32

It was a few days before New Year's Eve, and I was standing in the middle of a festival in New Orleans. The air was thick with the sound of music and laughter, and I was feeling good. As I looked around, taking it all in, my phone beeped. It was a message from my girlfriend, who was all the way up in Tribeca.

"Ok, I'm ready," the message read.

I grinned to myself, knowing what she was referring to. We had talked about this before - about how we wanted to spend New Year's Eve together but circumstances kept us apart. I had come down to New Orleans to celebrate with some friends, while she had stayed in New York. But we had made a promise to each other that we would make up for it later.

"I owe you one, yes, I do," I replied.

The next few weeks passed in a blur. Valentine's Day came and went, and we spent it together, just as we had planned. But then came a sudden turn of events. I had to play a show in Iowa State, and there was no way I could miss it. It meant that I wouldn't be able to spend the day with my girlfriend. I felt terrible about it, and I knew I owed her one.

"I guess I owe you that too," I told her.

As the months went by, we kept making plans, but life kept getting in the way. I was trying my best to balance my music career with my relationship, but it wasn't easy. I could sense the strain it was putting on us.

"I try so hard to be so happy, are you happy too?" I asked her one day.

"I know you try to," she replied.

We talked about how we could make things work, how we could keep our relationship strong despite the distance and the demands of our lives. And then I had an idea.

"Can we do Christmas in June?" I asked her.

It was a crazy idea, but it made sense to me. We could celebrate Christmas when things were less hectic for us, and we could do it in our own way. It would be something special, something that was just for us.

"Oh my God, how lucky am I to have two things I love?" she said.

It was a line from one of my songs, and it made me smile. But at the same time, I knew how true it was. I loved my music, but I loved her more. And I didn't want to lose her.

"I hate to do this, don't wanna lose this," I told her. "Can we do Christmas in June?"

And so we did. We celebrated Christmas in June, with no tree or decorations, just the two of us, enjoying each other's company. It was a special day, one that we would always remember. And as we sat together, watching the sun set, I knew that I had made the right decision.

"Darling, if we're ever gonna have a kid," I said, "don't wanna miss it, can we just have him in June?"

She smiled at me, and I knew that everything would be alright. We had found a way to make it work, to keep our love strong despite the challenges. And that was all that mattered.