She hits the button that allows them to talk to me in here. “You’re on, Daddy.”
Daddy… the best word I’ll ever hear coming out of her mouth.
I’ve waited for this moment—to share the song I wrote only for her.
I don’t actually sing her name until the very end, so to test the mic, I sing the lyric about having my own Cailin before saying how much I love her.
I watch as Cailin’s eyes go from me to Jack to Sarah and then back to me. Sarah is wiping her eyes as she laughs.
She hits the talk button. “Did you just say my name in that verse?”
“Sure did. How about we sing a song about you this time?”
She jumps up, clapping her hands together. “Seriously, Daddy? About me?”
I let out a joyous laugh. “Yes, about you.”
She jumps off the stool and runs into the booth. “Let me see! Let me see!”
I show her the lyrics, and we go over them together. I’m so impressed on how much she can read. I have to help her with only a few words, but she’s mainly able to say them all on her own.
“Are you okay with me singing a song about you?” I ask.
“Are you kidding? I love it!” She wraps her arms around me. “Thank you so much, Chestnut!”
I hug her with all my might. “I love you, Sugarplum.”
She releases her hold and starts to walk back to the mixing board. “Let’s get this show on the road. We have a song to sing that’s about ME!” She celebrates with a little happy dance, making us all laugh.
32
Adam
While my girls are at school, I decide to work on more song ideas. I get so in the zone when I’m working on music that I don’t even notice I left my phone in my bedroom until it’s almost time for them to be home.
I run to grab it, excited to shoot Jack a text about the new stuff I’m working on when I see I have multiple missed calls and texts from my manager, Bruce.
I don’t bother to listen to the voice mail or read the texts and just dial.
“Goddamn, you’re hard to get ahold of!” he yells into the phone as his greeting. “I was about to send Jack to get your ass since I’m still in New York.”
“Why are you blowing me up?”
“Seriously? Let’s talk about the damn record company blowingmeup. They fucking loved that song. They’re dying to talk to Sarah. I guess they already knew who she was.”
“No shit?”
“Yes shit. They want to put it out on YouTube like you suggested, but they want video of you two singing it together. I’m working up the contracts now. We’ll need her to sign everything before we get going.”
“Wait, they want a music video? That’s a lot to put together for a song that hasn’t even released yet.”
“They don’t want your standard video. They want the two of you in the studio, like you’re recording it for the first time. More natural. No special effects or big production.”
I nod slowly as a grin covers my face. “I like it.”
It’s a perfect idea. What a great way to introduce Sarah to the world. This record is about us, so having a video that shows just that will be the cherry on top to this amazing song.
“I knew you would. Now, when can we make this happen? With Max in rehab, they want to focus on you two to help take pressure off of him.”
