Sitting up and running a hand through my hair to fix it a little, I gave her a tiny wave as Milo moved forward so I could see his little baby boy, Atlas, sitting on a high chair and attacking his food. I watched as Megan appeared in front of the camera and gave me a little wave. “Good morning, Julian. I told him to call you a little while later but he insisted on calling you at this time to wake you up.”
Megan affectionately gave Atlas a kiss on the cheek and then disappeared from the camera and I couldn’t help but admire their family and I watched as Milo switched the camera back and placed his phone somewhere it could stand and I watched as he pulled up Megan and gave her a sloppy kiss on the cheek while Violet giggled and I pretended to gag at the affectionate gesture.
Four years ago, I didn’t think anyone could snap my brother back into reality because he seemed to be lost in grieving and betrayal after losing his first wife and Violet’s mother, Rebecca, in a tragic car accident along with her lover. But Megan came into his life and was only meant to be Violet’s nanny but somehow and somewhere along the line, the two of them fell in love and now they were this happy family.
“I just wanted to make sure he made use of his day by preparing everything he needed for Violet’s arrival.” In the background, Violet cheered in delight. Last Christmas, I gave her an open-ticket to LA as a present so I could take her to Disneyland. She was only meant to stay with me from Thursday evening to Monday morning but I knew what Milo meant. He wanted to make sure that the house was kid-friendly and that I would brief my bandmates not to bring any girls or make-out so openly that Violet could walk in on them.
“Oh, don’t worry. I plan to spend the rest of the day kid-proofing this house,” I said casually as I sank back into bed, “and besides, I have an assistant. She’s going to help me all day.”
Megan popped into the frame. “She?”
“How come we’ve never heard of this assistant of yours?” Milo asked, raising an eyebrow.
After the wedding in Irving, I hadn’t really talked to my brothers because the moment I got back to LA, there were auditions lined up and small concerts that we had scheduled. They had no idea that I dropped the contract with Wayland and Ross and they had zero clue about Audrey Finch being my assistant, not that they knew who she even was. Still, I felt like so many things have happened that I didn’t get the chance to call my family and fill them in on what was going on with my life which was actually something I did on a weekly basis.
I scratched my head and shrugged casually. “It’s only for a month. It’s my condition before I sign us up with their label.”
Biting my bottom lip, I waited for Milo’s response. “What do you mean sign with their label?”
I turned to the side and readjusted my phone and sighed. “Pete betrayed us. The contract we had with W&R was only meant to last for five years and we thought we could renew with them but they sat me down and said they only wanted to renew with me or sign me as a solo artist, dropping the rest of the band so I told them to fuck off and ended things with that.”
Milo pursed his lips and I saw Megan’s hand on his shoulder and I knew it was a gesture meant to ask him to pause before he fired me his questions. “Wayland and Ross asked to sign you as a solo artist but you told them to fuck off which now basically leaves you jobless and you’re meant to pay a house rent that most people can’t even afford.”
“It’s only for a month, Miles,” I said, trying to lighten up the mood, “and I have savings. You taught me how to. It’s not like I’m low on cash or anything and besides, after the month is over we sign up with Finch Records as long as Audrey sticks to her part of the deal and serves me as an assistant.”
Milo’s eyebrows rose and his eyes narrowed. “Yet despite the situation you were in, you were still in a position to demand someone offering you a solution to be your assistant for a month before you sign up with their company.”
“Hey, don’t make it sound like it’s bad because it’s not,” I said, sitting up and furrowing my eyebrows in annoyance. Milo didn’t know Audrey and he had no idea about Amber either. Leo and Everett did so I didn’t have to explain to them as much as I was explaining to Milo, “I have my reasons, Miles.”
Milo sighed and nodded at me. “I just hope those reasons are valid. But anyway, Violet arrived at 7 PM. Make sure you take her dinner right after and Jules, please, no sweets before bed.”
I pouted but nodded although I already planned on making brownies for Vi to munch on the moment she got out of the plane and even before bed. I gotta make sure that I was the favourite uncle. “What about you? You’re not staying even for the night?”
“Connecting flight to San Francisco. I’ll only be able to walk her out of the plane but she’ll have to head out on her own because I have to stay inside.”
“We’ve been briefing her every five minutes so she doesn’t get lost,” Megan piped up and I could hear Violet groan in the background at how protective her parents were. It was cute though and I loved that Megan and Violet actually had a mother-daughter relationship despite the fact that Megan was only her step-mother.
“Well then, I guess I better kid-proof the house and brief the boys about Violet’s arrival,” I announced and then waved goodbye at everyone before hitting the shower and changing into comfortable clothes.
The moment I arrived downstairs, I had the megaphone I had bought a year ago to call everyone downstairs alongside a gong that José randomly bought one time. I began sounding it and talking on the megaphone, asking everyone to see me downstairs until my roommates slash bandmates came out of their respective rooms, all looking like they were about to murder me. I grinned sheepishly at them as they formed a circle around me and I set the gong and megaphone down.
“Good morning!” I greeted them all brightly and clapped my hands together, earning a groan from my friends, “I know you’re all tired-,”
“No shit Sherlock.”
“But my niece will be arriving tonight and I just want to remind you all to be on your best behaviour because we all know how protective Milo is with his daughter and I do not want to scar my niece because you all couldn’t get a hold of yourselves.”
They all made a face and I clapped my hands together, continuing on. “I guess this could also be our break from song writing and practice sessions. I know we don’t have enough footage to upload on the channel yet but I think this short break will be good for us.”
There wasn’t much complaint on that part. We’d been pushing ourselves to write more songs and make more music to compensate for the music we lost rights to. I had to cancel most auditions that I was invited to and had Audrey answer most emails regarding that and the other things I was meant to do.
Now I just needed her to make sure that my schedule was clear for the following days because I wanted to spend much time with my niece as I could. Then again, it wasn’t as if there were a lot of things an unemployed man was meant to do.
We all heard the front door open and Audrey waltzed in. She was carrying two Starbucks in her hands and then handed one to me without saying much. She looked at the boys with raised eyebrows. “Is there a meeting I wasn’t aware of?”