Blake had made arrangements with the label to get a hotel that could accommodate his wife and daughter. They had made sure they had a suite at the Gaylord Opryland Hotel it had a bedroom and living area so Gwen could entertain Lena while working on sketches. Each morning Blake was up early to get to the studios at Rare Records by 7AM. He had written some songs on his own and the execs were excited see exactly what Blake was capable of. The first day there he was so nervous. Gwen had woken up early when she heard him pacing in front of the bed. He had told her how he felt his music wasn't good enough and he didn't think a label would want an artist who wasn't a talented writer. It took a minute but she was able to talk him down and remind him of just how talented she thought he was. She encouraged him to go into that first session and lay it on the line; wow them with his lyrics and he had done just that. The execs were impressed. Now here he was after 5 days of recording almost 25 songs; his and others from songwriters in Nashville; being told he could take tomorrow off. They were going to take a listen to everything he had cut and see which ones they felt would be the most marketable to country music radio.
Blake put the key card in the door and was almost knocked over by his daughter running into his legs "Daddy, daddy" Lena yelled as she wrapped her arms around her daddy's big, tall legs. He didn't notice Gwen in the living area at first "Mommy, mommy yook yook" Lena called out to Gwen. She came into Blake's line of sight moments later from the balcony overlooking the water feature in the hotel. She had been sitting out there reading Lena a book, taking a break from sketching. "Who did you find princess" Gwen asks her daughter smiling at her husband.
"I find Daddy" she says as Blake leans down to pick his daughter up. He places a kiss on his daughter's temple and makes his way over to his wife. Wrapping her into a side hug so as to not squish Lena he leans in and gives Gwen a soft kiss. "Hello gorgeous" he says to his wife.
"Hey there handsome cowboy how was your session today?" she responds returning his kiss.
"Aww baby it was great. I've always loved music but being able to do this; make music with some amazing musicians and producers is such a blessing" he says with sincerity. They walk over to the couch and sit down, Lena crawling all over her dad with excitement. "I have some news actually" Blake says looking over at Gwen.
"What's going on babe?"
"Well...we have already laid down 25 songs so the label is going to listen to see which ones they want to keep for the record so they gave me tomorrow off to spend with my family" he tells her.
"Really babe" Gwen replies. "Well I can take a day from sketching. I have sent a set of sketches to Chuck already for a new children's line I had in mind. What did you want to do?"
"Well I figured since y'all have been in the hotel most of the time, and don't get me wrong we could be stuck in worse hotels, that we should get out for the day. There is this amazing restaurant called the Pancake Pantry that is amazing. Some of country's most famous artists frequent the restaurant. We will have to get there early because the wait is usually long. Then I thought we could take this little one to the zoo" he says tickling his daughter and making her laugh until her face his bright red.
"Stop daddy stop" Lena says laughing at her dad.
"Should I stop Mommy?"
"Nah..." Gwen says joining Blake in the tickling of Lena. Their daughter's laughter resonates through their hotel room. Blake looks up at Gwen as he finally stops the tickling torture and smiles. The look on Gwen's face says it all. She is happy and so is he. He has his wife and daughter with him in a city that could make him the next big thing in country music. What man could ask for anything more?
