Thursday a boxed package arrived from Dylan, the Obstruction stylist. In it were a pair of parachute silk combat trousers, a slim fit singlet with the obstruction logo and instructions on smoky makeup. At the bottom of the box were a pair of studded ankle boots with four inch heels. I chuckled knowing this was Dylan's way of telling me he had my back. He wanted me to straighten my back and face my disappeared husband. Quite literally.

With my 5 foot 4 frame, I was dwarfed by my taller bandmates. Heels were definitely on the agenda.

"I make you look good, so do as I tell you. XxX Dyl," was the message attached. I suspected the guys had each received clothes.

Without Dylan, Obstruction would not have looked like a harmonious band at all. Somehow, Dylan managed to incorporate Oddball's black-metal look, Ethan's haphazard jeans and t-shirt style, Simon's threadbare, baggy look and my button-down flannel shirts into a common look for us all. And whatever Dylan was doing... It worked.

I tried the clothes on, not sure if Dylan was aware of my recent weight loss. Somehow it all fit. I decided to give him a strict talking to about studying paparazzi photos. The latest was of me, trying to blend in at one of Seb's school sports arrangements a couple of weeks earlier. Unfortunately I got a bit carried away when my son scored a goal. The resulting photos had me looking like a clapping circus seal, jumping up and down. Thankfully, the pap had chosen to publish pictures of me cheering and smiling next to Ellen and Selma. Ayame was sat with her friend Helen behind us.

Simon had booked a conference room at a local hotel and I arrived early to see four comfy chairs set up in a semi circle at one end of the room and a few rows of chairs filling the rest of the space.

I strode over into the side room where I was planning to do final touches to my make-up and hair before reclaiming my throne as the Goddess of Rock. Years earlier Oddball and I had drunkenly figured I couldn't be the Queen of rock on account of Oddball being gay.. And you know... Freddy Mercury.

So my status was Goddess, Oddball was the Queen and the other two were our minions. At least. That's how it used to be.

As I entered the side room, it was already full of people. One was Penny, our long term publicist with a clipboard and a list of questions we would not allow. Usually our kids were off limits.

"Any no-go zones?" She asked me.

"Yeah. Aya kinda has a potential boyfriend. Deflect those. Matt does not exist," I said.

"And Sebastian's Instagram?" Penny asked.

"TheRealRyder?" I asked.

"Yeah. It seems he and his friends are having some fun with old Disney stuff. There is a whole series of him posing as Flynn Rider from Rapunzel... You know. Pun on the name," Penny smiled.

I dug out my phone and leafed through my son's pictures to see him, Hale and Nico dressed up as fairy tale princes with Elsie and Juniper occasionally posing as princesses. The pictures were really funny. They had taken the cheesiness of Disney and upped it several notches.

The first few photos showed Seb in a white shirt and vest with a Flynn Rider-smirk.

He did an excellent job of posing to imitate the movie. They had even borrowed a blonde wig from somewhere and placed in the picture. I studied one of Seb looking at his hand in horror, with the blonde hair to the side. A closer look at the wig revealed that it was placed on Nico's head. Nico was even wearing a fuchsia coloured t-shirt to look like Rapunzel.

My eyes went over to the next photo of Seb tied to a chair with what I recognised my pale golden silk shrug. I didn't use it much, It just came in handy when I had to wear a fancy gown at an outdoors event and wanted something to cover up with.

"He actually looks like the character!" I laughed.

"Yeah. He's cast Nico as Prince Eric from the little mermaid. Surprisingly spot on," Penny grinned.

Scrolling on I saw that Nico looked the part with his dark hair and bright blue eyes. Behind him Juniper was arched up in an Ariel pose with her hair over one shoulder.

"He's gonna break some hearts..." I sighed.

I scrolled on and saw Hale as Aladdin, shirtless and in the same vest as Seb had worn as Flynn Rider. Another had Seb dressed as Kristoff from Frost, sword fighting a bored looking Nico dressed as Hans

"These guys crack me up" I chuckled as I saw a photo of Nico and Seb holding a rug taught between them. Aladdin-Hale was sat unsteadily on the rug, mid air and with a hand out towards Juniper in Jasmine costume and a frightened look on his face. The next photo had Hale with his ass in the air as the other two dropped the rug, sending Hale tumbling.

"Well... this kinda stuff has earned them a groupie following. Your son is going viral," Penny commented.

"Groupies? The kid just is still 15!" Ethan said as he approached.

He stopped short as I turned, taking in my boots, my soft combats and the singlet. I knew I looked good. Dylan had made sure of that. And at that moment, I was guessing Ethan's slack jaw was what he had been going for.

Ethan's eyes travelled the length of me before landing on my face, for the moment set in a questioning smirk.

"If you wear that tomorrow, I'm never going back to the friend-zone," He mumbled with a cheeky smile as he approached me.

I saw Dylan had decided to dress Ethan in slim fit black jeans with a polo shirt. He looked fantastic. His hair had been styled into a similar look to what he'd had when we first started up and I suddenly realised what Dylan had done.

He had looked through old archive material and dressed us to remind us of who we once were. My style was almost identical to what I had worn in the video for our second single, Dark Days, and Ethan was dressed as he had for most of our TV interviews on our first tour. Around his neck hung the single note pendant I'd bought him before there was an us. He'd bought me a matching one for our first christmas together and I hadn't taken mine off since.

I studied my husband, feeling an overwhelming urge to... touch him. His grey eyes were drilling holes into mine with a smirk playing on his face.

"You look good, Izzy," he murmured.

"So do you," I flirted back.

"I do kinda prefer you a bit closer to ground level tho," He smiled with a nod to my tall shoes.

I looked straight into his face, not having to look up at him as much as normal.

"I kinda like this view," I smiled.

"Okay... So that's how we're gonna play it," He chuckled and winked before going deeper into the room, finding the drinks and snacks.

After collecting myself and feeling those aching tendrils reaching out of my heart towards Ethan retreat back into the hopeful flutter he had created with the look in his eyes, I followed over to the table to find Simon with his hair loose of his ponytail and his preferred baggy jeans.

"Press conference, not fashion show!" Simon frowned, taking in my look.

"This is what Dylan got me," I shrugged.

"Yeah... He sent me some crap too, but I ignored him," Simon chuckled.

"Which is why I'm here to sort you out! You still look like you fell off a lorry... Twenty years of hard work and you never learn!" Dylan announced arriving with a bag full of stuff. He dove in and pulled out a pair of jeans and a fitted t-shirt which he handed to Simon.

"Do I have to?" Simon whined like a small child.

"Yes! Now mush!" Dylan grinned, camping it up to max.

Simon retreated to a nearby bathroom muttering something about Selma never complaining.

"Oh, but Selma prefers Simon's backside in tight jeans, honey!" Selma giggled towards his back.

He didn't turn but did a little booty-wiggle before he disappeared behind the door to change.

"I don't know how I'm ever going to live without him!" she giggled with a soft smile towards the door between them.

"Live without him?" I asked.

"Yeah. When you go on tour," she nodded sadly.

"Are you not coming?" I asked, genuinely shocked at myself for just automatically assuming that she would retake her role as PA.

"No. Juniper is so happy at school. And Nico has finally figured out that good grades matter. So, yeah. I'm gonna stay here," Selma said quietly.

I could tell by the tone of her voice that this had been a hard decision, but one that she and Simon had made together.

"Nico is livid," she chuckled sadly.

"I bet!" I said and turned to Ethan.

"What are we doing about our two when we go on tour?" I asked

He shrugged and stuffed a mini quiche into his mouth.

"I could ask mum and Josh to take Aya for the semester," I said.

He chewed furiously trying to get rid of the food before speaking so I handed him my bottle of water.

Once he'd swallowed he smiled sheepishly.

"Well.. I was thinking... But that depends on if Selma and Simon are willing to change their plans... If the boys are up for it and willing to lay down the practice, they could be our support band," he said.

"But? School?" I asked.

"We lay down some rules. Good grades, B average or something, and tell them that if they slip, they are out," Ethan shrugged.

Sebastian was intelligent enough for good grades, he just cared more about his music.

"That would work with Seb," I nodded.

"I think Hale could deal with that," Oddball commented from my side. He had just arrived in tight black jeans, a black t-shirt and his trademark leather bracelets.

Selma nodded.

"I'll have a chat with Simon, but I think that might work. And Elsie could stay with me and Juni," she said.

"Are you not coming?" Oddball asked her.

"No. Not this time," She shook her head.

"But... Who's gonna be our PA?" Odd asked.

Before we could question it any further, Simon appeared out of the bathroom, pulling his jeans down and out of his asscrack.

"Ah... I see that sexy tush has gained an inch or two," Dylan smirked and went over to adjust Simon's clothes. Simon rolled his eyes at him.

Once he was satisfied with Simon's outfit, Dylan circled Oddball to see if anything needs adjusting. There was a faint blush on Oddball's face as Dylan muttered something quietly with a smirk.

"You still trying to get Odd into bed Dyl?" Simon chuckled at the drummer's embarrassed face.

"Who says I'm trying?" Dylan grinned.

The complete look of horror on Oddball's face was priceless. His mouth was opening and closing, making him look like a fish.

"I really don't want to know..." Ethan sighed as Simon laughed.

Dylan gave Odd a cheeky, smirky wink before he sauntered off to tidy his stuff.

"Really?" Simon asked.

Oddball replied with a halfhearted shrug. Once his blush died down he actually didn't look that embarrassed.

"I'm opening the doors," Penny announced and we heard the chatter of journalists enter the conference room.

Once I had done the last of my make up and we all looked like rock stars again, Oddball widened his arms and by old habit we all gathered in a huddle. We had always done it before gigs, boosting each other and building the team. I looked at the guys. My guys.

The blue eyed blonde man I'd grown up with. The brown, smiling eyes of our drummer, shining with excitement at the next chapter in our lives. And between them, straight in front of me, the face I never thought I'd get tired of looking at. The face of the man I loved more than I ever knew I could. His eyes pale with stage nerves.

"This is it!," Simon said.

"Fresh start!" Oddball chimed in.

Ethan stared straight at me with a scared expression on his face.

"You okay?" I asked.

He nodded carefully.

"Let's go!" Simon nodded and broke the circle, heading for the door. Oddball quickly followed, leaving me and Ethan still looking at each other.

"We've got you," I told him.

He suddenly went serious and I realised my mistake. For all our years on the road, I'd always told him to focus on me, that I had his back.

"Need a hug?" I asked, trying to correct my fault, while seeing Simon and Oddball standing by the door, waiting.

Ethan nodded and took a step closer, tucking my body to him. My tall boots were making it feel all wrong but it didn't seem to bother him.

"We've got each other," He whispered into my hair and I had to swallow a big dry lump from my throat.

"All four of us," he continued.

I released him from the too tight hug and saw his smile was warm with a teasing edge to it.

"I'll just focus on you..." he smirked.

"Ass!" I replied, feeling my mouth twist into a smile.

Ethan just laughed softly and lay an arm around my shoulder.

"You're too damned tall in those heels!" He complained as his arm didn't wrap around me as he had expected.

"No, she's perfect!" Oddball grinned and lay his arm around me, my new taller stature, much better suited to him.

"Let's go... Kids!" Simon huffed on a laugh and opened the door.

We entered to wolf whistles and cheers from the journalists. The room was packed. I still had Odd's arm around my shoulder and ended up stood by the seat claimed by Simon. Ethan sat down on the far end, next to Oddball and we all sat down.

To the side of the podium was Penny, directing the show, ready to decide whose turn it was to ask question. She took a step forward, making her presence known.

"Welcome! This is Obstruction's first public, official press gathering since their break from the public eye five years ago. We will remind you to restrict your questions about their children, and we reserve the right to exclude any unwanted or offensive persons form this room," she announced.

For the next half hour the question stayed on our reunion.

Why now. (Because we wanted to.)

How much did the petition matter in getting us back out of hibernation? (It helped but wasn't a deciding factor. We love our fans and missed the music. )

When would the new album be released. (September, new tour starting in October.)

World tour or just a smaller continental one, could we ask you to visit our country? (We hadn't decided quite yet. Our management was still sorting out details.)

Were the kids going with us? (Maybe.)

All the normal questions were on the table. We got some attention when we said we were planning on avoiding capital cities for the tour, focusing instead on smaller cities and perhaps smaller venues. We knew we could probably play somewhere like the middle of Greenland. People would still show up.

Once we explained that we wanted the close contact with the fans, the questions moved to meet&greet options. All predictable.

We did the usual. Announced a competition to meet us at each venue and lay down conditions. Post an Instagram photo, tag your gig venue and #ObstructionComp. Winners to be selected at random by ourselves, thank you. Competition would open when the venues were announced. All our fans knew that's how we used to do the meet and greet selection.

As the press conference progressed, I was watching a young male journalist bide his time. Experience told me he was waiting for an opportune moment to ask an explosive question and as the music related questions died down he saw his chance.

A lady we had known for years represented an entertainment network. We knew she was out for juicy news and we pretty much already knew it would be about Ethan and me not sharing a home. This lady had however always been respectful and Penny pointed to her when I nodded.

"Do you have a comment to the divorce rumours?" She asked.

"Not really!" I answered as Ethan shook his head.

"Are you still living together?" she asked.

I exchanged a look with Ethan to see how he wanted to play this. I knew we should have laid a game plan but I hadn't wanted to bring it up.

Ethan looked at the journalist with a small smirk but before he could say anything Simon started laughing.

"Are you kidding?" Simon laughed.

The journalist looked at him.

"Look. Izzy has a major art exhibit coming up in a couple of weeks. You should check it out, cos it's gonna be really good. To give her peace to work, we have all made sure she can focus without us being noisy pests," Oddball said with a smile.

"So, Ethan has not moved out?" The journalist lady asked again.

"Nope!" Simon replied.

I sent my best friend a grateful smile and looked across to see a self conscious, tight look on Ethan's face, hidden behind a false smile.

The young male journalist finally lifted his hand. I exchanged a look with Penny. She had obviously noted the same as me. This guy could be dangerous. I was hoping his ambition was larger than his brain.

He gave an unfriendly smile as Penny indicated for him to ask his question.

"About a year ago, Izzy was in hospital. At the time, the press reports said urgent medical emergency. Could you elaborate on what that emergency was?" the young man asked.

I felt my heart drop. The question wasn't as explosive as I had expected, but the memory had me shivering.

I really didn't want to talk about it. There was a sense of security as Oddball reached out and took my hand.

"Yeah. Izzy was ill," Ethan replied dryly to my side.

I could hear the underlying anger and fought back the urge to cry.

"What kind of illness? We know there was an operation," the journalist continued.

My eyes lifted to look up and I saw the unhidden challenge in his face. This guy was young, ambitious and out for blood. Something told me he'd already, somehow, looked at the medical records. Or tried to.

"It's not relevant," I told him honestly and registered several photographers snapping away, presumably trying to capture my pained face or Ethan's angry one.

"Well... According to my sources, you had deliberately harmed yourself," The journalist said smugly.

"I did?" I asked genuinely bemused.

From two chairs down I heard Ethan laugh. There was a look of amusement on his face as he turned to look at me with a wide grin. He was underplaying the depression I'd suffered after that fateful hospital visit. I still felt the sting of grief and shattered hope, but that cold stab of desperation hadn't been noticeable for a few days. The thought of going on a date with Ethan tomorrow, was making me want to smile again. And now he was looking out for me, deflecting the attention. I felt a surge of gratitude towards my poor neglected husband.

I looked at Ethan with the brightest smile I could muster and giggled softly.

"That's the most creative theory so far," I chuckled. The heavy monster was still hanging on to my heart from the previous line of questioning. I really didn't want to think about my stay in hospital.

"I assure you. That is 100% false," Ethan told the young journalist while I signalled to Penny to move to the next journalist.

The next journalist shook her head in the young guy's direction and rolled her eyes. I recognised her from one of the fashion magazines. We went way back and she had done several portrait interviews with me during our respective careers. She was one of the few journalists I actually trusted to give a decent portrayal of us.

"Firstly... suicide attempt? Are you serious? Secondly, Izzy probably had her appendix out. No big deal...!" She shot at him before turning to me with a grin.

"Will you continue to favour your friend Vero for fashion designs or are you going in a different direction?" she asked me.

"Well... Vero knows my style, so yeah, I will probably continue to get my gowns from her," I replied.

"How about the guys?" the journalist asked.

I looked across the seats and pointed to Ethan, Simon and Oddball in turn.

"Armani, Dior and Givenchy," I said, naming their favourite designers for suits.

"Nah. I want to look at Valentino," Oddball grinned.

"You're too tall and bulky for Valentino!" I huffed.

"Gaultier?" he asked and we both burst out laughing.

"If that's what you want," I giggled trying to imagine Oddball in paisley pattern suits.

"I swear, you're more Odd's wife than mine!" Ethan shot in from the side.

"Hey... You are able to dress yourself. These two are clueless!" I smiled back at him, earning a cheeky smile back.

The journalist smiled happily. She had gotten what she wanted and we were back in bantering mode. I nodded gratefully at her, silently telling myself to thank her later by offering an exclusive.

Next, Penny deliberately chose the music magazines. You could spot those journalists a mile off from their more casual clothes.

A man we knew from a bass magazine was next.

"Simon. Will your son be playing with you this time?" he asked.

Nico had gone uninvited onto the stage before a gig a few years earlier and started playing his dad's bass. The crowd had loved him, Simon had grounded Nico's bass by locking it into a case for a week. Seb found it all hilarious and flaunted his own bass in Nico's face at every opportunity until Simon relented and returned the imprisoned instrument to its owner.

"He needs to focus on school, so maybe. If his grades stay up," Simon grinned.

"The social networks are full of videos of your sons playing. Are they actually a band?" the journalist asked.

"They have probably been a band for years," Oddball laughed.

"Will they be releasing music?" we were asked.

"As Simon said. They need to focus on school. So the band is a hobby," Ethan smiled.

"But your daughter was accepted to the classical music conservatory as the highest scored student at the audition this spring. Do you encourage your children to choose musical careers?" a journalist asked.

"We encourage our kids to choose what makes them happy. Ayame is an excellent cellist and a very competent violinist. I'm sure she'll be happy with her education at the conservatory," I replied a bit more curtly than I should have.

"And they are still young and allowed to change their minds!" Ethan said.

"Says the man who thought economy was a good idea," Simon grinned.

"Economy would have been... If all this hadn't happened," Ethan defended with an arm gesture to the rest of us and the room in general.

"And Oddball would have been sat tinkering with computers," I said.

"Hey... That means we're the persistent ones who actually finished our stuff," Simon said with a smile at me.

"Yup. BA in design," I chuckled and high-fived Simon.

"OY! Which fully qualified music teacher is in this room? Thank you!" Ethan muttered and did a mike-drop motion.

"Did you just drop the mike?" Oddball laughed so hard his chair shook.

"Soo old-school!" Simon grinned.

The look of pretend confusion on Ethen's face had me giving him a small exasperated headshake. If ever I had been in doubt of whether he still wanted this marriage to work, it disappeared the moment he gave me a flirty little wink. There was a insecure look on his face, barely covered by his wink, and I suddenly realised that if I wanted us back together, we both had to work for it. He wanted my reassurance as much as I wanted his. He had suffered as bad as I had. But not now. Not with the press there. Tomorrow, at our second first date. I would have to open up for a new start, a new beginning.

Reluctantly I returned my attention to the press conference, away from the sudden intensity in a pair of grey eyes.

We answered a few more questions about the music and of we were changing our style. Some wanted to know if we had a support band lined up and others wanted to know if we felt our age influenced the music.

We kept the gossip journalists waiting and I could see several of them looking directly at me. The young man who had been so close to my recent depression with his questions about the hospital was still staring at me, wolf-like. I was curious to know what else he wanted to ask, but still felt the memory of the last year burning a hole in my soul.

Penny pointed to a young female music journalist, weirdly enough dressed in an old battered Obstruction t-shirt. Her eyes shone and we could see her blush as our attention turned to her. I could practically hear her breath shake as she collected herself.

"Errmm... I'm from the magazine Urban Sounds, and I was wondering about the upcoming album," She started, sounding very nervous.

"Good magazine. What's the question?" Simon said with a friendly smile.

She relaxed a bit.

"Well.. Okay.. I might as well be honest. I have heard from... someone that hang out with someone you know... that this album will be different? Like a concept album?" she asked uncertainly. I studied her carefully and realised she wasn't that much older than Aya.

"Do we have a mole among us?" Oddball asked.

"It's not that straightforward but I kinda know Ayame... via Matt..." She muttered.

"Thank you for being honest," I laughed at her inexperience. She nodded back.

"Who's Matt?" A journalist called out.

To my side Ethan shook his head and Penny noted the journalist down on the silent list.

"Okay. This was gonna be the last thing today, but the cat is out there so... yeah. This will be a different album. It's a double album where the first will contain our own material," Simon said.

"But the second set will be stuff from other people. We tend to get a lot of demos and material form young, hopeful songwriters who want us to record their stuff, so from the pile we have selected twelve songs that we think we can work with," Oddball continued.

"Who are the songwriters?" the young girl asked, I smiled at her grown confidence.

"They are from all over the world. We have contacted each personally and they will receive royalties for their copyrighted work," Simon explained.

"We're working on arrangements," Ethan continued.

"It entails a different tone to our lyrics, a new direction for our sound, but we'll try to keep the bass-heavy grungy stuff," I said.

A few more questions about the songwriters and their style was answered, but as this wasn't my area I studied the young journalist. She caught me looking so I gave her a friendly smile to indicate that she'd done a good job. She had asked a relevant question, even if she had revealed her sources and stumbled. She mouthed a "thank you" back.

Another journalist was called on. This one we knew from a gossip column.

"Oddball. You have never been willing to reveal who the mother of your two children are. Why?" She asked.

"Because that's my business," Oddball shrugged casually.

"But, surely, the children must have a mother?" the journalist pestered.

I noticed Odd's eyes on me and I gave a small nod.

"According to the paperwork, Izzy is their mum, I am their dad and that's all that matters," Oddball dismissed.

Suddenly, I realised what Odd had done. He had dropped this bomb to remove the focus away from the potentially infected area of my hospital stay that the young male journalist had touched on. I had seen several of the journalists itching to ask more about it.

"As in? Biological mum?" another journalist spontaneously asked.

"As in the only mum they will ever know," Oddball countered.

"Izzy! How does it feel to not live with your children?" someone asked.

"I see them practically every day. Odd is their Dad and they have grown into wonderful human beings under his watchful eye. I love them, and would move the moon for them," I replied.

"But would you not have custody of your own children?" another asked.

"I have my own children living with me. No problem!" I replied.

"What do they call you? Do they know you're their mother?" someone asked.

"To Hale and Elsie I'm Auntie Izzy. We have told them that I'm their guardian and such, but it's not important. As I say. I love them very much, but they are Odd's children," I said firmly and signalled Penny to move on.

After two hours of answering any kind of questions from the colour of my bra to what new music we enjoyed, we moved to another room for a couple of hours of photos. I went to the other room to fix my face quickly when I saw Ethan in the mirror.

"Thanks!" he said.

"For what?" I asked.

"For acting as if we're okay out there," he said quietly.

Slowly, reluctantly, I lifted my hand to show that I still wore my engagement and wedding rings. The smile spread across his face as he lifted his hand to show the wedding ring still sat on his own finger.

"I've never taken it off," he said.

"Me either," I replied.

A slow smile twisted up on one side of his face.

"Thank you!" he smiled.

"You saved my ass too!" I shrugged.

He laughed softly.

"Come on. We've got to pose for photos." he chuckled.

His hand was out to me as he approached the door. I carefully took it and and let him lead the way out to where we had a large background of our logo set up. We walked in to see Oddball carrying Simon bridal style for the photographers. There was a deliberate wink going on as Ethan leaned in and kissed my forehead carefully, making sure several journalists saw the move and our joined hands before we joined the rhythm section of the band. The signal was obvious. He was overly clear in letting them know that the rumours of an upcoming divorce were false. And I couldn't stop the butterflies in my gut even if I had wanted to.

Without warning, Oddball swung me up over his shoulder with a wide grin.

Apparently, Obstruction was back.

***

Please, Please, Please.

Vote, Comment and tell me what you think!

What would you have asked Obstruction if you had the chance?

And what do you think actually happened a year earlier?

Teaser for the next chapter:

Oddball brings his children home, but that's not all he's bringing.