Love and Music 11

Love and Music

BY: [Wildheart](mailto:wildheart407@runbox.com?subject=love and music)

Subject: Boy bands

Rating: PG-13 to NC-17

Disclaimer or CYA Statement: THIS STORY IS COPYRIGHT 2003 BY WildHeart. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. DISTRIBUTION FOR COMMERCIAL GAIN, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, POSTING ON SITES WHICH REQUIRE PAYMENT TO ACCESS THE SITE, DISTRIBUTION IN BOOK FORM (EITHER AS A WHOLE OR PART OF A COMPILATION) FOR A FEE, OR DISTRIBUTION ON CD, DVD, OR ANY OTHER ELECTRONIC MEDIA FOR A FEE, IS EXPRESSLY PROHIBITED WITHOUT THE AUTHORS WRITTEN CONSENT. THIS IS FICTION>>>> IT IS NOT REAL >>>> I HAVE NO IDEA IF ANY CELEBS ARE GAY!!!

This is a story about friendship, love, romance, and family. While it will in time, also include making love, this is certainly not a sex story. You really should be legal to read this story and of course if you are not, then at least do not get caught! Seriously, by reading this story you are agreeing that you are in fact of legal age, where you live, to be reading it. You may contact me at: wildheart407@runbox.com if you have comments, suggestions or whatever.

This story is being written with different points of view (POV), first person, and third person (narrator). The changes in POV should be easy to follow as I will clearly mark them.

AUTHORS NOTES: I have opened a yahoo group for this story and any other that I write and any others that anyone would like to allow me to use. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/LOVE-AND-MUSIC/ I would rather have stories about love, romance and or friends and family. I also hope to build a web site sometime soon, and would REALLY like to host other stories on that site, so if you have a story and would allow it to be posted, let me know. If anyone out there would like to help me with the web site please let me know.

Hey everyone, the story is now being hosted on the Erotic Dreams Story Archive. Thanks to Erotic Dreams : - ) for allowing my story to be there!! The direct link to my story is: My Story, and to find not only my story but also many other great stories, please check out the rest of the archives by clicking on this link: http://gay.eroticdreams.us/

You can also find my story on JT Poole's Site. Thanks for hosting it JT.

My Story is the direct link to my story. You can find lots of great stories on the site http://home.cybersouth.com/jtpoole9/hosted.html

Alex's POV

Josh, Joey, Howie, and I were going home with Bernie and Rachel, and we were not all that happy about it. The only thing that I could be happy about is that Lance didn’t make us be near them on the plane. Somehow I knew that this would not be a great trip.

I do have to say just how proud of Lance I am. He had an idea of a way to get Chad away from those horrid people, and then set about doing it. I am actually pretty amazed that he thought of it, not that he is dumb or anything, but it was a stroke of genius.

I turned to Howie and asked him, “So what do you think about what happened?”

“Man I think it is great! I am so relieved that Chad is away from those hate-mongers and I am so proud of Lance.” Howie told me in answer.

“I know I am thrilled too, but I was a little surprised that Lance came up with the idea, but then he does think about things more than most of us give him credit for.” I told him.

“He sure does. I think that we are going to have to start getting his input on stuff more often. He is just so quiet most of the time, that we tend to forget he is there, and I know that is a mistake cause he has made Freelance a success so we know he has good ideas.”

“Yeah, it kind of makes me ashamed to think that we have all but ignored him in all the discussions we have had about the coming changes. I guess you are right about making sure we get his input from now on though.” I finished as the plane took off.

Three hours later we landed in Louisville, and had to meet up with ‘those people’ as I had started to call Bernie and Rachel in my mind. Not one word was spoken as we collected our bags and headed out to the limo. In fact, thankfully not one word was spoken the whole 30-minute ride to Corydon.

As we pulled up in front of their house, Bernie said, “You have an hour to get that faggots shit and get out. I want nothing more to do with any of you.”

“That is fine with us, we don’t want to be here any longer than we have to be. Trust us we do not like you any more that you like us.” I told him.

We went in and Rachel led us to his room without a word, then made sure to look at the clock so that we would know we were being timed. ‘Stupid bitch’ I thought to myself as I looked around. “Josh why don’t you start getting the clothes in the closet out to the car. I will get the computer and stuff. Joey if you would get the stuff in the dresser and chest of draws and Howie if you would not mind to get the music, videos and all that stuff over there, maybe we can get this done in time.” I told them to a course of ‘yeah that is fine, let’s get busy’.

As I was taking out the monitor to his computer, I noticed a young guy across the street watching us and he looked upset. I shook myself and headed back in to get the rest of the stuff. Forty minutes later I was taking out Chad’s laptop and the rest were taking out their last load of stuff, and I noticed the kid still there. I am pretty sure he did not realize who we were. ‘Maybe he and Chad are friends’ I thought to myself.

“Hey Josh see that kid across the street, he has been there the whole time and he looks upset, you think that maybe he is a friend of Chad’s?”

“I have noticed him and I would be willing to bet that he is a friend of Chad’s. I was thinking that we could talk to him, but I am afraid to say anything to him with Bernie and Rachel around. Hell, we have no idea what they may tell the kids parents, but we need to try and let him know something.” Josh said.

“You know, all three of you could go in and distract them while I talk to the kid. Maybe we can take him to get a burger or something and explain what is going on.” I said.

“That sounds like a plan to me. Let me grab the others and we will go in for one last quick check and then distract Bernie and Rachel for you. Give me a few minutes to check Chad’s room one last time.” Josh said as he walked away.

I waited a few minutes thinking about how to approach the kid, then finally just decided that the direct approach would work best. I walked over to him, and he looked at me with the saddest eyes I have seen in a long time. “Hey guy, why the sad face?” I asked.

“Why are you taking Chad’s stuff?” he asked me.

“Well there is a really good reason for it, but we have to hurry so why don’t you come with us and grab a burger and we will tell you all about it. We will drop you off at home when we get done eating, if you want, or anyplace else you want.” I told him.

“I don’t know, I really should not go anywhere with strangers even if you are in a limo, but I really wanna know about Chad," he said as he thought about it. "Ok I will go with you, but you have to promise to tell me about Chad as soon as we leave here.” He finished.

“You got a deal, now let’s jump in the car, and wait for the others. They should be out in a minute or two.” I told him.

We got in the limo and waited quietly for about 3 minutes when the door opened and the others jumped in. Howie said “I am so glad to be away from those homophobic bastards. I hope they rot in hell.” Then he noticed the kid in the car with us, and blushed.

Once everyone was seated, the kid looked at each of us more closely and you could almost see the light bulb go off above his head as he figured out who we were. If this was not such a serious situation, I would have laughed. Then I did laugh as the kid started to giggle, “Here I was worried about being in the car and going somewhere with strangers, and you guys are stars!”

Howie laughed and said, “Well you may know who we are, but let me introduce you to everyone anyway. I’m Howie, that is Alex, over there is Josh and next to him is Joey. Now how about telling us who you are.”

“Wow, I can’t believe I am here talking to you guys! I’m Tommy Stintson, and it is really nice to meet you guys. I am a huge fan of both of your groups. I just can’t believe this.” He gushed.

“Well it is nice to meet a male fan, most of the ones we meet are young girls and they can usually only manage to scream and that gets old. I am surprised though, most of our male fans are gay guys.” Josh said, and you could tell that as soon as he said it, he regretted it.

Tommy blushed a really bright red, and tried to stammer a response. I tried to come to his rescue, “Hey Tommy it is cool with us if you are gay, and if your not, that is cool too. One thing you will find with us is that a person’s sexual orientation is not anything that matters to us. We only worry about our own.” I said with a laugh.

“Sorry to get embarrassed on you guys. I am just really excited about meeting you, confused as to why you, of all people are getting Chad’s stuff and even more confused about where he is.” Tommy told us.

“Well Tommy this is a bit of a long story, but I’ll try to boil it down and give you the basics. First Chad is in Florida. I don’t know if you knew that or not, since the trip was sudden. Chad’s brother, Cole was involved in a car accident and is in a coma. It just so happens that Cole is a friend of ours, and we have been taking care of everything for him. We called his folks, against our better judgment, only to find that Cole had a brother that we did not know about and apparently he did not know about either. When Bernie, Rachel and Chad came to Orlando, it quickly became obvious why Cole had no contact with his family. Today Lance had Chad checked by Cole’s doctor and we found that Chad had been abused. Lance got his attorney involved and took custody of Chad; well actually he is sharing joint custody with Cole, at least until Cole gets well. He said he would sign over his rights to Chad to Cole if Cole wants him to.” Joey explained to him.

“When you say Lance, do you mean that Cole is living with Lance Bass?” Tommy said excitedly.

“Yes I am talking about Lance Bass, and yes he will be living with Lance for the time being.” I told him.

Tommy's POV

I went over by Chad’s house again today and no one was there again. I wonder why he didn’t tell me he was going somewhere. He has always told me that they were going somewhere in the past. I wonder if he is trying to break up with me. No, I know he is not doing that, but something is up.

I decided to come back later and see if they had gotten home. I walked around for a long time lost in my thoughts. I know I am young, but I am madly in love with Chad and I know deep inside that will never change. He is like the other half of me; he completes me in some way I can’t really describe. I have heard of the term soul mate, and in a way that kind of describes what I am trying to say, but it sounds corny to me, even if it is true. I am still amazed each and every day that he loves me too.

I found myself back near Chad’s house, when I noticed a limo pull up in front of the house. A limo! Wow! Wonder what that is about? I tried to stay hidden across the street, and saw Chad’s folks and 4 guys get out and go in. In no time they started bringing out stuff and putting it in the limo and I noticed that it was Chad’s stuff. I sat there wondering what the hell was going on. Where was Chad? Why were they taking his stuff, and who are those guys?

Not even an hour after they started, one of the guys walked over to me and asked why I was sad. I am not sure what I said, but he offered to take me to get some burgers and explain where Chad was, and after a moment or two I agreed to go with him. In a few minutes we were joined by the other 3 guys in the limo and I started to notice that they looked familiar.

All of a sudden it hit me. I knew who they were, Omigod!!!! I can’t believe I am in the same car and Joey, JC, Howie and AJ. I just can’t believe this! How on earth does Chad know them and why are they getting his stuff? They soon told me about everything, and it was all just too much to process. I needed a bit to let my brain catch up.

We pulled into Burger King and the driver ordered our food and then pulled into the lot and parked so we could have time to eat and talk. About halfway through my second burger it hit me, Chad was going to be living in Florida, and we would never see each other again. Before I knew what had happened, I broke down and started to cry. The more I cried, the worse it got, and soon I was falling apart. My whole world crashed around me, and nothing could help.

Josh's POV

We had been chatting while we ate, when suddenly Tommy started to cry. We tried to ask what was wrong, but he got worse and worse. It was scary really, he just completely fell apart. I have never seen someone look more dejected, more destroyed, and defeated than he did. I soon had tears running down my face in sympathy. Soon he started to repeat “He does not love me anymore.” Over and over, just above a whisper.

It hit me and the other guys at almost the same time, Tommy was in love with Chad, and maybe Chad loved him back. This was bad, and certainly not something that we had planned to have to deal with. After an hour of trying to calm him and not having a lot of luck, we decided to get a room at a hotel and see if we could figure out something.

Joey asked him over and over where he lived, and finally Tommy told him the address. We went to the hotel and got two rooms, then gave the limo driver the address and headed out to try and talk to his folks. We pulled up in front of a group home, instead of a house. I groaned as this made things even worse. The other three were still trying to calm Tommy down, so I headed to the door and knocked. A young guy answered the door.

“Hi I am JC Chavez, and I would like to speak to whoever is in charge.” I told him.

The guy gaped at me for a moment, then found his voice. “Hi, I am the one in charge today. What can I do for you?”

“We have Tommy in the car and would like to do whatever is needed to allow him to stay at our hotel tonight. He found out that his best friend is going to be living in Orlando from now on and he is really upset.” I explained.

“Please come in. You must mean Chad I am shocked that Bernie and Rachel moved to Orlando. How did you guys get involved, if you don’t mind my asking? Oh my name is Tim Vickers. Sorry for all the questions, but it is not everyday that a huge star knocks at your door.” He told me with a laugh.

“It is alright, I am kind of used to it. As to your questions, first Bernie and Rachel did not move and are not moving to Orlando, only Chad has moved. We got involved because Chad’s brother, Cole was in a car wreck and is in a coma. He is a friend of ours, so we called his folks to come down. We found out today that Chad was being beaten by Bernie, and Lance, yes Lance Bass, got his attorney involved and got Bernie and Rachel to give him and Cole joint custody of Chad. Joey, Alex, Howie and I came back to pack up Chad’s stuff, since Bernie and Rachel told us we had to get it out of the house today or it would be thrown away.” I quickly explained.

“Wow, why didn’t Chad tell anyone about this? Damn I wish I would have known, course around here nothing would have been done to them for it. This small town is great for most things, but family connections and deep family roots here in this town protect even scum like them.” Tim said.

“Well, we really just wanted to get him away from them, so we agreed that charges would not be brought if they signed away parental rights. As much as I would like to see then rot in prison, it is just best that Chad is away from them. Anyway, what about allowing Tommy to stay with us? By the way what is this place, and why is Tommy here if you can tell me.” I asked.

“Normally we do not allow overnight visits on short notice like this, but given that you are who you are, and the situation, I will allow it. As to what this place is, well it is a group home for those with no parents, those who have been abused, kids who have been in trouble, and that type of thing. I usually can’t tell you why someone is here, but in this case; it may help you with Tommy. He is here because he has no home; he lost his parents and has no other family. At this point I would guess that he will be here until he is 18, since finding a home for him at this age is near impossible.” Tim explained.

“Tim, would you be able to assign custody or does he have to be adopted? Next question is can we sign him out, or whatever we have to do, for several days? I just realized that we will need to get Chad’s school records, medical records and all that. I know that all of us in N’Sync will have to leave tomorrow as we have interviews set up, but Brian at least can come up and bring any documents we need to get that stuff, and maybe he can bring Chad so that he can say bye to Tommy.” I asked and said.

“Yes, you can sign him out until Sunday if you want. As to assigning custody, well we usually require adoption, but we have signed over custody in the past if the family or person that happened to be from out of state.  We certainly could not do that if we were run by the county, but since we are private; we can do private adoptions and assign custody. If you are thinking what I think you may be thinking, I will just be honest and tell you that I would approve any one or two of you for custody. At the moment I have, through the home, full custody of Tommy, and would be happy to sign him over to any one of you. That is even truer if it would allow Tommy to be near Chad. I guess you should know a couple of things about that, if you are even thinking about this. "

"First, you need to know that Chad is Tommy’s only friend. He gave up on living when his folks passed away and lost his friends. Chad was the only one that stuck by him through it all. The other thing that you need to know is that Tommy is gay, not that I think it will make any difference to you, from the way you have acted about everything so far. I just felt that you needed to know all this so that you could take it all into account while you think about things.” Tim finished.

“Well the gay thing does not matter at all, and as far as Tommy not having any other friends, well that is going to change even if he stays here. You will just have to put up with a bunch of us N’Sync and Backstreet guys around. For now though let me sign what I need to so that we can get to the hotel. I am dead tired and I have a lot of calls to make.” I tiredly told him.

I signed what I had to sign and headed out the door, thanking Tim for being so nice and for caring about Tommy so much.

When we got to the hotel, we all headed to one of the rooms, and I quietly told them all that I had found out about Tommy and his situation. I then called Lance and told him to send Brian up with Chad and whatever paperwork he would need to get his records. I then told him about Tommy and all that had happened.

By the time I was off the phone, I noticed that Tommy had finally fallen asleep. The rest of us decided to follow his example. I lay in the bed thinking and wondering what the next couple of days would bring. God knows I do not remember a longer Wednesday, and I hoped that things would be good for all concerned in the next few days. I silently thanked God for Chad and Tommy being in our lives, and begged God to bring Cole back to good health soon, as I fell asleep.

Brian's POV

Lance was getting ready to leave for the hospital when his cell phone rang. I was sitting there since we had been talking, but I got up to leave so he could have some privacy, but he waved my back into the seat. From his side of the conversation it sounding like a lot had happened. I kind of shut the conversation out and went into my thoughts.

It seems like life has a way of throwing a lot of stuff at you all at once. You can go for days, weeks, months or even years and nothing major happens, then all of a sudden life starts throwing one thing after another at you. Somehow I knew before any of this stuff with Cole and Chad, that our decision to leave our management and record company would lead to huge changes in our lives, and it appears now that even larger ones are taking place.

Lance brought me back as he tapped my on the shoulder. “Are you alright Brian? I called your name 5 times and you didn’t respond.” He asked me.

“Yeah I am good, just thinking about all the changes in our lives and all those still coming. I think they will be good changes.” I told him with a smile.

“Well, I guess you didn’t catch the conversation on the phone, but I need you to fly up with Chad first thing in the morning. I am going to give you a copy of the custody papers and a letter asking for copies of Chad’s medical and school records. If they give you any problems, give them my attorney’s name and number and he can fax them anything they need. Chad needs to go to see Tommy, his best friend or boyfriend, though we are not sure which he is. Josh thinks that one of us may want custody of Tommy so that they can stay near each other and apparently there would be no problem getting him. Anyway, if you want to take Nick with you, that would be fine too. Josh and Joey have the first flight out in the morning because of the interviews today.” Lance finished.

“Let me check with Nick real quick and see if he wants to go.” I said as I ran out to find him. I caught up with him as he was getting out of the shower, and had to stop myself from being bad, or nothing about flights would have been mentioned. I quickly told Nick the situation, and he said he would love to go, so I headed back in to tell Lance that we would be going, and to call for tickets on the first flight of the morning. Lance called Chad into the room and told him that he was flying back with Nick and I first thing in the morning. Chad got a scared look on his face, but Lance quickly told him that he would not be seeing his folks, but visiting with Tommy.

I honest to God do not think I have ever seen a person go from frown to huge smile as quickly as Chad did at the mention of Tommy. I looked at Lance and he smiled at me, knowing that we had the answer to the question about best friend or boyfriend.

We all went to bed shortly after that, except Lance who was going to spend the night at the hospital with Cole.

The next morning, I was awakened by a very excited Chad. He was practically bouncing off the walls with excitement. Even Nick could not be annoyed with him, and that in and of it self is amazing cause Nick is NOT a morning person.

We got up and got ready, and headed to the airport. The flight was actually on time and soon we were in the air and headed to Louisville. The flight was actually not too bad and in no time we were headed off the plane and being met by the limo driver. I think that Chad had a smile permanently plastered on his face.

By the time we pulled up to the hotel the guys were staying in, I began to think about talking to Nick about custody of Tommy. If Chad was like this with the thought of a visit with Tommy, then I can just imagine what he will be like when we have to leave.

We got to the room Lance had told me belonged to our guys, and knocked. The door opened and Howie let us in, with a huge grin on his face. I noticed that Tommy was sitting on the bed watching TV, but he literally flew off that bed, when he saw Chad. They flew into a hug and in no time were locked in a very passionate kiss, completely unaware we were there. Very quietly Howie suggested that we step into the other hotel room they had and give Chad and Tommy some privacy.

“Well I am not sure how we will be able to separate them when the time comes.” Howie said.

“Maybe they won’t have to be separated.” I suggested quietly and Nick looked at me and I could tell he was deep in thought. I would wait until he was ready to talk. Nick is extremely intelligent, but he likes to think things through and look at all sides to something before talking about it, and that is something I truly love about him!

We waited around for an hour then went back to the other room to find that they had moved to the bed. They cuddled up and apparently fell right asleep. They looked amazingly cute laying there all tangled up together. I noticed Nick looking at them intently, with a smile flickering around his mouth.

“Howie will you stay here and keep and eye on them while Nick and I try to get Chad’s school records?” I asked.

“Sure, I doubt they will wake up before you get back, but I will be here.” He told us as we walked out.

Nick and I headed out to find the school and try and get the records. Lance had not said anything, but I assumed that Chad would not be attending a regular public school. We had no idea where the school was, so we stopped at a little gas station and asked how to get there. The lady working drew me a map and we headed out.

We parked and walked in and went into the office. The guy behind the counter asked if he could help us without looking up. When he looked up, his eyes got big and he came right over and asked what he could do for us.

“I need to get a certified copy of a students records, he will be living in Orlando now and most probably will have a private tutor or attend boarding school. I have a copy of the custody papers and a letter giving you an ok to release this information to us.” I told him as I handed him the paperwork.

He looked over everything, looked up and said, “Could you tell me why neither of the people given custody are not here? Is this so unimportant that they can’t come here?”

“Oh no it is nothing like that. Cole is in a coma and no one is really sure if he is going to live. He was hit by a drunk driver and has been just holding on since. Lance felt that it was more important to stay with Cole since the doctors think that having some of us there to talk to him, is helping.” I told him.

He at least had the grace to look embarrassed about his comments. “I am sorry, but too often we find that people just don’t seem to care about kids. I hope that Chad will do better in the new environment. I was beginning to worry about him. He is a very smart guy, but his grades recently do not reflect that.”

“I am sure that he will do much better now that he is going to be in a much better environment with people who will love him and take care of him properly. The only thing that has me worried is him losing his best friend.” Nick said.

“Yes that could be a problem with him and Tommy both. I guess I better alert the counselor’s office to be ready to talk with Tommy when Christmas break is over, as I am afraid he will need it.” The guy told us.

“Well you may see us again. I think that some of us have kind of decided that Tommy is going to be going too. I know that there are several of us that seem to be interested in custody of him.” I said.

The guy was busy printing out all of Chad’s records, and stamping them with the school seal.

“I think that would be wonderful. Tommy is a great kid, he is also very smart, but he just needs stability and a chance to blossom. I guess losing his folks, and then not having a permanent home has taken its toll on him.” He said as he handed me the records.

“Thank you for all your help and we may be seeing you again soon.” Nick told him as we walked out the door.

I was glad that Howie had gotten the rental car so that we did not have to call so much attention to ourselves with the limo. It also gave us a chance to drive around and talk, which we needed to do without Chad or Tommy around.

“Nick, I have some really important things to talk about, and I need you to think carefully about your answers. Maybe we should see if there is a park or something around, and get some burgers, take them there, eat and talk.” I said.

“Sounds good to me, let’s head out to Mickey D’s, and just ask about a park there. I agree that there are things to talk about, cause I have a lot on my mind too.” Nick said.

We went through the drive thru and ordered. The young guy at the window told us about Hayswood Park and gave us directions. He did not seem to notice who we were, which to be honest was really nice. After getting our food and driving to the park, we sat and ate quietly. When we finished we looked at each other and both started to talk at the same time. I asked him to let me go first and he agreed.

“Nick, I have wanted to ask you this question for a long time, and while I had planned it to be much different than this, I feel I have to ask, and get an answer before we can discuss anything else. I would like to know if you would marry me?” I asked him.

“Omigod, YES YES YES, I will marry you!! Oh my….” He rambled and stumbled with words.

“Nick, baby please calm down. I love you and wanted to make this more special than this, but I wanted to wait until it would be possible to marry you without having to hide it, and that will be possible very soon. I know that you may want to go with Carter-Littrell, but I also wanted you to consider just Littrell as your last name.” I finished, and by then Nick had calmed down.

“Brian, please don’t think that this is not special. I mean look around you, it is beautiful here. I know you wanted to give me a ring and all that, but this is perfectly fine. As to the question about last names, I had always just assumed that if you ever asked me, I would be Nick Littrell and that is the way I want it.” He said with tears in his eyes and a huge smile on his face.

“Nick, what would you think about talking to Tommy and seeing if he would like to be our son? I know that we are not even married yet and having a son will make things more complicated for us, but I think that Chad needs him close and I think Tommy needs Chad as well.” I asked.

“Brian, I was going to ask you the same thing. I don’t care about a few more complications, that is not important. We can really help not only one person, but two, and I would bet that it will be less complicated than either of us thinks.” Nick said.

“I think we need to head back, and talk to them then, or do you think we should talk to Tommy alone so he doesn’t feel pressured to accept?” I asked.

“Let’s talk to just him first and if he accepts then we can all three go and see whoever it is we need to talk to.” Nick said.

We headed back to the hotel and asked Howie and Alex to keep Chad occupied for a while, as we wanted to talk to Tommy. I think he knew what was up, but we did not say anything. We had agreed not to mention even the engagement until we could tell all the guys together. After Chad was out of the room, we asked Tommy to sit down.

“Tommy, we have some things we would like to talk to you about.” Nick started, but he stopped when I placed my hand on his leg. I stopped Nick when I seen the look on Tommy’s face.

“Tommy, it is nothing bad, so don’t worry about anything ok?”

“Ok,” he mumbled. I looked at Nick and he continued. “We, that is Brian and I, talked this morning, and we kind of wanted to talk to you about a couple of things, and see what you think. First, we know how much you and Chad mean to each other, and we know that it is hurting you both to have to be so far apart.”

“So we wondered if you would be interested in Nick and I having custody of you, and moving to Orlando with us? If we can, we may even adopt you if you want.” I finished.

Tommy sat there with his eyes wide, his mouth hanging open, and looking for all the world like he was trying to get his voice to work. Soon he looked like a fish out of water as his mouth started to work, but his voice wasn’t. Finally, both his mouth and voice started to work together. “I would love for you to have custody, and adopt me if you can. Sorry bout taking so long to answer. You have no idea how happy that would make me, I can’t believe you would even be think about this. Oh man, I bet there is no way this will happen.”

“Hey Tommy, let’s not get down now. Let’s just go by your house, and talk to the guy and see what he says ok?” Nick said.

“Sure, let me go tell Chad. I know he will be excited.” Tommy said.

“No Tommy, don’t say anything to him until we know more. We don’t want you both disappointed if we can’t make this happen.” I told him. He looked ready to argue, but then thought about it and agreed. I told Nick to tell the others we would be back in a while, and if asked where we are going, to just say it was a surprise.

When we arrived, we followed Tommy in. Once we were inside, Tommy yelled, “Tim are you here? I have guests, and we need to talk to you.”

We heard a voice call from the back of the house to go into the office, and he would be there soon. We went in and took seats, each lost in our own thoughts. I was thinking about having a son, and wondering if Nick would want to have more kids, maybe younger.

Soon a rather young looking guy walked in and introduced himself. He took a seat and asked what he could do to help us.

“Well, we wanted to talk to you about the possibility of getting custody of Tommy or adopting him. Josh told us about the conversation you had with him, and we have all talked about it and would like to try if you can help.” I told him.

“Sure we can talk about both options.” He told us.

“Well one thing we would like to find out is how long the process would be for both custody and adoption. I know it is Friday and a holiday weekend on top of that, but we have to leave soon, but we can come back any time you need us.”

“Well usually we would need to investigate the person or persons that are looking to gain custody or adopt, and in the case of adoption, we usually like to make sure that everyone is comfortable with each other before we proceed. In your case, it appears that you guys have taken both Chad and Tommy under your wings, and I think that it would be good to keep them close together. There is also who you are that is going in your favor too. I know that finances will not be an issue, however I am concerned about education. If you are on tour, how would he get an education?” Tim asked.

“The issue of school has not been decided yet, but both Tommy and Chad will attend a private school, or they will have tutors who would travel with us. I know that the next question is about what happens when both groups go on separate tours.’ I said and he nodded. ‘I can’t tell you more at the moment, but I will say that both groups will be touring together from now on. I can’t tell you how or why that is the case, because not everything is settled yet and announcements have not been made. Most of that is legal stuff, but I can give you my word that everything will be announced.” I finished.

“Ok, I can accept that. Now which one of you would be adopting or taking custody?” Tim asked.

“Well it would be both of us. I hope that will not be a problem.” Nick said with concern.

“No it will be fine. I will need to know what you want to do, would you like to just take custody, or would you like to adopt? I think we can get either one of them done today if you want. We have a friendly judge and he signs off on everything with no trouble. Tommy, what would you prefer?”

“Tim, I would be happy with either, but if they would take me, I would rather be adopted.” Tommy said.

“Oh, we will take you Tommy, so let’s do an adoption.” I said.

Over the next hour and a half we must have filled out every form known to man, or at least that is what it felt like! Tim called the judge while we were doing that and set it up so that we could visit his office when we finished the paperwork and get the adoption taken care of. To be honest, I had never in a million years thought that you could do an adoption so quickly. I guess that you normally can’t, but given that it was private, as well as who we were and the lack of a need for investigation, it just did not need to take all that time.

Soon we were in the judge’s chambers, with a clerk and a court reporter. The judge approved all the paperwork, ordered several certified copies made. He approved Tommy’s new last name and soon everything was completed. We had walked in as separate people, and walked out as a family.

Tim told us we could come by and pick up Tommy’s stuff today or wait until later if we wanted to celebrate. I asked Tommy how much stuff he had there. “I only have my clothes and my laptop. I don’t have anything else.”

“Tim, how about we pick up his laptop and donate the clothes to you to use for other kids? We can get new stuff for him to wear here and then get the rest in Orlando.” Nick asked.

“That is fine with me, we always need clothes and stuff.”

We stopped and picked up Tommy’s laptop and headed back to the hotel to introduce everyone to our new son.

When we walked into the room, Howie, Alex and Chad were all sitting around watching the TV. The three of us grinned at each other. I spoke loudly. “Hey everyone, I would like to introduce you to someone.” Howie turned off the TV and all three turned and looked at us, trying to see past us to see who we had with us.

“Howie, Alex, Chad, I would like you to meet Tommy Littrell our new son.”

Copyright 2004 by WildHeart