~ Chapter Fifty One ~

Brian had managed to disappear.  Kevin craned his head, trying to see if his cousin was in the middle of one of the several groups clustered over the plane, but he didn't see him.  He saw AJ, hanging over the back of one of the seats, his legs swinging in the air, he saw the ever-eternal game of cards that Howie and Ramos were always playing, but there was no Brian.  If Brian was there, he would have been able to hear him over everyone else, Kevin reasoned.

Brian usually sat with Nick, and right now Nick was sitting by himself, curled up in his seat, one leg wedged between his seat and the one in front of him, his tongue sticking out in concentration as he worked on something in the notebook he had propped on the arm of the seat.  As usual, the headphones were on his ears, the music playing loudly enough that Kevin could hear the bass and drums clearly.

Kevin reached over and tapped Nick on the shoulder, attempting to get his attention.  Nick was off in his own little world, Kevin could have stood there for a good ten minutes without him ever noticing. 

Nick jumped, glancing up in confusion.  Kevin could see Nick's brain try to focus.

"Yeah?"  Nick pulled the headphones down around his neck, the music getting louder as the ear pieces were unmuffled. 

"Where's Brian?"  Kevin asked. 

Nick blinked a couple times, thinking.  "I don't know."   His brain finished processing the question and he spit out his typical answer. 

"He's sitting here, right?" 

Nick thought about that one for a moment too.  "I think so."  He said slowly.  Kevin was never really sure if Nick just wasn't that bright to begin with, or if his brain was always preoccupied with something else and just made him seem like he wasn't that smart.  There were brief moments when Nick would say something intelligent, Kevin had to give him credit for that.  On the field, Nick had a lot more experience than his two years in the majors would lead one to believe.  But then, growing up under the tutelage of Bob Carter since he was a little kid, it was to be expected that Nick knew his baseball.

"Your girlfriend coming down for the weekend?"  Kevin wondered, dropping into Brian's empty seat, surprised he was attempting a polite conversation. 

"Nope."  Nick said shortly, scowling back down at the notebook. 

Well, it had been an attempt at conversation, at least.  Kevin slouched down a little lower and yanked at the tie around his neck, wondering as he always did what moron in baseball's front offices kept that rule in place.  If he ran baseball, that would be the first thing to go. 

"She's in Minneapolis."  Nick explained, giving up on the notebook, resting the side of his head on the back of the seat and closing his eyes. 

"I see."

"We got in a fight over it."  Nick added quietly, staring over at Kevin uncertainly.  Kevin was suddenly hit with the realization that Nick was still just a kid.  Kevin had never really thought about it before, but Nick was eight years younger than he was.  Why he had never realized this was a mystery to Kevin, but Nick was a year older than Kevin had been when his father died.  It made Kevin see Nick in an entirely new light.  He wasn't exactly sorry for the way he'd been acting towards Nick, but it was enough to make him wonder if he should rethink his attitude just a little. 

"Fights before road trips are never good."  Kevin knew this from experience - two girlfriends and one wife worth of experience.  By the time he came home, they had always managed to blow it up to five times the problem it had been before he left.  "Take it from the voice of experience - call and apologize, even if it wasn't your fault.  Wins you major points in their book, trust me." 

"I have no idea where she's staying."  Nick mumbled. 

Kevin frowned, thinking.  "Does she have a cell phone?"

Nick bolted upright, notebook, pencil, Walkman and arms flying in all directions.  "Holy s---, yes!"  He leaned down and rescued the CD player from the floor.  "Why didn't I think of that?"

"Because I am older and infinitely wiser than you."  Kevin managed to say it with a perfectly straight face. 

Nick wrinkled his nose, thinking.  "Well, you're infinitely older anyway."

"Don't push it."  Kevin wagged his index finger at Nick.

"Why are y'all in my seat?"  Brian finally appeared.  "Get up!"

"So sorry."  Kevin held his hands up in surrender and moved back into the aisle.

"Cell phone."  Nick shook his head in amazement and flopped back into his seat. 

"You don't look so good."  Kevin critically inspected his cousin. 

"Thank you and how are YOU today?"  Brian gave Kevin a cheesy smile, reclining the seat back partway and collapsing into it sideways, his back to Nick.  "I bet you had at least six hours sleep, didn'tcha?  Go away and let me sleep."  He closed his eyes and proceeded to ignore Kevin.

"Why didn't I think of that?"  Nick repeated under his breath.  "Cell phone..."

"Why does he keep saying that?"  Brian muttered.

"Nick's still discovering the marvels of modern technology."  Kevin explained dryly.

Nick tapped Brian on the shoulder.  "Stacy has a cell phone, Brian."

Brian rolled his eyes.  "Blond..."  He mouthed at Kevin before turning slightly towards Nick.  "Why didn't you think of that earlier instead of flipping out!"

"I didn't flip out."  Nick defended, eyes widening in disbelief. 

"Did too."  Brian argued. 

"Okay..."  Nick allowed.  "But it was just normal flipping out.  It wasn't special flipping out."

Brian snickered.  "If y'all say so.  Put your headphones back on and let me sleep."

~*~

"Bedtime, is what I think."  Kevin glowered down at his daughter. 

"Oh, Daddy."  Becky protested.  "We're in LA.  We shouldn't be going to bed.  We should be going to a club or something."  Everyone went to clubs in LA, even Becky knew that. 

"She didn't learn that from me!"  Brian yelped, defending himself. 

Kevin laughed.  "Trust me, Becky, even AJ and Howie's combined efforts couldn't get you to pass off as twenty one.  Bedtime."

"Go to bed - we'll ride the elevator again in the morning."  Brian added.  Brian had taken Becky on a tour of the hotel in Los Angeles, including the elevator several times over.

"Y'all will not ride that elevator again."  Kevin said sharply.  "This is a hotel, not a freakin' jungle gym!"

"Kevin, have you SEEN that jacuzzi?"  Karen demanded, sticking her head around the corner.

"Yeah, the first three times you brought it up!"  Kevin yelled back.  He shook his head at Brian.  "I think she's in shock or something.  She just keeps saying that same phrase, over and over."

Brian snickered.  "She does that a lot, Kevin.  Haven't you noticed?"

"It's cute."  Kevin defended.

"Each to his own..."  Brian cocked one eyebrow skeptically.  "I'm gonna go see if Nick actually called Stacy or if he chickened out again, and then I'm goin' to bed.  How about a kiss goodnight?"  He added to Becky.

"Hell no!"  Kevin said in disgust.

Becky laughed.  Her father was an exceptionally good mood that night.  He wasn't usually this funny. 

"Sweet dreams."  Brian grabbed Becky around the waist, picking her up and kissing her cheek.  Becky kissed him back, and screamed as Brian dropped her onto the bed. 

"And you..."  Brian circled and dove down towards Kevin, lips pursed.

"Get off me, you freak!"  Kevin shoved Brian, sending him pinwheeling towards the door.  Brian vanished into the entryway by the door, then appeared again, bent over double laughing.

"What are you two doing?"  Karen called absently from the bathroom, where she was still admiring the jacuzzi. 

"Nothing!"  Kevin assured her.

"G'night, Karen!"  Brian shouted, as the hotel room door slammed shut behind him. 

"Bed."  Kevin repeated.  Becky sighed and got ready for bed. 

"Wait!  Where's Gertrude?"  She demanded, once she was tucked in under the blankets.

"Hang on..."  Kevin started methodically pawing through suitcases and bags, finally emerging with the little doll.  "Gotta have the doll, don'tcha?"

"She's an angel, Daddy."  Becky corrected.  "She protects me while I sleep."

"She's a doll."  Kevin stated firmly.  "Go to sleep.  I love you."

"I love you too, Daddy!"  Becky called at his back, hugging Gertrude up against her chest and closing her eyes.  She knew Gertrude wasn't really an angel.  That was okay though, because Becky knew there were real angels everywhere.  She just liked hugging Gertrude at night.