21. Chapter Twenty-One

“Hey, Reagan,” the house was a fucking mess. Our shit was in boxes stacked everywhere, but I didn’t want to complain and sound ungrateful. Reagan had been handling a million things while I was on the road.

On the road.

Whoever thought I’d be able to use those words? My life had come full circle, wishes fulfilled, and my faith and hope in humanity and being loved was restored. Long gone was grouchy Josh, replaced with a stupidly happy and in love new and improved version. The very one who refused to get mad about the house piled full of boxes.

“Yeah? Where are you?”

“Somewhere between cardboard road and packing tape avenue.” Basically, the middle of the living room. Thankfully, Katie’s tiny home was well underway and would be done by the end of week. How they got the plans rushed through for that I’d never know but they knocked those tiny homes out in no time.

“Smartass. Meet me at the car, we’re going out.” Reagan’s frustration was clear in his voice. Not with me but with the disaster our home had become. “How many more weeks of this do we have?” I asked as soon as we buckled in. I’d only been home for a day, so I had no right to complain.

“Six to eight weeks. Did you walk through Mom’s house?” Mom’s house, I loved that she insisted I called her that now. It felt right and like another piece of the puzzle of my life slid into place.

“Only through the kitchen window, I didn’t want to bother the guys working.”

“The plans are on the kitchen table. If you find it feel free to check them out.” Well, at least Reagan was joking about it now. We were still in his childhood bedroom while they got to work on what was Mom’s office and bedroom space. I guess she’d been crashing on the couch this last week. Our current bedroom would be turned into a guest room.

“Why doesn’t Mom take our bed and we get a hotel room? I feel bad she’s on the couch. Better yet, why don’t we put her up in a nice, quiet hotel room that she can work from until they’re done?” There, that sounded much better.

“Good idea. Let’s do that while we’re out. First, I want to take you somewhere.”

I was along for the ride and good to go with wherever Reagan took me, but when we pulled up to Tacoma National Cemetery, I didn’t know what to think. “A cemetery? Kind of an odd date place, don’t you think?”

“Yes and no. Come on.” Reagan hopped out and came around to my side. Once I was out, he took me by the hand and led me through rows of graves. “So, I’ve been doing some digging.”

I glanced around, expecting to see a fresh hole. “Here?”

“Ha-ha, yes and not in the literal sense. I’ve been hoping to help you more with your healing journey and poked around to see what I could find out about your father. This will sound wrong but the good news is he’s dead. The bad news is I don’t believe he’s your biological father.”

My steps faltered as I tripped over uneven ground. “Um, what?”

Reagan stopped and pointed down to a basic grave marker with his name on it. “What he told you about your mother was true, but she left you at the hospital, not with him.”

“Then how did I end up with him?”

“Great question and one I unfortunately don’t have the answer to—yet. There’s no father’s name on your original birth certificate that’s filed. I’m not sure how you ever got a passport with the one he had falsified. I could make assumptions, guesses, though that’s all they’d be on how you wound up with him, but I’d rather not.”

“I don’t have a passport. I only worked the Maiden US shows.”

“That explains a lot, but you’ll have to change that. We need to involve Easton on this, or your passport could be an issue and you’re gonna need one. There’s no way Chaotic Abyss won’t be on a worldwide tour soon. Your following is insane, and yes, I stalk your social media, too. Fans around the globe are shouting out asking for you to head their way.”

“Well, at least the fucker’s dead, which explains why he’s never shown up and demanded money from me.” I looked at the date, he died a few years after I left home. “Probably got killed by someone he owed money to.”

“I haven’t found any conclusive evidence, but I also don’t know who paid for his burial. Unclaimed bodies usually get cremated and disposed of yet here he is. Back to the passport thing. I haven’t shared any of this, it’s not my story to tell, but I did ask Stoli in a roundabout way for a lawyer to handle paperwork. He said Easton handles everything for the bands, or at the very least gets you with the right people. Knowing how long the government takes with passports, I think you need to reach out to him and let him work his magic.”

“I can’t believe you did all this for me.” It was overwhelming to say the least and while it closed one door to the past, it opened another. Who was my real father and why hadn’t he come for me? Likely a one-time John, a fix for my drug-addicted mother who never even knew I existed. She probably assumed leaving me at the hospital was a safe place, only it turned out to be the furthest from that. Money talked and likely the asshole I lived with either paid someone off to get a kid so he could get all the government had to offer assistance wise for having one, or he just flat out stole the first one he could get his hands on.

“Here,” Reagan reached inside his jacket pocket and pulled out an envelope. “I ordered a copy of your real birth certificate.” My hands shook as I took it but right now, I didn’t have the balls to look at it and slid it into my back pocket. Reagan nodded in understanding. I appreciated that as I’d lost my words. “Your mother died shortly after you were born, overdose. Her body was unclaimed, so she was cremated, no proper burial.” When I didn’t respond, Reagan wrapped his arm around my waist. “Come on, let’s get lunch and find a nice hotel to spoil Mom with.”

The money in our shared checking account was for the house renovations and any future repairs. Reagan had taken out a home equity loan for the remodel and we had to start making payments on it next month. But I wanted to do something special for Mom, a way to say thanks for not only trusting me, but welcoming me in. She was wonderful and warm, always ready with a hug and a kind word, and I basked in it.

“Hey, why don’t you let me pay for this?”

“What? Why?”

“You and Mom have done so much for me, and I’d like to do something nice in return.”

“Child,” Reagan struck a full-on attitude pose I’d never seen from him before. “How many times do I have to tell you we love you?”

“Diva Reagan has arrived!” I laughed so hard I nearly fell over. We’d just been seated at the restaurant and every eye in the house was on us. “Okay, queen, take a seat.” He huffed but sat. “I didn’t mean it like that, but I have the money and I’d like to pay for it. It will still be from both of us.” Reagan opened his mouth to speak just as my phone rang. “Hold that thought.” It was rare that Jason called me, we mostly texted. “Jase, what’s up?”

“Hey, man, hope I’m not interrupting but I’ve got some news. Big news.”

“Oh yeah, what’s that?”

“Shits about to get crazy. Masterson just announced a huge show at the Tacoma Dome next Saturday. Tickets went on sale this morning and it’s nearly sold out. All four bands are playing that night with us opening.”

“What the fuck?”

“You heard me right. Huge night for us. Huge. Did I say huge?” Jason’s nerves were on high. “We’ve got this. Right?”

“We do. Little surprised Masterson is pulling this off. Did they say why?”

“Nope, just that the other shows this week are still on and that they’ll send a car to pick us up on Saturday around noon.”

“Holy shit.”

“Exactly. All right, need to call Marley. Saved the excitable puppy for last.”

“Ha-ha, later.”

“Is everything okay?” Reagan asked as I hung up.

“Well, that depends. Looks like Masterson is set to launch us into the oblivion. They booked a last-minute show with all four bands at the Tacoma Dome on Saturday. I’d expect it to be dead considering that’s less than a week away, but Jason said the tickets are nearly sold out.” Damn, that means they’d blasted it across the social media air waves.

“Holy crap.”

“My thought exactly. Any chance you can get Saturday off?”

“I’ll make it happen. This is a big night, no way I’m not gonna be there for you.”

On the way home, we stopped at a swanky hotel and booked Mom a room for a week. The hotel manager even threw in a massage and free meal for her. As expected, she protested but in the end, we won and she packed her bags for a week of well-earned Ramp;R. Though Reagan and I both knew she’d still log on and work.

The two shows we had went off without a hitch and were standing room only. Damn, it felt good to see fans in the crowd wearing our shirts. Diamond hooked me up with Mash, I wanted to get our logo added to my body art like Jason, Marley, and Nigel already had. The winged guitar was badass and as the band’s lead guitarist, it was only fitting that I proudly display it.

I was surprised as shit when Reagan told me he was closing the bar on Saturday night. They made bank on the weekends and that would be a hit to their bottom line. But he and his entire staff wanted to go to the show, so Easton hooked them up with tickets and backstage passes. Man, how my life had changed, but I was proud of myself for sticking it out and fighting the battle, and I’d finally won over those I’d wronged so long ago. Now, I was lucky enough to call them friends and that made the tough road I’d tread more than worth it.

Chaotic Abyss opened the show tonight to the largest crowd we’d played to date. “Holy shit!” Those words had been said more times as of late than I’d used in the entirety of my life. Masterson was a go big or go home company and holy shit fit perfectly with each surprise they threw our way. I might suggest they add it to the company logo as their tag line.

“Hey, guys, huddle up.” Jason called Marley, Nigel and I to center stage before we took our places. The crowd behind us were already riled up and ready to rock, even with the curtain down. “I’m so glad this journey called life brought our paths together and I’m proud to call you brothers.”

“That’s one hell of a fucking way to start the show,” Marley laughed. “But damn, I can’t think of any others I’d rather take this ride with than you three.”

“Here, here!” Was all Niles had to give and coming from him, that said a lot.

“I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. Thanks for taking a chance on this old dog, my brothers.” In a giant tangle of limbs, we hugged, then broke free as the curtain opened and started the show.

“Are you ready to rock, Seattle!!!” As soon as Jason’s voice rang out, the chairs filled. With Social Sinners, Maiden Voyage, Embrace the Fear, and Chaotic Abyss in the house, anything could happen and likely would. Some of my band brothers were crazy fuckers, especially Stoli and Diamond. You never knew when or where those fuckers would pop out and start jamming with you.

By the time we finished our set, I unplugged to walk off stage when a familiar pair of boots appeared in my downward gaze and shoved my guitar back at me. I could hardly hear him over the roar of the crowd, but I knew shit was about to go down. “Ryder.” I took my baby from him and waited for his next move.

“Plug in and let’s settle this score.”

Gulp!

“What’re we playing?”

“You know exactly which fucking song we’re playing.”

So much for swearing to never play that song again.

All five minutes and thirty-two seconds of it

Plus, two guitar solos.

Against the fucking man who wrote it.

Fuck.

“Fuck,” I muttered as I plugged in. “Let’s roll.” Derek, Shadow, and Jaxson joined us on stage as Ryder and I battled it out through “Her Embrace.” Fingers flew across the strings as we did our best to outdo the other. I’d never heard a crowd so fucking loud in my life and I’d sat through tons of sold-out Maiden shows.

So perfectly polished

So full of grace

The way her neck feels in my embrace

Nothing calms me more then she

How the world seems to slip away with the first key

Every tug, every twist, every flick of my wrist

With each magical note we play

She never fails to take my breath away

Her mahogany skin against pale flesh

My fingers gracefully glide across her chest

Chorus:

Her embrace, takes my breath away

My love for her will never fade

She’s my girl through and through

Never failing me, never blue

Muscle memory

Naked flesh

My hands know her body better than the rest

Each slide, each stroke

Each nuance lights the way

Her Siren’s voice beckons me from far and away

She’s the only girl in my life

The only one for me

She guides the way

As thoughts of failure slip away

Ryder and I dove into the first guitar solo, perfectly in tune. His eyes met mine and he smirked. I fucking had this in the bag.

She comes when I call

Never disappointing me

She never lets me fall

Her embrace seeks me

Her voice ignites a passion

Filling me from within

Heat searing from my core

I know with her, I’ll always win

Chorus:

Her embrace, takes my breath away

My love for her will never fade

She’s my girl through and through

Never failing me, never blue

The glint from her shimmering strings

The grace when she plays

Everything about her

Makes others disappear

Enter the second guitar solo, I amped it up for the crowd yet Ryder stayed with me. Two bodies, one mind, one goal. To outside the other though that didn’t happen. For this song, we stood on equal ground.

Chorus:

Her embrace, takes my breath away

My love for her will never fade

She’s my girl through and through

Never failing me, never blue

Her embrace, takes my breath…away

Derek and Jason sang the last line slowly and as soulfully as Ryder had intended when he wrote it as the line trailed off.

“Seattle, what did you think of that?” Derek shouted into the mic. He and Jason had such different voices, yet they complimented each other perfectly. Sweat poured down the back of my neck, my vest was glued to my chest and my hair was soaked. “Been a long time coming but I’m glad these two kids can play nicely in the sandbox now.” The crowd ate that shit up. Of course, it only helped that the man dishing it out was drop dead gorgeous. “Now, boys, kiss and make up.”

Ryder turned and held his hand out to me. “Now it’s over, let’s drink.”

I threw my head back and laughed so fucking hard. Jaxson and Derek gave me a bro hug, Shadow gave me a two-finger salute from behind Nigel’s kit. At least I thought I saw two, though it may’ve just been the one. International love and all that, you know the familiar gesture. The five of us took to the front of the stage and took a bow. The crowd was so riled up, ready to see what the rest of the impromptu night held for them. But for me, this was everything. Old rifts dead and buried, new relationships under construction.

“Holy shit!” There it was again, only this time it was from River. “We may just break social media tonight. Look at this.” He thrust his phone in my face, and I backed up to see the screen.

“I appreciate it but I’m social media illiterate, so you’ll have to explain.”

“Every fucking social media outlet has been flooded with videos the crowd just took of you playing with Maiden. It’s insane. Many have gone as far to say you’d stand your own against the great Ryder Hampton.”

I glanced up at the man in question, his brow cocked in challenge. “No way, not happening. I just got my life back and I’m not fucking it up again.”

“Wise man,” Ryder bowed. “There’s your redemption, now what’re you gonna do with it?”

“I’m gonna ride the waves and rock the fucking shit out of them.”