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Chapter Nineteen - September 6

Every day since I had met with the lawyer I had expected a phone call about a home visit. So far, nothing. Maybe Ro's mom had decided to crawl back under the rock from which she came from and leave me the hell alone.

Wishful thinking.

Another part of my life that hadn't gone anywhere was Molly. The whole 'kiss' incident was still front and center in my mind, but we were back to just going about our day to day routines. The other day the back of her shirt had lifted just slightly and I could see the dark ink of a tattoo.

She was killing me.

When I had told her that we'd be flying to Kentucky for a few days, Molly had flipped out. In a good way. I actually got a hug. It was nice to have such a curvy body in my arms.

Even if it was only for ten seconds.

Shelby was just as excited. We all left for the airport in the morning in a good mood. Of course, inside I was freaking out.

Ally and Joe were so small. I had gone through every single baby book and webpage I could think of. I was prepared. Hell, I was probably over prepared. But I didn't care. Nothing was going to go down on the flight that I wasn't ready for.

Of course, when flying with Nick Carter, there are some things you can never be prepared for. In the course of just two hours, Brooklyn screamed like a banshee, Noah threw up, and Shelby and Brooke disappeared and ended up flooding the bathroom. Well, Shelby had more to do with the flood than Brooke, but Nick had to hold Brooke on his lap whereas I had been smart and had gotten Shelby her very own seat. By the time we got off the plane, it looked like Nick had pissed his pants.

Brian met us at the terminal and we got everyone loaded into a bus that reminded me of Woodstock. I could just see about twenty hippies piled inside smoking some high quality weed.

I think we were all glad when we arrived at the hotel...if you could call it a hotel. There was only one place to stay outside of picturesque town of Sadieville, Kentucky, population 268. I had more sunglasses than the town had people.

Lame.

The one and only bellhop looked like he was going to pass out from all the bags we had. He put his all into wheeling the cart inside. Nick came up to me as we all headed in.

"Tonight, we're doing Kev's bachelor party," Nick whispered. I frowned. Kevin has specifically told me he wasn't doing a bachelor party.

"He doesn't want one," I whispered back. Nick snickered.

"Okay, well then it's just a party for me. Kev's going to get his hair did tonight."

I rolled my eyes. Nick had been talking about that damn bet with Kevin for months now. I would be so glad when it was finally over and done with. Of course, Nick will probably make another bet with someone else and the whole thing will start all over again.

I've got to admit; I prefer when Nick loses. He doesn't like anyone to talk about it and the rest of us are too mature to keep going on and on about it like he does.

"What time?" I asked.

"Seven."

"What are the girls going to do?"

"I don't know. Watch the kids and talk about us."

Nick and Liv took the first elevator up. When it finally came back down, I headed in with Molly, Shelby, and the babies.

"Are there horses here?" Shelby asked. She was bouncing from one foot to the other. Molly looked at her suspiciously.

"Do you have to pee?"

"Yup! Are there horses here?"

The elevator doors opened onto the fifth floor. Between Bri, Howie, Nick, and myself we had taken the entire fifth floor.

"This is your room," I told Molly. I handed her the keycard and she swiped it. Before she even got the door open, Shelby ran in.

"I can't get my tights off!" she yelped.

I took a carseat from Molly. She gave me an apologetic smile, but I just laughed.

"Sorry," she said. She sprinted off towards the bathroom.

Even though it was a bit of a juggle, I managed to get myself into my room with the carseats. Ally was awake, looking around in her own little quiet, peaceful way. Jonah was fast asleep.

A port-a-crib had been set up in the room. My luggage was in the corner. The first thing I did was reach into a duffel and pull out some Lysol wipes. I was scrubbing down every single inch of the crib when Howie poked his head in.

"I was wondering when you guys would get here. What are you doing?"

I looked up, wipe in hand.

"Germs," I explained.

Howie walked in and knelt down by the car seats. His face lit up in a smile.

"Hey, they're getting big."

Seeing them every day, it was sometimes hard to notice dramatic change, but even I noticed that there faces were becoming rounder.

"Ally weighs thirteen pounds and Joe weighs twelve and a half," I said. "The doctor says they should catch up when they're around a year," I added.

"They're adorable," Howie said. I smiled. He turned and glanced back out into the hallway.

"I saw a redhead chasing a little girl from the vending machine. That the nanny?"

I nodded. "Molly."

Howie grinned. "Nice."

"Did Nick tell you about the thing at seven tonight?" I asked. It was a complete change of subject, but I didn't want to picture Molly running down the hall in my head. If I did, I was going to need a cold shower.

"Yeah," Howie said. He rolled his eyes.

"Does Kev know or is this going to be some kind of surprise?"

"I'm pretty sure he knows. I think he just wants to get this stupid hair thing over and done with."

"Did Nick tell you it's guys only?"

Howie looked surprised. "Really?" He frowned. "That doesn't sound good."

I laughed. "I know. I have a feeling Nick's going to pull something else."

"As long as it doesn't involve me that's fine," Howie said. I thought about the donkey and smiled.

"Don't even say it," Howie warned. He headed towards the door.

After he left, I finished disinfecting the cribs. I was just laying Ally down next to Joe when Molly came into the room.

"Need anything?"

I watched Joe roll over.

"You think he's going to squish her?" I asked. Molly laughed.

"No, it'll be fine. Shelby used to do that to Micah all the time."

I glanced over at her. She hadn't mentioned her son since I first interviewed her. She leaned down and ran her thumb along Ally's cheek.

"What was your husband like?" I asked. I don't know why I asked it; curiosity got the best of me, I guess. Molly kept stroking Ally's face.

"Clint?" she asked it almost like a question, like it had been so long before anyone had even asked "Clint was a great guy. Smart. Funny. Insane. He was almost ten years older than me, but he didn't look his age. He was a high school teacher and coached the girl's track team. All the girls had a crush on him. He played guitar in this little band during the weekends at local bars. Music was his secret passion. He always used to say that Micah was going to grow up and become the next Steven Tyler."

"How'd you meet?"

Molly smiled. Her hand moved over to Jonah and she began to stroke the top of his head. He stretched out as much as his long body would allow and sighed in contentment.

"I was a waitress at one of the bars he played at. I asked him what he wanted to drink and he asked me my name. I told him, got his drink, and didn't think anything about it. Next thing I know he's singing and playing Molly's Lips by Nirvana. I hung out with the guys while they packed up their equipment and I went on a date with him the next night. The rest was history."

She had this little smile playing on her lips; her eyes looked so faraway. After a few seconds she shook her head.

"What about your wife? What was she like?"

I froze. I almost changed the subject, but that didn't seem fair.

"Ro," I said. Just her name brought the emotions to the surface. I took a deep breath. "Ro was basically a female version of me. She cursed like a sailor and she had this crazy off-the-wall energy. I called her my monkee."

I swallowed a rising lump in my throat and continued.

"She was a make-up artist and she did all of these really ecletic things with her hair and clothes. Both of us loved wearing black. She had a special love for red, skulls, and daggers. I guess you could call us mature goths. But, she loved to smile. And when she did it lit up the entire room."

I closed my eyes. I'll be damned if I couldn't picture those eyes lined with black liner, those red lips and those sparkling white teeth that she always used to run her tongue over self-consciously before breaking into a grin.

"How'd you meet?"

"I did a photo shoot and she was working it. She was wearing this little black skirt with dancing skeletons all over it. I complemented her on it and she complemented my shirt. We got into a deep conversation about The Doors and quality porn. I distracted her so much that she accidentally cut her finger. I'd never heard as many 'f-bombs' as she let out. I wrapped a towel around her finger and after she got the blood to stop, I asked her out."

I smiled. "The rest, as you said, was history."

Molly rested her hands on the crib railing. Both Joe and Ally were asleep. I met her gaze. Her eyes reminded me of melted chocolate with little flakes of gold. She had pulled her hair back; I could see the tattoo on her neck. What Shelby had called 'rainy drops' were two tear drops. I had a feeling I knew who those tears were for.

I leaned towards her. I wanted to know what those lips tasted like. She knew how it felt to lose everything and bounce back. I wanted her to teach me. I wanted to live. I was so close; I felt her breath on my own skin. Her lips parted. My hand slid along the railing to cover her own. I closed my eyes. Almost there...

"Hey J, Kev just called and he's grilling burgers for all of us."

I opened my eyes and turned to look at Nick. He had the decency to look sheepish.

"Sorry...just...thought you'd want to know. About...the meat."

He disappeared down the hall. I heard him pounding on another door, probably Howie's.

"I better get Shelby ready. She's watching reruns of Jersey Shore in the other room," Molly said. She took a few steps back. The moment was ruined. Again.

"I'll get Ally and Joe in the carriers," I said. She turned and walked into her room. I bent over, put my forehead against the crib rail, and groaned.

I hoped that with all this suspense, once Molly and I did kiss that it was going to be well worth the wait.

Somehow I already knew the answer was yes.