To Keep Her Safe is All I Know

Chapter 20

"That's not quite how hangovers work, Chris."

"Well, I've never been hungover, so I wouldn't know."

"Shut up."

"Love you too. Now, I'm gonna go get your kid. You rest."

"Wait."

"What?"

"C'mere."

Melanie then hugs Chris for a really long time. He hugs her back, lightly stroking her hair.

"Are you okay?" Chris asks.

"No...but I will be."

They come apart and Chris brushes Melanie's hair out of her face, "Maybe next year we can think of a better coping method than drinking yourself into an even deeper depression."

"That might be a good idea." Melanie says before taking Chris' hand, "Thank you."

"For what?"

"For taking care of us, and for helping out so much. I can't even begin to tell you how much it means to me."

Chris squeezes her hand and kisses her forehead, "Of course, Mel."

They stare at each other a minute, and Chris begins to grow slightly uncomfortable at the fact that Melanie couldn't seem to stop staring at his lips...Finally, she speaks.

"Fix your lip ring, it's driving me crazy."

Chris blinks, then laughs, "Is one of them crooked or something?"

"Yeah, you can see where the two ends are supposed to meet."

"Okay, I'll fix that in a minute. You kept staring at my lips, for a minute I thought...nevermind, it's too weird. Get some sleep."

"Okay. Thank you."

Chris nods, then walks out of the room to get Sadie.

x

After fixing his lip ring as requested, Chris carries Sadie into her room, slumped over his shoulder. Her tiny fists pound on his back and her laughter made her entire little body shake.

"Put me down! Put me down!" Sadie laughs.

"If you insist."  Chris says before throwing her down onto her bed, still laughing.

Chris sits on the edge of the bed next to her, "Okay, time to calm down."

"Okay."

Sadie lays down in bed and Chris lightly pets her hair.

"You promise you're gonna come back after tour?"

"Of course, why wouldn't I?" Chris asks.

"I don't know, I just miss you when you're gone...Daddy always said that he'd come back for me, but then I lost him."

Chris' heart falls, "Do you ever miss him?"

"Uh huh. I miss him a lot. I wish I could have him back, but I've got you, so that makes it okay. I just worry sometimes. I mean, I've been to your concerts and I've seen your shows and they're so much fun, and it looks like it would be even more fun to go on stage and sing for people every night. What if you decide you just want to do that all the time instead of coming home? It's boring here anyway."

Chris laughs, "Okay, yes, touring is fun, but it gets tiring after a while. Towards the end, I'm always ready to come back and rest and see my two favorite people."

"I know, but...it always used to be so hard watching my dad leave whenever he left, and then one day, he didn't come back. So now, whenever you leave, I sometimes get afraid that you're not gonna come back." Sadie admits, her voice cracking.