Chapter 21 Yippee

Lexie felt the bed dip and something warm snuggling to her back. This snuggler was larger than Snowball so that must be Romeo had joined them in bed. Lifting her head she looked over at the clock, six am was too early to get up. Her meeting with her editor was at ten. Shifting some in the bed, she was glad that she had gotten up around four and went to the bathroom and put on one of Jon’s Soul shirts and her underwear just incase like at the cabin he joined then in the early morning. Those last few days in the cabin, she and Jon had snuggled on the huge sofa only to be joined by Romeo.


“You awake?” Came the larger warm body in the bed.

“Yeah, again.” Yawning she cuddled closer to Jon’s chest. “We have company.”

“I know snowball is in the bend of my knee.” He tried to shift and lift his head to look over her shoulder. “I need a favor, how long is your meeting today?”

“About an hour, just go in and let him tell me what promos I have to do and get some press packets to go over, why?” She watched his eyes cloud over.

“That call I got was from my ex, I need to head to Philly.” He reached over her and tenderly brushed a curl of sandy blond hair on his son’s brow.

“I take it that call wasn’t just to say hi were home?” They shifted in the bed so that they could get out. Looking back at Romeo and Snowball in the huge king size bed they slipped out into the hallway.

“You could say that. Seems like we were having a nice time at the cabin, my kids were learning the hard way what it’s like to get new grandparents.” The lead her down to the kitchen and started the coffee pot. “Can you watch Roe for me today while I go to court?”

“You have to go to court?” She about dropped the cups she was taking to the table.

“My son got arrest for protecting his sister. From what I got out of my sixteen year old daughter an her new grandparents don’t approve of her clothes and when she talked back decided to invoke punishment of the spare the rod spoil the child theory.” He slammed his hand on the counter.

Lexie jumped when she heard him hitting the counter.

“Why didn’t they call you before now?” She asked.

“All I got was yelling that I didn’t pick up the phone fast enough and the normal lecture from my ex about why I screwed up with and lost my family. Greg asked me to come and after what has happened I need to be there.”

He turned and was leaning back on the counter as he told her about the call and Stephanie begging him to come and take her home with him. How his next to the youngest was hiding under the bed afraid to come out and be arrested.

“I agree you need to be there. Let me call my editor and reschedule my meeting. I’ll watch Roe as long as you need to be gone.” She told him.

“I don’t want you to reschedule…” He started to say but was stopped when she put her finger over his lips.

“Yes Jon, I will reschedule and you head on to Philly. Actually all I need is a fax machine to get the press packets and the promo schedule and I can handle my meeting over the phone.” She left him in the kitchen and when in search of her cell.

Jon followed her into the living room and watched her call her editor. Walking over he took a notepad and jotted down his fax number for her and then went back into the kitchen to pour the coffee.

“Yeah, just fax me what I need and I’ll call you when I get a chance and we’ll go over my promo schedule.” She sat at the piano and ran her finger down one of the keys the soft tone made her smile. Damn why did I screw around an never finish my piano lessons…don’t think Itsy bitsy spider would sound the same as it did on the old upright, she thought to herself as her editor droned on in her ear.

Jon walked back in and handed her a cup of coffee and mouthed he was heading to the shower. Waiting on her to nod he kissed the top of her head and with cup in hand headed to the shower.

Leaning under the hot spray his thoughts went back to the phone call and the sound of his daughter…his first born…his baby girl, begging him to bring her home with him. His heart broke a little. Man how did his life go from being the poster child for the perfect rock star marriage to being the bad guy? For losing half of what he worked for, but it took two to end his marriage, for him it was the long days on the road and fewer days at home, for her it was Greg, always being there, being the kind of husband she wanted to grow old with, not the Peter Pan she had married.

Jon felt the draft and smiled, he had been hoping she would join him in the shower. The shadow on the shower door made it obvious she was joining him. Reaching to the knobs he turned more cold water on and the spay went from sauna hot to comfortable hot.

“Did you get everything set up?” he asked her.

“Yep, and your fax machine is humming along when I left it.” She stepped under the spray and let the water run over her body.

Whishing she had thought to grab her shampoo she smiled when she felt his adding shampoo to her hair. So she would smell like him until she could go home and pack a small bag. It would be best to keep Romeo here where he felt safe than to move him over to her smaller condo. They hadn’t talked about it but she knew this trip he had to take was not going to be an up and back kind of trip.

“Romeo still asleep?” He asked.

“Sawing logs like his daddy.” She laughed.

“Hey, I do not snore!” He chuckled.

“Like a buzz saw on overtime.” She rinsed the soap from her hair.

“Well, at least I don’t talk in my sleep….oh Jonny…Oh yes.” He commented in a falsetto voice.

They both jumped at the knock on the door.

“Daddy, I’m hungry.” Romeo called from outside the bathroom door.

“Be right there son…go get dressed and I’ll fix you some cereal.” Jon stepped around her in the shower and opened the door, which cased Lexie to shiver, grabbing a towel he made quick work of drying off and pulling on his sweat pants.

“Can Lexie do it? You always put too much milk in it.” He called through the crack in the door.

“See you’ve got another Bongiovi male hooked.” He said as she turned off the shower and reached out for a towel for her hair. Holding it just out of her reach, he watcher her feeling along the rod for the towels.

Giving him a grumpy look she reached up to her long wet chestnut brown hair and ran her fingers down a section and then flicked the water at him.

“Hey, I’m dry here.” He laughed and jumped back. He tossed her the towel as she reached up for another section of hair.

“Go help your son, you two need to talk about your plans for today.” She blew him a kiss and began twisting her hair up in the towel. Every morning at the cabin they had set together at the breakfast bar and discussed what they wanted to do that day, it was easy to see why Romeo had not wanted to leave his dad.