Chapter 10

Nicole thanked LeighAnn for her support and then excused herself to upstairs. With the media having hold of the news, they had a lot of calls to make. As much as she dreaded telling the boys the tragic news, she knew they couldn’t put it off any longer. She didn’t want to them find out from anyone else other than the two of them.

Nicole entered the master bedroom to find Kevin lying on the bed. Nicole sat down beside him and said, “You ok?”

Kevin looked up at Nicole and just shrugged. “My mom should be on the next flight to Orlando.” Kevin said.

“How did she take it?” Nicole asked.

“She couldn’t believe it, yet she was so calm about it. She was the exact same way when dad died.” Kevin said.

“She’s a stronger woman than I could ever hope to be.” Nicole commented.

“I need her here Nicole. I don’t think I can make it through this without her.” Kevin admitted.

“Of course you need her here Kevin. I think the best thing for all of us right now is to surround ourselves with family.”

“What would you say to taking the boys up to her place for a few days once everything is looked after here?” Kevin asked.

“That’s probably a good idea. When the time is right, we’ll talk to the boys about it. In reality, we are not sure how they are going to react to this. I know you may want to get away, but we have to be very careful what we do for the next little while. The boys have to be our top priority.” Nicole replied.

“I know. You’re right. I guess we can’t put this off any longer can we? We better go break it to them.” Kevin said as he sat up on the bed.

“Then we have a lot of calls to make. I don’t want the rest of our family hearing about it through the media.” Nicole said.

“Of course not. I’m not ready to make all the calls though. For once in their life, can’t they let us be?” Kevin said.

Nicole just stood up without saying anything. She hated the public life that they lead, and she knew Kevin didn’t want to hear about it from her. She loved Kevin, but she wished she could do more to protect her family from the media.

Just as Nicole and Kevin were ready to head downstairs, both Steven and Nick came into the bedroom. “Aren’t you guys going to pick Kylie up from school early too?” Steven asked.

Nicole nearly lost it when she heard Steven say that. This was going to be even harder than she ever imagined. “Why don’t you come and sit down with mommy and daddy. We have something to tell you.” Nicole said.

Kevin picked Steven up and took him in his arms while Nicole did the same with Nick. “Kylie’s sick isn’t she?” Nick asked.

Nicole and Kevin looked at each other for a moment before either one of them answered. “There was an accident this afternoon.” Nicole started. 

“Is Kylie in the hospital? Is she going to be all right?” Steven asked.

“This is very hard for mommy and daddy to tell you, but Kylie got hurt really bad.” Kevin said, knowing that Nicole couldn’t handle this all on her own. 

“What’s wrong? Just tell us.” Nick said. 

Kevin held onto Steven a little tighter and said, “Kylie didn’t survive the accident this afternoon.” 

Nicole felt Nick go stiff in her arms. “Please say it isn’t true mommy.” Nick said as she looked up at Nicole. 

“I wish I could honey.” Nicole said as she kissed the top of Nick’s head. 

“What kind of accident was it?” Steven asked. 

“It was a car accident. She was hit by a car.” Kevin replied as the image of Kylie’s limp body appeared in his head. 

“You’re both lying.” Nick said as he squeezed out of Nicole’s arms and ran out of the bedroom. 

Steven did just the opposite. He put his arms around Kevin and started to cry. “Why is god so unfair?” Steven said into Kevin’s chest. 

“I don’t think that’s a question that anyone can answer.” Kevin said as he held his son close. 

“I’m going to go see if Nick is all right. I’m not sure it’s a good idea that he’s left alone right now.” Nicole said as she got up and left the bedroom. Nicole became afraid when she didn’t she Nick anywhere in the twins bedroom. She looked in the closet, under the beds and when she still couldn’t find him, she started calling out to him. Nicole was frantically looking around the room when Kevin grabbed a hold of her by the shoulders to try and calm her down and said, “He’s in Kylie’s room.” 

“Oh god Kevin.” Nicole said as she collapsed in Kevin’s arms. “I don’t know if I can take this.” Nicole said.