just_muse_me | 9.8.4. Family Guy
9.8.4. Family Guy
Co-written with drcampbell
[Follows THIS and THIS]
Pat was trying to manoeuvre his wheelchair back down to the living room when Lachlan finally exited Aiden’s guest room, looking freshly showered and about 500% on what he had done the day before. “Morning, darling,” he greeted him with a smile. “Or I should say ‘afternoon’, considering it’s after three. Are you feeling better?” Lachlan hadn’t surfaced from the bedroom for close to twenty four hours, and while Tara had been coming and going from the room most the time, she had said Lachlan had slept almost the whole time and he was still asleep when she had left that morning to go shopping with her mother and Beth.
Lachlan gave Pat a sheepish smirk and moved behind him so he could push the wheelchair. “Aye, I know. Seems my mind, body, and soul needed to shut down cope with it. It wasnae the first time. But I do feel better. Has Aiden put a hit out on me for what I did to the back of his car?” He pushed Pat into the living room and kicked on the brakes. It was then an automatic process of him helping Pat from the chair to the sofa; he had done it so many times in the past.
“Oh, I don’t know. It was close, darling,” Pat teased, laughing. “You really did a job on the interior. Gatorade is never subtle on rewind.”
Lachlan snorted. “Oh aye, it isnae too pleasant being the one it comes back out of either. I owe him one. I’ll pay for any cleaning. I really thought I was going to be all good on the trip home,” he admitted. “I wasnae as in control as I thought.”
“It’s okay, buddy. Aiden doesn’t care. He might pull the piss, but he knows you were hardly in any state to stop it if you were going to be sick.” Pat sucked in a sharp breath as he tried to get a comfortable, pain-free position on the sofa. It was a bad day, so he was just trying to stay as in good spirits as he could. “Speaking of cleaning, Aiden found this under the seat when he was getting my jacket from the car…” He pulled a business card from his t-shirt pocket and handed it over to Lachlan, his eyebrows raised a little in question.
Lachlan took the card and sunk down into one of the armchairs. “Aye, well…” he murmured and pressed his lips together with a sigh. “It isnae going to happen.”
“You don’t even want to give it just a tiny bit of thought, darling? Do you want to tell me what happened?” Pat coaxed and tucked the blanket around his legs again. “You know you don’t have to. I can take the card and stick it in Aiden’s shredder if you prefer.”
Lachlan nearly did almost hand it over, but there was hesitation. “He’s a manager with a recording company. He was at the competition to scout new talent for his label. I assume he spoke to other people as well, but he cornered me almost as soon as the competition was over. He asked me if I had gone pro before, so I explained about the band back home and my experience with gigs in Edinburgh. Told me I could help him as much as he could help me, then said he could have a three album deal on the table for me in the New Year if I wanted it. He said he had no doubt I would be a success, especially with the whole Scottish thing.” He set the card down on the arm rest of the chair. “I told him I was a doctor with a new wife and a bairn on the way. He knew who I was from the shooting. He still wants to meet with me in the New Year. I didnae commit to anything, so he told me to call him if I was interested after the holidays.”
“Wow,” Pat murmured with a slow nod. “And how do you feel about all that?”
“Nay much,” Lachlan admitted honestly. “I realise I should feel something, but by that point, I felt like I was close to passing out. I just needed to get out of there but I didnae feel any better after that. I’d overdone it, that’s why I hurled in the car. When I got back here, I felt like I was off my face I was in so much of a daze. I felt like I just wanted to curl up in a ball and cry, so that’s pretty much what Tara let me do. We went to bed, spent some close time together, and then I basically just passed out from exhaustion. Brain hasnae exactly kicked into think about anything until now.”
Pat tilted his head. “Okay, what about first reaction gut feeling?”
“I dinnae think I want it. I just want to be Tara’s husband and the best fucking father I can be to the bairn…” Lachlan paused and frowned down at his feet. “But I cannae shake that little ‘what if’ niggle about my music, about performing, about writing. And I hate myself for it. It goes against everything I’ve taught myself to believe in.”
“Lachie,” Pat began. “Will you be under an obligation if you just meet the guy?”
Lachlan shook his head. “Wouldnae be under any obligation until I sign any contracts,” he explained. He searched Pat’s eyes. “You think I should meet with him?”
“I think you owe it to yourself to not cut anything off before you have all the facts,” Pat corrected. “And I think just meeting the guy will help you see the situation a little clearer. But if you really feel deep inside that it’s nothing but a curiosity and you really don’t want be a recording artist, just walk away from it. You won’t lose anything to weigh it up in your mind for a few days, just don’t let it consume you. You have too much to be happy about right now. Either way, Lachie, you’ll be one of the best dads to ever walk the earth because that baby and your wife are your whole world. You wake, you live, you breathe for them. Nothing can change that. Not even exploring taking your natural and innate love for music professional.”
Lachlan ran his thumb across his wedding band, looking at it nestled securely around his finger. “I have a lot of thinking to do…” he realised.
“Yeah, you do, darling,” Pat agreed softly. “But that’s never stopped you before.”
Lachlan met Pat’s eyes with a faint smile. “I’m blaming you if my brain drops out of my ears,” he warned jokingly.
Pat just smirked. “No thinking on Christmas, though. Christmas is a think and brood free zone.”
“Does that rule cover you, you bitch?” Lachlan laughed. “I’m not the only one here of late who has been faced with their demons.”
Pat pulled his lips to the side and looked down at his immobile legs. “I’ll get back to you on that.”
All muses referenced with permission
Word Count | 1,184
Co-written with drcampbell
[Follows THIS and THIS]
Pat was trying to manoeuvre his wheelchair back down to the living room when Lachlan finally exited Aiden’s guest room, looking freshly showered and about 500% on what he had done the day before. “Morning, darling,” he greeted him with a smile. “Or I should say ‘afternoon’, considering it’s after three. Are you feeling better?” Lachlan hadn’t surfaced from the bedroom for close to twenty four hours, and while Tara had been coming and going from the room most the time, she had said Lachlan had slept almost the whole time and he was still asleep when she had left that morning to go shopping with her mother and Beth.
Lachlan gave Pat a sheepish smirk and moved behind him so he could push the wheelchair. “Aye, I know. Seems my mind, body, and soul needed to shut down cope with it. It wasnae the first time. But I do feel better. Has Aiden put a hit out on me for what I did to the back of his car?” He pushed Pat into the living room and kicked on the brakes. It was then an automatic process of him helping Pat from the chair to the sofa; he had done it so many times in the past.
“Oh, I don’t know. It was close, darling,” Pat teased, laughing. “You really did a job on the interior. Gatorade is never subtle on rewind.”
Lachlan snorted. “Oh aye, it isnae too pleasant being the one it comes back out of either. I owe him one. I’ll pay for any cleaning. I really thought I was going to be all good on the trip home,” he admitted. “I wasnae as in control as I thought.”
“It’s okay, buddy. Aiden doesn’t care. He might pull the piss, but he knows you were hardly in any state to stop it if you were going to be sick.” Pat sucked in a sharp breath as he tried to get a comfortable, pain-free position on the sofa. It was a bad day, so he was just trying to stay as in good spirits as he could. “Speaking of cleaning, Aiden found this under the seat when he was getting my jacket from the car…” He pulled a business card from his t-shirt pocket and handed it over to Lachlan, his eyebrows raised a little in question.
Lachlan took the card and sunk down into one of the armchairs. “Aye, well…” he murmured and pressed his lips together with a sigh. “It isnae going to happen.”
“You don’t even want to give it just a tiny bit of thought, darling? Do you want to tell me what happened?” Pat coaxed and tucked the blanket around his legs again. “You know you don’t have to. I can take the card and stick it in Aiden’s shredder if you prefer.”
Lachlan nearly did almost hand it over, but there was hesitation. “He’s a manager with a recording company. He was at the competition to scout new talent for his label. I assume he spoke to other people as well, but he cornered me almost as soon as the competition was over. He asked me if I had gone pro before, so I explained about the band back home and my experience with gigs in Edinburgh. Told me I could help him as much as he could help me, then said he could have a three album deal on the table for me in the New Year if I wanted it. He said he had no doubt I would be a success, especially with the whole Scottish thing.” He set the card down on the arm rest of the chair. “I told him I was a doctor with a new wife and a bairn on the way. He knew who I was from the shooting. He still wants to meet with me in the New Year. I didnae commit to anything, so he told me to call him if I was interested after the holidays.”
“Wow,” Pat murmured with a slow nod. “And how do you feel about all that?”
“Nay much,” Lachlan admitted honestly. “I realise I should feel something, but by that point, I felt like I was close to passing out. I just needed to get out of there but I didnae feel any better after that. I’d overdone it, that’s why I hurled in the car. When I got back here, I felt like I was off my face I was in so much of a daze. I felt like I just wanted to curl up in a ball and cry, so that’s pretty much what Tara let me do. We went to bed, spent some close time together, and then I basically just passed out from exhaustion. Brain hasnae exactly kicked into think about anything until now.”
Pat tilted his head. “Okay, what about first reaction gut feeling?”
“I dinnae think I want it. I just want to be Tara’s husband and the best fucking father I can be to the bairn…” Lachlan paused and frowned down at his feet. “But I cannae shake that little ‘what if’ niggle about my music, about performing, about writing. And I hate myself for it. It goes against everything I’ve taught myself to believe in.”
“Lachie,” Pat began. “Will you be under an obligation if you just meet the guy?”
Lachlan shook his head. “Wouldnae be under any obligation until I sign any contracts,” he explained. He searched Pat’s eyes. “You think I should meet with him?”
“I think you owe it to yourself to not cut anything off before you have all the facts,” Pat corrected. “And I think just meeting the guy will help you see the situation a little clearer. But if you really feel deep inside that it’s nothing but a curiosity and you really don’t want be a recording artist, just walk away from it. You won’t lose anything to weigh it up in your mind for a few days, just don’t let it consume you. You have too much to be happy about right now. Either way, Lachie, you’ll be one of the best dads to ever walk the earth because that baby and your wife are your whole world. You wake, you live, you breathe for them. Nothing can change that. Not even exploring taking your natural and innate love for music professional.”
Lachlan ran his thumb across his wedding band, looking at it nestled securely around his finger. “I have a lot of thinking to do…” he realised.
“Yeah, you do, darling,” Pat agreed softly. “But that’s never stopped you before.”
Lachlan met Pat’s eyes with a faint smile. “I’m blaming you if my brain drops out of my ears,” he warned jokingly.
Pat just smirked. “No thinking on Christmas, though. Christmas is a think and brood free zone.”
“Does that rule cover you, you bitch?” Lachlan laughed. “I’m not the only one here of late who has been faced with their demons.”
Pat pulled his lips to the side and looked down at his immobile legs. “I’ll get back to you on that.”
All muses referenced with permission
Word Count | 1,184