Becoming

Judgement Of Heaven

As the tour continued, Iron Maiden continued to receive lukewarm responses from their audiences. Steve did his best to bolster everyone's spirits, saying that it would likely just take a bit longer for the fans to get used to the change at vocals. Everyone hoped he was right.

To Dave's surprise and pleasure, Ade's band Psycho Motel kicked off their own six-week tour of the UK and Ireland by opening for Maiden in Belfast, Dublin, and Nottingham. Grateful that Rod hadn't yet insisted on shared rooms to save on costs, something the manager had started to fret about as neither the album sales nor ticket sales were even close to what had been expected, Dave slipped into Ade's room on each of the four nights the two bands shared the tour.

After Nottingham, Maiden moved on to the US and Canada, where they played to ever-dwindling audiences. Worse, they had to cancel a full eight shows when Blaze's voice gave out. Oh, the official version given to the public was that he'd developed an infection in his throat due to allergies, as the timing did coincide with spring pollen season, but everyone in the band knew the truth. Blaze had been straining himself for the entire tour, trying to sing out of his range, and it had finally caught up with him despite his best efforts.

Taking advantage of the band being on the West Coast when it happened, Dave flew home for a week, glad of the chance to do some golfing on his favourite course as well as to spend some time with his daughter. He met back up with the rest of the band to finish the US leg of the tour once Blaze recovered, then they went on to do a quick jaunt to Japan before scattering to their homes for a six-week break in advance of the summer festival season.

Dave appreciated being home for Tasha's fifth birthday, and Tasha appreciated the gifts he'd bought her whilst in Japan. Refreshed after the break, he headed to Europe to meet up with the rest of the band for what proved to be a disappointing festival season, followed by a slightly better run in South America to end the X Factour.

Everyone set off for home from their final show in Mexico, looking forward to a few months off before a planned gathering in February to start brainstorming new ideas for the next album. As he boarded his flight to Hawaii, Dave sighed and hoped fervently that Ade would call soon, now that Maiden's tour was over. This year had been especially difficult for them to find time to visit, between Maiden's tour and Psycho Motel's several little tours. It seemed that whenever Maiden was on break, Psycho Motel was on the road and vice-versa. They'd not seen one another since early February and the last of the few shows for which Psycho Motel had opened for Maiden, and at this rate, it was looking as if they'd be lucky to manage a visit in December.

Which, they did. The Murrays braved the cold of Montreal for a couple of weeks, to introduce Tasha, now five, to the concept of snow. They, the Smiths, and Donna with young Adam spent a weekend at a nearby ski resort learning, as Dave laughingly put it, how to best fall down a hill.

Tamar called it quits first and staked out a spot near the hearth within the lodge, working a cross-stitch and warming her achy legs. Donna joined her soon afterwards, the two women chatting about their kids over tea and coffee, and reminiscing about their sorority days. Donna blushed when Tamar revealed just how many of their sorority sisters had guessed the nature of her relationship with Nathalie even back then.

Dave came in next with the trio of shivering but happily smiling little girls, finding a table in a corner where excitedly shrill little voices hopefully wouldn't disturb others. Tasha, Natasha, and Brittany eagerly accepted hot chocolate with marshmallows along with brownies as they giggled and teased each other about who fell most often. Dave just sat back with a cup of tea and a filched brownie, keeping an eye on the girls and wondering just how stiff he'd be in the morning.