Page 33 of Nanny for the Rockstars

“You said we had to be up at six,” I say with a shrug. “So we set an alarm.”

“I said we have to be on the road by six,” she replies. “Not up at six. God, there are really times I wonder how you get anything done. Or how you managed to make it so big in the industry on your own before you had a manager to tie up your loose ends.”

“We wonder the same thing most of the time,” Caleb says. He’s up, but he’s not happy about it, and though he does watch his tone around Mags more than anyone else, that doesn’t mean he’s holding back that much.

“Just get your clothes on and get downstairs,” she tells us.

“You better tell Jeanette that we’ve got to get going,” I tell her as she turns to walk down the hallway. “She’s going to have to get Hendrix up and ready too.”

“She’s already down in the bus,” Mags replies, not slowing or stopping as she heads for the elevator.

“Fuck. Of course she is,” I say. I turn to my brothers. “Did you hear that? The nanny got the kid down there already, we better pick up the pace.”

“Again, it’s not like they can have the show without us,” Terry calls out from the bathroom. “I don’t know why everyone is so up in arms about being on the road at a certain time. If we aren’t there then it’s not like the show can go on.”

“You better not let Mags hear you say that. She’ll freak out if she hears you disrespect the fans that way,” I warn.

“If it weren’t for us, there wouldn’t fans to disrespect,” Caleb grumbles. “I think they forget that the whole reason they get to be fans is because of what we do. I’m not in the mood to be threatened with losing fans. Just so you all know.”

“Not that they’re going anywhere anyway.” I shrug. “Where are they going to go? Listen to someone else and show us how to be there on time. Fuck.”

Even with all the grumbling and complaining we’re doing with each other, that doesn’t stop us from picking up the pace to get ready and be out to the bus earlier than we planned. We’ve worked with Mags enough to know that she gets an attitude with us when we put everyone behind schedule, and even if we are technically her bosses, that doesn’t mean she’s very pleasant to deal with when she’s pissed about something.

It’s a lot easier to just make sure we’re going along with the flow of the group than it is to argue with her about anything, so that’s what we’re doing. Not to mention the fact that Jeanette has set the bar even higher, getting herself and Hendrix up and out of the hotel as early as she did.

We head to our bus, still pissed about being up so early, so none of us are ready for Jeanette to yell as soon as we walk through the door.

“Surprise!”

“Fuck,” I say. “Do you have to do that so early in the morning?”

“Jesus, Jeanette! Give us the chance to wake the fuck up a little bit before you start in like that! Shit,” Caleb says.

“What the fuck is this?” Terry looks around the bus.

Though none of us are very happy with the early morning surprise, our bitchiness is short-lived when we see all the work Jeanette has put into the bus for our day.

Mags didn’t say a word about it, and I’m not sure if it’s because she doesn’t know or if it’s because she doesn’t care, but either way—today is our birthday. The three of us were born just minutes apart, and today marks yet another birthday we celebrate on the road.

“Happy birthday!” Jeanette shouts, undeterred by the way we all barked at her for how excited she is so early in the morning. Then again, it seems like it would take a lot to dampen her spirits these days. She starts singing the birthday song to us, and Caleb is the only one who remains pissed off about the entire thing through the end.

“I don’t know why you find it appropriate to do this to someone as soon as they walk through the door,” he snaps.

“Because that’s how it’s a surprise,” she says. “If I didn’t say a word about it, then there’s all kinds of time for you guys to drop hints and shit about your birthday, and you’re going to think I don’t remember when it is. So I wanted to surprise the three of you so you know I not only remembered, I also arranged for you to have a nice birthday surprise when you got up this morning.”

“I think that’s nice,” Terry says. “It’s been a long time since someone else has put in the work of giving us a party, even if it’s small and on the bus.”

“Not to mention the fact that I don’t think anyone on our team gives a shit that it’s our birthday, let alone remembers,” I chime in. “I’m pretty sure Mags is genuinely pissed that we’re running late, and she could care less if we wanted to sleep in because it’s our day.”

“Who cares about that?” Jeanette says. “I don’t think it should matter what anyone else thinks. The fact that you have me and baby Hendrix here to celebrate with you should be enough, right? Sorry we didn’t exactly go to the trouble of getting you a birthday present, but I figured having birthday cake donuts and coffee would do the trick to at least put you in a good mood for the day.”

“It’s good enough for me,” I say. “Not to be a dick, but like, what are you going to buy us that we wouldn’t have gotten already? We don’t exactly wait around to buy things once we decide we want them.”

“And it’s not exactly like you’ve given me my paycheck yet,” she says.

“Oh yeah, that too,” Caleb replies. “Hey little man, how are you? Do you know it’s your old dads’ birthday today? That’s right, all three of us get to get older on the same day. What do you think about that? Crazy, isn’t it?”

The baby gurgles as Caleb holds him, then laughs as he kisses him on the cheek. Of course, Terry wants to have his turn next, and then I finally get to have my hands on our son. The only thing I don’t particularly like about sharing everything with my two brothers is the fact that I have to wait my turn a lot of the time. For the most part I just take things when I want them, but when there’s only one Hendrix to go around we all have to be patient with each other.

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