Beth can't help but feel what she's feeling. She is amazed that she was able to plan and execute their whole ceremony and Jon never picked up on it. She looks up at him, while they are still dancing and asks him, "How did I do?"
He looks down at her, resting his lips on her forehead and says, "You did an amazing job. I couldn't imagine it any other way." Their dance was almost over. All eyes were on the two of them and they could see flashes go off from time to time. Neither one cared who was taking pictures, it was just the two of them at this moment and neither of them wanted it to end.
The night on the Navesink River was better than anyone could have hoped for. It was warm, but not hot. There was a gentle breeze coming in off the ocean and the sky was clear. The music ended yet they continued to dance. Under her breath, Beth asked "Should we go and join our guests."
He tightened his hold on her and said, "I guess so, I want to check on the kids." And they stop moving. Beth takes a step back and smiles at what she sees. She sees a man that is truly happy from the inside out, and it shows. His smile and his laughter are infectious to her, as soon as she sees those pearly whites and the creases in his eyes get tight, she knows that he is happy. With his hand in the middle of her back, he leads her to their table. Pulling out her chair, Jon says "Have a seat, Mrs. Bongiovi."
She leans over, kisses his lips and takes her seat. They sit down and find out how the children are doing. The kids are seated at the table, with the rest of the wedding party. They are having a great time. They are sitting with their uncles, their grandparents and the members of the band. Jon looks left and then he looks right, and he loves the way he feels. Everyone that was ever anyone to him is sitting at his table, with him in his new life.
Beth, while taking a sip of her champagne is lightly tapped on the shoulder. Startled, she turns around to see that it's Richie, asking her to dance. With a look of surprise on her face, she looks to Jon for the answer. He gives her a nod and a wink and tells Richie, "Keep your hands where I can see them." and he laughs. Beth downs the rest of her glass and gets up to dance with Richie.
On the dance floor, in a personal but not intimate dance position they dance to a song that Beth isn't familiar with. She was a little apprehensive about dancing with Richie, but if Jon was okay with it, she's okay with it. Richie is a big part of their new life, so Beth decides that the past is the past and she can forgive and forget. She loves Richie, like she does the rest of the band and there were times when she was jealous of the relationship that he and Jon had. But as she grew to know Jon, they had their own little 'thing'. When Beth committed herself to Jon, she committed herself to his family and his band family. She went from being without family to the new girl in a huge family. She liked that, she was alone for so long - she was looking forward to getting to know everyone even better.
"You look beautiful." Richie tells her.
She grins at him and says, "I know, but thank you."
"I would say you look like you're glowing, but that doesn't even come close to compare to what I see on your face. You are breathtakingly happy, Beth."
"I am happy Richie. He means the world to me, and so do the kids. I can't imagine life without them."
Richie, quite frankly tells her, "He feels the same way about you. You should hear him talk about you. You are his everything." That makes Beth smile, but she can hear a little bit of something in Richie's voice. She wasn't sure if it was jealousy or bitterness. Could he be unhappy that Jon is happy?
"Are you okay, Richie?" she asks, with genuine concern. She heard something, and that made her curious.
He gives her a look and exhales like he was exhausted, "I hope I find my everything, soon. I'm sick of being lonely. To quote Jon, I won't be alone, but it doesn't mean that I'm not lonely." he feels a little embarrassed telling her that, but he's always been able to open up and talk to Beth.
"She's out there, Rich. You never know where she might pop up." she believes what she's telling him, "Look at me and Jon. I went to a show, and I didn't even like Bon Jovi." that makes her laugh. The irony.
Just then, Richie was tapped out and it looked like it was Matt's turn. "Man, what are you doing?" Richie kind of snaps at Matt.
"My mom says Beth needs to eat. I guess she hasn't eaten all day. Mom wants her to sit down and eat." Matt has the expression on his face that would go along with don't shoot the messenger.
Beth and Richie walk off the dance floor, just a few feet behind Matt. Richie, who can sometimes forget to turn his filter on, elbows Beth and says, "Who died and made her your mom?"
Beth snaps a look at him and he immediately knows that he shouldn't have said that. But, Richie is Richie. Beth sits back in her seat and glances over her guests. She is pleased to see that everyone is eating and drinking and having fun. The lawn was lit with soft white lights and tiki torches, the tents were lit with the same white lights and candles on the tables. The ambiance is beautiful and Beth is pleased that everyone is having a good time.
"Beth."
She turns her head to look at Jon's mom. "Yeah?" She replies, looking around Jon at his mother.
"Have you eaten, dear?"
Beth just shakes her head no.
"Ma, stop." Jon looks at his mom and reminds her of her place. "She's a big girl."
"Don't talk to your mother like that." Beth scolds him and slaps his leg.
"Dear, you need to eat. I can see you're shaking." Mrs. B tells the young woman that she has just joined her family. She can see that Beth is shaking from low blood sugar, and the addition of alcohol is never a good thing. "Eat a little something and then you guys can open your presents."
"I'm good Ma, I'm really not hungry."
"You need to eat. Who knows when you'll get the chance again. When you guys leave here, when will you be able to eat. How about some cheese?" She asks as she hands Beth a crystal plate that had a few assortments of cheese on it.
"Thank you." Beth takes the plate and grabs a chunk of white cheddar. Her favorite. Nibbling on the chunk, many of the guests were filtering out and stopping to say goodbye, since Mrs. B gave an end time for the festivities. Beth argued with her when they made the decision, but Mrs. B had a very valid point. She told Beth that they needed an end time so that she and Jon could leave early enough for their shortened honeymoon.
The last of the guests to leave, weren't guests at all. Jon's family stayed late and so did David, Richie and Tico. All of them were sitting around one table having drinks and just talking. The kids went in the house with Pete, except for Stephanie. Stephanie hung out with the adults sharing a chair with Beth.
"It was a beautiful ceremony." Tico pipes up and says, "Beth you looked radiant and you both look extremely happy and at peace. I wish you nothing but the best, you both deserve it."
"Thanks, T. We both are very happy." Jon responds, knowing that Tico means every word he says. "And I am thankful that all of you were here to share it with us."
"A TOAST!" boasts the Sambora. Everyone grabs their glass and raises it. Richie stands up, "To my best friend and his best friend, here's to the next 100 years and may you both make each other as happy as you do right now. You two deserve nothing but the best and I have no doubt that you will get it." He sips his champagne and continues, "It' not been easy for either of you to this point, but it looks like the two of you have a grasp on it and are destined for greatness. Thank you for allowing me" using his hands to gesture, "Thank you for allowing US to be part of it. We love you guys."
"Cheers!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Stephanie was sitting on her uncle Tony's lap when she remembers, "PRESENTS! Dad and Beth, you have to open presents." She says with the excitement of a young child on Christmas morning. Jumping up she runs to the gift table and grabs Jon's gift that they got for Beth. Beth gave Stephanie and the boys $500.00 and instructed Pete that when she takes them to get the gift, they need to keep it a secret and under $500.00. It was a good thing that Beth gave them almost 3 week to decide what to get her and then get it. Stephanie was so impressed with herself over the gift idea, she could hardly contain herself. She hands it to her dad.
Taking the gift from his beautiful daughter, he grabs her around the waist and says, "Whoa, where are you going?" Sitting her on his lap, he hands the gift to Beth. Stephanie sits there with high anticipation, smiling at her dad and Beth.
Beth takes the gift and winks at Stephanie, "What is it?"
"Open it, open it." She squeaks at Beth.
Jon laughs, "This must be good." He looks at Beth and asks, "I have no idea what it is, do you?"
Beth smiles at Jon and Stephanie and admits, "I have no idea. Let's open it and see." Beth sets her glass on the table and places the gift on her lap. Beth can tell by the amount of tape that Jacob and Romeo helped. She peels the tape back, slowly to take the gift bag off of the box. The table, still surrounded by family is pretty quite and intent on what Beth is going to open.
David says, "You're unwrapping it like it might go boom. What is this all about?" he doesn't know how this whole day came about.
"Beth planned this whole night without me knowing. She claims to have thought of everything and has planned every thing. So far, she hasn't missed a thing." Jon tells his friend. "This is the gift that I got her, although I have no idea what it is."
Puzzled, David says, "Okay? Who got the gift?"
"Beth had the kids get my gift to her, and from the look on Steph's face, it's pretty good."
"Beth planned the whole thing and you didn't know?" Dave asks.
"He didn't know a dang thing, she did it all right under his nose." Mrs. B tells David. "And what's even funnier is, he paid for it all and didn't know."
Everyone laughed at that, Jon has always kept a close eye on his money, but since he has been with Beth - he didn't give money a second thought, really. She was the one that overseen his finances and invested when necessary, she mapped out their retirement and every penny is nicely accounted for. They both could never work again and they would live a very luxurious lifestyle. Money wasn't an issue regarding her gift, she just didn't want anything that she wouldn't use or something that she couldn't use, due to the value.
"You did a great job Beth. The whole thing was beautiful and flawless. You didn't miss a thing." Tico tells her.
"She even had the rings." Jon added, explaining even further that she thought of everything. "She picked my clothes, the kids clothes, all the decorations, the menu, the guest list - she literally thought of everything." Jon can't help but smile.
Beth has the bag off the gift and is opening the box. Stephanie is bouncing like she's about to explode. When Beth sets the top of the box on the table, the group went quiet and watched her peel back the tissue paper that encased the gift.
Beth pushes the paper back and looks at the photograph, beautifully placed in a frame. Her mouth falls open slightly and she gasps for air. "Oh my God." Stephanie was quickly rethinking the gift, but it was too late. Beth seen it.
"What is it?" Jon leans over and looks into the box that's on Beth's lap. "Stephanie Rose."
Everyone at the table looked at one another, not knowing what to do. Mr. B had to ask, "What is it?"
Beth looks at him with her hand over her mouth and he can see a tear rolling down her face.
"Beth are you mad?" Stephanie asks her, with the purest of heart. She looks at her dad, "Dad, I didn't mean to make her mad."
Beth, swallowing hard, looks to the kindest child on the planet and says, "Stephanie, honey I am not mad. I am speechless.....It's absolutely beautiful. Thank you."
Carefully, Beth reaches in and removes the frame from the box and holds it up for everyone around the table to see.
"Steph, where did you get this?" Jon asks his daughter, hugging her tighter than he has in a very long time. "It's beautiful, who took it?"
Beth holds up a picture of Jon, Beth and the twins. It was from the night that they brought the twins home to New Jersey. Jon and Beth are sitting in the formal living room on the couch next to one another. Jon has Rowan and Beth is holding Spencer. The photographer caught Jon and Beth looking at one another, with smiles on their face. Each was cradling a baby and the four looked happy. To see the picture and not know the story, one would think that the babies were alive and it was a picture taken during a session to get a family photo. It was a natural and unscripted shot.
"Jonny, I took the picture." Tony jumps in and confesses. "I couldn't help myself."
Beth looks at Tony, with tears rolling down her face and says, "It's probably the prettiest picture I have ever seen."
"I showed it to mom and she told me to blow it up and print it for you. Then I heard about the gift that the kids needed and hoped it was the right idea."
Jon, pleased by his little brothers decision, slides Stephanie to the side, gets up and hugs his little brother. Jon and Tony weren't what anyone would call close, but this moment wasn't one that even a lifelong closeness could create. Tony touched his brother in a way that made Jon stop and take notice. "It's perfect Tony."
Beth, with the tears still flowing as she looks at Tony and says, "Thank you. I couldn't have asked or hoped for a better gift." She smiles at him.
"Hey, that's from me." Jon jumps in, trying to lighten the mood. Beth stands up and hands the picture to Mrs. B and they pass it around the table. While everyone took a moment to look at the picture, Jon seen this as the opportunity to give Beth her gift. Beth had walked over and gave Tony a hug and thanked him again for such a great gift. Walking back to her chair, Jon stops her and embraces her and kisses her nose. "Are you ready for my gift?"
"Yes." she responds.
Jon smiles and winks at her, "Can you sit down?"
"Sure." And she takes her seat. All eyes are on the couple and no one knows what he has planned, but when he went to his knee - Mrs. B let out a little squeal , not seeing this coming.
Beth reaches up and cups his face in her hand, and she can feel her eyes tearing up again. "Beth Ann, will you put up with me for the rest of my life?" Was all he asked and she was more than happy with that. He presented her with a ring, "Will you be my wife? My best friend, my partner and my lover - until the day I day?"
She sees the ring that he has promised her for months and giggles a little. "You're finally giving me a ring?"
"Will you marry me?"
The table went quite again and she nodded her head, while saying, "Yes, I will."
He grabs her and kisses her like the kiss would save his life. Everyone at the table and hooted and hollered. Stephanie was just as happy as Beth at this moment. The celebration was cut a little short when Mrs. B brought them back to reality. She knows the schedule and knows that Beth and Jon need to get going. The helicopter will be waiting for them in about two hours.
Jon and Beth hugged everyone as they were leaving. Mrs. B was going to stay with the kids until morning when Pete would take them to Dot.
Jon and Beth leave their family and friends to go get on the chopper, taking them to parts unknown to Jon, stopping in Red Bank for a drink because they had a few minutes to kill.
Papa-nazi right outside. But they did capture the happiness on Jon's face
Beth and Richie walk off the dance floor, just a few feet behind Matt. Richie, who can sometimes forget to turn his filter on, elbows Beth and says, "Who died and made her your mom?"
Beth snaps a look at him and he immediately knows that he shouldn't have said that. But, Richie is Richie. Beth sits back in her seat and glances over her guests. She is pleased to see that everyone is eating and drinking and having fun. The lawn was lit with soft white lights and tiki torches, the tents were lit with the same white lights and candles on the tables. The ambiance is beautiful and Beth is pleased that everyone is having a good time.
"Beth."
She turns her head to look at Jon's mom. "Yeah?" She replies, looking around Jon at his mother.
"Have you eaten, dear?"
Beth just shakes her head no.
"Ma, stop." Jon looks at his mom and reminds her of her place. "She's a big girl."
"Don't talk to your mother like that." Beth scolds him and slaps his leg.
"Dear, you need to eat. I can see you're shaking." Mrs. B tells the young woman that she has just joined her family. She can see that Beth is shaking from low blood sugar, and the addition of alcohol is never a good thing. "Eat a little something and then you guys can open your presents."
"I'm good Ma, I'm really not hungry."
"You need to eat. Who knows when you'll get the chance again. When you guys leave here, when will you be able to eat. How about some cheese?" She asks as she hands Beth a crystal plate that had a few assortments of cheese on it.
"Thank you." Beth takes the plate and grabs a chunk of white cheddar. Her favorite. Nibbling on the chunk, many of the guests were filtering out and stopping to say goodbye, since Mrs. B gave an end time for the festivities. Beth argued with her when they made the decision, but Mrs. B had a very valid point. She told Beth that they needed an end time so that she and Jon could leave early enough for their shortened honeymoon.
The last of the guests to leave, weren't guests at all. Jon's family stayed late and so did David, Richie and Tico. All of them were sitting around one table having drinks and just talking. The kids went in the house with Pete, except for Stephanie. Stephanie hung out with the adults sharing a chair with Beth.
"It was a beautiful ceremony." Tico pipes up and says, "Beth you looked radiant and you both look extremely happy and at peace. I wish you nothing but the best, you both deserve it."
"Thanks, T. We both are very happy." Jon responds, knowing that Tico means every word he says. "And I am thankful that all of you were here to share it with us."
"A TOAST!" boasts the Sambora. Everyone grabs their glass and raises it. Richie stands up, "To my best friend and his best friend, here's to the next 100 years and may you both make each other as happy as you do right now. You two deserve nothing but the best and I have no doubt that you will get it." He sips his champagne and continues, "It' not been easy for either of you to this point, but it looks like the two of you have a grasp on it and are destined for greatness. Thank you for allowing me" using his hands to gesture, "Thank you for allowing US to be part of it. We love you guys."
"Cheers!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Stephanie was sitting on her uncle Tony's lap when she remembers, "PRESENTS! Dad and Beth, you have to open presents." She says with the excitement of a young child on Christmas morning. Jumping up she runs to the gift table and grabs Jon's gift that they got for Beth. Beth gave Stephanie and the boys $500.00 and instructed Pete that when she takes them to get the gift, they need to keep it a secret and under $500.00. It was a good thing that Beth gave them almost 3 week to decide what to get her and then get it. Stephanie was so impressed with herself over the gift idea, she could hardly contain herself. She hands it to her dad.
Taking the gift from his beautiful daughter, he grabs her around the waist and says, "Whoa, where are you going?" Sitting her on his lap, he hands the gift to Beth. Stephanie sits there with high anticipation, smiling at her dad and Beth.
Beth takes the gift and winks at Stephanie, "What is it?"
"Open it, open it." She squeaks at Beth.
Jon laughs, "This must be good." He looks at Beth and asks, "I have no idea what it is, do you?"
Beth smiles at Jon and Stephanie and admits, "I have no idea. Let's open it and see." Beth sets her glass on the table and places the gift on her lap. Beth can tell by the amount of tape that Jacob and Romeo helped. She peels the tape back, slowly to take the gift bag off of the box. The table, still surrounded by family is pretty quite and intent on what Beth is going to open.
David says, "You're unwrapping it like it might go boom. What is this all about?" he doesn't know how this whole day came about.
"Beth planned this whole night without me knowing. She claims to have thought of everything and has planned every thing. So far, she hasn't missed a thing." Jon tells his friend. "This is the gift that I got her, although I have no idea what it is."
Puzzled, David says, "Okay? Who got the gift?"
"Beth had the kids get my gift to her, and from the look on Steph's face, it's pretty good."
"Beth planned the whole thing and you didn't know?" Dave asks.
"He didn't know a dang thing, she did it all right under his nose." Mrs. B tells David. "And what's even funnier is, he paid for it all and didn't know."
Everyone laughed at that, Jon has always kept a close eye on his money, but since he has been with Beth - he didn't give money a second thought, really. She was the one that overseen his finances and invested when necessary, she mapped out their retirement and every penny is nicely accounted for. They both could never work again and they would live a very luxurious lifestyle. Money wasn't an issue regarding her gift, she just didn't want anything that she wouldn't use or something that she couldn't use, due to the value.
"You did a great job Beth. The whole thing was beautiful and flawless. You didn't miss a thing." Tico tells her.
"She even had the rings." Jon added, explaining even further that she thought of everything. "She picked my clothes, the kids clothes, all the decorations, the menu, the guest list - she literally thought of everything." Jon can't help but smile.
Beth has the bag off the gift and is opening the box. Stephanie is bouncing like she's about to explode. When Beth sets the top of the box on the table, the group went quiet and watched her peel back the tissue paper that encased the gift.
Beth pushes the paper back and looks at the photograph, beautifully placed in a frame. Her mouth falls open slightly and she gasps for air. "Oh my God." Stephanie was quickly rethinking the gift, but it was too late. Beth seen it.
"What is it?" Jon leans over and looks into the box that's on Beth's lap. "Stephanie Rose."
Everyone at the table looked at one another, not knowing what to do. Mr. B had to ask, "What is it?"
Beth looks at him with her hand over her mouth and he can see a tear rolling down her face.
"Beth are you mad?" Stephanie asks her, with the purest of heart. She looks at her dad, "Dad, I didn't mean to make her mad."
Beth, swallowing hard, looks to the kindest child on the planet and says, "Stephanie, honey I am not mad. I am speechless.....It's absolutely beautiful. Thank you."
Carefully, Beth reaches in and removes the frame from the box and holds it up for everyone around the table to see.
"Steph, where did you get this?" Jon asks his daughter, hugging her tighter than he has in a very long time. "It's beautiful, who took it?"
Beth holds up a picture of Jon, Beth and the twins. It was from the night that they brought the twins home to New Jersey. Jon and Beth are sitting in the formal living room on the couch next to one another. Jon has Rowan and Beth is holding Spencer. The photographer caught Jon and Beth looking at one another, with smiles on their face. Each was cradling a baby and the four looked happy. To see the picture and not know the story, one would think that the babies were alive and it was a picture taken during a session to get a family photo. It was a natural and unscripted shot.
"Jonny, I took the picture." Tony jumps in and confesses. "I couldn't help myself."
Beth looks at Tony, with tears rolling down her face and says, "It's probably the prettiest picture I have ever seen."
"I showed it to mom and she told me to blow it up and print it for you. Then I heard about the gift that the kids needed and hoped it was the right idea."
Jon, pleased by his little brothers decision, slides Stephanie to the side, gets up and hugs his little brother. Jon and Tony weren't what anyone would call close, but this moment wasn't one that even a lifelong closeness could create. Tony touched his brother in a way that made Jon stop and take notice. "It's perfect Tony."
Beth, with the tears still flowing as she looks at Tony and says, "Thank you. I couldn't have asked or hoped for a better gift." She smiles at him.
"Hey, that's from me." Jon jumps in, trying to lighten the mood. Beth stands up and hands the picture to Mrs. B and they pass it around the table. While everyone took a moment to look at the picture, Jon seen this as the opportunity to give Beth her gift. Beth had walked over and gave Tony a hug and thanked him again for such a great gift. Walking back to her chair, Jon stops her and embraces her and kisses her nose. "Are you ready for my gift?"
"Yes." she responds.
Jon smiles and winks at her, "Can you sit down?"
"Sure." And she takes her seat. All eyes are on the couple and no one knows what he has planned, but when he went to his knee - Mrs. B let out a little squeal , not seeing this coming.
Beth reaches up and cups his face in her hand, and she can feel her eyes tearing up again. "Beth Ann, will you put up with me for the rest of my life?" Was all he asked and she was more than happy with that. He presented her with a ring, "Will you be my wife? My best friend, my partner and my lover - until the day I day?"
She sees the ring that he has promised her for months and giggles a little. "You're finally giving me a ring?"
"Will you marry me?"
The table went quite again and she nodded her head, while saying, "Yes, I will."
He grabs her and kisses her like the kiss would save his life. Everyone at the table and hooted and hollered. Stephanie was just as happy as Beth at this moment. The celebration was cut a little short when Mrs. B brought them back to reality. She knows the schedule and knows that Beth and Jon need to get going. The helicopter will be waiting for them in about two hours.
Jon and Beth hugged everyone as they were leaving. Mrs. B was going to stay with the kids until morning when Pete would take them to Dot.
Jon and Beth leave their family and friends to go get on the chopper, taking them to parts unknown to Jon, stopping in Red Bank for a drink because they had a few minutes to kill.
Papa-nazi right outside. But they did capture the happiness on Jon's face
The picture of the Jon and Beth with the twins was a beautiful idea. My heart stopped when Jon got down on one knee and finally proposed to Beth with a ring. Very touching moment.
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