| Prologue It's been five months since Brian and Tara got married. Everything was going great. The guys had been in the studio working on their album. They were out in LA finishing up the last of it. Nick had been working on his art, and had started acting some. He was also there in LA where he'd been working on an episode of Touched By an Angel. Leighanne and Gary were busy preparing for the birth of their baby in a couple of months. They had just bought a new house up in the hills, and had invited everyone out for a celebration dinner of sorts. Chapter 1 Brian and Tara, Kevin and Kristin pulled up the drive to Gary and Leighanne's new house. "Wow, this is a long way out here," Kristin said. "Yeah, it's a ways off the beaten path for sure," Brian said, looking out the window. "I hope that A.J. and Nick don't have a problem finding the place," Tara said. "Look, there's A.J's car," Kristin said, pointing out the window. Kevin pulled the car into a vacant spot and parked. They all got out and walked up to the door. "Man, Gary must be pulling in some serious dough to get this place," Kevin said, looking at the house, "I heard this thing listed for like three mil." Brian's mouth dropped open, "Are you serious? Cuz, we are in the wrong business, acting is the way to go." They laughed as Tara rang the bell. The door swung open and Leighanne greeted everyone. "Hey guys, you have any problem finding the place?" she asked. "Naw, it wasn't that bad," Kevin said, giving her a hug. "Come on in, everyone is in the den," Leighanne said leading the way. As they walked down the hall Tara leaned over to Brian, "I hope I look half that good when I'm seven months pregnant." Brian smiled, "Is this a hint?" Tara laughed and punched him in the arm. "What?" Brian protested, smiling from ear to ear. "Come on you two," Kevin said from in front of them. They hurried to catch up, joining the others in the den. Nick and A.J. were already there, talking with Gary about the latest movie role he'd done. "Hey Angel," Nick said, walking over to Tara and hugging her. "Hey yourself," she said, "Where's Lyn?" "Oh, she and Kira are in the kitchen," Nick said. Tara looked at Kristin, and they both followed Leighanne to the kitchen. Brian and Kevin sat down, looking around the room. "Um, is someone missing?" Kevin asked. "Yeah, Howie ran into town to get some things," A.J. said. "So, Nicky, tell us about your acting job," Brian said. Nick smiled, "Bri, you know I'm not supposed to talk about it." "Oh come on, it's a TV show for goodness sakes," Brian said. Nick shook his head, "Nope, they swore me to secrecy." "Well, when is it gonna air?" Gary asked. "Sometime around Christmas," Nick said. Just then Howie came around the corner, "Hey guys." "D, what the hell took you so long?" A.J. asked, reaching for the bottle Howie was holding in his hand. "Um well it's like, twenty-five miles to town, then the first store I went to didn't have it, so I had to go to another one...., Howie started. "Yeah, yeah, just give it already!" A.J. almost yelled. Howie laughed and handed the bottle over. A.J. hurriedly opened it and took a drink, "Aw, the nectar of the God's." "A.J. when did you get so addicted to that stuff anyway?" Nick asked. "While we were in the studio. It's all Kira's fault, she's the one that wanted me to taste it," A.J. answered. "Hey, don't go blaming my woman for your sick addiction," Howie said laughing. "What is that stuff?" Gary asked, not recognizing the bottle. A.J. held it out, "V8 Splash, you wanna try some?" "Um, no that's OK," Gary said, looking at the other guys like A.J. had just lost his ever loving mind. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Lyn and Kira were in the kitchen getting things ready. Tara and Kristin walked in with Leighanne. "Tara!" Lyn said, giving her a hug. "Tara!" Tara said, laughing. "Oh lord," Kira said rolling her eyes. Leighanne and Kristin laughed. "OK, what's left to do?" Leighanne asked, walking over to the counter. "I think we got it all done," Lyn said. Tara looked around, the spread of food was unreal. "Lee, there's no way we could eat all this in a week," she said. Leighanne laughed, "Obviously you haven't seen me eat in a while." Tara raised her eyebrows, "Ok, no I guess not." A clap of thunder startled everyone. Leighanne looked out the window, the rain was just starting. "I didn't know it was gonna rain," she said. "Well it's a good thing we're all here then, cause that drive would be murder in a storm," Kristin said. "Yeah Lee, whatever possessed you guys to buy a house way out here anyway?" Kira asked. "Well, we loved the house, and it's far enough out that we aren't bothered by the traffic and noise," she answered. "I'll say," Tara said. "So Lyn, tell us about Nick's TV show he just did," Kira asked. Lyn smiled, "Well, I don't know much about it. It's supposed to be this big secret Christmas special. Nick wouldn't even let me see the script or go to the studio with him." "You're kidding?" Kristin said. "Nope, he wouldn't even tell me who he plays or anything about it," Lyn said. "So my idea didn't work huh?" Tara asked. "Nope, he wouldn't talk about it," Lyn said. Kira, Leighanne and Kristin looked at each other. "OK, I gotta ask. What was Tara's idea?" Kira said. "Oh, just to get Nick drunk and then start grilling him about it," Lyn said. They all laughed. "Hey, it used to work on him," Tara said in defense. Nick walked into the kitchen and everyone cracked up again. He looked over at Lyn, "Honey, you aren't telling stories are you?" Lyn smiled, "Why no, whatever gave you that idea?" "So Nick, you have any hangovers lately?" Tara asked, laughing. "Yeah, I had a really bad one the other.......damn it," he said, realizing what she was doing. All the girls laughed again, and Nick's face turned a few shades of red. "Well, lets get everyone in here. I'm starving," Leighanne said. "I'll do it," Nick said walking into the hall and yelling into the other room, "Come and get it." He turned around and walked back into the kitchen. "Thanks Nick," Leighanne said smiling. "No problem," he said as he took his place next to Lyn. Tara walked over to Leighanne and pulled her to the side, "Are you feeling OK?" "Yeah, I think the baby is dancing in there, though," she said. Tara looked at her for a moment, "OK." Everyone came into the kitchen and sat down at the table. They were all talking and having a great time. This was the first time they all had been together since the wedding. "So Gary, do you guys know what you're having yet?" Howie asked. "No, we want it to be a surprise," Gary said. "You know girls, one of us is gonna have to get a baby shower together real soon," Kristin said. "Well, why don't we have it while we're all here?" Kira suggested. "We could," Lyn said. "Oh no, the girls are gonna go shopping," A.J. said. "Alex, where is Sarah?" Kevin asked, just now noticing she wasn't there. "Oh, she's off with her mom for a few days," A.J. said. "So how's the recording going?" Nick asked, a mouth full of food. "Great, we finished this afternoon," Brian said. "Cool, so you have a few weeks before you have to do anything?" Nick asked. "Yeah," Brian said. "Why don't you and Tara come up for a while," Lyn said. Tara looked at Brian with excitement in her eyes, "Yeah, let's go." Brian smiled at her, "I guess we could." Tara leaned over and kissed Brian on the cheek, "Great!" The storm began to rage outside as everyone finished their meal and went into the living room to relax. Tara kept a close eye on Leighanne, sensing that something wasn't right. "Lee, have you guys picked out any names yet?" Kristin asked. "We have a few picked out, but we haven't decided on any," she answered. Brian sat on the couch playing with Tyke and Litty, "I think they forgot who I am." Tara laughed, "No they haven't. See Tyke is ignoring you just like he used to." At that exact moment, lightening flashed and the lights went out. "Oh this is nice," Nick said. "Hang on, I'll get a candle," Gary said, getting up and making his way to the kitchen. Everyone sat still while Gary rummaged through the cabinets in search of some matches. He came back in, candle in hand, and put it on the coffee table. "I wonder how long things will be out?" Howie said. "I don't know, this is our first storm here," Gary said, wondering if being out here was all it was cracked up to be. Leighanne was sitting in the chair across from Brian and Tara. She had a strained look on her face, and Tara couldn't ignore her feelings anymore. "Lee, are you OK?" she asked. Everyone's attention went to Leighanne. Leighanne looked at Tara, there was something in her eyes�fear. "I think I need to go lay down," Leighanne said, getting up. Gary walked over to her and took her hand, "Anne, do we need to go see a doctor?" Leighanne's face cringed, "Oh shit!" "What?" Tara asked. Leighanne looked at her, "My water just broke." Chapter 2 |