One Hundred Fifty-Five

Jon sighed and propped his leg up.  After Edmonton tonight, he would at least get a couple of days off.  His calf was fucking killing him and there were eight more dates this month before he got a six week break.

The three May shows at the New Meadowlands had gone like a dream, and so had this last one – up until he landed on his white boy dancing leg the wrong way and popped his calf muscle.  The last four concerts had been pure agony, although he’d tried his best to keep it from the fans.  He wasn’t as mobile, but fortunately his ass wasn’t directly connected to his calf, so he could still shake it.

“Hey, man.”  Richie pushed into his dressing room without knocking, earning himself a surly growl.

“Hey.”

“How’s the leg?”

Everybody’s favorite question and one he was tired of answering.  It hurt like a son of a bitch.  What else did they expect?

“About the same,” was his clipped reply as Richie dropped down in the chair next to him. 

“I’m sorry.  I know this is killing you, man, especially trying to muddle through on Advil.”

He was as tired of the sympathy as he was the pain.  Ice and Advil only went so far, but he refused to let himself get started on the heavier stuff.  It screwed with his perception and he didn’t want to end up dependent on the damn things.

“Did you want something, Rich?”

“Uh, yeah.  To remind you that Allegra and I are heading back to Philly tomorrow for her doctor’s appointment.  They’re supposed to do an ultrasound this time, and I want to be there.”

Ah yes, the happy couple.  In his perpetual state of irritation the last week, he almost couldn’t stand to be around them.  They were so happy that fuckin’ bluebirds danced around their heads when they held hands. 

At least until yesterday.

Maybe it was his imagination, or his injured karma deflecting onto other people, but, despite their outward happiness, Jon thought something wasn’t quite right.  That something, he would bet, centered around the baby.

“Richie, are you sure about this?  You want this life with her?  With this baby?”

“Yeah, of course I do!”

His answer was quick enough, but Jon saw a shadow pass over his buddy’s face. 

“Really, Rich?  Because if you don’t want to take the chance of tying your life to a child that’s not yours…  Well, I don’t think anyone would blame you.”

“Don’t ever fucking talk like that’s not my baby.”  Richie’s eyes sparked with genuine anger.

Oh ho, ho.  Okay, so it didn’t have anything to do with the baby.  Color him stupid.

He lifted his hands in a weak gesture of self-defense.  “I’m sorry.  It just seems like something’s up, and that was the logical direction to go since you brought up the ultrasound.  I assume that means you’re not going to have another paternity test?”

“After the last amnio?  Are you fuckin’ kidding me?  No.  Hell no.”

“What about after the baby is born?”

He couldn’t believe Richie wouldn’t want to know.  Jon had talked to Dot about it on several different occasions.  There was nothing wrong with loving a child that wasn’t yours, but they both thought it would be best for him to know what he was dealing with up front.  He’d overheard Tico and Dave talking about the same thing a couple of weeks ago.

“No.  I don’t think so anyway.”  His guitarist shrugged and fell back against the couch cushions.  “It seems to bother Allegra.  She won’t let herself believe it’s our baby until some damn test confirms it.  She’s struggling with the whole faith thing, I guess.  Considering what she’s been through, I can’t really hold it against her.  Doesn’t mean I’m gonna stop trying to get her past it though.”

“She’s been through a lot,” Jon agreed.  “I think she can be forgiven for needing something a little more than the rest of us do.”

“She can.  Definitely.  It doesn’t keep me from wanting her to be whole again.”  Richie twisted the ring on his pinky finger, staring blankly at the wall before turning to Jon.  “I know you had reservations about this whole thing, but this is gonna work out.  I’m gonna keep my shit together for her.”

“I know.”  He clapped Richie on the shoulder and squeezed.  “I know you are.  Now are you gonna tell me what’s wrong?”

Richie’s eyebrows lifted in surprise.  “Who said anything was wrong?”

“Dude, who are you talking to?  I only act like an arrogant self-centered shit when it suits my purposes.  I know when you’re not right.”

Levering forward to rest his forearms across his knees, Richie picked at his cuticle.  “We’re just having a little trouble working out the details of real life.”

“Such as?”

“Money.  And deciding where home is gonna be.”

Jon snorted, not in the least surprised that money was a source of contention. He didn’t envy Richie that argument but there was nothing he could do to help. 

However, the home thing sounded interesting.  Jon’s Jersey-bred cousin must not want to hit the other coast.  Or did she just want a new house that didn’t have Heather attached to it?

“Oh yeah?  Tell me what’s up.”

“She’s being a pain in the ass about the prenup and won’t take the credit card I got for her.”

Jon’s eyes widened, ignoring the credit card comment, but the other surprised him.  Allegra was refusing to sign a prenup?

“Being a pain in the ass how?”

“She’s all over me to get one signed, like right this minute, but we can’t come to terms on it.”

That sounded a little better.  He knew his girl was steeped in integrity.

“What’s she want?”

“Nothing,” Richie huffed in disgust.  “Not a fucking penny.  Before she took my ring, she told me she’d never sign divorce papers, and this is her way of reinforcing it.”

“And your problem with that?”  Jon was sure he knew, but wanted Richie to say it anyway.

“Are you kidding me?  God forbid something should happen and we do get divorced, she’s still the mother of my child.  She deserves to be taken care of.”

“Don’t divorce her and you won’t have to worry about it.”  He laced his fingers across his stomach, gingerly crossing his bad leg over his good.  “’Cause, point blank, I’m gonna be pissed if you do.  You marry into my family and you may as well fuckin’ consider it the Mob, because once you’re in, you gotta die to get out.”

Richie leapt to his feet.  “Jesus!  I have no intention of divorcing her!  None.  Zero.”

“Then I fail to see the problem here,” Jon shrugged.  “So what’s the story about your permanent address?”

Richie glared at him, probably pissed that he was siding with Allegra on the prenup.  Jon’s thinking was that if Rich wanted to make sure she was taken care of, then he would take care of her as his wife.  It was a fairly simple solution and he was proud of his little cousin for the stand she was making.  Marriages weren’t meant to be disposable,  no matter how modern society had come to view them.

“She’s not crazy about California,” he said, giving Jon frown of disgust.  “As much as I am crazy about California, I could probably be okay with leaving if it weren’t for Ava.”

That was a legitimate problem.

“She’s a Jersey girl.  What else can you say?”  He ignored Richie’s smirk.  That look had smut written all over it and he would rather be deaf, dumb and blind when it came to their intimate relationship.  If he ignored it, he could deny its existence.  “Change is hard after spending your entire life in one place.  You can’t work out some kind of compromise?  Live on the East Coast half the year and Cali the rest of the year?”

“I dunno, man.  She’s pretty adamant about wanting to stay in Philly or Jersey.  Says if I’m going to be gone a lot, then she should be able to live someplace that feels comfortable.”

He tipped his head sympathetically.  “Understandable, I guess, but that doesn’t help you any.  I dunno what to tell you, bro.”

“Me either,” Richie sighed, scratching his chest.  “I guess we’ll keep hammering away until we come up with some kind of solution.  I’m not gonna lose her over logistics.  Hey.  Do you know what the deal is with Lexi and that wedding planner?”

“Uh, he’s planning her wedding?”

It was one of his goals in life to stay as far away from that friggin’ weirdo as humanly possible.  He sure as hell wasn’t asking anybody about his life story.

“Yeah, but it seems like there’s got to be more.  Why else is she so eager to have his hands in our wedding?”

A loud knocking echoed off the metal door and David’s curly head popped around the door.  “Hey, I’m ordering Chinese.  You guys want anything?”

Lemma seemed a likely candidate to know what the hell was going on with his fiancée.  “No, but come in here a minute.  Rich wants to ask you something.”

Sliding in the room with a grin, David gave them a lopsided grin.  “Why Rich, we’re both engaged men.  I don’t think you should be asking me things.  Besides, Legs has a much nicer ass than you do.  If I’m gonna break it off with Lex, then it’s gonna be for somebody with a nice ass.  Like Jonny Boy here.”

David ducked away from Jon’s fist, but Richie managed to cuff him in the back of the head.  “Crazy fucker.  I wanna ask about Lex and Kristofer.  What’s the deal, man?”

Reaching up to rub a hand across his nape, David rolled his eyes.  “I have no idea.  One minute we’re planning a nice normal wedding, the next thing I know The Nuptial Nazi is grilling me on my favorite flower, color and cake flavor.  It’s no longer a wedding, it’s ‘a life joining event’.”  He emphasized the phrase with air quotes.

Jon’s eyes narrowed.  There were only three possible scenarios here.  One being that the guy had something on Lexi and was forcing her to employ him so he could milk her and Dave for every dime he could get.  Two, Lexi wanted something from the guy.  Three, she was trying to make amends.

“How did she hook up with this guy?”  he asked in a deceptively casual tone.

“Again, I have no idea.  It’s like he appeared out of nowhere.  I can ask her if you want.”  His eyes darted back and forth between his band mates.  “Is he driving Legs crazy?”

“Not so much crazy,” Richie spoke hesitantly.  “But she feels pressured to use him for our reception because of Lexi.  She doesn’t want to tick Lexi off since she’s so gung-ho about him.  Truth be told, I’d just as soon tell him to hit the road.  He’s a snarky ass-kisser and I don’t like the way he talks to Allegra.”

“Then do it,” David encouraged with the wave of his hand.  “Lexi will get over it.”

But Richie was shaking his head.  “It’s not that easy, man.  Allegra feels like she has to earn Lexi’s approval for your sake and doesn’t want to blow the guy off if there’s some back story.”

Jon frowned.  Why would Allegra need to earn Lexi’s approval?  He thought all the women had gotten along well. 

“Legs doesn’t have anything to worry about.  Lexi likes her, and I’m sure she was only trying to be helpful by offering up the Wedding Wacko.  But I will find out how we ended up with him.  Now you’ve got me curious.”