El & Em: Two hearts, one band, a long slow ride

Part III - Chapter 18

"Sure," Luke said, ushering the kids toward the front door. "You practise real hard and get good enough, you can join the B-Sides when you're older."

"I'm pretty good already." Robbie pulled on his coat and started hunting for his hat and mittens. "I got a recital next week – you should come and see me, Uncle Luke!"

"Yeah, alright, I will, if it's okay with your mom." Luke shot a glance at Emmett over the top of Robbie's head. "And your dad."

Emmett nodded at him with a smile, handing a pair of mittens to Robbie.

"What about me?" Walt demanded. "Can't I be in the band too?"

"Well, maybe when Leo retires," Luke suggested. "I don't think we need two drummers."

"Maybe you do!"

"Okay, Wally, let's get your boots on," Emmett said, trying to keep them on track. "Mama will be here in a minute."

A car horn honking outside Emmett's apartment told them she had already arrived, and they quickly finished bundling up the boys. Luke gave them both hugs and Emmett took them out to Clarissa's car while Luke set about straightening up from the whirlwind impact of the kids' weekend visit.

They'd been back in Philly for almost six months now. For once Luke had decided not to rush into a new album immediately. He had plenty of songs ready, and had booked a few days at Forge here and there, but was content with a slower process this time around, enjoying the relative peace of domestic life. The new album would likely be finished sometime in the spring, and then they could think about another tour, perhaps in the fall.

In the meantime, Luke had moved to a slightly larger and nicer apartment, while Emmett opted to stay in his original bachelor pad, though he spent a lot of time at Luke's place. At some point, soon after they got back, Luke had floated the idea of moving in together as "room-mates", which Emmett vetoed on publicity grounds. "It's not 1960s Hollywood," he said. "People aren't going to pretend they don't know what's going on."

Luke couldn't argue with that, and it didn't matter much since they were always together anyway – except when Emmett had the kids. Robbie and Walt were too young to understand, and Emmett didn't want to upset Clarissa either, so there were no sleep-overs when they were around. This time Luke had kept away for a couple of days before meeting up with the three of them for a Flyers game on the boys' last day.

"Don't worry about all that," Emmett said, coming back into the room and lowering himself into his armchair. "We can clean up tomorrow when I'm not so bushed."

"That mean we're sleepin' here tonight?" Luke asked.

"Yeah, I'm too beat to go out again. Man, those kids take it out of me. Don't know how Clarissa does it."

"I guess you want a drink." Luke went over to the cabinet where Emmett kept his liquor.

"Sure do. I've been dry for three days," Emmett said. Clarissa didn't like him drinking while the boys were with him.

Luke brought Emmett's highball over to him, then knelt on the floor in front of his chair, as had become his custom.

"You better be careful what you tell Robbie, man," Emmett said, leaning down to kiss Luke. "He's gonna be expecting a job with you by the time he's eighteen."

"Might not be so bad," Luke countered. "We could use a saxophone."

Emmett laughed and pulled Luke up onto his lap to share the drink and make out. They'd taken the boys for dinner after the game so there wasn't much left for them to do except go to bed.