The next few months were spent with touring and doctor appointments. It wasn't until Chloe's third month that they found out the good news.
"Mrs. Hanson… I believe you will be pleased to know that you aren't going to have a single baby. You are expecting twins." The doctor had announced. Isaac and Chloe had been overjoyed, and had been given an ultra sound picture. The fetuses were barely noticeable, yet they were there.
"Wow…" Isaac hadn't stopped smiling since that day, and now, two months later, Chloe had gained around 15 pounds and was not a happy camper.
"Kendall, next time I say I want to have kids, do me a favor and shoot me." Chloe whined, laying down on the sofa.
"Fine with me. God, you must be having the time of your life. 5 months pregnant with twins." Kendall laughed, rubbing her own slightly swollen abdomen.
"Well, look at you… You first kid at age 20." Chloe smiled.
"At 20? Man, you're making me look like an old fart! You've already had a 4 year old girl, had a close encounter with another little baby…" Chloe had winced at that comment, and Kendall quickly dismissed that. "…And now you're about to have twins."
"God, I'm turning into Diana…" Chloe laughed.
"Nope, you're only up to three… You need four more." Kendall laughed at the expression on Chloe's face. A look of dread mixed in with horror.
"Man. We're still adding dates onto the concert… We're going to have three, count them three screaming infants on this bus at one point, along with a whining four year old and two cranky fathers and a man who can't get enough of strip poker." Chloe sighed.
"Hey, they promised us that it would all be over around October." Kendall pointed out.
"But isn't that when you're due?" Chloe asked.
"Yeah. So I'll try to have it in Tulsa. Ten bucks says I don't, though." Kendall grinned.
"That's a bet I would lose." Chloe said, leaning back. Isaac appeared at the doorway with bags of McDonald's. Taylor appeared next with three large drinks, then Zac, with the other three.
"Food!" Kendall cried grabbing the bags and fishing through them. She came up with her meal, a six piece nugget and a large fry. She had also ordered around ten or twenty little packets of ketchup, which came in a separate little bag.
"Heaven…" she muttered, digging in. Zac sat next to her while Taylor sat at the head of the table. Isaac sat next to Chloe on the other side of the booth, handing out food to everyone.
"You know, I never did get why they call these little things French Fries." Zac commented, holding up a greasy, limp fry.
"I think… Never mind. They didn't come from France, did they?" Chloe grinned, taking a sip from her pop (or 'soda').
"I don't think they did…" Taylor shrugged.
The phone suddenly rang, causing everyone to jump. Isaac reached over and picked it up.
"Hello?" he asked. He waited a bit, then got a confused look on his face.
"Mom, calm down. What happened?" he said quickly, turning around.
"Jesus… Is he alright?"
"Ok Mom. We'll be there tomorrow morning." Isaac hung up the phone, tears stinging in his eyes.
"Guys, Dad had a heart attack." He reported mournfully. Zac's eyes widened, and Taylor's expression was unreadable.
"Liar." Taylor accused.
Isaac shook his head. "That's all mom told me. I'm telling Pat to turn around and go back to Tulsa." Isaac stood up and walked to the front of the bus. They were in Washington at the time, and immediately the bus slowed to a stop as Pat alerted the others.
That night, no one slept. They had traded the bus in for one with two back rooms, so both of the girls didn't have to sleep in bunk beds. Chloe stayed up with Isaac that night, both of them laying in each others arms, neither of them daring to close their eyes. Chloe allowed Isaac to cry on her shoulder, and Isaac did just that. It wasn't often that any Hanson man- even when pain and heartbreak were felt- cried, so Chloe knew that this was serious.
"Isaac, don't worry, he'll be alright." She whispered, stroking his head.
"How do you know?" he choked out. "He might be dead, and Mom didn't tell us."
His words had shocked Chloe. "Isaac, I know about these things."
"No you don't. Both of your parents are still alive." Isaac said accusingly. Chloe sat up and looked at him.
"Isaac, exactly how well do you know me?" she asked.
"I know you well enough to know that you usually don't sit up in the middle of the night asking that question." Isaac said seriously.
"You mean, in all the time that you knew me, you never knew about my family?" Chloe asked.
"I know that you have a brother, Brian, your mother, and your father." Isaac answered.
"Isaac, you ARE my husband, right?" Chloe asked.
"Yes…" Isaac answered.
"And you have no idea how many siblings I have?"
"You mean there's more then one?" Isaac asked incredulously. Chloe nodded.
"I'm surprised Zac never told you. I have Brian, my mother, and my two younger brothers, Eric and Jake. 18 and 16." Chloe explained.
"Jesus. What about your dad?" Isaac asked.
"He died." Chloe stated.
Isaac's eyes widened. "When?"
"Right after Lila was born. I didn't want to tell anyone, so that's why I never told Zac in those letters, or anyone else, for that matter." Chloe sighed, leaning back down into Isaac's arms.
"Clo, you could have told me." Isaac said gently.
"No, I couldn't have. I was pissed at you for a long time, Ike. Any ways, can we please stop talking about that?" Chloe requested.
Isaac hugged his wife, then nodded. "Yeah, I think we both deserve a good night's rest."
The next morning, at exactly 6:37, the bus roared to a stop in front of the Hanson's home. Taylor was the first one out, shortly followed by Zac and Isaac. Taylor took his key and opened the door to find his mother and younger siblings sitting on the couch.
"Mom, Jess, Avie, Mac, Zoë… What are you guys doing up so early?" Isaac asked.
"Waiting for you." His mother replied softly. "Sit down boys."
The three sat down on the floor, leaning up against the couches.
"Mom, what's wrong? How's Dad?" Zac asked.
Mrs. Hanson shook her head slowly. "Guys, yesterday your father had a heart attack, as Isaac must have told you. He was rushed to the ER, and the doctors did everything they could…" Mrs. Hanson's eyes began to fill with tears. "…But that just wasn't enough, guys."
Zac looked at his mother, unable to comprehend what she had just told them. "You mean Dad… He died?"
His mother nodded. "Yes Zac. Last night, around 6." Tears were streaming down everyone's cheeks, and the three oldest brothers were sobbing.
"When… When's the funeral?" Isaac asked, trying to compose himself.
"Saturday at 3." Jessica answered for her mother. Isaac looked at her, not believing what he saw. She was 16, almost 17. She had grown a full foot since the band had hit it big, and Isaac realized that he had not spent the quality time with his family, who had supported them all the way, that he should have. Now, his father was dead, and he never had a chance to say goodbye.
"Mom, I'm… I'm sorry…" Zac mumbled, giving his mother a hug. His hair was hanging loose from his ponytail, and his eyes were red and swollen.
"Honey, it's not your fault… It's no one's fault." Mrs. Hanson tried to comfort her sons during her own grief, which just made matters worse. "The worst things that could happen to anyone is lose someone they love, especially what they considered family. But, it was just his time."
Taylor crawled over to Isaac, who had buried his head in his arms, crying hard. Taylor put his arms around Isaac, attempting to be the big brother.
"Now I'm not expecting you to quite touring…" Mrs. Hanson started.
"But we'd really, really like it if you were here at home." Avery finished for her. Taylor looked up, just noticing the 15 year old behind him.
"You're our family. Nothing's more important to us than you." Zac announced for all of them.
The next few days that followed were slow and filled with tears, grieving, and sadness. The few times that one of them tried to be strong for the rest just ended up with more tears. With a heavy heart, Isaac, and his mother planned the funeral. Their old room was set up for the three of them, while the guest room was set up for Chloe, Kendall, and Lila. Lila didn't fully understand what was going on, nor did she have a full recollection of her grandfather. She knew that he was gone, though, and tried to cheer everyone up.
On the day of the funeral, the Hanson house once again became lively. Everyone was trying to find an article of clothing or a remembrance of their father. The band was supposed to perform a song, so the girls were trying to prep their husbands for that.
"Come on Ike… I know this is going to be hard for you, but you need to think of your father… No one else will be there except for your brothers and yourself, and I know your father will be there in spirit." Chloe whispered, kissing the top of Isaac's forehead.
The ceremony was sad, a preacher who had never even met Mr. Hanson talking about him as if he was his best friend for life. There were pictures of him all over the place, courtesy of Mrs. Hanson. The press had gathered around the church, but were not allowed to go inside. It was family and friends only.
"Clarke Walker Hanson, born January 25th, 1954, died July 7th, 2006. He was 52 years old, and had lived life to it's fullest in many, many ways. He had a beautiful wife, Diana, and seven children, Isaac, Taylor, Zachary, Jessica, Avery, Mackenzie, and Zoë. He had a grandchild, Lila, and now three are on the way. Walker was a loving man, husband, father, and friend to all of us. His three oldest, Isaac, Taylor, and Zachary, are in a band, and he would follow them everywhere, to L.A. to Tokyo to Switzerland, video taping them. He never gave up on things that were doable, and always had a kind word for all of us…" the preacher continued on, never daring to glance up and meet the eyes of the people that knew this man.
Once the eulogy was over, Isaac, Taylor, and Zac trudged up onto stage, going to their instruments.
"A long time ago. Our grandmother also died. We wrote a song for her, dealing with our grief. We have played that particular song over and over, trying to find out how we managed to write it at that time." Taylor began.
"We never did figure out how, until now. We wrote it with our hearts, not our heads. The emotions we felt made us write it." Zac continued.
"We have never been able to write anything like that until now. This song is called 'Heart and Soul'." Isaac finished.
As the Taylor began the soft notes on the piano, tears sprung in Isaac's eyes. He never could believe that his father was gone…
I remember the day you said you loved me
I remember when you said you would never let me go
Until this moment
I believed
That your words meant freedom
Freedom from all that was cruel
My life with you (My life with you)
Was one I'd never give away
For the thought of being with you
Let my soul fly
And on that day (And on that day)
You went away (you went away)
I thought that I would (I thought that I)
That I would die
But the love (but the love)
You gave to me (You gave to me)
Will stay forever in my heart
My life without you (My life without you)
Is a hated paradise
The last thing that I would wish for
Upon the first star in the sky
Is that you would never leave me
And never, ever die
And on that day (And on that day)
You went away (you went away)
I thought that I would (I thought that I)
That I would die
But the love (but the love)
You gave to me (You gave to me)
Will stay forever in my heart*
---------------------------------------------
*copyright 1999 a.m.o.c.