| Chapter 90 Tara walked into Brian's office and closed the door. She sat down at his desk and dialed Lyn's number. "Hello," Lyn said. "Hey, it's me," Tara said. "Oh hey, what's up?" Lyn asked. "I got it," Tara said. "And?" Lyn asked. "It's perfect! I can't believe you did it that fast," Tara said. Lyn laughed, "Well, I'm glad. Bri hasn't seen it has he?" "No, and he's not going to until the party," Tara said. "You must have a good hiding place," Lyn said. Tara smiled, "Yeah, I put it somewhere he never goes." "Well, I'm sure he's gonna be surprised," Lyn said. "Yeah, I hope so. So, what's going on with Nick's tests?" Tara asked. "They're done," Lyn said. "And? Did they work?" Tara asked anxiously. Lyn looked over at Nick, "Um, hang on just a sec." Lyn put her hand over the phone, "Nick, Tara's on the phone, she wants to know how your tests went." He smiled and picked up the other phone, "Hey angel, how are ya?" "Oh my God, Nick, you can hear?" Tara asked, tears coming to her eyes. "Yeah, but you can't tell anyone," Nick said. "Why?" she asked. "Because I want to surprise them. I mean it, not even Brian," Nick said. "OK, I won't tell. How are you gonna surprise them?" Tara asked. "That's what I wanna talk to you about," Nick said. Lyn listened as Nick explained to Tara what he wanted to do. "So, is it OK with you?" Nick asked. "Yes, of course it is," Tara said, "But how are you gonna keep them from knowing until then?" "Well, I just won't wear the aid, until the party. That way they can't scare me with a loud noise or something," Nick said. "Oh, OK. How are you feeling otherwise?" Tara asked. "Good. I still get tired easy, but it's getting better. Lyn has been making me work out to build up my strength," Nick said. Tara started laughing. "What's so funny?" he asked. "Nickolas, then entire time we lived together, you never once so much as picked up a weight. I just find it funny that you're working out," she said. "Oh, you should see him," Lyn said, "He looks so different." "Yeah, Lyn likes my butch hair cut," Nick said laughing. "Yeah, I bet," Tara said, "Um, Nick I need some advice from you." "Oh yeah? What about?" he asked. "Well, since you and Bri are the pranksters of the group, I need some ideas," she said. "Really? Who and what for?" Nick asked. "Well, lets just say that Howie and Kevin snooped where they shouldn't have, and I want to teach them a lesson," she said. Nick smiled, "Um, would this have anything to do with the conversation I had with A.J. this morning?" "Oh Lord, he told you?" Tara said. "Yeah, you know nothing is sacred in this group," Nick said. "Obviously," she said, "So are you gonna help?" "Let me think for a while, when I have something I'll call you back," Nick said. "OK, don't make it to harsh though," she said. Nick laughed, "OK, but you know that takes all the fun out of it." "I know, but Brian wouldn't like it if it was to mean," she said. "Just tell me one thing," Nick said. "Yeah, what?" she asked. "Was it as bad as they're making it out to be? I mean he said it was the entire house," Nick said. She laughed, "That's really none of your business, but yeah, I guess it was." "Damn girl," Nick said, "And Brian's still among the living?" "Yes, he's actually out on the patio doing some work for the party," she said. "Cool, tell him I said, um typed, oh whatever--just tell him hi for me," Nick said. Tara laughed, "OK, I will. Now put Lyn back on the phone." "OK, I can tell when I'm not wanted," he said, "Bye." "Bye Nick," Tara said. Lyn watched as Nick hung up, "Hey, whatcha want?" "I just wanna know how much of his hearing he got back," Tara said. "Well, he has about 75% with the aid. It's enough for him to function pretty well, although, loud noises, like streets and large crowds still bother him," she said. "So has he sang the song for you?" Tara asked. Lyn smiled, "Yeah, he did yesterday. It was awesome to hear him sing it." "Oh I can't wait until the party," Tara said, "They are just gonna die." Lyn laughed, "That's exactly what I said." "So, how's he feel about it? I mean is he OK with hearing again?" Tara asked. "I think he's adjusting. We talked about it some yesterday, he still hasn't decided if he wants to go back to singing yet or not," Lyn said. "Yeah, after all that's happened, I guess he does have some hard decisions left to make," Tara said. "Yes he does. Anyway, we have the gallery opening tomorrow night, and he's so excited about it," Lyn said. "Oh, tell him good luck for me," Tara said, "And Brian and I will call and see how it went." "OK, I'll tell him," Lyn said. "Listen, I better go before Brian comes in and catches me. So, I'll talk to you later," Tara said. "OK, talk to you in a couple days," Lyn said. "Alright, bye," Tara said and hung up. Tara grabbed a tissue from the box and wiped her face, not wanting Brian to know she'd been crying. She was so happy that Nick was able to hear again. She smiled to herself, "How am I gonna keep this a secret? He's gonna know something's up just by looking at me." She closed her eyes and calmed herself, silently thanking God. After a few moments, she opened her eyes, and threw her tissue away, getting up and walking out of the office. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Leighanne woke up to the sound of the dogs barking. She looked around, finding she was alone in the bedroom. She got up and walked downstairs, seeing Tyke and Litty at the bottom of the stairs. "What are you barking at?" she asked them. They both looked up at her, bouncing over each other, and wagging their tails. Gary came around the corner, "I'm sorry. Did they wake you up?" She smiled, "It's OK. I needed to get up anyway." "I try, but they just don't like me," Gary said, walking into the living room and sitting down on the couch. "They just have to get used to being here, and to you," she said. Gary laughed, "Yeah, I think Tyke is asserting his belief that he's top dog." "Oh yeah?" Leighanne said. "Yeah, he left a nice surprise for me in my shoe this morning," he said. Leighanne laughed. "You wouldn't think it was funny if it was your shoe," Gary said, acting hurt. "I'm sorry," she said, still laughing. "You want some breakfast?" Gary asked. "Oh no, don't mention food to me in the morning," she said, holding her stomach. "You're getting morning sickness already?" he asked. "Well, not really. Just kinda yucky feeling. I'll be OK in a couple of hours," she said. "Oh, I almost forgot, A.J. called for you earlier," Gary said. "Oh yeah, what about?" she asked. "I'm really not sure, he was laughing so much, he just said he'd call back later," he said. "Oh, he must have some dirt on one of the guys. You know you can't tell him anything you don't want on the national news the next day," she said. Gary laughed, "So he's the group gossip?" "Yeah, I guess you could say that," she said. "Speaking of the group, have you heard how Nick's doing lately?" he asked. "Yeah, I talked to Kristin a few days ago. She said he was doing good, and that he got some of his paintings in a gallery opening up there," Leighanne said. "Oh, cool. He does good work," he said. "Yeah he does," she said. "And Brian and Tara's party is next week?" Gary asked. "Yeah, we leave on Thursday. We're flying down with A.J. and Sarah," she said. "Oh, OK," Gary said flatly. Leighanne looked at him, "You don't want to go with them?" "No, it's not that. It's just that, they all still look at me like I'm gonna do something to them," he said. "No they don't," Leighanne said. "I dunno, I think they do. They all seem guarded around me still," he said. "Honey, it's just that they don't know you all that well yet. They were like that with me, when me and Brian first started dating, but after a while they warmed up. They're all just really careful with who they let inside their �circle'," Leighanne said. "Yeah, I guess. We were so busy with Nick, that they really didn't have time to get to know me when we were up there," Gary said. Leighanne patted him on the leg, "Just be patient, they'll come around." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Howie?" Kira said. Howie had his back to her, and with the mention of his name, he jumped and turned around, a frightened look on his face. "God, you scared me," he said. "I'm sorry. Man you are jumpy," Kira said. "I know. I just can't help it," he said. "You're not still worried about what Tara's gonna do are you?" she asked. "Well, a little. You didn't hear her voice when she said it, she was dead serious," he said. "Howie, she would never do anything to hurt you guys, you know that," Kira said. "I know, but embarrassment is open for the taking," he said smiling at her. "Well I'm sure you don't have that much to be embarrassed about," she said. He laughed, "Girl, if you only knew." "Oh? Like what?" she asked. "Well there's plenty of stuff," he said. "Name one," Kira said. "No, that's OK. Don't care to relive my most embarrassing moments," he said. "Darn, guess I'll just have to ask one of the guys to fill me in when you aren't around sometime," she said, walking over and hugging him. He kissed her, and held her until she pulled away. "I have to go to work," she said. "Aww, you can't take the day off?" he asked. "No, someone in this house has to work for a living," she said, laughing. "OK, what time do you get lunch?" he asked. "How bout two?" she said. "OK, I'll come pick you up," he said, following her to the door. "Alright, see ya then," she said, kissing him quickly, then heading out to her car. He watched as she drove down the drive, I am the luckiest guy in the world, he thought as he went back in the house and closed the door. Chapter 91 |