Sophie's Encore (37 page)

The showmanship was breathtaking and once again, I was in awe of ‘my’ rock star. I hugged my daughter hard, noting with amusement that Dan didn’t fail to enchant the next generation, and smiled inwardly. As I had worked out on the plane, it had been seventeen years since my fateful train journey to Edinburgh to visit the band backstage after they had extended a random invitation at a gig a few days previously. For more than twenty years, Tuscq had provided the musical backdrop to my life, seeing me through the highs and the lows, whether they had known it or not. I was thirty-six years old, and yet Dan and his band still made me feel like a teenager.

Rehearsal finished at just after six, and just in time, as well. Emily could barely keep her eyes open, and Josh swayed in his shoes as if drunk. It was time for my darlings to go to bed, and I didn’t feel too hot myself. We sat tight until the band came off stage to see us, and I hugged every one of them hard, still feeling irrationally emotional. Dan scooped up Emily and held her close, and she snuggled into his neck and dozed off instantly. The rest of the band was much amused.

“Look at you,” Joe chuckled. “That’s an unexpected effect you have on this young lady.”

Dan rose above the banter and simply smiled, looking as happy as I had ever seen him.

“What’s next for you guys?” I inquired cautiously, not wanting to put a dampener on the mood, but also needing to extract myself and the kids quickly.

“Dinner,” the band shouted as one, startling Emily out of her slumber. Dan shifted from foot to foot, and I sensed that this wasn’t a situation he had anticipated. His face spoke volumes. He hadn’t reckoned with the jetlag, and he had assumed we would tag along. He tightened his grip on Emily and stroked her back, clearly telling me he didn’t want to let go.

“Where are you going?” I asked, stalling for time. Maybe we could work something out.

“Steak,” Mick opined immediately.

“Burgers,” Joe bellowed at the same time.

“Beer,” Darren chimed in.

I laughed and raised my eyebrows. “Tell you what,” I said to Dan, gently taking my sleeping daughter out of his arms. “Why don’t you guys go let off some steam over burgers and beer, and I’ll see you later?”

Dan looked crestfallen and torn. “Are you sure? I don’t want you to feel like you’re not welcome!”

The other band members nodded, and I grinned.

“Aw, guys. I know I’m welcome. Heck, I hung around even
before
I knew I was welcome,” I joked, and of course the band erupted in protest. I blew Dan a kiss.

“Look, any other night, I’d say, yeah, let’s do this. But tonight…” I gestured at the kids and pulled an apologetic face. “It just wouldn’t be fair to them. Besides,
I’m
not feeling too great. I think I got an appointment with a bath and room service.”

Dan continued looking at me, conflicting emotions warring on his face. His brow creased, and smoothed again. The corners of his mouth lifted into a tentative smile then drooped once more. I prodded him gently in the side. “Come on, off you go. Have fun. I’m fine.
We’re
fine. Just give us one more night to get over this jetlag and the Jones family will show you that we can party!”

I spoke with more confidence than I felt, not at all sure how I was going to manage the next few nights, and wishing Ellen were there to set me an example. Much as I longed to do the whole rock-star-family-on-tour-thing, I really had no idea how to play it, and, feeling bone weary to boot, I couldn’t think straight either.

Dan stepped closer and pecked me on the cheek. “Are you sure?” he whispered tenderly. “I promised you…I said I’d look after you, and I don’t want to let you down.”

“You’re not letting me down. If anything, I’m letting you down. I promised we’d be game, and yet, we conk out on this first night.”

Dan put his arm around me awkwardly, trying not to dislodge Emily, then took in Josh’s near-zombie appearance. He smiled.

“You’re right. You’re absolutely right. These kids need to go to bed. I’ll have a limo take you back to the hotel. And you’re sure you’re okay if I…?” He gestured at the band, and I gave him a shove.

“Of course I am, you lovely eejit. Go and have fun and dissect the dress rehearsal, and I’ll see you later.”

The following night, we were back at The Arena, Emily, Josh, and I, watching the band for real. The early night had done wonders for our stamina, and even though we had had another busy day sightseeing, we were all wide awake and excited. The first support act would go on any second now, and the Jones family was ensconced in the green room with Tuscq, enjoying a buffet dinner, keeping a loose eye on the screens showing the crowd and the stage, and generally absorbing the pre-show atmosphere. I knew from days of old to hang back and be a little quiet, but of course the kids had no such qualms, and their incessant questions raised a few amused eyebrows.

“What are you doing?” Josh inquired when he saw Darren apply an ointment to his chest. “Can I have some?”

For a moment, the entire room fell silent, and I blushed. I recalled all too clearly that night when I had first bumped into the band again, just before the reunion tour that had kicked off my relationship with Dan. After that show, Dan had complained about a sore nipple owing to a persistent nipple erection chafing against his guitar strap, and I had proffered a cream to help him out.

Evidently, everyone else remembered that night, too, because all the band members started laughing. Darren shot me a look. “It’s a special cream that your mummy recommended to us a long, long time ago, and it stops my skin from getting sore when I play the guitar.”

I exhaled. Thank goodness Darren, too, had acquired the art of talking elegantly around the real issue for the sake of kids’ ears.

Josh, however, wasn’t done. “Really?” he gushed. “My mummy gave this to you?” He looked reverently at the little jar Darren was holding.

“Er, no, not this jar, exactly. But she gave me the
idea
,” Darren clarified, and I decided to call my son away before he could cause further embarrassment.

Before we knew it, the second support act was on, a new band who had managed to gain a place on the charts of late, and the energy in the room notched up a few ramps. Dan started warming up and assumed that faraway look that heralded an impending performance. Emily giggled when she saw him shouting into a bunched-up towel, and I whispered to her to explain what he was doing. Darren and Mick were doing finger taps on their mugs, absentmindedly practicing riffs and chords. Joe was tapping at the table, preparing drum rolls and count-ins.

I shushed the children and quietly talked them through this final phase before the band went on stage, pointing out how each of the musicians seemed to have withdrawn into their own space, hardly talking to each other or aware of anyone else’s presence.

“They’re getting ready,” I mumbled. “It’s their routine for going on stage, a bit like when you have to put shoes and coats on to leave the house.”

And then the moment arrived. The green room was eerily quiet these last few seconds before the on-stage signal, the cheering and chanting of the crowd relayed through the monitors being the only sound heard. The band lined up to go out, Dan first, followed by Joe, then Mick and Darren. The stage was in darkness until the first spotlight invited Dan to step out and the crowd went wild.

Josh, Emily, and I were watching from a little private family area to the side of the stage. We didn’t have the best of views, but we
could
see everything, and of course we had watched the rehearsal the night before.

However. In all the excitement, I had completely lost track of time, and it was only a half hour or so into the show when Emily curled up on my lap with her thumb in. “I tired,” she mumbled, twirling a lock of her hair around a finger while polishing her nose with the resulting strand.

Oh dear
. I had hoped the kids would last through the gig, and Emily’s exhausted state caught me off guard in a big way. We couldn’t even go back to the hotel because we were due to travel through the night to get to San Francisco for the band’s afternoon TV appearance. The children had been terribly excited about the prospect of sleeping on a bus, and had eagerly helped pack their little overnight bags, which were resting in a side room at The Arena right at that very moment. Perhaps I would get the children changed into their pajamas. That might be a good start.

I rose to my feet, hoisting Emily onto my hip, and went to investigate, pulling a surprisingly willing Josh behind me with my free hand. “I’m tired, too,” he informed me.

Thus encumbered by my load and a very bad conscience, I bumped into a roadie in the deserted green room. I couldn’t recall his name, but I had met him before. He flashed me a grin.

“Awright?”

I shook my head and sighed, hooking Emily up higher as I struggled to carry her weight. “I wish I’d thought to bring some kind of travel cot,” I mused, suddenly realizing that would have been the most reasonable thing to do.

“The nippers are tired, are they?” The roadie showed surprising empathy with my plight. I nodded and shrugged at the same time, a most inelegant maneuver that resulted in Emily sliding out of my grip. The roadie caught her and gave her a quick cuddle.

“You don’t need no travel cot,” he informed me. “Why don’t you do what Ellen used to do with Joe’s li’l’uns?”

I met his expectant gaze and found myself at a loss. “What did Ellen used to do with her kids?”

The roadie grinned and flicked his head to one side. “Come on, I’ll show ya.” He set off, carrying Emily while I led Josh by the hand. He took us through the green room and out the other side, and the noise swelled as we crossed the passage that led up to the stage. Directly opposite the green room was the instrument room where the band kept the various guitars and basses they used for different parts of the show.

“Here,” the roadie smiled.

I looked around, aghast. “Here, what?”

“Take your pick.”

I still didn’t know what he was talking about. He noticed my confusion and picked up a guitar case.

“This is one of Dan’s. I’m sure he won’t mind.”

“Won’t mind what?”

The roadie gave an infinitesimal roll of his eyes. “You really are new to this, aren’t ya?”

I nodded, feeling incredibly stupid. He grinned again and stacked the guitar case inside a large, flat box on wheels. “Transport case,” he explained. “Big enough for the bigger one.”

“Ah.” Rather than let on that I was still mystified, I followed him as he pushed the cases into the adjacent smaller and surprisingly quiet side room which already housed our overnight bags.

“Look, there’s a pile of blankets and towels. They’ll make a right comfy bed for the little nippers. Put the girl into the guitar case and the boy into the transport case. Piece of cake.”

He delivered this information so matter-of-factly, there was no doubt he was serious, and yet, I was sure he had to be joking.

“You’re kidding me, right?”

“Nah, look, it’ll be all right, just for the show. Joe’s kids used to sleep like this all the time when they were little, and Mick’s, too. Trust me.”

He handed Emily back to me while he laid out the guitar case, wide open, and cushioned it with blankets. It did look just big enough for my toddler, and, at his behest, I laid her gently inside the nest he had built and covered her with another blanket. She looked surprisingly snug and never woke, just turned on her side and continued sucking her thumb.

“You might want to bring their ‘jamas next time,” the roadie suggested, and it dawned on me that he really had seen this done many times before.

“Um…I have, they’re right there.” I pointed at our bags.

The roadie grinned. “Even better, but I’ll leave you to sort that out for yourself. Now then, young man,” he addressed Josh. “Reckon you’ll be awright in here?” He padded the transport case with a stack of blankets and made an inviting-looking nest for Josh, too. Josh looked at me, and back at the roadie, then at his sleeping sister. He looked a little tearful.

“I…I don’t want to be left alone here,” he mumbled.

“Ah, but you won’t be,” the roadie answered. “See all them people out there? They’re all helping to look after ya and if y’need anything, your mummy’s just across that corridor, see? What d’ya reckon?”

I gave a small gasp. “Are you sure this is safe?” I whispered, lest Josh should overhear my concern and get even more worried.

“Safe as houses. Them instruments out there are worth thousands of pounds and the whole area is completely locked down. There’s security guards on the doors, too. You can leave them kids here sleeping peacefully. They won’t be comin’ to any harm.”

A pager went off on his belt and he consulted it. “I must be off. I’ll see you later, and I’ll keep an eye on the room whenever I can. Besides, you’re only across the corridor, you can probably see the doorway from where you’re sitting anyways.” He rushed out before I could object.

I knelt down next to Josh. “Come on, sweetie, let’s get you into your jimmy-jamas and give this a try,” I coaxed. “It’s a brilliant idea. It looks really comfy and…it’s totally cool!” I fumbled in my handbag and withdrew my phone. “Look, I’ll take a picture of the two of you sleeping like proper rock star kids!”

Josh liked the idea of that. I retrieved his pajamas and got him changed, and he quickly snuggled down. I changed Emily, too, before I took the photo. She slept through everything, and I sat with Josh and stroked his hair until he dropped off a bare five minutes later. Still feeling just a little uncertain, I rose to my feet and surveyed my sleeping children in their familiar sleepwear but most unusual bedsteads. Then I squared my shoulders and told myself to relax. The roadie was right; this area was in a complete lockdown zone, and if you didn’t have a pass, you couldn’t go anywhere.

Leaving the door ajar, I ventured back through the green room and into the family zone. I sat down, all alone now but with clear line of sight to the room where my offspring slept. Resolving to go check on them every few minutes, I finally gave myself up to the show again. It was exciting to get the best of both worlds, and I looked forward to a few short minutes of welcoming the band off stage on my own, just me, adult-Sophie-and-temporarily-not-Mummy-me.