Melody of the Heart (29 page)

Leaving Jude’s side, Brayden came to me. He bent down and bestowed a chaste kiss on my lips. “Thank you for today.”

“I could say the same thing to you.”

Brayden glanced over his shoulder at Jude. “I was serious about wanting a houseful…or bus full.”

“I think it’s a good idea
not
to mention another baby to me right after delivering one.”

Brayden laughed. “You’re right.”

When a knock came at the door, I glanced warily over at Brayden. “Just rest, babe. I’ll tell whoever it is you’re too tired for visitors now.”

“But wouldn’t that be rude?”

He cocked his brows at me. “Do I look like I give a fuck about what other people think?”

I grinned at him. “No, you look like a man who just won the lottery.”

When Brayden opened the door, he didn’t get a chance to deliver his spiel and turn the well-wishers away. Instead, Jake, AJ, and Rhys blew past him, their arms laden down with flowers, balloons, and stuffed animals. Without even a hello, Jake demanded, “Well, where is he?”

“Sleeping, jackass,” Brayden replied.

“Then wake him up. His uncles are here to see him.”

I couldn’t help laughing at Jake. Of course, he would have no concept about babies or schedules. All he thought about was himself, so it made perfect sense that we should cater to him.

“You’re such a dumbass,” AJ replied, smacking Jake upside the head. He then came over to me. With a wink, he asked, “Hey hot mama, how ya feeling?”

As I pushed myself up in bed, I laughed. “Like I’ve been run over by an eighteen wheeler.”

“Aw, mi amor, you just popped out a kid. I wouldn’t expect any less than you feeling like absolute hell. You look a lot better than my sister after my nephew was born.” He leaned over and kissed my cheek tenderly.

“Thank you, AJ.”

With a wink, he replied, “Anytime.”

After Jake sat his balloons and flowers down on the counter, he rubbed his hands together. “Okay, as lead singer, I think it’s only fair that I get to hold him first.”

“That’s total BS,” AJ protested, edging in front of Jake.

“Wait your turn,” Jake replied.

Brayden glanced at me to survey whether I was onboard with passing our newborn son around. I smiled and nodded. He then went over to the bassinet and ever so gently picked up Jude. As he cradled his son to his chest, a look of pride overcame his face and melted my heart.

He then motioned to Jake. Closing the gap between them, Jake held out his eager arms. He then gazed down at Jude, the corners of his lips quirking up. “Well, he’s a handsome little fucker, isn’t he?”

I gasped in horror while Brayden only chuckled. I guess a part of me shouldn’t have expected anything different from Jake and his notoriously bad foul mouth. Before it hadn’t mattered as much, but now I had to resign myself to the fact that my son was going to be surrounded by foul mouthed rockers who weren’t always going to be a good influence on him. But at the same time, I knew that Jude was lucky to have the three men who were encircling him like adoptive fathers. They would always be there to love and protect him in their own fumbling ways.

“Damn, it’s a good thing he looks like you, Lily, and not his pops,” Jake mused.

“Dickhead,” Brayden mumbled.

Jake glanced from Jude over to me and then winked. “Bet you’re surprised I didn’t drop him, aren’t you?”

A nervous giggle escaped my lips. “Maybe a little.”

“You know, I’m not a total dumbass when it comes to babies. I had some practice when Allison was a baby back in the day.”

Cocking my head at him, I smiled. “You do look very natural with him.”

His eyes widened. “Oh hell no. Don’t even think it.”

“One day, Jake Slater. One day you’re going to be holding your own baby in your arms.”

He shook his head. “Not possible. I always wrap my shit up with my own condoms. Not with one some chick brought that she could have voodoo dolled.”

Wrinkling my nose, I countered, “No, not with some random hookup. I meant with a wife.”

AJ snorted. “Jake married? Let’s wait for hell to freeze over first.”

“Believe me, it’s going to happen. I don’t know when or with who, but it will.”

“Whatever,” Jake mumbled. Our conversation seemed to dampen Jude’s allure because he was suddenly ready to pass him over AJ’s eager and waiting arms.

“Such a handsome boy,” AJ said, before bestowing a kiss on the crown of Jude’s blonde hair.

Jake reached over and lifted up one of Jude’s clenched fists. “Looks like Little Man here has some guitar playing fingers.”

Brayden grinned. “I thought as much.”

As Jude squirmed awake, AJ cooed and sang to him in Spanish. Surprisingly, it calmed him, and Jude went back to sleep.

When AJ met what must’ve been my shocked expression, he winked. “Just call me the Baby Whisperer.”

I laughed. “I’ll know exactly who to come to when he gets fussy.”

Pressed up against the wall, Rhys watched AJ and Jude curiously. I jerked my chin at AJ, signaling him to give Rhys a chance. When AJ started toward him, Rhys held up his hands. “Dude, I don’t know anything about babies.”

“Just give it a whirl. Worst thing you can do is drop him,” AJ replied.

Both Rhys and I gasped. “Just teasing,” AJ mused, which earned him a glare from Rhys.

Gently, AJ placed Jude in Rhys’s arms. I bit down on my lip not to laugh at how still Rhys stood. Like if he even blinked too hard, it might hurt Jude. “He really does look like you, Lily,” Rhys said, a smile playing at his lips.

“Thank you.”

Rhys’s face lit up when Jude’s eyes opened, and he stared up at him. “Hey buddy,” he murmured.

While the guys seemed enthralled by Jude now, I couldn’t help wondering about the future. “Are you still sure about me bringing him on the bus when I come to visit?”

“Why wouldn’t we be?” Jake asked, as he ran his fingers through Jude’s dusting of fine hair.

“Well, babies are a lot of work—”

AJ held up a hand. “Are you insinuating that once you get on the bus, you and Bray are going to expect us to raise the little man while you two have a reconnection fuck fest?”

My face instantly warmed at his words while Brayden only chuckled. “No man, that’s not what we had in mind,” he replied.

“Then it’s fine. Right, guys?”

Rhys and Jake nodded. I hoped, rather than believed, they would still be sincere when Jude started crying in the middle of the night. Of course, they were all so nocturnal that it would be worse during the day when they were trying to catch up on sleep.

Speaking of crying, Jude began to wail, his fists flailing. When I met Rhys’s frantic eyes, he said, “I didn’t do anything. I swear.”

I laughed. “I know you didn’t. He’s probably just hungry.”

All three of the guys froze. “Like for a breast?” AJ questioned, his brows furrowed.

“Yes, he did really well latching on earlier.”

Rhys hurried over to the bed and deposited Jude into my arms. “Yeah, uh, I gotta go.”

“Me, too,” AJ said.

“Same here,” Jake echoed. 

Cocking my head at them, I grinned. “Who would have thought three notorious manwhores would be afraid of a breast?”

Jake laughed. “Call it what it is, but we’re outta here.”

“Thanks for coming, guys. It really means a lot,” I said over Jude’s cries.

“You’re welcome, hot mama,” AJ replied, bestowing a kiss on Jude’s forehead and then mine. Jake followed suit while Rhys merely waved at me from the door.

As I pushed down my gown for Jude, I couldn’t help laughing at the guys’ reaction. Whether they knew it or not, their lives had changed too with Jude’s birth. After all, we were one, great big musical family.

BRAYDEN

THE PRESENT

“And after Jude, you waited three years to have another child.” Giovanni glanced between us. “Any particular reason? I mean, I do recall Brayden saying he wanted a houseful and for you to be started by twenty five.”

Lily and I laughed. “Actually, it was easy to talk about a houseful of kids before we actually had one. Once Jude came along, we realized the work that went into raising a child. Of course, we weren’t a conventional family considering Brayden was on the road most of the year, and I was home teaching.”

“How did you make it as a single mom?” Giovanni asked Lily.

“Well, I had it a lot easier than most single mothers. Our first home just happened to be Brayden’s grandparents’ old house, so I was right next door to my mom. My younger sister, Kylie, decided she would go to school at night and be my nanny during the daytime—as long as she got to live rent free at my house.”

Giovanni smiled. “That seems reasonable.”

“The hardest part was not having Brayden with me, but more the fact that I hated he was missing being with Jude.”

“How did you feel about the separation, Brayden?” Giovanni asked.

“It fucking sucked, frankly,” I replied.

With a smile, Giovanni questioned, “Can you elaborate on that for me?”

“I felt I was being pulled in two separate directions. My band mates needed me because we continued to skyrocket in popularity in the business, and then my wife and son needed me to be the father I’d always wanted to be.

Giovanni nodded. “How did you two stay connected?”  

“Technology still wasn’t at the level of Facetiming and Skype, like we had later with Melody. We did do video chats and talk to one another every day. Then I would fly out with Jude to see him two or three times a month,” Lily answered.

“That sounds intense,” Giovanni remarked.

“It was,” Lily replied. Glancing over at me, she said, “I think we waited as long as we did for Melody because we hoped things would calm down some. When I got pregnant with her, I decided I would finally quit my teaching job.”

“Finally is right,” I said, with a smile.

“And how was it going out on the road with two children?”

Lily and I both groaned. “Very, very hard,” Lily answered.

“My greatest regret is we didn’t get our own tour bus earlier,” I said.

Lily shook her head. “It wouldn’t have mattered because I wasn’t ready to live on the road full-time yet.”

“What changed your mind?”

With a smile, Lily said, “When I saw Mia doing it with Bella, I realized I could do it with two children. I also decided then that I wanted to homeschool the kids while Brayden was out on the road.”

I bobbed my head. “Even though I wish we had the bus sooner, I’m still glad that Jude and Melody got to start out their lives with a little more normalcy.”

At that moment, a knock came at the hotel door. When I got up to get it, I found it was Melody. “Hey, sweetie, you’ll have to go back to AJ and Mia’s. We’re not finished yet.”

She shook her head. “No, it’s Lucy.”

I didn’t even have to call for Lily. She was off the couch in a flash and heading out the door. When I came back to the couch, I gave Giovanni a sad smile. “I guess that makes a good segue into talking about our third child.”

“I hope I didn’t appear to be treating it as a sensitive subject.”

“No, you’re fine.”

“I know that you and Lily have been very open in the media about her being on the Autism spectrum with Sensory Processing Disorder.”

“Yes, we always felt it wasn’t something we should hide. Since I was in a position of celebrity, I could raise awareness and funds. With Rhys’s help, we’ve done a lot of fundraising.” I shifted in my chair. “Of course, there’s a lot of research that argues that SPD isn’t a part of the Autism spectrum while other research does. We figured it would be best to combine our efforts with the two.”