Page 7 of Revived

“How the hell did you luck out with the Viking, rock star dad and I got pansy-ass Mayor piss-his-pants as mine?”

“I’m sure there’s a story behind that name,” I laughed.

“Oh, there is,” Hex mentioned casually, though from the look on his face, I’d guess he was the reason the Mayor had been dubbed anything with piss and pants strung together.

“I still owe you for that one,” Ford told him before he handed me an older Gibson from the stand that had been nearest him. “Sorry, we don’t have anything fancy like you got Chev.”

I laughed. “I started out with my beautiful Betty Lou.”

“You really called your guitar that?”

“She was already named when I got her, but the sassy bitch that she was, I couldn’t change it and she never did me wrong.” I shrugged my shoulders again as I got comfortable sitting at the edge of their couch with the Gibson in my hands. “What are we playing, kid?”

“Simple Man,” he called out. I immediately turned to Kendra. It had been a favorite of hers.

“Good choice,” I told him as I started in a couple notes behind my son, who quickly became one with the guitar I got him, as if they were meant to belong to one another all along. At one point, I stopped playing along and just listened, taking in the tonal quality of his voice.

I thought he would sound just like me, but there was a cry to his voice that mine had never possessed and it would take him so much further in the music world as a result. Once the rest of the world got a listen, I had no doubts they’d never let him go. The idea both filled me pride and scared me shitless, because the music world I wanted so damn much that I ended up selling my soul, my love, and as it turned out, my kid for… it could be a rough fucking road to travel down and a fucking ridiculously lonely one at that.

As the final notes to the song dwindled into nothingness, Chevy glanced up and actually blushed a little bit when he noticed we were all just enthralled by his performance. “Upstaged on our first meeting, how about that?” I called out as I smiled at my son.

“Nah,” he tried to deny.

“You have something really special there, don’t ever talk yourself out of what you know deep down. That was phenomenal.” I glanced down at my watch then. “I actually have some friends in town that would love to jam with us later, if you’re up for a concert tonight. I can probably get everyone in to see them and backstage passes too.”

“No way! Are you talking about Fourth Down and The Infinite Everything?” Ford’s eyes didn’t know where to land as I answered. They kept bouncing back and forth between me, Kendra, and Chevy, damn near imploring everyone to allow him to tag along too.

“I am.”

“I’m going to jump right in before she gets any ideas,” Hex stated while glancing toward his daughter. The raven-haired beauty had been silently watching from over by the doorway instead of coming to join everyone. I noticed a camera in her hands as she stood there, but she never once aimed it at me directly, except when I first handed Chevy his gift. “You’re not going backstage at any concert until you’re older, baby girl.”

She rolled her eyes, obviously already anticipating that response. “It’s fine,” she huffed. “When my brothers make it big, I’ll be their tour photographer and I’ll have to be backstage anyway.” She stuck her tongue out at her dad and then got up and walked away.

I couldn’t help laughing because she reminded me of her mother when we were younger. I glanced over at Hex. “Good luck with that.”

He laughed. “She’ll be fine. Harley knows what’s good for her.”

“How about the rest of you?”

“I really think this should be something that Chevy gets to do with his father alone this time, guys.” Kendra addressed the other two boys. Disappointment weighted Ford’s shoulders down, but Dakota gave me a different kind of look. He seemed to have already been resigned to what Kendra was saying, but there was a warning to his glare as his eyes met mine. ‘Don’t hurt my brother.’ I’d bet anything that’s what he was trying to convey with the look.

“I’m not going anywhere,” I said while still watching Dak. “Next time, I’ll have all of you boys tag along and we’ll make a whole day of it, if it’s okay with your mom.” I tacked the last on, remembering that she would have the final say on whatever happened in the future too. Chevy was mine, but the other boys weren’t. I couldn’t push for too much where they were concerned, even though I knew it would be important to Chevy that they were included too.

“It kind of sucks that you guys can’t come,” Chevy told his brothers.

“Nah, man. You two will probably be talking through all the good parts anyway, trying to get to know one another. It’s cool.” Ford answered him. “Next time though, we’re coming!”

“That’s the plan,” I told him.

~*~

Three hours later we were watching as the boys from the Fourth Down opened the show. “That’s going to be me one day,” he mentioned, but I didn’t think he meant for me to hear.

“I believe you,” I yelled back so he could hear me over the insane drum beat. Chevy smiled at me then, as if I’d just given him something far greater than the guitar that he received from me earlier. I’d given him hope. I knew what that felt like because I’d once allowed my vision to be clouded and my priorities and reality to be skewed just enough by someone’s belief in me and my gifts that I ended up losing out on something far more precious. My relationship with the woman I loved and the life I could have had with my son.

3 – Running on Empty

Three months. That was how long my son had been in my life. The scheduled stops I still had to make started to feel like a burden when I realized it would mean time away from getting to know not only Chevy, but the rest of his family. Since Chevy had finally graduated, and was free to do what he wanted, we made plans for him to come to New York since the band was heading into the studio for a bit.

---