Gavin’s eyes widened. Kellan had never called him anything but his name before. Maybe not wanting to break the moment, Gavin simply nodded his head. Or maybe he was too choked up to speak. I know I was.
For the reception part of our wedding, chairs were brought in for everyone to sit on, and we had a traditional Thanksgiving dinner. Even though it was my idea to get married on Thanksgiving, it was humorous to me, and I had a serious case of the giggles when the nurses started bringing in trays of turkey dinners complete with stuffing, mashed potatoes and gravy, cranberry salad, and green bean casserole. And for our “wedding cake,” we had pumpkin pie. I guess a potluck with baked beans wouldn’t have been so far off the mark after all. But the food didn’t matter—just the company did.
Gavin and my father had done an outstanding job with securing the meal. The turkey was tender and moist, the potatoes were rich and buttery, and the pie was to die for. Everyone was celebrating as they ate—celebrating our marriage, and celebrating a day for thanks. Mom and Dad were chatting with Anna and Griffin, Mom securely holding Gibson. Gavin was alternating between catching up with his son and talking to Carly, who seemed very interested in everything Gavin had to say. Evan and Jenny were cuddling in side by side chairs while they ate. Rachel and Matt were sitting next to each other, both of them all smiles. Abby and Denny were discussing something in the corner, while Cheyenne asked Hailey and Riley about the Avoiding Redemption concert. Kate and Justin were sitting on the windowsill with their heads close together as they talked and flirted; their food looked like it hadn’t even been touched. Kellan wasn’t eating much, but in between giving me a peck or two, he was taking small bites of the potatoes.
It was the perfect ending to a perfect day.
But eventually the good feeling and camaraderie had to end, and people started filtering out. Gavin gave Kellan a warm hug before he left with Hailey and Riley. “As I’ve said before, son, my home is always open to you. Maybe after your tour is over?”
Hailey bumped his leg. “You promised,” she reminded him.
Kellan laughed at his sister. “That would be great. Kiera and I would love to do that.” I nodded in agreement when Kellan looked at me. A quiet vacation sounded nice after all of the craziness we’d had lately. Gavin looked happy and at peace as he left Kellan’s room. I couldn’t be sure, but just outside Kellan’s door, I swear I saw Carly writing down her number for him. It made me laugh a little. He was so much like Kellan.
My bridesmaids were next to leave. Giggling, Jenny, Rachel, Kate, and Cheyenne descended on Kellan and me all at once. We were swarmed by arms, hair, laughter, and tears. Jenny gave me a kiss on my head. “Don’t you ever wind up in a hospital again, got it?” She looked over at Kellan. “Either one of you.”
Kellan’s lips curled up in a devious smile. “Guess you’re having the baby on the bus, babe.”
Jenny’s eyes bulged so far I thought they were going to pop out of her head. I immediately reached over and smacked Kellan’s arm. “I’m not pregnant! He’s joking!” Nobody believed me, and I spent the next several minutes convincing them I was not going to have a baby in nine months. Mom even threatened to make me take a pregnancy test right there at the hospital. Kellan was in a lot of pain as he struggled not to laugh. Served him right. Jackass.
Evan and Matt eventually pulled the girls away. Just as they started ushering them toward the door, Justin said, “Hold up, guys. I’ll come with.” Kate’s topaz eyes sparkled with delight at the idea of spending a few more moments with her rock-star love interest.
Walking up to Kellan and me on the bed, Justin extended his hand to Kellan. “I’m glad you’re doing all right, man.” As they shook hands, Justin’s face grew more serious. “What the label did to you with Sienna was crap. Pure crap. I wouldn’t blame you if you dropped ’em.” Kellan didn’t answer him; I don’t think he’d decided what he wanted to do yet. Seeing an answer in Kellan’s non-answer, Justin smiled and added, “Next tour, when the D-Bags are headlining arenas, we’ll open for you.” He pointed over at Deacon and Holeshot as they were leaving the room with the other members of Avoiding Redemption. “We’ll both open for you.”
Kellan smirked at him. “I’m all for going on tour with you, but we’re not going to be headlining stadiums anytime soon.”
Justin laughed as he ran a hand through his wildly layered hair. “You sure about that? The D-Bags are on top of the world right now. I’d say your days of playing anything but the large venues are long behind you.”