Jimmy and Angel were the two former playboys of the band. Damien and Tommy were one-woman men. They met the right girl early in life and never let go. Tommy held a tremendous amount of respect for all three of their wives. Jessi, Alyssa and Audra were strong, independent women who always stood their ground. “Our women are something else, huh?”
Jimmy flashed a broad smile and raised his beer. “To our ol’ ladies. They’re tough as nails and easy on the eyes.”
The four of them nodded in agreement, clunked their beer bottles together with a ding, and downed a healthy gulp of beer.
Chapter Eighteen
Six months later
There was nothing more heartwarming than watching a tough, gothic chick cuddle a baby. The awkward, rigid arms and stiff posture that Alyssa had exhibited the first time she held Lucas were replaced with bouncing a baby on her hip. Lucas loved Alyssa’s long, black hair and colorful tattoos. His chubby little hands were either wrapped in her hair or trying to steal the ink off of her skin.
Alyssa put her forehead to Lucas’s and let her hair tickle his face. He giggled an adorable laugh and grabbed two fistfuls of her hair. “Uh-oh. Now you got me.” Alyssa tried to pull away, but Lucas held her hair in a tight grip.
Jessi laughed and pried his little hands free. “Didn’t Daddy tell you no pulling hair?” Either you or Tommy are going to end up bald,” she teased Alyssa.
“This kid is aces.” Alyssa stuck a big kiss on his cheek. “Are you gonna have any more?”
It was a thought that had been weighing on Jessi’s mind lately. She watched Alyssa set Lucas down on the carpet, where he promptly crawled across the playroom and dove into a pile of toys. “I’d love to have another baby. I just don’t know how this is supposed to work yet, with the band and touring.”
“You’ll figure it out as we go. That’s part of the insanity of being married to a rock star.”
Jessi sighed. “In my case, two rock stars.” So far, the band had picked up with the East Coast leg of the North American tour which only required Tommy and Angel to be away for one night twice a week, and that was hard enough on all of them. The smile that lit up Lucas’s face whenever they had returned home should have made her joyous, but it ripped her heart out. Lucas had missed his daddies. She would never let them be separated for any length of time by a tour. She didn’t want to be separated from Tommy and Angel either.
The remainder of Immortal Angel’s North American tour was broken up into three short, mini tours – the East Coast, which the band had already finished, the West Coast, and the Midwest. They would be on the road for three weeks at a time, with a healthy break in between. Though apprehensive about the tour, Jessi was actually looking forward to it. The tour would be short enough so it wasn’t too overwhelming, and they would hit as many arenas as physically practical. Like Alyssa said, they would figure it out along the way.
“How’s my little boy?” Tommy bounced into the room, gave Jessi a quick kiss, and sat down on the floor next to Lucas. Lucas greeted his daddy with a happy giggle and a big toothless grin. He crawled into Tommy’s lap and pulled himself up. The baby was full of smiles and laughter, but it was Tommy who projected more love and happiness than Jessi ever imagined.
Angel entered the room and Lucas let out another happy squeal. “Papi’s home, mijo.” He picked up Lucas, swept him high in the air, and then cradled him in a hug. “What have you been doing while we’ve been gone? Were you a good boy for Mommy?”
“He’s always a good boy,” Jessi answered. She smoothed down Lucas’s unruly blond locks, and he propelled himself into her arms.
Angel kissed her cheek. “Were you okay by yourself with the baby?”
“Um, excuse me,” Alyssa called from the sofa. “Am I invisible or something?”
Angel smiled and shook his head. “Sorry. You know what I meant.”
“Yeah, sure.” She came over and planted a kiss on the top of Lucas’s head. “I gotta run. Bye kiddo. See ya in a couple of days. I hope you’re ready for your first tour.”
The futuristic custom-built tour bus/recreational vehicle was a double-decker. It was big enough so that everyone had their own bedroom and there was a playroom for Lucas and Mason. It was ridiculously expensive, no doubt, but Audra had negotiated it with Mr. Abelman without disclosing the cost. It was one of the perks of having the band’s tour manager and the boss’s daughter married to the band’s drummer.
The band had flown to Chicago where they boarded the tour bus and would circulate around the Midwest before traveling south. Then they would hop back on a plane to New York. After a 30-day break, they would do it all over again on the West Coast.