I’m in yet another interview to promote the last leg of my tour, the same one that’s ending in four months and we’ve already done two months worth of touring here in Europe. We’ve gone to Japan, China, Mongolia, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia, India, Pakistan, Turkey, Ukraine, Finland, Poland, Sweden and Russia. I know we play a few countries in Africa to play this month and we played Germany in three cities, but most of the smaller countries had two shows each to ensure more fans could attend. Africa will take us about a month to perform in, considering we’re playing in each country within the continent and that will leave three months for the eastern part of Europe. There are 26 countries, each having two or three shows in different cities and we will be playing three more cities in Germany because we didn’t play the bigger cities yet. We have to pay our respect to Frankfurt, Munich and Berlin for giving Nick, Aaron and Josh their big jump starts. They’re more excited about going to those three cities in Germany than I am, I must admit that I’m excited for them and hopefully this tour is over soon.
I’m talking with someone from a French magazine, considering we’re playing in Paris, Lyon and Lourdes in a month once we get through Africa. Tonight is the first show in Africa and we play one show per country, but we originally planned on two per country and then we found out I’m pregnant. “Hello, Lil’ Breanna,” the slightly younger French woman greets me, her accent heavy.
I smile and stand to greet her according to her custom. “You must be Michaline, no?” I had picked up their customs easily when I had first visited there a few years ago.
“Oui, je suis Michaline. J'avais été informé par votre gestionnaire que vous n'avez pas été à la hauteur ces derniers temps. Etes-vous sûr que vous voulez toujours faire cette interview?”
Ok, quick translation is that Usher had told her that I haven’t been feeling great and if I still want to go forward with this interview. “Bien sûr, c'est pour mes fans et je veux qu'ils sachent que je ne me sens pas bien ces derniers temps.”
I told her that I was sure about doing the interview for the fans to inform them of why I haven’t been feeling too good. “Would English be easier for you?”
I smile and nod. “Much easier and I know you speak it very well, seeing as I know you’re at least bilingual.”
“You know quite a bit about our culture,” she observes, interested in my knowledge of her country’s cultures and how I came to know about it.
“I took French form 8th grade until my second to last year in high school.”
“Ah! Explains that. How are you feeling today?”
“I’m doing good today, just a little tired. I’m excited to get to France in barely over a month.”
“I bet, seeing as you’re of French heritage.”
“Then we have a few dates in Canada and I’m not going to be able to perform like I normally do by then.”
“Why won’t you be able to?”
“I’ll be six and a half months along by that point and we have two weeks to get from the eastern side of the country to the western, ending with two shows in Alaska.”
Her jaw drops and a smile creeps across her face, her eyes lighting up with joy and excitement. “You’re enceinte right now?”
“Yes, about 2 ½ months at the moment and I don’t begin to show until around six or seven months unless it’s twins.”
“Then you begin to show around month three or four,” she recalls, laughing.
“Yes,” I confirm, laughing with her. “We’ve already had the diagnostic ultrasound and there is only one, considering we did it without any fertility assistance.”
“How is JC taking it? Nick? Aaron? The rest of your co-headliners?”
“Nick, JC, Aaron and Justin are the only ones who know so far. I’m nervous to tell the rest of my tour mates.”
“I’m sure Chris and his band will laugh, claiming tour must be your most fertile time.”
I chuckle lightly and nod. “Maybe so, but I’m still weary about it.” I spot Chris and call him into the room.
“What’s up, shorty? I love calling someone shorty and not being the shortest one around.”
“Can you promise you won’t be mad?”
“Is it bad news?”
“No, it’s good news and it’ll explain why the tour is rushed the rest of the way through and we plan on ending it a couple months earlier than originally scheduled.”
“Oh, wait! Lemme guess… You’re pregnant.”
I gasp. “How did you find out?”
His eyes dart around the room. “You’re being serious?”
“Yeah.”
“You really are?”
“Two and a half in.”
He smacks himself in the face, blowing out a breath. “That explains why JC has been rubbing your stomach all the time and why you eat better than usual. Congrats! Can I rub and talk to the baby?”
Michaline looks confused. “How does he rub the baby while you’re pregnant?”
“Yes, Chris, you can,” I laugh, my focus turned to Michaline. “He’ll show you.” I scoot to the edge of the seat and tuck the bottom of my shirt under my bust, smiling.
He rubs both sides of my barely there bump, kissing it just above the belly button and is smiling like a small child on Christmas morning when they get what they wanted. “Hey, tiny one, I’m your Uncle Chris. I’m going to be the one to make you laugh and feel better after a bad day. I’m always going to be there for you like I have been for your parents, brothers and sisters. I love you, tiny one.”
“Aww,” she coos, tearing up as she listens to him talk to the little life in me and I smile.
Chris hugs my middle, gets up and hugs me like he usually does. “I’m not too surprised, but I get it. I know you want the other five there to meet this one.”
“And-“
“Hey, girl!”
I watch Chris back up, knowing I would jump up at the sound of her voice and I do just what he knows I would. “Dawn!”
She curiously looks at my shirt, putting two and two together. “You aren’t.”
“I am,” I reply, nodding.
“Oh my God! I’m so excited! Is that why Nick, Aaron and Josh bribed me to be your assistant for the rest of the tour?”
“They did what?” I growl.
“Bribed me into being your assistant,” she repeats, hands on her hips and very annoyed.
I stride over to the door. “Excuse me, Michaline, I’ll be right back.” I walk into the hallway and scream for the three who had bribed my best friend to be here.
“Yeah, baby?” Josh asks, cautiously approaching and greeting me. He knows I’m upset by my stance alone-my right foot rapidly tapping on the floor and my arms crossed.
I push the door open as Aaron and Nick join him, motioning to Dawn. “Explain why you bribed her to be here.”
“You said you wanted to hang out with her.”
“Because of your condition,” Nick says, his eyes darting between Dawn, my stomach, Chris and myself.
“He knows and Michaline knows, she will be printing it in France so that the fans there and in Canada will know.”
“We don’t want you to overexert yourself on the tour, considering that you’re pregnant with my baby cousin,” Aaron defends his decision, folding his arms.
‘We’ sounds more like ‘Aaron doesn’t me to overexert myself, just because I’m pregnant with his baby cousin’ and Nick’s reaction confirms my translation. Oh, the reaction? He drops his head in a guilty and remorseful way, a look of ‘I will kill you’ in his eyes and the sound of annoyance and anger over what his younger idiot brother said just now. Having as much time to get know them and bond with them all, I know how to read them far too well now and it does creep them out from time to time. Nick’s eyes stay locked to his brother’s, but his arm rises to point a finger at me. “Stop doing that, Sam.”
I do it far too often and Nick can tell when I’m doing it, but he just brought it to my attention. “What?”
“Getting in our heads, you’re doing it right now and you know what I’m going to do,” Nick says.
I drop my head for a moment and leave the room. It’s a habit cuz I’ve done it all my life, subconsciously. Nick can also read me better and I can tell when he’s doing it to me. I walk right into Justin, his attention on his phone. “Ummph! Sorry, Sam,” he verbalizes.
I shake my head and smile at him. “It’s alright, I should’ve been paying attention.”
“It’s something else,” he observes.
“Nope,” I deny.
“It’s probably just you wondering why the tour was shortened,” he forces himself to believe.
“Yeah, I guess so.”
“It’s probably to record and relax a year before we record together again,” he attempts to deduce somewhat coolly.
“If you say so,” I huffily comment, turning away to hide my smile at his stupidity by now realizing there’s some huge secret that a few have figured out other than the original two.
