Type of work: Chapters of Yesterday to Tomorrow
Genre: Romance, fan fiction
Title: Yesterday to Tomorrow: Chapter Seventy-eight, Just flowers
Author: dreamsinfiction
Fandom: Chris Cornell of Audioslave
Rating: R/NC-17
Warning: violence, language, sexual nudity


Links to Previous Chapters:
Chapter One, Ice Cream
Chapter Two, Waves
Chapter Three, A Breath Away
Chapter Four, Completely platonically
Chapter Five, Don't leave bed
Chapter Six, Not a rebound
Chapter Seven, Kaleidoscope of feelings
Chapter Eight, Shadows of memories
Chapter Nine, Ripe circumstances
Chapter Ten, Domus
Chapter Eleven, Where it all began
Chapter Twelve, A blessing
Chapter Thirteen, Just a quick deposit
Chapter Fourteen, Precious
Chapter Fifteen, A Chest
Chapter Sixteen, Block the bullet
Chapter Seventeen, A test
Chapter Eighteen, Not a Girl's Best Friend
Chapter Nineteen, Nervous Twitch
Chapter Twenty, More every breath
Chapter Twenty-one, Fire in the sky
Chapter Twenty-two, Prickling revelations
Chapter Twenty-three, Baby steps
Chapter Twenty-four, Accidents happen
Chapter Twenty-five, Questions
Chapter Twenty-six, Je t'aime
Chapter Twenty-seven, Sommeil
Chapter Twenty-eight, Insta-family
Chapter Twenty-nine, Moving along
Chapter Thirty, Forever and a day
Chapter Thirty-one, Smiling down on you
Chapter Thirty-two, Always be here
Chapter Thirty-three, Music to the soul
Chapter Thirty-four, Surprise
Chapter Thirty-five, Kisses of passion
Chapter Thirty-six, Among the stars
Chapter Thirty-seven, A setback
Chapter Thirty-eight, Hold onto the moment
Chapter Thirty-nine, Paradise sunset
Chapter Forty, Sit with me
Chapter Forty-one, Lost like a prayer
Chapter Forty-two, 843
Chapter Forty-three, Out with the girls
Chapter Forty-four, Overwhelming
Chapter Forty-five, Mama Lyssa
Chapter Forty-six, Big sister
Chapter Forty-seven, Canned floor
Chapter Forty-eight, Given away to
Chapter Forty-nine, Set the scene
Chapter Fifty, Sticky fingers
Chapter Fifty-one, A little party
Chapter Fifty-two, Like red roses
Chapter Fifty-three, A long awaited release
Chapter Fifty-four, Cloud of inebriation
Chapter Fifty-five, Aftermath
Chapter Fifty-six, Protective
Chapter Fifty-seven, Family
Chapter Fifty-eight, Re-arrangements to be made
Chapter Fifty-nine, Bottle of happiness
Chapter SIXTY, Blood's thicker than juice
Chapter Sixty-one, Twelve Days
Chapter Sixty-two, Everything settled
Chapter Sixty-three, Every day is a dream
Chapter Sixty-four, Gifting
Chapter Sixty-five, It's wedding day
Chapter Sixty-six, Until death do part
Chapter Sixty-seven, Completed my heart
Chapter Sixty-eight, An all night thing
Chapter Sixty-nine, Let the game begin
Chapter Seventy, Against the passion
Chapter Seventy-one, Hands on skin
Chapter Seventy-two, Flushed out
Chapter Seventy-three, Sand ass
Chapter Seventy-four, Playing with euphoria
Chapter SEVENTY-FIVE, Shape of the anvil

Chapter Seventy-six, Little angels on earth
Chapter Seventy-seven, Breathless moments



Dancing just off-stage with her pink headphones on, Toni giggled. She knew her father's music very well, even if she hadn't fully decided that the new stuff was acceptable. Alyssa sat not too far away, her eyes on Toni, her arms around Nick. He too wore large headphones protecting his baby ears from the loud music. Alyssa ached for a pair herself. Sure her ears were a little less likely to rupture or sustain permanent damage from the volume, but her head was beginning to ache. Maybe she should have insisted on a nap in the afternoon, instead of allowing Chris to talk her into going to the Children's Museum as well.

Stifling a yawn, she didn't react quickly enough to Toni lurching towards the stage. A moment later, Chris swept her up into his arms and introduced her to the crowd. She waved and reached for his microphone. Alyssa remained where she was, knowing that the next song on the setlist wasn't one that Chris was likely to jump around during. Actually it was the song he had written for Toni, so at least she chose to run out to him for an appropriate song.

Settling Nick in his chair, happily distracted by the toys attached to it, Alyssa kept her attention on father and daughter on stage. Goosebumps peppered her skin, noticing the way he sang the words had just a tiny bit inflection in them, with his daughter in his arms. When the song neared it's end, Alyssa stood, inching towards the stage. She knew Toni wasn't likely to easily bounce off the stage as she had onto it.

Which meant Alyssa was going to have to venture out onto it.

Preparing herself mentally to stride out onto the stage in front of thousands of screaming fans, Alyssa quickly checked over herself. Now would not be the time to have toilet paper or something stuck to her shoe or Nick drool darkening her shirt.

As the song ended, Chris's eyes flicked towards Alyssa and he grinned, knowing full well why she was standing so close to the stage. Just as she knew he was going to say something to either tease her or introduce her, neither of which she really wanted to give him the opportunity for. So she jumped onto the stage, hurrying over to him.

Toni saw Alyssa a moment later, her hands reaching towards her, leaning out of her father's embrace. Gathering the girl in her arms, Alyssa quickly kissed Chris's mouth and then hurried off the stage, not giving him the chance to talk her into staying nor to talk her up much. But the crowd was certainly excited at the display, cheering loudly at the kiss.

"Was I bad, Mommy?" Toni asked.

Alyssa shook her head, not really able to explain why not verbally with the headphones on. And by the time it was safe to remove such, Toni would have forgotten about asking. Instead, she just settled back in her chair, holding Toni on her lap for the time being. Moments later the little girl was clapping along with the crowd, her eyes intently watching her father.

Apparently jealous of the attention his sister had gotten, Nick started to wiggle in his chair, trying to get out. Very unsure about letting him out, Alyssa resisted. Until he started to throw down his toys. And knowing that Nick's screams could rival Chris's when he really belted it out, Alyssa released him from his chair, holding him on her lap. But soon he was wiggling there as well, trying to get out of her arms.

It also didn't hurt that they had just started to play Nick's favourite song.

Unable to hold the flopping fish in her arms, Alyssa released the little boy. Without hesitation at all, he squirmed to the floor and hurried out on stage to his father. Toni moved to join him, but Alyssa caught her, letting Nick have his moment with Chris alone. Chris didn't see his son running towards him at first and lifted the mic stand twirling it. Alyssa gasped, hand covering her mouth, visualizing the mic stand slamming into the side of Nick's head. Miraculously the mic stand found itself back to the stage, not touching the little boy at all, who then launched at Chris, wrapping his little arms around his father's leg. It wasn't until Chris scooped him up that Alyssa began to breathe again.

And decided right then that they would not be attending future concerts.

Luckily it was time to slow things down, leaving Chris on stage with his guitar. So in exchange for his acoustic guitar, he offered his son, who was promptly re-delivered to Alyssa's arms. She kissed his nose and then settled him back in his chair. Pleased that he got Daddy time, the little boy went back to playing with his toys, leaving Alyssa's lap for Toni to sit in for the remainder of the concert.



"You smelly, Daddy," Toni declared when he leaned over to kiss Alyssa.

"I agree," Alyssa's nose crinkled, but she kissed him anyways. "Daddy needs to shower."

Chris frowned, "But—"

"Shower first," she remained firm, plucking Nick out of his chair and settling him on her hip. "And do so quickly. You've got fans to go tickle with autographs."

"But—"

"Go, go," Alyssa shooed him with her free hand. "We're going to walk back to the hotel."

"But—"

"Christopher."

"Okay, okay. Going," he smirked and turned.

"Can we go to the zoo again, Mommy?" Toni asked, her hand slipping into Alyssa's.

"Sorry, baby, the zoo animals are all sleeping now."

"Even the noc...noc...nighttime ones?"

Alyssa smiled crookedly, "They're probably up. But the people who run the zoo have gone home to their families. So we can't get in there anyways."

"Ohhhh," she replied. "Can we get ice cream?"

"What did I tell you about ice cream?"

"Um..." her little nose wiggled.

"We only get it as a treat once in a day. Did you have ice cream today, Toni?" she asked, weaving through the techs and other industry people backstage.

"No."

"No? Did you not have ice cream at the zoo?"

"Not real."

Alyssa bit her bottom lip to keep from laughing, "It wasn't real ice cream?"

"Nope."

"I don't think ice cream parlours are open this time of night," she claimed.

"But Daddy can get ice cream. Daddy can get anything," Toni declared.

Alyssa frowned slightly, "I think we have some animal cracker back at the hotel."

"Oooooh. Amimal cookies!" she exclaimed.

"Mamimal cookie?" Nick asked.

With his attention piqued, Alyssa was uncertain that walking back to the hotel was a good idea. Nick would likely start to fuss halfway, wanting the cookies. She could take a cab, she supposed. But it was such a nice night.

"Do you want to walk or should we get a car?" she asked the kids.

"WALK!" Toni exclaimed.

Alyssa smirked. At least the little girl liked to walk all over the place. With as much ice cream as they ate, the extra exercise was not only appreciated, but needed. She was going to have to break Toni of the ice cream thing. Something to talk to Chris about when he got back to the hotel.

Walking down the street with one kid on her hip and the other walking alongside singing, Alyssa began to feel a little uneasy. She couldn't pinpoint it either. It was almost like someone was... following them, watching them. But with as many people on the streets as there were, especially since the concert hadn't ended more than thirty minutes prior, that wasn't really an improbablitly. Maybe she was just being paranoid.

Reaching the hotel, she smiled at the bellman. Toni dug into her pocket and pulled out an unwrapped lollipop and offered it to the bellman, because he 'needed some strawberry,' according to her. Moving to the back of the elevator so that Nick wouldn't hit all of the buttons, she motioned for Toni to join her. Of course the little girl just had to push a button first, before skipping over to stand with Alyssa.

"How was the evening, Mrs. Cornell?" the elevator bellhop asked.

"Well. I think this tour is going to be great. If only I could figure out how to keep the kids from running out onto the stage," she replied.

He chuckled, "They wanted to be in the spotlight with Daddy?"

"It's more that they just want to spend time with him, spotlight or not. I'm half-tempted to get those child leashes, though previously I thought them rather stupid. Who can't control their kids well enough they had to leash them? But then again when you've got two under the age of three..." she shook her head, smiling.

"I have two young ones myself. My wife swears by our child harnesses. Sure we often get looks like we're out 'walking' our kids, but they allow the kids to explore their environment and still be safe and protected," he offered. "We don't use them to punish our children at all. If they get out of line while tethered, we make an appropriate response, which never includes snapping the tether or pulling the child to us. Our kids are as well-behaved as yours. I would recommend it, especially if you're chasing the kids often all by yourself."

"Especially on tour," Alyssa nodded. "Thanks for the advice. Any idea where I can get one while we're still in the city?"

He smiled, his hand on the door to keep it open while the kids hurried out and Alyssa followed, "I'll have two brought to your room in the morning."

"Oh thank you," she grinned. "Thank you so much."

Her eyes flicked down the hall where the kids still happily skipped, "Toni! You need the key to get into the room."

Pulling a bill out of her pocket, she pressed it into the elevator attendant's hand, "Thanks again."

Hurrying after the children, she held the key out to Toni. Turning it right side up after she inserted the key into the lock incorrectly, Alyssa pushed the hotel door open. Both kids bolted in before she even had a chance to turn on the light.

"MOMMY!" Toni shouted, a moment before the light flicked on.

Alyssa stood dumbfounded in the doorway. The entire room was filled with red roses, in all shapes and sizes of vases.

"Lookie! Pretty flowers!" Toni declared.

"Maminal cookie?" Nick asked.

"Right," Alyssa nodded, heading over to where the cookie were, her eyes still very focused on all of the roses.

Pulling a bucket of cookies out, she held one out to each of the kids, "Do you see a note or a card anywhere, Toni?"

"Picture," Nick pointed at one of the arrangements.

Seeing what he was pointing at, Alyssa plucked the envelope out of the arrangement, "Toni, go shut the door."

The little girl did as she was asked, returning to Alyssa's side as she sat on the bed, "What it say?"

Alyssa shook her head, "It's not in a language you understand."

"Oh," the little girl shrugged. "I wanna wear my purple pjs tonight."

"Okay," she agreed, setting the card down on the bed. "Let's get you goons bathed and in bed. Daddy will be really happy that way."



With the kids settling down in their own beds, Alyssa went out onto the balcony, the note in her hand. She knew in her soul it wasn't from Chris. But couldn't figure out for the life of her, who it was from. It was like proding her mind with a hot iron, making her twitch and jump at any sudden sound, even if it was floors down from where she sat.

How many people knew that she read Arabic anyways? She didn't even think Chris knew that. Which bothered her even more.

Staring at the note in her hand, she jumped when the door from the hotel room opened.

"Whoa, baby, it's just me," Chris said gently, moving to sit next to her after closing the door behind him. "Looks like we got a lot of flowers today."

"Yeah," her eyes met his. "And I don't know who they're from."

"Secret admirer then?" he teased, leaning over to kiss her forehead.

She held the card to him, "It's Arabic, Chris."

He opened up the card, looking down at the pretty calligraphy, "And means nothing to me."

"But it does to me."

"You read Arabic?" his green eyes went back to hers.

"Yeah."

"Huh. Learn something new everyday," he smiled. "So someone sent you flowers and a note in Arabic. What's it say?"

"'A known mistake is better than an unknown truth. He who plants thorns must never expect to gather roses. A secret is like a dove: when it leaves my hand it takes wing'," she recounted softly. "It's a bunch of Arabic proverbs, but, Chris..."

"It's probably nothing," he quickly assured her, tucking the card into the pocket in his shirt. "I noticed the kids sleeping in their own beds tonight."

"Yeah," she replied vacantly.

"Baby, don't worry about it. Really. Nothing's going to happen to us," Chris stated.

"I'm going to call Susan," Alyssa stated, moving to stand.

Chris's hand on her thigh kept her where she sat, "Tomorrow, baby. Let's get some rest."

"But—"

"Everything's fine," he stated. "So the fans were awfully upset that you and the kids left. They wanted to talk to you guys too."

"Had to get them animal cookies," she explained. "And the nice man in the lift is going to get us some harnesses for the kids, so I'm not so high-strung whenever out in public with them."

Chris chuckled, "You haven't lost them ye—"

"I have too. I lost Toni when I was trying on wedding dresses."

"Different circumstance."

"In any event, I think the harnesses will be good."

"I'm sure they will be. Let's go to bed," his hand moved off her leg as he stood and offered his hand.

"But the roses—"

"They're just flowers, baby. Just flowers."