Prologue
May, 2010
It was 6:30a.m. in the beautiful sunshine state of Florida. In the small gated community of Apollo Beach, Tampa, a large crew of people were running in and out of a house, loading suitcases, and sound equipment into two large vans. Inside, there was also kaos.
Brian- "AJ, did you get the stage outfits out of the hall closet!?"
AJ- "They already loaded them into the van! Kevin did you get the sheet music from Transcon!?"
Kevin- "Yeah, that and the back up tapes are in my bag!"
Howie- "Come on guys, the limo just pulled up." Everybody gathered in the living room with last minute carry-on and overnight luggage in their hands.
Kevin- "Where's Nick? He's always got to be the one that's late."
Nick- "I'm right here." He said as he came down the stairs.
Nick- "Yo, Bri, can you put my stuff in the limo. I can't find Austin anywhere."
Brian- "Sure bro, don't worry he couldn't of gotten far." Kevin, Howie, Brian and AJ grabbed their stuff as Nick went running through the house.
Nick- "Austin!...Austin!....?" He yelled as he made his way downstairs to his own private studio on the lower level of the house. As he grabbed the knob, he heard the faint sound of music coming from inside. He opened the door and smiled at the sight in front of him.
Nick- "Austin Gene Carter, what are you dong in here?" The young boy was sitting on a sofa watching an old tape from 1998. Nick smiled and sat down next to him.
Nick- "How many times can you sit through this. Your gonna ware it out"
Austin- "Sorry daddy. But I love watching you and the guys in concert. It looks like so much fun." The tape he was watching was the Orlando New Years Eve Concert that the Backstreet Boys had done 12 years ago.
Nick- "Well, you'll get to see it live now. Remember, we're leaving in a few minutes to start this reunion concert tour. Everyone is outside waiting on us." Just then the concert ended and a new image appeared on the screen. The date on it was January, 2000. It was a video clip of the Grammy Awards pre-show. Austin watched as his father stepped out of a car with the other guys following him. A couple of seconds later, they were joined by a group of four girls.
Austin- "That's mommy isn't it dad?" Nick looked at the screen. Latched onto his arm with a smile on her beautiful face was his late wife. Nick felt a sudden rush of sadness as he answered his son's question.
Nick- "Yes, that's your mother." Nick watched as they headed down the red carpet, with camera's flashing and sound of screaming devoted fans all around them.
Austin- "Mom was really pretty." Nick looked at his son and smiled.
Nick- "Your mom was more then pretty. She was by far the most gorgeous and wonderful women I ever met." After a few more seconds of watching the tape, Austin stared questioningly at the screen and then back at Nick.
Nick- "What are you looking at?" Austin knelt down in front of the tv and pointed at Nick.
Austin- "In this tape your not wearing your necklace. You said you never took that off." Nick thought for a moment, remembering he had never told Austin the story behind that necklace.
Nick- "Come here son." Austin got up and sat beside his dad.
Nick- "I didn't start wearing that until after your mom died."
Austin- "Are you wearing it now?" Nick smiled and pulled a solid gold rope chain out from under his shirt. Hanging from it was a gold ring with an opal gem stone on it. Austin took the ring in his hand and looked it over. Looking up at Nick, he said softly.
Austin- "You still miss her don't you." Nick laughed a bit.
Nick- "I'm always gonna miss her. I'm always gonna love her."
Austin- "Does this ring have anything to do with how you met her?" Nick smiled and picked his son up, placing him in his lap.
Nick- "Not much gets by you, does it kiddo."
Austin- "Would tell me about it? Tell me about her."
Nick- "That's a long story, and I don't know if your quite old enough for it yet."
Austin- "Please daddy. You could tell it to me while we're on our way to the airport and on the flight to Germany."
Brian- "Yo, Nick come on! We're gonna miss the flight!" Brian yelled from upstairs.
Nick- "We're coming Brian!" Nick picked Austin up and shut the TV off. He went upstairs and outside the front door, locking it behind him. They all piled into the waiting limo and made the 45 minute drive to the airport in silence. Once there, it took another half an hour to drop off the luggage and get through customs. The whole time Nicks mind swam with thoughts about what he and Austin had talked about earlier. The truth was that Nick wanted to tell Austin everything about his mom, but he was afraid that saying it out load would awaken the sad memories that he had just now began to overcome. Nick sat with his son and buckled him in. The plane took flight and began the long 14 hour flight to Frankfurt Germany. Nick was so lost in thought that it took him 5 minutes to realize that little Austin was playing with his necklace and looking up at him with pleading eyes. He would have to tell him sooner or later. He put his arm around his son and smiled.
Nick- "Ok little man, you win....I guess it would of had to of stared 12 years ago. Around this time in 1998....."
