“Yeah…yeah, then on the 17th I’ll fly into Mexico before the first show on the 20th,” I say into the phone while I stir my tea on the counter.

I’m currently talking to my manager, Jeff, about the upcoming dates on my tour. I still have a couple shows left at the Forum here in LA, and after these ones I’m heading to Mexico for a few there. Then I’m going to Columbia, Peru, Chile, Argentina, and I’ll close off the year in Brazil.

…Before starting right back up at the end of January.

I’m not complaining though. I love touring, it’s my favorite part about my job. I get to see so many beautiful places, perform songs that I wrote, and hopefully give people incredible memories at my shows. I’m grateful every single day for what I do.

However, it definitely gets difficult sometimes.

You and I have two wonderful twin daughters, Charlotte and Katherine. They just turned 5 years old in August, and they’re our absolute pride and joy. That being said, traveling can be difficult when you have a family. I hate leaving the three of you for long periods of time, and I constantly worry that I’m missing too much of their lives.

But during this tour, I made sure that the schedule had plenty of days in between shows to allow me to stop home just for a bit here and there. I also have almost a whole month worth of shows at the Forum, which means I’m able to stay here at our LA home like normal.

Plus, the girls get to come to some of my shows!

I cherish any time I have with the three of you, because you’re some of the most important women in my life, alongside my mother and sister. I would do anything and everything for my family at the drop of the hat.

Which includes taking little Katherine and Charlotte trick-or-treating.

Tonight is Halloween, and the girls have been excited for weeks in anticipation of the holiday. I wasn’t entirely sure what costumes they had planned, but you had told me not to worry about it, so I didn’t.

Which is why I’m very surprised, and slightly startled, when I turn to see them suddenly standing alarmingly still in the archway of the kitchen.

Dressed as the twins from The Shining.

“Jesus,” I mutter under my breath in surprise, exhaling as I give them a small smile. “Hi darlings. Dressed up already, hm?”

No response. Then, in sync: “Come play with us.”

Odd.

I blink at them, then squint a little before speaking into my phone. “Jeff, I’ll call you back.”