Page 52 of Higher Notes

“While I appreciate the offer, let Snipe and I do this for the kids. If that’s okay with you?” Jason fronted all the money for the furniture for the kids’ rooms. I had no clue what his finances were. Probably something he, Snipe, and I should sit down andhash out. Not necessarily to the dollar but a shared account for housing expenses would be wise.

Little did the kids know but the contractor was painting their rooms in their chosen colors tomorrow. We asked them to hold off until after the walkthrough today so it would be a surprise come Saturday. We wanted them to be comfortable and excited about this new adventure and having things they loved would help.

Two hours and an ungodly amount of money later, Snipe, Jason, and I had played more Skeeball and ticketing games than we had in our lives. All to win…wait for it…a stuffed unicorn and bear that stood no taller than six inches each.

Yes. Six. Inches.

The equivalent of what you’d find at a local dollar store.

But the two six-year-olds currently snoring soundly in their car seats firmly gripping the new stuffies were more than worth it. The fact that the angry preteen actually smiled while we were there exemplified the worth of loss of income.

The way to a preteen’s heart was through game tokens. Duly noted.

Huh, that could get expensive…

We carried the twins inside and right to bed. Gabe immediately logged into his gaming system and was lost to it for the remainder of the afternoon. Meanwhile, the three of us went through the closets boxing donations and labeling things to move. By the time Dana got home from work, we had dinner cooking and everything we could packed.

Then we headed out for Jason, Marley, Nigel, and Josh’s time to shine. I loved that they were having a party for their first CD launch.

The music was thumping and could be heard outside Mickey’s house as we pulled up.

“The party is in full swing already.” I swear, Jason hadn’t stopped smiling since he got the call from Easton. “I’m so fucking excited to hit the road.”

What we didn’t expect was for Diamond to pick him up and swing him around as soon as we stepped inside.

“Fucking gold right off the bat. So proud of you guys and the new CD fucking rocks!” Diamond squeezed Jason as he sat him down. “Sikes, Snipe, bet you’re ecstatic.”

“We are and being privy to the whole process only deepens that.” Jason and the guys worked hard and honestly, not being biased at all but Chaotic’s music, hell, all the Masterson’s bands for that matter were some of mine and Snipe’s favorites.

Josh, Marley, and Nigel barreled around the corner and nearly tackled Jason.

“Dude, we fucking did it!” Josh howled. It was great to see him get his break and see the friendship building between him and Jason.

“We did and gold on our first drop!”

It was only up from here for the guys and Snipe and I were happy to be along for the ride.

Chapter Fifteen

Snipe

“Put the couch over there facing the fireplace.” As if they were inside my head, they placed it exactly how I wanted it. “Yeah, thanks.” This was by far one of the largest sectional couches I’d ever seen.

Sikes was upstairs helping the kids set up their rooms, Jason was working on ours and Dana was in hers while I supervised the downstairs furniture placement. Thankfully we’d bought half the damn store, so our overall purchase included assembly as well. Hell, in my eyes that was the least they could do given the thousands we’d spent.

While the workers put the tables together I laid out the rugs Dana had picked out and ordered online then mounted the TV above the fireplace. The upstairs loft that separated their bedrooms from ours would serve as the game room for the kids and be where the TV that Gabe’s beloved gaming system washooked up to would reside. The TV downstairs was for family movie nights or for those of us who didn’t care to stare at whatever game he was obsessed with. Dana mentioned limiting his playtime and involving him in more family time. It’d be interesting to see how that panned out.

“Oh. My. God. Wyatt!” Nicole’s scream echoed through the house. I took the stairs two at a time as I ran up to see why.

“What’s wrong?” I glanced around. No blood. No bodies lying around. “What happened?”

“Hayden, look at my princess bed! Isn’t it to die for?”

Where did she learn these things? “It’s, um, very pink?” Sikes had gone all out on this one. It had a matching canopy and princess sheets and comforter. I’d not seen this much pink since I’d battled and lost to Pepto and painted the barracks a putrid pink.

“Come on, let’s go check on your brothers.” She skipped out of the room, following Sikes into Nolan’s very blue and green room. He couldn’t pick a favorite, so we gave him both.

“Nolan, I love all the animals.” Nicole walked around the room, pointing each species out. They were simple decals that had been applied to the walls like the giant princess crown on Wyatt’s princess’s bedroom wall. “Do you like it?”

---