Fall, Year 3, Month 11

Fall was in full swing. Halloween had passed and there were rotting pumpkins slowly collapsing on front porches while leaves piled up on front lawns.

It was raining as Reeve drove the familiar back streets. The cold atmosphere, mixed with the still-warm earth, was creating a low hanging fog that hovered a few feet above the ground, creating an atmosphere Halloween would have been proud of.

The old church was lit up, glowing in the low light of the early evening. Reeve had flashbacks to girls scouts and youth groups at the sight, the only other times she had been to the church at a time and day that wasn't Sunday morning.

The large tree rooted in the front lawn between the main building and the parking lot had neat piles of faded leaves gathered around it, it's limbs nearly bare.

Kelly was holding the back door open when Reeve pulled into the back parking lot. She closed and locked the door with Reeve safely inside, turning off the hallway lights as they went in an attempt to make the church seem empty and to keep curious eyes from seeing what was happening inside.

Kelly followed Reeve as her feet led her down the familiar hallways. She caught sight of Dani and her mother cleaning up what looked to be a buffet dinner in the small cafeteria as she moved towards the sanctuary. The smell of coffee and pizza followed her along with the sound of paper plates being crushed up and shoved into garbage bags.

Reeve pulled open one of the main swinging doors that led into the sanctuary, barely noticing the large signs posted on every entrance. "DO NOT DISTURB! RECORDING SESSION IN PROCESS!"

She had noticed them the night before. Everyone who was in the building was in the sanctuary, minus Molly and Dani. It had taken very little negotiating with the church board to get the place empty on a Wednesday evening. A bible study was moved to someone's home instead of one of the classrooms in the basement. Other than that, Pastor Ralph was more than thrilled to let Reeve and her crew move in. He had simply been excited to see her back at the church again.

Kelly shut the swinging door firmly behind Reeve, moving some soundproofing padding in place as she did so. Up on the windows were more gray form pads to block out the world and encourage the sanctuary's natural acoustics.

The ceiling rose two stories high, coming to a point high above their heads. The choir was up on the stage at the far end of the room running through vocal warm-ups. Anton was yelling out instructions to three tech assistants he had hired from the local music college. No one noticed Reeve as she slipped into a pew half-way up the aisle.

She didn't realize it at the time but she had unconsciously sat in her mother's row, the pew the Keller family had occupied for years. Reeve hadn't attended service at the church in years and yet she knew exactly where she was supposed to be.

Gage, Ember, and Ezra, her new drummer and keyboardist, were setting up their equipment as the choral voices rose to the ceiling in harmony. Reeve watched as everyone around her set up so that she could do her job. Off in the corner was a stool and a microphone. There were microphones throughout the room, several suspended over the choir's heads, and a few extra placed around the sanctuary to pick up all ambient vibrations.

Reeve had stopped by the night before to check in on rehearsals. She wasn't needed yet and yet she couldn't keep away. It was date night with Noah and when she couldn't decide on what they should get for dinner, he suggested they stop in at the church to see what was going on.

She showed him every room of the church, each nook and cranny having a story attached. She walked, holding tight to his hand, as she relived a huge part of her childhood she hadn't thought of in years.

Church life was in full swing the night before, Reeve and her crew only managing to get the place to themselves for one night. Reeve was met with sweet smiles from the older members and was greeted as Livvie on multiple occasions. Noah understood without needing an explanation that this had been her nickname as a kid and the people here had known her longer than the world had.

While smiling at all the familiar faces, Reeve's gut twisted with guilt at the thought of how long it had been since she had attended church.

The choir had been running through their part for the song when Reeve and Noah crept into the sanctuary. She had them keep to the back to keep from disturbing practice. Anton had sent over a vocal track, a bare-bones version of the song they would be recording, along with lead sheets and harmonies for the choir to work on. Reeve's voice was playing out of a phone set on a stool in the center of the choir's half-circle.

Anton had been working with a gruff older woman, shorter than him but twice as broad. Her voice, too, was deeper than his and she was ordering him around as he tried to set up his equipment. His assistants were running around, pasting up soundproofing foam where needed, making sure to avoid the Thanksgiving decorations, to notice Reeve watching from the back corner.

Satisfied everything was going to plan, Reeve could finally focus on Noah and spending time with him.

Once the choir was properly warmed up, Sonny, the choir director, called for a fifteen-minute break, and the choir broke apart. Anton used the chance to fix a mic or two on stage. One of his assistants grabbed the stool and the microphone stand from the corner and placed them on the center of the stand. She placed it so the microphone stand stood in front of the stool, expecting Reeve to face the empty sanctuary, her back to the choir.

One of the choir members Reeve didn't know made it past the first few rows of pews and walked up to the end of where Reeve sat.

"Livvie Keller, right?"

Reeve smiled at the nickname. She had heard it more in the last nine months since she had moved back home than she had in the last five years.

"That's me."

"You're Flora Delacroix's granddaughter, aren't you."

The whole choir knew her as Molly Keller's girl, those who hadn't known her as a child. This was a first.

"You knew my grandmother?"

The woman's soft-skinned crinkled, just a bit as she smiled, the warmth lighting up her face.

"Your grandma was my best friend. I was her hospice nurse down in New Orleans for her last six months. Do you mind?"

She nodded to the seat beside Reeve and Reeve moved to allow her more space. She sighed with relief as she sat.

"Thank you."

Now that Reeve knew what it was, she could hear the New Orleans accent and the sound made her heart swell with thoughts of her grandmother.

"I'm more than glad to be able to participate in your little project but sometimes standing up there can wear on the knees."

"Do you guys need chairs? I'm sure we can find some-"

She laid a hand on Reeve's to keep her from standing up and finding Kelly, sending her and anyone else available to go get chairs for the choir.

"Don't you worry. We'll be fine. We're professionals. And we're old enough to ask for help when we need it. Or a break for that matter. I'm Bernadette Richards, by the way. It's very nice to finally meet you. Your grandma used to talk a blue strike about you when she was clear enough. Never shut up about her beautiful granddaughters, the one who was gonna change the world through arguing and the one who was gonna change the world with her music."

"She talked about me?"

The thought warmed Reeve's chest. Her grandmother had barely recognized her the last time Reeve and her mother had made the trip down to see her.

Even then, when Molly started to make arrangements to have her mother come live in a facility up north, Flora Delacroix was clear enough to state that 'she was born in New Orleans and she was going to die in New Orleans.'

She had passed when Reeve was on tour with Faded Relics, two months after Reeve saw her for the last time. Reeve cried for a week while on the road, miles away from her grandmother, missing her funeral.

"All the time! I mean, when she could remember. Most of the time those last few months she was happy to chat about her fellow residents and how the pudding had changed not only color and texture but taste as well. She didn't understand that we had switched her to jello."

"Were you with her, then? In the end."

Bernadette nodded her head slowly.

"I was. It was like she fell asleep for her regular afternoon nap. She had a smile on her face when she passed, happy as could be. At peace."

Reeve had to wipe away her stray tear. Bernadette caught sight of it and deftly changed the conversation.

"She would be real proud of you. For all this."

Bernadette motioned to everything, all the equipment, the people, the occasion.

"I hope so," Reeve replied through a sigh, feeling a weight on her shoulders at the thought of everyone who had shown up, all the hours that had been put in for one night, one song, a song she had written.

"How did you come to be here, then, if you worked down in New Orleans?"

"One thing your grandma said to me, during one of her clearer moments, was to always make family a priority. She knew I had kids but that they had moved away a long time ago and that I didn't visit as much as I should have. When she passed, I couldn't get her words out of my head. It felt like my own mother had died all over again and the work at the hospice wasn't enough for me anymore. I finally accepted that retirement was the next right choice for me and moved up here to be with my daughter and her family. My son works in New York so he comes up to visit often and I've got my grandbabies around me now. Do you want to see them?"

Reeve nodded and Bernadette pulled out her phone, swiping through dozens upon dozens of two little beautiful babies, smiling in every photo, almost completely identical twin boys.

"They're beautiful."

"They're a handful," Bernadette said, her words filled with pride as if she had the busiest baby boys there had ever been and it was her life's greatest accomplishment.

"They keep me busy. I babysit whenever my daughter needs me to. But that's not busy enough. That's why I joined the choir. It helps fill the time. I get stir crazy if I don't have enough to do."

"I get the feeling."

"And what about you?"

Reeve sent Bernadette a questioning gaze.

"I've heard you used to sing with this choir when you were younger. I see your mom and your sister around here all the time but I haven't seen you attend service yet. Did you used to go to church here?"

Reeve nodded and looked down to avoid her gaze.

"I did. Yeah. I've been meaning to. You know, life. It gets busy."

Bernadette let out a huff. Reeve looked up at the sound.

"Well, that's the laziest excuse if I've ever heard one."

Reeve would have smiled if she hadn't been trying to stammer out a reply. That phrase was one her grandma had used all the time.

"It's just, you know-"

"Oh, I know, honey. Life gets busy. Things pile up. You always mean to. You do understand that it's a battle, right? I have fallen away from my faith several times since becoming a Christian. I had to learn, over and over, how to be a part of a church community. It wasn't easy. It was almost scary. Just like your song says."

Reeve stared at Bernadette, at a loss for words.

"That is what the song is about, right? Being scared to come back to church, afraid of whether or not God would take you back?"

"How did you-"

Bernadette laughed.

"Honey, I'm not stupid. None of us are. We've heard that song a thousand times at this point. Now, I have a question for you. If you don't mind me prying into your life."

Bernadette turned in the pew so her whole being was now focused on Reeve. All Reeve could hear was her grandmother, in Bernadette's mannerisms, her accent.

"Have you surrendered your life to Christ?" Bernadette asked.

Reeve nodded.

"When? Do you remember?"

It would have been hard to forget. It was the summer her dad left and Reeve found herself filled with immense hurt and anger towards him. She had broken down in tears on the couch in the living room of her childhood home and her mom had been there to comfort her. While she cried, Molly reminded Reeve that there was someone who would always be there to comfort her, a father who would never leave her or forsake her. No matter what.

"I was twelve."

"You accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. You believe that He died on the cross for your sins and was raised again so that your sins would be forgiven and that you could have eternal life, through Him, in Heaven."

Again, all Reeve could do was nod.

Molly had been dancing around the subject of church and faith ever since Reeve had moved back home but had given Reeve space to figure it out on her own. She hadn't and now the woman who had helped nurse her grandmother in her last months was confronting Reeve with it head-on.

"Then you're saved. There's no doubt about it. And your salvation has been sealed up in Heaven. You can fall away from your faith, sure. I have many times. But you are a child of God and nothing you can do will ever change that. You don't need to be scared."

Reeve only noticed the tears when they dripped off her face onto her arm.

"Ten minutes, everyone!"

Sonny called out from the top of the stage, looking to her people first and then finishing with Reeve, who nodded in confirmation, trying to wipe away the stray tears and pull herself together. She felt lighter as she sat up straighter. Bernadette's words had hit their mark.

"This will be our first time all singing together."

Reeve nodded, taking a deep breath to try and steady the flow of tears.

"From what your friend was saying," Bernadette nodded to where Anton was stationed at the back of the sanctuary, pulling out a tissue from her purse and passing it to Reeve, "And from the sound of that track they sent us, it seems to me like it's mainly just you and the choir for this song."

"That's the sound I'm hoping for."

In Reeve's head, when she thought of this song, it was her vocals with a large choir to back them up. Minimal guitar, a steady beat from Ember on a beat pad, and hard, strict chords from Ezra on the grand piano at the base of the stage.

"We haven't practiced with you. I've now met you and I know some of our old-timers have known you since you were a baby but the rest don't. We saw you yesterday when you poked your head in and a few might know you from your job but other than that, we've got nothing."

Reeve waited for Bernadette to reach her point.

Again, gesturing at the set up around them, the ambitious endeavor they were all working together to accomplish, a live recording, start to finish, Bernadette turned a sharp eye on Reeve.

"We're all here for you, Liv. We know the song. We know our harmonies. We are here to support you. But we need something in return."

"What do you mean?"

"Try introducing yourself. It goes a long way with us old folks."

Bernadette gave Reeve a pat on the shoulder before pulling herself up and heading back towards the stage. She turned around before she could go far.

"God gave you that voice of yours. I think it's time you started using it for His glory. Just a thought."

Reeve watched her go, her eyes meeting each of the choir members as they started to line up, the few that knew her daring a hesitant wave, the rest not even daring a nod. Bernadette was right. As a group, they didn't know her but she could see they wanted to. And she needed them to if she was going to get the power and intimacy the song needed.

Kelly appeared at her side, Reeve's microphone and water bottle in hand. They were ready for her. Reeve stood and walked down the aisle towards the stage, wiping away tears as she went, unashamed of the red eyes she was sure she had, hoping the raw emotions swirling inside her would add authenticity to the song through her voice.

Reaching the platform, she moved her microphone stand to the other side of the stool so that when she sat, she would be facing the choir.

Kelly handed her her water bottle, which Reeve placed beside her stool down on the ground. Standing back up, straightening her back, she looked every choir member right in the eye, connecting with each of the thirty-five members individually before she spoke.

"Hi, everyone. My name is Olivia Keller. Thank you so much for offering up your time and talent to help me. It is an honor to be standing with you all, in my home church, a place where I learned to love music and to love God. I'm excited to be able to experience this with all of you and to have your incredible voices on my album. Now. Shall we begin?"

Reeve looked to Sonny, who nodded back. There was trust there from years of choir practice Reeve had attended. Sonny was on her team. And now Reeve had the rest of the choir rooting for her, her vulnerability and honesty endearing her to them.

Reeve turned back to the sanctuary, meeting Anton's eyes who sent her a thumbs-up. They were recording. Dani and her mom had slipped in to watch sometime in the last two minutes and taken their seats in the pew Reeve had just vacated.

Right before Reeve turned back to the choir, the swinging doors opened one more time and Noah slipped in, easing the door shut so that it didn't make a sound. He sent a small wave before taking a seat beside Molly.

Reeve was smiling when she turned back to the choir. Her smile inspired a similar expression in many of its members and when she met their eyes this time, she could feel it. She had her team behind her and a new team standing in front of her, just waiting to join in.

Reeve glanced over at Ezra who was sitting ready to her left. With a nod, harsh, sharp, emotional chords reverberated through the speakers, and the choir started to sing with the same power and enthusiasm as if it were a Sunday morning worship service. In a lot of ways, it was.

A/N:

"For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God"
Romans 3:23

"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosever believeth in Him would not perish but have eternal life. For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world: but that the world through Him might be saved."
John 3:16-17

"For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast."
Ephesians 2:8-9

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