Epilogue 2 - Madison
Six years later
The makeup artist peers at my face through her thick purple bangs.
“I think we’ve got it, Madison. You look amazing!” She steps back carefully, holding a pot of multicolored glitter.
My third album is a change of direction for me, hence the new look. It’s a little rockier and I love how creative the musicians who’ve worked with me on it are. I put my hand on the makeup artist’s shoulder and we walk slowly out onto the set.
The photographer, a flamboyant Italian woman who’s known simply as X, puts her hand on her chest as I enter.
“You are magnifico, Madison. This is a…how do you say…show stopper! Come and stand here, kneel on this chaise longue.” She points at the set.
It’s a mix of velvet throws, sumptuous Victorian furniture and enormous ferns.
A burly man is standing to the side holding a large parrot, its feathers a mix of green and yellow.
“Okay so my assistant will just put on your music, so you can get in the mood. Then we will have you holding Henry the parrot.” X gestures at the parrot, who squawks.
Once I’m standing on set, the lighting assistant uses a bright pink light to cast the right glow and X starts shouting instructions over the wind machine as the parrot clutches onto my hand with its claws.
After half an hour, a wave of tiredness washes over me.
This is the last shot of the day and it’s been a long one.
I hand over the parrot to its keeper and look over at X, who’s frowning.
“It’s beautiful, but it’s not right. We try again. No parrot. No digital camera. ” She claps her hands.
I sigh and start to pose again as she snaps away with her old-fashioned camera. My legs feel weak and I have an almost dream-like feeling.
“Enough!” A deep voice calls out.
I look up and X snaps a couple of photos.
“My wife is tired. I’m here to collect her and you’ve run over schedule.” Wolf is standing there, huge and handsome, his arms folded.
X smiles. “I got the shot. When she heard your voice, she looked up and…perfection.”
“Great.” I reach my arms out and Wolf walks out onto the set. There’s a hush as someone turns the music off. Even though he hasn’t toured for a while, Wolf Tyler can still make a room go quiet. He has that rock star presence, whether it’s first thing in the morning or doing the dishes.
And he’s all mine. He scoops me up and I giggle.
“Where’s your dressing room?” He asks and I point to the right. He carries me back, bending to duck under the door frame. When we walk into my dressing room, the makeup artist’s eyes look like they’re about to pop out.
“Can we have some privacy?” He asks and she nods, awestruck, and leaves the room.
He bends down and pulls off the boots, then gently removes the crown from my head, before he kisses me gently on the lips.
“You look beautiful. Like an angel…from outer space.” His eyes are sparkling.
“A very tired space angel. How are you and the kid?” I rub my head, letting my hair down and removing the hairpins.
“We watched all the Minions movies and then tried to make a cake. I don’t think the housekeeper was impressed. I dropped Alex off at his friend’s house for a sleepover. What was it you wanted to tell me?” He puts his hands on my shoulders and gazes at me in the mirror.
I intertwine my fingers with his. He’s grown out his hair, so he can tuck it behind his ears.
Coupled with his beard, he looks more like a burly mountain man than a rock star.
Which, of course, is one of the reasons why every woman in the vicinity swoons when Wolf walks through the door.
But he’s only had eyes for me since the day I first accidentally walked in on him in the shower.
“You know how hard I’ve been working on this album…” I pause, wondering if I should take all this makeup off. It feels strange to be about to say something so life-changing while I’m covered in silver glitter.
“You have and I’m so proud of you. This is the best one you’ve ever done. It’s real and raw, and you can hear that in every word.” Wolf smiles at me. It’s so distracting that I want to pull him down and kiss him right now.
I resist and smile back. “Apart from our music, what’s the best thing we’ve ever done?”
“Having Alex. Better than a hundred thousand people screaming my name on tour, watching you give birth to our son. That Christmas, him opening presents when he got that dinosaur toy that made him laugh…priceless.” Wold laughs, remembering.
“Well, are you ready to do it all again?” I turn round to face him.
He stands completely still and then crouches down so our eyes are level. “You’re pregnant?”
I nod. “I’ve thought so for a couple of weeks. But I wanted to get all of this stuff out of the way and then made sure. I tested this morning.”
His face breaks into a beaming smile. “Oh Madison, I love you. I can’t wait to add to our perfect family. Alex is going to have to get used to not being the center of attention!”
I laugh. “Now that I’d like to see. I’m not sure how this is all going to fit with our schedules, but we’ll make it work like we did last time.”
Wolf stands up, lifts me up and sits down with me on his lap.
“I couldn’t be happier. You know, a family of four is enough for a band…” He squeezes me.
“Well, yes. It might be triplets. We could have our own horn section or a couple of rhythm guitarists. A keyboard player, maybe.” I kiss his cheek.
He holds my face in his hands and looks into my eyes.
“I’m ready…”