I think we got it that time, Chad.” The producer’s voice blared through the speakers in the recording studio. Chad turned down the volume and spoke into the microphone.
“Great.” Chad peeled the headphones off and hung them on the rack to his left.
The door opened and Jim walked in, then pulled a stool up beside Chad. “I want to talk to you.”
“Okay.”
“We’ve been working together awhile, right?” Jim asked.
“Since I won America’s Next Star. Hard to believe it’s been two years.”
“Two great years.” Jim nodded. “And you’re just getting started. Each album gets better and better. This one is amazing. Your fans are going to go crazy. I’ve got some ideas for the tour I want to run past you.”
“I’m not touring with this one, Jim.” Chad sighed. They had already had this conversation. “I’m taking a break from music for a while.”
“You’re still planning that TV show?”
“Yes.” Chad looked at Jim. His thinning hair was plastered to his head, caked with sweat. Chad loved making music, but he didn’t love touring or having girls scream his name and cry when he came near.
“Look.” Jim rubbed his hands together. “I wasn’t going to say anything because I hoped this was just a phase. But, dude, going from pop star to hosting a TV show is a huge jump down. People will talk. This could kill your career. I mean, all of it—music, acting, you name it. You could be a laughingstock in the business, end up flipping burgers for the rest of your life.”
“I appreciate your concern. But I can’t live my life worrying about what people are going to think. If they laugh me out of the business, then so be it. I’ll run my family’s orange grove and take my guitar out to the streets on the weekends.”
“Sure, make jokes.” Jim stood. “But I’m telling you this for your own good. Drop this show.”
Chad didn’t like Jim’s tone. And he really didn’t like the fact that the man made sense. This thought was not a new one. He had considered it before. No pop star had ever done what he was considering. What if this is career suicide?
Jim slammed the door as he walked out. Chad looked past him to see his parents come into the small office. They were in their work clothes.
I know what that means.
“SOSYDGABH Day, son.” Mom handed Chad a canvas bag with jeans, a T-shirt, and some old sneakers.
SOSYDGABH was an acronym for “Serve Others So You Don’t Get A Big Head.” A tradition Chad’s parents started right after he had won the music competition, these days were filled with helping people in need. The Beacons had served meals at homeless kitchens, cleaned out flooded houses, and cleared out gutters. They never let the press know what they were doing, wanting to serve others in secret.
“Today we’re helping a family from church,” Dad explained.
“The Millers’ house burned down last week.” Mom frowned. “Get changed now. We have a busy day ahead of us.”
Chad changed from his button-down shirt and khaki pants into his work clothes, wondering what project they would be doing for the Millers.
“The Millers are staying at a seedy little hotel in a bad part of town,” Mom said once the family was in their SUV. “Pastor Greg told us they didn’t have insurance, so they have literally lost everything.”
“That’s terrible,” Chad said. “Do they have kids?”
“Three little guys.” Dad shook his head. “They don’t need to spend another day in that awful place. We put a call in to Janet, and she said the apartment complex she manages has a three-bedroom that’s available.”
“Now, this stays between us, all right?” Mom said.
“Of course.” Chad nodded.
“We’ve paid for their first year’s rent, and we’ve furnished the apartment. But we’re not telling the Millers that. We don’t want them to feel obliged to us. Pastor Greg is calling them right now to tell them an anonymous giver has done that and that our family is coming to help them move in.”
“Here’s where you come in.” Mom smiled at Chad. “Once we get the Millers to their apartment, we want to take Mrs. Miller shopping for some household items.”
“I’m babysitting the boys,” Chad concluded.
“That’s right.”
“You always said you wanted a brother.” Dad smiled.
“All right,” Chad said. “I can handle that. I think.”
“Little boys have lots of energy,” Mom said. “But the complex has a pool and a playground, so you’ll have plenty to keep them busy.”
Mom wasn’t exaggerating about the hotel, Chad thought as they walked to the Millers’ door. Paint fell in sheets off the antiquated walls, and the metal door looked like it had been on the losing end of a schoolyard fight. After one knock, Mrs. Miller opened the door. Peering under the chain, she smiled as she saw Chad’s family. After quickly shutting the door to remove the lock, she opened the door wide.
“Thank you so much.” A baby on one hip and two other boys attached to her legs, Mrs. Miller looked like she would topple over at any moment.
“When Pastor Greg called and said someone had paid for an apartment”—Mrs. Miller began to cry—“I was just about at the end of my rope. I was praying this morning for some help. I didn’t think I could go on.”
“One thing we know is that God answers prayer.” Dad held his arms out to the baby. “We are glad to be used by him to help you.”
“We haven’t been formally introduced.” With the baby safe in Dad’s arms, Mrs. Miller was able to take Mom’s outstretched hand. “I’m Maria Beacon, and this is my husband, Bill, and my son, Chad.”
“Of course. I know who you are.” Mrs. Miller smiled and invited the family into the tiny room. Two double beds crowded the space. A chair was butted against the window and one small suitcase lay on the dresser. “I’m Karen Miller. My husband, Allan, is at work right now. But this is Allan Jr. We call him A.J.”
The five-year-old stood next to his mother, his big brown eyes staring up at Chad.
“How are you, buddy?” Chad knelt so he could be at eye level with the boy. “My name is Chad. My parents are going to let me have a playdate with you today. What do you think about that?”
A.J. looked at his mother. When she smiled, A.J. nodded. “Can Robby come too?”
Chad looked at the three-year-old, who was flashing a wide grin at Chad. “I wike bafeball.”
“I like baseball too, Robby.” Chad laughed. “Maybe we can pick up a ball on our way out.”
Dad tickled the baby. “And who is this little guy?”
Robby pulled on Dad’s shirt. “That’s my brover.”
“Is he your brother?” Dad looked down at Robby. “Are you sure? I thought this was your dad.”
“No.” Robby giggled.
“Your uncle?”
“No.”
“Your pet turtle?”
A.J. stepped out from beside his mother. “He’s our little brother, mister.”
“Well, if you both say he’s your brother”—Dad looked at the baby again—“then I guess he must be.”
Chad looked at the boys. “You’ll have to excuse my dad, kids. He’s old. Sometimes he gets confused.”
The adults shared a laugh while A.J. and Robby looked at Dad with suspicion.
“All right now,” Mom said. “We have a busy day. You boys ready to see your new place?”
“Yeah,” Robby and A.J. yelled. The baby joined in with a squeal.
Karen Miller was able to gather all her belongings in just five minutes. Chad watched as she placed everything she owned into the one suitcase in the room. The apartment complex was south of Orlando. Janet White was a longtime friend of the Beacons. They had been part of the same small-group Bible study for years, and Janet’s husband, Dan, ran a marketing firm that his parents used to advertise their oranges.
“We’re going to wiv dere?” Robby pressed his face against the SUV’s window.
Mrs. Miller patted her son’s head. “Not in all of that. Just a part.”
The apartment community had a gate at the entrance. Once they passed that, the boys saw the huge pool and play area.
“I wanna go there,” A.J. said quietly.
“I was hoping you’d say that.” Chad smiled. “Me too.”
“Chad will watch the boys while we go shopping and get you settled,” Mom said to Karen.
“Oh, are you sure?”
“Of course,” Dad said. “Chad is great with kids.”
“But he’s a big star.”
“Today he’s just a young man wanting to help,” Mom said.
“Really.” Chad pinched baby Trevor’s cheeks. “I love kids. It’s my pleasure to get to spend a day with these guys.”
Karen Miller wiped her eyes. “Thank you. Are you sure you can handle all three?”
“Yes, ma’am,” Chad said. “Don’t worry. I won’t take my eyes off them.”
The afternoon went by faster than Chad had expected. He and the boys went to the pool, to the playground, and back to the pool. The older boys loved having Chad throw them into the deep end. The baby sat in a float and laughed as his brothers begged to “go higher.” Chad enjoyed watching their faces light up. But keeping three young boys entertained was exhausting. He was relieved to see his parents wave him over to the apartment at five o’clock.
“The Millers have invited us to dinner.” Dad opened the door for Chad and the boys.
“Wow.” Robby looked into the apartment, his eyes wide. “This is awesome.”
“I want to see your room.” Chad turned to A.J.
“Where is my room, Mama?” A.J. asked.
“I think you should try to find it yourself,” Karen said with a smile.
A.J. darted through the living room and down the hall. He peered in the first room. “Hey, those beds are too little for me.”
“You’re right.” Chad stood behind the little boy and looked at the room. A crib was on one wall, a toddler bed on the other.
“Thomas the Tank Engine.” Robby ran past Chad and A.J. to the toddler bed. “Dat’s my favowite!”
His wall was filled with prints of Thomas and Friends. His comforter matched the prints, and a table with Thomas trains and tracks sat below the window. Robby sat by the table and began playing.
“I think Robby found his room.” Chad gazed down at A.J. “But where’s yours, buddy?”
A.J. looked at the room across the hall from his brothers’. “That’s not mine.”
The master bedroom was spacious. A queen-sized bed filled the center of the room, with a dresser and chest of drawers against the walls.
“Maybe you’ll have to sleep outside in the pool,” Chad said.
A.J. looked at Chad and frowned.
“Oh, wait,” Chad said. “I see one more room down there.”
A.J. ran to look in the last bedroom. “This is mine! And it’s got baseball stuff everywhere.”
Chad walked in and saw a twin bed topped with a baseball quilt, pictures of baseball players on the walls, and a shelf with baseball caps above the dresser.
“I even have my own bat and glove.” A.J. pointed to the spot beside the door where the equipment hung.
“Awesome,” Chad said. “Maybe we can go throw the baseball a little before dinner.”
“I think that’s a great idea,” Mom said.
Chad and A.J. stayed outside until their mothers called them in. The dinner, spaghetti with garlic bread and a Caesar salad, was delicious, and the little boys were asleep before the Millers could serve the chocolate cake Karen had made for dessert.
“We can’t thank you enough,” Allan Miller said after tucking A.J. into his new bed for the night. “This is so generous.”
“We just helped get you in and get you set up,” Mom said. “And it was a joy to be able to do that. You have a beautiful family.”
Karen Miller wiped her eyes. “Thank you. And thank you, Chad. My boys had such a great day. You have no idea how difficult the last week has been for all of us. This is the first time I’ve really seen them happy since the fire.”
“I should thank you.” Chad smiled. “And if it’s all right, I’ll come back again. Maybe you guys can go out one night and I’ll watch the boys.”
“I’d love that.” Allan winked at his wife. “Wouldn’t you, dear?”
“Chad Beacon, babysitting our sons?” Karen laughed. “That is something.”
The families said good-bye, and a fatigued Beacon threesome got back in their car to drive home.
“That was great,” Chad said. “Thanks.”
“Better than the recording session?”
“So much better.” Chad laughed.