Chapter 111 - Make My Living

"Do you really think that now is the time for this, Jon?"  Beth asks Jon over their morning cup of coffee.  She takes a sip and waits for his reply, tapping her foot on the floor.

"I do." he says to her, looking over the top of the New York Times.  "I think that now is a great time.  The kids are back in school.  You're back to work.  Who'd miss me?"

Beth reaches over and slaps the paper from his hands.  With a smile she tells him, "I would, smart ass."

"Only for a day or two."  He winks at her, "Hell, the kids won't even know that I'm gone."

"They will too." She takes another sip of coffee, inhaling the aroma.  "How long are you thinking?"

Jon leans over, putting his elbows on the table.  With gentleness he takes her hand and informs her, "Well, it's looking like 12 months at this point."

"A YEAR?" she blurts.  "You want to be gone for a year?"

He laughs at her response, "Want?  Do I want to be gone that long?  No."

"Then don't."

"It's a world tour, babe."

"But a year?" she whines.  "That's a long time."

"We've done it with our eyes closed before."

"Doesn't mean that we HAVE to do it again, Jon."  she squeezes his hand, "The twins have never been away from you for that long."

"I'll be back as often as I can."

"That's not the point."

"You know that a new album brings a tour.  You have been in this business long enough."

"The album isn't even out!" she loudly reminds him, getting up from her seat.  She stops at the kitchen window and spins on her heel.  "Who put this together?  Who's idea was this?"

"Idea?  Beth, it's the business.  An album needs support, that's why we tour."  He leans back in his chair and crosses his arms over his chest, soaking in the vision that is his wife.  "Why are you so upset by this?"

"I don't know!" she answers him without thought.  "I don't know."  she drops her arms to her side and exhales loudly.  "Why now?"

He chuckles, "Now isn't for 2 more weeks."

She glares at him and he can feel it.  "You leave in 2 weeks?"  she squeals at him, "Just two weeks?"

He nods his head knowing that she's over reacting, but he doesn't know why.  "We start here, work our way west and then head over seas."

"Seriously?" she can feel tears burn her eyes and the lump in her throat form.  "You really leave in two weeks?"

He nods again, "Yeah."

"My birthday is in two weeks." she drops her head, "Will you be here for my birthday?"

"I leave the day after." he stands and walks over to her, "You can come see me whenever you get lonely."

"If I did that, I'd be on tour with you."

Jon gets up from his seat and goes to her.  With tenderness, he pulls her to him and kisses the top of her head. She melts into his arms and holds him tight.  "If you want to go, you are more than welcome."  he makes the empty statement knowing that she needs to work and they have the kids.

Beth hangs in his arms for a few minutes, not responding to his comment.  She quickly ran the scenario through her mind and decided that it wasn't a good idea.  She loves Jon and loves being with him, but she's ready to get her life back to some sort of resemblance of the life that they had before they had to deal with all of their drama.  "I'm sorry Jon.  I don't know what came over me."

"It's okay."  he kisses her cheek.  "I have that affect on woman."  he starts to chuckle.

"Screw you."  she uprights herself and walks away from him.  "I don't know what got into me, other than I didn't like thinking that you were leaving and we have so much going on in the near future."

"Other than your birthday, what else is going on?" Jon makes his way back to the table and picks up his mug of coffee.  Beth took her seat and Jon joined her.  "I didn't see anything on the schedule."

Beth looks over at him and winks, "Other than my birthday, we have a wedding to attend in two weeks, but I guess I can go without you."

"Who's getting married?" he asks, having no memory of a wedding invite.

"Your brother is getting married?" Beth coyly reminds him, not surprised that he forgot.  She can see the confusion on his face and then she can see that he suddenly remember.  "Oh shit, that's right.  Tony and Nina are getting married.