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Paxon grumbled something as he pulled out his phone, probably to tell the cavalry everything was all right.
When he finished, he looked back up and between the two of us. “What have you been up to all day?”
Calvin jumped up and down, newly invigorated. “She’s teaching me how to use the guitar! I can playKnockin’ On Heaven’s Doornow!” He broke out into a huge grin, proud of his accomplishment. Any guilt he felt about his disappearing act vanished as the excitement about his lessons came back.
Paxon’s gray eyes brightened as he looked at his brother. “Really?”
Calvin nodded.
“That’s amazing, Mini-me!” He turned to me. “Thank you. I know Calvin’s been interested in guitar.”
I shrugged, not used to others feeling so grateful toward me. “No problem. He’s a great student. A natural.” I turned to Calvin with a smile. “Would you like to play for your brother?”
Calvin blushed and looked down at the ground, his shyness coming out to play.
“Calvin.” I reached down and lifted his chin until he looked at me. “He’s your brother. He would never laugh at you if you make a mistake. And you will make mistakes.” I leaned down and whispered into his ears. “Even I still make mistakes, but you can’t tell anyone that. I’m supposed to be a professional.”
I straightened in time to see the light in Calvin’s eyes burning brighter as he smiled. “Okay.”
“Good man,” I said. “Come on.”
I stepped to the side so Paxon could come further in. He looked around with curious eyes, probably judging if I’d changed anything since the last time he was over. I looked around, trying to figure that out too. The house was big, the foyer itself bigger than a typical bedroom. The walls were bare, but the realtor had told me the building had good bones and a lot of potential.
That was, of course, if I ever got my things unpacked. I knew some of the boxes held paintings. There were also sculptures, vases, and other pieces of work I could sprinkle around my house to make it seem like someone actually lived here. Instead, the rooms had boxes or nothing in them. I wasn’t sure what to even do with some of the spaces.
So no, nothing about my home had changed.
I went toward the stairs, trying not to feel embarrassed about my inability to decorate. Paxon noticed Calvin and I were leaving him behind and came chasing after us, not saying anything until he finally saw my music studio. Paxon’s eyes widened the moment he walked in, his expression much like Calvin’s when he first came into the room too.
“Holy shit,” he mouthed as he took in all the music instruments, my massive piano, the recording equipment, and even what was going to become the sound room, the sitting area. One wall had a bunch of boxes stacked in front of it, each one filled with wall mounts for my guitars, pictures, and even certain albums signed and framed. Paxon looked at me with complete disbelief. “This is all yours?”
“Yeah.” I motioned toward the ottomans. I dragged another one over and we all settled down. Calvin carefully lifted his guitar and strummed a couple of the strings, preparing himself to perform for the first time. It was only for his brother, but for the little seven-year-old, that was a big deal.
Calvin looked at me for support. I smiled, showing him my excitement and complete belief in him. He let out a long breath, and then played. His fingers were clumsy, but that would smooth out with practice. He made some mistakes, though overall did a great job for a beginner.
When he strummed the last string, Calvin looked over at his brother with nervousness. Paxon stared at his little brother with an expression I could only describe as a mixture of awe and pride.
“That was awesome, Mini-me!” Paxon reached over and rubbed his brother’s head while laughing. Something inside of me relaxed, happy to see the positive reaction of Calvin’s brother. I didn’t stop the smile that formed while Paxon doted on his brother some more, asking questions about the song and what he’d learned so far.
With a proud grin, Paxon straightened from leaning toward his brother. “Thank you for teaching him how to play. I knew he was curious about the guitar, but he never came out and told any of us that he wanted to learn. I’m glad he was able to tell you.”
I shrugged. “It wasn’t so much that he told me, but that he kept looking at my guitars. I could tell he wanted to play. Besides, I had fun. It was a nice change of pace.”
Paxon nodded. “Still. This means a lot to me that you’re doing this for him.”
If Paxon kept this up, I was going to turn into a red tomato. I wasn’t sure how to take his appreciation. It was a bit invigorating to get that from him. Made me want to do more to get that kind of reaction out of him again. Unknowingly, it filled something inside of me.
Not wanting to do or say something embarrassing, I focused on packing Calvin’s guitar for him, along with some music sheets. “Make sure to practice on your own. Next time we have another lesson, I want to see improvements. Then I’ll teach you another song if you play well enough. I put in blank notes for you too. Practice writing out the notes for me.”
Calvin broke out into a big smile and hugged me. I let out a breath as he squeezed me, his fingers digging at just the right spot along my spine to cause it to ache with pain. I would have been fine if I were expecting it, but I wasn’t, and when I let out a breath, it came out more like a hiss.
“Are you okay?” Paxon asked, eyeing me as Calvin stepped back.
I forced a smile and nodded. “I’m great.”
Paxon didn’t seem to believe me, but he nodded instead of pushing for an answer. I kind of wanted to hug him for doing that, which was weird on my part. I wasn’t one to go up and hug people. Maybe Calvin was rubbing off on me. He was easy to hug.
“We’ll see you tomorrow at school.” Paxon grabbed Calvin’s guitar case for him. “I have to get the little man back over to Seth’s so he can do all that homework he’d been ignoring before dinner time.”
