Here We Are

Chapter One

     I stood outside in the warm, dry air, blinking dust from my brown eyes. Turning around to go back inside, I nearly tripped over a toy truck, and grumbled, stooping to pick it up. If Daniel doesn't learn to pick up his toys, they're slowly going to disappear, I threatened, in my head. Our 5 year old son, Daniel, was constantly leaving his toys around the house and property, and although he was 5, I was tired of it. When Teddy was little, he almost never left his toys around the house... Only in my room. 13 years later, my little brother's and parent's death's didn't bother me as much as it had right after the accident. In fact, it wasn't even a sensitive topic. You just never mentioned Kat, Denny, or Teddy around Adam. Although he wasn't related, their death's harmed him almost more than they did for me. I guess you could say that Adam and I are an unlikely couple, with him always wearing those ripped up black skinny jeans, flannels, and leather jackets, all the while I was wearing blue jeans and classy sweaters, with my hair up in a bun or ponytail. He was the Rocker Dude, I was the Classical Chick, and nothing could separate us. I had known Adam since highschool, and had dated back in Oregon. He was a year above me, but he never left town. Then, my Senior year, it started snowing, so my family decided to take a short trip to visit my aunt and uncle, and their baby girl, Trixie. Keep in mind, it was snowing, so the roads were slick, and during the middle of Beethoven, a large truck slammed into our little Volkswagen.  Mom and Dad wear DOA, and little 8 year old Teddy, my baby brother, died in the ER at the nearby hospital. I was evacuated via helicopter, and spent 4 days in a coma, at a hospital in Portland. I don't remember much, but occasionally, I have these flashes from while I was in that unconscious state. What music the doctors were playing during one of my many surgeries, who visited me, and my most precious one, of Adam arriving at the hospital. He was supposed to be opening for Bikini with his band, Shooting Star, but that had abruptly been cancelled when he received the news from my best friend, Kim. I guess you could say I made a remarkable recovery, but I blame it on my will to make it to Julliard on time. I mean, I really wanted to go, and after I had been accepted, I guess, well, I guess Grams pushed me to the limit. The thing that really frustrated me, though, was the fact that I couldn't play my cello. That was tough. But after I got into it, everything seemed to flow right back. I left for New York, and Adam's band took off with Collateral Damage, which I know he wrote about me. He's never said it, but I've known this man for 20+ years. I know things without him having to say them. I guess I fell out of touch with Adam, and I didn't see him for 3 years. I got into the this young concert artist's thing, and started touring with a cello solo, first around New York. by some miracle, Adam came to one of my shows. That night was insane. We got caught up, I told him I hated him, and then I took him out for coffee. Then he made me coffee. Then I gave him his old Les Paul Junior guitar, he played together, him on guitar, me on cello, and he missed his flight to London, where he would kick of the tour of Shooting Star. The problem was, I was going to Japan and Korea, which was in opposite directions. I guess that night you could say we got back together, but I don't know if we were ever apart. He followed me to Korea, then we flew back in time for the festival in London. If was hectic, yes, but I feel like it made up for the 3 years that we were apart. Soon after the tour, Adam quit the band, but he's assured me several times that it wasn't my fault, it had been coming for a while now. Now, he's 29, I'm 28, and we have two lovely children. Daniel and Kathryn, in memory of my parents, Denny and Kat. We're expecting another, in about 5 months, and Adam and I haven't even approached the topic of names. I knew Adam wasn't fully comfortable with naming our children after my dead family, but he loved them as much as I did, and he loved me, so he respected my decisions.

     I walked inside, shutting the door instead of leaving the screen door closed, as it was reaching mid-day, when it was at it's hottest. Even after 5 years, I was still trying to get used to the Australian air. We lived up north, where it had two distinct seasons. Although, we did frequently vacation to Sydney, as many of us Notherners did. Adam and I weren't technically Australian citizens yet, but after 5 years living here, and 2 children, who were citizens, it couldn't be that far off. Being born in Oregon, we still had citizenship in America, but the taxes were taking a toll. As soon as we were qualified as citizens here, that thing was going in the trash. America had too many memories that we didn't want to rehash.