Water Ch. 151 - When It Hurts Just To Talk

 

 

Communication between Beth and Jon was non existent for almost three weeks, until she decided to send him an email just hours before a scheduled ultrasound. 

 

Jon had been busy with the kids and their school schedules, Dorothea was released from the hospital and he was trying to record some new material.  Beth and the babies were always first and foremost in his mind, but he knew he was doing the right thing.  He loved that he was able to get back to music, not that Beth ever stopped that - it was just when she was around, she was all he wanted to do.  In three weeks time, he managed to have almost a whole album recorded, and that was on top of babysitting Dorothea.

 

Her release couldn't have come at a worse time, but he made the best of the hand he was dealt and they all got through it.  She was at the SoHo apartment with 24 hour staff, and the kids were with Jon in Red Bank.  He would drop the kids off to school and head to SoHo, so Dorothea could have the little ones for the day.  It was an arrangement that was working well for all of them.  Jon was able to get all of his stuff done during the day, while Dot and the staff cared for the kids.   

 

Today Jon had a lunch interview with Matt Lauer from the Today show, so after he dropped the kids off at school and Dorothea's he started to walk towards the Times Square.  He was walking along, paying no attention to those around him.  He felt free, although he was hiding behind his sunglasses and a ball cap.  His usual disguise.  He would have hair and make up help him look pretty before the cameras rolled.  He stopped along and checked out sidewalk vendors, popped in and out of stores and just enjoyed walking through the city on a beautiful early fall morning. 

 

His thoughts were all over the place, but thoughts of Beth were never far away.  He missed her.  He missed he so much, he ached for her.  He worried about her and the babies, but he knows that if there was anything wrong - she'd have called Jon.  Jon has people that are checking on her, that she has no idea about - so when he worries, he knows that it's needless - he just can't help him self.  Standing at a crosswalk, waiting for the light to change he hears and feels his phone indicate that he has an email.  Reaching into his pocket , he sees that it's an email from Beth.  Surprised to see it, he practically falls off the curb.  He stepped to the side and opened the email.  It was simple and to the point, but it made him smile.

 

Jon,

I miss you!

I hope you and the kids are doing well.

I have an ultrasound today at 2pm, I'll let you know how it goes. 

These little guys are growing like weeds.

I love you.  B

 

After he read it a few more times, he decided that he didn't need to reply.  He'll wait for the her to contact him after the ultrasound.  He's thrilled that she contacted him at all.  And now that he knows she's going to the doctor, that tells him that she will let him be involved.  The phone goes back into his pocket and he continues with his walk towards Times Square.  He is meeting Matt at the Hard Rock and had plenty of time to get there.  He was glad that he decided to walk, cause now he won't have to run this afternoon after the interview.

 

The interview started out easy and pretty basic.  The men laughed and talked sports at first. The agreed upon subjects were; his new album material, the football team, the soul foundation and general subjects.  Jon knows that it won't go that easy.  He has a relationship with Matt, and he doesn't have any issue putting him in check when needed.  Jon does the interviews as a courtesy, he has no need to do them.

 

As soon as Matt said, "Tell us, Jon - where's Beth?  We see that Dorothea is home.  How are you juggling both?'  And Matt asks with a smile on his face.  That was it.  Jon was done.  Not only did Matt cross the agreed upon line, he pulled brought both women into one sentence.  Jon took offense to the question, because he has never juggled women, as Matt implied. 

 

Placing the cloth napkin on the table, Jon stands and tells Matt, "Thanks for lunch, Matt.  Maybe next time you won't ask questions that you know you shouldn't."  And he leaves.  That really pissed Jon off.  To minimize them as something that he juggles, Jon didn't like that.

 

He left the Hard Rock and wandered around the city, killing time.  Times Square is buzzing during the day, and the energy was high.  Jon liked that, he absorbed it.  He continued with the shop stops and the sidewalk vendor hellos, until he was recognized.  It was a small group of women, and they weren't loud or causing a scene, but they were definitely following him.  That made him uncomfortable, so he hailed a cab.  He told the cab driver to take him to Mercer St.  He would hang out there, until Stephanie and Jesse got out of school.  He was anxious, waiting for Beth's appointment to come and go, but he wondered, was her appointment east coast time, or west coast time.  He figured it was west coast time, she has been back home long enough to have adjusted.

 

Opening the door to the SoHo apartment, he heard Romeo crying, a cry that disturbed Jon.  As quick as he could, he found his baby, in the living room on the floor crying - with his mother sitting right there.  Jon bends over and picks him up, "What's the matter, little man?" Jon asks Romeo.  Romeo laid his head on his daddy's shoulder and continued to cry, a hard sobbing cry.  Looking down at Dorothea he asks, "Why is he crying like this?"

 

Exhausted, she looks up to him and admits, "No matter what I do, he cries.  I can't console him at all anymore.  What happened to him?  He was my baby."  And there is a tear in her eye. 

 

Jon sits next to her and honestly tells her, "You were gone for white a while Dot.  He just needs time."

 

"It's been two weeks Jon, it hasn't gotten any better.  If anything, it's worse.  Jakey treats me different too." she lowers her head, her heart hurts and she knows that she is to blame. 

 

"Just give it time, it will get better.  What set Romeo off?  He usually has a trigger for a cry like this, what happened?"

 

"I smacked his hand, he kept pulling leaves off the plant.  I told him no, out him in time out, tried to distract him and he continued to pull leaves off.  All I could think of to do was slap his hand.  He's been crying like this for almost 5 minutes."  She exhales hard.

 

Jon is bouncing Romeo, trying to calm him down and it's working.  He sits there and holds his son until he calms down.  Once he calms down, Jon turns him around and sits him on his leg.  Dorothea leans over to kiss him, and he pulls away.  Romeo didn't want anything from his mother.  It was becoming clear to her that her kids' hearts belonged to another woman, much like he husbands did.

 

It was time for Jon to pick the older ones up from school.  Once he had gathered all of Jake and Romeo's  things, he was at the door ready to leave with the little boys when Dot stops him.  "Hey, when can I have my kids back?"

 

He turns to look at her, to see if she was being serious.  "Get them back?  What do you mean?"

 

"When can they come home?"

 

"They are here everyday, do you mean, when can you have them by yourself?"

 

"Yes, that's what I mean Jon.  I need to rebuild my relationships with them.  I need to make amends."'

 

He was waiting for this, and it came much earlier than he thought.  "I'm not opposed to them spending a night or two, here.  But you can't be alone with them."  he shifts Romeo from his arm up to his shoulders and continues with, "I don't think you will hurt them or anything will happen to them, but you have to have someone here.  You know that's part of our probation, your deal."

 

"I know, Stephanie and Jesse will be here.  Does there need to be someone else?"  She has no idea what more he might want, but she wants her kids home and she'll do what ever she has to to get them back with her.  They are her children.

 

"I'd feel better if Mike or Lisa were here.  One of your nurses." he tells her, and he thinks that's going easy on her.  But she seems to be doing better to him, he's happy with where she is at and how far she has come since being released.  She handled the legal issues that she caused her self by threatening Beth's life, through no fault of Beth.  The State of New York decided that she needed to be held accountable for what she did, mostly because of WHO she was.  She was an example.  She was to stay 500 feet away from Beth, any of her residences and away from her job.  She is not allowed to contact Beth in anyway, whether it be by mail or telephone. 

 

"Okay, I can get one of them to stay.  I know Lisa is always looking for overtime.  Maybe I can get her to stay the weekend?  Can I have them this weekend?" Dot asks, with all kinds of excitement just dying to come out.  She can't remember the last time that she was able to bathe her babies, or tuck them in.  Her memories from before the suicide attempt were blurry.  Dorothea needs her children back in her life, after all, they are the one great thing that she did with her life.

 

Jon is hesitant, but he thinks it will be okay.  He can see that she really needs them in her life on a more consistent basis.  She needed to fill the mother role that she did so well.  "Okay, but I need Lisa to call me, if she agrees to do it.  I just need a confirmation from her that she will stay the whole weekend.  Without her, they go back to Jersey, with me."

 

She smiles, ear to ear, "Okay, I'll have her call you. Thanks Jon."  She kisses Jake goodbye, grabs Romeo's foot and says, "Bye Romy, I'll see you tomorrow."  Jon knelt down so she could kiss him goodbye, and she did.  When Jon stood back up, she threw her arms around him and said, "I mean it, thanks Jon."  Jon and the boys leave and go pick up the two older kids. 

 

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Beth took the day off today, to have some time to herself before she goes to her ultrasound.  She's feeling quite bad that she didn't let Jon know before today, giving him the chance to come if he wanted to.  She was being selfish and self protecting, knowing that seeing him would do more damage than good.  Her heart couldn't take it, neither could her mind.  She has herself convinced that she is doing the right thing.  In the last 3 weeks, the most stressful thing she had to deal with was the phone call from the NYC prosecutor that Dorothea plead to the charges and he gave her the conditions.  Beth was glad that the law stepped in and followed through with her prosecution, she shouldn't have gotten away with it.  Beth was relieved when he called her and gave he the news.  In Beth's mind, that was a very big period on her life with Jon Bon Jovi.  She had a couple of month's to figure out the best way to deal with them being parents. 

 

She misses Jon, but she really misses his children.  The four of them meant the world to her, and leaving them like she did was pretty shitty.  She sees that now.  But three weeks ago, Beth was in fight or flight mode and all she could think about was protecting her, her babies and her sanity.  The nonsense that had gone on with her and Jon was far to much for her to handle and when you throw a death threat on top of that - Beth was overloaded.  Leaving the east coast was the best and the easiest solution she could come up with.  She had to go.  Long goodbyes were not her thing and if she told Stephanie that she was leaving, Stephanie would have convinced her to stay.

 

Beth is on her deck, with her laptop surfing the web and killing time.  She was glad to be back in Malibu and back to work.  She was able to walk right back into her office and pick up practically where she left off, when she moved east.  He staff was the same, with the exception of Tammy.  Tammy was loving living in New York and when Beth offered to move her back, Tammy declined.  And Beth understood.  The world of high finance was far different in NYC than what it was in L.A. 't She didn't want to lose Tammy, but she knows it's the best thing for Tammy to do.  If Tammy wanted to go anywhere in finance, she needed to be in NYC.

 

She had killed enough time, it was time for her to head to the OB.  Traffic was good, so she was able to get into the city with ease.  Parking in the garage was easy too, Beth thought, "This is too easy, is God on my side suddenly?"

 

She was in the doctor's office maybe 5 minutes before the nurse called her back.  Beth met the nurse and they went back to the scale.  At 16 weeks, Beth has already gained 21 pounds and she's mortified by that.  The nurse laughs and tells her, "With twins, you gain the most in the beginning."  And she guides Beth to a room.  In the room, the nurse gets vital signs - which are all great.  She tells Beth, "Sit tight, the doctor will be in in just a minute."

 

"Thank you."

 

And the nurse leaves.  Beth sits at the end of the exam table, legs swinging, she's checking out the decor. It's geared towards children and some themes that mothers might pick, but none of it jumps out at Beth.  Knock, Knock  And the door opens.

 

"Hi there!"  her long time, friend says to her.

 

"Hello.  How are you?" Beth asks her doctor.

 

The doctor nods and says, "Great.  You look great.  How are you feeling?"

 

"I've been worse and I've been better.  I'm in a holding pattern now."  The doctor pulls out the foot rest on the exam table. Beth takes that cue and lies back.  Once she gets her shirt lifted and her pants pushed down, the doctor goop's up her belly with warmed lubricating gel. 

 

"Are you ready?"

 

Beth nods.

 

"Today, I'm taking measurement to make sure that they are growing like they should.  Do you want to know the sexes?  I should be able to see, depends on how they are sitting."

 

Beth hadn't even thought about that.  When she first learned that she was pregnant, she didn't think that she wanted to know, but now that she's here, and she can find out - she doesn't know what to do.  It would make everything easier, in planning a nursery and things - but she also wanted the surprise.

 

She feels the wand on her belly and immediately looks at the monitor.  There they are, her babies.  She can see the head, the legs, the arms - she can see her wee ones.  The tears don't burn when they are tears of joy.  She is amazed at what she is seeing, but says to the doctor, "Don't tell me the sexes.  Not yet.  Can I get these pictures that you're taking printed?"

 

"Of course."  The doctor rolls the ball, clicks on this, clicks on that.  Labels the head, the legs, the feet and she watches the heartbeats.  The Bongiovi babies look perfect.  One has the hiccups and the doctor points that out to Beth.  Beth can see when the baby has one, it jumps.  That makes Beth laugh.  "Are they quite active?"

 

"Oh yes, all night long."

 

The doctor smiles and says, "Good." Trying to distract Beth.  While Beth is distracted, the doctor labels the sexes on 2 pictures and prints them off for Beth.  She knows Beth will want to know before she leaves.  "Beth, they look great.  Whatever you're doing, keep doing it.  They are right where they need to be and everything looks great."  She hands Beth some tissue and she wipes her belly off.  Once she is wiped clean and her clothes are on right, she sits up.

 

"Thank you."  Beth is all smiles and she feels like she just won the lottery.  The babies are great. 

 

"I want to measure again in two weeks.  Just as a precaution.  A woman of your age can sometimes come into complications the further along you get.  Specially in multiples.  It's just a precaution, I don't anticipate any complications.  You and Jon made two healthy babies."  The doctor hands Beth the images that she printed.  As Beth goes to take them, she adds, "The sexes are in there."

 

"I was going to ask what they are.  I just want them to be healthy, doc."

 

She laughs and said, "That they are.  Now go call Jon and tell him what you're having." 

 

Beth nods, looking down at a stack of pictures, about 10 thick, as she walks out.  "Thanks, Jean.  I'll see you in a couple of weeks."  And Beth leaves.

 

She refrained from looking at the pictures until she got home.  Back home, she grabbed a bottle of juice, her laptop and the pictures and went back out on to the patio.  Once she had logged on, she looked at the pictures and then started to write Jon another email:

 

Jon,

Just home from the doctor's office. 

I have gained 21 pounds.

Jean says that we made 2 healthy babies.  Right where they are supposed to be.  Heartbeats are strong, and one of them had the hiccups.

More measurements in 2 weeks.

Congratulations, we're having girls.

We love you.

Beth and the girls :-)

 

SEND.