We had fun playing music and I encouraged Amber to play her songs. She was shy at first, so I sang a church parody first with her singing back up. That gave her some confidence after we sang together. Then she was able to sing her song while playing keyboard and I sang back up. Thomas clapped and was very impressed! He said, "You guys are awesome! You could be professional singers and artists." I asked him to play a song he knew. He played 'Hotel California' by The Eagles. I loved that song! He was great at playing the guitar, but not so much at singing. He did ok but didn't have much of a range. I sang with him to help harmonize. He smiled in appreciation.
We made a good duo. I started to think about songs we could sing together. I knew he was a decent country singer if it wasn't too high-pitched. I had a much better range from Alto to Soprano. Amber had a similar range as mine, but she was shy. I hoped I could help build her self-confidence. She was beautiful! I wish she could see herself the way I did. Christopher came in and heard us playing. He got on the drums and started playing. He was surprisingly good! He had a lot of pent-up rage and wanted to let it out. The song turned a little bit harder rock than classic rock, but it was still good. His playing encouraged Thomas's solo rift. They jammed together and the music came alive!
I was dancing to the music while Amber just smiled. Thomas blew me a kiss when he nailed the guitar solo. I loved his confidence! We listened to the recording afterward. I was like, "Wow, we are really good together!" Thomas was impressed and said, "We should send it to a producer as a demo tape!" I agreed! We had a few different styles to choose from. We might get lucky if they liked one of our songs. I had others that I knew from the future. I was trying to remember how the music went. Oh Well, no one would know if we didn't get it just right. If it sounded good, we would be fine.
I knew a few artists that got their start in a garage band. There were even a few famous people from our city! I would need to find out the right way to submit a demo. It was just for fun right now, but it would be nice if we could make some money! Thomas said, "I should bring my friends over here so we can record more songs." I said, "Yeah, I'll ask my mom. She should be ok with it as long as she is here." My mom could hear us even in her bathroom. She was trying to relax in a bubble bath. She just shook her head at her kids. At least they were having fun. They needed it after being repressed for so long. It was good that they were playing well together. They even sounded good.
Jasmine played country songs for Thomas. She knew he liked Rascal Flatts and 3 Doors Down in his past life. She played 'Life is a Highway' by Rascal Flatts on her CD player. He listened to country music in his truck and had heard Rascal Flatts before. He liked the song and asked if he could borrow the CD. She let him borrow it and told him to get the 3 Doors Down CD the next time he went to Best Buy. He said, "OK, maybe you can go with me next time I go to Best Buy and help me pick out some CDs." She nodded and said, "That sounds good." Christopher was still playing the drums. Jasmine looked at him and thought he was letting his rage out on the drums!
Jasmine thought about the song 'A Thousand Years'; it was her wedding song down the aisle. She thought it would be perfect for Amber to play the piano with Thomas on the Cello and her singing. She hoped she could get it right. She still remembered most of the lyrics. As far as the music is concerned, she could hum it and hopefully, they could figure it out. She didn't know how much focus Christopher had. He got bored playing the drums and went to play video games.
Jasmine asked Thomas if he wanted to play Super Mario Bros. Thomas was excited but didn't want to leave Jasmine alone. Jasmine said, "Come on" and led them to the living room where Christopher was already starting the game. I asked him, "Christopher, can Thomas play with you?" He said, "Ok, I'm Mario, you can play Luigi." Thomas said, "ok" and sat down on the couch next to him. I went to get drinks for everyone. Amber sat at the end of the couch and watched the guys play together. She liked Thomas as a future brother-in-law.
Jasmine could tell that her siblings were warming up to Thomas and accepting him into the family. She was glad they liked him. Jasmine liked to play Super Mario Bros, but she was bad at it. Her brother would get mad as she wasted all the lives he had earned. She would move the controller with her whole body to jump instead of pressing the button and would die. The music after she died always made her laugh, but it made her brother angry. Thomas and Christopher were playing well together and when Jasmine asked, "Can I play next?" Thomas said, "Sure!" He went to hand her the controller and Christopher yelled, "Nooooo! She will kill him and use up all my life!" I just laughed and let them play together. I was happy Christopher was getting along with Thomas.
I turned to Amber and started to talk about music. I hummed the tune to 'A Thousand Years' to see if she could recreate it. She liked the song and thought about it. She said, "I will try!" I smiled and nodded at her. She was talented. We must have gotten our musical talents from my father's side of the family because my mom hated to sing. She didn't even like the sound of her recorded voice at the radio station. One time they asked her to record a commercial and she didn't want to, so she recommended it to me. I was thrilled to be able to record the commercial. It worked out in the end because it was for a teen clothing store having a sale. I had to pretend to be a preppy teenager and be excited about the clothing store sale. It was fun!
We played for a little bit while my mom was relaxing. Thomas stayed until dinner. His parents were very relaxed with his curfew and said to call around 9 to let them know where he was. I helped my mom cook some chicken and rice with veggies. Thomas loved it! His mom was not the best cook, so they ate out a lot. He didn't get a lot of home-cooked meals except for when he was younger at his grandma's house. This style of family dinner was a new experience for him, and he enjoyed it! We had a big salad bowl in the middle of the table, and we all served ourselves. We each got our piece of chicken and lots of veggies. My siblings were not too picky and just ate whatever was given to them.
I helped cook it, so I made what I liked. I also made sure it didn't have any dairy products in it. I let the younger kids get a glass of milk with dinner so they could still have dairy. I didn't want them to miss out because of me. After dinner, I served some of the non-dairy ice cream that I had perfected. Thomas was impressed! He loved Chocolate ice cream the most. I knew his preferences after being together for almost 25 years in my past life. Every time I gave him something I knew he liked he was amazed. He secretly thought I was a witch! Oh well, life is full of magic. I let him believe in magic.
At the end of dessert, Thomas decided he should head home. It was already dark outside, and he didn't want his parents to worry. His dad might think he was used as a human sacrifice in some cult church. He said goodbye to my siblings and thanked my mom for the meal. She liked him and thought he was a respectful young man. She said, "You can come over again next weekend if you like." He happily agreed. He liked Jasmine's family. It was different from his own. A lot was going on with so many people and it was new and exciting for him. He would be back! Jasmine walked him to his truck and hugged him goodbye. He blushed as he drove home.