"Dorth, we both know things haven’t been right with us for quite sometime. I wanted Rae to visit the tour because I was lonely for conversation and goofing around, I missed her and I thought it would help her forget about George. I had no intention of starting an affair."
"Jon you’ve been in love with her from the moment you met her. How do you think I felt knowing that when you were actually home, half your heart was hers? You reserve looks just for her, you constantly call her baby, you lied to me once and told me you didn’t do neck kisses. Truth was they were sacred to her. It killed me to see that picture of you kissing her neck leaving the restaurant. I’m pissed that I devoted my life to you, I gave you kids, I run your household, I raised your kids and you took it all for granted and more. I’m pissed that you were one of the most inflexible people in the world, I had to guilt you in to staying or barter over how long you’d be on the road. You’ll do it for her though. Rachel could ask you to quit all together and you would. I’m hurt that after everything we’ve been through; you still love her more, you can’t live without her. Screw me, screw the kids you want a future as Mr. Shirley. So yeah, I’m a little hostile and fuck I deserve to be."
"I’m sorry, I never set out to hurt you. Do you know how many times I wished I could stop loving Rach? I tried and all I ever ended up doing was stuffing it down for a few more years. I hate that I hurt you, but I think we both know that we’ve been going downhill quickly the last couple of years. You stopped caring if I was home or not. I’m not blaming you, I can see how it happened. You had your own life with the kids and I became the interloper disrupting your schedule."
"I’m pissed, I’m hurt and you are just going to have to deal with it. I don’t care where you sleep, it won’t be in my room."
"What are we going to tell the kids?"
"We? Try you are going to be the one telling them, not me."
"Maybe I’ll tell them on Wednesday."
"Whatever, I want to know what you’ll tell them though since I’m the one who will have to deal with the fallout."
"Fine."
"Tell me what other songs have you written for her, besides Always and You Had Me From Hello?"
"I wrote Always with you in mind Dorothea." It was the truth and there was no way he was telling her about In These Arms.
"Oh."
"Anything else?"
"Not for now."
"I’m going to go bring Rachel her pill."
Jon climbed the stairs and found her asleep. He woke her up with gentle kisses and handed her the glass of water and pill. She swallowed and noticed the look on his face.
"What’s wrong?"
"Dorth just laid in to me, she doesn’t blame you but she’s very pissed at me. She knew about Hello too."
"Ouch."
"Yeah, I told her I was sorry for hurting her and right now she doesn’t want to hear it. If it wasn’t for the kids, we’d go from Pittsburgh tomorrow straight to LA."
"We need to keep this incredibly quiet, you guys can’t file for divorce for at least a year, if not a bit longer. Dorothea would look like an idiot and I won’t do that to her after she saved our asses with the pictures."
"I can live with that. All I care about is being with you."
"You look tired, lay down with me and try to take a nap."
Stephanie got tired of playing with her brothers and went upstairs to the kitchen to make lunch. Her Mom was sitting at the table with a bottle of wine. She knew something was up because her mother never drank that early in the day. She’d have a glass at dinner and the occasionally glass at night and that was it.
"Mom, I’ll make lunch, you want Swiss or Provolone with ham?"
"I’m not really hungry Sweetie."
Stephanie walked over to her Mom, gave her a hug and then started cutting the baguettes. Rachel, Jess and Jake got Cheddar, Romeo Swiss while father and daughter preferred Provolone. She called her brothers up and then went upstairs to find Rachel and her Dad. The moment she saw them, she knew why her Mom was drinking. His arms were wrapped around her in what she was sure was called a lover’s embrace, but that wasn’t the clue. It was the blissful and peaceful smile on her father’s face. She couldn’t remember the last time she saw him that happy. She knew her parents marriage was over and it made her feel sick to her stomach. She walked down the hall to her room, closed the door and started crying on her bed.
Jess was finished and still hungry when he noticed the three sandwiches sitting on the counter. He figured Steph had gone up to get Rachel and his Dad and was talking. He bounded up the stairs and reached Rachel’s door in time to see his Dad kissing her. It was a long kiss that no one could misinterpret. He stood there frozen until he heard his Dad say ‘let’s get some food into you.’ Jess turned before he could be seen and walked in to his sisters room.
Steph heard her door open and looked up. "Get out of here J!"
"How long do you think it’s been going on?" He asked quietly as he sat down beside his sister.
"What?"
"Dad and Rachel, the kiss I just walked in on wasn’t the friendly type."
"I have no idea but it’s serious. I bet you a hundred bucks that Dad will be telling us he’s divorcing Mom for Rach before the week in over."
"Divorce?"
"Mom drank a bottle of wine before noon. They weren’t getting it on, they were breaking up."
"Maybe Uncle Rich could answer our questions."
"J, go down and get my sandwich, I don’t want Dad coming to get me."
"Kay."
"Jess, that’s your sister’s." Dorothea said when she saw her son taking the plate.
"I know, I’m bringing it up to her, we’re playing a computer game." He lied.
Steph took one bit of her sandwich and gave it to her brother. She dialled Richie’s cell phone number and waited for it to be picked up.
"Hello?"
"Hey Uncle Rich."
"Steph how’s my second favourite girl doing?"
"Not well. How long has Dad been having an affair with Rachel?"
"What?"
"You heard me, how long has Dad been cheating on Mom?"
"What did your Dad tell you?"
"Nothing, Jess and I figured it out on our own."
"You should really be having this conversation with him."
"I want to have it with you. Rich answer me, please."
"As far as I know, this just happened. I mean your Dad has loved Rachel from the moment he met her but he only told your Mom that he couldn’t pretend he didn’t love her anymore this week."
"Oh. So those pictures..."
"No but I think they made your Dad realize that he couldn’t hide his feelings anymore. That it was becoming obvious to others. I’m sorry kiddo."
"Thanks Richie, Happy Easter."
"You too Steph."
"So what did he say?" Jess asked.
"That this just started, Dad apparently called Mom and told her that he couldn't pretend he wasn’t in love with Rachel anymore. He said that nothing was going on when those pictures were taken."
"So in about a week Dad falls in love and leaves Mom?"
"No, Richie said Dad has been in love with her from day one."
"Then why the hell didn’t he ask her to marry him in the first place?"
"I have no idea, adults rarely make sense."
"Well I guess the good thing is that we like Rachel. This isn’t some money seeking whore." Jess added.
"It’s still going to be really strange having her as a step Mom."
"Step Mom? Aren’t you jumping a little ahead?"
"By a year maybe, but it will happen."
"So what do we do now?"
"Nothing, we wait for Dad to tell us and shock him with the questions we have."
"Poor Mom."
"She didn’t cancel Rachel’s visit. I sure would have if I was really upset. I think Mom’s known this was coming eventually and eventually is here. You know what I saw?"
"A kiss like I did."
"Nope, the look of utter bliss on Dad’s face. I haven’t seen that look since Romeo was born. Didn’t you ever notice how different they act compared to when we were little? We rarely catch them talking, I can’t remember the last time I walked in to a room and they were kissing."
"So are you saying this is Mom’s fault?"
"No, I’m just saying that their marriage couldn’t have been all that happy."
"This sucks."
"Yeah it does."
Jon invited the kids to lunch in Pittsburgh but only Romeo wanted to go. Jake had a birthday party to go to and Steph and Jess weren’t ready to be with them given what they now knew. Dr Kaye told Rachel that it didn’t look like she’d need surgery. He demonstrated the exercises she was to start on Monday and gave her the sheets that detailed each exercise and how the repetitions should be increased. Jon asked for an extra copy so he could fax it to Vanessa. He knew if she had it, Rachel wouldn’t be able to skip them while he wasn’t around to bug her. They went back to Sarafino’s for lunch and Romeo scarfed down two meatballs and started picking at Rachel’s pasta. They placed the take out dinner order and ate gelato while they waited. Romeo raved about the meatballs the entire way home and made his Dad promise that they’d go back again before the Europe tour started. His new catch phrase had become "Now that’s a meatball!"
Everyone thoroughly enjoyed dinner and was glad Sarafino’s had been discovered. Rachel gave the kids their presents and Stephanie and Jesse found it hard to be mad at her. Romeo insisted Rachel tell him his bedtime story and wanted one about meatballs. She made one up about a spicy meatball who couldn’t understand why no one ever finished him. They took one bite and ran away panting and screaming for milk or bread. Romeo liked it so much that she knew she better write it down or she’d forget it by morning.
Jess volunteered to type it up as she recited. He wanted to ask her about his Dad but couldn't bring himself to do it. He knew that if he asked, she’d tell him the truth and then he couldn’t pretend it wasn’t true for a few more days. He agreed to go have High Tea with her in New York City on Tuesday.
Jon noticed that Stephanie didn’t seem to happy to see him but he had no idea why. He figured it was just a teenage thing. She seemed fine when she was making the ham and cheese bread and he heard her laughing while watching that horrible show Monday night. Once the kids were all finally asleep and he was able to crawl in bed with Rachel he teased her about ‘The Hills’ being her guilty pleasure TV show.
Tuesday morning he woke up early and worked out. After taking his shower he crawled back in to bed with her and started kissing his way up her body. He started on her stomach, lingered on her breasts and by the time he reached her lips she kissed him back
"I want you naked in my arms again."
"Not when your kids are around."
"You are so mean."
"No the problem is I’m so loud."
Jon couldn’t help laughing. She really was very vocal in the throws of passion. He kissed her again and asked her how long she thought it would be before they could have sex.
"Baby, don’t let this leg fool you. I can think of three...no four different ways to rock your world and not worry about my knee."
"Seriously?"
"Do you doubt I’m the master of all things sexual? Only true believers get to have sex with me."
"Oh I believe, I’m just......"
"Not very creative?" She asked with a wicked grin.
"Perish the thought, I’m incredibly creative."
"Apparently not in the bedroom." She giggled.
Jon picked up the pillow and whacked her with it twice. She hit him back and their laughter got louder as the pillows kept flying. Jake called out to his Dad at the door.
"In a second son, I’m pummelling Rach with a pillow."
Jake ran to his room, grabbed his pillow and entered smashing his dad in the arm.
"Hey buddy, you’re on my side!"
"Rae is injured, you are beating up a cripple. She gets help."
Rachel laughed and whacked Jon hard in the head. The laughter and shouts brought Romeo in to the room. He got on the bed behind Rachel and started jumping on it. This was by far the bounciest bed in the entire house, in his opinion. A pillow went flying so he picked it up and just swung, hitting Jake.
"Yo, the target is Dad you goof ball. Either fall in line or continue jumping."
Romeo decided to keep jumping. Stephanie walked by and laughed as her Dad got smashed in the face by Rachel. Jon was looking her way so he jumped out in to the hall grabbed her and tossed her on the bed. He hit her lightly in the stomach with his pillow.
"Think it’s so funny now?" He asked with a big grin.
While he was looking at his daughter Rachel motioned a plan of attack to Jake. Before Steph could respond Jon got hit in the front of the head by his son and whacked really hard in the back of the head by Rachel who yelled at him for attacking his own daughter.
"I can defend myself." Stephanie responded and hit Rachel in the ribs. She got up and made it look like she was joining her Dad’s team. He let his defences down and got repeatedly pummelled by his daughter.
The racket coming from the other end of the hall forced Dorothea out of bed to investigate. She was all set to yell at the kids when she saw what was going on.
"Mommy, come join us, Daddy is the target." Jake yelled.
"No thanks."
"Come on Dorth, I could use the help and it feels great." Rachel prompted.
Jake handed his Mom the pillow and she turned to put it away and changed her mind. She whipped around and hit Jon so hard he ended up on his knees. She tossed Jake the pillow back and smirked at Jon.
"That did feel kind of good. I’ll go make breakfast."
Romeo jumped on his Dad’s back and started ordering him to play horsey. Jon complied knowing it would end the pillow beating he had been receiving. Stephanie laid back on the bed to catch her breath and looked at the ear to ear grin on her Dad’s face and the soft smile on Rachel’s as she watched him.
Between being able to whack him with a pillow and seeing just how happy and relaxed Rachel made him, her anger towards him disappeared. She knew he would never go out of his way to hurt anyone. If Richie was right and he’d loved Rachel from day one he certainly tried hard enough to make his marriage last. She decided to give him a break and was looking forward to her father daughter tea later in the day.
Rachel wore the little red and white skirt again with a black cashmere sweater. She thought she looked dorky with the knee brace on but she wasn’t wearing jeans to tea. She went inside with Jesse and sat down. About ten minutes later Jon entered with Stephanie and sat across the room. He breathed a sigh of relief when no heads turned in his direction.
"Dad, seriously no one would ever think you’d be having high tea. I think we can have a hassle free time."
"Had I known about high tea years ago, I’d be part of the tea set. You are in for a treat my darling. Dave loved tea too."
"When did you go?"
"In Toronto, Rae and I went one day and I liked it so much we went back the next day with Dave. You know those two are one when it comes to food."
"So Dad, when did you stop loving Mom?" Stephanie asked.
Jon was glad he wasn’t drinking or he would have either choked to death or spit up all over his daughter. "Huh what?"
"You heard me Daddy, when did you stop loving Mom?"
"Hi, would you like to see the menu?" The waitress asked.
"No, tea for two with English Breakfast for us both. Milk and cream please."
"Sure."
"Steph there wasn’t a time as such. I love your Mom, I will always love her, but I’m not in love with her anymore. It just gradually sort of happened. We became strangers and I honestly didn’t realize how eroded our love had become until...."
"You realized you couldn’t let Rachel go?"
"Pretty much, I was struck by how loving our friendship was and realized how long I’d been missing that from your Mom. Rachel and I got in a bit of a fight and she told me that I was the reason her relationships never lasted because I was the only man she ever loved and would ever love. I sort of asked if she was stupid and didn’t realize how much I loved her back and no matter how hard I fought it I could never stop loving her. Once the flood gates were open I couldn’t nor did I want to close them."
"Is Mom mad at you both?"
"Me, not Rachel. She doesn’t blame her but she can’t forgive me yet. Rachel’s ghost has been with us since I met her and well until you were born she was incredibly jealous of Rachel. She kept thinking Rachel would curl her pinkie finger and I’d leave her. Only when she saw how genuinely happy she was for us when you were born did she get over it."
"I don’t think I could have done that. Dated, let alone married a man who only had half a heart to give."
"Your Mom was...well is a remarkable woman and at the time, I could never have admitted I wanted Rae."
"Well the good thing is you’re in love with Rach not some little groupie or fame whore."
"How did you....."
"Figure out? Mom was drinking wine before noon and when I came upstairs Friday to get you for lunch, you were fast asleep with Rach wrapped in your arms."
"Ah."
"It wasn’t the embrace, it was the look of total bliss on your face and the last time I remembered seeing you that happy was when Romeo was born. Jess saw you sharing a not so friendly kiss and knew."
"Jesse knows?"
"Yup. So when is the divorce?"
"Not for some length of time. We’ll be separated just not legally. When it comes time to divorce we can tell the judge when we separated."
"So are you moving in to the guest house?"
"No, I’ll be moving in with Rachel this week and officially after the European tour. I promise to visit and Rachel is looking forward to you guys visiting her. You might actually even see me a little more than you are use to."
"So should I be ready to ignore all the press?"
"No, none of us plan on letting this become public information. The guys know and obviously your Mom, you and Jess and that’s it. I was going to tell you all tomorrow."
"I suggest you talk to Jess today, here. After the food arrives, I’ll go switch places with him for a bit."
"Are you mad at me Sweetie?"
"No, a little bit disappointed but I love Rachel and she’s brought the twinkle back to your eyes Dad. Just don’t fuck this up."
"Your language young lady and believe me I won’t."
Jon’s conversation went along the same lines with Jesse but he wasn’t so fast to forgive his Dad. He told him that he’d work on it and Jon told him that was all he asked. After the sandwiches were done Jess went back to his table for the rest of tea. He loved the food but wasn’t impressed with the tea. While he was gone, Rachel asked if they could pour root bear in a tea pot for Jesse. The waitress suggested hot chocolate instead given the dessert and scones and she agreed. Jess was thrilled when he sat back down and Rachel poured him a cup of hot chocolate.
"Thank you. Dad just confirmed what we already knew."
"Yeah, Steph told me. You know we never wanted to hurt your Mom right?"
"Yes but you still did. There must be a million men who would love to be with you Rach, why does it have to be my Dad?"
"Jess, I’ve tried but your Dad is the only man I’ve ever loved. I can't seem to get past that and none of the other men are you Dad."
"I’m not exactly thrilled about this but I’m not going to make life hell for you."
"Jess, you care too much to be evil. It’s not in you. I respect your feelings and I’m not going to try to push us on you either."
"Thanks, like I told Dad, I’ll get over it with time."
"Take all the time you need Sweetie."
The car ride back to the house was fairly quiet and Jon decided that he’d tell Jake and Romeo once they got back. Jake left the room and went running in to his Mother’s arms. Romeo just wanted to know if he had to move and when he was told no he smiled and went back to playing with his train set.
Jake didn’t speak to either of them for the next two days and wouldn’t even say good bye when they left late Friday evening. Jon had started coughing Wednesday morning and by Friday was miserable with a cold. However, he would not be deterred from making up for lost time with Rachel. As soon as the jet reached cruising altitude his hands snaked under her sweater and pulled it over her head. He was kissing the valley of her breasts while undoing her bra. He tossed the bra across the cabin and took a hardened peak into his mouth. As incredible as his lips felt on her she knew sex wasn’t what the doctor would order. She allowed about fifteen minutes of fun and then pulled away. Jon started to complain and was interrupted by a coughing fit.
"Yeah, you don’t need sex, you need rest and plenty of liquids."
"But..."
"No buts, all you are getting from me this weekend is TLC."
"You are so mean."
"Yeah, I’m mean because I want to take care of my sick boyfriend who has to sing for two plus hours in less than five days."
"I hate being sick."
"Not many people enjoy being sick, Baby. Now do you want apple or grape juice?"
"Apple. So all weekend will be spent doing what exactly?"
"Lots of bed rest for you. Hearty chicken soup lunches, home-made dinners, my undivided love and attention and well you’ll hate apple juice for some time. I also think it might be a good idea to try not to use your voice. Save it for the stage, rock star."
"This may work if you’ll wear a skimpy nurses outfit. You know all cleavage lots of leg..."
"Baby, when you are 100% healthy you aren’t strong enough to resist me fully clothed. Not going to happen."
"So I don’t get to have any fun?"
"You get a brilliant, caring, sexy woman naked in bed with you each night. If you can’t appreciate that, I’ll ship you off to Richie."
"Well I wouldn’t be constantly thinking about what I want to do to Richie." Jon chuckled.
"Go lie down on the couch. I’ll get you some apple juice."
"Will you join me?"
"Do you really think I want your evil cold germs?"
"Yes because you love me."
"God help me but I do."
