Stephanie sat in the kitchen with Richie, crying her eyes out knowing that she just made a terrible mistake and that when her dad finds out, he's sure to blow a gasket.
"You need to eat. What sounds good?" Richie asks the visibly shaken young woman before him. "You have to put something in your stomach, trust me."
Stephanie is watching over Richie's shoulder at the video monitors that shows every camera on his property, she is fixated on the camera that is pointed at the driveway; in anticipation of Beth's arrival. "I'm really not hungry uncle Richie."
"I'm sure you're not, but I can see that you're still a little buzzed, you need to get something in you to soak up the booze. How about some toast?"
She shakes her head no.
Richie doesn't listen to her, he starts to make her some toast, "Do you want jelly?"
She shakes her head no, again. "Was Beth mad?"
"NO, she was scared and now she's worried about you."
"Did she say when she was coming over?"
Richie spreads some peanut butter on her toast and hands her the plate, "Knowing Beth, she's half way here already. But she'll get here as fast as she can. You have to remember, she has the twins to pack up and them there's the drive here."
"I know, I just need to talk to her." she smiles a fake smile at Richie. Richie can see that she is terrified and that she knows that she's in a lot of trouble. "I really messed up this time, I don't think dad can fix this one."
"Don't worry about that right now, just be thankful that no one got hurt. We will deal with all of the craziness and the consequences later." her uncle tells her.
Stephanie starts to nibble on the toast, staring at the monitors the whole time. Richie lets her eat and watch 'TV' in silence.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The headlights on the monitor made Stephanie's heart race. She's scared and excited all at the same time and her head is moving faster than her feet can take her.
She rushes out the big front door of the Sambora mansion and meets Beth at her car. As soon as Beth was out and on firm ground Stephanie ran to her and threw her arms around her neck. "Thank you for coming."
Beth hugs her back and asks while she still has the young woman in her arms, "Are you okay?" She can feel Stephanie nod her head yes, "What happened?"
"I screwed up big time."
"I know you did, but what happened?" Beth holds the young woman at arms length, "You're lucky no one was hurt." She kisses her forehead.
"That's what uncle Richie said."
Richie is standing behind Stephanie and gives Beth a wink. Beth winks back. "Hi there." Richie says, rocking on his heels like he is ready to be blown away by something.
"Hi. Did you call Jon?" She asks Richie, as Rose hangs her head. "Steph, get your things."
"Where are we going?" She blurts back, having not once thought that Beth would take her home with her.
"To my house. Get your stuff." Stephanie runs off and does as she's told.
"She really needs you." Richie informs Beth, "Under no circumstance was I to call her mom or dad."
"I'm glad you called me. How did it stay out of the press?" Beth asks him, as she peaks in on the twins. Both were sound asleep, snuggled in their car seats.
Richie gives Beth a baffled look, holding his hands up, "I have no idea, but I'm glad it was missed."
"I don't know what to do here, Richie. I can't keep this from Jon." Beth shakes her head in disbelief, "He was so pissed when you called, and when he finds out that we kept this from him, that's going to piss him off even more."
Richie moves closer and leans against Beth's car. Out of the corner of his eye, he can see Stephanie hanging just inside the door. She heard their conversation and stopped, so she could listen. "Talk to her and see what she wants to do. Maybe she will tell him herself."
Beth looks at him and gives him a look that says maybe, but she couldn't see Stephanie doing that. She and her dad are close, but she really hated to be a disappointment to him. "Something changed with them the last time that she got into trouble."
"Something like that changes everyone. I've been there and done all of that." Richie reaches over and playfully punches Beth in the shoulder. "If anyone can get her, hell, get them through this, it's you."
"What are you going to do? He's pissed, you better get to Chicago."
Stephanie reappears and hugs Richie goodbye. "Thank you uncle Richie. I know I put you in a spot with my dad and I'm sorry. I knew I could count on you and Beth."
"Stephanie, you know I will always be here for you. Forever," he kisses her forehead, "And ever. I love you."
"I love you too."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"So, do you want to talk about it?" Beth asks Steph, watching her look out the passenger window at the scenery along the way back to the airport, where the chartered plane was waiting for her. It's the middle of the night and there isn't much to see. "We have to tell your dad."
Stephanie mumbles under her breath, "I know."
"What happened? What are you doing out here in California?" Stephanie is tired and Beth can tell, so when she sighs at Beth's question - Beth understood, but didn't let it go. "Who knows that you're out here?"
"I came out her to look at schools. I'm sick of school in New York, thought I might try something out here."
"Where are you staying?"
"I have a room at the Hilton."
"Are you out here alone? Did anyone come with you?"
Stephanie shakes her head no, "I'm alone. When I landed yesterday I grabbed a car at Enterprise and drove to the hotel. I called a friend and we had drinks at dinner. I left the Hard Rock and thought I had paparazzi behind me, so I drove too fast and slid around a corner and smashed into a light pole."
"Were you hurt?"
"No."
"Anyone in the car with you?" Beth keeps firing the questions, getting the feeling that Stephanie didn't want to talk about it. "I'm glad you're okay and that no one was hurt. We'll deal with it all when it's time."
Stephanie looks over at her future step mother and in a mousy little voice says, "Thanks for coming to get me."
"There is no need to thank me, Rose. I have told you for years that you call me whenever you need me."
"I know my dad is going to be mad at you for not calling him."
"Let me deal with you're dad. You are a grown up and do what you want, if you didn't want him or you mom called, that's up to you."
"You know he's going to be pissed."
Beth reaches over and takes Steph's hand, "He's going to be fine. Don't worry about it."
When they get back to the vineyard, Beth directs Stephanie to hit the shower and get to bed. Beth takes care of the twins, feeding them and getting them ready for bed. When she's finished she slides between the sheets herself, but not before sending Jon a text. Long night with kids, I'll call you when I wake up. I love you ~B
As she goes to set her phone on the night stand, it alerts her of a text. She looks at it and sees it's from Jon. All it said was I love you ~J. She went to bed with a smile on her face.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Jon is in his room in Chicago, trying to get the chords right for a song that he's adding as an audible for the shows. He's hardly played it. It was Richie's song and had a Richie solo - but with no Richie, someone has to do it. He's gone back and forth with the idea of cancelling the show, but that isn't a Bon Jovi thing. For Jon to cancel a show at the last minute wasn't an easy thing for him to do. He has always prided himself that he and his band take their jobs very seriously and don't take to the idea of cancelling too easily. He's with Bobby, and he's struggling - but he keeps trying. The unexpected text from Beth made him smile and even helped him concentrate a little more.
"Where is your head?" Bobby asks him, standing over him handing him a bottle of water. "I can see that you're a million miles away."
"Not a million miles, just back in Napa and frequently to Jersey."
"How are Beth and the kids?" Bobby sits next to him, kicking his feet up on the ottoman. "I seen pictures of the twins, man - they are gorgeous."
Jon looks at him and smiles, "They all are doing good. The twins are awesome, the two weeks that I had with them wasn't enough."
"I bet not. How are the older kids doing? What do they think of the twins?"
The sound of the door opening catches their attention, they both turn to see that it's David. He had some posters in his hand, "Dawn said to give these to you, I guess you have to sign them?" David lays them on the ottoman, next to Bobby's feet.
"What are they?" Jon looks up at him, with a wrinkled brow, not sure what was there.
"Posters of you, I guess." David says as he sits in a chair. "Must be something with your backstage thing."
"I wish Matt would stop with that shit." Jon blurts, reminded of how inconvenient that can get. Stopping what he's doing to go say hi and pose for a 15 second photo op. Jon sets the guitar down, leaning it against the couch. "I want this tour over, so I can get on with life. Get on with the old and the new."
"Are you sure Beth is ready for that"? David chimes in. David knows the ups, downs and in-betweens that they have gone through and he also knows that just before the birth of the twins, Jon and Beth were not together. "It seems like you just want to jump right back into it. You were apart for a reason, babies aren't the band aid Jon."
Jon shoots David the stink eye and asks, "Have you ever loved a woman like I do Beth?"
"Yes, I have,"
"Have you been through the bullshit that we have and made it out, being on the other side, and wanting to keep going forward together?" Jon snaps, on the defensive.
"Jon, that's my point. You weren't together before the twins, does having the twins fix everything?"
"It must, she's asked me to marry her." Jon grabs the guitar and starts to strum the chords for Thick As Thieves, waiting to hear what David had to say to that.
Both Bobby and Dave were in shock. "Is that a ring on your finger?" Bobby asks, finally seeing it on Jon's hand.
Jon holds it out for the guys to see, "She gave it to me today, asked me to marry her and I said yes."
"Wow. I've never known anyone to get proposed to by a woman." David jokes, "Will she throw that in your face that she had to ask you?"
"Fuck you, she must have been planning it - this ring is made from one of the bracelets that I had made for us. I made one for Beth, one for me and McKenna was buried with hers."
"So, that must be made out of Beth's?" Bobby asks.
Jon nods his head, "Well, it's either hers or mine, I gave them to her when we were broken up, I don't really know what she did with them."
"Well, I think it's romantic. Did you set a date?" David plays with Jon, trying to make him smile.
"We didn't have time, I was in Napa getting ready to come here when she purposed, it was pretty sudden. All I could say was yes."
"She really needs you." Richie informs Beth, "Under no circumstance was I to call her mom or dad."
"I'm glad you called me. How did it stay out of the press?" Beth asks him, as she peaks in on the twins. Both were sound asleep, snuggled in their car seats.
Richie gives Beth a baffled look, holding his hands up, "I have no idea, but I'm glad it was missed."
"I don't know what to do here, Richie. I can't keep this from Jon." Beth shakes her head in disbelief, "He was so pissed when you called, and when he finds out that we kept this from him, that's going to piss him off even more."
Richie moves closer and leans against Beth's car. Out of the corner of his eye, he can see Stephanie hanging just inside the door. She heard their conversation and stopped, so she could listen. "Talk to her and see what she wants to do. Maybe she will tell him herself."
Beth looks at him and gives him a look that says maybe, but she couldn't see Stephanie doing that. She and her dad are close, but she really hated to be a disappointment to him. "Something changed with them the last time that she got into trouble."
"Something like that changes everyone. I've been there and done all of that." Richie reaches over and playfully punches Beth in the shoulder. "If anyone can get her, hell, get them through this, it's you."
"What are you going to do? He's pissed, you better get to Chicago."
Stephanie reappears and hugs Richie goodbye. "Thank you uncle Richie. I know I put you in a spot with my dad and I'm sorry. I knew I could count on you and Beth."
"Stephanie, you know I will always be here for you. Forever," he kisses her forehead, "And ever. I love you."
"I love you too."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"So, do you want to talk about it?" Beth asks Steph, watching her look out the passenger window at the scenery along the way back to the airport, where the chartered plane was waiting for her. It's the middle of the night and there isn't much to see. "We have to tell your dad."
Stephanie mumbles under her breath, "I know."
"What happened? What are you doing out here in California?" Stephanie is tired and Beth can tell, so when she sighs at Beth's question - Beth understood, but didn't let it go. "Who knows that you're out here?"
"I came out her to look at schools. I'm sick of school in New York, thought I might try something out here."
"Where are you staying?"
"I have a room at the Hilton."
"Are you out here alone? Did anyone come with you?"
Stephanie shakes her head no, "I'm alone. When I landed yesterday I grabbed a car at Enterprise and drove to the hotel. I called a friend and we had drinks at dinner. I left the Hard Rock and thought I had paparazzi behind me, so I drove too fast and slid around a corner and smashed into a light pole."
"Were you hurt?"
"No."
"Anyone in the car with you?" Beth keeps firing the questions, getting the feeling that Stephanie didn't want to talk about it. "I'm glad you're okay and that no one was hurt. We'll deal with it all when it's time."
Stephanie looks over at her future step mother and in a mousy little voice says, "Thanks for coming to get me."
"There is no need to thank me, Rose. I have told you for years that you call me whenever you need me."
"I know my dad is going to be mad at you for not calling him."
"Let me deal with you're dad. You are a grown up and do what you want, if you didn't want him or you mom called, that's up to you."
"You know he's going to be pissed."
Beth reaches over and takes Steph's hand, "He's going to be fine. Don't worry about it."
When they get back to the vineyard, Beth directs Stephanie to hit the shower and get to bed. Beth takes care of the twins, feeding them and getting them ready for bed. When she's finished she slides between the sheets herself, but not before sending Jon a text. Long night with kids, I'll call you when I wake up. I love you ~B
As she goes to set her phone on the night stand, it alerts her of a text. She looks at it and sees it's from Jon. All it said was I love you ~J. She went to bed with a smile on her face.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Jon is in his room in Chicago, trying to get the chords right for a song that he's adding as an audible for the shows. He's hardly played it. It was Richie's song and had a Richie solo - but with no Richie, someone has to do it. He's gone back and forth with the idea of cancelling the show, but that isn't a Bon Jovi thing. For Jon to cancel a show at the last minute wasn't an easy thing for him to do. He has always prided himself that he and his band take their jobs very seriously and don't take to the idea of cancelling too easily. He's with Bobby, and he's struggling - but he keeps trying. The unexpected text from Beth made him smile and even helped him concentrate a little more.
"Where is your head?" Bobby asks him, standing over him handing him a bottle of water. "I can see that you're a million miles away."
"Not a million miles, just back in Napa and frequently to Jersey."
"How are Beth and the kids?" Bobby sits next to him, kicking his feet up on the ottoman. "I seen pictures of the twins, man - they are gorgeous."
Jon looks at him and smiles, "They all are doing good. The twins are awesome, the two weeks that I had with them wasn't enough."
"I bet not. How are the older kids doing? What do they think of the twins?"
The sound of the door opening catches their attention, they both turn to see that it's David. He had some posters in his hand, "Dawn said to give these to you, I guess you have to sign them?" David lays them on the ottoman, next to Bobby's feet.
"What are they?" Jon looks up at him, with a wrinkled brow, not sure what was there.
"Posters of you, I guess." David says as he sits in a chair. "Must be something with your backstage thing."
"I wish Matt would stop with that shit." Jon blurts, reminded of how inconvenient that can get. Stopping what he's doing to go say hi and pose for a 15 second photo op. Jon sets the guitar down, leaning it against the couch. "I want this tour over, so I can get on with life. Get on with the old and the new."
"Are you sure Beth is ready for that"? David chimes in. David knows the ups, downs and in-betweens that they have gone through and he also knows that just before the birth of the twins, Jon and Beth were not together. "It seems like you just want to jump right back into it. You were apart for a reason, babies aren't the band aid Jon."
Jon shoots David the stink eye and asks, "Have you ever loved a woman like I do Beth?"
"Yes, I have,"
"Have you been through the bullshit that we have and made it out, being on the other side, and wanting to keep going forward together?" Jon snaps, on the defensive.
"Jon, that's my point. You weren't together before the twins, does having the twins fix everything?"
"It must, she's asked me to marry her." Jon grabs the guitar and starts to strum the chords for Thick As Thieves, waiting to hear what David had to say to that.
Both Bobby and Dave were in shock. "Is that a ring on your finger?" Bobby asks, finally seeing it on Jon's hand.
Jon holds it out for the guys to see, "She gave it to me today, asked me to marry her and I said yes."
"Wow. I've never known anyone to get proposed to by a woman." David jokes, "Will she throw that in your face that she had to ask you?"
"Fuck you, she must have been planning it - this ring is made from one of the bracelets that I had made for us. I made one for Beth, one for me and McKenna was buried with hers."
"So, that must be made out of Beth's?" Bobby asks.
Jon nods his head, "Well, it's either hers or mine, I gave them to her when we were broken up, I don't really know what she did with them."
"Well, I think it's romantic. Did you set a date?" David plays with Jon, trying to make him smile.
"We didn't have time, I was in Napa getting ready to come here when she purposed, it was pretty sudden. All I could say was yes."
So many questions....
ReplyDeleteDoes Jon get mad at Beth for not telling him last night? Does Richie go back on tour? Does Dot go postal on Beth? Does Jon go postal on Dot? (For not knowing where Steph was...) Does Steph fall in love with the twins? (Of course she does...) Oh Does Steph stay with Beth in Cali so Beth decides not to go to Jersey?
hhhmmm....
Thanks Jons great chapter. Lots of questions to be answered ... SOON!!
Tsk Tsk Tsk...
ReplyDeleteRich better get his ass back to the tour. Steph better do a lot of kissing up esp. her dad! everyone hopefully will go back to NJ sot hey can all be together.
ReplyDelete