Swirling, Felipe tried to take in all the surrounded him and ended up grabbing the railing for support.

“If you fall flat on your face, I’ll laugh my head out, but mom will be pissed, so quit it,” Dani admonished him, in her infuriating older sister tone.

“I can’t stand still. This is so much more huge than the last concert we went to.”

She rolled her eyes at him. He hated when Dani did that. She was usually right when she made that face at him. “Huger, you mean? And yes. This stadium fits much more people than the arena we went to last year.”

From the pit between the stage and general admission audience, Felipe gawked at the amount of people filling the seats on the stands. Full house. On the giant screens that framed the stage, he spied the general admission area in the live feeds. Impressive.

The opening act had just finished, and soon Knight’s Edge would take the stage. A buzz spread through the audience, so evident, even young Felipe noticed.

Dani tugged the sleeve of his t-shirt.

“What?” he shouted to be heard.

“Let’s go back. Mom said just a couple of minutes.”

He resisted the idea, then went along when he remembered Mom had promised they’d watch part of the performance from the pit.

* * *

Felipe got antsy backstage. The band had been playing forever, and they were still stuck there. “Mom, can we go now?”

She messed with his hair and kissed his cheek. The cold from her cheeks startled him. She was crying. She always cried during the concerts. As they hurried down the corridor toward the entrance to the pit, Felipe asked his mom, “Why are you crying? You always cry in Knight’s Edge’s concerts. I thought you liked them.”

“I do. The songs are so beautiful, so touching. That’s why I cry, but it’s a happy cry.”

Felipe didn’t understand the concept. He only cried when he was in pain. Or very sad. Or very upset. Or hurt.

He had never realized he cried so often.

Still, he didn’t cry when he was happy. That made no sense.

Uncle Duke screamed into the mic, “Do you like whiskey?”

The audience roared, and his mom sobbed louder than before. He didn’t recognize the song. “Is this new, Mom?”

She squeezed him tight against her before replying. “Yes. That’s from the recent album.”

Felipe whooped when Aidan stepped to a mic. He had heard Aidan sing around the house, but never with the band. Uncle Duke sang most of the new song, while Aidan sang the chorus. He didn’t understand why his mom cried, especially now that Aidan was pointing at her, but he wouldn’t let his mom cry alone. He hugged her waist and listened to the lyrics.

A smoky bar, a crowded room

Your whiskey eyes take me to the moon

Every time, all the time

When you’re down on your luck

When you feel stuck

Remember you’re mine

From that very first time

When I looked into your whiskey eyes

Love is real

Love is here

In your whiskey eyes

When the song was over, his mom leaned down and kissed him. “Thank you. That was very sweet of you.”

“No problem. Mom, I still don’t get why you cried though.”

“Because Whiskey Eyes is my song.”

She said that as if it meant something to him. “And?”

She chuckled. “And, you’ll get it when you’re older.”