Adopted

Chapter 93

The rest of the summer tour went well. I called Paige when we were heading to Toronto and Dad arranged for tickets and passes for her and her family to join us backstage. We had a day off in Toronto, so Paige and her parents took us around some of the places they thought we'd find interesting. We went to the Eaton Centre, which was a big mall in the middle of the city.  It was pretty much like any other mall, but it was all split levels. Zack wasn't thrilled, but Dad was keeping a pretty low profile. 

Paige took me to her favorite store. It was a clothing store called "Roots".  They had all sorts of sweat pants and t-shirts and bags and jackets and jeans and coats.  It was really nice stuff. Mom and Dad bought me a couple of shirts, a sweatshirt and an athletic jacket. Paige also bought me a t-shirt and told me it was for my birthday. 

After we'd been shopping for a couple of hours, we went and grabbed some lunch in a restaurant called "Mr. Greenjeans".  The food was great and Paige was impressed that I was eating again.  Last she'd seen me at home, I was still on the feeding tube. 

We went back to the venue so Dad and the band could soundcheck and Paige and her family hung out with us.  Paige and I sat on the stage while Dad soundchecked, and then he came over and scooped me up and carried me across the stage while he was singing "Girls/Girls/Boys". 

"DAD!" I laughed. "Put me down!"

"Nope. I need to practice and you're about as light as all those flags are," he joked. 

Paige was taking pictures with her phone. 

"I am so putting these up on Instagram," she said. 

"You'd better not!" I said. 

"Too late,"

Jake, the tour photographer popped out from behind some speakers and was laughing and taking photos and video. 

"This is going to look great during the tour recap video." 

I rolled my eyes. 

Finally, Dad put me down and I grabbed Paige's hand and escaped the stage.  I wasn't giving my Dad any more chances. 

We went back to the dressing room where Mom was sitting and talking with Paige's parents.  They got very quiet when we walked in. I raised my eyebrow at Mom. 

"You guys are back earlier than I expected," Mom said.  "I thought you were going to watch Dad do sound check."

"He picked me up and started carrying me around the stage, and Paige took pictures and posted them to Instagram, and Jake took photos and video and I decided that was enough embarrassment," I said. "You can continue your conversation. We weren't listening anyway." 

I took Paige over to where the drinks were kept and pulled out a Sprite for myself and offered her a Coke or whatever.  She took a water. 

"Uh, no. That's  okay," Mom said. 

"Can I show Paige the bus?" I asked. 

"Sure. Just see if Zack will go out with you."

"Okay," we went to find Zack, who agreed to come out to the bus with us. 

I showed Paige my bunk, and my parents' room, and how we lived when we had to do a full day of driving, so if we couldn't stop for breakfast, where we kept the food and stuff. We headed back into the venue and thought we'd walk quietly and scare our parents. 

I heard them talking as we got closer to the room, and indicated to Paige to be quiet.  We slowed down and crept up to the door, ready to pounce. Until I heard what they were saying. I stopped.