Part 69
It was time for sound checks and AJ wanted Chelsea to watch but he couldn’t find her. Racing through the backstage area, he ran into Michelle. “Have you seen Chelsea?”
“Not since this morning. She wasn’t feeling well then. She might have gone to lay down.”
“Thanks.” Now worried, AJ headed for the back door. Chelsea had been ‘sick’ every morning for the last week or so.
“Yo! ‘Bone’, sound checks are the other way,” said Nick as he ran into him.
“I know but I’m trying to find Chelsea. Have you seen her?”
“Uh…no….I was with Michelle.”
Marcus called, “She’s on the bus. Go do sound checks and I’ll go check on her.”
“Sound check can wait. I want to make sure she’s okay” and AJ was out the door. At the bus, his driver opened the door and AJ climbed on calling, “Chelsea, where are you?”
Chelsea stepped out from the bedroom, the phone to her ear. She waved to him as she said, “Thank you, Uncle Mark. I’ll call him in the morning and talk to him personally. Please keep that date open though. It’s not going to be a big event…just close friends and some family…..I promise…..I have to go now….I love you too.”
As Chelsea turned off her phone, AJ put his hands on her waist and gave her a kiss. “How do you feel?”
“I’m okay. Why?”
“Michelle said you weren’t feeling well during PT and I know you’ve been feeling bad in the mornings lately.
“Oh….that. It’s nothing. What are you doing out here?”
“Came to get you. It’s time for sound checks and I wanted you to watch.”
“I’m kinda busy, Alex…planning the wedding.”
“Take a break and I promise….I’ll help after sound checks.” AJ knew exactly how to get what he wanted. Rolling his bottom lip in a pout; tilting his head, and casting his eyes up at her, he pleaded, “Please!”
Chelsea laughed as she put her hands on the sides of his face. “OKAY!! I’ll go but you, my wonderful fiancé, do NOT play fair.”
AJ gave her a smirk, “I know.”
Chelsea kissed him and allowed him to take her hand and pull her behind him.
Inside, everyone was waiting impatiently for AJ to return and when they came through the door, Kevin was the one to jump.
“What were you doing?” demanded Kevin angrily. “We have fans waiting for us!”
AJ wasn’t bothered by Kevin’s temper. “Had to get my fiancée. Let’s go so we don’t hold them up any longer.”
Howie, Nick, and Brian suppressed their giggles as AJ wrapped his arm around Chelsea’s shoulder and headed out to the stage.
The fans were excited to see all of the guys but Chelsea couldn’t help noticing the looks cast her way as she sat with Leighanne, Baylee, and Annie. She wasn’t the only one to notice them either.
“Mama, why are those girls looking at you so meanly?”
“Because Alex had his arm around me and gave me a kiss.”
“But he loves you.”
“Yes, but they want to be with him too. Don’t worry about it, Annie. Just enjoying watching your daddy and Papa ‘J’.”
Annie went back to playing with Baylee as they watched the sound checks as Leighanne looked at her.
“It’s going to get harder.”
“I know but I’ll be okay.”
“You can talk to me if you need.”
“Thanks.”
Throughout sound checks, AJ played around with the guys as well as Annie and Baylee who joined them onstage too. When he sang ‘My Beautiful Woman’, he came over to Chelsea and sang to her which prompted even more nasty looks as well as whispering among the fans.
Finally, it was time for questions and the small group of fans gathered had plenty. They started off with questions about videos and songs and the tour. After about fifteen or so of these type of questions, they started getting personal. First they asked Brian about Baylee who joined him again. Then they asked Kevin about Dianne and Howie about Leigh. Nick was asked about his love life too. Then it came…
“AJ, we all know that you have a girlfriend but how serious is it?”
“Yeah, I do have a girlfriend, right over there with Leighanne,” answered AJ as he happily pointed her out. "And we're very serious."
“Where’d you meet her?”
“She’s a friend of Marcus and Kevin’s and she came to our last show of the Up Close and Personal tour.”
“She knew Kevin?”
Kevin spoke up, “We dated back before I married Dianne.”
“Is she a fan?”
“She’s followed us since we started in Europe,” said AJ.
"There was a text message on the screen the first night from an Alex asking 'My Beautiful Woman' to marry him August 6th. Was that you?"
AJ looked at Chelsea before turning back to the fan who had asked the question. "Yes, it was me."
Kevin quickly ended the questions and Chelsea breathed a sigh of relief as the fans were directed to line up for pictures. Despite having told AJ he could tell the fans, she wasn’t ready for it.
