Something in the Water

Love You Like That

"So good to be home," I said, turning my key in the door, "hey guys can you leave your bags down here? I'll start sorting laundry." I said as the kids wheeled their suitcases in. We wrapped up the tour in Tucson two days ago and finally arrived home.

"First thing is first," Hunter said, "I'm going to shower, then we'll get them washed up." I nodded and kissed his cheek. The kids took Millie into the back yard to play while I began the epic chore of post-tour laundry. And I had to sort through five times as much as normal. With an eye on the kids and my arms elbows deep in laundry, my phone began to buzz.

"Hey Steph," I answered, "yeah we just got in. Tucson. You can come by - just warning you it's a disaster here. Are you sure? Yes you're amazing. We have nothing here. Hunter will have a vanilla latte. Yes, you're the best thanks. See you soon." I sorted the whites, darks and colours when I heard the doorbell, Stephanie stood with a big smile on her face and a tray with coffee.

"Good to see you rockstar!" She hugged me and I lead her inside. "Holy mount Everest." She laughed at the piles of laundry.

"Touring with four other people means some extra laundry." I laughed, "But the fact we got to spend the past three weeks together means the world to me. How are you? How's life been?"

"Good, work is busy, steady." She sipped her coffee and Hunter emerged from upstairs. "Hunter there's a latte on the counter with your name on it."

"Thank you so much. I'm going to bring everyone in, get Sutton in the shower." He went outside and corralled the kids, "Sutton - I want you upstairs, shower please." She obliged and said hello to Steph quick before making her way upstairs. "Do you want to join us for dinner Steph?" Hunter asked, "Jen probably told you, we have no food here."

"Yeah it'd be nice. I missed you all," Beckett sat beside her and told her all about the Grand Canyon and all the friends that visited the tour. "Jenna the fact you had someone almost every night - that's amazing. Did you have a favourite?"

"Well, Chase Rice was fun, Cole and Lindsay were good too. I loved having the kids on stage in Halifax. I came up with the idea for fun, and then it hit me let's do a deluxe CD release with a tour DVD."

"Actually - Jen you didn't tell me that!" Hunter exclaimed, "That's awesome. Deluxe CD like more songs or?"

"Yes, I have a few songs that I just did acoustic with Kyle that never made the album, then the DVD has footage of recording Unfixable, A Life That's Good and Those Were The Nights music video outtakes, plus tour footage. Obviously I am not showing the performances in full but snippets of the rehearsals... the stuff the fans don't see." I smiled, "I was hoping to surprise you guys but realistically, I can't keep that exciting stuff to myself for long." I laughed and the doorbell rang.

"I'll get it," Hunter said, returning moments later with a parcel, "for you my love." He handed me the box and I unwrapped it.

"Oh neat!" I took out the statue from Spotify with a plaque that read "A Life That's Good: Jenna Hayes 500,000 Streams" and a note I read out loud, "Jenna, Congratulations on reaching five hundred thousand streams of your album A Life That's Good - Your friends at Spotify". I looked at Hunter with tears in my eyes, "Holy crap."

"Babe!" He hugged me and I had tears in my eyes, "Congratulations!"

"What does that mean?" Steph asked, confused.

"My album is certified gold." Just as Hunter said that, my phone rang.

"Hi Byron, yes I jut got the award at my front door. Thank you - I am honored. Absolutely. No we haven't. Okay, yes let's just have it all go through Courtney for now. I appreciate it. Have a great day." I turned to Hunter, "That was Byron, apparently I have a framed gold album sitting over at Atlantic and it has my face on it." I laughed, "Ah, I am so overwhelmed. This is crazy. Dinner just went from catch up to full on celebration!" Once Sutton finished her shower, Hunter got the boys cleaned up and finally, I got a chance to shower. We went to Butcher & Bee where Stephanie dropped a wonderful surprise on our family.

"I feel life hands you everything you need even if it feels like too much," she started, "I'm not sure exactly how else to say it but I am no longer a single lady, and I have decided to embrace the signs the universe keeps throwing my way."

"Congrats," Hunter said, raising his glass, "who's the lucky man?"

"Dustin," Stephanie said, blushing, "after we talked at fan fest, it lit an old flame I put out multiple times. Crazy man never really gave up on me."

"Oh my gosh - that's way better news than mine!" I hugged her, "I'm so happy for you both."

"Thank you, you can say it's been a long time coming." I nodded and clinked glasses, "Cheers."

We wrapped up our dinner and Stephanie headed home while we got the kids down for bed. "I am so happy to be home," I laughed, flopping into the bed, "ah, I missed this." Hunter wrapped my up in his arms, his smile was contagious. "What?" I asked?

"We never finished what we started on the way to Phoenix..." his blue eyes glistened by the table lamp, he leaned in for a kiss, which turned into more kisses and touching and getting tangled up in the bed sheets.