December 5th, 2017
6:56 AM
Nick woke the next morning to the sound of Odin calling for him from his travel crib.
“Dada! Dada! Dada!” he babbled.
“Okay, I guess we’re having an early start today, buddy,” Nick yawned as he scooped his son up into his arms and slipped out of the room, leaving Lauren still asleep.
Carrying Odin downstairs, Nick brought him into the living room and to his surprise found Kevin asleep on one of the sofas.
Chuckling, Nick set his little boy down, and the toddler pushed himself up to peek over the arm of the couch, watching his uncle. He poked him in the cheek and he began to stir.
“Wha…?” Kevin looked up and saw a pair of little blue eyes staring back at him.
“Morning!” Odin said promptly. “Yeah,” Kevin sat up stretching his neck out against his hand. “Good morning to you, too.” He stifled a yawn.
“Were you out here all night?” Nick asked.
“Pretty much,” Kevin nodded. “Kristin’s always had rough nights when she’s almost due, so I let her have the whole bed sometimes. Anything to make her more comfortable.”
Nick scanned the movie shelf and put on a Sesame Street DVD for Odin to watch. With his son occupied, he fixed a mug of tea for himself and sat with Kevin on the other couch. For a while they just sat and talked while the little one’s gaze was transfixed to the television screen.
“Almost twenty five years,” Nick murmured. “This new year is gonna be huge, man.”
“I know,” Kevin nodded. “New album, new tour…hopefully new fans?”
“Dude, we’re always getting new fans! Remember all the kids we saw come to Vegas?”
Nick had a point. It was amazing to see some teenagers and elementary school kids in their audiences again. The Boys’ career had definitely gone back on the rise and was most certainly going to continue to.
“It’s amazing, though,” Kevin sighed.
Eventually the effectiveness of their early morning rise set in, and they moved to the second couch and sat back to relax, before soon falling asleep.
9 AM
“Hey, sleepyheads!”
Nick’s eyes flew open and he found himself slumped over, leaning into Kevin’s left arm. He shot upright and found Lauren with their son in her arms standing beside them, the TV displaying the DVD menu.
Looking over to the kitchen, everyone else was sitting and standing around the counter, boxes and bowls of cereal scattered among them and the lingering smell of egg whites and toast hanging in the air.
“Got breakfast waiting for you,” his wife smiled. Nick leapt from the sofa and kissed her and Odin’s forehead.
Kevin slowly sat up, sore from the angle he had unfortunately dozed off in. “Hey, Dad?” Mason called to him.
He got up and joined everyone in the kitchen. “Mom still isn’t up yet,” Mason said. “Should we get her?”
“Let’s let her sleep in, son,” Kevin told him. “She needs plenty of rest.”
He fixed himself some breakfast and sat with his boys and the rest of the kids as they all continued eating and talking about what they could do today.
Afterwards, as they all were about to go get into their snow clothes, Brian and A.J. peered out a window.
“Uh, guys?” A.J. called out. “I don’t think we’re going outside anytime soon. Take a look.”
A wall of snow was spilled over the entire deck, just barely blocking the view of the trail of their cars down the hill. The sky was still hazy, and some grey clouds were beginning to move in.
Howie went to the door and glanced out. The snow was completely packed against it!
“Looks like we’re snowed in today.”
“Aaaaww!” The younger kids began to mope.
“Hey, that doesn’t mean we still can’t do something fun,” Brian reminded them. He looked over at his wife and son and the rest of the band. “Any ideas?” he asked.
Rochelle shrugged. “They’ll probably just want to watch more movies. Or get out the board games again.”
“How about making some cookies?” Leigh suggested. “A huge pantry like the one here, it’s got to have all the stuff for it.”
Baylee even offered his input. “I brought some extra things: paper, pencils, markers, just in case. I can set it up if you want.”
His parents nodded in agreement.
More ideas from the others kept flooding in. It looked like the day wasn’t a loss after all.
