Sydney POV
"That doesn't sound bad." Ellie said, stopping the radio.
"Can you play the second half again?" I ask her.
Out of the corner of my eye I see her nod, then reach out and start the radio again.
…
…
"The harmony needs cleaning up." I say simply, turning into my neighborhood.
"Does it though?"
She sounds skeptical.
"Yeah. It's got some loose debris in there."
"I think its fine."
"It's not." I say firmly.
Ellie laughed.
"Okay. Well you should get on the horn about it. I'm not going to do that."
"I will." I say, pulling onto our street, then into the driveway behind Dad's SUV.
We pile out and hop inside quickly, avoiding the cold wind that has invaded the last few days.
"We're home!" I call out.
"Mama!"
Suddenly everyone laughed in the kitchen, and Ellie and I change our course to go there instead of the living room.
When we get there, Olivia's face fell for a moment, but still grabbed for me.
"Hi." I smile at her and give her a squeeze.
"Did you think we were your mom?" Ellie smiled and tweaked her nose.
Olivia pushed Ellie's hand away and leaned against me.
"Are you in a bad mood?" Ellie asked, as I wiggle her foot.
Olivia wiggled that foot as Uncle Beck said "No, she's not in a bad mood, but she is being more expressive and vocal."
Dad spoke up and said "Yeah, she's talking more, saying "Momma" and "Dada" now."
"That's good." I smile.
"Yup. How was work?" Mom hugged me.
"Ok. Got another song pretty much done. Needs some clean up though." I say.
She nodded in understanding.
"Where's Mom?" Ellie asked her dad.
"Your mom, along with Olivia's parents are down in the basement with Austin."
"Why?" I ask.
"He's learning about music. Like we promised him." Mom said.
"Why aren't you there then?" I ask her.
"Because I don't have the patience to teach beginner's music for dummies, and somebody has to cook…" Mom said, digging in the pantry.
"Austin isn't a dummy. He's really smart!" I said, affronted.
They know that!
"We know honey. She wasn't saying Austin's a dummy. But Austin is getting a music crash course like those dummies books. That's what she means." Dad said soothingly to me.
"Oh. That makes sense." Ellie pipes up.
"What about everyone else?"
"Corey and Sam are reading in his room." Mom smiled, adding a spice to her big pot.
"Sam's here?" I smile.
"Yup. And we don't know where either of your brothers are, but they are somewhere upstairs for sure." Uncle Beck smiled.
"Ok. Let's go downstairs." Ellie tickled Olivia, who giggled.
I lead the way to the basement.
"So, you're talking Olivia? About your momma and Daddy?" Ellie asked behind me.
"Mama!" Olivia called out happily.
"I hear Olivia!" A male voice called out.
A second later I step out and everyone is looking at us.
"Oh." Andre said. "Thought you were Robbie."
"Dada!" Olivia cheered.
I smile and Ellie said "Sorry."
Behind everyone I see Austin look up, then wave.
"Hey!"
"Hi." I smile, handing Olivia off to Aunt Jade.
"Dada!"
"How badly are you doing?" Ellie asked, walking over to the bank of monitors and flat screens by the recording booth.
"Not bad actually. He's catching on." Aunt Tori said.
I smile and walk over to where Ellie and Austin are and look at the screens.
"What are you guys going over?"
"How to identify different notes of music." Uncle Andre said.
"That's specific." Ellie quipped.
Aunt Jade lightly whacked the back of her head, causing her to whip around.
"She means whether it's treble clef or base clef, and how many notes are in a measure."
"Oh." I say.
Very basic stuff.
"How much about music did you know before this?" Ellie asked Austin.
"Nothing really. I just love listening to it." He replied.
"Mama!"
Aunt Tori smiled and took Olivia from Jade.
"Ok. Enough small talk. Go." Uncle Andre said.
He changed one of the screens to a new display.
Treble and 4.
…
"Uhm…I want to say Base Clef and 3?" Austin said, sounding unsure.
"Not quite." Aunt Tori said.
"Sydney?" Aunt Jade said.
"Treble and 4." I say effortlessly.
Aunt Jade smiled and nodded.
Austin however, hopped to the monitor.
"I don't get it. Where's the fourth?"
"At the front. The song doesn't have a second break it the beginning. It just starts." I say. "Which automatically makes it Treble Clef."
I haven't said the clef part in years.
It's just treble.
"Alright…" Austin said, then pulling out a notebook and writing something quickly.
"Elle. What specific treble is this?" Aunt Jade said.
"Elle?" Austin asked.
"Nickname." Andre supplied effortlessly.
"Aga!"
"Hold on sweetie. Busy right now…" Austin said, still writing.
"Vocal treb." Ellie said.
"Very good."
"Wait, hold up." Austin asked.
Everyone seemed to pause and wait for him.
"What do you mean vocal treb? Like it's a vocal treble clef?" He asked.
"Exactly. But you don't need to know that right now. I asked Ellie because she should know."
"So there's different kinds of treble clefs?"
"Yeah. 3 different kinds." I say.
"But you don't need to know that right now. That's just for future reference and a fun fact for now." Aunt Tori said.
Austin nodded, then walked over to her and picked up Olivia, who was grabbing for him."
"You are so lucky you have a whole family of music genius's Olivia. You'll know this stuff instinctively."
"Not instinctively. More like a second language." Mom said, suddenly appearing behind us.
"Ok."
Aunt Jade clicked the monitor forward.
Base and 3.
…
"Base Clef and 3." Austin said, sounding more confident.
"Very good. Now what instrument is this on?" Uncle Andre asked the room at large.
But specifically Ellie and I.
We haven't had a lesson like this in years.
Austin shrugged and looked to me.
"Well?" Mom looked at Ellie and I.
"I know." I say.
Ellie said "You picked a borderline case."
Aunt Jade said "No I didn't."
Ellie simply frowned. "The symbol is running into the beginning of the measure!"
"Which says it's a piano song." I say.
Mom smiled and nodded.
"That's what I thought, but it blends into the stupid start line!" Ellie pointed at the monitor.
Mom grabbed a display marker and said "Here's an easy way to differentiate. When the symbol blends into the start of the measure, it looks like a spoon. See?"
She has the note circled.
Ellie simply took a picture with her phone. "I've never heard that before, but ok."
Thanks mom.
"How did he do?" Mom asked Aunt Jade.
"5 of 9. He missed his first 3 though."
"So 5 of 6 after that." I say.
"The only one he missed was immediately after Sydney came down." Aunt Tori smiled.
Mom smiled too and said "Don't get distracted."
"I didn't get distracted." Austin replied immediately.
Mom clearly didn't buy it, but turned to Ellie and said "Now everybody upstairs. I need helpers for the table and kitchen."
Aunt Jade and Uncle Andre led the way to the stairs, but I hung back and snag my hoodie off the chair.
"Cold?" I hear behind me, as I slip it over my head.
When I turn around, Olivia lit up and smiled, and Austin is smirking.
"Yeah, it's cold." I say, then kiss Olivia's cheek.
Before I can pull away, Austin kissed my cheek, then smiled.
"How was the studio?"
"Good. We're closer." I say.
"That's always a positive." He said, leading the way upstairs, causing Olivia to climb his shoulder to keep me in her sights.
When we get upstairs, everyone is dashing around the table, setting the different places.
"Excuse me." Aunt Jade said to Corey.
"Oops! Sorry!" Corey replied.
Kevin simply slid past both of them and handed Matt more butter knives.
Then something small slammed into me.
"Sydney! You're here!"
I look down to see Sam beaming.
"Hey! You're here!" I smile, bending down and hugging her.
"How are you?" She smiled.
"I'm great. What about you?" I smile.
"I'm ok. Corey and I were just reading."
"Oh that's—"
She's gone.
And now hugging Austin.
"How'd it go?" She asked him.
"I did okay. Nothing special."
"That's good." Sam said, then disappeared again.
I look to Austin, only to see Olivia hitting his chest with an open fist.
"Why are you beating him up?" I ask.
Austin smiled and said "Maybe she's mad at me."
Her tiny hand is making a small noise when she hits him.
"Hehe…" She giggled.
"Or maybe she thinks it's funny." I say.
Mom walked by, carrying a platter of chicken, revealing what she was cooking.
Ooh, one of my favorites.
She usually puts different herbs that complement one another on there. It's to die for.
"Ok, everybody find a seat!" Dad called out.
I slide to my normal spot, and everybody slides in around me.
Like normal, Kevin and Matt are together.
Corey is next to Mom and Dad.
Ellie got shuffled off to the corner.
Surprisingly, Sam is next to Corey.
Everybody else just found an empty chair, leading to Austin sitting to the left of Olivia.
"This'll work." He smiled, as people began serving themselves.
I snag 2 pieces of chicken, some corn or the cob, the broccoli, salad and turn to get a drink.
Only for dad to have it ready for me.
"Thanks."
"No problem…What do you want Austin?" Dad asked him, as Olivia noisily started eating her fruit.
"Uhm…milk would be great thanks." He replied.
Dad nodded and went to the fridge.
"Ok, well I think Olivia got us started. Everybody dig in." Aunt Jade said.
Dad slipped Austin's milk over his head, and slowly, most of the others gravitated to the refrigerator as well.
In between bites I overhear Corey and Sam telling Uncle Beck about the book they're reading, along with Ellie asking Dad about his comedy tour.
He mentioned a while back that he'd be going on tour in November.
That's almost a month away.
"So how many songs have you gotten done?" Mom asked me, snapping me out of my reverie.
"Oh. 2..1? Right?" I turn to Ellie.
"I thought we were done with 23."
"Are you counting the Prism ones or not?" I ask.
"I am, I was pretty sure they were done."
"Prism, the old Katy Perry album?" Aunt Tori asked, while giving Olivia another spoonful of applesauce.
"Yeah. We picked 3 songs from there."
"How many do you plan on having sweetheart?" Mom asked me.
"We don't know. We were thinking 22." I say.
"Why?" Aunt Jade immediately asked.
"It's a cover album, so it's not our own original work. We have extra songs to compensate."
"Have you guys asked for permission to use the songs?" Mom asked.
"Yeah, some random producer mentioned that about a month ago." I say.
"How many do you have permission to do?" Aunt Tori questioned.
"About a third." Ellie answered as I took a bite.
"So 7 or 8?"
"I shake my head.
"How many then?" Aunt Jade asked.
"17 so far." I say.
"17? How many songs do you have lined up?" Mom asked.
"We chose to record 50."
"We?" Uncle Andre asked.
Olivia randomly giggled.
"It's my album, but I've recorded about 10 duets with Ellie."
"Jeez, how many more do you have to record?"
"3 more. Then it's all clean up."
"When were you thinking of releasing it?" Mom asked.
"Sometime around mid November. Not sure yet."
Mom nodded, and I go back to eating.
Small talk floats around until Mom speaks up again, causing everyone to take notice.
"So Austin, you have a game in a week correct?"
Austin nodded, since his mouth was full.
"Yeah, but I have a game in between now and then."
"Ok. Well Jade and I were thinking we could come out next Saturday and see you play. Will that work?"
"Yay!" Sam cheered.
"Uhm…yeah. I'm not sure you want to come to next Saturday's game though."
"Why not? The weekend lines up perfectly for everyone." Aunt Jade asked.
"Well, remember the first time I came here, and you asked me about the fight?"
Huh?
Everybody nodded except Sam, who kept eating while looking at Austin.
"Yeahhh…" Mom said.
"Well this Saturday it's the rematch. Same team, same pitcher."
"Did you face him in the spring?" Ellie asked.
"No, he had a shoulder issue. And we run ruled them." Austin said.
"So you're thinking he's not done yet?"
"Kind of. It's been practically a year, but he has such a temper that I wouldn't be shocked if he decided just to plunk me immediately."
"Intentionally?" Ellie asked.
Austin had a look on his face that said it all.
Duh.
This is the guy that hit him intentionally last time.
"So would you rather we pick another game?" Mom asked.
"Personally, yeah. I'd rather everyone go to a game that doesn't have the threat that I'm going to be intentionally maimed. But Grandma and Sam are already going, so whatever you choose is fine with me. Thank you for wanting to come." Austin smiled.
Olivia giggled.
"No problem. As Jade usually says, we want to see what the fuss is about." Dad said.
"Plus if something does happen, it'd be good to be there to help you out." Uncle Beck said.
"Thanks. So sounds like you're overruling me?"
Mom simply grabbed the broccoli spoon and tapped it on the glass container it's in.
"Overruled!"
I laugh, along with everyone else and go back to eating.
The next thing that grabs my attention is Tori saying "All done? Ok! Just wait until I get done ok?"
Olivia simply clapped and said "Mama."
Austin smiled and said "Good girl.", then took a bite of his corn.
"We have handles for that sweetie. So it's easier to eat." Mom said, seeing that Austin is holding onto his corn the old fashioned way instead of the handles you put in the sides.
"Oh. Ok thanks." Austin said, wiping his hands on a napkin the grabbing the bowl we have them in right now.
He slipped two on, then gave the bowl back to Corey.
Then he started looking around.
…
"Everything ok?" Dad asked.
"Where'd my corn go? I just put those things on there."
…
"AAAA…"
Suddenly I hear Aunt Tori say "Olivia! That's Austin's!" while laughing.
I look to her and see that she's holding onto his corn and is trying to eat it.
She has her whole mouth on it, but isn't biting right now.
"Olivia!" Aunt Jade smiled. "You stole his corn."
In response, Olivia bit down and caused juice to spill onto her high chair.
Everybody laughed, and Corey said "She likes it I think."
Austin just leaned back and said "Can I see another piece of corn please?"
Dad smiled and gave him the tongs to fish another one out of the dish.
"You're lucky I was basically done with that one. There isn't much left." Austin smiled.
Olivia suddenly took the corn off her mouth and turned to her mom.
"Mama!"
"I think you need it cut off the cob so you can eat it easier baby."
Olivia smiled when Tori took the corn and started taking it off.
"I thought you were full!" Uncle Andre smiled across from her.
Olivia just giggled.
"Well I think we can add something new to your diet. Corn!" Mom smiled.
Aunt Tori then placed Olivia's corn in front of her in a bowl.
Olivia immediately grabbed a handful and started chowing down.
"I was going to get you a spoon! Silly goose!" Her mom said, smiling.
Austin looked over at her and shook his head.
"I don't understand you sometimes Olivia."
Olivia perked up and started making noise in Austin's direction.
But it didn't make sense, and was just "Agahlsadabttth." plus food in her mouth.
"I need the baby version of the Rosetta Stone to decipher that." Austin said, then took a bite of his corn.
The bite caused some juice to squirt into his face.
Everybody who was watching him laughed as he went red.
Olivia laughed a second late, causing everyone else to smile.
Austin wiped his face off, then turned to Olivia and got down to her level."
"I guess I'm just your entertainment huh."
Olivia giggled and put her hands on his head.
"That's a yes if I've ever heard one." I say, causing Austin to smile, then glance up at me.