey, dad, can I borrow the car?" he asked. "I'll be back in a few hours."
His dad threw him the keys. "No later than midnight."
"I'll definitely be back sooner." Nick got in the car and drove to the beach. He got in his boat and went sailing. As the sun set he sat and watched in silence.
©1999 ~@mbula®~ Inc.
