Epilogue

Two Months Later

Kara smiled as she looked out the window of her office at the playing field, watching baseball practice. The Boys were coming home today for a break in the tour before taking off on the summer leg. They wouldn’t have a lot of free time due to the MTV Summer in the Keys taping, but at least they’d be around for a couple of weeks. She was much more settled now, having gotten a job at Florida State as a trainer for the football and baseball teams. She loved working with the players, even going through some of the practices with them to prove her worth. In the end, they’d come to accept her as part of the team. Her only annoyance on the job was Jack, the mascot. He was always showboating at the games, and inevitably got hurt, which meant that she had to tend to him. In all honesty, she was beginning to wish they’d go back to just walking a live alligator around- it would require less maintenance. She laughed, remembering his most recent escapade. He’d tried to use the goal post as a balance beam, and had fallen halfway across, straddling the thing. Not even the padding in the costume had saved him from severe pain. Unfortunately, he was still mouthy enough to suggest that she massage the affected area. She’d kneed him instead, much to the amusement of the team. He hadn’t spoken to her for days after THAT one! Secretly, she didn’t mind his crass remarks. They gave her an excuse to be a smartass, and he really wasn’t a bad guy.

As she waited in the airport for her cousins later that evening, she thought of all the things she’d learned in the past few months . . . namely, that things weren’t always what they seemed. Leighanne wasn’t as oblivious to things as she’d once thought, and Kevin and Brian were no longer the perfect human beings she’d once believed them to be. Part of growth was change, though, and she was quite happy with the changes that her relationships had made. Kevin and Brian no longer treated her as though she were a child, and they’d refrained from using the ‘baby’ word she’d come to hate. In return, she’d been more open with them about what was going on in her life, and they’d all benefitted.

“Ker-Bear!” Her thoughts were interrupted by Brian’s loud greeting as he ran up and engulfed her in a hug. “It’s good to see you!”

“Good to see you, too! How was the flight?”

“Fine, except Frack here kept on asking me . . . ” He was interrupted when the younger man slammed into him from behind, knocking him over.

“When does Hurricane fly in?” Kara coughed, trying to cover her laughter when Brian stood up, rubbing his sore rear end with a pained expression on his face.

“Hello to you too, Nick! And aren’t YOU the one who bought her the ticket, Brian?” She asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Yeah, but he forgot when he set it for.” Kevin told her, walking up behind his two bandmates.

“Figures. Well, Frack, she’ll be here in . . . ” She looked at her watch to double-check the date. “Two days. That soon enough for you?”

“Yes, THANK you!” He exclaimed, giving her a quick kiss on the cheek as he ran by to greet his family. “Hooray!” Kara watched him run away before turning back to her cousins with one eyebrow raised, chuckling.

“Think he’s excited to see her?” Brian tilted his head to one side as though deep in thought.

“I dunno . . . Kev?” The older man slung a bag over his shoulder, shrugging.

“Hmm . . . not sure. I think we should go for coffee and discuss the possibilities.” He looked over at Kara for approval.

“What do you think?”

“I think that sounds great!” She exclaimed, wrapping an arm around each of them.

They walked out together with their arms linked, the physical connection representative of the one in their hearts. They’d grown, they’d changed, and they’d argued . . . but the tie remained.

The End