Page 5 of Revived

“Come on then, let’s get the introductions out of the way so that everyone can hop off the ledge they’re all hovering on.” She glanced down at the case I was carrying in my hand and raised a brow. “Plan on playing a concert for everyone?”

I turned it so she could see the bow on it. “Nope. You said he was a musician and he just had a birthday. I figured this was one thing I could do – come bearing presents for the first time.”

Kendra’s eyes misted before she ducked her head and allowed her blond locks to flow across her face and obstruct my view. “He’ll love it,” she whispered before swiping at her face then moving further down the hall.

One thing I noticed as we moved through the space, was that while Kendra had kept the house, it was now very different from the space she had grown up in. Instead of the forbidden air the house once held, with its museum quality everything, the place now looked lived in and full of life. There was color everywhere, art on the walls that didn’t make sense when placed in proximity to the next piece. There were framed photographs that would have never been allowed on the walls when her parents were alive. I understood why she had kept the house in that moment. She turned her own prison into a wonderful home for her family, for our son.

“Love what you did with the place,” I told her just before we made our way to what used to be a formal sitting room. Kendra glanced back at me over her shoulder and grinned.

“You ain’t seen nothing yet,” she laughed as we rounded the corner and I was stunned stupid by the colorful array of furniture blended with so many instruments, I didn’t know where to look first. At least, that’s what I thought. Then I spotted the three boys off to the side arguing over something they were looking at. It must have been something on one of their phones because that was all I saw. My eyes landed on each one, wondering, and then it hit me the moment he looked up and his eyes met my own. I knew exactly which one was Chevy because damn if the boy didn’t look just like me.

His eyes rounded out in surprise and then his jaw dropped, as if he were going to say something, but was stunned silent instead.

“What the hell, Chev?” One of the other boys asked before he followed his brother’s gaze and realized why he’d suddenly become a statue. “Holy shit! It’s true. She wasn’t lying,” the kid said. I turned in just enough time to catch Kendra’s amusement as she threw a pillow from the nearby couch at the boys to snap them out of their stupors.

“Watch that mouth, Dak,” she chided first. “Guys, this is Gabe – Chevy’s father.” Then Kendra turned to me, “Gabe these three, lifeless idiots are my boys, Chevy, Ford, and Dakota.”

“Dak,” the third boy, who seemed as though he might be the youngest, called out as I nodded his way. “Awesome to meet ya,” he stated coolly, before taking notice of the case in my hands the same way his mother had. “Came prepared for a private concert to win us over, huh?”

“Dakota!” Kendra huffed out, but I didn’t miss the humor in her voice as she did. She had to know he was so much like her.

“Actually,” I twisted the case around to show them that it had a bow on it. “I brought this one for Chevy. I hear I just missed your eighteenth birthday.”

“Along with all the other ones,” Ford hummed out.

“Ford!” It shocked me to hear that Hex was the one correcting his behavior. “What’s wrong with you right now? The whole situation was explained to you.”

“Shit!” The kid hissed before glancing my way quickly and ducking his head down a bit in shame. “Ignore me. I’m just jealous. If you had come back for them, maybe you’d be my dad too and I wouldn’t have…” he cut himself off when Chevy threw an elbow into his stomach.

“Get your own rock star dad,” he teased his brother, and it was the first time hearing my son’s voice. Jesus, it was so like my own. Immediately, I wondered what kind of crazy harmonies we could put down on tracks and I had to shake off the thought as I pushed forward and handed the guitar case over.

“Got this for you. I know it’s not much, considering how much time we’ve missed out on, but I didn’t want to show up empty handed. From what your mom tells me, I couldn’t go wrong with music.” Yep, that was me. Smooth as syrup while babbling to my son for the first time.

“Holy shit!” He choked out as he reached for the case that I held toward him.

“Chevy,” Kendra reprimanded.

“Ah, come on mom, he’s a fucking adult now,” Ford teased.

“And you’re not, so watch that mouth too” Kendra corrected with that sass I used to love so much. Hex hid his grin behind the beer he tipped up to his mouth. It made me wonder if the boys pushing their boundaries with the bad language was a common occurrence. “Besides, he still lives in my house, he lives by my rules,” Kendra added as she narrowed her gaze on her son – our son.

“Sorry, mom,” Chevy apologized as his brother rolled his eyes.

“Kiss ass,” Ford called out to his brother under his breath.

“I heard that,” Kendra warned.

“Momma’s gonna beat your ass if you keep it up, Ford.”

“Dakota Andrew Kendrick!” Kendra ground out, clearly losing her patience with her sons at that point.

“What?” He yelped. “Oh, shit, I accidentally said…”

Ford tipped over, bending at the waist as he laughed at his younger brother. “You stepped in it now, little brother. Mom’s going to be beating your ass.”

“Ford Thomas Kendrick.”

Chevy laughed at both of his brothers. “She three named both of you,” he told them. “You might want to start running now.”

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