Chapter 8
It had been a hectic morning but they were finally on the plane headed for New York City. Things had gone smoothly, the weather was warm for November and New York was getting ready for the holidays. The first couple of days were packed. Radio interviews, TV interviews, reporters to talk to, all these things felt like work but the couple of times they actually got to play their music was rejuvinating. It had been a few months since they'd performed for an audience and so the impromptu concert that was quickly put together on a small stage in central park was just what the doctor ordered for the guys and the small group of fans lucky enough to find out about it. Taylor actually felt like he knew a few of the New York fans and thought of them as friends so he he e-mailed a few to let them know about the show. He wasn't sure how many would actually get the message in time though since it was a school day. The whole family went to the park together, the older boys incognito. Since Isaac had cut his trademark hair it had make them a little harder to recognize as a group, but there wasn't much they could do to fool a die-hard fan and so they didn't really try.
At the playground, Jessica pushed Zoe in the baby swings while Taylor pushed Avery and Zac made sure Mackie was always going a little faster or a little higher than his sisters. Isaac sat at the picnic table with his mother and father watching his six brothers and sisters interact with one another. He knew he was lucky to have a family that functioned as well as this one. Everyone got along well with everyone else and enjoyed the company of the others. Even with seventeen years difference in age between Zoe and himself, he didn't feel separate from her. He was as involved with her as he had been with the others. He watched as Taylor put Avery on his shoulders. No small feat as none of the Hansons were small for their age-fact, strangely enough it looked as though he would probably end up being the shortest of the boys at a mere five foot eleven. Taylor had already passed him up and was not looking like he'd slow down anytime soon. He probably had another year or so to go but Zac was going to be the scary one. At the rate he was going, he'd probably be eye to eye with Michael Jordan if they ever got to meet him.
As lunchtime rolled around Taylor, Jess, and Zac brought the little ones back to the table for the insanity of deciding what to get for lunch. Isaac and Taylor were in the mood for Pizza while Zac wanted a sandwich from a deli. Jessica wanted McDonalds and as soon as she uttered the name the other two were all for it with Zoe not having much to say on the matter. "Man, I'm sick of McDonald's!" was the phrase heard most often from the over twelve crowd, but majority rules and when little kids are involved they usually manage to convince adults that burgers and fries would be best for everyone. Walker spoke now and the general consensus was that what he said was law, of course all the children knew that Diana was often telling him what to say as is the case in most households.
"Alright, alright," he said and used his hands to get them to quiet down. "Now, we're going to McDonalds..." He was immediately interrupted by cheers and objections. "Hey, hey, hey!" Now, he was using the proven effective dad-voice. "I said we'd go to McDonalds, but if anyone sees anything between here and there we will get them whatever they want. Within reason." He always knew to throw in a loophole in case what they wanted was cheesecake and twizzlers. The walk to McDonalds wasn't a long one. Near the entrance to the park a man was selling hot dogs from a cart and the three boys and Diana decided on that instead of burgers. Isaac got his with hot mustard, ketchup and onions. Zac got his with pretty much everything. Taylor ketchup and mustard. And Diana, ketchup only.
This was all jotted down by a girl who couldn't help but recognize them and would later report it as news on a website dedicated to all things Hanson. Just as Taylor took a rather large bite of his hot dog, she stepped up to him. "Umm, hi." She said shyly and she waved as if she weren't standing only two feet away from him. He waved back, it was all he could do at the moment. But, he held up his finger in the universal sign for "hang on" and she understood.
He swallowed, wiped his hand on his shirt and then held it out to shake her hand. "Sorry about that." He said and he smiled at her.
"Oh, no, I'm sorry to bug you, but I just couldn't help it. I just had to say hi and tell you how much I love your music."
"Thank you, we love making it." Just then, Isaac and Zac walked up with their food in their hands. "Guys, this is..." Taylor looked back at her and raised his eyebrows.
"Chelsea." She said.
He looked back at his brothers. "This is Chelsea, she's a fan." He said, stating the obvious.
Isaac smiled and said, "Nice to meet you."
Zac, who had both hands full said "hi" and smiled back at her.
Now she got that googly look on her face and Taylor and Isaac exchanged glances. "Oh my God, you're so tall!" She said to him.
Now, he was the one who looked embarassed. "Yeah, I'm getting there." He said.
Diana had just walked up. "Guys, we gotta go, Mackie's about to throw a fit." She smiled at the girl.
"Ok Mom, be right there." Taylor replied. "Zac, tell her about the thing."
It took Zac a second to look away from the pretty girl. "What? What thing?"
Isaac looked at both his brothers thinking how goofy they both were. "Tay, are you talking about the gig we're doing in a couple hours?" he asked.
"Yeah."
"Oh! That thing!" Zac understood now. He turned to Chelsea, "At 3 o'clock over by the horse guy statue, we're gonna do a little singy thing, not really a concert cuz we're just gonna have Ike play his acoustic, no publicity, hopefully just a few folks, wanna come?"
"Yes! Oh, yeah! That would be great!"
"Cool." Zac replied. "How old are you?"
"Thirteen. But I'll be fourteen in December!"
"Cool. Well, see ya there."
He said. And with that they left the girl standing there on cloud
nine.
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