I arrived back in Orlando after my nine month tour.  I pulled up to the house and saw the house dark.  My husband, Nick, was home. It was nine o’clock.  He always stayed up late when he’s off.  I got out and went into the house and turned on the light.

      “Turn the light off,” I heard Nick say. 

      “Nick,” I said.

      “I’m in the living room,” Nick said.  I went into the dark living room and saw his figure sitting on the couch. 

      “Why are you sitting in the dark?” I asked.

      “I had an accident, baby, I have scars all over my face and I look horrible,” Nick said.  I switched on the light and saw him and my eyes widened.  I looked at the scars.

      “Oh baby, I’m sorry I wasn’t here,” I said.  I turned the light back off.

      “I want to stay in the dark so no one will see me,” Nick said.

      “Not even me, your own wife,” I said.

      “You must think I’m ugly now,” Nick said.

      “No, baby, I’m not with you because of your looks, I’m with you because of who you are on the inside, and because I can’t imagine my life without you in it,” I said.

      “I love you so much,” Nick said.

      “I love you, too, how about I close the shades on every window and door, then we can turn on the lights, I’ll lock up, okay, I want to see all the scars,” I said. 

      “I don’t want to scare you,” Nick said.

      “Nick, you won’t, you can’t scare me,” I said.  I closed up every window and locked every door.  I turned on the lamp beside the couch.

      “How did this happen?” I asked.

      “Car wreck, it was bad, this was the worst of it, the scars,” Nick said. 

      “Show me where all your scars are,” I said.  He pulled off his shirt and I saw a scars on his side and shoulder.  I turned him around and saw nothing on his back.  I pulled his pants off and saw two scars on his legs. 

      “Is this it?” I asked.

      “Yeah, the doctor said that there’s nothing they can do to fix this, I have to stay like this for the rest of my life,” Nick said.  I wrapped my arms around him.

      “I’ll be here with you,” I said.

      “I want you to be,” Nick said.

      “Why didn’t anyone call and tell me,” I said.

      “I didn’t want you to leave the tour, because of me,” Nick said.  I kissed his neck.

      “Nick, you are more important to me than some tour, you are the more important person in my life,” I said.

      “I don’t want to lose you because of this,” Nick said.

      “You won’t, we are together forever, until death do us part, I’m not leaving you, just to go on tour but that’s all, I’m not going to divorce you or get an annulment, I’m with you forever,” I said.   He kissed me deeply.

      “I love you,” Nick said.

      “No matter what you look like, you will always be the sexiest guy ever to me,” I said. 

      “Oh baby, I want you,” Nick said kissing my neck.  He lifted me up.  I wrapped my legs around his waist and wrapped my arms around his neck.  He carried me up to our bedroom and closed the door and locked it.  He laid me on the bed.  He lit a candle and laid on top of me. I pushed his boxers off and he pulled my clothes off.  He laid between my legs and got inside me. Our hips moved together.  He pulled out and slammed back in.  We made love all night. He reached his climax and I was a second behind him. He came and spilled his seed deep inside me.  He pulled out and laid beside me.  I rested my head on his chest.  He held me close to him.  He kissed my forehead.

      “I love you so much,” Nick said.

      “I love you, too, baby,” I said.  We fell asleep holding each other.  

Three months later, I found out that I was pregnant.  I knew I couldn’t tell Nick yet.  I went home to the dark house.  Nick was sitting there watching TV.  I sat down.

      “What did the doctor say?” Nick asked.

      “Just a touch of the flu, I’ll be fine,” I said.

The next day, I went out to run some errands. I stopped by Brian’s and talked with him and Leighanne.  They told me to tell Nick that I was pregnant but I said I couldn’t until Nick felt better about himself.  I went home and saw Nick sitting on the couch.  He had an angry look on his face.

      “When were you going to tell me?” Nick asked.

      “What,” I said.

      “That you’re pregnant, Dr. Kelly called and wanted to talk to you about your next appointment, I asked what for, she said you’re pregnant, when were you going to tell me!” Nick said standing up.

      “I was trying to find the right time to tell you,” I said.

      “You could’ve told me! I wanted to hear from you but instead I hear it from a doctor!” Nick yelled.

      “Nick, calm down,” I said.

      “No! How could you lie to me! You told me that it was a touch of the flu! How could you not tell me!” Nick yelled.

      “Nick, you are going through a lot right now, I didn’t want you to worry about this right now,” I said.

      “I’m a monster, aren’t I, that’s why you wouldn’t tell me, because of how I look like now!” Nick yelled.

      “No, that’s not true!” I said.

      “Yes, it is, admit it!” Nick yelled.

      “Nick,” I said.

      “Just get out!” Nick yelled.

      “Nick, please,” I said.

      “GET OUT!” Nick yelled.  I grabbed my purse.

      “You want me to tell you the truth, you are a monster!” I said.  I walked out the door and drove to Brian’s. I knocked on the door.  Brian opened the door.

      “What happened?” Brian asked.

      “He found out,” I said crying.  I went in.  Brian closed the door and hugged me.

      “How?” Brian asked.

      “Dr. Kelly called, she told him,” I said.  I sat down and told him the whole story.

      “Oh Bri,” Brian said.

      “I didn’t mean to say that, I don’t think he’s a monster, he wanted me to say it,” I said crying.  Brian hugged me close.  Leighanne came in.

      “I’ll go talk to him, Leighanne, stay with her,” Brian said.  He went out the door and went to Nick’s house.  He went in and saw Nick sitting on the couch.

      “What do you want,” Nick said.

      “Why did you kick her out?” Brian asked.

      “She came running to you,” Nick said.

      “She’s at my house with Leighanne, crying her eyes out, why did you kick her out,” Brian said.

      “Because she didn’t tell me that she’s pregnant,” Nick said.

      “She was going to tell you when you felt better about yourself, I’ve been on the internet lately and there is a place in New York where they can fix this, they can remove the scars and you will be normal again,” Brian said.

      “Where at in New York?” Nick asked.

      “Jamestown, your birthplace,” Brian said.

      “Can you get me in up there?” Nick asked.

      “You leave tomorrow, I’ll go with you so you won’t be alone, Bri can’t travel because of her pregnancy, otherwise she would go with you,” Brian said.

      “She thinks I’m a monster,” Nick said.

      “No she doesn’t, she only said that because you wanted her to,” Brian said.

      “I need her with me, Brian,” Nick said.

      “I’ll go home and tell her to go home, okay,” Brian said. Brian left and went home.  Bri stood up.

      “Well,” I said.

      “Go home, Bri, he needs you, he’s going to Jamestown tomorrow,” Brian said. 

      “Leighanne told me, I know, bye,” I said.  I went home and saw him sitting there.

      “Come here, baby,” Nick said.  I sat down and he wrapped his arms around me. I rested my head on his shoulder. 

      “I’m sorry,” I said.

      “No, I’m sorry, I acted like a monster,” Nick said.

      “You aren’t a monster, and after tomorrow, you won’t be,” I said.

      “I wish you could come with me,” Nick said.

      “I can’t, not with this little one,” I said putting my hand on my stomach.  Nick put his hand over mine. 

      “Our baby, we’re having a baby,” Nick said.

      “Yeah,” I said.  We kissed softly. We went upstairs and went to bed holding each other.

The next day, Nick and Brian left to go to New York. Leighanne came to stay with me. 

      “How long is he going to be gone,” I said.

      “A couple of months, to remove the scars and recovery,” Leighanne said.  I put a hand on my stomach.

      “What do you want, a boy or a girl,” Leighanne said.

      “It doesn’t matter, as long as the baby’s healthy,” I said.

      “I want a baby,” Leighanne said.

      “Well, get to work,” I said.

      “We’re trying, but I haven’t gotten pregnant yet,” Leighanne said.

      “Are you using protection?” I asked.

      “No, I was on birth control pills, but I stopped and Brian stopped wearing condoms,” Leighanne said. I looked at her.

      “Okay, okay, I’m wearing a diaphram,” Leighanne said.

      “Well, you can’t get pregnant,” I said.

      “I know,” Leighanne said.  She went to the bathroom and came back and threw the diaphram into the trash. 

      “Okay, maybe I can get pregnant now,” Leighanne said.

      “One problem, no guy,” I said.

      “Damn!” Leighanne said.  I laughed. 

Two months later, Leighanne and I were sitting on the patio, talking.  I was rubbing my growing stomach. 

      “I can’t wait until Nick comes home, he’ll be totally surprised when I tell him the news,” I said.

      “I can’t wait to see his face when you tell him,” Leighanne said.  We heard car doors shut out front.  We heard the front door open and close. Kevin, Kristen, Howie, Claudia, AJ, and Amanda come out. 

      “Hey, are they back yet?” Kevin asked.

      “Nope, not yet,” I said.

      “How’s my little nieces or nephews doing?” Kevin asked rubbing my stomach.

      “Doing fine, don’t you all saying anything, okay, I want to tell Nick,” I said.

      “We won’t say a word,” Howie said.

We heard car doors shut and the front door open and close. 

      “Hello, anyone home!” we heard Brian call.

      “Out here!” Kristen said.   Brian came out.

      “Hey everyone, Leigh, baby,” Brian said kissing Leighanne.  

      “I missed you so much,” Leighanne said.

      “I missed you, too, Bri, you’re so big,” Brian said.

      “Thanks a lot!” I said.

      “Where’s Frack?” AJ asked.

      “Right here,” Nick said coming out. We saw him and we couldn’t believe our eyes.  He looked normal.  No more scars.

      “Frack, man, how was the trip,” AJ said.

      “Great, did you notice,” Nick said.

      “Notice what,” AJ said.

      “No scars,” Nick said.

      “You had scars, I didn’t know that, did anyone know that,” AJ said.

      “Nope!” we all said.

      “Whatever, it’s good to be home, hey baby,” Nick said kneeling down beside me. I hugged him.

      “Welcome home, Nicky,” I said. 

      “Thanks, wow, our baby’s growing,” Nick said.

      “That’s because there’s two, Nick,” I said.

      “What,” Nick said.

      “We are having twins,” I said.

      “Twins,” Nick said grinning.

      “Yeah,” I said.  He hugged me close. 

      “What are they, boys, girls,” Nick said.

      “I don’t know, I wanted you to be there when Dr. Kelly tells me,” I said.

      “I’m not leaving you,” Nick said.  Kevin’s cell phone rang.  He walked off to answer it. Nick put his hand on my stomach and smiled.  I put my hand over his.  He kissed my lips softly.  Kevin came back.

      “Guys, band meeting, living room,” Kevin said.  Howie, AJ, Brian, and Nick followed Kevin into the house.

      “Kevin didn’t look happy,” Kristen said.

      “It must be a tour,” Leighanne said.

      “Not now,” I said. The girls gathered around me.  We heard Nick shout.

      “NO!” he shouted.  We looked at each other. We heard the door slam.  I got up and went inside.

      “What’s going on,” I said.  The girls came in behind me.

      “We’re going on tour in two weeks for nine months,” Kevin said.  My knees went weak.  Brian caught me and held me against him.  I cried on his shoulder. 

      “Kevin, is there any way they could postpone the tour?” Kristen asked.

      “I tried, I told Jeff that Bri’s pregnant and Nick wouldn’t want to leave her, but he said there’s nothing he can do, it’s either go on tour or break up,” Kevin said.

      “Where did Nick go?” Leighanne asked.

      “I don’t know, he’s really mad,” Kevin said.

      “I’ll go find him,” Brian said. AJ took over as Brian left.  AJ helped me up to mine and Nick’s room. 

      “Just lay down and relax, try to rest, okay, we will work something out,” AJ said.

      “Okay,” I said.  I went to sleep. 

Brian arrived back at the house with Nick.  Kevin went over to Nick.

      “Nick, I know you are angry,” Kevin said.

      “Angry, oh yeah, I can’t leave Bri, I can’t,” Nick said.

      “I’m going to go see Jeff, I’ll be back,” Kevin said. He left.

      “Where’s Bri?” Nick asked.

      “Upstairs, resting,” AJ said.

      “How did she take it?” Nick asked.

      “Not good, she was really upset, she almost collapsed,” Brian said.  Nick went upstairs and saw Bri asleep on the bed.  He didn’t want to leave her or the babies.  He hoped Kevin could convince Jeff to postpone the tour until after Bri had the babies.  He went downstairs and sat down and talked with everyone.   An hour later, Kevin came in. 

      “Well,” Brian said.

      “He can only postpone it for a couple of months,” Kevin said.  That pissed Nick off.

      “I can’t leave anytime, call him, tell him if he doesn’t postpone it for five months, I’m gone,” Nick said.

      “Nick, you can’t quit,” Brian said.

      “Watch me,” Nick said.

      “Nick, we will be here for Bri, we will call you and tell you when she’s in labor, Kevin, tell Jeff to let Nick come home when Bri goes into labor,” Leighanne said.

      “Nick, the fans are counting on you, they need you, this is your first time back on tour since your accident, everyone wants to see you again, you can’t disappoint them,” Kristen said. 

      “She’s right, Nick,” I said coming down the stairs.

      “Bri, I don’t want to leave you,” Nick said coming over to me.  I cupped his face in my hands.

      “Nick, honey, I’ll be fine, I understand all of this, the fans are counting on you, you need to go see them,” I said.

      “Bri,” Nick said.

      “Nickolas, you will go on tour, you will sing and dance and you will call me every night after the show, okay, you will be nice to everyone, including your bandmates, that means no pranks,” I said.

      “Okay, fine,” Nick said.  Kevin was on the phone talking to Jeff.  He hung up.

      “Okay, Jeff agreed to this, we tour Europe for three months, come home for three months, then tour Canada and US for six months, and he said that the girls and the babies can come on tour with us,” Kevin said.  We all cheered. 

That night, Nick and I were lying in bed.  My head was resting on his shoulder. 

      “I love you,” Nick said.

      “I love you, too,” I said.  We went to sleep.