Chapter 25

Colleen came slowly awake, stretching, her muscles telling her about the workout they had.  Smiling, remembering the second time they had made love, was slower and more romantic.  She vaguely remembered him leaving, it had to be around five.  He had taken a quick shower, had to get home before the boys got up.

They had talked a little bit, after the second time.  He was clean, had a vasectomy after Romeo.  She told him she was clean, that if you took her ex boyfriend’s point of view, she had gone through the change early.  He said it made her such a bitch, it was get out of the relationship, or get arrested for abuse.  She had laughed it off with Jon, but it still hurt.  They were engaged, or so she thought, he had married two month after their split.  She didn’t tell Jon about that. 

Looking at the clock, she had three hours to get to the school, then heading to the island.  She needed to remind her family about their guest coming for Thanksgiving lunch, knowing her mom the questions would be not as bad.  Her dad and brother, it would be the Spanish Inquisition all over again. The fact that her dad and Mr. Bongiovi were golf buddies, Jon better tell his mother, soon.

Jon called for the pickup before the shower, which he would have to redo when he got home, he smelled like a spicy flower garden. If he stayed at her place again, which after last night was going to be often, he would replace her bed and add his own body wash to the bathroom.  Did they make a canopy king size bed?  Hell would a king fit in her bedroom?  

As he came into the townhouse his daughter sat up on the sofa.

“Well don’t you smell good?”  Stephanie grinned at him.

“I didn’t see anything else to shower with.”  He rolled his eyes.  “Did the boys say anything about me not being home?”

Heading up the stairs, Stephanie following him, he started taking off his shirt as he walked into his bedroom.

“They knew, seemed okay with it.  We packed their electronics last night, I know when you wanted to get on the road today.”  Stephanie sat on the bed, while Jon headed to the shower. “Jesse will be meeting us at the house.  By the way Grandmother called.”

Jon was waiting on the water to warm up, the small bruise on his shoulder caught his attention in the mirror.  She marked me as hers. Jon smiled to himself, fully knowing she was equally marked.

“What did you tell her?”  Jon stepped in the shower.

Stephanie came to lean on the bathroom door.

“I told her you would call her later.”  She laughed.  “You are going to call her aren’t you?”

Jon leaned on the shower wall, letting the water wash, Colleen’s body wash off his body.  Laughing he remembered Colleen asked him the same question.  Granted he was going to wait till they were on the island, before he called his mother.  Guess that plan was out the window, since she called him. Then it hit him, when did his controlling mother call?

“When did she call Steph?”  Jon lathered his hair and waited almost holding his breath.

“This morning, I told her you were out running, that would give you time to shower if you needed it.”  Stephanie waited for him to get out of the shower.

“Fuck” He leaned his head on the shower wall. It didn’t help that Stephanie heard him and busted out laughing.  Turning the water to cold that gave him an excuse to cuss again.

Getting dressed he went down to the kitchen, he needed breakfast, the snacks from the dance had worn off a long time ago.  Romeo and Jake were eating cereal when he walked in.

“Morning, you two ready to go when your sister gets her shower?”  Jon grabbed a bowl to join them in a bowl of cereal.  Grabbing the healthiest box on the table he filled it and added milk.

“Yep, all set.” Romeo said between mouthfuls.

“You call Grandmother?”  Jake asked, pushing his empty bowl away.

“I will.”  Jon took a bite of cereal.  He looked up and noticed Jake looking at him which much interest.  Suddenly the cereal tasted sour.    Getting up he grabbed a pod and popped it in the Keurig and waited.   Getting the silent treatment, he decided to bite the bullet and call his mom.  She answered on the second ring, what was she doing, sitting on her cell?

“How was your run?”  Mrs. Bongiovi asked.

Just like his mom, no hello.

“It was good, got out before the paps this morning.”  He lied.  He hadn’t seen anyone lurking outside, but anything was possible with a long enough lens.

“I was trying to see how big a turkey we would order this year, it’s just you and the kids, right?”  His mother asked.  Then there was a long pause.  “Or are you taking the kids to have Thanksgiving with the O’Sullivans?”