Chapter 88 - Caught Up In A Game

 

"Babe, that was awesome!  I'm sorry that I gave you such a hard time about it." He walks over to her and kisses her, "Thank you.  It's perfect."

Monica smiles at him and says, "I had more fun throwing that together than I thought I would."

Everyone else expresses their love for the live version of it and congratulated her for a job well done.  They all hung out and talked about it when the conversation took a turn toward the unexpected.  

It was Monica's mom that changed the mood and kind of rained on the parade, so to speak.

"Since you two got married without us there, we would like to throw you a reception, here in New Jersey, what do you think?"

Jon looks at Monica and Monica looks at Jon.  Jon says to Monica, "I'm leaving that totally up to you, but if it has to happen, it has to happen in the next couple of weeks.  We hit the road and are slated to play 70 dates across the US and Europe."

Monica looks at her mom, "Mom, that would be great, but can you keep it small and very private?"

Monica's mom takes her daughters hand and says, "Yes, dear of course.  I was thinking of doing it at like Citarelli,with  close friends and family."

"That would be nice."  Monica adds, "But small and private mom.  I don't want to talk about the accident over and over again."

"I understand, Mon."

The band is bored and tell Jon that they are heading out, going to shoot down to Atlantic City for the night.  Richie asks Jon, "Do you want to go with us?"

He shakes his head no and says, "Maybe next time."

Monica jumps in and says, "Babe, go.  You deserve some fun."

His dad jumps in and says, "Hell, I'll even go.  We can make it an impromptu bachelor party."  All of us guys in AC - let's go."

After several minutes of discussion, the men all agreed to head to AC for the rest of the night and leave the woman behind.  The women that were left behind all went to the respective home and Monica was alone for the night.  She needed it.

After she cleaned up the mess of empty beer cans and such, she made up her mind to pack up the nursery and put all of the things in storage.  She needed to put that tragedy behind her, and what better time to do that when she's alone.

Jon had put the crib together one night while Monica was sleeping, and when she woke up, he had it decorated with the sheets, the bumper bad, the blankets and the mobile that she had made.  Upon seeing it, she had a water work fest of monumental proportion.  She was touched beyond words and all she could do was tackle him, and thank him in the way he needed to be thanked.  She realized that Jon was more into what was going on than he let on.  He was full of surprises and she always anticipated that the next one would be better.

In the nursery, she starts with the decoration on the walls.  Pictures that she had taken of Jon on the road and with his family.  There were even pictures of her family in there.  She wanted it to be a calm and soothing place and that is what they made it.  She cried with each picture that she took off the wall and wrapped in newspaper; encasing it in a box until only God knows when.  She felt that she needed to clean out the room, to help herself heal.

Pictures are all packed away and then she works on the clothes that are in the dresser.  The clothes that were green and yellow, because no one knew the sex of the baby, so when she had a shower - that's what they got.  She stopped and looked at the little outfits that will never be worn and as she cried, she brought them to her face, smelling them.  Her heart was breaking and her tears kept rolling down her face. 

"Little baby boy Bongiovi, it's me - your mommy.  I'm in your room putting your things away, crying from the heartache and the pain from losing you.  There isn't a day that goes by that I don't think about you and I wonder how big you would be right now.  I'm sorry, son.  Your daddy has been wonderful and so supportive and that makes it just a little easier, but the pain is pretty deep.  I know you are in heaven watching down on me and you can see me cry, thank you for being my son for as long as you were.  I know that God has a plan for you or a plan for me, but I promise, I will see you again, my sweet baby boy."

It only took her a few hours to pack it all up and when she was done, she left the room, turned the light off and closed door.  Stopping to dry her eyes and take a deep breath.  She was putting a period on it and going to try to get on with life, even after suffering such a great loss.  Although she's heartbroken, she's looking forward to the reception that he mother is planning and she's hoping that she can hit the road with Jon and make more awesome videos for the band.

 

Their life is about to hit a road that they never expected and she was ready.  He was ready, they were ready. 

Monica heads to bed when she's done doing what she needs to and as soon as her head hits the pillow, she is out like a light.  Her days was long and her exhaustion, she could feel it in all of her body.

At 6:00am she wakes up to go to the bathroom and notices that Jon isn't home.  At first she doesn't think anything about it until she looks out the window and sees that Richie's car is home.  That was odd.  How can Richie be home and Jon not?  She thinks about it for a minute and doesn't worry too much, so she climbs back into bed and doses off.

When she wakes again at 9:30 and still no Jon, she starts to worry.  She calls Richie house and he answers, "Hello?"

"Hey, it's Mon."

"Hey baby girl, what's up?" Richie questions, curious by the early am call.

"Where is Jon?" Monica asks him, slight worry in her voice.

Richie yawns, the full body yawn and asks, "He's not home?"

"NO!"

"Oh." he's quiet for a moment.  "When I left AC he was playing blackjack at Caesars."

"Alone?" she blurts.

"He was with Tico, I think.  I left in a hurry, I wasn't feeling well."

"If you hear from him, tell him to call me, please."

"Will do babe."

"Thanks!" she sets the receiver down and sits on the bed a little confused and she's starting to wonder where he is and who is he with.