The Missing Lyric (Nemi)

Chapter 29

Demi

I went all out taking Lyric to Texas to see Nick's show. I got us on a private jet & rented a limo. Lyric was impressed & she was so cute on the plane, gawking at the surroundings. She was loving watching the clouds out the window, too & said she was looking for her parents. I almost cried when she said that.

We walked from the plane to the waiting car & Lyric kept telling me how cool this was. She said she felt like a rock star. "Think Nick will be happy to see me?" She asked me as we walked.

I looked down at her & let out a laugh. "Of course. He adores you & he'll probably be happier to see you than me, to be honest."

Lyric smiled really big & I gave her a wink. We got to Nick's show right before he was going on & he saw me before he saw Lyric. He hugged me so tight & held me for a minute or so since we were supposed to be husband & wife who hadn't seen each other in a month. After our hug, he looked into my eyes, then bent his head to kiss me, which felt electrifying to me. It was a quick one but it left a lasting effect, that was for sure. When Nick saw Lyric, I was, quickly, forgotten. He hugged Lyric, lifting her up & spinning her around. It warmed my heart & Kris' too by the way she squeezed my arm & gave me a soft smile.

We all had an amazing time in Texas & Lyric got to meet Nick's grandmother, Fran, which was incredible to watch. Fran & Lyric clicked, instantly & I could tell it meant a lot to Nick. He watched them with a look of awe on his face. He took a bunch of pictures, too. I think he was saddened a little that his grandpa never got to meet her or vice versa. Jerry would have loved Lyric so much & Lyric would have found Jerry hysterical.

Once I got back to L.A. I got back into writing & recording for my fifth album. I spent as much time with Lyric as I could. Kris brought her over quite often, actually. Her tutoring was going really well & I was loving Chloe. Her & I actually were becoming friends. Her & Joe became an official couple at the beginning of May, so we were seeing a lot of Joe these days. I think I saw more of Joe than I saw of Nick for a while. Nick was filming his shows & his movie so he really wasn't home much. He worked on Kingdom during the week & was gone early in the morning until late at night, since the drive was over an hour to & from set. On weekends or days off during the week he would shoot the Scream Queens show. His movie was filming in June for three weeks & he'd have to leave L.A. & be away during that whole time. He was given time off from Kingdom, which was convenient. I was going to miss him. He wouldn't even be back home until the first of July.

Lyric's birthday was on July 4th & Kris & I were planning a special party. I wanted it to be one she'd never forget. Kris knew why I wanted to do it, but no one else did. I think everyone just knew I was connected to this little girl in some way & they left it at that.

I decided to have her party at this place that was totally private, called Under the Sea. It had a little bit of everything & she could invite some of her friends from school as well as some of the kids from the hospital that she had become friends with. It was perfect & could also be fun for some of the older friends, she had made in the recent months. By older friends I meant the friends she made through me & Nick. Kris thought it was perfect, too. So we got Lyric involved with us to help us with the details & guest list. It kept us pretty busy, so Nick not being there wasn't as heart wrenching for me.

Lyric invited over a dozen kids, to the party & then I invited Chloe so she was bringing Joe. I also invited Kevin & Dani since they were in town for Joe's Fourth of July party & Alena was a year & a half so she would probably have fun. Lyric's party was on Friday night, the day before her actual birthday & then Joe was having a 4th of July party that next day, which Lyric was invited to as well. We were going to celebrate her birthday again at Joe's party since it was her actual birthday. That way it was like she was getting two kinds of parties & I was fine with that since I had missed five of her birthdays so far. I didn't want to miss any others & this was my way of making up for the ones I had already missed. Joe's party was going to have his whole family there & a bunch of friends as well as my sisters & parents. He invited them because he knew they adored Lyric, too & he wanted a big turn out to show off the display of fireworks he had gotten.