Becoming

Run Silent, Run Deep

Dave arrived in Honolulu on time, and got to the flat to find Dan and Rachel Carlson there and placing gifts under the round table which held their small, fake Christmas tree. "Good to see you, Dan, Rachel," he said, keeping his voice down in case his wife was sleeping.

"Good to see you as well, Dave," Dan said, while Rachel stepped over to give him a hug. "How's the tour going?"

"It's going all right," Dave said with a smile. "Harry's rather grumpy these days as he's not yet able to walk about without his knee brace and crutches, and he bloody well hates performing sitting down. But even he admits it's preferable to cancelling two months' worth of dates. And of course, we've all been looking forward to Christmas with our families."

"Tamar's napping," Rachel told him. "But her doctor said that's not unusual given the anemia – that she'll most likely tire more easily than is usual for a pregnant woman, but that isn't too worrisome. And she credits you for her blood count coming back up a little. She said that on your last visit, you made a lot of meals containing foods her doctor wanted her to eat but that she wasn't able to cook due to the smells setting off her morning sickness, and loaded them in the freezer for her to reheat."

Nodding, Dave said, "Yeah, I did. I realise there's only so much to be done for morning sickness, but it was easy enough to cook up some beef stew and cottage pie to freeze, so she could eat without having to cook it for herself." He put his big suitcase to one side where it would be out of the way, then opened his new and smaller bag, unloading the wrapped gifts within and added them to the pile under the tree's table.

He still missed a proper spruce or even a fir tree at Christmas, but had learned during his first holiday season after moving to Hawaii that such trees didn't grow anywhere in the island state, and that while some were shipped in, the cost was astronomical, and in his opinion, not worth paying when the tree would be up and decorated for a month at most. The small fake tree didn't look half as bad as the full-sized ones did, so that's what they'd bought. Tamar had introduced him to scented candles and always made sure to pick up a few spruce or balsam scented varieties to burn around the holidays, along with her personal favourite cinnamon apple scent.

A yawning Tamar came into the living room and smiled, greeting Dave with a hug and light kiss. "I'm glad you're home, Dave. How was the trip?"

"Long, but I survived," he joked, returning that hug and kiss. "Nathalie and Ade said to tell you Happy Christmas, and Dylan said ooh-bah-ya."

Tamar giggled at that and asked, "And did you get that lesson in diapering that you said you wanted while you were there?"

"I did," Dave chuckled. "Ade showed me how to avoid getting it in the face, too. Said it was the worst part of changing a boy, and he hopes the new one is a girl just to make that part of the work a wee bit easier. How are you feeling, luv?"

"Better than when you were here a few weeks ago, thankfully," Tamar said. "I'm sure Mom already told you, but my blood count improved a little, plus the morning sickness is finally starting to go away. Mind, it's not gone completely, but it's not half so bad as it was, and not as many smells set it off as before. I am still tired a lot, though."

"Well, you just keep doing what the doctor says, yeah?" Dave said. "I just want you and our baby to be safe and healthy. You already know that if you think you need me here, I'll take a leave from the band and come back to be with you."

Tamar smiled as her parents both looked approvingly at him. "I know, Dave, and it means a lot to me that you would. But honestly, there really isn't anything you can do, so better if you keep on with the tour and not put your job at risk. Mom and Dad aren't more than a couple of hours away at most if I ever need help, and honestly, if it looks as though I'd be safer not staying on my own, they can come stay here in Honolulu without disrupting their lives all that much."