It has been two long years since we played at the stadium. The success there opened up every door we wanted to us, and while Anon and Stella were busy setting up our tour we continued to play shows all around the city and a few in the towns close by. Anon and Stella spent many a sleepless night kept awake only by an endless supply of coffee to get us on the road…but here we are! We have our very own tour bus chugging down the highway as we head to our first show across the country.

True to Anon’s word, the bus is about as child safe as it can get, and I can’t see us on the road without her. Amber doesn’t seem to mind the bus at all, and everyone showers her with attention when they see her. She looks just like me, her tiny wings slowly filling out and with a tuft of silver hair on her head. She even has the reverse of my markings above her amber eyes and pale blue scales cover her body. Someday we’ll have to settle down so she can go to school, but not until she gets older. Those decisions can come later.

Stella, Benji, and Jacob are still out cold in the back, snoring in a pile after an all-night anime binge. I never knew the guys were into anime, but they looked so happy as Stella had explained the series to them and she grew ever more excited the more they showed interest. Everyone else is awake, and Trish is on the phone calling ahead to our first show to make sure security is prepared. She takes her job seriously; if they aren’t up to the task, she’ll hammer them until they are.

“One security barrier deep? That’s it? Okay, no…get two. Some of these fuckers can get rowdy and I’m not going to risk Fang’s safety, so get it done. I don’t care how annoying it’ll be, just do it.” She huffs into the phone before walking down the aisle, settling up front as she continues to berate whoever is pissing her off.

Anon and I sit in the lounge area while he attempts to feed Amber baby food. He’s failing miserably, with half of it simply ending up on her beak.

“Come on, Amber…eat some! You’re making me look bad in front of your mother. Not that it’s entirely hard to do that, but still…come ooooon.” He pokes her a few more times in the beak with the spoon as she stares blankly at him before giggling.

Facepalming, I get up and sit beside him. “Anon…you are supposed to feed her, not decorate her. Here, let me show you.”

I take the spoon from his hand and pretend it is an airplane as I twirl it through the air. Amber’s eyes light up and her beak opens wide with another giggle and I slide the spoon in her mouth. Her look of surprise fades to joy as she eats the entire spoonful before I pull it back.

 A smug grin on my face, I hand it back to Anon. “See? You’ve got to make it fun for her or she’s just gonna be stubborn.”

“Gee, I wonder where she got that from.”

I smack him upside the head, leaning back against the plush cushions. “Watch it. You’re stuck with me on a bus with ample weapons around here to beat you into a coma.”

He runs his hand across the mark I left on the back of his head. “Ow…okay, good point. I do not need to have you pissed at me in such tiny quarters.”

“No, no you do not. Now keep trying…I need to know that you can handle feeding her when I’m on stage. I do not need to come back down to a shriveled-up kid.”

A steely expression settles on his face as he turns back to Amber, holding the spoon high as he twists and turns it through the air, making fake plane noises with some added machine gun sounds. I am about to lose hope when her eyes light up as she pops her mouth open in a giggle fit, Anon expertly landing the plane on her tongue to her delight.

“Well, guess I don’t need to worry about it that much.”

“See? I’m capable of taking care of our daughter!”

My eyes narrow as I stare at him. “The first thing you did when she could move was stick a pirate hat on her and put her in a paper boat.”

He shrugs. “Every pirate princess needs her own boat; how else was she going to pillage the block village?”

I drag my hand across my face as I groan. “Uuugggghhh…why did I agree to marry you again?”

“Because as much as you act like it pisses you off, you love that I’m such a dork.”

“Fair point…” He finishes feeding Amber and I tug him in close with my wing. “Still, you teach her how to make a railgun and I will throw you out the window of this bus while it’s still moving.”

He gulps down his fear with a nod. “Understood, Fang.”

I wrap an arm around him, settling him against my stomach as we lounge on the couch, Amber playing around with her plastic keys. “Soon as this tour is over though, we are having our wedding. Mom keeps asking and Dad wants to know if I need to have you buried somewhere. So, once we’re home, we’re renting a whole hotel and getting it done before you end up dead.”

“Aww…and here I thought your dad liked me.”

“He does, dweeb. He just loves me more and doesn’t want to worry about you running out on me.”

“I’d never do that.”

“I know.” I kiss him on the cheek. “He’s protective, is all.” I sigh as I look out the window, watching the trees speed by. “This tour has got me thinking…I’m still worried about Reed. No one knows where he is. I really hope he’s okay.”

Anon tilts his head back, looking me in the eyes. “I hope he’s alright, too. Maybe if we’re lucky, we’ll run into him somewhere on the tour.”

I frown as I shake my head. “I doubt that, Anon…but I hope he comes back someday. Trish is never going to be able to forgive herself until she sees him again.”

Anon snuggles up closer to me, resting against my shoulder. “We’ll find him someday. Hell, he might even be rich already. The crazy carfe-smoking dude always had a plan to get loaded off it…maybe he did.”

I lean my head against his cheek, my wings settling across us both. “I hope so.” I sniffle back a tear before shaking it off. “I don’t need to be making myself sad right now, though. Anon, show me the tour map again. I want to see where we’re going.”

Anon pulls it up and points out all the locations we are going to stop at. It’s going to be a long tour, at least a year. I don’t even know how they managed to book so many shows, but it is going to be fucking murder on my sleep schedule. Not that I care too much about that. I’m living my dream, here with my friends and my family, and with my beautiful Amber.

My life is just beginning, and who knows where it will go after we are done. All I know is that after this tour is over, we’ll have all the money in the world to do whatever we want. Maybe I’ll settle down. I can see us living in Volcaldera Bluffs for the rest of our lives, but I know that I’ll never be content to just sit around at home. I’ll be playing shows even then, keeping the local music scene alive and well and bringing some joy to Skin Row. These are the best years of my life, and I can’t wait to see where they lead me.

A thought itches at the back of my mind and I sigh. “Anon, can I talk to you about something?”

He turns to look at me, still cuddled up in my embrace. “Sure. What is it, Fang?”

“I want to make sure Amber doesn’t have to deal with the shit we did. We’ll have the money to get her the best tools for success. We have to support her and be the best parents she can hope for. Be here for her whenever she’s got problems and never once judging her or trying to control her life.” I fight back a few tears. “I don’t want her to live like we did. I don’t want her to have parents that try to force her into a mold, or worse…never care at all.”

I look at Anon, a sorrowful glint in his eyes as he remembers how little his parents ever did for him. He had it so much worse; it was better to have parents that yelled than ones that never even cared enough to do that. At least I know my mom and dad love me, even if my dad didn’t know how to show it when I was growing up.

A stoic look crosses his eyes as he nods solemnly. “You got it. She’ll never have to live like that, afraid of who she is.” He grips my hand gently in his. “She’ll never know the hardships we dealt with…and that, to me, is the best gift we can ever give her.”

I kiss him on the top of the head with a soft smile. “Thank you. Now get some sleep…you’ve got a lot of child training to do and a bunch of management work too.”

“Don’t have to tell me twice.” He shifts a bit, getting into a comfier position in my embrace.

“Sleep well, Anon.” I can already feel the soft rumbles of his snores beginning to flow as he succumbs quickly to sleep. I take one last look out the window while Anon’s slumbering body rests against me and Amber snoozes away in her car seat. I sigh as my thoughts drift back to Reed.

“Reed…wherever you are…please be safe.” I close my eyes and allow myself to flicker off to sleep, holding the most important person in the world in my arms with the gem of my life only a few feet away. If all I went through was needed to get to this, it was worth it.