“Oh, thank you Jimmy!” she exclaimed and conversation returned to the baby.
While we waited for dinner to get here, I told them to head to my rehearsal room to check out my stuff. I wanted to talk to Ronny. The teenagers rolled their eyes but left the baby alone to head down the hall.
“I didn’t realize you were having a whole big thing tonight. Introducing the kid and her dad to your fam finally?”Ronny asked as he picked his bags back up and started towards the kitchen. I glanced back at the baby and then followed him.
“No. Tate was here and had to go. I asked to keep her while he went to a do something for his job. I haven’t really had her by myself yet.”
“Why would you? It’s not your kid.”
His words stung. I swallowed the lump in my throat and chose to ignore his comment.
“I didn’t realize we had plans,” I said, watching him unpack groceries.
“We didn’t but that’s one of the perks of not having kids or extra people living here. I can decide to do something nice for my friend and not deal with a crying baby all night.” It looked like he had planned to make a nice meal. I felt a twinge of guilt but then remembered that we weren’t together anymore. I didn’t have to cater to him anymore.
“You’re an extra person living here,” I pointed out. “I think you’re getting mad over nothing. It was just dinner.”
“Maybe. Or maybe it was me trying to repair our relationship. Maybe I want to try to be friends again, and this was a starting off point. I thought that we could have a good meal, some nice wine, and talk about something not related to Tate or thatfucking kid.” He glanced over at her bed and shook his head in disgust. “Whatever. I’m over it. You sure are.”
I fled the kitchen and his sadness over our failed relationship. Or was it me who was sad? I didn’t think he was as sad as he was angry.
I went and checked on the baby. She was still sleeping, as if the world around her wasn’t going on with their lives.
“Is it good? I wanna go see what the kids are up to.” Ronny came towards me, looking distastefully at the bassinet.
“She, not it. You know that. Stop being like this,” I sighed. He shrugged.
“Honestly, she looks more like a little potato more than anything right now.”He came over and peered into her bed. His eyes showed some mild interest.
“She’s not a potato. Come on,” I rolled my eyes and grabbed his arm, turning him around. “Let’s see if they fucked anything up in there.”
I took the monitor as Ronny and I went to the rehearsal room. The three young adults were already inside exploring the room, looking at everything with interest.
“How many guitars do you need?” Lola said, looking at the wall covered in them.
“One for every day of the week,” Rosa quipped. She understood. She loved playing the guitar. She was taught by a great guitarist, her father.
“I thought you were dropping out of Calico Cruise?” I asked Lola. Calico Cruise was the band the pair were in with my brother Blue, and Rosa’s older brother Rocky. Last time I heard any news about them my brother was out, and Lola was stepping down from singing. Lola frowned.
“I was. But then we lost Blue too. Rosa convinced me to stay,” she looked over at her friend admiring the guitar wall. “I’m not going to sing anymore.”
“What are you doing then?” I knew full well that Lola couldn’t play any instrument.
“I’m teaching her the bass. Uncle Derek’s helping. She needs a lot of help,” Rosa laughed.
“I do not!”
“Who’s your vocals then?” I asked, trying to keep up. Rosa spun around and threw her hands up.
“Boom baby! You’re looking at her.”
I blinked. Rosa? Good choice. She was a gorgeous girl with the voice to match. Add in her larger than life personality, if they kept at it, they’d go far.
“Okay, so what spot is open now?” I used my fingers to try to count who was in and who was out.
“I’m playing guitar and singing right now, but Ben’s learning all of our songs and he’s going to take Blue’s place soon. We want to upgrade our equipment before we start looking for more gigs.”
I looked over at Ben. He was smiling sheepishly at his girlfriend.
