chapter 74

 The week before the wedding, Colleen packed everything in the town car, and she and Albert headed to her parents’ house.  She had wanted to stay in her old apartment for the last time, but it being a one-bedroom, Jon thought it was better if she stayed with Maggie and Cullen. She had nixed using the chopper, saying she only wanted to unload once not three-time.  So instead of sitting in the back, her dress bags were laid out on the backseat, she sat in the passenger seat in front with Albert. They made pit stops along the way for coffee and lunch, soon they were driving onto the island and to her parent's place.

 

“Oh Coco,” Maggie came out and pulled Colleen into her arms.

“Hi momma, is daddy at the bar?” Colleen hugged her mom. 

“Are you two hungry?” Maggie helped carry her dress bags. “He is, getting it ready for the bachelor party.”

“We stopped on the way unless Albert wants to go down to the bar for a beer,” Colleen said over her shoulder as Albert brought in the bags.  “I’m not going anywhere till we meet Jon and Farther at the church.”

 

She followed her mother to her old bedroom, this was where she would stay till the wedding.  Jon was not too happy, but Maggie had put her foot down. Jon would stay at his place, Jamie had worked with Jon’s brothers for the bachelor party, tomorrow night. Colleen made him promise there would be no strippers.  Stephanie, Desi, and Nina got a list of Colleen’s friends to be a part of her hen’s party.

 

Colleen hung the dresses up on the hooks on the closet doors, and went and sat on her daybed.

 

“I can’t believe you’re getting married,” Maggie sat on the bed beside her.  “Jon is such a good man, I’ve tried to bury the hatchet with Carol.”

 

“What did you do mom?”  Colleen was shocked.

 

“I wrote her a nice letter, and asked her what color is she wearing to the wedding, and gave her the date and time for the bridal shower, that’s all,”

 

“Did she answer you?  Jon’s dad called yesterday, he’s back in Jersey,” Colleen told her mom. “He didn’t say anything about Jon’s mom being with him.”

 

“John called your dad, they’re going to play golf with Tico and David tomorrow, but he told your dad, she’ll be here the night before to attend the wedding, if Jon lets her,” Maggie picked up a purple teddy bear off the pillow behind her and handed it to Colleen. “You've heard they have separated, hasn’t Jon told you?”

 

“Mr. John told us at the cookout, he said it was coming for years,” Colleen hugged Mr. Bear.

 

Mr. Bear was the only thing she had left from her life before Maggie and Cullen adopted her, Mr. Bear and a battered old grocery bag of her meager clothes.  He had been her confidant when things went wrong, the one that held all her tears when she found out she had cancer and that at such a young life, to maybe never have kids.  She had needed Mr. Bear this past week, knowing her dreams were over, Jon was a good substitute for Mr. Bear.

 

Maggie got up and went to the door, “You want to help me with the last meeting with Marino’s about the rehearsal dinner?” 

 

“Yeah, sure Mom, let me change into my grubby’s,” Colleen said as she put Mr. Bear back on her pillow.  She would wait till tonight to tell her mom about what they learned at the OB/GYN later.

 

Jon and the kids made it to the house on the beach, it was already getting close to his meeting with Colleen and the Father of her Church. He had met with Max about the change in his will, that Stephanie was there as she was the executor of his estate.  Max suggested making both Stephanie and Colleen joint, incase to cover his butt.  Stephanie had agreed, so he gave both of his girls the power.  Thinking about Stephanie coming down with Greg and his girls and that she and the girls were staying with Colleen, Greg was bunking with him and the boys. 

 

Around two, Jon pulled up to the O’Sullivan’s house to see Colleen sitting on the steps. 

 

“Hey, you want to take a drive little girl?” Jon tried not to laugh keeping his stage sexy face that would melt panties in a huge arena.

“Oooh you look just like that Rockstar, what was his name again?” Colleen giggle as she grabbed her cross-body bag and walked over to the car and leaned in the window.

“Jon Bon Jovi?” Jon asked her.”

“No, I don’t think that’s him,” she leaned in further and kissed his lips.  “I know who you look like, David Bryan.” She quickly moved back from the car and walked around the car to get in the passenger seat.

“You better be glad I love you so much, or I had left your perky ass standing in the yard,” Jon scolded her.

“I always knew you were an ass guy,” Colleen laughed. He leaned over and wrapped his hand around her neck and devoured her lips.  They broke apart when Stephanie beat on the window.

“Hey you two get a room, better yet get thee to the Church or you’ll be late.” Stephanie laughed as Colleen blushed. She laughed harder when her dad gave her the Jersey State salute which she returned double-loaded.

 

Chapter 73

 Colleen met Jon at her Gynecologist in the city, he was waiting in the foyer of the building.

“Hey Jonny,” Colleen walked to him and gave him a kiss and hug. “You ready for this?”  

“As ready as I can be,” Jon pulled out his cap and glasses and slipped them on.

They walked into the doctor’s waiting room, no one looked up.  Many of the ladies were in various stages of pregnancy, or husbands wishing they were anywhere but to OB/GYN’s office.  There were a few girls that looked too young to be expecting, with no one to hold their hand while they waited.  That could’ve been Stephanie if she hadn’t changed her life around.

They found two seats together, he held her hand as they waited to be called back.  Jon picked up one of the pamphlets off the table, one on from conception to birth.  He began to flip the pages till it showed pictures of crowning and birth.  Of course, he was there for the birth of all four of his, but just the sight of it fourteen years later about turned his stomach.  Colleen reached over and pulled it from his hands.

“Don’t be counting the eggs before they hatch,” she leaned over and whispered in his ear.  “It might never happen, you know.”

He looked in her eyes, they weren’t sad or angry, more resigned.  It wasn’t long till they were called back.  She had him turn his back when she stepped on the scales.

“No peeking Jonny,” Colleen giggled.

As they handed her the cup with the blue lid and she stepped into the bathroom, the nurse left the folder where he could look.  His eyes trailed over the three numbers on the post-it note on the top cover, one hundred twenty pounds.

Colleen came out just then and caught him looking.

“All right Jonny go step on those scales and let’s see if all my cooking had added a few extra pounds on you,” Colleen led him over to the scales.

He had added a few pounds on, but then again he wasn’t running around on stage almost every night. He looked over at her and smiled.

The nurse shuttled them into a room and told Colleen to sit on the table.  Jon helped her up on the table and went to sit in the only chair beside the doctor's rolling stool.  They weren’t alone long before there was a knock on the door and Doctor Harrison came into the room.  Jon was a little shocked that the Doctor was a woman.

“Hi Colleen how are you feeling today? Oh, and who did you bring with you today?”  Dr. Harrison asked.

“Melody this is my fiancé Jon,” Colleen said as Jon got up to shake her hand.

“Oh this is the reason all the nurses wanted to assist me for your appointment,” the doctor said as she put her stethoscope around her neck and walked over to Colleen.

“See I told you the hat and glasses weren’t going to hide your identity,” Colleen laughed.  

Melody had Colleen lay back and began to press on her tummy, then put the stethoscope to use listening to her tummy and chest.

“When did you have your last period,” Melody asked her. “And how long was it?”

Colleen told her it was just last week, and it was short about three days.

Melody made a note on her file.

Jon watched the doctor's face, he didn’t like what he saw.

“Your last one was also short, about four days,” She had Colleen sit up and asked Jon if he wanted to step out while they got her prepped for an ultrasound, that he could come back in.

Jon headed out the door and gave Colleen a wink.

“He knows about your history?” Melody asked as Colleen got out of her jeans and panties.

“Yes he knows, that’s why he wanted to be here today,” Colleen told her.  “I don’t want to get my hopes up, but I know they're getting shorter and lighter.  They told me what to look for, early menopause.”

“Let’s not think that just now, your wedding is soon, I got my invite and clearing my schedule so I can attend,” Melody put the sheet over her lower body and went to get Jon.

Melody moved his chair to the head of the table. Her assistant made sure he could see the monitor 

“I assume you know all about this part of the exam Jon?”  Melody asked.

“Yeah, I’ve been in the seat four times already,” Jon explained as he took Colleen's hand in his.

“Four hum,” She looked down at Colleen as she lifted her feet in the stirrups. 

The room got quiet as she lowered the lights and lifted the sheet, and squirted the gel on her tummy.

“There’s Stanly,” she said as Colleen’s only ovary showed on the screen. Her assistant held the wand and Melody clicked on the machine.

“Stanly?”  Jon asked as he watched the image shifted a little.

“Stanly, because he stands alone, Ollie left him,” Colleen explained.

 Then she clicked in again and moved the screen.  Jon got worried, the last time he sat in for one of these, the Doctor chatted and joked.  Dr. Melody was quiet once she started clicking on the machine.  Soon they had Jon step out while Colleen got dressed and then they would talk.

The assistant told Jon that he and Colleen needed to see the doctor in her office.  Jon looked at Colleen’s face as she joined him in the hallway.  Her eyes looked very strange, like she was holding the weight of the world on her shoulders. They were ushered into the office and sat.  Jon reached over and took her hand in his, like a lifeline, her hand was ice cold.

 Dr. Melody came in and put two photos on the lighted screen next to her desk.  Then sat down and opened her file, folding her hands in front of her.

“Colleen, I made a promise to you when we were in college, I would never lie to you,” Melody pulled out what looked like a pen and pulled it to make a pointer.  “This was Stanly back in November, you see how large he was.”

Jon leaned forward to see what she was pointing at.  This was not looking good.

“I was a little shocked at how much he has changed in twelve weeks.  You can see on the second picture, Stanly has shrunk,” Melody said them looked back at Colleen.

“I knew this was what might happen with the shorter periods,” Colleen said so softly both Jon and Melody looked at her.

Jon gave her hand a squeeze as he saw a tear slowly roll down her cheek.

“Colleen, there are always other ways to have a baby, we can use your eggs and Jon’s sperm,” Melody started to say, but Colleen spoke up.

“No, it’s over, Stanly needs to join Ollie and I don’t want to wait till the cancer comes back,” Colleen stood up and looked down at Jon.  “My new dream is to live and grow old with you Jon. “

Jon stood up and pulled Colleen into his arms and held her as she cried.  Melody left the room to give them time to digest the information she gave them.

When she got her tears and emotions under control and they could talk.

“Colleen, I want to grow old with you too, but I also don’t want you to give up,” Jon sat in his chair and pulled her in his lap.  “Let’s wait till we get back from the honeymoon, think about what Dr. Melody said.”

Dr. Melody peeked in and saw them talking.  “Have you thought about it?”

“We’re going to wait till after the honeymoon, then we’ll come in and talk over alternatives,” Colleen told her.

“I think that’s for the best.  So I’ll set up another appointment for late March.”  Melody told them.

They were walking out as Doctor Melody went into her next appointment in the room next to the Bon Jovi’s.

Chapter 72

 

Colleen closed the closet door and leaned back with a smile.  The girls shopping day had gone so well.  Dresses bought, shoes, stockings, lingerie, and sexy night clothes all locked in her closet, so Jon can’t see them.  She heard the guys come in for lunch and she headed down to set out the sandwich.

 

“I heard there was a big shopping day yesterday,” David said as he popped the top on a beer.   They were the only two in the kitchen, so he saw it as a chance to talk to her.

 

“Yes, it was, they treated me like a celebrity,” Colleen sat beside him with her plate and soda.  “I just hope Jonny likes what I bought.”

 

“You could wear a paper bag and he would love it. I’ve known Jonny almost all his life,” David sat back and reached over and touched her hand.  “I saw what Dorothea did to him, years before her death, he was holding by a thread.  Richie and Dorothea about killed him.  I tried to get him to talk to a professional, but he came home from the Hamptons, he was glowing like his inner sunshine was back.”

 

David held up her hand and tapped the canary Yellow diamond on her finger.  “You came into his life he was calling me to listen to the beginnings of a song, your song.  Then I got to meet you through Jon, and that sunshine grew and made him come alive.  The fans should kiss this ring because, without you, he’d have never come back.”

 

Colleen looked from her ring to David and saw tears in his eyes, which was something that made her cry.

 

“Rashbaum, what have you done to my woman? Fuck, you made her cry,” Jon smacked David in the curls.

 

Jon walked over to Colleen and pulled her into his arms, and wiped tears off her cheeks.

 

“Jonny you need to be consoling David, not me,” Colleen stopped crying and struggled out of Jon’s arms.  “If he hadn’t started I wouldn’t have been crying.” She went over to David and gave him a hug.

 

“Yeah, you meanie,” David looked at Jon over Colleen’s shoulder and stuck out his tongue.

 

“Ah Fuck,” Jon mumbled, threw up his hands, and walked out of the kitchen.

 

Colleen and David started to laugh.  “I guess we need to let him off the hook,” David told Colleen.

 

“Yeah, I guess so, since I have to work with him on the rest of the album,” David took her hand and they walked down to the studio.

 

Jon sat at the soundboard with Obie, still mumbling about Lema making Colleen cry.  Obie heard Jon using Fuck, Asshole, and Dead to me.  Oh hell, they still have a few weeks to get this song into the can, before the wedding.

 

“What has you dick in a twist?” Obie asked Jon while they waited on the band to get back from lunch.  He had left them up at the house, he had been so mad at Lema, the little prank he had pulled at lunch.

 

He heard the door open downstairs and the sound of feet on the steps.

 

“Not now Ob, maybe later,” Jon said as Lema came into the room followed by Colleen, it was the first time she had been out there, since he gave her the tour.

 

“Hey Colleen Welcome to the nerve hub of Bon Jovi,” Obie got up and walked out of the control room.

 

“Thanks Obie,” She let Obie pull her into a hug.  “Is he still pissed?”

 

“Oh pissed is putting it mildly Darlin,” Obie whispered back.

 

“Oh shit,” Colleen shook her head.  She slowly walked into the control booth.

 

“Hi Jonny,” She walk over and stood behind his chair.  “Are you mad at me?”

 

Jon felt her hands go on his shoulders and waited till they slipped off his shoulders to clasp over his heart.  He took a deep breath and let it out slowly.

 

“No babe, I’m not mad at you, Lema is another problem,” Jon said as he turned around and pulled her onto his lap.  “I knew you two had been talking since that night last month. I was mad he said something to make you cry.”

 

“Oh he made me cry a lot at first, then he became like a big brother,” Colleen told him as she put her head down on his shoulder.  “My support group could use David, he really helped me, Jonny.”  She looked deep into his eyes.

 

“Ah Colleen,” He lowered his lips to hers.  The sweet kiss started to become hotter as his hands slipped under her shirt, finding bare breast instead of her weekend sports bra.  His moan of appreciation echoed in the control booth. As they pulled apart finally 7 pairs of covered eyes greeted them with wolf whistles.

 

Obie looked over at Lema and whispered. “She saved your kosher bacon Lema, you owe her some wedding music.”

 

 “Oh that’s a given Ob, that’s a debt I gladly fulfill.” David gave Colleen a wink.

 

It was another long night in the studio, Jon came into the bedroom as quietly as he could. Colleen was asleep, the lamplight on low on his side of the bed. Her kindle and glasses sat on her bedside table.  Jon closed the door without a click of the lock, moving to his closet, he noticed the door to hers was open and the light reflected on two long garment bags from Klinfelds of New York City.  He knew that one little peek wouldn’t get him in the dog house.  He looked back to see if Colleen was awake, but her breathing showed her still asleep.  He tiptoed into the closet only to find a post-it on the first dress bag.

Jonny, it's bad luck to see the dress before the wedding. I think we've had enough in our lives to not chance it. All my love your Colleen.

He smiled and noticed the other dress bag was just as long, but it also had a post-it note that just read “Ditto”.  This brought a smile to his face, she bought two dresses, and according to his Accountant, it was somewhere between ouch and boing.  Stephanie had told him that Colleen wanted to not spend that much, but Nina and Desi kept the Champagne flowing.  Walking out of the closet he shut the door and went into his and put his clothes in the hamper and grabbed his sleep shorts and came out and went into the bathroom for a quick shower.  He was just about to turn off the water when the door opened and a very sexy bed head got in.

 

“I didn’t mean to wake you,” Jon said as she wrapped around him.

 

“I was awake when you snuck in,” Colleen kissed his neck below his Adam's apple.

 

“No you weren’t, I tried not to wake you,” Jon said as he cupped her ass cheeks in his hand, and began to squeeze them.

 

“I saw you go into my closet,” Colleen slid her hands over his shoulders and lifted up on her tiptoes to suck on his bottom lip.  “My friend came to visit this evening,” she whispered.

 

Jon let the words sink into his lust-filled brain.  He lowered his mouth to hers.  “That means your visitor won’t be along on our honeymoon.”

 

“That makes you excited,” Colleen giggled as she felt his erection tap on her tummy.  “Like you said before, that means I’m always ready for you.”

 

He turned to put her body to the wall of the shower and proved to her he was ready for her.  Neither of them thought about anyone walking in as they made use of the shower. 

 

Later as they cuddled under the covers, Colleen sighed as Jon spooned to her back.

 

“I didn’t look at your dresses.  I agree we’ve had too much shit happen,” Jon said as he nuzzled her neck.  “I’ll see them when you walk down the aisle to me,”

 

Colleen held up his hand that cradled her tummy and linked her fingers with his.  “Jonny, want to go with me to the doctor before the wedding, you see it’s my yearly Cancer exam,” she lifted his hand to her lips.

 

“If you want me there, I’ll clear my day,” Jon told her.  He had talked to Maggie, knowing the day was coming. They were hoping for good news, but it was a fifty-fifty chance she would never be able to have kids of her own.

 

Colleen let go of his hand and turned in his arms to face him.  She reached for his head and pulled him closer to give him a big kiss.

 

“I love you, Jonny, so very much,” she had tears in her eyes.

 

“I love you my Colleen, so very much and I thank God every day that I came into that bar for the first time,” Jon said as he wiped her tears that rolled down her cheeks. Then they sealed their love with a deep kiss.