Chapter 39 - I Play The Part

"Where is Stephanie?"  Beth hears as she answers the phone, still half asleep. 

"Jon?"  she sits up in bed and looks at the time. 

"Where is Stephanie?" Beth can hear that he's upset.

"She's sleeping, Jon."

"Is she alright?"

"She's fine, just scared."

Beth can hear his sigh of relief, just before he hangs up on her.  She sits there, a little stunned and a little confused. She looks back at the time and can't believe that the babies haven't woke up to eat.  She sets her phone on the night stand and works her way out of bed to check on the twins. 

When she enters the nursery, she sees Stephanie sitting in the rocking chair, the one that was handed down from Jon's fathers family.  Many Bongiovi babies were rocked in that chair, and Mr. B made sure that McKenna, Rowan, Spencer, Brianna and Jon Spencer were rocked in it.  He had shipped it to her himself, making sure that she did get it.

"Good morning."  Beth says as she walks up to Stephanie, pulling her hair back off of her face and holding it in her hand, she leans over and kisses the top of Stephanie's head.  "Did you sleep?"

"A little bit.  What about you?" Stephanie looks up at Beth. 

At the cribs, Beth looks back at Stephanie and says, "I slept pretty good.  I'm surprised that these two have slept so long."  Beth leans over and kisses their little heads and tells them, "Good morning."  Inhaling the intoxicating smell of a baby. 

"Do you want some coffee?  I made some."  She gets up and walks toward the door, "Just sugar right?"

"Yeah, I'm going to need it when I call your dad back." Beth says, as she picks Spencer up.

That stops Stephanie dead in her tracks, "Call my dad back.  Why did you call my dad?"

Beth sits in the rocking chair and starts to nurse Spencer as she explains to Steph, "He called me and woke me up, honey.  I didn't call him."

"What did you tell him?" Beth sees the shock in her face and can only imagine how she's feeling.

"I told him you were here."

"That's it?" Stephanie stands at Beth's side and looks down at her, "That's all you told him?"

Beth looks up at her and says, "He wanted to know where you were and if you were okay."

Stephanie tries to rub the stress from her face, much like her dad does, but it didn't work.  "Oh god, I wonder how he found out.  What did he say?"

Beth chuckles a little bit,  "I told you, he wanted to know where you were and if you were okay.  Then he hung up on me."

"He hung up on you?" Stephanie kneels down next to Beth and repeats, "He hung up?"

Beth explains to her exactly how the conversation took place.  Stephanie is made even more nervous by Jon's reaction, but she also felt a little bit of relief.  Having to tell her dad scared her and she's really glad that she doesn't have to now.

"I dare say that he heard what happened and was scared." Beth tells her, and then she adds, "I would feel the same way.  I'm sure he's pissed that we didn't call him."

"Do you think uncle Richie told him?" Rose asks with a bit of disgust in her voice, "Do you think he did?"

Beth shakes her head no, "I don't think it was Richie.  Don't worry about how he found out, we need to deal with the fact that he found out.  He's probably upset with me that I didn't call him." 

Beth finishes taking care of Spencer and hands him to his big sister.  Stephanie takes the baby and paces the room with him, trying to get a bubble out of him.  "We'll get through this Steph.  I'll call dad after I feed Brianna."  Beth gets up and picks up her daughter.  Brianna is trying feverishly to get a hand in her mouth.  Beth laughs at the quick movement of her head, trying to find something to suckle on.  She sits in the family rocking chair and puts her on her other breast. 

"I should call my dad back.  He shouldn't have hung up on you."

"Stephanie, think about that one.  Your dad heard that you were in trouble, called her and found out that you were here and okay.  Once he heard me say that, he let out a deep sigh and hung up - you know how he gets when he's scared, when he's worried." Beth tries to make excuses for Jon, but Stephanie knows her dad. 

"He hung up because he was pissed."

"Maybe so."

"I'm going to call him back." She reaches into her robe pocket and gets her phone.  She finds her dads contact number and calls him.

"What's up?" she hears her dad say, in a very mono tone.

"Dad, why did you hang up on Beth?" Beth can see the side of Jon peeking out of his daughter.  She's as animated as she can be with a baby in her arm and a phone in her hand.  "You can't be mad at Beth.  She did what I asked."

"Stephanie Rose, do you think that now is the time to talk about this?"

"Can you think of a better time dad?  You're gone all the time."

"This is not my fault Stephanie.  I didn't put you behind the wheel of a car after drinking, you did."

"I know dad, I messed up.  Why did you hang up on Beth?"

"That's between me and Beth, I'll work it out with her later."

"Dad, please don't be mad at her for coming to get me.  Don't be mad that we didn't call you."

Stephanie pleads with her dad, hearing his disappointment in his voice.

"What's Beth doing?" Jon asks, really needing to get off the phone with Stephanie and clear stuff up with Beth.

Stephanie walks in Beth's direction, "She's feeding Brianna."

"Let me talk to her." he demands.

Stephanie hands Beth her phone and silently tells her 'sorry'.  Beth takes the phone from Stephanie and says, "Hello."

"Are you sure she's okay?" was his first question and before she could answer, he fired the next one, "Why didn't you call me?"

"She's fine and she asked me not to."

"And you though that was a good idea?  To not tell me? Did you call Dorothea?"

"NO.  Why would I call her?"  Beth fires at him, unsure of his thought process.

Jon makes a sound, one that Beth is familiar with, a heavy sigh with a slight growl, "I'd like to think that you'd call a parent."

Beth takes a moment to respond to that, wasn't she after all, almost a parent to Stephanie, "Jon, she didn't want either of you called.  She's an adult now, you need to remember that."

"Why didn't you call me, Beth?"

With her teeth clenched, she's frustrated, hating that he's trying to make her feel bad,  "Had she or anyone been hurt, I would have called you - but it was minor and she asked that we not call you."

"WE?"