Never My Love

~~~~~~

Needless to say, I took the empty seat between Ashlyn and Dad to watch Rick, as he and his band performed his album, "The Six Wives of Henry VIII" and to say that it was good was the biggest of all understatements made throughout this entire story. I can still remember when I first bought that album when I was just a young teenager, as I couldn't wait to get home and put it on my turntable and play it. Now I was watching it being performed live; which was far greater than simply listening to it on the record player, I assure you...

~~~~~~

After the show that night, Lindsay told us that an afterparty was being held for us and Rick, as well as his band. Because I'd never been to such a party, Ashlyn and I decided to attend, and because of that, Rick asked if he could tag along with Ash and me.

"I usually don't go to these things," he told us, "But I want to spend some more time with you, Jake, before I leave for England in the morning.

"I'm glad," I enthusiastically told him, "It's not every day that a guy gets the opportunity to party with his mentor."

"Mentor," Rick chuckled, "Are you talking about me?"

"Of course," I replied, patting him on the back, "Who do you think influenced me to like progressive rock, mate?"

"You honor me way too much," he laughed, "Thank you my friends."

"You're welcome, Rick," Ashlyn sweetly teased him, "But because you and my husband are so much alike, it looks more like the blind leading the blind here," which of course made Rick laugh so hard that he began to hold his sides.

"That was brilliant," he laughed, "I like her, Jake, she's even funnier than you are..."

~~~~~~

I got Dad to take my car back to our house while Ashlyn and I, with Rick in the backseat, took her Jaguar to the afterparty which was in the River Oaks area of Houston, not too far from home.

"So, tell me, Jake," Rick smiled, as we drove to the party, "How did you like your first major show, mate?"

"It was fun," I grinned, the adrenaline still pumping through my veins at an astounding rate, "But the best part of the whole ordeal was getting to perform with you, my friend."

"That was my favorite part of the show as well," he humbly replied, "I've not had that much fun in many years, Jake...thank you."

"Anytime, Rick," I proudly replied, "Any time at all..."

~~~~~~

The party was in full swing when we arrived, and I can't remember having as much fun as Ashlyn and I had that night. She even managed to get Rick out onto the dance floor, something, which Lindsay told us, he very rarely does. I think it was because of the fact that Ashlyn is so beautiful that, along with her sweet personality, she could probably sell ice cubes to an Eskimo. I danced with not only Lindsay, but also both of my baby sisters, who were there because they came with Rob and Keith.

I stood with many fans, which, because of their love for our music, had photos taken of me and them together; not to mention the countless autographs that we all signed. Oh, and leave us not forget Camryn Rourke; who, with Ashlyn's permission of course, drug me out onto the dance floor for two slow songs as she laid her head on my shoulder and talked to me while we danced.

~~~~~~

Chapter Twenty Six

"I wanted to thank you, Jake," she softly told me, as we danced, "If it weren't for you, none of us would be here tonight."

"Come on, Camryn," I softly replied, "You would've eventually made it whether I was part of it or not."

"That's not true," she said, lifting her head off of my shoulder so she could look me in the eyes, "Do you remember who it was that gave me the courage to be able to stand up and sing in front of all those people?"

"I understand what you're saying, Cam, and I appreciate it," I told her, "But do you remember how the audience reacted when I introduced you to them earlier tonight?" as she nodded her head, "They went crazy, and I had nothing to do with that, sweetie. That was all for you and that beautiful voice God gave you."

"Hmm," she smiled, remembering what I'd just told her, "I have to admit, that was a lot of fun."

"And as long as you're performing on that stage, whether it be with the band, or by yourself, "I told her, "They're always going to act like they did earlier this evening, and I have no control over that."

"Ashlyn is such a lucky woman," Camryn affectionately smiled, hugging me tightly; "I hope that I can find someone like you one of these days."

"I hope you find a nice guy, too, Cam," I gently replied, returning her hug, "I really do."

"Thanks, Jake," she smiled, the second slow song about to begin, "You're a good guy, and I should know, because there aren't too many of you left in the world today."

However, before I could reply, I felt someone tap my shoulder as a very beautiful and very familiar female voice behind me said, "Excuse me, Camryn; but do you mind if I cut in? I haven't had the chance to dance with my husband tonight."

"Of course, Ash," Camryn smiled, looking behind me, "Here," she smiled, placing my hand in Ash's, "Thanks for letting me dance with him."

"Hi, baby," Ashlyn smiled, the moment we began to dance together, "I came to rescue you from the clutches of "Little Miss Ashlyn is Such a Lucky Woman."

"Oh my goodness," I teased, "You sound like you might be a little bit jealous, my love."

"No, I'm not," she lied, her eyes filling with tears, "I just wanted to," and then she buried her face into my chest and quietly sobbed.

"Hey now," I tenderly said, lifting her face so that I could wipe away her unwarranted tears, "What's wrong, baby?"

"I'm scared that some girl is going to take you away from me, Jake," she softly sniffled, "And I just couldn't handle it, Jake; "I just couldn't."

"First of all, there's not a woman anywhere that could ever take me away from you, Ashlyn Benson," I smiled, tenderly brushing the back of my right hand against her soft, beautiful left cheek, "And secondly, give me a little credit, why don't you? I know what every one of the girls in this room has on their minds, well," I laughed, "Not counting Camryn Rourke, the Harris sisters, and my sisters. So; let me tell you right now, my love, that I'm not some week asshole that thinks with his dick. I'm an extremely happily married man who has the most beautiful woman in all creation for his wife, and there is nothing, I mean absolutely nothing; that could ever make me want anyone else, or make me risk losing you. Do you understand me, Ashlyn?"

"I'm sorry, Jake," she softly told me, standing on her toes and kissing my lips and then smiling, "I keep forgetting what kind of man you are, my love. Do you forgive me, baby?"

"There's nothing to forgive, Ashlyn," I softly replied, "I love you..."

~~~~~~

I'd already been told in advance that Laura was going to be staying at Rob's house that night, and Leah was going to be staying at Keith's house so, the house was empty when Ashlyn and I returned home that night.

"I want to do something, Jake," Ashlyn sweetly purred, "Can we make a bed in front of the fireplace tonight?"

"Of course we can," I knowingly grinned, "It sounds to me like my beautiful wife wants to make love to me tonight."

"Stop being such a shit," Ashlyn giggled, as she began taking some blankets and quilts out of the hall closet and placing them in front of the fireplace, "Would you light the fire, my love?"

"Gladly," I replied, reaching back and turning the switch behind it to the "On" position, making the fire immediately blaze, illuminating the now darkened room with hues of gold and orange, "Anything for you..."

~~~~~~

"Every time we make love it only gets better, baby," Ashlyn dreamily purred, as we lay naked together in front of the fire, basking in the afterglow of having made love, "I'm so happy being married to you."

"You took the words right out of my mouth, Ash," I smiled, "Oh; you stopped taking your birth control pills, yes?"

"You told me to," she knowingly smiled, "So I didn't take this morning's dose like I was supposed to."

"I'm glad," I widely smiled, firmly pulling her body against mine, "How long do you think it will take for you to get pregnant?"

"Hell, Jake, I don't know," she laughed, "I never been pregnant before, silly boy."

"I hope it doesn't take too long," I excitedly told her, "I can't wait for us to have a child together."

"Are you sure you want to do this?" she pointedly asked, "Because I can always take a morning after pill tomorrow and..."

After having interrupted her with a kiss, I looked into her mesmerizing blue eyes and quietly asked her, "Has anyone ever told you that you ask too many questions sometimes?"

"No," she smiled, happy tears filling her eyes, "I love you, Jake; and I promise you that I'll be the best mother a child could ever have."

"I know you will, baby," I smiled, kissing her lips, "I have no doubt whatsoever."

"Is that right?" she teased, "And exactly what makes you so sure?"

"That's easy, Ash," I told her, kissing her lips once more, "You're already the best wife a guy could ever have so; there's nothing that could ever keep me from believing that you're going to be a great mother."

"I know that you've heard me say this many times since we've been together, Jake," Ashlyn tenderly replied, "But I must've done something good for God to have given you to me."

"You've got it backwards," I softly told her, "God gave us each other, Ashlyn...he gave us each other..."

~~~~~~

We were up early the next morning, after having moved from the floor in front of the fire, back to our bedroom so that we could both sleep more comfortably. Rob and Keith were both coming to not only drop Leah and Laura off at the house, but they were both bringing their trucks so that the three of us could go back to Hofheinz Pavilion in order to pick up our gear after having broken it down and then packed into the road cases and then locking them up inside of a room that only I had the key to.

"Hey, you two," Laura smiled, as she and Rob came into the house first, "Did you two start on having my niece or nephew last night?"

"We're working on it," I chuckled, "And that's all you need to know for now."

"No problem," she giggled, "Have you told Mom and Dad yet?"

"No, not yet," Ash said, "We're going to tell them when they get here to pick you and Leah up this afternoon."

"Cool," Laura grinned, followed by Leah, as she walked through the front door and said, "I'll bet you fifty bucks that Mom starts crying."

"Yeah, right," Laura giggled, "You don't have fifty bucks to bet with."

"You're right," she giggled, "But I'll get Jake to loan it to me and then split it with him when I win the bet."

"Oh, no you don't," I laughed, after having greeted Keith when he and Leah arrived, "Don't get me into the middle of ya'll's bullshit."

"Oh, Jake," Laura quietly said, "That was so wrong, what you just said."

"She's right," Leah agreed, "So wrong."

"Tough shit," I chuckled, and then I looked at Rob and Keith and asked them, "Are you guys ready to go get our gear?"

"Not yet," Keith chuckled, "We've got to wait on Randy and Joanie."

"Yeah," Rob laughed, "She's bringing her van so that we can load the P.A.into it; because after we load my drums, your keys, as well as all of our amps and cords and stands, we're not going to have room for the P.A."

"Oh, okay then," I smiled, looking at my watch, "Did Randy tell you what time they were going to be here?"

"I talked to him on the phone him right before I left my house, "Keith replied, "He said that they were going to be leaving as soon as he got off of the phone so; they should be here anytime."

No sooner had Keith finished talking about Randy and Joanie than I saw them pulling into the driveway in Joanie's van. But as opposed to waiting until they walked to the front door, I went through the garage and met them in the driveway.

"Hey, you two," I smiled, shaking Keith's hand and giving Joanie a hug, "Great show last night. You guys rocked."

"It was fun wasn't it?" Keith happily smiled, "I also wanted to tell you how absolutely fantastic you and Rick sounded together. My little sister almost wet her pants she liked it so much."

"Speaking of which," I asked, "Where is Miss Tara? I figured that she'd be with you two today."

"Nah, she's over at my house," Rob laughed, giving Randy a knowing wink, "Hanging out with my little brother, Shane."

"Good for him," I smiled, "Shane's a good kid and I can tell he's crazy about Tara."

"You don't know the half of it, Jake," Joanie giggled, as we went into the house, "You ought to hear Tara going on about Shane; oh, my God it's so cute, the things she says about that boy..."

~~~~~~

I had to call Lindsay so that she could meet us at the Pavilion to let us in, after which, we drove there to meet her and pick up our gear...

~~~~~~

"Hi, gang," Lindsay smiled, as she came and unlocked the stage doors for us to retrieve our gear, "You guys put on one hell of a show last night, especially you, Jake."

"I did alright, I guess," I humbly smiled, "We sure had a lot of fun."

"I could tell," Lindsay replied, "As a matter of fact, a couple of gentlemen named Herb Albert and Jerry Moss contacted me a couple of hours ago, wanting to know if you guys were signed with a record label."

"Is that right?" I stupidly asked, "And who are Herb Albert and Jerry Moss?"

"Damn Jake, you need to get to town more often, bro," Keith laughed, "Those are the two guys who own A&M Records."

"No shit?" I disbelievingly asked, as everyone nodded their heads, laughing ay my ignorance, "What else did they say, Lindsay?"

"They want to meet with the whole band this coming Tuesday afternoon," she told us, "I've known both of those guys for a while now, and because of the things they had to say about you; I'm fairly certain that they're going to offer you guys a recording contract."

"Oh, wow," I said, "Ashlyn is going to go through the roof when she hears about this."

"Why is that?" Rob worriedly asked, "She's not going to be mad, is she?"

"Oh, hell no," I smiled, then quoting my sister, Leah; I looked at Rob and Keith, grinning from ear to ear and told them, "I'll be you fifty bucks that she starts crying..."

~~~~~~

"SHE SAID WHAT?" Ashlyn excitedly roared, when I told her what Lindsay had relayed to us about our up coming meeting with the owners of A&M Records, "OH, MY GOD, JAKE, BABYYY," and then she threw her arms around my neck as happy tears began to pour down her beautiful face by the bucketfuls.

"It looks like Jake was right, bro," Keith told Rob, when they saw how Ashlyn reacted to the news I'd just given her, "I'm glad I didn't bet him."

Joanie and Keith had stopped and called home on the way back over to our house, and no sooner had I broken the news to Ashlyn, than Leah answered the doorbell so that Jessie, Janie, and Camryn could come into the house excitedly jumping and dancing around, everybody in the band hugging one another.

After a few moments, I got everyone to settle down and take a seat, telling them, we need to discuss this before we go anywhere."

"What's' there to discuss, Jake?" Jessie giggled, "We're going to get a record deal."

"It all depends on what they're willing to let us have in this so called deal," I warned them, "You've got to watch out for these label execs. Just because something looks like sugar and roses on the outside don't necessarily mean that it smells the same on the inside."

"What do you mean, Jake?" Camryn asked, "I don't understand."

"Before I ever began putting this thing of ours together, I did some research," I began, "When it comes to a song, for example, there are three parts. There are the mechanicals, which have to do with record sales, concert receipts, and in some cases, the profits made on merchandizing. The second part is publishing, and because none of us are capable of handling it right now, we don't need to worry about it other than the ability to use it as a bargaining tool when it comes time to sign the recording contract. Last but most certainly not least, there's a thing called writer's royalties. That means that each one of us who have an original that gets put on the album, we get a certain amount of money every time that song is either played on the radio, and/or every time somebody buys a copy of our album from the record stores. You all want to get paid for your work don't you?"

Of course we do," Jessie said, and then she looked around the room at the rest of the band and said, "I make the motion that we let Jake negotiate the record deal for us, if we get one. Does anyone disagree?"

And then when she was met with silence, she smiled and said, "Good, all in favor say "I"," which was followed by everyone saying "I"...

~~~~~~

After making the arrangements over the phone with Lindsay as to what time we would meet the two gentlemen at Lindsay's office, she gave me directions on how to get there, and right before I hung up, I quietly asked her, "Please tell me these guys aren't a couple of crooks, Lindsay?"

"Relax, Jake; they're a couple of really good guys," she softly replied, "I've know the both of them for a while now, and every artist that signed with them have all gone on to do very well, both musically and financially..."

~~~~~~

After everyone had left the house, Ash and I waited on my parents to get there before we started dinner. Ashlyn put a huge, twenty pound roast in the oven right after she woke up that morning; and the reason she bought such a big roast was because she knew that there would be enough left over for me to have my favorite roast beef sandwiches for at least a couple of days afterward. What a woman, huh?

~~~~~~

"Hi, Mom and Dad," I smiled, as I met them at the door, "I hope you guys brought a good appetite with you, because Ashlyn made a ton of food for you guys."

"Speaking of which," Mom grinned, "Where is my oldest daughter? I haven't seen her in too long."

"Come on, Mom," I chuckled, "You just saw her last night."

"Maybe so," Mom giggled, "But I haven't had the chance to sit down and talk to her, woman to woman, in way too long."

"That reminds me," I knowingly grinned, "I want you and Dad to come in and sit down for a moment. Ashlyn and I have something we want to tell the two of you...together..."

~~~~~~

Mom and Dad were seated on the couch in the den, while Laura sat next to Rob, and Leah sat next to Keith.

"Alright, you two," Mom smiled, at Ashlyn and I and told us, "You've got us here, now what's so important?"

I nodded at Ashlyn, who sweetly smiled, and said, "Jake and I have decided to start trying to have children, and we wanted to know what the two of you think about becoming grandparents?"

"I think it's great," Mom smiled, her eyes filling with happy tears, "And the baby is going to be so pretty."

"It sure will," Dad smiled, "As long as he or she looks like Ashlyn, it will," which made Rob and Keith laugh.

"Hey, Dad," I grinned, making him look at me as I shot him "the bird", pointing the middle finger of my right hand at him, "See what I did to my finger?"

"Yeah," he laughed returning the same gesture with the middle finger of his right hand, "I got the same problem as you do; it's called the fuck off syndrome," making the both of us laugh like schoolboys, Rob and Keith chuckling along with us.

"You two need to watch your language around us ladies," Mom playfully scolded us.

"What ladies?" I asked, knowing I'd get a rise out of my wife and sisters, "I don't see any ladies, just my wife, my Mom and my little sisters."

"And you're an asshole, Jake," Laura giggled.

"Yeah," Leah chimed in, "A big fucking asshole at that."

"Leah," said Mom, Dad, and me, all at the same time, making Ashlyn begin to giggle and laugh like a little girl. I thought it was precious.