Thirty-Seven

~ Nassau, NY… Concert 10 & 11 ~

"Kel?" Nick asked quietly as he walked into the dressing room where I’d been sitting alone digging through the proofs of pictures I’d taken on the tour so far marking the back with notes and ideas.

"Hey sweetie, what’s up?"

"Nuthin’ I’m just bored. Can I bug you?"

"Sure, come clear a spot and sit with me, you can get the first glance at these…"

He smiled and sat down next to me on the small couch taking a pile of pictures and letting them sit in his lap. "Oh wow…"

"What?"

"These are good…"

I chuckled, "Well I should hope so, you Boys are playing a lot of money for me to take those." I nudged his arm with mine and smiled. He smiled too, but not nearly as much as he normally would have. I watched him looking through the pictures for a moment wondering what was going through his mind and then looked back down to the pictures in my hand. We gazed at pictures silently and then I chuckled, "I was waiting to find these…from the hotel the other morning…" Nick looked up and watched as I flipped through the pictures. "Wow…"

"What?"

"Well to quote you, ‘These are good…’ You’ve got a great eye…"

He sighed and looked back down to his pile of pictures, "Yeah right…"

"I’m serious. Don’t ‘yeah right’ me…"

"Sorry…" he mumbled and kept looking at pictures and looked at my notes on the back. "What’s all this stuff on the back mean?"

"It’s the roll, the exposure, the city and who the picture is of. And their titles. I keep track of all of them by roll and city so that I can find them easier when I need them. I’ve got a program that I’ll put all of that into on my laptop and it’ll sort them any way I want it to. If I want all of the pictures of you and Howie, I type in a code and it’ll show me where I need to look. Now back to these pictures… I mean it, they’re really good." He sighed again. "Why do you keep sighing? Is it against the rules for me to say anything nice to you today?"

"Yeah…" he said quietly, not looking at me.

"Well tough shit, I don’t follow rules. Look at this one…" I held the picture up for him to see and started pointing things out. "See how the light is coming through the window here? If you’d been any further over to the left or right this picture wouldn’t have come out at all because of the lighting. You picked the perfect spot to take it. And see how it looks soft around the corners? That’s also because of the light and the angle that you took the picture at. You can get the same effect with an expensive ass slide that attaches to the camera, or you can do it like you did." I picked another picture up. "And this one of AJ and Brian…you didn’t just stand up to take this one. I can tell because of the angle. You got down on your knees didn’t you?" Nick nodded and I did too, "Exactly. Most people would have taken that picture from a standing position and looked down to take the picture, but you didn’t. You got down to their level and made sure that you got the whole couch while you were at it. You framed it. Then this one… you took the same perspective and zoomed. Perfect for a book like I’m doing. I can show the wide shot, and then the close up without having to distort the original picture by blowing it up." I went through the rest of the pictures that he’d taken and explained what was good about each of them as he sat quietly and listened while chewing on his thumbnail. "When I say that someone has a good eye, I don’t bullshit." I handed the pictures to him and he took them and started flipping through them thinking about what I’d said about each one.

"They’re not bad huh?"

"Not bad at all…"

"Thanks…"

"Thank you for taking them while I slept…"

I went back to sorting through pictures making my marks on the back and would hand them to Nick as I finished with them and he’d stick them into the pile. We made it through three rolls of film before either of us spoke again. "My brother is in New York this week too."

Bingo. I knew he’d eventually spill it. "Oh yeah?"

"Yeah… He’s got a few appearances to do today and then I guess he and my mom are hanging out for the rest of the week."

I didn’t want to ask but I had to, "They coming to the show tomorrow then?"

"Naw…" his voice was quiet again, I waited. "Aaron wants to come, but my mother doesn’t want to make the drive. Says it’s too far." I’ve always loathed that woman. "Too far to drive so that she can see her own son and I can see my brother who I haven’t seen since Christmas? That’s bullshit…"

I nodded and put the pictures I was holding down in my lap, "Yeah it is…"

"She told me herself that they don’t have anything to do after today. They’re just going to sit around the hotel and maybe sightsee a little bit. But she can’t drive two and a half, maybe three hours to come see me. It’s not like she’d even have to do the driving…" I didn’t know what to say. Well, what to say that would help at least. I could have ranted and raved about what a bitch Jane was, but I didn’t think it would help. "She’s such a bitch!" Or then again, maybe it would.

"I’ve never been too fond of her…"

He laughed, "I know…"

I smiled, "She doesn’t exactly love me either though…"

"Nah… she likes you, she’s just that way…"

"What about Aaron coming out by himself? Would she let him do that?"

He shrugged, "Didn’t ask…"

"You know the number of where they are?"

"Yeah…"

I pulled out my phone, "Dial for me…" I smiled holding out my phone to him.

"Wha… naw, Kel, I…"

"Dial…" I persisted shoving the phone toward him. "I want to talk to Mini You… haven’t talked to him in a long time…"

He hesitantly took the phone and dialed looking up at me every so often then handed the phone back to me. "That’s his cell phone…"

"Cool… even better," I smiled as I listened to the phone ringing. Aaron’s voice mail picked up and I laughed at his message which was he and Nick goofing off together, "Hey sweet little blonde thing…this is your big sister Kel… you know, the one who you never call anymore? Hey short stuff… yeah I know you’re taller than me now, but you’ll always be short stuff to me… anyway, I wanted to ask you a question so call me back on my cell tonight okay? Love you, baby!" I told him my number and hung up and smiled at Nick. "Cute voice mail message you two made…"

"Yeah that was at Christmas…" he smiled wistfully. I smiled supportively and kissed his cheek and he laughed, "What was that for?"

I shrugged, "Just thought you needed it."

He smiled, "Thanks…"

~~~~~

One thing that anyone knows about me is that once I’m on a mission… I’m really on a mission. I don’t give up, and I don’t take no for an answer. Cheering Nick up that day in New York was no exception. I knew exactly what I wanted to do, and didn’t care what I had to do in order to make it happen. Including taking a rental car in the middle of the night into the city to pick up a blonde kid named Aaron and turning around and driving back in order to surprise his big brother.

I left as soon as we made it back to the hotel after the concert and made it into the city by 1:30 in the morning. Pumped up on caffeine and the adrenaline from knowing how happy Nick would be seeing Aaron I pulled into the city with a grin on my face. I was home. I hadn’t been in My City in so long it seemed, but as soon as I was there it was like I’d never left. I navigated my way expertly to the hotel that Aaron was staying in, and parked in the underground garage.

Getting Jane to agree to let me take Aaron wasn’t as hard as I’d expected it to be. Apparently it wasn’t that she wanted to keep Aaron away from Nick, she just didn’t want to get off of her lazy ass and make the trip herself. As soon as I’d offered over the phone to personally pick up and drop off Aaron she agreed. Stupid bitch probably liked the idea of not having her kid around anyway… I so didn’t enjoy that woman.

She was sound asleep when I got to the hotel and Aaron let me into the suite jumping into my arms for a hug. "Oh my god you’re huge! Holy shit you’ve grown so much!"

"Well it’s been a while…" Aaron laughed.

I smiled and messed up his hair and hugged him again, "Way too long, hi sweetie…"

"Hi…"

"Where’s the She Beast?" I whispered and Aaron laughed.

"Asleep. I have strict orders not to wake her up either. I’m just supposed to go with you and call her tomorrow… Let’s go…"Aaron picked up his bags and pushed me out of the door.

"You know, honey… your mom is possibly the strangest woman I’ve ever known…"

Aaron nodded and smiled his beautiful smile, "Me too…"

Stopping for more caffeine and a late night snack Aaron and I hit the road back to Nassau and made up for lost time along the way. We laughed as I told him stories about when Nick was his age and we reminisced about the things we’d done together when he was just a little guy hanging around his big brothers.

I’d always loved Aaron. Just like Nick, he often was misinterpreted as a pain in the ass, but the truth was that they were just so smart that they got bored, and to keep themselves occupied, they messed around. Aaron was an amazingly smart kid, and his talent was no fluke. He wasn’t just "Nick Carter’s Little Brother" he had the talent gene.

Aaron filled me in on everything that was happening with him, and we even listened to his CD and sang along together. Probably forty minutes before we got back to our hotel he fell asleep with his head resting against the window and I smiled. He looked so much like Nick it was crazy. If his eyes had been blue instead of brown, the similarities would have been even more frightening. I imagined the smile on not only Nick’s face when he saw Aaron, but also Aaron’s when he saw Nick. They truly loved each other so much, it was a shame they didn’t get to spend more time together.

Because it was so late when we got back to the hotel, we figured we’d wait until morning to spring Aaron on Nick. He sleepily followed me back to my and AJ’s suite and crashed on the couch not bothering to pull it out, while I crawled into bed fully clothed with AJ and promptly passed out.

The next morning I woke up to giggling. Boys giggling. I got up and walked into the sitting area of the suite and found AJ and Aaron watching cartoons and laughing. I couldn’t help but chuckle at the sight as I ran my fingers through my hair combing it. One thing about short hair, it was a hell of a lot easier to take care of, but it was rather comical in the morning the way that it stood up on end.

"Hey, baby…" AJ smiled and reached his hand out to me.

I took it and sat down on the couch between him and Aaron, "Hey, Kel…"

"Hey boys…" I smiled and reached out for Aaron’s hand. I sat between the two of them holding their hands watching cartoons with my head on AJ’s shoulder. When the cartoon was over I looked at Aaron, "Ready to get your brother?"

The Carter Grin spread across his face, "Yup…"

I picked up the phone and called Nick’s room. He answered with a groggy voice, "What?"

"Honey it’s me… Can you come to my room?"

"What’s wrong?"

I sighed dramatically and winked at Aaron and AJ, "I’m bored…"

AJ and Aaron laughed quietly and I smiled as Nick groaned, "What? It’s 9:00 how can you be bored? Go back to sleep."

"Nicky please…" I whined. "AJ got up and went somewhere with Twangy at the crack of dawn and I couldn’t go back to sleep because he woke me up too. Please, Nicky? At least come here and sleep next to me while I watch TV. I hate being alone in hotels… you know that."

I knew I had him when I heard his sigh, "Alright… I’m on my way, but I’m not promising that I’ll stay awake. Just remember that you said I could go back to sleep."

"Okay… I love you! See you in a few…"

"Yeah…"

Nick hung up the phone and I laughed, "He’s on his way…"

"Should I hide?" Aaron laughed.

"Oooh yeah, and AJ honey, you really have to hide cause you’re not technically supposed to be here. Go into the bathroom. Aaron, honey, go into the bedroom and I‘ll send him in before I go in there okay?" The boys both laughed and ran off to hide as I turned the television off and looked down at myself. I was still in my clothes. "Shit…" I rushed into the bedroom and looked at Aaron, "Close your eyes, I need to put pajamas on…" I got dressed in my pajamas as quickly as I could and then heard the secret knock on the door. "Okay, sweetie, hide…"

I walked to the door and opened it to Nick in his pajamas yawning, "Hi…"

I laughed, "Hi…"

"Bed…"

I laughed again, "Go on in ,honey, I’m going to grab a juice from the fridge, I’ll meet you in there…"

"Mmm kay…" he yawned and I smiled as I watched him walk into our room and listened.

I laughed as I heard Aaron yell at the top of his lungs and jump out at Nick and Nick yelled various obscenities before laughing. With my camera in hand I followed him into the room and snapped pictures as they wrestled on the bed laughing and yelling playfully at each other. AJ stepped out of the bathroom where he too had been watching through the cracked door and joined in on the laughter. Aaron was literally piggy back on Nick when Nick was finally able to sit up and look at me, "How did you do this?"

I smiled and snapped a picture of him and Aaron smiling up at me, "I have special powers…"

Nick stood up and hugged me with Aaron still on his back, "Thank you…"

I smiled and kissed his cheek and then Aaron’s "You’re welcome… anything for my Blondies… now get the hell out of my room don’t you know that people normally sleep at this time or morning?" I giggled. Aaron jumped off of Nick’s back and ran to get his bags and I looked up at Nick. "You’ve got today and all day tomorrow. I’m supposed to take him back on the way to Toronto on Wednesday morning."

"God…" Nick sighed and shook his head. "Thank you so much…"

I pulled him into a hug again and held him tight, "You’re welcome, sweetie. Go have fun with him. He misses you big time."

Nick smiled and nodded, "Yeah… I’ll see you later today… go back to sleep… You must not have had much if you drove all that way last night."

"I’m used to not sleeping…" I shrugged. "But I’m going back to bed as soon as you’re out of here… go on, kiddo." I pushed him toward the sitting room and looked at Aaron, "Don’t forget to call the She Beast or she’ll have my ass okay?"

"I won’t forget!" Aaron laughed.

"She Beast?" Nick chuckled.

"Private joke…" Aaron smiled and I winked at him. "I’ll tell you about it later… come on… Kel needs to sleep." He was pulling at Nick’s arm and Nick was laughing as Aaron dragged him along. Nick looked at me one last time and mouthed the words thank you. I smiled and nodded then gave him a wave as I closed the door behind them as they giggled down the hall.

I turned around with a smile plastered on my face and AJ was watching me with a smile of his own, "You never cease to amaze me you know?"

I rolled my eyes and shook my head, "He’s my friend…"

"Yeah and you barely slept last night and had to deal with ‘The She Beast’ to pick AC up in the middle of the night just so that your friend could spend two days with his little brother… That’s more than most friends would do, baby…"

I grabbed AJ’s hand and pulled him into the bedroom as I crawled onto the bed, "Yeah well then most friends suck. I’d do anything for my true friends and to make them happy. She Beasts or not…"

"You’re amazing…" AJ whispered as he crawled over my body on the bed and looked down at me.

"You’re sexy…" I grinned up at him and made a kissy face at him.

He laughed, "I love you…"

I pulled him down to my body and kissed his lips gently with a whisper, "I love you more…" We made love slowly and then fell asleep for the rest of the morning.