Chapter 44 - His Ring Is Still On Her Finger

 

 

"Wait a minute."  Dorothea tells Pete, looking at Jon, "I want to take the kids to eat.  They said they haven't eaten yet today."

 

"Pete will get them what they need." he demands, "Why are you here?"  Dorothea takes Romeo by the hand and starts to lead him around the corner to the deli that they all liked.  "Dorothea, why are here?" he snaps at her following her and the boys.

 

"Jon, stop making such a big deal about this, we come here every year for Christmas." she continues to walk.  Pete walks next to Jon and looks at him, her expression tells him that she has no idea why Dot is there.

 

"We came here for Christmas as a family, why are you here?"

 

Dot stops and asks him politely, "I'm taking the kids for lunch, you are more than welcome to join us if you want - if you can calm down."  Her calm demeanor is pissing Jon off more than anything right now.

 

Not wanting to cause any more of a scene, Jon caves and lets her take the kids for lunch.  While he tells Pete, her further instructions, Dot walks into the deli with the boys.  "As soon as they are done eating, bring them back to the hotel."

 

"I will." says the faithful family friend, "As soon as they are done."

 

Jon gives her a half of a smile and says, "Thanks."  He leaves Pete to go in and eat, with his anger in check he heads back to the hotel to check on Beth. 

 

He quietly walks into the darkened room that smells like a tropical breeze and can see that she hasn't moved.  With a lightness in his step, he works his way to the side of the bed and checks on her.  Gently he brushes some hair off of her cheek, to get a good look at her.  She feels that and wakes up, "I love you." she whispers and that scares him a little.  She didn't move a muscle cause they all hurt so bad.

 

 

"How ya feeling?" he asks her, hoping she feels a little better.

 

"Like I've been run over.  Did the kids eat?"

 

Jon exhales hard and sits next to her, "Yeah, they are at the deli with Pete and Dot." he holds his breath, sick or not, she's going to be pissed.

 

Again, not moving a muscle, "What do you mean they are with Dot?"

 

"She's here on the island, I don't know why so please don't ask."

 

"And the kids are with her?" she slowly rolls over, holding the comforter in place.

 

"Yeah, she said that we always do Christmas here, that's why she's here.  She must have run into the kids in town when Pete was talking them to eat."

 

"You mean she was stalking them?" Beth knows better and Beth knows that if she felt better, Dot being on the same island as her might be a bigger deal than it is.  Beth knows that this was calculated by Dot and soon they will know why she is there.

 

"Can I get you anything?" he asks, rubbing her belly, looking at her with a sad face.  "You look like crap."

 

"Thanks.  I feel like it too."

 

"Are you sure it's just a bug?"

 

"Feels just like the flu every other time I have had it." she assures him. 

 

"I love you more than you will ever know." he looks into her eyes and adds, "Ma asked if you were pregnant."

 

That causes Beth to laugh, "She been pretty hard on me about it over the last couple months.  I think she's sad that Romeo isn't a baby anymore and she wants another one around."

 

Jon climbs over her and lays next to her.  On his side, with his head propped on his left hand he asks, "Does she bother you a lot about it?"

 

"What do you mean by a lot?  Every time we talk?" she coughs, "She mentions it every time we talk."

 

"She can be a pain in the ass."

 

"Yeah, but she's ma." Beth takes a hand and runs it along the contour of his face, "You look amazing with your sun kissed face in that orange shirt."

 

"You like this shirt?  My girlfriend picked it out for me." he laughs, leaning in he kisses her cheek.

 

Beth laughs and says, "I do like it, your girlfriend has good taste.  Orange looks great on you."

 

Jon lays with her and watches her, he can see that she doesn't feel good.  He can see that she's achy and tired and he can also see that Dorothea is running through her mind.  He hated telling her about her being there, but he wasn't going to let her find out.  She deserved to know and there isn't a good time to tell the one that you love that your soon to be ex was on the same island as you.  It was out of the way and now, together they can deal with it.

 

"Go back to sleep, babe?" he tells her, just wanting her to feel better. 

 

"I think I want to go outside." she replies, "I want the sun on my face and the sand on my feet." she pushes back the comforter and gets up slowly.  Jon follows her lead and gets up.  Together they walk out to the beach and he helps her get comfortable in the lounge chair again.  When he knows that she's settled, he runs back into the room and grabs his camera and a towel. 

 

They lay on the beach for a while and just talk.  Beth is tired and Jon tries to keep the conversation simple, so when she asks him, "Can you imagine being pregnant right now?" he gets a little excited.

 

"Are we?"

 

She shakes her head no and says, "I think my period is coming, that's why I feel super sick."  She could see his optimism fade fast, but she knows that it won't last long.  Both were baffled by the fact that they had gone almost a year without getting pregnant.  Beth has been checked out and so has Jon.  A year of making love without protection and no baby, something has to be up. 

 

"I can't believe we haven't made a baby yet." he confesses, "As much sex as we have, you'd think one of my little guys would get by." he reaches out and takes her hand. 

 

She turns her head and looks at him, "It's in God's hands.  When he thinks we're ready, we'll have a baby."

 

"I know, and I'm not complaining.  I  just hate for all of the effort to go to waste." he laughs.

 

"Is making love to me that bad?" she winks at him and squeezes his hand. 

 

He smiles at her and says, "I'd make love to you all day, every day if I could, you know that."

 

"They make pills for that." she jokes with him.  She is more than satisfied with their love making.  When it's just the two of them and they are together, nothing else matters.  They are so in tune with one another and all they want is to make each other happy.  His kiss, his smell, his touch, his look was the only aphrodisiac that she ever needed.