Wonderful, page 66
I was a little nervous when the summer tour kicked off. It would be a lot of firsts for Ryder, a lot of firsts for us, and a lot of stimulation and exposure. I wasn’t sure how he’d handle it. Or how I’d handle it, for that matter. It didn’t help that there was tension between the guys. Griffin was being…I wasn’t sure what was going on with him, but he’d been acting up more and more lately. Demanding lead guitar, wanting more attention, acting like all of us were keeping him down, but at the same time, not putting in a lick of extra effort. He was exhausting all of us, but things were getting especially bad between him and Matt.
I couldn’t even repeat what he did during Matt’s romantic proposal. It was…anything but romantic. Matt fumed about it for weeks. But eventually, like always, Matt got over it, and by mid-tour he and Griffin were fine. I hoped.
Ryder, on the other hand, handled touring like a pro…like it was in his blood. He didn’t have a speck of shyness in him, and he would happily interact with anyone who took an interest in him. That made me happy, but it also made me grateful that Sam had agreed to come along. Between him and Kevin, I felt like my family was in good hands.
We had a little time to kill before the concert, and I was showing Ryder the stage while Kiera spent some quality time with her very-pregnant sister. Sam was with me while Kevin went with Kiera. I’d wanted her to take both of them, but the girls had just gone out to dinner; some upscale place with valet service and beefy guys at the doors keeping out anyone who didn’t have reservations. Kiera assured me they’d be fine with just Kevin, and she wanted someone to stay with Ryder. And me, I supposed.
Setting Ryder down on the empty stage, I squatted beside him and said, “What do you think? Want to be up here one day? Seeing thousands of people cheering for you? I’ll be honest…it’s pretty cool.”
He grinned at me and slapped the stage, and I was taking that to mean Hell, yeah, Dad! I can’t wait to follow in your footsteps. Ruffling his hair, I stood up and looked around. This was one of the larger venues on the tour. It still wasn’t as large as anything we’d done on Sienna’s tour, but it was impressive. The seats were all empty now, but I knew they’d start filling soon, and I knew they’d all be full. The entire tour had sold out. That still blew my mind.
I took a step forward, then glanced back at Ryder. He was looking out over the seats like he was envisioning it too. I instantly pictured him a little older, holding a guitar, singing along with me on the stage. Would Kiera be okay with that? If he wanted to do it? Still watching him, I took another step back. Now I was picturing him at my age, by himself on the stage, everyone cheering for him and just him. I didn’t know if that was his future—he might not have any interest in music, he might not be able to sing to save his life, he might hate being the center of attention—and all of that was okay, but for just a minute, I visualized it, and fuck, the image was so clear to me. Picture perfect.
As my vision grew hazy, Ryder decided I was too far away. He slammed onto his hands, and I was positive he was going to start crawling my way. But then he juggled his weight back and forth, getting to his feet. I just stared at him in awe. He’d done this before, worked his way onto his feet, but he was usually holding onto something—a table, a chair, my pant leg, something. But he was doing it without any help, and I was freaking out.
“Oh my God, oh my God! You did it!” He grinned at me as he wobbled on his feet. He’d done this too. Wobbled on his feet, but that was usually where it ended. Knowing he was seconds from falling, I took a step forward. And so did he.
My jaw dropped as I watched him take a step toward me. “Oh my God,” I murmured. Tears instantly stung my eyes as I smiled at him, as I watched him reach up for me, as I watched him take another step toward me. His face…it was pure, unadulterated joy. And I felt like sobbing. And then my eyes widened. “Oh shit, your mom’s gonna kill me!”
Oblivious to what I was saying, Ryder took another gleeful step in my direction. I started patting myself. “Where’s my phone. Where’s my fucking phone!” I patted my chest, my ass, my thighs. My brain was frying because I knew he was going to crash any second, and I didn’t want Kiera to miss it. She had to see this. Where the fuck was my phone?
Remembering I wasn’t alone, I looked up and said, “Sam!”
Smile on his face, he already had his phone out; he was already recording it. He gave me a thumbs up, and I felt relief weaken my stance. “Thank you,” I told him.
He nodded. “You hired me to protect you. That includes from your wife.”
I laughed at that, then let the tears fall as I watched my son finally plop down to his padded backside. I immediately scooped him up, hugging him tight. “You did it, little man! You walked! Your mom’s gonna die when she sees this!” I kissed him five thousand times as I walked over to Sam. “You got it all, right?”
He nodded, slipping his phone back into his pocket. “Yep, every second.”
“Thank fuck,” I told him. I grinned. “I knew hiring you was the best decision I’d ever make.”
He nodded again, then raised an eyebrow at me. “That’s thirty, by the way. Just in the last five minutes. You’re up to sixty, just for today.”
My smile slipped. “Well, fuck.”
Sam grinned. “Make that seventy.”
I’d made Sam my personal swear jar, and instead of it being a dollar per swear, I’d made it ten dollars per swear, paid out to him at the end of each day. I’d thought it would motivate me to watch my mouth, but honestly…I was just making Sam a very rich man. He loved it.
“This is why you always stay behind with me, isn’t it?” I asked him.
He smirked. “I go where Ryder goes. But it is entertaining for me when you’re there.” His grin widened. “I can’t wait until you have more kids. Because it’s ten per swear per kid.”
My eyes widened. “I never agreed to that.”
He shrugged. “Kiera did.”
I let out a long sigh. “Fuck.”
With a laugh, he murmured, “Eighty.”
I flipped him off because I didn’t have to pay him for that. Although…I probably shouldn’t teach Ryder that either. Fuck. Being a parent was hard.
It wasn’t long after the tour ended that Anna had her baby—another girl, thank God—and Ryder turned one. Even though we both knew he wouldn’t remember it, we had a massive party for him. All my family, all Kiera’s family, all the guys, all the girls, all our friends from Pete’s, anyone and everyone who might enjoy witnessing a milestone was invited. A surprising number of people showed up. Probably for the cake and booze.
Gavin and Riley were up visiting again, making good use of our numerous guest rooms. Hailey was here too. Honestly, Hailey practically lived here; she visited so much. In fact, she’d already claimed one of the guest rooms as being permanently hers. I loved it, and I let her do whatever she wanted with it. Martin and Caroline were visiting too. They’d both arrived a little while ago, around the birth of Anna’s second baby. They were staying with us since Griffin’s house was currently full of his side of the family. That and Martin didn’t think he could share a home with Griffin. It gave me a weird sense of bliss to know that I was the favored son-in-law. I shouldn’t be thrilled about that…but I was really thrilled about that.
Griffin shuffled into the house, looking half-dead, with his mom, dad, brother, sister, and her twin daughters in tow. Even though he’d been prickly lately, I felt bad for the guy. He had a lot on his plate, juggling two kids and his family, so I encouraged him and Anna to take advantage of the numerous babysitters and take a nap in my bedroom since it would be the quietest room. He’d groggily nodded at me and walked upstairs. Because I couldn’t resist laying down some ground rules, I tossed out, “Just a nap, Griffin.”
He turned and looked back at me with a smirk on his face, and I knew I would be changing the sheets before I climbed into bed later.
Sam showed up with some of the regulars from Pete’s. Sam tried to work the party, but I forced him to relax and have fun. I felt pretty safe among these people that we’d known for years. Rita arrived with her husband, which shocked the hell out of me; a part of me had seriously doubted the man existed. Troy brought his new boyfriend and spent most of the afternoon firmly attached to his side. And I had to admit, it was both weird and nice not to be ogled by either Pete’s bartender.
Matt and Rachel stepped in the door right behind Evan and Jenny. Both girls were subtly flashing their engagement rings all over the place, and it made me so happy to see their effervescent joy. They deserved it, all of them. Kate arrived sans Justin, who couldn’t make it up, but she told me he said hello. And then she flushed and giggled. It was cute.
Cheyenne arrived with her girlfriend, Meadow, who brought her bandmate, Rain. Rain gushed about how much she loved playing at Pete’s. She must have asked me a hundred times if I was sure we weren’t going to want our slot back one day. I always told her I was sure, and it was hers until she was ready to move on from it. Because honestly, we were too big for Pete’s now, and Poetic Bliss was getting too big for them too. I’d already been approached by Lana, who had shown an interest in putting them on the same extended tour where she’d discovered us. I was pretty sure it was just a matter of time before Pete’s would need a new band. Damn. Pete was gonna hate that. I’d have to talk to Evan and Matt soon about finding a new act for Pete. I just couldn’t leave that man in a lurch. I owed him too much.
Ryder was still napping by the time everyone had arrived. I worried he might sleep through his entire party, but when I went to check on him, I heard him babbling to himself. Opening his door, I was instantly greeted with the word, “Up.”
I smiled as I walked inside. Kiera and Jenny had painted Ryder’s room so that it sort of resembled the stage at Pete’s, and I thought of the bar every time I went in here. Ryder’s crib was centered against a solid black wall, a wall we were going to hang guitars on when Ryder was older. The rest of the walls were white, but Jenny had drawn a perfect 5-line staff across each of them, complete with music notes that depicted an actual D-Bags song. The melancholy song I’d written for Kiera. The one I’d been singing when she’d walked back into my life. I thought of that every time I went in here too.
Ryder was standing in his crib, reaching up for me. “Da-da. Up,” he said.
“Ready for your party?” I asked him. “People have been waiting for you.” He just smiled at me in answer because he had no idea what a birthday party was.
I changed him, dressing him in a fresh toddler-sized D-Bags shirt, then brought him downstairs with me. Like he was a magnet, people immediately surrounded us. His grandparents, his numerous uncles, his numerous aunts…everyone wanted to love on him. I tried to get him to the kitchen so we could get started on cake and presents, but I kept getting distracted along the way.
Jenny and Rachel were taking turns tickling his cheeks, making him cringe and giggle. Shaking her head, Jenny told me, “I can’t get over how much he looks like you.”
With a laugh, I looked over at Gavin and Riley, sitting on the couch. The three of us, now four of us, were so strikingly similar that we almost could have been clones. Even Uncle Tristan and his kids bore the family resemblance. And Grandpa Jim, of course. “Yeah, I guess the genes are strong on my side of the family.”
Jenny grinned and shook her head. “He’s going to be such a heartbreaker. I pity all the girls in his generation.”
I frowned at that. “All the girls?”
She nodded. “Yep. There won’t be a single one who doesn’t fall for him. You need to make sure he knows to wield his power carefully.”
I smirked at that. “His looks are a superpower?”
She glanced at Rachel, and they both nodded. “That and your fame,” Jenny said.
That gave me pause, and as I looked down at him, I supposed they had a point. Money, fame, and good looks…that could lead him down a dark path. But as I looked around my home full of good people, I knew that wouldn’t happen. He had too many amazing role models in his life, and Kiera and I would teach him how to be kind, how to be humble, how to be grateful. He was going to be just fine. But I nodded at Jenny and Rachel, telling them, “Yeah, I’ll make sure he knows…that with great power…”
Jenny narrowed her eyes at me. “Don’t.”
“Comes great…”
Rachel started giggling. Jenny narrowed her eyes even more, and I didn’t even know that was possible. “Kellan.”
“Responsibility,” I finished with a smirk.
She rolled her eyes at me, then laughed. “You’re such a dork. I don’t know how I missed that for so long.”
I laughed as she shoved my shoulder, pushing me away from her. Still chuckling, I continued weaving my way to the kitchen. People tried to steal Ryder from me as I went. I had to keep telling them they could have him in a minute, but I needed to get him to Kiera first. Roxie came up to me just after I’d successfully gotten away from Abby. She grinned at me, and her smile was a mile wide. “Hey, mind if I take a look at the Chevelle? Make sure she’s running right.” Her grin shifted to Ryder, and she cooed, “Hey, cutie. Happy Birthday.”
Smiling, I shook my head at her. “It’s your day off. You should rest, relax.”
All the D-Bags had moved since Kiera and I had purchased this place. Well, all of them except Evan. Much to my chagrin, he’d decided to purchase the entire building he lived in, but instead of keeping the auto body shop beneath his loft, he’d converted it into extra living space and an art studio for Jenny. At the time, I’d thought that meant I’d lost the only person I trusted with the Chevelle. Until I’d realized I could hire Rox as my personal mechanic.
Now technically, she didn’t work exclusively for me, but she did make house calls for me. And she made them frequently because she loved that car almost as much as I did. She was actively trying to convince me to buy more classic cars, to fill up my entire garage with them. “Someone needs to save them, Kellan,” was her typical argument. And damn if it wasn’t starting to work on me. Was it too soon to buy Ryder his very first muscle car? Was that spoiling him? Or was it just a natural and normal rite of passage?
Patting Roxie’s shoulder, I told her, “Have a birthday cake margarita. Abby made them.”
She scrunched her face. “That sounds…disgusting.”
My grin widened. “I know.”
Abby had decorated my house for the party and provided all the food and drinks. She’d gone a little overboard, and it basically looked like the words “Happy Birthday” had thrown up everywhere, but ever mindful of my choking paranoia, nothing Abby had used for decorations was smaller than a Chihuahua. I appreciated that. Griffin too since Gibson still taste-tested everything. And I mean everything. Griff kept his “fun stuff” under lock and key now…and there were times when I wished I didn’t know that.
Roxie shrugged and followed me into the kitchen to try a flavor of margarita that should not exist. When we stepped into the room, I instantly spotted Kiera chatting with her mom. Ryder spotted her too. “Ma-ma,” he said, leaning over like he could reach her from six feet away.
Kiera brightened when she saw us, then held out her hands for Ryder. I brought him to her, and she scooped him into her arms. She kissed his neck, making him laugh in the best way, making my chest contract in the best way. “There’s my birthday boy,” she said. “Ready for cake?”
She strapped him into his highchair, then asked Sam to gather everyone for us. No one could wrangle people like Sam, and the room was overcrowded with friends and family just seconds later. We all sang the birthday song to Ryder, gave him the first piece of cake, and then watched in amusement as he smeared it all over himself while devouring it as quickly as he could; cake just might be his weakness too.
Several hours later, when I was crawling into my freshly made bed, I realized something: birthday parties were exhausting. And amazing.
“Do you think he had fun?” Kiera sleepily asked.
Pulling her curled body closer to mine, I told her, “He had cake, a ton of attention, and a boatload of new toys to play with. I think it was his best day ever.”
She laughed at that, then sighed. “Good.” Turning her head to look at me, she asked, “Did you have a good day?”
I smiled at her beautiful face being softly caressed by the moonlight. “I had cake, a ton of attention, and a boatload of new toys to play with. It was my best day ever.”
She laughed again, then leaned forward and kissed me. When our lips broke apart, I frowned at her. “What?” she asked.
“I just realized something.” She lifted an eyebrow, waiting for an explanation, and I shrugged. “We never took that honeymoon I promised you. There was the accident, the pregnancy, the tour, Ryder, another tour…we sort of missed it.”
She smiled at me, then bit her lip. “We’ve got a few hours right now. What if, instead of one long, elaborate trip, we just take little mini honeymoons each night?”
I grinned at her. “For how long?”
Her eyes, a deep brown in the darkness, slowly scanned my face. “How about…forever?”
“I can do forever,” I told her, leaning down to find her lips again.
“I love you,” she murmured.
I started to tell her I loved her too, but before I knew it, one thing led to another, and words just weren’t necessary anymore. She knew how I felt about her, about our life together, and I knew she felt the exact same way. I fell asleep with a smile on my face, content and satisfied in every single way. Definitely my best day ever.
But even still, a hazy dream built up around me as I slipped into slumber. A dream I hadn’t had in a while. I was back at the birthday party, standing alone in my living room, facing my mother and father. They looked different than they usually did in my dreams, almost black and white, almost transparent. We just stared at each other, silent for a change. Then my father shook his head. “You think you’ve won? That your life will just be perfect from here on out?”
