“So how are we going to promote the new CD?” Howie said as he tapped his pencil on the table.

“When does the single hit the airwaves?”

“Between Christmas and New Year’s. The CD is going to be released at the end of January.” Kevin read from the record company memo.

“We could do a small promotional tour and hit some smaller venues or clubs.” AJ proposed.

“How long would this promotional tour be?” Nick asked seriously. He didn’t know if he could leave his wife alone with all the kids.

“I was thinking from the start of the new year until the release of the CD. That would be like three weeks.”

Brian walked in to the meeting room. Everyone looked up at him.

“Sorry, I’m late. I kind of lost track of time.” He said smiling.

“What’s the smile for? Did you get lucky?” AJ teased.

“My sex life is none of your business.” He sat down next to Nick.

“Oh so you did get lucky.” Nick patted him on the back. He was happy to see Brian finally start dating.

“So who’s the lucky woman?”

“I’m not telling. What did I miss?”

“We are planning to do a promotional tour that will end at the release of the CD.” Kevin informed his cousin.

“Are we going to tour after the release?”

The guys are stared at each other. It had been about five years since they toured. In reality they all knew they need to do a full tour to keep the fans excited.

“I think we should. The fans will expect it and we can’t let them down. I think we need to do the states, Canada, Asia, Europe, and South America.” Howie commented.

“Are you sure you want to spend one to two years touring? I don’t know if I want to leave my kids for that long.”

“But you know the fans get mad if we skip them.” Howie replied while taking a drink of his coffee.

“I get that Howie, but Jackson’s going to be graduating. We are still working out what is wrong with Lo Lo. Ashton is pregnant again. I know she’s going to freak out about a world wide tour.”

“Nick can’t you keep it in your pants. Why you trying to out do us with all these children?” AJ teased.

“Go to hell, McLean. I can’t help it I’m so hot, my wife wants to do me all the time.” Nick said with a cocky tone.

“Shut up, that’s my sister you’re talking about. I don’t want to know that you impregnated her again. You need to get yourself fixed man.” Kevin groaned and threw a pencil at Nick.

“I still think we need to do a world wide tour.”

“Howie you can bring your wife on tour with you. I can’t bring my whole family with me. It just wouldn’t work. Can’t we just start with a North American tour, and then see if we want to tour the rest of the world.”  Nick said trying to be fair to everyone. He knew he was being selfish, but his family was important to him. He couldn’t spend that much time away from them.

“I think that is doable. I know that Arizona wants Kohana to start preschool.”  Kohana was the little girl they adopted from China a few years ago.

“It works for me. Tylie is starting horseback riding lessons.”

“What do you think Brian?” Howie asked feeling somewhat annoyed.

“It works for me. My girls are grown, so I am free do whatever.”

“I guess that settles it. I will let management know about the promotional tour. They can start setting up dates. Let’s meet after Thanksgiving.” Howie gathered up his paper.

“I need January second off. We are meeting with a specialist for Lo Lo.”

“Fine, we will schedule the first show after that.” Howie was annoyed. Actually he was jealous of everyone because they had the family he always wanted.

----------------------------------------------

I was putting away the groceries when Nick walked into the room. He looked just as stressed as I did.

“How was your day?” “How was your meeting?” We said at the same time. I looked at him and started to laugh.

“Yeah, I can tell your day was as good as mine.”  Nick started putting groceries away.

“Logan had a melt down in the store. She was didn’t want to go into the store, so she started screaming. It took like twenty minutes for her to settle down. Luckily I remembered that I had a copy of If You Give a Moose a Muffin in the car. That calmed her down enough that I could do the shopping. Then Rory spit up all over herself. It was a disaster.” I sighed.  He took me in his arms and comforted me.

“I’m sorry you had such a horrible day.”

“It happens. I don’t think it would have been so bad, but the morning sickness is lasting all day. I still feel sick to my stomach. Liam got in trouble at playgroup today. He tried to take a toy from another little boy. When he wouldn’t give it to him, he punched the boy.  What else can happen today? How was your meeting?”

“It was boring as usual. We were discussing a promotional tour and a North American tour.” Nick said nervously.

“Sounds like fun. Tell me more.” I sat down at the island with a packet of saltines and a can of ginger ale.

“Well, the promotional tour will be the first three weeks of January. I made sure we didn’t start until after Logan’s appointment.”

“That’s good. It will be weird without you home.”

“I know. I don’t want to leave you alone with all the kids. That’s a lot to handle.” He said with concern. He placed his hand over mine. It was hard to believe our love was just as strong as it was when we first fell in love.

“I’ll be fine Nick. I know you are concerned. I appreciate that. Rachel and Jackson will be able to help out.” I didn’t want him to know that I was nervous about taking care of the kids by myself. Logan’s issues were getting worse as the days went by. I was pregnant and had an infant to take care of. Rachel and Jackson could only help so much. It wasn’t there job to raise their younger siblings. I didn’t want him to feel burden and not be able to continue his career because of me.

“Ashy, I think you need someone to help you. Do you think we can ask your mom to come and help?”

“Nick every time you go on tour, I’m not going to ask my mom to come help. It makes me look helpless. I can take care of my kids.” I said irritably.

“You are a strong independent woman. That doesn’t mean you don’t need some help. You’re having our baby. You don’t need any more stress than you already have. I want mommy and baby to be healthy. You are going to need some help. I’m going to make sure you get that help.”

He kissed me on the lips. I loved that my husband cared so much for me. He made me love him even more. I didn’t think I could love a man that much, but everyday my love for him grew stronger.