Soul-O (Music & Lyrics Book 2)

by Debbie Dickerson

  His face lights up and he says, “Grandma knows how strong I am.”

  He flexes his arm making a muscle and I say, “Woe buddy, put those guns away.”

  He laughs and says in his squeaky voice, “Dad says a real man never lets a lady wait too long so we should hurry up, cause there’s a lot of ladies here.”

  Brent says, “You know, that saying was taught to me by Grandpa.” Tucker looks at dad like he’s a hero. I can’t help but wonder what my kids are gonna look like, the things they’ll say, what they’ll do. Will they find their soulmate at such a young age like their Mom and Dad did? Guess we gotta say I do first.

  I’ve been basically locked in this room all day and I’m starting to go stir crazy. It’s 3:30 and I say, “Dad, I think it’s time I get out of this room, the guests should be arriving soon.”

  “I didn’t know why you were staying in here so long. Dylan’s been in the room getting ready for a couple hours now. Get dressed and come on out.” A breath of relief leaves my body and I hop up and get dressed. I look at my hair, put some gel in it and run my fingers through it. Looks good enough to me. Walking outside, I can’t believe how beautiful it looks.

  Anthony comes up to me and says, “Looks like somebody’s having a wedding here or something.”

  “That’s what the rumors are saying.”

  “Did you see the appetizer display?”

  “No, where is it?”

  “Dude, you passed it coming out here.”

  I laugh and say, “My head is elsewhere I guess.”

  “It looks delizioso.” Seriously, I couldn’t give two shits about the appetizers but I do spot the makeshift bar. I’m not nervous at all, its excitement. This woman, the one that has been my best friend for practically my whole life has agreed to marry me and I just want it to happen right now, not in an hour.

  I see Mom out of the corner of my eye and she looks beautiful. She walks straight up to me and says, “Look at you, my handsome son, gorgeous. About thirty-five minutes until we get this show on the road.”

  I kiss her on her cheek and say, “You look beautiful, Ma. Would you like a drink?”

  “You mean another?”

  I laugh and say, “Sure, why not?”

  “Honey, your guests are arriving, I’ll get us both a drink.” She’s amazing to say the least. I nod my head and she glides to the bar. Stoney is getting his DJ booth ready so I leave him alone. This place went from calm and peaceful to a chaotic wonderland.

  Brent, Dad, and Tucker begin seating the guests. Tucker looks very dapper in his tiny tux. Chip has already taken a load of pictures. He was up with the ladies for about an hour and I’m sure he took a million pictures of them. We’re almost guaranteed to have the best wedding pictures ever with Chip as our photographer.

  I hear Chip say, “Please don’t be straight, please don’t be straight.” I look at where his camera is pointing and its Tyler. I can’t help but laugh out loud.

  I walk up to Chip, put my hand on his shoulder and say, “That’s Tyler, the one I told you about. He had a thing for Lyrics so I’m gonna say probably not into men.”

  Chip says with a devilish look in his eyes, “Maybe he just hasn’t met the right man?”

  I laugh and say, “Hey, I say give it a try.”

  Chip pushes me and says, “Not in the mood to get punched today.” I smirk as I walk to greet Tyler.

  “What’s up bro, thanks for coming.”

  “I wouldn’t miss it, besides, maybe she’ll reconsider at the last minute.” In my mind, I just slammed his head five times against the concrete.

  “Hey, if that doesn’t work out for you, I can introduce you to my good friend Chip.” I point to Chip and say, “He definitely wants to meet you.”

  Tyler laughs and says, “So which side is Dylan’s side sitting on?”

  “No sides, bro, everybody is mixing it up. Where’s your date? Did you bring a date?”

  Tyler smirks and says, “Shit, I almost forgot about her. She’s right over there at the bar, I believe you two know each other.” I look at the bar and a smile forms on my face at his date choice.

  I turn to Tyler and say, “Oh shit, Samantha, the human pretzel! Interesting choice, bro, I’m sure Lyrics will get a kick out of it.”

  “Is it a problem?”

  I shake my head no and say, “Not at all, just stay out of our bathrooms, bedrooms, and closets with her. She’s a freak.”

  Tyler gives a dirty grin and says, “Yeah, she is.”

  I shake his hand and say, “Take a seat, the show’s about to start.”

  The Pastor leads us to our designated spots and Stoney begins to play some background music. Looking out over the crowd, I feel so blessed to have these people here with us, celebrating our commitment. There’s about fifty people, small but very nice. In front are Mom, Dad, Sophia, and a couple cousins. Brent is standing with me and it feels great to have my big brother by my side right now. The Pastor tells me to face him, which is away from the house. He is speaking to us and suddenly I hear the wedding song.

  Pastor says, “You can turn around now.”

  My heart leaps as I turn to find my Lyrics. My mouth is dry, heart is racing, and the feeling of being the luckiest man to ever live overcomes me. She looks prettier right now than I have ever seen anybody look. As she walks down, arm-in-arm with her Dad, emotions take over. Cassie follows Brooke and Tucker as they throw rose petals on the ground. Tucker is holding the ring pillow for dear life. After Stephen kisses Lyrics on the cheek, he shakes my hand, and then takes his seat next to his wife.

  I take Lyrics hand and tell her, “You are gorgeous.”

  She smiles and says, “Ditto.”

  Right now, I couldn’t be happier that we decided to take traditional vows and passed on writing our own. Even if I wanted to speak, I couldn’t. The Pastor is speaking but his words are being washed out by my desire to kiss her after I say I do and hear those words come out of her mouth. The yellow flakes in her eyes are sparkling at me like topaz. I’m breathless. When the Pastor asks her if she takes me, my eyes fill up with tears and I can’t contain them. She reaches up, wipes my tears, and then her own. God, I love this woman. Finally, Tucker hands us the rings and the time has come, we’re in the final stretch. Hearing her speak the words I do, sends my heart into a thumping frenzy. She did it, she said the words I’ve been craving to hear, “I do!” Standing before me is my wife, my stunningly beautiful wife. I couldn’t say I do quick enough.

  The Pastor says, “Ladies and gentlemen, I now pronounce to you Mr. and Mrs. Tanner and Dylan Staff. You may kiss the bride.” I take her into my arms and kiss her for the first time as my wife. No words can describe this feeling. She’s my wife. My wife.

  Chapter 32

  ‘Forever just ain’t long enough.’

  Mr. & Mrs. Staff –

  The End…or Just The Beginning!

  **Epilogue**

  ‘Heaven must look a lot like this.’

  5 years later…

  Nothing snaps you out of the world of fame like hearing your two-and-a-half-year-old daughter cry, “Mommy, Zacky took my doll.”

  I say, “Zachary Eric Staff, give your little sister her doll back, right now.”

  He looks at me with those cute puppy dog eyes and says, “Mother, Charlie threw my Hulk Hogan into dog poop outside and that’s why I have her dumb doll.” I try my best to control the laughter.

  I look at Zachary and say, “You do know that you are only five years old, right? What’s this calling me Mother about? How about we stick with Mommy for now?”

  He says, “Sure thing, Mother.”

  When Tanner walks into the room, both kids run up and Charlie yells, “Daddy” as she leaps into his arms.

  Zachary calmly says, “Father.”

  Tanner looks at me and I say, “I’m Mother and you’re Father. Perhaps our little boy somehow was taken over by a proper English Professor?”

  Tanner laughs and says, “So, guess who
I just got off the phone with? Hint, his name rhymes with Smeith Smurban.” Holy crap!

  I yell, “Keith Urban?”

  Tanner shakes his head yes and says, “Guess what he wanted?”

  “Okay, enough with the guessing game, get to the meat!”

  I feel a tug on my shirt and Charlie says, “Zacky a poo poo head.”

  Zachary yells, “I got your doll, I got your doll.”

  Charlie screams and Tanner says, “Woah there you two, that’s enough fighting. Your big brother is not a poo poo head and Zack, she’s holding her doll so clearly you don’t have it. If y’all want to go on a boat ride, stop this fighting.”

  Both kids say, “Yes sir. Sorry.”

  I say, “Babe, you’re such a good Daddy. Back to Smeith Smurban, what did he say?”

  Tanner says, “Oh nothing much, just that he wants to buy a couple of our songs, nothing big.”

  My heart skips at least ten beats and I jump around like a total geek yelling, “Keith Urban wants to sing our songs!”

  Tanner says, “Zack, go get Charlie her boat clothes please, and get yours too.” Tanner pulls me into him and says, “Didn’t I tell you that your songs were gonna be sung by the best singers? With Keith, that makes five of the top country singers as our clients. You, my sexy wife, you are amazing.”

  I smile and say, “No babe, together we are amazing. Oh yeah I forgot to tell you that Mom, Sophia, and Dads are coming for the weekend. Did you know that the Grandpa’s want to take Zachary hunting with them?”

  Tanner shakes his head yeah and says, “Me, Brent, and Tucker are going too. Pretty sure I told you that, didn’t I?”

  I ask, “Is that in three weeks?”

  Tanner says, “Something like that. So let’s get back to Keith, shall we?” I laugh because Mom already told me who was going on the hunting trip, but Tanner didn’t so I figured I’d mess with him a bit.

  It’s getting late and the kids are in bed asleep. Tanner and I decide to play a few games of backgammon on our bedroom balcony, overlooking the lake. I ask him, “Babe, if you could do anything differently, would you?”

  He thinks for a minute or two and says, “The way I see it is that my wife is actually my best friend. Our son is a rough and tough little guy that is funny and kind. Our baby girl is gorgeous just like her Mama. Together we have made a very successful business out of our music and have plenty of money to live the life we want to live. Well, there may be one thing I’d change.” My attention is piqued.

  I ask cautiously, “What is it you’d like to change?”

  He reaches out, touches my face and says, “I’d like to add a third kid.” I laugh out loud but judging from the look on his face, he’s not joking.

  I say, “A third one huh? I can get onboard with that. Oh gosh, what if we get twins?”

  He laughs and says, “Well, that would knock two birds out with one stone. Would you change anything?”

  I smile and say, “The way I see it, heaven must look a lot like this. Babe, this life that we have is more than anything I could’ve ever dreamt.”

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