| Chapter Four "Hey Dee and Melanie!" It was Trish Chasez waving and calling from the deck. "Diane needs us in the kitchen." "Oh well, it was nice while it lasted," Mel quipped, then called back to Trish, "Tell her we'll be there in about half an hour" as she attempted to get out of the chaise lounge. Melanie and Dee waddled into the Bass kitchen to find Trish cutting up watermelon, Jo Kirkpatrick creating a basket out of the watermelon shell, Britney Timberlake cutting pineapple and Diane Bass slicing grapes in half. "What can we do to help?" Mel asked, stretching and rubbing her lower back. "Absolutely nothing, girls," Diane told them, "just sit down at the table and rest, everything is almost ready." Melanie looked at Dee and shrugged. "Then why'd you get us out of those comfortable chairs?" Dee asked, pretending to be really perturbed. Before anyone could answer, Wade appeared from the family room holding up a hat and suitcoat full of patches. "Anyone recognize this?" he asked, grinning. "What you wore to your prom, Wade?" Dee asked evilly. Wade gave her a disgusted look. He knew that Dee held no great love for him, though he never could figure out why. "No, Mrs. Fatone. This is Joey's costume from the No Strings Attached tour opening song. We found a whole bunch of old costumes when we were looking for ideas of what to do for the reunion concert. And I had this brilliant idea……" Dee and Jo rolled their eyes in unison. "The wives are going to do "Bye Bye Bye" for the reunion concert wearing these costumes," he said proudly. The wives' heads all snapped up from what they were doing and they look incredulously at Wade. "You must be smoking some pretty serious dope, Wade. Have you taken a look at Melanie and I? I'm not doing any dancing, hopping, or jumping, nor am I going to be able to fit this," she said putting her hands on her protuding stomach "into anything of Joey's from ten years ago!" "Not to worry, Dee. Wade is going to shove a basketball up his shirt and take your place like he did for Joey in 'Pop' ," Trish chuckled. "Ladies, ladies…….we have this all figured out……." "Who is WE? If my husband had anything to do with this, he's going to be looking forward to sleeping in the kids' tent tonight!" Jo said, wiping her hands on a towel. "Oh I think this would be fun!" Britney chirped. Jo and Dee rolled their eyes again. "Yeah, you don't have to make a fool of YOURSELF! You already know how to dance and you don't resemble a beached whale!" Melanie told her. "Let me explain," Wade continued. "This is going to be a surprise for the guys. They aren't to know anything about it. Daren is going to work with you ladies this next week while they go down to Orlando to practice. We're going to put it on video and then show it on the big screen behind them when they do "Bye Bye Bye" so that you'll be doing it……pardon the pun……..in sync." Trish was smiling. "You know, Britney's right, it does sound sort of fun……" "Yeah, you're not 8 months pregnant!" Dee told her, rubbing her stomach again. "Can't we just do something a little slower, like maybe "I Want You Back"?" "Oh noooooooooo, I'm not doing that backflip thing!" Jo protested. Wade held up his hands. "PLEASE let me finish. They are doing "Bye Bye Bye" as the finale, as usual, and we want to surprise them at the end of the concert with this video. As for Melanie and Dee, we're going to only do close up shots of the two of you, so you can be sitting on stools and just doing the hand motions……." "Bless your heart!" Melanie told him. "Yeah and the rest of us do the hard stuff!!!!!" Trish protested. "Would you rather be pregnant or dancing?" Melanie asked her. "NEVER MIND!!!!!!!" Trish answered. "I'd love to do the hard stuff!" Wade went on about the special surprise as the ladies listened and finished up with the supper. Diane put the finishing touches on her dish, as did the others. "Well Wade, sounds like you put alot of thought into this. And I think the guys will love it! And...as much as I hate to admit it, I think I like the idea too." Jo sighed as she smiled haphazardly. "The guys leave Monday morning early, so as soon as we get the 'all clear' that they're gone, Daren will be out here to start working with you ladies. The grandparents have already agreed to babysit the kids, so he can work all day with you if he has to. The video crew will be out Thursday and we hope to have it wrapped up in a day or two, so they have time to edit by Sunday. The costumers will also be out Monday also to get everything fitted so you can run through the routine a few times before taping starts." "And I thought Diane was a cruel taskmaster," Mel muttered under her breath so only Dee could hear. "I think labor will be a snap after this grueling schedule!" "Labor might be the result of this adventure!" Dee whispered back. "Maybe Chelsea could stand in for Dee or Mel, Jo. She's old enough and I think she'd get a kick out of it," Wade suggested, as he went to hide the costume and join everyone outside. Jo looked up as she carried the watermelon basket in her arms. "Hmm....we'll see. That would just feed her 15 year old's ego. "I won't even suggest it to her until the time gets closer. She has a way with spoiling surprises." Diane covered a chuckle with her free hand, fondly remembering when Chris and Jo had gotten engaged and were going to surprise everyone. Chelsea, then 11, flew into the room and announced, loudly, that her mom was marrying Chris. "C'mon ladies. The crew is sure to be hungry. I think I hear stomachs growling from here!" Diane laughed. "That must be Joey," Jo and Britney said at once. They laughed as Dee looked at them with a raised eyebrow as if she were surprised that they knew her husband's gastronomical tendencies as well as she did. "Everyone grab something on your way out!" Diane told the ladies, and as she stepped outside called to everyone, "Supper's on in ten minutes!" |