Never time for goodbye

Nat gave Rosalina a kiss before he left the room. His father gave him a hug and said "we're going to talk about this Nat. First though I think everybody needs some ice cream. Saying goodbye is never easy."

Nat said "dad Rosalina and I talked. There's nothing else that I have to tell you."

Mr. Wolf said "Nat trust me. What you're feeling is normal Nat. When someone is sick that you love it's easy to fall apart."

Nat said "I'm never going to let go. I never want to say goodbye to Rosalina. She means the world to me dad. I thought that you'd understand that dad. Don't you still love mom?"

Mr. Wolf said "this year is going to be the hardest for you. When the time comes you won't be ready to say goodbye."

Alex said "it's hard on all of us Nat. Please let dad help you. You'll feel better if you admit that you're hurting. I told dad and now I feel a lot better."

Nat said "stay out of this little shrimp! Your girlfriend is going to be fine so you could never come to understand what I'm going through."

Tomas said "both of you are right. Nat you need to talk to your dad but you don't have to until you're ready."

David said "Alex leave your brother alone. He loves Rosalina so much that he's pushing everybody else away."

Qaasim said "I agree with both Tomas and David. You guys really need to stop fighting Rosalina hates it when you guys fight."

Nat said "Alex needs to stay out of things that don't concern him. I will stop fighting when he keeps his mouth shut. If the press find out about this Rosalina will never forgive me this is meant to be a private matter."

Mr. Wolf said "the press found out about your mom Nat. They heard me telling you and they had a field day. I was angry for a long time but things got better. If the fans find out about Rosalina they will go to the press."

Nat put his head in his hands and said "I wish there was a way to keep the press in the dark. Rosalina doesn't deserve the press prying into her personal life. Why do things have to be so hard?"

Mr. Wolf said "being famous is tough on anybody Nat. When your mom wanted to make you a rock star I fought it. I didn't want things to get so hard for you kids."

Alex said "dad do the press care how many people they hurt? It seems like they ruin our lives just to make a good story."

Mr. Wolf said "that reporter who took a shot of Nat's butt didn't care. However the one who covered the story on your mom was very careful. It's not ok to say that all reporters are rude. There're some good ones out there."

Nat said "good or not they better stay away from Rosalina. She asked me to keep this a secret. I always keep my word dad and this is important that no one finds out."

Alex said "what flavor of ice cream do you want Nat?"

Mr. Wolf said "oh I'm going in the wrong direction. I promised you guy's ice cream."

Nat said "I want a root beer float so I can split it with Rosalina. Oh I forgot I better get used to not being able to do that."

Alex said "Nat you can split one with Jesse. I don't mind I know that root beer makes you feel better."

Nat said "I don't want to split one with Jesse! I want to share one with Rosalina just like I always have."

Alex said "please don't get upset Nat. I hate seeing you sad."

Mr. Wolf said "Alex what flavor do you want?"

Alex said "Jesse would you like to split a large lemon lime freeze?"

Jesse said "Alex this isn't our first date. I just got over being mad at you. Plus I think Nat would go nuts."

Mr. Wolf said "Nat do you know what you want instead of the float?"

Nat said "I'll take a large mint chocolate dipped cone. That is my favorite flavor and Rosalina can't stand it."

Mr. Wolf made the order and handed everyone their ice cream. Nat ate his ice cream without talking. Alex said "we have rehearsal tonight so maybe everybody could spend the night. Just call your parents when we get to the house so we know that it's ok."

Nat said "Alex would you let me back in the band? I'm sorry I yelled at you I was just upset."

Alex said "it's not just up to me. It's up to the guys to and they're still mad."

Nat said "Tomas could I come back to the band? I need to play again in order to forget Rosalina."

Tomas said "yes you can come back Nat. Alex is a really awful leader he's nothing like you. The concert sucked when we were on tour."

Nat said "Alex has control issues but lay off him. I'm back so we can redeem ourselves with a concert to raise money for Rosalina's treatments."

Jesse said "thank you for coming back Nat. Wait until I tell Rosalina she's going to be so happy."

Nat said "don't tell her about the concert. We have to be careful about how we do this. I don't want the press to know. If the press find out Rosalina will never speak to any of us again this is a secret that is mean to be kept."

Jesse said "Nat I won't tell her about the concert. I'm just going to tell her that you decided to sing with us again."

Jesse called Rosalina and told her that Nat was back in the band. Rosalina said "they have a program where you can bring dogs in if they're behaved. I really would love to see Lucky and E.T. One big wet kiss from them would make me feel so much better."

Jesse said "we have rehearsal tonight but maybe after we're done we'll bring the dogs. If we don't bring them tonight I'll see if Nat will be willing to take them over tomorrow."

Rosalina said "I'll let you go then. Tell Nat I love him very much and will miss him."

Jesse got off the phone and said "Nat Rosalina says that she'll miss you and she loves you."

Nat said "Jesse what was she saying about the dogs? If she wants us to bring them over there we can take Lucky but E.T is attached to me. If she sees me upset she'll go crazy. Lucky is attached to Alex but she's more subdued then E.T."

Jesse said "she says that she'll feel so much better if those two lick her face."

Nat said "would a kiss from me be good enough? I really don't think E.T would do well at the hospital. I love her but she can be one crazy mutt."

E.T heard Nat's voice and barked loudly. Nat called her into the room and she jumped on his lap. Nat petted her and said "Alex Lucky has been walking around with a ball in her mouth for three days waiting for you."

Alex ran into the bed room and called Lucky. Lucky barreled into the room with the ball in her mouth. Alex said "good girl Lucky. Did you miss you're daddy? Daddy missed his pretty girl. Go get the ball Lucky."

Alex and Nat played fetch with Lucky and E.T for hours. Then Copper came upstairs and said "ok boys it's time to start rehearsal. Stop playing with the dogs and focus for five minutes. This is important we need to vote on if Rosalina is still in the band or not. Nat you have first choice because you are the leader."

Nat said "I say we let her play for as long as she's able to be out of the hospital but then we'll have to kick her out towards the end."

Alex said "Nat that is wrong. I think we should hold rehearsals in the hospital up until she passes away. The band means everything to her. We can't kick her out of the family Nat."

Copper said "none of these decisions are final. We need to talk to Rosalina before we make any choices."

Nat said "Copper she's sick. I don't want her over do herself and get worse. Trust me on this. She's my girlfriend don't you think I want what's best for her? This isn't going to be easy for me to tell her. She loves the band very much it's like her second family."

Tomas said "don't tell her until you absolutely have to. The last thing we want is to break her heart. I agree with Nat he's right about the band causing her stress. I just think that there's a right way and a wrong way to tell her that she's out."

Qaasim came upstairs and said "what is all screaming about? If it involves the band I have a right to know. I've been with the band forever so tell me what's going on."

Nat said "we're deciding about what to do with Rosalina. The band causes her stress and with her being sick that's the last thing we need."

Qaasim said "even if the band causes her stress she loves it. Your dad promised her that nothing in her life would change. If you kick her out the best thing in her life will have changed. I don't know how well she'll take that. Let her stay in the band until after Christmas Nat. That way she'll die happy and relaxed. It's the best thing that you can do for her."

Nat said "why does everybody seem to think that I don't know what's best for her? I love her and I don't want her to get worse."

Copper and Alex gave Nat a hug. Copper said "Nat no matter what you do she's going to get worse. All we can do is have her forget that she's in pain."

Alex said "how will we know that she is ready to say goodbye? I don't want her to hold on for us."

Nat said "it's never going to be that time Alex. I refuse to let her say goodbye Rosalina will be fine."

David said "Nat Rosalina needs the band. It'll distract her from the pain that she's in and that's what she's going to need."

Nat said "alright I think we've all decided that Rosalina is staying. Copper thank you for helping us decide that. Now can we please start rehearsal? I have an idea for a new song but I don't want to write this one alone."

Copper said "yeah we can start to doing a little work but it's late. I don't want to pull together a huge piece in one night."

Nat got behind his keyboard and said "count us in Alex but do it gently. This is going to be a slow song."

Alex counted "one, two, and three."

Nat began to play a beautiful melody and sang "please tell me that this is a lie. People are telling me to say goodbye. I already almost lost you once. That was because I was a dunce. I don't want to loose you again this love has just begun. I'm sorry for all the times that I made you cry please don't ever say goodbye."

Alex said "Nat don't play that song around Rosalina. Then she'll try to hold on for you. That's the last thing that you want."

Nat said "I'm not going to I just needed to get some feelings out. That's why I wrote that Alex I know that this song will hurt her. Playing this for her will be worse then every time she plays beautiful eyes. After she comes back to the band we'll never play that song again."

Alex said "beautiful eyes is one of our band's best songs. If we never play that song again the fans will have a major melt down. They'll want to know what's going on and if they find out then the press will know."

Nat put his head in his hands and said "being famous is the worst! Everything is about the press or the fans I hate it!"

Copper said "Nat this isn't about the press. This is about you and Rosalina this sucks I know but these things happen and no one can change that."

Nat started to cry and Alex put his arm around him. Jesse said "sit by me for a while. I think Nat needs to be left alone."

Alex said "will the sun ever shine on us again Jesse?"

Jesse said "I don't know Alex but no storm however dark it might be can ever tear a family apart."