Chapter Eighteen
It tooka week of having his mom watch Cara for a few hours every day before we found a new nanny. Thankfully, Felicia very uninterested in any of our friends. She preferred the company of women, she explained when Tate so rudely, and inappropriately asked her at her interview. She met the band the first week she was moved into the apartment above the bookstore without even a hint of chemistry between anyone.
I felt bad about having to ask Elena to move out, but Tate was adamant. I understood, but it was still awkward to see her sobbing. Especially when she asked me if Ronny or Dallas had mentioned her. Apparently, after getting caught, Ronny had lost interest, and her number.
He didn’t get off that easy though. Every time he complained that our schedule was off, I reminded him that if he hadn’t slept with our nanny, it wouldn’t be off at all.
“Another short day?” Ronny said a day or two after they’d been caught in the act. Tate set his sticks down and stalked out of the room. He was beyond furious with him. Not enough to kick his ass like he used to be, but he refused to talk to Ronny until we found a new caretaker for Cara. Thankfully, it didn’t take as long as it had to get Elena.
“We wouldn’t have this problem at all if you kept your dick in your pants,” I shot at him as I set my mic back on its stand.
“You didn’t seem to have an issue when I was keeping it in you,” he laughed and offered his fist for my brother or Cash to bump. Both of them shook their heads in disgust. He rolled his eyes and then grinned at me. “It was worth it. She was wild.”
“Then why didn’t you call her back? She lost her job over you,” I reminded him. He looked away with guilt and shrugged.
“I’m not looking for anything serious. She was asking me if she could stay with me when you guys kicked her out. Pass.” With that, Elena was gone from our world.
While we were in the middle of hiring Felicia and getting her settled in, Dallas worked with the people who did our music video and then released it to the public. Viral was an understatement.
Tate and I’s faces were everywhere. The rest of the band too, but our relationship was what everyone was talking about, which, given the content of the song, was completely understandable.
The video wasn’t the same level as artists who had labels backing them, but it was close. It gave us credibility, and oddly enough, people actually liked the song. Within three days of it being released, it was already halfway to the number of streams as the original song that had been out for almost a month.
Dallas was right. If I closed my eyes, I did believe I could hear Tierney screaming. And, if I looked outside at night, I could see the steam coming from her ears.
We released it and planned to wait anxiously for a response, but it only took a few hours. Although, it wasn’t from her. Someone had recorded them showing her the song. It took her only ten seconds to start fuming. I counted, then watched our video. Ten seconds was when my face came onto screen.
Whoever was showing it to her had put it on their TV, so even though she stood up and started throwing things, the video continued to play. The reaction video was almost eight minutes long, which was twice as long as the original song. She was now famous for having a diva level meltdown.
Seeing her crying and throwing her body around pained my heart. I wanted to feel bad for her, but then I remembered what she did to me. She might as well have given everyone my address and a key to my apartment. She deserved everything she got.
Our video got people talking about our own original music. Cash started putting all of our demos on the site as well and they were catching like fire. People were talking about us, and for the first time, it wasn’t a bad thing. Who knew Tierney would be the thing that made us famous after all?
Once the dust between the song and the nanny situation settled, we started planning for our future. We were getting requests to play all over, and we needed to decide what we wanted to do.
Of course, the band members with no children wanted to tour, and the ones with them didn’t. We argued it for a while before they conceded. We could either do higher billed local shows, or tour for months as the openers. To me, it was a no brainer. Build our reputation, then tour. Plus, it gave Tate, Cara, and I time to plan.
We discussed touring with Felicia. We wanted her to come with us. She didn’t like that idea, and in fact, she mentioned that maybe this wasn’t the job for her if we decided to go that route. The thought of looking for another nanny was exhausting. Plus, Felicia was so good with her. So, for now, we were keeping our live performances local.
My parents finally returned from my dad’s European tour. They ran right over and gushed all over Cara. While my dad had already shown his approval, it was nice to see them both ecstatic and supportive over my decision to adopt Cara. Plus, my mom came baring gifts. So many gifts.
One day, they caught us just as Felicia was picking her up. My mom instantly pouted her lip out and began following the new nanny around my apartment.
“Can I go with you two today? We came here just to see the baby. Oh, is that one of the outfits I bought her?” She was so excited over everything Cara related it was adorable. Felicia, while great with our daughter, wasn’t overly enthused about having to take my mom with her but agreed anyways.
“Are you coming, Poppa?” My mom directed at my dad. He blushed sheepishly as he glanced at me and Tate.
“Actually, I’m going to watch these guys rehearse for a bit. I’ll join you guys later?” They hugged and he kissed her and then little Cara on the forehead. My heart felt so complete, so full, in that moment.
“Poppa?” I asked him, amused. He shrugged and smiled.
“There’s only so many variants. What are your parents going by?” he asked Tate. I had worried that things would be awkward between them, but I think my dad got over it after he met Cara the first time.
“My dad has named himself Poppa. My mom, she likes Nanny.”
“Has Mom started calling herself anything yet?”
“I think she likes Gee-Ma, like a shortened version of Grandma. I don’t know, you’d have to ask her. You know how she is,” he rolled his eyes but the love for his wife was very apparent on his face.
