Chapter 36
The next morning, Tyler woke early with Kevin’s arm across her. She looked at his watch to see that it was five in the morning. She looked towards the door to the living room and saw a light on. Tyler knew Howie was probably up by now and she decided to get up. It had been a long time since she and Howie had spent any quality time together.
Tyler grabbed a pair of shorts and Kevin’s shirt that he’d left out and put them on. When she went out, Howie was drinking a cup of coffee and reading something that he’d written.
Howie looked up and smiled at his cousin. "Good morning, Ty."
"Morning, ‘D’."
"What are you doing up so early?"
"I woke up and decided to spend some time with you," said Tyler as she gave him a kiss.
"Want some breakfast?"
"Not just yet. Besides, Kevin owes me breakfast in bed."
Howie laughed, "True."
"What I’d really like is to go for a walk with you. There aren’t any beaches but I still want to spend some time with you."
"Grab your shoes and let’s go then."
Tyler went back to her room and got her tennis shoes and left a note for Kevin in case he woke while they were gone. Then she and Howie left together to take a walk. Since it was so early, Howie wasn’t worried about fans so they didn’t get Tommy to go with them.
The two walked around the grounds of the hotel talking about their lives. They also talked about the wedding.
"Ty, I haven’t seen you this happy in a very long time."
"I’ll have to admit, I haven’t felt this happy. Howie, Kevin is EVERYTHING I’ve ever dreamed about in a guy and what makes it even better, he’s also my best friend."
"You two are so perfect together."
"What about you and Kryss?"
"What about us?"
"How are you two doing?"
"We’re fine. I talked to her last night after we got back. I miss her so damn much sometimes that it hurts."
"Why don’t you make it more?"
"I want to but that’s not going to change the separation."
Howie and Tyler continued to walk and talk. As the sun began to peak over the horizon, they found a table, ordered some juice, and sat to watch the sun come up.
"You know, people are going to start moving around and someone is bound to recognize you," said Tyler.
"I know but this has been wonderful. It’s been a while since we’ve spent time together, just the two of us."
Taking Howie’s hand, Tyler said, "I’m sorry."
"Tell you what. You can make it up to me by being at the charity benefit."
"You know I’ll be there and I’ll see if Kevin will come too."
"You’ll be married by then. I don’t think he’s going to let you go without him. How about performing? Pollyanna is going to sing and I’ve got a few other local acts lined up."
"I will but I can’t promise for Kevin."
"Will you ask him?"
"Sure."
"You know, you two are awesome together."
"Why do you think I’m marrying him?" teased Tyler.
"No, I mean singing. That night in Vancouver, you two were awesome! The crowd really liked it!"
"Thanks."
Howie spotted a couple girls watching him and he said, "We’d better head back up to the rooms."
Howie paid for the drinks and headed back to their floor. In the suite, they found Brian up and getting ready to fix breakfast.
Tyler gave Brian a hug. "Good morning, Bri."
"Morning. I figured you’d still be in bed waiting for your breakfast."
"I wanted to spend some time with Howie."
"So Kev’s still asleep?"
Kevin stumbled through the door rubbing his head and wearing the white lounging pants he’d worn the other night. He yawned, "No, I’m not still asleep."
Tyler went to him and put her arms around his waist. She gave him a kiss and said, "Good morning, ‘Boo’!"
"Morning, baby. Where were you?":
"Howie and I went for a walk."
"Umm. How long have you been up?"
"Since about five. Want some coffee?"
"Sounds good."
Tyler went to get Kevin some coffee and as she was handing it to him, AJ came into the room.
"I thought they were suppose to fix us breakfast," said AJ.
Tyler laughed, "They are but I was just getting him some coffee so he could wake up. Where’s Kaos and do you want some coffee?"
"Still asleep and yes. What was your problem last night?"
"Tired."
Brian said, "Come on, Howie, Kev. We’ve got a breakfast to fix."
The three went to the kitchenette and started to fix breakfast. AJ and Tyler went to sit down and started flipping through the channels. AJ had the remote and when he hit the Playboy channel, he stopped. Ironically, the couple on the screen had whip cream and AJ took the chance to give Tyler a hard time.
"Hey, Ty, is that what you and Kevin were doing with the whip cream?"
"I’m not telling you. Give me the remote, ‘Bone’, or change the channel."
"No! Let’s watch. Maybe you can learn something and teach Kevin."
"GIVE ME THE REMOTE, ALEXANDER!" said Tyler as she reached for it.
"I said no, Tyler. I want to watch this!"
Tyler and AJ were both laughing as they wrestled for the remote. The other three looked on as the two fought for the remote but didn’t bother to help either one.
As the two wrestled, Tyler fell off the couch and hit her head on the coffee table. "Ouch! Damnit, ‘Bone’!"
Kevin looked up. "What’s wrong?"
"Clutz fell off the couch."
Kevin became angry, "Damnit, AJ! You’ve got to be more careful. Baby, are you okay?"
"I’m fine, Kevin."
Brian said, "AJ, why don’t you change the channel? No one except you wants to watch that."
Kevin went over to help Tyler up and took the remote from AJ. "Here, baby."
Tyler stuck her tongue out at AJ and he teased, "Why don’t you put that tongue to better use?"
"You’re nasty!" shot Tyler, still playing with him. "What’s your problem this morning?"
Kevin said, "Lex isn’t here."
"I’m horny as hell. Wanna take care of my needs, Ty?"
That made Kevin even madder. "NO! She doesn’t!"
"Why don’t you let her answer for herself?"
Tyler saw that this was escalating into an argument and said, "Guys, back
off!"
"No!" said Kevin angrily. "What’s your problem, AJ?"
"You!"
"I don’t appreciate you coming on to Tyler like that!"
Howie spoke up, "Guys, back down. No one was serious."
Tyler put her arms around Kevin and said softly, "Boo, come on! You two don’t need to fight over this. AJ was just playing."
"I’m sick of him coming on to you," said Kevin.
"Kevin, AJ was just playing. He didn’t mean anything by it.
"Yeah, Kevy Kev! I didn’t mean anything by it."
That made Kevin even more angry along with Tyler. She looked at AJ and said, "STOP IT, AJ! You two are acting like jerks....like Joey!"
That made AJ and Kevin stop and Howie cringed when Tyler said it. He mumbled to Brian, "She shouldn’t have said that."
Kevin looked at Tyler and realized she was right. He calmed down and said, "I’m sorry, AJ."
"Me too, Kev. I was really only playing with Tyler."
The two shook hands and Tyler changed the channel. Kevin went back to helping Brian and Howie fix breakfast and Nick came out. Nick, AJ, and Tyler sat watching cartoons while the others fixed breakfast for them.
After breakfast, Tyler went to change and Kevin went with her.
"’Boo’, what was up with you earlier?"
"AJ pissed me off."
"I got that message but why? He was just playing around."
Kevin took Tyler in his arms. "Baby, you’ve been through so much and I just want to take care of you. It hit me wrong when you fell off the couch and hit your head and then AJ started with the comments."
Tyler gave him a kiss. "I love you!"
"I love you too, baby."
"Look, I thought that I’d talk to Fatima later before I leave and see what she thinks of having Lex and Kryss join the group too. Kryss’ really good with costumes and Lex can take Amanda’s place."
"What about Sonja and Fiona?"
"I don’t know. I don’t think Sonja is going to stay with Disney after she and Bri are married anyway. She’s said that Brian doesn’t want her working after they’re married. I expect he’ll want her to join him on tour. As for Fiona and Nick, you never know with him."
Kevin smiled, "You just want to make sure we’re taken care of."
"Yep! You guys looked out for me, now it’s my turn. I’m calling Lex anyway and seeing if she can join up with AJ soon."
"That’s a good idea," said Kevin as he lay Tyler on the bed.
Tyler started to laugh, "What are you doing?"
"I’m getting ready to take care of MY needs. Watching the few minutes of the Playboy channel got me horny for you!" grinned Kevin mischievously!
Tyler laughed, "You’re as bad as AJ!"
Kevin kissed Tyler on the neck and said, "Yep!"
Before they could do anything though, there was a knock at the door.
Kevin buried his head in Tyler’s neck, "Why me? They are always interrupting!"
Tyler laughed and said, "Come in!"
It was Howie and he said, "Linda, Christine, and Jeff are here."
"What’s Jeff doing here?" asked Kevin somewhat alarmed.
"He wants to see Tyler. It’s about her firing Kristen."
