With a huge grin, I told her, “Sure.”
Even though it was a slow song, I spun her around and dipped her like a madman. She adjusted to everything I did though. Chelsey was a natural on her feet. Around halfway through the song, I stopped goofing off and danced with her normally. Arms around my neck, she gave me a grin full of sisterly pride. “I’m so happy for you, Griffin. And I knew you could do it.”
My eyes shifted to the ground before returning to her face. “You knew I could impress the guys enough that they’d take me back?”
Chelsey shook her head. “The band was never the steak, Griffin.” She pointedly looked over my shoulder and I followed her gaze. Anna was talking with Dustin; she shot me a wave when she noticed us staring at her.
I was nodding when I shifted back to Chelsey. “Yeah, you’re right. You’re always right. It’s fucking annoying.” Chelsey laughed and I joined in. It felt so good to be on the other side of our grief.
When Anna and I took the girls back to our tiny apartment at the end of the night, I felt complete. Nothing in my life could get any better.
But I was wrong.
Three weeks later, my wife gave birth to our newest child, and my life became even more perfect. We’d wanted the sex to be a surprise, and I was definitely surprised. I’d fully expected to be adding another girl to the family, but instead, my wife gave me a boy. A beautiful boy, with the palest blond hair and eyes that already had a hint of green to them.
As I held him in my arms, I asked Anna, “You still want that name we decided on?”
With a tired smile, she nodded, “It seems only fitting, since he was conceived on a stage. I like it spelled with an E though…so it’s a little different than the band he’s named after.”
I thought that was a great idea, so when the guys and my family came in to meet him, I proudly introduced them to the newest Hancock. “Everybody, I want you to meet my son…Linken. Linken, I want you to meet…everybody.”
It was hard to give him up to pass him around, and I almost felt more protective of him than my girls. Maybe that was because he was so tiny, and they were getting so big. I think I even told Kellan to watch his head, which was ridiculous, considering he’d just gone through the newborn stage with Bella. What could I say, I was an anxious dad. Besides my wife, nothing meant more to me than my kids.
Matt looked nervous when it was his turn to hold Linken. The look in his eye made me not want to hand my son over. Matt had butterfingers written all over him. “Dude, you don’t have to take a turn if you don’t want to…if you’re scared.”
Matt twisted his lips at me. “I’m not scared of a baby. I’m more scared of the fact that you’ve replicated yourself. There are two Griffins in the world now. I’m not sure the world is ready.” He slowly shook his head, like he was already seeing the upcoming apocalypse. Or should I say, Griffinocalypse.
Tossing on a smile, I told him, “Are you kidding me? The world has been waiting for my mini me for a long ass time. And Link is only the first of many. I plan on putting several mini cocks on this planet.” As many as my wife would let me.
Matt shook his head again. “And so it begins…”
Frowning, I turned to Evan and Jenny. “He just lost his turn. Which one of you wants him?”
I extended Linken in their general direction, and Jenny immediately scooped him up. “Oh my God! He’s so cute! Evan, look how sweet he is.”
She cooed in Linken’s face while Evan smiled at her. “Yeah, for being part Hancock, he is pretty adorable.”
Liam, Matt, and I reacted at the exact same time with “Hey!” Shaking my head, I added, “Not cool, dude. Hancocks are awesome.” Liam, Matt, and I bumped fists together in a show of family unity. While the band’s Hancock to non-Hancock ratio had been fifty-fifty before, it wasn’t anymore; the band was cock-heavy now, as it should be.
“Damn straight,” Liam said.
I indicated Jenny cuddling with my son. “Evan just forfeited his turn. Give him to Liam when you’re done, Jenny.” I patted Liam on the back. “You’re next, bro.”
Liam’s eyes widened, like I’d just told him his nonexistent girlfriend was expecting. Matt laughed while I shook my head. I was surrounded by a bunch of newborn-fearing pansies. Wusses.
When Linken was ready to come home, we took him to our new place. We’d recently moved from Anna’s tiny apartment. Now that the cash was flowing again, and we’d paid off the money we’d borrowed from Kellan, we could have bought just about any house we wanted, but we’d decided on a modest four-bedroom rambler in a quiet neighborhood that was close to some good schools. Anna and I wanted to live a simpler life, less opulence, less extravagance. We just wanted to concentrate on us, and on the kids, and we wanted to be smarter with our money. Plan better, just in case it ever did dry up again. And we wanted to give back.
One thing I’d learned throughout this whole mess was that I’d been given a gift that first go-round, and most people weren’t so lucky. Listening to the other contestants on that show, watching them struggle to make something of themselves…it had moved me, and I wanted to help them. I wanted to keep the dream alive, give people a reason to keep going, even when the obstacles seemed too high, the odds too big. I wanted to give people hope for their future.
At first, I’d had no idea how to do that. The task seemed too big, the different ways to go about it too vast, the overall idea too vague. But then Anna suggested I focus in on one aspect of my vision, and then, when I had it, that I start out small. Made sense to me, so I decided to start with the youngest dreamers and my favorite occupation. Anna and I were in the beginning stages of creating our charity—Strength Through Sound. Our goal was to enrich, encourage, and empower children through music. Our hope was to expand band and choir in schools, and offer activity centers where kids could go to express themselves in healthy ways. Even I could admit our plan was an ambitious one, but it meant something to me, so I felt like it was worth it. No, I felt like I was meant to do it.