The Ackles Live on Stage Part 1
He woke up and Jared was saying, “It’s five thirty if you want coffee you should get up.” Jensen nodded slowly and sat up. He pulled on sweats and a tee-shirt and stumbled out to the kitchen wearing his glasses.
His parents were already up and fully dressed, “Morn’in,” he muttered as he got coffee. He chugged the coffee and went to brush his teeth. He put in his contacts, washed his face fixed his hair. He made sure everything was packed including Jamie’s tee-shirts that needed to be washed, he packed his toiletries and Jamie’s. Then it was a waiting game. He didn’t want to get dressed so he packed his shoes and pulled on his flip flops. Back in the kitchen he said, “Hey, I’m more awake now. Is everyone excited?”
“Yes,” said his mom. “Your tour manager said that your bus is amazing.”
Jensen nodded, “It has a photo wrap, one of the ones Meg took. We can see out but people can’t see in. It has a bathtub. Should be cool.”
But he really wasn’t prepared for what pulled up. He walked to the front door when he heard it pulling up. His dad came with him, he whistled low and said, “That’s definitely cool, Jen.”
It was a giant double-decker bus with a huge, huge photo of them on the sides with the words “Jensen and Jamie ACKLES” written in huge letters. It was a nice picture of Jensen and Jamie laughing and Jensen had Jamie in a loose hug. “Whoa,” said Jensen. “That’s just, whoa. Momma, Jared, come here you’ve got to see this.”
Jared and his mom came and Jared said, “That’s a lot of bus.”
“Seriously,” said Jensen. The tour manager, Bobby Singer, pulled up behind the bus and got out. Jensen opened the door and called, “Is that seriously our bus?”
Bobby smiled, “Yep.”
“Coffee?” asked Jensen.
The man smiled, “That would be great.”
As he came in Jensen said, “Not to look a gift horse in the mouth-”
“But why is the bus so huge?” Bobby finished.
“Exactly,” said Jensen then he said, “Sorry, we don’t have any milk, I’ve thrown away all the perishables.”
“Black would be great. So the bus.” Everyone sat down and he took a sip of his coffee. “I heard you like people to be blunt and straight with you?”
“Yes please,” said Jensen.
“It’s great advertising as it’s a huge billboard, your rider was very reasonable and we still had budget money and most importantly this is a big tour for us.” He took another sip. “It’s your first tour in a while and its Jamie’s first ever. We want this to be smooth and perfect so that when your label asks you about arrangements for your next tour you say you want us. We’re making a lot of money on this and we would like to do business with you in the future. So you have three good size bedrooms each with satellite TV. There’s a huge plasma TV in a very comfortable lounge with a DVD player and a Wii downstairs. And there is a karaoke machine and desk area in the upstairs lounge. There are two bathrooms, one with a tub and a kitchen that is stocked with snacks the doctor has approved.”
“Fantastic.” Jensen began to wash up the coffee cups and said, “I feel like I’m forgetting something.”
“You always say that before starting the tour,” said his mom.
“I know, Momma, I know,” Jensen sighed. “I’m packed. I’m good.” Bobby handed Jensen his now empty mug. Jensen quickly washed it up and said, “Let’s get going.” They got all the luggage into the bus.
Bobby said, “Your instruments are in the usual luggage hold, it is climate controlled.”
“Awesome,” said Jensen. “It makes me feel better that they’re so close.” He brought their guitars and the electric keyboard and everything else they would need for six weeks. The dogs were excited and barking running around in the downstairs lounge part and Jensen introduced himself to the driver, Clif.
Jensen took Jamie’s books, toys, CDs and CD player out of his room quietly. He kept handing things off to Jared to put on the bus. When he’d carried out the CD player Bobby said, “Every bedroom has a great sound system, Jensen. You don’t need that.”
Jensen smiled, “I’m sure that’s true. But touring is stressful for kids; even though you’re having fun it still takes a lot out of you. Jamie’s bedtime routine is set: brush teeth, put on PJs, get into bed with his lion, talk to me and listen to one of the same twenty CDs on this boom box. It’s awesome that there are personal sound systems in each room but I want to keep his bedtime ritual normal, known, boring, relaxing and safe.”
The last thing Jensen took was Jamie, still sleeping and cuddling with his lion. He scooped up his baby with his lion and carried him out. His dad locked the door behind them all and Jensen went to the tour bus. Jared hushed the dogs as Jensen came on board. “Bedrooms?” Jensen asked.
“We’re taking the two upstairs; your parents are down here. The one at the back of the bus is best for Jamie,” Jared whispered.
“Thanks.” Jensen carried him up the stairs and through the smaller lounge to the back bedroom which was nice, it had curtains and floor space and a comfortable bed. The shelves all had bars around them so that things couldn’t fall off. Jared had set up Jamie’s CD player on one of them and had a CD already playing softly. Jensen tucked Jamie in and did up the lee cloth at the foot of the bed; it made sort of made a wall so that Jamie couldn’t fall out. Jamie woke up a little and looked confused. “We’re on the bus, baby, I’m strapping you in. Go back to sleep.” Jamie pulled his lion close and closed his eyes.
Jensen went downstairs just as they started moving. The dogs were barking excitedly and Jared said, “Sit and calm down.” They obeyed him. “Good, babies.” The downstairs lounge was huge and Clif had shut a door between them and him made it was to give them privacy or maybe it was for safety but it made it feel like a real room as opposed to part of a bus. The kitchen area was next to it and Jensen saw the fridge, coffee maker, toaster and microwave.
Shaking his head Jensen said, “I know it’s really early in the morning for dogs barking. But look around, they have every right to be freaking out.” Jared smiled at him as Jensen sank into the green leather couch next to him. Upstairs everything was blue and purple downstairs everything was green and black. “This is the coolest bus I have ever been on! It’s so flashy and show business. Look at this place!”
His dad smiled at him, the indulgent smile that Jensen recognized as the one he himself gave Jamie a lot, “It’s very cool, Jen. We’re very excited. We’re going back to bed.”
Jared kissed his cheek, “It’s a really cool bus but everyone had a late night and it will still be cool in a couple of hours. Let’s go up to bed. Okay?” Jensen nodded, because yeah he was tired. They left the dogs downstairs and they went up to bed. Their room was a little larger for the larger bed. Jensen kicked off his flip-flops and got back into bed. He pulled Jared down and Jared said, “This is super comfy.”
“Uh-huh,” agreed Jensen. Jared did up the safety lee cloth and curled up around Jensen.
~~~
Jared woke up hearing Jamie calling, “Daddy? Daddy? Where are you?” Jamie sounded panicky. He quickly maneuvered himself over the lee cloth and went to Jamie’s room.
Jared couldn’t see him because his lee cloth was three feet high. “Hey, baby,” said Jared. He peeked over the top and saw Jamie who looked as freaked out as he sounded, “You okay?”
“I can’t figure out how to get out and I got scared.”
He pointed to the plastic clips and hooked the cloth to the sides. “Squeeze the sides in and then pull them out.” He did one side while Jamie did the other. “Did you sleep okay?”
“Yeah is this our bus?”
“Yes, it’s really cool.” Jared paused as he reached for the CD player and said, “May I turn off your music?”
Jamie nodded, “I feel gross. Can I brush my teeth?”
“Sure,” Jared brought him to the small bathroom. While Jensen had been bringing things in Jared had set out the basics so their tooth brushes, combs, wash clothes, his moisturizer and Jensen’s contact stuff were already set out.
Jamie sighed when he saw the shower. “No tub.”
“Downstairs there’s a bathtub,” said Jared loading their toothbrushes and handing Jamie his.
“Downstairs?” asked Jamie around the plastic as he brushed.
“We’re upstairs,” said Jared, then brushed his teeth well. He washed Jamie’s face and brushed his hair and said, “This is a double-decker.”
“No way,” said Jamie.
“Yes way,” said Jared. “Want to get dressed or see downstairs?”
“I want a tour,” said Jamie.
Jared smiled, “Okay well, this is the upstairs bathroom.” He led Jamie out. “This is small lounge with a karaoke system and desk area.” He pointed, “That’s Daddy and my room.” He thought for a second and then Jamie back to his room. There was a line of buttons for the intercom system and he pointed, “This one that says MASTER is for Daddy and me. When you want to cuddle in the morning you can push that and one of us will come get you so you don’t have to walk through the bus by yourself when it’s moving. Or you can call us in the night if you have to pee or anything and you need help ‘cause we’re moving. It’s hard to balance when you’re half asleep.”
“Thanks.”
Jared led him to the stairs which had a guard in front of them; he opened the latch and said, “I’ll go first so if you fall you fall on me.” He kept Jamie close behind him. Downstairs he pointed again, “That’s Grandma and Grandpa’s room.” He opened a side door, “Here’s the bathroom with the bath. And this,” he waved his arms, “is our kitchen and real lounge.” Then he knocked on the door that led to the driver’s compartment.
“Come in,” said Clif.
“Hi, Clif, this is Jamie.”
“Hi, Jamie,” said Clif.
Jared smiled, “I’m about to cook Jamie some breakfast would you like anything?”
The man laughed, “I’m supposed to be the driver cum butler.”
“That’s stupid,” said Jared, thinking of the rule about Ashley the seat filler not being allowed to talk to them at the Oscars. Meeting real famous people had made him see how much of a fake celebrity he really was. Because real famous people were treated like they were better than everyone else and that was just not true. Jensen and Jamie were international sensations but they were still just Jensen and Jamie. “You’re doing all the important driving. You sure you don’t want breakfast?”
“I’m fine thanks.”
“Okay, in about an hour or an hour and a half would you mind pulling into a rest stop to let the dogs answer nature’s call?”
“Absolutely. Do we need to do that now?”
“No, they’re fine. But in about an hour they’ll want to go.”
“Okay,” Clif nodded. “Would you please shut the door? It’s a safety thing.”
“Cool,” said Jared and shut the door behind them. “Now, I’m going to try to cook you a breakfast with a microwave, baby.” There was lot of microwavable precooked things but it was a big day and Jared wanted to make something even if it was simple. “French toast with a fruit compote sound good?”
“Can you do that in a microwave?” asked Jamie.
“Easy-peasy,” said Jared. He’d stocked the kitchen on top of what the doctor had provided. For one thing he’d brought his spice rack because a kitchen isn’t really a kitchen without one. He turned on the TV for Jamie, going to the Food Network where Nigella Kitchen was on. “Good?” Jamie nodded.
Jared turned on the coffee maker and started on breakfast. He cut up peaches, bananas, and oranges, he poured orange juice into a bowl with sugar, added the fruit and microwaved the whole thing for six minutes, stopping to stir it every once in a while. He set it aside to cool while he made the French toast. He put milk, eggs, sugar and vanilla in a shallow bowl and dipped the bread in, letting it get really wet because the only way to make good microwaved French toast was to make sure it was very wet to begin with. He microwaved each slice for a minute on each side. Once he’d finished each one he dusted them with cinnamon and sugar. He put two on a plate with a large amount of the compote and said, “Come over here. We don’t want to spill on the carpet.”
Jamie sat in the booth next to the counter smiled at his first bite, “This tastes real.”
Jared laughed, “That’s the biggest compliment you can give a microwave meal.”
Jensen came down saying, “Something smells awesome.”
“Give me four minutes and you can eat something awesome,” said Jared.
Sitting down next to Jamie Jensen said, “What do you think of our bus?”
“It’s so cool,” said Jamie. “And I like that Jared can cook in a microwave and that Rachel Ray is going to be on soon. It feels like a real Sunday.”
Jensen smiled, “Good, that’s what it should feel like. It’s nice to have our own personal chef who we get to cuddle with, isn’t it?”
Jamie nodded around his fork. Jensen and he watched as Rachel Ray started and Jared put a plate in front of Jensen, “This is a playful take on everyone’s favorite breakfast. Its compote is childish in its simplicity yet sophisticated on the palate.”
“Jay, you’re not going on Iron Chef until September,” said Jensen.
Jared nodded, “I figured that I needed to start practicing my patter now.”
Jensen’s parents came and Jared fixed them breakfast too before he ate his own. It was comfortable. Like Jamie, he felt it was a rather normal morning. When they stopped to let the dogs do their business and have a run around. Jamie saw the outside of the bus and was suitably impressed. Of course, “suitably impressed” for a seven year old meant jumping up and down and shouting, “Look at that picture! Look how huge our faces are!” Bobby came up to ask them if they were liking the bus and brought them a lunch of sandwiches and salad. He told them that they would get to Albuquerque at about four and would rehearse for the show before going on for the concert. They thanked him and got back on the road.
Jamie and Jensen went upstairs to play music early in the afternoon after lunch while Jared read with Jensen parents downstairs. It was nice to hear them, both giggling, for once the cookbook was less interesting than what he was hearing. Then suddenly the music stopped and he heard Jensen say, “Do that again?” Then it started again, Jamie on the key board. It was pretty and moving and Jared stopped pretending to read and just listened for about fifteen minutes. As Jamie finished Jensen said, “Baby, that’s really not Elgar’s Cello Concerto on the piano.”
“But that’s what it is,” said Jamie.
“No, baby, that’s new, that’s all yours.”
“But I was listening to Elgar when I wrote it. It’s in d major.”
“Baby, it’s a new song. You wrote a concerto! Baby, wow! Are you proud of yourself?”
“Are you sure it’s mine? It’s in d major.”
“I’m positive! Elgar doesn’t own d major. You wrote a concerto all by yourself. When did you do this?”
“Been working on it for a couple of months. But is it a real concerto? It’s only for strings.”
“That doesn’t matter it’s a concerto, I promise.”
“Do you really like it or are you being nice?” Jamie sounded nervous.
Jared could hear the smile in Jensen’s voice when he said, “I love it, baby. Do you want to go play it for Grandma, Grandpa and Jared?”
“Are you sure it’s good enough?”
“Positive. It’s beautiful. You wrote sheet music for instruments you don’t even play. It’s amazing. Here let me bring this down. Be right back.” Jensen came down the stairs carrying the key board and his guitar. “Have you guys been listening? Jamie wrote a concerto!”
Jared said, “I’m sure that’s awesome. But what’s a concerto?”
Jensen, seemingly high off the thrill, didn’t answer. He ran back up the stairs. It was Donna who answered. “It’s a long musical piece for a soloist and an orchestra in three movements.”
He came down with Jamie and tons of sheet music. “You guys have to hear this!” said Jensen.
They sat down on the ground Jamie pushed all the sheet music away from him. “It just confuses you when you know the music.”
“Which I don’t,” Jensen spread out the sheets in front of him. Jared saw that at the top of sheet music had Jamie’s childish scrawl over the top with the word guitar. “So keep in mind that there is a lot more to this than what we can do. Once we’re done I’ll program it into the computer and we can hear it like that.” Looking at Jamie he said, “Ready, baby?” Jamie nodded and began playing, fast and complicated. After about five minutes Jensen joined in on his guitar and it became slower and more emotional than the first bit. After a long period of time Jensen stopped playing and Jamie slid back into a fast beat which came to a high point and then tapered off to a finish.
The Ackles sat stunned but Jared was freaking out and cheering. His watch told him that twenty five minutes had passed and Jared couldn’t stop cheering. Jensen looked weepy and Jamie was beaming, clearly proud of his work. Jensen hugged him close and said, “That is so gorgeous. You should be so proud of yourself.” Standing he said, “I’m going to go get the laptop.” He jogged up the stairs and came back. Jamie was still tapping at the keys.
As Jensen came down Jamie said, “Daddy, can I watch TV?”
“Ask your grandparents and Jared, they were here first.”
Turning to them Jamie said, “May I watch The Best Thing I Ever Ate?” Everyone nodded and Jared switched the TV on to the Food Network for Jamie.
Jensen spent a long time typing, “I’m going to send this to my agent to get this officially copyrighted. What do you want to call it?”
“A Summer Concerto in D Major,” said Jamie.
“Nice,” said Jensen. He sighed, “Okay, he has the sheet music and this.” He smiled, “Is everyone ready?” everyone nodded and Jensen said, “Baby, mute the TV.” Jamie did as he was told and Jensen hit play. “I have a program on here that emulates instruments. It’s a bit rough but here we go.”
And the song started but it wasn’t as good as when Jamie played it. But when it started with the orchestra Jared’s breath caught because Jamie had written it. Jamie came and sat in his lap and Jared cuddled him close, “It’s beautiful, baby. I don’t know anything about music but it’s beautiful. How did you do this when you can’t play a lot of the instruments?”
“I don’t know how to play them but I know what they sound like, I can’t do it yet but I know what they are.”
Jared whispered, “You’re amazing.” Jamie smiled and cuddled into him.
As it finished Jensen said, “And that was A Summer Concerto in D Major by James David Freaking Ackles!” Everyone cheered. Jamie was grinning, too young for faking modesty in the face of a huge accomplishment. Jensen gave him a high five and then his cell phone rang. Looking at the screen he saw Mark Sheppard’s name. “Oh! It’s our agent.” He answered it, “Mark! You’re on speakerphone. What do you think?”
“It’s great!” said the English voice. “I’ve already spoken to your tour manager you’re going to be pulled over in a moment. All the paperwork is already being processed to get it registered.”
The bus stopped, “Okay, manager’s here. I’ll call you back.”
Bobby got onto the bus and said, “I just spoke to your agent and called your label. I’m here to make you an offer which you should feel free to refuse.” Jensen laughed at that. “One more tour date after your last concert. One show for all of your classical music. We will double your fee for the night. We can’t add a twenty-five minute song to a pop concert but we can add one show that’s wholly classical.”
Jensen nodded, “Let us think about it?”
“Of course,” said Bobby, “think it over, talk about it, pray on it.”
Jared saw Jensen’s eyes go cold, “Give us a night. We’ll let you know tomorrow.”
The man must have seen the way Jensen reacted to that and repeated, “Of course.”
He left quickly and they started moving again. Jensen said, “Baby, you should have a bath before we get there.”
“Can we talk about the concert?” asked Jamie.
“Sure, Jay, where did you put the towels?”
“Jamie’s Lazy Town towel and shampoo are already in the bathroom with his dinosaurs,” said Jared.
Jamie didn’t actually need help bathing any more but Jensen would sit with him and Jamie still needed help with his hair. Jensen was always careful with Jamie and there were so many horror stories about kids drowning that Jensen sat with him. He heard Jensen through the door. Jamie was saying that they should do the concert and Jensen was calmly that it would be a big deal and asking if he was sure. Jamie was asking if he could play his concerto and Jensen was saying that of course he could but was asking if he really wanted to do it.
Jensen father sat next to Jared, “Jensen used to be very religious. We’re Southern Baptists. We left our church when our pastor told us that Jensen was damned. But we’re still Southern Baptists. Jensen was religious right up until Tricia’s death. I tried to talk to him afterwards, told him that God has a plan. He told me to go fuck myself. It’s the only time he’s ever sworn at me.”
Jared shrugged, “She was twenty-six and she left him with their four year old who has debilitating allergies. It was sudden, unexpected and faultless. If God planed that, well… what kind of a God is He, Alan? Why should he pray on anything? God hasn’t helped him this far. You help him, your family. He’ll talk to Jamie, and us and Annie then he’ll make his decision. Praying won’t be a part of it but he’ll make a good decision. You know that.”
Alan nodded, “Of course I do. He’s a good man, I’m very proud of who he is.”
“Cool, good,” he fell silent. “I’m Roman Catholic… but I mean, why should he pray on anything?”
Alan nodded but said nothing. Jensen came out of the bathroom carrying Jamie who was wrapped in a towel, “I’ll carry you upstairs.” Jamie hugged him around the neck and Jensen carried him away saying, “What do you want to wear, baby?”
Jared went back to reading his cookbook, tweaking things in the margin. Jamie came down in a tee-shirt that had “Hard Rock” on the front and “Rocks Hard” on the back and dark red cords with his sneakers. “So what do you boys think of having an extra show?” asked Jared.
“I want to!” said Jamie, “We’re been playing all pop and that’s cool but I’m a classics boy! I wrote a concerto, Daddy.”
Jensen nodded, “I know, baby. But it adds a whole day. It takes another day.”
“But it would just be playing, no thinking, no work, just play in front of people. Daddy, please, I want you.”
“Baby, are you sure?” Jamie nodded emphatically. “Okay, if you feel that way tonight after the show we’ll do it. Okay?”
“Okay,” agreed Jamie. He came to Jared and said, “Can I read the cookbook with you?”
Jared said, “Sure.” He spread the book out between them.
Jamie said, “Why are some notes in black and some in red?”
“Red are the notes that would make the recipe awesome and something to try out for the restaurant, black are notes for ways to cook it at home for you and Daddy. Like this shrimp one, for the restaurant it would need to be way sweeter and way spicier and for home beef would stand up really well to the flavors it supports, pork would just be a sham of a meat for the recipe and forget about tofu.”
“Do you read recipes like they’re work?”
“Well, it’s like you listening to Elgar, I’m studying but it’s awesome studying.”
“But how do you know it will be good before you try it?”
“How do you write music for instruments you don’t play? It’s the same thing. I know the basics, so I get how it will work.”
“Are you sad that you’re away from your kitchen for six weeks?” asked Jamie.
“I’m sad my culinary excellence is limited to the microwave because I love cooking for family more than cooking for strangers. I’m happier in a bus with a microwave and you than I could be anywhere else. I heard your concerto before it was even typed up! That’s way cooler than being in my kitchen. And Paris will be at two of the concerts in LA. I get to hear my boys and see my friend! We’re going to hang out with Katie and Suri and all our LA friends. Besides, how many chefs get to go on a cool tour bus and see tons of awesome concerts?”
Jamie nodded and then said, “Are you done with this page?”
Turning the page Jared put an arm around Jamie so that they could share the book between them. He wrote notes in the margins and Jamie read the recipes with wide eyes. It was a nice quiet, Jensen was looking over paperwork for the tour sitting on Jared’s other side. Every once in a while Jared or Jamie would ask the other if they were ready to turn the page.
His cell phone started to play Cheeseburger in Paradise which was his ring tone for email. He opened it and read it silently to himself, “To my favorite ex-minion.” He could feel his smile. “So, I’m visiting my parents, and I needed to get away for a while. I decided to go drink instead of listening to my mom ask me if I’ve met a nice boy to settle down with for the billionth time. So, I see the huge sign outside the casino stating that tonight the Sandia is hosting Jensen and Jamie Ackles. I figure: Jared loves them, he lives with them and he’s probably with them. Are you with them? Maybe not, your sister-in-law is pregnant with your baby so maybe you’re with her. That is so awesome, I’m pumped for you: you’re gonna be a daddy. But we haven’t spoken in over a month so I don’t know. Dude, I wish I had tickets to the show; I had a thing for Jensen back in high school. So, I’m sure you’re super busy, but I would love to see you if you’re with them. Any chance? Maybe a drink or just to hug you and wish Jensen and Jamie good luck (break a leg; Scottish play ect.)? Also Paris said she was seeing you in LA soon so maybe I’ll see you then because I’m going out to dinner with her. I haven’t seen you in over a year. Anyway, love (in a non-creepy non-acrimonious ex-boyfriend kind of a way), Your Amiable Overlord.”
Jensen said, “Why are you smiling? Only crazy people smile at nothing.” Jared handed him his cell phone. Jensen read it and said, “Who is this?”
“Misha.”
“Oh, awesome.” Jensen nodded, “So, you can hang out while we do our rehearsal, he can come hang out at craft services for dinner and then watch backstage.” He smiled at Jamie and said, “We get to meet Jared ex-boyfriend. Cool, right?”
“Is he nice?” asked Jamie.
“Very,” said Jared. “He had a plan to become the overlord of us all through random acts of kindness. He thought if he was awesome enough the UN would take a vote and make him overlord.”
“What sort of stuff did he do?” asked Jamie.
“Well one time his parents sent him money around finals time, two hundred bucks. We went to a whole bunch of dollar shops and spent it all on umbrellas. We waited until it was a terrible, rainy day-the day before our wine final-and we handed them out to all sorts of strangers, guys in suits, women with kids, homeless people. It was Misha, me, Mike, Chad, Elisha and Paris. We handed out crayons and paper to kids in the park one day. He ran through the library throwing candy, wearing nothing but Superman briefs, a mask and gold winged shoes just to make people laugh. Little fun things. Nowadays his restaurant in France is only open to the public four days a week. One night it’s closed and two nights it’s a soup kitchen. He’s a fun guy, you’ll like him.” Jared emailed him back filling him in on the plan.
When they got to Albuquerque Jamie asked, “How many people tonight?”
“Four thousand. It’s an amphitheater. We’ll be out under the stars playing for four thousand people. How exciting is that? Then we come here, go to bed and when we wake up we’ll be in Phoenix. And we’re going to go to this really cool archeology site that’s all interactive about the hohokam empire it sounds really fun.”
“Cool,” agreed Jamie.
They went in and did a quick run through. Jared had asked Jensen why they had such short rehearsals Jensen had laughed and said that the orchestra rehearsed for hour and hours but that he and Jamie were excused as they knew what they needed to do and because Jamie was so young. So now they just discussed the playlist, cues, the warm-up band and were familiarized with the venue’s piano because it was the one instrument that they hadn’t brought from home.
Meanwhile Jared went down to the bar to find Misha who was drinking something bright pink and icy. “Meesh,” He smiled as he sat down next to the man, Misha hugged him, “it is so good to see you.”
“You too, favorite ex-minion.”
“My boys are practicing and Jen’s parents are taking a walk around the casino. It really is good to see you. You look great.” He ordered a beer.
“You look happy. My parents taped that barbeque thing, you look young again, like college!Jared.”
Jared just laughed and ordered a beer. “So before I let you anywhere near Jamie what have you eaten recently?”
Misha smiled, “Well once I got your text I went home to my parents showered, brushed my teeth and put on clean clothes. This bar is nut free and this pink thing isn’t strawberries. We’re good. Chefs are way better at allergen awareness than most people.”
“How’s the restaurant?”
“Great, awesome… going bust, y’know.”
“What?”
“Yeah… no, we’re fine. I’ve had to scale back; we only have four homeless nights a month instead of eight. That makes me sad but we’ve garnered a lot of attention so an awful lot of restaurants are donating to shelters now. We’ll be okay. How’s JT’s?”
“It’s fine, normal. How are your random acts?”
“I ran three back to back marathons for charity, less random act, more ‘Holy shit why did I think I could run this much in a week?’” Jared laughed. “I raised a lot of money for orphanages but my balls were chaffed for like a month.” Jared laughed again. “How’s the tour?”
“The boys did two shows in Texas; this is our first day on the bus. Jamie’s freaking out he loves every minute and the bus is awesome… I always feel a little guilty talking to you about stuff like this because you’re off doing good works everywhere and we have a double-decker bus.”
Misha made a dismissive motion, “Dude, that’s so stupid. I do some charity stuff most of the time I’m just being normal. I dated this guy who was bi and I had a threesome with a girl, I didn’t like it. She said I was inattentive and I was like, ‘Honey, it’s bad enough I have breasts in my bed: I’m not touching them.’ And then I was in a motorcycle accident, that was scary and stupid, then I had sex with my doctor which apparently is against the rules or something. Then another doctor found out we were together so he broke up with me, I cried and ate a lot then I spray painted his car, including the windows. Oh! I have a bacon flavored ice cream on my menu.”
“Is it dessert?”
“Yeah, it’s really good. It only went on the menu last week. I’ll email you the recipe when I go home.”
“Thanks. If I put it on the menu I’ll call it Misha’s Bacon Ice Cream.”
“Your spiced beignets are on my menu called Jared’s Spiced Beignets and I have a plate that’s a slice of French meatloaf and a slice of yours that’s got your name on it too.”
“Thanks. Are you going to Texas?”
“Yeah, to see Chad and Mike and Elisha.”
“Go to JT’s and try Elisha’s Bourbon Pecan Pork Loin, you will love it or Paris’ Lobster Cakes. They’re both amazing.”
“Thanks for the tip.”
“Your parents good?”
“You know them, ‘Be free, follow your dreams, we’ll give you more money than you could ever need. You can do all your altruistic stuff all you need to do is meet a nice boy and settle down. We won’t even be upset if he’s French.’ Like that’ll happen, like I want a bribe to do what I want to do. I want to meet a nice garçon I just haven’t.”
“Meech, do you need money?”
“I mean, I’m making enough, it’s just that I could use more, we’ll see.”
“Meech, I have money. No bribery, a gift or a loan whatever you need.”
“No, I like doing charity not taking it. The restaurant is fine it’s just the charity.”
Jared nodded, “Okay, better idea. Come September tenth I start filming my show. I get seventy grand an episode. I can get you ten grand a pop. We do three or four in a week. Fly in for a couple of weeks make a lot of money. You’ll be good at it, bouncy and a little crazy, we accost people and cook for them. You can bring the French angle. You can stay with Elisha, it would be weird to stay with me because I’m kind of married now.”
“Are you serious, Jay? You’d do that?”
“Yes, of course I would. If it helps. I’ll talk to Sandy get it cleared.”
“Jay, that would be huge, man. Thank you. I’d love to.”
Jensen and Jamie came through the lobby, “There are my boys.” He waved and Jensen saw them making a beeline to them. As they came over he said, “How was practice?”
“Fun,” said Jamie. “We’re going to do The Sunshine Comes and then Darkness Falls as our encore. How cool is that? Just for the names alone it’s cool.”
“Very,” agreed Jared. One was off Jamie’s CD and the other was an old one by Jensen. “Misha, these are my guys Jensen and Jamie. Jen and Jamie, this is my ex-boyfriend Misha.”
“You guys are awesome. I love your CDs.” Misha stood and hugged them both. Jensen looked stunned and Jared rolled his eyes, the universal sign for “what can you do?” Jensen smiled at him.
“We have about an hour before show time,” said Jensen. “Craft services? We can grab a bite to eat and then you can come backstage and watch the show.”
“Awesome!” Misha jumped up. “I wanted to be your groupie when I was in high school.” Jared killed his beer as Jensen laughed. “Seriously. I know it must have sucked when you got outed. But I was pretty excited. I thought I had a chance.” Jensen laughed again.
“Never went for a groupie,” said Jensen as they walked out.
“What’s a groupie?” asked Jamie.
“It’s a fan who is borderline obsessive and seeks emotional and physical intimacy with a celebrity by following them around,” said Jensen. “Don’t ever go for them. It’s not what a gentleman does.”
With a nod Jamie said, “Okay, Daddy.”
They headed over to craft and saw Jensen’s parents and introduced Misha. They had a really good beef stir-fry with tons of fresh vegetable and Jamie safe pasta. There were fruit smoothies and a chocolate mousse thing for dessert. There was a camera crew but they didn’t come over to talk to them, just filmed a sort of overview, Jared assumed that there would be interviews later in the tour. Then it was time for makeup and for Jensen to put on his tux. He went with Jensen to change and said, “Are you going to be pissed if I say that I offered Misha a job?”
“Why would I be pissed? He’s your friend. I thought he lived in France?”
“He does. His money is really tight. He doesn’t want a loan or a hand out. I told him he should come do a few weeks of my show. He could make a ten thousand a pop.”
THERE IS NO BREAK BETWEEN THIS AND THE NEXT SECTION... CONTINUE
His parents were already up and fully dressed, “Morn’in,” he muttered as he got coffee. He chugged the coffee and went to brush his teeth. He put in his contacts, washed his face fixed his hair. He made sure everything was packed including Jamie’s tee-shirts that needed to be washed, he packed his toiletries and Jamie’s. Then it was a waiting game. He didn’t want to get dressed so he packed his shoes and pulled on his flip flops. Back in the kitchen he said, “Hey, I’m more awake now. Is everyone excited?”
“Yes,” said his mom. “Your tour manager said that your bus is amazing.”
Jensen nodded, “It has a photo wrap, one of the ones Meg took. We can see out but people can’t see in. It has a bathtub. Should be cool.”
But he really wasn’t prepared for what pulled up. He walked to the front door when he heard it pulling up. His dad came with him, he whistled low and said, “That’s definitely cool, Jen.”
It was a giant double-decker bus with a huge, huge photo of them on the sides with the words “Jensen and Jamie ACKLES” written in huge letters. It was a nice picture of Jensen and Jamie laughing and Jensen had Jamie in a loose hug. “Whoa,” said Jensen. “That’s just, whoa. Momma, Jared, come here you’ve got to see this.”
Jared and his mom came and Jared said, “That’s a lot of bus.”
“Seriously,” said Jensen. The tour manager, Bobby Singer, pulled up behind the bus and got out. Jensen opened the door and called, “Is that seriously our bus?”
Bobby smiled, “Yep.”
“Coffee?” asked Jensen.
The man smiled, “That would be great.”
As he came in Jensen said, “Not to look a gift horse in the mouth-”
“But why is the bus so huge?” Bobby finished.
“Exactly,” said Jensen then he said, “Sorry, we don’t have any milk, I’ve thrown away all the perishables.”
“Black would be great. So the bus.” Everyone sat down and he took a sip of his coffee. “I heard you like people to be blunt and straight with you?”
“Yes please,” said Jensen.
“It’s great advertising as it’s a huge billboard, your rider was very reasonable and we still had budget money and most importantly this is a big tour for us.” He took another sip. “It’s your first tour in a while and its Jamie’s first ever. We want this to be smooth and perfect so that when your label asks you about arrangements for your next tour you say you want us. We’re making a lot of money on this and we would like to do business with you in the future. So you have three good size bedrooms each with satellite TV. There’s a huge plasma TV in a very comfortable lounge with a DVD player and a Wii downstairs. And there is a karaoke machine and desk area in the upstairs lounge. There are two bathrooms, one with a tub and a kitchen that is stocked with snacks the doctor has approved.”
“Fantastic.” Jensen began to wash up the coffee cups and said, “I feel like I’m forgetting something.”
“You always say that before starting the tour,” said his mom.
“I know, Momma, I know,” Jensen sighed. “I’m packed. I’m good.” Bobby handed Jensen his now empty mug. Jensen quickly washed it up and said, “Let’s get going.” They got all the luggage into the bus.
Bobby said, “Your instruments are in the usual luggage hold, it is climate controlled.”
“Awesome,” said Jensen. “It makes me feel better that they’re so close.” He brought their guitars and the electric keyboard and everything else they would need for six weeks. The dogs were excited and barking running around in the downstairs lounge part and Jensen introduced himself to the driver, Clif.
Jensen took Jamie’s books, toys, CDs and CD player out of his room quietly. He kept handing things off to Jared to put on the bus. When he’d carried out the CD player Bobby said, “Every bedroom has a great sound system, Jensen. You don’t need that.”
Jensen smiled, “I’m sure that’s true. But touring is stressful for kids; even though you’re having fun it still takes a lot out of you. Jamie’s bedtime routine is set: brush teeth, put on PJs, get into bed with his lion, talk to me and listen to one of the same twenty CDs on this boom box. It’s awesome that there are personal sound systems in each room but I want to keep his bedtime ritual normal, known, boring, relaxing and safe.”
The last thing Jensen took was Jamie, still sleeping and cuddling with his lion. He scooped up his baby with his lion and carried him out. His dad locked the door behind them all and Jensen went to the tour bus. Jared hushed the dogs as Jensen came on board. “Bedrooms?” Jensen asked.
“We’re taking the two upstairs; your parents are down here. The one at the back of the bus is best for Jamie,” Jared whispered.
“Thanks.” Jensen carried him up the stairs and through the smaller lounge to the back bedroom which was nice, it had curtains and floor space and a comfortable bed. The shelves all had bars around them so that things couldn’t fall off. Jared had set up Jamie’s CD player on one of them and had a CD already playing softly. Jensen tucked Jamie in and did up the lee cloth at the foot of the bed; it made sort of made a wall so that Jamie couldn’t fall out. Jamie woke up a little and looked confused. “We’re on the bus, baby, I’m strapping you in. Go back to sleep.” Jamie pulled his lion close and closed his eyes.
Jensen went downstairs just as they started moving. The dogs were barking excitedly and Jared said, “Sit and calm down.” They obeyed him. “Good, babies.” The downstairs lounge was huge and Clif had shut a door between them and him made it was to give them privacy or maybe it was for safety but it made it feel like a real room as opposed to part of a bus. The kitchen area was next to it and Jensen saw the fridge, coffee maker, toaster and microwave.
Shaking his head Jensen said, “I know it’s really early in the morning for dogs barking. But look around, they have every right to be freaking out.” Jared smiled at him as Jensen sank into the green leather couch next to him. Upstairs everything was blue and purple downstairs everything was green and black. “This is the coolest bus I have ever been on! It’s so flashy and show business. Look at this place!”
His dad smiled at him, the indulgent smile that Jensen recognized as the one he himself gave Jamie a lot, “It’s very cool, Jen. We’re very excited. We’re going back to bed.”
Jared kissed his cheek, “It’s a really cool bus but everyone had a late night and it will still be cool in a couple of hours. Let’s go up to bed. Okay?” Jensen nodded, because yeah he was tired. They left the dogs downstairs and they went up to bed. Their room was a little larger for the larger bed. Jensen kicked off his flip-flops and got back into bed. He pulled Jared down and Jared said, “This is super comfy.”
“Uh-huh,” agreed Jensen. Jared did up the safety lee cloth and curled up around Jensen.
~~~
Jared woke up hearing Jamie calling, “Daddy? Daddy? Where are you?” Jamie sounded panicky. He quickly maneuvered himself over the lee cloth and went to Jamie’s room.
Jared couldn’t see him because his lee cloth was three feet high. “Hey, baby,” said Jared. He peeked over the top and saw Jamie who looked as freaked out as he sounded, “You okay?”
“I can’t figure out how to get out and I got scared.”
He pointed to the plastic clips and hooked the cloth to the sides. “Squeeze the sides in and then pull them out.” He did one side while Jamie did the other. “Did you sleep okay?”
“Yeah is this our bus?”
“Yes, it’s really cool.” Jared paused as he reached for the CD player and said, “May I turn off your music?”
Jamie nodded, “I feel gross. Can I brush my teeth?”
“Sure,” Jared brought him to the small bathroom. While Jensen had been bringing things in Jared had set out the basics so their tooth brushes, combs, wash clothes, his moisturizer and Jensen’s contact stuff were already set out.
Jamie sighed when he saw the shower. “No tub.”
“Downstairs there’s a bathtub,” said Jared loading their toothbrushes and handing Jamie his.
“Downstairs?” asked Jamie around the plastic as he brushed.
“We’re upstairs,” said Jared, then brushed his teeth well. He washed Jamie’s face and brushed his hair and said, “This is a double-decker.”
“No way,” said Jamie.
“Yes way,” said Jared. “Want to get dressed or see downstairs?”
“I want a tour,” said Jamie.
Jared smiled, “Okay well, this is the upstairs bathroom.” He led Jamie out. “This is small lounge with a karaoke system and desk area.” He pointed, “That’s Daddy and my room.” He thought for a second and then Jamie back to his room. There was a line of buttons for the intercom system and he pointed, “This one that says MASTER is for Daddy and me. When you want to cuddle in the morning you can push that and one of us will come get you so you don’t have to walk through the bus by yourself when it’s moving. Or you can call us in the night if you have to pee or anything and you need help ‘cause we’re moving. It’s hard to balance when you’re half asleep.”
“Thanks.”
Jared led him to the stairs which had a guard in front of them; he opened the latch and said, “I’ll go first so if you fall you fall on me.” He kept Jamie close behind him. Downstairs he pointed again, “That’s Grandma and Grandpa’s room.” He opened a side door, “Here’s the bathroom with the bath. And this,” he waved his arms, “is our kitchen and real lounge.” Then he knocked on the door that led to the driver’s compartment.
“Come in,” said Clif.
“Hi, Clif, this is Jamie.”
“Hi, Jamie,” said Clif.
Jared smiled, “I’m about to cook Jamie some breakfast would you like anything?”
The man laughed, “I’m supposed to be the driver cum butler.”
“That’s stupid,” said Jared, thinking of the rule about Ashley the seat filler not being allowed to talk to them at the Oscars. Meeting real famous people had made him see how much of a fake celebrity he really was. Because real famous people were treated like they were better than everyone else and that was just not true. Jensen and Jamie were international sensations but they were still just Jensen and Jamie. “You’re doing all the important driving. You sure you don’t want breakfast?”
“I’m fine thanks.”
“Okay, in about an hour or an hour and a half would you mind pulling into a rest stop to let the dogs answer nature’s call?”
“Absolutely. Do we need to do that now?”
“No, they’re fine. But in about an hour they’ll want to go.”
“Okay,” Clif nodded. “Would you please shut the door? It’s a safety thing.”
“Cool,” said Jared and shut the door behind them. “Now, I’m going to try to cook you a breakfast with a microwave, baby.” There was lot of microwavable precooked things but it was a big day and Jared wanted to make something even if it was simple. “French toast with a fruit compote sound good?”
“Can you do that in a microwave?” asked Jamie.
“Easy-peasy,” said Jared. He’d stocked the kitchen on top of what the doctor had provided. For one thing he’d brought his spice rack because a kitchen isn’t really a kitchen without one. He turned on the TV for Jamie, going to the Food Network where Nigella Kitchen was on. “Good?” Jamie nodded.
Jared turned on the coffee maker and started on breakfast. He cut up peaches, bananas, and oranges, he poured orange juice into a bowl with sugar, added the fruit and microwaved the whole thing for six minutes, stopping to stir it every once in a while. He set it aside to cool while he made the French toast. He put milk, eggs, sugar and vanilla in a shallow bowl and dipped the bread in, letting it get really wet because the only way to make good microwaved French toast was to make sure it was very wet to begin with. He microwaved each slice for a minute on each side. Once he’d finished each one he dusted them with cinnamon and sugar. He put two on a plate with a large amount of the compote and said, “Come over here. We don’t want to spill on the carpet.”
Jamie sat in the booth next to the counter smiled at his first bite, “This tastes real.”
Jared laughed, “That’s the biggest compliment you can give a microwave meal.”
Jensen came down saying, “Something smells awesome.”
“Give me four minutes and you can eat something awesome,” said Jared.
Sitting down next to Jamie Jensen said, “What do you think of our bus?”
“It’s so cool,” said Jamie. “And I like that Jared can cook in a microwave and that Rachel Ray is going to be on soon. It feels like a real Sunday.”
Jensen smiled, “Good, that’s what it should feel like. It’s nice to have our own personal chef who we get to cuddle with, isn’t it?”
Jamie nodded around his fork. Jensen and he watched as Rachel Ray started and Jared put a plate in front of Jensen, “This is a playful take on everyone’s favorite breakfast. Its compote is childish in its simplicity yet sophisticated on the palate.”
“Jay, you’re not going on Iron Chef until September,” said Jensen.
Jared nodded, “I figured that I needed to start practicing my patter now.”
Jensen’s parents came and Jared fixed them breakfast too before he ate his own. It was comfortable. Like Jamie, he felt it was a rather normal morning. When they stopped to let the dogs do their business and have a run around. Jamie saw the outside of the bus and was suitably impressed. Of course, “suitably impressed” for a seven year old meant jumping up and down and shouting, “Look at that picture! Look how huge our faces are!” Bobby came up to ask them if they were liking the bus and brought them a lunch of sandwiches and salad. He told them that they would get to Albuquerque at about four and would rehearse for the show before going on for the concert. They thanked him and got back on the road.
Jamie and Jensen went upstairs to play music early in the afternoon after lunch while Jared read with Jensen parents downstairs. It was nice to hear them, both giggling, for once the cookbook was less interesting than what he was hearing. Then suddenly the music stopped and he heard Jensen say, “Do that again?” Then it started again, Jamie on the key board. It was pretty and moving and Jared stopped pretending to read and just listened for about fifteen minutes. As Jamie finished Jensen said, “Baby, that’s really not Elgar’s Cello Concerto on the piano.”
“But that’s what it is,” said Jamie.
“No, baby, that’s new, that’s all yours.”
“But I was listening to Elgar when I wrote it. It’s in d major.”
“Baby, it’s a new song. You wrote a concerto! Baby, wow! Are you proud of yourself?”
“Are you sure it’s mine? It’s in d major.”
“I’m positive! Elgar doesn’t own d major. You wrote a concerto all by yourself. When did you do this?”
“Been working on it for a couple of months. But is it a real concerto? It’s only for strings.”
“That doesn’t matter it’s a concerto, I promise.”
“Do you really like it or are you being nice?” Jamie sounded nervous.
Jared could hear the smile in Jensen’s voice when he said, “I love it, baby. Do you want to go play it for Grandma, Grandpa and Jared?”
“Are you sure it’s good enough?”
“Positive. It’s beautiful. You wrote sheet music for instruments you don’t even play. It’s amazing. Here let me bring this down. Be right back.” Jensen came down the stairs carrying the key board and his guitar. “Have you guys been listening? Jamie wrote a concerto!”
Jared said, “I’m sure that’s awesome. But what’s a concerto?”
Jensen, seemingly high off the thrill, didn’t answer. He ran back up the stairs. It was Donna who answered. “It’s a long musical piece for a soloist and an orchestra in three movements.”
He came down with Jamie and tons of sheet music. “You guys have to hear this!” said Jensen.
They sat down on the ground Jamie pushed all the sheet music away from him. “It just confuses you when you know the music.”
“Which I don’t,” Jensen spread out the sheets in front of him. Jared saw that at the top of sheet music had Jamie’s childish scrawl over the top with the word guitar. “So keep in mind that there is a lot more to this than what we can do. Once we’re done I’ll program it into the computer and we can hear it like that.” Looking at Jamie he said, “Ready, baby?” Jamie nodded and began playing, fast and complicated. After about five minutes Jensen joined in on his guitar and it became slower and more emotional than the first bit. After a long period of time Jensen stopped playing and Jamie slid back into a fast beat which came to a high point and then tapered off to a finish.
The Ackles sat stunned but Jared was freaking out and cheering. His watch told him that twenty five minutes had passed and Jared couldn’t stop cheering. Jensen looked weepy and Jamie was beaming, clearly proud of his work. Jensen hugged him close and said, “That is so gorgeous. You should be so proud of yourself.” Standing he said, “I’m going to go get the laptop.” He jogged up the stairs and came back. Jamie was still tapping at the keys.
As Jensen came down Jamie said, “Daddy, can I watch TV?”
“Ask your grandparents and Jared, they were here first.”
Turning to them Jamie said, “May I watch The Best Thing I Ever Ate?” Everyone nodded and Jared switched the TV on to the Food Network for Jamie.
Jensen spent a long time typing, “I’m going to send this to my agent to get this officially copyrighted. What do you want to call it?”
“A Summer Concerto in D Major,” said Jamie.
“Nice,” said Jensen. He sighed, “Okay, he has the sheet music and this.” He smiled, “Is everyone ready?” everyone nodded and Jensen said, “Baby, mute the TV.” Jamie did as he was told and Jensen hit play. “I have a program on here that emulates instruments. It’s a bit rough but here we go.”
And the song started but it wasn’t as good as when Jamie played it. But when it started with the orchestra Jared’s breath caught because Jamie had written it. Jamie came and sat in his lap and Jared cuddled him close, “It’s beautiful, baby. I don’t know anything about music but it’s beautiful. How did you do this when you can’t play a lot of the instruments?”
“I don’t know how to play them but I know what they sound like, I can’t do it yet but I know what they are.”
Jared whispered, “You’re amazing.” Jamie smiled and cuddled into him.
As it finished Jensen said, “And that was A Summer Concerto in D Major by James David Freaking Ackles!” Everyone cheered. Jamie was grinning, too young for faking modesty in the face of a huge accomplishment. Jensen gave him a high five and then his cell phone rang. Looking at the screen he saw Mark Sheppard’s name. “Oh! It’s our agent.” He answered it, “Mark! You’re on speakerphone. What do you think?”
“It’s great!” said the English voice. “I’ve already spoken to your tour manager you’re going to be pulled over in a moment. All the paperwork is already being processed to get it registered.”
The bus stopped, “Okay, manager’s here. I’ll call you back.”
Bobby got onto the bus and said, “I just spoke to your agent and called your label. I’m here to make you an offer which you should feel free to refuse.” Jensen laughed at that. “One more tour date after your last concert. One show for all of your classical music. We will double your fee for the night. We can’t add a twenty-five minute song to a pop concert but we can add one show that’s wholly classical.”
Jensen nodded, “Let us think about it?”
“Of course,” said Bobby, “think it over, talk about it, pray on it.”
Jared saw Jensen’s eyes go cold, “Give us a night. We’ll let you know tomorrow.”
The man must have seen the way Jensen reacted to that and repeated, “Of course.”
He left quickly and they started moving again. Jensen said, “Baby, you should have a bath before we get there.”
“Can we talk about the concert?” asked Jamie.
“Sure, Jay, where did you put the towels?”
“Jamie’s Lazy Town towel and shampoo are already in the bathroom with his dinosaurs,” said Jared.
Jamie didn’t actually need help bathing any more but Jensen would sit with him and Jamie still needed help with his hair. Jensen was always careful with Jamie and there were so many horror stories about kids drowning that Jensen sat with him. He heard Jensen through the door. Jamie was saying that they should do the concert and Jensen was calmly that it would be a big deal and asking if he was sure. Jamie was asking if he could play his concerto and Jensen was saying that of course he could but was asking if he really wanted to do it.
Jensen father sat next to Jared, “Jensen used to be very religious. We’re Southern Baptists. We left our church when our pastor told us that Jensen was damned. But we’re still Southern Baptists. Jensen was religious right up until Tricia’s death. I tried to talk to him afterwards, told him that God has a plan. He told me to go fuck myself. It’s the only time he’s ever sworn at me.”
Jared shrugged, “She was twenty-six and she left him with their four year old who has debilitating allergies. It was sudden, unexpected and faultless. If God planed that, well… what kind of a God is He, Alan? Why should he pray on anything? God hasn’t helped him this far. You help him, your family. He’ll talk to Jamie, and us and Annie then he’ll make his decision. Praying won’t be a part of it but he’ll make a good decision. You know that.”
Alan nodded, “Of course I do. He’s a good man, I’m very proud of who he is.”
“Cool, good,” he fell silent. “I’m Roman Catholic… but I mean, why should he pray on anything?”
Alan nodded but said nothing. Jensen came out of the bathroom carrying Jamie who was wrapped in a towel, “I’ll carry you upstairs.” Jamie hugged him around the neck and Jensen carried him away saying, “What do you want to wear, baby?”
Jared went back to reading his cookbook, tweaking things in the margin. Jamie came down in a tee-shirt that had “Hard Rock” on the front and “Rocks Hard” on the back and dark red cords with his sneakers. “So what do you boys think of having an extra show?” asked Jared.
“I want to!” said Jamie, “We’re been playing all pop and that’s cool but I’m a classics boy! I wrote a concerto, Daddy.”
Jensen nodded, “I know, baby. But it adds a whole day. It takes another day.”
“But it would just be playing, no thinking, no work, just play in front of people. Daddy, please, I want you.”
“Baby, are you sure?” Jamie nodded emphatically. “Okay, if you feel that way tonight after the show we’ll do it. Okay?”
“Okay,” agreed Jamie. He came to Jared and said, “Can I read the cookbook with you?”
Jared said, “Sure.” He spread the book out between them.
Jamie said, “Why are some notes in black and some in red?”
“Red are the notes that would make the recipe awesome and something to try out for the restaurant, black are notes for ways to cook it at home for you and Daddy. Like this shrimp one, for the restaurant it would need to be way sweeter and way spicier and for home beef would stand up really well to the flavors it supports, pork would just be a sham of a meat for the recipe and forget about tofu.”
“Do you read recipes like they’re work?”
“Well, it’s like you listening to Elgar, I’m studying but it’s awesome studying.”
“But how do you know it will be good before you try it?”
“How do you write music for instruments you don’t play? It’s the same thing. I know the basics, so I get how it will work.”
“Are you sad that you’re away from your kitchen for six weeks?” asked Jamie.
“I’m sad my culinary excellence is limited to the microwave because I love cooking for family more than cooking for strangers. I’m happier in a bus with a microwave and you than I could be anywhere else. I heard your concerto before it was even typed up! That’s way cooler than being in my kitchen. And Paris will be at two of the concerts in LA. I get to hear my boys and see my friend! We’re going to hang out with Katie and Suri and all our LA friends. Besides, how many chefs get to go on a cool tour bus and see tons of awesome concerts?”
Jamie nodded and then said, “Are you done with this page?”
Turning the page Jared put an arm around Jamie so that they could share the book between them. He wrote notes in the margins and Jamie read the recipes with wide eyes. It was a nice quiet, Jensen was looking over paperwork for the tour sitting on Jared’s other side. Every once in a while Jared or Jamie would ask the other if they were ready to turn the page.
His cell phone started to play Cheeseburger in Paradise which was his ring tone for email. He opened it and read it silently to himself, “To my favorite ex-minion.” He could feel his smile. “So, I’m visiting my parents, and I needed to get away for a while. I decided to go drink instead of listening to my mom ask me if I’ve met a nice boy to settle down with for the billionth time. So, I see the huge sign outside the casino stating that tonight the Sandia is hosting Jensen and Jamie Ackles. I figure: Jared loves them, he lives with them and he’s probably with them. Are you with them? Maybe not, your sister-in-law is pregnant with your baby so maybe you’re with her. That is so awesome, I’m pumped for you: you’re gonna be a daddy. But we haven’t spoken in over a month so I don’t know. Dude, I wish I had tickets to the show; I had a thing for Jensen back in high school. So, I’m sure you’re super busy, but I would love to see you if you’re with them. Any chance? Maybe a drink or just to hug you and wish Jensen and Jamie good luck (break a leg; Scottish play ect.)? Also Paris said she was seeing you in LA soon so maybe I’ll see you then because I’m going out to dinner with her. I haven’t seen you in over a year. Anyway, love (in a non-creepy non-acrimonious ex-boyfriend kind of a way), Your Amiable Overlord.”
Jensen said, “Why are you smiling? Only crazy people smile at nothing.” Jared handed him his cell phone. Jensen read it and said, “Who is this?”
“Misha.”
“Oh, awesome.” Jensen nodded, “So, you can hang out while we do our rehearsal, he can come hang out at craft services for dinner and then watch backstage.” He smiled at Jamie and said, “We get to meet Jared ex-boyfriend. Cool, right?”
“Is he nice?” asked Jamie.
“Very,” said Jared. “He had a plan to become the overlord of us all through random acts of kindness. He thought if he was awesome enough the UN would take a vote and make him overlord.”
“What sort of stuff did he do?” asked Jamie.
“Well one time his parents sent him money around finals time, two hundred bucks. We went to a whole bunch of dollar shops and spent it all on umbrellas. We waited until it was a terrible, rainy day-the day before our wine final-and we handed them out to all sorts of strangers, guys in suits, women with kids, homeless people. It was Misha, me, Mike, Chad, Elisha and Paris. We handed out crayons and paper to kids in the park one day. He ran through the library throwing candy, wearing nothing but Superman briefs, a mask and gold winged shoes just to make people laugh. Little fun things. Nowadays his restaurant in France is only open to the public four days a week. One night it’s closed and two nights it’s a soup kitchen. He’s a fun guy, you’ll like him.” Jared emailed him back filling him in on the plan.
When they got to Albuquerque Jamie asked, “How many people tonight?”
“Four thousand. It’s an amphitheater. We’ll be out under the stars playing for four thousand people. How exciting is that? Then we come here, go to bed and when we wake up we’ll be in Phoenix. And we’re going to go to this really cool archeology site that’s all interactive about the hohokam empire it sounds really fun.”
“Cool,” agreed Jamie.
They went in and did a quick run through. Jared had asked Jensen why they had such short rehearsals Jensen had laughed and said that the orchestra rehearsed for hour and hours but that he and Jamie were excused as they knew what they needed to do and because Jamie was so young. So now they just discussed the playlist, cues, the warm-up band and were familiarized with the venue’s piano because it was the one instrument that they hadn’t brought from home.
Meanwhile Jared went down to the bar to find Misha who was drinking something bright pink and icy. “Meesh,” He smiled as he sat down next to the man, Misha hugged him, “it is so good to see you.”
“You too, favorite ex-minion.”
“My boys are practicing and Jen’s parents are taking a walk around the casino. It really is good to see you. You look great.” He ordered a beer.
“You look happy. My parents taped that barbeque thing, you look young again, like college!Jared.”
Jared just laughed and ordered a beer. “So before I let you anywhere near Jamie what have you eaten recently?”
Misha smiled, “Well once I got your text I went home to my parents showered, brushed my teeth and put on clean clothes. This bar is nut free and this pink thing isn’t strawberries. We’re good. Chefs are way better at allergen awareness than most people.”
“How’s the restaurant?”
“Great, awesome… going bust, y’know.”
“What?”
“Yeah… no, we’re fine. I’ve had to scale back; we only have four homeless nights a month instead of eight. That makes me sad but we’ve garnered a lot of attention so an awful lot of restaurants are donating to shelters now. We’ll be okay. How’s JT’s?”
“It’s fine, normal. How are your random acts?”
“I ran three back to back marathons for charity, less random act, more ‘Holy shit why did I think I could run this much in a week?’” Jared laughed. “I raised a lot of money for orphanages but my balls were chaffed for like a month.” Jared laughed again. “How’s the tour?”
“The boys did two shows in Texas; this is our first day on the bus. Jamie’s freaking out he loves every minute and the bus is awesome… I always feel a little guilty talking to you about stuff like this because you’re off doing good works everywhere and we have a double-decker bus.”
Misha made a dismissive motion, “Dude, that’s so stupid. I do some charity stuff most of the time I’m just being normal. I dated this guy who was bi and I had a threesome with a girl, I didn’t like it. She said I was inattentive and I was like, ‘Honey, it’s bad enough I have breasts in my bed: I’m not touching them.’ And then I was in a motorcycle accident, that was scary and stupid, then I had sex with my doctor which apparently is against the rules or something. Then another doctor found out we were together so he broke up with me, I cried and ate a lot then I spray painted his car, including the windows. Oh! I have a bacon flavored ice cream on my menu.”
“Is it dessert?”
“Yeah, it’s really good. It only went on the menu last week. I’ll email you the recipe when I go home.”
“Thanks. If I put it on the menu I’ll call it Misha’s Bacon Ice Cream.”
“Your spiced beignets are on my menu called Jared’s Spiced Beignets and I have a plate that’s a slice of French meatloaf and a slice of yours that’s got your name on it too.”
“Thanks. Are you going to Texas?”
“Yeah, to see Chad and Mike and Elisha.”
“Go to JT’s and try Elisha’s Bourbon Pecan Pork Loin, you will love it or Paris’ Lobster Cakes. They’re both amazing.”
“Thanks for the tip.”
“Your parents good?”
“You know them, ‘Be free, follow your dreams, we’ll give you more money than you could ever need. You can do all your altruistic stuff all you need to do is meet a nice boy and settle down. We won’t even be upset if he’s French.’ Like that’ll happen, like I want a bribe to do what I want to do. I want to meet a nice garçon I just haven’t.”
“Meech, do you need money?”
“I mean, I’m making enough, it’s just that I could use more, we’ll see.”
“Meech, I have money. No bribery, a gift or a loan whatever you need.”
“No, I like doing charity not taking it. The restaurant is fine it’s just the charity.”
Jared nodded, “Okay, better idea. Come September tenth I start filming my show. I get seventy grand an episode. I can get you ten grand a pop. We do three or four in a week. Fly in for a couple of weeks make a lot of money. You’ll be good at it, bouncy and a little crazy, we accost people and cook for them. You can bring the French angle. You can stay with Elisha, it would be weird to stay with me because I’m kind of married now.”
“Are you serious, Jay? You’d do that?”
“Yes, of course I would. If it helps. I’ll talk to Sandy get it cleared.”
“Jay, that would be huge, man. Thank you. I’d love to.”
Jensen and Jamie came through the lobby, “There are my boys.” He waved and Jensen saw them making a beeline to them. As they came over he said, “How was practice?”
“Fun,” said Jamie. “We’re going to do The Sunshine Comes and then Darkness Falls as our encore. How cool is that? Just for the names alone it’s cool.”
“Very,” agreed Jared. One was off Jamie’s CD and the other was an old one by Jensen. “Misha, these are my guys Jensen and Jamie. Jen and Jamie, this is my ex-boyfriend Misha.”
“You guys are awesome. I love your CDs.” Misha stood and hugged them both. Jensen looked stunned and Jared rolled his eyes, the universal sign for “what can you do?” Jensen smiled at him.
“We have about an hour before show time,” said Jensen. “Craft services? We can grab a bite to eat and then you can come backstage and watch the show.”
“Awesome!” Misha jumped up. “I wanted to be your groupie when I was in high school.” Jared killed his beer as Jensen laughed. “Seriously. I know it must have sucked when you got outed. But I was pretty excited. I thought I had a chance.” Jensen laughed again.
“Never went for a groupie,” said Jensen as they walked out.
“What’s a groupie?” asked Jamie.
“It’s a fan who is borderline obsessive and seeks emotional and physical intimacy with a celebrity by following them around,” said Jensen. “Don’t ever go for them. It’s not what a gentleman does.”
With a nod Jamie said, “Okay, Daddy.”
They headed over to craft and saw Jensen’s parents and introduced Misha. They had a really good beef stir-fry with tons of fresh vegetable and Jamie safe pasta. There were fruit smoothies and a chocolate mousse thing for dessert. There was a camera crew but they didn’t come over to talk to them, just filmed a sort of overview, Jared assumed that there would be interviews later in the tour. Then it was time for makeup and for Jensen to put on his tux. He went with Jensen to change and said, “Are you going to be pissed if I say that I offered Misha a job?”
“Why would I be pissed? He’s your friend. I thought he lived in France?”
“He does. His money is really tight. He doesn’t want a loan or a hand out. I told him he should come do a few weeks of my show. He could make a ten thousand a pop.”
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