| Chapter 89 Nick woke up and rolled over. He looked around for a minute, Lyn wasn't in the room. Then he heard music coming from the living room. He got up, and walked out of his room. Lyn was in the living room, cleaning. She was totally engrossed in the music, and didn't notice Nick standing there watching her. She was singing along, when she turned around and saw him. She jumped, "Jesus! How long have you been standing there?" He laughed, "Just a few minutes." "Did I wake you up?" she asked. "No," he said, walking in and sitting down on the couch. She walked over and sat down next to him, "You feeling OK?" "Yeah, I'm just..... I just can't believe that I can hear now," he said. She smiled at him, "I know, it's gonna take some getting used to." "Yeah," he said. Lyn stared at him for a moment, trying to read what he was thinking. "Nick, are you OK with it?" He looked up at her, "I think so. I mean, all this happened for a reason, and I'm a better person for it. So if God didn't want me to hear again, I wouldn't. So now that I am, I guess there's a reason for that too. Do I make sense?" She laughed, "Yes, you do." Nick rubbed his head, then regretted it, "Ouch." "Your stitches still hurt?" Lyn asked. "No, I just snagged one I think," he said. "Bend your head down, and let me look," she said. Nick nodded his head, and Lyn inspected his scar. She could barely see the stitches from his hair. "I don't see anything," she said, "You know they may have to shave your head again just to take out the stitches." "Oh no, they can leave them in there indefinitely. I don't want my head shaved again," Nick said. "I dunno, I kind of like it this length. It makes you look....um, I dunno, more mature," she said. Nick laughed, "Yeah right." "No it does," she said. "We don't have to go anywhere today do we?" he asked. "No," she said. Nick smiled, "Good, I want to work on the surprise." "OK, are you gonna tell me what you're planning or am I gonna have to torture it outta you?" Lyn said. "Torture? No, no torture needed, just let me work it out first, then I'll tell ya," he said getting up. "Where are you going?" she asked. "Music room," he said on his way up the stairs. She watched him disappear up the stairs, then went back to her cleaning. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "No freakin way!" A.J. said. "I'm serious," Howie said. "The whole house?" A.J. asked. "Yes, the entire house. Man you should've seen it," Howie said. A.J. was laughing hysterically now, "Oh man, I wish I had. Do they know you guys were there?" "I don't think so, and we haven't heard from them today yet either," Howie said. "OK, you know we are gonna have to do something about this. I don't know when, maybe when we go back into the studio, but there has to be some major ribbin about this," A.J. said. "I dunno man. Kevin won't even say what he saw. He just gets this look on his face, I can't describe it, but it's like, don't mention it ever again," Howie said. A.J. laughed, "Yeah I bet. I'm sure his retina's are scared for life." "Must be," Howie said laughing, "So you guys are staying here when you come right?" "Yeah. We're still trying to figure out what they're up to though," A.J. said. "I know, so is Kira. She's driving me nuts running all these different ideas by me," Howie said. "Well, it's only a week away, I guess we'll find out soon enough," A.J. said. "Yeah," Howie said. "Listen man, me and Sarah are meeting Lee and Gary for lunch, so I need to jet," A.J. said. "OK, tell Lee hi for us," Howie said. "Will do man. When the two love birds come up for air, tell them to call sometime," A.J. said. Howie laughed, "OK, see ya soon." "K man, bye," A.J. and hung up. Sarah looked over at him, "The whole house?" "That's what he said," A.J. said smiling. "Damn," she said. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Lyn was in the kitchen finishing up their lunch when Nick came down. "Lyn?" he called. "In here," she said. Nick walked into the kitchen, "Is there a music store around? One that sells equipment?" "Yeah, there's one downtown. What do you need?" she asked. "Can we go? I'd drive but I'm not suppose to yet, plus the fact I don't know where the hell I'm going," he said, smiling. "Yes we can go," she said. "Right now?" he asked, acting like a little kid, jumping up and down. Lyn laughed, "You don't want to eat first?" Nick looked over at the food on the counter, "It's lunch time already?" "Yes," she said. "OK, but after we eat can we go?" he asked. "Yes Nicky, after we eat I'll take you," Lyn said teasing. "Thank you," Nick said, picking her up and hugging her. He set her down and grabbed his plate, going out into the living room. Lyn looked up at the ceiling and shook her head, "The boy has turned into a four year old. You're seeing this right? It's not just me?" ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The bell rang and Tara ran to answer it. A delivery man was on the other side of the door. "Yes, I have a package for Tara Conway," the man said. "That's me," she said smiling as she signed for it. "Thanks," the man said as he walked back to his truck. Tara shut the door and ran to the nearest room, shutting the door and locking it. She tore open the package, and pulled the contents out, looking at it. "Oh my God, this is perfect," she said, "Now where am I gonna put it?" She thought for a moment, then placed it back in the box and walked out of the room. She walked down the hall to her exercise room and went in. She opened the closet and placed the box in the back behind some equipment, then grabbed the key and locked the closet, sticking the key in her jeans pocket. "Honey," Brian said walking around the corner into the room. "Yeah?" Tara said. "I don't know how, but we broke this," Brian said holding up a small lamp. "What room was that in?" she asked. "Second extra bedroom," he answered. "Oh, well I guess I'll get another one while I'm out grocery shopping," she said. "We might want to stop by Kev's or Howie's, they both called and left messages," Brian said. "They did? I never heard the phone ring," Tara said. Brian smiled, "Well we were a little preoccupied." Tara walked out of the room, Brian following her. "Yeah I guess," she said. They walked past the kitchen and Brian looked in. "Tara, I said I'd help clean that," Brian said, noticing the kitchen was spotless. "It's OK, I got up early and couldn't go back to sleep," she said. They stopped in the living room, looking around. "Did we get everything?" Brian asked. "I think so. You got all the rooms upstairs right?" Tara said. "Yeah," he said. "And I got all the ones down here, so yeah, we're done," she said. Brian collapsed on the couch, "Thank God." Tara laughed at him, "We still have to go get some food." "I know, I just wanna sit here for five minutes," he said. "OK," Tara said sitting down next to him. Brian leaned over and put his head on her shoulder, "I think I need to start taking vitamins or something." She laughed, "Why is that?" "Cause I'm to young to be this tired," he said, smiling up at her. "Hey, you asked," she said. "I know, I just didn't think it would turn into a two day session," Brian said, then started laughing. Tara looked down at him, "What are you laughing at?" "I was just thinking, if the guys ever found out about this we'd be so screwed," he said. "Brian," she said looking at him. "Sorry, poor choice of words, but still, we'd never and I mean never hear the end of it," he said. "Well they won't find out will they?" Tara said, "Besides, it's none of their business anyway." "Yeah," Brian said, yawning. Tara looked down at Brian, knowing he was drifting off to sleep. She settled in on the couch and held him as he slept. She could feel the key in her pocket, and smiled. "You are gonna love the surprise," she whispered, looking down at him, and tracing her fingers through his hair. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Lyn walked with Nick through the music store as he looked for what he needed. A clerk walked up to them, and Nick told him what he was looking for. The guy disappeared in the back, and a few minutes later reappeared. "We just got this in this morning," he said, handing the device to Nick. He looked at it, "This is exactly what I need." Nick bought it, and they headed to the car. "So, what's that for?" Lyn asked. "I'll show you when we get home," he said, smiling. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Howie, Kevin, Kristin, and Kira were deep into a game of spades when the bell rang. "I'll get it," Kira said, getting up and heading to the door. She opened it, to find Brian and Tara standing there. "Oh, hey guys," she said, surprised to see them. "Hi," Brian said. Kira let them in, and they walked back to the kitchen. "Look who's here," Kevin said, smiling. "Hi, we thought we'd stop by and see what's going on," Brian said. "Oh, nothing," Howie said, smiling. "What's up with you two?" Kevin asked, promptly getting kicked under the table by Kristin. Kevin looked at her, and she glared at him. "Are we missing something?" Tara asked. "No, why?" Kira said. Tara looked at them all, "Cause you guys are acting weird." "No we aren't," Kristin said. "Yeah you are," Brian said, "So what gives?" "Nothing man, you just caught us in a serious game of spades is all," Howie said. "Oh, OK," Brian said. "Well, we wont keep ya then," Tara said, taking Brian's hand and starting to walk out of the room. "You guys don't have to leave," Kevin said. "Yeah, we gotta go into town and pick up a few things," Brian said, "We have absolutely no food in the house." Howie burst out laughing before he could catch himself, getting kicked by everyone at the table. Tara walked over to Howie and leaned down, putting her hands on his shoulders. "Howard, what's so funny?" she asked. "Nothing," Howie managed between laughs. Brian watched as Kira, Kristin, and Kevin exchanged glances with each other. Tara leaned in and started whispering in Howies ear. He immediately stopped laughing, and his face grew more stoic as she continued to talk. She finished and walked back around to Brian, taking his hand, "Bye guys." "Bye," they all said, as she drug Brian out of the house. When they heard the door shut, everyone looked at Howie. "Nice going there," Kevin said. "What'd Tara say to you?" Kira asked. Howie looked at her, "Um, well, she, um...." "Spit it out already," Kevin said. "She said that she knew we knew, and that it was none of our business what they do," he said. "That's not all she said," Kristin said, "You actually looked frightened for a moment." "Um, well, she also said that if we told anyone she'd find a way to get us back," Howie said. "What'd she mean by that?" Kristin asked. "I don't know, but she does have um, ways of doing things," Kira said. "Yeah, we better just keep this between us," Kevin said. Howie slumped in his chair, "Guys." Kevin looked at him, "Oh God don't tell me." "I called A.J. this morning," Howie said. "Damn it, I told you not to tell me," Kevin said. "Oh well that's it, just get ready, cause you know he'll do something. Then we're toast," Kristin said. "Yeah, completely toasted," Kira said. "Well, if we're gonna be toast anyway, might as well have fun with it," Howie said. They all glared at him. "Or not," he added. Brian and Tara drove down the road headed to town. "What was all that about back there?" Brian asked. "They know," she said. "They know what?" he asked. "They know," Tara said, putting more emphasis on the words. Brian's mouth dropped open, "Oh Lord." "Don't worry, I took care of it," she said. "What'd you say to D?" Brian asked. "I just told him not to tell anyone else, or I'd find some way to get him back," she said smiling. Brian looked at her, "Honey, what would you do?" "Nothing," she said, "But he doesn't know that." Brian started laughing, "Oh man, I bet they're all trying to figure out what to do." "Yeah, cause you know Howie called A.J.," Tara said. "Of course, dirt that good can't go to waste," he said, "So when are you gonna tell him you were kidding?" "Oh, maybe in a couple of days," Tara said, smiling. Brian laughed, "You're cruel." "Uh huh, and you love me for it," she said. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Lyn sat on the couch, waiting for Nick to come get her. He had been in the music room since they had got back from the store. Finally he walked downstairs. She got up, "You ready now?" He nodded his head, and held out his hand for her to take. She took it, and they walked upstairs, and into the music room. Nick had put a chair in the room for her to sit on, which she did. She looked around, noticing that Nick had set up a mic, speakers, and the sound board. He walked over and stood behind the mic, looking very nervous. "OK, I want to sing this at Brian's party, but I want to sing it to you first," he said. "OK," Lyn said, feeling happy and nervous at the same time. She watched as Nick put the Inner Ear Monitor in his ear, and turned on the music. It was the song he had written, and the guys had finished. Lyn couldn't help but smile, as Nick started singing. It was the most beautiful song she'd ever heard, and she knew he wrote it for her. It seemed like time stood still, as the sound of his voice filled the room. She listened as he sang the entire song, then looked at her. "Nick, that was beautiful," she said, wiping the tears from her eyes. He smiled at her, "So you think it will work?" "Yes, they will just die when they hear you," she said, getting up and walking over to him. Nick pulled the IEM out of his ear, and unhooked it from it's pack on his waist. "So how does this thing work?" she asked. "It's like having a monitor in your ear, you can hear whatever mix of music you pick, and voices too. We used them on tour alot," he said. "So how does it sound to you?" she asked. "Well I've got the music and my voice coming through it, but I had to turn it down alot," Nick answered. "It was to loud?" Lyn asked. He nodded his head, "Right now almost everything is to loud." Lyn looked at him, "What about my voice? What does it sound like?" Nick set the waist pack down and looked at her. "Your voice is the most precious thing I've ever heard," he said. She blushed, "Oh stop it." "I'm serious. I love the sound of your voice, the emotion in it. I can tell just by how you say things, how much you care," Nick said. Lyn smiled at him, "I do ya know, alot." "I know. Since the day we met you have done nothing but show me how much you care for me, and love me. I will never forget a single moment of it as long as I live," Nick said, taking her hands in his. "Lyn, I meant every word of that song, as long as you're with me I don't need anything else," he said. "Nick, you know I'll be here as long as you want me," Lyn said, trying to hold back her tears. "Lyn, I'll never stop wanting you. You are the reason I'm alive, the reason I take another breath. You've shown me what it is to be truly happy, and to feel completely loved by someone, and now it's my turn to show you how much I love you," Nick said. Lyn was staring into his blue eyes, as he leaned down and kissed her. She breathed into the kiss, and wrapped her arms around him, as he picked her up and carried her out of the room. Chapter 90 |