Ch 39 ~ The Bongiovi Bunch

Things were… lighter now in Rachel’s personal life. 

The weight of the ‘more children’ decision was off of her shoulders, the wedding had provided a long weekend of fun, family and friends and her relationship with Jon was in a near-perfect place.  Well, except for Jon’s persistence in proposing marriage every day.  That had actually become more entertaining than stressful, though, and she almost enjoyed it being a part of their ‘routine’.  He’d even tossed it out there as part of his goodbye when departing right after Leanne’s wedding ceremony.

Overhearing his, “Gonna marry me now?” after he kissed Rachel goodbye, Robin had rolled her eyes and mimed sticking a finger down her throat.  Her sister hadn’t yet embraced Jon’s return with open arms, but that didn’t really bother Rachel.  His presence had kept her family’s nosy Seattle questions to a minimum, and sooner or later they would all realize everything was working out for the good.

Yes, her personal life was pretty much sunshine and roses. 

In other breaking news, however, water is wet and Mondays in the real estate and banking world are positively obnoxious.

Maybe it was the fact that her weekend had been so pleasant, but going into the office had almost felt like the end of the world to her that morning.  She knew that she always – always – had a million problems come across her email on Mondays and it wasn’t going to be much fun fighting those fires. 

These kinds of issues were going to be a whole lot more tolerable while staring out a hotel room window at Big Ben or Parliament, Rachel thought late that afternoon.  She literally could not wait until it was time to start her European jaunt with Jon. 

The thought had only just been fully formed when there was a firm knock on her office door.

Glancing up from the hundredth “crisis” issue of the day, she found James looming on the threshold and looking none too happy.  There had been nothing going on today that she couldn’t handle, so she was almost certain his dour mood had nothing to do with her work performance and she wasn’t dealing with another snit like the one she had last week.  She simply wasn’t in the mood.

That meant she pasted on the happiest smile she could muster.  “Oh, James, good.  I was just thinking that I needed to talk to you.  I’ll need to make arrangements to work away from the office for the entire month of June.  That won’t be a problem, right?”

His querulous expression shifted to one of confusion.  “Well, no…  I don’t see why it would be, but…  An entire month?”

“Mhm.”  She let her eyes flick from the email she had resumed typing and gave him another happy-go-lucky smile.  “Jon’s taking me to London.  I’ll bring you back something from Harrod’s.  Now, I’ve got a ton of stuff to finish up before I get out of here today, so if there’s nothing else, you’ll excuse me?”

“Uh…” 

Apparently she had distracted him from whatever his original mission may have been, because now he looked more confused than ever and was shaking his head.  He might have even mumbled something like “over my dead body” as the door closed behind him, but he did close the door.  That was the important thing in Rachel’s mind. 

The remainder of the day whizzed by and, before she knew it, Rachel had eaten a dinner salad, had a glass of wine and was locking the house down for the night.  She had just shut the lights off on the first floor, double checked the locks and was about halfway up the staircase when the house phone rang.  

Thank you, Hay Zeus.

The late hour was a dead giveaway that the caller would be Jon, and hearing his voice would be the one bright spot in Rachel’s day.  She smiled as she hurried toward the handset on her nightstand.

“Hey, babe,” she answered, only a tiny bit breathless as she dropped down onto the bed.  She kicked off her slippers and swiveled so that her feet were on the mattress and her back was against the pillows.

“Hi, sweetheart.  How’s my best girl tonight?”

His voice drifted over her like a soothing balm and the final remnants of her harrowing day melted under it.  “Just crawling into bed.  How is…  Where are you tonight?”

“Show was in Kansas City, but I’m in Montreal now.  Gotta zig zag around a little the next coupla days, but at least I’ll sleep in the same bed for a more than a night and I’ll get to see my kids a lot this week.   Some sacrifices are worth the trouble, yanno,” he tacked on in a voice that let Rachel know he was talking about his surprise visit to California over the weekend.  “Anyway, how was your day?”

“Typical Monday,” she relayed wearily.  “One nightmare after another.”

“Yeah?  Anything in particular going on, or is it just another day in paradise?”

“A little of both,” she chuckled, oddly compelled to share the biggest of her headaches.  “I’ve got this foreclosed vacant parcel that keeps falling out of escrow.  It’s right in the middle of a residential zone, but isn’t really big enough to do a lot with.  Buyers can’t get the right permits and it keeps coming back to my desk.  I can’t seem to get it priced low enough to get rid of it.”

He didn’t cluck sympathetically, or offer the empty platitudes of someone who truly didn’t give a flying fig as she half-expected him to.  After all, he didn’t exactly have the real estate background to be able to properly commiserate.

Or so she thought.  Not only did he offer a genuine response, he did it so immediately and insightfully, that it stunned Rachel. 

“So donate it,” he reasoned.  “Give it to Habitat for Humanity.  They’ll put it to good use, your bank gets the tax write off, it’s out of your hair and everybody’s happy.”

Oh.  My.  Word.  Why in the world didn’t I think of that? 

“Do you have somebody I can talk to?” she asked excitedly, sitting up in bed and looking for something to write with.   “Somebody at the top so I don’t have to wade through all the paperwork to get to the right person?”

“Yeah, I’ll get a name for you in the morning.   It won’t be the exact person you’ll deal with, but they’ll be able to put you in touch with someone in your area.”

I’m finally going to get this albatross from around my neck.  Halle-freaking-lujah!

“You.  Are.  Astounding!  It boggles my mind that, in under ten seconds, you may have just solved a problem I’ve been trying to fix for months.  Literally months.”

He was completely unflustered by her praise, and casually accepted the compliment in typical Jon fashion.  “And I’m good in bed.  Who knew?”

“I know, right?” she laughed, practically giddy with delight. “What other brilliance are you gonna throw my way?  I don’t see how you’re gonna top that, but give it a try.”

“Well… I dunno about brilliance, but I do have something else to throw at you.”

She was a bit concerned at the uncertainty in his voice.  Normally very direct and sure of himself, Jon didn’t do uncertainty.  “Okay.  What’s that?”

He gave a quiet sigh.  “Actually, this has been a sticky subject between us in the past, so… I’m not sure how to approach it without pissing you off.”

On the bright side, her Jon-reading skills were spot on.  She hoped that wasn’t the last bright spot in this conversation.

No matter what it is, there’s absolutely no reason to fight about it.  We’re a new and much better place than we used to be.  We can handle this together, like adults. 

She took a deep, silent breath and blew it out, steeling herself for whatever he had to say.   “Hit me with it, honey.”

“Alright, but promise me you won’t freak out, or hang up on me or –“

“Just spit it out, Jon.  Please.”

“Okay, but as far as I’m concerned you just promised, so keep your shit together.  Please.” He drew in his own breath and exhaled audibly. “Before you and I were back together, I made plans to take a vacation with the kids – and Dorothea.  I know that was an issue for you in the past, and now I’m faced with two problems.  The first problem is that this trip’s only a couple of weeks away, and I don’t want to disappoint my kids by cancelling it.  So… I’d like for you to come with us.”

Rachel’s head spun slightly at the visual of sitting at the breakfast table with Jon, Dorothea and their four children. 

On vacation.  Together.

Can you say awkward?

Awkward, but not out of the question.  At least he wasn’t excluding her.  That was progress, but she was reserving judgment until she found out the rest of the story. 

“What’s the second problem?”

“That’s it?” was his incredulous inquiry.  “You’re not going to have a meltdown?”

“Jury’s still out until I hear your second problem.”

“Alright.  But the second problem is a little more complicated.  I don’t know how to bring these two parts of my life together as one – and I need your help to figure it out.”

He was asking for Rachel’s input? 

Holy mother of pearl.

She couldn’t have seen that coming with a crystal ball and the entire Psychic Friends Network. 

“I…  I don’t think I’ve ever heard you ask anybody for help before, Jon.  That’s a new one.”

“I don’t usually need anybody’s help.  Work is work and I’m the boss, but this stuff?  I don’t have a clue how to change the relationship with my kids’ mother.  We’ve always been partners – Mommy and Daddy – but I need to change that since you’re part of my life now.”   

He had clearly been struggling to find a solution and it was killing him that the answer wasn’t coming.  Rachel could hear and feel Jon’s angst, and it made her feel guilty to know she was the reason for it.  At the same time, she had an overwhelming appreciation that he was doing everything he could to her happy and still maintain his closeness with his children – and their mother. 

“Honey, you’re always going to be partners,” she began, knowing it was true.  Those children were half Dorothea’s and the two of them together had assumed responsibility for the kids from the moment they were conceived.  Just as it should be.  “Your children are – and will always be – your family, right along with your parents and brothers.  And Dorothea is their family, so she’s forever intertwined in your life and a part of your extended family.  I get that and that’s the way it should be, but by your actions – coming to California and dedicating yourself to making our relationship work – you’ve made me your family, too.   All I’m asking is for you to make me part of the family you already have by not excluding me.  That’s all.  Nobody has to leave the family for us to be together.” 

“Not even Dorothea?” he asked. 

“No, not unless that’s what she chooses.   Look... I’m not threatened by her, I just resented her towering presence in our lives.  If she were your sister or cousin you wouldn’t allow her to keep controlling things.  All I ask is that you treat her with the love and respect that you would any family member, but that you remember she’s no longer your wife.  There has to be room for me to be the woman in your life.  Does that seem a reasonable approach?”

“I suppose so,” he agreed. “But how about you?  How are you going to feel about her being around?  Are you really going to be comfortable with that?”

“In the beginning… maybe not.  But she’s not going anywhere and neither am I, so she and I will have to learn to accept each other.  She’s been here for the last thirty years or so and I intend to be here for longer than that, so we’ll find our own relationship as time goes on.  We both love you, maybe in different ways, but the love is still there.  I’m sure she’s as willing as I am to make this a good situation for your kids and, in turn, for you.”

“You’re entirely too calm about this,” he teased, and she was pleased to note that all of the turmoil and angst were no longer present in his voice.  “Have you been drinking tonight?”

“No,” she chuckled, dropping her head back and closing her eyes.  They’d done it.  They’d walked through a potential minefield hand-in-hand and come out on the other side with no casualities.  Some day that would surely lose its novelty, but tonight it was a glorious moment.  “But I’d like to be drinking.  If you were here, I’d probably be sloshed from the vats of wine you pour down your throat.”

“Yeah...there'd be something down somebody's throat if I was there, that's for sure.” He laughed and then went quiet for a moment before circling back to the first problem.  “So you’re okay about us going on vacation with Dorothea?”

“I’d prefer to be alone with you on some white, sandy beach somewhere deep in the Caribbean.  I’m honest enough to admit that, but whatever I need to do for you and your kids…  I’m on board.”

“I can do white, sandy beach in the Caribbean.  The alone part?  Not so much.  In fact, we’re scheduled to charter a friend’s yacht so -”

“Seriously?” Rachel interrupted with disbelieving laughter. “You’re putting me on the SS Minnow with your ex-wife and kids?  That’s…. lovely.”

“Nah,” he countered with his own dose of humor.  “It’s bigger than that.  More like the Poseidon.” 

And just like that, Rachel’s smile went from her mouth to her eyes.  

This new man looked just like the man she’d met alongside that hot, dusty New Jersey road so long ago, but that was the only real similarity.  The new guy was willing to work as hard as she was to see their relationship thrive. 

If that meant getting on a boat in the middle of the ocean with his ex-wife and kids, well… that’s what they were going to do. 

It’ll be like the Brady Bunch.  Only more twisted...