November 15th 2020

Chapter 320
Their Growth in Performance

Day 2, Tuesday. Concert – Austin Night 1

Maya took the driving seat that night, as they headed out to Houston for the next few days. She was always so wired after a show, so it felt like as good of a place to put that energy as any. It hadn't taken long to convince Nadine to use those two hours to get some sleep. There was already some doubt whether a part of her might try and keep waking her up throughout the night, out of a reflex from looking after Mia. She'd dozed off, and from there they had taken off for Houston in near silence. Rosa and Kayla were in the back with Nadine, and they were able to sign in the low lights. Riley had come up to the passenger seat to keep Maya company on the drive, but then she'd fallen asleep not long after Nadine. So, it was a very quiet ride. That was alright. Maya's ears were still ringing with the echo of their time on stage.

The day had started out slow. Once Lucas and Sam had gone off to their respective universities, Maya had the house to herself until the rest of the band arrived for their final practice before the night's show. Of all the things she might have done with that time, she'd gone and made a big batch of GiGi cookies for the guys to have while she was gone. Lucas would be headed to play the role of live-in uncle to baby Mia, while Sam, not dodging the truth one bit, would be spending the next few days over at Dora's apartment. All of them could do with some cookies.

She'd just gotten them all out of the oven by the time the others started to arrive, and it was a good thing that she'd made an extra batch for the band, as they fell on the still warm treats like a bunch of famished animals. Once the rest of the cookies had been put away, leaving no trace for the dogs to go hunting, they moved into the Hex for rehearsal. It was the first session they had in here where it really started to sink in. There wouldn't be many more of these, not the way they were now, not with Kayla as one of them. The notion could easily have derailed them, so much so that they lost their way. Instead, it became what the next few days were going to turn into. It became a celebration, of what they were now and what they had been for all those years. In the end, it became like an affirmation, a promise, that they weren't going to let the next however many months they had left turn into a pity party. They were going to be TXNY, their TXNY, for as long as they could be. That would be the memories with which Kayla flew off to Sweden that summer.

When they'd arrived at the venue, with the picture of the band out front, they'd stopped to take a picture of themselves with it. Here, what had briefly been sadness took a turn, becoming nostalgia, the good kind. Seeing that picture, it didn't matter how many times they'd done this by now, didn't matter that they weren't kids anymore. This wasn't what the picture was about. If they had to define it, they might say that it was about acknowledging the fact that they were here by the effort of their work as much as by the pure dumb luck of opportunities coming along at the right times, and they weren't taking any of it for granted, not ever.

"One more, Kayla you go in the middle," Riley nodded, and everyone moved at once, squeezing together, two on either side of their departing bandmate, who was bursting with smiles for the friendship and the sisterhood extended to her.

"Alright, now we go into band mode," Maya teased, turning on her best 'serious stage face.'

"Yeah, they're going to take one look at us right now and think we're fans and not their big act for the night," Rosa joked.

"At the risk of damaging our image again, I need to check in with my mother before we go in there," Nadine held up her phone. As she called home, where Mrs. Zhu was looking after Mia while Zay was at school, she indeed looked nothing like a musician, hours from taking the stage in front of a few hundred people. Right then, she was a mother, letting her baby daughter hear her voice over a phone held close to her. She may not have grown inside her mother's belly, but Mia Babineaux was so much a part of her, tethered to her heart so much now that the separation began to strain. After Nadine hung up with her mother, she needed a moment to pull herself together again. "Okay, let's go."

"You sure?" Maya asked her.

"Yeah… Yeah…" Nadine sniffed, pointing to the door. So, they went.

By now, it got to feel as though walking through those doors had them walking through a portal, to another world. When they walked in here, they became who they were whenever they stood on that stage. This other side of them slipped over them, like it was within their very own skin. They didn't have to reacclimate every time. They were here, they knew what to do. With all the changes happening in and around their lives lately, they were happy to come by this other persona. All they had to do now was get on that stage and do their thing.

Before they knew it, they had made it to just minutes before the start of the show. The buzz was in the air, and there were people out there, coming in and waiting for them. That was always the moment where they started to feel it come together, when the electricity came crackling at their fingertips, when their hearts, their very skin seemed to vibrate with anticipation. They were like racers at the start, waiting for the signal to go.

The five of them looked to one another now, and they grinned, folding into a quick hug all together before moving to take their places on stage. When they appeared, the energy in the room shifted, flipped, from buzzing anticipation to a burst, a rousing clamor. From there, there was nothing easier than for them to start the show and make damned sure that it would be one not soon forgotten. It was just as important, maybe now more than ever, that they gave a show that felt like them, like their TXNY, while it existed.

At one time or another throughout the show, more than once in some cases, everyone got their turn in the spotlight, whether in lyrics or the best showcase of their drummer's prowess. It did not matter whether or not they had met the expectations of the people who might have come looking for one specific thing. They gave a great show, enough to make anyone forget anything but the fact that the music was solid, and so was the performance of it.

"It always goes by so fast…" Riley breathed, as they all ended up backstage for a little while before they hit the road, the better to breathe, grab some water… "If I wasn't so tired now, I'd say it just started."

"When we were back there, I was ready to keep going for a few more songs. Now? Can't even move," Rosa gave a pathetic attempt to raise her leg.

"So I guess you're not driving," Nadine laughed.

"Yeah, neither are you, Mama," Maya tapped her shoulder. "I got it. You sleep. The good ship Sparkles will carry you through dreamlands… and to Houston," she intoned, before bringing it back to her regular voice on the end.

"Are you sure? I don't mind," Nadine told her.

"Not only am I sure, I insist."

They stopped to grab some food after leaving the theater, and then they were off. As she drove, Maya thought about the show they'd just done, yes, but also about the ones she'd do over the summer with Ree. She couldn't imagine those would be exactly like the ones she gave with TXNY, definitely a bit more relaxed, but it did make her wonder how they'd swing it all, if she was in fact pregnant by that time. Right now, she was probably still running mostly on adrenaline, and by the time she'd reach a bed she'd be dead to the world until morning, so… How much would she manage to do when it wasn't just about her anymore?

She really wished she could turn on the radio right about now. With no one to talk to, and nothing to listen to, all she had were her thoughts, and with her being in post-show mode, her brain was basically on fire, shooting off any number of thoughts, and ideas, and there was little else she could do but let them go by, was there?

Oh, was she ever glad to pull on to those familiar streets, bringing her and her minivan full of bandmates ever closer to their destination?

"Is anyone still awake back there? We're here," she whispered. In response, she felt a hand tap her on the shoulder, and she looked to find Kayla smiling back at her. Rosa had also fallen asleep. "You guys are lucky I'm not mean enough to just honk the horn right now."

One by one, the sleeping three were awakened and guided to get out, heading toward the house which had been home to some of them. Sophie and Chiara herded them all inside, promising beds above and a couch below, leaving them to decide who went where.

"Is it a Moms night or Dads night?" Maya asked them.

"Dads," Chiara nodded. So, Giulia was with Asher and Ray tonight.

Rosa was more than fine sleeping on the couch, and she was down and out before long, not even bothering to change into her PJs. Kayla also went for the couch. She had no problem whatsoever with joking that it made sense, with her being unable to hear Rosa's snoring.

"So, that leaves the three of us squeezing in together, huh? What would our husbands say?" Maya asked in her favorite Southern Belle voice, making the others laugh, throwing on a bit of scandalized faces for good measure.

In no time, they were changed and drifting ever closer to sleep, with Riley in the middle and Maya and Nadine on either side of her. Riley went back to sleep in all of a wink, while Maya needed a little longer, as she had a feeling Nadine was not going back to easily. For some reason it had been easy in the car, but now… now she was realizing how far she was from her daughter, and what if something happened to her?

"Hey," Maya whispered, turning on her side toward the others, putting her arm over Riley until she could touch Nadine's hand. She said nothing, but she turned her hand and took Maya's. She looked at her from across their friend, who soon responded to the presence of the arm by burrowing herself closer to her best friend, probably thinking it might have been Dylan. Maya paid it no mind, focused instead on Nadine. They both needed to sleep, had to be up in a matter of hours for another morning show appearance, but their brains gave this little care, didn't they? Eventually, Nadine also turned on to her side, facing the others, and with her own arm over Riley, the two on the outside finally found sleep, and they hoped it to be restful.

TO BE CONTINUED

See you tomorrow! - mooners