"Ohmigod," I whispered into the mirror. "What is wrong with me?" I heard a knock on the bathroom door and I heard a worried voice ask,
"Nicole? Nicole, you ok?"
"Yes, Daddy. I'm fine," I called back. I turned my face back to the mirror. I shook my head and saw another tear drip out of my stone-gray eyes. 'No, Daddy, I'm not,' I thought.
"Well, ok," he said. "Come out soon, k? It's starting to get chilly outside so everyone's coming in. The kids want us to start a fire in the fireplace, what do you think?"
"A fire? Is it that cold?" I asked, ignoring the pain.
"Oh yeah. Florida can get very cold at night!"
I winced in pain, but smiled. "Oh, alright. I'm coming out." I washed my face with warm water and tried to get my eyes to stop being red from the tears. I managed to succeed. I opened the door and walked out of the privacy of the bathroom. Right when I walked out was the den, family room, tv room, WHATEVER you want to call it. I call it a family room, so that's what I'm gonna call it, ok?
"Hi Nikki!" called out Sarah (my other little sister). She was sitting in my dad's lap with Maggie. My dad was sitting in the blue, velvet recliner in the family room which was in front of our HUGE screen tv. I waved and smiled. Mr. Carter was sitting in our other recliner with Aaron sitting on the arm. I saw the boys and girls (all 10 of them) lounging on the sofa and couch. The other girls and the mom's weren't in there so I guessed they were cleaning up.
"I'm gonna go help," I said slowly while pointing towards the kitchen. I felt like I had to get out of there, since they were all staring at me.
"Come and watch this with us," insisted Katie.
I hesitated. "What are you watching?"
"Titanic," said Kevin, rolling his eyes. Colleen pinched his arm and giggled.
"Hey, what's wrong with Titanic?"
"WHAT?!?!" We all heard someone screech from the kitchen. Leslie and Angel ran into the family room at top speed. "You're watching Titanic?!?!"
This time, Nick, Aaron, and Mr. Carter rolled their eyes. "YES!" they all replied in unison. They all chuckled.
"I guess SOMEONE has a crush on Leo," joked Noelle. Leslie and Angel just nodded their heads, staring into the eyes of Leonardo DiCaprio. It was the scene where a cigarette (or cigar) was sticking in his mouth and he was playing poker with some losers.
"Man!" complained Vonnie. She jiggled in her seat, where she was squished between Brian and Howie. "I feel claustrophobic here!"
"How many people are here anyway?" asked Kali.
"Uhhh," thought my dad. "20 people, not including Tim who's on his way."
"Dang! That's a LOT of people....," commented Katie.
"Not really," said Nick, grinning like a fool. "Make 20 into 20,000, and that's what we see all the time at our shows!" Katie glared at him.
"Quit trying to impress me, Nicholas Gene Carter," she said evily.
"Oh, why not?"
"Because just being yourself impresses me a whole bunch," she replied softly. With that, she kissed him on the lips very passionately.
"HEY!" screamed Aaron. Katie and Nick looked up. "There are some CHILDREN in here you know!" They looked at each other and cuddled up closer.