Sing a Song of Love (5 page)

“She must be getting close as
we spoke to her and Jeremy as they were driving here.  Jeremy sounded concerned
at how quickly things were progressing.  They are in the birthing suite now and
I had strict instructions to send you straight through, so you better get going
love.  Though come out with an update when you have a moment.”  Dad gave me
another hug then pushed me gentle towards the door.  And with a big smile he took
his vigil beside it once more.

I walked into Ems room to see
mum and my other sister, Sara, supporting Ems as she leant over the bed.  She
was in the middle of a contraction going by the breathing so I waited until she
had stopped snorting like a bull before I announced my arrival.  Soon as the
contraction ended it was like the pain melted away and Ems was able to chat for
few minutes as if nothing was out of the ordinary.

“Wow Ems sounds like baby is getting
close.  Where are Jeremy and the midwife?”

“Jeremy just popped down to
get Mum and Sara coffee and the midwife has gone to get ice chips.  How was the
break at Matapouri?  I spoke to Mara just before and she said you had been in
for dinner.”  I could tell by the twinkle in her eye that Mara had told her a
lot more than that and my face must have confirmed her suspicions.

“Oh there is a story here but
darn it will have to wait,” and Ems went back to her breathing. 

In through the nose, out
through the mouth and the worse the pain the more ferocious the breathing was. 
It worked though as she had managed to have both Sophie and Poppy without even
a whiff of gas. 

Ems was still breathing hard
when Jeremy returned with coffees and I gave him a hug and asked him how the
girls were.

“They are with Mum and very
excited.  I think she would have had a hard job getting either of those tykes
into bed tonight.” 

Jeremy was one of the good
guys.  Solid as they came and you could see his love for Ems in everything he
did.  And Ems was the same.  It was like we had known forever that those two
would one day get married and have kids. 

Jeremy’s folks had the farm
next to ours and for as long as I can remember I had been catching them out
kissing and cuddling in all their favourite spots around the farm.

“I feel like I need to push
Jo,” Ems managed to get out between breaths and the midwife got down to see how
far along Ems was.

“Wow that was fast work.  I
can see the start of baby’s head so the next contraction will be a big one but
try really hard not to push.  We don’t want any tears.  Little pants, that’s
it, you are doing fantastic.” 

Jo looked round at us and
smiled encouragingly, “Not long now!  Jeremy can you pass me that little stool
in the corner and then can you go get Maryanne to come in and help me.”

Jo set the stool at Ems feet
and when she sat down she was at the perfect height to assist in the birth. 
Ems last contraction had ended in her first yelp for the night and Jo said the
head had crowned.

“Ok Ems this is it push with
all you got, that’s it …..the heads through, now little pants and wait for the
next contraction.” 

I glanced down and I could
see baby’s head was out and it was covered in a thick batch of downy hair.  I
turned to Ems to tell her but the next contraction had started. 

“Alright Ems this is it, the
last push and baby will be here.  That’s it big push.”

I heard a whoosh as the rest
of the amniotic fluid followed baby out and I knew baby had arrived.  Then
Jeremy was yelling it was a boy and we were all laughing and crying at once. 
It took a few more minutes for the placenta to come away and when the midwife
had given her the all clear we helped get Ems up on to the bed so that she
could hold her newest addition.

He was absolutely perfect;
loud and in need of a bath, but totally perfect.  I looked across at Mum and
she reached out and squeezed my hand and whispered to go get Dad.

When Dad was settled in Ems
said there was something her and Jeremy wanted to say.

“Jeremy and I wanted to call
him Joseph if it was a boy and if you guys are ok with it,” and she looked over
firstly at Mum and then Dad.

Dad reached out for Mums hand
and I could see that they were both overcome with the gesture.  I was worried
for a moment that it was still too soon but I shouldn’t have worried.  Mum
smiled through her tears and leant down and kissed wee Josephs head.

“Welcome to the family Joseph.”

After about ten minutes Jo
came in to take Ems down to the maternity ward so I said my goodbyes with
promises to ring and visit soon. 

I needed to get back to
Auckland and get some rest before the audition on Monday morning.

Monday morning dawned bright
and clear and reflected my mood.  I had spoken to Cam last night and had
organised to meet him at the studio just before the audition.  None of the
dread that I had been experiencing prior to recent auditions was present and
instead I felt excited by the prospect of getting in there and nailing it.

I dressed carefully as I
wanted to look rock chic but not trampy.  I settled on a pair of beautifully
cut, stretch denim jeans with my favourite knee high boots and a colourful bat
wing, red top with embroidered flowers and beading that I knew hugged me in all
the right places.  It sounded gaudy but it was of those designer tops that just
worked and wearing it always boosted my confidence.

Cam was waiting for me
outside and gave a low whistle when he saw me.

“Wow you look fantastic
Jess.  How are the nerves?”

“Surprisingly good at the
moment.  Did lots of scales when I first got up this morning and now I just
want to get in there!”  I smiled at Cam and hoped he had picked up on my
confidence and that it would put him at ease.  I so wanted this to go well for
both of us.

We went in and gave our name
to the receptionist and she said to take a seat.  Before long a young guy came
out who introduced himself as Lance.  I recognised the name as the lead singer
of High Land Boys and was surprised at how young he was. 

He took us through to the
recording part of the studio and introduced us to the rest of the band and
after we all got acquainted they played us their new single. 

“We are kind of envisioning
that Cam beefs up our vocals during the chorus and you come in on top, not to
harmonise but to add a contrast and depth.  We have heard a bit of your work
and you seem to have an ear for when to come in so how about we give it a go
and see what happens?” 

Lance looked over at both of
us for confirmation and I saw Cam grinning back.  He loved a good jam session
and this was right up his alley.

“OK, sounds good.”  I smiled
and jumped up and took my place beside Cam.  The nerves where starting up and I
wanted to get things under way as soon as possible.

I loved the song from the
first time I heard it.  It had all the elements of a great rock song but with a
vulnerability and softness in certain parts that made the story resonate.  These
guys were phenomenal, and I was having a hard time matching their age to this
mature sound that was coming out of their mouths. 

Lance had fragility to his
voice in the slower parts and I inadvertently found myself softly echoing his
words.  He looked across at me and gave me an encouraging nod as he carried on
singing.  I relaxed further and went with what the song was making me feel.  By
the time we got to the chorus we were all lost in our journey but musically
working as one; harmonising and working off each other’s energy. 

“Fantastic work guys that
sounded epic from in here.  You guys could have been singing together for ever,
not half an hour!”  

The sound engineer was stoked
and Lance, Robbie and Josh came over and they were clapping each other on the
backs and looking pleased too.

“I’ll need to go have a quick
word with Mack but I think it’s safe to say you’re hired.  You guys just seem
to get what we are trying to do and Jess that was amazing.”  Lance was beaming
at me and I automatically smiled back but my mind was miles away trying to
connect the dots. 

Here was a Scottish band of
three whose manager was Mack.  What were the odds that it was different to my
Mack who was also Scottish and was travelling with his nephew and two friends? 
Was Lance his nephew?  I looked over at him again and the truth sank in.  Why
hadn’t I noticed the family resemblance sooner? 

“You right Jessie?”  Cam had
grabbed my hand and was whispering in my ear and I could tell by his face I had
zoned out.  Man I had to pull myself together.

“Just need some fresh air for
a few moments’ guys,” and I made an excuse about being up half the night with
my sister.  It was only a wee white lie since it was the night before.

“Wow you hadn’t told me Ems
had the baby.”  Cam had hundreds of questions as he had known my family almost
as long as he had known me.  I promised I would answer them all shortly and
excused myself and headed for the door. 

I had no sooner got outside
when I felt rather than saw Mack materialise beside me. 

My body responded to his
presence and I could feel my heart start to race.  I took a steadying breathe
before I turned round and faced him.

He grabbed my arm and
propelled me down the street.  “Come on, let’s go get a coffee.  I need to
explain.” 

“When you figured out who I
was, why didn’t you say something?  Surely when I told you about my audition
you figured it out?”  

I was trying hard to be calm
and rational but could feel my emotions welling up inside me.  It had been such
a magical encounter and I had come home with no regrets even though it wasn’t
in my nature to be that free and easy.  And now I was starting to feel like I
had been used. 

I looked over at Mack and
found it hard to believe he would be that calculating.  He just wasn’t that
type of guy or at least I hadn’t thought so. 

I knew I owed him the chance
to explain so I took a breath and agreed to go for a coffee with him.  When we
got there he found us a table down the back before returning to the front to
order.

While he was waiting for the
coffees I had time to cool off and by the time he returned I was feeling almost
civilised.  He put the coffees and chocolate mud cake on the table and took a
seat before glancing over at me warily.

“You going to have to do better
than that Mack,” I said nodding my head towards the cake with raised eyebrows
and a half smile.  “Way better!”

“Thought it couldn’t hurt,”
and he gave me an apologetic smile and I felt my anger diminish slightly but he
definitely wasn’t off the hook.

“OK let’s hear it.”

Mack started from the
beginning.  How he had received my demo tape from Weka Recordings before he
came over and that he had loved what he had seen of Cam and I.  He had thought
we would be the perfect match for the boys but he had been concerned by the
notes that accompanied the tape.  I knew I had sucked on my last few gigs so I
could imagine what they said and wasn’t offended.  

Anyway, Mack had decided to
come over early to ascertain the situation and to try and meet me prior to the
audition.  When he got here he said he had learnt from Cam that I had gone up
north so on the spur of the moment he had decided to follow me up there.  And
of course I knew the rest.

 What I still didn’t
understand was why he hadn’t told me who he was when we first met.

“The intention was always to
tell you Jessie and then I had a couple of drinks and you looked so sexy and
adorable and I know it’s no excuse but I got caught up in the moment.  It shouldn’t
have happened, it was unprofessional not to mention unforgivable and I am
really sorry.”  Mack looked sincere and genuinely sorry that it kind of took
the wind from my sail and I could feel my anger starting to ebb away. 

I could understand where he was
coming from when he said he got caught up in the moment as that is exactly what
had happened to me.  I had never had a one night stand before and it had taken
almost a year of dating with Jay before I had agreed to sleep with him.  This
was so out of character for me that I got what he was saying.  

We had shared a connection. 
Hell who am I kidding, we still did and I could feel it arcing across the table
as if we were two metals points connected by 240 volts of current.  But it had
to end here.

I really liked what I had
seen of Lance, Robbie and Josh and had already decided I wanted to do the
single and tour.  They had felt like kindred spirits in there; that instant
musical connection didn’t come around too often so when it did it was worth
holding on to. 

“Mack I am not angry.  I
think you should have been honest but I get it.  We both got caught up in the
magic of Matapouri and after a few drinks one thing lead to another.  I want to
work with the guys. Lance’s band is incredible but it will only work if you and
I can be friends.”  I looked at Mack earnestly, willing him to be on the same
page as me and was glad when he grinned back.

“Friends with benefits?”  I
punched him in the arm and he rubbed it ruefully and said he was just joking. 
I laughed too; it was going to be ok.