Fallen

I planned a get together at my house since it was my weekend off. I had my two best friends, Emily and Rachel, bring their kids with them so that their husbands could take a day off. Val had even come by just to say hello, but she didn’t have the boys since Matt did. He told me that he and Zacky would be by later with Cash and Ten, but River was going to be at a friends house. It was beautiful outside, so I set up a picnic table with a big pitcher of mimosas and glasses for the girls, while the little ones all played on the play-set a few feet away.

I exited the back door, a tray with sandwiches in my hand, and placed them on the table. “Car, Leo and Christian, if you want something to eat you better get your butts over here!” I yelled to the boys and laughed as they all came running and grabbing a sandwich and juice box before heading back toward the play set, yelling something about being knights.

Rachel smiled at me from across the picnic table, Nicole in her arms, “What I would give to have fun like that again. Such imaginations.”

“Three is the perfect age,” Val added from next to me while sipping her drink. “Then they turn four and you’re like okay, you still like Mom. Then five and you’re like, wait I’m losing my baby… Then they turn six and they want nothing to do with you anymore. You’re too lame for them and their cool friends.”

“Is that what River is like?” Emily asked and laughed when Val nodded.

“You’d think with his dad on the road for four months he would be interested in hanging out with him, but nope. He treats Matt just like he treats me - I’m good for food and buying video games, otherwise he just wants to hang out with his friends.” Val shook her head, “It’s like six going on sixteen.”

“I wish I could freeze Carson at this age,” I chugged the rest of my drink. “I’m scared for him to grow up and be a miniature Brandon. Every day he reminds me of him more and more.”

“You have the power to change that,” Val nudged me with her elbow and I looked over at her half-smile. “You’re playing mom and dad right now, girl. Plus, you have Matt on your side and he’s done a pretty good job with our rugrats.”

“Speaking of Matt!” Rachel nearly squealed, “Are we meeting him today or what?”

I shrugged, “He said that he and his friend would be by later on. The’ve had a busy day with recording and a meeting with their record label. I told him that if the kids were too exhausted from sitting through all that then we could just do something tomorrow.”

“He’ll be by, don’t you worry,” Val smirked and threw an arm around my shoulders, pulling me into a half-hug. “I have to go help Michelle pick out paint colors for their new house. It was really nice meeting you girls; you guys make me feel young again.”

“You’re not even old,” I laughed as Val let go of me. “Coffee date Monday before daycare? I’m late keeper.”

“Sounds phenomenal,” she beamed and walked around to the front of the house as Emily and Rachel said their goodbyes to her.

I watched the boys on the play-set and yelled for them to be careful since they were getting a little rowdy. I knew it was no use in really telling them to not jump off the top of the slide like maniacs; boys will be boys. I turned to look back at my two best friends while pouring myself another glass of the delicious alcoholic beverage. I raised an eyebrow as the two of them looked at me like they had something to say. They exchanged a look and then poured themselves new glasses, also.

“I think it’s really cool that you are such good friends with your boyfriends ex-wife,” Emily said with a smile.

I started to talk, “He’s not my boyf….”

“He might as well be your damn boyfriend you two spend at least two days a week together so don’t feed me that bullshit,” Emily cackled as Rachel held her hands over Nicole’s tiny ears. “Val is a cool chick for that, and for hooking you guys up. I can’t believe he’s never had a real girlfriend other than her.”

I shrugged, “They were together for a long time. It doesn’t really surprise me.”

“Yeah, but he’s a rockstar,” Rachel added while taking her hands off her daughters ears. “How many bodies do you think he’s caught? Like over fifty?” I made a disgusted face and she laughed, “Okay, don’t think about that. It is weird that he hasn’t dated anyone, though. Maybe he’s secretly psychotic.”

I rolled my eyes, “Or maybe he was in a relationship with the same person since high school, then married her and has only been really single for about a year and a half. I know he’s slept with his fair share of women, but he told me himself that he wasn’t really looking for a relationship and was enjoying the first time of ever really being on his own.”

“Once again, rock star. He could have any woman out there and he has only had one girlfriend? Something has to be wrong with him,” Rachel pursed her lips as if she was thinking. “You said he was packing, right?”

I groaned, “Is it so bad to think that a rockstar could be a normal guy who is telling the truth? I doubt that Val would’ve wanted to hook us up so bad if he was secretly crazy. And yes, he was very-much-so packing, and knew how to use it. He seems like a genuine nice guy other than that weird fling with Kennedy, but I’d like to not think about him with anyone else. Plus, we’re not officially together and come tomorrow we could decide we’re better off as friends so let’s drop the subject please!”

Emily frowned, “I’m sorry or bringing it up, Liv. I think it’s great that you’ve found someone you’re interested in that has something going for them other than a coke addiction and long dick. If you think Matt’s a nice guy, he’s probably a nice guy.”

“Drop it,” I nearly growled, tired of talking about the subject even if it was turning more positive now. At this point, I didn’t even want Matt to show up. Emily and Rachel had been so supportive about me going on a date with him, sleeping with him, everything in the beginning… now they were just being flat out weird.

Clouds started to cover the sky and beautiful blue turned to gray. We grabbed the sandwiches, drinks and of course our kids, and brought ourselves inside. The boys all ran into the living room, playing with a pile of Car’s toys and watching Teen Titans. Rachel put Nicole down for a nap on the couch, the eight month old sleeping soundly with loud three-year-olds in the same room as her. I made another batch of mimosas, as we were quickly finishing what we had. Good think that it was champagne because it took longer to get a buzz with them. We were good moms, but we were good moms who enjoyed alcohol. We wouldn’t get drunk with the kids around, at least not during the day, but most likely the boys would need to go down for a nap soon and Emily and Rachel would stay until after dinner.

The three of us stood around the island in my kitchen talking about Emily’s sex life when I heard my front door open. I turned and peeked out into the foyer, seeing Cash and Ten running in the house, joining in on Car and the gangs fun, with Matt and Zacky behind them. Matt’s hazel eyes connected with mine and he smiled, making his way toward the kitchen, Zacky in toe.

“Hey, pretty lady,” Matt smiled, putting his hands on my hips and pulling me toward him. He kissed my lips softly before looking toward my friends and smiling. He extended a hand, “Matt. Nice to finally meet the two of you.”

“Emily,” Emily smiled and shook his hand.

“Rachel!” Rachel did the same, seeming chipper as ever from our conversation earlier.

“I’m Zacky,” Zacky smiled from next to Matt and gave a wave. He extended his arms out to me and pulled me into a quick hug. “What’s in the pitcher?”

“Mimosas,” I laughed as both men scrunched their noses up. “There’s beer in the fridge in the garage. Matt knows where that is.”

“I’ll go grab us a few,” Matt excused himself from the room and headed in the direction of grabbing beer. When he got back, Zacky was already fully engaged in conversation with Emily and Rachel. Matt cracked open a beer and smiled at me, putting his arm over my shoulders and listening in on the conversation.

“So, I already know this one’s story,” Zacky pointed at me and looked at the girls with a smile, “What do you two do?”

Emily began talking first, “I’m an x-ray technician! So, pretty much I’m full of radiation and am probably going to die from over exposure at some point in my life. But I get to look at really sick bones every day and I can’t complain about that.”

“I do hair,” Rachel smiled. “Well, I specialize in men’s cuts. I suck at women’s… Just ask Liv, I went to give her a trim one day and literally chopped four inches off. I thought she was going to murder me.”

I scoffed and shook my head, “Hence the reason why my hair is so short now. You cut it at that awkward length where I had no other choice but to cut it into a bob, asshole. I’ll never forgive you for that. My hair was so long!”

Rachel had a guilty smile as she sipped her drink, “Good think short hair is hotter on you.”

“How long was your hair?” Matt asked while eyeing me. I put my hand down to about my belly-button, signaling where it used to end. “Holy shit. I agree with Rachel, though. Short hair is pretty hot on you,” Matt smirked and ran his hands through my hair.

“Get a room,” Zacky joked. “Are you guys originally from around here?”

“I am,” Emily smiled. “Rachel moved here in second grade. We all became friends through our other mutual friend, Cassidy, in high school. Her and Liv were friends first, and then we kind of got brought into the friendship. Since then, we’ve been inseparable. I had even moved out to LA with Liv while she was in college. Rach was scared of the big city so we left her behind with Cass.”

Zacky looked to Rachel with a sad smile, “I don’t blame you. LA will chew you up and spit you back out if you’re not the city kind of gal.”

“You’re telling me,” I spoke up with a sigh. “Moving back here was probably the best idea I had in the last five years.”

“Agreed,” Matt smirked and I hit him playfully in the chest. “What? If you didn’t move back you would’ve never met yours truly.”

“Yours truly is going to get his ego bruised in a minute,” I looked at him with a side-eye as he grinned, his adorable dimples sinking into his cheeks.

It seemed like everyone had a good time getting to know each other throughout the day. The fact that Cash and Ten got along well with Leo and Christian made it easier, too. Zacky had mentioned about how Ten needed more boy friends, so he was glad he was able to meet Emily and Rachel. Alcohol helped the situation as the little boys played and Nicole slept most of the day, as us adults were able to unwind and just have a good time even though it was now raining outside. We went with an easy meal for dinner tonight since it was so many of us, just basic spaghetti and meatballs. The girls left with their little ones after dinner, but Zacky lagged behind with Ten for a bit since he had gone down for sleep with Car and Cash. It was now about 7:30 PM, so they were out for the rest of the night. Sooner or later, Zacky was going to have to wake Ten up to take him home.

I sat longways on the couch that was in my garage, Matt laying between my legs with his head on my chest. Zacky was sitting in the chair across the table from us, a beer in his hand. We had been sitting here since the boys went to sleep, just talking about how their new album was going and how work had been for me. Zacky was so easy to talk to, and I just felt like he was understanding of the dynamic between Matt and I since he had been in the situation with Meaghan not that long ago.

After a little bit of talking, Zacky decided it was time to go home. I found myself standing awkwardly in the foyer with Matt, not knowing if he was spending the night or not. “Do you want to stay here tonight or are you going to head home?” I asked quietly, playing with my hands.

Matt grabbed my chin with his right hand and pointed it up so my eyes met his, “I’m going to let you take the night off from sharing a bed with me.” He laughed, “I actually wanted to talk to you about something now that we’re finally alone.”

“Okay,” I said, slightly confused and followed him over to the couch.

He sat down and pulled me onto his lap, lacing his fingers with mine, “I remember you saying that you felt like River didn’t like you, so I had a talk with him a couple nights ago about our relationship. I know he isn’t keen on the idea of sharing his dad with someone since I just got home from tour, so I want you guys to spend some more time together. I don’t want to put a pause on our relationship, but I want to make sure that he is comfortable with you.”

As much as I didn’t want to hear that, I was glad I did. “I find it extremely attractive that you are taking your sons emotions into account. You’re such a great dad, Matt. I understand completely and I’m glad you want he and I to get to know each other better because I do, too.”

Matt smiled and kissed my hand, “Let’s start at breakfast tomorrow? Pick you and Car up around nine?”

“Sounds lovely,” I smiled and leaned in for a kiss before we had to say goodbye.

Notes