Cash wasn’t sure where his father was, but he couldn’t sweep the sea of children to see if his half-siblings were down here or not. Uncle Morris and Aunt Leigh stood to his left, and Uncle Mav always seemed to be where the majority of the children were, so he held Uncle Jem’s youngest—a little girl named Skye—and had his own nine-year-old daughter at his side, right smack dab in the middle of the crowd.
“Okay.” Adam cleared his throat. “Thank you to those of you who sent in your news when I emailed asking about it.”
Cash hadn’t had anything to report on, so he hadn’t actually answered that email. His anticipation as to who had, though, built as Adam looked down at his notes.
“First up,” he said, lifting his head. “Jerry and Cecily would like to invite everyone to a family birthday party for Jerry the first Saturday of March.”
“Wow,” someone said, and it sounded like Uncle Gabe. “We’re scheduling out to March?”
“It’s your father’s birthday in March,” Aunt Hilde said, and Cash glanced over to find her with her phone out, tapping away. “And we’ll be extremely blessed if he’s still alive then, so don’t be so grumpy.”
Cash’s heart fell all the way to the bottom of his boots and jack-knifed right back into place. Of course, he knew his grandpa wasn’t well, and hadn’t been well, for a while, but losing him? The thought had not actually occurred to Cash.
“Please reserve the day,” Adam said. “And more details will be forthcoming.” He searched the crowd for a moment anddidn’t seem to find what he was looking for. “We have a few pregnancy announcements.”
Those words sent a ripple of whispering through the backyard, and Adam seemed to relish in it. “Up first, Morris and Leigh are excited to welcome another baby to their family this spring.”
“Ho-ly-cow,” Uncle Gabe said, and Uncle Morris pulled his wife close to his side and raised one hand in a wave as a round of applause began. Cash would have to take his hand out of Lark’s to do that, and he didn’t want to do that, so he whistled through his teeth and whooped as loudly as he could.
Gabe reached his twin and pulled him into a hug, and the crowd settled as Adam cleared his throat again. “I think most people know Harry and Belle are expecting their first little bundle of joy in early summer, and….”
Cash actually found himself leaning forward, his attention stuck on Adam’s face.
“Codi and Bryce are having their second baby this summer as well. It’s still very early for them, and they’d appreciate prayers and peace—which is Bryce’s way of asking everyone to pretend like they don’t know about the pregnancy until the New Year, when they’ll be happy to answer questions.”
Tex edged closer to Adam, and Cash watched as something rolled across his uncle’s face. “So…you’re saying we can’t ask any questions?”
“That’s what the notes say,” Adam said.
“Bryce?” Uncle Tex said into the mic, really straining to get close enough for it to amplify his voice.
“No questions, Daddy,” Bryce called from the deck above Cash, and he couldn’t help grinning. Several others chuckled, especially when Tex scoffed and turned back to Trace and Otis.
“And our biggest news has to do with Country Quad itself.” Adam’s shoulders straightened, and he took on an air ofconfidence. “The fellas have agreed to and signed a contract to produce a Christmas album.”
Cash pulled in a breath, which matched the reaction of several others around him. Someone even asked, “What?” in a voice made of disbelief.
Because Cash’s uncles in the mega-popular country music band of Country Quad had been retired for a few years now.
“They’ll each continue to live here in town, and they’ll record the entirety of the album here in the studio behind me.” He glanced down at his paperwork again. “They will not be doing a multi-city tour, but will follow Harry’s lead for his last album and do entirely local performances, broadcast live around the world.”
“Is this an independent record?” Harry called.
“Good question,” Adam said, and that soundedsorehearsed. “Country Quad has broken from King Country, and has signed a one-record deal—that’s a very important detail. This is for one album and one album only—with…Young Family Media.”
“Young Family Media?” Cash asked, his brows knitting together in confusion.
“Which leads me to our final announcement of the evening,” Adam said. “Harry and Belle approached me with an idea several months ago, about forming a family company to produce their own albums.”
He took a breath, and Cash grinned as Harry mounted the steps and headed toward Adam. “Or movies, or TV shows, or any other type of media. That’s how we came up with the name of Young Family Media.”
Adam nodded over to Harry and handed him the mic. “And we took the idea to everyone in the Young family,” he said. “And anyone who wanted to have a role was offered the opportunity, and I’m happy to say that every single uncle opted in. Some in bigger ways than others, and I’ll be heading the company—for which we’re still waiting for the official documents to come through—and our first and only project for next year will be the Country Quad Christmas album.”
“All right!” someone yelled, and that started a round of cheering that only the Youngs could achieve. Cash once again whistled, and Lark turned into his chest, almost cringing into him.
“Sorry,” he said, and she shook her head.
“Your family is loud.”
