Page 22 of Not the Punk

“Okay…okay. Can we get coffee first?”

“Ooh…” I jumped on the bed again and then landed on my butt. “Sounds like a good idea.”

We filled our mugs, then headed into the living room. The tree was still flashing colored lights since we’d forgotten to unplug it the night before. “It’s beautiful.” All the blinds were shut, making the room darker so we could enjoy it more.

“It is. Very nice. What do you want to open first?”

“I did get you something.” I’d hidden it in my music room, wanting to surprise him. “Let me get it first.” I ran down the hall and slid to a stop in front of the door.

“Don’t run, Joe. You could fall and hurt yourself.”

I snorted. I didn’t care if I did. “It’s fun to slide in socks.” I didn’t think he heard me, though. I grabbed his present and ran back out, handing it to him.

“Thank you, Joe.”

“Open it.”

He tore into the paper as enthusiastically as any kid and pulled out the framed picture. “Oh…Joe. I love this.”

It was a picture Don had snapped of us at the pre-concert barbeque, and the thick frame said Our First Christmas with a little tree beside the words. It took me a while to figure out what to get him, but when Don showed me the picture, it was a no-brainer.

Colten pulled me into his lap and hugged me. “We need more pictures of us together.”

I couldn’t argue with that. I wanted to hang them up in our house. There were some great spots all around, like in the living room, hallway, my office, and bedroom. I was already hanging frames up in my mind.

“Now, let’s get to yours. Are you ready?”

I jumped up and clapped while Daddy Colten moved to the tree and sat on the floor beside it. He pulled out a somewhat big box. “Do you want to open as I hand them to you?”

“Okay, sounds good.” I grabbed the present and ripped into it, pulling out a black box with neon pink writing. “What’s this? Hitster?”

“It’s a game about music. Kind of like trivia, but you use the app to play the music.”

“Oh. That sounds fun.” I held the box over my head. “I know tons about music.”

“I bet you’re going to beat me at that one.” He winked at me. “But maybe you won’t beat Kay.” He was right about that, but this could keep us busy on the bus. I could see all five of us playing as we zoomed down the road from show to show.

After that, I opened a few more and revealed coloring books, colors, and some other fun things. Then Colten handed me another one. “This one is special.”

I opened it, and right away could see what he meant. It was a music box, but it was customized. It had words on top from our first hit, House and Home. It looked like an old-fashioned record player and the words went in a circle around it.

What’s a House

What’s a Home

Wherever you are

I am gone

Warmth and serenity

My state of mind

Golden sunshine

In a rhyme

And by your side