Paige wiggles in my arms, letting out a faint cry. I pat her bottom to lull her back to sleep. I’m the midnight feeder, the one who gets up with her if she wakes up at night, and the one who takes the late shift when the kids are sick. This is my time with them, especially with Paige. When Noah’s sick, he lies on the couch and I sit next to him, but I’m there to help when needed. It’s actually my favorite time with them, the one on one. It’s at night when I can clear my thoughts, and when I’m holding Paige in my arms, the lyrics flow. She’s my inspiration, my reason for being.
After she was born, I took a hard look at my life. Josie and I sat down and hammered out a plan... for now, the music stays and Josie is happy with that. Before Paige was born we said we’d spend summers in Los Angeles, but now that JD and Jenna have moved here permanently, I have a feeling her stance might change.
Josie’s hesitation is her parents, but since they’re retiring they’re willing to travel. My hesitation is Noah. He’s going to excel at Beaumont High and part of me would like to see him do it in my number. I’d like to see his name next to mine in the record books. Ultimately, I’m letting him make the decision. If he wants to stay, we’ll stay and make everything work. I wouldn’t be the only musician in the world to have two houses.
After the first of the year, my mother is moving into her former home. I own it, and will continue to until her divorce from my father is final. Apparently, my mom could live with the mistreatment and emotional abuse, but would not live with adultery. I don’t blame her. The money she was left by her father is in my name as well, something my father will never be able to touch.
I have no qualms about setting my mother up. We’ve made amends, and she’s been a rock for Josie and me. It pains me that my father destroyed such a beautiful light. I have no doubt my mom would’ve reached the highest peak of stardom, although if it weren’t for meeting Sterling, I wouldn’t be here today.
Shortly after Paige was born, I sat down with Josie and asked why the name “Betty”. She finally confessed that during our issues earlier in the year she had gone to the attic and found a box full of stuff that had belonged to my grandparents, a box I didn’t know about. I spent an hour going through the contents, learning about whom my grandfather was and how much he loved not only my grandmother, but my mother as well. And I forgave Josie on the spot because if she hadn’t done that, she wouldn’t have felt connected to my grandma enough to name our daughter after her.
The band has a new manager and record deal with Capitol Records. We’ll be back in the studio once the holidays are over and looking to go on tour by the end of next year. Josie and the kids plan to join me once football is over, but only until baseball season starts for Noah. His sports life is important to me.
Our manager is just like Sam, but nicer and missing the evil bone. The wives balked at first, but once they got to know Mira, they brought her into their fold. I do think, however, that it’s a case of “keep your friends close, but your enemies closer”.
The light behind me comes on and I turn and see Noah eyeing the tree. I smile and look down at the presents pouring out from underneath it.
“Santa came,” he says. Over the past few months, he’s changed. He’s grown a few inches and has started keeping his hair short like me.
“He did.”
“Do you think any of those are for me?”
I shrug and rub my hand on Paige’s back. “I don’t think Paige can open any yet so I’m willing to bet most are for you.”
“Awesome. I’m going to go wake everyone up.”
I look at my watch and realize Paige and I have been up for five hours, just staring out the window, reflecting on life. It was the fastest five hours of my life.
As soon as Josie enters the room, she comes over to kiss Paige, even offering one up for me.
“Merry Christmas,” I say against her lips.
“Merry Christmas.”
Paige takes this opportunity to wake-up and as soon as she sees Josie, it’s a full on whimper. She doesn’t need dad anymore because the milk wagon is in town. I hand her over to Josie with a kiss on her forehead.
“I’ll make you some tea.”
In the kitchen, I start coffee and hot water for tea, and I plate up the pastries we ordered for breakfast. I carry those into the living room first and am greeted by Mrs. Preston who is getting the coffee and tea trays ready.
“Merry Christmas, Liam.”
“Merry Christmas.” I kiss her on the cheek and even though I’ve known her half my life, I can’t bring myself to call her by her first name. The same goes for Mr. Powell.
I follow her back into the living room with the drinks and see that everyone is awake. I put on my Santa hat, as is tradition, and take my position next to the tree, grabbing the first present.
“To Grandma Bianca, from Noah.”
My mother beams when I hand her the present and wastes no time tearing into the box that he wrapped for her. Her eyes tear up the moment she lifts the lid, pulling out the same picture book that I got on my first Christmas with Noah.
“My mom helped, but I thought you’d like to have some pictures of me when I was a baby so they could go next to Paige’s.”
I don’t believe there’s a dry eye in the house when she pulls Noah into her arms and tells him that she loves him.