Chapter 48 - Have A Little Faith



The end of the first leg was a welcome sight for everyone.  With their bags in their hands, they exit the company jet and tell each other goodbye.  

Richie being the farthest from home, got off long enough to tell them bye and he boarded again.  Tico was in town for a visit, so the three remaining members hopped in Jon's waiting Escalade and left the Monmouth Executive Airport, with not much to say.  Instead of heading south towards Colt's Neck/Brick the car went northeast and dropped Jon off first.  As he exited the car, he looks at the guys and says, "It better be weeks before I see either of you again."  As he laughs, he closes the door and makes his way into the house on the river.  It was the only place that he called home, the only place that he felt at home.   Tico and David were on their way home, and Jon was anywhere but alone.

In the great house, he's greeted by silence and a sense on emptiness.  Both are things that he didn't like.  He's always surrounded by someone, wanting something, needed something - someone is always right there.  Right now he feels more alone than he ever has in his life.  Stephanie and Jesse are away at school.  Jacob and Romeo are with their mother in New York City and his parents were probably still on vacation.  Jon is left on his own, and he has no idea what to do. 

With plenty of daylight, he decides that he'll take a walk about back; maybe clear his head and gain some direction.  The river is beautiful, as always, and the benches are right where he left them.  The benches that he had put in for Beth, when she was pregnant.  He didn't like looking out and seeing her sit on the ground when she was pregnant, so he had a few added along the riverbank.  He sat on her favorite one, and just pondered.  Pondered what he was going to do, pondered what he should do and wasn't feeling any better.  His thoughts were in one place, the vineyard.  His babies and his baby were there, why is he in New Jersey?  

After awhile, he heads back into the house and unpacks the bags that he had on the road.  He threw his laundry in the washer and went back toward the back of his house, entering his home office to see what he had for mail.  At his desk, thumbing through the stack that was there - he tired of that quite quickly.  He keeps thinking about the vineyard and his family.  The boys leave in the morning and he'll have a chance to see them for a few minutes before they are flown off to Summer Camp. 

Tired of dealing with the loneliness and the emptiness, he decided to head to bed and read for a while.  It was early, it was still daylight, but he had had enough of the day and just needed to shut his mind off.  He thinks that a good nights sleep would do him a world of good.  He'll see the boys in the morning with a clear head and then make a decision about what he should do, what he would do.

He reads for about a half an hour and dozes off.  He's then woken by the sound of his boys, "Dad, dad."  Jacob says as he shakes his dad, "Come on, we need to get to the airport."

Jon opens his eyes and sits up.  Smiling, he grabs Jake and pulls him down onto the bed, kissing his head, "What a thing to wake up to - dad dad we gotta go."  Jon laughs.  "Where's Romeo?"  Jon looks around and only sees Dorothea, which doesn't please him first thing in the morning.

"He's in the kitchen with Pete." Jake tells his dad, "He wanted some juice."

"Could you excuse us please?"  Jon asks his ex wife, who is standing in the doorway, admiring what she was looking at.  She's always found him to be sexy, even first thing in the morning.  "I need to get up."

With an eye roll and an irritated sound, she turns on her heal and leaves the two of them alone.  Jon gets out of bed and does his just out of bed routine, while Jacob sat on the bed and searched out some cartoons on the floor to ceiling TV.  When Jon was finished, he through on some track pants and went downstairs with Jake.

"Hey kiddo!"  Jon says as he walks up and snatches Romeo from the floor.  Romeo is almost to big to be picked up, but Jon missed him.  He missed all of them.  After loving on Romeo he sets him back on the floor and says, "Are you ready for camp?"

"Yeah.  This year I think I'm going to do the zip line."  he tells his dad with the excitement of a 10 year old on the verge of doing something great.  "last year I was scared."

Jon did not like the sound of that, remembering the experience that Beth had.  He knows that it wasn't zip line related, so he tells Jake, "If you do, be careful on the platforms, you probably don't remember when Beth got hurt - but she fell off the platform and was hurt pretty bad."

"I know, mom told me how you ran off and saved her."  Jake tells his dad, with a grin on his face that tells Jon that that was okay.

"She did, did she?"  Jon looks to Dorothea, "Did she tell you that Beth almost died, right in front of me?"

He shakes his head no, "She did?"

Jon walks over with his cup of coffee and sits with the boys, he looks over at Pete and winks at her, "Hey, Pete!"

"Hi, Jon.  How are you?"  His trusted and cherished nanny responds.

"We're good."

"How is Miss Beth and those babies?" she asks, not caring if she crossed the line.  She has had minimal contact with Beth and has seen pictures of the twins, but the contact was very impersonal.

Leaning back in the chair, he runs his hand over his face and says, "The last time that I talked to her, they all were good.  She says that Spencer is a little bit bigger than Brianna."

Dot seizes the opportunity and asks, "When is the last time that you seen her Jon?  When you should have been here with these kids?"

Jon didn't need to respond, Jacob didn't give him the chance, "Mom, knock it off.  It isn't any of your business."

"It is my business Jacob, and don't ever talk to me with that tone again!"

"How is it your business?  You and dad are divorced and he does what he has to as a dad.  Seeing my brother and sister is his business, not yours."

"Jacob Hurley....."

Jon, slamming his hand on the counter, "Dorothea, stop it.  You're just trying to cause trouble and quite honestly, I am not in the mood and I'm not taking the bait.  I see all the kids when I can, and now that this leg is over - after the boys leave for camp, I'm heading to Napa for a while - to spend time with their brother and sister."

Snidely she replies, "And Beth."

He stands up, "And Beth."  Refilling his coffee cup he says, "I'll take them to the airport, you can go now."

"I'm not leaving, I'm taking them to the airport too.  I have instructions for the chaperones and instructors."

"Are they different from last year?" he looks at her over his shoulder and gives her the stink eye.

"No."

"Then you don't need to go."

(Pic doesn't match the era, but I just love it)