~~~~~~~~~~» A Week Later «~~~~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~~~~» Howie «~~~~~~~~~~

"We’ve got everything right?" I asked Meg as I walked towards the door of her apartment from her bedroom with a few of her bags in hand.

"I think so," she called back to me as she walked down the hallway and into the living room. "I’m so excited! I haven’t seen my parents and family for a while."

"Maybe this time I’ll actually be able to keep your silly nephew under control," I said with a laugh.

She laughed as she walked up to me, wrapped her arms around me, and let out a contented sigh. When she pulled back after a few seconds, she looked up at me with a sweet smile before she let me go and walked around me to open the door. After I walked out onto the porch, she locked the door and made sure that everything was shut and locked before she met me in the car. While I drove us to Kev’s house, she pulled out her cell phone and dialed a number.

"Hey babes! What’s up?" she asked, turning down the music a little so she could hear.

She looked up at me with a smile.

"Yeah...so you’re still at AJ’s right?" she asked into the phone. "Coolios...we’ll meetcha at Kev’s then. The van or limo or whatever is supposed to pick us up there."

She laughed a little.

"Yeah yeah, I know...the big vans aren’t exactly the most stylish..." she replied. "Ok...talk to ya in a few. Bye."

She let out an amused little laugh as she disconnected the phone and put it away.

"That girl is a nut!"

"Liz?"

"Yep."

"Yeah...and you’re a peanut!" I told her with a laugh. (AN ~ ROFL@Meg...Nevermind...inside joke)

"And I take pride in that fact, thank you very much!" she boastfully replied before we both shared a laugh at the silly conversation.

The ride to Kev’s house was short, but when we got there, we noticed that we were the last to arrive.

"Nice going beevus," Liz joked as we stepped out of the car. "I left after you...and still beat you here!"

"Whatever butthead!" Meg replied with a laugh as we pulled our bags out of the back and helped Marco and Q put them into the back of the large van.

"Aaawww...another ride in the Big ‘Ole Vans..." Liz said with a sigh as she climbed in, closely followed by AJ and Nick.

Once we were all in, we headed to the airport with no time for delays. The press that was waiting for us was minimal, so we had no real big problems getting onto our plane in time. Once we were all in our seats waiting for take-off, we started playing a game that Liz explained to us.

"Ok...it goes like this...the first person, that’d be me, starts with A and says ‘My name is Anna. My husband’s name is Alvin. We live in Atlanta and we love apples...’ or something to that affect with whatever letter you have," she explained. "If you can’t think of anything in 10 seconds, you’re out and you get dropped from the game."

"Nick’s gonna be the first one out of the game," Brian joked with a silly grin.

"Am not!" Nick whined in response.

"Fine fine...quiet!" Liz said to hush them both. "You’re first Kev. You’re the oldest, so you’ll start. Start with ‘A’."

"Umm...ok," he said. "My name is Alexander. My wife’s name is Adelle. We live in Arabia and we collect axes."

Everyone but AJ burst into laughter at Kev’s comment.

"I take offense to that," AJ said with a melodramatic look on his face.

"Be quiet you big boob!" Liz exclaimed as she smacked him lightly on the side of the head. "Your turn Brian."

"This’ll be easy," he boasted. "My name’s Brian. My wife’s name is Bridgette. We live in Baltimore where we make balloons."

I playfully rolled my eyes as he smiled and mocked everyone else at what a good response he gave.

"Nicky’s turn," he said as he gave Nick a funny face.

"Don’t call me that," was Nick’s reply.

"Yeah! Only I can call him that," Liz added. "You’re turn Nicky."

He gave Liz a glare before he closed his eyes like he was deep in thought.

"My name is Carl. My wife’s name is Cherrie. We live in Cali where we collect candy..."

"Candaaaaaaaeeeeeaaaaaaay...so baby come to me...show me who you are. Sweet to me like sugar to my heart. I’m craving for you. I’m missing you like canday!" Liz sang out at the mention of the word ‘candy’.

She smiled coyly and motioned for AJ to scoot closer to her as she waved her hand in the air as if telling us to continue with the game.

"I guess I’ll go next," I said when Liz laid her head on AJ’s shoulder. "My name is Darah and my husband’s name is Damien. We live in DC where we make dollars."

"You make dollars?!" Liz asked with a little laugh, keeping her head on AJ’s shoulder with her eyes closed.

"Yeah. You know, there is a money mint in DC."

"Yeah, I know," she replied. "Arti’s turn."

Arti gave us all an evil smile before she stared at Liz with a smirk on her face as if saying ‘you asked for it’.

"My name is Ells."

She paused for the effect before she went on. We all knew that she had Liz’s full attention, even if her eyes were still closed.

"And my husband’s name is Ernie..."

I sat there next to Howie and watched what was happening. Liz instantly opened her eyes and sat up as she waited for the rest of Arti’s answer with her mouth hanging open slightly.

"We live in England where we speak in ebonics. ‘Dat’s ‘da end," Arti said in a funny accent that I assumed was her best attempt at ‘Justin Timberlake ebonics’.

Liz’s eyes looked like they popped out of her head. Everyone was silent as they waited for her reaction.

"That’s mean Arti," she said with a straight face. "That is an insult...I would never speak like mister ‘I-think-I’m-‘da-big-pimp-of-the-world’ Timberlake or whatever the freak his name is!!!"

I couldn’t help but laugh. I don’t think I could ever see Liz speaking in ebonics to save my life! She’s too serious and ‘proper’ to speak like that fool anyway. When everyone heard that I was laughing, they joined in.

"Be quiet..." Liz said with a slight whine and a little laugh. "Stop laughing at me!"

She buried her face in AJ’s shoulder as she started laughing with us.

"We’re not laughing at you babes...we’re laughing with you!" Arti replied with a sly grin.

"You..." Liz said as she pointed at Arti across the isle of seats. "It’s your fault! You are SO getting it when we get off the plane."

"Is that a threat?"

Liz only gave her a look that meant she was serious about getting her back. They’d probably end up in a huge tickle fight in the middle of the landing pad with reporters and fans screaming their heads off and taking pictures right and left. Once everyone was settled down again, we continued on with the game. Unfortunately, I was the first one out.

"Sorry Meg...ten seconds was up about 30 seconds ago..." Kev said when I was thinking of something to say.

Things were going so fast that I didn’t even realize that it was my turn so I didn’t have anything ready to say like everyone else did on their turn (even though I had one of the easiest letters). They continued while I sulked in my seat with a slight pout on my face.

"Meg...you look so cute when you pout girlie," Liz said to me in a loud whisper.

I flashed her a smile as Arti took her turn.

"My name is Martha. My husband’s name is Mario. I live in Maryland where I give massages," she said with a proud smile.

Next was Howie’s turn.

"My name is Norman...my wife’s name is...uh...Nancy..."

He looked over at me with a small innocent smile as if he was asking for help.

"I live in...uh...Nevada..."

"Come on Howie. Spit it out already," Nick teased.

Howie leaned over towards me a little and pretended to be thinking of something else to say, but I knew what he was doing.

"Time! Time’s up D...you’re out number two," Brian proclaimed triumphantly.

Howie turned his head and looked at me. I gave him a smile that he happily returned.

"You are too sweet," I whispered to him before I gave him a quick kiss and then let him wrap his arm around my waist.

Go figure who the next one out was...and on one of the easiest letters in the alphabet too!

"Man! I can’t believe you got out already B!" Nick taunted Bri with a proud smile.

Everyone else that was still ‘in’ kept on playing while those who were now ‘out’ slept, read a book, or talked quietly for the remainder of the ride. I must have fallen asleep because the next thing I knew, we were on our way to my house in my hometown.

"Meg hun...wake up..." Howie whispered sweetly in my ear as we got closer to my house.

"I’m awake," I replied, leaving my eyes closed as we pulled up to my parent’s house.

As soon as the van pulled to a stop, I was the first one to hop out and run, literally, to the front door. I knocked on the door a few times before I just let myself in.

"Mom! Dad!" I called out, not seeing anyone from the front door. "We’re here!!!"

"Aunt Megan!!!!!!!!!!!" I heard a little voice scream as it got closer and closer.

The voice was followed by pounding footsteps coming down the stairs towards where I was standing inside the door. By then, the girls and a few of the guys were waiting behind me to come in. Soon enough, the same pair of little footsteps could be heard and I knew that my niece and nephew were both on their way down to greet me. Before I realized what was happening, Jordyn was put into my arms and Jonathan was pushing me from behind. The guys and girls all laughed at how silly the three of us looked. I pulled the two of them onto the couch with me and enveloped them in a big hug.

"I missed you!" I told them as Jonathan squeezed both Jordyn and me as hard as he could.

"We missed you too," he said, referring to him and his sister while still hugging the life out of me.

"Where’s your grandma and grandpa?"

He hurriedly got up off of my lap and raced to the kitchen, where mom, dad, Jennie, and her husband George (AKA Georgie) were making their way to greet us as well.

"Mommy...Daddy...this is Liz," I introduced her to my parents, since they basically knew everyone except Arti.

"So this is Liz," Mom said with a smile. "Nice to meet you hun."

"Thanks. You too," Liz replied as she shook dad’s hand.

After everyone had been introduced to Jennifer, George, Jordyn, Jonathan, and my parents, we had dinner and then played a few games. Since we had to get up sort of early the next day to go to various appearances and then to the ballpark, we opted to head back to the hotel instead of staying any longer than we had to. We all piled back into the vans that brought us from the airport and enjoyed the quiet ride to the hotel. We were staying at the Holiday Inn...not too up class, but not too casual...just the way I liked the hotels to be. As usual, we got our own floor, and we even had the option to have our own rooms if we wanted. Liz wanted her own room, so she took off towards the end of the hall while the rest of us picked our rooms. Guess the touring ritual stuck to her more than it did for the rest of us...she was always stuck with the room at the end of the hall on tour, so that’s what she always went for. (LOL) AJ picked the room next to hers...then Howie and I, and then Bri. Nick’s room was across the hall from Liz’s with Kev and Arti’s room next to Nick’s. When Liz told us that she was going to take a quick swim in the pool to relax, I volunteered to join her. The others decided to gather in Nick’s room and catch a late night HBO flick.

"So...what’s up?" I asked as we both slid into the hot water of the steaming jetted hot tub.

"Nothing really. You?"

She waved her hands under the water as if it was keeping her occupied. There were a few other people over in the pool, but we were the only ones in the hot tub.

"Same ‘ole same ‘ole. I’m excited about tomorrow," I replied with a smile.

"Oh...that’s right! Meggie gets to meet her beloved Scott Rolen," she joked with a knowing smile.

"Hey hey...no making fun!"

She just laughed and shook her head a little. She knew how excited I was though. I’d been waiting for a long time to meet Scott Rolen, my favorite Phillies baseball player. Even Liz had admitted that he was pretty cute once upon a time. ‘Not bad for a guy that plays one of the most boring sports in the world’ she joked with me one day while on tour.

"I’m not making fun! I think it’s cute how you get all starry-eyed and nervous around celebs," she said.

"I do not!"

"Do too."

"I do?"

"Yeah. But hey...it happens to the best of us."

We talked and joked around with each other for a little while longer before we got out and headed back up to our rooms. I went to the room that Howie and I shared to shower and change and she went back to her room to do the same. I made my shower quick, and when I was done and changed, I went into Nick’s room where everyone else was sitting on the beds and on the floor watching the tale end of their movie. I had just sat down on the bed next to Howie when there was a blood-curdling scream coming from the hallway. Everyone jumped up and ran to the door to see what was going on. Since we had this floor to ourselves, I knew that something was up with Liz. Kev threw the door open in time to see Liz run out of her room and straight over to where were standing. She was still screaming as she ran into Kev and hugged him with all her strength. Brian walked around the two of them towards her room to see what was making her act like that. Kev motioned for AJ to come comfort Liz while he followed Brian into her room. Arti and I both moved out of the way while AJ led Liz over to one of the beds and sat down next to her. I shut the door to the hallway and watched Nick as he turned the TV off. AJ held Liz in his arms as she cried. She was terrified to say the least. Her hair was still wet, but she was wearing her pajamas, so I knew that she had just gotten out of the shower not too long ago. It took AJ about ten minutes to calm Liz down, and by the time she was ok again, Kev and Brian walked in the door. I got up and walked over to where they were standing.

"What happened?" I asked in a whisper.

"Some psycho drunk old man was in her room when she came out of the shower. He was only wearing a pair of pants and he was laying on her bed waiting for her," Kev answered in the same hushed voice.

"Security has got it taken care of," Bri added before he walked over to the bed and told AJ what had happened.

"You’re staying with me tonight," AJ told Liz when Bri was done. "I don’t care if you want to or not...you are. Period."

Liz only nodded and then leaned against AJ while he wrapped his arms around her again. Liz and AJ were the first ones to go back to their room. Kev and Arti left, so we took the hint and went back to our room too.

"Night sweetie," Howie said after he gave me a kiss and then climbed into his bed.

"Night."

© Liz Holder 2000