Part 193
Sarah, Howie, Kevin and Alex were all seated at the kitchen table when Becca stumbled sleepily in the next morning.
"Mornin' Bec," Alex said.
"Hey," she said smiling, reaching into the fridge for orange juice.
"Looks like she's over not feeling like one of us," Alex said grinning. They all turned to get a good look and smiled. Becca's hair was a tangled mess, and she'd not even bothered to dress. Still wearing the rumpled cotton nightgown from the night before, she'd hastily pulled on a robe but not bothered to tie the sash. She was barefoot and looked extremely content.
"Sleep well?" Sarah asked with a smirk.
"Oh yeah," she sighed with a dreamy smile, not even aware of the laughter that threatened to erupt behind her. "Damn well."
"I guess," Alex said, chuckling.
"So… where's Nick?" Kevin asked her, smiling across the table at Howie.
"Still asleep," she giggled.
"What, you wore him out?" Sarah laughed.
Becca snorted. "As if. God, it wasn't enough all evening so he had to wake me up in the middle of the night to do it again." She suddenly realized that four pairs of laughing eyes were watching her and blushed. "Oh shit," she mumbled.
"Middle of the night, huh?" Howie said.
"Never mind," Becca hedged.
Sarah walked over to her and whispered in her ear. "Good, huh?"
"Jesus, Mary and Joseph, yes," she sighed.
Sarah laughed. "So, what time did he wake you up?"
"Huh? I dunno, why?"
Sarah shrugged her shoulders. "Just curious, I guess."
Becca thought some more. "I think I looked at the clock … maybe around 3:00."
All the men roared with laughter and Alex jumped up to high five Kevin. They were still howling when Nick appeared at the door, looking about as rumpled as Becca.
One look at his disheveled appearance and the laughter began all over again.
"Shut UP," he said testily. Ignoring them, he walked over to Becca and pulled her into his arms. "G'morning," he said softly and kissed her. "Sleep good?" he asked.
"Apparently," Kevin drawled with a grin, not missing the look Nick shot him.
"Yeah, I slept great," Becca said smiling as AJ and Kevin began making kissy sounds over the table at each other.
Nick flipped them off and turned to look for a coffee mug. "Bec, hand me the cream and sugar?"
"Sure, baby, it's over here." Becca stepped toward the serving island in the center, and cried out at the sharp pain in her foot.
"Bec? What's wrong?" Nick was immediately at her side, helping her balance as she lifted her foot for inspection.
"I don’t know, I stepped on something." She lifted her foot, and was horrified to see blood. "Ow!"
Kevin was on his feet in an instant, grabbing a wet paper towel to clean the wound.
"Looks like a piece of glass," he said, looking up at Nick.
"Shit," Nick said. He picked her up and carried her over to Kevin's chair as Sarah reached for the first aid kit.
"You guys, I'm fine," Becca protested. "It's just a cut."
"Baby, I'm sorry," Nick said.
"Nick, it's not your fault," she said, looking down at him as he knelt by her side.
"Yeah, it is," he sighed. "I broke a glass last night, but I thought I got up all the pieces."
"You were down here last night? When? I didn't hear you get up."
"I dunno, it was late," he stalled.
"C'mon, Nick, sure you remember," Alex said. "It was right around-" he looked at the others.
"Three o'clock!" They all chorused, howling once again.
Becca just sat with a blank look, wondering what she'd missed yet not really wanting to know.
"Daddy?" a small voice broke through the chaos.
"Jesse! You're awake!" Howie scooped her up in his arms. "Did you sleep well?"
"Uh huh. Why's everybody laughing?"
"Oh, well, they're just talking about some stuff that happened last night, princess."
"Oh. G'morning, Aunt Becca. What happened to your foot?"
"Just a boo boo. Uncle Nicky will make it all better."
"Yuh huh, I'm sure he will," Alex said. "Kiss it Nicky, make it better."
"Alex-" he began.
"Uh uh, Uncle Nicky," Alex smirked, nodding towards Jesse.
"I just woked up," Jesse announced. "Uncle Nicky, did you just get up too?" she asked innocently.
"Yes, he did," Kevin said. "And Uncle Nicky got up last night and at three in the morning, too." Kevin laughed loud and long.
"You didn't seem to have any problems in that department, either, Kev," Nick shot back.
"Nick-" Becca said with a warning.
"Just commenting on the obvious," he grinned. Two could play at this game. As luck would have it Brian chose that moment to appear in the kitchen. "Look, you guys," Nick said. "Brian's up, too."
Sarah lost it then, laughing so hard tears rolled down her face as Brian turned four shades of purple.
"What?" Nick asked. "What did I say?"
"Nothing, Frack." Brian growled. "Just drop it."
"I can't believe we still have half a tour left to do," Nick moaned. "You guys are gonna be impossible."
"Feelin' the love, Nick?" Alex grinned.
"Yeah," he snorted. "Massive amounts."
Sarah pulled out pancake mix, and Jesse helped her stir the batter. The conversation turned lighter until Jesse made a completely innocent request.
"Daddy?" she asked. "After breakfast can we watch your wet movie again?"
In chorus, all seven adults responded, "NO!"
Jesse crossed her arms and began to pout but she didn’t say anything. She saw the look Sarah and Howie both gave her.
Not having seen the video herself, Sarah leaned over to the little girl and whispered, "Maybe later while Daddy and the others are playing, you and I will sit down together and watch it."
That made Jesse happy and she went back to helping Sarah fix breakfast.
Sarah looked around at the five guys now seated at the table talking and drinking coffee. "Who’s eating breakfast?"
"Who’s cooking?" asked Brian.
"Uh oh…Brian, be careful. There are TWO hormonal women and no matter how you answer, you’re gonna piss one of them off," warned AJ.
Sarah and Becca were standing with their hands on their hips staring at Brian and Sarah said, "Well?"
"Both of you are AWESOME cooks and you each have your strengths,’ said Brian diplomatically. "Sarah’s strength just happens to be breakfast."
In Becca’s defense, Sarah said, "Well, you know, Bec REALLY doesn’t get much of a chance to fix breakfast because Nick usually sleeps half the day away and when he finally does wake up, all he wants is a bowl of corn flakes."
Everyone laughed except Nick who whined, "Is there any particular reason why I’m the target today?"
"Ahhh….poor Nicky," teased AJ. "Let Becca make it all better."
Seeing where this was headed, Kevin said, "Guys, we’ve got some business to talk about for our record label and the tour. Let’s go out to the living room so Sarah can fix breakfast."
With that, each man fixed himself another cup of coffee, Howie gave Sarah a kiss, and they headed to the living room. Nick was the only one to hang back. Wrapping his arms around Becca, he gave her a kiss on the forehead.
Kevin called from the living room, "COME ON, KAOS!"
Becca said softly, "Go on, sweetie. Kevin’s got business on his mind so the teasing will stop."
Sarah cracked, "Stay here and I promise to be unmerciful."
Nick considered that and said, "You would too!"
"You know it, blondie."
Howie came to the door, "Nick, come on. Kevin’s getting impatient."
Jesse hopped across the kitchen in front of Nick. "Daddy, can I come too?"
Howie tousled her hair and looked at Sarah who shrugged her shoulders. "I don’t think so, Princess. Uncle Kevin has some things he wants to talk about that are kinda important. Why don’t you stay here and help Mommie and Auntie Becca fix breakfast?"
Seemingly happy with staying put, Jesse said, "Okay!" and bounced back to join Sarah.
Howie gave Sarah a wink, blew her a kiss, and followed Nick into the living room.