Chapter 31

Unlocking her apartment door she put Snowball down and turned on the living room light.  The musty smell caused her to go throw open the windows and turn on the ceiling fans.

"Home sweet home Snow, it's gonna be hard after being at Jon's."  She talked to the dog who plopped down on the floor and whimpered.  "I know you miss Romey, but he'll come and visit."

She moved around the apartment and aired out the bedroom and moved into the kitchen and raided the fridge.

 Would it have hurt to go out to dinner with them?  Richie was there to be a buffer.  I could have come home after we ate.  If it hadn't been the look in Stephanie's eyes or the way Jesse had looked at me, admit it.

"Admit it, Snowball I was scared.  I was afraid they would hate me."  She sat down with a pint of half freezer burned carton of Chocolate Chunky Monkey ice cream.

She didn't know how long she sat there feeling sorry for herself.  The sun was setting when she finally hit the bottom of the ice cream carton.

"Okay, enough of this.  Get off your ass, you are a published writer, you have a deadline."  She thought back to the cabin, then to the night they christened the sunken den.  Tossing the carton in the trash she moved to her office.

Setting her alarm so she wouldn't forget to take Snow out and feed the dog, but also to remember to eat herself. After eating a whole pint of ice cream, she better skip dinner.

She had been writing for about three hours when she heard the door buzzer.  Thinking it was her editor to check on her new chapters, she walked to the intercom and answered.

"Hey, Okay whose being funny?"  She looked at the screen again and moved the control to pan the area then she panned it down.  "Romey?"

Running to the door she ran down the stairs to buzz him in.

When the door opened there stood Romeo with his little suitcase and tears streaming down his face.

"I come to visit."  He sniffed.

Stepping out onto the sidewalk she looked up the street and then down the street.  No one was out there.

"Romey, how did you get here?"  She picked up his suitcase which was actually heavy.

"I remember, walk past the man in the uniform at the Bloomers and then I got here.  I remember the numbers."  he pulled out the much creased and now tear stained letter she had written to him for Snowball.

"Does your dad or Richie know you're here?"  She followed him up the stairs to her apartment.

"They gone to eat pizza, Daddy got mad because I locked the door. I got in trouble and Daddy said I not get to come and visit for a whole week."  He opened the door and picked up a hyper Snowball who proceeded to wash the tears off his face.

"Okay but he didn't leave you at home while they went to eat,"  She started to ask.

"Oh no, we left to walk down to get pizza and I walked really slow. Daddy and Uncle Mookie was talking about that song and brothers and sissy were playing iPhone game I went back and got my suitcase. I gots to have my jammies, so I can come to visit."  She had told Romeo when they went to get her stuff that if she was going to visit with him while his dad was in Philly, she would need her jammies.  "So here I am." He looked up with a big smile on his face.

 Oh Little man, you are going to be in big trouble.  She thought.  Grabbing her cell she took a picture of Romeo and Snowball sitting on her sofa and sent it to Jon's cell.  Now all they could do was wait.

~~~~~

Jon got the table in the back and handed out money to the kids, while he was talking to Richie.

"Yeah, Once they left I got a text from Graham asking if I knew a good divorce lawyer."  he said as he placed the order with the waitress.

"So this isn't a temporary thing?"  Richie sat down at one end of the table.

"Nope, it's a done deal, or no money and we go back to court and she'll get nothing."  Jon finally sat down.

"Well, I'm glad you got your kids back."  He looked over at the three of them playing in the arcade in the pizzeria.  "Now all you have to do is get them to accept Lexie."  he sipped his soda.

"Yeah, I don't see much of a problem with the boys, but Steph's gonna be a hard sale.  She didn't like the divorce very well and then the wedding and the honeymoon was an eye opener."  He turned to look at his kids, all three of them.  Wait a second her had four kids not three.  Getting up he went to the arcade and looked around.  Steph was on a side table texting her friends, Jake and Jesse were on the Icy Patrol bikes, were was Romeo.

"Steph, you see Romey since we got here?"  He asked his oldest.

"He was behind us when we were walking down."  She went right back to texting.  "Maybe he's in the bathroom."

"Hey Jess, check the men's room for me.  See if Romey had to go."  he asked his oldest son.

Jesse got off the game bike and went to the closest men's room to the arcade.  Coming back out he went over to the table where Richie and Jon stood waiting.

"He's not in there." Jesse told them.

"Did you check all the stalls, you know how he has to go to the last one away from the door."  Jon asked.

"Checked all the stalls, he isn't in there."  Jesse told him.

Jon was just about to get into panic mode when his phone buzzed.

"Now don't panic Jon he has to be around here somewhere.  Maybe Hess's in with Mario making pizza's."  Richie suggested.

"Nope, I know where he is."  He turned the phone around so Richie could see the photo of his youngest son sitting on a sofa holding a white puff of fur.

"He's at Lexie's?"  Richie shook his head.

"I guess that grounding didn't work."  Jon tossed some money on the table.

"I'll feed the other three, you go get your runaway."  Richie chuckled.  "Good name for a song title."  Richie laughed.

Jon tossed up the Jersey salute as he headed out of the restaurant.

Getting an idea he swung by his place an picked up his suitcase and then had a shocking thought  which place is hers?  He headed down Mercer then over to Bloomingdale's where the Valet/ doorman stood.

"Did you happen to see a little boy about this high"  He held out his hand about waist height "With a suitcase?"

"Oh you mean Lexie's little friend Romeo?  Yeah he just went past here a while about crying and looking really sad.  I followed him down to her place and waited until he got in." Looking down at Jon's suitcase he tilted his head in question.  "You running away too?"

"Not really, but I thought it would help Romey."  Jon laughed.  "Ah, you wouldn't happen to know exactly which one is hers do ya?"  Jon tried not to blush in embarrassment.

"Yeah, I'll walk ya down."  he called to the other doorman and started to walk with Jon.  "I have to ask man, you are Jon Bon Jovi aren't ya?"

"Yep, Thanks for your help."  he held out his hand to the doorman.

"Your her main character reference.  Yeah I read her books, she sends me out copies when she walks by.  She's a great lady."  He told Jon.

"Yeah I know."  He walked until they stopped.

"Buzz the button under Mrs Smith.  That's her.  Sort of puts off the fans trying to find her."  he shook Jon's hand again.  "Don't be too hard on Romeo, that little dog is hard to resist.  Her owner ain't half bad either."

I'll try."  he reached up and buzzed the button under the name Mrs Smith and waited.