Dinner Time

“You do know that the dinner is ready, right?” a female voice told them from the door. Normally the band members were first in line when food was concerned, but this time none of them showed up, so the crew really started to wonder.

“Uhm, yeah…” Richie answered and didn’t move. He didn’t want to leave Isabella yet. She reminded him so much of Ava as a baby and he wished once more he had more kids.

“Who is that little girl?” their wardrobe girl asked and stepped closer.

“That dear Lisa is Isabella. , who wandered the long hallways all on her own.” Jon told her.

“You have no idea where her parents are, right?” Tico asked her.

“No, but when she would be my little angel, she sure wouldn’t be here alone.” Lisa said and tried to take her from Jon.

A loud scream came from Isabella and she clung to him, pulling away from Lisa’s hands. Tears were streaming down her face and you could see she was deeply scared.

Shocked Lisa took a step back. “I’m sorry.” She stuttered and ran her hands nervously through her blond hair.

“It’s ok Lisa, you couldn’t know. She never did that before.” Rich tried to calm the shocked woman.

“Come here.” Tico whispered in a deep voice and held Isabella in his arms protectively. Softly he murmured in Spanish to her until she calmed down. He swept the tears away with his hands and kissed her cheek.

Isabella grabbed his fingers and pulled them closer to her mouth. Tico grinned.

“Sorry, Bella. There’s no food. But I’m sure we can find you something.” He looked at his band mates.

“She already has teeth, right?” David asked.

“Yep, she should be able to eat something else than milk.” Tico agreed, after he felt Isabella’s teeth at his fingers.

“How about I go and buy some of those glasses?” Lisa suggested, trying to make up for scaring the girl.

“No way!”

“She won’t eat it”

“That stuff tastes horrible!”

“Over my dead body!” The band members shouted.

“Whoa, what’s wrong with it?” Lisa asked surprised.

“It’s not good! Tastes horrible!” Jon told her with disgust. “I could never give it to her.”

“I’m pretty sure she wouldn’t take it. Heather tried it once with Ava and my little princess spit it right across the table!” Richie grinned at the memory.

“I’m sure we will find her something at the buffet.” Tico slowly walked down the hall with her. “But you could get us some diapers size two. What goes in, has to come out again.”

They all grimaced lightly at the thought and watched Lisa leaving in a hurry.

“Here Johnny, take her for a minute, I need to get something.” Tico handed him Isabella, who just pouted a little.

“Sure, we will check out the food.” Jon told him.

Walking into the room where the buffet was build up and some tables to eat. Everybody looked up when they spotted Isabella. Matt already asked if they knew where she came from, but unfortunately nobody did.

“Hi everybody. We figured out her name. It’s Isabella. Does anybody know her? Or has an idea where her parents might be?” Jon asked loudly. They all shook their heads no and watched amused how Isabella pouted immediately about Jon’s loud voice.

“I’m sorry, little Lady, I’m sorry.” Jon whispered and tried to stop her from crying again.

“Let’s see what we can find you to eat.” Richie grabbed a plate and walked over to the buffet.

“Here we have some potatoes…and they are …” he took a bite. “…not salty.” He put them on her plate.

“Here are some carrots….oh, and look at this…. a banana.” He held the yellow fruit up and Isabella tried to reach for it hungrily. Rich chuckled.

“You are hungry, princess, right?” he walked over to a table and started to mash the potatoes and carrots. The little girl watched his action with big eyes and started to move around in Jon’s arms anxious.

“Ok, ok…Bella. I get it, you wanna eat.” Jon sat down with her next to Richie. “We could use a baby’s high chair.

“I don’t think there’s one among our equipment, Johnny…” Tico’s deep voice let Isabella turn her head immediately and she gurgled happily.

“…but I found this.” Tico held up a bib from his Rock Star Baby collection.

“Here, mi corazón, you will need this.” Gently he put the soft grey cotton with a black guitar on it around her neck.

As soon as he was done Isabella opened her mouth wide and wanted someone to feed her. Richie obliged happily.

“I thought maybe she wants something to drink as well.” One of the women cooking for them said and handed Jon a mug.

“What’s that?” he asked a little concerned. Dorothea made him learn pretty fast what babies and toddlers are allowed to drink without getting problems with their teeth later.

“That’s apple juice. I reduced it with water.” She told him smiling. Jon nodded agreeing and handed Tico the mug.

“Any chance you have a baby bottle here as well?” the front man asked. Tico grinned and pulled one from a bag that was sitting next to him.

“Smart man!” David commented and peeled the banana for Isabella.

“Look, sweetheart. Would you like some?” he held up a small piece of banana and grinned happily, when the little girl reached for it and put it into her mouth.

“Yeah, that’s great, isn’t it?” David said and handed her another piece.

“She’s really beautiful.” The blond woman said still standing next to them and carefully ran her hand over Isabella’s head.

Immediately the girl’s eyes grew wide and she started to scream. The half chewed banana piece dropped out of her mouth on the bib and big tears were streaming down her face again.

Everybody in the room turned around shocked.

“Oh, no…not again.” Jon cursed and picked her up to calm her, but Isabella wouldn’t calm down.

“Tico!” Jon turned and handed the crying girl to his drummer.

“Shhhh…mi corazón. Everything is fine. Look, it was only this nice Lady.” He pointed at the surprised woman.

When Isabella spotted the blond woman, her screams got shrill. They all watched her in disbelieve.

“Ok, I really start to think, maybe she doesn’t like women.” David said while they all walked back with the still upset baby into Jon’s dressing room.

“Maybe her father raises her alone and she isn’t used to women?” Richie suggested and checked Tico’s bag for something that would calm Isabella down.

“Oh, look at this princess.” He held up a white teddy bear that was wearing a black rock star baby shirt and a matching cap. The little girl still sniffed lightly, but stopped crying and reached for the bear.

“Why are you carrying around that stuff anyway?” Jon wondered while pulling a chair over to the couch.

“Those are new product samples. They want my input on them” Tico explained and watched how Isabella pressed the teddy bear close to her chest.

“Well, I think the teddy, is a must have.” Richie told him.

“Yeah, I think so too.” The drummer agreed.

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