“Why does it have to be so soon?” I sob.
This is everything the band has been working for, but I’ve just given birth to our son, and now he’s going to leave. A tour isn’t just a few days on the road. It’s months at a time.
After clearing my tears with his thumbs, Nick raises my eyes to his. “I’ll work something out.” His eyes hold just as much promise as his words. “It will be okay. I promise you.”
Our necks crank to the side in sync when my hospital door suddenly swings open. Emily steps back, mortified she has interrupted our private conversation. “Sorry.” She darts back into the hallway before I can tell her it’s fine.
After taking a few more minutes to settle my tears, I ask Nick to go get Emily. He does, albeit hesitantly. When Emily enters, her eyes well with tears. “I didn’t even think when Noah was telling me about the tour last night; I’m so sorry,” she apologizes, like it's her fault Rise Up has been scheduled to go on tour.
“It’s not your fault; I’m just scared.” I bite on the inside of my cheek, striving not to let tears form again. “Motherhood is kinda scary.”
She giggles. “You’re a natural—”
I’ve barely acknowledged her praise when Nick comes barreling into the room, scaring the living daylights out of us. “Noah is a fucking genius!”
He plants a long, hard peck on my smiling lips. Although I have no clue what is going on, I can’t help but smile. He walked out of our room with his shoulders slumped and his eyes hollow. He entered like a kid waking up Christmas morning.
After pulling me back by my shoulders, his twinkling eyes drop to mine. “You and Jasper can come on the road with us.”
I choke on my spit. “What? I can’t take a baby on tour.”
“Why not?” Nick’s massively dilated eyes stray to Noah, who has just entered my room. “They just sleep, eat and poop. Jasper can do that anywhere.”
With burrowed brows, I shift my eyes to Noah. “This was your idea?”
He smiles a blinding grin before nodding.
I wipe the smile right off his face by asking, “So a baby screaming at two in the morning won’t bother you?”
He takes his time seriously considering my question before he shrugs. “You won’t be in my room, so that’s okay.”
Emily slaps her hand over her mouth to stifle her giggles. She’s not laughing because she thinks Noah’s idea is ridiculous; she’s giggling in excitement.
My eyes float back to Nick when he says, “So?”
He’s so excited, there’s no way I can deny his request. I don’t want to be away from him any more than he wants to be away from us—so with that in mind, I murmur, “Okay.”
Nick jumps in the air so high, he startles Jasper enough to whimper. He’s about to go and soothe him, but I stop him when I spot Emily creeping across the room. She carefully lifts Jasper out of his crib before cradling him to her chest like Nick did only minutes ago. Within seconds, his crying stops, and he falls back to sleep.
“Who’s the natural?”
Emily smiles as her glowing eyes drift to Noah. The love bouncing between them while she holds our son with pride presents the perfect opportunity for us to ask if they’d do us the honor of becoming Jasper’s godparents.
Emily cries happy tears. Noah’s reply isn’t as joyful. He stares at Nick and me, his face mortified. The reason for his odd response comes to light when he confesses to never attending church. After assuring him being a godfather means giving Jasper guidance and leadership in his life, not religion, he agrees to fulfill the role. He knows as well as I do that the little bump his relationship experienced this weekend was only a minor glitch, and that he and Emily are the perfect couple to be godparents to our children.
* * *
Later that night, Nick scares the living daylights out of Jasper and me again. He hollers so loud, I swear half the babies in the maternity ward wake up crying.
My screams of jubilation take care of the second half when he informs me Rise Up’s song “Surrender Me” has reached number one on the Billboard charts. If that isn’t already something to get excited about, their album is the number one album in the country.
Poor little Jasper will need to get his hearing checked with how loud we squeal.
* * *
As the days go on, I gain a better understanding of motherhood. I'm lucky Jasper is a very carefree baby. He literally does just sleep, eat, and poop. I’ve just finished nursing Jasper and have handed him to Nick to settle when my obstetrician, Dr. Morgan, enters my room. His rosy cheeks are still prominent, even though it’s winter.
After glancing down at Nick and Jasper, he smiles before pivoting to close the door. When he spins back around, my breath hitches. His usually docile face is lined with concern. My eyes dart to Nick, wondering if he too has noticed the change in Dr. Morgan’s persona. He has. The goofy grin he regularly wears while holding Jasper has vanished, replaced with a frown.
