When Ginger returned to LA with Kris to finish their movie, Zac was left with Taylor and Jenny to circle the country to promote his new album. It'd been a week and he was already sick of it. That wasn't surprising. He didn't want to go on promotions to begin with. The surprising part was how well he was getting along with Taylor.
"Taylor?" Zac asked in a hotel room somewhere in California. It'd been a week and they still hadn't made it out of California.
"What Zac?" Taylor said, hanging out of the doorway to the bathroom.
"Why the hell is my daughter flicking me off?" Taylor burst out laughing and quickly went back into the bathroom. "You're such a fucking bastard! You taught her how to do that, didn't you? She can't even fricken walk yet and you're teaching her stuff like that!" Taylor was still laughing. "That's not funny!"
"Yes it is!"
"I cannot believe you, Taylor," Zac said. "How did you even do it?"
"It wasn't hard," Taylor said. "But, come on, Zac, this is pretty funny." Zac shook his head.
"How would you like it if I went around and showed your daughter how to flick people off?"
"I don't have a daughter, Zac, so I guess I just wouldn't understand." Zac gave him a look. Behind him, Zac's cell phone rang. "You better get that."
"Shut up, Taylor." Zac walked over and picked up the phone. "Hello?"
"Zac! Hi, it's Peter."
"Peter? Why, I wasn't expecting you to call me at all, what with the album being released today and all. Why are you calling me, Peter?"
"Don't be such a smart ass, Zac," Peter said.
"Whatever."
"Anyway, I got the numbers from today's sales so far." Zac looked at the time. It was ten o'clock. "It's not exact, because some people are still buying and it doesn't include pre-orders, but today you're estimated to have sold 1.3 million copies." Zac sat down.
"Are you serious?"
"Yes I am."
"Oh my God. Isn't that, like, a record?"
"No, unfortunately Nsync has that record. I think theirs was 1.4 million, but I'm not entirely sure."
"So�how much is it with the pre-sales? Don't they get their copy today?"
"Yes, those were shipped today. With the pre-orders it's about�hold on, let me find the number. Oh, yeah, with the pre-orders it's about four million."
"Geez. So am I number one this week?"
"Sounds like it. I don't think any other album has hit a million yet."
"Wonderful!" Zac said. "Wow, number one. And to think, I didn't want to do it. This is so much better than anything I ever did with those loser brothers of mine." Taylor hit him. "Ow!"
"I just thought you should know, Zac," Peter said. "Where are you off to next?"
"Las Vegas," Zac said. "I have radio interviews to do in a few cities, then I stop off in Tulsa for two days, then I start my Midwest promotions."
"Good, good," Peter said. "Why two days in Tulsa?"
"Because it's my hometown," Zac said. "I thought I'd stop off and see my parents, you know, introduce Jenny to them and everything. I'll be doing work while I'm there, so it's not like two days off or anything."
"That's perfectly understandable," Peter said. "All right. Well I'll let you get back to whatever you were doing. Congratulations."
"Thank you." Zac hung up the phone. "God, Taylor! It was just a joke, you didn't have to hit me too!" Taylor smiled. "So my album sold 1.3 million copies today, not including pre-orders."
"Wow."
"I know."
"I was thinking," Taylor said, putting Jenny down on Zac's bed. She'd fallen asleep while Zac was on the phone. "It would be best if you didn't see Isaac while we were in Tulsa." Zac looked confused.
"Why?"
"Well, the band was all he really had, Zac, and then you quit. He didn't have anything left. He is still really, really mad at you for that. I just don't think it would go over well if you spoke to him. It's like�it's like me going to see you when we weren't talking. You either would beat me up or kick me out of the house!"
"Are you serious?" Zac asked. Taylor nodded. "I had no idea he felt that way."
"I mean we've all tried talking to him," Taylor said, sitting down on his bed. "We did as much as we could be he really doesn't want to see you again. And stopping by in the middle of the promotional tour for your solo album? That doesn't help. You're extremely successful without all of us and that's kind of a kick in the balls, you know?"
"You know I didn't mean for it to be that way."
"It still is that way," Taylor said. "It was like we were holding you back."
"But you were holding me back."
"And I never meant to." Zac sighed.
"I'm going to turn in." Taylor agreed and they both climbed into bed. Zac lay next to his daughter, his fingers gently brushing her red hair. There wasn't much of it yet, but he knew in a few years it would be just as beautiful as her mother's. Zac smiled and kissed Jenny's little head, then let himself sleep.
When Zac and Taylor arrived in Tulsa, the trip from the plane to the car was no different than it had been in all of the other cities. Zac quickly handed off Jenny to Taylor, who stood in the shadows while Zac waved to the crowd. Taylor was all but ignored as Zac was eating up the attention. It had never been like this before. Zac and Taylor always got the attention equally, maybe a little more Taylor than Zac, but this time around Taylor got absolutely no attention. Nobody cared. It had been that way for a while and it hurt Taylor more than he would ever show.
"Oh, man, that was the biggest crowd yet," Zac said after he and Taylor got into the car. "Give me Jenny." Taylor handed over Jenny, who was crying. "I know, I know darlin'. Those girls are really loud. You'll be loud like that someday for some rock star." He rocked the baby girl in his arms. "Shh�"
"Where are we going, Zac?" the driver asked.
"Home," Zac said. "We're going to see Grandma, Jenny."
"Mom's going to flip when she sees her," Taylor said.
"Why do you say that? She knows about Jenny."
"No, it's just Jenny looks so much like Ginger," Taylor said. "That and it's her first grandchild." Zac nodded, looking down at Jenny. She had stopped crying and was resting calmly on Zac's shoulder, her eyes closed. Zac smiled.
The car pulled in front of the old house and Zac took in a deep breath. He hadn't been home since he left for LA, and he could only imagine how much it changed with all three boys gone. Taylor had unofficially moved out; most of his things were gone when he'd moved in with Kris, and currently he was living with Zac, but he never actually said he was moving out of the house. He still had a room and a bed and a few of his old clothes that he just didn't wear as often as he used to. Isaac moved out before Zac met Ginger for the first time. It was hard to imagine that Jess was the oldest kid in the house, now seventeen, but then again it was hard to imagine Jess as anything older than twelve.
Zac stepped up to the front door and stopped. "Should I knock or should I go right in?"
"They are expecting us," Taylor said.
"But we don't necessarily live here anymore."
"Just go inside. It's still home."
Zac opened the door and went inside. "Hello?" he called out. "Is anyone home?" It was a stupid question because he could hear people talking. Diana came into view. "Hi Mom."
"Oh, boys! It's so good to see you two together," Diana said, running over and giving Taylor a hug first. She turned to Zac and her eyes lit up. "Is this Jenny?"
"Yes, Ma, this is Jennifer Kristina," Zac said. Diana took Jenny from Zac and looked like she was ready to cry. "Oh, jeez, Ma." Zac turned around to find the driver bringing in the bags. "Thanks Charlie." Zac tipped him and nodded to Taylor.
"I'm not your slave!" Taylor said. "Take your own damn bags."
"Don't swear around my kid!" Taylor groaned. Zac always used that excuse when he was trying to get out of a conversation. Taylor reluctantly took the bags upstairs while Zac walked deeper into the house with Diana who was carrying Jenny. Jessica was sitting in the kitchen with a magazine and when she looked up, her eyes grew.
"Oh my God, is that Jenny?" she asked.
"I'm here too," Zac said. Jessica ignored him as she took Jenny from Diana.
"Oh she is so adorable!" she said, sitting down. "No wonder, she doesn't look like Zac at all." Zac gave her a look. "Sorry, Zac, but it's true."
"Yes, I noticed that," Diana said.
"Don't even," Zac warned. "Can I have my daughter back, please?"
"Oh, all right," Jessica said. Zac took his daughter back.
"I'm going upstairs," Zac said. "Where is everybody else?"
"Your brother took Mackenzie and Zo� out and Avery is out with her boyfriend," Diana explained. "Your father is around somewhere, but good luck finding him."
"Is Avery still with that guy she was with before?" Zac asked. Diana laughed.
"Oh, no, Zac. Avery's just as bad as Taylor." Zac's face fell.
"She's not exactly like Taylor, is she?" he asked.
"No, of course not."
"Good," Zac said. " 'Cause I was about to kick some serious ass. Anyway, I'm going upstairs." Zac turned around, adjusting Jenny in his arms, and headed back to the stairs. The house hadn't changed much. There were some new trinkets here and there, but that was it. He walked up the stairs and found this floor was completely different. With all three older brothers gone now, the floor was prominently female and it showed. Jess took over Zac's room and Taylor's room remained how he left it, but the other twin bed was shoved in there to convert it into a guest room.
Zac walked into Taylor's room to find him looking around. "Hey Taylor," Zac said. Taylor looked over, an unhappy look on his face. Taylor was the only person Zac knew who smiled when he was unhappy, but that was just a force of habit.
"Hi Zac," Taylor said. "They didn't do much, but they did change the hell out of my room."
"Well, Tay, it's a guest room now."
"I know," Taylor said, sitting down. "It's just kind of weird now. I'm just visiting. I'm not living here anymore. They kind of made the decision for me."
"Oh, come on, it's not like you were coming back, Taylor. You lived with Kris, now you're living with me, and once February comes you and Kris are getting your own house so it's not like you really were ever going to live here again." Taylor sighed and Zac sat down next to him. "Everything's different now, Taylor. We're both engaged, I have a kid, Avery's taken over your whoredom and Jess is almost eighteen. Everybody's getting older."
"I know," Taylor said. "How's Jenny doing?"
"She's exhausted. She's had a big day and she hasn't even met everybody yet." Zac looked down at his daughter who let out a big yawn. "I should put her down. It is time for her nap."
"Too bad she's still on Pacific time," Taylor said. Zac shrugged. "She'll get used to it, though." Zac stood up again and he heard the sound of the garage door opening. "Who's that?"
"Um, apparently Ike took Mackenzie and Zo� out for�something."
"So Isaac's here?" Zac shrugged.
"Guess so."
"Let's just hope he doesn't come up here."
"Let's just hope the kids don't wake Jenny up." Taylor nodded. Zac put Jenny down on the bed. She had fallen asleep already in his arms and stayed asleep as he covered her tiny body with a blanket. He shifted the pillows around her; just in case she rolled over she wouldn't roll off the bed. "All right, she's gone." As soon as he said it, Zo� ran down the hall screaming as Mackenzie ran after her. Zac went into the hallway. "Hey! Hey! Keep it down!" Both of them stopped.
"Since when did you become such a father figure?" Mackenzie asked. Zac looked at him, surprised. The boy had gotten much older over the past year.
"Maybe since I became a father," Zac said. "Jenny's asleep and it would be nice if she stayed that way. Keep the volume down."
"Hey Mack, you�" Zac looked over and Isaac had just walked up the stairs. He took one look at Zac and turned around, walking back down the stairs without finishing his sentence.
"No, Ike, wait," Zac said. He ran after Isaac, who was just about to go out the front door when Zac popped up in front of him. "Ike, I'm sorry."
"Get the fuck out of my way, Zac."
"No, I want to talk about this." There was a loud crash upstairs and in a moment Zac heard Jenny crying. "Dammit�"
"Go back upstairs," Isaac said. "Your bastard child is yelling for you." Zac stiffened and Isaac tried to brush past him. Zac grabbed him and held him by the collar against the door.
"Listen to me, Isaac," Zac sneered, "I don't judge the way you live your life so don't judge mine. I'm sorry if I'm more successful than you and I'm sorry if I ruined the only good thing you had going in your life, but that's your fault, not mine. You knew it was coming so you should have been prepared for it."
"Let go of me!"
"No, you listen! Jenny is the best thing that ever happened to me, so if you can't show some respect for her, then I don't want you around! I don't want to apologize to you. I don't fuck with your life anymore, so don't fuck with mine." Zac let go of him. "Get the hell out of here." Without another word, Zac turned around and ran back up the stairs to the bedroom where Jenny was still screaming.