The Piano Man

XXXII. Two By Two

"What can I tell you about the alchemy of twins? Twins are two bodies that dance to each other's joy. Two minds that drown in each other's despair. Two spirits that fly with each other's love. Twins are two separate beings conjoined at the heart!" Kamand Kojouri

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XXXII. Two By Two

Noah had wanted a Steinway piano for as long as he could remember. They were the best of the best, and up until Pete's piano in London, he had only played on one a handful of times.

He could never justify buying one himself. A top tier Steinway could cost upwards of two hundred thousand dollars. Noah had no idea what his father had paid for this piano, but because of its condition, he hoped that John had got a great price.

The bones of the piano were good. The bridges and soundboards on the interior were still good, and the frame was as strong as when it had been carved in 1911. There were bass and treble strings broken, and tuning pins missing, as well as keys that were missing their ivory. But all of that could be replaced. This piano could be brought back to life, and Noah was eternally grateful that his dad had honestly cared enough to find this for him.

Joy had taken the girls off shopping as it was the day after Christmas, and Haley and Mark had gone off on their own to catch up. John and Noah remained behind in the garage with Maddie as they started on the piano with a gentle sandpaper.

"Do you see these lines here, kid?" John asked Maddie as he ran his finger along the wood. "This is called a grain. You always sand with the grain. You start going all side to side, you tear the fibres of the wood and you'll ruin it. Go on and show me what you've got," he urged.

Maddie was wearing an Elsa costume, one of her present from Santa yesterday, and she just looked absolutely priceless as she diligently followed John's instructions dressed as an ice princess.

Noah started gently sanding the wood on the cover, going with the grain as his father had instructed. "Did you know that Maddie is a great pianist as well as a guitar player, Dad?" Noah asked purposefully to prick Maddie's ears. "She helped compose my score."

"Really?" replied John, impressed. "Are you better than Noah, Maddie?"

Maddie thought for a minute. "Well, I am only eight years old and Noah is a man so I can't be better than him yet," she replied bluntly.

John laughed but Maddie missed the humour.

"But, did you know I have a special superpower which makes me concentrate on piano really good?" she continued.

"A superpower?" repeated John, raising his eyebrows. "What's your superpower, kid?"

Maddie's back straightened proudly as she looked up at Noah's father. "I have autism," she told him. "I can do lots of things good, and some things are hard, but I am smart so I will get better."

John's blue eyes flashed to Noah as he raised his eyebrows with a smile. Noah had honestly been impressed with his dad's behaviour towards Maddie so far. He had certainly been a lot more tolerant and interested in her than he had been when Noah was a kid. Times had changed, and kids didn't fit into perfect boxes anymore.

"Well, that does sound fine now, doesn't it?" John played along. "Go on now, get sanding. You're slacking off like Noah is."

Noah chuckled as he returned his focus to the cover. Maddie's laser focus quickly zoned her out of what was going on around her as she concentrated on her task.

"Dad, it seriously means a lot to me that you would find this, buy this for me," Noah told him again, for quite possibly the twelfth time that morning.