Water Ch. 209 - There's Something So Familiar

 

 

Pete, the loyal employee and dependable family friend brought the kids home from school.  It's Dot's weekend, but with Jon leaving in a few days they were staying with him until he hit the road.  The tour starts in New Jersey and ends in New Jersey, only a dozen dates scheduled on the east coast for the first leg of the tour so he wanted them as much as he could have them.  Dorothea understood and really didn't have a leg to stand on, if she wanted to fight it.

 

All four stomped in the house, one by one and were greeted by Jon and Beth.  The  only one that looked really happy to be home was Romeo, and that's only because he doesn't like going to day school.  He would rather stay home with his dad and Beth.  Once all the kids were in and settled, Beth and Stephanie got ready to go to the grocery store.  Beth kissed Jon, "We're off.  You got this?"

 

"Ya, I got this.  Me and my boys, we're good." smacking her on the ass.  She jumps and laughs and he tells her, "Hurry back, we're starving.  What's for diner anyway?"

 

Beth looked to Stephanie.  "What sounds good Steph?"

 

Stephanie hates to be put on the spot, she feels a little embarrassed.  Looking at the floor she says, "Oh, I don't know, how about wet burritos?"

 

"We can do that.  I have a great recipe for those." Beth tells her, suddenly hungry for Mexican food.  "Burritos sound yummy, lets go."  Beth kisses Jon on the cheek and they leave - heading to Whole Foods.

 

Pulling out of the driveway, Beth pauses, waiting for the car full of female fans to pull out of the driveway that has the call box in it.  Once they back out and go on their way, Beth follows them up to Route 35.  At the light, Beth takes a right and the car full of fans, watching every move they make, go straight.  Stephanie says, "Look at the way they watch you.  Doesn't that bother you?"

 

"I think I'm used to it.  Does it bother you?  They follow you too."

 

"Dad keeps a close eye on that.  It's rare that they catch us alone, we blend when we aren't with dad or mom."

 

"Blend?  What do you mean?" Beth asks her, not sure what she means.

 

Stephanie lets out a little giggle, "Look at me, I look like every other American kid.  If I walked into the store alone, no one would pay attention.  But when you add my dad, my mom or even you - I'll be noticed.  Without our celebrity parents, we blend."

 

"I can understand that, do you not want to go shopping?  I thought we could have a little girl time before your dad leaves."

 

"No, I want to go."

 

"Okay.  You trust me to protect you, right?" Beth had to ask her.

 

"Yes."

 

"Good because I would never let anything happen to you, ever."

 

"I know Beth." Stephanie reassures her, seeing that she might have tweaked Beth a little bit.

 

"So, how ya doing?  How's school?  Do you have a boyfriend?"

 

"BETH!" she shrieks.  "I don't have a boyfriend."

 

"Ok, ok"  Beth is laughing, "You can tell me, I won't tell your dad."

 

Stephanie slaps Beth on the arm that's resting on the console.  "No boyfriend.  School is good and I'm doing alright, I guess."  Stephanie looks at her shoes.  Beth sees the look on her face go from one of happiness to one of sadness.

 

"Hey, what's going on Steph?" They are stopped at a red light.  "Come on, talk to me."

 

Stephanie looks at Beth and she has tears in her eyes.  Beth turns on a red and pulls into a parking spot. "Hon, what's the matter?"

 

Tears rolling down her face, she tries to be a delicate as she can about the subject but she needs some help, and maybe Beth is the only one that can help her.  She takes a deep breath and asks Beth, "How do you do it?"

 

"How do I do what Steph?"

 

"Go on with life like Rowan and Spencer were never here?"  Beth's heart fell so hard, it hit the asphalt that they were parked on.  Stephanie literally took her breath away.

 

"Like they were never here?  Stephanie, I cry everyday for them and still wonder if it was something that I did or didn't do?  My heart aches all day, everyday.  What makes you think that?"  Beth reaches over and takes her hand.

 

"It's just that you and dad have moved on and it's like they were never here.  We never talk about them.  No one talks about them."  Beth can see that she's pretty torn up about it, the teenage girl that is sitting before her has the heart that her father has and it often breaks if it's not handled just right. 

 

"We can talk about them anytime you want Stephanie."

 

"Can we go see them?"

 

"Yes.  Right now?" Beth will drive her directly to the cemetery if she wants to go.

 

"After dinner?  I want my dad to go too." She confesses to Beth.

 

Beth, squeezing her hand tells her, "Your dad and I have had to move on.  When you suffer through something like that, you have to decide.  Do we want to sit and be sad about it all the time or do we do what they would want us to do?"

 

"I know, it's just....I don't know." Stephanie shakes her head.

 

"What Stephanie?  Nothing is off limits."

 

Stephanie looks at Beth, right in the eye and shares with her, "My mom said there isn't any way you could love them, you never heard them cry.  She says they weren't real babies."  Again, Beth is caught totally off guard, but she has her big girl pants on and she will handle this like a lady.

 

"I'm sorry that your mom thinks that way, but Spencer and Rowan were very real.  To me, you, your dad and many other people.  Many of them that love you.  For your mom to say something like that was totally uncalled for, and it's not your fault."

 

"How can you love them if you've never heard them?" Stephanie really wonders. 

 

"I felt them move inside me, they were very much alive and very real, Stephanie.  They were two little people that just wanted a shot at the world and God had another plan."  Now Beth's eyes are watering.

 

"Do you miss them?"

 

"Yes."

 

"Does my dad?"

 

"Yes."

 

"I do too and I didn't even know them."

 

"That's okay.  You can miss them because you lost them.  Why did you sleep with them that night?"  Beth has wanted to know, but she thought that Stephanie would just come to her one day and tell her.  Since she hasn't, Beth seizes the opportunity.

 

"I'm their big sister, I had to protect them while they slept.  Those were my baby sisters........."and the sobbing starts.  Beth had no idea that she was this affected by the whole tragic event, and when you add the wizdumb of Dorothea to any equation, you get a bigger mess with a lot tougher answer.

 

Beth leans over and hugs Stephanie, telling her "They are your baby sisters."  Beth lets her cry it out long enough to where Stephanie is bored.  She kept asking questions and Beth would answer her as honest as she could.  The questions were pretty much to fill her uneducated questions and Beth was glad to help her put her mind at ease.  Beth also told her that if she wanted or needed to talk, she can come to Beth - anytime.

 

The ladies cleaned up their makeup a bit and did the grocery shopping at Whole Foods.  When they got back, they started dinner while Jesse and Jake take care of the groceries.

 

The family sat down to a Mexican feast, prepared mostly by Stephanie with the help of Beth.  The Adams-Bongiovi family had their first meal together as a committed family in the formal dining room.  There was a lot of talk, a lot of laughter and the best thing was - they were all together.