Page 7 of A Little Christmas! 4: Song
“Song, let me show you where the bathroom is, and I’ll be right back,” he said, happy to usher Song down the hall in the hope that Gage would join them in the kitchen soon.
He felt a little out of his element, the same as when he’d first met Hank, who’d, quite frankly, scared the shit out of him when Gage had introduced them. The way their worlds had converged was still something he struggled with, especially when his time at the club and exposure to folk from so many diverse backgrounds were severely limited now that he’d been promoted to the head of his department.
“Here you go,” Cooper said, turning the light on for him so he wouldn’t have to struggle to find it.
“Thank you,” Song said before closing the door behind him.
Cooper returned to the living room to find Solo waiting and led her into a kitchen filled with the scent of coffee and one of the scented candles that Gage constantly kept burning on the counter. Quickly filling mugs, he set one on the table and gestured to the rack of flavored syrups in case she wanted to add some.
“There’s creamer in the fridge, if you’d like any,” Cooper said. “I drink mine black, but Gage loves to fancy his up, so there are several different varieties and a bunch of syrup.”
“I take mine black too, thank you,” she said as she blew on the mug in her hands.
For a moment, Cooper found himself at a loss for words, until he remembered the conversation he and Gage had the night before. Hopefully, she could answer the questions they had so they wouldn’t have to bother Song with them once he was in his little space.
“Does Song have any allergies?” Cooper asked, deciding that might be the best place to start. “We meant to have Zachy ask, but each time we remembered, we were already in bed close to passing out.”
“Nope, and he loves pizza, so no worries there.”
“Oh good, it’s one of Zachy’s favorites too. Since we all like different things on ours, it’s easier to buy a bunch of toppingsand make our own,” Cooper explained. “We just planned on sandwiches for lunch, so they could eat in the playroom. Zachy doesn’t get to have friends over often due to his work schedule, so we’re still getting the hang of setting up playdates.”
“No worries,” she replied. “It’s not easy to balance the lifestyle, jobs, and everything else life tends to toss in your path, so I get it.”
“Tell me about it.”
“This is Song’s first playdate,” she explained. “He’s new to the lifestyle, so I wanted to thank you and Gage for including him when he visited the club last weekend. I’d have been there with him, but he didn’t want his big sister hovering on his first night in the playroom.”
“I bet. He was very well-behaved, though.”
“He said he was given a hard time for making too much noise with the musical toys.”
“He was,” Gage said as he stepped into the room. “But there is no rule saying he couldn’t play with all of them at once. He pointed out the Daddy who told him to knock it off, and he and I had a few words after the show, ‘cause that was bullshit in my opinion and Walker’s too. He’d given Ajay a hard time in the past about the toy guitar, and Walker was not thrilled when he learned about it.”
“I’ve seen how protective he is of his boy, so I’m sure the conversation wasn’t a pleasant one,” Solo said. “Thank you for that too. If you don’t mind, I’d like to know who it was so I can have a word or two of my own when I drop in next.”
“Brekken,” Gage declared. “If you ask me, the man needs to seriously think hard about whether he even wants a little if he can’t stand the noise they make when they play.”
“Exactly,” she replied. “There is no way his behavior isn’t stifling to any of the little ones he plays with.”
“Which is probably why very few take a chance and play with him.”
“I bet.”
Cooper couldn’t have been more relieved to have Gage join the conversation as he mixed up one of his sticky sweet coffee combos, with a heaping spoonful of cocoa powder added to give it a richer, creamier flavor.
“Well, they can make as much noise as they’d like in Zachy’s playroom,” Gage declared. “Personally, it makes the house feel a lot homier to hear giggles and squeals drift up the hall.”
“Right! At home noise was a constant, especially when Song started dabbling with music, though once he fell in love with the drums, our brother and I decided to soundproof the garage, so he’d have a place to play without the neighbors complaining.”
“Is he in a band?” Gage asked.
“Yes, Satellite Falls. They’ve played all over the city and have several gigs set up in New York in December.”
“I haven’t had many opportunities to acquaint myself with the music scene since moving here,” Gage explained. “But I’ve been a sound engineer for decades and been out on the road with a few bands in my younger years.”
“Are you still in the industry?”
“Oh yeah, though not in the same capacity,” Gage replied. “These days I have a nice little sound booth I work out of thanks to the same television program Zachy works on. It’s actually how we met. I couldn’t be happier for a career shift; despite the way it came about.”