Chapter 80
Since Tyler wasn’t able to dance for now, management had asked her to handle some of the PR stuff, like delivering the videos to the different music channels. It meant being separated from Kevin some but they had talked about it and were okay with it.
When Tyler arrived on the set of MTV’s TRL, the fans greeted her with as much excitement as if the guys were actually there. She was surprised by this too.
Carson greeted her with a hug. "It’s great to have you here, Tyler. You brought something for us?"
"I sure did. The guys have just finished shooting their new video, ‘More Than That’, and I brought it here to you."
The fans went crazy and Tyler and Carson waited for them to calm down. Then Carson said, "Where are the guys now and what can we look forward to from them?"
"Right now, the guys are in South America getting ready to do a photo shoot for TV Guide which will be released in conjunction with their CBS special ‘Larger Than Life’ May 30th. While they’re in South America, they’ve got a handful of shows to do for the fans down there and then they’ll head to Puerto Rico and then the Keys where they’re co-hosting with you guys for the TRL Retirement Home. They’re going to take a little time off before hitting the road in June for the last leg of the North American tour of ‘Black and Blue’."
"They’ve got a full plate. How are you and Kevin dealing with being newlyweds and him being gone so much?"
Tyler smiled, "I’m traveling with him. Before I started showing, I was dancing and you’ll get to see me on the CBS special. It was filmed in LA."
Some of the fans cheered and Carson asked them, "Did you see her?"
"We were at the show in Canada when Kevin proposed. It was so sweet the way he did that."
Tyler smiled, "He certainly impressed me. I never expected him to do that onstage since he’s USUALLY so conservative."
"Before we get to the video, we do have a surprise for you, Tyler, and for the fans. We now you’ve been away from the guys for a couple days now and we have them live via satellite now. "Guys!"
Tyler turned to the screen where Carson was pointing as the guys came on and chorused their ‘hello’s to the fans, Carson, and Tyler.
Tyler’s eyes were huge when she saw Kevin and Carson laughed, "It’s obvious, Kevin, that Tyler didn’t know about the change of hair color. She’s just standing here staring at the screen."
Everyone laughed and Kevin said, "She’s being really calm about the whole thing."
"So what’s up with the red hair?"
Tyler watched as Kevin blushed and the others broke out laughing. Brian explained, "Kevin fell asleep by the pool yesterday and AJ decided to play a joke on him."
"I thought you and Nick were the practical jokers of the bunch."
"They are," said Tyler. "AJ, you are in SO MUCH trouble."
Everyone laughed and Carson said, "Maybe we should send the cameras back with Tyler."
The guys talked about the video and before being cut off, Kevin blew Tyler a kiss and said, "See you soon, baby."
All the girls in the studio chorused, "AHHHHHHHHH," and Carson put his arms around Tyler. "Are you ready to kill AJ?"
Tyler laughed, "No, but I promise, I will get even."
"Tyler, thanks for bringing us the video and good luck with the baby and getting revenge on AJ."
"You’re welcome and before I go, the guys did send a few things for
some of your audience. There’s a Howie bear, Brian sent his special shirt for
the heart association, and the others have autographed some T-shirts. You can
give them out however you want."
"Thank you, Tyler and now, here’s the premier of ‘More Than That’
from the Backstreet Boys."
*********************
Tyler flew to Florida where she met Kevin for her doctor’s appointment. She didn’t say a word to him about his hair but it was primarily because she was focused on having to face Joey. Once again, her doctor’s appointment had rolled around bringing about the same fear and dread she’d had since the beginning. Having Kevin along helped some but there was also the fear that Kevin would go off on Joey.
Kevin had become increasingly protective of her now that she was showing. The only time he let her out of his sight was if there was no way around it. Tyler didn’t mind it though since she was still feeling very unsure of herself, especially with the changes her body was going through.
Kevin had stopped by and gotten Tiffany so that she could hear the baby’s heartbeat too. For a change, it was a pleasant visit since Tiffany was with them and Joey didn’t show up at all.
**********************
Tyler found AJ sound asleep on the couch when she returned to the suite. All the others were still at the pool and since Tyler was tired, she had offered to check on AJ. He was suffering from a bout with the flu and had stayed in the room.
Seeing AJ sleeping gave her ideas. She had promised to get revenge for dying Kevin’s hair red and now was the perfect opportunity. She went to the bathroom where she found Kevin’s scissors that he used to trim his mustache with. Then she went back to where he was sleeping. He had put his hair in corn rows since getting to South America so she had to take them out. She did the first one carefully and then took the scissors cutting little designs in his hair. Then she did a couple more.
As she was finishing, Kevin and the others returned. They startled Tyler and she tried to move away as quickly as possible but she tripped and fell on her butt. That caused everyone to laugh which in turn woke AJ.
AJ sat up and looked around the room as the laughter at Tyler died away and turned to shock then amusement at what she had obviously done. He rubbed his face trying to wake up and mumbled, "What’s so damn funny?"
Lex went to him and put her arms around his waist as he stood up to stretch. She was trying desperately not to laugh as she said, "How do you feel?"
AJ looked down at her as he said, "Better." Then he spotted Tyler sitting on the floor holding a pair of scissors in one hand and had her other hand over her mouth as she tried not to laugh. "What’ with you?" he asked.
Kevin helped Tyler up and she moved behind him as she said laughing, "Nothing. You didn’t tell us you were going to get a new hairstyle, ‘Bone’."
Everyone tried hard to stifle the laughter but it was pointless when AJ saw himself in the mirror.
AJ spun around looking for Tyler as she continued to hide behind Kevin. "Oh! You are SO DEAD, TYLER RICHARDSON!" he growled as he went after her.
Kevin kept Tyler safe from AJ as he said, "It’s not THAT bad, ‘J’."
"Oh, speak for yourself."
Tyler peeked around Kevin. "Yeah, it’s not that bad," she giggled. "You shouldn’t have dyed Kevin’s hair red. I promised I’d get even."
Lex said, "Baby, you can fix it."
"HOW?"
Nick laughed, "The only way he’s going to fix that is to shave his head."
AJ grimaced at the thought of shaving his head and looked back at the mirror. He knew it was the only way to fix it and he turned to Tyler. "Okay, you got your jollies. YOU have to finish what you started."
"GLADLY!"
Tyler went to get Kevin’s beard trimming kit along with several towels while Lex finished taking the corn rows out of his hair. He sat on the coffee table so Tyler could reach him easily and she proceeded to shave the rest of his hair off laughing the entire time she did it.
