Chapter Sixteen

Jason

“Buses are here!” Sikes called out and the kids came running. Sounded like a herd of elephants storming down the stairs. Who knew three little bodies made so much noise? “Come see.”

How freaking adorable was it to watch these two huge men, each holding hands with one of the twins as they trotted out to show them our home away from home.

“Are you coming, Gabe?” His face was glued to the window, trying to play it cool.

“Yeah.”

“Mom, grab your purse and meet us outside. We’ll take the bus to the venue then I’ll have the car service bring you home.”

She stopped dead in her tracks and blinked at me.

“Are you okay?”

“Um, yeah, but isn’t that expensive?”

“Nope, the company pays for it. Now get your gear, woman, and I’ll set the alarm and lock up.” I double checked the doors and armed the house then met the fam onboard.

“Whoa.” Gabe’s head darted around, taking in the state-of-the-art home on wheels. The twins had already raided the snacks with Sikes and Snipe ‘supervising.’ Supervising as in enabling and pumping them full of sugar.

“We’ve got headphones for the kids to wear so we don’t damage their ears at the show.” I handed the bag to Mom.

“Jason, this is... I mean…wow.” I guess she thought we were hanging out in cousin Eddie’s beater RV.

“Yes, Masterson takes excellent care of us. We even have our own culinary team and a staff masseuse. Mickey, the guy we stayed with, one of his partners is a master massager.” That didn’t come out right but thankfully she didn’t call me out on it. “Their other partner, River, runs our social media. Rhone and David, they’re in Embrace the Fear. Rhone’s husband, Ely, and David’s partner, Jordan, own a catering company together, so they travel with us.”

Who got to say things like this?

We did now!

Most up and coming bands were living off fast food and sleeping in seedy motels. Hell, Social slept in their van and so did Maiden. Chaotic and Embrace were truly lucky and had much to thank Maiden and Social for. They paved the way for all Masterson bands and more than funded the bottom line.

“Well, worrying about you being on the road was a waste.” She walked down the hall, peeking around. “Where are the bunks I heard all about?” Forgot I’d told her about those.

“This bus is just for my family and with the three of us sharing a bed, we have a full-on bedroom. Slide the door open.”

“All the comforts of home, minus Sikes’ bathtub.” Mom cracked me up.

“Hey, I heard that,” Sikes half-assed complained. He adored her and knew she was joking. Kind of.

“Yeah, once a band member partners up Masterson gets them their own bus.”

“Are they looking for a secretary by any chance?”

Huh, never thought of that. “No clue, but I’ll definitely ask Jeremiah and Easton.” Bet they’d let her work from home and with the amount of growth they were planning for I’d bet they were.

#Hugewin

“Hello, everyone. I’m your bus driver, Andy. If you are set we’ll hit the road.” Andy honked the horn a couple of times for the kids. Nicole and Nolan giggled. Gabe did his best not to smile but when he spotted the gaming systems he was in heaven.

“Holy crap!”

“Watch your mouth, Gabe.” Nicole corrected before Mom could.

“Little Missy, I am the mother here.”

“Sorry, Mom.” Though Nicole was anything but sorry.

“You have every gaming system, and all the new games loaded. Can I go on the road with you?” Gabe’s wide-eyed expression nearly had me saying yes but he still had two months of school left.

“Maybe next time you can travel with us or later this summer. We’ll see how it goes after school’s out. Deal?”

“Deal.”

Probably not a bad idea to get Gabe out of the house for a couple of weeks. I’d definitely keep that in mind.

Venue security met us at the gate and directed the bus around to the back lot. The Embrace buses were already there. Sikes and Snipe exited the bus first then waved the rest of us out. Thankfully, given the growing crowd outside the gates, the twins held onto Mom’s hands instead of expecting Sikes and Snipe to hold them. We had a talk with them about work and what Sikes and Snipe’s jobs were, explaining it as best we could to six-year-olds but so far, so good.

“My brothers!” Rhone said as he, David, Seltzer, and Chase approached us.

“I’d like you to meet my family. This is my mother, Dana, my brothers, Gabriel and Nolan, and the princess of the family, Nicole.” The guys said hi to each of them then headed for their dressing room. “Come, on, I’ll show you what a dressing room looks like.”

Sikes and Snipe led us to ours. As soon as we opened the door, the voices of my band brothers poured out.

“Yo, Jase!” Marley hollered. “Who do we have here?”

“My mom, Dana, my brothers, Gabe and Nolan, and my sister, Nicole.” It just hit me. All these years playing with these guys and never once had they met or likely even known about my family. Unintentionally, I’d never opened my private life to them much as I’d recently accused Marley of. Fuck, I was such a dick.

Diamond barreled into the room. “You guys ready to rock?” Then he spotted my family. “Oh, hey, hi. I’m Diamond.”

“You’re big, but not as big as Wyatt.” How did you react when a six-year-old obsessed with one of your boyfriends did this shit?

“Um, who’s Wyatt?” Sikes shook his head and gave a two-finger salute. “Oh, gotcha. Yeah, he’s a big one.”

“Sorry, D. She’s a bit…obsessed?”

“Mr. Sniper is super smart.” And now it was Nolan’s turn. Those two were forever trying to one-up each other and had claimed both my partners.

“I bet he is.” Diamond knelt in front of them. “What are your names?”

“I’m Nicole. Jason is our brother and so is Gabe.” She pointed to Gabe who desperately tried to fade into the background. Didn’t blame him one bit.

“And I’m Nolan. We’re six.” Nolan was still in the holding up six fingers phase.

“It’s nice to meet you both.” Diamond shook their hands. “Are you ready to hear your brother sing?”

“Yes. He sings to us when we have trouble sleeping. Mom says he has the voice of an angel.” Sweet, sweet, no holds barred Nicole. That child was something else.

When all heads turned my way, I dialed it up and tucked my hands under my chin, batting my lashes like the angel I was.

“And on that note,” Diamond hopped up. “You’re on in twenty. Nice meeting you all,” he waved as he left the room.

“It smells like dirty feet in here.”

The real Nicole had arrived. She’d been quiet about it for far longer than I’d expected. When the scent hit me I knew she’d call it out.

“All right, my brothers,” I addressed my band mates. “We’ve got a big tour ahead of us. Are we ready to roll?” My band brothers cheered. Sikes and Snipe stood off to the side with the twins while we ran through the lineup we’d worked out earlier this week. No sooner had we finished that than the butterfly-inducing knock came.

“Five minutes!” was hollered from the other side.

“Follow us.” Sikes and Snipe did their thing, safely leading the pack to where we should be.

I helped Mom get Nicole and Nolan’s headphones secured while Gabe did his own.

“You have a perfect view of the stage. Sikes and Snipe will stay here with you.”

“Love you, Jase. Knock ‘em dead or whatever it is you say.”

“Thanks, Mom.” I kissed her cheek. “You guys ready for your first concert?” The twins shot me a thumbs up. Gabe didn’t say much but was quite interested in everything going on around us, which was a good sign. I hoped.

As soon as the curtain opened, the game winning smile was on, and my stage presence took over.

“Good evening, Seattle! How y’all doing tonight?” It was a packed house. Granted, it wasn’t an arena, but the seats were full, and their screams got our adrenaline pumping. “We’re Chaotic Abyss and there’s nothing better than kicking off a tour in our hometown!” More screams filled the air. “We’re gonna start the show tonight with a song from our new CD.” Whistles rang out. “Ah, so you have heard about it?” I loved riling the crowd up. I glanced over to the side and winked at my family. “First up, ‘Expect. The. Unexpected!’”

When I woke this morning something wasn’t right

My gut said I was in for one hell of a night

When the shit hit the fan, the reality sank in

And there was no turning back

Sometimes you’re up

Sometimes you’re down

That’s the roller-coaster called life

By the time it finally comes to a stop

You’re six feet under

Chorus:

Expect the unexpected

Is what my life’s become

Expect the unexpected

Now, wasn’t that fun?

When all is said and done at the end of the day you’ve learned one important thing

Expect. The. Unexpected.

People will come and go

For no other reasons than their own

You may never know why your paths had crossed

Embrace it while you can and remember what you learned

It takes a lot for me to break

Levelheaded – that’s who I try to be

But push me too far and you’ll find

A side of me you’d rather not see

Chorus:

Expect the unexpected

Is what my life’s become

Expect the unexpected

Now, wasn’t that fun

When all is said and done at the end of the day you’ve learned one important thing

Expect. The. Unexpected.

Drawing the last word into a long growl had the crowd on their feet. Well, the handful that wasn’t already.

“Now that you’re awake,” they laughed. “I’d like to sing you a song that’s very personal to me and the men who own my heart.” I winked at the two sets of eyes locked on mine. “This song is called ‘Flaws and All.’”

Each time I glanced over to the wing, Gabe’s eyes were glued to the stage, and he’d removed his headphones. Dare I thought maybe we impressed him? It would be nice to have something more than video games in common with him. Maybe he too was interested in music.

Another reason to consider taking him on the road this summer.

“Great show, guys!” Seltzer high-fived us as we stepped off stage.

“Got ‘em warmed up for ya,” Marley teased our Embrace brothers. “Good luck!”

Sikes and Snipe took us back to the dressing room. I was excited and nervous to hear what my family thought.

“So?” I was like a kid all over again bouncing on the balls of my feet. “What did you think?”

“Jase,” Mom cupped my face. “I’m so proud of you. That voice, you know I’ve always enjoyed your singing, and to watch you command that crowd with it blew me away.” Happy tears escaped. “I always believed in you but more importantly, you did, too. I loved watching you out there. All of you,” she turned to Marley, Nigel, and Josh as she said that. “I’m a proud Mom of four boys tonight.” I knew what those words meant to Josh and saw it reflected in his eyes when she hugged him. She hugged Marley and Nigel, too, but it was Josh her words struck right in the heart.

“But I have three very tired kids to put to bed tonight.” Shit, I hadn’t realized how quiet they were but Sikes and Snipe each cradled a sleeping twin. “Please keep in touch and let me know how it goes.”

“I will, Mom, and I’d like to take Gabe for a couple weeks this summer. I think it would be good for him.”

“Really, Jase?” Gabe smiled wide, wider than I’d seen in a long time.

“Really.” He launched himself at me and hugged me tight. “I love you, Gabe.”

His words were muffled, though I heard them clearly. “Love you, too, Jase.”

“Be good and help Mom. You’re the man now that we’re gone. Got it?”

“Got it.”

Sikes and Snipe walked them out to the waiting car. Josh, Marley, Nigel and I returned to the backstage area to catch the rest of Embrace’s set which was where they found us a few minutes later.

“Good call on Gabe,” Snipe said loud enough for me to hear.

“I think so, too. I could kick myself for not thinking of it sooner.” I was pretty sure at least one side of the couch in the lounge area of the bus folded into a sleeper. If not, we’d figure out a place for him to crash.

“We’re ready for you out front.”

We followed the guy I was hoping worked for the venue around to the front lobby where the merch tables were. Hell, we forgot to ask his name, but our guards weren’t concerned so we had no reason to be.

“Holy shit.” Marley was right. Holy shit. The line wound around the lobby. With this being our first real tour, the four of us had no clue what to expect. Well, Josh might have but then again he toured with a mega band and was mostly behind the scenes.

“Gentlemen, please take your seats.” Folding table, four chairs, band posters, and markers. They literally had everything set out for us.

Sikes, Snipe and the new guy, Bones, whom we’d just met, stood guard next to the table. I wondered if Bones’ nickname was military related, too. And if so, had he actually broken people’s bones or was he a medic?

Why did my brain dwell on useless things?

We signed until Embrace came out. The fans were relentless in their pursuit to get both bands’ signatures, and I swear we signed enough shit to cover the headcount in the venue. At least no boobs were thrust at us, though that might have made Nigel’s night.

“I’ve got two words for you,” Marley said as he plopped down on the couch in our bus. “Carpel. Tunnel.”

“I’ve got two words for you,” I countered. “Wrong. Bus.”

“Shit, sorry. Used to all of us being on the same bus. Mister Domesticated got his own now.”

“Pull your head out of your ass and settle down, and you just might, too.”

With a nod, Marley hopped off the bus. Hopefully he’d take my words to heart as he had the last time. Jesus, I’d never met a man in more need of a caretaker in my life. Had his parents let him run wild his entire life?

I grabbed a quick shower while the guards made sure the bands were on the right buses and everyone was accounted for. Considering all the Embrace guys were partnered up, and from what I’d seen they weren’t partiers and were actually pretty chill, they likely were. The only ones they’d have to worry about, well, the only one they’d have to keep an eye on was Marley. Nigel was chill as fuck and with everything he had going on he wouldn’t dare risk it. His daughter was his number one, as she should be.

Did we pay our guards enough to babysit? I sure as hell hoped so.

Fingers crossed the dumbass didn’t pull any stunts.

“Ready to roll, Andy,” Sikes notified our driver as he stepped inside then slid the partition between us closed.

“Mmm, freshly showered.” Snipe stole a kiss. “Nice.”

“What a great way to kick off a tour. I’m pumped and playing in front of my mom was like the ultimate high. And I remembered to keep the foul language to a minimum with the kids around. Kudos to me!”

“She was ecstatic but felt bad she didn’t know the words to sing along.” Sikes took a seat beside me and handed me a bottle of water. “Hydrate.”

“Sir, yes, sir.”

“Hmm, now I’m thinking of ways to make you scream those words.”

Hell to the mother fucking yes!