My Way Home Is Through You

Two hours later, Ray escorted his daughter back onto the tour bus with the rest of the band. Thoroughly pleased with her new doll, Anna crawled up onto the couch and snuggled the toy close.

"So what's your doll's name, Anna?" asked Mikey as he sat beside her. The little girl stared thoughtfully at the doll's sad face.

"Holly," she replied after a moment.

Mikey raised his eyebrows. "Holly?" he repeated. "How come?"

Anna shrugged. "It just is."

"Well, Holly is very pretty," Gerard said. "I like the color she's wearing." He tugged playfully on the doll's sleeve.

"Me, too," nodded Anna with a yawn. Bob smiled.

"I think maybe it's time for a nap," he said, looking pointedly at Ray.

Ray nodded his agreement and, gathering Anna into his arms, said, "Come on, baby, you can sack out in my bunk."

As Ray carried his daughter to the bunk area, Frank also yawned. "You know, a nap sounds pretty fucking good to me," he said, dropping his toy store loot onto the couch and following the pair.

Once Anna was in the bunk and tucked in, Ray knelt beside it, smiling in at her. She seemed fascinated with the tiny cubbyhole-bed and its sliding curtain.

"I'll be right out here if you need me, Anna," he said quietly. "Get some rest so we can have fun tonight, okay, baby? And just yell for me when you wake up, I'll be right here."

"And you can wake me up, too, if you need me," said Frank's voice from somewhere above. The Toros both looked up to see Frank's head poking out of his own bunk up top. He grinned at them and said, "Goodnight!" Then he disappeared behind his curtain.

Ray shook his head with a smile and kissed his daughter goodnight.

He moved back through the kitchen and into the living area, and collapsed on the couch beside Gerard. He chuckled as the singer sighed and leaned over, laying his head on Ray's shoulder.

"That's one hell of a kid you've got there, Ray," Gerard said musingly. Mikey and Bob nodded their agreement. Ray smiled proudly at his friends.

"She's pretty great, isn't she?" he asked, casting a look toward the bunk area.

"I'm going to steal her and call her my own," said Mikey with a laugh.

"Have you decided how you're going to announce all of this?" Bob asked.

Ray shook his head. "No. I've still got my own issues to work out here. There's a lot I haven't even been able to think about myself, let alone talk with you guys about. Or anyone else, for that matter." He sighed and leaned against Gerard.

"You okay?" Gerard asked, looking concerned.

"I don't know," Ray said. "I'm trying to avoid thinking about it for now. I just want to relax and have fun for a while before things start to happen." Mikey nodded and leaned against Ray's other side. An awkward silence followed, filled with the unvoiced questions the band had for their guitarist.

The silence was broken by Gerard as he swung his legs up onto the couch and into the laps of his bandmates.

"You know," he said, "that nap sounds damned good to me, too." Soon enough, all four of them had drifted to sleep in a dog pile on the couch.