Out of My Mind: Volume I

Wait For Something Better

Brandon woke up on Monday morning at 9:30 to a "ding" sound coming from his phone. He picked up and found a series of messages from Gunnar and Ammon.

Ammon's said: Dad. We know you're here. We saw your truck in the driveway. Brandon was confused. Why were his sons texting him? Mom said you needed your rest, so we're not allowed to come into your room and wake you up. Those were sent about 30 minutes ago. 

Gunnar's, which were the most recent text messages, said: Come to the kitchen please. We are hungry. Mom made breakfast. No one can eat until you're in here. Hurry. 

Brandon laughed at his sons' messages before getting out of bed. A messy-haired Brandon made an appearance in the kitchen. Brandon's eyes had to adjust to the bright light. "Mmm... this smells amazing," he said with a yawn.

"It worked!" Ammon said to Gunnar. "Hey dad!"

"Hey boys," Brandon replied. The boys got up from their seats at the table and tackled their dad. 

Tana, cooking bacon at the stove, asked, "What worked, Ammon?"

The boys exchanged panicky glances,but Brandon answered for them. "They woke me up with text messages from their phones," he said with a chuckle. "That was clever."

"Boys! I told you he needed his rest!" She wasn't going to admit it, but she found their efforts impressive.

"Mom," Gunnar said cautiously, "we didn't disobey you. Technically. You told us not to go into the room. We did not do that." 

Brandon managed to escape the trap of his sons' tight grip and made his way over to his wife at the stove. "It's not a big deal. It was time for me to get up anyways." Once he was behind his wife, he wrapped his arms around her waist and left a small kiss on her cheek. "Good morning, sweetie."

"Good morning," she giggled. 

The bacon was finished, so the couple separated and headed to the table, where an entire spread was waiting for them: eggs, bacon, biscuits, fruit, potatoes, and Brandon's favorite, waffles! Tana made this whole spread for him every time he returned from touring. The event in California didn't cause Brandon to be gone a long time, but since he was sick during the concert, Tana wanted to do something nice for him. 

Brandon loaded up his waffle with chocolate chips, strawberries, and whipped cream, despite him being a 37-year-old grown man. He had a rather large sweet tooth. 

After a very filling breakfast, Brandon went to his bedroom and got ready for a day in the snow.  Gunnar, Henry, and Ammon were eager to ask their father a serious question.

"Dad?" Henry asked.

"Yes, buddy?" Brandon said. He turned and noticed his three boys standing in a row with their hands behind their backs. 

"Did you remember that thing we asked you to get?"

The kids clearly put Henry to asking that question. "I'll be right back," he said, heading to his truck. He returned with a Twenty One Pilots poster the boys had asked for. While backstage, he had Tyler Joseph sign. In return, he had to sign a poster of The Killers for Tyler's wife. Both singers gladly did so for their fans. When the boys got their hands on the poster, they fought over who got to keep it in their room. Brandon he had two extras signed in case this happened. Gunnar and Ammon let Henry keep the first copy, snatching the two others from their father's hands. 

"Thank you, dad!" they said in unison, before running off to their bedrooms to get ready as well. 

"No problem," he laughed. 

The Flowers family spent the beautiful, sunny day doing numerous fun activities around the adorable town of snowy Park City. Each time they were in the car, the boys chose the music according to their parents' tastes. They watched the new animated Spider-Man movie, went ice skating, to the chocolate shop, and all the places that were open on Martin Luther King Jr. Day-many were closed, so they had to work around that.

Tana and Brandon were exhausted by the time they got home at 7:00. The children had one more activity planned: watching Happy Gilmore, one of Brandon's favorites. 

The Killer didn't pay much attention to the movie. He was mentally planning out the perfect date night. He'd taken Tana out millions of times before, but he was so excited for this one. He had big plans. Brandon wanted to make it a night she would never forget. 

Once they were alone in the bedroom, Brandon wanted to tell Tana about their upcoming night out. "Do you think Kristen can babysit the kids on Wednesday or Thursday night?" 

She immediately perked up when he mentioned the date. "Yeah I think it should work out alright. It's kinda short notice, though. I will call her tomorrow morning. If she can't, Kelsey should be able to," at this point she was talking to herself, and rambled on for for the next couple minutes. "Oh yeah! When are we leaving?"

"We have dinner reservations in Salt Lake City at 7:00...I'll pick you up at 6:00. Can you be ready by then? I don't want to be late."

"Sure. I'll have Kristen or Kelsey help me get ready when they get here." And with that Tana started rambling on again. This was a cute habit of hers. Brandon savored the moments she got like this, all nervous and giddy. He began to read a book, until he noticed the talking had stopped. Brandon looked over at his sweetheart and found that she had fallen asleep. He turned off the lights after planting a sweet kiss on Tana's forehead.