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Chapter Fifty Nine – Washington

The next afternoon everyone was completely back to business. The guys had just finished their 4-song sound check. After sliding up onto barstools; the VIP coordinator gave the all clear for the fans to throw out some questions for the Q&A.

Almost every one of our previous stops had a Q&A; for the most part, repetitive questions were asked at each one - ‘What is your favorite song?’; ‘When’s the next album coming out?’ and so on. Even though the questions did start out innocently enough, the Washingtonians had done their homework; I don't think the guys knew what hit them.

"Nick, what's your favorite BSB song?" a girl piped up.

"Right now? Masquerade," Nick said.

"Is that because your girlfriend's in it?" another girl spoke up.

Nick looked to his left; then his right.

"Dude, you don't have a cheat sheet,' AJ said with a laugh.

Nick laughed. "That's probably one of the reasons, yes." He looked over in my direction.

I smiled.

"Howie what was James' first word?"

"Dada," Howie said proudly.

"It's just because it's easier to say than mama," Brian added. Howie gave him a look.

"What? I've read Dr. Spock!"

"When's your wedding, AJ?"

AJ grinned. "Ah, that's still classified information."

"Do you have a date set?"

"Yes, I can tell you that much."

"Nick are you still playing World of Warcraft?"

Nick nodded. "Haven't played it in a few weeks; but totally. I'm still looking for some more mohawk grenades. I pity the fool that gets attacked with my mohawk grenades."

"Brian, are you and Leighanne planning on giving Baylee a little brother or sister anytime soon?"

I saw a flash of panic cross Brian’s face and I can say for certain that I know where his mind went at the moment. He seemed to shake it off in seconds and with perfect comedic timing, slid off his barstool dramatically much to the amusement of the entire audience. He slapped his way back up to the seat, then grabbed his mic again.

"Why don't I get an easy question? My favorite song's Siberia," Brian squeaked. The audience booed.

"You've got to answer," Howie said.

"Well when are you going to have another baby?"

"James just turned one!"

Brian threw up his hands. With a defeated smile, he leaned forward. He seemed to be choosing his words carefully. "Let's see...hmmm. Well, Leighanne and I've talked about this before, so we have thought about it, but there's something amazingly wonderful when you realize that you don't have to buy diapers anymore and the risk of being puked on with sour milk is gone." The audience laughed.

"Plus," Brian added. "the other bad thing about having more than one child is that I don't think I'd be able to give enough quality time to two kids. I mean we're gone on the road a lot, right guys?" Nick, AJ, and Howie nodded. "Which reminds me of a little story I’m gonna share with you guys," Brian added. He launched into his story; he definitely had a captive audience.

"We were gone for about four or five months last year overseas and on the first day back I took Baylee with me to a baseball game. Well Leighanne had been taking him everywhere and he was used to go into the women's restroom. So we go into the men's and he thought the urinals were a ring toss game. Then he had me hold him up to the mirror so he could primp his hair. That's when I knew he was spending way too much time with mama."

The audience laughed as Brian mimed twisting a lock of hair around his fingers.

"We signed him up for karate classes that same week," Brian added with flourish.

Brian's story seemed to do the trick; attention was sufficiently diverted to other boys.

"AJ, who do you think will have the next Backstreet baby?" a girl asked.

"Well, I could be cocky and say me and Rochelle," AJ said. "But if I was a betting man, which I am, I'm going to put my money on Howie and Leigh."

Howie opened his mouth to argue, but AJ cut him off.

"Don't argue with me, Dorough. First of all you've told all of us you want a big family and secondly you're a hot blooded Latino. Am I right ladies?"

A cheer went up. I caught Nick's eye; he winked.

The Boys had our backs. Even so, if the questions were fast and personal before, the last question trumped them all.

"Hey Nick, are you getting married any time soon?" a fan yelled out after the cheer for Howie had died down. Nick looked caught off guard.

"Man you guys are ruthless," Nick said with a nervous laugh. "Is it hot in here?" He tugged at the collar of his shirt.

"I'm interested in this question too," AJ said, leaning on his mic stand.

"Me three," Brian said, leaning past Howie to give Nick a punch on the shoulder. Nick looked at me; he seemed kind of panicked.

"Soon is such a vague term," Nick said. He rolled his mic between his palms.

"Like in the next couple years?" the same fan clarified.

"Oh, okay...you're giving me a timeframe. Hmm..." he looked up at the sky for a moment before looking out at the crowd again. "Never say never," he answered simply with a cheeky grin.

At that second, I think he broke every single heart in that crowd. The looks on the girl’s faces were priceless.

The event coordinator took the moment of silence to come out to organize the autograph signing; I stole backstage to get a drink.

I wasn't even divorced yet and already the idea of remarrying had come up for the second time in three days. As I grabbed a water from a large bucket of ice backstage, I couldn't help but wonder if I even wanted to get married again.

I used to think marriage lasted forever; after getting burned once I thought maybe it would be a jinx to try it again.

And that was even if Nick was serious.

--------------------

After the autograph session was over, the guys hung around backstage. Brian had helped Baylee draw a hopscotch pattern off to the side. AJ was hopping along, his glasses bouncing as he went. Just as he attempted to hop over his rock, he lost his balance. Baylee jumped up and down.

"I win!"

Nick and I laughed and clapped; we made good spectators.

"That was some firing squad wasn't it?" I asked Nick as Leighanne joined Baylee for another game.

Nick laughed.

"You're telling me. Those girls were out for dirt. I much prefer the 'what is your favorite color?'
questions. I owe AJ big time for not ratting us out with the baby question."

I smiled. "Yeah, he executed that perfectly."

I didn't bring up the last question; neither did Nick.

"Have you ever been to Canada?" Nick asked. I shook my head.

"Nope; my first time."

"I think you'll like it. They kind of remind me of our English fans. Kind of reserved."

I laughed. "Unlike us crazy Americans."

"Hey, we've had some insane crowds. South America...Japan..."

"Yes, but something tells me you eat up the insanity."

Nick laughed. "Yeah."

I stood up to get a fresh bottle of water. I don't know whether Nick didn't see the huge basin of ice before or if it just hadn't occurred to him until that very moment, but he let out a whoop of excitement.

"What?" I asked turning around. Nick was grinning ear to ear.

"Hey AJ, remember my Nick's Corner episode?" Nick asked. AJ looked confused for a moment until he followed Nick's line of vision to the basin of ice. His eyes widened.

"Nick, no."

"I didn't say anything."

“You didn't need to. NO!"

"C'mon it will be Nick's Corner 2.0 – Boys on Ice: The Rematch," Nick said, holding his hands out in front of him like he was already envisioning it. As he did so, Howie walked by. Nick grabbed his arm.

"Howie, see how long you can hold your head in the ice," Nick said. Howie sighed.

"Are you serious? This again? I'm not doing it."

"Why not?"

"It's stupid!"

"What's stupid?" Brian asked.

Nick pointed to the bucket of ice; Brian winced.

"Man, I remember that. My forehead was red all night."

Nick sighed dramatically. "You guys used to be fun. Where's your adventure? Where's your spirit? Where's your honor?"

Brian and AJ looked at each other. Howie tried to sneak away; AJ held onto his jacket sleeve.

"Who won last time?" AJ asked.

Brian smiled. “That would be me.”

That's all Nick needed to hear; he held out his hand, I placed the camera in his palm. Within seconds the red light roared to life.

"Welcome everyone to Nick's Corner 2.0. It's been a long, long time, my friends. I'm pleased to bring you the great Ice Off 2010."

He paused and looked over at me. "Maybe you can splice in some footage from the first Ice Off," Nick said. I smiled. "I'll see what I can do."

He unpaused the camera.

"Here are our challengers."

He turned the camera towards himself, smiling brightly. "Hi." Then he turned it to Brian.

Brian waved halfheartedly. "My forehead's already hurtin' just thinkin' about it."

Nick turned to AJ. AJ was already looking at the bucket warily.

"I think your problem last time was all of your piercings got cold faster than your bald head, Jizzle," Nick said.

AJ mouthed 'fuck you' to the camera. Nick laughed.

"And last but not least we have Hizzle who will be entering our contest for the very first time."

"I'm not doing it, Nick."

Nick lowered the camera. "Dude, don't make me hold your head down in that ice. Do this for your son. Don’t be a wuss. It’s not like you’re going to ruin your sweater vest."

Howie rolled his eyes. "I don't think I want my son seeing footage of me acting like a jackass," he explained.

"Everyone will throw in fifty bucks and whoever wins gets the money," Nick said, upping the ante.

"I'm not throwing in fifty bucks," AJ said. Nick sighed.

"Fine I'll throw in your fifty," he glanced at Howie. "And Howie's fifty."

Brian held out a fifty dollar bill. "I'm in."

Nick plucked the bill from his hand. "See at least someone's a good sport."

“That’s just because I know the odds are in my favor,” Brian said.

I glanced at my watch. "Guys, if you're going to do this you have about fifteen minutes before you have to get dressed."

"Who's going first?" Nick said. He panned to each guy; they all looked at him.

"Fine, chickens." He handed the camera to me and walked up to the bucket. I saw him take several deep breaths; without warning he plunged his head into the bucket. His arms flailed momentarily at his sides, then he tensed up. I could hear him breathing through clenched teeth.

"Five, six...seven....eight," AJ counted. As the numbers increased he got slower and slower. "eleven...twelve...thirteen....."

"ARGH!" Nick's head flew out of the bucket. He shook it like a dog; water flew everywhere. His hands clamped over his forehead.

AJ burst out laughing. "Man, it's still funny."

"Then you go next," Nick said, his teeth chattering. He began bending his body up and down to warm himself up.

AJ walked over, I saw his fists clench tightly. Brian kneeled down by the bucket to be the official counter. Nick, having recovered slightly, took the camera from me and zoomed in.

"My heart's pounding, man," AJ said. He looked over at Nick. "I’m giving you the same warning as last time. Don't you dare hold my head under."

Nick held up one hand. "Swear, dude."

AJ stared down at the water. Like Nick he was going through his own ritual of preparation. I saw him squeeze his eyes closed; the next moment his head was sailing downward fast.

When his face smashed into the ice I heard a long curse. His hands curled around the sides of the bucket. He seemed to be trying to hold himself in.

"Four...five..." Brian counted. By the time Brian hit 'seven,' AJ's head flew upwards.

"Oh my god!" he cried, twirling around. His warm breath actually produced fog.

As this was going on, I saw Howie inching away slowly. Just before he was ready to turn and bolt, Brian stuck out his leg.

"D, you're next," Brian said.

"Just think, two hundred dollars if you last," Nick said. He took out the bills and waved them in the air.
“It’s not worth it,” Howie said.

At that moment Leigh walked over with James. Nick walked over and began to make faces at James. James burst out laughing.

“See, even your son’s excited to see this.”

A chant of ‘Go Howie, Go Howie,” erupted from Nick, Brian, and AJ. Even Leigh chimed in. Seeing no means of escape, Howie walked over to the bucket.

“On your mark,” Nick said.

“Get set,” Brian said.

“GO!” AJ screamed.

Howie dunked his head. Nick began to count. By the time he made it up to fifteen, Howie still hadn’t reemerged.

“Did he die?” Brian said, leaning over to get a better view.

AJ reached over, tickling Howie’s neck. Howie jumped up. AJ flew back surprised.

“What the fudge man?!” Howie said, covering his neck with his hand. “I was in my zone! How long was I down?”

“Seventeen seconds,” AJ said in awe.

“Brian, you’re up,” Nick said.

“I can’t compete with seventeen seconds!”

“C’mon man,” Nick complained.

With a groan Brian leaned over the ice bucket. He stamped his feet and dived in.

“Nine…ten….eleven…twelve…”

Brian fell to the floor holding his head. Howie plucked the money from Nick’s hand.

“Nice doing business with you gentlemen!” he said happily as he headed towards the changing room.

Nick’s Corner 2.0 Episode 1 was officially complete.