"What goin' on, Mama?" Luckily for everyone, my son Eden said the first word, breaking the inbearable awkward silence.
"Well, guys..." I began, not sure how to word what I was about to say. "Um... these are the Backstreet Boys, well, three of them." I finished.
"Basseeet Boys?" Emery asked. "The ones on TV?"
"Yeah..." I laughed at his cuteness.
"What's going on, Nick?" AJ asked his bandmate. "Who is this?"
"You can pretend you don't know it's her, but it is. And... these are our two sons, Eden and Emery." he told the two guys, still staring in shock. I think they just didn't want to believe it.
"Hey Brian... hey AJ." I whispered to them. Brian shot me a half smile, but AJ looked upset. Barely looking at me, he just nodded.
"Nick, we gotta go now, get ready to go on." AJ told him stepping closer.
"Ok, guys, give me a minute, ok? I'll be right there... and Bone, you don't gotta be jerk. You have no reason to not like Torrance." Nick stuck up for me, and I just smiled.
"Yeah, AJ... c'mon..." Brian grinned. Then he sort of surprised me by running to me and wrapping me in his arms. He hugged me so hard. "Wow... you look great, Torrance. I'm really sorry I was jerk to you... last time I saw you." Brian whispered in my ear when he pulled away.
"Shit, Brian, I didn't expect that." I told him. "But I'm really glad. I mean, we used to be tight. And now I thought you hated me."
"I could never hate you. You are the woman our little Nicky loves, and, hell, you are the mother of his children." Brian told me. "I'm sorry for what we did to you. It must've been harding, raising them yourself."
"It was hard. But my family were there for me. The boys turned out pretty good." I let out a laugh.
"They look just like Nicky." Brian answered. Nick and I both nodded. "Hey guys... I'm Brian." he held out his large hand to my little boys.
"Nice meet you." Eden laughed at his brother as he shook Brian's hand. "Me Emery."
"Me too, me too. Me Eden." Eden grabbed Brian's hand right after Emery let go.
"Well they definetly aren't shy." Brian laughed.
"Nope." I laughed. "So... do you guys gotta go?" I asked them.
"We probably should. Oh shit... I couldn't get any good seats to the show..." Nick said sadly, looking down at me.
"That's ok. No one will care if they stay backstage during the show." Brian laughed.
"But should we being telling people that Nick's sons and ex girlfriend are wandering around backstage?" AJ joined in the conversation.
"Girlfriend, AJ... she's my girlfriend." Nick corrected him. "But he's right, Torr, no one knows I have sons." Nick finished, still looking down sadly at me.
"I know, Nick. We can say we're friends, right?" I asked.
"For now we can." Nick finished. "But you can come with me right now, I'm going to tell my brother good luck. He's going on in a minute."
"Ok..." I let my voice trail off as Nick grabbed my hand. I stopped to pick up Emery, but let Eden walk beside me.
Once we got out of that room, Shanelle reached down quickly and picked up Eden, who just hugged her. They loved her so much. I hugged Brian quickly again before he and AJ walked away in the other direction. As Shanelle and I followed a little behind Nick, she whispered to me,
"What happened? What's going on?"
"Well... AJ still hates me." I began. "But Brian is just like I remember him. He's sweet and the boys like him."
"That's great." Shanelle said plainly. She really didn't know how to reply. Her new best friend suddenly had all these old friends again.
Within a minute, we were approaching a tall blonde haired woman, and a younger boy. Also around them were four other young adults. I knew even from their backs who they were. Nick's mother Jane and his little brother 13-year-old Aaron.
"Aaron!" Nick shouted to his brother, who immediately turned around and ran in our direction. When he was in front of us, I sort of looked away. I knew he'd reconize me. He was 10 the last time I saw him, but he loved me like one of his older sisters. That's how often he saw me.
"Hey Nick!" Aaron giggled cutely. He was alot taller, had a deeper voice and had his hair all cut, but he was still Aaron, Nick's little brother. "Who's this?" he asked, not reconizing Shanelle or the boys.
"Aaron, buddy, this is Torrance, you gotta remember her?" Nick asked his brother. "And this is her friend Shanelle."
Aaron was silent. All the years I knew him, he'd never been silent. He loved to talk and never shut up.
"Hey little guy, you're all grown up." I whispered to him. I always used to call him my "little guy".
"Oh my god, Torrance?" he asked me. He knew it was me but he also just couldn't believe it. "Wow, oh my god." he said again. That seemed to be everyone's responce.
"I know, buddy. How are you?" I asked him. Last I saw him, he'd start finished recording his first album, and had two singles out.
"Awesome... so... who's little kids are these?" he asked. He didn't know I was pregnant Nick and I broke up. He didn't know why Nick and I broke up.
"I'll tell you later, ok?" I asked him. He nodded.
"Aaron, go get Mom." Nick demanded.
"Ok..." Aaron smiled at me and then walked away. He was back just a minute later holding his mother's hand. She looked at me like I was ghost. Her face had no real emotion. She didn't look upset but she sure didn't look happy to see me.
