“Mommy, can you play dress up with me?” Barb asked.

“Baby, I’d love to, but Mommy is busy with work.  When I’m done for the day, ok?” Mikayla replied.

Barb hung her head, walking silently out of Mikayla’s office at the house.  Mikayla looked over the spreadsheets on her laptop, going through a few different websites for pricing and such.  There was a soft knock on the door frame.

“Do I want to know why Barb is looking like a dramatic teenager?” Justin asked.

“She wants to play dress up, and I told her it would have to wait.”

“Kay…”

“I'm getting ready to pitch to potential donors, Justin.  I need to have everything planned, organized, so they’ll take me seriously and not just a celebrity trophy wife hoping to get money because of my married name.”

“If anything, I’m the trophy husband.  I applaud how much you’ve given to this, that you’re committed to making this work and hit the ground running, but working from home means you slip in early or stay in here later than your schedule.  I don’t want you to get burned out because you’re doing too much and not having time for us.  You’ll always have work to do, but Barb won’t always want to play with you, and you’ll miss that once that shift happens.  If you’re gonna work from home, then take advantage of the opportunities to be a mom as well before they’re gone.”

“I still have Silas…”

“Not the same, Mikayla.  Even then, you’ve stopped nursing and pumping to give yourself more time for work.  Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad to only share your breasts with JC again, but even that’s taken a backseat.”

“You go on tour for a year at a time, Justin.  I’ve had plenty of times where I wanted something and you weren’t even available for something on the phone…”

“But I give myself breaks during the tour, even if it’s just 24 hours or less to see the kids, have some time with you.  Yeah, I’m gone, but I also put in the effort to see you guys so it’s less than a month between visits.  I’m not even touring right now, so don’t give me that when I’m home plenty right now.”

“I’m starting a nonprofit, Justin.  There’s a lot of work that needs to be done.  I don’t have time to be guilted about this.  I’m doing the best I can.”

“We need more, Kay.  The twins turn 5 in 2 weeks.  I’ve planned the birthday party, mostly with Jackie’s help, because I feel like I’m asking too much of you.  You’re my wife, these are our kids, we said family was going to come first, and it hasn’t.”

“Justin, I-” 

“No excuses, Kay.  I normally don’t like to be this dominant outside of the bedroom, but I’m putting my foot down.  Stick to the schedule you created before you actually started, and give yourself time within that to be with our kids.  It’s great that you’re doing this, trust me, but I don’t want the kids to suffer because of it.  You still have wedding planning to do… I worry it’ll all take a backseat to this.”

Mikayla sighed.  She knew he was right.  She had told herself as much a few times in the last 6 weeks, even more so the last 2 weeks as her presentation to donors loomed near.  She didn't get a choice in having to present the week before the twins’ birthdays, it was then or wait another 3-6 months.  That was time she didn't have to try and get things moving forward.  

Then there were things at the school.  She had meetings with her new replacement, glad she found someone she felt was competent to take over.  There was still research that needed to be done, figuring out the budget, things they would need for the year.  She had tried to give that a fair amount of attention so she could step away and just keep tabs instead of being heavily involved, but it soon felt like she was working two full time jobs, plus being a mom of three.

“I know.  I’m trying to get stuff with the school squared away so I can step back, but the presentation date for the nonprofit is looming.”

“You could have picked another date, Kay.”

“They wouldn’t have been available.”

“Then they’re not the right people to work with.  I love you, our family, and I work damn hard to make sure I spend time with them even when I’m on the road.  Go play dress up with Barb for half an hour.  Maybe it’ll be the break you need to give you some clarity for what you’re working on.”

She closed the lid of her laptop, sighing.  “Ok.  You all are important to me, so please don’t think…”

“I don’t think anything of you except that you are an incredible woman who is putting too much on herself.  Yes, I might be frustrated that things have changed, but I don’t think any less of you for it.  I’ve tried pussyfooting around, and it has come to this.  I don’t like being so firm with you like this.”

“I know,” she said quietly.  “You’d rather be firm in other ways. I’ll play dress up with Barb now, then we’ll have our own little play time after the kids go to bed.”

“Yeah?” he asked with a sly smile.

“Me in that little leather getup, the swing…”

“Can the kids go to bed NOW?!” he chuckled.

“All in good time.  Excuse me, I’ve got some playing to do.”

“I can’t wait til we get to play tonight,” he growled in her ear as she walked past him.  He swatted her butt, Mikayla giving him a cute smirk as she walked away with an extra swing in her hips just for him.

…

“Is this making sense?” Mikayla asked, somewhat exasperated.

“Only because we’ve been working on this the past few weeks,” Brent said.  “Honestly, I don’t know much of the business side.  I know as much as renting the building space, billing and collecting payments, not much else.  It’s just me and Lisa, with instruments we had at home that we could teach.  If you weren’t so busy, I’d suggest you teach singing.”

“I think you’re confusing me with my husband and JC,” Mikayla laughed.

“I’ve heard you sing, Mikayla.  You were Mimi in Rent for Christ’s sake.  You earned that.  It’s no wonder your kids have the talent they do.  It’s not just from JC, but they get it from you, too.  He told me he loved listening to you sing, especially when you didn’t realize you were doing it.  The way you did the aria from the ‘wicked queen’ song?  Playing the piano but singing those notes.”

“That was a long time ago,” Mikayla sighed.

“He told me about that at dinner on New Year’s Eve.  Careful, Mikayla.  I think he’s still in love with you.”

“I know.  He’s told me as much.”

“He DOES know you’re married to Justin, right?”

‘He does.”

“Mikayla, you’re playing with fire here.  I know he’s the twins’ real father, but…”

“Can we not talk about this?  The big pitch is in 2 weeks.  I need this to make sense to them.”

“Can’t Justin call in somebody that might know a bit about this stuff to make sure it makes sense.  Let you rehearse the pitch?”

“I’ll ask.  It’s not like I’ll know anyone the day of the pitch, so practicing with a possibly familiar face might help.  I just don’t want to get this because of who I’m married to.  Sure, maybe when we do fundraisers we’ll check with his friends for donations, but I want to get the ball running with these companies.  I’m not asking for one time donations like with the school.  This isn’t going to be some next big thing, this is asking to invest in a nonprofit to help get your music school into schools across LA.”

“They might see an opportunity to grow the school itself, have multiple locations, that kind of growth.  Hell, just look at where we started.  Candace started the school in a tiny building with multiple grades together, now they have locations all over the area and go from preschool to middle school, even looking to open a high school.  How is that going, training your replacement?”

“It’s going ok.  He’s great, he worked for a theater company for a while, I kinda knew him from my time doing Rent, had heard the name around.  He knows the performing side as well as the technical side. It’s just getting the nitty gritty stuff down.  It’s making me miss it, but I know once this gets off the ground, this will be more satisfying.  Here, I’m kinda my own boss, working with you to develop everything.  We can do what we want with it, where at the school I’m very much under more scrutiny.  They asked me to come back, but I think if they knew the situation…”

“What situation?  Why did they even ask you to leave in the first place?”

Mikayla sighed.  “They freaked out when Josh and I were seen out with the kids in Florida while on vacation.  They knew he was their dad, but now that most of the free world knew, it was suddenly bad press.”

“Yeah, I wouldn’t have cared about that.  Why are you worried now?”

“I’m still in love with Josh.”

“Mikayla, please don’t tell me you’re having an affair…”

“Not exactly, no.  Well, yes, but no.  Justin knows, is surprisingly ok with it.  It’s been almost a year now.”

“Yeah, the school would freak out if any of that came out.”

“What about you?  You’re freaking out.”

“Yes, but as a friend that cares about you.  Not from a business standpoint.  I just want you happy.  If it’s been almost a year, it must be going well, not that I need more details than that.”

“I’m renewing my vows with Justin, but also doing a small ceremony with Josh to show our commitment to each other without breaking any laws and being legally married.  I never thought I’d get the chance.  This way, I do.”

“If you could only have one, who would you choose?” Brent asked.

“I honestly don’t know.  When I think about one, I immediately think of what I’d be giving up with the other.  I know I have kids with each of them, but it’s complicated.  We’re not exactly putting it out there for the whole world.  I’m sneaking around a bit and I hate it.”

“I see why they would freak out, but I still trust you to do this with us.  You’ve put so much work  into this, you have such a great vision for it.  That is what is going to make a difference.  Reach out to Justin, see if he or JC know anyone that you could bounce this off of.”

“I’m sure they do.  I want someone I don’t know, though, preferably.  I could see Josh offering to have me meet with Eric to discuss numbers and all that kinda stuff. I really want to feel like I did this on my own, ya know?”

“It’s ok to accept a little help to get you there.  Especially if it’s people that know their shit and can help you be successful.  There’s no harm in that, especially around here.  You know as well as I do this whole area is all about connections, who you know.  You know or have access to deep pockets, Mikayla.  Even if these investors don’t work out, fundraisers could help a lot.”

‘They’d only give because Justin invited them…”

“I think you’d be surprised.  A lot of our students are from the school, so if word goes around that there’s a fundraiser, we might get some support there as well.  You never know, Mikayla.”

“I’ll ask them for some help with making sure the numbers all add up in a way that makes sense and looks appealing to investors.”

“Go home, spend time with your kids, you’ve been running yourself ragged.  I know Lisa and I have both noticed it lately.  It’s Friday night, don’t you normally have movie night?”

“Yeah.  I’ll pick up some pizzas on the way home.  I’ll let Josh know, though he may have already put in an order somewhere.  The kids love being at his house, even when it’s not their weekend at his house.  Justin needs to step up his game a bit with our backyard, they keep wanting to go to Josh’s.”

“Sounds like you guys are making things work, for everyone.  Good night, Mikayla.”

“Good night, Brent.  Have a good weekend.”