“Great. It’s been a lot of fun so far. We have three more weeks left so we are going to start kicking it up a notch. Rehearsal 5 days a week, plus on weekends we’ll be finishing building the set and then painting everything. Ugh, I’m tired already.”
“I bet. I know these long days in the studio are kicking my ass,” she grumbled and then rolled her eyes when she saw my look of concern.
“It’s not because of Tot. Just because I'm human. I think it’s wearing on all of us a little. Adrian and Derek’s hands are all sorts of wrapped up, I’m downing hot tea and lozenges like candy.”
“I know. Mark’s shoulder is starting to ache. I don’t know how you guys do it. You sure are dedicated.” She smiled through her bite of bread.
“Well we aren’t touring until Tot comes, and I don’t know how I'm going to be in a few months. I might start to lose steam with the kids and the music. We’re just trying to cram as much work in as we can right now. Just in case.”
“Did you get put on bed rest with the twins at all?” I asked. She shook her head.
“No, but I was as big as a house. With all the stress Christopher used to cause I probably should have been in bed. Pregnancy with Blue was like heaven compared to the twins.”
I chuckled. “I’m sure the birth was much better too. Considering you only had to do one.”
She laughed.
“Yeah, that was nice. Having Ethan and everyone else there was nice too.” She sat back and placed her hands on her belly. She smiled softly at me.
“God I can’t wait. You are going to be an amazing mom.”
My eyes started to water, but I held them in place. She sat up straight and reached for another breadstick.
“Plus, now we have enough for a full band! We have Jimmy on drums, Dallas on guitar, and Blue, Tot, and Rocky can fight for vocals, bass, and another guitar. They are gonna top the charts before they finish high school.” She laughed.
“Technically so did all of you,” I teased. She scowled.
“Yeah, but they aren’t going to be dumbasses and quit like we did.”
“I got mine on the road. Home schooled my last year. Got the diploma in the mail.”
She eyed me curiously.
“You left home to travel in a theatre troupe? What prompted that? Were your parents mad?” I took a sip of my lemon water.
“I left when I was seventeen. I had met a boy. The whole young, dumb, and in love thing. My parents were pretty pissed when they found out, but figured since I was almost eighteen they wouldn’t bother trying to force me to come back.” She raised an eyebrow.
“A boy? Obviously it didn’t work out, but how long did it last? Did you regret it?” She quickly asked and then apologized. “Sorry, I don’t mean to give you an interrogation. It’s just- we’ve never really talked. Or when we do talk it’s about me, Mark, or the band. It’s not fair.”
I chuckled.
“You’re fine. Let me think, the boy? His name was Thomas. We dated for about four years. We just kind of fizzled out. The break-up was pretty mutual. We both stayed with the troupe. It was all we knew. I dated casually for a few years after that, until I met Mark. He scooped me up and wouldn’t let go.” I smiled, thinking about the first time we met. He was so cute.
“Wait, Thomas. Is that the Thomas that is playing your brother in the play? Does Mark know?” She pointed a breadstick at me and furrowed her brows. A chill of guilt ran through me. I coughed.
“Yes, it is the same guy. Mark does know about my previous relationship. If he has a problem with it, he hasn’t said anything to me.”
She frowned.
“Me either. I guess that’s a good thing. If he was upset about it, we wouldn’t have heard the end of it.” Relief came and took some of the guilt away. She switched gears soon after.
“My belly is getting hard now, even though I’m not showing. You want to feel it?”
Eagerly I reached out and felt her stomach. Sure enough, it felt rock hard.
“That is so cool. Thanks for sharing that with me,” I said, now I was going to start crying. She reached out and hugged me.
“Of course! I want to share everything I can with both of you guys. Just because I’m the oven doesn’t mean you shouldn’t get to experience fun pre-mom stuff.”
