Page 46 of His Last Chase
“Okay, my Daddy to show around.” Wow, my sweet little got a bit huffy.
“Be nice, Songbird. David means well.”
“Sorry, Daddy. Here is our kitchen and dining area. Where we have our meetings, too.”
They had a full-size fridge, oven, stove, microwave and more countertops than I’d seen in any RV.
“This is the front bath which is mine. David and Jordan have their own in their room. Here is my bunk. Easton had new buses designed with everyone pairing up so it left more room for bigger bunks for the rest of us,” Chase sighed. “I can’t wait for you to get here.”
“I’ll be there before you know it, my love. Show me your stuffies.”
He flipped the curtain back and nearly dropped the phone.
“Oops, sorry."
“No worries. I see Lucky and Beary but where’s Miles?”
Chase dug around and pulled him from underneath the pillow.
“He got stuck. Look, I have a TV and these cool shelves with charging stations and outlets and more headroom than I’ve ever had. I can actually sit up in it. But the bunk above is where Sikes and Snipe sleep.” He hopped inside his bunk and got comfy before he flipped the phone screen back around so I could see his handsome face.
“There is my boy. Did you already eat dinner?”
“No, we are about to stop so Jordan and Ely can feed us. Jordan does some food prep on our bus and Ely does the rest on his and Rhone’s, then we all stop and eat together. It’s kind of nice.”
“Sounds like it. How long until your first show?”
“Like two days, I think. It is so boring on driving days. Quicker to fly but then the roadies still have to drive all our gear, so it only seems fair we travel together.”
Such a sweet boy, always worrying about others.
“I suppose sometimes you all hop on the same bus and practice or write songs?” I’d slipped a note into the notebook he carried around and couldn’t wait for him to find it.
“We do. It’ll happen at some point over the next few weeks but for now everyone is still getting settled in and unpacked. I already got all my stuff set up ‘cause I wanted to call you.”
“How’d you know I was home already?”
“Lucky guess,” he shrugged. “I had to stop myself from calling like ten times already today.”
I threw my head back and laughed. “You did, huh?” No use mentioning how many times I checked my phone for messages. “Feel free to text me whenever you want, and I’ll check my phone as time allows.”
“Okay. Will you read to me tonight, Daddy?” he whispered.
“I would love to.”
“We’re slowing down and I’m starving. I’ll call you later but not too late. Love you, Daddy.”
“Love you, too, my little songbird.”
I stared at the black screen the once held the face of my sweet boy.
How in the hell would I survive these next six weeks?
This boy made me feel so alive, invincible, even like a great protector. His happiness was the driving force that propelled me forward. I’d always been a nice, attentive Daddy but now it was to the extreme. Not a fan of punishments or naughty boys but with Chase I strived for perfection in myself. Chase made me want to be the best possible man and Daddy I could be.
I busied myself with dinner and grading finals until my boy was tucked in and ready for me to read to him. My life had become so mundane and generally at the end of the school year I rolled right into summer classes. With no boy to tend to, I buriedmyself in work. Now I had future tours and more time with my boy to look forward to.
This would likely be the last summer class I taught, and I couldn’t be happier. Don’t get me wrong, I loved teaching, broadening minds and drawing out creative gifts was a joy. But now I was at the point in my life where I was ready to settle down and in my heart I knew that would be with Chase.