Page 123 of Everything After

“Five minutes, guys,” the runner said when she poked her head into the room. “Alfie do you want to come with me, and I’ll show you where you can watch the band.”

“Up,” I said, pulling my wife to her feet.

“What?” she said, sounding alarmed.

“No. What’re you doing?” Lennie demanded, rising to his feet.

“She’ll catch up with you in a minute,” I muttered, not taking no for an answer.

“Just a sec,” I told the runner.

“What are you doing?” Lily hissed in a stage whisper, reluctantly walking with me toward the set.

“Showing you that you no longer need Cody as a crutch. You are a brilliant musician that more than holds their own in that band. You have nothing to be nervous of. I’ll be right here,” I said, pointing to the chair the runner had stopped beside. “And you’ll be there,” I explained, pointing to stage set about ten feet in front of me. “Just sing to me.” I took her head between my hands and sighed. “Lily, look at me. We don’t need anyone else. It’s just you and me, baby,” I said, seeing her bandmates file out of the green room over her shoulder. “You’ve got this because we’ve got each other. Love is all we need to face the world.”

“You’re right,” she said, suddenly snapping her spine upright. “One song…”

“That’s it, baby. Now go out there and slay them,” I ordered.

Lily turned, walked straight past Cody onto the set, and adjusted her mic. Once she’d done this, her nervous eyes sought mine again. I blew her a kiss, then she let out a deep, calming sigh and nodded. Seconds later we heard Jimmy introduce the band.

I’d been privileged to have gotten a seat just off-set, to watch XrAid perform on the talk show, and it was exactly what Lily had needed to demonstrate to her, that she could go out there under her own steam.

The song they sang was the new one I’d later learned they’d been singing, when they were cutting their album. Only now, even though Lily put her heart and soul into her performance,the impact wasn’t the same, due to the lack of physical contact between them. It was in stark contrast to the cozy scene I’d witnessed back in the recording studio.

I’ll admit their performance fell short of the chemistry I’d witnessed between them over the years, but it was one, as a husband, I was far more comfortable with.

As usual, my wife sang like an angel, looked like one too in the soft, loose-flowing silk top that she wore. She had chosen her outfit with care, not wanting to draw attention to the definite bump in her lower belly now.

However, I didn’t want to tell her that she didn’t quite pull that off, since there were times during her song where the silk picked up static and had clung to the fabric of the pants that she wore beneath it.

I could not have cared one way or another because I was stoked about her condition, and I couldn’t wait to tell the world she was having my child.

Personally, I was more interested in how Cody would behave as it was the first time they had performed together since we’d had our little chat. And it appeared he had heeded my warning that he had to back off.

The show was barely finished before Lily made her excuses to leave, citing wanting to see Jack and Mya back in Miami before they flew back to the UK.

“You did great, baby,” I told Lily once we settled back on my plane and taxied down the runway. “All these years and you finally dealt with your stage fright alone.”

“I wasn’t alone. I saw pure belief in me shine from your eyes. That’s what got me out there tonight.”

“I disagree. You just needed something to break the habit of relying on someone else.”

“Relying on Cody you mean,” she said, pouting. Tears brimmed in her eyes.

“Hey, what’s wrong?” I asked as I reached over and held her hand.

“It-it’s not the same,” she mumbled, her tone shaky. Her bottom lip quivered like she might cry.

“What isn’t?”

“Being with them.”

“Being with them? I don’t know what you mean,” I said.

“The banter’s gone. Everyone is on their best behavior or not talking at all. There’s a rift a mile wide between us bandmates when we’re off-stage now and it’s all my fault.”

“Your fault? That you’re pregnant and your bandmate is acting like a jealous five-year-old that’s not winning at some board game? Or do you mean Cody? That he’s not pawing you anymore?”