OF ALL THE CAMPSITES, IN ALL THE WORLD

Chapter 9 

I didn’t bring the subject up again, afraid that it would cause another fight. And if Brian came after me again, we would have a repeat performance, something neither of us needed. We all continued with our lives. The guys were in the studio doing another album. Howie and Chloe were busy planning their wedding. Leighanne and Brian had their second child, a boy this time. Ally and Hani both got pregnant around the same time. A few weeks before Howie and Chloe’s wedding, was when it happened.

I was sitting at the office, just getting ready to go home. I was picking up my things and had reached to turn the phone on the night service. I walked through the empty office and out to my truck. I was just getting in when a hand grabbed me from behind. Immediately there was a scarf placed over my eyes. I panicked, I was about to scream when a hand went over my mouth to prevent it. “Dear God, please not again.” I begged over and over.

I heard my truck door being shut and my things being picked up. Who ever had me was not alone. They directed me in another direction, “It’s okay Syd, don’t worry.” I heard from my left side. The hand had been removed from my mouth.

“Brian is that you?”

“Yeah. Hold still.” He said as he tied the blindfold tightly around me eyes.

“Brian, what are you doing? You are scaring me.” I told him as I felt him help me into another vehicle. I sat quietly for a minute then felt it move. “Where are we going?”

“It’s a surprise. Don’t worry about it.” He assured me.

We drove for what seemed like hours, but was only a few minutes. I could hear airplanes and lots of traffic. “Brian, where are we?” I asked again.

“Don’t worry about it. Come on, I’ll help you out.” He said as he guided me out of the vehicle. I stumbled over something and fell into another person.

“Sorry Syd.” I heard.

“Nick is that you? What’s going on? Someone tell me what is going on.” I demanded.

“You’ll find out soon enough Syd.” Nick told me.

I was led through a doorway, where ever we were, it was busy. I could hear all kinds of people around us. I didn’t know who else was with me, but I could hear whispers close to me. I was taken up a flight of stairs and then through another door. I heard someone asking for our tickets and then through yet another door. There was a small step down and the smell in the air changed.

“You guys, this is really scaring me, please tell me what is going on.” I begged.

“Just relax Syd, nothing bad is happening.” I heard another voice.

“AJ, who else is here? Please you guys.”

“Me, AJ, Nick and Howie.” Brian replied.

“Where’s Kevin and Hani and Ally and Chloe and Leighanne?”

“Doesn’t matter. Just relax. Did you want something to drink?” Howie questioned.

“No, I want to know what is going on.”

Everything was quiet after that. Brian was still sitting beside me, holding my hand and for that I was grateful. I heard an engine start and wondered for a second if we were in another vehicle, but the sound wasn’t right, we were in a plane. I felt the motion as we moved towards the runway.

“Oh God.” I whispered as I felt a tiny wave of nauseous sweep over me.

“What’s the matter? You’ve flown before.” Brian said.

“Yeah, but I could always see.” I stated. Brian reached around me and untied the scarf. I slowly opened my eyes and let them adjust. The guys were all seated around me, we were on a private plane. I turned to Brian first and punched him in the arm.

“OWWW, what was that for?” He whined.

“For scaring me half to death. You should NEVER come up to someone that has the things in her past that I do, like that.” I scolded them all.

“Sorry Syd, but it’s all good.” Nick said in defense of Brian.

“It better be. Now where are we going?” I demanded.

“You’ll find out when we get there.” Was all they told me.

The plane ride lasted several hours. The guys tried to get me to relax, but I couldn’t, I had no idea where they were taking me. When we got closer to our destination, the pilot came over the intercom and informed the guys that we were about twenty minutes out. He never said from where. Brian put the blindfold back on and kissed me lightly on the cheek telling me that we were almost there.

The plane landed and I noticed that we left the plane quickly. There was a car waiting for us on the tarmac and we were whisked away. We drove for about as long as what we flew, at least it felt that way. There was a brief pause when the car finally did stop, before I was let out. I could hear more voices outside.

“Are you ready?” Brian asked me, once again at my side.

“I’ve been ready since you first kidnapped me.” I stated as he helped me out of the car.

He led me over a few steps away from the car. I could feel that the ground had changed and it was a lot cooler than what Florida had been. Obviously we were not in Florida anymore. Probably not in the country for as long as the flight was. I could feel people moving around me.

“Hi sweetheart.” Kevin whispered.

I jumped at the sudden sound of his voice. “Kevin, what is going on?”

“Just a second.” He put his hands on my shoulders and turned me around a little. “B-Rok, would you mind?”

“Not at all, just let me know when you are ready.” Brian said as he came up behind me.

I heard some shuffling and then Kevin spoke softly, “Okay, I’m ready.”

“At least someone is.” I mumbled. Brian untied the scarf and slowly peeled it away. I looked around and didn’t see Kevin. I saw everyone else, but not Kevin.

“Sydney, will you marry me?” Kevin said.

I looked down and saw Kevin on one knee. It was then that I noticed the surroundings. He had brought me back to the place that we met. The exact campsite. I looked around and saw the girls and the other guys. Kevin had staged this whole thing. I turned back to Kevin and smiled as the tears formed in my eyes. He had gone to so much trouble. I nodded my head, “Yes.” I whispered as I fell to my knees and kissed him.

Kevin pulled back and placed the ring on my finger. This was the first time that I had looked at it. It was a beautiful pear shaped diamond solitaire. I threw my arms around him and cried, it was the only thing that I could do.

When I got things under control, I looked around at everyone. “Were all of you in on this?”

“Yes, we were all sworn to secrecy. But once Kevin told us what he was going to do, it was easy to keep the secret.” Leighanne explained as she sat on Brian’s lap at the picnic table.

“So, is this it then? Or are we going to celebrate?” I asked as I looked at my ring again.

‘This is all about you, what do you want to do?” Kevin questioned.

“I want to party all day!” I laughed.

We all climbed into the two limos and we went back to Calgary. That was where we landed. It was early in the morning by the time that we got back. We stopped at the Crossroads Hotel, this was the hotel that we always stopped at when I was younger. We had a long breakfast and then we headed downtown. The shopping in Eaton’s Center was amazing. We spent the day in Calgary, early afternoon we got back on the plane that brought me and the guys here and went back to Florida, where we all slept for two days.

Things got crazy after that. I was working like a mad woman. The interview session that I had done a year before was a huge success and I was trying to put another one together. The guys were busy organizing another tour for their seventh album. And Howie and Chloe’s wedding came and went. On top of it all, I was trying to plan a wedding for myself. Hani and Ally both had baby girls and Leighanne was pregnant with their third child.

With everything that was going on, I hadn’t realized that the day of my wedding was so close. It snuck up on me and before I knew it the day had arrived. I woke the morning of and turned over to see the beautiful Florida sun shining on me. Kevin was staying at Brian’s place, as was his brother, who was his best man. The guys were also going to be standing up with him, which meant that I needed to have six people. I had my sister as my matron of honor, Hani, Ally, Chloe, Leighanne and Howie’s sister as my bridesmaids.

I stretched and crawled out of bed and smiled when I saw that Kevin had been there in the middle of the night. There was a huge bouquet of flowers on the nightstand with a letter and a small long box. I leaned over and smelled the flowers, they were my favorite, pink roses. I reached for the letter and smiled at his handwriting.

Dear Sydney:

Well my love, today is the day. We will begin a new life together as husband and wife. Before I see you walking down the aisle, I wanted to remind you that I love you with everything that I am. You are my life, I will do my best to protect you. I bought you a little gift for you to wear as something new. I hope it goes with your dress.

Lots of Love

Kevin

By the time I reached for the box, tears were falling down my cheeks. I opened it slowly and saw a string of pearls. They would go perfectly with my dress. I heard some whispers outside my door and started to laugh when all the girls burst in on me.

“Our last wedding! Thank God! I can’t go through this again.” Leighanne declared.

“How are you doing?” Ally asked as she sat beside me.

“I’m doing great. Who let Kevin in last night?” I questioned.

“Kevin was here? When did that happen?” Chloe inquired.

“I don’t know. I woke up and I saw all this. It must have been when we were all sleeping. Look at what he got for me. Something new he says.” I said as I showed them all the pearls.

After everyone oohed and awed, then hustled me to get going. I had a hair appointment to get to and with six girls plus one flower girl to get done, we were going to be awhile. I had chosen Brian’s first daughter to be our flower girl and then Kevin’s brother’s son for our ring bearer. We all got back to the house with just a few hours to go. Everyone got dressed while I had something to eat. I hadn’t eaten yet and I didn’t want to pass out at the altar.

Before I got dressed everyone came to me and presented me with everything that a bride needed before she got married. I had my something new, the pearls from Kevin. Hani gave me the something borrowed, it was a beautiful set of diamond and pearl earrings that belonged to her grandmother that she had brought over from Prague. Ally gave me the something old, it was a tiny bird pin that had been in her family for six generations. Leighanne, presented me with the something blue, a garter of course. They got me dressed and we headed to the church.

I saw the guys standing outside, signing a few autographs for some fans. Somehow they had found out where we were getting married and had turned out in the hundreds. We were waiting in the limo until the guys went back inside and then we headed inside. The butterflies started going into overdrive in my stomach. I got things under control and the next thing that I knew, it was my turn to walk down the aisle. I was choosing to walk alone, I hadn’t spoken to my real father in over ten years, he didn’t even know that I was getting married.

As the doors opened for me to walk through, I looked to the altar and saw Kevin waiting for me. He looked so handsome in his tux. I loved a man in a tuxedo. I made my way to the altar and did my best to fight the tears that were threatening to fall. I reached the altar and smiled at Kevin. I handed my bouquet to Allyson and turned back to Kevin to take his hand. The minister started and before I knew it, it was time for Kevin and I to say our vows.

“Kevin Scott, do you take Sydney Elizabeth to be your wife. From this day on, for better or worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health for all the days of your lives?”

“I do.” Kevin said

“Sydney Elizabeth, do you take Kevin Scott to be your husband. From this day on, for better or worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health for all the days of your lives?”

“I do.” I replied in barely a whisper.

The minister looked at us, “It is my understanding that you would like to say a few words to one another. Kevin.”

Kevin took both my hands in his, “Sydney, I know that you waited a long time for this and I thank you for that. I knew that I had made the right decision when I asked you to marry me and you didn’t even hesitate. You are my reason for living, everything that I am is because of you. I make myself better for you. You make the days better and the nights unbelievable. You have been there for me through hard times, you make the good times amazing. Today, in front of all our friends I am telling you that I love now and for all eternity.” He finished.

Kevin reached over and brushed away my tears. I took a deep breath and looked up at him. “I never thought that it was possible for this kind of love to exist. You have done so much for me, helping me get over the terrible things in my past, dealing with being fired, making me laugh on a daily basis, showing me what love is really about. You had it wrong when you said that I am your reason for living. You give me a reason to keep going, to make sure that I am happy and that I have everything that I need. You give me all of that. I live off your love. And for that I am giving myself to you for all eternity.” I smiled at him and we turned back to the minister.

We exchanged rings and then the minister smiled at us, “Ladies and gentleman, may I present to you Mr. and Mrs. Kevin Richardson. You may kiss your bride.” He told Kevin.

Kevin took a step towards me and lifted my veil. When our lips met the guys started to hoot and holler behind us. We all started to laugh.

A few hours later we made it to the reception hall, after a few dozen pictures had been taken. The meal was fabulous and after we had all rested the guys got up and made a little speech to Kevin.

“Well old man,” Nick started, you could hear the affection in his voice. “Who would have thought that you would be the last one to get married?”

“We all thought that Brian would be first and then you. We wondered what took you so long when we knew that Syd was the one for you.” AJ said.

Howie spoke next, “We are incredibly happy for you Kev, and the next time that you plan a camping trip, we will be there, who knows who we will meet.” Everyone laughed.

Brian finished, “Well cuz, honestly I thought that you would be the first to get married, but we have all beat you on that. You deserve all that happiness that you get.” He turned to the guys and then back to Kevin and I with a grin, “Now I am three up on you, let’s get cracking with those kids.”

Kevin and I went up to make our speeches then. He went first. “Thank you all for coming. Guys, this day wouldn’t have been the same without you. AJ, I am so proud of you and everything that you have done with your life. And please promise that if your daughter wants a tattoo, she can have one.” AJ laughed and gave him the thumbs up. “Howie, you have been the one that kept me level headed over the years, I don’t know how you managed to end up in the middle of everything, but you always managed to straighten it out. I learned a lot from you.” Howie smiled back at Kevin. “Nick, you were a constant pain in the butt when you were younger, but you have grown into a fine gentleman. You showed me that everyone has to stay young to some extent. Thank you.” Nick nodded his head in Kevin’s direction. “And finally cousin Brian. These years have flown by and I am glad that I had family right along with me on the ride. Thank you for everything that you have done and most importantly for bringing Sydney back to me when I was too foolish to see what she needed.” Kevin finished as Brian reached over and gave him a hug.

Kevin stood aside and let me speak, “I don’t know where to start, Kevin has said pretty much everything. But I guess, AJ, you taught me over the years to keep everyone guessing, don’t let them where you don’t want them. Thank you for that. Howie, you taught me your incredible mind for business. Everything that I know, is because of you. That is a gift that I cherish. Nick, like Kevin said, you have shown me that acting like a kid is fun, once in a while. You keep me young, and for that I thank you.” Last I turned to Brian, we’d had several talks and moments together since the night that we made love. “Brian, you gave me hope when I didn’t think that I was good enough. You made me see things in a different light. I love you right from my soul and I will love you always, I cherish you and thank you for everything that you have given me. And on a footnote, we will get working on those kids.” I finished. Everyone clapped and we got the party underway. Kevin and I were leaving the next day for our honeymoon. We were taking a cruise of the Mediterranean. I couldn’t wait.

--> chapter 10

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