by Andrea Smith
“Again, Janet, thank you for finding me and giving me this letter from… my father. I would love to get to know you and find out more about him,” I said warmly.
“Me too. I feel now, Carl… our father will rest in peace. I know, at times I felt jealous of you, Olivia, but I can honestly say, I always wanted you as a sister. I hope now we can get to know each other.”
“I would love that, Janet.” I stood up from the couch and went to hug her. The minute we embraced, I felt the father I never knew, smile down from heaven. And at the same time, I kinda felt the bond of a sister.
Chapter 38
Emmett
It was, as they say, showtime!
Literally.
Emmie was six months old, and it was an awesome age. She could scoot around on the floor, recognized our voices, followed us with her eyes, and loved to play patty-cake. She adored her activity chair which had all kinds of gadgets on it that twirled, beeped, played tunes, and bounced.
“I really think she’s advanced for her age, don’t you, Olivia?” I asked as I was sprawled on the sofa, with Emmie climbing all over my chest, slobbering as she put her stuffed Daddy Shark Do-do-do-do-do-do in her mouth. “I think she’s trying to cut her first tooth, don’t you babe?’
Olivia had an open trunk sitting on the floor of the living room, packing up our tour wardrobe. “Honestly Emmett,” she said looking up with sigh, “you sound every bit as a gloating daddy should, but I could use some help here, babe.”
“Calm down,” I soothed as I sat up and placed Emmie down on her blanket spread out on the carpeted floor. I pulled some of her squeeze toys closer to her reach. “We don’t leave until day after tomorrow, sweetie.”
That earned me a glare. “And we’ve got to prepare for being on the road for three months, sweetie,” she replied facetiously. “The truck will be here tomorrow afternoon to pick two trunks up, one of which remains empty because you haven’t started packing your shit yet.”
“Alright, alright,” I replied. “I’ll get to it now. Can you keep your eye on Emmie while I go upstairs to go through my closet to see what I want to take?”
“Absolutely,” she replied, gracing me with a smile. I knew Olivia was nervous about our first tour, but the group had gained a huge following, and the royalties were rolling in, changing all of our lives in ways none of us ever imagined.
The first leg of the tour took us to Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, L.A., Phoenix, Denver, Dallas, New Orleans, and then up north to Louisville, Detroit and finished in Chicago. We then had a month off before starting the second leg of the tour in Europe.
The only downside was being away from Emmie. Katie would be keeping her. She and Ace had moved to a spacious home not far from here, and they now had plenty of room with a huge yard. We’d made plans for Katie to fly out with the kids at the middle of May when Andrew finished up his first year of pre-school. That still meant seven weeks away from Emmie, and I wasn’t sure how I was going to deal with the situation. Gordy had leased a tour bus for us, which was complete with separate compartments, bathrooms, full kitchen and a driver. It was pretty damn kick-ass.
I was just heading back downstairs with a huge pile of clothes to start filling my trunk when the doorbell rang. My hands were full, so I simply hollered, “It’s open! Come on in!”
The door opened, and there was Stacie, crossing the threshold into our entry hall. “Hey Emmett,” she said looking at my armload of clothing, and giggling, “got a light?”
I dumped the pile of clothing onto the hall table, turning back to look at her. “Stacie, what are you doing here?” I asked, crossing my arms in front of me.
Her brows furrowed in confusion. “What do you mean? It’s the third week of March. Buck and I are back from Florida. I want to see Emmie, what else?”
“Well damn, how stupid of me for even asking,” I retorted, smacking my forehead with my hand for extra effect. “I mean, it’s been what? Three plus months with no calls from you to even check up on her, to ask us how she’s doing? You take the fuckin’ cake,” I finished, shaking my head.
Stacie bristled, and her face contorted in anger. “She’s my baby, Emmett. Not yours! I have every right to take her outta here, and you damn well know it! Buck is prepared to take care of us, and be a family.”
“A family?” I yelled. “She’s got a family. She’s got her daddy and Olivia, and a grandma and grandpa, aunt and uncle, and a cousin, all of whom love her.”
Stacie scoffed. “You aren’t even her father, Emmett,” she sneered. “We didn’t even fuck that night. I just let you think that since we were both so wasted. I figured you’d be my meal ticket cause I knew I was knocked up. Sorry, if this comes as a shock to you, but it’s about time you knew the truth.”
I took two long strides toward her, and towered over her. I actually think she was scared, and trust me, it was wise for her to be scared, because I wasn’t about to let this bitch waltz into our home and take our daughter from us. “My name is on that birth certificate, so legally, Stacie, I am her father. And let me tell you, if you want to hash this out in court, go for it. I’ve got the financial resources to send you back to whatever gutter Buck found you in, so have at it.”
Her lip curled up in a snarl. “I know you’re getting ready to go on tour, and I know Emmie is staying with Katie. So, maybe I’ll just stop by one day for a visit. Katie won’t keep my baby from me,” she threatened, “especially if I have the cops with me.”
Just then, Olivia walked into the room with Emmie in her arms. I could tell by her icy glare, Stacie was gonna see the ‘Mama Bear’ that lived inside my woman. “Change of plans, Emmett,” Olivia said, her eyes not moving from Stacie, and her voice calm, but no-nonsense. “We’ll need to pack some stuff for Emmie. She’s going with us.”
Stacie stood there, a dumbfounded look crossing her face. “You… you can’t do that,” she hissed.
Emmie buried her face into Olivia’s neck. “Watch us, bitch,” Olivia said. “Our lawyer is in the process of filing Desertion charges against you. Leave your address so you can be properly served. Now get the fuck out of our home.”
Stacie backed up, her mouth agape, her eyes as round as saucers as she turned and fled out the door to where Buck apparently waited. I looked out the front window and saw her jump quickly into his truck which had his Harley inside the bed, and within seconds, the vehicle peeled away from the curb.
“You know this isn’t over,” I said with a sigh, “she’ll be back.”
Olivia crossed over to where I was standing, rubbing my chin stubble with a hand. Trying to plan a strategy for when she did. “It doesn’t matter, Emmett,” she said. “We’ll be prepared for whatever she tries to pull. At the end of the day, no court on earth would allow her to take Emmie from us. And we actually do need to have our lawyer work on the Desertion charges. I’ve documented everything. We’ll call him in the morning to get started.”
I walked over to where she was standing with our baby, and put my arms around them both. I gave her a soft kiss on her cheek. “I love you, Olivia.”
“I love you Emmett,” she replied softly, “and I love our life and our baby.”
“Now,” I said, pulling back, “just how exactly are we going to take this baby on the road with us with nobody to help take care of her?’
“Easy-peasy,” she replied with a nod. “I know just the person.”
Chapter 39
Olivia
It had been two months since I discovered the truth about my mother, my father, and most importantly, who I was. How such a sick—mentally-ill person had so much power to keep me from my father. My last name was not even my real last name. It was Mason. And how my mother got away with all of this was unbelievable.
Because of this, I feared how easy it would be for Stacie to take Emmie away. Until our attorney started the process, she’d have every ri
ght. Stacie knew Emmett was never the father, but with his name on that birth certificate, we had some leverage. I wondered just how crazy Stacie could get. Probably just as crazy as my own mother had gotten, and that was just plain scary.
There was no way I would leave her. It was way too risky. Janet and I were growing our new sister relationship, and I had learned so much about my father from her. She had been another blessing in my life. Emmett and Emmie would always be at the top.
I pulled my cell phone out of Emmie’s slobbery mouth. “Emmett, she has a play baby cell phone. Why did you give her mine to play with?”
“Babe, she knows the difference. You can’t fool her,” Emmett said with his baby talk to Emmie.
“Then give her yours. Yuk,” I said, wiping the phone on my shirt.
“Who are you calling?”
“Our traveling baby sitter,” I said, giving him and Emmie a smile.
“Hey Janet,” I purred when she answered. We were now in touch daily, and St. Jo, Michigan, was only two hours away. We made it a point to keep in touch as much as possible, and this was going to be the chance of a lifetime.
“What’s up, Sis?”
“The chance of a lifetime,” I said, sounding like a game show.
“Okayyyy…”
“How would you like to travel the country for the next few months with America’s most awesome breakout band?”
“Well… I most definitely would love to. But why do I feel there’s a catch?” she asked with a chuckle.
“What…” I asked, giving an evil chuckle, “would a sister do you dirty?”
She laughed, and I knew she would be up for it. She had just graduated from Michigan State with her Master’s degree and was working as a freelance marketer from home. Already, she had done great things for the band.
“Okay, a small catch, I admit. We are taking Emmie with us, and…”
“Awe, you mean to tell me that my sweet, little niece needs her Auntie Janet to care for her?”
Although, Janet and I were only step-sisters, and Emmie was not mine, or Emmett’s biologically, we were bonded stronger than any blood family.
“It’s Stacie,” I commented.
“Oh, you mean that skank of a mother? Enough said.”
Janet knew the whole story of Emmett and Stacie, and now that the cat was out of the bag, Ace and Katie knew Emmett wasn’t Emmie’s biological father either. But they were definitely in our court on this issue.
“Yeah, the bad penny just keeps showing up. She thought she’d take Emmie while we’re on the road, but you know, that is not going to happen.”
“Oh, hell to the no! I’ve got this,” Janet replied with a tone that mirrored my concern. “You tell Emmie, Aunt Janet is on her way.”
My smile was ten-fold as I looked over at Emmett, trying to fold his pile of clothes in order to neatly pack his trunk. His progress was sorely limited because Emmie was on her tummy, her chubby little hands grabbing the folded clothes, and pulling them up to her mouth. She was so teething.
“She’s right here. You want to tell her yourself?”
“Oh, please don’t tell me you had me on speaker. I don’t want her to hear me talk like that.”
“Trust me; Emmie’s heard worse from Slade and Wayne. They can’t seem to get their filters to work, and no, you weren’t on speaker, but you are now,” I said and tapped the speaker button. “Emmie, Auntie Janet wants to talk to you.”
Emmie looked up and reached for my phone. But the minute she took it, it went straight into her mouth.
“Emmie poo. Hey, this is Auntie Janet. We are going to have so much fun.” Emmie squealed and let out a stream of ‘da da da da da’ bouncing up and down. I couldn’t help myself and tackled Emmett to the ground.
“I love you so much, Emmett Jackson. It’s all going to work out.”
“Babe, I can always count on you.” He looked up into my eyes, and something looked different–notbad different. But something was just there.
“Something wrong, Emmett?” I asked.
“No. Nothing’s wrong, Babe. Everything is falling into place.”
“You sure? You look a bit reflective.”
“Nope,” he said and tucked a strand of hair behind my ear. “You know, I never got you back for kinda going off on me that day.”
“What are you talking about?” I asked, totally not sure what he was referring to here.
“That first day, Janet came here, and you accused me of something else. What was it exactly?” He smiled with a tease, and I played along.
“Oh, yeah. You and your slutty groupies.”
“There’s only one slutty groupie I want in my life,” he said and then looked over at Emmie. Janet was still talking away, and Emmie was pulling out all of the stacked folded clothes from the pile.
“I think tonight, my slutty groupie is going to get spanked and fucked hard.”
We then heard the distinct sound of somebody clearing their throat. “Um… guys, you know I can hear you, right?” Janet’s voice came across the speaker, and we both laughed hysterically.
“Sorry about that, Sis,” I said. “Get your shit packed. We’ll see you tomorrow bright and early.”
Chapter 40
Emmett
It was opening night of our first concert. Seattle was a great venue, and thankfully, the city had returned to normalcy.
Our premiere tour wasn’t booked at the largest concert hall in the city, but the Paramount Theatre seated thirty-five hundred, and it was sold out. Not bad at all for a newbie group. Gordy said the subsequent concert locations he’d booked had increasing capacity limits, so by the time we reached Chicago, we were booked at Sears Centre Arena, which held nearly twelve-thousand seats.
“Gordy must have a lot of faith in Wasted,” I’d commented to Coop.
“You mean you don’t?” Coop responded with raised eyebrows.
“Just don’t want to jinx it, is all, brother,” I replied.
Regardless of any first-concert jitters any of us might be feeling, there was definitely an adrenaline rush the closer we got to curtain time. A local pop group opened for us, and they had a pretty healthy following so the seats actually filled up during their second set.
There would be a fifteen-minute break between their last set and our opening number. Olivia and I actually opened on vocals in a duet on one of the cover tunes, ‘Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around,’ in true Nicks/Petty style. We’d gotten the rights to it, and it was a perfect opening number.
Olivia walked into my dressing room as I was plucking at new chords on the guitar. I damn near didn’t recognize her. I let out a long, low whistle of approval.
“What?” she asked, looking down at herself and then made quick steps over to the mirror. “It’s bad, isn’t it?’ she asked, her brow wrinkled in concern. “It’s just not me, I fucking told Gordy that when he put together my costumes for this tour.”
I set my guitar on the lounger and walked over to her. “Babe, you look fucking fantastic,” I said, and it was true.
She was wearing a loose-fitting, Bohemian tunic dress that was in a black floral pattern, with a V-neck dip that had a lace inset, which allowed some ample cleavage to show. The dress had long flared sleeves, and the material seemed thin, almost like gauze. It fell mid-thigh, and her long legs made it appear shorter than it actually was. She had on black leather, two-inch block heeled ankle boots that zipped up on the sides.
Her hair was loose and it had been crimped out, making it almost look like a long, golden halo that framed her head, neck and shoulders. A black, felt floppy hat completed her rock-chick look, with a hippie flair that was signature.
“Baby,” I said, “damn, I’m not sure that flimsy little dress covers up your lady bits enough,” I said, still giving her my elevator stare.
“Seriously Emmett,” sh
e said, “please don’t make me feel more insecure than I already do about all of this. I mean it,” she said, her voice carrying an element of uncertainty I wasn’t accustomed to from her.
“Hey babe,” I continued, pulling her into my arms, “I realize this is your first on-stage performance with the band. I guess I didn’t stop to think about your first time stage jitters. But trust me, you’re going to do just fine. We’ve practiced the stage moves a thousand times. You’ve got this, I promise. And you look totally awesome.”
She nodded against me. “I swear, Emmett, if you bring tears to me, I’ll have to go through all that make-up shit again with Janet. She did mine because I was so freaking the fuck out.”
“You’ll be fine, so chill. Hey, we’ve played on stage before, but not to this size, so yeah, we all got a bit of the jitters too, but no matter the size of the audience, I can tell you this: once you get through the first verse of the song, it’s like you lose yourself to the music, and not the crowd. Besides that, remember, for most of the song, we’ll be standing mic to mic.”
She nodded, “You’re right. I’m calming myself down. If you’re right there with me Emmett, I know things will be alright.”
I gave her a soft kiss on the mouth. “Look at you. Hell the rest of us are wearing jeans and T-shirts, all eyes will be on you.”
Why the fuck did I just say that?
“Why in the fuck did you just say that?” she moaned. “I swear, Emmett, sometimes I think you’ve got a little bit of a streak for making appropriate comments at inappropriate times,” she teased.
“Is that right?” I challenged, giving her another hug and a kiss. “Hopefully, I can make that up to you later.”
The crowd was fired up. Our instruments and backdrop was set up, as well as the lighting adjustments for spotlighting, and color mixing. The lighting and sound techs had taken their places, and the group was all in place behind the closed curtain with the exception of Liv, who would make her entrance after we started the first thirty seconds of the instrumental intro of the opening song.