Chapter 3

"Keith? What's wrong?" Dina asked as she pulled the sheet around her and finally turned to watch Danny's hasty exit out the door.

"Nothing. Really." Keith grabbed his jeans off the floor and slid them on. He stood up and glanced around the room for his T-shirt.

"Really?" Dina sat up and watched him hunt around the room. "What are you looking for?"

"My T-shirt. Have you seen it?" Keith asked as he continued to search.

"Not since I borrowed it to make a trip to the bathroom. Why not just grab a clean one?" Dina admitted that she'd used the shirt for a personal trip, but she'd also taken a side trip and made Gordy and Skizzy bring the party to a close. Keith was exhausted both from his tour and the activities they'd just completed before she'd gone in search of his roommates. The party noises hadn't woken Keith, but she could tell that he could hear some of the louder noises that had been made. As she'd watched the partiers file out of the front door from Keith's window, she'd made one last trip into the hallway and taken the phone off the hook. Keith was going to get some much needed sleep no matter what. She had definite plans for the next night that would require him to be well rested.

"Because I haven't had time to do laundry since I've been back. So where is it?" Keith was asking where she'd put it when she was done with it. It was quite obvious that she wasn't currently wearing it.

"You take all your clothes on tour with you?" Dina frowned as she tried to remember what she'd done with it. She'd been more concerned about rejoining him in bed than what she'd done with her borrowed apparel. "I don't remember where I tossed it."

"No, I don't take them all with me. I'm just not the best housekeeper to begin with and when I left, everything I left behind was already dirty." Keith ran his fingers through his hair which reminded him that he should probably find a comb before she got here too.

"Dina, my mother is coming over. I thought it might be nice to be wearing clothes when she got here."

"I can do some laundry for you later." Dina offered. "But, I kind of like you this way better. Well, maybe you're a little over dressed actually."

Dina crawled to the edge of the bed letting the sheet drop. She pulled him toward her by the still parted ends of his unfastened jeans.

"Dina." Keith said without conviction. Once the sheet had dropped, he was able to see all the reasons why she still held his attention after they'd dated on and off for about a year. Of course, if he was honest with himself, the relationship was kept new by the fact that they saw each other so rarely. He was always on the road or down in L.A. recording. They could go months without seeing each other.

"Yes, Keith?" Dina said while pushing her hands inside his jeans and moving them around to the back in hopes of both dislodging them and pulling Keith toward her. The jeans stayed up, but Keith was now within kissing distance so she wasted no time doing just that.

Keith's hands came up to cup her face and she thought at first he was going to push her away, but he didn't. He pulled her closer and deepened the kiss.

That lasted until he heard the front doorbell ring. His guilt made him jump away from Dina as if burned. The motion also dislodged his jeans causing them to fall around his ankles. In his haste to get away from Dina, he would have fallen backwards due to his effectively cuffed ankles if Dina hadn't had such a firm grip on his backside.

She pulled him hard toward her and they ended up sprawled across the bed instead.

"Now, that's better. You're once again right where you belong; naked and in bed with me." That last was said by Dina when Keith's eyes had flown to hers in surprise.

xoxo

"Danny, what are you doing here?" Shirley was surprised when her middle son opened the door at Keith's house.

"I, um, had Punky drive me over after school." Danny said vaguely.

"What couldn't wait until Keith came over tomorrow?" Shirley frowned her suspicion.

"Oh, well, it's just that I'm having problems with…" Danny let the sentence trail off. He was trying to come up with a believable lie that Shirley wouldn't question.

"Actually Mrs. P., Danny is over here asking Keith how to get Gloria back." Punky spoke up from his perch on the couch.

"Right." Danny threw an evil glare at his best friend who had given a plausible excuse but had used the name of a girl he'd been forbidden to speak. Danny had been 'mad' for Gloria Hickey since he was eleven. He'd only recently talked himself into believing that he didn't really like her at all. He was still going with that fib in order to retain his sanity while Gloria played the field.

"Oh, how sweet. Is he around?" Shirley kissed Danny on the cheek as he turned back to face her.

"He should be joining us shortly." Danny glanced toward the kitchen to see Angie coming out.

"Hi, you must be Mrs. Partridge." Angie said as she walked up. "Would you like a cup of coffee while you wait?"

"Yes, I am." Shirley looked at the pretty girl who walked into the room with a man's t-shirt on over old cutoff jeans. "Who are you?"

"Oh, I'm sorry; I forgot we've never met. Keith talks about you all the time. So do Gordy and Skizzy. I'm Angie." Angie smiled and offered coffee again.

"Yes, coffee sounds good." Shirley watched the girl walk out of the room before turning to Danny. "Who is she?"

"Angie?" Danny watched his mother nod. "She's Gordy's girlfriend. We're all sure they're going to end up getting married soon, but so far no ring."

"Oh." Shirley was slightly relieved to realize the girl was Gordy's live in girlfriend and not Keith's. "She's very nice."

"Yeah and can she ever cook!" Danny said almost rhapsodically.

"Here you go." Angie said as she walked in with a mug of steaming hot coffee. "I'll just go and see what's keeping Keith."

Angie looked around the room and was very glad that she'd been woken up early by Gordy's snoring. If not, Keith's mom would have seen a place absolutely trashed by a party the night before. As it was, she'd cleaned up the living room and kitchen just moments before Danny had showed up at their door frantic to talk to Keith.

xoxo

They broke off their kiss and froze. Someone had knocked just a second ago and they were afraid that the door was going to fly open. They both knew it was still unlocked. If someone did walk in, they were going to get an eyeful.

"Keith?" They heard Angie say through the door.

Keith let out the breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding. "Yeah, Ange."

"Your mom is waiting for you downstairs. You might want to hurry. I'm not sure how long I can hold her off." Angie said and headed back toward the kitchen. She knew her boys would all be ravenous when they woke up and she planned to have some hearty fare ready to treat their likely hangovers.

Keith rolled off of Dina and grabbing his pants from around his ankles pulling them back up. Dina smiled at the problem he was going to have fastening them.

"This is not a laughing matter." Keith said seriously but then couldn't help the answering smile.

"It sort of is." Dina giggled.

"Just stay here until I come back. I have no desire to answer a million questions about what you're doing here, ok?" Keith said as he gave one last shot at finding his t-shirt.

"Fine, but only if you promise to come back as soon as possible." Dina winked at him as he walked out of the room.

"Hold that thought." Keith said and closed the door firmly behind him. He grinned when he heard Dina's 'don't I always' follow him into the hallway. He knew that she'd be rarin' to go when he got back. He could think of worse ways to spend his afternoon.

He made a quick stop in the bathroom and then headed downstairs.

xoxo

Shirley watched her son walk into the room in just a pair of jeans. He looked too thin, but absolutely wonderful to her.

"Oh, honey." Was all she got out before she wrapped him in a tight hug.

"Hi Mom." Keith hugged her back and glanced at Danny to make sure he hadn't missed anything.

Danny just shook his head and gave him a dirty grin.

"How could you?" Shirley pulled back and took his face between her hands.

"Well, we got in really late, so I just came home to get some sleep." Keith assumed she was talking about coming home and not telling her.

"Not that, though we do need to talk about why you didn't call. I'm talking about the letter from the bank." Shirley gave him another hug.

"You weren't supposed to find out." Keith now knew exactly what she was talking about. "It was supposed to be a surprise."

"It was. A wonderful, fantastic surprise." Shirley smiled a watery smile.

"I wanted to be there to see your face." Keith was totally disappointed and had every intention of calling Reuben at his first opportunity to find out what had gone wrong.

"Laurie can tell you all about it. She was there when Mom found out." Danny piped in.

"So, now that you're home, can you come over tonight already? Your birthday cake isn't made yet, but we could have dinner. You need to eat more. You always lose weight when you're on tour." Shirley started immediately worrying about him.

"I'm fine, Mom. Just really tired." Keith admitted. "Can I just come tomorrow like we planned?"

"I suppose I could wait that long, if you're sure." Shirley frowned when she noticed the dark rings under his eyes. He really did look tired.

"I'm sure." Keith smiled weakly. "I just need more sleep before having to answer all the questions from Chris and Tracy."

"Alright honey. You go straight back to bed." Shirley admonished as she pulled him into another hug.

"Oh he will." Danny snickered quietly and received a glare from his brother over their mother's shoulder.

"Did you say something Danny?" Shirley asked, not having heard him clearly.

"Nope. Nothing." Danny quickly backpedaled.

"I'll see you Saturday morning, alright?" Keith said as he pulled back.

"Come early if you can." Shirley kissed him on the cheek and pulling back could feel the tears in her eyes once again. "And thank you again for the surprise. It was a wonderful surprise even if you didn't get to give it to me personally."

"I'm just glad I could help. And, by the way, when Danny finally does get his license, make him buy his own car. He can afford it." Keith paid Danny back for his crack about going back to bed.

"Hey, at least it'll be a whole lot better than that heap you bought as your first car. What was it a Model T?" Danny couldn't stop himself from taking the dig.

"It was an old Hudson and you know it." Keith shot back quickly as he remembered his first pride and joy.

"Hey, maybe you'd like to sell me your 'Vette for cheap? You're barely home to drive it anyway." Danny asked hopefully.

"In your dreams." Keith shook his head at him.

"It's just like old times." Shirley smiled in pleasure at seeing her boys teasing each other. She turned to Keith and said, "It's so good to have you back home."

"It's good to be here." Keith could easily agree to that.

xoxo

Keith had gone back to his room to find Dina sleeping soundly. He should be the one doing that considering he was coming off a month of concerts every night, with interviews, meet and greets and personal appearances that took up almost all his waking moments.

She moaned softly and reached for him. He smiled at how quickly they could get used to sleeping together. He slid off his jeans and crawled into bed beside her. This time when she reached out, she sighed and smiled.

Cute as she was asleep, he decided he liked her better awake, so he went about making sure she was.

xoxo

Keith pulled up in front of his mom's house and just sat there for a minute taking it all in. The quiet street with kids playing, the white picket fence, the station wagon in the driveway – it brought back such great memories. He paused a moment to realize that he was being overly nostalgic. He hadn't been gone all that long.

It felt good knowing that he'd saved this house for his mom and his three youngest siblings. Oh, he knew his mother could have pulled herself out of her problems and would have too, simply by getting a job. She'd held a normal one before they'd become a singing group. It was just nice knowing that she could stay home and be there for Danny, Chris and Tracy like she had been for most of his and Laurie's lives too.

He got out and grabbed the bag of gifts he'd thrown on the seat next to him. They were gifts for his family that he'd picked up while he'd been touring. Oh, who was he kidding – they were gifts picked up by Reuben for him to give to his family. He'd never have had the time to pick anything up or the freedom of movement to do so.

It was his and Reuben's secret, though he figured that his mother might just know the truth. She always gave Reuben an extra big smile after she'd bestowed one on Keith.

He walked up the front sidewalk and was just about to open the front door when it flew open and he was attacked by Chris and Tracy with loud shouts of 'Keith' echoing in his ears. He was sure they were louder than his back up band.

"Hey guys, how ya doin'?" Keith said as he pushed them back to see how much they'd grown. "Look at you; you must both be at least an inch taller since I saw you last month."

"I'm two inches taller." Chris said proudly as he picked up the bag Keith had dropped in order to catch his flying siblings. "What's in here?"

"What do you think?" Keith teased.

"Stuff for us?" Chris's eyes got big in excitement.

"Yep, let's get inside so I can give each of you your gifts." Keith said as he let Tracy pull him inside.

"Oh, Keith, you're here." Shirley said as she came out of the kitchen. She walked up and hugged him pulling back to take a good look at him. "You don't look all that much more rested than yesterday."

"That's cause he's not." Danny said quietly from the bottom step of the stairs where he stood next to Laurie. "He definitely was not catching up on his sleep."

Laurie elbowed him into silence and took her mother's place as soon as she stepped back. "It's good to see you. How was the tour?"

"Long." Keith laughed as he hugged his sister tight. "How's school?"

"Long." Laurie laughed back. "I still can't believe I've signed myself up for not only 4 years of college, but law school afterwards."

"We always knew you were the crazy one." Danny quipped from the steps. "You'd have to be to sign up for that much schooling."

"Ignore him. He hasn't changed a bit since you've been gone." Laurie said as she pulled Keith further into the house.

"Sure I have." Danny defended himself.

"You're right. You have changed. You've gained some weight, haven't you?" Keith joked.

"And you've lost some. So what else is new?" Danny said with resignation.

"Put that down and tell us all about this latest tour." Shirley said as she guided them all toward the living room.

"Are you kidding? These are your presents. I'll tell you all about the places I bought them." Keith knew he'd need to keep his stories about his tour rated for the general public, so he'd always have Reuben tell him about where he bought the gifts and something about the city they represented. He couldn't go out and buy them himself, but that didn't mean he didn't put thought and feeling into each one of them.

xoxo

Just as Keith was finishing up his gift giving with gales of laughter following each one, Reuben finally showed up. He'd stalled as long as he could. He knew Keith had tried to call him several times the day before. He figured it had to do with his ruined surprise.

He'd wanted Keith to have some time with his family before he got upset about the circumstances once again.

"Hey gang!" Reuben called as he stepped through the front door.

"Reuben! Mr. Kincaid!" Was chorused back to him depending on the age of the person acknowledging him. Reuben still insisted that Danny call him Mr. Kincaid and it irked Danny to no end. He was only slightly younger than Keith had been when they'd met him and he'd always been allowed to call him Reuben.

"Come over here. Keith was just filling us in on some of the places he's seen." Shirley smiled her welcome.

Reuben smiled and walked over. He knew exactly what Keith was telling them, because they were likely his words. Keith was usually confined to his hotel room, the venue, inside his bus or on his plane. His movements around the cities he traveled to were even more restricted than when he'd traveled with the family.

Laurie was possibly the only one who understood how lonely and confined Keith felt on his tours. She was the one he occasionally called in the middle of the night when he couldn't sleep, yet there was no one around to talk to. She also knew about the wild parties that often did allow Keith to end up with companionship through the night.

She kept his secrets just like she had through their whole lives.

After the story telling portion of their visit was over, Keith did pull Reuben aside and ask him what happened. He wasn't angry just disappointed. But, he most definitely did not blame Reuben.

"Hey, it's alright. I know you did your best. It probably wasn't easy to pull it all together from 3,000 miles away. You can't control everyone else, no matter how hard you try." Keith watched the surprise cross Reuben's face. "What you thought I'd be mad?"

"Well, yeah. I sure was." Reuben admitted.

"It's water under the bridge. Just looking at Mom's relaxed expression is enough for me. The last time I was home she didn't look this happy. You had just as much of a hand in giving her that as I did." Keith reminded him.

"Not quite." Reuben mumbled as Keith walked away to see something that Tracy wanted to show him. "But I would do almost anything for this family."

xoxo

Keith had moved out to the garage after lunch. He was so full he almost couldn't move, but he'd wanted to get down a song idea that had popped into his head. He knew that his mom still had the piano out in the garage, so he headed out there. He'd flipped open the piano bench to find blank music sheets there just like it had always been there when he'd lived and composed here exclusively. He couldn't hide the smile. Some things never changed.

He'd been out there for just over a half an hour when he heard a noise behind him. He turned expecting to see one of his brothers or sisters; instead he saw a pretty blond just staring at him.

"Hi." Keith said and smiled. He had no idea who she was, the garage had too many shadows and she was standing in one of them.

"Hi Keith. I heard you were back." The girl said and finally stepped into the light.

"Is that you, Gloria?" Keith said in surprise. The girl looked like a grown up Gloria Hickey; Danny's old girlfriend.

"Yep, it's me." Gloria gave him her best smile.

"You're all grown up." Keith waited to see what she wanted.

"Glad you noticed." Gloria said quietly and Keith found himself leaning forward to hear her words.

He should have guessed she'd meant something by it, but he hadn't seen her in over a year and had no idea that she still carried a torch for him. He watched her walk closer to him. She was trying very hard to look sexy and she thought she might have been successful when Keith's eyes traveled up and down her body.

Keith had no idea she was thinking along those lines; he was still trying to come to grips with the girl he would always picture in his mind as the 11 year old girl who'd asked him to her 6th grade dance while Danny had been hopelessly in love with her.

"Like what you see?" She asked bravely.

"Sorry?" Keith had been surprised by her question. He was still trying to reconcile his old memories of the 11 year old girl to this grown up teenager.

"You know, I've followed your career since you went out on your own. I like the new sound. It's much harder. It's more you." Gloria was now quite close.

"Thanks. I'm pretty happy with where it's headed too." Keith smiled his thanks.

"So, being out on the road all the time, you probably don't have a whole lot of time for dating." Gloria said the words quickly. It had taken her hours to build up the courage to show up and a long pep talk to bring her into the garage after she'd seen Keith go in by himself.

"Not a lot. I'm pretty busy." Keith agreed and continued to watch her with curiosity.

"I know before I was too young for you, but now, well now, I just turned 16. And, girls mature much more quickly than guys." Gloria watched realization appear in Keith's eyes followed quickly by what she feared might just be denial.

Refusing to admit that that just might be the case, she quickly leaned forward and pressed her lips to his.