Nick closed the front door after his mother and turned to head for the living room, tapping his cane along the marble hall floor. "Kathy? Are you still in there?" "I'm in my room, Nick, with the pups!" She called back to him. She could hear him coming down the hall, slowly tapping the cane and running his hand along the wall for balance. The dogs barked happily when they saw their master and circled his legs. "Hold on Nick!" Kathy shouted. If he had taken another step the dogs would have made him topple. Nick froze and waited until Kathy told him it was all clear. "The dogs would have knocked you right down, hun." she said, putting her arm around his shoulder as he sat. "Thanks." He smiled gratefully. "Listen, I'm sorry about my mom. She's a pain." Kathy smiled and brushed her hand under his chin. "It's okay. It gave you some time to visit with her." "You mean some time for her to complain about me giving Christina the boot. I don't get her." Nick shook his head. "I just don't get her. First she begs me to dump her because she is a money snatcher and then she is begging me to get her back. Why?" "I think it's me." Kathy said softly. "What do you mean?" Nick reached his hand out and Kathy took it in hers gently. "She doesn't like me Nick. She thinks I am out to get you." "What? That's crazy!" "She...no, never mind, forget I said anything." Kathy almost blurted out the ultimatum that his mother had told her before she stopped herself. "What?" Nick urged Kathy gently. "You can tell me." "No. I don't want you getting upset, it's not healthy."

"What did she say?" Nick demanded. "I want to know." "Nick, no. It was nothing and I don't want you upset." He squeezed her hand tightly in his. "It must be something or else you wouldn't be worried about me getting upset." Kathy considered for a moment and then decided to tell him. "She told me that if she ever saw me acting inappropriately with you I would be fired." Nick was silent for a moment and Kathy watched as he chewed his lower lip, worried that he was going to explode in rage. "Well that is not up to her, is it?" he said thoughtfully, before caressing her hand. "I am paying you and you are my employee, so I make the decisions about whether you are fired or not." "This is true." Kathy agreed. "And my first decision regarding this situation is this..." Nick gently felt for Kathys cheek and bent his head to kiss her softly. "There. My first executive decision. To kiss my nurse, because she is a beautiful and wonderful person." "Nick..." Kathy murmured, embarrassed. Nick kissed her again, quickly. "I could get used to this!" He smiled at her. "You never mind what my mother says. She is showing her true colours now and I'm sick of it." "She is your mother, Nick." Kathy chided gently. "I don't care. I want to get to know you and hopefully have a relationship with you and she is not going to ruin it because she doesn't approve." He quickly stole another kiss before pulling away from her. "I have to stop now, or else I never will!" he laughed. "It's time for lunch anyway." Kathy replied, a little breathless. "And then we should get to work on some reading skills."

Kathy cleared off the table after lunch and pulled some of the braille books out for Nick. "Okay, these are pretty basic Nick, but it's the only way to start." He took one in his hands and opened it, running his fingers over the bumps wonderingly. "I don't think I can do this." "Sure you can. First, the alphabet." Nick grinned. "That's easy! A, B, C, D..." he sang. Kathy burst out laughing. "No, you goon, the braille alphabet." She took his hand and placed it on the first letter. "You have to go slowly and feel all the bumps." Kathy watched as he moved his finger trace over the characters. "That's it." They continued on through the whole alphabet, working for most of the afternoon. Nick stretched his arms over his head when they reached the end. "This is hard." "Nick, it's hard, but you are doing exceptionally well. Do you want to try a book?" He looked at her with raised eyebrows. "Do you think I am ready?" "It's worth a try." She handed him a slim volume. "Go for it." Nick opened the book and placed his fingers on the pages. "T? J? No H. It's H, right? Um....I, and then S." Nick looked up happily. "This? Is that the word?" Kathy clapped her hands together excitedly. "That's it Nick! Keep going!" He ran his fingers over the rest of the words carefully. "This... is... Spot. This is Spot!" "That's it Nick!" Kathy cheered. "I did it!" Nick crowed. "I read it!" "You did it Nick!" They were both yelling and clapping and the dogs jumped up into Nick's lap to see what the commotion was about. "Hey puppies!" Nick hugged them tightly while they squirmed around trying to lick his face. "I did it puppies! Aren't you proud of daddy?" "I know I am." Kathy said quietly. "I'm very proud of you. That is so hard to learn and you picked it up so fast!" "I only read one small sentence." Nick said modestly. "Nick, you honestly have no idea how difficult what you just did was, do you?" He shook his head. "I know it was hard." he admitted. "Very hard!" Kathy smiled. "So hard I think you have done enough for one day. Let's wrap it up for now, okay?" Nick protested but Kathy got him to agree finally. "You don't want to overdo it and get over tired. We'll do more tomorrow."

Kathy placed the books on the shelf and followed Nick into the living room. "Do you want to listen to some music? I can put on MTV or something." Nick agreed and they settled down on the couch to listen and watch. The pugs climbed up and rested on each of their laps. Nick began to pet Willy and placed his other arm around Kathys shoulder. She smiled and snuggled a bit closer to him. "Coming up next...some BSB news." the announcer on the TV blared. "This should be good." Nick smiled. They waited through some commercials for the show to return.

"And here is some great news for Backstreet Boys fans. Our cameras caught the group at the airport in the Bahamas preparing to leave for home this morning, we were able to have a brief chat with group member, Kevin Richardson."

Nick turned to Kathy. "I didn't know they were leaving." "Maybe they wanted to surprise you. Let's listen."

"How is Nick doing, Kevin?"

"Last time we talked he was doing really well, walking on his own and starting to get around. It's going to be a lot of adjustment for him, but we know he can do it."

Nick smiled proudly at that statement.

"What are the plans when you return?"

"Well, we are gonna have a big bash for Nick I think, and then get him into the studio as soon as he is up to it to finish the tracks. Then we will start planning for our next tour."

"How will that work, with Nick not being able to see?"

"Well, Fatima, our choreographer, already has some ideas. Obviously there can't be too many people on stage and he won't be able to dance too much. But it will all work out and Backstreet Boys will still give their fans the type of show they expect from us."

"I'm sure they will all be pleased to hear that."

"I hope so. We want everyone to know that Nick is fine and is still singing with us and touring with us, and I'm sure he would like to thank everyone for the support they have shown him."

"Thank you Kevin. Make sure you bring him down to the studio whenever he is ready. Back to you in the studio."