A Country Rebel Love Song

Chapter Sixteen

*three months later*
  It is one month before my birthday and Andy is getting out to the rehab today. Him and the boys decided that they were going to fly out next week and stay until the day after my birthday and then we were going to start working on getting the tour started back again. My phone rang from my beside table. I sat my laptop beside me on the bed and picked it up. It was Andy's actual cell phone number. I grinned and answered.
    "Hello?"
I answered.
    "Hey there!"
He exclaims.
    "How you feeling?"
I ask.
    "Better than ever. I got to see my cat, Crow, today and he literally wouldn't let me out of his sight. I can't wait to see you and I also can't wait to see little Mason. He is so adorable. I just want to hold him. Hey do you think that it will be okay for me to bring Crow along with me this time? Or will Max freak out?"
He asks.
  I bite my lip and toy with my hair.
    "I don't know. I've never really had him around other animals besides dogs so I don't really know how he will react."
I say.
    "Oh okay. Well I guess I can carry him to the kennel."
He says.
    "No, no. It's okay. I'll ask Aunt Becky to watch Max and you can bring Crow. I mean you haven't been able to spend time with him in months. He's going to think that he's being neglected."
I say.
    "Awe, thanks McKinley. You really didn't have to do that. I mean, he could have went to the kennels."
He says.
    "Andy, just bring him. I kind of want to meet him."
I say with a slight giggle.
  He chuckles.
    "Oh okay. Well, I got to get off of here so that I can unpack my stuff and get everything washed and what not. I also got to get settled back into my house again."
He says.
    "Okay."
I say into the phone.
  He hangs up and I toss my phone over to the side. I smile and shut off my laptop. I honestly can't wait for Andy to get here next week. I've missed him and the guys so much. The house has been super quiet without them that and I think I might be in love with Andy. He's honestly one of the sweetest guys that I have met in a while. He has definitely captured my attention. He did from the night that Brantley called me and we had to go and pick him up from the hotel. I don't think anyone realizes how much he really means to me. I don't think that anyone realizes how much any of those boys mean to me. Aside from Andy, the rest of the guys are like my brothers. We had gotten really close during the time that they had been here for the recording of their album. There was a knock on the door. I climbed out of bed still in pajamas and walked downstairs. I went and opened the door and Brantley and Amber stood there with baby Mason. I smiled.
    "Hey guys."
I say, letting them in.
  Amber set Mason's carseat down and then unbuckled him from it and picked him up.
    "So I heard that the guys are coming next week."
Brantley says, taking Mason from Amber while she goes to fix his bottle.
    "Yeah, they wanted to give Andy a little while to get settled back into his house and what not. I have to call Aunt Becky and see if she will keep Max for me while they are here because Andy wants to bring his cat. I don't know how Max will act around a cat so I'm not going to take any chances."
I say.
    "Yeah, I'm sure she will. If not I'll watch him. He likes playing with Sylo and he usually isn't a handful when they are together."
He says.
    "I wouldn't want to do that. I mean you guys have your hands full with Mason."
I say.
  Brantley gently rocks Mason in his arms.
    "McKinley, Max and Sylo love playing with each other. Besides I'm sure mom won't mind watching for a couple of weeks."
He says.
    "I'm going to call her tonight. I'd rather be safe than sorry."
I say.
    "Yeah, sometimes dogs can be a little unpredictable with other animals. That's why we are a little ify on getting another dog with Sylo. We don't want him hurting it, because he is really protective over Mason already. He sleeps in his nursery every night."
Brantley says.
    "Yeah, a lot of animals will do that. Bulldogs are really protective over new babies usually. Mason will always be pretty protected around him. He'll make sure that he doesn't do anything that could hurt him and make sure that no one that he doesn't know messes with him."
I say.
    "Yeah. That's part of the reason that I wanted a bulldog. So that when I go off on tour, I don't have to worry about anybody coming in on my family. Ontop of that, Amber knows where all of the extra guns are and knows how to shoot them. When Mason gets older he will know how to shoot them as well. I'm not leaving them at home with no way to protect themselves."
He says.
    "Yeah, my pistol is in the top of my closet. I showed the guys where it is at for when they are there by themselves and what not. They already know how to handle a gun from shooting ranges and such at L.A."
I say.
    "Yeah, with being in L.A. you can never be too cautious."
He says, handing Mason to Amber so she could fed him his bottle.
    "Yeah, I have my carrier's premit so I usually have it in my truck when I have to go."
I say.
    "I have one that I keep in my truck all the time."
He says, wiping a dribble of milk from the corner of Mason's face as he drank from the bottle.
    "Understandable."
I say.
  He nodds. Mason finishs his bottle and Amber burps him. He is soon handed to me. He coos and wraps his tiny hand around my finger.
    "Hey there little man."
I whisper.
  He continues cooing and looking up at me with his bright green eyes. He soon drifts off to sleep and his firm grip on my finger is loosened. I smile and press a kiss to his forehead.
    "You are going to make an amazing mother one day."
Amber says as I gently put Mason in his carseat and buckle the straps.
  I made sure that he was tucked in with his lightweight blanket. I gave a small smile.
    "Yeah, maybe one day."
I say.
  I then pull my messy curls up into a messy updo.
    "You'll find the right guy eventually."
Brantley says.
    "I've liked plenty of guys Brantley, it's just the factor of them liking me back."
I say.
    "That's very true. Sometimes you just have to come out and be like 'hey, I like you' and that works from time to time. That's how me and Amber worked out."
He says.
    "Well, if you are scared of rejection then sometimes you don't want to do that."
I say.
    "Yeah, that's why I didn't tell Brantley that I liked him."
Amber says, bumping her hip with his.
    "Yeah, I'm scared to tell the guy that I like that I like them because they have been hurt before. I think they might still be scared of love."
I say, biting my lip.
    "It's Andy isn't it?"
Amber asks.
    "Yeah. I mean, I know that he is doing better and all but I think he is scared to let people in that way. I think he is scared to let himself fall in love again."
I say.
    "Listen McKinley, with us guys when we are hurt we sit and let it hurt us until someone pulls us out of the hurt. You have to be the one to open his eyes and show him that not everybody is going to do like that girl did to him. You have to show him that you are nothing like her. You have to prove that to him. Most of all, you have to teach him how to love again."
He says.
    "Do you think that will work?"
I ask.
    "Of course it will work. I mean, I've had my share of tough breakups and my best friend who was a girl would be the one to pull me back up. I just never realized that we were in love with each other until now."
He says.
  I smile.
    "I'll try, but if he doesn't catch on I'm not going to try and keep doing it."
I say.
  He nodds.
    "That's all you have to do, and if that doesn't work kissing him is a good way too."
Brantley says, chuckling.
  I blush and shake my head.
    "I'm not going to be that forward with it! I'm not that type of person!"
I exclaimed.
  He laughs quietly, trying not to wake up Mason.
    "McKinley, trust me if he feels the same way he will catch on eventaully. Heck, he maybe the one to make the first move. You never know."
Amber says.
  I sigh.
    "I mean, I want to tell him but I'm conflicted. I don't want our friendship to be ruined or be awkward if he doesn't feel the same way."
I say.
  Brantley sighed and fixed his hat.
    "Don't tell him that I told you, but he called me one night from the rehab center. He wanted to talk about you, McKinley. He wanted my blessing. He really likes you McKinley and he didn't want me to be mad if he made a move on you so he called and talked to me first."
He says.
  My face heated up.
    "He really called you to talk about me?"
I ask.
    "Yes, like two months after he got in there."
He says.
  I was awestruck. I couldn't think of anything to say. Brantley chuckled.
    "You guys want anything for dinner?"
I ask, walking into the kitchen.
    "Oh you don't have to cook anything hon."
Amber says, as I pull out a package of chicken.
    "Oh it's fine. You guys know I'm okay with cooking."
I say, as I thaw the chicken out in a sinkful of hot water.
  I mix a bowlful of flour and other spices so that I can make my grandmother's famous fried chicken. I got out the pan I usually use for frying and the vegetable oil. I got out the chicken and started battering it. I poured the oil inside the pan and waited for it to heat up.
    "Fried chicken!"
Brantley cheered.
  I giggled and shook my head, dropping in a couple of pieces to start frying. I then got out some potatoes and peeled them and washed them off. I then switched out the pieces of chicken, placing the cooked ones on a plate with napkins. I then sliced the potatoes into fries basically and waited for the chicken to get done. Once I got done with that, I placed the half of the fries into the grease to cook. I went and got down three plates. Once everything was done, I divided it into the three different plates and gave one to Brantley and one to Amber. I got out ketchup, barbeque, and mustard. I'm the weird one in the family the eats mustard with my fries. I covered my fries in mustard and grabbed all three of us a glass of cold sweet tea. Brantley chuckled when I got mustard on my face. I sighed and wiped it away with a napkin.
    "It's going to be one of those days."
I say.
    "It's worse when you are pregnant because everything seems to be attracted to your top."
She says.
   I giggle.
    "I do that anyway."
I say.
  She laughs.
    "Me too."
She says.
  We finished eating and I washed up the dishes. Brantley looked at the clock.
    "Ooo, we better get going. We are heading over to Amber's parents house this evening to let them spend some time with Mason."
He says.
  I looked at the clock and realized that it was three in the afternoon and I was still in pajamas.
    "Well, I should probably get dressed and go over to Aunt Becky's and talk to her about keeping Max for a few weeks while Andy and the guys are down."
I say.
    "She shouldn't really have a problem with it. I mean she used to keep Sylo when I went on tour."
Brantley says.
  I nodd.
    "I'm still going to ask and stuff."
I say.
  He nodds. Brantley then picked up the carseat that held a sleeping Mason.
    "We'll see you later short stuff. Thanks for lunch. It was really good."
Brantley says.
  I smile.
    "Thanks."
I say.
  I then walk them out to Brantley's truck which they had rode in. Brantley placed Mason in the backseat and I leaned inside and placed a kiss on his forehead.
    "I'll see you guys later. Take care of the little man. I'll be over to see him next week I'm sure. Andy will probably drag me."
I say.
  Amber laughed.
    "Yeah, I'm sure he will. He's probably excited to see him since he is the godfather and all."
She says.
    "Yeah, I thought he was going to cry."
I say.
  Brantley chuckles.
    "I'll tell you this right now, just about every man is going to cry when their first child is born."
Brantley says.
    "I know."
I say.
  Brantley glared at me. I chuckled slightly. He climbed into his truck.
    "Well, we'll see you later. I'm sure we will be by later this week sometime."
He says.
  I nodd.
    "Alrighty. Well, y'all be careful."
I say.
    "We will. You let me know now if you still need someone to look after Max."
He says.
  I nodd.
    "I will."
I say.
  With that I back away slightly so that he can pull out of my driveway. I then walk back inside and upstairs. I then walked to my closet. I grabbed a pair of Miss Me shorts with crosses on the pockets and a white lace tank top and a black cami top.  I then grabbed my black cowboy boots with white crosses on them. I changed and left my hair in its messy ponytail. I walked downstairs and grabbed my messenger bag and keys. I walked outside making sure my door was locked behind me. I climbed into my truck and drove to Aunt Becky's house. I got out and knocked on the door. She came and opened it a few seconds later.
    "Hey, McKinley what brings you here hon?"
She asks.
    "I need a favor."
I say as I walk in and take off my boots.
    "What would that be?"
She asks.
    "Well, Andy called me this morning and he wants to bring his cat. I don't know how Max is going to react around the cat, so I was wondering if you could watch Max for a few weeks. I mean I'll be over here to spend time with him and such so he won't be a big handful. If you can't I understand. I'll just carry him down to the kennel or something or maybe see if Sherri and John can watch him for a few weeks."
I say, biting my lip.
  She gently rubbed my shoulders.
    "Hon, calm down. You can bring him over here. I'll watch after him while the boys are over at your house. I can understand your concern with the cat and all."
She says.
  I hug her.
    "Thank you so much Aunt Becky. You are literally a lifesaver."
I say.
  She then starts messing with the red ends of my ponytail.
    "When did you get this put in your hair?"
She asks.
    "A couple of months ago? Me and Alley decided that we wanted to try something different. So I went with red and she went with steel blue."
I say.
    "It looks good. Your mother had red in her hair."
She says, her eyes filling with tears.
  I hug her tighter.
    "It's going to be okay, Aunt Becky. I'm making her proud. I'm doing what I always dreamed of doing and I'm happy. That's all she ever wanted."
I say.
    "That's right, honey. That's all she ever wanted for you. She wanted you to be happy."
She says.
  I nodd.
    "Yeah, I'm living my dream one day at a time."
I say.
    "Okay, so when do you want to bring Max over?"
She asks.
  I pulled out of her arms and wipe the tears out from under my eyes.
    "Well, Andy and them are coming next week so maybe on the way to go pick them up from the airport."
I say.
  She nodds.
    "That'll be okay."
She says.
    "Okay, thank you so much Aunt Becky."
I say, hugging her.
  She smiles.
    "You are welcome, sweetie. Now you run on home and get some rest you look tired."
She says.
    "Yeah, I've been up since early this morning talking back and forth with the boys tour manager about when we might be able to start the tour back up. I know that my band is ready and the guys are and we need to promote our new album that is coming out in a few months as well."
I say as I pull on my cowboy boots.
  She nodds.
    "That's understandable. Just relax the rest of the day. Watch some tv and eat some snacks. Take a break. You need it."
She says.
    "I will Aunt Becky. Don't worry about me."
I say, digging my keys out of my messenger bag.
  She chuckles.
    "Well, I'll see you in a few days."
I say.
  She nodds and waves to me as I walk out to my truck. I climb inside and drive to my house.
----------------------------------
  After around six movies and a couple episodes of L.A. Ink, I was almost asleep. I pulled the blanket from the back of the couch and snuggled up next to Max. He laid his head on my chest and I smiled. It wasn't long before I fell asleep.