Adopted

Chapter 26

Sarah woke me up when we pulled into the venue in Vegas. 

"Hey sleepyhead.  If you sleep much longer you won't sleep tonight."

"But if I sleep longer, then I can stay up later, and then I'll fall asleep."

"Nice try. But we're here, and we're all getting off the bus.  Brendon's got some press to do, and I thought we could go walk up the Strip, since I'm willing to bet you've never been  here before."

"Okay."

"We'll go into the venue first, so you can see what's going on and how things are set up and such, meet some of the crew. You'll like them. They're a great bunch of guys. And gals."

We went inside and Sarah handed me a lanyard with a pass on it. 

"You need to keep that on the whole time we're inside or around the venue, okay? It's your pass and you need it to get backstage and in and out to the bus, okay?"

"Okay," I said, looking at the pass. It was laminated and hung all the way down to my waist. 

I followed Sarah down a hallway where there were all sorts of crates and people. She knocked on a door and I followed her inside.  Brendon was sitting on a couch talking with Dallon. 

"There's my beautiful wife and my amazing daughter!" he said as we came into the room. He got up and gave me a hug. 

"People are going to be asking me about you when I do my press. Do you mind if I talk about you?"

"I guess not," I said. 

"Do you want to come in to any of the interviews?"

"Um, no." I said. "I don't think so."

"Fair enough. You guys going out onto the Strip?" he asked Sarah. 

"Yep," she said. 

"Be careful around the venue.  I've seen some signs for Jessica - looks like my fans are fans of yours already," he smiled. 

"Really? Interesting. Maybe we'll grab your cap from the bus before we head out, huh?" Sarah said. 

"Okay, I guess." 

"Fans can be fickle," Brendon said. "Some might be jealous of you, because well, they'd love to be in your position."

"Really? They'd like to live my life?" I asked, skeptically.

"Well, probably not all of it. But they'd love to have been adopted by us." 

"Oh. Well, I guess that makes sense," I smiled.

"My parents will probably be here around four," Brendon said, more to Sarah than me. "So try to be back by five?" 

"Probably not a problem," Sarah said. "We're just going to take a quick tour, so to speak. Maybe check out a few places."

"Okay. Be safe. Zack's going to go with you. I have venue security here, so, I'll be okay."

"If Zack is coming, then Kala should too."

"That's up to them," Brendon said. 

He gave us hugs goodbye, called Zack in, who called Kala from the bus where she'd been napping and I hadn't even realized, and the four of us headed out of the gate where security checked our passes, and out onto the Las Vegas Strip.  Sarah knew the area well, because Brendon was raised in Vegas.  We walked away from the venue where there were fans already lined up waiting to get in and hoping to catch a glimpse of the band, and Brendon in particular. I saw a few signs with my name on them, but I didn't read them. 

We went into a few shops, and Sarah told me about some of their history in Vegas.  There was a hotel with a roller coaster, and Zack took me on it. It was awesome.  There were so many lights and even though it was daytime, it was so bright and lit up. It was pretty cool. 

We made our way back to the venue and got in about four thirty. Grace and PopPop were already in the dressing room waiting for us when we got there. 

"There's my girl!" PopPop said, when I walked in. 

"Hi PopPop!" I said, giving him a hug. 

"Hey, you call him PopPop, but you can't call me Dad, yet?" Brendon asked. 

"I never had grandparents before," I shrugged. "My mom's mom died of cancer when she was six, her dad died of a heart attack when I was eight and my dad's parents both died before I was born."

"Hmph," Brendon snuffed. Sarah laughed. 

"Don't be jealous that she likes me better," PopPop said. 

"I didn't say that," I snarked. 

"You're right, Brendon," PopPop said. "She is fluent in sarcasm.  You're going to have your hands full with this one."

I grinned at PopPop.

"Did you have fun out  on the Strip?" Grace asked.

"I did. I've never seen it, really, before. It's so bright!" I exclaimed. "And Zack took me on the Big Apple Coaster, which was awesome. And a bit scary."

"I have never been on that one and probably never will," Grace laughed. "So that makes you just a bit braver than me."

"Just a bit?" I asked.

"Well, I raised your father. So, just a bit."

We all laughed. 

Brendon told us dinner was ready - it had been delivered, and so we all went and got food. It was pretty nice, but simple. Pasta, grilled chicken, veal Parmesan, steamed vegetables, which both Brendon and Sarah implored me to take some.  There was bread, and butter, too. Salads, a couple of different types. I took Caesar.  And so many desserts. 

"You can have as much dessert as you want," Brendon said. "As long as you finish all your salad and all your veggies."

"Can't I have dessert for dinner and then veggies for dessert?"

"HA!" Brendon said. "Nice try. You'll fill up on dessert and then claim you have no room for veggies."

"Darn," I snapped. 

"I was a kid once, too, ya know," he said, ruffling my hair. 

We all sat and ate around tables in a room that had been set up kind of like a cafeteria.  The band and the crew were talking and joking and laughing. It was fun.  Brendon introduced me to a few of the crew members that would be travelling with us and they were really nice and funny. 

After dinner, we went back to the dressing room, and sat around while Brendon and the band got changed. The opening act was already on stage and I could hear cheering all the way backstage.  

Zack and I were playing around and joking while the band got ready for the show. Zack was tossing a ball at me, and I was tossing it back. Just a tennis ball. 

"Do you play baseball?" Zack asked. 

"I do," I said. 

"Are you any good?" he asked. 

"I guess I'm  okay," I said. 

"She was on her school team before we adopted her," Sarah said. 

"Cool.  Maybe we'll toss a ball around outside when we have space," he said. 

"I'd like that," I said. I missed playing baseball, and I'd brought my baseball glove, just in case I had a chance to throw a ball around. Brendon had said sometimes they tried to do something sporty sometimes. But that he was very bad at it. 

After a while, Zack said it was time to go to the stage, so we all got up and followed the band up the stairs to the stage. Sarah, Grace, PopPop and I would stay backstage and watch the show.