He made his way into the house, not having the time or energy to be bothered with his bags. The smell of a home cooked meal drifted into his nose and made him smile. He flopped the couch and his family members came over and gave him hugs and kisses. He realized there was one less person, the one who ran her hand through his hair and demanded he got a haircut. He looked around the room,
"Where's momma?" No one was eager to speak up as they looked to each other to see who would answer. His heart raced at the thought of her planning some show with Aaron or an appearance. It was always something. When no one seemed to speak up he became nervous. He was such a jerk, his mother wasn't around and he automatically thought she was out planning some devious attack on his precious limited free time. She could be hurt or sick,
"Where is she? Is she ok?" His eyes connected with Leslie and she seemed to take pity on his fear,
"She's out back." She nodded her head towards the kitchen and Nick looked around once more before standing up,
"What's going on?" Leslie shook her head,
"Nothing, she's just talking to someone. She wants to see you so just go." He shuffled his feet through the kitchen and stood at the back door. His placed his hand on the door and shook his head at the sight before him. What was she doing there? How did she know? It was obvious, his mother. She always felt compelled to interject herself into his life and she was generally correct. That was what bothered him the most, it made him feel bad to know that she seemed to run his life better than he did. He made wrong choices, well wrong choices for a popstar, for anyone else it wouldn't matter. But it did matter for him, he knew that because his mother never hesitated to tell him that. His mother must have sensed things weren't as calm in his life since he and Shayna broke up. Once again she was stepping in, maybe he should let her sit back and run things. He sighed as he placed his hand on the door knob, what was he going to say to her.
Her long legs were exposed by her short denim skirt, her arms by a white tank top. She tossed her hair and leaned down to pet one of the dogs. He was overzealous and knocked her down. She threw her head back and laughed and he couldn't help but smile. He couldn't blame the dog one bit, he was like that with her in the beginning of their relationship. They had sex all the time, that was all they ever did. In fact, AJ predicted she would get pregnant before they celebrated their three month anniversary. Thanks to lady luck and her diligence in taking her birth control pills he wasn't going to be the first dad of the group. He opened the door and they turned to watch as the dogs left them and fought for his attention. He played with the dogs as he wondered what he was going to say to her. He hadn't spoken to her since she called while he was at the photo shoot and they semi-argued over her night spent with Craig. He looked up to see them patiently waiting for him with smiles on their faces. He figured he had stalled long enough and stood up to make his way over to them,
"Hey momma." She smiled and held her arms out as he walked into them. He always seemed to fit no matter how big, no matter how tall. He squeezed her and she rubbed his back before they separated. She looked over him and he saw her eyes shift upwards and smiled as he ran his hand through his hair,
"I just got a haircut." She shrugged and nodded her head,
"Well, I have a few things to take care of before dinner." Her sideways glance at Shayna didn't go undetected. They both stood in silence as she made her way into the house. He turned and looked at her,
"Hey."
Home
Full Circle
Chapter 102a