Pulling into the driveway at the Navesink River house Jon had a bunch of emotions. They ranged from excitement to fear. He's missed his children and was so looking forward to seeing them. He wasn't going to let the fear of the unknown ruin his time with them.
He parked his BMW next to Dorothea's Lexus and walked into the house. He could here the kids and that was music to his ears. He found his family in the kitchen. All of the kids were dressed, except Stephanie.
"Daddy!" Jon hears as he rounds the island in the kitchen. Romeo runs up to him and hugs his leg. Jon bends down and picks his young son up, kissing him on the cheek.
"Hey little man, how are you?" he asks Romeo, knowing he wasn't going to get an answer. He just kissed his son over and over. Romeo found dad's necklace and started to play with it.
"Hi dad. What are we doing today?" Jesse asked, looking back over his shoulder at his dad. Jesse was in the refrigerator, looking just to look.
"Yeah dad, what are we going to do today?" Says Jake from the breakfast nook. He just mimicked what his big brother just said. He had just finished his waffles.
"Well, boys - Ava is in town so were going to go see her and Richie and then I have a show tonight in Newark. Do you want to come?" he knows the answer before he asks, all he had to say was Ava Sambora and the boys were hooked. The crush that they had on her was so cute.
Both boys nodded in agreement that they wanted to go to dads show tonight, because Ava was going to be there.
Looking at his daughter, sitting at the island with what looked like soup he said, "What's up baby girl? Not feeling well?" she's his first and his favorite. That's daddy's little girl, regardless how big she got.
Shaking her head no, she asks her dad if she can stay home? "I don't feel like a show dad, you don't mind if I stay here do you?" He walks over to her and feels her forehead. She is warm. Rubbing her face with his fingers, he says "I don't mind. Will your mom be here?" Looking around he asks, "Where is your mom?"
Lupetta, the nanny was tidying up the kitchen. She looked at Jon and said, "She's in the gym." He acknowledges that she answered him and takes Romeo and heads to the gym.
He walks into the gym and she's in there doing stretches. He looks her up and down, with no feeling.
"Hey, how long has Stephanie been sick?" He asks right out of the gate.
"Well, hello to you to Jon. She started getting sick last night. Why?" Dorothea barks back. She's had it with the way he's been talking to her, lately.
"Is it just the flu? Should we call the doctor?" he sets Romeo down and he goes over to the fitness trampoline and starts to bounce. He loves that thing.
"No, it's just the flu. She'll be fine. She's had soup and she's sipping water. It's just a bug." she tries to satisfy his abnormal worry.
"She doesn't want to come with me, are you going to be here tonight? I don't want her left alone?" he wishes Steph felt better. When she comes to his shows, he lets her pick out the shirt he's going to wear.
"Yeah, I'll be here. Michelle and Julie are coming over for cocktails and a movie. She can hang out with us and watch chick flicks." Dot had alot of friends, so many he stopped trying to keep up with it.
Jon is satisfied with that answer and he knows that Dot will stay home. His baby girl was sick and she needed to be at home, with a parent. He has wished on many occasions that he had a job that he could call in to, so he could stay home and take care of a sick child. He was not able to do that.
Dot stands up, pulling her foot up behind herself, balancing on one foot and asks Jon, "SO, how do we want to handle this? How do we tell the kids that we are getting a divorce" she switches legs, "and that they will live in two houses?" She continues on with her stretches like the words that came out of her mouth meant nothing.
"I think we need to be honest, totally honest with them. They are smart kids, they will understand." he dreads the talk they needed to have with their children. "And, there is no need to mention Beth. Beth came into the picture well after papers were filed."
"Why can't I mention her then? If it's so innocent, Jon?" she's getting cocky, on the verge of condescending.
"Dorothea, they don't need to be fed bullshit right from the start. Beth is a part of my life and I hope she remains as such, but if you start now with bashing her and blaming her, then she'll never have a chance with the kids. Why would you want to do that? They will love her." Jon defends a woman he hardly knows, and his reason is for his children. He is sure that the kids will love Beth.
"Fine, we won't mention her. I just get a little jealous and I feel like such a fool sometimes. Plus, who wants to accept blame for their marriage ending?" finsihing with her stretches, she goes over to the treadmill and starts with a slow walk. Romeo manages to walk over to his mom and tries to get on the treadmill with her. Dorothea picks him up and set him on the treadmill. He only wanted to ride it to the end and have her put him back and and then run it to the end. And repeat.
"We both are to blame, but I think we both agree, it's over. Right?" he looks to her, looking for a nod or any sign that she agrees.
"Yes, we agree. And I'm sorry for giving you a hard time about Beth. When I seen her on the news, I was impressed. How did you hook a smart one Jon?" she's now laughing at that comment.
"Knock it off, Dot. She really is wonderful. I think you'll even like her, once you let yourself."
"I'll wait a while to meet her, if you don't mind?" she is now walking on the treadmill and Romeo went back to the trampoline and started bouncing.
"You can meet her whenever. Did you get a copy of my schedule?" he needs to be sure she knows what's up with him, and when he would be taking the children.
"Yep, there was one on the fax machine yesterday. You're taking the kids to the show tonight?" she asked because she wasn't sure if the kids wanted to go.
"The boys are going, cause Ava is in town. My little gigolo's. I'll take them to SoHo after the show. Tomorrow, I have a few interviews and a photo shoot." saying it out loud so he knows it's right in his own head. He's been scrambled for the last couple of days, he wanted to be sure.
"Like father, like sons, the little gigolo's, funny Jon. Is Heather in town or just Ava?" Dorothea and Heather were great friends, but the ripple in her relationship with Richie made it hard for Dot to stay in touch. She thought she had to divide her loyalty.
"It's just Richie and Ava, as far as I know." He walks over to Romeo and picks him up. "Are you ready little man, we need to go to grandma's"
Looking at his future ex wife, he said "Let's go get this done." Meaning, let's go tell the kids that their mom and dad will no longer be together.
She turns off the treadmill and they walk down the hallway and up the stairs to get back into the kitchen. Stephanie is no longer sitting at the island, she's at the table with Jake and Jesse.
"Kids." Jon says with firmness. Jesse and Stephanie are sitting in the breakfast nook eating some fruit that Lupetta had just sliced for them.
"Yeah dad?'" says the eldest son. "What's up?"
Jon goes over to Lupetta and hands her Romeo. "Lupetta, can you get him and Jake ready ready to go? I'll need an overnight bag, please." She takes the boys and says, "Sure, no problem." And off she goes with Romeo and Jacob.
Jon and Dorothea sit at the table with their eldest son and only daughter. Dot says, "Your dad and I have something to tell you." Looking for Jon to jump in at anytime.
The kids look at their parents and wait for the something. They could tell that their mom and dad were uneasy and not looking forward to the talk. Jon gets up and helps himself to a cup of coffee. Why wouldn't he? It's his house.
Sitting back at the table, Jon just comes out and says it, "You guys know we love you and we want what's best for you - but the fact is, you're mom and I are getting a divorce." And he waited for a response. "The only thing that this means is that your mom and I will no longer be living together. You will be with me, wherever and with your mom in whichever house she wants."
"This has nothing to do with the woman that's on the news with you dad?" questions Jesse. Jon is a little caught off guard by that, but he's glad it's been asked.
"No, this has nothing to do with the lady I have been spotted with. Her name is Beth. Kids, let's stay on track here. Are you understanding what we are telling you?" the sound of her name made him tingle, he wanted to see her.
"I kind of figured this out on my own dad. You and mom are never together anymore. If we're here, you're in NY. If we're in NY, you're here. It's not hard to put the puzzle together." Jesse, a little wiser than he should be at his age, growing up with a rock star father, he really had no choice but to grow up a little faster.
Under the weather and the daughter of her father, Stephanie makes no bones about what she has to say, "Will you two finally be happy?" She puts her head on the table and says to her mother, "This is what you wanted to talk to us about?" She's irritated.
Dorothea says, "Yes, Steph this is what your dad and I wanted to talk to you about. We wanted you to hear it from us, before you heard anything from anyone else. We know how blown out of proportion things can get when they are in the press." she sighs, heavy.
"Your mother and I have gone in different directions and we decided the best thing to do is to separate. Neither one of us did anything to hurt the other one, it's just sometimes people grow apart and in different directions." Jon tells his children and they watch his every word.
"Then who is Beth?" says the female version of Jon Bon Jovi. She's sick, irritated and now she's questioning her dad.
"Beth is a woman that I met in L.A. when I was out there last. She did one of those stupid backstage tours that uncle Matt does. She kind of caught me off guard. She's in finance and she lives in L.A. Is that what you wanted to know?" kind of defensive and feeling cornered.
"And she has nothing to do with this divorce?" Stephanie is ready, she's on the attack.
"She has nothing to do with the divorce. I only met her a couple of weeks ago. And I want you both to know, I would never lie to you about anything." he reassures his children. He wants them to know that they are his biggest priority and they will get nothing but facts from their dad.
"So, when do we meet her?" Stephanie just can't stop. "We seen you on the news dad. You two were quite close in Las Vegas."
"Meeting her can wait, we want to make sure that you're okay with the divorce. We want to know that you understand what's going to happen."
"Dad, we know what's going on. Nothing is going to change. Except you will not be married anymore. You will keep doing your music and mom will adopt a project. We will go to school and see our friends. What's the big deal?" she's pissed now because she feels like her is questioning her intelligence.
Dot jumps in and says, "Stephanie Rose, this is a big deal. Your parents are telling you that they are no longer going to be married and you want to be a smart ass about it?"
"Mom, really? When is the last time that you and dad slept under the same roof?" with a there I told you look.
Dorothea shakes her head and says, "You win. Do you have any questions or concerns?" Looking at both kids.
Neither have questions or concerns. Stephanie gets up, kissed her dad on the head and says, "I'm going to bed. Bye dad. I love you." and she disappears out of the kitchen. Jesse is sitting there, a little dazed.
"Jes, are you okay?" Jon asks as he reaches over to pick on him.
"I'm okay dad." Jesse really is okay, all he can think about now is the show tonight. Jon tells his son to go get ready to go.
"Where are we going dad?" he asks, wanting to know what dad has planned for the day.
"First, we're going to grandma's, she wants to see you. Then we'll go back to NY. I have the show tonight. That's it. Why? Is there something you want to do?" he is open to suggestions from his son.
Jesse just shakes his head no.
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