Chapter 94: Getting On With Our Lives

Today, we're gonna go out for lunch. John and his friends left this morning, and the reporters were still out there. I must admit, it was funny to see the reporters all move closer to their cars when they loaded up in the truck. David’s proud of me for not hiding in the house, though I would be content to do so. I mean, who wouldn’t want to be cooped up in this gorgeous house with that gorgeous man? But, I am determined to not change who I am and I will not cower from a few assholes.

I’m also not going to any special effort to cover my scrapes and cuts. I've pulled my hair back into a severe ponytail, and have even pinned back my bangs. My face and forehead are completely unhidden. I have done no makeup except my eyes and lipstick, so every single cut and bruise is glaring. I've put on my brand-new maternity togs and the effect is pathetic, I'll admit, but I DARE the evil bastards to say something.

I spent some time this morning printed off copies of the photos of me from the Boston papers from last week; the headline screaming "TRAIN WRECK SURVIVORS" like there were fatalities, the sensationalist assholes. Today, no words will be passed, just papers. Around noon time, we headed outside. When the front door opened, I preceded David out. I stopped and stood there, murder in my eyes, but I contained myself. David came up behind me and put his arm around my waist. I turned my head to him and smiled. He smiled back and lowered his head to kiss me gently on the cheek.

I got a sparkle in my eye and shook my head at him. His eyes and his smile widened, and he dipped me dramatically, and mashed his mouth to mine. We went at it hot and heavy for a few minutes, until even the most jaded of the fucknuts out there were unsure whether we were going to have sex right there in front of them. It was great.

When we came up for air and straightened, David righted my clothes, and smoothed back the couple of stray hairs that had escaped their bindings. I smiled, and used the pad of my thumb to wipe lipstick from his bottom lip.

We turned to the crowd and descended the steps to the yard, still not having said a word. They clamored for attention, like yipping puppies, and I took the sheaf of papers I had printed and hurled them into the air. They fluttered down all around us, and we shouldered our way through the crowd. When we were in the car, I let out a breath I didn’t know I was holding.

“Are you okay?” David asked.

“That was fun,” I answered. “I kinda liked having an audience while we made out.” I winked at his expression. I thought he was going to swallow his tongue.

We went out for cheap, greasy, Chinese buffet, and the LJs were in heaven. We lingered over hot tea and talked about the wedding and the babies. We stayed away from any talk of Sam and her high blood pressure, and Richie and what this could mean to the band. We just had an enjoyable afternoon to ourselves. It was wonderful.

That night, we hung out on the board. I was PMing Lucy about the ambush yesterday, and begged her not to tell Richie. Jon knew because I bitched at him yesterday, but I didn’t want Richie to know. He had to feel badly enough as it is without this on his head. Call me a softie, but I have a little corner of my heart that will always belong to Richie.

Sam came on to say that learned she needed to stay on bed rest. That was going to kill her. She is not an inactive person. She also had no idea about what happened to Richie or about my train accident. We were all being evasive on the board, but she’s a pretty smart lady, and sorted out that we were hiding something. In a panic, I called Jon.

“’Lo?” he said.

“Jon, it’s Hath.”

“Jeeves!” he said, a smile in his voice. “How’re you doing?”

“Fine thanks, Boss. Listen,” I had a smile in my voice too, him calling me Jeeves just made me smile. “You have to talk to Sam. She knows something is up, and is getting aggravated at us.”

“Jeeves, she doesn’t need to deal with this shit now,” he said, getting irritated.

“Boss, when she finds out on her own, and she will find out, she will be beyond pissed off. I know I’m butting in, but you’ve gotta tell her before she sees it on the news or reads it in the paper.”

“Shit,” he said, and sighed. “Alright. Thanks, Jeeves.”

“Anytime, Boss. Bye.”

That done, I felt WAY better getting back on the boards. Sam ducked off to talk to Jon, and came back angry that we were holding things back from her, but sort of understanding why we did it. She asked what else we were keeping from her. Shit. I was going over to her house this week. May as well tell her. I PMd her a picture of my injuries and let her know it was on the way. She was annoyed with me, but again, knew I just had her best interest at heart.

The next morning, the front yard was remarkably empty of reporters. They’ll probably come back after the blood test results come back. I for one was glad that they were gone. I hope to hell I never have to get used to that. David and I headed to his mom’s for lunch, and when she saw the car pull in, she came out to greet us. She clucked and fussed over my cuts and scrapes, and enveloped me in a big hug. “I saw you on the local news last night,” she said, shaking her head. “I don’t know how you kept your cool.” She looked at David, leaving something unsaid.

“What?” I asked her.

She smiled. “Nothing, dear, just that April would have handled it differently. Wrongly. You were wonderful.”

We went in and had a lovely lunch, and finalized our plans for shopping. I plugged in to my wireless headset, dialed up my Mom, took David’s camera phone, and we were off. We spent the whole time laughing. It was just the best day. We went to this kitschy store that had the coolest stuff. David lamented that if we just told Tico what we wanted, he’d gladly hook us up.

David’s mom cuffed him on the back of the head. “Where is the fun in that?” she said. My mother agreed, and at her bidding, I cuffed him, too.

“Ow! What the hell was that for?” he complained.

“That was from your other mother,” I said, laughing.

“Great, now there are three of you to beat on my ass.” I laughed into the phone, and David hurriedly leaned in to say, “Sorry about the language, Mom!”

David’s mother pouted. “What about me?” she said.

David rolled his eyes at his mother. “You love me more; you cut me more slack.”

We took pictures of everything and emailed them to my mom. Between the four of us, we picked out cute but sturdy, furniture two cradles, cribs, high chairs and a big comfy rocking chair with a high back, deep seat, and padded arms. It would be perfect for nursing. We made arrangements to have everything delivered, bid goodbye to the moms, and went to the local Home Depot to pick out paint.

We settled on light blue for the ceiling, and I decided I wanted puffy clouds painted on it. David, being a good sport, sat through a “sponging” class (afterwards, he said he thought the class should have been a completely different kind of sponging, ha ha). We decided on a pale gray for the walls, and brown accents, to match the furniture. We can dress it up with curtains and bedding later.

When we finally got home, I checked my messages. I had three of them, all from Jon:

“Jeeves, it’s Boss. Call me when you get this, ok? I need some advice, and I need it from you. Thanks. Bye”

“Jeeves, call me. It’s Jon. Where the hell are you, and why aren’t you answering your phone?”

“Hath, if you do not call me back, I will kill you.”

By the last message, I was in hysterics. He sounded so frantic, I knew it had to have something to do with Sam. I called him while I logged onto the board, but saw he was online so hung up. He was worried about Sam staying on bed rest while he was on the road. He knew she wouldn’t do it. I thought about it for a minute and asked him if he wanted to see if my mom would come. He was surprised, but we talked it through.

“Yeah,” I told him on the board. “My Mom. Boss, Mom just has my Dad to look after now, since my brother and I are living our own lives, and frankly, Dad's 65, and can take care of himself. Well, hang on, no, he's pretty helpless. Anyway, she can bring him along; he can stay with me while Mom takes care of Sam. They're retired, and spend their days sniping at each other and Mom'll be glad for the break. Besides, my Dad will love it here in Joker's -- erm our -- house.”

He said to see if she would really do it. I called her.

“Mom?”

“Hath, what’s wrong?”

“Nothing. I need to ask you a favor.”

FootballGoddess:
She's already packing up. She can be there just as soon as you want her. It'll take them an hour to get to Logan, if you want them to fly, or they can be there by 10 tonight if you want them to drive. I swear they don't mind.

The way she looks at it, you guys are my family, and you need help, and she's gonna help if you let her.

JerseyCowboy7800:
Tell ya what....

You still have my AmEx number right?

I know you do...you're....uh...let's call it...efficient...like that. Charge their flight to my card. Get them a car to your house, put that on the card too. Then I'll have someone pick her up later, before I leave. That way she can have some time at your place to check out the new digs, and the stuff you bought today. I'm not leaving until 8 tonight...so she's got plenty of time.

FootballGoddess:
Uh, sure! Yeah, I do. OK, I'm making the arrangements now.
Ummmm, 8:00 is only a few hours away...

They may not make it there until after you leave, but since you and J are travelling together, I'll just bring him by your place and hang out until the 'rents get there.

There's a flight from Logan to Newark they can get on at 6:30; they're on the way. They won't make it by 8, so if you can take a later flight, you can meet them.

JerseyCowboy7800: I
F I can take a later flight?

Please. I don't think the plane is gonna leave without me. I'll make some calls so I can leave later.

FootballGoddess:
Sorry, forgot who I was talking to for a moment, there.

JerseyCowboy7800:
Ok...things are worked out. Jeeves, if I don't leave til 10, is that enough time? I really want to meet your mom before I go. I need to meet her and see how she deals with Sam before I go. I've already had to guilt her into staying in bed today. She got up this morning to make coffee! Like I'm not capable of that.

FootballGoddess:
Kidd, it's not a matter of whether you're capable or not. It's Sam's independence. She's been doing for herself for some time now. By sending a Mom to care for her rather than a friend, she may be more apt to heed the given advice. When you talk to her, you'll see.

Leaving at 10 will be plenty of time. They'll be wheels down in NJ by 8, and I think the ride to your place isn't that far a drive. Ma will call me when she gets in, and J and I will meet them at your place. Then I can bring Dad home with me.

I sent Jon a PM, telling him that my mom would handle the reporters any way he wanted. He swore; he had forgotten all about them. He PMd me back, asking if I knew that she had offered to represent Richie. Yeah, I knew that, and asked wouldn’t that raise her stress levels?

JerseyCowboy7800:
Oh hell yeah, it'll raise her stress level. Besides, how is she supposed to defend him from bed?

I don't know if Rich agreed or not....she only told me she offered. I'd like to think he wouldn't let her because of her health...but hell, he's a big wuss! He wouldn't want to hurt her feelings either.

I gotta admit, when she told me, it shocked the hell outta me! I mean damn it all, a drunk driver almost took her away from me. I'm having a hell of a time combining that fact with my best friend driving drunk. I love Rich, and I'm concerned about him. But damn! How stupid can he be?

FootballGoddess:
Jon, it's been tough for me to keep my opinions to myself, but it's not my place to say anything, so this is the only time you're gonna hear me spout off on this.

Yeah, he did something stupid. I'm sure nobody understands that more than he does. He hasn't said anything to any of us, so I'm just guessing here, but he's the one who asked for the blood test, so he must have felt that he wasn't drunk, and is confident the test will prove that out. I pray that's the case, but that doesn't diminish the enormity of this thing he did. At the very least, Ava seeing her dad led away had to have been traumatic, and if nothing else, that's gotta be rattling around in Rich's head.

As for Sam and court, his court date isn't for a month. Her BP can be regulated by then, if she takes it easy now. That being said, "candy ass" is the phrase I like to use with Richie, but wuss works. He wouldn't want to hurt her feelings, but he doesn't want to hurt her at all. I think he'd worry more about her health than whether she's sulking or not, and gracefully decline.

I was kinda surprised too about the offer, too, for the same reason. But she's got a big heart and a generous spirit, and she loves Richie too. She wants to help.

That was a less than fabulous conversation, but I think Jon felt a little better having someone to vent at. Just one more service I offer. I had a fleeting thought of what the hell did he do before he met me? I’ll bet his brothers got more than an earful. They owe me big time.

Mom and Dad called us later from the air. Dad still thought that was the coolest thing.

“Hello?” he shouted.

“Dad,” I laughed. “You don’t have to shout, I hear you just fine. Where are you?”

“Somewhere over New York, I think. We should be landing soon.’”

David took the phone. “Dad, there’ll be a car waiting to bring you here. You can stow your gear, and we’ll go over to Jon and Sam’s.”

“Sounds good to me,” he said, and hung up. He is a man of few words, and David and I burst out laughing.

We got a room ready for Dad while we waited for them to arrive. The two of us worked together, putting sheets and blankets on the bed, fluffing pillows, and making sure the bathroom had towels. We put a pot coffee on, and settled in front of the TV to wait. One thing led to another, as it usually does with us lately, and David started kissing me. I climbed into his lap and started to kiss him back. A short while later, the doorbell rang. The front door opened a crack, and mom yelled “Yoo hoo!”

David laughed, tearing his mouth from mine and breathing heavily. “Thank God she has a warning call,” he said, then went to greet them properly. He opened the door all the way, and ushered them inside.

Dad looked around and whistled. “Not bad,” he said, smiling. “Not bad at all.”

“Thanks,” David said, laughing. “C’mon, let me show you to your suite.”

Dad rolled his eyes at David behind his back, and followed him up the stairs. Mom and I stayed behind and toured the downstairs. David and Dad came down a little while later. We loaded up Mom’s stuff and David’s in the Nav, and set off for the Bongiovis’.