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It was early morning Christmas Eve. I snuck down the hall to find everyone still asleep. I wasn’t too surprised because it was only 8 o’clock. Sneaking back into the safety of my room, I grabbed the journal and made myself comfortable. Remembering last night’s entry, I knew I would be reading about Howie so I was a bit anxious.

June 13, 2005

Journal –

Well, the Tahoe is in the repair shop. Leighanne totaled the front end of it this afternoon…in a friggin’ Burger King drive thru!!! I wasn’t there but she said that she ‘accidentally’ punched the gas pedal instead of the break. Now, I love my wife but that woman could hit the broad side of a moose in a parking lot, during daylight hours!!! I swear I have to account for car repair in my monthly bills! So, she is going to have to drive the Blazer for a week or so because the guy has to order a couple parts. And people wonder why I am always the one driving…I don’t trust her behind the wheel with me in the car! It’s bad enough I have to let Baylee be exposed to her lack of driving skill.

Alright, now down to business. Howie. Shall we begin with the pros? Hmm. He is the oldest of the three in question and the most responsible…well…most of the time. Howie is level headed and business oriented. Like I said, he is what seems to be the most obvious choice. He would ensure Baylee’s education got finished, instill good morals, and make sure his most pressing needs were met. I can’t see Howie allowing Baylee to make unwise decisions but I can’t see him being too controlling either…I think overall he would be a good balance for Baylee’s guardian.

What would be his cons? Well…he likes to move around which, would mean a lot of school changes and that could could affect Baylee’s education. Then again, Howie is the type to make a sacrifice and settle down in one spot, if it was the best for Baylee. Howie can be a bit too easy to walk over, that could cause issues as Baylee got older and started getting those challenging attitudes…Howie might be the most likely to give in. However, if it were going to endanger Baylee, then Howie would put his foot down.

I guess, it looks like Howie is still the best choice. I will have to continue with the other two guys before making a final decision but, honestly, I can’t see either of them out beating Howie. My hair is graying by the minute! Anyways, AJ will be up next. But, it’s off to bed for me, now.

- Brian Thomas Littrell

I rubbed my eyes as I set the book down. I couldn’t even begin to understand how Nick won this. Not that I am complaining…well, not anymore, at least. Nick has been so much better since we talked the other night. He has loosened up and let his true self shine through, again. I took a quick shower and headed down to the kitchen.

The house was still silent as I began to mix up some pancake batter. The clock read almost 10 before I heard the first sounds of stirring from the upstairs. I flipped over the last of the pancakes as Howie and AJ trudged into the room.

“Whatchya got cookin?” AJ snuck a peak over my shoulder. “Where’s the sausage?”

“In the oven with the other pancakes, staying warm,” I smiled as the two men collapsed into their seats at the table. “Are you hungry?”

“Starving,” Nick answered as he slowly inched into the room. “Thanks for cooking, Bay.”

“No sweat. Sit.” I started dishing out the pancakes and sausage. Setting the butter and syrup on the table, I smiled as the three of them fought over who got what first. I took the orange juice and milk from the refrigerator and grabbed a glass for each of us.

“Mm. This is pretty tasty, Baylee.” Howie didn’t usually talk with food in his mouth, but he usually didn’t sleep in this late either.

“I have to agree,” AJ nodded before shoveling another forkful into his mouth. Everyone’s head popped up and the sound of the gate’s intercom buzzing. Nick got up and headed over to the little box. Pressing the button he spoke into it.

“Hello?” he questioned.

“Yes, hello, I am Officer A. Carter. I am here to speak with a Mr. Nickolas Gene Carter?” we all snickered at how ‘official’ Aaron sounded.

“O for the love of pete, come in Aaron,” Nick rolled his eyes as he walked back into the kitchen. Aaron came through the front door only a few moments later.

“Hey guys,” he gave us all a weak smile.

“Are you on duty Aaron?” I asked, looking at his uniform. Yes, Aaron Carter is in the LAPD. Weird, huh? That’s why we got him to help with the prank…he came over, in his squad car, after his shift was over that day.

“Unfortunately, yes. Even worse, I am here on business.”

“Business?” Nick looked up at his brother.

“I am here to serve you papers, Nick,” Aaron sighed as he held out a manila envelope. “The department is responsible for handing out certain court orders. I told them that I would deliver this. I didn’t think it would be good publicity for you.”

“What?” Nick snatched the envelope and tore it open. “God damn, cock sucking, son of a bitch! Fuck, what an ASS!”

“I’m sorry, bro,” Aaron frowned. “I thought it was best for you to get it from me rather than one of the others.”

“I appreciate that, Aaron. The press will find out soon enough, without any help.”

“I know. I can’t believe that he is seriously going to fight for custody,” Aaron leaned against the counter. Honestly, I still get weirded out when I see him in uniform. He had only been on the force for a couple years and we hardly ever, actually, see him in his uniform.

“You know, I’m not surprised…I was just holding high hopes that he wouldn’t,” Nick’s eyes continued to scan the papers. “FUCKING JACK ASS!!!!” Nick’s voice almost curdled my blood. AJ and Howie jumped up and were reading over his shoulder.

“He can’t do that! How can he do that? CAN he do that?” AJ’s eyebrows were furrowed as anger flushed his cheeks. I sat in the same spot with confusion clouding my mind.

“That’s fucked up,” Howie gasped. “I…I…uh.”

“Baylee don’t…” Nick pleaded as I grabbed the papers from his hands. I walked out of the kitchen as my eyes read the words. Hurrying up the stairs my eyes landed on what the commotion had been about and it caused me to freeze.

“How can he…” My voice broke off and tears rushed to my eyes as I reread the words. He was fighting for full custody of me without visitation rights for Nick. That meant he was trying to, not only take me from Nick, but prevent me from even SEEING Nick!

“Merry fucking Christmas,” I heard AJ’s voice followed by the sound of, probably, his fist punching the wall. “If Kevin won’t let him see Nick, you know he won’t let us anywhere near him either! What is Kevin’s problem? Why is he doing this?”

“I’m sorry guys,” Aaron’s voice was soft and sympathetic. “I know it’s hard. If he gets away with it, then I won’t see him either. We will all fight this together. But, for now, I have to get back to my duty.”

“Thanks again, Aaron,” Nick’s voice cracked.

“See you later,” Aaron’s voice bid goodbye as he closed the door. I was still stuck in the same spot. My mind felt like it was going for the millionth turn on the tilt-a-wheel at some passing carnival.

“Bay?” Howie’s voice cut into my thoughts. His arms slinked around my shoulders, pulling me into a hug. “We’ll figure something out.”

“Can you give us a minute?” Nick reached the top of the stairs and came up behind me.

“Sure,” Howie nodded and let go of me, before heading back downstairs.

“Look, Baylee,” Nick’s voice was highly unstable, but, I wasn’t even willing to try using mine. “I can’t tell you that everything will be okay because I, honestly, don’t know if it will be. What I do know is that I am going to do what ever I have to, to prevent any of this from happening. I know we aren’t as close as we used to be and I know we don’t always get along, but I also know that I love you and am not willing to let go of you.”

“Why would he do this?”

“He hated your mother and didn’t think that your dad was raising you right. Kevin was against pretty much everything your father did…including the choice of me being your guardian. For whatever reason, Kevin even called Child Protective Services on your dad accusing him of child abuse. The case was dismissed immediately but Kevin wasn’t happy about it. I don’t know what got him started, but no one has been able to change his mind.”

“He hated my dad? Kevin doesn’t even LIKE me, so why would he want custody of me?”

“Yeah, in the end there, Kevin began hating all of us,” Nick shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t know what the stem of the whole issue is.”

“That’s messed up.”

“Yeah. We aren’t sure what we did wrong.” Nick turned to the stairway and cupped his hands around his mouth, “Howie! AJ! Come here!” Both of the older men rushed up the stairs.

“Yeah, Nickerboker?” AJ arched an eyebrow.

“Pack. We are going somewhere for Christmas,” Nick forced a smile.

“Where?” Howie tilted his head.

“I don’t know. Wherever. I’ll call the airlines and see what they have available. We are just going to take a few days of vacation to get away from this mess.”

“Sweet,” AJ smirked as he headed down the stairs. He bolted out the door, obviously, heading home to pack.

“Sounds cool,” Howie nodded his agreement.

“What about you, Baylee? Are you up for some time away?” Nick turned to face me.

“Sure,” I shrugged, “we could use some space.” We all headed to our rooms in order to get ready for the trip to an unknown destination. How was I supposed to pack if I didn’t know where we were going? My eyes drifted over to my dad’s journal. It had become a source of comfort for me…it was definitely going on the trip.

Nick came to my room 15 minutes later. He told me that he made plans for us to go up to Maine for our Christmas vacation. There was a cabin up in the mountains that he was able to book. We were going to have a white Christmas! No doubt, there was a lot of sledding, snow angels, snowmen, skiing and snowball fights in our near future. My excitement grew as I pictured us all bundled up and playing in the snow.

We were all packed within an hour. An hour after that, we were arriving at the airport. It was another hour and a half before we were boarding our plane. It was a relatively short plane ride and we touched down around 7pm. As we exited the airport we stepped out into a winter wonderland of falling snow! Our Christmas vacation was underway!