Where Love Grows

Just to See You Smile

"Let me take your picture, you guys look red carpet ready." I smiled having Sutton and Easton lined up in the front hall ready for their school dance.

"Mom," Sutton said, "let's go." She gave me a silly smirk as I complimented her and her brother again.

"Yeah, we're going." I grabbed my keys and we piled into the car. Hunter and I decided it would be a great opportunity to spend time with Beckett while his siblings were at the dance. "Have fun!" I called as the filed out of the back seat, "So Beckett, what are we doing?" His big grey eyes were bright and he asked to go do mini golf. Hunter's eyes lit up.

"You're gonna be a golfer like me, hey bud." Hunter said, pulling into the lot.

"I did golf a few times at camps. I like hitting stuff." I laughed but he was dead serious.

"As long as it's stuff and not people or animals." I whispered as we walked into the facility. We played two rounds of mini golf before Hunter took Beckett onto the driving range. I sat back and watched as Hunter guided him to work on his drive. I took some videos of him and enjoyed watching them together.

By nine, it was time to head out and get Sutton and Easton from the dance. "I had so much fun," Beckett smiled, "thank you."

"We had fun with you buddy," Hunter smiled, "you have a good swing. I will take you to the range again sometime." Easton and Sutton piled into the back of the car, both smiling.

"Did you have fun?" I asked, looking back to see them nodding and sporting red cheeks.

"They played some of your songs." Sutton said, "It was fun though."

I looked over at Hunter, and he smiled. We drove home, and got everyone a snack before going to bed. Hunter and I decompressed as we rested our head on the pillows, "I think that time with Beckett was much needed." I held Hunter's hand in mine, gently massaging it.

"Absolutely," he smiled, his blue eyes were soft, his voice gentle, "he is really good." He sighed as I worked on a pressure point on his palm, "You still have the hands of an angel." I smiled and eventually, we both drifted off.

October quickly rolled into November and as luck would have it, the CMA's were on Beckett's birthday. Hunter and I decided that we would take the kids with us this year. It was a crazy idea but we went with it and the kids were over the moon.

I donned a fantastic deep blue gown with a gold belt and clutch while Hunter looked phenomenal in his tux. The boys looked incredibly handsome in their dress shirts and pants. Sutton wore a black dress lace dress and her hair was curled to perfection, held in place with a pretty fuchsia headband. We walked the carpet and the kids put on their best smiles before being diverted off the carpet by Courtney. Hunter and I smiled, continuing to talk to press and have our pictures taken. We reunited with the kids and were lead to our seats. 

Maddie and Tae were hosting the show and it was heartwarming to see the kids wide-eyed over the whole event. The show opened with a few big performances and we all held hands as Tyler Rich and Lauren Alaina were announcing the Album of the Year category. "And the CMA for Album of the Year goes to," Lauren said, turning to Tyler.

"HUNTER HAYES AND JENNA HAYES! ALL UNDONE!" We jumped to our feet and our kids hugged us before we walked down hand in hand. We hugged Lauren and Tyler before Hunter turned to the mic.

"Wow, it is such an honor to hold this award after we poured our hearts and soul into this album. It has become bigger than we could have ever hoped for. Thank you to God, our family, our kids who are here with us tonight, our team who supported us." He stepped back and let me finish.

"Our team at Warner Nashville and Atlantic, our bands, friends and the fans who helped make this album something beyond our wildest imaginations. I also want to say happy birthday to both our boys Easton and Beckett. We are so happy to share this experience with our family tonight. God bless!"

We walked back stage and the night continued as we swept up Music Video of the Year and Single of the Year, both for Heaven's Gonna Wait. The after party was short lived as we had to get the kids home but they were so happy for us. We got the kids down to bed and as I kissed Beckett good night, he said, "If I learned anything from you and dad, it's that if you love what you do, everything else is worth it."

He caught me off guard, "What do you mean sweetie?"

"Well, it's hard when you and dad go away for tours and stuff. But you won after all your hard work. You and dad are really good at what you do."

"Oh Becks," I kissed his forehead, "you know being away from you, Sutton and Easton is the hardest part about what your dad and I do. It was really special you could come tonight."

"I had fun. I'm really happy you and dad won." He hugged me before I tucked him in.

I made my way to bed and found a half asleep Hunter. "Hey," he whispered, a soft smile rested on his lips, "you did good, baby."

"We did it. Together." I kissed him and within seconds, I was well asleep.