Two and a half years later

“Yo Carter Clan!” Brian announced as he, Leighanne, Hunter, and baby Anna entered the house. “The Littrells are here!”

Kayleigh came tearing through the foyer. “Hi Uncle Bri! Dad’s out back.” She took off again and both Brian and Leigh laughed as her little body tore through the house. The Littrell family followed Brian out to the back patio where the rest of the Carters, the McLeans, the Richardsons, and the Dorough’s all were. “Hey everyone!” Brian announced as they all stepped through the door.

“Hi Uncle Brian!” Aaron called, running up to him.

Brian scooped him up in his arms and groaned. “God, Air. You’re getting so big. How old are you now?”

“Seven and a half,” Aaron answered proudly.

Brian shook his head. “I can’t believe you’re that old. I remember the day that you were born like it was just yesterday.”

“I’m a miracle baby,” Aaron grinned.

“Why do say that?” Brian asked, setting his godson down on the ground.

“My mom told me,” Aaron shrugged and ran away.

Brian’s features darkened and his face fell. Leighanne set her hand gently on his arm. “It’s okay, Bri.” She pointed over at the three Carter children, who were now happily splashing away in the pool. “Look how happy they are.”

“I know, Leigh,” he began. “It’s just…Nevermind.” He carefully took his sleeping daughter out of his wife’s hands and walked over to the rest of his brothers. “Hey guys.”

“Well isn’t she just the most beautiful little girl at the party,” Howie fawned over Anna.

AJ rolled his eyes. “Listen to D. Trying to charm a two-month old baby.” He turned to Brian. “Can I hold her?”

Brian nodded, handing her over. “Where’s Nicky?”

Kevin pointed over by the stairs that led down to the beach. “Over there on the phone. He’ll be back in a minute.”

“Dude, check out how big BJ is,” AJ commented. “Can you believe it?”

Brian laughed, shaking his head. “Not one bit. I still picture her as the bratty little kid we met when we first started out. Now she’s about to have one of her own.”

“It’ll be fine…Don’t worry…we’re all here. See you then…Bye.” Nick joined the rest of the guys back over at the picnic table. “What’s up?”

“Who was on the phone?” Kevin asked.

Nick shook his head. “No one.” He turned to Brian, changing the subject. “You just get here?”

“Yeah,” Brian replied. “Kayleigh’s a bundle of energy, isn’t she?”

Nick laughed, checking out his five-year-old daughter in the pool. “That she is.” He watched as Aaron slowly climbed out, holding his hand under his nose. “Dad!” He called.

Nick rushed over, not liking the sound of Aaron’s voice. “What’s up, bud?”

Aaron took his hand away from his face and Nick winced at the blood dripping from his nose. “My nose is bleeding.”

“That it is,” Nick placed his own hand underneath of it to stop the blood from dripping all over the place. “Kris!” He called, seeing Kristin standing over by the doorway to the kitchen. “Run in and get me some paper towels, will ya?” He watched as she nodded and walked inside the house. Nick led Aaron over to sit in a chair. “Don’t put your head back,” he instructed. “Just let it drip out, okay?” Aaron nodded. “What happened, Air? You bang your face on the bottom of the pool?” Nick tried to check but didn’t see any scratches or anything on his son’s face.

“No,” Aaron mumbled, a futile attempt not to get blood in his mouth. “It just started bleeding.” Kristin showed up at that time and handed the roll of paper towels to Nick, who ripped one off and began holding it under his son’s nose. A few moments later, the bleeding had stopped and a now clean Aaron relaxed on a lounge chair with Kristin, Leighanne, Amanda, and Claudia fawning all over him.

Nick made his way back over the group. “That was strange.”

“What?” Kevin asked, glancing over at Nick’s oldest son.

“It just started bleeding,” Nick replied. “Apparently this happened in school last week too.”

“You did good,” AJ commented. “I’d have run away from that shit and made Amanda take care of it.” He winced as soon as the words were out of his mouth. “I mean…”

Nick shrugged. “No worries, Jay. What can you do? I’ve got to be both the mom and the dad these days. Hell, it’s been almost three years anyway.” He quickly turned around and made his way into the house, going to get all the food that needed to be grilled.

“I wish I could fucking find her,” AJ growled. “Seriously, you know what I would do?”

“Stop Jay,” Kevin admonished. “I’m sure we all feel the same way. I know if I ran into her I’d definitely have a few words for her but that’s not going to help Nick. We just need to step back and be supportive. Like we have been.”

AJ just shook his head. “I know it’s been over two years and all…but, God, doesn’t she care at all about her kids? She’s got three beautiful children and she just left them here. Like they don’t even exist.”

“We don’t know why she left guys,” Howie, ever the peacemaker, jumped in.

Brian glared at him. “What reason could she have possibly had? What valid reason?”

Kevin cleared his throat to shut them up as she saw Nick make his way back outside with the food. And he wasn’t alone. A tiny, petite brunette followed him out, looking nervous as hell. The five guys exchanged a look. Nick hadn’t mentioned anyone else showing up. It was supposed to be all of the guys and their families. This girl didn’t look familiar to them at all.

Nick cleared his throat to get everyone’s attention. “Hey guys?” He made sure they were all around. “This is Brynn. Brynn, this is everyone.”

“Hi,” she greeted, quietly. She felt so out of place it was unreal. She and Nick had been seeing each other for a few weeks now. They met about a month ago when they, literally, ran into each other outside of the pharmacy. Nick had spilled his soda all over her. To make it up to her, he took her out for some ice cream. They had completely hit it off and he took her out to dinner the very next night.

“Nice to meet you,” Kristin stepped forward, feeling the need to make her feel comfortable. They were a close-knit group, rarely willing to let outsiders in. But Kristin could tell that Brynn was terrified and she wanted to do anything to make her feel comfortable. Nick had barely been near another girl since his wife had left him and Kristin knew that this was good for him. “I’m Kristin. And this is Leighanne, Amanda, and Claudia.” The rest of the girls all greeted Brynn while Nick walked over towards his sister.

“So?” he asked, approaching BJ. “What do you think?”

“She’s cute,” BJ told him. “She seems nice. I just had no idea that you had met someone else.”

“What’d you expect me to do?” he asked, slightly offended by the way she sounded. “Become a monk? It’s been nearly three years, Beej.”

BJ’s expression softened. “That’s not what I meant. I mean…it’s just that…well…legally, you’re still married, Nicky.”

Nick rolled his eyes. “Yes, I know that. But it’s kind of hard to get a divorce when you have no idea where to find your wife. And don’t worry. I’m not proposing anytime soon.”

“Shut up,” she chuckled. “I’m just looking out for you.”

“Whoa,” Howie said, underneath his breath. “Did anyone have any idea that Nicky was seeing someone?”

“Nope,” Brian shook his head. “You’d think maybe he’d have mentioned it to one of us.”

“Good for him,” AJ grinned. “This is just what he needs. She seems sweet enough, right?” The rest of the guys all nodded. “Maybe now he’ll forget about Katelin and the mess that she made of his life and move on.”

“I’ll call you tomorrow,” Nick said, leaning on the car door.

Brynn smiled up at him. “Great. Talk to you then.” Nick leaned down and placed a soft kiss on her lips. “Goodnight.”

“Goodnight, Nick.” He closed the car door and then watched as Brynn pulled out of his driveway. As soon as the taillights disappeared from view, he turned around and made his way back inside the house. “Air!” he called, into the den. “Upstairs. It’s way past your bed time.”

“I’m coming,” Aaron grumbled, switching off the television and dragging his feet into the foyer and up the stairs.

“I’ll be up in a minute, bud,” Nick told his oldest son before going into the living room to clean up the mess the kids had made. There were toys thrown everywhere. On the couches, the coffee table, the shelves. He walked over to the shelves built into the wall and collected the puzzle pieces that had been tossed up there. He smiled, seeing the picture taken this past Christmas of he and the three kids. He picked it up, tracing his children’s smiling faces with his finger. The smile faded as he remembered what that picture had replaced. Flipping the frame over, he opened it up and took out the picture that was behind the family portrait. It had been taken on his twenty-first birthday. Whoever had taken it had caught it at just the perfect time. She was in mid-air as he swung her around. They both had cake smeared on their faces. He allowed another small smile to grace his features as he remembered the food fight that had ensued just before that picture was taken. But the look on their faces at that moment…so in love.

Again, the smile faded. So in love, huh? Now, eight and a half years later…his life was a mess. He was raising three children by himself. Their children. And where the hell was she? He had no fucking clue. No idea where to even look for her. In almost three years, no one had heard from her. No one had seen her. She was off somewhere, pretending that her family and everyone else she once knew no longer existed. Instead of facing whatever problems she had, she fucking ran. Ran and left him to pick up the pieces.

Suddenly so angry he could barely see straight, he tore the picture in half. And then he tore it in half again. And again. And again. Until it was reduced to tiny little shreds that fell out of his hands as the tears slid down his face. Fuck her, he thought. At this point, he was so angry that he hoped she would just fucking rot in hell.

“Dad?” the voice startled him and he jumped, seeing Aaron standing right in front of him. “What are you doing?”

Nick quickly wiped his eyes. “Nothing bud. You ready for bed?”

Aaron carefully picked the frame off of the ground where Nick had dropped it. He glanced at the picture of he, his dad, and his brother and sister before turning the frame over. “What happened to the picture of you and mom?”

Nick snapped his attention from the tiny shreds of what was once his favorite picture of the two of them to his son. “What are you talking about?”

“There used to be a picture of you and mom in here,” Aaron repeated. “It was under this one.”

“How did you…” Nick began.

Aaron smiled, slightly. “I saw you looking at it one day. And then you put this picture back on top of it. Sometimes I look at it. When I miss mommy.” He looked at the ground, seeing the shredded picture all over the ground. “Why did you rip it up?” he glanced back up at his father and Nick’s heart broke at the tears in his son’s eyes.

“Aaron,” Nick took a step forward, trying to reach out to his son. But Aaron just backed away from him. “Why did you do it?” he yelled, tears now falling down his young face.

“Aaron!” Nick raised his voice, slightly, trying to get Aaron’s attention. “Stop yelling. You’ll wake your brother and sister up.”

“I don’t care,” Aaron sniffled. “I miss her, daddy. When is she coming home?”

Nick shook his head. “She’s not coming home, Air. I don’t know where she is.” He bent down and pulled his son into his arms. “I love you so much, Aaron. And I’m so sorry that your mom isn’t here. So sorry.”

***** ***** ***** ***** ***** *****

”Your boyfriend’s here!”

“There’s my girl. Missed you, babe. It’s been way too long.”

“Happy twenty first birthday, baby..”

“Did you just smash cake in my face?”

“This is war, honey.”

“The best kind, babe.”

“You coming to graduation?”

“Wouldn’t miss it for the world.”

“Move in with me?”

“So, what do you say, roomie?”

“He’s gonna be okay. I won’t let anything happen to him. You understand me? He’ll be okay.”

“Marry me.”

“My angel and I love you.”

“Meet your new little brother and sister.”

“I’m leaving.”

“You’re what?”

“Just get knocked up and he’ll come crawling back.”

“Why are you crying?”

“Because I missed you…You were really starting to scare me.”

“You were really starting to scare me…”

“You were really starting to scare me…”

She shot up out of bed, the sweat dripping off of her forehead. Glancing at the clock, expecting to see that it was almost time to get up, the clock only read 2:34 a.m. The tears flowed freely down her face, as she attempted to calm herself down. The panic attacks still came every once in a while. They weren’t nearly as bad as they once had been. They used to go for days. The pounding heart. The sleepless nights. The sweats. She would spend days just staring at the wall, rocking back and forth, willing herself not to go crazy. It had gotten so bad that….No, she wouldn’t think about that right now. She grabbed the remote, switching on the television to the late night replay of Jay Leno. Lying back down, she forced her mind to focus on the television show. Not the rampant thoughts running through her head. One day, it would all just stop.

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