The Gift (22 page)

Justin was still hanging out in the living room, so
Maggie told him what the photographer wanted to do.

“I don’t know that I feel comfortable with it Justin,”
she said. “I’m seven months pregnant, and I’m not feeling particularly
attractive. Also, it kind of makes me feel like I’m prostituting myself just to
sell some albums and magazines. What do you think?”

“It could be a beautiful photo Maggie, a lovely memory
of your pregnancy. Why don’t you just ask for approval and then if you don’t
like it, they can’t publish it.”

“I don’t think I feel comfortable with the photographer
seeing me naked.”

“Don’t you have a strapless bra you could wear or
something?”  Justin asked.

“I guess so.” Maggie said.

She went into her bedroom and rifled through the
underwear drawer and found a bra that she used to wear before she was pregnant.
She tried it on and found it still fit, although just barely. Her breasts had
gotten significantly larger during her pregnancy. She put on a pair of her
maternity jeans and a t-shirt and then went out into the living room.

 “O.k., I’ll do it. Justin, please come with me for moral
support. I’m really nervous about this.”

As they walked back to the studio, Maggie asked why this
kind of thing always happened to her.

“Because you’re so beautiful, Maggie. Beautiful women
sell magazines.” Justin said seriously.

“Well, I’m not so sure that pregnant women sell
magazines. Zak is much more beautiful than I am,” she said. “Maybe his naked
body will sell magazines.”

“It probably wouldn’t hurt,” Justin said. He thought
about it for a moment and started to laugh. Maggie touched his arm, and then
laughed with him.

Maggie was resigned to having her photo taken when they
walked into the studio. Zak asked her if she was o.k. about it and she said
yes. Justin asked if he should leave, but Maggie told him that she wanted him
to stay.

The photographer suggested that Maggie stand with Zak
behind her. Then he asked both of them to remove their t-shirts. Maggie’s
voluptuous breasts were barely contained in the flesh colored bra. Justin had
trouble looking at her because he was starting to feel aroused. The
photographer asked Maggie to pull her jeans down a little so they could see her
swollen belly. Then he told Zak to put his arms around her and cover her
breasts with his hands so that it looked like she wasn’t wearing anything. He
asked Zak to lean his head against Maggie’s head and look down at her breasts.
Then he instructed them to look very serious and sexy, which of course made
Maggie laugh.

After she composed herself again, the photographer
walked around them and took photos from various angles. Then he told them that he
had the shots he wanted and they could put their clothes back on again. He said
he would send them some prints for their approval and he wouldn’t release
anything to the magazine unless they said it was o.k.

Maggie, Zak and Justin went back into the house and
collapsed on the couch in the living room. They had all found the interview stressful,
they hoped they hadn’t said anything that they would regret later. Zak had
asked for approval on the article too, but he wasn’t sure that he was going to
get it.

Maggie suddenly said, “I could use a drink.” Zak laughed
and said “Me too, but I guess I won’t.” He had been mostly good about staying
away from alcohol and drugs, it helped that Maggie couldn’t indulge either
because of her pregnancy. Justin decided that he would go back to his apartment
and have a beer or two. He knew he was going to have trouble getting to sleep
that night after watching Maggie pose nearly naked for the photographer. He was
surprised by this, but he always thought she looked incredibly sexy when she
was pregnant.

One week later, Maggie and Zak received a package from
the photographer with the prints in it. Maggie decided that Justin had been
right, the photos were gorgeous and celebrated her pregnancy. Maggie thought
Zak looked equally beautiful. She felt aroused when she saw the photos of his
lean, muscular body. She thought of an old blues song that Bonnie Raitt sang
that advised “don’t advertise your man.” Zak had enough problems with his
female fans, she hoped that these photos weren’t going to make that worse.

Zak had tears in his eyes when he looked at the photos.
He told Maggie that she had never looked more beautiful and he was happy that
they would be able to remember her pregnancy forever. He asked her if she was
o.k. with the magazine using the photo and she said yes. They called the
photographer and told him that he could release the photo to the magazine. The
photographer told them that he thought the photo would create a lot of buzz,
and the Bayou Blasters would sell a lot of albums as a result. Zak laughed and
said he just hoped that people would listen to the album. He hung up the phone
and leaned over and kissed Maggie and thanked her.

Later that afternoon, Justin and Tom stopped by to see
the photographs that were going to be used in the article. There was a group
shot of the band in the studio. They were all pleased with how that came out,
it was very flattering to everyone. Then Maggie showed them the photo of her
and Zak that was going to be the cover shot. She apologized profusely and told
them that she felt bad that her presence had diverted the writer’s attention
from focusing on the band and their music. Tom said that he didn’t care. He
didn’t think that they would have ended up as the cover story without the photo
of Zak and Maggie. He said the only thing that mattered was how many albums
they sold. Justin didn’t say much, he just kissed Maggie on the cheek and
patted Zak on the back. He knew he was going to have a hard time getting the
photo of Maggie out of his mind.

Zak called Abbie and Jerry and told them that the photos
had come out well and they were releasing them to be used in
Rolling Stone
.
Abbie congratulated him on getting the cover, and then told him that they were
thinking of releasing Maggie’s album a little earlier so that it could benefit
from the publicity. They also told him that they were working on getting some
articles published that mentioned her song with Tucker Travis. They thought
they might be able to persuade some of Tucker’s country fans to buy Maggie’s
bluegrass album.

The article in
Rolling Stone
wouldn’t come out
for a few months, so Abbie advised Maggie and Zak to take things easy until
after the birth of the baby. Maggie was happy to hear this, she was feeling enormous
and uncomfortable and was having trouble sleeping. It was especially difficult
since Gabriel wasn’t even one yet. Zak was definitely doing his share, but
sometimes Gabriel wanted his mother and Maggie didn’t quite feel up to running
around after a young child.

Maggie even got to the point where she didn’t feel like
playing the mandolin. She had decided to practice one afternoon and ended up in
tears. Zak came over and sat next to her and asked her what was wrong.

“I’m having trouble playing, Zak. My huge belly is in
the way.”

Zak laughed and kissed her.

“I’m sorry, it won’t be long before you have the baby
and you can play again.”

“Well, just be glad you don’t have to go through this
because you wouldn’t be able to handle not playing guitar for a month.”

“That’s certainly true,” he said and kissed her again.

Zak never went for more than a day or two without
practicing. He felt bad that Maggie had to sacrifice so much so that they could
have a baby. He decided that he would give her a special present when the baby
was born to express his gratitude.

Six weeks later, Maggie and Zak woke up early one
morning in a wet bed, Maggie’s water had broken and she was in labor. They
drove over to Caleb’s and left Gabriel and Chère with him and then sped off to
the maternity hospital in Lafayette. Maggie’s labor progressed rapidly and she
delivered a baby girl within five hours. This time everything went well and she
didn’t need another caesarian section. Maggie couldn’t have been happier. She
had always been surrounded by men, her three brothers and the guys in her band,
and she thought it was wonderful to have a little girl. As Zak took some photos
of Maggie holding their new daughter, he thought of how blessed he was to have
them in his life. He vowed to himself that he would try to be the best husband
and father that he could be.

Maggie and Zak brought the new baby home three days
later. They had decided to name their daughter Isabel. She was healthy and they
felt much more comfortable about having a newborn in the house. The new baby
didn’t even bother Chère this time. Aside from a quick sniff, the dog barely
took any notice of her. Gabriel was a little put out however, he was used to
being the center of attention and didn’t want to share Maggie with anyone. But
after a week or two, he became reconciled to the new situation.

Maggie was glad that Zak was home to help her with the
two children. After they had gotten their recording contracts he had quit his
job at the music store, so he was a full-time father now. She knew that this
was a temporary situation and that things would become pretty crazy in a couple
of months when they had to start touring to support their albums. In the
meantime, she decided to relax and enjoy their time together as a family.

One evening after they put the kids to bed, Zak asked
Maggie to come out to the studio with him for a minute. She hadn’t been in
there since before she had the baby, and she wondered what was up. Zak made her
sit down in a chair and then he handed her an instrument case with a big blue
bow on it. He kissed her for a minute and then asked her to open the case. She
looked inside and was astounded to see a custom electric mandolin.

“Maggie, I wanted to give you a special present to thank
you for giving birth to our daughter. So I asked Peter Larson to make this
mandolin for you. It’s made out of bird’s eye maple and he stained it your
favorite shade of blue. It’s supposed to look like a little Gibson L-5 electric
guitar. I thought that maybe you could play it with the Bayou Blasters
sometime.”

“Oh, Zak. It’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.”

She looked at it more closely and noticed that Peter had
inlaid an iris and her initials on the fretboard.

“Plug it in and play it, Maggie. I think it sounds
pretty good.”

Zak handed her a cord and plugged it into his Fender
amplifier. She played a few chords and then part of a fiddle tune. Zak picked
up his Stratocaster and plugged that in too, and then started playing “Me and
Bobby McGee”. Maggie accompanied him on the mandolin and then he gave her the
opportunity to take a break. The electric guitar and electric mandolin sounded
great together. They both instantly realized that this sound had possibilities.
The electric mandolin was a lot more appropriate for playing in a rock band.

The
Rolling Stone
cover article appeared on the
newsstands in April. The magazine sent some copies to Maggie and Zak a week
before the issue was generally available. They invited Justin and Tom over one
evening to see it. Maggie had reservations about the article. The cover photo
was
pretty shocking and she didn’t care for the fact that they titled the article “Zak
Robichaud and Maggie Mae Williams: Music Is Our Life.”  Maggie thought that
sounded pretentious.

“They should have titled it ‘Babies and Diapers Are Our
Lives’.”

Justin laughed and thought that Maggie was always so
down-to-earth.

Everyone except Maggie liked the issue though. There was
a positive review in it of the Bayou Blasters’ album which they thought would
definitely help their sales. They also mentioned that Maggie had an album
coming out, so hopefully that would have a positive effect on her album sales
too.

The next day, Abbie called and told them how pleased she
was with the cover story. She especially liked the cover photo, she thought it
was eye-catching and controversial and would generate a lot of interest in the
album.

Once the issue of
Rolling Stone
hit the
newsstands, Maggie and Zak started getting lots of phone calls. Not everyone
was pleased with the article. Maggie’s parents were shocked by the photo. They
couldn’t believe that their normally shy daughter had posed half-naked while
seven months pregnant. Zak’s mother wasn’t so happy about it either. She wasn’t
sure how she would explain it to her friends. Maggie did get an enthusiastic
phone call from Vanessa however, who told Maggie that she was proud of her for
showing people how beautiful a pregnant woman could be.

The
Rolling Stone
article definitely had a
positive effect on the sales of the Bayou Blasters album. Within several weeks,
the album had rocketed up the charts. People must have liked the album because
it stayed a hit for many weeks. Abbie and Jerry had to add extra tour dates
because clubs all over the country were interested in featuring the band. The
Bayou Blasters were solidly booked at clubs for April and May and at most of
the big blues and Cajun festivals during the summer.

Abbie and Jerry could have booked the band for even more
gigs, but they had also booked Maggie’s band for many of the major bluegrass
festivals during June, July and August. They had tried to accommodate Maggie
and Zak’s wishes to alternate touring, so that they could travel together as a
family. It meant that each band had to play fewer gigs, but Maggie and Zak felt
it was worth it to them. Some of the band members weren’t quite as happy about
it, except for Justin who was going to play bass in both bands. He was going to
have a very busy summer.

.

Chapter 25