"How are your pancakes?" FP asks June as she swirls the fluffy food through the syrup on her plate.
"Yummy!" She replies, popping a large bite into her mouth.
FP laughs. "I guess so." He gestures to his own plate. "You sure you don't want any bacon? Eggs?"
"No I just want pancakes. I love pancakes."
"She asks for them every morning for breakfast." Gladys chuckles. "Love is an understatement."
"Just don't let Uncle Fred make you pancakes, he has a tendency to burn food."
"Uncle Fred says you burn the food." June divulges absentmindedly.
"Oh does he? Well I guess I'll have to have a talk with him." FP jokes, biting into his breakfast.
He and Gladys talk amongst themselves for a while, talking about their hobbies and the scenery of their most recent stop. That is, until June pipes in again, having clearly been in deep thought the entire time. "Daddy?" She begins. "Can I stay with you?"
He and Gladys share a puzzled look before he responds. "What do you mean, honey?"
"I don't want to leave yet." She answers simply, her little shoulders shrugging.
"So you wanna stay on the bus with me?" His heart swells at the thought, he'd love nothing more than to have June for longer.
"Can I?" She wonders again, this time looking towards her mother. "Mommy?"
Gladys snaps her head towards the little girl, having been staring dead at FP the entire conversation. "I don't know-"
"I'd love that." FP answers innocently. "I mean, why not?"
"FP." Gladys says his name sternly, his eyes fall back to her. "We should probably talk about this before making any definitive decision."
"What is there to decide?" He quizzes. "She's my daughter too, I miss her like crazy out here, why can't she stay for a bit?"
"It'll be so fun, mommy!" June squeals, completely oblivious to the way her mother is staring daggers at her father.
Gladys lowers her voice as she addresses FP again. "Why can't she stay?" She repeats. "Maybe because she's only five years old and needs supervision?"
"You don't think I'll look after her? I thought we'd gotten past this Gladys?" FP feels his blood pressure rise at the, seemingly, accusation.
Gladys scoffs. "That's not what I mean, I know you will take care of her, I know she'll be safe, but how much time will you actually have to make sure of that?" She rephrases. "She can't just crash backstage during shows, she can't hang out on the bus alone, and I don't feel comfortable with her being babysat by a roadie so how is this supposed to work?"
"That's the thing, I'll have the time!" He insists, enthusiastically. "We have a little three day break coming up so she'll have my full attention, the nights that I'm performing up until then, she can hang out with Fred and Mary." Gladys seems unconvinced so he goes on, the pieces fitting together perfectly in his head. "Look we've got a show coming up in Newport, Kentucky, I'll keep her with me until then and you can pick her up at that show."
"Yes because I absolutely have the time to drive to Kentucky." Gladys rolls her eyes.
"I'll arrange a ride for you, Shelby can come with you if you want." FP insists, Gladys just raises an unamused eyebrow, completely unsold. FP sits back himself and crossed his arms over his chest, shrugging. "Or I can keep June until you can be bothered to come get her. Either one is fine with me."
YOU ARE READING
When The Lights Go Down
FanfictionFP Jones is a famous musician overcoming a messy past with his wife Gladys by his side. But when marital problems cause them to call off their tour, FP finds himself in a little cafe, drawn to a beautiful blonde with the voice of an angel. Alice Sm...
