Upside Down

I nearly dropped my phone. This had to be some kind of sick joke right? Bree couldn’t really be dying… right?

“Bree, I… how?” I stuttered.

“Cervical cancer.” She replied calmly. “Mike, I have to go soon so I’ll make this quick.”

“Alright.” I sighed. Vic and Jaime were still giving me confused looks. I held up my hand, telling them to give me a minute.

“No matter what happens, you must not give Tawny up to Johnny. He doesn’t care about her in the least and I know that you guys will take care of her. You’ll be receiving a few letters in the mail. Have your manager overlook them, sign them, and mail them back, no questions asked.”

“Bree, this is a lot to ask of us.” I rubbed the back of my head as I continued to pace in front of Jaime and Vic.

“Mike, think about it this way, even if I came back for her, would you really want to give her up?”

“Well we would have to-“

“But would you want to? Would you give her up?”

“Bree…” I couldn’t give her an answer, which gave her exactly what she needed to know.

“See.” She sounded so sad and heartbroken. “Give her my love and remind her that she meant everything to me.” She hung up before I had the chance to respond, the dial tone almost haunting me. I pulled the phone away from my ear and glanced at the blinking call time on the screen. I sighed again and turned to Jaime and my brother.

“So?” Jaime questioned cautiously.

“Welcome to parenthood guys…” I gave them a weak smile and made my way to the back lounge. I could hear guitar sounds coming from inside and I quietly opened the door. The scene that was inside made me break out into a smile.

Tony was sitting across from Tawny on one of the couches. He would show her how to hold her fingers, strum the chord, and then have her try. Tawny had a look of pure adoration on her face as she tried to mimic his movements. Tony glanced up towards me and our eyes met. The look he gave me made my heart swell and I swear I could have cried right there. I made my way inside and sat on the floor by Tawny.

“You’re doing so well, kiddo.” I rubbed her head and her eyes lit up at the compliment. She set her guitar down and threw her arms around my neck tightly.

“I love you, Uncle Mike, thank you.” She whispered. I blinked, completely caught off guard, and looked up to Tony. He just grinned and nodded.

“I love you too, Tawny.” I held her back at arm’s length again. “Why not go show Vic and Jaime what you’ve learned, huh?”

“Alright.” She got up, hugged Tony, grabbed her guitar, and bounded from the room. After she left, Tony moved so that he was sitting behind me on the couch. He pulled my head towards his chest and brushed a hand through my hair. I let out a breath that I hadn’t realized I had been holding, and leaned into him.

“So, what happened?” He questioned.

“Bree has cancer.” I stated calmly. There really was no point in beating around the bush with this. Tony’s hand stopped moving.

“So, what’s going to happen to Tawny?” His voice shook slightly with what I could only assume as worry.

“We’re keeping her.” I shuffled so that I could face him. “We’re already her legal guardians, but… I want to adopt her.” His eyes searched mine, searching for any signs of doubt.

“Mike, you realize that gay couples have a really hard time with that right?”

“I don’t care.” I was serious about this. “Tony, do you really believe that she would be happy anywhere else? She adores us and especially you.” He blushed slightly. “Come on, let’s go back.” I went to stand up, but Tony pulled me back causing me to topple onto him. He pulled me face to his and connected our lips in a deep kiss. I guess we could go back in a little while.

We finally made it to the venue a little while later. Tawny had fallen asleep not long after leaving the lounge from what Vic told me. No one really wanted to wake her up, so I opted for carrying her. I hadn’t taken into account how many of our fans would be outside waiting and I could see people pulling out their cameras. Great, I could just see the headlines online. “Tony and Mike love child?” Fantastic…

I set Tawny down on one of the couches in the dressing room, making sure that she was settled before going to help with set up. The next problem on my list was figuring out where she was going to stay during the set.

“Mike, they can’t seem to find you crash.” Vic walked up to me with a slightly annoyed expression. “They’re telling me that it’s not in your set case.”

“That’s because it’s in the case with my bass drum.” I couldn’t help but roll my eyes slightly. I never kept it anywhere else.

“Vic, where’s Tawny?” Jason came up to us, an annoyed look glued to his face.

“Dressing room, why?”

“I found someone to babysit her.” He answered smugly. I wondered who had pooped in his cheerios this morning considering he was more annoyed than normal.

“Look Jason, I’m sure that she’ll be fine stage side.” I argued.

“Yes, but she would disagree.” He stepped sideways to reveal another familiar face standing behind him.

“You know, I really shouldn’t even be surprised by this.” Vic chuckled.

“Good to see you too guys.” Taylor grinned and moved forward to give us each a hug. “I figured that since I’m in town, I might as well hang stage side with Tawny.”

I walked Taylor back towards the dressing room. I was beginning to become rather curious about how she always seemed to appear whenever we needed her most. She always managed to be around to save the day, ever since the beginning. It was as if she were my guardian angel or something cheesy like that.

“So how’s Tawny been doing?” Taylor’s voice pulled me back from my thoughts.

“She’s doing well.” I replied with a slight shrug of my shoulders.

“You don’t sound too convincing there Michael.” She gave me a stern look and I rubbed the back of my neck.

“Her mother just told me that she’s dying of cancer and I have no idea how to tell her.”

“I can do it.” She replied almost immediately.

“Really?”

“Yeah… I mean, my mom died when I was about her age so no one would understand how she feels better than I can.” I could feel the sadness in her voice as she spoke.

“Taylor… I-“

“Don’t worry about it.” She turned to me and gave me a warming smile. “I’m okay” I reached over and pulled her into a sideways hug.

“I don’t know how I could ever thank you.”

“You guys are staying overnight, right?” I nodded. “Let her stay with me tonight. I’m sure it would be a lot easier for her if she had me there. Plus I know that you and Tony could use a night to yourselves.” She lifted my left hand to look at the ring that I had there. “Damn, I’m glad we found these. They’re so cool.” She chuckled and then disappeared behind the dressing room door.

“Man, she’s an odd ball.” I chuckled to myself. I was really glad that she was there though. This would make things hopefully much easier.