He rolled over to hit the snooze button one more time when Jessica came bouncing into the room.
“Taylor! Wake up!”
Taylor groaned and pulled his pillow over his head. “Jess, it’s too early.” He groggily complained. “Go back to bed.”
“But, Taylor!” She jumped on his back and pulled the pillow away from his head. “C’mon! Breakfast is ready!”
He rolled over, causing Jessica to roll off of him and land next to him in bed. “Jess,” He grabbed the pillow back from her and put it back under his head. “Go back to bed.”
As he was settling down to go back to sleep, Mackenzie cautiously walked into the room. “Tay-Tay?” He walked closer to Taylor’s bedside.
Taylor opened one eye and peered at Jessica who was still sitting on the bed next to him. He sighed heavily, yawned, and turned over. “What, Mac?” He asked his youngest brother.
Mac pointed at the clock. “It’s time to go up!”
Taylor looked quizzically at Mackenzie. “Don’t you mean, get up, Mac?”
“Uh-huh.” Mac replied vacantly. He looked at Taylor. “Up! Up!” He commanded.
Taylor reached down from his still horizontal position to pull Mac up on the bed. The toddler immediately started jumping. Then Avery walked in. She saw Mackenzie jumping on the bed, so of course, she felt she had to join in the ‘waking up Taylor’ fun.
“Hey! Kids, get off the bed! Now!” Diana Hanson commanded. The three clamored off the bed and trudged down the hallway.
“Thanks for the rescue, mom.” He yawned again. “I was being jumped on to death.” Taylor told his mom, half asleep, and still lying among the trampled bedcovers. He started to fall back asleep.
“You’re welcome. Now get out of bed.” She ordered.
“Aw, mom! Come on, it’s still dark outside!” He complained wearily.
“I’m sorry honey,” She said sympathetically. “But you have to get up.”
He pulled the pillow back over his head. From underneath the pillow came a muffled response. “I’m too tired.”
“Too bad.” She pulled the pillow from his head as she simultaneously pulled back the bedcovers. She took ahold of his hand and attempted to pull him up. He refused. She pulled again, hoping he’d give in and get up. He didn’t. He rolled back over. “Taylor!” Diana yelled. He jumped.
“What, mom?” He asked her, still only half-awake.
She kneeled next to the bedside and talked softly to him. “C’mon, Tay, get up, please?” She was almost begging now. She stroked the side of his face. He opened his eyes ever so slightly. “Did you forget?” She asked him in a whisper.
He closed his eyes. “Forget what?”
“You guys are going to the studio today.”
He awoke with a start. “I forgot! Oh my gosh!” He got out of bed and started pulling clothes out of the dresser, frantically. “When are we supposed to be there?” He asked, looking for his socks.
“8:00, Tay.” He relaxed a bit, put still proceeded to pull on his socks. He looked at his mom, who for the first time in a long time, had tears in her eyes. She was smiling.
Taylor was slightly alarmed. He’d never seen his mother cry before. He crossed the floor to where she was still kneeling beside his torn-apart bed. “Mom....” He didn’t know what to say. After a what seemed like moment’s time he finally choked out, “A- Are you okay?” He touched her arm very gently.
She brushed away a single tear with the back of her hand. She looked at him and put a reassuring hand on over his. “Yes, I’m fine. I’m better than fine, actually.”
Taylor was confused. “Then why were you crying, mom?”
“Oh, sweetie,” She stood up. So did he. She reached out and put a loving hand on his cheek. “It’s just that I’m so very proud of you three boys.” She pulled him to her in a warm embrace.
He pulled away after a moment. He looked at her carefully, as if searching for something. “Mom, are you sure that everything’s okay? I mean, there’s nothing else you wanted to tell me?”
“No, but it can wait for later, until everyone’s together, okay?”
“Okay, mom.” He was still worried about her. She still had tears in her eyes, but he was pretty sure that they were happy tears.
“Well, let’s go eat breakfast. It’s probably getting cold by now.” She walked out of the room. He waited for a moment, for what, he did not know. He sighed as he walked out of the bedroom towards the kitchen. He follwed her out to the kitchen. ************************************************************************************** “Okay boys, that’s a wrap!” Mr. Lord-Alge said into the mic as he took off his headset. He could hear cheers from the recording booth.
Zac stood up and did a really funky rendition of the “touchdown dance”. “Yeah! Wooh hoo! We did it! Yeah!” He cheered as he ran around the recording studio a few times in his sopping wet clothes. He ran up behind Isaac and jumped on his back.
“Zachary!” Isaac was thrashing frantically about trying to shake Zac off. “Come on man! You’re soaking wet!”
“So are you!” Zac was still attached to Isaac’s back. They were both laughing so hard they were almost blue in the face. (Well, not really)
Taylor grabbed the mic. “Hey guys,” He said to the people still celebrating in the recording booth. “Where’d Ike put his video cam?” He looked at Isaac mischievously.
“Oh, no. Taylor don’t even think about i... AAGGHH!” Zac was beating him with a rubber bat. (Don’t ask. It was the first thing I could think of.)
Taylor and everyone else had caught the giggles by now. Walker came into the studio and handed Taylor the video cam. He turned it on and aimed it at Isaac and Zac.
They were on the floor now, wrestling, and Zac was obviously losing.
Taylor began to commentate. “Well, hello to whoever’s watching this. This is Taylor Hanson, and today is May 14, 1997, and I have been 14 for exactly two months now.” He panned the camera around the studio. “As you can see, we’re in a recording studio. We just finished recording our favorite song, and the first single off our new album, Mmmbop. We’re here in this totally cool studio at John and Michael’s house here in lovely California. And the best thing about this studio is that there’s a pool out back! And that’s why we’re all wet.” He focused the camera back on Ike and Zac. Zac came up and hugged the camera. “Zac!”
“Hey, hey!” Isaac shouted. “Watch the camera Zac! You’re all wet!” He said as he pulled Zac away from the camera.
Zac looked towards Diana, who was still in the booth. “Hey mom?”
Diana looked up. “Yeah?”
“Can we get back in the pool now?”
She moved the mic closer to her mouth. “Don’t ask me. Ask Mr. Simpson.”
“Mom! His name is Michael!”
“Okay, then ask Michael, okay?” Diana stifled a laugh. Her son could really get hyper sometimes. (Well, okay, more than sometimes.)
“Okay!” He ran into the side room where all the recording equipment, and Michael was. He burst through the door making it crash against the wall behind it, startling everyone including Michael. He jumped, almost cutting the tape he was in the process of splicing with another recording. “Hey, Michael?” Zac practically yelled.
Mr. Simpson thought he was close to another heart attack, his heart was pumping so hard from the scare from Zac. He had his hand over his heart, breathing hard. “Yeah, Zac?” He asked weakly.
“Um, can we go swimming?” Zac had his fingers crossed for good luck. He knew they still had another song to cut.
Michael set down his splicer. He looked up at Zac who was silently begging him to say yes. He didn’t answer right away. He heard Zac say very softly, barely audible,
“Please?”
Michael looked in the begging eyes. “Yeah,” He finally answered.
Zac jumped up, almost hit his head on the top of the doorframe, and turned around and ran out the door out to the pool.
“But don’t forget to dry off!” Michael called after him.
Zac didn’t seem to hear him. A minute later they all heard a giant splash.
Taylor rolled his eyes and continued taping. “That was our brother, Zac.” He said in his commentator’s voice.
Tay focused the camera on Ike. “Yeah, our crazy brother Zac.” Ike said sarcastically.
Taylor started to move the camera away from Ike and shoot the instruments or something when Ike called out, “Oh no you don’t. Taylor, it’s my turn to commentate.” Taylor swung the camera back to Ike. He tinkered with the backlight button on the camera. He looked through the viewfinder. Had he not been playing a trick on Isaac, he’d have normally started laughing. He’d made the image all distorted, the colors and stuff. He was silently laughing as Isaac started talking.
“Okay, this,” He picked up his fender guitar. He put it on, being very careful as not to damage it. He stroked the side of it, admiring the pure beauty of the guitar. “is my awesome new guitar. It’s a George Fullerton Signature Model in Belair Green. Did ya get all that?” He said jokingly as he looked at the camera.
Taylor had to actually bite his tongue so that he wouldn’t start laughing. Isaac’s face was green and his hair was bright pink through the distorted picture. He took down his hair and covered his face with it so Isaac wouldn’t be able to see him laughing.
Isaac set down his guitar very carefully next to the drum set up against the wall. “Hey, you wanna go swimming?” He said to Taylor, but actually he was talking to the camera.
Taylor pressed the stop button on the camera and set it down. “Sure. Let’s go!” He tore off his shirt and ran for the door.
