Richie sat there staring at the floor not knowing really what to say. He wanted to save his friendship with Jon but he didn’t want to lie to him either.
“Rich?” Jon said wanting to know his answer.
Looking up at him he just went for it. “At the time Yes I did love her Jon. When I Kissed her that just sealed it for me, but I did think that you were one lucky Bastard. Plus with my bad luck you just had to walk in at the same time when I did kiss her. You didn’t even give me or Ellie time to explain what was going on. You know you really hurt her that day not believing her that we weren't having an affair you know.” he told Jon about that day.
Looking at Richie a little ashamed of himself. “Yeah I know. I really went off the rails on that. Why didn’t you hit me back? You had every right.” Jon asked him wanting to know.
“Well I felt I deserved it; besides I could mop the floor with you. Plus Ellie was standing right there and she was upset enough. She didn’t need to see us fighting. She was trying to get you off me and all you did was scream at her about being a hypocrite. The look on her face, I’ll never forget it Jon. The hurt. She loves you more than anything. You’ll have to ask her how she feels about me. If you ask me I think she feels that I’m a family friend that she loves dearly and has supported her husband. But no she doesn’t love me like she ever loves you. Like I said you are one lucky Bastard Jon.” Richie told him and hoped that he understood.
Jon listened intently and really didn’t know what to say. He knew he was a jackass to him throughout the years. “Look Richie I get I can be a jealous jackass but you still shouldn’t have kissed her. You were the one that I told everything about what happened between us. What we went thru to be together and it’s like you stabbed me in the back.” he explained to him and trying not to get upset.
Richie really needed to try and get across to him how he felt about Ellie and that he didn’t mean to hurt Jon in the process. “Jon I didn’t want to break up your marriage. I just needed to know if she felt anything at all back for me. I know it sounds stupid but I just had to know. I just wish I could have had what you two do in my marriage. Thought I did until Heather started to get jealous and then went nuts on me.” he said feeling bad and not just for himself but for his daughter.
“How is she doing anyway?” Jon asked him curious.
“Well about the same as she has been over the years. She doesn’t stay on her meds very long. Says they don’t work. Well she doesn’t let them work. Once they start to help she thinks she’s fine and she goes for a while and then she thinks ‘Well why should I stay on these I’m fine now’ and she goes off of them. But she doesn’t tell anyone. Then everything starts again and that’s when the fun starts and Ava calls me crying because usually I’m the only one that can control her lately.” Richie explained to him exasperated.
“You guys can’t commit her or anything?” Jon asked him.
“No because Ava won’t do it. Heather needs to do something really out of the norm for Ava to even consider it. If it was like the time she had attacked that ex-boyfriend of hers and the EMT’s and the cops yeah we could but Ava didn't have control yet. I’m just the ex-husband so I don’t have any rights except for Ava‘s.” he went on to explain.
“Hey Man I‘m really sorry.” Jon told him heartfelt.
“Well it is what it is. But I'm trying to stay away from the whack-a-doodles that I usually pick.” Richie smiled.
“Well that’s good now I don’t have to listen to Ellie bitch that the whore you're with isn’t right for you.” Jon shook his head while smiling.
“She is protective isn’t she.” Richie chuckled.
“You should have seen her with the kids. It killed her to keep her mouth shut. But she knew she had to do it unless she really saw them going down the wrong path. But they did ok." Jon smiled knowing that they did.
“Yeah Ava did alright herself. But I think we probably intimated the hell out of anyone that came to date our kids you know. I don’t think meeting Jon Bon Jovi or Richie Sambora is a walk in the park.” Richie was still laughing.
“God I remember when I walked back into Ellie’s life and not only was I still a little angry that they took her from me, there was this little being standing there looking up at me and I’m trying to wrap my head around the whole situation. Who’s kid is that? Is it Ellie’s? If so is it mine or someone else’s? I really thought I was going to pass out. Finally she told me that he was mine. I had missed so much but thank God I gained so much more.” Jon stated as he remembered that momentous moment in his life.
Just then Ellie walked into the room to check on the two of them. “Well I see that both of you are in one piece which is good. So did you both really talk this out or go around the subject?” she asked both of them not sure of what they said to one another.
Jon got up and walked over to her and wrapped his arms around her. “I promise El that we talked things out and I’m feeling much better and I have a better understanding why Richie kissed you. What I don’t get is why you couldn’t tell me at the time you did it.” Jon told both of them.
Laughing Richie told him, “Because you were yelling so much you didn’t give me a chance to explain. I’ve seen you mad before and you were right up there Kidd. I didn’t want to leave Ellie alone with you and explaining anything to you was out of the question. Plus you looked like you were going to bust something.”
Turning so he and Ellie were side by side, “Yeah I guess I was. Sorry about that, but if you saw your best friend kissing your wife I think you might have done the same.” Jon said holding Ellie tight.
Ellie was giggling when they both looked at her. “What? Sorry but I don’t think Richie would have done that. He would have asked what was going on. Only my Italian with the hot temper goes off first then may ask questions last.” she said as she stepped up on her toes and kissed him on his cheek.
“Ewe...are you guys going to be doing that the whole time I’m here?” Richie asked smiling.
“Yes and your just as bad as the kids are Richard.” Ellie laughed.
“Speaking of the kids. Where is Jim?” Jon asked her.
“Oh he left a while ago. He didn’t want to interrupt the two of you so he snuck off. He wanted me to tell you both bye and he’ll see you hopefully in a couple of days or for you (poking her husband) to call him immediately if you need him.” she told him rolling her eyes.
“Hey don’t do that. The kids mean well and love you very much. They just want to stay informed that’s all. I know it’s getting a little too much but can you just go with it please?” Jon asked her as he gave her his most puppy face.
“Now Richie how am I supposed to say no to this face? Huh? This is how you got me to sleep with you in the first place.” she told him as he slap her butt. “Hey!” she yelped.
“That’s what you get little Miss Princess.” he laughed.
“Ok if you guys are going to do for play in front of me I’m going up to my room for a while. Just let me know when dinner is ready.” Richie left but they could hear him as he was going up the stairs laughing.
“I think we stunted his growth.” Ellie told Jon laughing.
“Never mind about his growth it’s mine I’m worried about.” Jon told her as he grabbed her by the waist and they tumbled onto the couch.
“JON!” she yelped. “What are you doing?” she wanted to know.
“Well I thought I’d make out with me wife. Wanna?” he asked her as they were lying next to each other on the couch.
“Well I would love to.” she told him as she move her hand to his chest.
“Just one condition Baby?” he told her.
“Oh God what? I have no condoms.” she said with a straight face.
“Oh funny Babe. No If you start to get any chest pains you tell me. If you start to get a migraine you tell me.” he started to tell her.
“Ok I get it. If my finger or toe hurts should I tell you too?” she asked him sarcastically.
“That’s not funny I’m being serious here.” he told her as he was getting irritated now.
“Well this is kind of turning me off Jon.” she was trying to be honest with him and his nit-picking.
Sitting up now, Jon pushed his hands thru his hair and let out a sigh. Ellie then got up also and sat beside him. “I’m sorry Sweetheart. I know you were just being careful but I know what I’m supposed to do. You don’t have to keep reminding me and the kids don’t have to either. I’m not stupid. I can only take it for so long and right now I’m being semi-nice about it. But if you guys keep it up I will blow and that won't be nice. And I don’t think the results will be good either.” she told him as best as should could.
He turned to face her and all he saw was the woman he loved all his life. “I know Baby and we do it out of love. You would too if it was one of us and you know it.” he smiled softly.
Smiling lovingly at him, “I know I would but you know it does get to a person. Like when your knee popped and we all were fussing over you.” she reminded him.
“Well I remember I only had a problem with it until you came up with that little game of yours of playing Doctor.” He smiled sinfully.
“Oh yeah that’s right. That kept you off of your feet for a while now didn’t it?” she smile nice and big for him.
“Too bad we can’t play it now.” Jon’s eyes got nice and dark.
“Oh but we have the memories those sweet, sweet memories.” she told him as she leaned in and kissed him. After about a minute they parted and she said, “See nothing happened Babe. I didn’t drop now did I?” she told him smiling.
“Ok rub it in. But we could get carried away and I would blame myself. Don't you think I would love to touch you again. Feel you and kiss you like I used to. Make you scream my name in ecstasy. Have you touch me. God I miss us so damn much but I’m not about to lose you sooner I’m a little selfish like that.” he told her holding her hand tight and kissing it.
“Well I’m glad you are. Because I’m a little selfish too. I want us to be together for as long as we can.” she told him leaning into him.
“We will Baby we will.” he told her trying hard not to show her the tears in his eyes.
A little while later Maria came in to tell them that dinner was ready. They were cuddle up on the couch listening to the radio and just cuddling with each other. She really hated to disturb them but she didn’t want the food to go cold and it was important that Ellie ate. Next she went up to Richie’s room and knocked on the door. She could hear him playing his guitar. He answered and told her that he would be down in a few and thanked her.
They had a very uneventful dinner which pleased Ellie as for Jon and Richie didn’t fight. Maybe her plan of sitting them down and talking with each other worked. In fact they talked to each other about today’s events and what was going on in each other’s lives and about the other guys. That right there made her heart full. If she died right then and there she would die happily.
After dinner they went into the den with their drinks and sweets and sat down just when Ellie’s phone rang. “Sorry just a sec.” she told them.
Jon looked at Richie, “Ten to one it’s one of the kids. It’s that time.” Jon said shaking his head.
“No I get it. Ava is like that too. I guess we should just be lucky that our kids love us.” Richie smiled.
“Yeah I guess so. You remember how I use to tease Ellie about calling her parents all the time. Now I get it. I think she calls them every other day. And the calls were about nothing. Well most of the time if she wasn’t bitching me out.” Jon laughed. “But now the kids do it with her. They always saw her doing it so they think nothing of doing it to us. And again most of the time the calls are about nothing until now.” he said as he took a sip from his coffee.
“How are they doing with all this? Are they open to talking with both of you?” Richie wanted to know.
“They didn’t at first so Ellie called a meeting of all of us and told everyone if anyone had any questions to please ask questions and that it was all right to talk to the both of us. She and I had talked about it before we called the meeting. I actually found it helped. So with the meds and her not doing anything strenuous just doing what the doctors tell her where into a little over two years now since they diagnosed her.” he said sadly.
“Jon why can’t she just get a new heart?” Richie has been dying to ask.
Jon just looked at him and sighed. “Well that’s a long story. I’ll give you a quick short version. She has that what do you call it unique blood type you know rare. Anyway Rachel and Romeo also have. So to keep the new heart going she would need blood transfers to keep the heart clean. But we can’t keep asking the kids to donate blood because it’s going to become too much for them. Plus they only want the blood from someone they know so Mom doesn’t get sick. They’re pretty set in their way about that.” Jon told him smiling.
“Well what about one of her damn siblings? Don’t one of them have the same blood type as she does?” Richie freaking wanted to know.
“That’s where our feelings don’t matter. She won’t ask them. They may know about her condition because it’s been on the news but they haven’t even tried calling here to see if she's ok. So she won’t ask them. And if they try and show up for the funeral we are to escort them out. Or she will haunt not just my ass but everyone that doesn't help getting them out. So the kids promise to get security because they don’t want Mom haunting them. Because they know she will.” Jon chuckled.
“You bet your ass she will. If anyone can do it, it will be her.” Richie laughed.
“Well she had made a promise with both her parents and I swear to God if I didn’t see it with my own eyes, I don’t know her Dad would take off her rings and I mean the ones that were stuck on her fingers. She couldn’t take them off unless she used the tricks to get them off. So the last time Pop took the one off her middle finger she just left it off but she would always find them in the middle of our bed. With Mom well she would turn over her watch face down. And the markings on her wrist matched up perfect. I couldn’t dispute it. And we won’t talk about the dogs.” Jon just shook his head.
“Really? That’s spooky. Has this been going on till now?” Richie asked him.
“Yeah it has. How I know is when she kisses her watch, that’s how I know it was turned over. Or when she says don’t move my ring is missing help me find it in the bed and sure enough there it is under the blankets.” Jon told him making a wide-eyed jester.
“You sure she isn’t taking the rings off or turning the watch over.” he asked him just making sure.
So Jon demonstrated both the rings and the watch. The watch was a little easier to show him as his wrist band could be turned over in the same place to show the indents to line up exactly with the watch. “See these are like this when she wakes up. With all her movement they would move but they don’t They are lined up perfectly.” Then he demonstrated by pulling off his wedding ring. He pretended that it wouldn’t come off. “Ok so her rings basically don’t come off or they didn’t when her parents passed. So you had to pull the crap out of them or use butter or Vaseline to get them off. One time we even had to do the thread trick. Now that one was painful for her but we had to her finger was turning purple.” he explained to Richie.
“So basically she’s going to haunt the hell out of you.” Richie laughed.
“Yeah she is, and I couldn’t be happier.” Jon smiled.
“I remember when you saw her for the first time when we were with Spanky at that retail store. I thought you had seen a ghost.” Richie told Jon remembering.
“Oh yeah she was bringing out some fabric and nearly dropped them when she saw me. Then I thought she was going to pop me one.” Jon grunted remembering how beautiful she looked all disheveled and pissed standing there looking at him. “Boy was she pissed huh?” Jon said staring off.
“Yeah I kinda figured that had to be her when she told you to drop dead. Not many girls tell you that. They usually drop their panties instead.” Richie laughed again.
“Yeah she was a tough cookie alright. But she was guarded and I found out why that night. She almost picked me up off the floor when Jimmy said Mommy to her. But I really didn’t need him to do that. He looked so much like me at that age it was scary you know. There was no denying he was mine. The only thing I was angry about was all the time I missed with them. Nobody ever came close to her Rich. I know I acted out after she left. Banged anything in a skirt. Then I went back to Dorothea for a while, but she just threw Ellie in my face for the first few years. I mean what the fuck. So I broke things off with her and then during a party you remember we met Diane Lane. We hit it off pretty good So she met us at the next concert gig and we were together for about, how long?” Jon asked Richie.
“I think she was with us about nine to ten months before she hit on me while I was drunk out of my mind. Remember I was trying to get over Nancy. Next thing I wake up with Diane next to me in my bed. You know booze is not our friend Jon.” He said to Jon as he agreed with him.
“Yeah I was so mad at you for screwing her. I really liked her too. Until I realized she was just another whore like the rest of them. What can they get out of me.” Jon told Richie still staring straight ahead.
“I was so sorry about that Jon. She just got me on one of my binges.” he told him.
“Huh? Oh yeah I know that. Like it hasn’t happened to me? I can’t thank you enough for helping me get out of that mess by the way.” Jon told him smiling.
“What are friends for right?” Richie told him knowing he would do anything for Jon. Looking at Jon, “What mess was that again?” he couldn’t quite remember.
“There’s been a few that you have gotten me out of huh?” Jon smiled.
“Well yeah but you’ve gotten me out of a few so we’re even.” Richie told him chuckling. “So you want to reminded me which one it was?” he again asked being animated with his hands.
“Oh yeah, remember the time I was in L.A. doing my project for Emilio Estevez.” Jon started his story as Richie nodded, “And I got in trouble with that broad.” he stopped there.
“Yeah I remember we were so lucky that could have so much worse than it did.” Richie remarked.
“I know it could have.” Jon said just as Ellie came into the room. “Hey Babe which one of the kids were you talking too.
“I think you mean a couple. I was on a conference call with your daughters.” she told them smiling as she put her phone down and sat herself down next to her husband.
Glancing at Richie and winking, “So El did the girls have anything to say? Anything interesting?” he asked her knowing her answer.
“No not really they just wanted to know how I was feeling since yesterday.” she told them as the guys started to laugh.
She looked at them like they were nuts. “Why are you two laughing like hyenas?” she wanted to know.
Leaning over to her Jon kissed her on her cheek. “No reason Baby. Just something I told Richie that’s all. Would you like some tea? I’ll get it for you.” he asked her. She happily told him yes even thou she thought he lost his mind.
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