The darkness came so suddenly, he didn't even realize it's appearance. He closed his eyes to the hated bright light, and opened them to the soothing dark night. For him, it was quite welcome. He glanced around the room. Clocks did not flash, nor did they show any display. The power had gone out, an obvious result of the storm occuring outdoors. He stumbled around on the floor, kicking Legos, dirty clothes, and crumpled sheets of paper aside on his way to the door.

For some reason, the darkness in the hall surprised him. But, he shook his mind of the surprise, and made him way downstairs to get a flashlight. He found the idea kind of silly. Going through the darkness to get a flashlight just to go back through the darkness. But, his parents were downstairs, and he wanted to say goodnight to them. He rounded a corner, and entered the kitchen.

He was given a flashlight, and a goodnight hug, from his father. Then, his mother gave him a hug, and a kiss on the cheek. She ruffled his hair. "Goodnight, Taylor. Check on Jess, Avie, and Mac. Would you? Thanks honey."

He grinned a little bit and made his way upstairs. He paused at the door of his younger siblings' room, and listened. He heard a voice, but not the voice of a child. It was the voice of Steven Tyler.

He opened the door, and walked in, being careful not to wake the sleeping children. The Armageddon soundtrack played on a battery operated system. The song that played was the first track. It was Aerosmith's "I Don't Want To Miss A Thing". He flicked on the flashlight, and made his way over to his oldest sister.

She would be twelve in three days. He shined the flashlight so that the least amount of harsh light would hit her. He couldn't believe how quickly she was growing up. She no longer wore braids in her hair. She would be a teenager soon. He felt a pang of guilt for missing a lot of it when it happened. But, those were the consequences of his career. He smoothed a bit of Jessica's hair back into place, and kissed her forehead. Then, he made his way over to Avery.

She slept quietly, curled into a ball, her hands hidden beneath her pillow. She had grown what could be as many as 6 inches since the last time he had really seen her. He was always so busy with his career. He hadn't payed much attention to her at all. His eyes watered, but didn't form tears. He took a deep breath, and made his way over to Mackenzie.

He truly did look like Zac now. But, as with Avery, he had not seen him enough lately. He had always been around, but he had always been too busy with his career. Always writing songs, getting ready to perform, or sleeping to prepare for the next performance. Always too busy.

He turned to leave, but decided to turn the CD player off. No sense running the batteries down. It was then that he noticed that "I Don't Want To Miss A Thing" was on repeat. He sat on the floor, and listened.

He glanced at his brother and sisters. Although the song was most likely written for lovers, it did apply to him. Because of his career, he was missing out on the most important thing in his life, his family.

He had even missed some milestones in his family. He hadn't been there to see Avery braid her own hair for the first time, to tease Jessica about her Winnie-the-Pooh training bra, to see Mackie write a full sentence, or tie his own shoe for the first time. And Zoe. He had barely even seen her, and she was nearing her first birthday. It was the first time he really wanted to change a diaper.

He swallowed his sobs, and allowed a few tiny tears to roll down his face. His lips trembled a bit as he glanced at his siblings one last time before leaving the room. It was then that he made a solemn promise to himself.

He promised that he would not let fame corrupt him, or hurt his family. He also promised never to let himself get so busy that he couldn't spend at least an hour of quality time with his family a week. His promising was broked by Zoe's wails. She was in his parents bedroom, and he was sure they were still downstairs. He made his way into their room.

Zoe lay in her crib, oblivious to him, until he picked her up. She wailed a bit more, but quieted down when he began to rock her gently in his arms. He grinned at her. She was so much bigger than she had been a few months ago. He rocked her back and forth in his arms, singing a soft lullaby in a gentle voice. When he was sure she was asleep, he kissed her forehead, and placed her delicately back into her crib, laughing slightly at her pajamas with the plastic feet. He smiled, and retreated.

He spent the next day with his family, ignoring all interruptions. On a usual day off, he would sleep, but he couldn't. Jordan Taylor Hanson didn't want to miss a thing.

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