Wildflower (Kris Bryant)

19 Family Time

Kris

Being in Chicago has a lot of perks. Especially over the summer where there always seems to be something happening in this great city. And at the beginning of next month Lollapalooza opens up with some pretty good acts. I was at least curious to see what was going on up there and Serenity was dying to go so I decide to surprise her with some passes to go see her favorite bands and acts.

So I purchase the tickets while I was out in Pittsburg then when I get home I go right over to her place to tell her the good news. I knock on the door and wait not so patiently for the door to open.

Once it does I see her mom answer the door and I smile. I loved her family a lot and even though her mom wasn't her, it was pretty close. "Good evening Mrs. Simmons" I start.

"Well it certainly is now! What brings you by" she questions.

"I was wondering if I could talk to Serenity for a second" I admit.

She peeks her head insides to see where she was before turning back to me. "It looks like everyone just sat down for dinner. Would you like to join us" she offers.

I think about it for a second before realizing I haven't had a family meal in forever. "I would love to, actually" I assure her as she smiles up at me.

So I follow her in and into the dining room. As soon as Serenity sees me here eyes light up as she hops out of her seat. She comes over to where I was and jumps into my arms before giving me a kiss. I missed her like hell even though we were just gone for 3 days. But it feels like forever between the time I leave to when I get to see her again.

"What are you doing here" she whispers on my lips.

"Well for now I'm here to have dinner. Then I have something for you" I say making her smirk. She gives me one more kiss before letting me go and heading back to the dining room.

They set up a extra spot for me next to Serenity and across from her little brother Warren. We say grace before making our plates of what looks like delicious food. Now I see why her food always tastes so good if this is how they cook every night.

"Wow" I moan as I shove a fork full of lasagna in my mouth, "Mrs. Simmons this is absolutely amazing. Did you make this" I ask.

"I didn't make it, Serenity did. But it's my recipe" she explains.

"You should do a cook book. I haven't had a meal that Serenity has made that I didn't absolutely love. And it's all healthy too" I notice.

"It has to be healthy, I have one kid who is a athlete and two kids who wouldn't work out if their life depended on it" she chuckles.

"Hell yeah for being lazy" Serenity says as she raises her hand for her brother to hit. He happily hits her hand from across the table causing us all to laugh.

"Serenity said you went to a pretty cool band camp in LA" I start as I turn to her brother. "How did you like that" I wonder.

"Oh it was awesome! I'm thinking about moving out there once I graduate next year. They have stuff for me to do and make some money. But I wanted one more year here before I have to leave" he explains.

"I would love to hear you play" I admit. Live music was pretty great and to get to hear him before he became all rich and famous would be pretty awesome. Just to watch his journey and be able to share my experience of the journey I took to stardom too. He's gonna need all the help he can get.

"You can stay after dinner and I can show you what I've been working on" he promises and I smile.

"I would love that."

So we continue to talk and eat our dinner. Everyone had the biggest smiles on their faces as they shared stories and we laughed and made new memories. We stay at that table for three hours before Serenity's parents started to get tired. So I help her clean up and let them go to bed. Her brother sets up his keyboard in the garage as we finish up in the kitchen.

"Before I forget" I say as I reach in my pocket and take out a envelope, "this is for you. Well... it's for us" I shrug.

She opens it up and lets out a gasp. "No way, Kris are these Lolla passes for all three days" she squeals.

"Private passes so we can be as close to the music as we want to be" I explain.

She lets out a cute little scream before pulling me into a big hug. I wrap my arms around her tight as I smile big. This right here, this is what makes the long nights away from here so worth it. It's what makes me think about her every chance I had. It's all for this feeling I have and I only have when I'm with her.

"Thank you Kris, thank you so much. I've always wanted to go to Lolla but my parents never could afford the tickets. Even with my job I wasn't planning on going this year. But I'm happy my first time will be so special because I get to go with you" she claims.

I press a soft kiss on top of her head as I rub her back. "It's my pleasure" I assure her.

So we finish up with the dishes and head to the garage. There was a whole sound system in there and my eyes get big. This was expensive stuff. I wonder how he got all of this?

"This is a nice set up" I admit as I look around.

"My mom and dad and me and Landon all got him this for Christmas two years ago. We all worked over time and picked up extra shifts to get him this. His dreams won't work unless we all do. So we got him the nicest stuff around and I know he will pay us all back once he can. I truly think he will make it" she explains.

I watch her watch her brother with the biggest smile on her face. She doesn't even realize how hard it is to hear what she just said. How her struggles wear on her and all I wanted to do was to take them away. To her this is life and she doesn't know anything other than the hardships she's faced. But her struggles made her who she is and she's proud of them. So I'm happy I give her a chance to do things she wants to do while she gets what she needs done.

We spent most of the night listening to her brother make some great music on the piano. He reminds me of a young Freddie Mercury the way he had the big dark brown eyes and black hair and he hit the keys just the right way. His voice was pretty good too. If he asks his sister for some lyrics I think he could go solo if he wanted to. But he likes the band feeling so I think he'll turn out just fine.