35. Beckett
Chapter 35
Beckett
October, Charlotte
I t felt good to be back on tour. The last three weeks of shows had flown by, and as much as I missed our time at home with Meadow, there was something electric about getting to play music and spend time with our omega. It was a dream come true for us.
For Meadow, I was starting to worry that the reality of the situation was more difficult. She always greeted us with a smile, but something felt…different.
Standing in the wings, waiting to go onstage for our show in New Orleans, I turned to Phin. The others were behind me, out of earshot, fucking with something on their phones.
“Does Meadow seem off to you?” I asked.
He cocked his head in thought. “Maybe? She’s been more tired lately, but I assumed that was because the baby is growing and causing havoc with her body.”
“Yeah, I assumed that at first, but her face looks a little thin. Shouldn’t she be gaining a decent amount of weight this far in? Maybe we should be feeding her more.”
“We could talk to Ellie about increasing the calories in those smoothies she’s been making Meadow?” Phin suggested, his tone unsure.
Since she’d been hired, Ellie had been up the asses of both Meadow and Hendrix, always fussing about something. Meadow tolerated it for the sake of the baby, but it wasn’t hard to see she didn’t love it.
“Possibly. Then again, she’s the professional. Shouldn’t she know what Meadow needs?” I asked.
“Hen and Gary did say she came with glowing references.”
“She’s too young to have that many glowing references,” I grumbled. Ellie genuinely did seem to know what she was doing and was very attentive, bordering on obnoxious, but we’d just chalked it up to her being eager to do a good job. A celebrity reference could get her a ton of new clientele, if she played her cards right.
Phin clapped his hand on my shoulder. “How about we take Meadow for ice cream after the show if she’s up for it? You know she won’t say no to ice cream.”
“That sounds like a plan. Do you think we should find a grocery store and pick up some of those premade protein shakes? She’d probably like the cookies and cream one.”
“She’ll love them,” Phin agreed, turning to the stage where the speakers were starting to blare our intro.
“That’s our cue,” I shouted over the rising music.
Hendrix bounced anxiously before he flipped that performer switch in his brain and transitioned to Apollo, all of us running out onto the stage in unison as the smoke machines started to billow.
Another night, another show.
Before we were even halfway through the show, Hendrix was lagging. His recent energy boosts seemed to have been completely depleted. He was still jumping up and down, interacting with the crowd, but it wasn’t the same as usual. His movements were sluggish. To the untrained eye, it wasn’t noticeable, but to his pack mates and fellow band members, it was glaringly obvious that he wasn’t feeling completely normal, either.
He was sober, so he wasn’t coming down from anything. The only possible cause I could see for his behavior was Meadow being unwell and impacting him through the bond.
If Meadow was ever willing to give us more children, we were definitely going to plan it at a time when we wouldn’t be touring. Touring and pregnancy were obviously not a good mix, even though I felt like we had done a good job at making it as stress-free as possible for her.
That morning, we had asked her if she wanted to watch the show, and she had eagerly agreed; only when the time came, she wasn’t feeling well and retreated to the nest for her third nap of the day.
We needed to have a real pack meeting and discuss the next few months. We were still scheduled to be touring throughout America when Meadow was due to give birth. There was no way in hell a single one of us would be working when Meadow was dealing with a newborn. Gary hadn’t told us his plans yet, but I suspected he either wanted Meadow to have the baby and live somewhere else while we toured or have the newborn on one of the buses. Neither option was ideal.
An omega’s hormones would be extra crazy post-birth. Their bodies went through so many changes, and there was so much going on, that they struggled to regulate. Meadow would need a stable environment for her postpartum time, and she’d need the support of all of us to make sure she felt safe.
Ideally, that would happen in our California house, with us there right by her side. She would need us. The more hands, the better. Meadow shouldn’t have to lift a finger, other than to spend time with our child. Our job would be to do everything around her to make her life easier.
If there was anything we were unsure whether we could do, we could hire someone. I had a distinct feeling that Clover would be making an appearance at some point, and our families.
No matter what, we would ensure Meadow was looked after.
We were all exhausted by the time we came offstage. The outdoor venue didn’t have air-conditioning, so my T-shirt stuck to my back, thanks to the copious sweat.
If Meadow wanted post-show snuggles, I desperately needed a shower first. I attempted to make a beeline for the tour bus to go check on my omega, but Gary stepped into our paths, grinning.
“Great show, guys! Now, we’ve got a few people who have paid for meet and greets?—”
“There aren’t supposed to be any VIP experiences at this show!” Arlo growled.
Gary held his hands up in surrender. “I know that was the plan, but they just now offered to pay double, and I wasn’t going to let them down like that.”
Money. That’s all that fucker cared about.
As I was about to take a step forward and let him know exactly how I felt about him springing a meet and greet on us, Ellie approached us.
“Hey, guys!” She beamed at Hendrix. “I just checked on Meadow. She’s fast asleep, so if you guys need to work a bit longer, that’s fine. She needs her rest, poor thing!”
Gary nodded enthusiastically at Ellie’s words. “See? You need to do meet and greets now, because your fans will be bummed when they find out Apollo is bonded with a baby on the way. She’s asleep, anyway.”
He was worried about the fans being disappointed? That was bullshit. He only cared about the cash, and he used that excuse, knowing Hendrix would fall for it because he cared deeply about the fans.
I resisted the urge to growl at the douchebag of a manager. Where the fuck had the nice guy who gave us a chance all those years ago gone?
Phin sighed. “Let’s get it over with. An hour. Then we’re going back to the bus.”
“That’s all the time we need.” Gary grinned like the cat that got the cream.
“An hour, my fucking ass,” I growled, stalking out of the venue, my bandmates hot on my heels.
Arlo frowned. “You know Gary. If there’s money in keeping us at the meet and greet longer, he’s going to fucking do it.”
“I’m showering first. I need some goddamned omega snuggles, and I refuse to enter the nest smelling like sweat and a rock concert.” I climbed into the bus, finding the entryway to the nest dark, so Meadow was probably still asleep.
Before any of my pack mates could complain, I hurried to the bathroom. The fuckers knew better than to test me when I was in a bad mood, and thanks to the surprise Gary had sprung on us, I was downright belligerent. If they wanted to shower sooner rather than later, they could go use the bathrooms in the venue. I preferred to get clean in my own space.
The bathroom light was on, and a small smile crept onto my face. Meadow was terrible at turning the bathroom light off. I pushed the door open and stopped in my tracks when I saw Meadow sitting on the floor.
Her head was resting back against the wall as she hugged her knees, her eyes closed.
“Meadow! Are you okay?” I asked the dumb question, because usually when a person was sitting on the floor of a bathroom, the odds were that they weren’t doing too well.
“Just nausea,” she said in a weak voice, opening her eyes and turning her head to me. “How was the show? I’m sorry I missed it.”
“Having you at the shows is a privilege for us, not an expectation,” I said as I kneeled next to her, gently feeling her forehead. She didn’t feel warm. “Is this regular sick or pregnancy sick, do you think?”
“Maybe it’s motion sickness from all the travel? I’m used to the ground being more stable.” She chuckled weakly. She smelled slightly off, like she had been worshiping the porcelain gods for a while. That wasn’t unusual on a tour—people got run down and more susceptible to illness—but something about it put me on edge.
“What can I do to help?” I asked.
“Can you carry me to my nest? The nausea died down like an hour ago, but I’m so freaking tired, even the idea of getting off this floor is too much for me to handle.”
“Of course I can, darling.” I paused, considering. “Ellie told us you were asleep. How long have you been down here?”
“I dunno.” Meadow shrugged. “Two, maybe three hours?”
I pursed my lips. Why had Ellie lied to us about checking on her? Maybe she’d gone to Gary first and he told her to keep us in the dark so we wouldn’t skip the meet and greet. Whoever was behind it, there was going to be hell to pay after Meadow was feeling better.
“Do you want me to jump in the shower first? I’m sweaty from the show.”
“Don’t you dare shower,” she grumbled. “I want sweaty alpha in the nest with me. If I regret my decision in the morning, we can wash the sheets.” She gave me a weak smile.
“Do you want a sniff test?”
“Come here.” She made an adorable grabby-hand motion, and I presented my neck to her. Without hesitation, she buried her nose into the crook, inhaling deeply. “Sweaty, manly, earthy alpha. I like. Now, take me to the nest!”
“As you wish.” I chuckled, sliding my arms under her and picking her up bridal style.
Making my way out the bathroom, I ran into a concerned-looking Arlo. His eyes widened when he saw Meadow.
“Shit, princess, you okay?” he asked before looking at me. “I saw she wasn’t in the nest and Hendrix was feeling like shit, so I came to find you while Phin dragged him into a bunk.”
“I’m taking her to the nest to get some rest,” I said. “Can you grab her a bottle of water and crackers?”
“Sure thing!” Arlo said, bounding off to the kitchenette as I continued to the nest.
My intention had been to put the sleepy omega down and then grab a quick shower. Even though she claimed to like my scent, I was still coated in smoke and other icky substances from the concert.
Only, when I tried to pull away, she moaned in displeasure, her hands fisting in my shirt.
“Hey, darling. Why don’t I get these smoky clothes off, then you can have naked sweaty cuddles?” I asked.
She hummed in delight, her fists unclenching as she lightly pushed me. “Get naked,” she mumbled.
It looked like I was in the nest for the night. Taking a step back, I quickly removed all my clothing, ridding me of the worst of the stink. Throwing them far out of the nest, I crawled back toward Meadow. Lying down next to her, I pulled her into my arms, making her hum in contentment as she wiggled slightly, getting comfortable. One of my hands rested on her belly, and after a few seconds of peace, I felt movement.
I froze as I recognized what I was feeling.
The baby was kicking.
That was my baby.
Our baby.
They were saying hello.
Fuck concerts. Fuck Gary. Fuck our careers.
Everything that mattered was on this bus. My pack, my omega, and our baby.