Challen and Addy

Chapter 21 (Challen): Get Out Of Here

Copyright © 2025 by GroveltoHEA

"Knock, knock!" a voice called out just as I asked Addy to think about us having a second chance. 

"Come in," Addy called, and a middle-aged woman in scrubs entered.

"Hi, Addy," she said, but her eyes darted over to me, wondering who I was.

"Hi, Tara," Addy greeted her with a smile. "This is...Challen. Challen, this is Tara, my occupational therapist who scares me into working harder each session."

Tara laughed. "I haven't scared you enough yet. You'd be surprised how scary I can be!"

"No, I really wouldn't be," Addy grinned at her.

I held my hand out to Tara and she looked at it suspiciously before taking it briefly.

"I'll be going," I said to my wife. "Thanks for talking with me today, Addy. Hope your session goes well. Nice meeting you, Tara."

I nodded to both of the women and slipped out the door as I heard Tara saying that she was hoping to see more improvement in Addy's hand flexibility.

That started me thinking of something else that could possibly help with Addy's recovery. It was nothing Addy had ever expressed a serious interest in, just a slight inflection in her voice when we'd been talking one time.

It was Christmas Eve, and we were all gathered in the finished basement of my parents' home. Mom always insisted on a musical portion of the evening no matter how many of us were home. This year, a rare alignment of the planets had all of us at home for the holidays, and it was the first year with Addy as my girlfriend.

"Your father and I paid for those lessons for years and had to endure hours of ear insults on your journey to learning the instruments, so you damn well will play now that you're all better than good and we can enjoy the fruits of your musical efforts."

Dad stared us all down when it looked like we might protest. "Your mother asked you to do something. Do it."

We all knew what those last two words from Dad meant: do what your mother wants or she'll be unhappy, which means I'll be unhappy, which means I'll make sure all of you are unhappy right along with us.

Mom had laid down the law, Dad had enforced it, so if we were home, we played. Sebastian was on trumpet, Lincoln was playing electric guitar, Theoden was keeping the beat on his electronic drum set, Jackson was on alto sax and I was on keyboard. We played carol after carol, adding a jazz flair to the songs, Mom and Dad singing along, Addy enjoying the music with a huge smile on her face, and Layana, Sebastian's wife, keeping time with her foot, sometimes joining in the singing.

When we'd played fifteen songs, Theoden had demanded a break, so I went over to Addy on the couch while Sebastian and Layana gravitated toward the food table Mom had set up with enough food to keep all of us fed for a week.

"That was so fun. You all sound great together."

"Thanks." I grinned at Addy as I kissed her lips. "You wouldn't have said that if you could have heard us when we first started out in elementary school. Fortunately, we got better over the years with a lot of practice."

"How did you get to play piano?"

That made me grin bigger, thinking about the story. "I drew the short straw."

"You didn't want to?"

"I wanted drums, but Theo had the longest straw and he chose them. Electric guitar would have been next, but Linc had the second longest straw and he got that. So by the time my turn came to choose, since I drew the short straw, I got last choice, which was between piano and accordion, so I obviously went with piano."