New Beginnings

Month 3

Heading down to San Diego was more hectic than I thought. Casey had started to rehearse with his band again and they actually had some gigs around LA. By the time that it was early June he was performing 3 or 4 nights a week and I had to keep him in line. Going to the shows was a lot at times but we really learned a lot about each other and what we could handle. Both of our sober coaches were commending us for all the hard work that we had done but it was truly a group effort. 

Finding the time to actually pack and make sure that all the plans were set was harder than I thought. Then a day before we left I get a call from Casey. I was so worried that he was relapsing that I rushed through all this traffic to meet him up. He was recording with his band but they had gone on a little lunch break,

Me, "Casey are you okay? You sounded a bit rough on the phone"

Casey, "Hey babe, listen I need to speak to you about something"

Me, "Do you need me to call the sober coach? Do you want to find a meeting?"

Casey, "No babe. I'm good. I just have to ask you a question"

Me, "What is it? You're shaking so much"

Casey, "Well Andrew was telling me about how his dog just had some puppies"

Me, "Okay"

Casey, "Well he wanted to know if we would take some of them because he can't handle all of them"

Me, "Babe you were worried about me giving you permission to adopt a dog"

Casey, "Well it's more like 3 or 4 dogs"

Me, "What! Casey, how many puppies did you take?"

Casey, "Babe you have to see them. they are like the cutest thing ever"

Me, "At least tell me that you didn't agree to this yet, like we are moving down to San Diego tomorrow. Were are we going to find the space to take these dogs"

Casey, "Well it was either we agree now or he takes them to a kennel. I didn't want them to be abandonded. Plus I'm sure that my mom is going to love them, she loves animals"

Me, "Babe we are taking like our whole house down to San Diego and I've been talking to  your mom, she's a bit overwhelemd because your oldest brother Ashton is coming in with his wife and their 5 kids. the place is going to be loaded"

Casey, "Well three puppies won't be too big of a problem. They can live with us and stay in the room with us. It's going to be like having kids"

Me. "So what's going to happen when I head out to North Carolina in September to start shooting and you're on tour? Who is going to take care of the puppies?"

Casey. "Well I hadn't thought about that . I guess that we could co-parent or something"

Me, 'Caey you can't just have animals flying all over the place. We are going to have to ask someone to take care of them"

Casey, "Maybe your brother, he doesn't seem to have a lot of company these days"

Me, "Casey my brother is just starting to trust me again. I can't ask him too much and he's not to keen on us being together"

Casey, "I don't think that any of your family members is cool with us being together but we just have to show them that we are commited and can make things work"

Me, "Look we have a really strange and complicated pass but they just want to make sure that I do good. You and me can be amazing but also mixy. Don't take them on"

Casey, "Good thing that my family is more relaxed. No one has problems with you"

Me, "Good, if we are going to be spending the whole summer together then I would hope that they wouldn't hate me"

Casey, "No if anything my family is probably one of the most relaxed and open types. Well you know how my mom is, she cares for you like a daughter"

Me, "Yeah. I'm not really nervous, should I be?"

Casey, "No, everyone knows what we come with and they are excited. I haven't been back home in almost 2 years and it wil be a nice break from all the crazy paparazzi that's out here in LA"

Me, "I know. that's one thing that I'm going to love"

Casey, "Maybe we could even try and take a mini break, go to the canyon or just go camping"

Me, "Yeah, that could be cool. Or we could head up north to Lake Tahoe and have some fun"

Casey, "what type of fun are you talking about?"

Me, "The nice, healthy, outdoor fun. where we get back to our pioneer roots"

Casey, "That's good. Listen we are going to be here late, what time is the flight?"

Me, "10:15, but we are leaving the house at 9:45. don't be late"

The next morning I was up around 8 heading to a yoga session with Casey. He didn't look to pleased to be up so early but this workout was part of our routine. After we left the gym the parking lot was packed with paparazzi and I really wasn't in the mood. As I was trying to get into the car one of them almos tripped me and Casey flipped out. Casey started to curse them out and he pushed one of the photogs. As we pulled out of the parking lot there were photogs chasing us and it was just annoying. As soon as we reached back home Casey was pacing.

Me, "Babe are you okay?"

Casey, "it's just so annoying, we always have to deal with that, like can't they just leave us alone for once"

Me, "that's why we are going away, we can't have these people constantly on us"

Casey, "Look, I'm going to take a shower and then we can head out"

Me, "Damn cas, you're really irritated. do you want me to come with you?"

Casey, "You know I wouldn't mind, it would let me get some frustration out"