Remember Me This Way

Chapter Twenty Seven

The wind tousled his hair gently, crisp and cool unseasonably for California August weather. Nick was standing outside in AJ's backyard, the day only half gone as the sun shone high in the sky above. He watched the branches of the nearby trees sway almost rhythmically with the swing set. They were using AJ's studio down in the basement for recording that day. Nick loved every moment, loved the fact that all five of them were making a record again together for the first time in over ten years.

Still, sometimes he would catch the way they looked at him. They would stare when they thought he didn't see. The expressions caught within their wistful eyes was always a mix of pity and melancholy that made Nick feel as if he were already dead and gone. No matter how upbeat any of them acted. All he wanted, all he needed was to be treated normally – or as normally as possible given the circumstances.

Singing while they stared at him as a dead man walking (no matter how true he knew it to be) wasn't it.

So when he'd had enough, he announced he needed a break and practically ran for it.

"Uncle Nick..."

It was the voice of Baylee that caused him to turn. It surprised him, as Baylee had been acting distant. Nick had sat him and Mason down a week before, when he and Brian got back from New York. He had known he couldn't avoid it much longer. He explained to him how he was sick, and that soon he'd be acting strange. They took it well, given the circumstances. Mason, he suspected didn't really know how serious it was. Baylee, on the other hand, did, and overall avoided Nick. It hurt, but at the same time, he understood. So when he was around, he worked as hard as he could to pretend nothing was wrong.

Today, the wives had gone out for "girl bonding", so Baylee was supposed to be watching the younger kids with the help of ten year old Mason while they were working on the record. The moment he takes the sight of his surrogate nephews in, he immediately has to swallow back the laughter that begs to surface. Every inch of the thirteen-year-old's skin visible was covered with various colored paints. Mason was beside him, looking scared but just as brightly decorated. His shaggy blonde hair was now almost entirely a bright, happy, neon blue.

A brow quirked. "Did a double rainbow throw up on you guys?"

Mason shook his head with a glance at his older cousin. "No...they're CRAZY!"

"Who!"

Two identical giggles could be heard coming from just inside the house. Nick groaned. At their best, Lily and Lenni were as sweet as could be. But, when they really got going, Nick was reminded again how two adorable little girls could be AJ's daughters. When they stepped outside, Nick could see many little containers of finger paints held within their own colorful arms. Their skin was just as brightly decorated as their youthful babysitters'.

Nick walked over, picking the two up, and ignoring the fact he just got paint all over himself as well. He grinned at them as Mason and Baylee helped to get the paints away from them for now. Each rested on an arm, and once again Nick was reminded that he would never be able to do this with kids of his own. The pain of it was almost breathtaking, but was shoved aside almost immediately. He planted soft kisses on top of their heads, their hair done in many little braids. A sign Rochelle had been by before they arrived.

"What were you two doing?"

Lily beamed. "Making petty body pichures wike daddy's!"

Nick laughed. Considering their parents, it was a wonder the two hadn't tried this sooner. If nothing else, AJ would know without a doubt they were his kids. "Your daddy had to wait till he was all grown up before he could have people draw on him. Did you decide Bay and Mace needed them too?"