Chapter 10

The show was a great one. High Notes had gotten over their nerves that was quite noticable for the first few shows, and were gelling better and better. The Bleeding Heart Boys were their usual polished selves, but in the after party I could tell that Damon was in a depressed mood. I'm guessing Lisa had ripped into him again, after seeing Drew's hand and knowing the emotional trauma that he was suffering.

On offer in the after party was beer, some kind of alcoholic punch and various soft drinks. We had been taught from a young age to never trust a drink that had already been opened, so we stuck to the soft drinks. Damon was drinking the punch and was pretty drunk by the time his obligations had passed and we all headed back to the RV's.

Again Drew seemed to be having a good time. Baby Mia was asleep in his arms. We sat down to chat and I noticed that occasionally Drew would sneak a look at Mia's face. Drew's face would express this gentle joy and his sore hand would gently stroke her forehead in affection. He would make an amazing father one day, or maybe mother. It was an expression I have seen on other women's faces but never on a man's.

Damon gestured to have a word with Drew, so Drew passed Mia back to Lisa and climbed out to see what Damon wanted. I hovered close by worried that Damon would do something else foolish. Damon did seem remorseful rather than angry, so I wasn't too worried.

“I'm so sorry man, I was an idiot, will you forgive me,” Damon said, his hand on Drew's shoulder.

“I forgive you, Damon,” Drew said quietly.

“Thanks man,” Damon said with a drunken slur and then spontaneously hugged him, forgetting that he was still holding his drink.

Drew patted his back, ignoring momentarily that he was now soaked with orange punch.

I don't think Damon realised what he had done, but Lisa did. She gave him an awkward smile and mouthed 'sorry'.

After that Drew withdrew to the RV to get changed. When he didn't re-emerge, Lisa asked me to check on him. I found him in his underwear with a rueful smile.

“I don't have any other clothes to change into. Can you apologise to Lisa, but I can't go back out there in my underwear.”

I laughed. “Give me your stained clothes to show her.”

I took the clothes and used them as a prop to explain to Lisa that Drew couldn't wear them.

“The rest of his clothes are with the laundry, so until tomorrow or these are clean, Drew is in his underwear.”

Aaron was standing close by. “I have some dry cleaning that I haven't sent out yet. Give them to me and I should be able to get them back to you tomorrow morning.”

I thought about it a second. If I gave him Drew's clothes, he really would be without anything to wear. Then I had a naughty thought.

I smiled at my thoughts and passed the clothes over to Aaron.

I called out to Ellie and Sarah and we all retired. I coralled us all into the bedroom.

“We need to be quiet, apparently our walls are paper thin and everyone knew what we were doing last night,” I mentioned with a rueful smile.

Sarah snickered, completely unashamed. Ellie blushed and Drew didn't know what to do with himself.

“We are in a bit of a predicament and have a couple of choices ahead of us,” I said.

“What predicament?” Ellie asked.

“Drew has no clothes. The majority are with the laundry service and won't be returned until we reach our next location and what he was wearing tonight is with a dry cleaning service,” I explained.

“Can't we just go out tomorrow and buy him some new ones?” Sarah asked.

“That is one of the options. Depending on what Drew wants, this could also be an opportunity. The only clothes of ours that will fit him are dresses or skirts, so our options are, have Drew hide in the RV in his underwear, leave him in the RV and go and get him some clothes or...”

“Or...?” Sarah had already twigged, I could tell by her smile, but Ellie was not sure what I was alluding to and wanted me to spell it out.

“We could spend the day with Gabi. No one here needs to know. I believe we can make Gabi very passable and it could be fun. Then we arrive an hour or so before the concert starts, pick up the laundry and everything goes back to normal,” I suggested, looking at Drew carefully, to see how he would react.

“I'm not sure,” Drew responded with a very unsure face. Not angry at the suggestion or upset, just anxious.

“Well, none of us are going to force you. This has to be your decision. I think it would be a wonderful opportunity to explore this side of yourself. You said you were enjoying your feminine side. This is a chance to see if you want to take it any further or not. No pressure,” I told Drew as sincerely as possible.

“Rubbish,” said Sarah. “You are making this far too hard. Drew, do you want to make the decision? or would you like me to decide for you? If you trust me, I will chose what I think will be best for you.”

I thought that was being a bit heavy handed. We all knew what Sarah would pick. Then I realised it was a touch of genius. Drew also knew what Sarah would decide, so if he let her decide, he was saying yes without the embarrassment of making what could be seen as a shameful choice.

I could see her strategy working immediately. The troubled look on his face disappeared. “OK, Sarah. I trust you.”

“Let's get you ready for bed, I'll sleep on it and tell you tomorrow morning,” Sarah informed him.

We stripped him down and all of us participated in gluing his silicone pieces on. Then, just because I felt like it, I started stroking him. I was stroking his tummy. I knew he wouldn't be able to feel very well through the silicone so lightly tracing the edges and his sides. Sarah joined by giving feather light kisses around his face and Ellie played with his feet. Gabi started making these cooing sounds that were so sweet.

We had only known each other for days really, but already there was something special between us. My mother met my father as a sort of arranged marriage, but I had spoken to Ellie's parents and Sarah's about romance. They both told me they knew when they had met the right person almost immediately. They just fit together in such a way that they supported each other and made their lives better, brighter, more joi de vivre. I felt that way with the four of us. Not the traditional romance and possibly even harder to find because of that. But just right for us.