Page 86 of Yours, Finally

She approached the pictures. The top one was the Sotomayors and I in their old home, after dinner, their hair still black. Gabe, Vi, and I were around ten years old, and all five of us smiled at the camera with silly faces and a few missing teeth.

The bottom photo was at the lake house a few years before, now all of us grown up. Tío Raúl and Tía Sonia's hair had gray in it now, but we all still smiled at the camera.

"I have one with Max and Javier as well." I pointed to a smaller frame on my desk.

Vi ran a finger over the glass covering our young faces.

She sighed and turned to me. "You're a sentimental guy."

I frowned. "Does that surprise you?"

"No." She met me in the middle of the room. "I love it, actually. It takes a big heart to make room for another big heart. Mine is big, too."

"It is." I gave her a soft kiss. "It's lovely."

"Now show me how you make music, Jake."

Electricity sparked on my fingertips, and nerves took hold from my stomach. I took a few deep breaths while I gestured for her to sit on the office chair, and I brought a stool for myself.

I woke up the computer, and opened the software on a new project. "There's a lot of technology involved, but any note you play on the keyboard will show on that page. Go ahead, try."

She played a few random notes, and the signs for it appeared on the screen.

I gazed in the direction of my favorite guitar. "The same happens when I connect the guitar or bass, or I sing into the microphones. After many tries, editing, adding beats, etcetera, I can write the lyrics onto the music sheet too. Then there's more editing but, eventually, a song is finished."

I opened a file I had worked on a few months earlier, to show her the final version. A set of colored bars in different lengths and over multiple layers filled the page.

She leaned forward, her eyes darting over the screen. Her lips opened, and an awed tilt took over her mouth.

"You wrote this," she said.

It wasn't a question.

"Do you want to hear it?"

Mine was, and it brought a hum into my veins.

She gasped. "Yes!"

I clicked a few buttons and passed the headphones to her. "This way you can hear it properly."

I set the sound to come out of the speakers as well, and pressed play.

The song I chose was primarily instrumental for the first couple of minutes, mostly piano, with a few passages of bass and guitar to accentuate certain passages. It was music that echoed emotions more than thoughts; from waiting to moving forward but coming to a stop, to long passages that talked about time andgoing with the flow. Until nearing the end, when a quiet stretch gave way to lyrics that floated above the piano notes.

Set the tone

Set the pace

Set my heart, my light

Set my love in stone

Set me straight, tonight

But know

I will fall, and fall