Chapter 57
Kevin woke early Sunday morning to see Tyler was still asleep. He lay watching her thinking about how much he loved her. Despite how much she denied it, Tyler had been strong through the whole ordeal with Joey and he loved her for it. He was also amazed by the changes her body was starting to go through, even though they were noticeable only to him. He could see the changes now as she lay next to him and he ran his hand lightly over her stomach. He smiled as she moved closer to him.
Tyler started to wake slowly and she opened her eyes to find Kevin watching her. Sleepily, she asked, "What time is it?"
"It’s still early, baby. Only seven."
Tyler snuggled next to Kevin and said, "We need to get going by nine. We’re suppose to eat lunch with Mami before the shower."
"I know. Why don’t you go back to sleep while I get a shower?"
"Don’t you need help?"
"Not as much as you need your rest. I’ll be okay."
Tyler didn’t argue with him and closed her eyes to go back to sleep. Kevin got up and went to get his shower.
Looking in the mirror, Kevin decided to shave his mustache and goatee for his trip to DC and for the wedding. He knew that his mother wanted him to shave and cut his hair but he also knew that Tyler didn’t want him to. They’d just have to compromise.
After his shower, Kevin dressed in a pair of jeans, a silk shirt that he left unbuttoned, and his boots. Then he went to wake Tyler.
Kevin sat on the bed beside Tyler and leaned over to kiss her. "Baby, it’s time to wake up."
Tyler yawned and stretched. She looked up at Kevin and was shocked,
"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?"
Kevin laughed, "Compromised. Mama wanted me clean shaven and hair
cut."
"BUT I DIDN’T!"
"You don’t love me clean-shaven?" pouted Kevin.
"Yes, but I also loved you with your mustache and goatee."
"I can grow it back later."
"But not in time for the wedding! Oh, Kevin! Why?"
Kevin laughed as Tyler pouted, "Is the wedding off?"
Quickly, Tyler answered, "NO! Maybe this look isn’t so bad."
Kevin kissed her and said, "I’m going to fix some breakfast while you get a shower."
"But I don’t want to get up!"
"I’m not there to hold you and if you want another kiss, you’ll have to get up."
"Oh fine! Blackmail me into getting up!"
Kevin laughed and went to get breakfast fixed. When he was done, so was Tyler. She came into the room wearing a beautiful white sundress that was loose-fitting and she had her hair braided. Kevin had to stop what he was doing as she came into the room.
"DAYUM, baby! You look good."
"Thank you. This isn’t what I was going to wear originally."
"What happened?"
"The other dress was too tight. Kevin, what if my wedding gown doesn’t fit?"
"I’m sure Kryss can fix it. Besides, we’re getting married Saturday, baby. I don’t think you’re going to gain THAT much weight between now and then."
Tyler was standing in front of him and put her hands on his sides. She leaned her head against his chest and Kevin kissed her on the top of her head as he took her in his arms.
"Let’s eat, baby," said Kevin after several minutes.
The couple ate breakfast and talked about the week ahead. Kevin was going to DC to talk to Congress about health care; there was the Career Day at Tiffany’s school; and the two were going to work on the music for the wedding. AJ had agreed to help them with the music at the wedding.
As Tyler was clearing the table and Kevin cleaning the dishes, she asked, "’Boo’, do you really want me with you tomorrow?"
"It’s really important to me, baby, and I want you by my side. Why?"
"Well, I wanted to go to the Rape Victim’s Support Group meeting tomorrow. I missed the ones Thursday and Friday."
Kevin looked at her, "Are you okay, baby?"
"This last round with Joey really got to me and I need to talk about it."
"Okay."
"You don’t mind? I mean, I know how important this is to you."
"You’re just as important, Tyler. You need to do this for yourself and I understand."
Tyler gave Kevin a kiss. "My heart will be with you and I want you to know how proud I am of you."
Kevin smiled, "I’m pretty proud of you too, Tyler. Despite the tears-which by the way, I’ve been the only one to see-you’ve held up really well especially in front of the press and fans."
"That’s because I’ve had my friends, especially my best friend, standing behind me," said Tyler as she hugged Kevin. "Are you going to button your shirt?"
"Maybe. Why?"
"Because you’re driving me crazy," growled Tyler. "How am I suppose to pay attention to the road?"
Holding her close and kissing her neck, Kevin said, "I’m driving so you don’t have to pay attention to the road, just me."
"Umm!" said Tyler enjoying the feel of Kevin’s breath on her neck and his kisses. "If we don’t get going, we’re going to be late."
"Okay! Okay!"
The two finished cleaning up and then headed back to Orlando. Kevin did drive and Tyler snuggled next to him. The ride back was just as quiet as the trip up but this time, it was a more comfortable silence.
Kevin went straight to the Dorough’s for lunch where they met Kevin’s mother, sisters-in-law, and nieces arriving at the same time. Before getting out of the truck though, Kevin had to button his shirt and he looked in the mirror to see if the hickey Tyler had left was visible.
Making his way to his mother’s car on his crutches, Tyler saw Anne’s reaction to what she saw.
"Son! What in the world have you done?"
"It’s nothing major, Mama," said Kevin as he gave her a hug. "A lady ran into me with her car while I was jogging last week."
"Kevin Scott! Why didn’t you call me?"
Tyler looked at him. "Yeah, Kevin. Why didn’t you call her?"
Tucking his head in shame, Kevin said, "I’m sorry, Mama. So much happened last week, I forgot to call. I’m okay though and Tyler has taken care of me."
"As long as you’re okay," said his mother. Then Anne turned to Tyler and gave her a hug, "How are you doing, Tyler?"
"I’m fine."
Kevin gave his sisters-in-laws and nieces hugs too and Courtney, Jerald’s oldest daughter asked, "Uncle Kevin, can you get me extra tickets to your concert in Lexington?"
"You can have Tyler’s tickets. Why do you need extra tickets though?"
Annie, Jerald’s youngest, teased, "She’s got a boyfriend!"
Kevin laughed, "Does your dad know about this?"
Stephanie, Jerald’s wife, spoke up, "No, he doesn’t and we aren’t telling him either."
The group made their way into the house where Mami, Pollyanna, and Angela were waiting with lunch. Kevin gave Tyler a kiss and promised to be back to get her later that afternoon but Tyler convinced him to stay. She had help from the others too and he couldn’t say no, especially to Tyler.
Kryss, Lex, Fiona, and Sonja arrived after lunch to decorate and the guests started arriving. The girls had invited Tyler’s friends from Disney and high school along with the women that worked with the guys. Everyone had a fantastic time and Kevin and Tyler got a lot of things for their new home.
The next day, Kevin was up early and Tyler took him to the airport to fly to DC. Tyler spent the rest of the day on her own, something she hadn’t done in a month and a half. The first thing she did was go by Howie and Kryss’ to try on her dress. She wanted Kryss to make sure that it still fit and it didn’t look bad now that she was starting to show.
After leaving there, Tyler went to the Rape Victim’s Support Group meeting where she talked about what had happened with Joey. Her new friends were very supportive and renewed her strength to get through the rest of the pregnancy. When she left, she felt like she could face Joey again.
Finally, that afternoon, Tyler got AJ, Nick, Howie, and Brian to meet her at the studio. She wanted their help with the song that she was going to sing for Kevin at the wedding.
"Guys, I’m not sure that I can get through the song Saturday."
"What do you want us to do?" asked Brian.
"Rather than doing just the music, I want to record me singing it with you guys backing me up. Then AJ can just play it in case I start crying too much."
"Are you sure you want it this way?" asked AJ.
"Yeah."
Nick protested, "I’m not singing a song by ‘NSync."
They all looked at Nick and Tyler said, "Fine. I’ll just call Lance, Justin, JC, Chris, and Joey to come sing it at the wedding and I’ll tell Fiona what a butthead you’re being."
AJ said, "Nick, forget that it’s their song. This is Tyler singing the emotions she feels for Kevin."
"Yeah," said Brian.
Nick looked at Tyler who was pouting and said reluctantly, "Fine. I’ll do it."
Tyler grinned and gave Nick a hug. "Thank you, Nicky! See, you’re not the only one who can charm people into doing things."
They all laughed because Tyler knew exactly how to play them all. She could get any one of them to do exactly what she wanted them to do.
The guys spent the next couple of hours practicing the song and then recording it. When they were done, AJ played it back and Tyler was really pleased with how it sounded.
Tyler spent the rest of the evening with Sonja, Kryss, Lex, and Fiona just talking. The last time they had done something like this was the afternoon of the Grammies. They talked about Fiona and Nick’s engagement, Brian and Sonja’s upcoming wedding, Tyler and Kevin’s wedding, and the baby.
It was late when Kevin returned but Sonja and Tyler were still up. Tyler greeted Kevin with a hug and was extremely glad to see him. They said goodnight to Sonja and headed to bed.
In their room, lying together in each other’s arms, Kevin told Tyler about his day. It had been a hard day for him. Memories of his father had come flooding back and as he told Tyler about his day, he began to cry. Tyler held him close as Kevin cried himself to sleep.
