Chapter One
It’s been 3 months since Keely and Roger Greyson exchanged wedding vows in a small church near their home in the East Village section of Manhattan in New York City. Keely’s 4 months pregnant belly is starting to show and Wendy has moved in with Oliver. Roger is in the process of setting up the nursery, but at just 17 weeks along they don’t know the sex of the baby yet. Roger wants a girl. Keely just wants a healthy HIV negative baby. Her morning sickness is long gone and she’s still performing with both Alienated and the Bohemian Knights, respectively. Roger has been talking to some record executives who have been coming into the bar to see them play and talk to them about getting a record deal. He’s determined to give Keely a reason to be proud of him. Keely is still teaching ballet, although she is looking forward to taking a break.
In the 3 months since their wedding, Mr. & Mrs. O’Reilly bought their apartment for them as a wedding gift and with the help of Mr. & Mrs. Greyson, they purchased the dance school as well. They wanted their children to have a fresh start when they got married. They felt that with HIV, they had enough obstacles without adding financial woes into the mix. Keely is just finishing up dinner while Roger stands in the middle of the baby’s room. She’s been calling him, but he’s not answering.
“Roger, did you hear me? Dinner’s ready. What are you doing in here?” she asked as she came up behind him.
“Trying to figure out how I want to set things up in here.” he took his hands off of his hips and put his arms around her waist.
“Baby, why are you stressing out? We have time.” she leaned up to kiss his cheek.
“The time is gonna go by pretty fast.” he looked down at her.
“We can’t do anything right now anyway. At least until we know the sex of the baby. We can figure it out then.”
“Keel, I don’t want to be caught off guard. What if the baby comes and we’re not ready?” he asked.
“After we find out what we’re having, we’ll call the guys and it’ll be all hands on deck. Between all of you, I have a feeling the baby’s room will be set up in no time. Especially with all my boys on the case.” she suggested wrapping her arms around his waist.
“But this is my kid, Keel. If I can’t have his or her room ready with 9 months warning, how am I supposed to be able to handle all the stuff a kid throws at us?” he asked, obviously anxious about becoming a father.
“Roger, you’re gonna be an amazing father. Of that, there is no doubt. Now come on, we need to eat before it gets cold. Mama needs her nutrients.”
“OK, Keel. You win. I’m being crazy, aren’t I?” he asked smiling down at her.
“At least you waited until I was done. I don’t think we can handle both of us having meltdowns.” she laughed holding him close to her.
“Funny, Mrs. Greyson.” he laughed, leaning down to kiss her head.
“I wasn’t kidding, Roger. I’m really hungry.” she laughed looking up at him.
“OK Keel. Let’s go eat.” they went into the dining room to eat. Keely made meatloaf with potatoes and broccoli and cheese. She’s been craving beef, so she’s been making a lot of beef dishes lately. “This is really good, Keel.” he smiled as he ate his dinner.
“Yeah, who knew I would be a good cook too.” she smiled drinking her iced tea.
“I did. I always had faith in you.” Roger smiled looking over at her.
“Oh, my mom called today.” she told him before putting a fork full of meat in her mouth.
“How are things with them?” he asked as he ate.
“Good. They’re enjoying Florida. She said that they want to come for a visit this summer.” she smiled at him.
“Why don’t they wait until it’s closer to your due date?” Roger asked.
“They want to stay until after the baby’s born. With both of them retired now, they don’t have anything to do. I think they want to help us since we’ve never done this before.” she looked over at him.
“Are you as terrified as I am?” Roger asked looking over at Keely, putting his fork down.
“Probably more. It’ll be nice to have my mom here though, but I don’t need her hovering over me, waiting for me to have this baby. Between her, Wendy and Jason, I’m gonna go crazy. Then I have your parents in the mix. I’ll probably go postal.” she looked over at him.
“Well, I’m glad you’re gonna have all of those people there for you. With me at rehearsal so much, I worry about you.” he looked at her.
“Roger, I’m fine. You worry too much.” she looked over at him.
“Keel, you’re my wife and you’re carrying my child. I can afford to worry. I don’t want anything to happen to you.” he got up from the table, taking his plate to the kitchen.
“What about when you get a record deal? They’re finally starting to pay attention to you and then you’re gonna be spending long hours at the studio. Touring. I’m not gonna have you worrying that I can’t take care of myself when you’re supposed to be concentrating on writing and performing. I can take care of myself.” she got up to follow him.
“Oh, I am fully aware of you being able to take care of yourself. I just don’t want you to burn yourself out doing it all alone. I want to be here all the time, but I need to support my family.” he began clearing off the table and cleaned up the dinner dishes.
“Roger, I’m really proud of you. You’re starting to get the attention of some high level people in the music industry.” she smiled at him.
“You too, Keel. They… they like the way we sound together.”
“How am I gonna get a record deal? I’m pregnant and from what I’ve read, I’m not gonna get any smaller which means I’m not gonna be able to take the stage and rock out like I used to for quite some time.” she looked up at him.
“Just think about it, Baby. The guy has been talking to me about you and I getting together.” he smiled at her.
“And what about my band? Those guys are my family. I grew up with them. Hell, Oliver’s my cousin. How do you think he’s gonna feel if I run off to become a recording artist with my husband and his band? I can’t do that to them.” she walked away from him.
“But Keel, you have some real talent that shouldn’t be wasted in dive bars. You need to be performing in stadiums and huge arenas, to sold out crowds. Just think about it.” he stared down into her beautiful blue eyes.
“This is about you, Roger. You need to follow your dream.” she smiled up at him.
“You’re my dream, Keel. You always were.” he leaned down to kiss her.
“No, making it big has always been your dream and you’re not gonna quit just as you’re getting recognized. You were up there singing when we met and I saved your spot all those months just so you could get well and come back to performing. I’m sure as hell not gonna let you give it up now.” she ranted looking up into his eyes.
“You are a bossy little thing, aren’t you Mrs. Greyson?” he laughed looking down at her.
“You need it, Mr. Greyson.” she put her hands on her hips and tilted her head. Her long blond and brown hair swinging to her right shoulder.
“I want you and our kid to be up there with me. I… I don’t want to be an absentee father. I want our kid to know that I’m always there. It’s bad enough I’m gonna be gone from his life too soon. I don’t want to be gone while I’m still here. You know what I mean?” he looked down at her.
“Don’t you think I’m afraid of that too? But Roger, our lives matter. I want our child to have memories of us following our dreams and teaching him or her that dreams can be achieved if you believe in yourself and work hard. I want our child to see his daddy up on that stage being a rock god. The rock god I fell in love with, making it possible for him to be born. You’re not giving up on any of this. And you are certainly not dragging me along for the ride. This is all you.” she looked up into his eyes.
“What about his mother’s dream, Keel? He should see his mama achieve her dream too.” he leaned against the counter.
“I am living my dream. I’m teaching dance and I’m still on stage singing with Oli and Alienated. At least until I’m too big to be rocking out and dancing around the stage.” she smiled at him.
“What about if you rejoin The Knights?” he suggested.
“Roger, this is your big break, not mine. I… I can’t piggy back on your opportunity.” she turned to walk away from him, but he reached down for her hand.
“You can, Keel. I want you to. It’s as much your band as it is mine. You kept my place and saved my life so I can have not only this chance, but you and our child. Baby, please. Say you will.” he pleaded as he held his hand on her pregnant belly.
“I… I can’t, Roger. I’m sorry. I need to stay with my guys.” she looked up at him.
“Why not, Keel? You can do anything. I’ve seen it.” he smiled.
“And what about recording and touring? What’s gonna happen to our child if I’m out there being a rock chick?” she asked.
“We’ll take him with us.” he told her.
“That’s completely unrealistic, you do realize that, right?” she looked at him.
“Just think about it, OK?” he leaned down to kiss her just as the phone rang. “Guess we should get used to being interrupted.”
“Guess so. Babies aren’t known for their timing.” Keely laughed, playing with her hair.
“Hello.” Roger laughed as he answered the phone.
“Rog, you gotta get down to the bar. Like now.” Nate told him with a sense of urgency.
“Why? What happened?” he asked concerned.
“The record label guy is here and he’s got an exec with him. They’re ready to talk.” he told him quietly.
“Seriously? Um… yeah. We’ll be right there.” Roger hung up, staring at the phone.
“Is everything OK?” Keely asked, staring at him.
“The guy from the label is there and he brought an exec and they want to talk to us.” he looked over at her.
“Baby, that’s great. What are you doing standing there? Go. You need to hear what he has to say.” she walked over to him.
“Come with me, Keel.” he looked down at her.
“I can’t go with you, Roger. You really need to go alone. This is your chance, not mine.” she lifted her hand to caress his face.
“You’re right. I need to go. Um… I’m sorry about the dishes. If you wanna leave them, I’ll do them when I get home.” he offered looking down at her.
“Don’t worry about the dishes, Roger. Just go. It’s time for you to become a bonafide, world famous rock star.” she laughed at him.
“I’ll be home as soon as I can. I love you, Keel.” he leaned down to kiss her.
“Good luck, Baby. I love you too.” she smiled, watching him rush out the door. She smiled as she cleared off the dining room table. She did the dishes and sat on the couch. She called Wendy to tell her about Roger’s meeting with the record exec. Wendy was as excited as Keely was.
Keely hung up with Wendy and flipped on the television. She fell asleep as she waited up for Roger. It was 2 am when Roger finally got home. He knelt down next to the couch to wake Keely up.
“Keel, Baby. Wake up.” he kissed her head gently, sweeping her hair out of her face.
“What time is it?” she asked groggy.
“About 2. I’m sorry I was gone so long and I didn’t call you.” he caressed her face.
“It’s OK. What happened? Tell me everything.” she woke herself up more and sat up on the couch.
“We got a deal. We’re signed on for a 3 record deal and a tour. I made sure the tour schedule and the recording schedule is flexible around the baby and our family. I also told him about you and Alienated. That’s what took so long. I wanted to iron out the details. I wasn’t gonna sign unless my family came first. That was a deal breaker.” he explained as she listened.
“Roger, you’re a new artist. How could you demand all of that?” she asked looking over at him.
“I had to, Keel. I’m not missing out on our family. They understood that.” he looked over at her.
“What about you telling them about Alienated?” she asked looking over at him.
“They asked about you and I told them that you’re dedicated to your guys and the guy can’t wait to hear you. He arranged an audition to hear you guys. Let him hear what knocked me on my ass the first time I heard you.” he stood up to sit next to her on the couch.
“Should I sing Kiss Me Deadly or Goodbye to You?” she asked.
“Deadly, definitely. When you did that song it was… it was something else.” he stuttered as he recalled Keely’s performance.
“That performance really shook me up. I… I never performed it like that before and I don’t know why I sang it for you like that. I had really strong feelings for you and I didn’t know how to handle it. I reacted very badly to it.” she looked up at him.
“It was the day I knew I couldn’t fight my feelings for you any longer. It was the first time I admitted them out loud.” he leaned over to kiss her head.
“How am I gonna get a record deal, Roger? I’m pregnant.” she asked.
“They know the situation. Just audition for them. Let things go from there.” he smiled at her.
“Can we talk about this in the morning? Mama’s exhausted.” she leaned her body into his, obviously tired.
“Sure Baby, let’s go to bed. I’m tired too.” he smiled looking down at her.
“I’m really proud of you, Baby.” she smiled as they got up to go to bed.
“I couldn’t have done it without you, Keel.” he leaned down to kiss her head and they retired to their bedroom.
“Yes, you could have.” she smiled before getting ready for bed.
