The crowd burst into applause.
I set the microphone back into the stand, raise my hand to signal thank you, then duck behind the curtain.
Done and done.
This tour is…over!
Whew.
Doing 10 shows in 14 nights is exhausting.
Starting the Saturday after Thanksgiving and ending tonight…I'm so done.
I just want to go to my room and collapse.
Can't do that though.
"Nice work Robbie." A member of the crew said.
"Thanks." I smile. "I really appreciate you guys doing all this stuff on tour for me."
Most of them look mollified, but smile grudgingly.
I wave and turn thru the doorway, hopefully before anyone sees me.
Being Cat Valentine's husband is a public hazard to my sanity.
I wouldn't give anything in the world for it though.
Who else can say that they were there when someone worked on and released 4 bestselling albums?
25 number one hits.
Generally regarded as the best musician of her generation.
And she's only 35.
She hates her age. The 3 in front just instantly angers her.
The critics are constantly waiting for a sign that she's slipping. That age is catching up to her. I can't help but laugh since I think her last album was her best one ever.
It sold the most copies ever, which was impressive because she had been on a hiatus doing shows in California and here in New York on Broadway.
Funny how the name "Cat Valentine" instantly makes you Broadway only material.
She fights that. Always is fighting that. She has always maintained that she has no problem doing normal shows.
But she picks and chooses what she does because…well…she's Cat Valentine.
The reason she initially did Broadway was because Ellie was going out for a role up here, and since Jade was doing a movie and Beck was in filming season, she came to New York, bought an apartment and brought Ellie and by extension Sydney.
I'll get to the others later.
What perhaps was the most impressive moment of her career, at least to me was when she wrote a song called "Always For You."
But it wasn't her normal music.
Remember years and years ago, back when Sydney was barely born and we were flying to Portland for Beck's show? I made some joke about how Nashville was in the middle of nowhere and that we'd never go there?
Yeah…I was wrong.
I also said that she'd never do a country song.
So about 4 or 5 years ago, she went out to Nashville for 2 weeks while I took care of the kids at home.
When she got back, she locked herself in the studio with a guitar and wrote "Always For You".
It was a number one country song. And topped the charts.
People flipped out that she randomly just did a country song, and amazed that it was legitimately good. The press made some fuss about how 'She was getting bored with her style of music' and was contemplating retirement.
Cat screamed, went out back near the pool and lit the magazine on fire.
Kevin laughed. Corey hid behind me.
He doesn't like it when Mom gets mad. Then again, he was 3 at the time.
Sydney was doing something with Jade and Ellie at the time. I want to say mani/pedi. I just know she wasn't there.
Cat later did an interview saying that she wasn't bored, and was working on an album. The country song was something she just wanted to do.
To show me up.
I remember her that night, after everyone was in bed. She was so smug and bouncing around.
"Cat Valentine…chart topper in country music."
"And the award goes to…Always For You! Cat Valentine!"
She was right on that too. About 8 months later, I found myself at the Country Music Awards, where it was nominated for Best Song.
Cat was also up for "Best New Artist".
She won both. To absolutely nobody's surprise. Her fans still go out and represent their love for her, to the degree that Cat has an entire wall of awards in the basement.
We'll have to temporarily do something with them while I expand the shelves after this coming awards season.
5 more seasons means 10 feet more. On all 3 rows.
We usually don't look at them much. Cat has them specially organized by who gave what award.
There's talk she might get a lifetime achievement award at the Grammy's for her work.
She singlehandedly revolutionized pop music.
Back when Sydney was a baby, it was very electronic and fast.
Cat sent it back to a slower style, with instruments and musically just…better.
She's dictated where an entire industry of singers starts off with their music. She can't step into a label without somebody asking her for advice, or what she thinks.
Just about the only things she hasn't done, is movies. She's flitted in and out of a few TV series, usually with Beck or briefly Jade but never really considered doing TV.
Movies are just a no deal for her. The critics always pick at that. They always ask why she does plays and on stage work instead of being in the movies.
We both know that she'd be a guaranteed gate attraction. Which is pretty rare nowadays. That's why they ask. They want to dictate her career.
And Cat is the only one that will ever be in charge of her career.
She has no interest in movies, no interest in being away from home for months at a time for 2 hours of work in the end.
So it's music and being on stage for Cat.
Let's move to Beck.
He's no slouch himself. 14 Emmy's. 2 Oscars.
The first show he did, the one Cat and I made cameos in? It ended up running 6 seasons and is regarded as the top drama of that decade.
He's done a few movies. 3 or 4. He could have, and should have gone 4 for 4 with Oscars. But the people that vote for them believe in fairness, and that somebody shouldn't win too much, even if they have by far the best performance.
Emmy's are a lot easier to get. The 14 I mentioned are a combination of the shows getting awards, and him actually winning an individual award.
Beck prefers Emmy's over Oscar's. That's why when they decided to make him choose which one to attend, due to scheduling idiocy, he picked the Emmy's.
He's wrapping with a movie in the next week, just in time for Christmas shopping season.
He and Jade are great. Just doing Beck and Jade stuff.
Jade is famous for her voice also, like Cat.
They did a song together, and it almost made my eardrums spontaneously combust during the whole 4:47.
Of course, that was a chart topper.
She released 2 albums. The first was best selling also. The second did well, coming just short.
On her own, she had 3 hit singles of her own.
She mainly did movies though. That's where her bread got buttered.
Her natural ability to intimidate people led to mostly antagonistic roles.
In the remake of "The Scissoring", she literally caused people to run from the theaters. Others said it was the most scared they've ever been in their lives.
I blame her ability to enjoy others suffering. It comes off quite well onscreen.
That remake is considered better than the original, which is mind blowing to me.
She got properly awarded for it too. 2 Oscars.
She also got 3 Grammy's for her music. Forgot that.
In the past year she's been home. Not looking for work or a role. Just being Mom.
Now…when the press thinks that Cat is close to retiring…they're wrong about her.
But not about Tori.
Tori had kind of a tumultuous time in the business.
She initially started on television.
Lukewarm response.
Movies?
Her greatest hit wasn't as a lead. She was a secondary figure.
Her music career never got going. Never released anything, not even an EP. All she got was a duet with Cat. And that is regarded as one of Cat's "Other" songs. It's not in the pantheon of hits.
Eventually she ended where she started at Hollywood Arts. On stage. She briefly was a marquee name, and we all thought she had put it together.
Then some poor guy died in a show.
And that was that for her stardom.
Now she's retired from show business.
I know she's mad about it. I would be too. Never really got a chance to show her talents, which are considerable.
She and Andre got married about 10 years ago. The whole thing was kind of odd. Nobody knew for sure if they were together or seeing one another for what felt like forever. At least it felt like forever. I know it was multiple years.
Then one day Cat came in with the mail, and we had an invitation to a wedding between Andre Harris and Victoria Vega.
Completely out of the blue.
Two weeks later we were in Hawaii at a wedding.
That wedding coincided with Andre joining some of the best R&B/Rap artists ever.
After putting an album together with Cat, he went on to make 4 more top selling albums or mixtapes.
He hasn't been in the studio in about a year and a half. He's shifted his focus currently to some younger artists and mentoring them kind of.
I think he meant it as his way of turning into Tori. Fading out of the game.
Instead it's energized him. Every time I see him out he can't hide his energy or smile.
Which is amazing, since he and Tori just had their first child.
Olivia Harris was born September 12 of this year. She's a cute little girl. No middle name because Tori convinced Andre that they aren't necessary.
Sydney and Ellie have each watched her so that Andre and Tori can have a night off.
Speaking of the kiddos, let's get into that.
The main goal of Cat and I, and by extension Jade and Beck, was to let the kids grow up to be as normal as possible, and to let them find out if they want to do anything on stage or singing, etc.
Ellie just turned 15 a few weeks ago, and is way more accomplished than Sydney. As I mentioned earlier, she did Broadway at age 13, taking Sydney and Cat with her as emotional support.
She did great, and was singled out for her amazing performance in '13'.
People didn't realize until months later, when somebody had the brain power to investigate, that Ellie Oliver is Jade Oliver's daughter.
Splashface flipped out. I mean FLIPPED OUT.
Jade and Beck got barraged with questions, and the girls got their first brush with the spotlight.
People that were fans of Cat and Jade suddenly loved them too.
Ellie took it ok. Didn't mind the pictures, but refused interviews.
Sydney…not so much.
She barricaded herself in their apartment and refused to talk to anyone she didn't know. No pictures, no interviews, nothing. The press knows her as "Ghost Child".
Actually, I take that back. Some pictures. Not many good shots though. All you can tell is that Sydney is a brunette girl. No good head shots.
Sydney has done nothing. She is the definition or normal. Did her tee ball, tried band, and went to elementary school as a normal girl under the alias "Sydney Shapiro."
Ellie did the same thing, but didn't have to change her name.
The girls are totally offline too. No music, no splashface page except for parody accounts.
Cat and Jade each reserved their names on Splashface, along with the domain names in case of them going down that road.
We got the names and domains of all the kids. Which turned out to be more than we expected at the time.
Cat and I had two more kids. Both boys. Mentioned them earlier. Kevin, who is 12 and Corey who is 8.
Kevin is a talkative kid, likable and happy. But all he cares about right now is video games.
He pulled Corey in too.
Corey's malleable. You can make him do just about anything if you ask. Just a good kid.
Both are outgoing, unlike Sydney.
But both of them have had no media exposure. Sydney got a rush at Kevin's age and didn't like it.
Kevin's best friend is Matt.
His full name is Matthew Daniel Oliver.
Yup…Beck and Jade also had another kid.
Matt is 12 too. He's over at Cat and I's house so much that it feels like we have 4 kids, not 3.
I know Syd feels squeezed, that's why she's usually with Ellie at Beck's when she has time off.
Cat and I are going to broach the subject that maybe they should hang out at Beck's more, so Sydney can be home more.
We're afraid it might start one of those "You love her more than me!" arguments, which is why we've waited.
Also, it's because Sydney and Ellie are going to be doing acting classes in Pasadena starting in January.
I mean…we know she has talent. We've heard her sing, and she can play piano great. They have both shown bright flashes of ability.
But still, Cat and I just about keeled over two weeks ago, when over Thanksgiving dinner, Sydney mentioned it as I was passing Cat the cranberry sauce.
She said she felt like she was doing good at school, and asked if she could do it.
Amazingly, she even offered to pay for part of it using her money we give her for doing chores around the house and odd jobs around the neighborhood like helping Harrison Ford with his grocery shopping every week.
Yeah…we know him. And a lot more people. It's so weird.
But we let Sydney do it, and contacted Rafael, our driver.
Yeah…a driver.
Cat and I realized a few years ago that we can't drive 3 kids around, and do our jobs. So we hired Rafael to do stuff like drive them to Pasadena when we can't.
Thankfully it's not a full time thing.
Also, we had to get a body guard for Cat when we go out. Which is a hassle.
DeVaughn used to be a pro football player, but he messed up his back and couldn't play anymore.
Cat scooped him up about a week after he retired, and now he calls ahead for us and makes sure that we have an escape route, clears out the booths or tables directly around us, and controls the fans that recognize Cat.
Usually Cat signs autographs while I get the kids to the car.
The cool thing is how connected the all of us are.
For instance, Jade, Beck, Tori and Andre all use DeVaughn and Rafael. The kids know them, and trust them.
They've even hung out together during the summers.
It's like its own community.
Which makes everyone rest easy.
The other nice thing is, it's easier to be famous nowadays.
Years ago, when Kevin had just been born, and Matt was weeks away, the secretary of Defense died in a car accident caused by paparazzi.
Yeah…that paparazzi. The same paps that made Cat and I's lives miserable for years. Along with every other celebrity alive.
Predictably, people had a knee jerk reaction. Congress signed a law that made being a paparazzi, or taking pictures/videos that negatively affect someone's quality of life, illegal. Totally banned it.
At first people bitched and moaned and whined about how the freedom of the press wasn't being respected.
But then celebrities started coming out of the woodwork everywhere. Just being normal, and not having to worry about cameras getting shoved in their face.
People then noticed that the celebs liked meeting and talking with fans. It wasn't the fame that kept them away.
It was the paparazzi.
The law, known as the Kent Richardson Act is now 12 years on, and considered absolutely impossible to repeal or change.
I know LA would riot. A lot of people might move.
It'd be too hard to go into a hole after 12 years of normalcy.
I know I'd hate it. Sydney wouldn't know what to do.
I mean…she'd get swamped today.
She flew all by herself here to New York. First class, paid by my frequent flyer miles. But she was in the crowd tonight.
She had never seen my show, and asked if she could come once school let out for the semester.
Cat and I loved the idea, and pounced on the opportunity.
We did the normal "call us if you have any questions, or feel threatened, or just want to talk." routine with her, but I haven't gotten a call all day.
Every time I saw her I had to bite back a smile.
I told her that I wasn't going to change my show, and that it can get mature. She said it didn't matter, and that it can't be worse than school.
Which I guess is true.
She's in the hotel room next to mine. I bought her flowers this morning for her to see when she arrived this afternoon.
I haven't seen her in person yet. Her flight got in at 4, and I had to start prep here at 3.
"Beep Beep."
Click.
I twist the doorknob and open the door to my room.
Well…suite.
Clearly the maid has been here. All my sheets have been washed, and the tiny trashcans have been changed and moved around.
It even has that smell of new hotel room that they seriously should sell at the store.
"Ahhh…" I plop onto my bed.
It feels so good to be off my feet.
Walking 3 blocks after doing a 2 hour show didn't do me any favors.
Especially in these stupid Deka shoes.
I need to tell them that these are extremely hard on the sides of your feet.
I feel like I'm about to roll my ankle in them.
The company I initially started my tour with got bought out by Deka years ago. They didn't like that some upstart had morphed into this monster that changed how everyone was doing business.
With me leading the way.
Thanks to my name, we signed multiple people who are names in the industry.
Deka doesn't like that I tour so few times a year, but Cat and I have agreed that at least one of us will be at home always in case something happens.
Which usually leaves me at home with a book and my thoughts as company. But that's whatever. It's what I signed up for when I married her and decided to have kids.
…
Slam.
Is that her?
I hear a soft clink of a purse.
Then a door opened to my left.
"Dad!"
I open my eyes and sit up.
"Hey Sydney, how ya doing?" I smile, standing up.
She came over and hugged me tightly.
"I'm good. Your show was great by the way."
"Thanks. How was the flight?" I ask, sitting back down on my bed.
"It was fine. Kind of weird, but fine."
I laugh.
"It's not a private plane Syddo. This isn't your mom we're talking about." I tease.
"I know. I didn't mean it that way." She hastily added on.
"I know Sydney. Have you eaten? You hungry?" I ask.
It's around 8.
"I had some French fries and a shake during my layover. But yeah, I'm hungry." She said.
I smile and laugh to myself.
"Don't laugh at me!" she giggled, then whacked my arm.
"I'm not laughing at you. It's just funny." I say.
"Why is it funny?"
"I don't know. It just is."
"yeah right." She grumbled.
"Where do you want to go?" I ask.
"Uhm…I saw a nice place on the cab ride here. It's 2 blocks east." Sydney said.
"Cab ride?" I say, sitting up.
"Yeah. From the airport."
"Oh. Thought you took a cab from the show." I say.
I walked.
"I did that too."
"Sydney." I say.
"What?"
"How much did it cost?"
"Dad…"
"Syd. C'mon. Is this because you don't want to be recognized?"
"…It was 35 bucks." She said.
I pull my wallet out of my pocket.
"Sydney…it isn't a bad thing to get recognized. I promise." I say softly.
"I know. But it's just for being Mom's kid. Not for being me."
"Syd. It is because you're you. You're you, and you're your mom's daughter. You're famous for both."
"No, it's because I am her daughter."
"You really won't let me reassure you now will you?" I tease, pulling out 2 20's.
"Nope."
She reluctantly took the bills I hand to her.
"To dinner?' I ask.
"Please." She smiled.
I change shoes and switch jackets then we're out the door.
"You know that people probably won't recognize you. They don't know your face." I say, right before getting hit in the face with a cold gust of wind as I open the door for her.
"Yeah…but I'm still not used to it."
"It'll come with time. Your mom used to be the same way."
"I thought she became famous when she was older than me." She immediately replied.
"She did. It took her a few years."
"Then how'd she handle the pressure so well?"
I smile.
"Sydney, that's why we all love Sikowitz. He taught us that. To be impervious and to smile in a crowd."
She turned and looked at me funny.
"You know him?"
I laugh.
"Sweetie, he was teaching when I was your age. Tori, Beck, Jade, Andre, your mom and I all had him."
"Seriously?"
"Yeah. I thought you knew! That's how he knew you and Ellie!"
"I thought that was because Helen tipped him off!"
"Nope. We've all known him longer than you've been alive."
"…What the hell else don't I know?" She demanded.
I give her a glance.
I told her to ease up on the swearing.
I don't care, but it's not like I want to hear it.
We're not cool like that. I'm not her friends at school.
"But seriously?"
"We told you we went to Hollywood Arts before it went private."
"When was that?" She asked.
"Like 2008 to 2011." I say.
"I was born a couple of years later. When'd it go private?"
I shrug. "Sometime between when I graduated and when we went to look into if you could go there."
"Was it surprising?"
"Yeah. I never got a good answer why, but that's whatever." I say.
"Isn't it because of all the famous kids?"
"Huh?" I look at her.
We're right in front of the restauraunt.
"I mean, I go there. Ellie does too. Everybody else will at some point I guess. Plus Justin Bieber's kids, Jennifer Lawrence's, Carly Benson's, everybody's kids go there!"
"They do?" I ask.
"Yeah. Don't you know that?" She smiled.
"No. It's not like they hand out the list of kids and parents. Plus no parent teacher conferences."
She seemed to accept that, and I asked for a booth for 2.
The hostess smiled and directed us to the back.
In order to get to our table, we had to walk near the bar.
I wanted to strangle about 3 of the men dressed for business.
Checking out Sydney and her dress.
God guys are disgusting.
"I assume that's not the attention you're talking about." I joke.
She grudgingly smiled.
She doesn't think she's attractive.
Which is total crap.
I mean…she's beautiful. She looks a lot like her mom.
Brunette, evenly proportioned and very pretty,
But she's constantly focused on her bra, or how her legs are fat…blah blah blah.
Women always focus on the bad.
"Nope." She smiled.
"Remember…guys are idiots." I smile.
"I know daddy."
We then turned our attention to the menu.
I think I'll have the steak, potato and salad.
Maybe dessert if I'm not too full.
I'm surprised, this place Sydney directed us to is a steakhouse.
Cat would be saying something about choosing a different place.
Oh well, it's Syd's call.
I support it.
I glance to Sydney and see a familiar look on her face.
"Don't think about price. What do you want Syddo. That's what matters." I say kindly.
She bit her lip.
"But dad…I mean…"
She looked up to me, and I take the menu from her.
"Hey!"
I take out the printed papers, and fold it so that the price is hidden, but the dish and the description is shown.
"There." I say.
Then our waiter popped up.
"What would you like to drink?"
"I'll have a Corana please." I say.
He nodded and turned to Sydney.
"Peppy cola please."
"Ok. Can I start you guys off with an appetizer or anything?"
"No thank you." I say.
"Ok. I'll get those drinks right out." He said, then disappeared.
I pull my phone out of my pocket and check my messages.
"Sydney hasn't texted me all day. I know your show is about to start. Good luck. I love you. Give Sydney my love." –Cat
I smile and reply.
"I got her. Out to dinner now. She's thinking prices again, so I folded the menu so she can't see them."
…
"Is it bad that I'm thinking flame grilled?" She asked.
I laugh. "No, but why?"
"Never had anything like that before." Was her reply.
"Yeah you have. When we go over to Ellie's and have cookouts. That's on Beck's grill."
"But that's Beck."
"It's flame grilled." I smile.
She smiled back, but looked back to the menu.
"Awesome. How'd it go? Did she like it?" –Cat
"Went great. She liked it. Didn't get specifics, but you know that story lol."
I look up when she sets her menu down.
"Why are we here for 3 days?"
"Christmas shopping."
"But it's December 13th." She replied.
"Which means we have 11 days to shop. Haven't you started?" I ask.
She shook her head.
"I suggest you get going so you don't have to pay extra for shipping." I say.
"Ok. Are you guys paying for beck and everyone's gifts like normal?"
I nod.
We always buy the gifts the kids buy Jade, Beck, Tori, Andre and their kids.
"Uh huh."
"Ok…then why am I staying here? I know you asked for me to hang with you, then fly back together." She asked.
"I need your help with your mother's gift." I say.
"Me? Why?"
"You're her daughter. You surely can help me."
"I'm not sure." She frowned.
"I'm sure. I believe in you." I joke.
Her grudging smile and giggle across the table made me smile just as the waiter came back with our drinks.
(A/N: Hey everyone! I'm back! The week off was well worth it, and actually quite hard! Why? Wednesday night I kept on thinking "Shouldn't I be writing? I NEED TO WRITE!" And it kept on until I actually wrote this. If you didn't see, this is 14 years after Winds of Change. I posted some pictures of Sydney and Ellie on my Tumblr, which is jfeldmann103. I'll be posting pictures of the rest of the kids later. Also, I don't own Victorious, the Emmy's, Grammy's, Oscar's or the people I mentioned. I'm only a broke college student trying to graduate with a degree and a ton of student loan debt. Thanks for reading.)
