Chapter 76 - I Kicked Off My Jeans

“Dad, can we get pizza?” they hear as they walk into the front door of his mom and dad’s. 

Beth looks at him and smiles, “I think that means, hi dad and Beth, how are you?”

As they round the corner and find the family in the family room they see Stephanie sitting on the floor with grandma brushing her long dirty blonde hair.  Jake and Romeo are playing smash up derby, crashing cars into one another and Jesse is on his phone. 

The little ones see dad and Beth and make a beeline for them, Romeo running right to Beth.  “Hey buddy!” she leans over and picks him up. 

As soon as she does that, she hears in stereo, “BETH!”  Jon and Stephanie are looking at her.

She panics, “What?”  Looking behind her, seeing nothing.

“Put him down.”  Jon tells her.

“No.  Is that what you yelled at me for?” she asks him, pissed that he’s trying to tell her what to do.

Stephanie says to her concerned, “He’s too big for you to pick up.”  Beth looks at her and smiles, knowing that her heart is in the right place.

“Stephanie, it’s okay.”

“Please don’t, he’s too heavy.” The young girl pleads.  Beth sees that it’s bothering her, so she quick kisses Romeo and puts him back on the floor.  Romeo wanted to go play cars any way. 

Jon sits in his dad’s Lazy Boy and asks his mother, “Where’s Pop?”  Beth takes advantage of the opportunity and sits in Jon’s lap.  The kids were content, ma was content.  Now Jon and Beth are too.

Carol looks at Jon, and then Beth “You guys look tired.  No sleep last night?” And she asks with the utmost concern for the two, having no idea what played out last night.  She hasn’t seen or heard from either one of them since Jon left Beth’s party.  She didn’t even know that Beth left Jon at the Met.  She’s not had the news on, and she usually doesn’t when Jon is home.  It frustrates her, even on good news days.  Someone is always mad at him for doing something or for not doing something.  His relationship with Beth is always the back story to undo any good that he’s done.  Builds a homeless shelter in Philadelphia, but he was seen at Macy’s with his mistress.  Mrs. B has heard it all, seen it all.  If she needed to know something about Jon, she just asks him. 

Beth pulls her feet up and sits kind of cradled in Jon’s lap, “We didn’t get home until this morning.  We spent the night in the cemetery.”

 

“It stormed last night.” Mrs. B says.

“We know.”  Jon said, smiling at his mother.  “It was beautiful.”

“You were in the storm?”

“One Versace gown will never see another day.”  Jon jokes, making fun of Beth.

“That bad?” asks his mom.

Beth nods, “Mud, grass and rain.”

“I’m sure that Donatella will make you another one.” She replies. 

The adults have a coded conversation, as much as they can with Stephanie hanging on every word, wanting to be part of the big people conversation.  When it gets to the part of talking about the baby, they go into the kitchen and have iced tea, decaf for Beth.

“How are you doing, honey?”  Mrs. B asks Beth, “Are you doing okay?”

“From the sucker punch?” Beth smirks, “I think I’m in denial, emotionally.  Mentally, I’m a mess.”

“Is there anything that dad and I can do for you?”

“No, it’s a waiting game now.”  Beth says, as she grabs Jon’s hand.  “We have to take it day by day.”

Jon jumps in and asks, “Did the kids say anything about it?”

Mrs. B nods her head, “I talked to Steph and Jesse last night.  They both know what the baby being a girl can mean.”

“How is Stephanie taking it?” Beth interjects, knowing that the kid had a heart made of very fragile gold.  “Did she let on how she’s doing.”

“All she really said was that she doesn’t want to be alone with you until you have the baby.”  That was a dagger to the heart, Beth kind of gasped for air.

“What do you think she meant by that?” Beth questions Mrs. B with her fingers over her mouth.

Jon reaches over and rubs Beth’s back, “She’s probably just afraid that something will happen if you’re alone.”

“We have to talk to her.” Beth states, “I can’t have her afraid.”

“We will. “  Jon assures her.  “We’ll talk to all of them about it.”

“What do we say?” Beth blurts, now getting upset that her best buddy is afraid to be alone with her, not at Stephanie; but at the situation that the higher powers are putting them in.  “Hey, we know that you think you’re going to have a little sister, but get ready because she might die?” 

Jon wraps his arm around her and says, “This one we’ll play by ear, okay.”

“This is such bullshit.”  Beth feels bad that she cursed in front of Mrs. B, but now that she thinks about it all again, the madder she gets.  “Why would he do that to us again?”  She refers to that higher power that keeps letting her down.  “Why?”

It hurts Mrs. B to see her son hurt and then to see him hurt because the love of his life is hurting and there isn’t anything that he can do for her – it’s a double whammy for her.  “I wish there was something I could do or say to make this better, or to take it away.”  She walks over to Beth and kisses her forehead.  “I am here if you need anything.”

“I know, Ma.  I’m sorry, I can’t help myself.” She admits, “I feel like I’m a time bomb waiting to go off.”

“That’s understandable dear, and it’s okay to get mad.”

“Can we talk about something else?”  Beth begs.  “Oh yeah, we met a woman at the cemetery today.  She lost an infant daughter to SIDS and then lost her husband.”

“That’s too bad.” Mrs. B wrinkles her brow.  “How did you get to talking to her?”

Jon jumps in and says, “Well, before we came here we had to stop at the florist and then to the cemetery.” With a slight laugh he adds, “Three thousand dollars later, Beth was putting a flower on McKenna’s headstone and Dani walked up to her.  That’s how all of that started.”

“Aw, that was nice – but three thousand at the florist?  What did you do, put a flower on every grave?” Ma asks them.

“Just about.” Beth says, feeling a little silly to hear what she had done put in to words.  “I seen a few last night that needed some love and today we shared some love.”

“What’s this Dani like?”  Ma asks.  At that point Jon gets up ad starts looking through the fridge. 

“Where’s Pops?” he asks his mother again.

Quickly, Mrs. B tells him, “He’s over at Anthony’s.”

“For what?”

“I don’t know, he called your father about an hour ago and then he left.  I didn’t ask.” She tells her son, uninterested in his father.  “Tell me about Dani.”  Beth can see that she didn’t care either way if she knew about Dani, but it was taking Beth’s mind off of the baby – so she keeps her talking.

“Her daughter was almost 8 weeks old when she died.  Dani lost her baby and then 3 weeks later, she lost her hubby.  He left her, alone.”

“That’s terrible.”

“She used to be a school teacher, but had to quit that because she was getting behind on bills and stuff.  Now she’s a stripper.”

“Now that’s terrible.  Where does she live?”

Beth shrugs her shoulders, “I didn’t ask.”

“Must not be too far away, she only had an hour to get to work.”  Jon tells his mother, standing over the sink eating a piece of pie with his hands. 

“Jon!” his mother scolds him, “Get a plate and a fork.”

“Too late.”  He crams the piece of pie in his mouth and winks at his mother.

The adults talk for a few more minutes before Jon says, “Let’s get the kids and get home.  I’m tired.”

Beth slides off the bar stool that was at the kitchen island and says, “I am too.”

Jon kisses his mom and leaves the kitchen, Beth stays behind and tells her, “Thank you!”

“For what dear?”

“Being awesome!”  Beth hugs her. “My party was beautiful.  I can’t tell you enough, thank you for that.  I’m sorry that I put a damper on the night with the big baby reveal.”

“Stop that.  We all wanted to know what you were having.  The suspense was killing me.”  Mrs. B takes her hand, “Go be with your family.  They need you now.”

Beth hugs and kisses her and as she turns to leave she asks, “Will you tell Pops we said Hi?”

“Of course.”  Mrs. B walks with her, she needed to say bye to the kids.

Back home, after stopping off for pizza, Jon asks the kids if they wanted to talk about last night.  He knew that Stephanie would, but he was unsure about Jesse and Jacob.  All three wanted to talk, Jon looked to Jacob first.  The Bongiovi children come from a long line of strong willed, driven people and Jacob didn’t get skipped when the will and drive was being handed out.  He looks at his dad and starts to say, “Is she gonna die?”  but the lump in his throat made it hard for him to say.

If breaking hearts made a sound, everyone in the Bongiovi household would be deaf from the sound of the heart break that just happened. 

Jon and Beth agreed that they would be completely honest with them, with any question that they asked, so Jon says, "It's possible.  When we were at the doctor last, she was strong and looking great.  So, we just have to wait and see."

"Is there something that we can do?"  Stephanie asks, getting up and sitting next to Beth on the couch.

"No, we just have to wait and see how my body responds to her.  It seems to be doing okay with her in there."

"So she could be born?" Jesse asks, "We could get a little sister?"

Jon looks at his eldest son and smiles, "A little sister is possible.  We have hope, but we aren't getting our hopes up to high."  He looks at Beth, directing what he says next to her, "We need to get on with life with the thought that we're having a baby."

"How are you Beth?"  Rose asks her, looking at her with such adoration and respect.

"I'm good sweety.  I have my moments, but so far so good."  Beth puts her arm around her and kisses her head.  "Your hair is so soft.  How long did grandma brush it?"

"Forever.  I think she missed out on dad's hair when it was long and gross." laughing at her dad, "Grandpa always got to do dads hair."

"Ha ha," Jon says as he reaches over and play punches Stephanie in the arm.  "Seriously though, if you have any question, concerns or just want to talk about the situation that we're in now, please come to me and Beth.  No one else will have the 'right' answers."

"And please, don't share it with your friends.  We have an issue with the press already and we want it all to die down."  Beth asks the kids, with her motherly and comforting voice.

But Jon didn't think that was enough, "Don't talk to anyone about it, and that includes your mother.  Please, don't share it with anyone."

"I won't."  Jesse replied, getting up off the floor, wanting to go to his room.  But before he does, he hugs Beth, "Congrats on the new offices, you'll do great."

Beth embraces the boy, it was the first time he has approached her.  "Thank you Jesse, that means a lot to me.  Thank you for all of your help with it."

"I know you're not my mom, but if I didn't have my mom - I would want it to be you."  The waterworks started immediately, he melted her heart with just a few words. 

"I consider you to be my first son.  If I were to ever have my own, I would want him to be just like you." she whispers in his ear. 

He kisses her cheek, "Good night."  He then leans over and hugs his dad, "Good night dad."

"Good night, Jess.  I love you."  Jesse starts to leave the living room and Jacob follows him.  When Romeo sees it, he gets up to go too.  "Jess, could you help them with their pajamas?  I'll be up in a few minutes."

"No problem dad.  I love you."

All three boys run up the stairs and are out of sight.  Stephanie is sitting between her dad and Beth.  The silence is nice, but when Stephanie breaks it with her question, she leaves Jon and Beth at a loss of words.  "If she isn't born and they have to take her out, can I see her before she goes to the funeral home and has all that make up put on her?"

Jon and Beth look at one another and Beth comes up with the best, truthful answer.  "We will decide when and if that comes.  But, if she looks as good as Rowan and Spencer, I don't see why not."

"Are you sure?"

"Have I ever lied to you?"

"No."

"And I won't start now."  Beth assures her, and means what  she says.

Stephanie sits there for a few minutes and decides that she wants to go to bed, too.  She tells them good night and disappears up the stairs.

Jon and Beth are alone on the couch.  He reaches over and grabs her hand and pulls her close.  "Are you ready for bed?"

Climbing up on him she says, "I really need you to make love to me.  I miss you so much."

"Are you feeling up to it?"

"Um, yeah!  I'm feeling like that's all I want to do right now.  I need a stress reliever and baby, I think you're it."

He scoots to the edge of the couch with her still on his lap.  Once he's to the edge, he stands with her in his arms and he takes her upstairs.  Laying her on the bed, he asks again, "Are you sure?"

"Aren't you the one that said we need to get on with life as it there is a baby on the way.  Our sex is beyond awesome when I'm pregnant."

He stands over her and pulls off his shirt, unbuttoning his jeans and dropping them to the floor, he remembers, "I need to go help the kids get ready for bed.  Hold that thought."  he grabs his robe and runs out to check on the kids.  He spent a few minutes with Jake and Romeo, checks in on Steph and then Jesse.  All kids are present and account for and where they need to be.  bidding them all good night, he goes back to his best friend.  When he gets back to their room, he sees that she is sound asleep.  On the verge of snoring. 

He's debating on whether to wake her or let her get her rest.  If he doesn't, she may be mad.  And that's okay, because she needs that rest.  But then he thinks to himself, "If we make love, we both will sleep SO much better."