Ch 45 ~ New Beginnings

By the fifth day of their Caribbean getaway, Dorothea was forced to admit to herself that Rachel really wasn’t going anywhere in the foreseeable future.  Jon’s new love was clearly committed to her relationship with Jon and, more importantly, Dorothea had personally witnessed just how happy Jon was with Rachel.  Happier than she’d seen him in years, actually. 

As a mother, it was time for her to accept Rachel and do it willingly.  Because anytime Jon was happy, that was good for her kids.  And, really, it was all about her kids.

At the moment those kids, along with their father and Ted, were riding jet skis while the ladies lounged on the landing of the chartered yacht.   There had been idle chit chat off and on between them, mostly about the antics of the jet skiers, but now things had fallen silent. 

Dorothea was aware Rachel had been trying to walk softly after the incident on the beach two days before.  Jon’s new girl had apologized profusely for not being more sensitive about Jake and Romeo's births, and had kept her distance ever since.   It had gotten to the point that Dorothea felt a little guilty about the friction and decided to take a stab at mending fences.

“I can’t believe you’ve never been to St. Bart’s before.  You seem to really enjoy it,” she began, mentally waving a white flag of truce.

“Mm.  It’s beautiful here,” Rachel replied, smiling into the sunshine.  “My husband didn’t like to fly much, so that limited things.  Anything beyond Hawaii or Mexico and he wouldn’t have any part of it.”

“And your kids?  You had, two, right?”  At Rachel’s nod of confirmation Dorothea continued. “So your kids were used to Hawaii and Mexico like mine are St. Barts.  Seems like they always want to go back to want they’re used to.”

“Yeah, Nick and Tyler thought the only reason to even go on vacation was to surf.  In their world, surfing meant Hawaii and Lauren and I just went along for the ride.”

While was responding easily and politely enough, she still carried an air of tension.  As though she were on alert and guarding herself. 

Throw the woman a bone.  Regardless of who she is or the emotional baggage you’ve been juggling, this is still her vacation.  She should be able to enjoy it a little. 

“I’m sure you were a wonderful mother,” she offered sincerely.  “The care and attention you’ve always shown my children hasn’t gone unnoticed, and I appreciate it.  Truly.”

Turning her face so that she was looking at Dorothea, Rachel smiled.  “It’s not hard.  You’ve raised some good kids.”

Dorothea hesitated a moment, slightly uncomfortable talking about Rachel’s deceased family, but in the end, her curiosity got the better of her.  Besides, maybe it would help her…  bond with the woman. 

“I’m sure you had good kids, too.”  

“Oh, I did.  No doubt about it,” Rachel agreed, surprisingly more relaxed talking about her children than she had seemed the entire trip.  “They were REALLY good kids.  Especially as babies.  They slept through the night early, were never sick.  Not a minute’s trouble.”

Rachel’s comfort eased Dorothea and the next question slipped out as effortlessly as if she were chatting with an old friend.  “How old were they?”

“Ty was ten and Lauren was almost fifteen, so she was getting into boys and all that.  That was the only thing that could’ve truly driven me nuts.  The boys.”

“I hear you… Steph is about to kill me off with the boys.”

Rachel laughed quietly.  “Funny to imagine that we were like that at one point, isn’t it?  Or at least I was.  I would do just… stupid stuff.”

“I think it’s a rite of passage.”

“Mm.  It’s amazing any of us survive the stupidity of adolescence.”

Now that the conversation floodgates had been opened, so to speak, Dorothea’s innate inquisitiveness took over without conscious thought. 

“And your husband…? Nick, right?”  Rachel nodded.  “Were you happy?”

“We were,” Rachel relayed with a wistful smile.  “He was a good guy.  I remembered him as a saint for the longest time.  As I’ve fallen more in love with Jon, though, it’s becoming easier to recall him as he truly was, rather than the Saint I initially painted him as.  It’s a process, I suppose.”

“Yeah,” Dorothea snorted softly.  “I can relate.  The longer I’m with Ted the easier it is to remember why Jon and I divorced in the first place.  When it first happened, I kept replaying all the good things about our marriage and wondered why I’d broken up my family.”

“Exactly!” Rachel agreed.  “At first you’re in a state of shock – whether it’s divorce or death – and you remember all those incredible moments you shared.  It makes you wonder how you’ll ever live without them.”

“I had that exact thought on more than one occasion,” Dorothea confessed.  “Of course losing your children must have been a completely different situation….”

Rachel considered the comment for a moment and then shook her head with… confusion?  Sadness? It was hard for Dorothea to tell behind her sunglasses.

“Losing your children is the most unnatural thing in the world.  Parents just aren’t supposed to outlive their children.  It goes against the laws of nature.  The immediate future was hard enough to face without Nick, but the long-term ramifications of losing the kids was mind numbing.  There would be no growing up, no getting married, no grandchildren...”  A frown marred her features.  “I’ll never have grandchildren.  That’s still hard to comprehend – old age and no grandchildren.” 

“I wish I could say I understood, but I can’t even begin to wrap my head around it.”

Rachel took a long swallow out of the water bottle she kept at her side and shrugged before continuing.  “And I hope you never have to.  I just remember the overwhelming sensation that –without Nick and the kids – I had no future.  I was just blindly going through life.  Existing.”  Her head dipped toward the man who was hot dogging as he flew by on his jet ski.  “Then Jon came into my life and changed all that.”

“How’d you two meet?” Dorothea inquired, astonished that there wasn’t a twinge of jealousy lurking behind the question.  She really just wanted to know.

Rachel offered a light smile as she drifted into her memories.  “I was trying to push my suitcases through the broken gate of the house I was moving into.  I was hot and sweaty and wondered how on earth I was going to get through the tiny opening.  Jon saved the day when he happened upon me and pushed the gate open wide enough so I could get in.”

“Always the hero,” Dorothea remarked with a grin and a slow shake of her head.

“Yeah, I guess.  We’ve had a few ups and downs, but he’s been good for me, I think.”

“Looks to me like you’ve been good for him, too,” she conceded graciously.  Her ex-husband still annoyed her when he was right.  She did like Rachel and they would probably end up being warm acquaintances if not good friends.  “The kids have really noticed a positive change since you’re back in his life and that positive energy has spread to them.  I’m sure you understand when I say… Well, I’m all about whatever is best for my kids.”

                                                                  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Rachel had just put the last of her cosmetics in the suitcase when Jon entered their cabin on the chartered yacht.

“Did you get the boys packed?” she asked over her shoulder as she zipped the luggage closed.

“Yeah.  They’re headed up to the main deck for breakfast.  You about ready to go up?”

“Just let me put on my earrings and we can go.”

It was the last day of their trip, and all were scheduled to fly home to New York together.  Rachel had been able to juggle work enough to allow her to travel home with Jon for a few days, before he left on the next leg of his tour. 

By the time the vacation was wrapping up, Rachel and Dorothea and found an ease with each other than was quite comfortable and natural.  Rachel found she no longer saw Dorothea as the woman who snapped her fingers to beckon Jon.  No, instead she saw Dorothea was a mother who loved her children and wanted to be sure her family remained intact and that her kids maintained a healthy relationship with their father.  Rachel could relate to that and found it easier to see the other side of the coin. 

As far as Rachel was concerned, the amazing thing was that, by the end of the trip, Dorothea seemed to come around to the realization that Jon had a new life with another woman.  She no longer assumed things where her ex-husband was concerned. 

The vacation had been stressful at times, but it had ended up being beneficial to all of them.  It had given them the opportunity to re-evaluate family roles, and to find room in that family for Rachel and Ted.  That made it worth any initial discomfort, in Rachel’s mind.  They’d found a way to be a modern-age family unit that involved more than the classic mother, father and children and that was a monumental accomplishment.  Jon’s kids deserved that as much as they deserved their parents’ love. 

Jon stood behind her as she fastened the diamond studs into place, wrapping his arms around her waist.  “I remember you once described the feeling of the sun as being like an erotic massage all over your body.  So I imagine you’re hating to leave, huh?” 

“Not at all,” she replied.  “I’m really excited to get back to New Jersey for a couple days.   I was just thinking how much it had begun to feel like home.  I loved our routine.  Every night you’d come over to my place and we’d have dinner… it was a normal life.  I miss having that with you.  And now with you being on tour, it’s only more complicated.  I didn’t realize how good we had it back then.”

“You missed it?” he asked, sounding a bit surprised.  “You missed Jersey?”

“Yeah.  New Jersey holds a special place in my heart and, even though my house wasn’t really mine, it felt like our home, yanno?    I was just getting grounded when the house sold, and it was gut-wrenching to leave the place I thought of ours.  But still, it’ll be good to be back at High Point.  I can’t wait to just smell the river in the early morning air.  I loved that.”

“If the weather cooperates, we’ll go down to the dock tonight and have a bottle of wine.  You always enjoyed that.”

“That would be soooo much fun!  And maybe pick up a pizza at Sal’s?”  Rachel’s eyes met his in the mirror, and she could hear the childlike excitement in her own voice.  “My mouth waters just at the thought of a pie from Sal’s.” 

Jon grinned at her and squeezed a little tighter.  “Whatever you want, Rach.  You’ve earned it.  Tonight, my lovely, the world is your oyster.  And who knows?  You might just find a great big beautiful pearl waitin’ for you.”

Ch 44 ~ S.S. Poseidon

Jon had seen that evil eye for most of his adult life, but couldn’t imagine what on earth his ex-wife would have to be upset about.  The trip had been flawless so far, in his opinion.  Everyone seemed to get along well.  Exceptionally well, he thought.    

“What’s the problem, Dottie?” he asked when they were out of the group’s earshot. 

“What’s the problem?  What’s the problem, Jon?”  Her voice was quiet, but it practically resonated with emotion.  He would’ve guessed the emotion was anger, but there was something lurking behind that evil eye that made him second guess himself.  “The problem is that you told Rachel that Jake was an accident and that we only had Romeo so he wouldn’t grow up alone!”

Maybe it was the sand, the surf and the sun muddling his brain into a vacation haze, but he still didn’t get it.  “And this is a problem, why exactly?”

“Oh for God’s sake, Jon!”  The evil eye intensified in power, as did the mystery emotion in the background.  “How could you share such a personal secret?  That was supposed to be just between us!  To this day, my own sisters don’t know about it, but you lie in bed with some new woman telling her our deepest, darkest, most personal things.  Things that fall under the sanctity of marriage and should stay private between a husband and wife.  What the hell were you thinking?”

Seriously?  This is what had flipped her switch? 

“Okay, first of all, Rachel is a helluva lot more than some new woman.  And, besides that, it’s not that big of a deal, Dottie.”

“Not that big of a deal?” she hissed.  “That was a confidence that only we shared.  Not your stupid ‘secrets to the grave’ antics, but a real personal history that is none of anybody else’s business.”

Okay, so maybe this vacation wasn’t going as smoothly as he’d thought.  Clearly Dorothea had some issues with Rachel’s presence that he hadn’t picked up on.

Or maybe she’s just realizing that you’ve really moved on and she’s a little bit hurt.

That startling bit of clarity stunned him.  He wasn’t usually the guy to read the deep shit that women kept buried and referred to in vague metaphors, but this one hit him right between the eyes.  It would account for that other lurking emotion…

Hurt.  You’ve hurt her again.

Well, he was sorry she was hurt, but he wasn’t sorry about what he’d done.  Some things were just painful, no matter how gentle you tried to be. 

“Listen,” he explained soothingly, trying to soothe her agitation and ruffled feathers.  He genuinely didn’t have any desire to be mean or spiteful – and it wouldn’t do anybody any good to have a big brouhaha in the middle of their trip.  “I didn’t plan on ‘outing’ you.  Rachel and I were just talking about our kids, their births – the usual stuff you share when you fall in love with somebody and wanna share your life.” 

“But that was sacred between us, Jon.  I mean….  How could you betray us like that?”

Betrayal was the same as hurt, in his thesaurus.  

Huh.  Imagine that.  He had been right. 

You’re a fucking woman psychic now.  Ha!  Take that, Sambora! 

As much as he enjoyed being right, this was one occasion that he’d rather have been wrong. 

He reached out to the woman who’d held his heart for most of his life, easy fingers curling around her elbow to urge her closer.  “That’s unfair, Dorothea,” he pointed out softly.  “Don’t make a production out of something so innocent.  There’s no betrayal here.  Rachel isn’t some random girl I picked up on the side of the road.  She’s the woman I love and hope to make my wife, and she’d never do anything that would hurt me or the kids – or you for that matter.”

Dorothea sighed and let her body sag out of its fighting stance, and the tears that puddled in her lower lids touched a soft spot in Jon that made him hurt for her. 

He brought his fingertip up to swipe one of the escaping tears from her cheek and asked, “What’s this really about, sweetheart?”

Dorothea’s mind was awash with a rapid-fire recollection of memories.  The deeply guarded shrine of their time together, whose catacombs held all the skeletons they’d hidden safely away right alongside the perfect moments in time that no one else had been privy to.  The things that only she and Jon had shared. 

She’d thought she’d always have that special marriage vault of recollections locked away that only the two of them could access, but the vault had been left open for someone else to peek inside.  The marriage was over and Jon would be plundering around in there, finding things to share with his girlfriend…wife…whatever Rachel was going to be. 

Dorothea’s most prized, cherished, painful and personal memories could and would be shared by a third person.

That was… excruciating. 

“You’ve effectively given some woman carte blanche to invade our most intimate moments and I have no say about it.  Things that were private between us?  They’re up for grabs and up for discussion with your new woman.  As though your fucking around on me wasn’t enough, now it feels like I’ve been betrayed all over again, Jon.”

He sighed and reached for her again, but she brushed him away.

“C’mon, Dottie.  It’s not like that.  Rachel I really don’t discuss the intimate things.  There are plenty of private memories that will always be between the two of us.”

“Unless you decide to share them with Rachel,” she corrected.

“Or YOU decide to share them with Ted,” he countered.  “Rachel is a wonderful woman and she’ll be devoted to protecting me – AND this family.  You’ll never need to worry about her revealing anything she shouldn’t.”

“SHE JUST DID!” 

The uncharacteristic outburst escaped before she could control it.  Her shouted words were lost in the pound of the surf and shouting of little boys for the most part, but Ted’s eyes found hers across the distance and concern welled in them.

This is nothing you can fix.  This is nothing anyone can fix, so don’t even try.

Jon put himself between her and the rest of the family, blocking their view as he spoke in a low voice. 

“She didn’t reveal a damn thing, Dottie.  She talked to you about something she was well aware that you already have knowledge of.  Hell, she was probably trying to find some common ground with you.  Something to talk about to break the awkwardness.”  He lightly caressed her upper arm with an open palm and beseeched, “Give her a chance.  Get to know her and I bet you’ll like her.  She’s an amazing woman, and the two of you could be great friends someday – if you’ll meet her half-way.” 

Great friends with Jon’s new lover?  

Her bruised pride stomped its foot like a petulant four year old and screamed, “No, no, no, no, NO!”

She didn’t want to be great friends with her.  She didn’t want to have to always wonder what the other woman knew.  She didn’t.  She just didn’t. 

But standing behind her bruised pride was mature logic saying that, surely, their family was important enough to give it her best shot.  Important enough to give Rachel the benefit of the doubt.  After all, Jon seemed to trust her, and Jonny didn’t trust anybody. 

Mature logic would win out.  Doing best for her children would win out.  Being a good example for them would win out.

But not today. 

For now – for today, anyway – she was going to let her bruised pride get the attention it needed and deserved.  She was going to lick her wounds until they didn’t hurt quite so badly. 

And if her pride wasn’t healed by tomorrow, she’d put it to bed while she straightened her spine and did the right thing.

After all… tomorrow was another day. 

                                                     ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Rachel lay between the cool sheets and reveled in the gentle rocking of the ocean against the yacht, relishing her tequila buzz. 

When Jon told her Dorothea’s feelings had been hurt, she had been mortified and immediately gone to apologize.  Jon’s ex-wife had thanked her stiffly, but she hadn’t truly accepted the apology.  Rachel knew because the mood among the adults at the beach bonfire dinner that evening were…  tense, to say the least.

It had never been her intention to cause Dorothea any pain.  She’d never dreamed her off-hand comment would have that kind of effect and, considering how hard she was trying to get along with the other woman, it frustrated her to the ends of the earth. 

She should have stayed home and let Jon do his thing, the way they’d always done.  This whole family vacation thing was way more stress than she could have imagined. 

Which was why, when one of the crew was taking provisions back to the boat, she’d make her excuses and caught a ride back a little earlier than the rest of the family.  Which was also why she accessorized her evening bath with a stiff, tequila-laden cocktail.  And enjoyed another one while she went through her lotion regime. 

“Hey,” she purred when Jon slipped his naked body between the sheets and fitted himself against her back. 

“You handled yourself really well today, baby,” he murmured into her neck as his hand skated over her outer thigh.  “Held your own, showed the appropriate amount of compassion.  You did good.”

“Mm.”

She didn’t want to think about it.  The warm bath combined with an excessive serving of tequila made Rachel’s mood conducive to anything but analyzing the day’s events.   Her mood was particularly conducive to the hand that had pushed its way to her inner thighs.

“Don’t talk to me,” she breathed at the same time his fingers dove into the warm, waiting pool of desire ebbing at her core.  “And don’t make love to me.  I want you to just fuck me the way we love it.  You know what I mean, don’t you, baby?”

He buried his face in her neck, his nose smashed up against her jaw when he breathed, “Fuck yeah.  You want it rough, and hard, and fast.  Damn good thing, too, since that’s about all I can handle.  Having to watch you in a bathing suit all day is torturous foreplay.”  

The carnal undercurrent that always ran so strong between them jump-started the erotic blend of relaxing bath and the alcohol.  Together with the callused hand plundering and invading her deep, dark recesses it was the perfect mixture for a sexual bomb that was quickly ticking down to detonation. 

“Good.  Because the tequila is flowing through my body - I can’t feel my thumbs, and that’s a good sign that I’m at my most fuckable.”

She was barely aware of the words that crept out on a groan.  For the first time since this damnable vacation had begun, the tension building inside of her was the good kind of tension.    

She softly yelped as his thumb skillfully brutalized her throbbing, aching clit. 

“No, no.  You can’t scream like you do sometimes, Rach,” he warned, even though he showed no signs of slowing down the fingers and hands that always, always, always made her scream.  “Keep it together, k?”

“Mmf.”  She couldn’t really be bothered to hear him.  Didn’t care enough to answer him as those magnificent fingers vacated her sheath to make room for...  “Unnggh!”

Attilla the Hun couldn’t have invaded anyone any better than Jon had just invaded her.  Slamming into her with a fierce smacking of skin on skin, his fingers burrowed into the flesh of her hips and held her steady for one punishing thrust after another. 

The delirious haze of liquor combined with pure, raw lust had her seeing passion red behind her closed eyelids.  “That’s it, baby,” she panted.  “Harder!”

“Shh...”  A hand slipped up to cover her mouth, muffling her mindless sex talk with her own scent.  “Keep quiet or I’ll stop fucking you.  You don’t want that, do you?” he grunted without slowing his pace. 

Rachel jerked her head away as the last of the short fuse on her personal time bomb incinerated.  She buried her face in the pillow to stifle her screams, because there was no way she couldn’t scream.  Not when his manhandling was all she’d dreamed about since they’d boarded the Poseidon. 

Ch 43 ~ Looking for Zen

“Romeo...  Jacob...”  Dorothea used the universal hand gesture for “give it to me”, waggling her fingers toward her youngest two children.  They’d just finished a snack and Cokes in the catering room of Washington, D.C.’s Verizon Center and Jake was tucking their iPad under his arm as the two boys prepared to follow Paul out to the arena floor.  “Let me put that in my bag.  You know Daddy doesn’t like it when you have the electronic toys in the audience.  It’s watch the show or stay in catering or Daddy’s dressing room with the iPad.”

“But there’s nobody back here during the show,” Jake pointed out logically, rolling his eyes.  “That means you won’t let us stay back here.”

“Then hand it over.”

“C’mon, squirts,” Jesse invited his two younger brothers while acting as intermediary and passing the device to Dorothea.  “I’ll let you hang out with me.”

Neither of the boys were overjoyed at sitting through another one of Jon’s shows, but they did adore their big brother, so they followed willingly enough.   She’d reminded them half a dozen times that they were at the show so vacation could start immediately afterward, but that was three hours from now.  Boys under the age of ten didn’t have much use for delayed gratification.

Neither do big boys, for that matter.

“Steph, help Jesse keep them entertained, would you?” Dorothea asked, digging in her tote bag for some lip balm.  The cold air kept her lips chapped.  “I’ll be along in a minute.”

“I’m going to make a pit stop before this starts,” Ted said, squeezing her shoulder and dropping a kiss on her cheek.  “See you out there.”

He was the last person left in the room with her – besides a slightly uncomfortable looking Rachel.   

With dozens of eyes on them, they had been cordial to one another so far this evening.  There was no reason not to be, she supposed, but there was something hanging in the air.  Something that should probably be addressed before the two women found themselves enclosed in a small airplane thousands of feet in the air over open ocean.

Never one to be bashful, Dorothea stood and waited for Rachel to drop her cup in the trash can and dove right in.  “I guess we should mention the elephant in the room.”

The blonde smiled politely, cocking her head slightly to one side.  “Elephant?”

“Yes,” Dorothea confirmed.  “The big bikini-wearing elephant.   The one who isn’t really sure how you feel about vacationing with the Bongiovis.  Jon seems to think it’s all hunky dory, but I’d like to hear it from the horse’s mouth, so to speak.  Are you comfortable vacationing with the kids and me?”

She was very careful to leave her voice free of any animosity.  In fact, she was as gracious to Rachel as she would be anyone else. 

Many, many of Dorothea’s hours had gone into analyzing the situation.  To say she’d made her peace with it wasn’t entirely true.  She still felt that she and Jon owed their children a vacation with their parents.  Period. 

But that had nothing to do with Rachel – or Ted, whom she hadn’t been particularly kind to tonight.  They were merely the two who happened to be ushering in an era of change.  The change wasn’t necessarily wanted, but she’d come to accept that it wasn’t positively heinous. 

Rachel smiled again and shrugged slightly.  “This trip isn't about me... Jon loves you, and he always will.  You’re as much a part of his family as the kids, his parents and his brothers, and family means the world to Jon.  Whatever I need to do to help him preserve his family...  I will.”

It would be so much more freeing if she could hate the woman who had seemingly replaced her.  It wasn’t that she was jealous.  It was more like, if Rachel were a selfish, self-centered bitch, Dorothea would revel in a bout of righteous indignation that Jon was shacking up with someone like “that”. 

Unfortunately, that was not the case.  

Rachel was willing to put Jon first –which wasn’t particularly unusual, as most women were willing to do that – but she clearly had some common sense and compassion.  Both were admirable qualities, and Dorothea couldn’t overlook Rachel’s tragic history.  It would be unimaginable to endure such loss. 

No.  Dorothea would prefer to dislike her, but she couldn’t quite bring herself to.  However, that didn’t mean they were going to suddenly morph into bosom buddies.  She couldn’t go that far, because there was just… something about the woman that rubbed the former Mrs. Bongiovi the wrong way. 

Maybe it was the favorable things Stephanie had had to say, or the way Romeo and Jake appeared genuinely fond of her that irked Dorothea.    Only Jesse had been non-committal when greeting her backstage, and the woman had even handled that well! 

Or, if she were really honest with herself, maybe she’d have to admit that it hurt for someone else to step into the life she’d spent more than twenty years building with the boy who was now one of the biggest stars in the world.   They had shared decades together, created a family together and, when all was said and done, everything they’d produced hadn’t been enough to keep his wanderlust at bay.  Between the wandering of the globe and the lust for the women of it, their once-sweet love had grown heavy with bitterness and resentment.

And now, another woman would reap the benefits of all of Dorothea’s sacrifices.   Rachel’s Jon was a man who was willing to walk over hot coals to make sure their relationship worked, whereas Dorothea hadn’t ever quite been able to tame him.  

It was frustrating as hell, but the new woman was committed to preserving the family Dorothea had worked so hard to keep together.  That meant she’d have to get on board, as well.

She nodded once and gave her best effort at a smile.  “I appreciate that, Rachel.  I’m sure we’ll have a lovely trip.”

                                                                 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

By day three of their trip, Dorothea was still trying to relax enough to perhaps enjoy herself as she lounged on the sand of some deserted beach in the Caribbean.  Being ‘trapped’ on a yacht with one’s own family could conceivably drive a person nuts, but when you throw two ‘strangers’ into the mix, the potential existed for complete and utter discord for all involved. 

In fact, she would have bet next month’s alimony check that discord would reign supreme.

Anticipation of a chaotic fiasco had kept her slightly on edge for those first couple of days.  Dorothea had waited for Rachel to whine about there being nothing to do but soak in the sun with four children.  Or for the incessant chatter of the two youngest to become annoying enough for the blonde to seek shelter in her stateroom rather than swim with the boisterous boys. 

Or… something.  Something that would give Dorothea a legitimate reason to tell Jon this was the worst idea he’d ever come up with and he shouldn’t bother suggesting it again. 

But Rachel simply laughed when Romeo splashed her in the face for the millionth time.  And patiently helped Jake with this or that, and really listened to Stephanie when she talked, and showed a genuine appreciation for Jesse’s budding athletic skills…

So, rather than being a riot-inciting prima donna, it turned out that she was intelligent, strong and confident.  Someone who, under different circumstances, Dorothea would likely end up being drawn to as a personal friend. 

She was torn between being royally pissed off that she was wrong and being relieved that Jon had shown such good judgment in choosing his new girlfriend. 

Ted’s presence should have been a pleasure, or at the very least a comfort in the face of Jon’s new love affair, but all Dorothea felt was a mild agitation at his constant attention.  Normally she didn’t mind.  She cared deeply for Ted, and he was just what she needed at this point in her life.  Maybe for the rest of her life.  He was a wonderful, charismatic man who had no problem devoting his time and attention to her and the kids that weren’t his own, but his being there these last few days with Jon and their family… 

She hated to admit it, but he felt as much like an intruder here as Rachel, which carried a serving of guilt with it.  The whole scene had left her feeling more anxious, irritable and emotional than Dorothea was comfortable with. 

So she soaked in the sun, summoning the inner Zen that Jon was always swearing she had. 

By late afternoon, she had found a modicum of Zen lodged in the far recesses of her big toe and was encouraging it to spread its wings and fly while there was less chance of it being stifled by others.  At the moment, only Romeo and Jon were nearby, playing together in the sand.  Ted, Jesse and Jake were throwing a football in the waves as Rachel and Stephanie attempted to paddle board. 

Dorothea was used to the jabbering of her youngest son and hadn’t paid much attention to the actual conversation between Romeo and his father until the boy mentioned Rachel’s name.

“Daddy, can I ask you a question about Rachel?”

Her eyes popped open behind oversized sunglasses just in time to see Jon put aside the plastic pail they were using to build a sandcastle. 

“Sure, buddy.  What’s up?” 

“Are you gonna ask her to marry you?”

The innocent inquiry was like a knife to Dorothea’s heart.  Having a girlfriend was one thing.  There had always been other women.  She knew that and had made her peace with it long ago. 

Mostly. 

But she was his wife.  She was his rock – the one who kept him rooted and grounded – and she always had been.  Jon had told her so over and over.  Even after the divorce, he’d assured her that no one else could ever be that for him.

He wouldn’t try and replace her with Rachel in such a permanent capacity.  Not after he’d only known this woman a hot second. 

She waited for the diplomatic denial and rebuff, but Jon just laughed easily and ruffled the boy’s hair.  “I already did, but she told me no.”

The knife in her heart twisted to an excruciating angle and her Zen scurried like a frightened rabbit into some secret, unattainable location.  It felt as though she might never see it again.

“How come she told you no?” Romeo persisted, completely unaware that his mother was a whisper away from agony.

“Because I hurt her feelings and made her cry.”

Romeo dropped his sand shovel and cupped his hand over his eyes to block the sun when he looked at his father.  “It’s not nice to make girls cry, Daddy.  Did you tell her you were sorry?”

“I sure did, buddy,” Jon chuckled. “But she still won’t marry me.  I’m workin’ on it, though.”

Jon didn’t seem the least bit uncomfortable with the topic and never even glanced at Dorothea, which made her feel all the worse.  The man to whom she’d devoted her entire life had enough nerve to sit on the beach – in the sacred place their family had spent so many happy times – and discuss with their baby boy his desire to marry another woman.  

Jon would screw anything that moved, but he’d never really had a woman of any importance in his life except her.  Until now.  And that unexpectedly rattled Dorothea.  She had always known Jon would come running with just a snap of her finger and, if she were to be honest about it, the former Mrs. Bongiovi liked retaining the power position in Jon’s life. 

Admit it.  It hurts like hell that he’s really moved on.

She was lost in that thought when father and son walked hand-in-hand toward the ocean to join the other boys tossing the football. 

Rachel had fallen off the paddle board yet another time while Stephanie and the boys laughed at her.  When she came up sputtering, Jon cupped his hands to his mouth and loudly teased, “You better hope this real estate gig works out, babe, because Baywatch is NOT gonna come calling anytime soon!” 

With as much dignity as she could muster, Rachel pushed her wet hair from her face and tucked the paddle board under her arm.  She threw Jon a look that promised retribution and swatted him on the butt as she walked by.  Jon, before she escaped, managed to run his octopus-like hand down her bare thigh in a way so intimate that it jiggled the knife in Dorothea’s heart again, making her physically ache. 

She closed her eyes and turned her head on the beach towel as Rachel approached, in the hopes that she might not have to make small talk.   

No such luck, she discovered after Rachel bent and shook out Jon’s towel, plopping down with a muffled sigh.  The woman congenially offered Dorothea a bottle of icy water, which she reluctantly accepted. 

She had just pushed up into a seated position and cracked the seal when Rachel pointed out Jake’s superior throw of the football.

“He’s good.  Determined.  I guess that’s the way those unexpected ones are, though.  Determined from the beginning.”

Dorothea’s mouth went dry and the hair on the back of her neck stood up.  The chill that ran through her had nothing to do with the cold water that was dripping on her leg. 

“Wh-what do you mean, Rachel?”

“Yanno...  Surprise children.  Jon told me that Jake was an accident.  And that you decided to have Romeo so he didn’t grow up alone.” 

The wound Rachel had unknowingly inflicted cut to the absolute core of Dorothea’s soul.   Jon had betrayed her – them – as he never had before. 

That sonofoabitch. 

She dropped the water bottle on the towel and rose without another word.   Her back was rigidly straight and her shoulders set square as she walked a direct path toward her ex-husband, who was still tossing the ball with Ted and the boys. 

“Ted, can you watch the boys, please?”  Her voice quivered only slightly with the hurt and anger that was all but consuming her.  “I need to speak to Jon.” 

Ch 42 ~ Nobody Here But Us Chickens

When Rachel landed in Connecticut on Friday night it was just before midnight, local time.  She tightened the belt on her trench coat and realized that her lack of fatigue was due, in part, to the fact that her body thought it was only nine o’clock – and her anxiousness to see Jon – but her trip had been ridiculously easy.

There had been no pressure to finish work in time to make a flight.  Instead, she was able to wrap up business and leave on her own schedule, which had turned out to be about three o’clock.  Once she boarded the plane, there hadn’t been any delays waiting for other passengers or sprinting across the terminal to catch a connecting plane.  Nope.  She didn’t have to deal with any of the stuff that the common folk did.

Traveling like a rock star had some SERIOUS advantages. 

Those advantages continued to spring up left and right as she disembarked the plane, as a car and driver were waiting to whisk her away like some VIP or Hollywood celebrity.  When she’d arrived at the hotel, there was another cheery staffer to greet her and escort her into the elevator that zipped her up to Jon’s floor.  There, the doors slid open to reveal Matt’s fatigued smile, and she was passed along yet again. 

He looked tired, and a little wave of guilt washed into Rachel’s sea of excitement. 

“Hi, Matt,” she greeted, tipping her cheek to accept his welcome kiss. 

“Rachel.  Thank God you’re finally here,” he chuckled with a weary eye roll as he took her suitcase and rolled it toward one of the few doors on this floor. 

“I’m sorry to keep you up so late,” she apologized.  “But I really appreciate your help.”

“Pfft.  This is still early in the world of rock star vampires, babe.  Don’t worry about it.  I’d get up at five in the morning for ya if it will improve Mr. Cranky Pants’s mood.”  He stopped in front of the last door at the end of the hall and knocked before stepping aside. 

“I’ll do my best to improve his mood,” she promised, with a wink and a comforting pat on his muscular arm. 

He gave her his own wink and laughed again.  “No doubt in my mind, but I’m in the room next door.  If you could do it without screaming all night, that’d be even better.  But I’ll take what I can get.” 

A wide smile stole across her lips and her cheeks flushed.  “I’m not making any promises.”

The door in front of them flew open and the skimpy panties Rachel was wearing became drenched. His strong jaw was covered in stubble that should be classified as a lethal weapon, because it made him look so good that it nearly killed her.  His v-neck tee was rumpled over a pair of equally rumpled jeans and his bare feet sticking out was nearly as sexy as the stubble and his rumpled head of golden hair. 

Jon conducted his own survey, raking his eyes up and down her body with a grin which was as equally delighted as it was wolfish.  His hot gaze made her shiver, and she had an irrational moment of imagining he had Superman’s x-ray vision and could see how very little she was wearing beneath the black trench coat that cloaked her from shoulder to knee.

“Well, well, well… I knew a knock on my door at this time of night was gonna be trouble.  Just didn’t know it would come wrapped in such a tempting package.”  His arm snaked out to wrap around her neck, and she stumbled on her impractical high heels as he virtually dragged her into the room and into his arms. 

His lips hit hers with the intensity of a heat-seeking missile, the target sure and desperately sought after.  The world around her melted away as he delved his tongue into her mouth and tugged lightly on the hair at the back of her neck, gently forcing her to drink his passion.  It was a passion so well-preserved and pent-up that he very nearly devoured and, when he slowed and scraped his teeth over her kiss-swollen bottom lip, her knees quivered like jelly.

It’s going to be a wild night tonight, she thought vaguely when he allowed her to come up for air. 

Jon lifted his chin, finally acknowledging the younger brother who had resorted to clearing his throat to remind them of his presence.  “You did good on this one, Matty.  I owe you big time.” 

Matt pushed Rachel’s suitcase through the door and gave the couple a knowing look.  “Rachel can do whatever she needs to do, but you keep the screamin’ to a minimum, Jonny.  Show tomorrow night.”

Rachel’s face flushed again, but the door was closed in Matt’s face before she had to look at him, and the solid ‘thunk’ of it sealing shut… Well, it might as well have been a starting gun as far as she was concerned. 

Jon had scarcely had a chance to turn around before Rachel pounced on him, throwing her arms around his neck and tiptoeing up to kiss the lips she’d been thinking about since… forever.  She pushed her breasts into his chest, moaning when his hands clamped onto her buttocks. 

It hadn’t seemed possible, but she was actually more desperate for his touch now than when they’d been apart.  Now she was a starving woman who had been granted access to the most succulent buffet in existence, and she feasted upon it as though it were her last meal.

“Are you surprised?” she breathed, when the taste of him filled every corner of her mouth and took the edge off of her starvation.

“You coulda knocked me over with a feather,” he replied with kiss-ravaged lips, his hands moving from her backside to work at the knot of her coat belt.  “Hey. You like feathers?  They’re kinda like you, yanno.  Classy kinky.”

A sultry chuckle bubbled from the back of her throat.  “Funny you should ask…” she teased as he muttered about “damn Boy Scout knots”.

His hands stopped their clumsy pawing and Jon’s left eyebrow arched into a question mark.  “You didn’t bring a chicken or some freaky shit like that, did you?”

She struck his shoulder with the heel of her palm.  “No, dumbass,” Rachel laughed, shooing his hands away to undo the belt herself.  It came untwined and she curled her fingers over the lapels of the coat and pulled them apart.  “I brought this…”

Once again, Jon’s eyes traveled her body, this time lingering primarily on her torso.  Or rather, the sheer black babydoll nightie whose cups and hem were trimmed in fluffy black marabou feathers.

“Fuck.  Me.” 

“That was the plan.”

Impatient paws shoved at the bulky trench coat until it hit the floor, unnoticed and leaving her in nothing but the lingerie. 

“That’s all you wore to get from your house to here?” he hissed, letting the marabou fill his palms along with her breasts.  “I can't decide if that totally turns me on or totally pisses me off.”

Rachel leaned into his touch and reached down to do some touching of her own.  “Let’s go with turned on, shall we?” she coerced, squeezing the stiffening bulge in his pants.  “Because I need an orgasm.  Delivered by you.  Immediately, if not sooner.”

His reaction was somewhere between another hiss and a growl as she slid her hands from his arousal and pushed them under the front of his t-shirt.  Her greedy fingers immediately found the soft fur that sprouted from the waistband of his jeans, and it tickled her skin as she aimed to run her hand all the way to his neck, lifting his shirt in the process. 

She only managed to get the shirt about halfway up his torso before he crashed his mouth against hers her with such force that she thought it a miracle he didn’t chip those famous pearly whites.  He didn’t seem to be worried about the possibility and continued to consume her, his fingers digging into cheeks left bare by her sheer thong. 

Moans wrapped around one another as tongues fought for dominant supremacy.  Feminine and masculine noises of appreciation melded together in a needy, desperate cry.  It had been too long.  Too, too long since they’d shared this wild style of passionate aggression. 

Since they’d reunited, sex had been good, but it had lacked the tiniest something.  Rachel had assumed that their commitment, informal as it was, had tempered the unrefined fire they’d shared back in New Jersey.

But she was wrong.

Up until now, they’d been considerate.  Enjoying each other to the fullest while gleaning some pleasure in the process.  Like normal couples did.

They weren’t normal in the bedroom.  They never had been and Rachel was quickly discovering that she didn’t want to be. 

What they had been was fortunate.  What they were was fortunate.  They didn’t need to worry about the other’s pleasure.  They were both so sexually charged and incited that nothing mattered but their own pleasure.

And that’s what worked for them. 

Rachel got wetter with each passing breath, just knowing that he needed her that badly.  That his pleasure was going to be found deep inside of her and he was going to take that pleasure and milk it – and her – for all it was worth. 

By the time he backed her legs against the mattress, the skimpy thong was nothing more than a saturated scrap of cloth that he ripped away from her throbbing clit.  The cool air swept over her exposed flesh as he pushed the nightie up and away, an aggressive gleam lighting his eyes.

Her own eyes were glazed over with lust, but she required only a sense of touch and urgency to find the button at the top of his jeans.  It flicked open at the same time he dipped his head to her left nipple, grating it roughly with his front teeth.  Her hands leapt to the thick mounds of hair behind both of his ears, hissing Jon’s name as she held him close to her bosom.

“Yes, baby.  That’s so good.”

“Oh yeah?”  His eyes were glassy now, his lips glinting nearly as brightly when his tongue slipped through them to lap at her now-throbbing nipple again.  “I dreamed of this.  I dreamed of burying my face between your boobs and suffocating in your smell.  Christ, you smell so good.”

As much as she loved his mouth where it was, she wanted more.  And more required that he be naked.

“Lose the jeans,” she rasped, pushing at the fabric until the most fabulous ass in all the music world was exposed to her touch.  The rock-hard muscles rippled under her palms as he kicked the offensive denim away. 

This was what Rachel had been aching for in their weeks apart.  Naked skin on naked skin.  Nothing between them except of a layer of perspiration as the fire stoked higher and higher. 

She didn’t want to talk to him, didn’t want to ask about his day – she certainly didn’t want to talk about hers – she just wanted to feel his body against hers.  The ultimate source of pleasure. 

When she took him in her mouth, her motives were purely selfish. She wanted to watch his head list slightly to the side while his eyes fluttered closed and his lip curled up almost into a snarl.  He loved to have her go down on him and she loved the transformation in his face as she snaked her tongue around  his granite-hard dick. 

Passive, handsome features were contorted in the agony of pleasure as his head fell back with a low growl.  That transformation turned her on at such a basic, primal level.  She wanted to be the one responsible for his satisfaction and, as she pursued that satisfaction, his hands buried in her hair while he rose to meet her with a rough thrust of his hips. 

Jon whispered her name over and over as she brought him up the slippery slope.  Closer to the pinnacle.  Reveling in his unrestrained sensuality while, she, clenching her thighs tight, squirmed to escalate her own pleasure. 

“Good.  So good baby, but I wanna get inside you,” he groaned, pushing himself up and reversing their positions.  “Damn,” he purred into her face when he slid his engorged head through her wet heat and across her clit.  “You’re ready for it, aren’t ya?”

She flipped her head from one side to the other with a muffled yowl.  It was a move that drove her wild.  The feel of him gliding through her, yet not in her, and then across her sensitive nub while their eyes locked on each other’s…  It was an intimacy like no other, and it spiked her need to an unprecedented level. 

“Now.  Now, Jon.  Now!” 

Her hips wriggled on the mattress in an effort to capture what she most desired.  Fingernails dug into his shoulders with a silent plea of encouragement.  She craved an act so purely physical that it was almost brutal, but when he finally entered her, it was with a slow, sensual movement rather than the possessive pounding she’d wished for. 

But she didn’t find it disappointing for long.

The intensity of the slow, rhythmic penetration was akin to a soothing massage.  Gentle, yet firm. 

So good.  So blissful. 

However, unlike with a massage, each glide and stroke made her more tense instead of less.  Her desperation climbed as she sought a release that only he could bring.  Every time he withdrew and plunged back into her, it took her a step closer to the threshold without crossing over. 

“Please.  Pleeeeease….”

“Just a little more,” he promised, his strokes becoming stronger and more focused.  “Just a little more and I’ll give you want you want.”

“Can’t…  Can’t wait anymore.  P-please!”

He bent and put his mouth close to her ear.  She could feel the hot condensation of his breath against the shell of her ear when he whispered, “Thrash for me, baby.”

Her head immediately whipped from side to side, desperately – frantically – seeking the point just beyond her reach.  Jon, for his part, pistoned his hips faster.  Harder.  Giving Rachel exactly what she needed.  Exactly what she wanted.  Exactly what she…

“Fuuck!” she yowled, digging her heels into the small of his back as she slid into home plate and bowed into an arch.  “Yesssss, baby!  Yes!” 

Jon nipped her shoulder to mute his own guttural growl as he gradually slowed his pace until it was nothing but a gentle rocking inside her.  What had been the means to release was still a pleasant sensation and a connection she was glad he didn’t sever right away. 

Rachel blew out a breath as he rolled them both to their sides, chuckling under his breath.

“Wha’?” she inquired with a half-hearted curiosity.  Rachel was nearly paralyzed with a glorious, idyllic, heavenly gratification. 

“I always know I’ve done my job well when you drop an “F” bomb in bed,” he laughed. 

“Mm.”  Who was she to disagree?  He made her lose her mind and her refined vocabulary.  “You did such a good job that I might be able to give you a raise.” 

“You could probably ‘raise’ me from the dead,” he concurred amiably, sounding just as content as she as he kissed her temple.  “You sure as hell make me feel alive, anyway.”

Ch 41 ~ Anticipation

Rachel glanced at the clock on her computer for the third time in under a minute. 

Will this day never end?

Jon’s last two weeks on the road had been nothing short of an eternity for her.  To the point that it felt like the next time they would see each other – four days from now – was a time and galaxy far, far away.  Sure, they talked several times every day and, more often than not, they would either Skype or FaceTime, too.  By most people’s standards, they were staying well connected. 

But most people didn’t have the same standards as Rachel’s libido. 

All that time spent ‘together’ electronically while being apart physically had done nothing but make them both horny and unfulfilled. 

For a while.

She was absolutely adamant that she wasn’t going to be reduced to masturbating to the sound of his voice, or risk that some cyber-hacker would be strolling through Skype and find an embarrassing view of her nether-regions.   No way was she going to take any chance of winding up in a tabloid over something like that.  Absolutely not.

However, as the days went on, her hormones began to pile up and Jon knew it.  He took his time and played his hand until he caught her in a moment of sheer desperation.  The way he’d drawl out calling her ‘baby’ and lament that he couldn’t recall what her pussy felt like.  She had to remind him, he insisted.  And how better to give an accurate description than by feeling it herself? 

That’s how they came to have a solid week of good old fashioned phone sex. 

Hormones 1, Morals 0.

It had been a welcome relief at first, but now…  Well, even last night’s particularly risqué role-playing hadn’t properly taken the edge off.  She needed her man and she needed him deep, deep, deep inside her. 

Take her sexual starvation, add James’s pouting at work and the daily rigors of real estate, and Rachel was literally itching for the upcoming Caribbean vacation with Jon.  At this point, it didn’t even bother her that his kids and Dorothea would be there.  As long as she was within arm’s reach of her man, he could bring his parents and his brothers along for all she cared. 

May as well.  It’s going to be a traveling circus one way or the other.

At first, she hadn’t known how she felt about Dorothea’s boyfriend, Ted, coming along.  Rachel had met him on various occasions when they’d been at the same events when she and Jon were together back in New Jersey.  He was a nice enough guy.  He was warm with Jon and Dorothea’s children, which put him in Jon’s good graces. 

It can’t be any more awkward than it already is.

And maybe Ted’s presence would take the pressure off of her.  At least she wouldn’t be – Rachel snorted at her computer screen – the only Non-giovi on this vacation. 

She checked the clock again, seeing that the numbers had finally changed – by one minute. 

“Arggh!” Rachel growled softly, tossing her ink pen down on the desk.  How was she going to survive until she met up with Jon and her ‘vacation buddies’ on Monday?  “I can’t believe it’s only Thursday, for crying out loud.”

She would never make it until the Washington, D.C. show on Monday night.  She had to find some way to reconnect with Jon before the whole bunch of them left the country immediately after the show to board a yacht in the Caribbean.  And if she was going nuts now, it was only going to get worse.   Tomorrow was her last work day, and then she’d be left at home quietly going crazy until her flight lifted off from San Jose Monday morning. 

“Not happening,” she muttered.  “I’m not sitting around twiddling my fingers, when I can be twiddling Jon.”

Rachel Braden was nothing if not a woman of action and she searched her brain for a possible solution to the problem at hand.  One that didn’t involve self-pleasure.

Obviously, she could fly out this weekend instead of Monday morning.  That was a given.  At this point, the arm and leg cost of a last-minute flight change was a justifiable expense. 

She should just call Jon.  Tell him that she wanted to come out early, and ask his opinion.  Ask where she could find him and the best day and what his schedule was with the kids…

But all that sounded suspiciously like a lot of work.  She’d much rather have fun, and fun would be….

“Surprising him.”  A contemplative smirk dug into her right cheek.  How much fun would it be just to show up at his hotel room door in nothing but a trench coat, or something equally cliché? 

The answer was…  Obscenely fun, and a mere prelude to obscene fun, unless she was completely off the mark. 

There was still all of the details to contend with though, and now she had to do it under a veil of secrecy.  How was she going to accomplish that?  She could, of course, casually quiz the man to death about his schedule the next time he called.  The trouble with that plan is that Jon wasn’t even a little bit stupid.  A sudden interest in his hotel accommodations and rehearsal schedules was going to throw up a major red flag. 

If only there was someone on the inside who knew all this stuff and would share it with her.  Someone who could keep her secret under wraps.

Matt.

Jon had given her his youngest brother’s phone number as one of his efforts to assure Rachel that she was a distinct priority.  In the event, for example, that she had an urgent need to talk to Jon, but he was tied up.  Matt would be able to interject, as necessary, thereby ensuring that Jon was nearly always attainable to her. 

And attainable you shall be, my pet.

She pulled out her cell phone and scrolled through the stored contacts until she found the one marked “Matt B” and then tapped the screen.  He might be in the middle of some major body guarding task, she thought as the phone came to rest against her ear.  But if he was…  Well, she’d just leave a message. 

Rachel squirmed in her seat and tried to recall whether or not she’d given away her trench coat to charity the last time she’d cleaned out the closet. 

She’d leave him an urgent message.

“It’s Matt.  Go.”

The abrupt greeting stopped her squirming and momentarily confused her.  Go, as in ‘go away’ or go, as in ‘talk’?

“Hello?”

Apparently, he was just as impatient as his big brother, but she had decided to interpret the single word as it suited her. 

“Matt,” she greeted confidently.  “It’s Rachel Braden.  Did I catch you at a bad time?”

“Oh, hey.  Nah, I’m just hangin’ with the family.  What’s up?”

Rachel grimaced.  “Does family include Jon?  Because if it does, please don’t let on that it’s me.”

“No,” he chuckled.  “Just my wife and kids, but why the secrecy?”

“Well…  I was planning a little surprise for Jon, but I need an insider’s help.”

“If it’s something that will improve his sour-ass mood, I can get you all the inside help ya need,” he assured her with a quiet guffaw.  “His prickness runneth over every last nerve of the entire crew.”

“I hope it will improve his mood,” she giggled.  “I want to fly out tomorrow night after I get off work.  I’m not sure what flight times are available yet, but I’d imagine it will be very late when I get there.  Can you help navigate me through the red tape so I can actually get to him?”

“Yes,” he proclaimed immediately.  “Hell, yes!  You are a guaranteed cure for his foul mood and I’m all about being the hero that delivers the cure!  But don’t worry about flight schedule.  Cancel the commercial flight, and I’ll get a private plane chartered.”

That hadn’t even crossed her mind.  A private plane?  It seemed a bit extravagant, and made her feel like it was one more tab for Jon to pick up.

“That’s really not necessary.  I can just reschedule-“

“Nope.”  The youngest Bongiovi brother was firm in his denial.  “If you’re comin’, Jonny’s gonna want you comin’ first class.  No pun intended.”

Rachel nearly choked on her laughter as her cheeks flew red with embarrassment.  This New Jersey bunch was very… plain spoken. 

“At the risk of too much information, that was my plan,” she drawled, still shaking her head at the bizarreness of this little chat. 

“Cool.  I’ll make a coupla calls and let ya know when and where to be.  You get off at five tomorrow?”

She didn’t dare speak it out loud, feeling as though she’d already exchanged enough questionable commentary with Jon’s brother, but her mind was on that track and she simply couldn’t stop the thought from forming. 

Get off?  Only if I fly solo.

We’re sitting on (diaper) pins and needles!

Ms. Blushnscarlet (Carol Jovi) is at the hospital awaiting the birth of her very first grandchild!  It seems to me the most inappropriate way to welcome the little bundle of joy is another chapter of his/her grandma’s porn.  Check back every little bit ~ as soon as Granny Blushy gives me the word we have a bouncing baby, we’ll post a bonus chapter!  

Ch 40 ~ Looking Back

Dorothea inserted the key into the door of the apartment, letting her children push by her and scurry to their respective parts of the home.  She smiled and indulgently shook her head as Romeo and Jake tried to one-up each other with insulting names like “Fart Head” and “Jerkwad”.  Normally, she wouldn’t allow them to call each other names, but it had been a good day, so she let it slide with nothing more than a soft snuffle of laughter. 

It was always a good day when her children were happy, and Jon’s presence in town was almost guaranteed to inspire it.  To be honest, she wasn’t all that unhappy herself.   Yes, they were divorced, but that didn’t mean that she didn’t care about him.  In fact, she was quite proud of the fact that the two of them remained close, even in light of her relationship with Ted. 

She and Jon had decided during their breakup that their inability to live together as husband and wife was secondary to giving their children an unbreakable sense of family.  That meant they carved out time together to be a family – Mommy, Daddy and children as one cohesive unit.  It was more important to her that the kids not suffer for problems their parents couldn’t overcome, so they all took trips and family vacations, still, as well as having run of the mill days together. 

Like today, for example.  With the tour on this side of the continent and Jon’s presence a given for the next few days, their day hadn’t been any different than that of thousands of other families.  They’d shuttled the kids between sporting events for much of the day, eventually ending up at their favorite place for dinner before returning back to her upper-east side apartment. 

“You coming in?” Dorothea asked her ex-husband over her shoulder as she passed through the entryway.

“Yeah.  I need to talk to you about the trip before I take off.” 

She frowned ever so slightly, wondering what they needed to go over.  Passports stayed at the ready.  Hotel reservations had been made months ago, as had air travel. 

It wouldn’t have even registered as a concern under normal circumstances, however, he’d been a little odd today, she thought when he took her coat and hung them both in the foyer closet.  Not that he wasn’t mentally present with the kids, but he’d been… distracted. 

He’s in the middle of a tour.  Since when isn’t he distracted in the middle of a tour?

She nodded in agreement, once again speaking over her shoulder as she stepped into the kitchen for a bottled water.  “The kids are really looking forward to it.  So am I, for that matter.  A little time with my feet in the sand sounds like heaven right now.”

“Yeah,”  Jon’s fingertips crammed into his front pockets as he leaned in the kitchen doorway, and his shoulders bunched up around his ears.  “It’s always fun to hit the beach and I need some time to catch up with them, so I’m lookin’ forward to it, too.” 

He paused, rubbing the stubbled chin that she noticed he hadn’t bothered to shave before coming over this morning.  It made him less recognizable when combined with sunglasses and a hat, which was typical when he was out and about, so it was a look that Dorothea was well-familiar with. 

“I… “  he uttered haltingly, eyes flicking from the far window to her eyes and locking there.  “You remember Rachel, right?”

She gave a single dip of her chin in acknowledgement.  One of Jon’s hook-ups.  The one that had lasted long enough to meet the family.  Nice enough woman, but she’d gotten tired of Jon’s crap a few months ago, as Dorothea recalled. 

“Well, I kinda asked her to come on vacation with us.”

She felt her eyebrows slip upward on her forehead for a split second before asking, “Kinda?”

“Okay, not kinda.  I did.  I’ve asked Rachel to come with us on vacation, and I wanted you to know before we all got on a plane together.”

Wow.  Just…  Wow.

Betrayal punched her in the sternum with the same effect as a round-house karate kick.  He’d invited his… girlfriend into the private sanctuary of their family.  And he wasn’t asking Dorothea’s opinion, he was presenting it as a done deal.   

She was unable to do anything more than stare at the man she’d shared her entire adult life with, as though she’d never seen him before.  Up until that very moment, she would’ve sworn Jon couldn’t ever break her heart again, but he had.

How could he do that to her?  To their family? 

“Why?” she asked softly around the lump in her throat, when the words would finally come.  “Why would you do that?”

But the reality was they both had other people in their lives now, their marriage had been legally over for a couple years and it was time to make the transition into the next phase of their life. 

“I did it because I love her.”  He reached out and stroked the side of her arm, and Dorothea flinched away from his touch.  He couldn’t tear apart their family bonding and then pet on her as though they were still married.  “And I’d like to think I’ll be smarter this time around than I was with you.”

“We agreed…”  Dorothea swallowed hard, silently cursing the lump in her throat.  She didn’t do tears.  That wasn’t her thing, but dammit if she wasn’t trying to keep them at bay.  “We agreed that we would keep time set aside to be together with the kids.  To keep the family intact so they had those memories, especially for Jake and Romeo.”

“Babe,” he reasoned softly, stuffing his rebuffed hand back into his pocket.  “We’re still going to be together with the kids.”

“Along with another woman,” Dorothea pointed out the obvious.  “Who I thought had moved away or something.  I didn’t think she was even on the scene anymore, and now she’s back?  You can’t parade a bunch of women in and out of these kids’ lives, Jon, it’s just – “

“I’m not parading a bunch of women, Dottie,” he interrupted, “It’s one woman.  The only woman I’ve had around the kids, and you know that.  We parted ways for a little while, but now she’s here to stay.  She’s part of the family now, and I’m not willing to put her on the back burner while I vacation with my ex-wife and our kids.”

“You can take her on another vacation, Jon.  This is supposed to be time with our family – what’s left of it anyway.  Is it really too much to ask that you devote a few days of your time to these kids?  Could you not put them first just once?”

“That’s not fair.  Well… maybe it is fair, I dunno.”  Jon raked his fingers through the top of his hair, and it gave her a slight sense of relief to know that he was a little bit flustered now, too.  “I wasn’t always the perfect husband, I know that, God knows you’ve told me enough.  But you can’t question that I’m a good dad – always present when I’m with them.  I put them first, Dottie.  You can’t deny it.”

“You put them on your calendar, Jon.  You always have.  Your time with them is penciled in like any other appointment.  That’s just the way it is, and that’s also why our time with them is so important.  You can’t start bringing women along on our family vacations.  We agreed to make sure they had time with us so they wouldn’t forget....”

So our children won’t forget that we once were a very special family. 

The shadow crossing his face told her that Jon heard the unvoiced thought, and he took the two steps between himself and Dorothea, pulled her into his chest.  She put her hands between them, to keep a distance.  Her feelings were hurt, and he didn’t get a pass just because he knew he’d hurt them

“I’m sorry.  I’m sorry I wasn’t the man I should have been when we were together.  I’m sorry for letting the dream die…sorry for it all.   I’ve loved you all my life, Dottie, and that hasn’t changed.  It’ll never change.  We’ll always be family.” 

“It’s not the same.”

“No.”  He shook his head sadly, but determinedly.  “You and I both have other people in our lives now.  I don’t know where things are with you and Ted, but I know Rachel has a permanent place in my future.   I won’t exclude her from any part of my life.”

Jon had truly moved on.  It was a bittersweet realization for Dorothea, but she didn’t begrudge him.  The truth was, she had moved on in her personal life, too.  She just hadn’t included him in the Bongiovi family vacation.

“I could’ve invited Ted along, you know,” she told him.  “But I didn’t, because I’m trying to keep memories for our kids.”

“Hell, invite him.  I think that’s a great idea.  Our kids don’t need the illusion that we’re still married.  They need to know that they come first, even though their dad was a jackass who couldn’t keep his marriage together.”

She chuckled quietly and pushed away from him with a reluctant grin.  “You are a jackass.”

“Guilty as charged,” he accepted with a wide smile.

He seemed happy.  It had been a long time since she’d seen the lightness in his eyes.  If Rachel was responsible for that, she deserved a little bit of respect. 

Maybe this won’t be so bad.  Kinda like a modern-day Brady Bunch, where Carol is doing Sam the butcher and Mike is doing Alice.

“Alright,” she announced, holding up a single finger.  “Bring your... girlfriend.  I’ll invite Ted and we’ll try to make this work.  But if I get the first inkling that our kids are being emotionally scarred...”

“Sweetheart,” he laughed and patted her on the cheek.  “If our kids are emotionally scarred, you don’t think we can seriously blame Ted and Rachel.  Do you?”

She swatted his hand away.  “Probably not.  But I have no problem blaming Sambora.”