Never Say Goodbye...

~ Hath

Saturday morning, there was a knock on the door early. It was Ang, come to say goodbye.

“Hey, girl,” I said, and ushered her in. “David’s still in bed, wanna go say hi?”

Ang smiled through the sheen of tears and nodded. We went into the bedroom, and she leaned down to kiss his cheek. I pressed my hand to my mouth to keep from giggling, and David smiled. “Hey baby,” he said.

“Hi Darlin’,” Ang drawled, and David’s eyes flew open. He bolted upright, and started to get out of bed, then remembered how he shunned pajamas and stilled.

“What the hell?” he said, looking for me, and leveling a gaze at me that he must have picked up from Jon.

Ang and I laughed and sat on the edge of the bed, one on either side.

“I’ve come to say g’bye,” she said.

David rolled his eyes. “Well, hell, woman, let me get dressed, and we can do it properly.”

Ang whined. “But I want an improper goodbye.”

David looked at me and shrugged, and made like he was going to pull her into bed with him, and she squeaked and jumped up. David started to move the covers, and slid a leg out, and Ang got a little glimpse of hip and half an ass cheek, turned and strode from the room. I giggled and tossed him a pair of sweats and followed Ang.

I hugged Ang, and were still clasped together, quietly crying as David came to join us. He wrapped us both in his arms and kissed our heads, and we stood there for a long, bittersweet moment. We separated, and David took Ang’s hand. “It was wonderful meeting you, Angel Jamieson,” David said, and kissed her briefly on the lips.

Ang pinged one of David’s curls again, and said, “Likewise.” I could see the little devil come out and sit on Ang’s shoulder. What the hell was she going to do now? “So,” she said, “I hear you’re friends with Chad.”

David looked at me, confused. I mouthed “Nickelback” to him.

“Oh no,” David said. “I am not setting you up with another musician! Uh-uh. It’s bad enough you’re all over Sambora, I do NOT want to watch you fawn over someone else. Nope.” He stuck his tongue out at her, and she laughed. They hugged again, and we left so I could say goodbye to everyone else.

We walked with Ang down to Lucy’s room. The three of them were traveling back to Chicago, and I frankly was surprised Richie wasn’t staying with the guys. Guess he didn’t want to be without his girl any more than he had to. It’s quite sweet, really.

Lucy let us in, and we hugged. “Thank you so much for everything,” I said to Lucy, and kissed her cheek.

“Mouth off my woman, Hath!” Richie bellowed from the doorway. I stuck my tongue out at him, and kissed Lucy again, for good measure, on the mouth this time. He strode over and pulled her away from me, leveling a gaze at me. “Back off, Jenilee,” he said, smirking.

Huh? He never calls me that. “What is that smirk for, Richard?” I said, using his full name right back at him.

“Have you seen the papers this morning?” he said, tossing me the Post. There was a press release about the wedding (damn, they move fast) and right there in print was my given name.

“Who gave them the names?” I asked, though by Richie’s expression, I had an idea.

“Jon’s candy-ass pussy wingman,” he said, smiling at me. David burst out laughing. I had told David about that remark, and he swore he wouldn’t say anything. Shit. That meant Jon squealed. I called Richie that when Jon was bitching that his best friend wouldn’t help him collect on the bet.

“Are you allergic to almonds?” I asked him sweetly, remembering the prank Jon was going to play on him for April Fool’s.

“No, why?”

“Oh, no reason.” Let him wonder. I gave them hugs, and collected more kisses and let them finish getting their shit together.

We said good bye, and David and I went to find Stephanie and Matt. They were up too, and we shared hugs and kisses. Since I was moving to Jersey soon, we’d be able to see each other from time to time, but still, I was going to miss Steph. When we embraced, tears filled my eyes again. David and Matt were chatting, and rolling their eyes at the water works. I don’t care. These girls are my sisters, and I was going to miss seeing them every day.

Sure, we’ll phone, and there’s the board, I guess, but it isn’t the same.

Ang is taking off for parts unknown for a grand new adventure -- an adventure that may or may not include internet connectivity. We'll get some gorgeous pictures, though.

Lucy’s moving to LA, and will be insanely busy getting that together, and hopefully, Richie will propose to her soon. I didn’t miss the looks he was giving her all week, and especially at the wedding. He loves her to distraction, and it won’t be long now, until there’s another wedding to throw into the mix. Hell, I’ll need a new blackberry just to keep track of all the dates!

Sam will be settling into married life, and may or may not join the guys on the tour. She’ll have her new house, the baby, and Marcelli to keep her busy.

Steph will have her own wedding to plan, and has her wonderful son and Matt to fill her days.

What about me? Well, I won’t be dong much, just leaving my job in Boston, leaving my family and friends and moving to Jersey, getting married, having twins, building relationships with David’s other children, and avoiding his ex-wife. Nope, not much at all.

We’ll all be so busy, but there will be lots of occasions over the next year for us to get together. At the very least, we’ll all get together in June when the guys play London. We’re staying at Casa de Jamieson, and I can’t wait.

David had convinced me to stay with him a few days longer. It didn’t take much convincing – I missed him, and we didn’t really get to spend that much time together this past week. Saturday morning, after everyone left, we spent a while just being together. We talked and laughed and just reconnected.

The lot of us who were left were all flying out to Philadelphia earlier than expected, because Sam had a doctor's appointment. She confided to me that she took a page from my book and cajoled her doctor in setting up an appointment with a colleague so they could find out if LK was a girl or boy. I know Jon is hoping for another little girl, but he'll be happy as long as the baby is healthy. Sam didn't want to know, but she's putting Jon's wants before her own to give this to him. What a wonderful birthday present from a loving wife to her devoted husband. I’m going with her, so she doesn’t have to go alone. I don’t know what she told Jon, but she and I are doing this together. I so can’t wait. And hell, if I can keep her wedding a secret for like a MONTH, I should be able to keep this one for a day.

David and I still had a couple hours to ourselves beforehand, though. We talked about our wedding, and my plans to move, and my decision not to go back to work when I move to New Jersey. You heard me.

Well, at least, not for the same company.

When I'm settled at David's place (guess I'm going to have to call it 'our place' now) I’m going to screw up my courage and talk to Jon about some kind of position at BJM. I think he saw first hand that I can get stuff done, and he learned he can depend on me to do them right. I wouldn’t ask otherwise; he’d feel obligated to give me something because we’re family, and I want it to be on the merits. Working with the event planning office, I wouldn’t be tied to a desk, and would be able to still raise my own babies.

But for now, I’m back on Jovi Air, on my way to Philly with David, Jon and Sam, Tico, and Hugh. I’ll be heading home to my big empty house on Monday, but not for long. May will be here before I know it; May, marriage, and my new life.

Am I scared? Sure am. This is a lot of change to absorb, and I don't do change well.

*sigh* Some guys I know wrote a song that says

Here we stand, caught between the cradle and the grave
In a world that gives you nothing but your name
With every step you take you must be brave
Nothing lost is nothing gained

I’m going to be brave, and make all these changes in my life.

What have I really lost except a job that drove my blood pressure through the roof; a house big enough for a family, yet standing nearly empty and mocking; a hole in my soul where David and the twins fit so perfectly. My family, the part of my life that is really important, is not going anywhere.

But, just look at all that I’ve gained! A bevy of sisters, brothers, nieces and nephews, children, and a husband. How can I not be brave when I have gained all that.

All of that.

From an online forum, and one tiny little bet with a stranger.

The Reception

~ Hath

After Ang finished taking her pictures, posed pictures of some or all of us, it was time to go back to the hotel. People were starting to get interested, and Jon was getting twitchy. “Jeeves,” he said softly.

“On it, boss,” I said, and hit a button on the Berry. “We’re ready,” I said, and hung up winking at Jon. Within minutes, the Bentley pulled up. Before the driver could get out of his door, I opened the back door and ushered the newlyweds inside. “There’s champagne and sparkling cider in the fridge,” I said, and closed the door. They were whisked away, and I breathed a sigh of relief. Everything went off perfectly. Now, it was time for the reception.

The limo driver had a route to take that would let Jon and Sam have some time alone, and would give us time to get everyone out of here and over to the hotel. When we got the JP squared away (he had some previous engagement and couldn’t come with us) we squished into the other limo and took off.

The others hadn’t seen what I had done at the hotel, so everyone stopped dead when we got in there. “What?” I asked. “Too much?” Tall, latticed screens had been brought out to carve out the space we were going to use in the room. The lights were dimmed, and white batting and twinkle lights were strung on the screens. The long table was set elegantly with fine bone china, Waterford crystal and heavy silverware. A mantle of white daisies divided the long table, and yellow rosebuds were placed randomly along the path. At Sam’s place at the table was a smaller version of her bouquet to throw to the girls. I’ve been to many weddings, and at every single one, the bride had wanted to keep her own bouquet.

I went into the kitchen to inspect the cakes, and saw the razorback-bride one, which made me laugh. It came out better than I thought it would, and the white-fondant-covered wedding cake sat waiting expectantly. Although I was tempted to put a topper on it (Jon’s doll and a blind justice doll for Sam) I decided against it. It was just too beautiful a cake to muss up.

Soft music was playing in the background, and wine and cider were chilling. The chef was putting the finishing touches on the hors d'oeuvres and everything looked perfect.

The final touch was the wedding gift from us to Jon and Sam. The whole lot of us combined forces to hire the best landscape designer in the country. He had done up several different drawings (plans, I guess you’d call them) of ideas for the back forty of Jon and Sam’s new house. It was hard coming up with something for them, but I think we done good.

Around the room on easels were the five different plans Marcelli had drawn up. They were all different, all unique, and if it were me, I’d have a hard time deciding which one to choose. Of course, they could work with him to come up with something that suited their personalities, but I think this was a good sampling of what he could do.

David was watching me flit back and forth, and smiled at me. “Love you,” he called out.

“Back atcha,” I said distractedly. Where was the damned driver?

Just then, my Berry beeped. Whew. “They’re on the way in,” I said. Lucy just looked at me. “You’re really enjoying this take-control, organizer stuff, aren’t you?”

I nodded. No sense in fighting it. “Yep, this is where I excel. I’m glad this is the last day of servitude, though.” I made a face.

We all grabbed glasses of champagne (one teeny sip at the toasts isn’t going to hurt the LJs) and Richie and Cori had extra glasses for Jon and Sam.

When the double doors opened, David announced, “And here, for the first time anywhere, Mr. and Mrs. John Francis Bongiovi!” We all laughed and clapped, and they took their glasses and came into the room. We all gave them hugs and kisses, then Richie cleared his throat.

"I'd like to say a few words, if I could." He turned to Sam and Jon, and consulted his watch. "Happy forty-three-minute anniversary!" he said, making everyone laugh. "You two have had a wonderful start, but it's not as great a day for the bride as she thinks. She's not marrying the best man." Richie laughed at his own humor then continued, looking at Jon. "Jon, you've been my friend, partner, and brother for most of my life, and I feel I know you as well as I know myself. I have never known you to be this happy, this optimistic, this content in all the years I've known you. I am so glad you found someone to put the sparkle back in those damned eyes." He turned to Sam. "And Sam, all this is because of you, darlin'. You ground him. Thank you for making him happy; you make him happier than I think he deserves." He raised his glass. "There is no greater happiness for a man than approaching a door at the end of a day, knowing someone on the other side of that door is waiting anxiously, expectantly and happily for the sound of his footsteps. Here's to a lifetime of footsteps," he said.

“Hear! Hear!” we all shouted again, and sipped our glasses.

As Richie finished his toast Cori raised her glass, "I'd like to say a few words too." She turned to Sam and Jon and smiled at the both of them. "Sam, we have been friends forever and I have never seen you as happy as I have since you found Jon." She turned to Jon, "I have to thank you for putting the smile back on my girl's face and the light back in her eyes." She raised her glass, "to Sam and Jon, may you love well and laugh often, may your smiles be many and your frowns be few and," she grinned wickedly at the happy couple, "may all your ups and downs be under the sheets!"

“Hear! Hear!” we all shouted again, and sipped our glasses.

Jon nodded to the DJ, who started Sam and Jon’s first dance. They danced their first dance as man as wife to “The Last Night”, and Jon had recorded an acoustic version, just for them. It was beautiful and tear-jerking, and oh! we couldn’t tear our eyes away from them. They ended with a sweet kiss that had us all turning discreetly away, then Sam caught sight of one of the easels.

“What is that?” she asked, stepping from Jon’s arms to have a closer look. “Baby, come here and look at this,” she said. “It looks like our house.” Jon went over and wrapped his arms around Sam from behind, and looked at the drawing for a long time, making me nervous. They turned as one and looked at the rest of us.

Stephanie nudged me forward. “C’mon, this was your find, you tell them.”

I cleared my throat. “It is your house,” I confirmed. “When we heard you were getting married, the first think we girls thought of was ‘what the hell do you get for a couple who has or could buy everything?’. We decided on this,” I said motioning to the easels. “We have hired a landscape designer to do your back garden.” Sam’s eyes widened, and Jon chuckled at her expression.

I nodded. “Yep, we thought that this way, you’d have a permanent reminder of us, of how much we love you, and you wouldn’t have to worry about doing it yourselves. Marcelli, the designer,” Jon’s eyebrows went up in recognition, “has done up a bunch of different ideas, but will work with you personally to make sure every detail is what you want. If there isn’t something here you like, he’ll do whatever you want. Sky’s the limit. Congratulations,” I said, toasting them again with my glass. “We love you.”

Sam came over and gave me a big hug. “It’s wonderful,” she said. “Thank you.” She went to look at the other designs, dragging Cori with her.

Jon came over and kissed my cheek. “You done good, Hath,” he said. “Everything went perfectly today. I appreciate you being a good sport this week, and really, I meant what I said the other day – I’ve gotten to depend on you getting stuff done for me. Thanks.” He chuckled. “My assistant thanks you too.” He put his hand on my forehead, like an old-fashioned healer, and raised his voice. “You are hereby officially released from duties now; though you can still call me boss if you want.”

Queen started playing over the sound system, and after we had a good laugh, we all danced. Ang was laughing at Tico and Hugh, arguing over who got to dance with her first. We roped one of the concierges into taking pictures for us.

A short time later, we settled in for wonderful appetizers, demolishing nearly everything. I nodded to the chef, and he had his pastry chefs wheel out the first cake. Sam, Nathan, and Cori nearly bust a gut laughing at the Razorback-bride. When the chef presented it to Sam, she stood; mischief sparkling in her eyes.

"Ya know,” she started, “I don't know 'bout how all ya'll Yankees do things, but back home on her wedding day, the bride gets anything she wants."

We all looked at each other. Nathan and Cori were smiling, so something was up, but it was her wedding day. Shrugging, I said, “Of course, Sam, whatever you want.”

Jon had seen where this was going, and shot me a look, then turned to Sam. "No, Sam, baby, please no, I'm begging you."

She would not be deterred. "I wanna hear all of ya'll call the Hogs!"

We burst out laughing, and The Harem was more than willing. I stood and motioned to the folks in the corner. “C’mon,” I called to the wait staff and other hotel personnel. “You too.” They came over, unsure of what to do.

Sam started us off. “It’s easy,” she said. She gave a long, low, loud, “WHOOOOO PIG SOOOOIE!!” and laughed.

We girls all stood around Sam, and did the arm motions that went along with it. “WHOOOOO PIG SOOOOIE!!” we shouted at the top of our lungs. I’m pretty sure they heard us in the lobby, but we didn’t care.

We looked expectantly at the guys, and Jon stood. “Only because I love you more than my own life, baby,” he said and motioned to the rest of the men to stand. All our voices joined together to scream “WHOOOOO PIG SOOOOIE .... RAZORBACKS!!”

Then Jon sliced the head off the “pig cake” as he called it, with one sure stroke.

When the “real” cake came out, Jon breathed a sigh of relief, which I heard. I stepped over to him. “Jon, I promised no penis cake, didn’t I?” I whispered, and smiled when he nearly choked on his drink.

“Yeah, but I didn’t really believe you,” he said.

“Oh, c’mon, you knew I wouldn’t screw this up.”

He chuckled. “Yeah, I know,” he said, and winked.

He and Sam nestled together, cut into the wedding cake, and fed each other the first bites. Every few minutes, someone would clink his glass and Sam and Jon would share a kiss. More often than not, it was David.

Jon shot him a look. “I’ll remember this when you two get hitched,” he said.

After a while, Jon and Sam were eager to get on with their wedding night. They said goodnight to us and started to leave. “Wait,” I called, taking a room key from my bag. “Your stuff has all been moved to the honeymoon suite,” I said, smiling, and handing Sam the key.

“You think of everything, don’t you, Jeeves.”

“Uh, name’s ‘Hath’ there, chief,” I reminded him gently, but nodded, and they left the room. They’ll find the strawberries, champagne, and flowers on their own.

We stayed for a while longer, knowing that we were all heading out for where we needed to be over the next couple of days. The guys had shows in Philly, and the rest of us needed to get back to our lives. That didn’t mean we wanted to go, but responsibilities can be a bitch.


** Note: Stephanie wrote Cori’s toast. Thanks, G/F!

Wedding Day

~ Hath

AAAH! I can’t believe we managed to keep this secret the whole time! Today is Jon and Sam’s wedding day. I woke at my customary 7:15, and headed to the gym. I was not expecting Jon at all this morning, and he didn’t disappoint. I got through my workout, and headed back upstairs to get showered and dressed. Lucy and I were going to go pick up Cori and Nathan. We originally planned \to send a car for them, but we wanted to be able to visit, so we were going to take a cab.

I went into our suite, and David smelled that had breakfast cooking. I was shocked to say the least. “What are you doing, baby?” I asked.

“You have a busy day today, Ms. Wedding Planner,” he said smiling, “and I thought the last thing you’d need is to make breakfast. It’s just eggs…”

“I love eggs,” I said, and gave David a big kiss. “I’m stinky, I need to go shower.” I did, quickly, and was back in time to watch David plate eggs, crispy bacon, and toast. “This looks wonderful,” I said.

“Yeah, well, this is the extent of my culinary skills, so don’t get too used to it.”

“David,” I said, “I could eat eggs every day.” David laughed and rolled his eyes at me. “What time is it?” I asked.

“About quarter past eight,” David said.

“SHIT! Be right back,” I said, and grabbed the blackberry. I called down to the kitchen, to the manager’s office. “Morning, Elliot,” I said. “It’s Hath Gengras."

“What can I do for you this morning?”

“How busy are the kitchens?”

“Not too bad, why?”

“I wanted to order breakfast for Boss, and forgot to do it last night. It’d be a rush, so I don’t want to ask if the kitchens are too busy.”

He laughed at me. “Don’t you know that the customer is always right? And we expect demands from the celebrities? I’ve got to say, you and your boss, though have been quite refreshing. I’d be happy to do this for you. What and when?”

I gave him the breakfast order, asked for it to be delivered by 9 if they could manage it, and thanked him profusely. Everyone here has been really nice, and tried to bend over backwards to be accommodating. I finished my breakfast just as Lucy knocked on the door.

David answered. “Right on time!” he said, pulling Lucy into a hug. “Where’s Flash?”

Lucy laughed. “Still sleeping. Poor baby is tired. Hath ready?”

I came out of the bedroom, minimal makeup (I figured there’d be lots of crying when Sam picked the perfect dress, plus, I had a surprise of my own for the girls) and comfy jeans and flannel shirt. I grabbed my bag, complete with manicure scissors just in case, drew David down for a smacking kiss, swatted his ass, and said, “Ready! Where are the other girls?” I asked when we got out into the hall.

Lucy saluted me. “Ma’am, they will receive a phone call upon our return, and will meet us in the aforementioned location in the lobby, ma’am.”

“Bitch!” I said, and we cracked up laughing.

We crept past Jon and Sam’s room, and when we went past the service elevator, it opened and a room service cart came out. “Is this for Sinclair? I’m Hath.”

The waiter nodded. I lifted the lids to inspect everything. “Looks good, thanks,” I said, and tipped the kid. I knew Jon would probably tip him as well, but I thought it was the right thing to do.

Lucy just looked at me. “Damn, Hath, what are you going to do when you don’t have someone to take care of? I think you’ve become just as dependent on that as Jon has become on you.”

I groaned. “Tell me about it,” I said, disgusted with myself. “I swear, I hear him in my head. How the hell can I anticipate what he wants? Can you tell me that? Like breakfast. I was eating breakfast with David, and I heard a voice in my head say ‘I’m awake, Jeeves, where’s my eggs?’ and after I flipped my brain the bird, I ordered up breakfast for them.” I shook my head. “Who am I, and where is GSA?”

Lucy just laughed. “I think Slutzilla killed her.”

We giggled all the way to the valet, and asked him to get us a cab. “Good morning, George!” I said brightly, hoping he remembered me from last night. "We're off to the airport this morning."

“Hey there, Ms. Gengras,” he said back, waving for a mini-van style cab.

I shook my head at him. “George, please, call me ‘Hath’. ‘Ms. Gengras’ is way too snooty for this girl.”

He just smiled. “Yes, ma’am.”

We climbed into the cab and made it to the airport in record time. I knew we wouldn’t have long to wait, so I asked the cabbie to circle around or wait for us, and he agreed. He didn’t care; the meter was still running. We girls went to meet Cori and Nathan at arrivals. They were just staying overnight, so they just had their carry-ons. I had brought a sign that read “Brother of the Bride” and Lucy had one that said “Matron of Honor”, and we went to go meet our respective planes.

Nathan laughed when he saw me. “Hi there, Hath,” he said, giving me a hug. “Today’s the day.”

“Sure is. Jon should be telling her just about now,” I said, looking at my watch. “The plan is to bring you and Cori to Sam and Jon’s room so you can say ‘hi’, then I think you’re stuck with Jon; we girls are going dress shopping.” I handed him his room key. “You’re all checked in, and you’re down the hall from the rest of us.”

He shook his head at me and chuckled. “Taking charge again, I see,” he said.

“Hey,” I shrugged. “I’m good at it. Let’s go find the girls.”

We found Lucy and Cori and after another round of hugs, poured into the cab, and headed for the hotel. Along the way, Queen played. “Yeah, boss?” I said by way of answer.

“Just making sure they got in okay,” he said. “You were right; she’s going to marry me Hath! She’s really going to do it!”

“There was never any doubt, sweetheart. We’ve got Cori and Nathan, and should be back in about half an hour.”

“OK. Oooh, gotta go. See you then,” he said, and hung up.

“Boss?” Cori asked, and Lucy and I told then about the bet and all the stuff I’ve been doing for Jon all week, and we were all in hysterics when we got back to the hotel.

Right on time, Nathan knocked on Sam’s door. Sam answered, and the look on her face told me that Jon had left this bit for a surprise, too. Nathan pulled her into a big bear hug.

“How ya doin', Sis?" he asked, a big smile on his face.

"I'm excited," she gushed. She pulled away from her brother to hug her best friend. "I'm so glad you're here," she told them both. I shot Jon an I-told-you-so look, and he flipped me off. "Cori, we've got so much to do today!” Sam said.

"She doesn't believe me about just having to pick out a dress and show up for the wedding," Jon told them from over her shoulder.

Cori shook her head. "Men," she said, rolling her eyes.

Jon looked at me and Lucy, raising one eyebrow in an unspoken question.

God, for someone so intelligent, he’s dense as a brick. I rolled my eyes at him. "Hair and make-up, boss," I told him, laughing.

"Oh, that reminds me," Jon said, "I'll be right back."

He disappeared to the bedroom. While he was gone, Sam ushered us all into the suite, and we all sat down in the living room. When Jon came back, he handed Sam a beautifully wrapped box. I had wrapped it myself, and knew what this was. "Your wedding present, my love," he told her.

Sam tore into the gift and gasped. There were a dozen beautiful diamond studded hair pins. "Oh, Jon," she breathed, "they're beautiful."

"Not as beautiful as you," he assured her.

She stood up and flung herself in his arms. "I love you," she told him, wrapping her arms around his neck, "so very much!" She kissed him quickly, then turned to us girls. "We've gotta get going," she said.

Sam walked over to Nathan and leaned down to hug him again. "I'm guessing you're here to give me away?"

"Then you guessed correctly," he told her. "And good riddance, I've been waiting 35 years to get rid of you," he teased.

"For that, I'm going to leave you in Jon's care," she laughed.

Lucy called Ang’s and Steph’s cell phones, and told them we were heading out. They were already in the lobby waiting for us. When we got down there, Melissa, at the front desk, let me know our car was here. “Right on time,” I said, and thanked her. My glare to the others had them not talking about how I knew her name, and had the car all set already.

The stretch limo took us all to a gorgeous upscale bridal shop. I slid the scissors out of my bag and into my back pocket, in case I needed them. The owner had assured both Jon and I that they knew there were to be no tags, but hey, shit happens sometimes.

At the bridal shop, Sam looked at dress after dress, and looked a bit shell shocked. We all went to the racks, pulling out gowns and discussing (or arguing) their merits and Sam was just laughing at us. “Hey, ya’ll, who’s gonna be wearing this dress?” Chagrinned, we settled down, and watched as Sam wandered the aisles of silk, satin, taffeta, and lace, touching everything. Ang was snapping pictures, and capturing the wonder and delight on Sam’s face.

I wandered down a small aisle in the back, marked with a discreet sign that said “Maternity Gowns”. In three more months, wearing a white gown may be a little ridiculous, but I looked anyway, just to get ideas. Ang came over to me, and smiled. “So, when do we do this for you?” she asked, and I smiled.

“May, I think,” I said, “but I don’t know if I’m going to wear a white gown. I mean,” I motioned to my abdomen. “They’re gonna be showing by then.”

Ang shrugged. “So what? You’re entitled to wear a white gown on your wedding day.”

Maybe she’s right.

When I wandered back to the others, I saw that Sam had pulled a bunch of gowns from the rack for us to look at, and we all narrowed it down to two. Cori went with her into the dressing room to help her, and when they came out, Sam had a little frown on her face. "I'm not sure I like the way this one fits," she told us, sweeping one hand down her belly to indicate she meant the way it hugged her baby bump.

"Go try on the other one, then," Ang suggested.

"I'll be right back," Sam told them, and hurried out of the room; Cori trailing close behind.

A few minutes later, Sam appeared again. Oh, we almost died. Sam held the train up with one hand and twirled, showing us the whole dress. She looked like a fairy princess: a glowing, gorgeous, fairy princess. I could tell by the look on her face that she knew this was The Dress. I looked at Lucy and Steph –- Ang was snapping more pictures. They all knew it too.

The dress was striking. A wide band of white satin rested on her upper arms, leaving her shoulders bare. The bodice clung, but fell loosely from just below her bust in an empire waistline. The skirt of the dress had a line of big white roses and vines embroidered across it diagonally from left to right, and wrapped around to edge the short train that would follow Sam as she walked.

Sam let the train fall, and reached up to wrap her pony tail up in a bun. "So what do ya'll think?"

I thought I was going to have to murder someone. There, dangling under her armpit was a delicate little tag. A price tag. I shot a murderous glance at the shop owner who paled under her expertly applied makeup. Apparently she remembered my threat to take our business elsewhere, but I knew we would never do that. Not with the look on Sam’s face when she watched her reflection in the mirror. Still, the woman at least had the good grace to look upset and apologetic. I think I’ll keep this little tidbit to myself when Jon asks how it went; and I’m sure he’ll ask.

I jumped up, sliding the scissors out of my pocket, rushed forward, and unobtrusively clipped the tag while pulling Sam into a hug. If I do say so myself, it was a pretty slick move and Sam is none the wiser. "Oh, Sam it's beautiful. You're beautiful," I said softly. "Jon will swallow his tongue," I laughed. Cori had tears in her eyes. And so starts the blubbering. We’ll be crying the rest of the day now.

"That's the one," Lucy exclaimed.

“Absolutely,” Steph agreed.

“Perfect,” Ang said.

"We'll take this one," Sam told the attendant.

"I'll box it right up for you, miss," the woman gushed.

While Sam went to change back into her street clothes, I had a quick and stilted conversation with Mari about the price tag. She was mortified and properly chastised, and offered to include Sam’s veil and headdress in the cost of the gown. We didn’t know what she was doing with her hair, because of the gorgeous pins Jon had given her, but I thanked her and said I’d have to check with my bride to see if she wanted a veil.

Sam didn’t, and I don’t blame her. I wouldn’t want anything covering up those exquisite hair pins, either. So, the woman, crumbling under my glare (she’d make an excellent minion) included a white bustier, white lacy panties, flimsy white stockings, garter belt and garters, and ballerina style slippers – just one more little surprise for Sam.

Sam gasped when she saw the time. It was nearly noon, and on cue, Ang announced she was hungry.

“We have time to get a bite before our next appointment, Sam,” I said, smiling.

"What appointment?" Sam asked, "Jon only mentioned this one."

"That's because I knew he wouldn't think of it, so I made this one myself," I explained. I mean, he is a guy after all. "It's a day spa. I made appointments for all of us. The full treatment. Hair, nails, facials, make-up...everything."

"Wow," Sam breathed.

"Sounds great," Lucy agreed.

Ang shrugged. "Count me in, then."

"Me too," Steph threw in.

"I don't know," Cori said, shaking her head slightly.

"Oh come on, Cor," I said. "It's all on Jonny. Why would you let it go to waste?" Not for nothing did I keep his AmEx number. Want it? ha ha ha.

"Ok, I guess I could go with a little spoiling," she finally agreed.

"Who wouldn't?" Steph laughed, and they all joined in.

We had a quiet but quick lunch at a place not too far from the spa. We made one brief stop at a florist, and Sam and I ran in to get a few flowers for Sam’s hair. Instead of a veil, she wanted white daisies to go along with the hair pins Jon had bought her, which would just make her look more like she stepped out of the pages of a storybook. We barely just made it to the spa on time. Not that they would have given our spots away, but we’re big believers in respecting other people’s time, and didn’t want to piss off the people who were going to be making us more beautiful.

We were all sitting around having various things plucked, painted, colored and sanded, when Lucy mused, “I wonder what the guys are doing."

"Nothing this fun," Sam answered, giggling.

"Because they don't know what fun is," I called over. Though, just the thought of the guys sitting around getting haircuts and manicures together made me laugh.

“What’s so funny?” Ang asked.

“Can you imagine the guys sitting around a salon or barber shop together, shooting the shit while they get cut, colored, and manicured?” I snorted with laughter.

“I’d lo-o-o-ove to get pictures of THAT,” she said.

I saw Sam hand the package of pins to her stylist, and Stephanie remembered the flowers, and brought them over.
The woman worked on Sam's hair for over an hour, and I could see the updo taking shape. God, the woman was good with hair. When she was done, we all stared. Sam’s hair was pinned up to the crown of her head, with curls tumbling down. She had a crown of daisies, and the diamonds sparkled as Sam turned her head under the lights.

“Ohhh, Sam, you look like a fairy princess. Just gorgeous,” I said, and air kissed her cheek. The other girls agreed.

My hair was down, and the stylist made big fat curls in it. They kissed my shoulders, which would be bare in my dress, and were deliciously touchable. She had used copper to highlight my already highlighted hair, and it looked wonderful. We all looked good, but Sam was a true vision.

We were stunned when it was nearly 5 o'clock and we were just pulling up in front of the hotel. I sent a quick text to Jon. Getting dressed, be there soon! We zipped up to Sam’s suite, stopping off at our own rooms to grab our dresses first, and Nathan was in there, pacing.

"Ya'll better hurry up," he called out. "The sun's gonna be setting soon."

We were quick. Ultra-quick. I mean, our hair and stuff was already done; all we had to do was not mess it up. Sam got her lingerie on while we all slipped our dresses on. I had planned to wear red, but before I left Boston, I found this absolutely gorgeous navy silk dress. It had a floor-length straight skirt, slit nearly to the waist on one side. It was strapless, with a sweetheart neckline. Matching navy over-the-elbow gloves and shawl would keep me from getting too cold. I had high-heeled pumps dyed to match, and I was pretty sure my feet would be blue by the end of the night, but I didn’t care.

We helped Sam into her gown, and Cori had the honor of zipping her up. When we all came out of the bedroom, Nathan crossed to his sister. “You are beautiful,” he said, and kissed her cheek gently.

I led the parade into the elevator and down through the lobby. We turned quite a few heads. Outside, the two limos waited. We girls got into one car, the one that’d been catering to us all day, and Nathan and Sam got into the vintage Bentley Jon and I picked out. Our bouquets were waiting for us in the car; the Bentley driver had picked them up. Sam had a gorgeous cascading bouquet of white daisies and yellow roses, and we all had a single rose bundled with baby’s breath and tied with white ribbons. Matt had the guys’ boutonnieres already , and I think we were all set.

“Relax,” Ang said to me. She could see me ticking off things in my head. “It’s done, and it’s perfect. Let’s just enjoy it now.”

Our car pulled up to the curb first, and we all piled out and headed for the group by the railing. Cori hung back with Sam’s flowers, and waited on Nathan and Sam. The guys all looked gorgeous. I mean more gorgeous than usual. There’s something about a man in a well-cut suit that just turns me to mush. And six of them, well I was really close to swooning. When I passed Jon, I put a hand on his arm and smiled. When I got to David, he touched my arm, and mouthed “I love you” to me, springing tears to my eyes. I continued over to the other side of the JP, and turned expectantly.

Mother Nature had cooperated, and provided a glorious sunset. The sky was a canvas of colors: purples, pinks and oranges swirling together beautifully. Some of the cherry blossoms were starting to come out, and the metaphor it showed – new beginnings – was perfect. Everything was perfect, as it should be on this day.

Cori nodded at Richie, and he began to play the wedding march on his 12-string. It was beautiful, and I decided then that I want David to ask him to play at our wedding, too. Sam was looking around her, and the joy on her face was unmistakable – Jon’s too. They were just perfect for each other.

As Sam made her way toward us, my heart melted. The love pouring off of her was a physical thing. Nathan brought her to Jon and said something to him that I couldn’t hear. Jon answered the same way. The ceremony was short and sweet, as Sam wanted it, but no less heartfelt. Even the simple, “With this ring, I promise my unending love and devotion” had my heart squeezing in my chest. They couldn’t take their eyes off each other.

When the JP said, “You may now kiss the bride” Jon muttered something I couldn’t quite catch, then slowly lowered his lips to Sam’s. They lingered over a kiss that took my breath away.

This is what ‘forever’ looks like.

I’m a Goddess. I know these things.

Jovi Air: FIrst Class All The Way

~ Hath

Thursday morning was an early one. We were all flying Jovi Air to Washington, DC!!!!

Yesterday, Jon had said he was really enjoying us all being together, and wished we could stick it out the rest of the week. We girls all looked at each other (we were wondering how he was going to get us all to DC without making Sam suspicious) and we talked about it, and decided we could take another day off from work, and went to “make our phone calls”. Jon shot a wink at me, and dammit, Sam caught it. She’s suspicious already, but hasn’t been pressing. I rolled my eyes and made some remark about the week being nearly up, and he couldn’t order me around too much longer. I breezed of to the sunroom as if my heart wasn’t pounding.

"Ok, Hath," Sam cut to the chase, "what's up?" She scared the shit out of me.

I tried desperately to play dumb. "Huh?"

"Don't play that shit with me," Sam ordered. "He's up to something and you know what it is. So tell me."

She had me. "Sam, please don't make me ruin the surprise. He's put a lot of thought and prep into it. Can't you just go with it?"

"I don't like surprises," Sam said.

"You'll like this one -- I guarantee it. I've worked hard on it too, so you know it'll be great," I laughed softly. Sam gave me a skeptical look, and I sighed. "Really, it'll be great. Besides you just have to wait until Friday morning then he'll tell you all about it."

"Friday morning, huh?" Sam replied. "I guess I can wait that long."

"Don't tell him I told you anything," I begged. He would literally kill me. "Please?"

"Lips, zipped," Sam told her, laughing.

Today, the alarm was set to go off at 6. We had to be out of the hotel by 8 if we wanted to get to the airport by 9:30. David and I had packed most of our shit last night, and Jon told me to pack for him, and I rubbed my hands together and said “bring on the Jovi underwear” and he backpedaled so fast it made Sam and I burst out laughing. Ha ha ha, the prude. So, after we got back to the hotel last night, I was done until we hit DC. Jon and I had agreed to keep up the Jeeves thing until after the wedding, so if he had last-minute things, or I had questions or problems, it wouldn’t be strange that we were still joined at the hip.

I turned off the alarm a few seconds before it would have sounded. I rolled out of bed, and stretched, then went into the bathroom. After turning on the water, I stripped off my nightgown, looked in the mirror and gasped. I ran back into the other room, and woke up David.

“Hey, there, sexy Momma,” he drawled. “You naked for me?” He reached for me, and I laughed softly, and swatted him away.

“In a minute, baby, look!” I stood and turned a little, caressing my abdomen. If there was just one LJ in there, there wouldn't be anything to see yet, but with two, and I'm short-waisted, well, there wasn't much, but I knew it wasn't just my belly. David would know it too.

David squinted, then his face lit up. “Baby bump!” he crowed, and kissed it. “Aw, Hath, I’ve never seen anything so beautiful.” He put his mouth right up close to my belly. “Morning, kiddies, it’s Daddy. I love you.” He looked up at me, and I had tears in my eyes. “Don’t cry, baby, I love you too.”

I heard Queen playing in the other room, but ignored it. Jon will just have to fend for himself this morning. I laughed and crawled into bed with David, my shower forgotten. He rolled me under him and slid into me gently, one glorious inch at a time. He braced himself on his hands, and stroked me slowly, driving me crazy. Ever since I became pregnant, all my senses, especially touch, were heightened. I thought that was an old wives’ tale, but hell, they don’t get to be wives’ tales without a wife saying something!

David leaned down to kiss me, and I wrapped my arms around his neck, and pulled him on top of me. “I don’t want you to treat me like I’m gonna break,” I said to him. “When the LJs are bigger, you won’t be able to do this. You can now; I want you on top of me.” I kissed him. “I want to feel your weight on me.” I bit his neck, but not hard enough to leave a mark. “I want to feel your heat, your sweat pour into me.” I lifted my hips, matching David’s rhythm.

We kissed and loved and stroked each other until my breathing became ragged. David rolled us so I was astride him, and pushed me up so he could reach my breasts. He stroked and caressed them gently, the lightest grazing of fingertips sending electric shocks straight to my clit. I leaned back with my hands braced on his thighs, and he groaned. This angle was always good for us. I watched as he licked his thumb and brought it to my clit, making lazy circles while I rode him.

My head fell back as my orgasm approached. A moan escaped my lips and David shushed me, which made me giggle. My giggle turned into a louder moan as he gently pinched my clit. “Oh, God, David!” I said, trying to be quiet, as I got closer to the edge. My orgasm came on a long, low moan, and I was rewarded with David’s matching moan as he pulsed inside me. I rode him until his sensitive flesh couldn’t take it anymore, and he rolled us again so we were side by side.

By now, I noticed the steam coming from the bathroom, and I chuckled. “Baby,” I said, tracing the little laugh lines at his eyes. “We better go make use of that shower before all the hot water is gone.” David’s eyes looked into mine, and in that moment we were the only two people on Earth. He was stroking my hair back from my face over and over, and just smiling at me. He wrapped me in a hug and held me tight. I could hear his heart racing, and we stayed clinched together until his heart rate, and mine, returned to normal.

After we showered quickly in lukewarm water, I got dressed for traveling, and phoned the front desk, asking for someone to come and get our bags. I asked them to send a bellhop and cart to Jon’s room too, figuring that’s why he called. I had just barely hung up when there was a knock on the door.

“That can’t be them already,” I said, and opened the door, laughing when I saw Jon there.

“Jeeves, you didn’t answer your phone,” he said disapprovingly. “I almost had to order my own bags taken downstairs!”

Quoting a line from one of my favorite movies (My Cousin Vinny) I put on my best Brooklyn and drawled, “Oh my God, what a fucking nightmare!” (Eat your heart out, Marisa Tomei!) David laughed as he came from the bathroom, a towel wrapped loosely around his waist.

Jon raised an eyebrow. “Are you going to be ready to go in…” he checked his watch, “10 minutes?”

“Boss, we’re all packed, except for whatever David’s throwing on. Bellhops are on the way up to your room and ours. Relax,” I said, “I’ve got it covered.”

Jon checked behind him, and stepped inside for a minute, shutting the door. “Think Sam suspects?”

I shook my head. “Not what it is, but she knows something is up. We were all a little too eager to extend our plans. Sorry about that. But don’t worry, I think you’re still in the clear, boss.”

He nodded. “Good. When do people arrive tomorrow?”

I spoke softly. “Cori’s coming in around 9:30, and Nathan’ll be here not too long after that. They have reservations in our hotel under pseudonyms, and Lucy and I will go pick them up. Since Sam will know about everything Friday morning, we're going to bring them straight to your rooms. If you want to leave that bit for a surprise, it’s up to you.”

I took a deep breath. “I called the dress shop and confirmed our appointment, and stressed that if a single price tag is seen by Sam, we will take our business elsewhere. The woman, Mari, assured me that won’t happen. I have manicure scissors in my bag anyway, just in case. You have the hairpins, and I hope you have them well hidden. Does Richie have the rings?” Jon nodded. “Then everything is on target as planned, boss.”

Jon gave me a quick hug. “Thanks for all this,” he said. “I do appreciate it, though I may not show it.” He signed. “Now I just have to make sure Sam will say ‘I do’.”

I chuckled softly. “She will, Jon. When we were sightseeing on Sunday, I commented to her that you were so love with her and the baby, it showed in the pictures I was taking for you. She said the feeling is completely mutual.” I put my hand on his arm. “She loves you, boss. She’ll marry you.” I laughed, “unless you fuck up royally on the plane or at the show tonight.” I thought about saying something else, but decided against it.

Jon, however, saw me thinking, and just looked at me. “What? What were you going to say?”

I sighed. “You may want to lay off slapping random girl-butt tonight.” I held up a hand. “I know it doesn’t mean anything, and it’s part of the Jovi experience, and absolutely none of my business, but it gets under Sam’s skin. The night before her wedding, she shouldn’t be annoyed. That’s just my two cents’ worth.”

Sam chose that moment to knock on the door. “Jon, are you in there bothering Hath?” she called through.

I opened the door, laughing. “He was just bitching at me because I wasn’t answering the phone earlier. David and I were busy screwing.” Sam burst out laughing, and I looked at Jon, who looked like he swallowed his tongue, and I winked at him. The elevator dinged, and two bellhops came out. “One here, one four doors down on the right,” I said, directing the guys. David brought our bags out and loaded them on one dolly, and Jon and Sam went to go supervise their bag retrieval. We went downstairs, and Jon and the others went to get loaded into the SUV.

“I’ll be right there,” I said, and made the rounds, thanking the concierge, desk manager, valet, and the others for their help this week, and gave them envelopes with healthy tips. When I got outside, Jon was shaking his head at me. “What?” I asked. “The hotel staff was super nice, efficient, helpful and flexible, and it’s only right to thank them.”

“I already did that this morning, while you and David were screwing,” he said, and I laughed. “Let’s go, Jeeves.” He motioned me into the car, and I went to snuggle next to David. Jon climbed in after me, sat with Sam, and we were off. We’d meet the others on the plane.

Now Boarding…

Sam had already seen and flown in the flagship plane, but I hadn’t. It was more impressive in person than it was in pictures. We went through the private security and were whisked out to the plane. Climbing the stairs, I looked around. People were watching out the airport windows; I could see little person-shapes. I waved, and David laughed at me.

“Get your ass in the plane, Momma,” he said.

We had just gotten settled (and I had gotten Jon yet another drink and snack) the others arrived, and after a flurry of hugs and kisses, we prepared for takeoff. Once we hit altitude, Ang and I went to the media screen and got her laptop hooked up.

“What are you girls doing?” Richie asked.

Ang turned. “I’m going to show you the pictures from this week.” She winked at him. “I am your in-flight entertainment, darlin’.”

I hip-checked her. “Jack is going to be calling you a bloody yank,” I said with a British accent, making Ang laugh.

“Too right, but I don’t give a shit.”

“Well, guess I’ve been told off then,” I said, and stuck my tongue out at Ang.

"You need someone to help you with that?" Richie asked.

I went over to him and stuck out my hand. Puzzled, he took it and we shook. "Hi, I don't think we've met. I'm Hath, the Goddess of all things technical. I've never met a wire I couldn't connect, or a gadget I couldn't work."

Richie smirked at me. "I'll bet you couldn't fly this plane," he said.

"NO MORE BETS!" the other guys called out, making us laugh.

"Get your arse up here, TechnoGoddess," Ang said, exasperated that I left things half-done.

She laughed and we got everything working then went back to our seats to look at the slideshow. Ang did a fantastic job putting the pictures together, and the shots themselves were amazing. Even the ones I took looked good, so maybe it was just the equipment. JUST KIDDING! Sheesh, don’t want to get Sharpie’d over that.

Anyway, we started with the shots from the airport on Friday. You could see the excitement in everyone’s faces, and the sheer pleasure we felt in being in each other’s company.

The shots from Friday night were met with catcalls and groans. The shot Steph took of Ang correcting my cue hold came out great. It looked like we were going to do it on the pool table. Shit, no wonder the guys played horribly that night.

“I know, I know,” I said, “Jesus Hath. But it isn’t all me. Look, Ang is wrapped around me like a stripper on a pole,” I said.

“Yeah,” Ang said, “but it isn’t my girlies nearly ready to pop out then, is it?”

The last shot on the screen was all of us on the rooftop of that parking garage from Sunday. We were all loosely gathered around Jon and Sam, the other couples all mixed up, and we all had our arms around each other; didn’t matter who it was. We were laughing and carefree, and this was just the very picture of friendship and love. We are a lucky group.

Ang took some packages out of her bag and gave them to us. "Don't bitch at me," she said. "Just open them." I snuggled in to David and opened the first one. It was a framed photo of the Harem in front of the limo from Friday night. We were all big smiles and mucho skin, and it was gorgeous. When I opened the second one, David sucked in a breath. It was a shot of Slutzilla from Saturday night. Ang had cropped it so Jon was out of the picture, but you could see David over my shoulder, looking ready to eat me alive. It was wonderful. After we all thanked Ang, she told us we'd all be getting CDs of the photos before we left for home. We knew what that meant - after the wedding pics were taken. Gah, I can't believe we've kept this to ourselves.

The Jovis Have Landed...

Once we got the hotel (the guys went straight to the venue for sound check, and Jon gave me the time off to get David’s and my stuff settled), I made my rounds of the hotel staff. I met George the valet, Melissa the front desk manager, Clarissa the concierge, Elliot, the restaurant manager, and I toured the gym. I programmed everything into the blackberry, and was ready.

I went upstairs to join the others, who had all gathered in Jon and Sam's suite. Well, Matt and the girls did. Sam told us that she wasn't going to the show that night. She was tired and really didn't want to watch Jon shaking his ass for the women in the audience or slapping some girl on the ass after he'd danced with her. Sam told us to go if we wanted, but hell, half the fun of going is going with your friends, and (don’t take away my heart-and-dagger T-shirt) but the set lists were so similar, we’ve already SEEN tonight’s show. I wasn’t saying anything first, though.

Lucy was the first to step forward and say that she'd keep Sam company at the hotel, Steph was right behind her with her own declaration of "I'll stay."

“OK,” I said, “Matt, you go tell the guys we’re bailing. I’m staying too.”

We were all in adjacent (though not adjoining) rooms and we girls quickly planned a mini-pajama party. We decided we’d all hang out in Sam and Jon's suite until they we ready to go to bed and then go back to our own rooms. Sam was going to order pizza and some movies on pay-per-view, but Lucy stepped up and said that she had brought some movies we could watch. wooHOO! We’d get to watch some of Jon’s movies I hadn’t seen yet (shut up) and I was psyched. Girlfriend's boyfriend or not, the dude is hot; the drooling it can't be helped.

We spent a quiet evening hanging out, pigging out on pizza, and critiquing Jon's performance as first a painter, then a vampire, then as a leading man. We all left their suite around 10. Sam was exhausted, and we all had to get rested for tomorrow – it was a long day. I am SO not cut out to be a rock star. I mean I didn’t do anything but sit on my ass today, and I was wiped. Before I crawled into bed, I texted Jon, telling him Sam was in bed, and everything was all set for the morning.

When David came to bed, it was only midnight, so I was still awake.

“How was the show, sweetie?” I asked.

“Good, of course,” he laughed. “The crowd was wonderful, and we sounded good. Jon was a bit miffed you didn’t show up, though.”

“I know, but the girls were all staying here, and I didn’t want to miss it. Didn’t Matt explain all this?”

“Yeah he did, but still.” He pouted. “Didn’t you want to see us?”

I rolled my eyes. “Baby, you guys did pretty much the same show the last few times.” I laughed at his shocked face. “Sorry, but it’s true. Not that it isn’t amazing, but we all hung out and watched movies and ate pizza, and had a good old-fashioned girl night.”

The Last Day...in Chicago

~ Hath

Wednesday was a day off for the band. Do you think it meant a day off for me? You guessed it. I had gotten accustomed to getting to the gym around 7:30 and doing my own light workout when we didn’t have something else planned (no weights; doc would kill me; so would David) before Jon came down. I was a little late this morning, so didn’t start until 7:45. I don’t know about you, but when I’m working out, I’m totally in “the zone”. Unless someone comes up and unplugs my Nano (loaded with 150 beats-per-minute music) I have no idea you’re there.

So, this morning, after stretching, I attacked the heavy bag. I much prefer a sparring partner, but I haven’t asked anyone to help me, so it’s been me and the bag. I don’t want the “don’t overdo” lecture. I checked with my doctor after finding out about the twins, and he said as long as I don’t overexert myself, I’ll, be fine. I know my body, and what I can and cannot do, so I’m working out.

I was working my uppercut punches, grunting when each one landed, when I felt a tap on the shoulder. I jumped a mile then turned, sweeping my foot to bring whoever snuck up on me to the ground. It was Tico, and he saw it coming, and jumped my foot, and lurched forward, tackling me to the ground. Gently.

As Tico laid me gently on the mat, Jon walked in and rushed over. “Hath! Are you alright? Fuck, man, what did you do to her?”

I still had my Nano going, Ministry if you must know, and all I saw was Jon’s mouth moving. “I’m fine,” I yelled, though they weren’t the ones with headphones on. When they winced, I turned off the thing and pulled the buds from my ears. “Sorry,” I said. “Jon, I’m fine. Tico scared the shit out of me so I tried to knock him down and he turned the tables on me.” I looked at the man in question. “Nice job,” I said.

“Gracias, Querida,” he answered, still holding me. He is so incredibly strong, it’s hard to describe. I felt completely and utterly safe with him holding me, even though he was still sorta holding me on the ground.

“You could let me up now,” I said, laughing.

“Not until Jon backs off,” Tico said. “I don’t want his death on my conscious, and if he tries to hit me, I’m gonna kill him.”

Their bickering made me laugh. “It’s fine. Boss, back off.”

He did, and I got up. “I got a late start this morning,” I said. “I’m usually done by now, and ready to work.” I rolled my eyes, “Tico, I haven’t seen you here in the mornings.”

“I am not usually up this early, but I woke up and couldn’t go back to sleep, so here I am.” He stood and held out a hand, helping me to my feet. I promptly hooked my ankle around his, and dropped him to the mat.

“I knew I could do it,” I said smugly. He grabbed for me, and I let out a little scream and ran to hide behind Jon.

“Oh no,” Jon said laughing, pulling me from behind him. “Do not use me for a shield. Are you done with your workout, then?”

“Nearly,” I said. “I still have my combinations to run through; no more than twenty minutes.”

Tico came over. “Want help?” he asked. Jon went to start the treadmill.
“Sure!” I showed him on the bag what my self-defense combinations were, slowly at first, then at my normal speed. Tico nodded at me and grabbed a set of focus mitts, and we worked together slowly, then sped up after we adjusted for height. I went at him for a solid ten minutes, and was dripping with sweat. On the final combination, I gave a guttural shout with every landed punch, and the yell that accompanied the final jab intended for the attacker’s throat echoed in the room.

Afterwards, I circled the room, winding my shoulders and stretching my arms. I jogged a couple laps, then rolled to the floor to stretch. I was still pretty flexible, as I wasn’t showing, and I still had a cute-ish figure, so I was wearing a t-shirt that came to just the top of my track pants. When I leaned over to stretch my back, the shirt crept up, showing my tramp stamp. Jon was behind me, and laughed, “That ink always cracks me up,” he said.

“What do you mean, ‘always’? When have you seen it?” My eyes narrowed and I pierced Jon with a glare.

“David has that frigging picture of your tat as his avatar on Backstage,” he said. “Plus, after Monday,” he said, dropping his voice, “I saw more of the pictures from his birthday.” He smiled. “Man, I saw a LOT of ink.”

I looked around to see where Tico was. He was riding the LifeCycle thing on the other side of the room. “Son of a bitch!” I hissed. “I’m going to fucking kill him. Sorry, boss, you need another keyboard player.”

I pushed myself to my feet and was halfway to the door before Jon could react. “Jesus,” he said, and took off after me. He caught me by the arm, and spun me around. I shook him off, and Tico perked up.

“You okay, Querida?”

“Yeah, T, I’m fine,” I said, flapping my hand at him. Without thinking, I had used his nickname, and he grinned. What the hell. I got pregnant at his house, I may as well get familiar with him.

“Hath,” Jon said, “I badgered him into showing me.” He looked at Tico, who was very interested in the conversation. Jon led me outside the door. “Look,” he said. “He was asking about the PM conversation we alluded to on Monday, and he was worried that you thought you weren’t good enough for him.” He shook his head. “He only showed me to illustrate how beautiful he thinks you are. He showed me one of the ones he took from behind you, so I saw the dragonfly, and one with the pillow, so I saw your Elvis. Is that all of them?”

I wasn’t going to be joked out of my mad. “Yeah, that’s all of them,” I said. “He promised me he’d keep them to himself. He PROMISED me.” I was getting all worked up, and almost in tears. I can’t believe David did that.

“Hey,” Jon said. “Please don’t kill him. It’d take too long to train someone else.” He looked at me, and I couldn’t even manage a wan smile. I was still hurt that David would betray me like that. “Hath, he didn’t mean to hurt or betray you.” I looked at him, surprised. “Yeah, I see it in your face. Honest, he just wanted advice on how he could make you see how he sees you.”

I was starting to cool off, and was willing to hear David out when I went back upstairs. “Well, thank you for not making fun of me or telling the others.” I was looking at the floor. “It’s hard enough looking you in the face after the whole PM thing,” I said softly. “You’ve been a real gentleman.”

Jon put a finger under my chin and lifted my head. “I told you before, I would never intentionally hurt any of my friends, and I’m happy to call you my friend. You okay?”

“I guess so,” I said, and sighed. “Okay, I won’t kill David, but I’m gonna have Ang deaden both his arms for me later. I haven’t mastered that myself yet.”

Jon laughed. “That’s alright I guess.” He looked in the window, and saw Tico trying desperately to look like he was not trying to eavesdrop. “We’d better get back in there before he gets too curious.”

Jon finished his run, and Tico sat with me while Jon rattled off his breakfast order. Sam wasn’t thrilled about me making his breakfast when she was right there and willing to do it, AND she wouldn’t let me make her anything but tea. “You really eat all that shit, boss?” Tico said.

Jon grinned. “Yep, Hath makes a good breakfast.” He winked at me.

I grinned evilly. “Why don’t you go round up Hugh, I’ll get David, and meet back at Boss’ suite? I’ll make breakfast for everyone.”

“You don’t have to do that,” Tico said.

“Darlin’, I’ve been making breakfast for Boss here and leaving to go do it again for me and David all week. It’d be nice to make just ONE meal. Come,” I said, looking at Jon.

“Yeah, come,” he said, and rolled his eyes.

When I went back up to get David, he could see right away that I’d been upset. We talked about what Jon had told me, and David apologized for showing Jon the photos. He said that he wouldn’t have done it if Jon would have made me feel bad in any way, and apologized for breaking his promise to me. He was just so incredulous that I couldn’t see him the way he saw me, and wanted advice from someone he could trust. “I never meant to hurt you,” David said. “If I thought for a second that he would make you feel uncomfortable, I never would have done it.” He kissed me gently. “Do you believe I never meant to hurt you with this?” I nodded. We were fine.
We met Tico and Hugh outside Jon’s door. Hugh knocked, and Sam answered. She couldn’t see me, but just saw the guys. “What’re ya’ll doing here?” she asked.

David spoke up. “Jon invited us for breakfast,” he said. “He said Hath was cooking. Isn’t she here?”

Sam started getting angry. “That son of a bitch…JON!” she hollered, then slammed the door. I could just imagine what was happening. She already thought that Jon was taking this thing too far, and I’d be damned if I let him get in trouble for something I did. I pushed the guys out of the way, and knocked on the door.

Sam answered, and still had her mad on. “Sam,” I said, “really, I invited the guys to have breakfast here. I didn’t want to cook two breakfasts this morning, and didn’t think you’d mind.”

“I don’t mind, but I thought he was being an ass again,” she said.

“I know, but he’s been really good about keeping this just between us,” I said.

Sam let us in, and she punched David as he passed. I thought that was hysterical. I went into the kitchen to get the pancakes started. His royal pain-in-the-assness wanted pancakes. I found chocolate chips and whipped cream in the supplies, and smiled. He’s getting a pancake alright. Sam asked what she could do to help. I had her start the bacon and sausage frying. A few minutes later, the suite smelled wonderful.

I had a pile of dozens of pancakes keeping warm in the oven, and made one final big one. I put that on a plate, and made a chocolate chip face on it; the smiley sticking its tongue out. I used whipped cream to make hair on it, and we set the table and called the boys in. Jon laughed when he saw the pancake at his plate. The other guys were bitching that they didn’t get chocolate chip pancakes. Kids.

David and I spent the day together, enjoying ourselves. We took a cab to Grant Park, and walked around for hours, just talking and laughing and basically reconnecting. We really didn’t get to see a whole bunch of each other this week. “Will you come to Philly with us?” I knew this was coming.
s
“I have to be at work on Monday, but I can travel with you. If I leave on the early shuttle, I can stay Sunday night and fly straight to work Monday morning.”

“I don’t want you to be too tired,” David said, and I could see he meant it, but he also REALLY wanted this, and I think I’ve said before, I love him so much, I try to give him whatever he wants.

We had lunch in our suite. This hotel has AWESOME burgers, and the chef sent up a dessert for us. When David looked at me funny, I just said, “Boss.” He knew what I meant. I’d had a great conversation with him (the chef, not Jon) when we got here about what I was doing and why, and he made sure we had everything we needed for Jon’s meals.

After lunch, we went for a swim in the hotel’s pool. We frolicked and played until the chlorine smell got the better of me, then we headed upstairs to get showered. We ran into Jon and Sam in the hall; they were on their way out.

“Hey,” Sam said. “We’re headin’ to Lucy’s for Chinese later; ya’ll wanna come?”

“Sounds good,” I said. “Teek and Hughie going too?”

Sam nodded. It’ll be a “right good time”.

We were the last ones to arrive for dinner; we got a bit distracted in the shower, and we helped ourselves to what was left of the Chinese. When we got into the living room, everyone was arguing about what movie to watch. We finally settled on an old James Bond movie playing on cable – I couldn’t tell you which one. We were strewn around Lucy’s living room, and damned if we didn’t look like we belonged there.

I was sad our week was coming to an end. ‘Jeeves’ notwithstanding, this has been the best time I’ve ever had. These men and women were my extended family, and I loved them all dearly. I was going to miss everyone when I was back in Boston, rattling around my big ol’ empty house.

Maybe I’ll move up my "move-to-Jersey" timetable. I can always hang with Sam when she isn’t with the guys, and can work in the City. Hmmmm...

Chillin'

~Queenie

I can’t believe its Tuesday already. The days are just flying by. I guess it’s really true that the time flies when you are having fun. We certainly are having a bit of that here in Chicago. Matter of fact, after breakfast this morning, Hath and David came and picked up Ang to go to a local shooting range. You should have seen Hath and Ang, Rambo didn’t have anything on these two.

After they left I helped Lucy clean up the kitchen from breakfast and we went into the living room to chat and poor Matt, he was getting questions left and right from Lucy. He was being a good sport about it though. I have to tell you though, he looked relieved when the front door opened a while later and David appeared with the girls in tow. I relieved David of the bags he was carrying and followed Hath into the kitchen.

Hath told me all about their morning and about the text that she had gotten from boss man. “He wants soup and sandwiches, but didn’t say what kind.” She rolled her eyes, “I made the decision for him today. Wanna help?” I nodded, “absolutely. What are we making?”

I got the broccoli and cheese soup going while Hath started on the potato. Half an hour later the kitchen smelled heavenly. Richie had finally woken up by then and wandered in, “what are you two cookin’ up out here today?” He asked as he kissed and hugged both of us. He looked down at Hath as he hugged her, “what is that?” He felt the gun at her back and was surprised to find her packing.

Jon and Sam walked through the front door right about then and as Richie passed thru heading upstairs he warned Jon, “be nice to her, bitch is packing.” Jon looked confused “Jeeves!” Hath rolled her eyes at me and went to talk to Jon.

I followed her out and headed back to the living room. I stood by the doorway as Jon, Sam and Hath filed in, finding seats around the room. I wished I had my camera handy. Jon and Sam were snugged next to each other at one end of the couch, Hath and David were trying to sit in the same chair together, Richie had come back and he was sitting with Lucy on the love seat. And Ang and Matt were sitting on the floor chatting. To say it was surreal was an understatement.

I walked back into the kitchen and stirred the soups. My stomach was starting to rumble for all the good smells in the room. I was starting to feel restless, like I needed to do something, get some fresh air or something. I walked back to the living room and caught Matt’s eye. With a slight nod of my head he excused himself from Ang and headed over to me. “What’s up?” I dragged him over to the door, come out for some air with me?” We grabbed our coats and headed outside, six pairs of eyes following our every move.

It was wicked cold out, but the sun was shining so we braved sitting on the step and just chatted for a few minutes. I stood to stretch and, feeling decidedly devilish , grabbed some snow as I went. Matt stood, sensing what was coming and as I let the snowball fly the front door opened, Matt ducked and David ended up with a chest full of snow! “Fuck Queenie! What the hell was that for?” I started laughing, “I’m sorry, that wasn’t meant for you!” By that time Matt had moved behind me and when I turned to find out where he went I ended up with a chest full of snow. I picked up some more snow and threw it back at him. By this time David had grabbed his coat and gotten into the fray and the others came out to find out what was going on. Before we knew it we had a full-on snowball war going on.

~ Hath

When David yelled "Fuck Queenie!" I jumped up from the chair, the others not far behind. We saw what was going on, and all grabbed assorted coats, hats, mittens, scarves, boots -- basically enough gear to warm up a peewee football team.

David just nailed Steph in the ass, and she jumped, surprised. I took one to the leg and saw it was Matt who had thrown it. I scooped up a handful of snow, but before I could hurl it, I took one to the back of the head. "Lucy!" I shouted, then started to throw. We were all laughing and shouting and cursing and little Gypsy just stood there in the window barking at us. I managed to pelt Jon a few times (which was VERY satisfying) and was smirkng at him when David took me down. Literally. Ang had nailed him in the side of the face, and he lost his balance and fell into me.

He managed not to squish me, but we were in an awful position. We started getting really pelted, and scrambled to get up. I ended up taking out Ang, and David grabbed Richie's leg and upended him. Sam got me in the back of the head and when I turned to swear at her I just stopped and started laughing. She was all covered in snow. All of us were. We looked like a bunch of kids. I haven't had this much fun in years.

A few minutes longer, and I started to go inside. "Jeeves!" Jon shouted.

"What!" I shouted back. I knew what was coming, and turned and ducked at the same time. "I'm going to go check on lunch."

I turned to the door, and got one last one in the back of the head.

I put all my wet stuff in the bathroom, and went into the kitchen. The others were still tossing snow around, and I grabbed Ang's baby and shot some photos through the window. They all came in, and we made quick work of the soups. The grilled cheese was a hit, and we made cocoa and coffee. All too soon, the guys had to get ready for sound check again. We were going to the show, but not sound check. Well, everyone but me was not going to sound check.

As the guys got ready to leave, Jon said, "Coming, Jeeves?"

I sighed. "Yeah, boss. Let's go." Never thought I'd think this: I don't want to go to a Bon Jovi sound check. I want to stay with my friends. Sigh.

Lunch Time

~ Hath

When we were done with the .50, we went back inside. It was February in Chicago after all, and I was freezing my ass off. When we got back in, we handed the rifle back to Ryan with a heartfelt “Thank you” from all of us. That was fun and oddly satisfying.

“You gotta bench?” I asked Ryan, and he knew what I meant. Nodding, he led us down a hall to a room perfumed with the unmistakable scent of Hoppe’s #9. *Deep inhale* Aaaah. Ha ha ha. I took my nine out of the case and broke it down. David watched in amazement as I disassembled the gun, cleaned the barrel, action, and clip seat, oiled everything and had it reassembled in under five minutes. I’ve been doing this a long time, and this is my favorite gun, so I know my way around it. He's been gawping like a fish the whole time. I may just have shocked poor David to his toes today.

Ryan was cleaning the rifles we used. We didn’t use the .22 pistol, so I just gave it a swipe with the oil rag. When it came to the .50, Ryan understandably wanted to clean it himself. I locked the gun back in its case, while Ang watched Ryan clean the rifle, and David looked at me.

“You aren’t going to holster it?”

I smiled. “I can do that when we get back to Lucy’s if you want, but we need to stop at the grocery store on the way back.”

“How come?” David asked.

I showed him my blackberry. Jon had texted me while we were shooting. Jeeves, soup and sandwiches. It’s cold ~Boss

David laughed, “Another edict from the Boss, huh?”

“Yeah, but it’s OK. I wanted soup for lunch.” I groaned. “He didn’t specify what kind.” Sigh. “Fuck him. I’m doing this my way.”

David held me close and nuzzled my neck. “I love it when you bitch about him like that,” he said.

Ang came over. “Giving her a matching bite, David?”

“No,” he said, grabbing for her. “I can give you one,” he said, pretending like he was going to bite her. She squeaked and shoved at him, but he was pretty strong himself, and had a pretty good grip on her.

“Hath, do something!” she begged.

I smiled an evil little smile, went to David and sunk my teeth into his neck. His eyes closed briefly, and he loosened his grip enough for Ang to slither free. Ryan was looking at us like we were all nuts.

“Sorry,” I said. “This is my fiancé, but Ang here has lusted after him for 20 years, so I cut her a little slack.”

Ang punched my arm, “Ow!” and laughing, we left Ryan shaking his head after us.

At the grocery store, we raided the produce aisle. It was nearly 10:30. I could get the soup going if we got back in the next 45 minutes. We grabbed broccoli, onions and potatoes. In the dairy aisle, we went for milk, cream, and various cheeses, and I grabbed a can of chicken stock, just in case. I snagged a loaf of wheat bread (Lucy only had white, and DAMN IT! I knew Jon had a preference for wheat) a pound of butter, chips and dip, and we checked out.

When we got into the car, David looked at me, and I holstered my empty weapon and seated it at the small of my back. The shirts covered it, and you couldn’t tell I was packing. Carrying concealed is one of the perks of having the FFL, but I’d never do it all the time. I mean, really, if I feel that unsafe somewhere that I need weaponry, I’m not going. But, David was oddly turned on by the thought of me with the gun, and as I said, I try to accommodate him, and it wasn’t loaded (I double checked, and put the safety on anyway) so yeah, I geared up.

Matt and Stephanie were in the living room when we got back. I could hear the shower going, and assumed Lucy and/or Richie were in there. Ha ha ha. Ang went to go get cleaned up in the downstairs bathroom. Steph and I left the men in the living room, and went into the kitchen.

“Did you have fun?” Steph asked me. I told her about Ryan and David shooting, and the .50, and she smiled. I really did have fun. “That’s great, Hath,” she said. “What can I help you do?”

“His royal pain-in-the-assness wants soup and sandwiches for lunch. He didn’t specify, so I picked. Wanna help get one of the soups going?”

Steph worked on the broccoli and cheese soup, and I got the potato stoup (as Rachel Ray would call it) started. It was a thick and hearty soup that was really more like a stew, and it was just the thing for a cold day. I got the crock-pot going, and diced and cooked the potatoes while the liquids were mixed. When the taters were done, I put the whole thing to simmer. It’d be ready in a couple hours.

Steph had the broccoli soup simmering, and the kitchen smelled heavenly. Richie stumbled into the kitchen about quarter to noon.

“Are you seriously just getting up?” I asked him, shaking my head.

“Nice outfit, G.I. Jane. What happened to you?” he asked, heading over to me after greeting Steph with a hug and kiss on the cheek.

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“You have a bruise on your neck,” he smirked. His face changed drastically when he wrapped his arm around my waist, and felt the holster. “What the hell is that?”

I turned and lifted the hem so he could see.

“You’re armed?” Richie was incredulous. “You’ve had that with you the whole time?”

I shook my head at him. “No, darlin’, just strapped it on for David," I said.

The man in question came into the kitchen then, with Matt in tow. “Something smells awesome,” he said.

“It’s lunch,” Stephanie answered, “and it isn’t ready yet. Shoo!” We all went back to the living room to chat and visit. Lucy came down and told Richie the shower was free.

“Don’t piss off Hath,” he said, smiling, then loped up the stairs. I flipped off his retreating back. I was having such a good time. I wish we all lived closer together so we could do this more. Around 12:30, the door opened, and Sam and Jon came in. Well, Sam came in, Jon sorta sauntered. Oh Christ, what was he going to do now.

“What smells so good?”

“Lunch,” I said defiantly. “Two kinds of soup that will be ready in about half an hour, and we’re making grilled cheese. Comfort food for a cold day.”

“But I didn’t tell you what I wanted,” Jon complained.

“Right, your mistake, so you’re stuck with what I made.” I turned to flounce from the room. Thank God he didn’t say anything about the hickey.

“Uh, Jeeves,” he said, and I stopped, my shoulders slumped.

“Yeah, boss?” I said warily.

“I thought you wanted to have the morning off to go shooting? Did you get shot in the neck?”

“No, somewhere lower,” I said, staring him in the face, though my cheeks were on fire.

“Be nice to her, man,” Richie called from the stairs. “Bitch is packin’.”

Jon stared. “What?”

I reached behind me and pulled the gun from its holster and held it out to him, barrel down, of course. Jon took it from me, checked the safety, the action, and clip, turned it in his hand, and handed it back. “Nice hardware,” he said, handing it back.

"I like it," i said and did a little Annie Oakley twirl with hit before sliding it back into my holster. I took the whole holster from my pants and locked it back in its box. I've had just about enough of that.

Ang was sitting on the floor, going through her photos with David over her shoulder. They've been really funny together -- like they've been friends forever. She'd made some crack to Richie that had him redder than a body ought to, and she flipped off Jon -- she's assimilated now. Not to say we forget who they are, but now that's just their job, not them.

Matt was adjusting, too. In just a few short days, he's become one of the guys. He and Steph went outside to catch some air -- I don't think the get too much alone time. I went to sit with David, who was in the chair I've taken over as my own. Hey, my ass was going on that chair, and if he was in the way, well, that's his fault. We were all talking and David had something he wanted to ask Steph so he went to open the front door.

I think he just wanted to catch them necking so he could be an ass.

He got quite a surprise though.

Bang, Bang

~ Hath

Tuesday morning, after sitting through another workout, I mustered up my balls, and asked Jon if I could have the morning off. “Ang and I want to go shooting,” I said, cringing at the lambasting I’m sure I’d get. Either that, or the relentless razzing about not being able to handle him. Truth be told, I like him and all, but damn, I’ve spent more time with him than anyone else but David. And most of the hours with David we were asleep!

“Shooting?” Jon raised an eyebrow at me.

“Yeah, ‘shooting’. She and I were talking on the boards, and thought it would be a fun couple of hours. I’ve got my nine mil downstairs, and…”

Jon interrupted. “You have a GUN with you?”

I shrugged. “Yeah, sure.”

“Did you have one when you came to Newark?”

I laughed. “No, boss. I’m not one of those NRA members who has to be armed all the time.” I shook my head. “Nope, I have physical self-defense skills; I don’t need to carry to feel safe.”

He still eyeballed me warily. Glad I could still surprise him.

“What?” I asked. “I’ve been shooting for years, rifles mostly. I’ve had training, safety classes and shoot on a pretty regular basis to keep my skills up. I actually toyed with trying out for the Olympic team until I saw how GOOD those other ladies were. I can get most of my shots near the ten-ring; they get them all through the same damned hole.”

“You’re admitting to something you aren’t good at?”

“Darlin’, I suck at a lot of things,” I said, chuckling, and making him smile. “So how ‘bout it?”

“Yeah, sure,” he said almost too quickly. “But I’m going to need you at sound check again tonight. I’ll have Tony give you something real to do.” He smiled at me. “Don’t want you to think you’re DONE done.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it, boss,” I said, rolling my eyes. I grabbed my Blackberry and called Ang. “Hey, it’s Goddess.”

“What’s up, honey?”

“Boss gave me the morning off; wanna go blow shit up?” Jon laughed at me.

“Hell yeah,” Ang said. “I’ll have Lucy give me directions, and you come pick me up.”

“I just need to jump in the shower and change; I’ll be there in 45 minutes,” I said. “Can you call them and see what they have for club guns? I’ve got the nine mil, but if they have a rifle or two, maybe we can have ourselves a shoot-off.”

“You’re on,” Ang said, delighted.

Jon finished his run, I gave him his water and towel, a bit miffed that this was starting to become second nature, and we left, me opening the door for him. After I rang for the elevator, and Jon got in, I pressed the button for his floor and made to jump out.

“Where are you going?” he asked, stopping the doors from closing

“I’m taking the stairs down; I don’t like elevators,” I said.

Jon rolled his eyes at me. “I don’t them either, but I suck it up,” he answered, and grabbed my arm and pulled. “You can too. Get your ass in here.”

I white-knuckled the railing and counted off the seconds in my head. To get from 34 down to 22 took 43 seconds. Not too bad, but still 43 seconds too long.

Jon disappeared into his room, and I let myself into ours. “Hey sexy Momma,” David called from the kitchen. “You don’t have to cook breakfast for Boss this morning?” He came out with two mugs of coffee; his full, mine half.

“Nope,” I said, smiling, and taking my mug from him. “Ang and I are going shooting this morning.”

David thought a minute. “Can I come?”

I shrugged. “Sure, if you want to.”

“I want to be wherever you’re gonna be.” He smiled wryly. “I feel you’ve seen more of Jon than me.”

I reached for David’s pants. “Now, baby, I’ve seen ALL of you, and that’s way more than I wanna see of him.” I kissed him. “Seriously, though, I didn’t want to say anything to him because I don’t want him ragging on me, but I agree. He almost seemed almost grateful that I had something else I wanted to do.” I shook my head. “Apparently, he agrees, but didn’t want to say anything either.” I chuckled. “We are so much alike, it’s kinda unnerving.”

David shook his head. “Sam and I were talking about that,” he said. “She thinks that except for the age difference, you two could have been separated at birth.” I laughed at that, and he continued. “We think you guys work well together, and are enjoying this little arrangement.”

I thought about it. “Really, it hasn’t been too bad, Friday notwithstanding. I still hate driving in cities, so that’s a pain in my ass, and I swear, he just has me drive around simply to annoy me.” David’s smile let me know I was dead on. “I’m not thrilled about making his breakfast and lunch when we’re not going out, but he isn’t that bad. Way better than I thought he would be.” I sighed. “I need to go grab a shower and get dressed.”

“I’m coming with you,” David said, putting down his coffee mug.

“Of course you are,” I answered, and walked away, stripping my t-shirt over my head on the way.

I turned on the water as hot as I could stand it, and stripped off the rest of my clothes. David wasn’t far behind me in the getting naked department. One good thing about the hotel bathroom was there was a tub, not a stall, so there was plenty of room for both of us in there. I stood under the water, and let it run over me. I tipped my head back to wet my hair, and David leaned in to kiss my neck. He pulled me up against him, his arousal already pressing into my leg. I looked back up at him, my wet spiky eyelashes framing eyes I knew were smoldering for him. He turned us so he had his back to the water, and wet his own hair before kissing me hungrily. He backed me against the wall, and I squeaked as the cold tile pressed into my back.

David murmured “sorry, baby,” and turned me so I could brace my hands against the wall. He lifted one of my legs so my foot was propped on to the side of the tub, exposing me to him, and started to fondle me. He leaned in close, and I turned my head to capture his mouth in a kiss. His other strong hand circled my neck, holding me still, his thumb caressing my jaw.

While his mouth plundered mine, he slipped into me slowly, stretching me. His hands moved to cup my breasts, his long fingers plucking and pulling at my nipples until I was on fire. I purred and arched my back, changing the angle slightly. He picked up the pace, slapping into me. My breathing became more ragged, and keeping my head turned to him was taking more muscle control than I had. I broke the kiss, and dropped my forehead to the tile.

David’s hands dropped to my hips, and gripped tightly. I turned then to look at him, and he was a vision. The cords on his neck were standing out, his hair was all slicked back, and his head was thrown back in pleasure. He looked at me then, as if he could sense me looking at him. “I love you,” he said, as he pumped into me.

“I love you more,” I said as I felt the familiar wonderful tightening. “David,” I said on a breath, my voice leaving me as the waves started building. He stopped moving then, and I thought I was going to cry. He slipped from me and turned me around, leaning me against the wall again. This time, I put my own foot up on the ledge, and greedily pulled him to me. He slid in easily and mashed his mouth to mine. The room started to tilt and I screamed; David swallowing my cry. I felt him tighten his hold on me, and he groaned and broke the kiss to bite my neck as he came.

“Oh!” I sighed, as I felt his teeth sink into me. It wasn’t hard, but it was different; he hadn’t bitten me before. That extra bit of sensation had me tensing again even as he started to slip from me. He could tell, though that I was gearing up again, because he replaced his cock with his fingers and drove them up into me until I thought I would split in two. He still didn’t move his mouth, so I had to muffle my scream this time with my own fist. When I came back down, David looked sheepishly at me.

“Sorry, baby,” he said and kissed my neck gently. “I may have left a mark.”

I groaned. “Well, hell, I was already branded yours, you didn’t have to do it again,” I said.

“Yeah, but you liked it,” David teased.

“Oh yeah,” I said, giggling. David picked up the soap and washed me, then I returned the favor. We washed each other’s hair, too, then rinsed and got out of the shower. We were dressed and out of there 5 minutes later, and on the way to Lucy’s.

* * * * *

Almost exactly 45 minutes later, we were pulling up in front of Lucy’s house. I had the gun locked up in the trunk along side my shooting bag. I was excited. This was going to be fun. We let ourselves in, and saw everyone but Richie in the living room, and David burst out laughing. Ang and I were both wearing desert fatigue pants and drab green tanks. I had on one of David’s black button-down shirts over it, and Ang had gray. Where I had shit-kicker boots on, Ang had gorgeous leather biker boots buckled up over her pant legs.

“Well, aren’t we a pair,” Ang said, hugging me. She pulled back to look at my neck. “Jesus, Hath.”

“What?” I said, blushing. “I was just standing there. It’s his fault,” I said, jerking my head at David.

Ang rolled her eyes and hugged him too. “What are you doing here? Richie isn’t up yet.”

“I’m going with you guys,” he said, smiling.

“Going where?” Lucy said, as she came out of the kitchen. She took in the two of us and burst out laughing. “Oh, yeah, you’re gonna go play Rambette. Nice bite, Hath.”

“Why is this my doing? I didn’t ask David to vamp on me!” I kissed him hard. “I liked it, though,” I said laughing, “a lot,” and the girls just groaned. “We’re gonna go shoot stuff. Wanna come?”

Lucy shook her head. “Nah, Richie’s still in bed,” she said. “We're just gonna hang out and relax.”

“We’ll be back for lunch,” I said.

“Good,” David said. “Because Jon’ll probably want you to cook for him again.”

“Yeah,” I agreed, “and he’ll want something stupid, and I’ll have to go out to the store.”

“C’mon,” Ang said, “Let’s get going.”

Ang and I sat in the back seat and gossiped all the way to the range.

“What are you two talking about back there,” David said, grinning in the rearview mirror.

“You,” we both said at the same time, making him laugh.

“What about me,” he said.

“Oh, stuff that’d make you blush,” I said, touching my neck. Suddenly, I had an awful thought. “Oh no,” I said. “Jon is going to give me shit about this,” I said, pointing to my love bite.

“Yep, he is,” Ang agreed.

Shit.

* * * * * * *

When we got to the range, we were met by a tall drink of water called Ryan. He was easily 6’7” tall, rail thin and shaggy blonde with hazel eyes. Why did I notice? Because he’s so freaking BIG. That and because he laughed at Ang and me. Now, in his defense, we did look a little crazy, but still, it’s never a good idea to laugh at girls with guns. He asked us if we were for real. As real as it gets baby. I opened my gun case (the manicured nails didn’t help his opinion of us any) and drew out the 9mm I had nestled in there. His eyes widened. He knew this was a serious weapon, not a little dainty ‘girl gun’ like a Derringer. He looked at us with new eyes, and led us into the bowls of the club.

If you haven’t had the pleasure of going to a club before, here’s the scoop. They’re typically low-slung, one-story buildings with a basement and sub-basement. The sub-basement isn’t accessible to the public; that’s where the club guns and ammo are stored. The basement is where the indoor rifle/handgun range is. It’s a long room (about 100 yards long) with a steel-reinforced concrete bunker at the far end. At the near side is a series of 4’ wide padded countertops for shooters to put their gear on. Each counter is attached to a door that swings into the room in the event you want to shoot prone.

Between each countered area is a partition, so the brass ejecting from your gun doesn’t hit the person next to you. Overhead is a line system (sort of like an automatic garage door opener) with a metal clasp on it, for holding your target. Mounted high on the right-hand partition is a panel with two buttons, one to send the little target sailing down the track, the other to bring it back. There’s an extensive exhaust and fan system, and I wasn’t worried in the slightest about the cordite hurting the LJs. It’d be sucked away before it could make any difference.

Ryan showed us how the gear worked, though it was all pretty much the same, and he disappeared downstairs to get Ang a .22, and brought back a couple Remmies (that’s Remington rifles to you). He brought David ear- and eye- protection, too. “Let me know when you want to fire the fifty,” he said, and left us alone.

I spent a few minutes showing off my baby. I slid the action open to verify the chamber was empty, slammed home an empty clip, closed the action, and engaged the safety; all in a smooth, fluid series of motions. Ang saw there was a holster in the case, and asked to try her on. I clipped the holster onto the back of her pants, so it’d be nestled in the small of her back. I slid the gun into it, and tested the weight. She liked the feel of it, and David hadn’t taken his eyes off of us yet. This was serious, though, and not the time or place for flirting, so unless he had questions, we weren’t talking.

From the look on his face, though, he didn’t know whether to be turned on by chicks with guns, or to run because we were armed and dangerous.

I loaded a clip and sent a target about halfway down the wire highway. Fifty yards is the best I can do with a handgun.

“Live range,” I called out (which is my habit, and the rule in my local club). I took a deep breath, assumed my stance, tilted my head a little to the left, and sighted the target. We were using circles; silhouettes are typically not allowed. With about a second between pulls, I emptied all ten rounds. When the clip was spent, I ejected it, called out “all clear”, flipped the safety on and brought back the target.

“Not bad,” Ang said, looking at my target. The shots were all within the 8-ring. Not my best showing, but not bad is right.

I handed her the gun, butt first of course, and she loaded her clip and did her thing. I was refilling my clip, ready to go another round, and David was staring. I couldn’t read his face, but I think this new facet of my life was fascinating. “Why is she using your gun?” he asked.

I smiled. “It’s way more powerful than the little 22. Ang likes her toys powerful,” I said winking.

When Ang emptied the clip, I went to look at her target. In the 9-ring. Hmmm. She stuck her tongue out at me, and that was it. Throw down time.

“Let’s go, then,” I said, and the match was on. This time we were going to do prone rifle shooting. We sent a pair of targets 100 yards down range, lowered them, and opened the doors. We retrieved mats from the side of the room, and got on the floor. We loaded our single shot, bolt action, borrowed rifles, cocked and locked, and I looked to Ang.

“Ladies first,” I graciously offered.

Ang just looked at me. “Right and what are you, then?”

Jesus, does she not know me? “I am a Goddess,” I said, winking, which earned me a snort.

Ang went first and the little whisper as the shot went off was music to my ears. We traded shots until we were all out. I noticed that every time I’d lean up on my elbow to ratchet the bolt action, David would inch closer to me. The rifle empty, I turned to him.

“Hell man, you wanna try?”

David nodded. “Hell yeah,” he said.

He prone next to me, which ordinarily would be distracting, but I was all business: showing David where the safety was, how load the thing, and changing the target at the end of the range. When David put the butt of the rifle up to his shoulder, I straddled his hips and leaned onto his back to adjust his position. I didn’t even think twice about it. It’s how the trainer I work with (a woman, thank you very much) adjusts me when I’m screwing up. I could tell David was holding his breath, and sure enough, when he squeezed one off, he missed entirely. “Don’t hold your breath when you squeeze it,” I coached.

“You’ve got to get off me then, darlin’,” he said. “I can’t concentrate with you on me like that.” I blushed and scooted off to one side. His next shot was a good one. He let a few more go, then we compared our targets. Ang and I did about the same, and David didn’t do too badly.

“Let’s find Ryan,” I said. We went back upstairs, and found him in the office, swearing at the computer.

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

“Fucking computer is pissing me off,” he said.

“Want a hand?” I asked him.

”Have at it,” he said, and pushed away from the desk. I took a look at the program he was trying to use, made a couple of minor adjustments to some of the settings, and had him try again. He was a happy puppy now.

So, Ryan, you still willing to let us handle Bertha?” I asked. He was surprised that I called her by her name. I just laughed. “I have one at home.” He nodded and went into the office to what I supposed was his personal safe, and brought her back. Oh, they’re menacing looking and BIG. Ang’s eyes went wide, and I know I had a goofy smile on my face. Sorry, can’t help it, this was going to be FUN! He handed it to me and I cradled it in my arms. “What can we shoot?” I knew the range on this thing, and paper wasn’t going to cut it. Most places were particular with what you could shoot.

Oh, and this was definitely an outside toy.

Ryan pulled a gallon of water from the freezer. Excellent. “Just one?” I asked, and he laughed.

“One to start,” he said, “for each of you.”

We went out to the outdoor range, which is basically a big field with a mountain of dirt and steel at the far end of it. Wicked fah. I put Bertha in the range box, turned on the flashing light and horn, and we loaded up in the golf cart. David looked at me. “Are you serious?” Yep. We were going out about 3000 yards. I was not up for walking a mile round trip right now.

“Hell yeah,” I answered.

We went back and Ryan was waiting. “Who’s first?” he asked. Ang smiled and he handed her a round. If you haven’t seen a .50 caliber round before, it’s about 5 inches long, and weighs a good half pound. A box of them is almost prohibitively heavy.

Ryan showed Ang how to load the round and sighted the thing in for her. He got her positioned right on the bench, set up the bipod on the table, and stood back. Ang pulled the trigger, and the sound was loud. The recoil took her by surprise, and her shoulder jerked back a little. She checked downrange with the field glasses (fancy term for military binoculars, btw) and smiled. She smoked her ice target.

My turn.

I had done this before, countless times, so I loaded and sighted her in myself. I cocked and locked, and looked through the scope for my target. “C’mon, baby,” I said. “C’mon baby, c’mon baby, c’mon baby, GOTCHA!” I said, and smiled, then I eased the trigger home. I absorbed the recoil like it was a blink, and confirmed the kill (ha ha). Two for two.

David took his shot, and we were three for three. He was grinning like a fool. “You have one of these?” he asked me.

I nodded. “Yep. I don’t even wanna think of the paperwork for moving guns across state lines when I move in. You got room for my gun safe?”