Above the Noise (52 page)

“Oh, God.” I put my hand to my heart and smiled at my mom walking me down the aisle. The camera angle switched to Calon’s face the moment he saw me. The look of wonderment on his face took my breath away.

The DVD was pieced together beautifully, spotlighting the best moments of the evening. It was a riot that I had proof that Spider, Manny, and Bones cleaned up nicely and could definitely rock tuxes like nobody’s business. Of course, Bones’s black and white Chucks sticking out below his tux pants in every shot made me smile. Jake joined the three of them as Calon’s groomsmen. Gracie was honored that she was asked to be both my Matron of Honor and Calon’s Best Matron, but then we all decided we wouldn’t have titles for any one in our wedding party. They were all equally important.

“Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you Mr. and Mrs. Calon Ridge.” The pastor spoke loud and clear, and everyone shot up from their pews in a shower of applause. I watched Calon take my hand and limp down the aisle toward the back of the church, and I thought about how much effort he put into rehab, so he could actually walk on our wedding day.

I squeezed Calon’s knee. “You know I’d still love you even if you had to crawl down that aisle, right?”

“That’s weird, Becks.” He laughed and got up from the couch.

“Anyone want a beer?” He used his fingers to keep track of who said yes, which was silly because Samantha was the only one who wouldn’t want one.

“Becki, when is Abby going to get up?” Samantha was always so impatient when it was Abby’s nap time. She was the best babysitter. I would never leave the house when she was here watching Abby, but she was a huge help. She’d take the bus to our apartment when her day was done at The Extension School and she’d watch Abby while I made dinner, worked out, or just completed small tasks that were difficult to do with a baby crawling around under my feet.

“She’ll wake up soon. You can go get her when she does. Okay?”

Samantha clapped her hands and whispered, “YES!” like she’d just scored for her team.

Calon carried in two ice buckets filled with Rolling Rock ponies and set them on the coffee table just as the
new
Alternate Tragedy took the stage at our reception.

After a long talk with the guys, Calon bowed out of the band, and Danny stepped up as lead singer. It was an amicable decision on everyone’s part. Calon struggled through rehab for months and even sang at Gracie’s wedding with a crutch tucked under his arm. Touring wasn’t an option because of his injury and the rehabilitation he still needed, and he also realized being a family man was a bigger dream than being a rock star.

Danny and the guys signed a deal with Ugly Stereo Records and left for Europe the day after our wedding. We were stoked for them and planned to see them as many times as we could when they came to the states. Calon was still writing music, some for him and Gracie to perform and some for Alternate Tragedy.

“Please, introduce yourselves and then leave a message or some advice for the Bride and Groom.” The videographer from the school’s Tech department spoke to a whole line of people while he recorded.

“Look! I’m first!” Samantha clapped and bounced up and down on the couch next to Calon.

“Be happy. Just… well, yeah. Just be happy. Oh, and I’m Samantha, Calon’s sister.” She made the universal ‘rock on’ sign and threw her head back and forth. We all died laughing.

“Calon and Becki, it’s me, Danny. My advice would be to always be honest with each other no matter how hard that truth might be. Why I am telling
you
two that? You taught that to me.”

“We’re Sam and Ashley, and our best advice is to never call your wiener a squirmy worm. Girls don’t dig it.” Ashley smacked Sam and then spoke. “That’s
his
advice.
My
advice is to love until it hurts. Always. Love you guys.”

“I’m Stacy, and this is Greg, and we just wanted to wish you the best in whatever you do and wherever life takes you.” Stacy got real close to the camera and whispered. “And, Calon, I’m still a super big groupie. Just wanted you to know.” She giggled, and Greg rolled his eyes.

“Yeah, so by the time you watch this I’ll be livin’ the high life without ya, dude. But, take care of my girl Becki. You know she wants me, right?” Bones gave the universal ‘rock on’ sign, too, and bit his bottom lip. He reminded me of Jack Black. Calon had to put his hand over his mouth to keep from spitting his beer all over the place.

“Well, I’m Spider, and I’ve known Calon a long time, so I think it’s pretty accurate when I say, Becki, you’re the best thing that has ever happened to him. Everything about him changed for the better when he fell for you. He was a great guy to begin with but you pulled something out of him that made him even greater. We’re happy to have you in our AT extended family. Take care of our boy. We miss ya, Cal.”

I looked over at Calon, and he sucked in a deep breath. He blinked his eyes a couple times then tipped his bottle toward the TV in acknowledgement of Spider’s kind words.

“I’m Manny, and I know the two of you will laugh when you hear me say this, but I hope to one day find what the two of you have. Of course, I’ll have to amputate myself from these idiots, but someday I’d like to settle down with the love of my life. Guess I gotta find her first, though, huh?” We all chuckled as Manny shrugged.

“Maverick here. Becki you’re a tough ass chick, and I love ya. I’m glad you finally got your rock star, because Chelsea was getting a little freaked out by all the stuff you did while you were stalking
me
. Sorry, Calon.” He winked and then laughed. “Just kidding! I can’t wait to hang with you both at Mitchell’s, ‘cuz you know I ain’t leavin’ this town anytime soon.”

“I’m Chelsea. Becki and Calon, it’s been great getting to know you both. You’ve got something beautiful going on between you. Don’t take it for granted. I can’t wait to hang out some more with y’all. Congratulations and thanks for letting us be a part of your special day.”

“Dudes, this gig is awesome.”

“Yeah, good party, man. And like, congrats and all.”

Yaz and Van from The Garage forgot to introduce themselves. We all lost it after we saw what they probably thought was their fifteen minutes of fame. They were stoned out of their minds. I was glad they had a good time.

“Well, I’m Rob, and I feel personally responsible for the two of you hooking up. Oh, wait, no that was Gracie that hooked up with Calon out at Phi Tau that night…” Rob pretended to be embarrassed by is fake slip of the tongue. “Just kidding guys. I’m thrilled you invited me to your big day. It’s been a long ride, this time we’ve all spent at UTK, but we’re headin’ out into the real world knowing what true friendship is all about. Thank you for that. I wish you the best.” He raised a frosty mug of beer and called out, “CHEERS!”

Everyone behind him answered with, “CHEERS!”

The words
Happily Ever After
scrolled across the screen from all directions and in all different fonts. Then instead of the typical
The End
appearing on the screen, the words
The Beginning
ended the video.

“Gracie, that was perfect! What an awesome surprise!” I walked over and hugged her and Jake. “Thank you!”

“You’re welcome. You know it was a surprise for Calon, too, because we can’t tell him anything that we want kept a secret.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Calon shook his head and rolled his eyes.

A sweet little muffled cry came through the monitor and before I even turned around, Samantha was headed to the nursery.

Before Calon was released, and regardless of how he was feeling, he never missed a day in the NICU. He sang “Absolute” to Abby each time he visited. Each time I heard him sing that last verse, I lost it.

And should time run out

This message isn’t moot

Make sure they always know

I love them, absolute.

And, apparently, the nurses all swooned as they tended to the other little ones in the room. Who wouldn’t? Seeing our itty bitty Abby in Calon’s arms was enough to make anyone melt. Add the look in his eyes and the sound of his voice… unbelievably beautiful. I made sure I took a couple quick pictures and short video clips on my phone, so I could show Abby one day.

Abby and Calon were released from the hospital within days of each other. Calon struggled for a while with balance and walking without a crutch or cane, but he was an ace at painting from a rolling office chair. Samantha and Calon spent some sweet brother-sister time turning Calon’s office into a nursery. He insisted on painting Abby’s room and putting together all of the furniture because he could do both while seated. Samantha and I filled the room with all the frilly girly stuff that I swore I’d never buy, and Manny found an old guitar in the back room of Mitchell’s and had the guys all sign it. It looked perfect hanging on the wall above the crib.

“There’s my girl.” Calon put his hands out and walked toward Abigail, who was snuggled into her blanket in Samantha’s arms.

She saw her daddy coming her way, her huge evergreen eyes lit up, and her arms shot out toward him. “Dada.”

I watched Calon melt into her just as much as she melted into him. It was my peace. Her dark, curly hair and thick eye lashes were simply smaller versions of Calon’s. There was no denying she was his daughter. Abigail lay her head on Calon’s shoulder and put her thumb in her mouth. Instinctively, my broad shouldered, long-haired rock star husband began to hum “Absolute” to his baby girl.

“Can I hold you, pretty girl?” Gracie clapped her hands lightly and held them out to Abby.

Gracie and Abby had the most special relationship. Gracie was like my own personal Down syndrome dictionary. She’d been to every one of Abby’s well-visits and even the eye appointment we’d just taken her to. She was going to look adorable in her new tiny glasses.

Abby smiled from ear to ear with her thumb still in her mouth and leaned toward Gracie from Calon’s arms.

“Hi, baby. How was your nap?” Gracie pulled Abby’s head into her cheek and breathed her in.

Abby pulled away from Gracie and peered down as though she was looking for something on the floor. We all craned our necks to try and see what she was looking for. Her blanket was in her hand, so I knew that wasn’t it.

“What are you looking at, Abby?” Gracie giggled and struggled to keep her from twisting out of her arms.

Abby practically bent in half and reached down with her little hand and pressed it onto Gracie’s belly that peeked out below her shirt from all the wiggling. She looked at her own little hand then up to Gracie then back at her hand again.

“Ha bee bee.” Her little voice went up in pitch on the last syllable. She smiled and said it again, “Ha bee bee.”

“Gracie! She’s repeating you. You said ‘Hi, baby’ when you took her from Calon.” I was stunned that she picked up on that so quickly. She was remarkable. She had all her therapists floored at how well she was able to speak for being so young.

“She’s definitely
your
daughter, Calon.” Gracie shook her head, and laughed. Jake stood up behind her.

Calon and I looked at each other, both wondering what Gracie meant by her comment.

“Don’t you see what she’s doing?” Gracie laughed so hard Abby bounced in her arms.

“She’s a terrible secret keeper, just like Calon.”

“Ha bee bee,” Abby spoke again and patted Gracie’s belly.

Hi, baby.
My stomach rolled.

“Gracie?” I exclaimed as I ran over to her and gripped her shoulders. “Gracie Ann!”

“We’re having a baby.” She beamed. Samantha and I lost it. Jake and Calon shook hands while all the girls squealed and giggled and hopped up and down. Abigail was laughing hysterically by the time we all settled.

Another baby in the family.

“Samantha, you are going to make a killing babysitting for Gracie and me. Oh, this is going to be fun. This is going to be SO fun!”

“Wait! You didn’t open my present.” Samantha ran over and grabbed a large, flat, rectangular gift from our stack. “Open it! Open it!”

I took the gift and sat down on the couch. Everyone stood around me as I carefully unwrapped it and slid something flat out of a butcher paper sleeve.

My breath hitched when I flipped it over and saw what it was.

ABSOLUTE.

A beautiful black, white and gold design.

“Samantha, you did this?” I saw her initials in the bottom corner.
SKO.

Samantha nodded and blushed a little.

“Becks, you texted me something that looked just like that.” Calon scratched his head.

“Calon, this is
exactly
what I texted you.” I looked back at Samantha. “I saw this in the hallway the very first time I was in your school. I took a picture of it and texted it to Calon because the word ‘absolute’ has always had a special meaning to us.

Samantha smiled.

“You know why it’s special to us?” Calon leaned into Samantha with his shoulder.

Samantha nodded. “Gracie told me.”

“This will be something we will cherish forever, Samantha. Thank you.” Calon hugged her tight and lifted her off the floor which made her giggle.