| Chapter 94 Brian opened the door, seeing Lyn and Nick. "Hey guys," he said, letting them in. Lyn was carrying her and Nick's clothes for the party, and Nick was carrying some of his equipment. "What's this?" Brian asked. "It's a surprise from Tara," Lyn answered. "Is there more?" Brian asked. "Yeah, there's more in the truck," Lyn said. "OK, hang on and I'll help you," Brian signed to Nick. Nick nodded his head, and headed to the patio with his load. "Brian, where's Tara at?" Lyn called out to him. Brian came in with the sound board in his hands, "She's in our bedroom with the door locked. Up the stairs, last door on the right," he said. "OK," Lyn said, heading in that direction. Brian walked out to the patio, setting the board down. "Nick, what is all this for?" he asked. Nick smiled, "Tara has a surprise for you, I can't tell you yet." "You could tell me and when it comes time I could act surprised," Brian signed. Nick laughed, "No, this one you're gonna have to wait for." "Darn," Brian said. Nick looked around, "This is new." "Yeah, we had that built for this," Brian signed. Nick walked up the stairs of Brian's new gazebo and looked around, "This is nice, and you guys decorated it really well." "Yeah, Tara had the florist come out and do that," Brian said. Nick turned back around, "Well, do you need me to help you do anything else?" "Yeah, I need to set the chairs up," Brian said. "OK," Nick signed, following Brian. "Tara?" Lyn called from the opposite side of the door. She could hear her run across the room, and the door swung open, "Thank God your here, I need help!" Lyn laughed at the site of her, "OK, OK, calm down." Lyn walked in the room, and Tara shut the door and locked it. "OK, exactly what were you trying to do here?" Lyn asked. "This," Tara said, holding up a magazine with a picture of what she wanted her hair to look like. "Oh, I've done that before. Sit down, and we'll be done in no time," Lyn said. Tara smiled, and sat down, looking at Lyn through the mirror, "You are a God send, you know that don't you?" Lyn laughed, as she grabbed the brush and went to work. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Kira and Howie came downstairs and walked into the kitchen. "Do you think we should cook breakfast, or just wait until the party?" Howie asked. "Let's do breakfast, I'm hungry now," Kira said, walking over to the table. "Honey, Nick left a note," she said. Howie walked over and picked the note up from the table, opening it up, and reading it out loud, "Guys, Lyn and I had some things to do before we go to the party, so we'll just meet you there. If the movers come for my stuff, all the boxes are in the exercise room. Thanks, Nick." "I wonder what they had to go do this early," Kira said. Howie shrugged his shoulders, "I have no idea, but hey, that just means I don't have to cook for them." Kira laughed, "A.J. and Sarah are here, we still have to cook for them." "I know, but cooking for four is different than cooking for six," Howie said. Kira rolled her eyes, "Yeah right, whatever." A.J. came bounding down the back stairs, and into the kitchen, "Morning! What's for breakfast, I'm starving." Howie and Kira laughed. "Morning to you too," Howie said, "How bout bacon and eggs?" "Sounds good man," A.J. said, "Where's Lyn at this morning? She usually beats us all up." "She and Nick are gone," Kira said, handing A.J. the note. He read it, and got a suspicious look on his face, "I bet you a hundred bucks they're at Brian's and they know exactly what this party is all about." Howie and Kira looked at each other and smiled. "Bone, I wouldn't take that bet for all the tea in china," Howie said. A.J. smiled, "Yeah, cause you know I'm right." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Nick and Brian finished setting up all the chairs. Nick walked over to the sound board and started hooking everything up. Brian sat down and watched him. When he was done, Nick looked over at him, "I'm still not telling you." Brian smiled, "I know, I have to wait." Nick looked at his watch, "We should go get ready." "Yeah, we should," Brian said, getting up and walking into the house with Nick. They walked through the house, and Nick was turning to go upstairs when Brian walked over to the front door. He picked up a basket that was stuffed with gift bags and set it outside the door, then closed it and locked it. "What are those?" Nick asked. "Just things for the party, yours is in the extra room with your clothes," Brian signed. "OK," Nick said, walking with Brian upstairs. When they got upstairs, Nick went into the extra room to change. Brian walked down to his room, knocking on the door. "Who is it?" he heard both girls say. "It's me, I need my clothes," he said. "In the extra room with Nicks," Tara yelled. Brian laughed as he turned around and headed down the hall. He started to knock on the door, then realized, Nick wasn't going to hear it anyway. Brian opened the door and walked in. Nick was coming out of the bathroom and walked right into Brian. "Damn Rok, don't you knock?" he said. They both looked at each other and laughed. "Tara said my clothes were in here," Brian signed. "Yeah, over there," Nick pointed. "She not letting you in?" Nick asked. "Nope, haven't seen her since five this morning," Brian said. Nick smiled and laughed. Brian stared at him until he caught Nick's eye. Nick started to sign something, and Brian said, "Yeah I know, I have to wait." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Gary, do I look poochy?" Leighanne asked. She was looking at herself in the mirror, running her hand down her stomach. "No, you don't," he said. "Are you sure? This dress doesn't fit the same as it did at the premiere," she said. Gary walked over to her and wrapped his arms around her, "You look absolutely beautiful." She smiled up at him, "I don't feel that way, but thanks for saying it." He looked at her, "You don't feel that way?" "No, I feel.....fat," she said. He laughed at her, then realized he shouldn't have. "Honey, you aren't fat, your pregnant. And you aren't even showing yet. You are the most beautiful woman I've ever seen, and you're gonna be the most beautiful woman at the party," Gary said. Leighanne blushed a little, and smiled at him, "Nice save." "You guys about ready?" Kevin asked, standing in the door to their room. "Yeah, just have to put my shoes on," Leighanne said, looking around for her shoes. "Five minutes," Gary said, joining in the search. Kevin laughed, "OK." He walked down the hall and into the living room. Kristin was there, wearing a knee length aqua colored sequenced gown. Kevin stopped and looked at her, "You are stunning." "Thanks," she said, "You don't look half bad yourself." "Well you can't go wrong with the basic tux," Kevin said, doing his best fashion designer impression. Kristin laughed, "You should do that for Lyn, she'd get a kick out of it." "No, that's OK," he said. Leighanne and Gary came down the hall, hand in hand. "You guys look great," Kristin said. "Thanks, so do you," Leighanne said. "Well we don't want to be late, so we better get going," Kevin said, heading to the door. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Alex, get that off your head and put it on right. We're gonna be late," Sarah said. A.J. took his cummerbund off his head and put it on, "I don't know why they wanted us to dress up. I feel like a pengiun in this get up." Sarah laughed at him, "Well you look really handsome. Now zip me up please." She turned around and A.J. walked over and zipped up the back of her dress. She was wearing a black sequenced evening gown. It went down to her ankles, with a slit up one side, and a cut out in the front. "I love this dress on you," A.J said. Sarah smiled, "Thanks." Howie knocked on the door, "You guys about ready?" "Yeah, just a minute," A.J. yelled. Kira walked out of their room, and Howie almost gasp. She looked at him concerned, "What? You don't like it?" "No, I love it," he said, walking up to her. She was wearing a dark purple T-length satin gown. It had bead work on the top, and matching gloves. A.J and Sarah came out of their room, "We're ready." "Good," Howie said, taking Kira by the hand and heading downstairs. "Kira, that dress looks great," Sarah said. "Thanks," she said. They walked out to the car, and left for the two mile trip to Brian's. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Oh my God, Lyn this is perfect," Tara said, looking at herself in the mirror. Lyn smiled from across the room. "You think Bri's gonna pass out when he sees you?" she asked, laughing. "He just might," Tara said. Lyn was putting her dress on when Tara turned around and looked at her. "You have a tattoo?" she asked. "Yeah," Lyn said, "It's just like yours. Really freaked Nick out the first time he saw it." Tara laughed, "Yeah, I bet it did." "OK, how does this look?" Lyn asked. "Great, I love that dress. Is it one of yours?" Tara asked. "Yeah," she said. Lyn looked at herself in the mirror. She was wearing a sleeveless gold sequenced dress. It had no back in it, and it came up in a mock turtle neck. Lyn turned around, she could see her tattoo just above the back of the dress. Tara smiled, "It's OK, you can see mine too." Lyn laughed, "Yeah I guess so." A knock came at the door. "It's me," Nick said from the other side. Lyn walked over and opened the door, letting him in, then shutting it again. "Where's Bri?" she asked. "Downstairs," Nick answered. Lyn walked over to her purse, and pulled out the case, handing it to Nick. He opened it and took out the aid, placing it in his ear. "That's better," he said, looking over at Tara for the first time. "Oh my God," was all he could say. Tara laughed at him, "Nick, you might want to shut your mouth before you catch something." "Sorry, it's just that, you look....awesome," he said. Lyn and Tara both laughed. "Nick, you got your IEM?" Lyn asked. "Yeah," he said, handing it to her. She helped him put the waist pack on and run the cord up through his jacket. "There you can't even see it," she said. "I can't wait until you sing," Tara said, "Brian's gonna die." Nick laughed, "Yeah, if he doesn't do it when he sees you." "Well, I'll go down and wait with him," Lyn said. She walked over to the door, stopping and giving Nick a kiss before she left the room. After she shut the door, Nick walked over and sat down on the bed, looking at Tara. "Nick, you're staring," she said. "I'm sorry, it's just that you look gorgeous," he said. She laughed, "Thanks to Lyn. I believe that girl could do anything." "Yeah, I think she can," Nick said smiling. Tara turned around and fidgeted with her dress, looking at it in the mirror. Lyn had braided tiny silk ribbons in her hair, along with strands of pearls. Her dress was candlelight in color, and made of silk. It had a corset at the top, that tied with the same ribbons that were in her hair, with elaborate bead work, and pearls sewn in. It was off the shoulder, with several strands of pearls acting as sleeves. At her waist the dress belled out. It had the ribbons and pearls all down the front and sides. And an elaborate train on the back, with cut outs of hearts and angels. Nick got up off the bed and walked over to her, taking her hands in his, "Stop fidgeting, you look perfect." She smiled at him, "I'm sorry. I'm just nervous." "I know, so am I," he said. "I can't believe you can hear me. Nick, I'm so happy for you," she said. Nick looked down at the floor the back up to her, "Thanks, but it's not 100%. I'm never gonna be able to go to a concert, all the sounds get mixed up." A flash of disappointment crossed her face, but as soon as it was there, it was gone. "Are you OK with that?" she asked. "Yeah, but I'm not so sure that they are gonna understand," he said. "They will, sometimes I think you underestimate your �brothers'," she said. Nick laughed, "Yeah, I guess I do sometimes." Tara looked at the clock, "You might want to go keep a look out." "OK, I'll just stand outside the door, I can see Brian from there," Nick said, walking over to the door. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Howie, Kira, A.J. and Sarah got out of the car, just as Kevin and his crew arrived. They all met in the driveway, admiring everyone's outfits and talking for a minute before going to the door. Kevin walked up to the door, seeing the basket sitting there with a note on it. "What's this?" he said, bending down and reading the note. Hi guys, As you soon will see, this isn't your normal party. Please wait until everyone is here, then take your gift bag and walk around the house to the patio. Don't wait on Nick and Lyn, they are already here. See you in a few, Brian and Tara A.J. pointed at Howie, "I told you those two were in on this!" "Yeah, I know, you were right," Howie said. "Well I guess we're all here then," Kevin said, picking up the basket and passing out everyone's gift bags. Leighanne looked at hers, "What's this, don't open yet?" "Yeah, it's on all of them," Kristin said. "OK, this is weird," A.J. said. "Well come on, let's go to the back," Kevin said. They all started around the house. "I wonder why we couldn't just go through the house," Gary asked. Halfway around the house they encountered a sign. Please take a seat and open your gift bags. "Man talk about formal," Howie said, as they rounded the house. Everyone stood there in shock. "When did they build this?" Kevin asked. Leighanne just shrugged her shoulders. The new gazebo was covered in white and pink roses, with greenery all around it. There were chairs set up facing it, with an isle down the middle. Baskets of roses were everywhere. "This is so pretty," Kira said. "Yeah, they went to a lot of work for this," Kristin said. "OK guys, the sign said to sit and open bags," A.J. said, finding the chair with his name on it and plopping down, opening his bag. They all followed suit. In each bag was a disposable camera, several tissues, and an envelope. Everyone opened their envelope at the same time, pulling out an invitation. It read: Join us as we express our love for each other. Saturday, 2:00 PM Brian and Tara Howie looked at his watch, it was five minutes until two. "Guys, is anyone else thinking what I am?" Kevin said, looking around. They all smiled at each other. "That we are at a wedding?" Howie said. "Exactly," A.J. said. Chapter 95 |