With the first week of November came the anticipation of Zac's album release and his upcoming promotional tour, along with the announcement of Taylor and Kris's wedding date. Zac was in his bedroom packing with Ginger when the two of them came in. They'd been doing a lot of secret planning lately and they'd finally gotten most of the work done.
"Guys, guess what?" Kris asked, running into the room.
"You're finally moving out?" Ginger asked. Kris gave her a look. "I mean, what?"
"We got our invitations done!" Kris said, handing Ginger an ivory invitation just about the size of an envelope. Ginger sat down on the bed and looked at the invitation. The front was embossed with a blooming rose and both Kris and Taylor's full names. Ginger smiled and opened it up.
"February 15th?"
"Valentine's Day weddings are so overrated," Kris said. "We're doing it the day afterwards." Ginger rolled her eyes.
"Whatever, Kris," Ginger said. "Zac, these are so pretty. Come here and look." Zac was in the closet picking out clothes and had been just about all day. He was leaving the next morning and it was very obvious that he didn't want to go. He walked out of the closet and back into the bedroom.
"What are?"
"Kris and Taylor's wedding invitations. I'm so glad it's finally happening, you two! Zac, you are going to be back in February, aren't you?"
"Yeah," Zac said. "I'll be back the middle of January." He took the invitation from Ginger. With a quick glance at it, he handed it back to Ginger. She didn't expect him to look at it any more than he did. "Are you guys all packed?"
"Yeah," Taylor said. "We're set."
"Ginger?"
"Not entirely�" she said.
"Have you even started packing yet?" he asked. She shook her head. "Well, you better get started. I know it's only for a day, but I know you and you're so picky about these things�"
"Whatever, Zac." The next day Zac and Ginger were both scheduled (not coincidentally) to appear on the Tonight show with Jay Leno. Ginger would be the first guest to promote her new movie. Zac would be the second guest and will also be performing, so there were no other people on the show. It was how Zac and Ginger planned to explain their relationship and announce that they had a child together. Ginger was noticeably nervous already.
"You know what I just realized?" Ginger asked. Zac was walking back to his closet.
"What's that, babe?" he asked, disappearing into the other room.
"Your album's coming out in two weeks, and I haven't heard it yet. I'm the mother of your child and your fianc�e, shouldn't I have, like, special access or something like that?" Ginger asked.
"Yeah!" Kris said. "I'm going to be your sister-in-law."
"And I'm your brother!"
"You'll all hear it when everybody else gets to hear it," Zac said.
"That's not fair!" Taylor said. "I don't even know the names of all the songs yet. You're so not cool anymore, Zac. If I was releasing a solo album I would have let you hear it early." Zac sighed. He opened the trunk he had in the closet and pulled out one of his CD's. If any of them were smart enough, they would have known to look in here. Kris actually had been in here before; this was where he hid Ginger's engagement ring before he gave it to her, and it didn't magically appear in Kris's hand, so she must have gone through it.
"You guys are so impatient," Zac said. He threw the CD at Taylor, who immediately opened it up and put it in the stereo on one of the dressers. On most of the CD Zac played all of the instruments, but after a while he got sick of that and hired a band who was just as good as him. The song with Jess was acoustic, with both of them playing guitar, and another song Zac worked on with Matthew Sweet had him doing back-up vocals.
"Where was this, Zac?" Kris asked.
"It was in the trunk in my closet," Zac said. "I'm surprised you guys didn't find it, because I know at least one of you have been in it before." All three of them looked confused.
"What trunk?"
"The one I kept Ginger's ring in until somebody found it."
"Oh!" Kris said. "That trunk. It looks more like a chest than a trunk."
"So it was you!"
"Shut up, I'm trying to listen!" Taylor said. He pushed Kris onto the bed and she giggled, pleased with annoying her future husband. Zac went back into the bedroom while Taylor took the empty spot on the bed next to Kris. Ginger sat down on the edge of the bed with Jenny. She looked through the lyric book and couldn't help but smile. Giving Jenny to Kris, she got up and walked over to the closet.
"These are some pretty steamy pictures, Zac," Ginger said. Zac turned to her and smiled.
"Yeah, they somehow convinced me that it would look better if I had my shirt open," he said. "I didn't think they were going to use some of those pictures."
"I like this one," she said. She showed him a picture where he was leaning against the wall, his shirt open. It was open much, but some signs of definition in his stomach were visible. "I get to see those sexy abs."
"Whatever, Ginger," he said.
"I'm nervous about tomorrow," she said.
"So am I." He slid his arm around her waist. "Don't worry about it, baby. They're going to just ask you about your movie before I get there. Through all the tough questions I'll be right there with you."
"You're so good to me."
"Yeah, well I kind of have to be." She gave him a look and walked out of the closet. He continued to pack.
Zac and Ginger, along with Kris and Taylor, sat in a dressing room backstage at the Tonight show. Ginger was nervous but the only way to tell was how hard she was gripping Zac's hand. She looked absolutely amazing, as always, and was watching Jay's monologue on the television in the upper corner of the room.
"Ginger, babe, calm down," Zac said. "Everything's going to be okay."
"I know, I know, but I can't help but be nervous," she said. "How's Jenny doing over there?" Kris looked up from the couch across the room.
"Just fine, Ginger. You obviously need something to do for the next fifteen minutes," Kris said.
"Hey Zac, want to go have sex?"
"No!" Kris said from across the room. "You'll mess up your appearance and I highly doubt that'll take fifteen minutes anyway."
"Hey!" Zac said. "You don't know anything, so shut up!" Kris laughed. He turned back to Ginger. "You know what I realized?"
"What, baby?" Ginger asked, leaning her head against his shoulder.
"This is where we first met." She looked around.
"You're right," she said. "Oh, this is ironic." Zac rolled his eyes.
"Whatever, Ginger." A few minutes later a stagehand walked in with a clipboard and a headset.
"Ginger, we're ready for you."
"Okay." Ginger gave Zac a kiss and left. Sighing, he looked up at the television as Jay was announcing Ginger. A few moments later she walked out onto the stage with a confident smile. He let out a breath. At least she didn't look nervous any longer. Jay gave her a kiss and she sat down, carefully smoothing out her skirt.
"She still seems nervous," Taylor said.
"Yeah, but that's just because we know," Zac said. "Nobody else can tell." Jenny started whimpering.
"Oh, I know, Jenny, I know," Kris said. "It's cold in here."
"Here, give me her," Zac said. Kris handed over Jenny to Zac and he sat back with his child in his arms. "Shh�" He began to pat her on the back. He looked back up at the monitor and as soon as he did it, Jenny spit up on him. "Shit, Jenny!" Kris took her back and Zac looked at his shirt. "Oh, crap." He took off his shirt. "Taylor, give me your shirt."
"What? No!"
"I can't go out there without a shirt on and I'm not going out there with Jenny's puke all over me. Give me your shirt."
"And what am I supposed to wear?" Taylor asked.
"You can have the puke shirt."
"No!"
"Do you have an undershirt on?" Zac asked.
"Yeah�"
"Then you're fine! Give me your shirt."
"I don't know, Zac," Taylor said. "It might not fit. You are a lot bigger than me."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"You buffed up! I'm a skinny kid; it might not fit!" Taylor said. Zac gave him a look and he took off his shirt. "Don't fuck this one up too."
"Stop swearing," Zac said, taking Taylor's shirt. "That's my job." He put the shirt on. "Jesus Christ, Taylor, I didn't think you were this skinny."
"Well I am," Taylor said.
"You need to start working out with me." Taylor rolled his eyes. "Well, it'll have to do. Do I look all right?" Zac asked.
"You look like Taylor," Kris said.
"Oh no." Taylor gave Zac a look. "Anyway�" Zac sat back down. A few minutes later, after an entertaining interview with Ginger, Jay went to commercial and Zac sat up. He would be called any moment now. The dress Ginger had picked was low-cut and Jay was definitely ogling her the entire time. He made a few jokes that Zac didn't care for, so Zac figured he'd have to comment on it.
The door opened and the same stagehand appeared again. "Zac?"
"I'm coming," Zac said. He got up. "I'll see you guys later."
"Have fun!" Kris said, waving. She took Jenny's hand and had her wave as well. Zac smiled and waved back at Jenny, then walked out into the hallway.
"You changed your shirt?" the stagehand asked.
"Jenny threw up on my other one," Zac explained. The stagehand looked back at Zac. "Don't ask."
"All right, then," he said. "Well, you know what to do. Wait here until I say�" Zac waited. "Okay. Good luck." Zac walked out on stage with a wave to the audience, mostly girls who screamed at his tight shirt. He'd never done this before; all the other times he'd been on this show he'd performed first. It was kind of weird. He met Jay near the large television screen and shook his head.
"How you doing?" Jay asked.
"Great," Zac said with a smile. He walked over to his seat and gave Ginger a kiss before sitting down in the chair next to Jay.
"Thanks for coming, Zac. I always appreciate it when you're on the show," Jay said. Zac smiled.
"Thanks for having me. I love being here," Zac said. "Although it is kind of weird being out here alone."
"You're not alone, you have Ginger with you," Jay said. Zac looked at Ginger who gave him a big smile.
"You're right. I do have Ginger with me."
"So, tell me," Jay said. "Having the both of you on today's show wasn't just a coincidence, was it?"
"No," Zac said. "It wasn't."
"So, what's up with this?" Jay asked, noticing how Ginger had taken Zac's hand. "Are you two back together, are you just friends�what?"
"We're engaged, actually," Zac said.
"Engaged? Already?"
"Yeah," Zac said, looking back at Ginger. "It's going to be a long engagement though. We're both going to be so busy for a while so we probably won't have time to sit down and plan a wedding for another year or so."
"There have been a lot of rumors concerning the both of you. They've been around so long it's hard to ignore them." Zac nodded, agreeing. "The biggest one is that Ginger, you have a child?"
"That's true," Ginger said. The audience erupted in applause and Ginger was surprised. "�Okay. No, but it's true. I have a daughter." Zac cleared his throat. "We have a daughter."
"So you're the father?" Jay asked.
"Yeah," Zac said. "You make it sound so terrible. 'You're the father.' Yes, I'm Jenny's father. She's wonderful; she just turned eight months the other day."
"That's wonderful," Jay said. "You two look very happy."
"We are," Ginger said.
"So Zac," Jay said, "another big buzz is your relationship with your brothers. You refused to speak about them for a very long time, then you mentioned them in the liner notes of your album. How are things going with them? Have you spoken to them recently?"
"Actually," Zac said. "I haven't spoken to Isaac yet. I'm living out here in LA and he's in Tulsa, so I don't see him. Taylor, however, is backstage. He and I are really close. He's actually engaged too."
"Really?"
"Yeah," Zac said. "To her editor, actually." Zac looked back at Ginger, who smiled.
"So you're the reason they met?" Jay asked. Zac nodded.
"Unfortunately," Zac said. "I'm the reason they're together. It's all my fault!" Zac laughed. "No, I love Kris, his fianc�e. She's a great person. They're very happy together. We decided we're going to let them get married first."
"So your relationship with him is better?"
"Yeah," Zac said. "Yeah it is. I didn't speak to him for over a year and that's a long time not to speak to my brother. He and I are actually closer now than we were before, and that's all fine and good, but I really wish I hadn't been mad at him for so long That's a year I won't be able to get back."
"So," Jay said, "You're engaged, you have a daughter; Ginger you're working on a new movie and Zac your album comes out next Tuesday�what's next? It seems you have it all." Zac laughed.
"Yeah, it does seem that way, doesn't it?" he asked. "I don't know what's next. But whatever it is, it's going to be damn good."