Full Circle (Rockin' Country #3) (2 page)

“I didn’t get you a whole lot, you know you get yourself basically anything that you want, but I hope you like what I did get you,” she chewed on her bottom lip, obviously nervous. “Open yours first.”

Looking at her, he realized something about his wife that he hadn’t ever realized before. She was one of those people who loved giving more than she loved receiving. She hadn’t even glanced under there to see what was hers – so focused on his, she hadn’t even attempted to do it.

“Oh I almost forgot,” she reached around behind the back and pulled out a huge rawhide bone, shaking it at Havock. “You forgive us for the snow?” she asked him as he raced over and grabbed it out of her hand, sitting next to her as he started to gnaw on it.

“I think we’re forgiven,” he told her, before glancing at the five presents that sat in front of him. They ranged from small to large and he could tell none of them from the size of the box.

“What are you waiting on?” she clapped her hands. “Open the freakin’ things!”

Shaking his head at his wife, he grabbed the smallest one and dug into it, his fingers ripping the paper back, revealing a small box. He shook the box, confused about what sounded like Legos inside it. When he opened it, he laughed, smiling up at her. “This is awesome.”

“I figured I couldn’t go wrong with a plethora of gift cards to your favorite stores.”

“And I see one to Starbucks here too,” he pursed his lips at her. “I’m onto you.”

Hannah scrunched her nose and shrugged her shoulders. “It’s all part of an evil plan.”

“Don’t I fuckin’ know it?”

Reaching over for the second, he continued opening them, revealing a leather jacket, a watch he’d been eyeing, and a gift certificate for a place in Nashville that made the best in-ear monitors around. One time, he’d tested hers out and he’d complimented her, telling her he needed a pair. It was in passing and he couldn’t believe that she had remembered it.

“I’m really excited to go have some made,” he reached over, kissing her on the cheek.

“I know, I love mine. They do everything handmade and take a little longer than most companies, but I absolutely think the quality is worth it,” she eyed the biggest box she’d sat in front of him. “I hope you like that one.”

“I’ve loved everything you’ve given me so far, why wouldn’t I love this?”

This one was kind of personal, but she couldn’t tell him that before he opened it. Instead, she sat back on her haunches and held her breath.

Garrett was at a loss for what this could be. He’d never, ever mentioned anything of this size to her, and it was so oddly shaped, he couldn’t figure it out. As he took the wrapping paper off, it dawned on him what it was. It was a guitar case, with his name airbrushed on it. This was something that he’d always wanted, but had never told anyone. He wasn’t known as the singer who could play guitar – ever, but he’d always wanted to be able to do it. As evidenced by the YouTube video, he could play, but he wasn’t great.

“I hope you like it,” she whispered as he opened the case.

He gasped. It was everything that was him. It was black and it was acoustic. The fret board had inlaid mother of pearl that made the shape of a harmony note. Airbrushed on it was a scene with the grim reaper and the hounds of hell in gray and white. He picked it up, glancing at it from all sides, the back catching his attention, there was a script H with the date on it.

“Do you like it?” she asked, biting her lip, waiting for his answer.

“I fucking love it. How did you know I wanted this?”

“I don’t know, I saw the way you played when we did the video and I saw how much you enjoyed it, even though you weren’t great at it,” she stopped and took a deep breath. “And to be honest, I’m a little selfish, I loved singing with you, and watching you play and I just kept thinking that when we have kids, you can play that and we can sing to them together.”

Emotion that he’d never felt before welled up inside of him. This was the best gift that he’d ever been given in his life, besides the chance to be Hannah’s husband. “I can’t wait for that,” he reached over and crushed her to him, hugging her so tightly he thought his arms would break her.

“I was sweatin’ that one, because it’s all custom, there’s no takin’ that one back,” she admitted.

“Somebody would have to pry that from my cold, dead hands. I’m never giving that thing up, just like I’m never giving you up.”

Hannah eyes misted and she buried her face in his neck. The gifts he gave her afterwards – a spa gift certificate, lingerie, and the most beautiful necklace and earring set she’d ever seen, paled in comparison to the gift he’d already given her.

His love and their life together. It was everything she’s always wanted and there was nothing in this world that would make her trade it in.

That night, as snow fell once again on Music City, they snuggled in front of the fireplace, watching holiday movies and drinking hot chocolate – she realized what she’d searched for her whole life was in this living room. A husband who loved her more than he could ever say, and a dog who would protect her with her life. No matter what was to come in the months and years ahead, they would always have these memories. They would always cherish their first Christmas together.

Then comes marriage

Now? The baby carriage

Garrett and Hannah Thompson have a lot going on. They have a baby on the way, Garrett’s on tour, and Hannah’s enjoying being a wife and a soon-to-be mother.

But with them nothing is ever easy. Paparazzi still want the inside scoop, Jared and Shell still have issues, and there’s still her pesky record company that they have to deal with.

Luckily for them, all that’s ever mattered is that they love each other. The other stuff is always secondary—except when it isn’t, and it’s thrust to the forefront of their lives.

Life is never easy, especially for those who live it in the public eye. Sometimes they have to take a step back, take a deep breath, and let it all come full circle.

*  *  *

July 2015

H
annah looked out over the German crowd, ninety thousand strong, as Black Friday performed their set for the summer festival. She was so thankful she had taken this time off. If she hadn’t, she wouldn’t be here for this, and she knew that she wouldn’t want to miss it. Garrett held the huge crowd in the palm of his hand. Every time he asked them to do something, they did it without hesitating. She had never seen this many people before in her life. These rock festivals were much larger than the country festivals she attended.

“Amazing, isn’t it?”

She glanced up at Shell, nodding. “It is. I can’t believe all these people have been out in this intense heat all day.”

From where she stood, Garrett was in the shadow of the setting sun, and his silhouette was beautiful against it. Pulling her phone out, she snapped a few pictures, uploading one of them to her Instagram account. So far, everyone who had told her the fans would love to get glimpses into their private life was right. Any picture she uploaded of the two of them got more likes than the last one. Pictures of just him were probably the most popular, but she didn’t let that affect her one way or another. Since taking her career break in November, she had been careful to keep the posts at a regular interval. Call her crazy, but it was important for her to keep them informed. She didn’t want to lose the fans who meant so much to her, no matter what she ended up deciding about her career. The past nine months had been amazing, and she knew she would never give them up for anything.

“Are you nervous?” Shell asked, a soft smile on her face.

“Kind of. I mean we didn’t expect for this to happen so soon. We thought it would take longer,” she told her friend, putting her hand on her stomach that, even though still flat, held a little bit of extra weight.

“The two of you are magnetic together; I’m pretty sure that as soon as he looked at you when you went off birth control, it was like boom, pregnant.”

Hannah laughed. “Kind of.” She turned her attention back to the concert, watching Garrett.

He was now the father of her child. Conceived in early April, they were expecting the birth in January. It wasn’t ideal. While she wouldn’t be working, he would still be touring, but by the time she had to go back to work, the baby would be six months old and hopefully on some type of schedule.

“Stop thinking ahead. I can see the panic on your face,” Shell told her. “We’ll deal with it, no matter what it is.”

She knew that Shell spoke the truth. Her attorney had found a clause in some of the legal language that would allow her to terminate a portion of her contract if she so wanted to. It would allow her to take off as much time as she wanted, up to two years, after the birth of a child. Hannah still wasn’t sure what she wanted to do, but she figured that by the time all of that rolled around, she would know. Her CD was still selling well, the lyric videos released on social media were well over the millions of views, and the record company was happy she was still active. Right now, they were all happy. She hoped it would continue to be that way. Just that morning, she had let the record company know she was pregnant, and they seemed okay with it. She was relieved they hadn’t asked her to get an abortion; she had heard of that before, even had a few friends in the music industry that had done it at the suggestion of a record company. A baby would ruin their image and their career, they had been told. For her and Garrett, this was planned, a symbol of the love that they shared for one another—only they hadn’t expected it so quickly. She smiled as she thought back to the morning she’d woken up feeling sick, wondering if the one time they’d tried, it had taken.

“I can’t believe I’m here right now.” Hannah gestured out to the crowd and then looked back at her husband. He wore a T-shirt with the armholes cut out—white in deference to the hot day. Sweat caused the material to stick to his body. The long hair style he now sported caused his hair to curl up at the ends, and at that moment she hoped with everything she had they had a son that looked like him. She would love for their child to have the curly hair Garrett got when it was long. He looked over at her and she could feel his gaze, even though she couldn’t see his eyes behind the sunglasses.

“My wife is here today,” he was saying to the crowd. “I’d like to invite her out here, if it’s okay with you?” There was a huge uproar from them, clapping and whistling.

They hadn’t talked about this. She knew that he wanted to make the announcement today, but she hadn’t been aware that he wanted her to go out and be with him.

“C’mon, babe.” He crooked his finger at her.

She was immediately glad she had taken the time to put her hair in a braid. The black shorts she wore weren’t too short, and the tank-top she wore was billowy enough that no one could make out the fact that she had gained a few pounds. She pushed her sunglasses over her eyes and walked out onto the stage. It was breathtaking to see that many people in one spot, and it felt like it took forever until she reached where he stood. He held his hand out to her.

“So everybody, this is my gorgeous wife, Harmony.” He toyed with the braid that rested over her shoulder.

Not sure what to do, she waved out to the crowd.

“Say hi.” He held the mic up to her mouth.

“Hi,” she giggled, nerves getting the better of her.

The crowd was so loud she was afraid they would knock her down with their response.

“They love you almost as much as I do.” He stood behind her and grabbed her around the waist.

He dropped the mic to his side and moved his mouth to her ear. “Do you wanna tell them?”

“We can if you want. Everyone who needs to know already does.”

He dropped a kiss on her nose, and the crowd went wild. “The reason I brought her out here is because we wanted to share something with all of you.”

Hannah held on tightly to his hand that spanned her stomach. If he hadn’t been holding her up, she was afraid she would have slid down in the face of all these people. The crowd continued to yell as he waited; they grew louder and louder until he put the mic back up to his mouth.

“Okay, okay. You wanna know, I’ll tell you. Sometime in the new year, there will be a little Reaper or Harmony running around. She’s pregnant.”

The roar of the crowd was so loud and the enthusiasm so much that they both physically took a step back. At some point a “kiss her” chant started, and Garrett smiled at her, pulling her to him. “Now that the cat’s out of the bag, we don’t have to worry about keeping secrets anymore.”

“We sure don’t.” She wrapped her arms around his neck, squealing when he bent to pick her up and put her legs around his waist.

This time the picture that went around the world was the one of them lip-locked in front of ninety-thousand fans in hundred-degree weather. It would be the most popular picture of the two of them for months.

*  *  *