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Chapter 40

“Wow, this is old-school,” Nick commented, turning up the volume on the radio until Eminem’s “Cleaning Out My Closet” blared from the Escalade’s speakers.

Claire giggled. “I love how three years ago is ‘old-school’ now.”

“Only three years? Wow…” Nick shook his head; it seemed like so much longer. Then again, he supposed anything from three years ago would seem like ancient history, for that was the “before” time – before he got cancer… before he lost his leg… before Claire was in his life. Though it had only been two-and-a-half years, he could hardly remember a time when he had not worried about his health, living in fear that the cancer would come back… when he had been able to hop right out of bed in the morning and run effortlessly down the stairs… when he had not loved Claire. These last two years had seemed like an eternity and the time before that, a distant past life.

Nick shook his head again, forcing himself to focus on the road in front of him and the music in his ears. “I’m sorry Mama,” he sang along under his breath, “I never meant to hurt you… I never meant to make you cry, but tonight I’m cleaning out my closet…” Suddenly, he stopped, reminded of something. “Brian asked if I was going to take you to meet my family while we were out here,” he said, adding a mirthless chuckle, as if the idea were preposterous.

“Oh, that’s right, your family lives around here, don’t they?” asked Claire.

“Yeah.”

“Well… so are you?”

“No,” was Nick’s flat reply.

Claire was quiet for a moment. Then she said, “I’d like to meet them sometime. I mean, we are getting married…”

“So?”

“So… they’re your family, Nick. They’ll be my in-laws. Aren’t you going to invite them to the wedding?”

Nick just shrugged. He didn’t expect her to understand. Claire came from a good family – she had nice parents and a brother who would do anything for her, and she was very close to all three of them. There was no way she could understand. Deep down, he loved his family, he really did… but fame had ruined the Carters. His parents were still together, but his family had been broken for years – the music business had torn them apart. He hardly ever saw his siblings anymore, he rarely got to talk to his father, and his mother… well, he hadn’t seen nor spoken to her in almost a year and a half. There was no way he wanted her at his wedding.

“I’m sorry,” Claire said softly, when she realized he wasn’t going to answer. “I know about you and your mom. I just thought maybe you’d want to see the others. Your dad and your sisters… and Aaron, I didn’t get to meet him when he was in Tampa last year, remember.”

Nick sighed. “I know…”

“What if you called first, and we went over when your mom wasn’t there?”

Nick shrugged, the wheels in his mind slowly turning. It could work… tomorrow was Sunday, and there were no meetings or anything scheduled, nowhere he had to be. His parents’ house wasn’t too far of a drive from their hotel. If he could just assure that his mother wasn’t going to be there, he could drop by, have a quick visit with the rest of the family, and leave without having to confront her. Hell, he could even pick up the kids and take them out somewhere for awhile… Jane would never even know until it was too late.

“Nick?”

Nick blinked. “Uh… well… yeah, I guess that’s a possibility. You want to?”

“Sure. But only if you do. I don’t want to put you in an uncomfortable situation, so if you think it’s going to be too awkward-“

“Oh, it’ll be awkward alright,” said Nick, “but don’t worry about me. I’m more worried about you.”

Claire laughed, a nervous chuckle. “About me? Why?”

Nick shook his head. “You don’t know my family.”

***

Claire nervously smoothed the denim of her jean skirt and checked to make sure it hadn’t twisted the wrong way on her hips. She hated wearing skirts, but she’d wanted to look nice when she met Nick’s family for the first time. He’d assured her there was no need, but she’d insisted on the skirt anyway, pairing it with a simple, fitted, light green top and brown leather sandals. She tapped her toes against the soles of her sandals as Nick reached out and pushed the doorbell. She heard the muffled bell ring inside the large, showy house and looked over at Nick, sucking in a deep breath. Why am I so nervous? she wondered. It was not like her to be this apprehensive about meeting new people, but she supposed this was different. Anyone would be nervous about meeting their future in-laws for the first time, she reasoned. And the way Nick spoke about his family didn’t make things any easier.

At least his mom won’t be here, she thought with relief. Nick had called his brother Aaron earlier that morning from the hotel to find out that Jane had taken his sister Leslie shopping.

“Knowing them, they’ll be gone all day,” Nick had repeated Aaron’s words.

Claire was sorry she wouldn’t be meeting Leslie this time, but she couldn’t help but feel glad that they could drop by without running into Nick’s mother. She’d met Jane Carter once, briefly, over two years ago, when Nick was in the hospital with pneumonia. All she really remembered about the woman was the look she’d received from her – a look of disapproval; that was the only word for it. It was a look that had made her feel awkward and unworthy, as if this woman did not consider her fit to be friends with her son. Who knew what she would think now, two years later, when she found out they were engaged.

According to Nick, it didn’t matter, and that thought brought her some comfort, though she couldn’t help but feel sorry that he and his mom were so estranged. She’d always thought it was horrible that he’d gone through so much on his own, without the support of his family. Then again, their situation was complicated, and even she did not fully understand it. Nick didn’t like to talk about it. She was actually surprised she’d gotten him to agree to this visit.

Even he seemed a little edgy, she realized, noticing the way he kept licking his lips and running his hand over his hair as they waited for someone to come to the door. She didn’t really blame him, considering he hadn’t seen much of his family in the past year.

Impatient, Nick reached out and punched the doorbell again, then dropped his hand to his side, jamming his fingers through the hammer loop on the side of his cargo shorts. The shorts were an interesting choice, Claire thought. Nick wore shorts all the time around the house, but never in public, not even in the sticky Florida heat. These shorts were baggy and long, but did not hide his artificial leg. She wondered if he’d worn them on purpose, for that very reason, but she hadn’t asked. Maybe he wanted to be upfront with his family about it; maybe he just didn’t care anymore. Either way, it wasn’t really her business.

They heard footsteps inside the house at the same time, and Nick reached for her hand just as the front door flew open. There stood a lanky, blonde teenager she recognized as Aaron Carter. She’d seen pictures and video clips of him before, both at Nick’s house and on TV, but he was a lot taller and more mature-looking than she’d expected. A wide grin stretched across his thin face, lighting up a pair of large, dark brown eyes, and he exclaimed a short, “Hey!” before practically pouncing on Nick, pulling his older brother into a big hug. Nick’s hand was torn out of Claire’s, but she simply smiled and stepped back, letting the two brothers have their moment. It was obvious Aaron had missed Nick, and she knew Nick had missed Aaron too. Seeing them hug like that made her glad she and Nick had come.

“How’s it goin’, bro?” Aaron asked as he pulled his face out of Nick’s neck and stepped back.

“It’s goin’ good,” Nick responded with a nod and a smile in Claire’s direction. “Aaron, I want you to meet Claire Ryan. Claire, my little brother Aaron.”

“Good to meet ya,” said Aaron in a friendly voice, offering Claire his hand and a smile. He didn’t look that much like Nick, although you could tell they were brothers. But when he spoke, his voice sounded just like Nick’s, and he had all the same mannerisms too.

Cute, she thought, returning his smile. “You too,” she replied with sincerity and shook his hand warmly. “I was out of town last time you visited Nick in Florida, so I’m glad I get to finally meet you.”

Aaron nodded and stepped back inside, holding the door open for them to come in. “Angel’s in her room, probably doing her hair or something, and dad’s out back cleaning the pool,” Aaron explained as he followed them into a large foyer, closing the door behind him.

“Did you tell them we were coming?” asked Nick, while Claire looked around. The interior of the house was richly-decorated, although slightly cluttered. You could tell a family lived there – shoes were heaped in a pile near the door, a stray t-shirt had been draped over the back of a chair, and the tiled floor seemed to be strewn with a fine layer of sand that gritted beneath Claire’s sandals. Strains of muffled rock music drifted from the back of the house, and the familiar smell of dog permeated the air.

“Yeah, they know. Probably just no one heard the doorbell. I’ll go get ‘em.” He trotted off, leaving Nick and Claire standing alone in the foyer.

“Come on, let’s go sit down,” said Nick, taking Claire’s hand once again and leading her into the living room. “Sorry for the mess,” he added apologetically, making a face as he looked around the room. Claire followed his line of sight and noticed the disorderly spread of magazines and tabloids on the coffee table, the empty glasses and soda cans that occupied nearly every surface, the dog hair clinging to the furniture…

“Not your mess,” she replied with a shrug.

“Guess their cleaning lady hasn’t been by in awhile.” She could tell he was embarrassed and thought it was sort of funny. After the way he’d gone on about how awkward this visit was going to be and how she didn’t know his family – making it sound as if she didn’t want to know his family – he seemed to be more concerned about the dirty house than his family members themselves.

“It’s okay,” she said with a chuckle. She wasn’t the neatest person in the world either – and ironically enough, neither was he. Nothing to be worried about; a little mess wasn’t going to scare her away. “Aaron sounds just like you, you know,” she commented as she took a seat on the sofa, trying to change to subject. “Does he sound like you when he sings too?”

Nick smiled in a proud big brother sort of way. “Yeah, he’s starting to, now that his voice has changed. The kid’s got talent.”

“You’ll have to play some of his stuff for me when we get home,” she said, realizing she didn’t really know any Aaron Carter songs. She vaguely remembered flipping past some of his music videos on Nickelodeon or Disney, one of those channels, but she’d never actually listened to any of his music. Cheesy bubblegum pop or not, she supposed she should give it a chance, now that he was going to be her brother-in-law…

Aaron returned with his father and sister in tow, and Claire sat up straighter, anxious to meet them. Mr. Carter was tall, with bleached blonde hair and tan, weathered skin. He only glanced at Claire briefly before shifting his eyes to Nick. “Nick… hi,” he said, looking as if he wanted to say so much more.

“Hey, Dad,” replied Nick and stood up. He crossed the living room to meet his father, and the two men hugged tightly. When Bob Carter released his son, he looked him up and down, his eyes lingering on Nick’s silver prosthetic leg. He opened his mouth, closed it again, looked up, and then asked, “How are you doing, son?” Standard small talk, but Claire knew it meant so much more than that.

“Good,” was all Nick said, but the meaningful nod that accompanied his response made that one word give Bob all the answers he was looking for.

“I’m glad you decided to drop by. We have a lot to catch up on.”

Nick nodded again and glanced at Claire. “Dad, this is my girlfriend, Claire Ryan.”

Claire rose to her feet and accepted Bob’s outstretched hand. “Bob Carter,” he introduced himself as he shook her hand. “Nice to meet you.”

“Nice to meet you too,” Claire echoed. Then she looked past Bob and Nick to the girl she had assumed to be Angel, who hung back in the threshold of the room with Aaron.

“Hey, Ang,” Nick said simply, holding out his arms in anticipation of a hug. Seeming almost reluctant, Angel finally came forward and hugged Nick gingerly. He pulled her close to him, wrapping her slender frame into a tight, brotherly hug. “It’s been awhile, huh kid?” he said as he let her go.

Angel smiled wryly. “You can say that again,” she replied, her eyes taking the familiar plunge to his artificial leg. It was sort of amusing, the way everyone did that when they saw Nick for the first time since the amputation. Claire had noticed it, and no doubt Nick had too. She wondered if it annoyed him. Probably a little, but she figured he was used to it by now. After all, it was human nature.

Nick introduced Claire and Angel, and the two of them exchanged the standard “hello”s and “nice to meet you”s. Nick’s youngest sister was beautiful, with a model’s figure and a long mane of shiny, dark hair that distinguished her from her blonde brothers. She had the same brown eyes as Aaron, but while Aaron’s were filled with joy at seeing his brother, Angel’s looked troubled.

“So how ya been?” Nick asked his sister.

Angel hesitated before answering and then shook her head. “Can we not do this, please?” she demanded.

“Do what?”

The teenager rolled her eyes. “Make stupid small talk. Pretend it hasn’t been, like, a year since we’ve seen each other. Pretend nothing major has happened in that year. I mean, seriously!”

Well said, thought Claire, smiling in her direction. But Angel’s dark eyes were fixed on her older brother, her forehead creased with frown lines, her jaw set.

Nick chuckled. “Yeah… sorry. You’re right. There’s no point in pretending.”

An awkward silence fell over the estranged family, and suddenly, Claire felt very out of place, as if she did not belong there. What had she been thinking, coming with Nick to visit his family? She knew he hadn’t seen most of them since his last falling out with his mother, in the few days right before he lost his leg. They had a lot to talk about, a lot to come to terms with. Nick’s fiancée or not, this was none of her business.

“Come on, kids, let’s, uh… let’s all sit down, okay?” Bob spoke up, taking a seat in an overstuffed chair. Angel reluctantly took another chair, while Aaron simply plopped down on the lush carpet, stretching his long legs out in front of him. Nick returned to the couch, bringing Claire with him.

“I don’t know if I should be here,” she whispered to him as they sat down side by side.

“You’re fine,” he murmured quickly, covering her hand with his and lacing his fingers through hers.

Once everyone was situated, the silence returned. The tension that had filled the room felt thick enough to cut with a knife, and it seemed no one knew quite what to say or do. It was driving Claire nuts, but she kept her mouth shut and waited for someone else to speak first. She was staying out of this one.

***