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“Heyyyyy boys! Lookin’ good!”

Brian and Nick’s eyes met over top of the backboard. They were both perched precariously atop of two identical ladders, attempting to install Baylee’s much sought after basketball net above the garage. The box had claimed that it was a simple five-step installation process. After struggling for more than an hour, both Brian and Nick had come to the conclusion that the box had lied.

“How many Backstreet Boys does it take to install a basketball net?” Chris and Shane were standing at the bottom of the driveway. Two identical Pomeranian puppies were tangled at their heels. “Do you boys need any help?”

Nick glanced down; careful not to tilt his side of the net. Brian was busy drilling his side into the steel mount that they had just finished hanging. Nick knew that Brian would lose his shit if the net was crooked.

“I think we got it.” Brian called back. He handed the drill to Nick and stared proudly at his side of the net, which now appeared to be firmly secured to the base.

Nick accepted the drill and quickly screwed in the five supports. He slowly removed his hands from the backboard and stared at the finished product. He grinned like an idiot when it didn’t go crashing to the ground.

“Looks like it only takes two Backstreet Boys to successfully install a basketball net.” Nick shot Brian a triumphant look as the two of them cautiously descended their respective ladders.

Only when his feet were planted safely on the ground did Nick turn to address Chris and Shane. “Cute dogs.”

“Oh, thanks!” Shane gushed. “We only got them a few days ago. This is Pancakes and this is Waffles.” He pointed to each dog in turn.

Brian quickly turned his smirk into a smile. “Nice names. Very unique.”

“Listen.” Chris interrupted. “I’ve been meaning to drop by and apologize for the advice that I gave you concerning Baylee’s school. I’m well aware of the fact that it totally blew up in your face.”

“I should actually be thanking you.” Brian contradicted. “Baylee is so infatuated with attending a traditional school that he’s become almost a completely different kid. Although, I’m not sure that I’m overly impressed with the language that he’s been picking up.”

“Oh good.” Chris looked relieved. “I’m so glad that everything worked out for the best. It seems as though our boys have hit it off. Mike talks about Baylee non-stop.”

Brian nodded. “Baylee talks about Mike quite a bit as well. He also seems to have made friends with a couple of other boys, Trevor and Lucas.”

“Oh yeah, apparently Baylee has assimilated himself very nicely into their little group. They’re practically inseparable at school from what Mike has been saying.” Chris affirmed. “Actually, that’s the other reason why we decided to stop by. It’s Mike’s birthday next week and he’s been begging us to have a paintball party. He definitely wants Baylee to be there, but we wanted to check with you before we had Mike extend the invite. We like to know if the parents are on board before we get a kid’s hopes up.”

Brian was touched by their consideration. He was also thrilled and a little bit wary about the idea of Baylee attending a party. His son had never been to a party by himself. Actually, Baylee had never been to a party that was strictly for children his own age. He had only been dragged to functions that Brian and Leighanne had been invited to. Functions which, Brian now realized with embarrassment, Baylee really shouldn’t have been forced to attend. “It’s fine with me.”

“Perfect! We’ll have Mike give Baylee an invitation with all of the details.” Shane exclaimed.

Brian began to express his gratitude, but his attention drifted to the street. A sleek BMW slowed to a stop in front of the driveway. A few seconds later, Kevin unfolded himself from the driver’s seat and stepped out into the crisp afternoon air. He strolled up the driveway, his long strides conveying a sense of purpose that didn’t really exist.

“Whatch ya’ll doin?”

“We just finished installing a basketball net.” Nick smiled proudly. He waved his hand in the direction of the basketball net that was still miraculously attached to the garage. “What are you doing here?”

“I came to bring you your keys.” Kevin tossed a set of keys at Nick and grinned. “The place is all ready to go.”

“Oh.” Nick stared at the set of keys with mixed feelings. He knew that Brian had been more than accommodating to put up with him for the past seven days, but he wasn’t sure if he wanted to leave. The thought of spending all of those hours alone made him feel somewhat depressed.

Kevin gave Nick a concerned look before turning his attention to Chris and Shane. “Hello.”

The two men stared back at Kevin with a mixture of awe and desire. It appeared as if Shane had forgotten how to close his mouth. Nick feared that the usually well-composed man may actually begin to drool on the yapping dogs that were busy winding their away around his ankles. It was abundantly clear that Chris and Shane had just come face to face with their favourite Backstreet Boy.

“Sorry.” Brian snickered. “I forgot that ya’ll haven’t met my cousin, Kevin. Kev, this is Chris and Shane. They live down the street. Baylee is friends with their son, Mike.”

Chris recovered first. He shot Kevin a wide smile before addressing the two obnoxious puppies. “Pancakes! Waffles! There’s going to be no sugar for the two of you tonight!”

“I’m sorry?” Kevin sent Chris a confused look. “Are we having breakfast?”

Nick snorted so hard that he choked. He noticed that Brian’s face was also turning red as he struggled to contain himself. Poor Chris looked as though he wanted to die on the spot and Shane was still gawking at Kevin. Nick wasn’t even sure if Shane had heard his partner’s comment.

“No – No breakfast. Just the dogs – the dogs are breakfast. I mean – not breakfast. We don’t eat them for breakfast! They’re just named after breakfast.” Chris stuttered incoherently.

“Riiiiiight.” Kevin’s eyebrows had shot up so high that they had practically overtaken his entire forehead.

“We really need to be going.” Chris lied. He took a step forward and tripped over the tangled leashes.

Thankfully, Shane snapped out of his trance and caught hold of his husband before he face planted into the sidewalk. The two of them bumped into each other as they struggled to unwind the leashes from around their legs and the dogs yipped loudly in protest. The two men eventually righted themselves and they both gave a small, mortified wave as they headed off down the street; Pancakes and Waffles criss-crossing in front of them.

“Well that was ... weird.” Kevin turned to face Brian and Nick. He looked at his cousin. “You say that Baylee is friends with those people?”

“He’s friends with their son.” Brian clarified through the tail end of his laughter. “They’re really very nice. You just got them all hot and bothered.”

Kevin gave Brian a withering look. “I have something that I need to run by you guys.”

“What’s that?” Nick asked as the three of them trooped inside.

“It’s about our rehearsal schedule for the holiday leg of the tour.” Kevin began. He led the way into the kitchen and pulled open the fridge to get a bottle of water.

“Where did all of these meals come from?” Kevin looked taken aback as he stared at the contents of the fridge. “Since when did you start cooking stuff like this?”

“They’re all from Lorna.” Brian grinned. He and Nick took a seat at the kitchen table. “She comes over three times a week with food. I think she’s convinced that Baylee and I will starve to death if she doesn’t keep cooking for us.”

“I’m not complaining.” Nick pointed out. “The shit that she makes is delicious. Remember that veggie lasagna that she made last week?”

Brian nodded vigorously. “If Ralph wasn’t around, I think that I would marry her.”

Kevin looked back and forth between the two of them and sighed. While he was immensely glad that Brian and Nick’s friendship had obviously been restored, he was more than a little concerned about what the return of Frick and Frack was going to mean for him. He had been through more than enough with the two of them when they were younger, and he had no desire to experience a repeat of any of that nonsense in his forties.

“Anyways, what do you have to tell us about rehearsals?” Nick brought the conversation back on track.

“Well, I’ve been talking with Howie and AJ.” Kevin joined Nick and Brian at the table. “The three of us think that we need to increase the number of sessions beyond the three weeks that we’ve already booked. We need the extra time to practise our Christmas material and to revamp some of the choreography.”

“More sessions?” Brian’s mouth fell open. He stood up from the table and walked over to the fridge. “Kev, it’s already going to be hard for me to leave Baylee with my parents for three weeks. There’s no way that I can impose on them any more than I already have; especially if I want them to watch him the whole time that we’re on tour in December.”

“You didn’t let me finish.” Kevin held up his hand to silence his cousin. “The three of us have also decided that it’s no longer a good idea for us to hold our rehearsals in L.A.”

Brian raised his eyebrows, but he held his tongue. He opened the fridge and pulled out a bottle of beer, twisting off the cap with a well-practiced flick of his wrist. Brian ignored Nick’s concerned look as he took a long swig. He could only imagine where the new rehearsal location was going to be.

“I’ve arranged for us to have rehearsal space here in Lexington.” Kevin continued. “The rest of the crew is already on board.”

“Kevin, there’s no way that I can go all the way to ...” Brian stopped himself. “Did you say that we’re going to be rehearsing here?”

“That’s right.” Kevin grinned. “We figured that it would make things a bit easier on you if we all came here.”

“I don’t know what to say.” Brian gave his cousin an appreciative smile. “Thanks.”

“This also means that you have no excuse for being late.” Kevin chuckled. “I expect you both to be there tomorrow ... on time.”

“We’re starting tomorrow?” Nick wrinkled his forehead. “Doesn’t that mean that you’ll be staying at your place in Louisville?”

“That’s right.” Kevin smirked. “It looks like we’re going to be roommates. Unless, of course, Brian is willing to let you stay here for a little while longer.”

Brian and Nick exchanged a quick look. “Nick can stay as long as he likes.” Brian grinned. “Thanks again, Kev.”