Chapter 20 - Home Is Where The Heart Is

Walking in to the smell of dinner cooking in the oven made the house feel even more like home to Beth.  Not only did it make her mouth water, it made her heart smile. 
She brought up the back of the line as everyone filed into the house.  They all dropped their beach gear at the laundry room door way, as they came in from the garage.

 

"Go get changed and we'll eat."  Jon tells his children. They all are exhausted from the day in the sun and the water activities, so dinner and maybe a movie and they all will turn in for the night. 

 

The kids, following dad's orders, did as they were told.  Beth dropped her stuff by the laundry room door and ran into the kitchen to pull the lamb out of the oven.  She's running around, trying to set the dinner table in her bikini and sundress and Jon stops her.  "Slow down."

 

"What do you mean slow down?" she responds, face to face with her rock star.  "I need to get the table set so the kids can have some dinner."

 

"I'll set the table.  Go change." he tries to nod her off.

 

With the plates in her hand, she tells him as she walks around him, "I got this, and I'll change when I can take a shower.  You go change."

 

"No." he's getting lippy with her now.  "I'll change when I can shower with you."

 

She looks at him and smiles and confesses, "I was hoping you would say that.  Now grab some napkins from the drawer right there."   

 

Her turns around and grabs some napkins from the drawer and like a wise ass asks her, "What do you want for rings, your royal highness."

 

She shoots him a look and goes back into the kitchen for silverware and glasses.  When she's finally got the table set, she instructs her rock star to call the kids for dinner.  She was thinking that he would go to the end of the stairs and yell up to them, but no - he walked over to the intercom and told them that way, winking at her.

 

She laughs, "You're impossible."

 

The family has a real dinner together, the first in a long time and the outside world is turned off.  The kids were silly, they all laughed and the whole day was priceless.  When they were finished eating, the kids cleared the table and helped clean up the kitchen.  When the kitchen was all cleaned up and the dishwasher running, Jon tasked the kids if they wanted to watch a movie.  Naturally, they wanted to - deciding what one was going to be the question.

 

Taking Beth's hand, Jon leads her into the living room and they sat together on the couch.  Romeo tucked right in between them and Jake sat at Beth's side.  "What are we going to watch?"  Beth asks.

 

Stephanie suggests, "Mrs. Doubtfire.  Romeo loves that movie."

 

Jacob pipes up and says, "Yeah, Mrs. Doubtfire." and the decision was made.  Jesse wasn't happy with it, so he sat sideways in a chair, with his legs over the arm and played his Nintendo DS.  They weren't too far into the movie and Beth noticed that Romeo was nodding off.  His head would fall, and he's wake up.  It'd fall again, and he'd wake up.  She's sitting on her knees, with her arm around Jon and she taps him on his shoulder.

 

"Someone is ready for bed." she states.  Looking down at the little guy that fought a good fight but lost.

 

Jon looks down at him and smiles, "I'm surprised that he made it this long."  Jon starts to get up and Beth stops him.

"What are you doing?"

He kind of laughs, "Taking him up to bed."

"He can wait.  Finish the movie with Jake and we'll take them up together."  Beth smiles at him, before her eyes she is seeing Jon morph into a man that she really only dreamt of.  He was so giving, so accommodating and she could really feel that he truly loved her and the family that they were growing into.

They finished watching Mrs. Doubtfire and were getting ready to take the little guys up to bed.  Jon gets the attention of the older kids and told them not to stay up too late.  They agreed, he hugged and kissed them good night and he took Romeo from Beth.

Beth lagged behind with Jacob.  "Steph, Jess thank you for such a wonderful day.  I had the best time at the beach."

"Me too."  Stephanie says, smiling at Beth.

Jesse looks away from his game system long enough and says, "Thanks for loving us like you do dad."  Beth was speechless.  Both Rose and Jesse made grand gestures that told her that she was finally accepted and she was one of them.  Not by marriage and not by someone that had the power invested in them, Beth was a Bongiovi.