Lori’s hands were trembling as she replied, “Are you ok? Thinking about you. Tell Paul to call as soon as there is any news. Hugs. L x”
A few minutes later, the basement door opened and a weary looking Jake emerged, his phone clutched in his hand.
“Paul called. Maddy’s in labour,” he announced with a grin. “This is it!”
“I know. Maddy messaged me,” replied Lori smiling. “Scary exciting, isn’t it?”
“A bit,” he admitted, as he came over to give her a hug. “Hey, that’s quite something!”
“It’s a bit creepy, but it fits with the remit,” said Lori, gazing down at her drawing. “Not my usual kind of thing.”
The drawing was a sink drain hole with tortured, skeletal faces peering up and long thin bony arms reaching through.
“It’s kind of weird,” agreed Jake. “Who’s it for?”
“You know better than to ask that,” she chastised. “How did your day go? It sounded good.”
“I’ve made some progress. I’ve been emailing files to Grey and Rich on and off all day. We’ll see how it all comes together,” he replied. “My train of thought derailed when Paul called.”
“Same here,” Lori confessed with a giggle. “Waiting’s going to be the hard bit now.”
“How long do these things take?” asked Jake, not too sure that he really wanted to hear the answer.
“As long as they take. I’m not actually sure,” Lori answered. “I just hope they’re all ok.”
“They’ll be fine,” assured Jake confidently. “Now, how about we make some dinner? I’m starving!”
Each hour dragged by endlessly. Neither of them could settle. After dinner they sat down to watch a movie, but Lori couldn’t concentrate and abandoned the film after less than an hour in favour of finishing off the laundry. Jake too was struggling to focus on the screen, but he persevered until the end. Without saying anything to Lori, he sent Paul a message to see if he could find out how things were progressing. He got no reply.
When it got to midnight and there was still no news, they both conceded it was time for bed. Side by side, they lay awake in the dark, both of them listening anxiously for their phones. At some point during the night, they finally drifted off to sleep.
Early morning sunlight was filtering through the voile curtains, when Lori’s phone finally rang. Instantly she was awake and reaching for the handset.
“Morning, Lori,” said Paul sounding cheerful.
“Is everything ok?” she asked without pausing to say hello.
“Everything’s wonderful!” declared the Silver Lake drummer. “I’m a dad! I have a son and a daughter.”
“Fabulous! Congratulations, daddy. How’s Maddy?”
“Exhausted. She’s sleeping just now. So are the babies. She was incredible, Lori. The whole thing was amazing. Scary but amazing.”
“And the babies?”
“Perfect,” he sighed. “I’ll send photos in a few minutes. No names yet.”
“I’m just relieved everyone is ok. Did she need a C-section?”
“No,” answered Paul. “That wonderful woman delivered them both naturally.”
“Are they a good weight?”
“What is this? Twenty questions?” teased the new father. “Baby boy was six pounds and four ounces. Baby girl was five pounds and twelve ounces. Both beautifully healthy. They arrived at two fifteen this morning. I didn’t want to call you guys in the middle of the night though.”
“We’ve been awake most of the night listening for the phone so you could’ve called,” giggled Lori. “This is the best news to start the day.”
“Isn’t it just,” agreed Paul with a yawn.
“When can we see everyone?”
“There’s visiting this afternoon at two,” replied Paul.
“We’ll be there,” promised Lori. “Let me know if you need me to bring anything.”
“Will do,” said Paul. “I’d better go. Calls to make and I need some sleep. See you guys later.”
“Take care, daddy,” said Lori as she ended the call.
Just after two, Jake pulled into the parking lot beside the maternity wing at the medical centre. Hand in hand, he and Lori walked towards the hospital. Over her shoulder, Lori had a canvas bag with two teddy bears poking their heads over the edge. Jake had called Paul to say they were on their way in and, as they reached the door, he came rushing out to meet them.
“What kept you guys?” he said hugging Lori. “The boss has been driving me insane asking when you were arriving.”
“Sorry, my fault,” apologised Jake, hugging his friend. “I went for a run and was longer than I meant to be.”
“Let’s go in,” suggested Paul.
He led them along the corridor and round a few corners before finally opening the door of a small, private room. Over by the window, Maddy was sitting in a rocking chair with her newborn twins asleep in her arms. As Lori and Jake entered, she smiled at them and whispered, “Hello.”
Gone was the business-like Goth that Jake was accustomed to. In her place was a slightly pale and tired version of Maddy, who looked happier and more content than he had ever seen her. Putting her bag down on the end of the bed, Lori walked over to her friend, tears welling up in her eyes.
“Oh, Maddy, they’re beautiful,” she said, gently touching the soft, downy hair of one of the twins. “So tiny!”
“Thanks. They didn’t feel so tiny last night I can tell you,” laughed Maddy. “Want to cuddle them, Aunt Lori?”
“Let me sit down first,” said Lori, taking a seat opposite her friend. “I’ve never held a newborn baby before.”
“You’ll be fine,” assured Maddy with a smile. “Who do you want to cuddle first?”
“Oh, have you chosen names?”
“We wanted you two to be the first to know,” said Paul coming over to lift his sleeping son from Maddy’s arms. “Meet Hayden Paul Edwards.”
Instead of handing the baby to Lori, he turned and handed him to Jake. Expertly Jake settled the baby in the crook of his arm.
“Our newest drummer?”
“Maybe,” agreed Paul smiling proudly.
Carefully Maddy shuffled forward in her seat, then stood up rather gingerly to hand her sleeping baby daughter to Lori. “And this is Wren Maddison Edwards.”
Nervously Lori cuddled the sleeping baby girl in her arms, marvelling at the perfection of her - the tiny ears, the perfect fingernails, tiny rosebud mouth. “Oh, Maddy, she’s beautiful. So perfect.”
“Congratulations, both of you. These two are precious,” said Jake coming over to admire little Wren. “I think they both look like you, Maddison.”
“Wren does a bit, but Hayden’s like Paul,” replied the proud mother. “I just can’t believe they’re here and I’m watching you guys holding them. It just blows my mind.”
“So how bad was it?” asked Lori, anxious to know what her friend had endured.
“That’s our cue to talk band talk,” joked Jake, nudging Paul.
“We could go and fetch these girls a juice while they chat about the messy stuff,” conceded Paul.
“You two stay right where you are,” said Maddy sharply. “There’s juice over there if you’re thirsty.”
“Yes, mom!” laughed Jake, sitting down on the edge of the bed. “Hayden, your mom’s a scary lady.”
Visiting was only scheduled to last for an hour, but, when the hour was up, the four friends were still chatting and laughing together. The new parents had loved the two teddy bears and placed them in the babies’ plastic crib. Hearing the story of Maddy’s labour and the twins’ arrival into the world wasn’t as traumatic as either Lori or Jake had expected and, seeing how fit and well Maddy looked, reassured Lori that she really was telling them the truth and not watering the tale down. Photos were taken of each of them holding the babies; photos were taken of the girls with the twins; photos were taken of the boys with the twins. The whole scene couldn’t have been further remove
d from the “rock world” if they had tried.
Eventually little Wren began to fret and grizzle and Maddy commented that they were due to be fed.
“We’d better go,” said Lori softly. “When do you expect to get home?”
“Tomorrow hopefully,” replied Maddy putting her little finger in her baby daughter’s mouth to soothe her. “Maybe Wednesday.”
“If you need anything, just call me,” said Lori, hugging her friend.
“We’ll need to go out for a few beers to celebrate,” stated Paul, clapping Jake on the shoulder.
“Just tell me where and when,” agreed Jake with a wink.
With a final wave, they left the new family in peace to get to know one another.
♫
Despite the disruption and celebration of the twins’ arrival, life had to return to normality for the rest of Silver Lake. For the remainder of the week, Jake locked himself down in the basement during the day, working tirelessly to come up with songs for the new record. Each evening Grey or Rich or both of them would come over and they would work together until late. While the band were writing and rehearsing, Lori refocused on her own work commitments. By the following Wednesday, she had three more offers of work from Jason, including a formal offer to complete the Silver Lake cover and another to do the latest Weigh Station album. It was to be a greatest hits compilation, due to be released ahead of their US summer festival tour. The third offer was for an all-girl pop band and, when she heard the accompanying music files, Lori turned it down flat. Her refusal prompted an immediate irate call from Jason himself and, after she had listened to his tirade of abuse about her declining the project, her answer, much to his annoyance, remained a definite no. When she checked her emails over breakfast on Thursday there was a fresh project offer from him to complete the artwork for an up-and-coming UK rock band called Nothing To Prove. She listened to the music samples a couple of times as she finished off her coffee, then emailed back accepting the commission. With the deadlines indicated, Lori now had enough work to keep her occupied over the summer and well into the fall.
Just as she closed the dishwasher up and pressed start, there was a knock at the back door. Lori opened it to find Todd, Jake’s former student, standing there.
“Todd! Good morning!” she exclaimed in surprise. “Is Jake expecting you?”
“Not exactly,” replied the teenager awkwardly. “Is he home?”
“He’s in the shower. Come on in and wait,” said Lori, stepping aside and showing the boy into the kitchen. “Do you not have school today?”
Todd nodded. “I’ll go in after I speak to Mr Power.”
“Take a seat. I’ll let him know you’re here,” invited Lori warmly. “Help yourself to coffee. The mugs are in the cupboard over the stove.”
When Jake came through to the kitchen a few minutes later, Todd was sitting at the table, a half drunk mug of coffee in front of him. In his rush to discover what the boy wanted, Jake had thrown on his jeans, but hadn’t bothered with a shirt or socks. The sight of the rock star, hair still wet from the shower, stripped to the waist caught the boy off guard.
“Sorry. Is this a bad time?” asked Todd, trying not to stare at his former teacher’s tattoos.
“Not at all, Todd, What’s up?”
“I need your help,” began the boy, dropping his eyes to the floor. “My mom’s kicked me out. I’m staying at Kate’s house. I’ve got a job on the weekends and one night a week at the skate shop in town.”
“So where can I help?” asked Jake, concerned to learn that his young friend was in this predicament.
“I don’t have enough money to pay my guitar tuition. I need to cancel my tutor,” Todd replied. “And I was kind of wondering if you’d teach me? I thought I could do some work for you to pay for the lessons. Yard work or something.”
“Is that all you need my help with?” laughed Jake, relief echoing in his laughter. “I thought you were here to tell me you were in real trouble! Of course I’ll help you when I can but remember, I don’t work regular hours and I’m away from home a fair bit.”
“Thanks, sir,” said the boy, lifting his eyes from the floor and smiling.
“Less of the sir,” chastised Jake warmly. “It’s Jake. Now, shouldn’t you be in class?”
Todd nodded, then said, “I wanted to see you before I went in. The school have been great, but I don’t get on too well with the new music teacher. I wanted to talk to you first before I had to talk to him.”
“Let me grab a shirt and some shoes and I’ll drive you out to school,” offered Jake. “We can work out a loose schedule in the truck.”
“Thank you,” said Todd. “You’ve no idea how much this means to me.”
When Jake returned to the house, Lori was sitting out on the sun deck sketching, her ear phones in and iPod lying on the table. Oblivious to her fiancé’s presence, she squealed as he bent down to kiss the nape of her neck.
“Christ, you scared the hell out of me!”
“Sorry, li’l lady,” he apologised as he sat down beside her. “I need you to draw up a list of chores that you need done about the place.”
“Don’t you have enough to do with writing for the new record?”
“I didn’t say I was going to be the one doing the chores,” countered Jake. “I’ve made a deal with Todd. He needs tuition, but can’t pay hard cash. He wants to work to pay for his lessons.”
“Ah, it’s a male pride thing,” observed Lori, understanding the situation. “Well, the fence needs painting for a start and the front yard could use some attention.”
“That’ll do for a start. He’ll be over tomorrow after school.”
“For a lesson or to work?” enquired Lori, conscious that Jake had been secreted in the basement studio all day every day recently.
“We’ll play that by ear. It depends how my day goes,” Jake replied. “Now, I’d better get some work done. I’ve lost enough time today.”
“Makes two of us,” agreed Lori, closing over her sketch pad. “My drawing board awaits me.”
It was late afternoon before either of them stopped for a break. Down in the basement, Jake was finally making headway and the song count was up to eleven possible tracks. Via text and email plus a few phone calls, the band had agreed to meet and run through what they had stockpiled on Saturday before going into town to celebrate the twins’ safe arrival. Both Rich and Grey had been exchanging music files with him throughout the week and, as well as the eleven songs, he had the bare bones of two more taking shape. Each of them had a different musical style and preference. The challenge came in harnessing the best of their individual ideas and finding common ground without anyone’s ego getting in the way.
Upstairs Lori was finalising her “zombie drain” as she now affectionately thought of the piece. Several times she had paused to listen to Jake playing, part of her looking for any emerging theme that may help when it came to tackling the Silver Lake commission. After a couple of hours, she began to realise how big a distraction the band rehearsing and recording was going to be. When the basement had been converted, it had been soundproofed but she could still hear Jake’s guitar quite clearly. While he was practicing a particularly loud and heavy riff, she walked through to the bedroom to see if it was any quieter at that end of the house. It wasn’t. Still deep in thought, Lori walked back down the hallway. When she drew level with the door to the attic, she paused. Maybe it would be quieter upstairs? Carefully, she climbed the steep, narrow stairs up into the attic. Since her return to the house over a year before she had only ventured up there once. It was a huge space, but there were no windows and therefore no natural light to work in. On the plus side, she could barely hear Jake playing.
An idea forming in her head, Lori slowly made her way back down the stairs. When she sat back down at her desk, she fired off an email to David, her financial advisor and mentor, asking him to find her an architect and a builder, briefly outlining her plan. Once her email was sent, she re
turned her attention to the drawing on the board in front of her.
The ringing of her phone a while later shattered her concentration. It was Maddy’s number on the screen.
“Hi,” greeted Lori brightly as she answered the call. “How’re things?”
“Chaotic!” snapped Maddy sharply before adding, “Sorry. I didn’t mean to bite.”
“It’s alright,” answered Lori softly. “But are you ok?”
“Tired. Sore. Emotional.”
“That’s to be expected, Maddy. How’re the babies?”
“Hungry little monsters. They need fed every couple of hours. We’re both exhausted.”
“It's early days. Do you want me to come over tomorrow?” offered Lori, suddenly anxious to see her friend and the twins.
“Could you?” replied Maddy, her tone almost pleading.
“Of course. When?”
“Come over for lunch,” suggested Maddy. One of the babies began to cry in the background.
“Why don’t I bring some food in for us all?” Lori proposed, keen to keep her visit simple for her friend’s sake. “Will Paul be home?”
“I guess,” sighed Maddy. “He’s smothering me in kindness.”
“We can always send him over here to see Jake.”
“Sounds like a plan. I’d better go. Hayden’s fretting. I’ll see you tomorrow, honey.”
When Jake finally emerged from the basement, he found Lori in the kitchen preparing dinner. An open bottle of red wine sat on the counter with two glasses beside it, one empty and one part full. A pot of Bolognese was bubbling away on the stove and the tantalising smell reminded him just how hungry he was.
“Productive day?” asked Lori as Jake wrapped his arms around her slender waist.
“I think so,” he replied, inhaling the subtle floral notes of her perfume. “You?”
“Not too bad actually. The zombie drain is more or less finished. I’ll scan and email it off tomorrow before I drive out to see Maddy. She called a while ago,” explained Lori. “I also had an idea for some home improvements?”
“Oh?” said Jake raising one eyebrow. “Should I be worried?”
Impossible Depths (Silver Lake series Book 2) Page 4
