I got up from the piano and went over to him, gently taking his guitar.
“Told you that you were going to nail it,” I whispered to him.
He blinked, finally coming out of his shock and looked at me, swallowing hard.
“Come on,” I said and helped him off the stage.
I nodded at one of the volunteers and he easily went past us to introduce the next act.While it was my job, it was clear that Calvin needed me.His first successful performance and I had no doubt it was leaving him raw and confused.I’d felt the same way after my first time on stage.
Once we were safely off the stage, I crouched down.“You did it.That was amazing, Calvin.You made everyone feel something special.”I pulled him into a tight hug.He gripped me hard, his own body shaking with his emotions.“I’m so proud of you.”
I didn’t have a chance to do much else because then Paxon and George were there, pulling him into their own hugs.George still had tears in his eyes, but the good kind as he smiled from ear to ear with pride.
Calvin was finally able to pull through his emotions and then he was laughing and smiling just as much as his family was.Leaving them to their moment, I went back to my post and introduced the last of the performances.At the end, a huge group of the performers, Calvin included, returned to the stage for a farewell Christmas-themed song, wrapping up the concert perfectly.Everyone stood on stage, arms hooked together as they swayed, with huge grins on their faces.Even the audience joined them, many standing and swaying too.
I never felt so much pride and happiness as I stood singing along.Paxon came up next to me, holding my hand and joining me.He didn’t say anything except the words to the song, but it felt great having him there at my side as we joined with everyone else in the building, singing along with the amazing kids on stage.
This concert became hope and cheer, exactly what so many people needed this time of year.It was a togetherness I had never witnessed before.
Backstage quickly filled with overwhelming energy as people got ready to leave.Kids hugged their families, showing off their costumes and grinning with pure happiness.More than one parent was trying to discreetly wipe away their tears, proud of what their kids had done.Volunteers were having their own celebrations, giving each other high-fives.The air buzzed with laughter and excitement.This couldn’t be any more perfect than it already was.
Janice caught me just as I was untangling a string of lights that had somehow gotten wrapped around a chair leg.Right away, I knew this concert was exactly what she’d needed.She looked lighter, the weight she’d been carrying all week visibly softer at the edges.
“That was incredible,” she said, her voice full of warmth.“Calvin was amazing.They all were.”
I nodded, swallowing around the lump in my throat.“Yeah, they really were.”I stared down at the light, playing with one of the bulbs with my fingers.“I think I forgot how good this feels.”
Janice gave me a half-smile, nudging me gently.“You were right.This was worth it.Thank you for dragging me out of the house.”
Toby appeared between us, sweeping both of us into side hugs, wrapping his arms around our shoulders.“Cadence, you pulled it off.This whole place was magic tonight.”
I glanced around at the kids still laughing and singing together even though the event was over.“Yeah, it really was magic, wasn’t it.”
He chuckled.“And it’s all thanks to you.”
“We should probably give Seth some credit for nudging his job to sponsor this.Otherwise, it wouldn’t have even been an idea.”
“Well, maybe later.I don’t want him growing a bigger head than he already has.”
We laughed and as the parents finally managed to get their kids to at least head toward the door to leave, we were able to clean up.Cleaning took up the rest of the evening, into the night, but it was worth it.Despite being there later than we’d wanted, everyone was still full of smiles as we took everything down and stacked chairs.Someone from Seth’s job even showed up with a ton of sandwiches, chips and drinks.
Seth, Toby, and Justin stayed to help out.I had to force Paxon to go with his dad so they could celebrate Calvin.He only agreed once I promised to go on a date with him tomorrow for Christmas Eve.
