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Kayla’s eyes were glued to the paper. She had probably read the character reference upwards of ten times in the past twenty minutes, but the words still brought tears to her eyes. Kayla placed the typed written page on the desk and raised her eyes to Peggy. The older woman had barely commented on the contents of the letter. As she gazed at her co-worker’s rigid face, Kayla wondered how long it would take for her to become so jaded that she would no longer feel moved by something so heart-felt.

Sensing that Kayla’s eyes were on her, Peggy pulled her attention away from her computer screen. “Have you finished transcribing that letter yet?”

“I’m just getting started.” Kayla quickly averted her eyes from Peggy and called up Microsoft Word on her laptop. She positioned the hard copy of the letter on her desk and began to type.

*****
To whom it may concern,

In the twenty years that I have known Brian Littrell, I have come to know him as an honest and decent man. He’s one of the most kind and caring individuals that I’ve ever met.

The year that Brian and I met was a difficult one. I was in the process of making some of the biggest and most challenging decisions of my life. Little did I know how life-altering those decisions would turn out to be. I was away from my family for the first time, and I was struggling to come to grips with everything that was happening around me. But once Brian became my friend, I never really felt alone.

We’ve had our ups and downs over the years, but through it all our friendship has held strong. Now, my relationship with Brian has evolved to the point where I no longer consider him to be my friend; I know him to be my brother. Beyond that, Brian has become a father figure in my sons’ lives. He’s there to celebrate their birthdays and he’s always there to cheer them on, regardless of how small their achievements.

With his own son, Brian should be given the same opportunity. Once Brian Littrell is in your life, he’s in your life forever. I speak from the heart when I tell you what an amazing gift that is. To not allow Brian to retain primary custody of his son would be to deprive Baylee of everything that Brian has to offer, and he offers so much more than words can express.

Sincerely,
Howie Dorough

*****

Kayla saved the document and posted it to the file. She handed the original back to Peggy and, when the older woman wasn’t looking, she quickly slipped the copy that she had made into her purse. Kayla knew that it wasn’t standard procedure to allow a client to read a character reference that had been submitted on their behalf, but she felt that Brian deserved to know what Howie had written before it was read aloud in court.

“Are you going to deliver those reports on your way home?” Peggy asked the question without looking up. Her reading glasses were perched on the bridge of her nose and she was squinting at the computer screen.

“Yeah.” Kayla affirmed. “I’m going to take off now. If that’s okay?”

She felt more than a little bit guilty about leaving early. Although she was thrilled by the prospect of escaping the office before four o’clock on a Friday afternoon, Kayla knew that Peggy still had a lot of work to do. The older woman was in the process of finishing the final report regarding one of their more difficult cases, and Kayla knew that no matter how Peggy worded the report the inevitable outcome was that the child would be removed from the home and placed in the care of the state.

“It’s fine.” Peggy waved her hand dismissively. “I’ve almost got this wrapped up.”

“If you’re sure ...” Kayla trailed off as she slid the stack of reports into her arms. She looped her purse around the lower portion of her right arm and plucked her car keys off of her desk.

“I’m sure.” Peggy finally looked up from the screen. “Have a good weekend.”

Forty-five minutes later, Kayla only had one report left to deliver. She glanced at the manila file folder that was lying on the passenger seat. Her own printing stared back at her; the sight of the name ‘Littrell’ caused her heart to beat just a little bit faster than normal. She was pretty sure that the reason for her increased heart rate had something to do with the fact that seeing Brian meant seeing Nick. She and Nick had exchanged quite a few texts since their night at the Olive Garden, and Kayla knew that the whole band was in town to rehearse for their upcoming tour.

Swallowing her nerves, Kayla punched the address that Nick had sent her the night before into the GPS system. She waited for the device to acquire the location before she shifted the car into gear. It wasn’t long before Kayla found herself in the middle of what appeared to be a largely industrial portion of the city. Both sides of the street were lined with cookie-cutter looking industrial units and there didn’t seem to be much, if any, human activity. The GPS indicated that the destination was on the right, so Kayla swung into the nearest parking lot and positioned her car next to a swanky looking BMW. She grabbed the file and stepped out of the car, looking for the entrance to the building. Kayla recognized Brian’s Mercedes as she approached what she hoped was the entrance; the smell of cigarette smoke invading her nostrils.

“Cinnamon? Am I right?”

Kayla knew who the raspy voice belonged to. AJ was leaning against the side of the building; a cigarette dangling from his fingers. He took a long drag and exhaled quickly, careful to blow the smoke away from her.

“That nickname is reserved exclusively for Chris and Shane.” Kayla laughed. “Sorry.”

“Shame.” AJ grinned. “It’s cute.”

Kayla blushed and mentally cursed herself for doing so. If she didn’t learn how to pull herself together, they were all going to think that she was some kind of crazy fan; which she wasn’t. Well, she was a fan, but she wasn’t a crazy one.

“Nick mentioned that you were going to be stopping by.” AJ flicked his cigarette butt to the ground and put it out with the toe of his shoe. “Perfect timing. We need an audience.”

“I’m just here to give Brian this report.” Kayla held up the folder for emphasis. “I won’t get in the way. I’ll be in and out.”

“Who said anything about you being in the way?” AJ smiled. “Like I said, we need an audience.”

“Well – I ...” Kayla was unsure of what to say.

“Listen, if you really need to go, you can go. Like, if you’ve got to get back to work or something.” AJ gently placed his hand on the small of Kayla’s back and steered her towards the entrance. He pulled open the heavy door and flashed a massive smile, his face only inches from hers. “I think that Nick would really like it if you were to stick around for a bit.”

The two of them entered the cavernous rehearsal space that Kevin had rented and began to walk across the concrete floor. The rest of the guys were at the far end of the massive room and an odd assortment of crew members were milling about. Music was blasting from a set of high-end speakers and Kayla was immediately surprised that she hadn’t been able to hear the song when she had been standing outside.

Brian and Howie were in the middle of running through a routine, while Kevin and Nick watched from the sidelines. It didn’t take long for Nick to notice that Kayla had arrived and he broke away from Kevin as soon as their eyes locked. Kayla watched Nick walking towards her and she desperately tried to keep her expression neutral. She could feel AJ watching her out of the corner of his eye as the three of them came together a few feet away from where Brian and Howie were dancing.

“Hey.” Kayla offered.

“Hey.” Nick returned the greeting. He moved as if to hug her, but changed his mind part way through. The result was some weird sweeping hand motion that ended with him scratching the back of his head.

AJ looked back and forth between the two of them and raised his eyebrows. “Smooth moves, Carter.”

Nick gave AJ a disparaging look. “I realized that I wasn’t sure if she was still working.” He turned to Kayla. “Are you still working?”

Kayla nodded. “I’m officially on the clock until this folder is in Brian’s hands.”

“Brian!” Nick shouted above the music. “Brian!”

Brian raised his eyes to Nick, distracting himself from the choreography. He turned sharply to the left and collided with Howie, his right leg connecting loudly with the shorter man’s shin. Kayla cringed as the two of them grabbed onto each other’s shoulders in an unflattering attempt to steady themselves. An exotic looking Latin woman, who bore a striking resemblance to Sofia Vergara, walked over to the stereo system and shut it off.

“Brian, you’re supposed to turn to the right, not to the left.”

“It’s Nick’s fault.” Brian whined. “He distracted me.”

“You, like, murdered my shin!” Howie complained. He dropped his arms from Brian’s shoulders and began rubbing gingerly at his leg.

“You guys are always full of excuses.” The woman shook her head and reached for a bottle of water. Her voice sounded stern, but Kayla somehow knew that she wasn’t really all that upset.

“Brian.” Nick’s voice was impatient. “Kayla has something that she needs to give to you.”

“Hmmmm?” Brian removed his eyes from the Latin bombshell and turned to Nick. “Oh, hey, Kayla.” Brian gave Kayla a small wave and began to walk towards them. “When did you get here?”

“A few minutes ago.” Kayla replied as she watched Howie hobble over to a padded folding chair. He sat down heavily and continued to massage his shin. “Is he okay?”

“Who? Howie?” Brian turned around to stare at his friend. “He’s fine. Right, Howie?”

“Your fucking pink shoe took a chunk out of my leg!” Howie had rolled up the right leg of his track pants and was hunched over inspecting his injury.

Kayla glanced down at Brian’s feet. He was, indeed, wearing a pair of bright pink running shoes. By the time Kayla lifted her eyes from the ground; Brian had stopped looking at Howie and was staring at her intently.

“Stylish, aren’t they?” Brian grinned.

“They’re not fucking stylish!” Howie retorted. “They’re deadly weapons! I’m bleeding ... not that anyone cares.”

“Oh my God, just give him the file.” Nick pestered; ignoring Howie’s moaning. “Please.”

“What file?” Kayla noticed the worry wash across Brian’s face as he gazed at the folder in her hands. “What’s in it?”

“It’s a copy of the inspection report that we did at your parents’ house.” Kayla handed Brian the folder and smiled. “It’s nothing to worry about. You already know that they passed with flying colours.”

The relief on Brian’s face was noticeable. “Right. Thanks.” He accepted the folder and looked back and forth between Nick and Kayla. “So, are you still working?”

“Actually, my weekend officially started as soon as you took that folder out of my hands.” Kayla laughed. “Thanks for letting me off work early.”

“It’s my pleasure.” Brian grinned. “Are you going to hang around for a bit?”

“AJ actually asked me the same thing ...” Kayla glanced quickly at AJ who had been watching the situation unfold with an unreadable smirk. “... he said that you guys were in need of an audience.”

“AJ’s right.” Brian’s eyes locked with Kayla’s. “We do need an audience.”

“Let’s go, boys!” The Sofia look-a-like clapped her hands. “We need to run through ‘We’ve Got It Goin’ On’ at least one more time!”

Brian pulled his eyes away from Kayla in order to address the choreographer. “Give us a second, Catalina!”

“It looks like we need to get back to work.” AJ sighed before turning to Kayla. “Seriously, it would be nice if you stuck around.” He gave her a quick wink as he and Brian strolled back towards Catalina, Kevin, and a still pouting Howie.

“So, what do you say?” Nick flashed Kayla his signature smile. “Are you gonna stick around and watch us dance? I mean, it’s okay if you stay, right? Now that you’re off the clock and all that.”

Kayla looked up into Nick’s eager face. Who was she kidding? She wasn’t about to say ‘no’. “I can stay for a bit.”

“Good.” Nick hastily wrapped his long arms around her in a tight hug, pulling her to his chest. “I’ve been thinking about you.”

Kayla was so caught off guard that it took her more than a few seconds to respond. Eventually, she looped her arms around his back; returning the embrace. He smelled like cologne and sweat, and she had to resist the urge to giggle as his day-old stubble tickled her cheek.

“Nick!” Catalina’s voice reverberated through the space. “We’re waiting for you!”

Kayla pulled away first, her eyes drifting towards the other guys who were all standing around waiting. “You should go.”

Nick stepped back somewhat reluctantly. “Let us know how we look.” He insisted as he jogged over to join the others.

As the boys got into position, Kayla wandered over to the cluster of folding chairs. She sat down and dropped her purse to the floor as the opening notes of ‘We’ve Got It Goin’ On’ filled the air. Not really knowing what to expect, Kayla was pleasantly surprised to see the five of them launch into the classic choreography that she remembered from their first-ever music video. It was almost a surreal experience to see them running the routine in street-clothes in the middle of what was essentially an empty warehouse.

AJ, Nick, and Howie drifted effortlessly through the steps, but Kayla noticed that Brian kept glancing back at AJ for confirmation. He was easily a few seconds behind the others. Kevin was on time and definitely knew what he was supposed to be doing, but he didn’t appear to be as polished.

“Brian!” Catalina screamed above the music. “You’re off the beat!”

Kayla brought her hand to her mouth to hide her smile as she watched Brian scramble to get back into position. The rest of the guys had all dropped to their knees, but Brian had remained upright. He finally dropped into position as the other four sprang up and moved into the next turn.

“Brian!” Catalina wailed. “What are you doing?”

Brian had now moved away from the rest of the group and was busy blowing kisses and making random faces in Kayla’s direction. Kayla sputtered into her hand and shook her head as Brian jumped back into the routine at the last second and finished on time with the others.

The music faded out and Catalina jabbed at the speaker system to turn it off. “Brian Littrell, you are going to be the death of me! What the hell was that?”

Brian shrugged. “I was just doing what I would do during a show.”

Catalina looked like she wanted to strangle him. “You’re impossible.”

“I thought we had established that a long time ago.” Howie laughed. He scanned the ground before walking towards Kalya. “Can you toss me that bottle of water?”

Kayla glanced down and located the half-full water bottle next to her chair. She scooped it up and tossed it in Howie’s direction. He caught it without effort and took a long drink.

“Thanks.” He acknowledged, replacing the cap. “Kayla ...” Howie dropped his voice to a whisper. “... I sent in my character reference for Brian. Did you guys get it?”

Kayla nodded; her mind flashing to the copy that was tucked safely in her purse. “It was really sweet.”

“Do you think it’s good enough?” Howie looked slightly embarrassed. “I didn’t really know how to phrase it.”

“You conveyed yourself perfectly.” Kayla reassured him. “Really.”

“Oh.” Howie flushed. “Thanks. I was kind of worried that I hadn’t made myself clear. I don’t want to be the one who messes things up for Brian.”

“It’s clear how much you care about him.” Kayla paused. “I was actually going to ask you if you would be okay with me showing him what you wrote.”

“Yeah, yeah, of course.” Howie nodded. “You’re allowed to do that?”

It was Kayla’s turn to flush. “Not exactly, but I feel that Brian deserves to read all of the wonderful things that you wrote about him.”

“What are you two whispering about?”

Howie and Kayla immediately fell silent at the sound of Kevin’s voice. “Nothing.” They offered in unison.

“Then can we please get back to work?” Kevin directed his question at Howie.

“Sure, Kev.” Howie finished his bottle of water and tossed it towards the recycling bin. He stole a glance at Kayla as he turned to rejoin the group. “I think that Brian deserves to see it, too.”