If you want to read from the
beginning links to the other stories are in the paragraph above. It’s not
necessary to understand the story but makes it more fun.
I must restate how odd it is that I’ve even chose this as my
“muse” I don’t know Shannon or Ryan and I certainly don't know any of the Royal
family, heck I've never even shown a big interest in the comings and goings of
the Royal family, yet I find myself thinking about this story long after I’ve
left the keyboard. I hope Ryan and Shannon don’t think I’m crazy, I doubt that
the Royal Family even knows I exist.
This one ended up longer than I
had anticipated and I’ve actually cut a lot of it out so stick with me if you
can. So anyway …. Here it is …. Enjoy
A Royal Musical
Journey
Ryan
never gets tired of stepping onto a stage, never gets tired of watching the
love of his life standing nearby singing her heart out, never gets tired of the
feel of a guitar in his hands and knowing that he can make it do things others
only dream of. It was a New Year’s Eve show, something they said they wouldn’t
do as holidays are for family, but when Hoda calls you say yes … principles be
damned.
It
started with Ryan watching Shannon walk down the hallway of Heathrow Airport on
the arm of the Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry carrying Ryan’s bag behind
them. Ryan wanted someone to stop and take his picture, where the hell are the paparazzi
when you need them he thought. The Prince of England is carrying my bag for
goodness sakes someone take our picture!!!!
“Man
you guys sure know how to pack light.” Harry said as he walked behind Kate and
Shannon.
“Man, two weeks in a single pair of jeans is
not going to be fun! However, Kate loves a good reason to shop we might end up
with an afternoon just the boys. Actually, that sounds fun!” As they walked out
the door of the airport and up to the car.
“We
were talking about it on the way to the car, I can find her something in my
closet for lunch and then we’ll find something for tomorrow night.”
Ryan
noticing that the idea of meeting the Queen was freaking Shannon out decided to
change the subject, “So when do we get to meet these amazing kids we have heard
so much about?” he asked glancing over at Harry.
Harry
looked a little startled, “A select group will be at the lunch today and others
will be at dinner tomorrow night. This weekend we’ll have a less formal “meet
and greet” where you’ll really have an opportunity to connect with them.”
Sitting
on one side of the car while Kate and Shannon were on the other side Harry
started to relax some into the seat. “This event has been exhausting. Don’t get
me wrong I’m excited about it, but every time we turn around there’s someone
trying to turn it into something that it’s not; from artist, to the kids, and
even some of the sponsors, and don’t get me started on the parents. You guys
are the first group picked up that hasn’t demanded something, a better hotel, a
better timeslot, first pick of the kids they want to work with, some have even
asked to get out of working with the kids. Everyone is acting like this is
their own personal concert, even the local groups. Frankly it’s starting to get
on my last nerve.”
Shannon
looked over, “That’s awful, I can’t even put into words what this event means
to us, not only cause it allowed us to get to know you guys, but it’s giving us
the trip of a lifetime and an opportunity to share our music with a new group
of people. Whatever you need, whenever you need it, we’ll be there.”
Harry
smiled at her, “We might just take you up on that, I have to warn you a few are
already big fans.” Kate grinned, “Harry won’t stop playing the EP at every
single event and meeting we’ve had with the kids and volunteers.” Ryan looked
at Shannon, this was indeed a fairy tale that he hoped never ended.
The
next day Ryan was standing in the siting room at Buckingham Palace waiting for
Shannon to come back downstairs and wishing it would be sooner than later. They
were the first to arrive for tonight’s dinner so that Shannon could borrow an
outfit from Kate and Ryan felt uncomfortable about being in the room alone
almost like he snuck in there. Something about the room and the quiet made him
think he’d get in trouble any second and sent back to the car. He stood to walk
around the room just to have something to do and was admiring a painting of a
beautiful garden when a voice behind him started him.
“It’s
even more lovely in person.”
Ryan
turned around to see the Duke of Cambridge standing there in a suit that had a
little stain on the shoulder. “I bet it is. This painting is amazing too tho.”
He reached out his hand, “By the way I’m Ryan, um… Mr. Duke sir”
The
Duke laughed “Call me Will everyone else does. My brother and Kate have been so
excited for you guys to get here they have talked of little else for over two
weeks.”
“We
can hardly believe that we are here, Shannon keeps asking me to pinch her! I
can’t believe that she’s upstairs borrowing some of Kate’s clothes, thanks for
letting her do that. She said she’s really going to feel like a Princess
tonight.”
“HA!
Don’t mention it, Kate was especially excited to play stylist for the evening.
It’s not often she gets to dictate what someone else is going to wear, well
other than me that is. She says picking out a suit gets boring cause the only
thing that changes is the tie!”
“Speaking
of your suit did you know you have something on the shoulder.”
Moving
to a nearby mirror to examine his jacket, he starts rubbing it with a piece of
ice from a glass handed to him, “The kids were going to be in bed when we
finished tonight so I popped in to say goodnight before I came down.” After
fussing with it for a few minutes, “How’s that?”
“Much
better. Besides isn’t that basically a dad badge?” William laughed and nodded.
Ryan couldn’t believe he was having a normal conversation with the future King
of England like they had known each other for years, he decided to take
advantage of this moment. “I have to ask you this cause if I don’t I’ll regret
it….. Are Harry and Kate really fans or I mean I don’t mean to be crass but I
just can’t help waiting on someone to walk up and say the jokes over get out
and that would kill Shannon!”
William
laughed, “Ever since Kate heard your music she’s been singing it, when she’s
cooking, when she’s rocking the kids to sleep, when she’s working out, she has
played that EP so many times if it were a record it would be ruined. I have
never seen my brother nervous to contact someone and his biggest fear is you
guys would turn him down. He’s not used to hearing the word no. Did you know
that he and Kate sang We’ll Always Have
Mexico to my Grandmother and she is the one that decided you and Shannon
needed to sing it not Harry and Kate? They worked on that song for several
weeks and she loved it but not coming from them. If you all left now I think
they would both go with you!” he said with a smile.
Ryan
didn’t know what to say and didn’t have an opportunity to speak as William
pointed behind him causing him to turn towards the door. The most beautiful
thing he had seen since their wedding day was walking through the door. He
didn’t even excuse himself just walked towards Shannon unable to focus on
anything or anyone else in the room. “You look amazing!”
“I’m
scared to death I’m going to ruin this dress” Shannon said unable to hide the
smile on her face. In this dress, she was radiant.
“Honey
it’s not the dress, I’ve seen dresses, this dress is garbage without you in it!”
Shannon playfully hit him in the arm “Don’t you dare let Kate hear you say
that!”
Harry
walked up behind Shannon, “He’s not wrong!” winked and walked off.
The
rest of the night was a blur of activity and both Ryan and Shannon were
surprised that once the evening began and they both relaxed they realized this
was exactly where they needed to be. After an amazing dinner there was a small
get together that included music and dancing. They met a 12-year-old who had
been writing songs since she was 8 and had recently recorded one in a real
studio thanks to Prince Harry. She was excited about this opportunity as she
wanted to learn how someone got involved in the music industry. Ryan told her
it was all luck and hard work but mostly luck. They made plans to get together
soon to talk more about the industry. They met another artist from Paris who
was looking to move to the states to be the next “Lady Gaga” and hoped to use
this event as a platform to do that. It was a 16-year-old however that stole
Shannon’s heart.
The
young man was standing to the side of the room alone and so Shannon walked over
to say hi. The young man told her that his name was Josh and he played guitar.
Shannon said she and her husband played as well and started talking to him
about some songs they both knew. The boy confessed to Shannon that he felt like
he was an imposter and didn’t belong there. Shannon told him she was sure that
wasn’t true and that she looked forward to hearing him play. He perked up after
that and she sat with him for a long time just watching the room. At one point,
she even asked Josh to dance with him. She didn’t realize that Kate was
watching from the other side of the room with a huge smile on her face. She
didn’t notice that Harry too had noticed what she was doing. None of that
mattered to her. She wanted to make this young man comfortable so he could
enjoy this evening like everyone else.
On
their first totally free day of this trip, Ryan and Shannon arrived at
Kensington Palace early that morning the girls were going to go shopping, since
Shannon’s bags still hadn’t arrive and the boys were going to do what boys do.
Kate was waiting when they walked in and she immediately grabbed Shannon’s arm
and headed right back out the door. William was standing in the hallway and
yelled towards the door as it closed, “Ok have fun bye!” then he turned to
Ryan, “Guess they are in a hurry. Have you eaten breakfast yet?!” They started
to turn towards the kitchen when the door flew back open, and Kate rushed up to
William gave him a hug and a kiss said bye and left again. Ryan laughed, “guess
she forgot something!”
Ryan
followed a now blushing William into the kitchen which was filled with activity
as the kids were sitting at the table eating breakfast with Ryan guessed the
nanny fussing over the baby.
William
turned back to Ryan as he took a napkin to clean George’s hands, ”Harry will be
here shortly, we figured while the girls were running around we’d do the
same. I thought we could start with a
ride around the grounds, show you that garden we talked about last night. It’s
not hunting season so no hunting but we’ll still find something to do.”
That
afternoon Ryan, Harry and William returned to the Palace exhausted, cold,
tired, and hungry. They must have ridden every inch of the estate. Ryan was
glad the rest of the day was free as he needed a few minutes to recharge. He
didn’t think he’d ever get the picture of ridding across a pasture with
William, Harry and George (in Harrys Lap) watching the beautiful scenery around
him. They hadn’t planned to take George but once he heard horses were involved
there was no way he was going to be left behind. Hearing George laughing from
Harry’s horse made bringing him completely worth it.
A
little while later Ryan was sitting in the living room of Kensington Palace
alone. William had taken George upstairs to get him down for a nap, Harry had
run off to make a phone call, and the girls were still shopping. He was almost
asleep after the days actives when Harry walked in and sat down in a nearby
chair.
“Sorry
we left you alone down here”
“No
problem, please don’t feel you have to entertain me, if you have something else
you need to be doing. I know this is a hectic time for you.”
“yeah
that’s why I’m enjoying the excuse to just …. Sit.” He leans back in the chair stretching out and
Ryan realized how tall the young man was as well as how tired he looked.
A
few days later it was finally time for Haley and Michaels to take the stage.
Shannon and Kate had a surprise for Harry that Shannon had told Ryan
about that morning.
As
the notes for We’ll Always Have Mexico started to play Ryan faked getting choked
up. Kate shoved Harry out onto the stage, and Ryan ran off to look for water as
Shannon shoved a microphone in Harry’s hand. She nudged him and he started to
sing. Kate and Ryan were off on the edge of the stage laughing and clapping as
Harry looked up towards the Queen, Phillip, Charles and William who were all
laughing obviously in on the surprise. Harry fell into the song and he and
Shannon nailed it as Ryan walked out with a closed bottle of water thanking the
Prince for helping him out.
Shannon
asked William and Kate to join them on stage, he had come down to close out the festival. Their new friend Josh walked out from the
other side of the stage and said “At the afternoon meet and greet you guys held prior
to this event Shannon, Ryan and I wrote this song as a thank you to the Royal
Foundation for all that they do.” Ryan walked up to the third microphone and
said, “We’d like to play it for you now if that’s ok.” Kate had tears in her eyes
and mouthed thank you to Shannon who was putting her guitar away so that Ryan and Josh would play while she sang. Harry was
also blown away by this gesture and he has never seen Josh so outspoken and excited on a stage. He usually hung back and avoided any part of the spotlight. It was
truly a perfect ending to a very successful event. This was exactly what Harry
had wished for when he and Kate first had the idea for a benefit like this.
Ryan
was snapped back to the conversation before him when Hoda asked about the most
exciting part of the trip, Shannon said meeting the Royal family, Ryan said,
getting to know the kids the foundation helps daily and seeing Shannon in one
of Kate’s dresses. Shannon’s bags showed up the day after her big shopping
spree with Kate but said there was
no way she was returning anything they bought even if it meant she’d never be able to buy clothes again to
make up for it. It was truly a trip of a lifetime and Ryan couldn’t wait until
next year’s benefit and hoped they’d be invited back if for no other reason that to see how Josh was doing and to try and talk him into playing on their next record.
-----
Well there you go…besides one of my 2017 goals
is to write more and they say whatever you do on New Year’s Day is what you’ll
do all year so here’s hoping that’s true.
I’m pretty sure this story is done as I’m not
sure where to take it from here so now it’s time to find a new muse. I hope you
all enjoyed it, I hope Haley and Michael’s isn’t calling a lawyer for a
restraining order for me, cause I really do love their music and I really hope
this is going to be their year. I can’t wait to hear more from them, if you
haven’t already check out their website below:
Website: http://haleyandmichaels.com/
Twitter:
https://twitter.com/haleynmichaels
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/haleyandmichaels/
Have a great 2017 everyone! I can check one thing off my New Year's Resolution post ! :D
Marcy
(@beaslma)
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