Chapter 6 - Can she keep the faith?

 

 

 

Having an on again, off again relationship with a rock star can be like work.  That's how it felt to Beth when she left New Jersey that cold afternoon, the afternoon that she learned about Melissa. 

 

This shit is getting tired, she thought as she pulled away.  Her heart was worse than broken, it was shattered into a million pieces and when she was finally able to feel like putting it back together, she met Dalton.  He came into her life at the right time.  A second sooner, she wouldn't have been ready.  A second later, she would have been scared and let him pass by.

 

He was very distinguished, established, intelligent, handsome and tons of fun to be around.  He took Beth in the small doses that she gave of herself, in the hopes that it would develop into something more.  But for some reason, she always held him at a distance.  She kept him arms length away and as she rides in the back of the car to her house to assess the damages, she's glad that she did.  There was something that made her stand back, something that made her pause.  Was it Jon?

 

Beth would give Dalton glimpses into her life with Jon, small and random, but she would let him see.  Rarely would she talk about it, an that's only because she wasn't one to kiss and tell and lets be honest - Jon is hard to measure up to.  How could a man try to have a relationship with a woman that had one with Jon Bon Jovi?

 

One day, not very long ago Dalton and Beth met for breakfast, which was common for them.  They dined out a lot and often were only seen in public.  Beth wasn't ready for the label or the responsibility that came with the girlfriend label.  She just couldn't do it.

 

While they were eating, a young couple came in with what looked like newborn twins, in safety seats and sat at the table next to Beth and Dalton.  Beth eyes immediately affixed on them and she couldn't help but stare.  The little girls were so precious and so tiny.   Dalton sees the look on her face and asks, "Have you ever thought about having children?"  Beth couldn't hear him, she was in another time and in another place.  "Beth?" he says.

 

She looks at him and says, "I'm sorry, what?"  Shaking away the place she went to.  Her heart is racing.

 

"Do you ever think about having children?" 

 

"I used to.  Not anymore." was all she wanted to say on the subject, but she could see that Dalton took that a little personally. 

 

"Why, not anymore?" he asked, like anyone else would.  Her statement left a lot open and even more unanswered.

 

With the new attitude and the new perspective Beth decides to lay it out there.  She lived the life, she made it through maybe talking about it would help - even more than she's already been helped.  "Jon and I lost a set of twins."  She was hoping it would get left there, but it didn't.

 

"I'm sorry to hear that, what happened?" he reaches over and tries to take her hand, at the exact time that she feels she needs to wipe her mouth. 

 

"To put it in simple terms, I was allergic to them." her head goes down and she can see the little girls laying in their casket with their little hats on, matching pink out fits, holding each other.  Beth's eyes start to tear up.  "I went in for a routine ultrasound and we couldn't hear a heartbeat."

 

"I remember reading about that in the newspaper.  I'm so sorry that I didn't put it all together, Beth."

 

"That's okay, I don't normally like talking about it." she admits and offers no more information.  They continue with breakfast and Beth answers the questions that he has and through the course of breakfast, Dalton learns that there are some important mementos that Beth has, from that tragic time in her life. 

 

Jon and Beth are at the front of the house, embarrassed to see crime scene tape draped across the door.  There is a crime scene unit there, parked in her driveway.  Her car had smashed windows and the top was sliced open.  She now had a permanent convertible.  It pissed her off, but she took great comfort in knowing the asshole was behind bars.

 

In the entryway of her house, her house plants were dumped all over and probably staining the Italian marble that's underneath the moist wet soil.  Upon further entry, they see Tony in the kitchen talking with the Captain.  They walk up to them and say hello.  Beth looks at Tony, "Have you been in my bedroom yet?"

 

"NO, they aren't letting anyone in, it's a crime scene."  Tony tells her.

 

Beth looks at the Captain, "You have to let me in there.  I need to grab a few things, please?!?!?"

 

"They are almost finished.  They took samples and pictures, they won't be too much longer."

 

"But Captain, I need to see if he's destroyed the most important thing to me.  Please let me go in there." she demands as she tries to pass by.  Jon grabs her arm, "Let me go." she says to him.

 

"Babe, you can't go in there.  We don't need this asshole getting off on a technicality due to cross contamination or some shit.  Just wait a few minutes."

 

"Jon, I need that chest.  That has our babies stuff in it, Jon........I have to have it."

 

"Hang on, it's just a few more minutes." he tells her with a little authority in his voice.

 

"Captain, can I go anywhere else in the house?"

 

"Yes, the crime happened in your bedroom.  You need to stay out of there."

 

"So, I can go into their room?"

 

"Yes."

 

She grabs Jons hand and runs down the hallway to the twins nursery.  When she walks through the door, she wanted to throw up.  Their room was destroyed.  Holes in the wall, some substance thrown on the walls, their mattress were ripped open - stuffing all over the room. Their little outfits that they never got the chance to wear were in a pile on the floor and they looked to be covered in urine.  She starts to cry.  The pictures of Jon's kids were torn off the wall and ripped into pieces........he destroyed the one place that was just for those little girls and they never seen it.

 

She drops to her knees and starts to sob.  "How can he be so cruel?"  She buries her face in her hands.  Jon kneels down next to her and all he can says is, "I'm sorry!"  His arms go around her and she falls into him, her cries hurt him, deeper than ever before.  He looks around the room and thinks to himself, the fucker is going to get what he's got coming to him.

 

Beth sits on the floor with Jon right at her side.  She needs him close now, now more than ever before.  The feeling that she has in the pit of her stomach is almost more than she can take.  "Jon, what if he ruined all of my ultrasound pics, the pics from their service, all the cards...............oh my God."  she buries her face in his chest.

 

Jon hold her tight until she wants to be let go.  And when she does, she springs to her feet and goes back into the kitchen.  Tony is still there with the Captain making chit chat.  When the Captain sees Beth, he says, "The room has been released, you can go in now."

 

She doesn't even wait for Jon, and she should have.  The first thing she sees is that her mattress is marked and squares were cut out.  She has no idea what that was about, she didn't care.  She went to the her vanity nook and there it was, the cedar chest that her grandmother had given her.  The place that she kept her most sentimental things that she has collected over the years.  It look untouched, the plant that she had on it was still there, but she had to look.  Taking the plant and placing it on the floor, she lifts the lid and is relieved to see that her precious things were still there.  Untouched.  She thought.  She looked through briefly and didn't notice anything missing.  Jon is right behind her, "We need to get this shipped today."

 

"We will."

 

And she leaves the room.  She can't stand to be in there one more second.  She can smell Dalton and that made her sick.