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“What are you doing back so early?” asked Melody.  The look on Nick’s face answered the question.  “Was it very bad?” she asked.

Nick shrugged and grimaced.  “Yeah, it was pretty strained.  I had to get out before I made it worse by losing my cool.  I told them we had rehearsals…for the Japan leg…a new song…”

“Well, we do,” said Melody.  “I talked to Stevie Ray.  It’s all arranged.  We can use Pineapple Ranch during the daytime.  But he isn’t expecting us until next week.”  She gave Nick a sexy look.  “What will we do until then?”

“I want to meet your family.”

This was not the response Melody was expecting.  Nor was it one she wanted.

“Is there any way?  I mean, I know you’ve done the Christmas thing and all, but…”

Melody sighed.  “Actually, you’re in luck.  We’re having a family dinner tonight.  It’s Louise’s birthday.  We always have to make a big deal of it, because she felt ripped off when she was a kid.  Her birthday was so close to Christmas that it never got noticed.”

“That’s great, then.”

“Nick…”

“Don’t start, Mel.  I’ll make all the promises up front.”  Nick started ticking points off on his fingers.  “I won’t let on that we’re together.  I won’t touch you.  I won’t kiss you.  I won’t jump up in the middle of the dining room table and declare my love for you…”  He stopped.  It was the first time the ‘L’ word had been mentioned between them.

“Oh, you’re silly…” said Melody, and they both got very busy talking about inconsequential things.  After a few minutes, Melody suggested that Nick go home - he had come straight to her from the airport - and then come back and pick her up for the ‘ordeal’, as she called it.

Nick pulled her down onto his lap on the sofa.  They kissed tenderly. 

“I’m not going to make love to you right now,” said Nick, “although I want to very much.  But I want to show you that there’s more to us than that.”

After some more kissing, Melody answered him.  “You are not going to make love to me right now because my mother would spot it the second we came through the door!”

They both laughed.  Nick lifted her off him and stood up.  One more gentle kiss and he walked to the door.

“And wear a long-sleeved shirt, Tattoo Boy!” said Melody to his back.

Nick turned.  “Skinny black tank top it is, Bossy Girl!”  He gave her a lop-sided grin that made her heart leap. 

Melody closed the door behind him.  She leaned back against it.  She crossed her arms and hugged herself.  Never mind Rafe.  Never mind the media.  Never mind the voracious Nick-hungry fans.  They were about to run the toughest gauntlet…Elizabeth Jones!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Stop!  Stop!” cried Mart.  “I’m going to hurt myself laughing.”  She brushed tears from her cheeks.

Melody laughed.  “Hey, we both survived, relatively unscathed…”

They arrived at the house around six.  Melody couldn’t decide if she should call ahead and warn the family or just jump into the fire all at once.  To warn them would give them time to adjust to the idea, especially Chrissy, but it would also give them time to wonder why he was coming, why they needed warning, etc.  They would have questions prepared.  To just spring him on them was to invite confusion and hysteria (Chrissy again!) and embarrassing silences all around.  Melody decided to go for the silences rather than the inquisition.

They walked into the front hallway. 

“Hi, Mom!” called out Melody.  “I’m here, and I’ve brought someone.”

“That’s lovely, Dear,” called out Elizabeth from the kitchen.  “I’ll be right out.  I’m just…”  She appeared in the doorway, wiping her hands on her apron.  “…putting the finishing touches on the cake.”

“Mom, I’d like you to meet…my boss…Nick Carter.” 

It sounded stupid, even to Melody.  And her mother’s eyebrows let her know that it was indeed a stupid thing to say.  Melody resolved to think up something better for the rest of them. 

“Nick, this is my mother, Elizabeth Jones.”

“Pleased to meet you, Ma’am,” said Nick, extending a hand.

“It’s nice to meet you too,” said Elizabeth, graciously.  “Come in, come in.” 

Melody’s mother ushered them through a wide archway into the living room and made fussy noises until all three were seated with glasses of cranberry punch in their hand.  Then she proceeded to fill every statement she made with double entendres. 

Melody was sure it was completely accidental and that she and Nick were just overreacting because they had…well, she didn’t think ‘guilty conscience’ quite described it, but…  After the fifth or sixth one, however, Melody began to wonder if it was deliberate.

“So, Melody works under you, then, does she, Mr. Carter?”

Nick was happy he didn’t have a mouthful of punch at that moment.  “Please…call me Nick.  We work together.  She plays.  I sing.  It’s a good arrangement.”

“Yes, Melody is very talented.”  Elizabeth turned a proud mama smile on her baby. Then she turned back to Nick.  “It must be exciting when she plays with you.” 

Nick carefully set his glass down on the table, moving it and the coaster under it slightly out of his reach.  He didn’t want to knock it over.  He took a deep breath and answered.  “Yes, the fans love her.”  He could see Mel on the other side of her mother.  Her eyes were bugging out of her head.  She was biting her lip. 

When Elizabeth turned back to her daughter, Nick gave Mel a wide-eyed glance.  Help me out here!

“The whole group is good, Mom,” said Melody, and she began to tell a funny story about Tofu.

“Hmmph,” sniffed Elizabeth.  “Tofu!  What a silly name!  And a vegetarian!  What’s wrong with meat?!  Good old red-blooded American meat!  Do you eat meat, Mr…Nick?  I know Melody does.  She likes all kinds of meat…steak, hamburger…”

If she says ‘sausage’ thought Nick, I’m running from the room and never coming back.

“And she doesn’t have to worry about it making her fat either.   Nothing makes her fat.  You can give her all the meat you want…”

“Settle down, Mom,” laughed Melody, nervously.  “She gets like this,” she added to Nick.  “So, Mom, what kind of meat are we having tonight?”

“Well, I don’t know about you, but I’m having ham,” retorted her mother.

The doorbell saved them.  The rest of the family had arrived.  Louise always rang the doorbell.  If the door had been standing wide open, Louise would have rung the doorbell.  Elizabeth went to the door.

“Come in, come in.  Happy Birthday, Dear!  Melody’s already here.  She brought a guest…a young man.”  The last was said in a loud stage whisper. 

Melody and Nick looked at each other in the living room.  “Brace yourself…Boss,” whispered Melody.

Nick rose to his feet as the bodies started pouring through the doorway.  Melody stood up too and performed the introductions.  “Ben, I’d like you to meet…Nick Carter.  Nick, this is my brother Ben…”

Handshakes and muttered greetings.

“…and this is my sister-in-law Louise…”

“Pleased to meet you.  Happy Birthday,” said Nick. 

Louise smiled crisply and nodded her thanks.

“And this is Ben Jr.  Ben-two.” 

Another handshake.  And then touched fists.

“…and this is…” 

Melody looked around.  Chrissy was not in the room.  She was in the hallway backed up against the far wall with her hands over her mouth.  Everyone turned to look at her.  Louise made a tsking sound and rolled her eyes.  Ben-two snorted.  Her father said, “Chrissy?  You okay?”

“Excuse me,” said Nick, stepping around the others.  He walked slowly to the doorway.  “You must be Chrissy,” he said softly.  “Your Aunt Mel has told me all about you.”  He ducked his head shyly.  “She says you’re a fan.”

Chrissy nodded and choked out a gasping sob.  Tears flowed down her cheeks.

Nick opened his arms, and she fell into them, soaking his shirt with her tears.  “I…never… thought… I’d…get…to…meet…you…” she choked out, one gasp at a time. 

Nick rubbed her back and held her until she calmed down.  In the living room, Louise had a look on her face like she’d just smelled something really bad.  Ben and Melody exchanged amused glances.  Ben-Two snorted again.  Girls! 

Elizabeth took charge.  She grabbed the box of tissues from the corner table and headed to the hall.  “Let go of Auntie Mel’s young man, Chrissy…and blow your nose!”

Nick released Chrissy, and she stepped reluctantly away.  “Thanks, Grandma,” she said, taking a tissue and swiping at her nose.  “I’m sorry, Nick.”  She said it in the tiniest of voices.

“It’s okay,” he said with a smile.  He motioned with his head to the living room and she went in.  He followed her, and they all prepared to deal with the phrase ‘Auntie Mel’s young man’.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“So?” said Mart.  “How did you deal with it?”

“It actually wasn’t all that hard.  Because let’s face it, it never crossed anyone’s mind that it would be anything other than innocent, given that I’m so much older.”

The conversation was stilted in the beginning.  Chrissy went to the bathroom to wipe away the tears and blow her nose in private.  She returned to the living room wearing bright red lipstick, which prompted her mother to send her right back to the bathroom to “wipe that mess off”.  A look from Auntie Mel stifled the protest rising in Chrissy’s throat, and she retreated.  Nick pretended that he hadn’t witnessed any of it and asked Ben about his job.

Ben said that he was an accountant – nothing fancy, just a number-cruncher.  Louise sniffed that he shouldn’t put himself down…there was nothing wrong with being an accountant…it was an honorable profession.  Ben shrugged and said that was true, but his clients didn’t throw their arms around him and cry.

“I bet they do if you get them a big tax refund,” said Nick.  Ben laughed heartily, and the ice was broken.

A few minutes later, Louise was presented with her gifts, and then they had dinner – ham and scalloped potatoes…Louise’s favorite.

“So why are you here?” Louise asked Nick at one point.  It sounded rude and intrusive even to her, and she backtracked immediately.  “I mean…your family is in Florida, isn’t it?”  Chrissy and Melody exchanged a glance.  Wow!  Maybe Louise had been paying attention!

“I was there for awhile…over Christmas,” said Nick.  “But I have a place here…and we’re going to start rehearsing for the next part of the tour…Japan.”

“I’ve always wanted to go to Japan,” said Ben.

“It’s one of my favorite places,” said Nick, and that topic carried the conversation to dessert.

After cake and ice cream, Elizabeth wondered aloud if the dish fairies had worked their magic, and the women all trooped off to the kitchen.  When they returned to the living room, Melody announced that they had to go, Nick had another engagement to get to.  Goodbyes and nice-meeting-you’s were said all around.  Elizabeth pressed a plastic container on Nick with another piece of cake in it and the two beat a hasty retreat.

“So there you go,” said Mart.  “You made it, and no one noticed anything.”

“Well, one person noticed something…”

“Yeah, who was that?”

“Who else?” sighed Melody.  “My mother.”