| Chapter 6 The media stint in LA was long and grueling. The guys did several tv shows and radio interviews. Today was their only day off before they were to fly overseas for the promotion there. Leighanne and Gary had invited them all out for the day. This was the first time Nick had seen Leighanne since the whole Aleisha thing, and he was excited to see her. She had been such a help and a great friend to him, he could never thank her for all she'd done. He had tried several times on the phone, but Leighanne would hear nothing of it. Nick was also glad to have the day to relax. Tara had been running him through the paces on his training, and that combined with the guys heavy schedule left him little time to rest. Also, the dreams were waking him up at night. He would wake in a panic, then find it difficult to go back to sleep. He was definitely ready for some relaxation. "It's not suppose to rain today is it?" Nick asked. "I don't think so," Brian said, looking at him from the front seat, "Why do you ask?" "I dunno, just cause last time we were here and all I guess," he said, looking out the window. "Man, don't mention last time," Brian said. Tara laughed at him. "What? It's not funny," Brian protested. "I know it's not, but I can't help it," she said. Nick snickered at them, "You two are the typical married couple, I swear." "Oh, like you and Lyn don't act like this to," Brian teased. "Yeah we do, just not in front of anyone," Nick said laughing. "Oh look, Lee's flowers are beautiful," Tara said as they pulled up the drive. "Yeah, great thing bout LA, the rest of the world can have winter, and here you got spring," Brian said. "Yeah, Lyn and I were thinking about getting a house here," Nick commented. "Oh yeah?" Tara asked. "Yeah, it would make it easier when we're in the studio and all," Nick said. Brian parked the car and the three got out, heading to the front door. "I see A.J. and Howie are already here," Tara said, seeing A.J.'s car. "Yeah, its funny. The boy can be late for everything we do, but when it comes to time off, he's the early one," Nick said. They laughed as Brian rang the bell. They could hear Tyke and Litty barking inside, then the door swung open. Gary was standing there with Tara Gail in his arms, "Hey guys, come on in." They followed him in, and into the living room. Leighanne and A.J. were sitting on the couch. Howie was in the recliner, already asleep. "Hey!" Leighanne said, getting up and walking over to give Nick a hug. "How are you?" she asked. "I'm good. You look great," Nick said. "Motherhood can do that to you," she said, smiling. "Speaking of...I wanna hold her," Tara said. They all sat down and Gary handed the baby over to Tara. "Hi little one," she said, holding the child's hand. Nick was sitting next to Tara, playing with the baby as well. "Man, she's really grown," Brian said. "Yes she has," Gary said, sitting down. Tyke and Litty were at Nick and Tara's feet softly whining at them. Nick looked down and laughed. "What is it?" A.J. asked. "They wanted to know when I got smart enough to understand them," Nick said. "They can tell?" Brian said. "Yeah, and oh man does Tyke have a mouth. I think he could make A.J. blush," Nick said. Gary and Leighanne were staring in astonishment. "Nick, exactly what all can you do?" Gary asked. Nick looked at Tara, "Um, I don't think we've discovered everything yet. A lot that's for sure." "Nick's been given a wide range of abilities," Tara said. "That's so cool," Leighanne said, smiling at him. He smiled back, If she only knew, he thought to himself. Tara looked at him, "You want to hold her?" "Sure," he said, taking the baby from her. "This reminds me of when Aaron and Angel were little," he said. Tara Gail was looking up at him, she smiled then laughed. "Aww how cute," A.J. said, "What a Kodak moment." Everyone looked at him like he was nuts. "What? I can't be sensitive?" he said, barely hiding his smile. Tara looked over to see Nick staring at the baby. He seemed to be in another place for a moment. She watched as he blinked his eyes a few times, then handed the baby over to Brian, excusing himself from the room. Brian looked at Tara, "He alright?" "Yeah, I think he just discovered another ability though," she said. "Do you need to go check on him?" A.J. asked. "No, he'll be fine," Tara answered. "Can I go?" Leighanne asked. "Sure, he's in the kitchen," Tara said. Leighanne left the room. "Hey, where's my cuz at?" Brian asked, noticing Kevin wasn't present. "Oh, he called. Said that he wanted to pick up a few things in town before he came out, so he would be a little late," Gary said. Howie woke up and looked around, "Hey, when did you guys get here?" They all laughed. "D, I swear you could sleep through a train wreck," A.J. said. Howie smiled, "It's my God given talent." Tara burst out laughing, "You know, I think you're right." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Nick was sitting in the kitchen, drinking some water he'd gotten out of the frig. Leighanne walked in, "Hey, you alright?" "Yeah, this stuff kinda catches me by surprise sometimes though," he said. "What happened?" she asked, sitting next to him. "I'm not sure. I started seeing Tara Gail as she was growing up, it kinda freaked me out a little," Nick said. Leighanne stared at him in awe. He smiled at her, "I'm still me you know." "I know, it's just that I'm gonna have to get used to your...um..talents," she said. "Yeah, you and me both," he commented. "You don't sound happy about it," she said, hearing the frustration in his voice. "I'm not sure that happy would be the right word," he said, "It's just that I've been given so much, it's hard to handle sometimes." "Tara's helping you isn't she?" Leighanne asked. "Yeah she is a lot, but it's hard on her too. I can do things that she and the others can't, and she's not sure how to help me with it," he said. "Like what kind of things?" she asked. "Lots of things. I can heal myself, and they can't. I can move things at will, and alter my appearance by just thinking about it. There's to much more to list," Nick said, taking another drink. "Wow. Do you know why you've been given so much extra?" Leighanne asked. He shook his head, "I wish I did, it might make it easier to deal with." Leighanne put her hand on Nick's arm, "I'm sure God has a plan for it. Just hang on until He reveals it." Nick smiled at her, "I'm trying." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Everyone looked up as Kevin entered the room. "Hey man, we were about to send out the search party for ya," A.J. said. "Yeah, sorry. I got caught in traffic," Kevin said. "What's in the bag?" Brian asked. Kevin grinned, "Something for the baby. That's why I'm late. Kris ordered it months ago and it just now came in." "So what is it?" Howie asked, curious. "You'll see. Where's Lee at?" Kevin said. "She and Nick are in the kitchen," Gary said. "Well, go get them," Kevin instructed. Gary got up and went to retrieve the two, coming back a few minutes later with them in tow. Leighanne hugged Kevin, "Thanks for coming." "Thanks for the invite," he said, handing her the bag, "This is for Tara Gail from me and Kris." "Oh, you guys didn't have to...." Leighanne said. "No, we insist. Open it," Kevin said, sitting down and waiting. Everyone watched curiously as Leighanne looked inside the bag, pulling out a bundle of baby clothes. She picked up the top outfit and smiled. It was a white jumper with pink stars on it, and on the front it said Shining Star. As she looked through the outfits, each one had one of the guys songs on it. "Oh Kev, this is great! Thank you," she said. "Yeah man, these are neat. Where'd you have them made?" Gary asked. "Kris knows a friend of a friend, ya know how that goes," Kevin said. Nick and Tara both burst out laughing, and the rest looked at them. "Oh my God, that is so funny," Nick said, wiping the tears from his eyes. Tara was laughing to hard to even talk. "What?" Everyone asked. "Tyke and Litty are having a conversation about the baby clothes. Litty is mad cause she never got any special clothes, and Tyke is saying something to the affect of, well if your tail wasn't so big, maybe they would buy you some," Nick said, laughing hysterically. "What's Litty say to that?" Gary asked. "I can't repeat it," Nick said, gasping for air. Everyone laughed. "You know, I think I liked it better when we didn't know what they were saying," Leighanne said. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ It was getting late and everyone was preparing to leave. Their plane left early in the morning, so they all wanted to get a good nights rest before the flight. The meal was great, and Nick was glad he'd actually gotten to relax. He didn't feel the urgency that was always present in the back of his mind. After they had put the baby down for the night, Nick had a chance to talk with Leighanne. He thanked her for her help, and told her how much he valued their friendship. Of course Leighanne said it was nothing, but Nick knew better. She was a new mother, and for her to leave her husband and child to come and stay and help him was a big sacrifice on her part. Nick wanted to make sure she knew how much he appreciated it. "Come on man," Brian yelled. Nick came down the hall, "I'm coming. Hold your horses already." Tara laughed at the two. "Bye Lee, thanks for the day," Brian said, hugging her. "Yeah, we'll see you when we get back for rehearsals," Tara said. "You guys stay safe," Leighanne said, walking with them to the door. "We will," Brian said. Nick hugged Leighanne, "Thanks again." "If you say thanks one more time..." she said, smiling. "I know, you're gonna hurt me. Forgive me if I don't feel threatened, OK?" Nick said, teasing. Leighanne punched his arm, "Smart ass." Nick laughed as he walked out the door, "Yup, that's me." They said good night once more, then headed to the car. Nick was walking in front of Tara and Brian, so he saw it first. He stopped dead in his tracks, fighting desperately to hold down his fear. Tara felt his reaction before she could even see what was causing it. "Nick, what is it?" she asked, walking up to him. "Please tell me that doesn't say what I think it does," Nick said. Tara looked over at their rental car. Someone had written all over the front windshield. "It does," she confirmed. Brian was looking back and forth between the two, "What's going on? What kind of language is that?" "It's our written language," Tara said. "So what does it say?" Brian asked. "It says Soon," Nick said, sitting down on the curb. Brian looked at Tara, her eyes were full of worry. "I'll go back and see if Lee has some paper towels, and something to clean this off with," Brian said, walking back up to the house. Tara sat down next to Nick. "How did they get that close and us not feel them?" he asked. She just shrugged her shoulders, "I don't know." Nick sighed, staring at the car. "Nick, they are doing this to frighten you," Tara said. "Yeah, well it's working," he commented. "Don't let them get the upper hand with you. You can fight them, I know you can," she said. Nick looked at her, "Tara, you and I both know I'm far from being ready for this." "You're farther along than you were. Besides, their concept of time is different than ours. Their soon could be weeks from now," she said. "Or it could be tomorrow," Nick said. "Nick, we are still with you, and we will be until the very last second," Tara said. He sighed and looked over as Gary and Brain came out of the house with the cleaning supplies. "You can stay in our extra room tonight if it makes a difference," Tara said. "Thanks," Nick said, getting up to help the guys clean off the car. He knew he wouldn't be sleeping tonight. It didn't matter if Tara was going to stay in the same room, he was frightened, and no amount of reassurance was going help him right now. The drive back to the hotel was a quiet one. Brian tried to make a few jokes, but it didn't work, so he resigned himself to silence. Tara wanted to reassure Nick, but no matter what she said, she knew he was getting no encouragement from it. When they got back to the hotel, Nick gathered his things from his room, and moved into Brian and Tara's extra bedroom. The rest of the guys had already left, so they didn't know about the latest developments. Nick was glad they didn't. He hated the looks they gave him sometimes, knowing they wanted to help him, but couldn't. Nick went into the extra bedroom and shut the door. He knew he wasn't alone. He could feel Tracy, Jade, and Gideon in the room with him. That comforted him a little. He got ready for bed, then dug around in his bag for a moment, pulling out the Bible that Lyn had gotten him a few weeks ago. He got in bed and put the pillows behind him, getting comfortable. If he wasn't going to sleep, at least he could read. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes, "God, please show me something that will help," he prayed. Nick opened the book and thumbed to a page, looking down and reading. The word of the Lord came to me, saying, "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations." "Ah, Sovereign Lord," I said, "I do not know how to speak; I am only a child." But the Lord said to me, "Do not say, �I am only a child.' You must go to everyone I send you to and say whatever I command you. Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you and will rescue you," declares the Lord. Jeremiah 1: 4-8 Nick smiled, realizing he was being childish with his fear of what was coming. He knew that if he relied on God, he could get through anything. He just needed to be reminded sometimes. He closed the book and set it aside, scooting down in the bed. He closed his eyes, thanking God for the reminder, then drifted to sleep. Chapter 7 |