Part 351

Laughing and playing, the guys carried the groceries into the house. As they started through the living room, Kevin’s mother greeted them.

"Mama!" smiled Kevin. "I thought you were headed back to Kentucky."

As Kevin hugged her, she said, "Sarah called and asked if I could stay one more night. Son, you look so thin. Have you been eating properly?"

Kevin laughed looking at Sarah. "Three meals a day."

"But NOT home-cooked meals," said Sarah.

"Which Sarah insisted we have tonight," interjected Brian.

Ann looked at Sarah. "Did they give you a hard time?"

"I just told them how it was going to be. They know who’s REALLY in charge. The boys have everything in these bags. Can I help you?"

"I wouldn’t dream of having you help me. You’ve been working all day and you need to get off your feet. You boys should know better than to make Sarah work so hard in her condition."

They all laughed as Howie said, "Trust me, she KNOWS better than to push herself."

"Kevin said you’ve had a tough time," said Ann taking Sarah’s hand.

"It hasn’t been the easiest pregnancy but I wouldn’t change anything."

"When are you due?"

"End of February," answered Howie as he put his arms around her and rubbed her stomach.

Looking around at the others, Ann asked, "Where’s Nick and his wife?"

Kevin explained as they took the bags into the kitchen, "They’re visiting with Jane and Bob while they’re here in LA with Aaron. Jane hasn’t seen her grandson yet."

"Sarah, where’s your little girl?"

"With Nick and Becca. They offered to keep her for us since we’ve been busy with my CD and video."

"Who’s hungry?"

The four men chorused, "ME!"

Ann laughed, "Let me get started then. You five go relax and I’ll call you when dinner’s ready."

"Thank you, Mama," and Kevin gave her a kiss before heading out to the living room with the others.

As the five settled down to watch television and relax, Howie’s cell phone rang. Being closest to it, Sarah answered, "Sweet D’s answering service. Can I help you?"

"Please have Mr. Dorough call…"

"Hang on, he’s right here. Just a minute," said Sarah. Handing it to Howie, "It sounds important."

"This is Howie…Hey, what’s up? Tell you what, call me back at this number, (901)555-3399. I don’t have our schedule in front of me right now…a couple minutes. Bye."

As Howie hung up, Kevin asked, "Who was that?"

"Johnny Wright."

AJ asked, "What the hell does he want?"

"He wants Sarah to open for ‘Nsync."

"When?" asked Kevin.

"He didn’t say when or where yet. I need our schedule so I can work this out."

Sarah looked at Howie questioningly. "’D’, I don’t know about this. Me, opening for ‘Nsync?"

As Kevin’s phone rang, Howie said, "Sarah, this is exactly what you need. This will put you in front of more people and it will distance you from our shadow. If you can do this, you’re got twice the number of people who have heard you…our fans and ‘Nsync’s."

Kevin was talking to Johnny and Brian had gotten their schedule for Howie.

AJ agreed with Howie. "’Tig’, you’ll be awesome."

"Johnny, I’m gonna switch you to the speaker so we can all hear," said Kevin as he pushed the button for the speaker and hung up. "Okay, we’re here."

"Hey, guys," greeted Johnny.

Everyone chorused their ‘hellos’ and Howie said, "Okay, Johnny. I have our schedule in front of me."

"We need an opening act on October 3rd in Seattle. The boys are doing a benefit that night. We also need an opening act for the tour in March."

"Looking at our schedule, Sarah can do the October show. It’s a travel day for us so I’ll fly in with her but the tour is out. Sarah’s due at the end of February."

"I really appreciate your help with the Seattle date."

"No problem. She’ll need a back up band. She’s been using ours since we haven’t had time to get her own. I can send you the music along with her normal play list."

"That’s fine. She can use the boys’ band. Who exactly is your wife’s manager?"

Everyone looked at each other and Howie raised his eyebrows.

Sarah said, "Well, they all play a part in my career but Howie has final say on what I do…so I guess you could say he’s my manager."

"Do you really think that’s a smart move, Howie?"

"You know, Johnny. We’ve all tried to keep her from being in our shadow but there’s no way to completely avoid it. She’s my wife and that’s NOT going to change any time soon. All my prejudice aside, Sarah’s a talented singer and performer. She’ll make it on her own talent and that’s what we’re promoting. Being her husband is just a bonus."

"When is she gonna put out a CD?"

"Her first single will be out in a week or so and the CD will be out in about a month," said Brian.

The guys continued to talk to Johnny about music, Sarah’s career, and old times. Johnny expressed his well wishes to AJ and his sorrow over the loss of Danny before the phone call ended.

Part 352        Index(4)