Chapter 21
Chapter Twenty One - You Can’t Hide Beautiful
“Melinda!” Jane said as they hugged while walking out to their car, “It’s so good to see you!”
“Don’t even say hello to your first born.” Nick muttered as Jane reached over, hugging him.
“Sorry just so excited to see Mindy, I haven’t seen her in months and months.” Jane said as Aaron tried to pinch Melinda and she hit him in the arm, “How are you two getting along?”
“Oh we’re fine.” Nick said as he looked over at Melinda.
“No fights?” Jane asked as she looked over at Melinda.
“I’d be lying if I said no.” Melinda said as Nick started to laugh.
“Well maybe you two are finally growing up.” Jane said as she put her arms around each of their shoulders, “Now where do you go next?”
“The arena. Right after the show tonight we get on a plane and fly to hmm Chicago I think.” Nick said, “I dunno, Matt knows back there.”
“I don’t think I like the looks of him.” Jane said as she looked back at them.
“Where’s everybody else?” Melinda asked as Jane sighed.
“Off doing their own things. Aaron and I were going to be here in Orlando for a meeting anyway so it was perfect.”
“Perfect.” Aaron said as he tried to touch Melinda again and she smacked him, “Ouch. Mindy, got a boyfriend yet?”
“Yep, I do.” Melinda said as Nick and Jane looked over at her, “He’s imaginary.”
“Ohhh, someone’s been touching themselves besides Nick.” Aaron said as he ran off as Melinda went to chase him.
“She gets prettier each time I see her.” Jane said as she looked over at Nick as he cut his eyes over at his mother.
“Why are you looking at me?” Nick asked, “I don’t look at her like that.”
“You have to.” Jane said as Nick shook his head at her and looked back at Matt who pointed at the van in front of them.
“I don’t mom, you’re crazy.” Nick said as he opened the door to the van and hopped in as Jane laughed, going over to her and Aaron’s car, while Melinda continued to chase Aaron around.
“Yes, and he’s marrying some little skank ass whore that’s just a few years older than me and she’s pregnant!” Melinda said, sitting in their dressing room of the arena a few hours later.
“She’s just a few years older than you?” Jane asked, “God, I can’t believe Ed would go that low.”
“I know. She’s old enough to be his daughter.” Melinda said as she crossed her arms, “I’m barely talking to him. ”
“She’s got issues too.” Nick said, while eating his cheeseburger and Aaron reached over, stealing his fries, “Hey, those are mine.”
“They’re mine you fat old man.” Aaron said throwing them in his mouth and Nick elbowed him in the stomach, “Shit.”
“Aaron!” Jane said as Melinda started to laugh.
“Yeah yeah yeah.” Aaron said as he rolled his eyes, “So what’s up with you two? You are usually fighting and clawing each other’s eyes out and you’re not today. Something going on we should know about huh?”
“In your dreams.” Nick said, “We have our fights but we have our non-fighting moments too. You don’t see us holding hands saying we’re the best of friends do you?”
“That would be funny to see though.” Melinda said as Nick started to laugh.
“Something’s up.” Aaron said as he narrowed his eyes at Melinda who stuck her tongue out at him, “I know what you can do with that tongue too.”
“Aaron!”
“Dude!” Nick yelled as he hit him in the back of his head, “Stop that.”
“Aaron, apologize to her.” Jane said as Aaron rolled his eyes.
“Mindy, I’m extremely sorry that you are so fine.” Aaron said as Nick cracked up laughing.
“Where does he get this shit, I don’t know.” Nick said as Melinda, Jane, and Aaron both looked at Nick, “Not from me.”
“Whatever!” Aaron said as he reached over, grabbing more of his fries and shoving them in his mouth.
“You two are acting weird.” Jane said as Melinda looked over at her, “Really, what’s going on?”
“Nothings going on. Is it that weird that we’re not fighting?” Melinda asked as Aaron and Jane looked at each other.
“Yes.”, they both replied as Nick started laughing.
“Maybe you should just get used to it for the time being.” Nick said as Melinda smirked a little at him, while taking a sip of her milkshake.
“I fucking hate flying at night.” Nick said, that night as the plane was taking off from the airport in Orlando, on it’s way to Chicago, “I hate it.”
“Me too.” Melinda said as Nick looked over at her, and decided to walk over, and sit down in the seat beside her on the private jet.
“Just go to sleep.” Matt said as Nick cut his eyes back at him and then looked over at Melinda.
“I think my mom and Aaron knew something was up.” Nick whispered as Melinda looked over at him.
“Me too. Maybe we should fight more around them.”
“Yeah maybe.” Nick said as he looked over at Melinda as she looked out the window, “Whatcha thinking about?”
“You believe in fate?”
“Hmm yeah.. why?”
“Just wondering.” Melinda said as she looked back over at him, “Just thinking about it.”
“Hmmm okay.” Nick said as he started to laugh a little, “But yes I believe in it.”
“You believe things happen for a reason?”
“Hmm yes.”
“Like what?”
“Well, if my mom had never of met your dad and married him, I probably would have never met the other guys or be in the group or even be a performer that’s this well known, and we would have never met and did this duet together. So I think that was fate.” Nick said as Melinda turned in her seat a little, leaning her head against the back of it, “Things happen for a reason.”
“Me too.” Melinda said as she started to smile.
“Yeah.” Nick said as he smiled and looked down for a minute before looking back up at her, “You know..”
“I’m gonna be sick.” Melinda said as she jumped up, running to the back of the plane. Nick sat there and didn’t even move, looking at her empty seat.
“You’re really pretty right now.” Nick said as he rolled his eyes and looked towards the back of the plane as Melinda came out of the bathroom with her hand on her forehead.
“You okay Melinda?” Andi asked as Melinda nodded her head as Andy handed her a Mountain Dew.
“Thanks.” Melinda said as she walked back over to her seat and sat down, taking a sip of her drink.
“You okay?” Nick asked as Melinda nodded her head yes, “Upset stomach?”
“Probably flying so soon after that adrenaline high of being onstage.” Melinda said as Nick laughed a little, wrapping his arm around her.
“Here, lay your head on my shoulder and go to sleep. We’ll be in Chicago soon enough.” Nick said as Melinda smiled, scooting into her seat and laying her head on Nick’s shoulder, closing her eyes.
“Sweety!” Nick yelled as he walked in the front door of their home with a bag in his hand, “Guess what I have!”
“What?” Melinda waked as she walked in from the office with her hands on her swollen stomach.
“I got something for the baby!” Nick said with so much excitement as he pulled a t-shirt out of the bag and showed her. Melinda looked at the t-shirt see that it had Carter written across the back, like a little jersey, “See it’s a jersey and it says Carter.”
“We don’t know if it’s a boy or a girl.” Melinda said as she started to laugh and Nick shook his head at her.
“It’s a boy alright, I know it is. My mom said that if you’re carrying it up high it’s a girl or maybe it was low, oh hell I don’t know, but it’s a boy.” Nick said as Melinda shook her head at him, “And he’s gonna wear this home from the hospital.”
“In 20 degree weather?” Melinda asked as she looked at the sleeveless jersey, “Not a newborn Nick.”
“Damn.” Nick said, looking at the jersey again, “I like it.”
“Well I like it too baby, but it can’t wear this home from the hospital.” Melinda said as she walked over, giving Nick a deep, intense kiss, “I love you.”
“I love you too.” Nick whispered back as he kissed her on the forehead, “And I’m glad we got married.”
“Me too.” Melinda said, smiling.
“And I’m glad I got you knocked up after we were married.”
“Or our parents would have killed us.”
“Yes.” Nick said as he started to giggle while leaning over to kiss her again.
“Melinda,” Nick said as he tried to wake her up, “Mindy, we’re in Chicago.”
“Hmm?” Melinda moaned as she opened her eyes and looked around to see Nick sitting there beside her smiling at her. She looked around and then down at her stomach, and back at Nick.
“We’re in Chicago, let’s go to the hotel.” Nick said as Melinda blinked her eyes and stood up, “What were you dreaming about?”
“You don’t wanna know.” Melinda said as she reached over, picking up her carry on bag.
“Must have been nice.” Nick said as he started to walk over to the door, “You had a smile on your face the whole time.”, he said as Melinda paused, watching him walk off the plane.
Nick sat there in his bed, with his back propped up against the headboard, looking at a notepad that he kept to write song lyrics or poems in. He sat there looking at it, drawling little pictures in the corners of the page. He looked over at the clock to see that it was almost 3:30 and he sighed, leaning his head back against the wall. He closed his eyes, repeating a few words in his head until something came to him and he lifted his head, up and began to write something down.
She says don’t stare at me
She’s afraid that I might see
Those 5 extra pounds she talks about
I don’t know what she’s talking about
Nick smiled, as he got up from the bed, with his pen and notepad in his hand and walked out of his bedroom. He walked over to Melinda’s room and cracked the door open a little, seeing her in bed asleep. He walked lightly into the room and sat down on the floor, leaning against the wall, looking at her and then the words started to pour out of him.
She looks through magazines
With every page she dreams of
Looking like somebody else
I wish she wasn’t so hard on herself
Then she falls asleep with just my t-shirt on
But even when her hair’s messed up and her make-up’s gone
You can’t hide beautiful
You can’t hide wonderful
There’s nothing that she has to do
It just comes natural
She makes it look easy
I love what she does to me
No way to disguise
The way that she shines
You can’t hide beautiful
Nick looked down at the paper and then back up at Melinda with the top of the pen in his mouth, biting on the lid. Then his eyes cut over to a simple pink dress that she was going to wear to the interview that they had early that next morning and smiled, looking back down at his notepad.
She can take a simple dress
Put it on and turn some heads
Every time she moves she gets me
She doesn’t even know she’s sexy
And the way she thinks sometimes
Out of nowhere blows my mind
She makes me laugh and makes me dream
I love the way she looks at things
A little piece of heaven god gave to this world
She might think she’s just an ordinary girl
You can’t hide Beautiful
You can’t hide wonderful
There’s nothing that she has to do
It just comes natural
She makes it look easy
I love what she does to me
No way to disguise
The way that she shines
You can’t hide beautiful
Nick smiled down at the paper and looked back up at Melinda to see her turn over in her sleep and, facing him. He shook his head and looked back down at the paper, re-reading what he had just written and sighed, smiling to himself.
