Let All Our Tomorrows Begin
Author's note: Clay owns himself and his own name. I only wrote the words
to the story.
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Late November in one of the ABC studios
Making sure her special "guest" pass supplied by Clay was clearly visible to all, Kate entered the studio where Clay was filming the pilot for his variety show. Unsure whether or not it would be a success, he wanted to invite his wife to be part of the proceedings and enjoy it while they had it. She was one of the lucky souls to have an invitation. Moreover, she had a front row seat. Kate approached the front desk. "Hello. I'm Kathryn Aiken, and I'm here for the variety show taping for my husband Clay."
The receptionist at the front desk rolled her eyes. "Everyone wants to be his wife, kiddo."
Immediately she pulled out her driver's license for the woman's inspection. "Well, I am his wife." Hiding her amusement as the receptionist's eyes bulged at recognizing the license as the real deal, Kate smiled sweetly. "Do you need to see my ticket as well?"
"That won't be necessary," the receptionist stammered with embarrassment. "Have a seat, Mrs. Aiken, and your escort will be here shortly."
Taking her license back from the receptionist, Kate gingerly sat down in one of the padded lobby chairs. Good thing I'm not that big yet, she mused, glancing down at the evidence of the pregnancy that was now six months along. I'd never be able to get out of these chairs again.
Soon Clay's friend Nick came out, having been alerted over the phone to Kate's presence by the receptionist. "Hey there, Kate. Ready for this?"
"Oh, yeah." Taking Nick's offered hand, she grunted as he helped pull her up out of the chair. "Thanks. Is Clay ready for this?"
"I'll take you back and let you ask him," Nick answered. "He wanted to see you for just a minute before the show. Something about you being his 'good luck charm'."
Kate snickered, a grin on her face. "Something like that," she drawled, knowing that none of them believed in luck. Kate had seen too much evidence over the years of God's hand at work in their lives to believe in anything else. "Lead on."
The two of them walked through the maze of hallways backstage. Nick brought her just outside of the green room where Clay stood already in costume and stage makeup talking to one of the directors.
"Everything's ready, Clay, even your surprise," the director whispered to him.
Clay rubbed his hands together eagerly. "Good. I can't wait to see the look on her face."
Kate raised an eyebrow. Surprise? What evil plan did her husband have in store now? Or was this the same matter that she and Sally had discussed earlier this month in regards to Clay's guests? Knowing Clay, it could be almost anything.
As if he could hear her thoughts, Clay turned to her with a smile and walked over to her. "Glad to see you could make it, honey," he said as he took her into his arms.
Eagerly giving him a warm hug and a kiss, Kate smiled back. "Wouldn't miss it, handsome. For better or for worse, and in all things, I am here for you. I heard you mention a surprise - Clayton Aiken, what mischief are you up to this time?"
Clay's eyes lit up as he pulled her closer. "Just something for the show. I know it's probably risky to pull a prank on a first-time guest, but when I came up with the idea, I couldn't resist."
"Mm-hm," Kate nodded. "I know you, Clay. If you want to pull a prank, you pull it."
Clay giggled at the thought of what was to come. "Anyway, I have the perfect surprise to pull on Carol Burnett. One that's going to have her and the rest of the audience rolling. You're gonna love it."
"Oh, really?" Smiling at his giddiness, Kate chuckled. Some days he really was like a big kid. "Any hints for your sweet little wife?"
"Not today, hon. Production secret." Ignoring her disappointed frown, he placed a kiss first on her cheek and then on her lips as Nick politely looked away.
"You ready for this?" Kate asked between stolen kisses.
Clay considered that question for a minute before answering. "It's something different for me, so in that sense I'm nervous, but I've had enough performance experience and the taping of a few other shows and specials to give me enough confidence that it will go well. I think I am."
"Glad to hear that," Kate said, giving him a hug. "I know I believe in you... and I believe in this project. It's a great idea, and it seems to be the right timing for it."
"How so?"
Kate shrugged. "Right now other doors have been closed for the moment, and this one has been opened. To me that seems a pretty good indication that it might be the right time."
Making a thoughtful face, Clay nodded. "I follow." Leave it to a woman of faith to see it that way. He smiled. "Thank you, honey. I have been a little bit concerned, but it always helps to know that you believe in me."
"I see your heart and your other gifts, Clay," Kate shrugged. "I'd have to be blind not to."
"Still..."
She smiled. "Yeah, it does help to have the support of the ones we love. Speaking of... I got phone calls from our parents this morning, and from a couple of the sibs. All of them said similar things... that they believe in you, and wish you the best with this."
With a deep sigh, Clay gave mental thanks to God for all of his family. He was very blessed. "Needed that, too."
"You need one more kiss before you go on?" Kate asked quietly.
"Sounds good to me." Clay placed a loving kiss on his wife's lips, pulling her close in a way that suggested he wasn't letting go any time soon.
"That's the perfect confidence booster before the show," the merry alto of Carol Burnett came from behind them. "Couldn't have picked a better one myself."
Clay broke the kiss with a breathless giggle as Kate turned to see the elder redhead smiling warmly. "Don't you know it. Carol, this is my wife, Kate. Kate, this is Carol Burnett, our guest for tonight."
Kate quickly moved to shake her hand. "Pleased to meet you, Ms. Burnett."
"Please, sweetheart. Call me Carol." She winked at Kate. "As much as he talks about you, I feel like I already know you."
"Really?" Kate asked, stealing a glance at Clay, who had turned light pink.
"Anyone can see the difference you make in his life," Carol told her. "He was the measure of a man before, but now he seems to have taken off into a brave new world of projects and ideas aimed at families and values and making the world a better place." She smiled warmly at Kate. "You wouldn't know anything about that, would you?"
Kate shook her head as she smiled up at her suddenly bashful husband, threading her fingers through his. "That's always been his heart. Sometimes a person just needs a little push to believe in oneself... to strike out and grasp your dreams."
Carol squeezed Kate's hand. "Keep pushing, Kate. He was always capable of great things... but with you believing in him, those things have become greater."
"Thanks," Kate told Carol, squeezing back.
"And if what he says is any indication," Carol finished, "I look forward to hearing about your great things." She winked at Kate again before turning towards the green room. "Enjoy the show."
"Wow," Kate said as Carol entered the room. "That's a huge compliment coming from a very special showman... show-lady."
Clay nodded. "She's definitely a lady, there's no doubt about that." He smiled as he pulled Kate close again in a deep embrace. "As much as I'd love to keep you with me during the show, I'd better let you take your seat. Otherwise you'll miss all the action." He placed one last loving kiss on her lips. "See you at the wrap party after the show."
"Wouldn't miss it." Following Nick back down the hallway, Kate shook her head. Her husband sure could be mischievous at times.
"Excuse me."
A man's tenor interrupted Kate's train of thought, and she and her guide turned at the voice. The speaker took a moment to ask a couple key questions of Nick as Kate stood by trying to calmly hide her amazement at recognizing the famous gentleman. Well... so this is your little surprise, Clayton. You're right - everyone's going to love it.
"I've heard that Clay's wife will be at the taping," the gentleman said to finish up the conversation. "Do you know if she would be willing to help me play a prank on my host?"
Kate snickered. "I would be willing."
The gentleman laughed at himself for not realizing that Kate was Clay's wife and quickly moved to make the necessary introductions. He outlined what he had in mind, and Kate very quickly agreed to the mischief. After all, she needed to pull the occasional 'fast one' on him, too. If one single person makes it all the way through the taping without breaking into laughter at some point, I'm going to be very surprised.
Once the gentleman left their company, Nick chuckled and turned an eye to Kate. "Well... now you know Clay's little surprise."
"Yup," Kate giggled, satisfied to be one step ahead of her husband for a change.
"He's going to be disappointed to find out that you know."
She giggled again. "I think he'll be too busy laughing to care about that."
Nick grinned. "I think so. I'm definitely glad that this will be on film..."
It took only minutes for Kate to get situated and comfortable in her seat out in the studio audience. She wished some of the rest of the families could have come, but if they wanted to spend the holidays with them, then they had to work around scheduling matters. Just what I've always wanted to do, Kate groused, travel halfway or all the way across the country in the third trimester of my pregnancy. Of course with two holidays coming up, she would be doing both.
Taking just a few minutes more, Kate turned her cell phone to 'vibrate only' status. Or as her Star Trek fan friend Sarah often joked about it, set her phone on 'stun'. (It certainly never failed to make her jump whenever it tickled her rib cage.) It was a practice she had been in ever since she had acquired a cell phone - making sure its ring would not disturb work, church, movies, concerts, or anything else with a large gathering of people where its musical tones would be seen as a nuisance. Kate couldn't understand how some people could forget such a little thing. As far as she was concerned, it was much more polite to do it this way.
One of Clay's managers entered the stage and caught the attention of the studio audience. They acknowledged that Clay would not be singing for this show, but assured them that they would be seeing him at his amusing, quirky best just the same. Knowing Clay, Kate was not surprised... and she was looking forward to it. The manager introduced and welcomed Clay to the set, and the polite applause from earlier crescendoed into a much more enthusiastic appreciation.
Clay entered the sound stage, acknowledging the applause with a grateful wave to the studio audience. "Wow! Thank you! Welcome to the filming of the pilot for our variety show." Noticing her broad smile, he winked briefly at Kate before going on. "We have a lot of really special things planned for today's show, including my guests. Today we have with us comedianne Carol Burnett," he paused with a nod as the audience applauded the funnylady, "and we have singer-songwriter Carl Burke." Clay acknowledged the industry newcomer with his own hearty applause. "Stick around, everyone, and enjoy the show."
As Clay exited the stage, Kate whistled under her breath. Carl Burke was a very talented young man, who was a gifted songwriter, singer, and piano player. Both Clay and Kate were no little bit envious of his talent... and now Clay was having him on the pilot. She hoped that this would give him some extra exposure - it was always nice to have established eentertainers acknowledge and give career boosts to the ones just getting their start. Kate knew she was going to enjoy the show.
After several minutes for costume changes and stage set-up, the cast began their first sketch. Kate grinned as she saw the set for a western saloon, complete with wanted posters, antique player piano, and plenty of tables for patrons and poker players. A costumed Carl Burke was seated at the piano playing period music, and Carol Burnett leaned on the piano in a drab-looking saloon girl costume. Only she had been given a gray wig and other props reminiscent of some of Mackie's work to make her look far older... making Kate and the others giggle and laugh. To add further to Kate's amusement, one of the wanted posters was of her husband... a hand-drawn work of art with him wearing one of the various 'tacky' outfits he had worn over the years to thumb his nose at the fashion world elite. She wondered how many people would catch that little production in-joke. She wondered if Clay had seen it yet.
Shortly Clay hobbled through the swinging saloon doors with a bow-legged limp, and the audience guffawed with laughter. Keeping up the goofy walk, Clay hobbled over to a table with several card-playing desperados and placed an overstuffed pillow onto the chair. Once the pillow was on the seat, he made a big production of preparing to sit down on it, gingerly lowering himself onto the pillow with several melodramatic faces of discomfort before he finally relaxed on the pillow with a smile and a sigh. Kate giggled helplessly at Clay's playfulness... and the fact that he was seated directly beneath his own 'wanted' poster. But had he seen the poster? She would have to ask him later. "What's the game, pardner?" Clay asked with a loud, western twang.
"A man's game," one of the other desperados drawled back. "Five-card stud... if you're man enough to play."
Clay pulled out a prop six-shooter to shove the brim of his hat up before returning the gun to its holster at his side. "Deal me in."
The desperados quickly added Clay to the game. Just as quickly, Carol came over and began overt attempts to hit on the desperados, a sight all the more comical with the fact that she was made up to look significantly older than any of the desperados. As had been obviously planned in the script, Clay was the one who eventually accepted her affections, having her stand at his side for the duration of the game. But everyone in the audience could tell that he was equally as unimpressed by her appearance as the rest of the desperados, and that he was tolerating Carol's presence at best. "What's your name, honey?" Clay asked Carol to oblige her.
"Miss Kitty-Cat," Carol answered, and Clay gave an obliging shudder at the cat mention.
Kate snickered under her breath, knowing that it was a tongue-in-cheek reference to a character from one of the old westerns that she couldn't recall at the moment. Of course her husband was not a cat fan, and he had been scripted to react accordingly. She couldn't wait to catch the other puns and references hidden in the skit.
The doors of the saloon swung again for another newcomer with a lawman's badge... Tim Conway, who tripped over his own feet at the entrance to the saloon. Costuming had given him the tackiest looking western costume they could find - a ridiculously large hat, a brightly-colored and loudly-patterned shirt, a pair of oversized fuzzy lamb's wool chaps... and spurs with bells on them. He stood there in the entrance for just a moment to catch his balance, jumping with surprise when the saloon door swung again to connect on his backside. Gazing mournfully at the offending door, he walked further into the room, holding his hand to his backside.
Clay heard the hearty laughter of the audience and knew that Tim had to have made his entrance. He wanted nothing more than to look over and see what pratfalls Tim was putting on for the audience, but knew that he had to stay in character. He continued to study his cards. "Raise ya two," he declared as he threw his chips into the middle.
Tim looked over the shoulder of one of the other desperados. "What-a game you-a playin?" he asked in an exaggerated Italian accent.
Taken completely by surprise at recognizing the voice of her friend and long-time coworker, Carol glanced over with wide eyes and quickly placed a hand over her mouth to keep back the laughter. Ever the professional, she wrestled herself back into character for the skit.
Clay grinned as he continued to study his cards. He felt a gentle yank on the back of his hair and knew that Carol was passing him a subtle message that she knew who had arranged this. Got her.
"Five-card stud," the desperado managed to tell him, and everyone could tell that he was trying hard to keep his poker face.
"Poker is a man's-a game-a," Tim agreed.
Looking up at Tim with a mischievous twinkle in his eye, Clay answered, "I guess then you won't be playing."
Tim thought about that for a moment before shaking his head. "No, I guess-a that I won't-a."
Clay snickered. "Where'd you pick up that ridiculous accent?" he asked, hoping that the question wouldn't stray so far from the script that they couldn't get back on track.
"
With that declaration, even the cast members burst into amused laughter. Clay giggled helplessly, the merry tears running down his cheeks at the bad pun. I had to ask... He couldn't even get out his next line, he was laughing so hard. What made it infuriating was that Tim was standing there with his trademark deadpan expression. How do you best that? Eventually Clay did stop laughing long enough to deliver his next line, and the skit progressed.
"Say, that's a good-a drawing up there-a," Tim stated, pointing at the wanted poster above Clay's head. "It-a looks a little like-a you."
Clay smirked at him. "Really? Imagine that."
"It says-a 'Wanted: Sarsaparilla Slim'. Is that you?"
"It does look a little like me," Clay drawled, admitting nothing.
Carol wrapped an arm around Clay's shoulders. "It sure looks handsome enough for you, stranger," she told him, batting her eyelashes at him and preening the hair of her gray wig.
"Why, thank you, Miss. You're... um... awfully purdy yourself," Clay stammered, blinking and making an awkward grimace away from Carol.
Tim looked back and forth between the picture and Clay. "I bet-a that is-a you in-a that pic-a-ture."
"You think so?"
"Yeah, I think-a so," Tim declared. "You're Sarsaparilla Slim-a, as sure as I'm-a the sheriff of these here-a parts.."
Clay slowly stood up. "All right, all right. You recognized me."
"I have no-a choice but to turn-a you in-a," Tim informed him.
"On whose authority?" Clay drawled nonchalantly, clearly unimpressed by this dimestore sheriff, "and what's the charge?"
"The fashion-a police-a," was Tim's answer, "for wearing out-a-fits like the one in that-a poster."
Clay glanced at the wanted poster and did a surprised double-take. Kate could tell by his reaction that this was the first time he had seen the picture, and she also suspected that was not the original charge listed in the script. Fortunately Clay was not that surprised by this turn of events. Unwilling to let the skit unravel again, Clay turned back to Tim with an affirming nod. "Not one of my better looks." Clay pointed at Tim, determined to turn the tables. "So how in the world did you get recruited for the fashion police, wearing an outfit like that?"
Taking the snarky comment at face value, Tim slowly looked his own outfit over. He made a great show of thinking it over as the audience howled with laughter. "I still have to turn-a you in."
"I think not," Clay growled as his hand went towards his gun. All the patrons of the saloon seemed to know what that meant, and quickly cleared away from Clay and Tim. "Draw, lawman!"
Tim's hand quickly reached for his own prop gun, but in true Tim Conway fashion he seemed unable to yank the gun from its holster. While everyone watched him, he continued to fumble with the gun until the sound of its discharge filled the studio. Tim made a distorted face of pretend pain, hobbling around as if he had managed to shoot himself in the foot.
As Tim wandered around in place, Clay watched for a moment before noticeably rolling his eyes. "Ah, you're not worth my time," he proclaimed, aiming his gun up towards the ceiling to fire a warning shot. As soon as Clay fired, a rubber chicken fell unexpected from the rafters to land in between them. The two duelists instantly dissolved into uncontrollable laughter, passing it on to the audience and the rest of the cast as if it was a contagious disease.
Tim recovered first, picking up the chicken and giving it a test squeeze. The chicken made a ghastly noise, something akin to a baby crying. "I think-a you killed it," he said, making the audience howl again.
Clay shook his head. "I think I killed this skit..."
I think they killed the audience, Kate giggled with tears running down her cheeks.
Tim walked without limping over to Kate, holding the rubber chicken out at arm's length. "Here - now-a you and your husband have-a something for dinner tonight-a."
Kate placed a hand over her mouth as she took the fake fowl from Tim. As long as we have this around, we'll never run out of chicken again. From the way Clay had doubled over holding his sides with laughter, he was thinking the same thing.
Returning the rest of the way to his character, Tim limped back to his spot on the stage. "I still have to turn-a you in," he declared as he finally unholstered his gun.
"Why me?" asked Clay. "She looks worse than either one of us."
"True-a, true-a," Tim admitted.
Noticing that the two of them were referring to her, Carol stared at them with indignation. Frustrated with both of them, Carol stomped over to stand in between them. She let out her trademark Tarzan yell, hauled off and gave each of them in turn a whalloping on the sides of their heads. Both Tim and Clay fell to the floor, shaking the cobwebs from their heads and nursing their wounds as Carol stood triumphant in between them. "This is clearly no place for a lady," she whimpered, sniffing disdainfully at the two of them. She walked over to Carl Burke on the piano and took him by the arm. Ignoring the bewildered look on Carl's face, Carol pulled him towards the saloon door and off stage to the audience's hearty laughter and applause for the conclusion of the sketch.
Still giggling, Kate wiped the tears from her eyes and applauded along with
the rest of the audience. The rubber chicken remained in her lap, an unpredicted
souvenir from the skit. She would not be surprised, however, if the two of them
later donated it to be auctioned off for charity. The question was, what
charity? BAF? Emeline's Hope? Some other noble cause? The brief thought of
Emeline's Hope send Kate's mind to wandering again, thinking of the little girl
they had spent part of the lunch hour with in
After a short break for commercial, Clay came out in nicer attire to introduce his musical guest. "Ladies and gentlemen, I give to you singer, songwriter, and master keyboardist Carl Burke!"
Carl Burke was the newest singer-songwriter on the music scene, and he was just beginning to take the industry by storm. In the tradition of Barry Manilow, he was classically trained at Julliard... but his musical style was more that of Clay, Josh Groban, or Harry Connick Jr. He was a very versatile individual, made even moreso by the fact that he wrote a lot of his own things. Oh, and a lot of women thought he was devastatingly handsome, which added to his appeal.
He sat in a classy-looking suit at a grand piano with a microphone angled so that he could sing into it, and played the beginning strains of the new piece he was trying to promote, which was halfway a throwback to the jazz era. It was a song both Clay and Kate enjoyed, and Kate considered it an extra bonus that she was hearing it live. In her humble but biased opinion, Clay's voice was still the better voice.
Carl improvised for the bridge section of the song, something that always amazed people to hear, before getting into the song again. He had written this one himself, which was evident in the way he seemed so clearly comfortable to tinker with it live. When he finished, the audience applauded him enthusiastically, and Clay walked over to share his own appreciative handshake and words of thanks before the crew once more went to break.
It was only a few minutes after Clay had exited the stage when Nick snuck out to where Kate was seated. "You ready for this?" he asked her.
Kate grabbed her purse. "Ready!"
"Let's get back there before Clay realizes I'm gone," Nick suggested as they headed towards the backstage area monitored by plainclothes guards. "We have to get you to the costuming guy. He's ready and waiting for you."
"You think Clay will be able to handle this?" Kate snickered.
"Oh yeah." Nick grinned wickedly. "The occasional surprise is good for him."
Giggling under her breath, Kate followed Nick back to where she would join
the female cast in preparing for the next skit. This is going to be a lot of
fun...
As soon as Kate entered the women's dressing room, the female wardrobe assistants descended upon her to help her prepare for her role. Kate would be costumed and made up for the skit, but not so much that Clay would still be able to recognize her.
Pulling off her gray wig from the western, Carol approached Kate. "Your husband's a sneak," she accused, but her eyes twinkled with amusement.
"Yeah," Kate agreed with a giggle.
Carol grinned. "Tim's a sneak, too. He told me about what he had in mind for this next skit so that I would be able to help out. I know exactly where you can take part in the skit."
Kate gave her a matching grin. "What do you have in mind?" As costuming continued to prepare Kate and Carol, the two women plotted for Kate's part in the upcoming sketch.
At last Carol and Kate considered themselves in a nearby mirror. "Oh yeah. I am definitely going to hear about this later from my darling hubby," Kate nodded with a mild grimace.
"That wouldn't surprise me." Carol handed Kate's camera to a nearby wardrobe assistant. "Meanwhile, just enjoy the ride." Wrapping their arms around each other and giving big smiles, they posed together for a couple of photographs for the Aiken scrapbook.
When Clay came out on stage the next time, he entered wearing a white spiky-haired wig and clothes a man in his eighties or nineties might wear, and using a cane. He hobbled out slowly, with Jerome behind him in similar old-age costuming. "Well," Clay began, allowing his voice to quiver as if age had finally caught up with him, "another day, another concert. Where are we at again?"
Jerome stood beside Clay. "
"Bacon?" asked Clay, cupping his ear with his hand. "I'd love some. I didn't get enough to eat at breakfast." The audience chuckled at the apparent misunderstanding. "But that's not what I asked. I asked where we're at."
"
Very slowly Clay nodded. "I'll say I'm in misery. I didn't get enough fixin's to eat this morning." The audience chuckled at the joke, another apparent misunderstanding by the 'hard of hearing' Clay. "But uh... we have a concert tonight in... in..." Once the audience's laughter settled, he nudged Jerome. "Where am I singin' tonight?"
"
At hearing a name Clay recognized, he nodded with satisfaction. "
Jerome slowly shook his head. "My name's not Jack."
"It isn't?" Clay asked. Jerome shook his head, and Clay overtly studied him for a few minutes as the audience guffawed with laughter. "What's your name again, son?" he asked at last.
"Uh..." Jerome's face clouded with confusion, and he pretended to think about it while the crowd laughed at the two of them seemingly unable to remember Jerome's name.
Clay patted his arm again. "It's okay if you forgot it too. We've got enough to remember without trying to remember our own names."
"Right, boss."
The two continued to slowly totter across the stage until an unseen female let out an ear-splitting shriek. They stopped. "What was that?" Clay asked.
Jerome shook his head. "If I was to guess, I'd say you've been spotted again, boss."
"Spotted?" Clay raised an eyebrow. "You know I prefer stripes. They're slimming."
"Recognized, boss," Jerome told him. "By your fans."
"Oh," Clay answered. "Makes me wish I could be invisible..." He beckoned to Jerome, and the bodyguard leaned closer. "You know, they could make that idea into a song. They do that, and I'll sing it." As the audience laughed, Clay gave Jerome a knowing nod.
Carol ran out from the wings screaming, "It's Clay Aiken! It's Clay Aiken!", with a small handful of other equally star-struck women following behind. Decked out in various Clay fan garb, Carol and the others bounced excitedly in front of him.
"It is?" Clay asked, glancing around in bewilderment. "Where?" He kept looking around for a moment before returning his attention to Carol. "I don't see him."
Using a hand to wipe imaginary drool off her chin, Carol continued to make doe eyes at Clay. "I can't believe it. You're Clay Aiken, you're really him."
"I am?" Clay turned to glance at Jerome, who gave him a nod. "Oh, that's right, I am."
Carol held up a magazine and a Sharpie. "Can... Can I get your autograph?"
After taking two or three seconds to give her a blank look, Clay nodded. "Yeah. Yeah. I can do that. I can do that..." He took the magazine and the prepared Sharpie from Carol. Pulling a pair of reading glasses out of his pocket, he slowly opened them up and put them on.
Giving an exaggerated sigh, Carol watched Clay with a dazed expression on her face. "He's wearing his glasses," she reported to the others.
"Glasses? I just may faint," moaned one of the Claymates.
Carol made a motion back towards the girls with her hand. "Don't you dare, Cindy, or we'll all faint."
Clay looked up at Carol. "What did you want me to do again?"
She indicated the cover of the magazine. "Just sign your name."
Giving a glance at Jerome, he gave him a stage whisper. "What's my name again?"
"Clay Aiken," Jerome answered.
"I'll say I'm achin'," Clay answered. "I'm achin' all over from getting old." Ignoring the laughter of the audience, Clay gripped the Sharpie and began lowering it to the magazine cover. Just as he went to sign it, Clay dropped the pen. Clay, Jerome, Carol, and all of the Claymates stared at it for a minute before anyone made any attempts to pick it up. Very gingerly Clay started to squat down for the pen, making it appear that his knees were in very poor condition.
Carol put out a hand. "I'll get it."
"Thank you," Clay told her as she retrieved the Sharpie and handed it to him. Very slowly he signed the magazine and handed both magazine and pen back to Carol.
"Thank you," Carol told Clay, rapidly batting her eyelashes at him.
Clay stared at her for a minute. "You have contact lenses? You look like you're having problems with your eyes or something." He shook his head as Carol gave him a bewildered look. "I used to have contact lenses. Or maybe I still have them. I don't remember any more..."
"Would you be willing to do us a favor?" Carol asked sweetly.
Favor? Clay's mind echoed. This wasn't in the script. "If I can," Clay said with great care, knowing that this request (whatever it was) could put him on the spot in a big hurry.
"There's one of the other Claymates with us today who's been through so much in her young life," Carol explained. "If you could say a few kind words to her, give her a hug and a little attention, it would make such a difference to her."
Clay nodded. Script or no script, he was still playing himself and had to stay true to what he knew about himself. "I'll do what I can," he promised.
Carol beckoned to someone offstage, and immediately a young woman with oversized glasses, pig-tails and penciled-on freckles bounced out of the wings wearing a homemade Clay shirt and other Claymate accessories. But nothing in the world could hide the fact that this woman appeared to be about nine months pregnant. She stopped immediately behind Carol, who quickly ushered her up for Clay to get a better look at her. "H-H-Hi, Clay," the young woman giggled as she shuffled her feet in a manner that said she was clearly besotted.
As soon as Jerome started choking on his laughter behind him, Clay knew something was up. But he didn't catch on to exactly what had happened until he looked into the familiar chameleon-colored eyes of his own wife. Kate??? Momentarily forgetting that he was supposed to be an old man, Clay hastily yanked off the reading glasses to get a better look at her costume. Oh my goodness... After taking a bit of needed time to recover, he gave her a quick retort. "Forgive me for lookin' at you funny, hon, but you're the spittin' image of my wife."
For the briefest of moments Kate's eyes turned impish, and Clay knew that she was relishing this little prank. "Aw, you're so sweet to be saying that..." she told him. As if she was still smitten Kate giggled at length, intentionally ending it with a couple of unladylike snorts.
Unfortunately that sent Clay into his own fit of laughter, and the audience
followed shortly behind. Kate my love... you will get it for this
later. I promise you that.
It took some fast, creative improvisation on Clay's part, but after posing for an on-stage photo (using Kate's real camera, he noticed) and sharing a hug with his own wife, Clay and the others finished up the skit to the appreciative applause of the studio audience.
Tim was waiting for them as they left the stage, his eyes twinkling with mischief. "You did a good job, Clay. I don't know if I would have handled acting opposite my own wife as smoothly as you did."
Clay shot a look at the funnyman. Knowing that he hadn't introduced Kate and Tim, it didn't take him long to figure out how Kate had gotten pulled into this. "I'll take that as a compliment." He raised an accusatory eyebrow. "You wouldn't have any idea how she got on stage, would you?"
"I saw her," Tim stated confidently. "She ran on."
"Right," Clay nodded, not fooled by Tim's innocent act. "Let's get ready for the finale number." With a nod of his own, Tim headed down the hall towards the men's dressing room.
"Guess I should get cleaned up," Kate began once they were in the hall between the two dressing rooms, "and get back to my seat."
"Oooohhh, no you don't, hon," Clay told her, wrapping his arms around her and placing a kiss on her cheek. "You crash the set, you pay the price."
Kate winced and eyed him. "Price?"
"You stick it out with me through the finale and curtain call," Clay told her, "so that I can show you off to everyone after you upstaged me."
"I did not upstage you," Kate pouted. "Just helped with a minor prank."
"You put me in an awfully tight spot with little room to maneuver, hon," Clay insisted. "You're not escaping from me that easily. You're coming out on stage with me to help me get out of the mess you made. And I'm not taking 'no' for an answer."
"Considering Tim just went to the dressing room," Kate reminded him with a purr, "I'm not going to be able to help you get ready for the finale."
Chuckling warmly, Clay placed his hands on the built-up pregnancy stomach. He still was oddly enough looking forward to seeing his wife like this... "We'll have more time to ourselves later. Meanwhile, I'm sure the wardrobe people can help you find something suitable for that curtain call." Pointing her towards the women's dressing room, he sent her on her way with an amiable swat to her backside, grinning at her when she raised a pair of suggestive eyebrows at him.
Clay quickly changed into a nice suit for the finale number, laughing under his breath at the various bits of mischief that had been played on the set that day. If the variety show did get picked up as a regular event, there would be no way they could keep this same pace up week after week. They could still have fun... but there wouldn't be nearly as many hi-jinks as there had been today.
Once he had changed, Clay went out to the stage where Carl and Carol were both ready for the finale, a medley of holiday tunes for the upcoming Christmas holiday. Since the pilot would be aired in December, a holiday medley seemed appropriate. Clay went on to make the introductions. "Once again, give a warm welcome to Carl Burke!"
Carl again sat center stage at the piano, singing a variety of straightforward and jazzed-up versions of Christmas carols one after the other. He went through several of the classics, until at last Carol joined him for a duet on the last piece, "Do You Hear What I Hear?" Since there were four verses to the song, it gave them each a solo verse and the opportunity to harmonize with each other on the third. Carl went into an instrumental bridge as Tim and Clay leading Kate by the hand entered the stage, joining the duo for the last verse. Tim was also clad in a nice suit, and wardrobe had found something suitable for Kate to wear for the finale as well. The group sang the last song as a team, splitting melody and harmony equally.
No sooner than they finished, the audience broke into thunderous applause for their efforts. Clay grinned broadly at them, acknowledging first Carl and Carol for performing the vast majority of the medley, before acknowledging Tim and his own wife before accepting any of the applause for himself. After all, he had sung that last verse, but he had sung so far from his regular strength and register that he didn't feel right accepting more than just the tiniest bit of recognition.
After another commercial break, Clay addressed the camera and audience one last time. "Thank you, everyone, for being a part of this variety show special. Thank you especially to my guests - surprise guest Tim Conway, musical guest Carl Burke, special guest Carol Burnett. And last but far from least, the love of my life, my wife Kathryn Aiken." Wrapping his arm behind her he placed a quick kiss on her temple before waving to the audience. "Good night."
When the audience stopped applauding and the cameras stopped rolling, Clay turned to the director. "Do we need more takes on anything, or were we lucky enough to get a wrap the first time around?"
"That's a wrap," the director confirmed.
Clay giggled once. "Don't tell me we got everything..."
"Everything," the cameraman told him, giving him a thumbs-up signal.
Everything? Clay wondered. That means we got Tim's entrance, the chicken, Kate's entrance... everything. "Thanks," he drawled, gracing his wife with an affectionate embrace.
Kate snuggled closer to her husband, laying her face on his shoulder with a smile.
"You, my dear wife," Clay whispered, "are not getting by with this so easily."
"Of course not," Kate agreed with a light sigh. "This is you we're talking about."
"That's right."
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
The Saturday morning after Thanksgiving
The Aiken kitchen was a whirlwind of excitement with no less than four women busy at work. As usual, Clay and Kate's life turned upside-down, and their original holiday plans were suddenly made worthless when Clay's management popped a surprise Christmas appearance on him. Rather than cancel the original sets of plans for only one family, Clay worked out an arrangement to have both families join them over Thanksgiving break and celebrate both holidays. Both sets of parents were here for Thanksgiving, but their military brothers couldn't make it until the weekend itself. They would get to spend that time with them, at least. With more people here now, Kate had broken tradition by serving ham on Thanksgiving and saving the turkey for today.
Kate and Sarah were preparing the meals jointly for everyone over the break, splitting as much of the workload as they could since both women were 'great with child'. Fortunately for them, neither the mothers nor Kate's sister-in-law Holly were willing to sit around and let them do it all. Patricia worked on the stuffing, Faye worked on the cranberry sauce, and Sarah put together the relish plate. Holly drained both the corn and the potatoes in turn, and grabbing the utensils for mashing the potatoes while Kate attended to the oven. Baked last night, her pumpkin pie perched on the counter to oversee the activity as the smells continued to fill the kitchen.
Clay hid a secret grin as he helped Kate slide the turkey out of the oven for her to check. Unbeknowst to her, when she had made a few solo preparations to the bird early this morning, he had set a prank of his own in motion. He hadn't forgotten the surprise she had pulled at the variety show filming, and he had put some thought and effort into how he was going to get her back. This one promised to be good. "Are we close to done, honey?"
"I hope so," Kate sighed. "I've never had to cook a whole turkey until this year." Nodding with approval, she indicated to Clay that it was done and ready to pull out. Using several thick oven mitts, Clay carried the roaster over to the counter where it could be carved. Kate smiled at the two moms, who were putting the finishing touches on the sides like the stuffing and the potatoes. "I'm glad that I got the opportunity while they were here to supervise."
"No one's born a good cook, Kate," Faye told her. "Like most things, it's a skill that needs to be learned."
Sarah shrugged. "Some just learn sooner than others."
"That's right."
Patricia sighed, glancing at the clock in the kitchen. "I thought your father would be back by now. He and Will just went to pick up a few things."
"Mom - this is Dad," Andrew answered from the doorway to the kitchen, where he could keep an eye on his kids playing in the living room. "He's probably taken the 'scenic route' again."
"Oh, yes," Kate echoed. "Dad and his scenic routes..."
"Scenic routes?" Faye asked, casting an uncertain glance at Clay.
Sarah smiled wryly. "I'll explain the reference to you later when he's here to defend himself."
Within minutes Arthur re-entered the house with Will in tow, a sack of last-minute items in his arms. "Think we have all of them, Momma," Arthur declared.
"Good," Patricia answered. "Put them over there for now, Art. We could use your help with cutting the bird."
"All right."
"We were starting to wonder if we needed to send out a rescue team," Kate quipped.
"Ha ha," Arthur retorted.
Faye turned to Sarah. "So tell us, Sarah. What did Andrew mean when he referred to Dad taking the scenic route?"
"Hold on there..."
Sarah snickered, glancing once at Arthur before beginning the tale. "As a rural family, the Kirches have a very good sense of direction. It's almost as if they have a map and compass in their head. They know where they want to go, and they go." She smirked. "Sometimes they take a few unplanned detours, but they eventually get there, usually by accident and without asking for directions."
Faye laughed. "This is a family trait?"
"Oh yeah." Sarah raised an eyebrow at Kate. "Trust me, the apple doesn't fall far from the tree."
"Hold on there..." Kate protested.
"Really?" Faye asked, amused at Kate's response.
Both Clay and Sarah nodded. "Like father, like daughter," Sarah
answered. "It took all of a few minutes with the map for Kate to have her
bearings in
"Hey," Kate frowned, "you had to admit we had a lot of fun, even though we didn't always plan for some of those side trips."
Sarah shook her head. "I never denied that."
"And we might have been a little behind, but we never did miss out on our original plans."
Heaving a sigh, Sarah shook her head again. "We cut it awfully close a time or two, but we always managed to get there in time."
Clay chuckled at the banter between the two friends. "I didn't find out about this 'family trait' until I was already married to her," he informed the others. "I had absolutely no warning whatsoever."
"Welcome to the family, bro," Andrew lightly cuffed him. "Now you get to find out all the dirt on Kate you didn't know before."
"Tell me about it," Clay drawled.
Giggling in anticipation, Sarah immediately smelled a story in the works. "So when did you find out, Clay, and what happened?"
"I found out on our trip to
"I did not get us lost!" Kate pouted.
"No, but I half expected one of those St. Bernard rescue dogs to show up at any minute..."
"Are you trying to tell me," Kate asked, placing her hands on her hips, "that you didn't appreciate sneaking up on that elk?"
"I was okay with the elk," Clay stated, "but next time we go on a hike in the woods, I'm going to insist that we take a ball of yarn, with one end tied to our starting point."
Kate scowled at him. "Why, you little..."
Faye laughed warmly at the stories. "It does run in the family, then. I'll have to remember that."
With a sour face Sarah placed her hand on the small of her back, and Will immediately hurried to her side. "You okay, Princess?" he fretted.
"Yeah," Sarah nodded. "My back's just a little sore though."
"Why don't you come over and take it easy a while?" Will suggested. "I can give you a back rub."
"Ooo, sold," Sarah purred. She turned to the others. "Now that I'm done with the relishes, I may go sit down with my hubby for a bit."
"Go ahead, Sarah," Patricia told her. "There's not that much left to be done before dinner anyway."
Andrew smirked at Sarah and Will from his post in the doorway. "Thanks, guys. That'll give my rugrats someone different to climb all over for a bit before dinner."
Sarah raised an eyebrow. "I think we can handle it."
Clay shook his head in amazement yet again at Sarah as the young married couple walked over to the couch. Kate's petite best friend was one month behind Kate in her own pregnancy, but was twice Kate's size since she was carrying twice as many. He suspected that it was only a matter of time until she would either be ordered to bed rest for the duration of her pregnancy... or induced into labor.
Kate gently smoothed her hand over Clay's back, interrupting his reverie. "Hey - what's on your mind, that your attention's so far away?"
Biting his lip for just a moment, he took a deep breath before beginning. "I think we should go ahead and adopt Emeline." Ignoring all the other reactions of surprise in the room, he kept his concentration on the stunned eyes of his wife. "I've given it both a lot of thought and a lot of prayer... and as long as you agree, I'm willing. I don't know why, but for some reason it feels right."
Heaving a long, drawn-out breath, Kate took his hands in hers. "Instant family, just add water."
Clay grinned as he looked deep into her eyes. It was a joke, he knew... but
it was also her way of saying that she wanted to add the Haitian girl to their
family. Kate had fallen in love with Emeline the moment they met her, and Clay
knew it even then. They would have to talk more later in private to make plans
as to how soon they could put together arrangements to adopt her. Between the
fact that Clay's management would go ballistic if he tried to travel to
Kate nodded. "They would have been a challenge anyway, it's just more so this way. Our prayer warriors are going to be working overtime for a while." She looked steadily into his eyes. "I hope you can forgive me for suggesting this, but I'm kind of glad that you've had a break from touring and appearances and such. We've had more time to spend together as a couple before we'll get the kids, and we'll have more time to adjust to their arrival."
Nodding thoughtfully, Clay couldn't help but see the truth to her words. There were advantages to his remaining close to home for now. For a moment he thought about saying something about how much he appreciated Kate's wisdom and perspective, but decided that with everyone around he would keep it simple for now. "I love you, Kate," Clay said, wrapping his arms around her.
Instantly Kate snuggled closer to Clay. "I love you too, Clay."
Faye and Patricia shared a smile of significance. "One more item to add to the prayer list..."
"What in the world..." Arthur muttered as he pulled open the turkey he had just cut in half. "Aaahh..." He scratched his head, looking down at what he saw.
Kate and the rest of the kitchen crew quickly gathered around Arthur to see for themselves. "What on earth?" Kate breathed, her eyes wide.
"Forevermore..." Patricia stared.
"It can't be," Holly echoed.
Clay hid a tiny smirk at the sight of the Cornish hen that he had earlier placed inside the cavity of the turkey. "Oh my goodness. We got a pregnant one."
No sooner were the words out of his mouth, everyone except for Kate burst out in helpless laughter. Kate, on the other hand, raised an eyebrow at her husband and gave him a withering glare. She wasn't really mad, but she wanted to make him sweat for a few minutes. "You would take advantage of my culinary ignorance, wouldn't you?"
Fearing that he really had made her mad, Clay's face fell. "I thought you'd find my little joke funny, darlin'. I'm sorry."
Unable to help it any more, Kate felt a slow smile spread across her face. "It is funny. I'll laugh more later, once I'm sure that the bird still turned out all right..."
Arthur shook his head as he returned to carving the turkey for dinner. "Looks fine to me. If it doesn't want to get eaten, it better get out of the road."
Clay and Kate both chuckled at Arthur's quick reply, and Kate relaxed a bit more as she leaned back in Clay's arms. "Do I want to know how early you got up to pull that one over on everyone?"
"Hey, hon, you're the one who crashed the set of my variety show," Clay defended. "Consider this payback for putting me on the spot."
"I wouldn't have done it if I wasn't so sure that you could handle yourself like a pro." Kate smirked at him. "And you did, with flying colors."
"And I promised that you weren't getting by with it so easy." An evil glint filled his eye. "That means revenge, hon, and I got you back by stuffing the Christmas turkey with something a little unexpected."
"A little unexpected indeed," Kate snorted. "Just for messing with my turkey, I think I'm going to give you a Christmas goose!"
"Aaauughh!" Clay squawked and hurried out of Kate's reach as she prepared to swat him on the backside. "Not in front of our parents!"
"Why should a little thing like that stop me?" Kate asked impishly as he stayed just out of arm's reach. "We're married."
Andrew guffawed as Kate finally cornered her husband. "Between the goose, the turkey, and the rubber chicken, I'd say you have the bird family well covered."
It was debatable who yelped louder - Clay when Kate's hand at last connected on its target, or Kate when he grabbed her hands and quickly maneuvered her into a firm embrace. Kate blushed, caught in the snare of Clay's enveloping arms. She leaned back in his arms and closed her eyes, a contented smile on her face. Assured that she was going to perform no more mischief for a while, Clay shook his head with a sigh. "There were so many in-jokes on that filming that it would boggle your mind if you knew them all..."
"I can imagine."
"There was the wanted poster," Clay recalled, "and the chicken, of course. Then the tune that Carl was playing as background music. Apparently he improvised on a piece that everyone would have recognized if he had played it straightforward."
"Really?" Patricia asked. "I thought it sounded familiar somehow, but I couldn't place it."
Clay nodded. "He said it was a familiar song, but he never did tell us what he was playing. I think he wanted to keep it as his own private joke. And then there were those six-shooters..."
"What about the six-shooters?" Andrew asked.
Clay grinned. "They were fake, every one. Our prop guy didn't want to take any chances of even a child's toy going off by mistake on the set, so he made them out of wood."
"You're kidding," Faye answered.
He shook his head. "They were solid wood, even the barrels were solid. Those guns couldn't have fired as much as a spit wad. Like I said, our prop man was very safety conscious." Clay grinned wryly. "And those playing cards were a gimmick too. There wasn't a face card in the entire deck..."
"That wouldn't be much of a game, now would it?" Arthur asked.
"Takes the art of bluffing to a whole new level..." Kate drawled.
"Considering our card games weren't the point of the skit, we didn't have to worry about it." Clay made a face. "Good thing, because there were better hands on that rubber chicken."
Kate finally burst into laughter along with the others, amused by the memory of the falling fowl. "So that's where they get chicken fingers from," she gasped.
Sarah wiped the tears from her eyes as she continued to giggle. "Oooh, if I laugh any harder, I might deliver even now."
Will's eyes grew huge. "Now??"
She playfully slapped his leg. "I'm not serious, ya big oaf."
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
The first week of December in the Aiken household
Clay walked over to hit the buzzer for the door. "Yes?"
"We're here, Clay," Kim's voice filtered through the speaker. "Let us in."
"Or I'll huff, and I'll puff..." Sarah added.
Laughing warmly, Clay shook his head. "No need for that! Let yourselves in, guys. You know the code."
"Sam's out here," Kim informed. "Better buzz us in."
"Ah," Clay answered, now understanding why the polite request instead of manually punching in the security code. Immediately he keyed them in. "There you are."
"Thanks, hon."
Still chuckling, Clay turned to his wife. Kate was standing there shaking her head, an amused expression playing with the corners of her mouth. "That's Sarah..."
"Life's definitely never dull with her around."
Kate raised an eyebrow at him. "Yeah, if you ever ceased to be quirky and entertaining, I'd still have Sarah and Sally."
"Quirky and entertaining, hunh?" As Kate nodded, Clay lifted his chin in mock defiance. "Takes one to know one."
"Yeah, yeah..." She rolled her eyes and smiled. "I'll let you man the door while I set out some refreshments for everyone."
Clay smirked as she entered the kitchen. The word 'quirky' was an apt description of their own relationship. Both of them teased each other a lot - one of the ways they showed their love for the other person. You don't tease someone you don't care about, Clay mused.
A firm knock sounded at their front door, and Clay admitted Kim with her arms full of periodicals and Sarah carrying both of their purses. "I think we found all of them that we could," Kim told him as she went to place the stack on their dining room table.
"Bring them in here, Kim," Kate called out. "I set up in here because it's more homey."
Kim obliged, laying the stack of periodicals on the table. "I don't think there's a room in your house that's not homey, Kate."
"Storage room," Kate said bluntly.
"All right," Kim shrugged. "One room."
"It's a European tradition to host your family and friends in the kitchen," Sarah answered. "To be welcomed into the kitchen is to be part of the inner circle. It's a compliment."
With a smile and a nod Kim agreed. "It is."
Kate shrugged. "I've seen a lot of people do it stateside too, and it is a compliment." She indicated the beverages she had prepared for everyone and a mixed plate of cookies.
"Ooo, you know my weakness," Kim purred as she reached for one of her favorites.
"Go for the jugular, why don't you?" Sarah teased as she grabbed an Oreo and a macadamia nut cookie.
Clay pouted. "Chocolate and nuts. You sure know how to tempt a guy."
"That's why half or better of them don't have either one," Kate retorted, smacking his hand as it reached for a forbidden delectable. "No chocolate."
"Augh!" Clay cried out melodramatically, cradling his hand to his chest. "I'm wounded! I'm mortally wounded!"
"You can't be serious," Sarah muttered.
"Everything's growing dark," he whimpered.
Kate sighed and rolled her eyes. By now she was starting to get used to his impish theatrics.
"Clay, if you think that's going to get you a chocolate cookie," Kim began, "then you are mistaken."
"Just one?"
Kate scowled at him. "And you wonder why I usually don't keep any of this in the house..."
"Please?"
"Clay, I have plenty of other ones there. Shortbread, peanut butter, snickerdoodles, oatmeal with or without raisins..."
With a deep sigh, Clay gave her pleading eyes. "You know I love chocolate."
"I know you can't eat it."
"Shouldn't, hon," Clay retorted. "There's a difference."
"Yeah, shouldn't is right," Kate growled. "Shouldn't at all, if you like breathing."
"I'll gladly take an EpiPen, if it means I can have some chocolate," Clay offered.
"No. An ounce of preventive is worth a pound of cure."
"Just one, please honey?" Once again Clay reached for a chocolate cookie. As soon as Kate's hand started to reach out, Clay yanked his back. "No way. You are not smacking my hand again."
"Tell you what. If you give up on the idea of having chocolate, I'll kiss it and make it better..." Kate suggested as she took his hand.
"Can I have both?" Clay asked, waggling his eyebrows.
With a grumble, Kate rolled her eyes again. "I should nickname you the cookie monster..."
Frowning at Kate's stubbornness, Clay persisted in his own attempts. "You're the one who told Sarah that chocolate is cheap Prozac..."
Kate smiled sweetly at him. "You don't need the chocolate for that, hon," she told him. "That's what you have me for."
"Yeah, but people don't get embarrassed if I have a taste of chocolate in public."
Noticing Kate's cheeks turn a delicate shade of pink, Kim held up her hands. "That was an image I really didn't need to have in my head."
Sarah agreed. "I'm staying out of this one."
"Let's just get started," Kim suggested as she grabbed the top magazine off the stack of periodicals in between everyone on the table. The variety show was coming out this week, and both Kim and Sarah had been collecting the reviews to get a rough idea of how well it would be received. Immediately everyone else grabbed from the pile one at a time to search for the review in question. Every now and then one of them would read part or all of a review. The thing that pleased them was that most of the reviews seemed to rave about the upcoming show.
Kate snorted and raised an eyebrow at the review she scanned in her magazine. "Ah, we've got another one who obviously isn't a fan..."
Kim turned a curious eye to Kate. "How bad is this one? Do we want to hear it or just take your word for it?"
Nodding slowly, Kate sighed. "Just take my word for it. This one's kind of mean."
"Some of these you wonder if they even watch the show or listen to his music, as mean as they are to him." Kim rolled her eyes.
"No kidding."
"It's jealousy, pure and simple," Sarah told them. "They're jealous of Clay's faith, morals, and success. This is how they express it."
Clay blushed. "Thank you. All of you."
"I've got another one," Sarah declared. She began to read. "Just in time for the holiday season is Clay Aiken's newest entertainment offering, a variety show pilot being billed as a special. Non-Christians will be pleased to hear that the only per-se Christmas part of the show is a medley of holiday tunes as performed by industry newcomer Carl Burke and veteran Carol Burnett. The rest of the show is wholesome fare to be appreciated by all ages. Two well-written and well-performed skits involve Aiken, Burnett, Burke, and surprise cameos by Tim Conway and Aiken's wife Kathryn. You don't have to be a Claymate to appreciate the humor, but doubtless his faithful followers will find added bonus in-jokes. Carl Burke performs his latest to round out the show. Overall I must admit that it's one of the best variety specials put together since Burnett herself closed up shop. Only one thing I found fault with: the notable lack of singing by Aiken. After all, he did get his start by being a singer. One understands that he is under doctor's orders to rest, but his golden voice cannot help but be missed. Other than that, the show is a flawless performance. Wonder what he'll do for an encore."
Seeing the mournful expression in Clay's eyes, Kim immediately jumped in. "That's another good review. Ready for the next one?"
Clay shook his head. "You guys can read more if you want, but I've had enough."
"Clay, you can't please everyone," Kim insisted. "Give it time, and I'm sure we'll find another one in here who hated it and tries yet again to say your fifteen minutes of fame are up."
"Maybe they are."
Kate shot a look at her husband. "You don't know that."
"Kate," Clay frowned, "keep in mind it wasn't my idea to get into this business in the first place. I wanted and planned to be a teacher, honey, a teacher! Like you were, before you married me! Instead a friend talks me into auditioning, and my life has been all one big runaway train after that." He hung his head, hoping to hide the tears from everyone before they started. "Now I have no private life, and I can't sing any more. I can't sing..."
Kate heard Clay's voice wavering with emotion, and scooted over to where she could embrace him. "Clay... your worth as a person doesn't depend on your singing."
"Some of the fans seem to think so."
"They're wrong," Kate grumbled. "Singing is just what you do. It's not what you are."
"Tell that to them," he sniffled.
Oh, Clayton... Kate sighed as she held him close. She didn't know what she could tell him, what she could do for him, to restore his confidence. Kate was convinced that Clay's voice had healed... but Clay was the one who needed to be convinced. He was the one who needed to believe that he could. And there was only One who could heal his wounded psyche before he would sing again.
Kim's brow furrowed as she studied her friend. "How long has he been like this?"
"Too long," Kate answered. "As soon as his voice went, so did his confidence."
A deep breath hissed through Kim's teeth. "Not good..."
Sarah shook her head. "Sally's been like that for years. She hides it really well because she found her calling elsewhere... but get her thinking about her singing again, and it shows."
"Fortunately he doesn't have that many bad days like this," Kate informed Kim. "I'm thankful they're few and far in between... but I'd rather have them go away."
Kim watched Clay as Kate attended to him in his heartbreak. Before he had been 'discovered', Clay had found his joy outside of singing, in his faith and his service towards people. It appeared to her that all he needed was a refresher course in that lesson. Kim vowed to add that very thing to her prayer list.
"That's all I've ever been known as," Clay moaned, reaching up to smear the tears from his cheek. "A nerd, or else a nerd who can sing. That's all I've ever been."
Threading her fingers through his hair, Kate placed a gentle kiss on his
forehead. "You're a man, Clay, an everyday man with a beautiful heart
after God's own. And God works through you because you trust in Him to work
through you. Your work with MDA, McDonald's charities, education, UNICEF, BAF,
our mission trip to
"I only got those opportunities because of my singing."
"Your singing opened the door, yes," Kate admitted. "But you wouldn't have had to take them. How many celebrities make it big and never give back? You recognize where it comes from and choose to give back to the One who gave it to you in the first place."
"Clay, you're always said your life is about service, not celebrity," Sarah told him. "No loss of your voice can prevent you from doing that."
"True," Clay answered. "If worse comes to worse, we could always do the career missionary thing like your friend John Callahan."
"Ooo." Kate perked up. "That actually appeals to me."
With a smile, Clay went on. "And if we'd get really lucky, we'd find a place that didn't know who in the world I was. I'd have privacy again..."
"We'd make a difference," Kate mused, "and have our lives back. Now there's a thought..."
"Oh, give me a break," Sarah muttered.
"What?"
Kim heaved a deep breath. "Everyone would love that, if you two became long-term missionaries and left the country."
"Too bad," Kate retorted. "It's our life, not theirs."
Clay smiled at her, reaching up to touch her cheek. "Thank you, honey." He leaned forward to place a light kiss on her lips.
After receiving Clay's affection, Kate sighed again as she gazed into her husband's eyes and stroked the surface of his face and hair. "Only God knows what's in our future, guys. And until He sees fit to tell us, we're just having fun imagining."
"That's a relief."
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Christmas Day evening, in the Aiken's hotel room
Clay smiled as he watched Kate sleep on his shoulder. With their Christmas Day appearance over, they had returned to their hotel to have some quiet down time and to give Will and Sarah the same opportunity. The two of them had peacefully reclined on their bed to talk and listen to Christmas music. Eventually Kate drifted off, leaving Clay to listen to the music in thoughtful silence. It never ceased to confuse him that radio stations started Christmas music as soon as mid-October, and that many didn't play it any more starting Christmas Day. As Kate had informed him, those proverbial "twelve days of Christmas" were the ones that went from Christmas to Epiphany on January 6 - technically they could play Christmas muusic until the first week of January.
He continued to study Kate as she slept, pondering this time of year and its fond memories. A year ago last night he had proposed to Kate in front of her entire family, and a year ago on New Year's Eve they married. That year had passed quickly... but there wasn't anyone in this world he would rather spend the years with than Kate. And the children that they would soon be adding to their family... their son Joseph and their daughter Emeline.
It seemed odd to spend Christmas in a hotel in a strange city, but Clay recalled that they had celebrated their family Christmas exactly one month ago on the Saturday following Thanksgiving. Both sets of parents had been there, and each had a brother join them for the festivities as well. He chuckled as he recalled a few of the events from that day...
"Hey there, sunshine!" Clay greeted as he swung his niece
Alyssa, daughter of Kate's older brother Andrew, around in circles.
The five-year-old squealed with delight as she clung to Clay. "Don't
drop me, Unca Clay!"
"I wouldn't dream of it, honey." He placed Alyssa back on the
ground and pointed her to the kitchen. "Aunt Kate's in there. Go say
hello."
Alyssa obligingly bounced over to Kate, halting in her tracks as she took
a good look. "Auntie Kate, why is your tummy so big?"
Kate blushed lightly and placed her hand on her abdomen as she stole a
sheepish glance at her amused husband. "Because there's a baby in
there," she told her. "In two months you and Alex are going to have a
brand-new cousin."
"Oh." Alyssa didn't hesitate again, giving Kate a warm hug and
kiss on the cheek.
"Do I get one too?" Sarah asked.
Alyssa's eyes grew large at the sight of Sarah, who appeared even more
pregnant. "Auntie Sarah, do you have a baby in your tummy too?"
"I have two babies in my tummy, sweetheart," Sarah told
her as the girl collected a hug.
"What about Grandma?"
Patricia chuckled as she hugged Alyssa next. "Grandma doesn't have any
babies in her tummy. She just has a little more tummy than your skinny
mommy."
"Oh."
Clay giggled at Alyssa's inquisitive questions. Kids really did say the
darndest things.
"I want to be a mommy when I grow up," Alyssa announced.
"You do?" Holly asked, smiling at her daughter as she quickly
joined in helping with the noon meal preparations for the large family.
"Yeah." Alyssa went on. "I'm going to be a kid forever and
then I'm going to grow up and become a mommy."
"If you're going to be a kid forever," Faye asked, "then
when are you going to grow up?"
"When I'm twenty," Alyssa answered. "That's when you get
old."
Considering every adult in the room was at least twenty, they all
exchanged amused glances. "Honey, your daddy's more than twenty. He's
about thirty. If twenty's old, what does that make him?"
"Really old," Alyssa replied.
As the others laughed, Andrew held his hand to his heart. "Ow,
munchkin. You really know how to hurt a guy."
"And at forty," Alyssa volunteered, "you become a grandma
or grandpa. That's when you're really really old."
Clay bit back his laughter. Although it was certainly possible to be a
grandparent at forty, he didn't have the heart to inform Alyssa that Arthur,
Patricia, and Faye were significantly past forty.
Arthur patted Andrew's shoulder. "She's your daughter."
"I know," Andrew acknowledged. "Speaks what's on her mind,
just like her father..."
"You said it, brother dear," Kate giggled, "we
didn't."
Andrew frowned at his sister. "Next time rub it in a little more. I
didn't feel it enough."
"That can be arranged."
Of course Alyssa continued to utter those "kids say the darndest things" comments throughout the rest of the weekend, to nearly everyone's amusement. The thing Clay found especially funny about them was her complete openness, innocence, and sincerity with what she said. Her brother Alex had also just started to talk... Clay had a feeling that he was definitely going to grow up to be blunt like his father!
He also remembered a second innocent conversation with Alyssa...
"When are you going to have the baby?"
Clay and Kate both looked up at Alyssa standing beside them with curious
eyes. Kate pulled Alyssa up into her shrinking lap as Clay kept his arm around
Kate. "He'll probably arrive the middle of February sometime," Kate
told her. "That's when the doctor is guessing he'll come."
"Is it going to be a girl or a boy?"
This time Clay answered her question. "A boy. You're going to have a
boy cousin."
"How do you know?" Alyssa asked.
Kate chuckled. "You're full of questions today, aren't you? Well...
there's a special way the doctor has of finding these things out, honey.
Sometimes the parents want to know, sometimes they don't. Sometimes they would
rather wait and find out when the baby is born, since their parents and
grandparents didn't have those same ways of finding out. It's something called
tradition."
Alyssa scrunched her nose up thoughtfully for a moment. "Are you
ever planning on having a girl cousin? I want a girl cousin to play with, and
one night I dreamed I had one."
Instantly Clay and Kate exchanged a telling look. "What did she look
like?"
"She was smaller," Alyssa began, "but she was a little
older. She talked funny. And she had black hair and really dark skin. But she
was really nice, and we liked each other a lot."
The couple met glances again, knowing that Alyssa had somehow dreamed
about Emeline. "She's a Kirche, all right," Kate stated.
Clay heaved a deep sigh. "She's starting this awfully young..."
"Tell me about it," Kate muttered. "If it follows the
family pattern, she'll grow up like this but won't figure it out until she's a
lot older."
"Mmm..."
Alyssa blinked at the two of them blankly, not having any idea what the
adults were talking about. "Did I do something bad?"
"No," Kate said quickly, giving her niece a hug. "No, you
didn't. We're talking about a family trait your daddy passed on to you. It's
something you'll understand when you're older."
"You asked if you were getting a girl cousin," Clay began.
"And the answer is yes. Do you know what it means to adopt someone?"
When Alyssa shook her head, Clay explained. "Sometimes little girls and
boys have something happen to their parents, and their parents can't take care
of them any more. The parents might die, or something else might happen. But
those girls and boys are put on a list of people that can be adopted, which
means another family can make that person part of their own family even though
that person wasn't part of the family before. It's all done by adults signing a
lot of very important papers, but when those papers are signed, those kids are
part of the family."
"Are you dop-ping someone?" Alyssa asked in a hushed voice.
"Yes," Kate answered. "Sometimes adoptions take a while,
so we don't know how long it will take. But we met a little girl named Emeline
down in
"So when the leaders of
"I don't want to hate her," Alyssa pouted. "I want to like
her."
Clay giggled. "That's the name of the country where she comes
from," he told her, "and it's not spelled the same way, and it means
something different."
Alyssa thought for a moment. "So when will I get my girl
cousin?"
"We don't know," Kate sighed gently. "We hope it will be
soon... but we don't know."
With a smile Clay recalled that conversation with their niece. They had known it would be a matter of time before they had to explain adoption to Alyssa... but putting an adult concept such as adoption into language that a five-year-old would understand was a challenge. Clay was relieved that she seemed to grasp what they said. Her questions indicated that she seemed to, anyway.
Clay had been thankful that Kate was in charge of gift purchasing for the
two of them. Left up to him, it would have been a last-minute rush to buy
things for everyone on their list. Left up to Kate, she had been slowly
squirreling gifts for family and friends away since summer. In fact their trip
to
"Because you've been so naughty lately, Kathryn, I gave you a lump
of coal for Christmas."
Kate raised an eyebrow at Clay as she fingered the brightly-wrapped
package he handed her. "There's a punch line to that..." she mused
thoughtfully.
"Open it and find out," Clay challenged.
She obliged, pulling out of the cardboard box an odd-looking tiny black
jeweler's box... shaped like a lump of coal. "Ha ha, very funny,
Aiken."
Clay giggled. "I couldn't resist."
"Uh-hunh." Slowly Kate opened the lid of the box, her eyes
widening when she saw the earrings. "Clay... how did you...?"
"I heard the story later from Carol how you searched two or three
times through all your things and over the area you had last seen it." He
shrugged offhandedly. "Since it seemed important to you, I wanted to
replace them."
Kate winced. "Clay, they were Wal-Mart specials, no sentimental
value attached. The only reason I kept looking was that it's so hard to find
earrings that suit my style. It's a matter of finding a pair that's not too outlandish
or anything like that."
"Well, now you have a pair to replace them." Clay shrugged.
"I tried not to go all-out like I did last year since you don't go for
that, but..."
"That's fine with me," Kate told him, pulling him into a warm
embrace. "I appreciate the thought that went into it, and I consider
myself blessed just to be with you."
"And you're my blessing," Clay told her, lifting her face up to
his for a tender kiss.
"Awww..." Andrew cooed from his seat near his own wife.
"Ain't they cute?"
"Sickening, isn't it?" Brett asked.
"Your turn's coming, bro."
Brett made a face. "I'm not ready yet. I'm having too much fun in
the Marines."
Andrew nodded. "You see I've really left the service..."
"Fly-boy."
"Grunt."
"No way, dude!" Brett protested. "Grunts are Army!"
"Well, la-dee-da..."
As the two brothers continued to exchange play insults, Clay and Kate pulled apart with twin snickers. It was surprising how much the two brothers had in common... almost as much as the two of them had in common.
With a yawn Clay glanced at his watch. Ooo - is it that late already? Fortunately the couple had already removed their contact lenses, so Clay had not felt the need to wake Kate when she dozed off on his shoulder. Careful not to jostle her, Clay grabbed the nearby remote and pushed the buttons to turn off the gas for the fireplace in their room. The fireplace had been a luxury, yes, but it was Christmas and Clay was waxing nostalgic to share these sorts of things with Kate. Replacing the remote on the bedside table, Clay reached up to turn off the lamp before snuggling closer to his wife for a good night's sleep.
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