Epilogue

Jeanie closed her eyes and tried to rest. She was so tired. A small tear broke free and began to trickle down her the side of her face. Kevin leaned over and kissed it away. “It’s okay, pretty lady,” he whispered. “I’m right here. Try and rest a little…”

Eyes closed, she forced a tiny smile. She tried to relax, but every time she did horrific, haunting images seemed to take over. She wondered if she would ever get over that awful day. She wondered if any of them would ever really recover…

She vividly remembered the sight of Nick struggling to keep running. The whole scene played out as if it was as if it was in slow motion. Voices, yelling, commanding him to run, run! Then, he began to fall. Nick was falling forward. He would crush Madi as he held her tightly against his chest. Blood…so much blood. Jeanie and Kevin didn’t know if it was Nick’s blood or Madi’s blood.

As he dropped to his knees, agents wearing vests moved in. One on each side, they grabbed his arms and dragged him to safety while another agent plucked Madison from his bloody grasp just before she struck the ground.

Helicopters whirred overhead, the rapid pop of gunfire…and then silence.

It was over. Tiffany lay dead…the knife still in her hand.

The phone rang again. Hands trembling she picked up the receiver.

* * *

“Oh, mmm…” Jeanie moaned.

Kevin kissed her forehead. “You okay?” he said softly.

She nodded and closed her eyes again. If she could just rest for five minutes…

* * *

Nick spent two weeks in the hospital. The doctors said he was lucky. He would fully recover. Madison was unharmed.

To everyone’s surprise, Kevin insisted that Nick recuperate at the ranch. That was more than fine with Madison…she had her best buddy “ick” for a full-time playmate.

Jessie was ecstatic. She had an immobile Backstreet Boy to spy on. By the time he’d fully recovered, Jessie had two full albums of “Nick asleep” pictures. When they finally broke the news to her that Leighanne had spent almost a week in her bedroom and sleeping in her bed, Jessie stood with her hands on her hips, working her neck. “Well, if that don’t beat everything…first she stole my man…” Kevin burst out laughing. “What? What are you laughing at?”

* * *

Kevin and Jeanie’s love affair endured. For them, nothing else mattered. They had each other and they had Madison. Their life fell into a happy, gentle routine. Jeanie didn’t like taking Madi on the road, but from time to time she would indulge Kevin. He was proud of his family and wanted so badly to show them off. When he wasn’t Kevin Backstreet…he was Daddy. Plain and simple. As far as Madi was concerned, he was really good at that job. She worshipped him.

If Daddy was home, Madi was his shadow. He loved to take her for slow horseback rides across the pastures. Jeanie would inevitably dissolve into gentle tears every time she saw them riding together. Madi looked so tiny sitting in front of him in the saddle. Off they would go ~ Kevin, one hand holding the reigns and the other tightly around Madi’s waist and Madison’s little ponytail bobbing up and down, holding on to the saddle horn for dear life.

Their life was good. They deserved good. They’d worked hard to find it and now that they had, nothing would ever stand in their way again.

Two months after that fateful night that changed their life and their relationship, two months after they committed to each other and grieved for their missing daughter…God smiled upon them one more time.

* * *

Jeanie arranged for a short vacation for her and Kevin in Maui. Their days were full of sunshine and their evenings full of love set against the backdrop of stunning gilded sunsets. The waves lapped at the nearby shoreline, lanterns bathed the terrace is orange and gold hues. Hawaiian music wafted lazily around them.

“I have a present for you,” Jeanie smiled.

“You’re sunburned…” Kevin laughed.

“Besides that…” She handed him an envelope with a bow on it. “Open it!” she giggled.

Kevin dipped his head a little. “I don’t have anything for you…” he apologized.

“Oh, I think you did…” she smiled slyly.

He carefully opened the sealed envelope expecting to find a romantic card. Instead, it was a pamphlet with a yellow sticky note on the front. “Read up BSB Kevin…” He removed the note and read the title of the brochure, “So, You’re Going to Be A Daddy…”

This time it was different…

* * *

“You’re doing fine, baby…” Kevin whispered. Jeanie, soaked in perspiration, began to cry. The contractions were harder and closer together.

“I thought you said the second baby would be easier,” she said weakly.

“Damn…guess I lied,” her doctor teased. “You can do this…a couple of more minutes…”

“No, I can’t…” she cried. “Kevin, I still hate you…”

He smiled. “I love you…”

“Don’t be nice to me when I’m hating you…Oh, God…” she cried.

“There you go…now the big one…PUSH…come on, Tex…”

Press Release:

On July 8 in Dallas, Texas, Backstreet Boy Kevin Richardson, 31, and his wife, songwriter, Jeanie Kirkpatrick Richardson, 31, celebrated the birth of a 7 lb. 4 oz. son, J. (Jerald) Nickolas. They have one daughter, Madison, three.

The End

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