You Do What You Have To Do
Chap. 68
by:  Tina & Danielle
(c) by us - yada, yada, yada


************************


We lay there on the bed on our sides facing one another.  Our legs were
entwined.  My fingers stroked Kevin's jaw.  His fingers played in my hair.
Our eyes never left one another as we lay there basking in the aftermath of
our lovemaking.

Kevin said, "We need to get up, Nick."

"Um, yeah, I suppose we do."

"We have a lot to do today."

"Yeah, we do."

We didn't move.

Kev said, "We need to call Sam and Melinda and invite them over to dinner
tonight."

"Yep, sure do."

"I think I'll grill some steaks."

"Sounds good to me, B."

Kev said, "So are we getting up, Nick?"

"Lead the way oh great Bumpkin."

Neither one of us moved.

Kevin asked, "Should we go to the pound and look for Dylan a puppy?"

"Yeah.  If we don't find anything there then we can try pet stores or the
classified ads."

"Can I take your truck and go to Home Depot and get the lumber and other
stuff  for the dog house?"

"Sure.  My truck is your truck.  I don't let just anyone drive that truck.
You should feel special."

"Oh, I feel like I should get down on my knees and bow at your feet, Nick,
while chanting "I'm not worthy."

I chuckled and said, "If you're on your knees in front of me, your mouth
will be too full to be chanting anything, Kevin."

His eyes widened in surprise.  "Nickolas!"

I chuckled and then said, "Ok, we really do need to get up.  We're gonna
have to split up in order to get everything done this afternoon."

"That sounds like a good idea.  Ok, let's get up."

We both cracked up laughing when neither one of us made a move to get out of
bed.

Kevin laughed, "We're bums."

I grinned, "Yeah, but very happy bums."

We leaned in closer together and softly kissed.

The doorbell downstairs buzzed.

I said, "Who the hell is that?"

Kevin got up and sarted putting his boxers and then jeans on.

"It's probably Father Time telling us he's passing us by while we lay our
lazy asses in bed.  I'll get the door.  You call Sam and Mel."

"Okay."

****************

Kevin was surprised to find Brian at the front door.

"Hey, Rok.  Come on in.  What are you doing here?  I thought you had to pick
up Leigh at the airport this morning."

"Yea, I'm on my way to the airport now.  I thought I'd swing by and bring
you and Nick some breakfast."

Brian handed his cousin two bags.  Kevin peeked inside and saw a couple of
huge cinnamon rolls in one bag and a couple of bacon, egg, and cheese
biscuits in the other one.

Kevin's mouth watered.  "Oh, man, these smell so good.  Look good too.
Thanks, cuz.  I'm starving."

Brian said, "How's Nick feeling today?  Has his stomach settled down?"

Kevin replied, "Oh yeah.  He's fit as a fiddle this morning."

Brian said, "Good.  Um, Kev, I have something else for you."

He handed Kev a sheet of paper.  "That's the phone number for Suzanne, my
therapist. She is an honest to God angel.  Now don't get me wrong, Kev.  I
think you and Nick are the two strongest people I know.  I don't think
anyone else could have gone through what you two have and not had a total
mental breakdown.  But after seeing Nick freak out last night I don't think
it would hurt to have someone to talk about things."

Kevin looked at the paper for a moment.  Then he folded it up and put it in
his robe pocket.

"Thanks, Bri.  I'll hang on to her number just in case.  Hey, I need some
coffee.  You want some?"

Brian shook his head, "Nah. Thanks anyhow.  Where's Nick?"

"He's still upstairs.  Can you do me a favor and go up and get him?  Knowing
him he threw the covers over his head and went back to sleep.  I'm going to
get the coffe on making."

"What if the bum doesn't want to get up?"

"Just tell him there is food down here and see how fast he'll get up then."

Brian just laughed and headed upstairs.

***************

After Kevin walked out of the room I reached over to the night stand and
grabbed the phone.  I dialed Sam's number and let it ring.

I'm not too swift in the mornings.  Ok, so I'm not really swift at any time
but that's beside the point.  After about 10 rings I should have hung up the
phone when no one answered.  But I didn't.  I let it continue to ring.

Finally, a very breathless Sam picked up and screamed, "WHAT????"

Oh, boy.  It's never good when someone picks up the phone out of breath and
screams at you.

"Um, Sam, hi.  It's Nick.  Am I interrupting something?"

"Nick, shit.  Yeah....oh, damn........Why the..........Nick, hold on."

Before I could respond I heard the phone drop.  I could hear some rustling
around.  Then I could very distinctly hear Sam moaning.

Oh, boy.  My sense of timing really sucked.

It was a few minutes before Sam came back to the phone.

"So, hey, Nick, did anyone ever tell you that you have a lousey sense of
timing?"

"Um, well, it didn't seem to stop you just now, did it?"

She giggled and said, "True.  Now, I wanna listen to you and Kev sometime.
I bet you guys get loud."

I could hear Melinda laughing in the background.

"We have our moments.  Hey, where is Dylan at?  Did you guys knock him out
or something so you could fool around?"

"Of course not!  Our neighbor took him to the park. She has a little girl
his age and they get along really good together."

"Well, that's good.  Hey, do you all want to come over for dinner tonight?
It'll just be us.  Kev wants to grill some steaks.  And we have a surprise
for Dylan too."

Sam said, "Sounds good to me."  I heard her telling Melinda what I said.
Mel hollered, "Tell Kevin I like my steak well done."

I laughed.  "I'll tell him.  Hey, Sam, can I ask you a question?"

"Sure, Nick.  I'm all ears."

"I know that Dylan being Kevin's son kinda puts our friendship with each
other in a whole other ball game.  You and Mel are going to let us be a part
of Dylan's life, aren't you?  I mean, I told Kevin that you were and I
always keep my promises to him and..........."

Sam laughed, "Nick, you and Kevin will be a very big part of Dylan's life.
We'll talk it all out tonight.  We'll be there aout 6:30 if that's ok?"

"Yeah,  yeah, that's fine."

I saw Brian standing in the doorway.  I smiled at him and waved him in.  He
came and sat down on the side of the bed.

Sam said, "Good.  Ok, we have about 40 minutes before Dylan is due home so
I'm going now, Nick.  Oh yeah, I'm leaving the phone off the hook. Bye
Nick."

I giggled, "Bye, Sam."

When I hung up with her, I turned to Brian and said, "Hey, man, what's up?"

"Nothing much.  I'm on my way to the airport to pick Leighanne up at the
airport but I brough you and Kev some breakfast.  How's your tummy feeling
this morning?"

I rubbed it and said, "Hungry.  Very, very hungry."

Brian and I sat there talking for  a few minutes.  Suddenly Brian handed me
a sheet of paper and told me that was his therapist phone number.  He went
into this long speech of how sometimes it was just good to have someone
around to talk to who was an outside person and who could see things
objectively, etc., etc., etc.

I folded the paper up and said, "Thanks, man.  I'll keep it handy.  It might
come indeed come in useful one day."

After Brian left I showered and got dressed and went downstairs to find
Kevin sitting at the table reading the paper.  He had already eaten and was
drinking his 2nd cup of coffee he told me.

I sat down and started eating.

"Mel, Sam, and Dylan will be here for 6:30 tonight."

Kevin just nodded his head in approval.

"Sam told me that you and I will have a very big part to play in Dylan's
life. She said we'd talk all about it tonight."

Kevin put the paper down and smiled.  But then he started looking sad and I
asked what was wrong.

"My son just came into my life and in a month we'll be on tour again and I
won't hardly get to see him."

I sat there for a moment and thought. Scary thought, isn't it?

*LIGHTBULB WENT OFF*

"Kev?"

"Huh?"

"I'm having one of those rare moments where I think I actually have a good
idea."

He raised an eyebrow and looked at me quizzically.

"Both Sam and Mel are so good with this design stuff.  I think we should put
them on the payroll for BSB.  They could handle stage set up and wardrobe."

Kevin's eyes went wide.

"Holy shit, Nick, why didn't I think of that?  I must be loosing my touch.
That would be so perfect.  And that would give us all the time in the world
with Dylan.  Do you think the girls would agree to it?"

"I think so.  But if they don't we just have to lay on the charm until we
talk them into it."

I was done eating by then and ready to get on the road.  Kevin was going to
go take his own shower and get dressed so he could head out to do his sare
of the errands.

He walked me to the door and said, "Now, Nick, keep in mind that Dylan is
still a baby himself.  Get a dog that is going to be good with kids.  We
don't want some dog that is about 3 times bigger than him and  who may look
at Dylan and think he is dinner or something."

I stood there with my arms across my chest glaring at him.

Kevin threw his hands up and said, "Ok, ok.  I'm sorry.  I'm being a jerk.
I'm just nervous is all.  I know whatever kind of dog you bring home, Nick,
will be fine."

"Damn right it will be. See you later, baby."

We kissed and I headed out.

The first order of business for me was getting those necessary little things
that a doggie would need.  Dog food.  Water bowl.  Food bowl.  Leash.
Collar.  Flea stuff.  Dog bone.  Chew toys. Bed.  Carrier.

You would have thought I'd bought out the entire store if you'd see how full
the back of the 4-runner was with stuff.

I then headed off to the dog pound.  I knew the girl at the receptionist
desk recognized me when she put her fist in her mouth to keep from
screaming.

I took a deep breath, flashed that killer Carter smile, and laid on the
charm.

There was one gold retriever puppy left out of a litter that was about a
month old.  This little guy left was the runt of the litter.  He was in his
cage prancing around like he was all that and then some.  It took me a
minute to realize what was so funny about the way he was walking.

"He's bow-legged!", I exclaimed to Renee, the receptionist, who was being my
tour guide for this little adventure.

She laughed, "Yep, he sure is.  Isn't that the cutest thing?  The vet said
it was because he had such a calcium deficiency.  Him and his brothers and
sisters were about half starved when they were brough in.  They'd been found
in a drainage ditch.  With this little one being the runt he didn't have
much of a chance to fight for food like the others did.  Oh, the vet also
said that this one won't get as big as retrievers usually do.  He's what
they call a minature retriever."

I said, "Oh, too cool.  I will take him."

I had to fill out some paperwork first and sign an autograph for Renee.
Then she went and got the furry critter and brough him to me.  The little
guy nestled right up against my chest and looked at me with his big brown
eyes.

Oh, he was just too cute.

We made a stop at the vet's office after leaving the pound.  Dr. Hollins was
the vet that Brian used.  She took us right in even though I didn't have an
appointment.

She confirmed everything that Renee had told me at the pound about this
little fellow.  She gave him a clean bill of health and gave his all of his
necessary shots.  Finally, fur face and I were on the way home.

I laughed at the scene that greeted me when I pulled up at home.  Kevin had
the frame of the dog house up.  Howie was there and was busy working on
putting together a swing set.

I got out of the 4-runner and put the dog down on the ground.  He followed
right at my heels as we walked over to where the guys were.

I looked at the swing and said, "What is this?  There was no mention of a
swing this morning, Kevin."

He grinned sheepishly and said, "I know but I saw it at the store and I
couldn't resist. The idea of pushing Dylan on it was too tempting. Nick,
this dog is bow-legged!"

I started laughing at the incredulous expression on Kevin's face as he
watched the dog.  Him and Howie stopped what they were doing to lavish
attention on the mutt while I told them them the story about the dog.

As I watched Kevin rubbing the dog's belly, I said, "So did I do good with
my choice of a dog for our son?"

He looked up at me and grinned, "Oh, yeah.  I couldn't have done any better
myself.  And I like the sound of that.  Our son."

Howie smiled and said, "So what are you going to call the mutt?"

Kevin said, "It's Dylan's dog so he should be the one to name him."

I looked at Howie and said, "How did you get roped into coming over, D?"

He grinned, "Bob Villa there decided he needed an assistant and since I
basically have no life, I came over."