My Little Stargazer(Adopted by Remington Leith)

(13) - Soda

The highlight of my day was six thirty. A half hour before the VIP. Well, I say that, but the concert and everything was great too. But around six thirty we were getting set up and goofing around. Usually I would've helped, but since I couldn't use my left hand I wasn't much help. I had a cast from my wrist to my elbow and my arm in a sling. I felt kinda bad I couldn't help set up, but I had a great excuse. I did feel bad that I couldn't hold Cherry. Pretty much every time I sat down she came and crawled up into my lap. Emerson or "Ebosern" as Cherry had taken to calling him carried her a lot. Anyway, back to my point. I had a can of ginger ale I'd been sipping on for awhile and I decided I didn't want the rest of it. Cherry and I were sitting on the edge of the stage. I held out the can to her and she stared at me with wide eyes.
"Want it?" I asked. She took the can and took a drink then tried to give it back. "You can have all of it." She grinned and held the can carefully with both hands. She took another drink and kicked her legs. I smiled. I didn't know what I'd do without her. Two months. That's how long she'd been in my life. And I'd loved every minute of it. Okay, that may be a small exaggeration. Airports were a nightmare, but I try not to think about that.

———

During the VIP Cherry sat in my lap with a pair of earbuds and listened to Raffi. She played with my necklace and giggled occasionally and I found it very hard not to get distracted.
"Remington!" Sebastian saying my name brought back to the present.
"Hmm?" Sebastian rolled his eyes and our little audience laughed.
"Someone asked you a question." I looked from Sebastian to the audience and saw one hand up.
"Sorry. Ask it again?"
"Does your arm hurt much?"
"No. I mean, I share a bunk with Cherry and she has a tendency to lay on it and that hurts, but most of the time it's just an annoyance. But at least I'm not left handed. And everyone already knows how it happened so I don't have to repeat the story a million times."
"Well I'm glad it's not bothering you too much." I smiled at her.
"Me too." Cherry started tugging on my shirt.
"What?" She leaned up and whispered in my ear in the way little kids do where they're really not whispering, but they think they are.
"I need go potty."
"Oh." She slid off my lap and I stood up. "We'll be right back." I announced to the room. I grabbed her hand and went looking for Hayden. I found her in the hallway.
"Can you take her to the bathroom, please? I can't take her in the men's room and I can't go in the women's room." She rolled her eyes.
"Fine." She smiled at Cherry and offered her her hand.
"I'll be right here." I told Cherry. She nodded and took Hayden's hand. I scrolled through Twitter while I waited. A few minutes later the bathroom door swung in and Cherry came skipping out. The front of her shirt was soaked.
"What happened to your shirt, Stargazer?" She giggled.
"Athident." I smiled. She grabbed my hand and we walked back. I sat down and Emerson helped Cherry get in my lap.
"That's awesome! Good luck." Sebastian was saying. Shortly after that we started signing things.

———

"H-hi." One girl squeaked as she stepped up to the table. She couldn't have been more than ten. "I made you something." She dug through the bag hanging over her shoulder. She pulled a few bracelets and handed one to Sebastian first.
"Oh! Thank you." He put it on and the girl smiled shyly.
"Your welcome. Um, I made one for Cherry too." She held out mine to me and I took it from her, then she held out another one to Cherry. Cherry looked at it and then at me.
"Go ahead." She took it. "Can you say thank you?" She shook her head and buried her face in my chest. I looked back the girl, "Thank you." She nodded while handing the last one to Emerson.
"Help me." I said and held out my arm to Sebastian. He rolled his eyes, but helped me put the bracelet on.
"The-thebath-Thebathan!" Cherry finally got out and held out her arm to Sebastian as well. He helped her with her bracelet too.
"She's so cute!" A fan cooed as they approached the table. "Hi!" The fan waves at Cherry. Cherry turned her head and stuck her fingers in her mouth.
"Sorry. She's not much of a people person." I apologized to the fan, who shrugged it off and started talking to Emerson. I gave Cherry the earbuds back and turned Raffi on again. She fell asleep a little after that which was good since she would end up being up really late.

———

A while later the concert was going on and Cherry was sitting by Hayden's feet, looking really tired. She was sitting cross legged with her elbow on her knee and her head in her hand. Her eyes kept closing just to pop open again. I turned my attention back to the concert. I made the mistake of trying to get the crowd jumping with my left hand. It hurt. A lot. I momentarily stopped singing and then tried to play it off like nothing had happened. Turns out nobody there was that stupid. Not surprising. Sebastian turned into the mom friend as soon as the song ended.
"Are you okay?"
"Yes, Mom, I'm fine." He looked so done with me. "I'm fine. Just won't move my arm like that again, okay?" He didn't look convinced. "I promise." He sighed.
"Fine." He walked over by the amps. I turned around and grabbed my water bottle. I glanced at Cherry and she was still barely keeping her eyes open. To honest concerts weren't nearly had fun when I couldn't climb on things or walk into the crowd. I sat down in front of the drums when we started playing wasted. Cherry came and sat down with me. Her face felt kind of warm against my chest, but didn't think anything of it because I was way too warm anyway. I really should have to put thought into it. Anyway. We finished our set and I stood up. Cherry wrapped her arms around one of my legs and put her chewy necklace into her mouth. I blew kisses to the crowd and Emerson threw flowers. He got ready to throw his last when he stopped. He turned and crouched in front of Cherry and tucked the flower behind her ear. She grinned at him and gave him a hug. Then we all left the stage.