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The living room was a disaster. Brian felt as though he had robbed an electronics store as he sifted through the mess of laptops, cell phones, tablets, and iPods. He picked up two identical sets of Beats headphones and sighed. It appeared as though Howie and AJ had indefinitely checked in to Chéz Littrell. All he needed was for Kevin to show up and he could officially put a ‘No Vacancy’ sign on the front lawn.

“Seriously?” Brian muttered as he unearthed a third pair of Beats headphones. He tossed them on the coffee table with the others and continued to rummage through the pile of Nick’s discarded hoodies that were taking up space on the couch.

“What are you looking for?”

Brian turned at the sound of AJ’s voice. “My phone. Not yours, not Howie’s, not Nick’s, MINE.”

“That’s a tall order.” AJ grinned. “You act like this is your house or something.”

Brian rolled his eyes. “Can you just help me look, please?”

AJ continued to laugh as he swiped another random pile of clothing off of the couch and onto the floor. He jammed his hand down in-between the cushions and rooted around for a few seconds before withdrawing his hand in triumph. “Found it!”

Brian eagerly snatched the device from his friend’s tattooed fingers. His face fell when he saw that he had no missed calls or messages. “Did you hide it on purpose?”

“No.” AJ looked guilty. “But it’s possible that Nick might have.”

Brian sank down onto the pile of Nick’s shirts and rubbed his eyes. “Have I told you guys lately how much I really appreciate the fact that you’re all staying here to keep an eye on me?”

AJ grinned even wider. The sarcasm was practically dripping off of Brian’s tongue. “I don’t think that you’ve officially thanked us yet.”

“I’m fine, AJ.” Brian resisted the urge to scream. “I don’t need looking after. I’m over it.”

“Sure you are.” AJ settled himself down in one of the wing chairs. “How many times have you texted her today?”

“None.” Brian couldn’t bring himself to look AJ in the eye.

“Let me see your phone.”

“Okay, so I’ve sent her a couple of messages.” Brian relented. “Less than ten.”

AJ wiggled his fingers.

“Twenty tops.” Brian gave in. “Okay, so I’m not over it. Are you happy now?”

“Twenty? Jesus, Brian! How old are you? Thirteen?” AJ frowned. “She still isn’t talking to you?”

Brian shook his head. “The only time she texts me back is to ask me to stop texting her.”

“I see that you’re taking her wishes to heart.” AJ attempted to lighten the mood, but stopped when he saw that his words were having the reverse effect. “Seriously, Bri, I think she’ll come around.”

“It’s been over a week.” Brian’s voice wavered. “I blew it. Why did I let her walk out? I should have told her how I felt, how I still feel.”

AJ could feel his palms getting sweaty. He still hadn’t told Brian about his visit to Kayla’s office, about the confession that he had made on his friend’s behalf. “It’s not too late to tell her.”

Brian gave AJ a patronizing look. “What do you expect me to do? Track her down while she’s at work, burst into her office, and proclaim my love for her? She’ll think that I’ve lost my mind. We were together for less than a month.”

“That sounds like a pretty good idea to me.” AJ was aware of the fact that he sounded slightly defensive. “I knew that I loved Ro about ten minutes into our first date. I told her that I was going to marry her before the night was even over.”

“And she thought that you were crazy.” Brian affirmed. “You’re lucky that you even got a second date.”

“No she didn’t.” AJ could feel his confidence slipping away. “She never told me that.”

A smile spread across Brian’s face. “No, she didn’t. But, she did tell Leigh, who told Kristin, who told Kevin, who told me that she thought that you were a complete nut-job.”

AJ flushed. “We really need to corral this Backstreet gossip train.”

Brian felt slightly guilty for deflating his friend’s romantic notions. “In the end, she said yes. That’s really all that matters.”

“Exactly.” AJ agreed. “All the more reason why you need to tell Kayla how you feel. You never know, maybe she feels the same way about you.”

Brian studied AJ’s face. His brown eyes were flashing with an all-too-familiar look of guilt. “What did you do?”

“Dad?” The front door banged open and Baylee began tossing his outerwear across the tiles in the foyer.

“In the living room.” Brian announced. He noticed a look of relief cross AJ’s face as Baylee came flying into the room, waving a brown envelope in his hand. “How was basketball practice?”

“Good.” Baylee pulled his toque off of his head; his hair bristling with static. “I’m getting really good at layups.”

“Did you remember to thank Chris for driving you home?”

Baylee nodded. “Yes, I thanked him.” He paused and looked at AJ. “Hey, Uncle Alex.”

“Hey, kid.” AJ returned the greeting. “What’s in the envelope?”

“My report card.” Baylee announced. He shoved the package in Brian’s hands. “Mr. White said that we weren’t allowed to open them ourselves. See? The envelope is still sealed.”

Brian accepted the envelope from his son and smiled. “I can see that.”

“Are you going to open it?” Baylee looked nervous. “I think that I did okay.”

Brian hooked his finger into the corner of the envelope and ripped it open. He removed the two folded sheets of paper and opened them slowly. The only thing that he was concerned about was Baylee’s mark in music. He said a silent prayer that he wouldn’t see anything lower than a ‘D’ and glanced down at the page.

“How did I do?” Baylee sank down on the couch next to his father and scooted backwards so that he was leaning against him.

Brian didn’t even try to hide his shock; he couldn’t remember the last time that his son had voluntarily sought out physical contact. “Well, you have an A+ in English ...” Brian’s eyes continued to trail down the page. “...an A in social studies, an A in science, a B- in math, an A+ in gym, a B in art, a C+ in Spanish, and ...” Brian paused to make sure that he was looking at the correct subject. “... a B+ in music.”

AJ whistled his approval. “Way to go, Bay!”

“Did I do good?” Baylee stared up into Brian’s face. “Are you proud of me, dad?”

Brian refolded the papers and placed them on top of the mess on the coffee table. He would read the comments in detail later. “Of course I’m proud of you, Bay.”

Baylee smiled briefly before lowering his gaze to the floor. He scuffed his feet on the area rug. “I changed my mind about music class.”

“Mr. White said that you didn’t want to participate.” Brian chose his words carefully. “He said that you were going to get an ‘R’.”

Baylee nodded. “He told me the same thing. I thought the other kids would make fun of me if they knew that I could sing.”

Brian held his tongue, waiting for his son to continue.

“I knew that you would be mad at me if I failed music.” Baylee continued; his gaze locked on his shuffling feet. “We had a test last week and, when Mr. White pointed at me, I just stood up and sang the song as best as I could. I remembered everything that you told me, about the breathing and the pitch and stuff.”

“You must have done a good job.” Brian acknowledged. “You got a B+.”

Baylee nodded again. “I think Mr. White was pretty surprised. The whole class clapped for me when I was done. Mr. White said that he would have given me an A+ if I hadn’t, you know, not done anything for so long. ”

“Did anyone laugh at you?”

“No.” Baylee finally lifted his eyes from his feet and stared into his father’s eyes. “Ashley and her best friend, Amanda, said that I sound just like you.”

“They did?” Brian had no idea where this conversation was headed. He was pretty sure that Baylee had not been happy with the comparison.

“Dad?” Baylee’s eyes were wet with tears. “I’m really sorry.”

“Sorry?” Brian noticed out of the corner of his eye that AJ was quietly slipping out of the room. “Why are you sorry?”

“I’m sorry about what I said to you before. I’m sorry that I yelled at you and told you that I hated you.” Baylee sobbed. “I don’t hate you.”

“I know that you don’t hate me.” Brian placed his arm around his son’s small shoulders.

Baylee was on a roll. “I don’t think it’s stupid that you’re a Backstreet Boy. I like the fact that you take me on tour, and I like having Uncle Nick stay with us all the time. I like that Uncle Alex, and Uncle Howie, and Uncle Kevin took the time to come to my basketball game. I shouldn’t have said that you embarrass me all the time.”

Brian pulled Baylee against him and tightened his grip. “So, I don’t embarrass you?”

Baylee shook his head. “Not all the time.” He paused. “You may want to keep your shirt on in your next video though.”

Brian snorted in amusement. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

“I’m also not mad at you for wanting to have a girlfriend.” Baylee wiped a stray tear from his cheek. “Kayla seems pretty nice.”

Brian’s stomach twisted at the mention of Kayla’s name. “What made you change your mind about that?”

“I told Mike about what happened; about what I saw.” Baylee’s face tinged with pink. “He told me that mom wasn’t going to come back. Mike said that the same thing happened to him, only he saw his dad holding hands with Shane. He said that I was lucky that I didn’t come home and see you kissing Uncle Nick.”

Brian bit his lower lip to control his laughter. This was a serious moment for his son and he didn’t want to ruin it by busting a gut over the thought of him and Nick making out. “I’m glad that Mike was able to help you understand that your mom and I won’t be getting back together.”

“I really wanted you to.” Baylee admitted. “I kinda still do.”

“I know.” Brian sighed.

“Do you?” Baylee’s eyes were hopeful. “Want to get back together with mom?”

“No, Bay.” Brian answered. “I don’t.”

“Is it because you love Kayla now?”

Brian’s heart was hammering in his chest. Baylee had used the word so easily, so freely. There had been no hesitation. Why couldn’t he do the same thing?

“Yes.” Brian stammered. “It’s because I love Kayla now.”

“Oh.” Baylee considered his father’s words for a few seconds before responding. “I’m okay with that.”

“You are?” Brian was in awe with Baylee’s maturity. “I know that you miss your mom.”

“I do.” Baylee nodded. “But I really want you to be happy.”

“I want you to be happy too, Bay.”

“I am happy.” Baylee confirmed. “I like living here with you and Uncle Nick. I like going to school, and playing basketball, and having friends. I like that Ashley thinks that I can sing like you.”

Brian smiled. “You do know that your Uncle Nick is going to be moving out soon?” Brian paused. “I hope.”

Baylee rolled his eyes. “That’s what you said months ago and he’s still here. You know that I wouldn’t mind if Kayla moved in too? Even if she does have to bring the baby with her.” Baylee wrinkled his nose at the thought of Liliana. “Lily is kinda cute ... for a baby.”

Brian laughed; the first genuine laugh that he had emitted in over a week. “We’ll have to see about all of that.”

Baylee shrugged; a serious expression returning to his face. “What if the judge says that I have to move back to Atlanta with mom on Friday?”

“I’ll be really upset if that happens.” Brian answered honestly. He didn’t have anything else to say. He had no idea what would happen if the judge made that decision.

“Do I get to tell the judge what I want?” Baylee’s eyes narrowed in determination.

“Yes.” Brian’s lawyer had told him that Baylee was now old enough to be given a chance to state who he would prefer to live with. In the end, the decision would still be based primarily on the facts, but Baylee’s opinion would at least count for something. “You can talk to the judge if you want to.”

“I do.” Baylee affirmed. “I want to say something.”