Zac and Kate were hosting a New Year’s Eve party for those of us that enjoyed drinking while Mom and Dad hosted a New Year’s Eve party for the kids and the church folks. We dropped Everette and Monroe off at their house then headed over to Zac’s.
“Hey, Kate, can I help you with anything?” Nikki didn’t miss a beat walking into the kitchen.
“I think I have everything set up. Zac should be back soon. I forgot to pick up the ingredients for the punch so he went to the store for me,” Kate explained.
“Ok, well let us know if you need us. We’ll go say hi to Taylor and Natalie.”
“Thanks, Nikki. I’ll be in to visit in just a few.”
“Hey, Nat,” Nikki said, hugging her “How are you feeling?”
“Oh, I’m ok. Just still worn out. I haven’t had much time to rest since Viggo was born, he’s more restless than my other kids were, and with the holidays things have just been crazy. Taylor’s been a huge help, though,” she squeezed his hand.
“Huh? Oh,” he tore his eyes away from the New Years Eve special and kissed her temple. “Guess it’s all catching up to me, too,” he said.
“Getting older sucks,” I said.
“You would know,” they all said at the same time.
“Well, if that’s not a sign we spend too much time together,” I said, laughing and taking a seat by Taylor. Nikki sat next to me.
The doorbell rang and Kate rushed to answer it. Several family friends were there. Mike explained that they had all went in together to rent a limo so nobody would have to worry about how they were getting home.
“That was smart, but you know we would have gotten you home one way or another,” Kate said.
“It’s ‘the another’ that I worry about when it comes to the Hanson family,” Mike said, slapping me on the back. By the smell of things, he had done some pre-gaming at his house before getting in the limo to come to the party.
Kate rolled her eyes and went back to the kitchen. I couldn’t help but notice that she peeked out the front window on her way.
Nikki jumped up to help when Kate started bringing trays of appetizers and finger sandwiches from the kitchen.
“Soda and water are on the wet bar with the alcohol. Please help yourself. Zac should be back any minute with the punch. There must be a lot of traffic tonight,” she said with a sadness in her voice. We all knew that the traffic would be light by this time of night. Even on New Year’s Eve most people had already gotten to where they were going.
I didn’t know if I should be worried about Zac or pissed at him. Surely he could get it together for a few hours to help his wife host a party.
I got up and helped myself to a whiskey and poured a glass of red wine for Nikki. The other guests followed suite and soon enough the conversation was flowing right along with the alcohol. Kate wasn’t much of a drinker, but she was a gracious host, barely sitting between running back to the kitchen to refill food trays. I could imagine that between the two of them, this was probably the most food that had been in Zac’s house in quite a while.
After a while I pulled Nikki to the side and asked her if she thought I should go look for Zac.
“Well, you’ve had quite a bit to drink, but,” she looked around the room “You look like you are in better shape than anyone else. Let’s go ask Kate what she thinks.”
“Good idea,” I told her. We went into the kitchen and found Kate sitting at the table, head in her hands. Her cell phone was on the table in front of her.
“Kate,” Nikki said, lightly touching her shoulder.
“Oh, I’m sorry, I just needed to rest for a bit,” she said.
“Do you want Isaac to go look for Zac?” Nikki asked.
“No, I’m sure . . .” We heard a car pull up into the driveway then, “Oh, that must be him,” she said, rushing to the door.
“I’ll go talk to him,” I offered, but my words were lost as she slammed the front door.
Nikki ran her hand down my arm and squeezed my hand, “Let Kate talk to him first.”
I nodded. That was a good idea. How would I feel if Taylor or Zac tried to get in the middle of an argument between me and Nikki? I know how I’d feel. I’d be pissed.
I heard the front door open and walked into the foyer. We expected to see Zac and Kate come back in the door, but it looked like someone had opened the door to see what was going on outside. I got there just in time to see Kate get into the passenger side of Zac’s truck.
“Guys, let them have their space,” Nikki tried. If anyone heard her, no one listened. I looked over at Taylor, since he could usually get a crowd under control. He looked spaced out, like he didn’t know what he was supposed to be looking at. I guess the newborn baby was taking a toll on him.
After several minutes Kate started back toward the house and everyone backed away from the door like Kate hadn’t seen them standing there the entire time. I saw Zac back out of the driveway and head down the road. I was 100% he was headed to the studio and twice as sure that he didn’t want anyone to follow him.
Kate cleared her throat “The ball should be dropping soon, please stay as long as you like. Zac doesn’t feel up to a party right now. He’s exhausted with tour ending so close to the holidays this year. I told him I was sure everyone would understand. I’ll go ahead and make the punch,” she held up the bags of sprite and ice cream, “but considering the hour, I think I’ll leave out the alcohol.”
“That’s a good idea,” Nikki spoke up, “I’ll help you.” She followed Kate to the kitchen and Natalie tagged along behind. I started to follow, but Nikki shook her head and sat back down. I supposed this one would be better for the girls to handle.
“He got into some bad shit, didn’t he?” Mike asked.
“I don’t know what he got into,” I said, honestly. I hadn’t talked to him, so I didn’t know if this was an eating thing, or a drug thing, or an exhaustion thing, like Kate said. I certainly was feeling the strain of so much happening in such a short period of time. I was looking forward to the next week when we got a break from work but without a party every other day.
“Huh,” Mike grunted. “Tell him to be careful. There are things floating around these Tulsa streets that would lay him out for a good while if not permanently.”
I nodded “Thanks for the advice. Now if you know how to get him to listen to me, I’d consider that a New Year’s miracle.”
Mike laughed “I’ve worked with you enough to know that stubbornness runs in the Hanson family,” he said. He was our head roadie for several years, and still came back to help every once in a while when we were short staffed.
“If you would, though, I’d appreciate it if this didn’t get out,” I said, turning serious for a minute.
“No problem,” he winked at me “I’ll just add it to the stack of Hanson family secrets I keep under lock and key,” he tapped his temple with his middle finger.
“You’re a good guy, Mike,” I lightly punched his shoulder.
“Right back at you,” he said, “Why do you think I put up with so much bullshit from you and your brothers.”
“And all this time I thought it was because we paid so well.”
Mike roared with laughter. About that time, the ladies came back into the living room. Kate looked lighter, like a burden had been lifted off her shoulders. I would have to ask Nikki what happened later. The women sat together on one side of the living room, a united front against all the crap we put them through.
We only stayed until the famous Times Square ball dropped, declaring that the New Year had arrived. We still had an hour to go until midnight Tulsa Time, but this old man would be perfectly content to ring in the new year with just his wife. I only hopped I could stay awake long enough to get my good luck kiss at midnight.