Two hours, four cups of coffee, and one new friend later I finally made my way home. I was kind of sorry that I had to leave; I was enjoying myself with her. We talked a lot about books we�ve read, about literature in general. I know that she�s majoring in English Literature, which entails both American Literature and British Literature, and minoring in Journalism. It seems like it would suit her well. She was really� nice. There was a little bit of mystery about her, but maybe that was just because we had just met. We planned on meeting the next day, same place, and same time. I was really looking forward to it.

When I walked in the front door I was just waiting for Natalie to ask me a thousand questions about where I was. I don�t know why, she was never really like that. I was home for ten minutes before I even saw her, and even then she only asked a few simple questions.

�Hi Honey,� she said to me, coming out of the laundry room. She kissed my lips softly, and continued towards the stairs with the laundry basket.

�Here,� I caught up with her again quickly, and took the basket from her. �I got it.�

�What took you so long?� She asked. I gave her a confused look. You have to remember, I�m a natural blond. �Coming home?�

�Oh,� I replied. I knew right at that moment I was going to lie about meeting anyone. Well, maybe it wasn�t a lie. I just chose to leave DeLorean out of it. �I grabbed a book and some coffee at Barnes and Noble.� I told her. At least it was part of the truth. She smiled a little.

�You sat still for two hours?�

�Yeah. I can sit still for two hours.� I grinned a little at myself. The truth was: I couldn�t sit still for two hours. And I hadn�t.

�So what book did you buy?�

�The Stand. Stephen King.� I answered. I saw her nod her head in approval. She had only read a few Stephen King novels in her life, but she thought he was okay.

�Any good?� She asked. I nodded.

�It seems that way. I guess it�s supposed to be about the ultimate war between Good and Evil; a last stand.�

�Hmm. Sounds good. Can I read it when you�re done with it?� I nodded.

�Sure. Just don�t scare yourself too bad. Don�t forget, your adrenaline level�s probably going to affect the Little One.� We were both quiet for a moment. I don�t know where that comment came from. I�ve heard of maternal instinct, so maybe that was paternal instinct?

�You hungry?� She asked me. I was. Coffee isn�t the best meal supplement in the world.

�Yeah. You made something?�

�No. But I can.�

�You mean you haven�t eaten yet?�

�No, but � �

�Natalie.� I looked at her pointedly as I set the laundry basket down on the bed. �Just because I�m not home, doesn�t mean you can�t eat dinner without me. You, and you should know this by now, have to eat.� She actually laughed at me. I didn�t find it funny, and I didn�t know why she seemed to.

�Oh my God, Taylor. If you heard yourself�� she laughed again. �You sounded like your father!� She was laughing at me because I sounded exactly like my father.

�God help me,� I kidded.

�Come on,� she linked her arm through mine, and started to pull me away from the bed. �Let�s get something to eat.�

My Dad was at the studio with us the next day. He was helping with some of the mixing, but mostly keeping people in line and keeping us company. Now if I�ve ever known anyone to be a real family man, my father is one of the best models I can think of. If had any questions that I didn�t want to ask my Mom, I�d just ask him. That�s what I planned on doing.

�Hey Dad,� I said, sitting beside him in the studio. My brothers were currently wolfing down pizza. He looked at me from his seat beside mine. �When you�re married, is it ok to have� other female friends?� He laughed a little.

�It�s marriage, Taylor, not prison. Of course you can still have female friends. So long as that�s all they are.� That was good. I wanted to continue to be DeLorean�s friend. As a matter of fact, I was rather anxious for the day to end so I could go see her.

�I just don�t want Natalie to think anything, you know?� I ran a hand through my hair to get it out of my face.

�Yeah, I understand. And if she loves you, she trusts you. I�ve had other female friends, and your mother has other male friends. We aren�t suspicious of each other. We trust each other.� I nodded.

�Thanks, Dad.� I said, getting up.

�No problem, Tay.� I smiled, and headed over to the pizza. If I didn�t get some now I�d never get any, because my brothers are pigs.

�Try breathing.� I said, as Zac shoved another piece of pizza in his mouth.

�I am,� he said, mouth full of food. �And I�m hungry.�

�You�re disgusting.� I said, scrunching up my nose as food nearly fell out of his mouth. Isaac just laughed. At least he was neat when he ate.

�I saw you reading this morning. What book?� Isaac asked me.

�A Stephen King novel. I stopped at Barnes and Noble last night.� I said, not wanting to go into too much detail.

�How is it there? Did you get mobbed?�

�This is home. No, I didn�t get mobbed.� I answered.

�Oh,� our father chimed in. �I forgot to tell you guys, sorry. We have to go to LA for a week. They need to mix some stuff there.�

�Aw come on,� I said, more like whined. �I hate it in LA.�

�I know, but you guys have to go. It�s just a week.� He said regretfully. I suddenly lost my appetite. I really hated LA. People were so snobby there, and a lot of the celebrities had that attitude like oh, you�re Hanson? Who cares? We�re better than you anyway. I don�t want them to praise the ground we walk on, but they didn�t have to be such assholes.

�Have fun telling Nat.� Zac said. I had completely forgotten about Natalie. She was four months pregnant, almost five � she shouldn�t travel on airplanes anymore.

�Great. I�m gonna have to leave her by herself.�

�She�s a big girl, Tay. She can take care of herself.� Isaac said. He was right. But I felt guilty leaving her there in case anything happened.

�You think Mom would check up on her now and again?� I asked, looking at my father. He nodded.

�Of course. She�ll probably spend most of her time at our house anyway.� He said it with a smile, so it wasn�t meant to be an insulting comment; although, it set me thinking. It was almost as if she spent all of her time with my family so that they would never accept anyone but her. I�m not saying there would be anyone else that way, but I�m not saying there couldn�t be.

Knowing I was going to spend a week in LA ruined my mood for the day. I was so happy to get out of the studio. I couldn�t wait to get to Barnes and Noble to forget about all that. Or was it that I couldn�t wait to see and talk to DeLorean�? I pulled in the parking lot, grabbed my book and headed inside. I bought some coffee, and sat down in the same armchair that I sat in the day before. My friend wasn�t there yet, so, I started to read.

A good amount of time passed, and I was beginning to think that she wasn�t coming at all. But she did show up. She saw me, and I waved casually to her. She came over to me and sat in the chair next to mine.

�Sorry,� she smiled. �I stayed in my last class a little longer than expected. I have an assignment due for journalism, so I was just getting some details from my professor.�

�It�s ok.�

�How long have you been here?�

�An hour or so.� I replied. I had gotten a good deal of reading done though, so now I had more to talk about with her. �This book is really, really good.�

�I know. Isn�t it great?� She said with a wide smile. She was beautiful. She really was, and there were things about her that I couldn�t explain. I knew something was happening here, but I pretended like it was a normal friendship.

�Yeah it is. And I needed to unwind after the day I had.�

�Oh, why?� She asked. Oops. I wasn�t going to say anything about my profession. She hadn�t seemed to recognize me as a musical artist, which was a good thing, and now I had just blown it.

�Hard day in the studio.� I answered.

�I should have figured,� she said, shaking her head at herself, with a slight grin. I looked at her, my head cocked to the side, and my eyebrows furrowed in question. �Well, you make music for a lot of people. It has to be stressful, right?� So she did know who I was.

�You know who I am?�

�Um, yeah.� She said a little shyly. �I didn�t say anything though. I didn�t want you to think that I was only talking to you because you�re Taylor Hanson.� I liked her even more now.

�Do you live around here?�

�I moved here about three years ago.� She answered. I nodded. �So, tell me about why your day was so hard.� I was a little surprised. Most people don�t want to hear about days at the studio; it was usually a pretty boring story unless you understood the inside jokes between my brothers and I.

�Well, my Dad decided to spring on us that we have to go to LA for a week. I hate it there.�

�Really? I thought all the stars loved LA.� I shook my head.

�The movie stars maybe. But people are so rude to us there. I�d like to just deck them all.� She laughed a little. �What?�

�It�s hard to picture you decking anybody.�

�Hey,� I smiled. �I�ve beefed up a little in the past few years.� I laughed too.

�Yeah, I�ve seen pictures. But you seem like such a pacifist.� She had me down.

�I am, actually. I hate fighting � physical, anyway. Are you a fan?�

�Of Hanson? Not really. I mean, I don�t hate your music, but I don�t have any of your CDs. I�ve heard you guys on the radio and stuff � you�re really good � but I�ve never really paid too much attention.� I appreciated her honesty.

�Thanks for being honest.� She nodded.

�So what do you plan to do in LA?�

�Miss home.� I answered. We both laughed lightly.

�Well, I�ll tell you what. I have a cell phone, and when you feel like talking � about anything � you can give me a call. Sound good?�

�Sounds great.� I smiled at her. She wrote her number down on a piece of paper from her bag and gave it to me. She noticed something then, and I almost wish she hadn�t.

�You�re married?� She nodded to my wedding band. I looked at it, and forced a small smiled.

�Yeah.�

�I thought I heard something about that on MTV, but I didn�t pay much attention to it. How long?�

�A month.� I decided not to say anything about Natalie�s pregnancy, not that it did any good.

�I heard rumors about your wife being pregnant. Is that true?� She was just curious. I didn�t have any objections, other than the fact if I told her these things I didn�t want to scare her away.

�Yeah. We got married in June; in April she told me and my family that she was pregnant.�

�Oh.� It was an �oh� of realization. This girl was bright; she knew the story without me even having to tell her. �How are things going?� I shrugged.

�Ok.� I replied. �To tell you the truth, DeLorean, sometimes I have serious doubts.�

�It�s normal.� She said.

�You�re married?� She smiled, and looked at the floor. She shook her head.

�No. But I got married when I was twenty. It lasted for four months.�

�Oh, sorry.�

�Don�t be. I�m not.� She replied. Obviously whatever had happened was behind her, and she�d let it go, so I wasn�t going to keep the subject keep going.

We spent a good while talking, laughing, and generally having a good time. I promised to call while I was in LA, and she told me she was going to hold me to it. I told her I had to go when I realized it was much later than I intended to let it get. I had to go home and tell Natalie about going to California for a week.