Anna was sitting in her room, finally having some peace and quiet. Everyone else was out doing something or another. She pulled out her small CD player, and clicked it on. Anna hadn't really been able to listen to her music since they boys came. Someone was always around; she began to miss the time when it was just she and Emmi.
Anna closed her eyes and hummed along to Bach. He was her favorite composer, and his music always made her feel like she was floating. None of the other guests knew she had a CD player, or they would be using it all the time. Anna could see what music means to all of them. The 5 had even practiced a few times, giving impromptu concerts for her and Emmi. Now with the arrival or the other three girls...Anna rewound the past two days in her head. Everything had seemed to happen at once.
Joey heard the music coming from Anna's bedroom, and knocked softly on the door. When she didn't respond, he opened it slowly. She looked so pretty, just sitting on her bed, letting the music soothe her. He had noticed how tense she looked lately, and he didn't want to cause any more problems. Joey knew he wanted to talk to her again, or at least try to. There was...something. He just didn't know what yet. As he turned to walk away, he bumped into Emmi.
"What are you doing, spying on my sister?" She asked defensively. Joey smiled down at her, amused and touched she cared about Anna so much.
"Calm down, little one. I was just going to talk to her, but she was listening to music, so I left her alone."
Emmi processed this. "You may pass, then." She waited for Joey to move, then started to walk around him.
"Hey, Em, what kind of music does she like the most?" Joey asked, suddenly.
Emmi smiled to herself, he really did like her big sister. "Mostly classical. Especially Bach." She continued to walk into her room, leaving Joey contemplating his next move.
The phone rang three times before a soft female voice answered. "Hello."
JC smiled. "Hey Mom." He looked forward to his weekly calls to Bowie and the normalcy of life for his family. Sometimes he wished he could trade places with his brother and just be plain old Josh again. But he especially loved talking to his mother. She gave him so much support and love throughout his life, always building up his self-esteem and keeping him grounded at the same time.
"Joshua Scott Chasez! Are you completely insane? Have I taught you nothing in your entire life?" Karen Chasez began ranting through the phone to her oldest son.
"What? Wait, mom, slow down!" JC screamed into the mouthpiece. Karen took a breath and allowed him to speak. "OK, what was that all about?"
"Josh, how long have you been in South Carolina?"
He thought. "About a month, why?"
"I talked to Nicole last night, Josh. I called her to see how she was doing, and check up on my little girl." Karen sighed.
JC had taken Nicole and Adrienne to meet his family during the holiday season last year. Karen and Roy were a bit shocked when Josh called them to say that his fiancée and her then 4-year-old daughter were going to be accompanying him home, but they fell in love with the Hill girls immediately. Karen especially, formed a bond with the young mother, and treated Adrienne like she was her blood granddaughter and Roy spoiled her to death. JC was so happy that his family embraced the woman he loved and the little girl he had already come to think of as his daughter.
He gulped, finally realizing how long he had put off calling Nicole. He loved her with his entire being, and missed her so much that his heart hurt every time he thought of being away from her. "Mom, how is she?"
"Not good baby. She answered the phone holding back tears, but as soon as she knew it was me, she broke down and sobbed. She is hurting so very much Josh. She thinks you don't love her anymore, and that you don't have the heart to tell her." There was silence on the other end as JC brushed tears off his cheeks "That's not true, is it?"
"NO!" he answered quickly. "Mom, I love her more every time I breathe."
"Call her. Tell her that. She deserves to know, and she doesn't deserve to be held at an arms length." Karen too began to cry; the emotion that her child emitted brought the salty tears to her eyes.
JC thought about the consequences of making an additional phone call, but the heartbreaking thought of his beloved crying and in pain was more of a punishment than anything that Emmi or Anna could think up. "I will, right now. Thank you mommy," his voice cracked slightly. "I love you. Tell Dad, Tyler and Heather the same. I will talk to you soon."
Karen smiled through her tears. "You picked a real gem Josh. Don't let her-them get away. I love you too baby." And with that, mother and son broke the telephone connection.
Quickly, Josh began to dial again. Though he hadn't called in over a month, his fingers, his brain and his heart had the number etched into them. After a few quick rings, the answering machine picked up.
"Hey, you've reached Nicole and Jessica…(in the background…"What about me mommy?") Haha, and Adrienne. Leave us a message after the little tone-like noise, and we will be sure to get back to you as soon as we can." BEEP.
JC sat frozen for a few seconds, not knowing exactly what to say to the machine that would let Nicole know how much he loved her, and to the extent by which he missed her. So, he did the most natural thing in his being. He sang.
Nicole unlocked the door to her apartment, wiping the remnants of tears from her cheeks. She had just returned from the hospital where Adrienne had been staying for the past 2 weeks. Since JC had left, the little girl had progressively gotten more and more sickly, until Nicole finally realized that she needed a doctor's care. After running test after test, the professionals were getting close to diagnosing her condition, but it still seemed too long for Nicole. She wished there was some way that she could get a hold of Josh-no, she had decided that she would not worry him while he was gone, nor would she contact her sister. Neither of them needed the extra stress. Nicole was determined to be strong and handle the situation independently. She was doing a pretty good job of it until last night when Karen, her future mother-in-law called. She couldn't take it anymore; the world that she was holding upon her shoulders came crashing down, and the tears hadn't stopped since. She didn't tell Karen about her daughter, although she desperately wanted to. Nicole was home now to take a shower and get some sleep. Tomorrow she would return to the hospital in the morning before work. As she shut and locked the large wooden door, she heard the mechanical beep of the answering machine, signaling that someone was about to leave a message. There was a moment of silence, and then, as if answering the prayer that she had been praying for the last month, his voice rang throughout the apartment.
I've loved you forever,
In lifetimes before.
And I promise you never
Will you hurt anymore.
I give you my word,
I give you my heart
This is a battle we've won.
And with this vow,
Forever has now begun**
Before he could reach the chorus, JC heard a soft click and the tentative, and yet hope-filled voice of the only woman he ever loved. "Josh? Is that you?"
"Oh, Nikki. Yeah, it's me. Dear God, I miss you." Sobs began to rack his body unlike any he had ever known. Knowing that he had made her sad made JC physically ill.
And yet, with just her voice she seemed to make everything all right again. "Shh, its OK. I'm here now." For a few minutes, the lovers just cried, letting the other know without words how hard the separation was for them.
Once they calmed down, JC spoke. "I love you so much. You know that, right? I didn't mean to shut you out Nikki, that was never my intention, but it was just so painful to be away from you, and I thought talking to you would make me realize how much I was missing by being away."
"I always knew that, but it is nice to be told. Tell Karen that I am sorry for crying in her ear last night."
"We are both glad you did. It helped me see what an idiot I was being. But, enough about the past. How's everything going down there? Where's my little angel?"
At mention of Adrienne, Nicole's body tensed. She didn't want to lie to Josh, but worrying him was a last resort as well. So she opted for leaving out a few key details. "She's sleeping right now." Adrienne had been sleeping when Nicole left the hospital, and with the medication she was on, it was safe to assume that the five-year-old still was.
"At 5:30 in the afternoon?" JC asked incredulously.
Nicole sighed. He was too perceptive for his own good. "She hasn't been feeling well lately, and the medicine knocks her out."
"Oh, I see. Give her a kiss from me, all right?" He sighed contentedly just as Anna walked out of her room, and looked at him questioningly. "Well, darling, as much as I would love to talk the day away with you, I am getting the evil eye from one of the slave drivers. I have to go and do my chores now." JC laughed at the look on Anna's face when he called her a slave driver. It was priceless. "I will call you again soon, I promise. Just make sure Addie is up next time."
"Thank you for calling Josh, it means the world to me."
"And the world will be yours, if I have anything to say about it. I love you Nikki." As an afterthought, he said, "Listen to the words of that song. I mean every syllable."
"I know you do Josh. And I love you, too."
And with that, lovers ended the telephone connection, but they knew in their hearts that the bonds there could never be severed.
**"This I Promise You" by *Nsync ('cause the name is all theirs baby!:)
