"Hey Ash, what are you doing here?" Michelle asked smiling at her sister in law as she and Roger got to the club.
"What do you mean, what am I doing here? My husband plays here. What are you doing here? You're a long way from home." she asked laughing as she hugged her.
"Adam thought it would be cool to come to the city for the weekend. We figured we'd come see Roger play tonight, stay at the loft with Mark and Kelly and then spend the day with our nephew tomorrow." she told her smiling at her.
"Well I'm so glad you came. You should see Matt. He's getting so big." Ashley told them excitedly.
"Baby, I gotta go in for sound check. I'll see you guys inside." Roger said leaning down to kiss Ashley before going inside.
"OK, Honey." she told him smiling up at him.
"Hey, Baby girl." Collins said hugging her tight.
"Hi, Sweetheart. How are you?" she asked hugging him back.
"I'm good. How's my little nephew?" he asked kissing her head.
"He's incredible. The same as he was Sunday." she laughed at him.
"So where are the pictures of my nephew I know you're dying to show me?" Michelle asked smiling at Ashley.
"You know me way too well." Ashley told her laughing as she pulled out a small album from her large pocket book.
"Oh my goodness, look at him. So tell me Ash, does my brother ever let you near him?" she asked looking at all of the pictures of Roger and Matt.
"You have no idea how attached they are to each other. If Roger's not the first face Matt sees in the morning, he's cranky all day." Ashley told her laughing.
"Who would have guessed my brother would be such a devoted father?" Michelle asked as Ashley smiled over at her.
"I did, thank you very much." she told her smiling back at her.
"I knew too." Collins said raising his hand laughing.
"Look how close they are. Dad and Roger were never this close. I mean yeah, dad used to go skiing with Roger and take him hunting, but Roger hated hunting. He would rather sit in his room playing his guitar. Roger worships this kid." Michelle told her laughing.
"Yeah well, what can I say? They're my boys. Do you know Matt's not even a year old and Roger is already trying to teach him how to play guitar? It's adorable really. There's a picture in there somewhere of it. Matt loves listening to Roger play. He worships Roger right back." Ashley told her smiling at her.
"That is really cute. I'm glad you guys are so happy." she told her as Roger came out with Adam.
"We couldn't be better. Truly." Ashley told her as Roger came up behind her wrapping his arms around her waist.
"Isn't he the most incredible kid you've ever seen?" he said looking at the pictures of Matt.
"He sure is Roger." Adam told him smiling down at the pictures.
"His daddy's pretty incredible too." Ashley said turning around to kiss Roger.
"I second that." Collins said smiling at them.
"Yeah well, I owe it all to his mommy. He's the greatest gift she ever gave me." he said holding her close.
"You do realize that I didn't actually give birth to him, right?" she laughed looking up at him.
"But it was your idea to adopt him. Without you, I wouldn't have the greatest kid on earth." he smiled kissing her head.
"You two are so sickening." Michelle said laughing at them.
"When you're married for over 3 years and have a kid, you should be so lucky to still be in love like me and Ash are." Roger told her smiling at Adam.
"Yeah, I guess we could do worse." Michelle told them smiling as Terry came out.
"Hey Rog, we're on in 5. Ash, hey. I didn't know you were here. How are you?" Terry leaned over to hug and kiss her on the cheek.
"I'm really good. How about you, Terry? Do you miss me?" she asked smiling up at him.
"You have no idea. Every time Roger sings I'm With You, I miss you standing in the front row crying." he told her laughing.
"Every time?" Michelle asked laughing with him.
"Yep. Every time." he said smiling down at Ashley.
"It's a beautiful song." she said defensively.
"So Terry, do you wanna see the new pictures of Matt we have?" Roger asked excitedly smiling at him.
"I see him all the time. Do you think you have enough pictures, Ash?" Terry asked looking at the pictures.
"I like taking pictures of my boys." Ashley told him laughing.
"Roger, he's not even a year old, what are you doing trying to teach him how to play the guitar already?" Terry asked laughing at the picture of Matt on Roger's lap and the guitar in front of them.
"What? It's never too early." Roger told him laughing putting his arms around Ashley's shoulders.
"You're too much, Rog. Where are all the pictures of Ash and Matt?" he asked looking up at them.
"Apparently, my brother doesn't like to let Ash anywhere near him." Michelle laughed looking over at him.
"I like taking pictures of my beautiful boys." she said smiling at him.
"They do look great together, don't they?" Terry smiled at the pictures.
"Terry, what the hell? You were coming out to get Roger and you disappeared. We're on in 2 minutes." Andrew told him exiting the bar.
"Sorry, we got sidetracked. Baby pictures." Ashley told him as he smiled wide.
"Ash, I didn't know you were here. Wow, how are you?" he asked hugging her hello.
"We're great, Andrew. How are you?" she asked smiling at him.
"I'm great. I miss you though. Between the macho men here and the two queens, I'm helpless." he told her laughing.
"Sorry, but my place is with my son now. We were just looking at the new pictures of him and Roger." she told him smiling at him.
"Well I'd love to see them, but we kind of have a show to do. You know, bar full of people and all? Are you gonna be around later? For old times sake?" he asked as Roger and Terry tried to look innocent.
"Yeah, Matt's staying at my moms tonight, so I can hang out for a little while." she told him smiling at him.
"OK come on, Andrew. Geez, are you gonna stay out here all night? We have a show to do." Roger said as Terry laughed hysterically.
"You two are still not funny." Ashley told them as they went inside.
"Admit it, Baby. You missed us." Roger said smiling down at Ashley.
"Yeah I did." she told them as they went inside.
"Are you gonna sing, Ash?" Andrew asked smiling at her.
"I'm here, what do you think?" she asked laughing as she looked up at Roger.
"He flashed you the famous Roger Davis smile and you couldn't resist?" he guessed laughing as she nodded. "Awesome, I missed hearing you sing." he told her as he went on stage.
"I gotta go, Baby. I love you. I'm singing for just you tonight." he told her leaning down to kiss her.
"I missed you singing for just me." she said smiling up at him. "I love you too." she said caressing his cheek.
"Hi Ash." Dustin called out waving at her.
"Hi guys." she said smiling at them as she waved back. "Go Roger." she screamed cheering him on.
"Hey, Ash Baby. Hey everybody, as always I am Roger Davis and we are The Boho Knights and we have a special show in store for you tonight. My wife Ashley is taking a night off from our beautiful son Matt to come out and be with grown ups, and I use that term loosely, so without further ado, let's get on with the music. As they began to play, Ash realized how much she really missed singing with Roger. She felt so alive on stage. But her son needed her and there was just nothing that could compare to being with Matt. "OK, I missed saying this, so give me a minute to revel in the moment." Roger said smiling down at Ashley as everyone cheered. He took a deep breath before continuing. A looked down at Ashley as a huge smile crossed his face as he spoke the words he missed since Matt's arrival. "And now we have a special guest I'd like to ask to join us right now, Ash Baby, come on up." he yelled over the screams.
"Go Ash." Michelle yelled as Roger helped her up on stage.
"Hi, Honey. Hi everyone." she said in the microphone smiling at him as her friends and everyone else cheered for her.
"Hey, Baby. You ready?" he asked smiling at her.
"Yeah, I'm ready." she told him smiling at everyone. As Terry started the opening riff to Close My Eyes Forever everyone cheered. They hadn't done that song in a long time, but they didn't rehearse the one Roger wrote for them and Ashley missed doing it. As Ashley began singing, Roger approached her as he played his guitar.
They ended the song as everyone hooted and hollered. "Thank you. Ashley Davis everyone. Now I would like to slow things down for our last song, but Ash Baby, stay here for me." he told her as she put the microphone back on it's stand.
"What? Roger, I've never stayed up here when you've done my song." she told him as he smiled at her.
"Well tonight I want to sing it with you up here. Are you OK with that?" he asked smiling at her.
"It's not gonna end well, you know?" she told him smiling at him as he leaned over to kiss her.
"Don't care." he smiled at her.
"Don't say I didn't warn you." she laughed looking up into his green eyes.
"Sorry guys. For those of you who don't know this, I wrote this song for my wife way back when we first started dating about 3 and a half years ago. I met her here on a Friday night after the show and the next night, her and her roommate, who had a thing for my roommate at the time, came into the city from Queens to hang out with us. I asked her to be my girlfriend that night. But, I digress. On that Friday night when I got home from the bar, after talking to her for 2 hours and letting her leave, without kissing her. But not before she wrote her phone number on my hand. Very mysterious, right? Well I started writing the song for her when I got home. Between flashbacks of Bon Jovi's Livin on a Prayer. My wife's fault totally, and I performed it for her the following Friday. I sung it for her every week after that until she quit coming out to be with our amazing son Matt. So, on that note, here's I'm With You." he said as everyone laughed and he started playing it.
"I love you. Ash Baby." he told her as he wrapped his arms around her as she cried and the crowd cheered.
"I love you too, Roger." she told him holding him tight.
"That's our show people. I'm gonna go hang out with my gorgeous wife now. Goodnight." Roger yelled laughing as he took his guitar off and they stepped off stage.
"I can't believe after 3 and a half years you still cry when he sings you that song." Michelle said laughing as Adam held her in his arms.
"OK Can we stop torturing me now? Come on, I wanna hang out with my friends tonight." she told them wiping her eyes.
"What, no dragging Roger outside for a smoochfest?" Maureen asked teasingly.
"Do we wanna know?" Adam asked laughing.
"After each show, I used to drag Roger outside and I would tell him how much I loved him and we always got caught making out." Ashley told him as Roger held on to her.
"And then they would come inside and we'd propose a toast to whatever we were celebrating that week." Collins told them smiling at them.
"Oooh, can I do a toast?" Adam asked excitedly as they got their drinks.
"Sure, why not? Whatcha got?" Collins asked picking up his stoli.
"OK, I want to propose a toast to Roger and Ashley. I am so pissed we never came down to see you guys perform regularly. You guys are awesome. Seriousfuckinly awesome. Also, Michelle, I would like to ask you for the incredible honor of becoming my wife." he asked as everyone stood there stunned.
"Wait, what?" Michelle asked looking up at him.
"Excuse us?" Ashley asked taken completely off guard.
"Michelle, I... um... will you marry me?" he asked taking an engagement ring out of his pocket.
"This is so beautiful, Adam. When did you do this?" Michelle asked smiling up at him with tears in her eyes.
"I've had it for a while. I wanted to take you out to a romantic restaurant or something and ask you then, but after listening to Roger sing that song to Ashley and being around all of this energy, now felt like the right time." Adam said smiling down at her.
"Oh my God, Adam I... I don't know what to say." she told him staring at the ring.
"Say yes." Ashley said laughing.
"Oh my God, of course. Yes. I love you Adam." she told him wrapping her arms around his neck to hold him close as everyone clapped.
"Yay, a wedding." Ashley called out wiping the tears from her eyes as Roger kissed her head.
"On that note, I'm gonna steal you for a minute." he whispered in Ashley's ear as they slipped off.
"Your sister just got engaged, Roger. What..." she started when he wrapped his arms around her waist and picked her up before giving her a deep passionate kiss.
"I love you, Ash Baby." he whispered as the kiss broke.
"I love you so much, Roger. Thank you for making me come out. I... I miss being up there with you." she smiled looking into his green eyes.
"Can I assume that you want back in the band?" he asked putting her down.
"Not every week, but I... I do think I want to come back on an occasional basis." she smiled at him.
"Good. I want Matt to be as proud of you as he is of me." he smiled kissing her again before they went back inside.