Chapter 89 - She Shall Be....

 

 

 

 

 

Pressing talk on the house intercom Beth says into it, “Dani, could you come up here please?”  And she lets go, waiting for Dani to respond.

 

“I’ll be right up, can I bring you anything?” she responds to Beth, from the kitchen.

Beth looks back at Jon who is propped up on pillows, leaning against the headboard.  He shakes his head no.  “No, we’re good.  Thank you.”  Beth goes back to bed and climbs in with Jon.

 

“What do you think she’s going to say?” Jon asks her as she cuddles in next to him.  They have been up for hours, laying in bed talking, discussing how happy they are going to be when Baby Girl can come into the world and meet everyone that’s been waiting for her. 

 

“I don’t know, that’s a tough one.” Beth admits to him, thinking that it might be a little soon, “She could shoot us down and say no, or she can take it for the honor that it is.”

 

“Honor?” he asks, “What honor?”

 

Beth takes his hand and starts to weave her fingers in with his, “Well, one is that we care enough about her and over time we have taken a little of McKenna in to our life, plus who wouldn’t want YOU to name your baby after them?”  Beth is a little snarky, but she thinks that Dani will give their blessing.

 

Jon laughs at her, “You really think I carry a lot of weight in this world, don’t you?”

 

“Admit it, people name children, pets and cars after you and your band.”

 

Winking at her, he admits, “Yeah, they do.”

 

“I think she’ll be honored.”  Beth says quite matter of factly, she thinks she has a good reading on Dani.

 

Moments later, Dani appears and knocks on the open door.  Jon tells her, “Come in.” 

 

Upon entering their bedroom, she looks around to see what might possibly be going on, since no one ever gets called to their bedroom.  Not that it was unheard of, but if they needed someone they would go find them.  “Take a seat.” He adds, moving his feet so she can sit down with them.

 

Dani takes a seat at the foot of the bed and looks back at Beth, “What’s up?”

 

“Jon and I want to talk to you about something.”  Beth replies, “Do you have a minute?”

 

Dani has a lump in her throat and she can feel her heartbeat a little faster.   Why are they calling me to their bedroom?  “I’m wide open, I have lots of minutes.”  She tries to smile, but it was weak at best.  Her anxiety is pretty high and she really shouldn’t try to be funny.

 

“Well”  Beth sits up and starts to say, “You know how we all feel about you, right?”

 

“I think so?”

 

“We all love you and you have become an important part of our lives.  Since we met that teary eyed day in the cemetery, we” she refers to her and Jon, “have been under a cloud of doom thinking that we were going to lose this baby.  But through whatever grace that God has given us, we decided we are going to go have her next weekend.”  Beth’s eyes are tearing up as she talks; she’s amazed that in a week’s time she will get to meet her daughter.  She looks at Jon, and that was it….the mole on his face was a reminder for her, of the ones she lost, but when she looked at him this time, she secretly hoped that this baby has the same mole.  That thought chokes her up.  Jon sees that she is quickly losing it and reaches for her hand.  “I’m sorry, many thoughts running through my head.”  Beth fans her face, like that might help her with the crying.

 

Jon takes over and starts to tell Dani, “She believes that your meeting at the cemetery was supposed to happen and as a result of that, you two, well all of us have developed a great friendship.  We think highly enough of you that we let you live here with us, and I am very protective of my ‘home’.”  He uses air quotes and continues; “With that being said” he pauses and looks to Beth.

 

“I feel the same way about all of you. I am blessed to have met all of you and to be accepted into your family, please know that I love all of you very much.”

 

Beth nods her head, “We know you do and you have to know what we all think if you.”

 

“I do.” She smiles, even though she is really confused right now.

 

“Jon and I would like to name the baby McKenna, but only if you’re okay with it.”  She gets it out and takes a deep breath.  They both do, and then they wait.  Dani breaks eye contact and looks at the floor.   Jon and Beth look at one another and then they both divert their attention back to Dani.  Beth can see that she has tears in her eyes and she’s starting to feel bad.  Dani’s breathing gets a little faster and Beth can see that there are beads of sweat forming on her forehead.  Beth has learned over the last few months that when that happens, Dani is a little stressed.  “Are you okay?”  Beth asks her best friend.  “Dani are you alright?”

 

Dani nods her head yes and looks at Jon.  “You both want to name her McKenna?”

 

Jon nods, “We love the name and we know that we would have loved the little girl.”

 

“Dani, she has become part of us even though we have never met her.  Just like Rowan and Spencer are part of you.  We have meshed a lot of heartache together and created this amazing bond.  We would be honored if you would allow us to name our daughter after your daughter.”

 

A short pause and Dani says, “I would be honored if you did too.  Please go ahead and use it.”  She smiles at both of them. 

 

Beth crawls to her and hugs her, “Thank you!  We are so happy that you’re okay with it, because if you would have said no, we would have used a different name.”

 

“What’s her middle name?”

 

Without hesitation and without any regard to what Jon had to say, Beth blurted out, “Rose.  McKenna Rose Bongiovi.”  Beth smiles, for it’s the first time that Baby Girl Bongiovi had a real name.