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The first day of rehearsals finally came around and I was more than excited. I had an incredible team of dancers, production members and singers, I just knew this tour was going to be monumental for me.
I walked inside, Blue following closely behind as all the dancers stretched in the middle of the room. They all glanced up and waved at me with a smile, Meoria was on her way with Michelle so I told them to keep stretching until she got here.
I joined in on the stretches myself until Belle and Meoria walked in looking beyond tired. They both gave me small smiles before Meoria set her stuff down and joined us. We stretched for another five minutes before getting up to learn the choreography to the first song, Energy.
Within the first hour everyone had the moves down and we were just working on being in sync and the sharpness of the moves. I glanced over and saw Michelle staring into space so I let everyone take a water break while I went and talked to her.
"Hey, you alright?" I asked plopping down next to her.
"I'm okay, just a long night." She said softly as she looked over at me with a subtle smile.
"What happened?" I asked turning to give her my full attention.
"Chad keeps calling me and disturbing my peace and Meoria had a rough night. She saw someone from her past at the mall a few days ago and has been struggling with it a little." She explained vaguely causing me to nod.
"You can go and take a nap in the dressing room if you want to, I know you're tired." I said softly running my fingers through her hair.
She closed her eyes and sighed, leaning into me more before shaking her head.
"I need to be around incase she has another panic attack, takes a while to get her to calm down." She muttered making me hum.
"What techniques have you tried?" I asked.
"I tried to get her to match my breathing, tried isolating us so no noise or light would overstimulate her, and just about everything else I could find on Google." She replied with a flat laugh.
"If she has another one I have two things you can try." I said making her look up at me, the tiredness in her eyes showing fully.
"The first one is get her to name things around her. Five she can see, four she can hear, three she can touch, two she can smell and one she can taste." I said as she nodded.
"The other one I used on the kids when they were really little, you blow on her face and get her to blow back on you to regulate her breathing. Works everytime." I said making her nod again before laying her head on my shoulder.
Before either one of us could speak Blue came running over looking panicked.
"Meme's in the bathroom crying." She said making Michelle and I both jump up. She grabbed our hands and dragged us along until we were in the bathroom, Meoria sitting on the floor and Amari trying to calm her.
Michelle went to go to her but I stopped her and went in her place.
"I got her Mari." I said sitting down in front of Meoria, Amari stepping back and moving to take Blue out of the restroom.
"I don't wanna go." Blue protested quietly as I focused on Meoria.
"She's going to be okay Blue, can you go get her a water for me please?" I heard Michelle say. The door opened and closed before I started talking.
"Me, look at me sweet girl." I said making her look up at me, tears were streaming down her face rapidly and her breathing was uneven.
"I gonna blow on your face and I need you to blow back on me okay?" I said softly making her nod slightly as she closed her eyes.
I leaned forward, blowing on her face lightly for a few seconds before squeezing her hand for her to blow back on me. She did, her breathing rushed as she cried silently.
I did it again, her following suit and blowing a little longer this time. We kept this up for about two more minutes before her breathing was finally better but her tears wouldn't stop. I pulled her into a hug and rocked us back and forth, feeling her body tremble lightly from her nerves.
"You are safe here okay? With me and Michelle, nothing and no one will ever be able to hurt you, okay?" I said softly, feeling her nod as her crying finally subsided tremendously.
Blue came back in a second later with a water bottle and some tissues. She sat next to me, using the tissue to wipe the exposed parts of Meoria's face before holding her hand.
"You okay Meme?" She asked softly.
"I'm okay Bluey, just tired." She said, her voice cracking slightly before she cleared it.
"You and Michelle go with Blue to the dressing room and get some rest. You can catch up tomorrow." I said making her shake her head and sit up.
"No, I'm okay. I can dance." She said but I wasn't budging.
"I know you can, but I want both of you to rest a little bit. You can come over and we can run through what you missed together but I know you're tired and your body is exhausted. I don't need you over exerting yourself for any reason." I said a little more on the stern side, making her sigh and nod.
"Yes ma'am." She said lightly before we all stood up. Michelle was outside of the bathroom waiting, I hadn't even realized she walked out and we all turned around.
Once we were out of the bathroom she engulfed Meoria into a hug, rocking her side to side like I had just a few moments ago. Seeing Michelle in this light made my heart soar to the clouds, motherhood looked good on her.
I watched as the three of them ventured off to the dressing room before taking a deep breath and heading back into the main rehearsal room with everyone else.
"Alright! Let's get this shit done so we all can go home." I shouted out making everyone stand up and walk to the middle of the room.
