Gift of Love

Jon and Joanne

Chapter 20

As soon as the door closed behind him, Jon took Joanne into his arms. His blue eyes fixed on her light brown eyes for assurance. “Are you sure you are okay?” He could see she was still shaken up.

Resting her cheek against his shoulder, she breathed in his scent. Being in his arms again was all she needed right now. “I’m fine. Just hold me for a minute?” Tightening her grip around his waist, she pulled him closer to her. “I have missed you.”

“I missed you too, boo.” Winding his arms around her waist, he pulled her close to him.

They stood there in the middle of the foyer holding each other enjoying a moment of peace and quiet. It was rare they got anytime alone when all the kids were around, so for now they took advantage of the opportunity of no interruptions.

Jon had his face buried in Joanne’s hair when he heard footsteps approaching. “That didn’t last long.” He chuckled. With a kiss to the side of her head, they drew apart just as John Sr. came around the corner. “Hey, pop.” He greeted his father.

“Hello, Jon.” Turning his head, he spoke to his daughter in law. “I heard what happened downstairs. Are you okay, hon?”

Leaving her husband’s side, Joanne gave her father in law a hug. “I am fine.” She assured him. “How did you know what happened?”

Giving his daughter in law a kiss on the cheek, John answered her. “Bobby came storming in the place mumbling something about no one messes with my mom and gets away with it.  He looked like he was ready to go a few rounds with Mike Tyson.” Shrugging his shoulders, he continued. “I figured something happened for him to react that way. So I asked him what was wrong and he told me some guy hurt his mom.” Nudging his chin upwards, he stared at his first-born. “You take care of the son of a bitch?” It really was not a question. More like a confirmation.

“Yeah, but I am not done with him yet. Or his boss either.” Jon assured his dad.

Something in his tone made Joanne shiver. “Honey, can’t you just let it go now? As you can see I am fine.”

As much as he wanted to say yes, Jon knew he could not let that prick get away with hurting his wife. “No can do, boo.”

 

The sound of glass shattering made them jump.

“What the hell was that? “Jon inquired.

Running down the hall, Joanne was the first one that entered the kitchen. There were shattered pieces of broken glass all over the floor. Her eyes scanned the room, stopping only when she saw her eldest son leaning against the kitchen counter, blood dripping from his hand he had resting in the sink. “Bobby!”

Being careful where she stepped, she made her way over to her son. “What happened?” Gently she unclenched his hand to see what damage he might have done.

“I’m fine, mom.” His words were slurred.

The smell of alcohol on his breath surprised her. “Have you been drinking?”

“I said I was fine!” Yanking his hand away, Bobby turned his head away so his mom could not see the tears forming in his eyes.

Stepping into the kitchen Jon walked over to where his son was standing to see how bad he was hurt. “You watch the way you speak to your mother, son, or you and I are going to have words.”

Bobby knew from the tone of his dad’s voice he was in trouble. “Sorry, mom.”

“Thank you. Now would like to tell us why there is glass all over the floor? And why you are drinking?” She quizzed her son.

Twisting his head around to face his parents, Bobby gave a heavy sigh. “I got into a fight with Sharon tonight.”

Hearing that he had been arguing with Sharon again was not something new to Joanne. “What was it this time?”

“I thought you guys were going to take the summer to see different people?” It was no secret that Jon was not a fan of his son’s ex-girlfriend. Neither was Joanne.

While John Sr. cleaned up the glass, Jon led their son over to the kitchen table to sit down while Joanne went to get the first aid kit to clean his hand.  Once his hand had been cleaned, and bandaged, Bobby told them about the argument. Choosing to answer his dad’s question first, he explained that they had decided they did not want to see other people after all. That even though they were having some issues they wanted to stay together and try to work them out.  “I thought we had fixed those problems. Guess I was wrong.”

“What happened?” Joanne hated seeing her son hurting over a girl, but especially this one.

Sitting at the table with his parents, and grandfather, Bobby shook his head back and forth. “Jovi fans strike again.”

Of all the things his son could have said. That was not one of them. “What do you mean, Jovi fans strike again?” Jon asked.

Leaning back in the chair, his fingers playing with lace placemat, Bobby realized that what he said did not come out right. “Sorry, dad, I wasn’t knocking the fans. You know the video we made for all you and played tonight in front of the crowd?” Seeing his dad nod his head yes, he continued. “Well, someone recorded it then posted it on YouTube.” With a shrug of his shoulder, he finished. “Someone told Sharon about it so she went on YouTube and watched it.”

“So? What am I missing here?” Grandpa John asked.

The light went on for Jon. “Let me guess. Sharon saw you flirting with the girls in the front row and now she is pissed?”

Chuckling at his dad, he shook his head. “You could say that. She saw me holding that woman’s bra and pitched a fit.”

“Is she the reason why you were drinking earlier?” Joanne asked her son.

“She is part of the reason.” Lifting his head his blue eyes found his mom’s face. “You are the other part.”

“What?” She gasped. “What in the world have I done to make you drink?”

“No, no.” Once again, he said the wrong thing. “You haven’t done anything wrong, mom. It was not what you did. It is what happened to you tonight and the fact I couldn’t do anything to help you. I should have done something!”

Smiling at the protectiveness in his grandson‘s voice towards his mother, Grandpa John bent forward, placing his arm on the young man’s shoulder. “You helped your mom out by staying out of it and letting your dad deal with the problem.”

That was not good enough for Bobby. “What I should have done was beat that guy’s ass for touching her!”

“No!” Joanne shouted, slamming her hand down on the table. She tried not to wince as pain ran from her elbow down to her fingertips.  “The both of you listen to me.” Deciding to include her husband in, she fixed all three of them with a stern look. “There will be no more talk of what you could have, or should have done when that asshole touched me. It is finished so let’s move on. From this moment on I do not want to hear another word about it.”

All three Bongiovi men stared at the woman sitting across the table from them. It was rare she ever showed her temper but when she did. Well, they were smart enough to keep their mouths shut.

“Now what are you going to do about Sharon?” Reeling in her temper, she switched the conversation back to the girlfriend.

Recognizing that his mom wanted to change the topic, Bobby bit his tongue to keep himself from getting into further trouble with his mom. “At this point we are not speaking. When I tried to tell her what happened she yelled at me, called me a liar and a cheat and then hung up on me.”

Jon was listening to his son, but his eyes were watching his wife, who was massaging her arm. “You okay, honey?”

Turning her head, she gave her husband a loving smile. “I told you I was fine.”

Leaning forward he pointed to her arm. “Ever since we came up to the room you have been rubbing your elbow and wrist.” Lifting his hand, he tugged on a strand of her hair. “Did that asshole hurt you?”

As much as she wanted to deny it, the pain she was experiencing was too painful to ignore. Of course slamming her hand down on a solid wood table did not help either. “Yes.”

In a calm voice, Jon asked his dad to call down to the front desk and ask if there was a doctor available who could come and check out his wife. Bobby had gone into his parent’s bathroom to get his mom a couple of aspirin for the pain. Being careful not to move her arm to much Jon helped his wife over to the sofa. “Can I get you anything?”

“No. Just sit with me, please.”

Getting them situated on the couch Jon pulled her close to him while they waited for the doctor to arrive. “You know this thing with the guard isn’t over, right? He hurt you and for that he has to pay.”

Closing her eyes, Joanne tried not to think of what her husband meant, but deep down she knew. He was not going to let this incident go.