Chapter Forty Three

“Jon told me about your family Rachel…………I’m sorry if I upset you with my questions last night.”

Rachel shook her head and smiled warmly at Carol, seated on a lounger beside her. The morning tennis game had gone off without a hitch with John Sr proving to be an impressive partner as they had successfully beaten Jon and Stephanie in straight sets. After agreeing to set up something more regular for the future, everybody had returned to the Bongiovi house for some fun by the pool where Jon’s boys were currently shrieking in delight as he repeatedly dunked them underwater off his shoulders.

“There’s nothing to be sorry for Carol, they were logical questions but I just didn’t want to be a downer or risk upsetting the boys……”

Sitting up on a lounger beside her grandmother, Stephanie hugged her knees to her chest and looked curiously across at Rachel, her young voice cautious but respectful.

“If you don’t mind me asking Rachel but….how old was your daughter?”

“She wasn’t quite fifteen at the time Stephanie.....,” Rachel’s heart skipped a beat at the question but her voice belied any emotion. “.....and my son was ten.”

“What were their names?”

Escaping the frenzied activities of his sons for a few moments’ respite, Jon pulled himself out of the pool just in time to hear Rachel answer the question.

“Lauren and Tyler.”

Surprised to hear her talking so freely about a subject that had been so taboo a while back, Jon was about to swiftly change the subject until Stephanie asked interestedly, “Do you have any pictures?”

He watched in amazement as without hesitation Rachel bent down to retrieve her phone from her bag.

“Sure, right here, I copied a lot of photos onto my phone before I left California.”

Stephanie eagerly reached across Carol to take the phone Rachel offered her, flicking her father an annoyed glance when he settled himself on her lounger, showering her in drops of pool water in the process.

“Seriously Dad??”

Rachel watched in amusement as Jon flicked his hair back and playfully wrapped a wet arm around his daughter. “Chill out honey, I just wanna see too…….that okay Rach?” 

When she nodded, Jon dropped his attention to the phone, squinting against the sunlight that bounced off the screen as Stephanie scrolled through the pictures. Images of a Rachel who existed before he had ever met her filled his eyes, a laughing and relaxed woman posing on a veranda with her family, a glistening blue ocean behind them, a dark haired man smiling at the camera with his arm draped around her neck and two sandy haired kids sitting to either side of them. Another of the same man, although younger still obviously Nick with what looked to be his baby son nestled in his arms and followed by a shot of Rachel struggling to hold onto their toddler daughter as the child reached up to grab an ornament off an enormous Christmas tree. 

Stephanie oohed and gushed over the cute pictures while Jon silently watched the images roll by, a twinge of sadness combined with a stab of jealousy filling his belly as he was transported into what had once obviously been a very happy life. He cursed himself silently for allowing himself to feel somewhat threatened by a man who was no longer even in this world but the last picture stirred something inside his gut that previously he’d only felt with Dorothea – possessiveness. It was an old one, Nick had scraggy ruffed up hair and Rachel was rocking a perm that would have challenged Lita Ford’s back in the day and both had New Year’s 1988 cone hats nestled on top of their heads. But it was the look on Rachel’s face as she stared up at Nick that felt like a punch to the stomach, there was nothing posed about the picture, it was purely intimate and he almost felt like a jerk for looking through the window of her past.

When he glanced back up at Rachel, the shadowed pain that still lurked in her eyes snapped him back to reality, he had no business feeling anything other than love for her. Everybody was entitled to a past and she had lost more than anyone should have to endure. With a grin, he shook his head as Stephanie handed back the phone, “Way to rock that eighties hair babe! I think your hair was bigger than my whole band’s put together!”

“Enough of the hair jokes Jon, don’t forget who created them!” John Snr piped up from the table where he’d been flicking through a newspaper. “If it hadn’t been for me…….”

“Yeah Pop, I know I know, I’d be flipping burgers right now!” Grinning at his father, Jon got up to grab a towel from the pile beside Rachel’s lounger. Bending down he murmured in her ear, “You have good taste in men baby, he was a good looking guy - almost as pretty as me!”

With her phone safely stored away, any signs of trepidation vanished from Rachel’s eyes as she laughed down at him. “And he was every bit as humble as you too!” 

Chuckling Jon threw the towel around his shoulders and dipped his lips to hers for a soft kiss before standing back up, aware of the sideways looks he was getting from the rest of the family. 

“But I’m willing to bet I’m a better kisser…..” 

With a laugh he sauntered off to grab a drink leaving a slightly blushing Rachel grinning after him as she lay back to pick up her book. It seemed she was well and truly ‘out’ to the family now…..

~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Good morning sunshine!”

The sound of Jon’s familiar voice washed away the last dregs of the fitful sleep Rachel had succumbed to after she had crawled into bed alone the previous night. She wasn’t sure whether she just missed the feeling of his frame beside her or if it was the dreams that had kept her mind flipping in a panicked turmoil but she felt as if she’d just spent the night sleeping on rocks. Blearily blinking at the bedroom around her she grasped the phone tighter against the pillow and mumbled into the speaker.

“Hey…..what time is it?”

“A little after nine…….you okay?” 

The concern that filled his voice made her smile; even over a phone line he was able to read her like a book.

“Yeah…….I just didn’t sleep great that’s all…..everything okay with you guys over there?”

A throaty chuckle filled the line, she could almost see the painful grimace she knew he was making.

“Oh peachy, I had two kids bouncing on my bed before the damn birds were even awake……..”

Rachel chuckled softly, a fleeting reminder of early morning wake up calls with her own kids filling her memory. As she silently reminisced Jon gently cleared his throat;

“You know Rach, you can tell me if you need a break from my parents and the kids, I’ll understand….we can be a lot to take in……”

“No!” She shook her head anxiously down the phone; “I mean, I’m fine Jon honestly – your family are great! Yesterday was really fun, I enjoyed myself……”

“Yeah? Well then think you can handle going out to breakfast with this group of crazies? Jake wants waffles, Romeo wants pancakes, Jesse wants eggs and Steph wants French toast……..need I go on?”

“No Alice today huh?”

“Nope, I must’ve been outta my mind to give her the weekend off! There’s a great diner down the road, the most greasy spoon you’ve ever seen – whaddya say?”

“I say give me time for a quick shower and I’m good to go!”

“You’d be faster if I came over there and helped………”

Grinning in delight, Rachel shook her head at his wicked deference as she slid out from beneath the crumpled bed sheets. “I think we both know it won’t be faster if you help! Pick me up in a half hour?”

“Jesus…….the things I could do to you in those thirty minutes baby…..”

“You’re a complete pervert! See you in a bit.” Rolling her eyes at his evil chuckle, she ended the call and got stiffly to her feet. The exertions of yesterday’s tennis match obviously hadn’t gone unnoticed by her muscles and she groaned as she padded her way barefoot to the shower. The needles of hot water pierced their way invitingly under her skin, soothing and relaxing as she let the water wash away the fading remnants of her nightmares. She needed to move on, for Jon’s sake if not for her own. The way he picked up on her every uncertainty was uncanny and somewhat undeserved in Rachel’s eyes. She’d seen how carefully he’d watched over her yesterday, his blue eyes clouding with worry whenever he’d caught her gazing at his kids, ready to tone things down if he thought it was all getting too much for her. What he didn’t realise though was how much happiness being around his family brought her, they had been nothing but welcoming, even Jon’s mother and by all accounts she was normally a tough nut to crack. Rinsing the shampoo from her hair, she tipped her head back and faced the warm cascade of water for one more blissful moment before knocking the shower off and stepping out, ready to gladly face the chaos that was Jon's family one more time.