Queenie's Home Now

~Queenie

So, here it is, Saturday night and Matt and I are back at my house. He’s stretched out on the couch flipping through the channels, trying to find something to watch and here I sit trying to get my thoughts down. I can’t believe the week is over. We just left this morning and I miss everyone already. I keep expecting to hear “Queenie” called out at some point. We all said our goodbyes last night and again this morning and there were tears aplenty when we girls had to part ways. I’m still digging for tissues. I can’t seem to stop.

Lucy and Richie headed back to Chicago with Ang. Not really sure why Richie did, but I guess he didn’t want to be away from Lucy any more than he had to be. I hope he asks her to marry him. They are so good together.

Ang isn’t heading home yet. She has decided she wants to travel some and is heading to the Grand Canyon. Her photography has become more than just a hobby and she wants to see some of the country before heading back across the pond. There was talk of a visit in June. I hope we can work it out.

Hath is joining David in Philly and heading home on Monday. They are moving in together maybe sooner than later. I think they were talking about a May wedding, so there is another trip in my future. I’m going to have to get a bigger wine jug to save my pennies for all these trips. I don’t care though, these people have become my extended family. I love them and I would do anything for any of them.

I don’t know if Jon and Sam will get a honeymoon right away. The guys have shows in Philly this weekend but I am sure Jon will see to it that they have some time to themselves.

As for Matt and I, well, I think we are going to start planning our own wedding now. I know now that I want it small and intimate. I hope everyone can make it back for it. I am going to miss my friends. I know, there are babies and at least one wedding coming up, but going back to my life is going to be a bit of an adjustment. I got used to having the girls around and I am going to miss them something terrible. Chatting on line just isn’t the same. It’s going to have to do, but it’s not the same.

I checked the forum, but it has been quiet while we were away. I fear it will stay that way until football season gets underway again.

Oh, Matt found the Philly Soul game on TV. Look at that, it all comes back to football and a bet. Who knew? I think I’m going to go watch the game. Maybe I’ll catch a glimpse of the newlyweds in the owner’s box. Then again, maybe I won’t and that will be okay too.

And they said "I Do"

~Queenie

I can’t believe we did it. We made it to Friday without slipping and letting the secret out. Right about now Jon should be telling Sam about her surprise. They are getting married today, at the Jefferson Memorial, at sunset. It should be beautiful. I got Matt’s suit out and hung it up to let any wrinkles fall out and did the same with my dress. I hopped in the shower and then dressed comfortably in jeans and a sweatshirt. We girls were going dress shopping with Sam and I wanted to be comfortable. I wanted some breakfast before I left and, since Matt was still sleeping, I decided to go down to the dining room. I left him a note, kissed him and went downstairs.

I had just walked into the lobby when I noticed Ang snapping pictures, of me! I flipped her off, “how long you been standing there?” She laughed, “long enough darlin’.” I headed over to her. “Have you heard from Hath or Lucy? They should be back by now.” Just as I got the words out of my mouth, my phone rang. It was Lucy. “Are you ready?” I laughed. “I’m waiting in the lobby” before I could say “with Ang” she had hung up and Ang’s phone rang. I laughed again when Ang just said “I’m standing next to Steph” and hung up without a hello or a good bye.

Hath had gotten a limo for us and it was waiting when the elevator dinged open and Hath, Lucy, Sam and Cori filed out. Ang snapped pictures of all of them, Sam was just beaming she was so happy. We said our hellos to Cori, introduced Ang and piled into the car.

At the shop I just stopped and looked at all the dresses. I’ve been married before and this was like a major trip back in time for me. I had a serious déjà vu going on. The girls started going through the dresses and asking about this one or that one. Sam finally had to ask, “who’s wearing this dress?” Once we were all settled down she narrowed her choices down to two and went to try them on. The first one hugged her baby belly too close for her liking so we urged her to try the other one.

Now, if any of you have ever been married, you know when the dress is The Dress. Well when Sam walked out in the second one, we all knew it was The Dress. Holding up her hair in a bun she moved toward us, “What do you think?” She looked lovely in the white satin creation. A wide band of white satin rested on her upper arms, leaving her shoulders bare. The bodice clung to upper torso, but fell loosely from just below her breasts in an empire waistline. The skirt of the dress had a line of big embroidered white roses and vines slashing across it in a diagonal line from left to right that trailed down the short train as well. As I watched her move to the mirror I could feel the tears prickling in my eyes. She looked more than lovely; she was stunning. Jon wasn’t going to know what hit him.

As Hath hugged Sam I saw her give the attendant a look that had all the color drain from her face. I had no idea what was going on but I knew I wouldn’t have wanted to be on the receiving end of a look like that. As Sam went to change I started looking through the dresses. I was thinking of my own upcoming wedding, and I can’t decide if I want to do the whole big thing again or something small like what Sam and Jon are doing; but I figured it couldn’t hurt to look. Lucy came over, “getting ideas?” I had to laugh, “am I that obvious?” Lucy shook her head and laughed, “so what, I’d be looking too if I was engaged.” I looked at her, I think she was feeling a bit envious of all of us. “When is that boyfriend of yours going to get off his ass and propose to you?” She shrugged her shoulders, “I don’t know. I think he may be a little gun-shy with all that has happened. If it’s meant to happen it will happen.” I laid my hand on her arm, “he loves you Luce. It’ll happen for you, I just know it.”

When the dress and lingerie (we girls has selected a few choice pieces for Sam along with a pair of ballerina slippers for her to wear) we headed out for a bite to eat. Hath informed us that we had one more appointment so lunch had to be quick. Sam looked at her, “another appointment? Jon didn’t say anything about a second appointment.” Hath smiled at her, “that’s because I made this one. He wouldn’t have thought of it. I scheduled us in the spa this afternoon, hair, nails, make-up, the works.” Ang, Lucy and I were all for it, Cori, however, was a little hesitant. Hath assured her that it was on Jon and she shouldn’t waste the opportunity. She agreed and off we went.

When Sam sat down to have her hair done she handed a box to the stylist, asking that they be used in her hair. I noticed she had forgotten the daisies she stopped to pick up and I laid a hand on Sam’s shoulder as I handed them to the girl, “don’t for get these too.” Sam smiled her thanks and the girl got to work. By the time she was done, Sam’s hair was like something out of a fairytale. She looked lovely even before she had her dress on.

We got back to the hotel with little time to spare. We all grabbed our dresses and convened in Sam’s room, Nathan telling us to hurry up. I slid into my dress quickly as Ang was snapping pictures of everyone, dressed or not! She looked fabulous in her deep purple dress. That color did great things for her eyes.

I chose the black one that I had worn the first night I met Matt. It was a simple wide v-neck sleeveless sheath that tapered in at my waist and stopped just above my knee. My hair had been gently twisted up, a few curls escaping to trail down my neck. I slipped on my ruby red CFM’s, and headed back into the other room to help Sam. Cori zipped her up and when she turned around and I had to grab a tissue. She looked absolutely beautiful. You could see in her face how much in love she was and how happy she was.

“We have to go, its almost sunset.” Nathan was trying to hurry us along. We all grabbed purses and wraps as we headed to the elevators. Hath had arranged for a limo for us girls and Cori and a separate one for Nathan and Sam. The guys had gone on ahead and were all waiting at the Memorial for us.

When we got to the Jefferson Memorial Hath, Lucy and I headed to meet our men while Cori and Ang stayed back. I walked up to Matt and slid my hand into his, kissing his ear lightly “hey baby, miss me today?” He turned and looked at me, “you look like you did the first time I laid eyes on you babe.” I kissed his cheek and as I wiped the lipstick mark off I looked him up and down, “you look pretty handsome yourself.” He was wearing a black suit with a burgundy shirt and complimenting tie. He wrapped his arm around me and tugged me close, “thanks.” I looked around, everyone looked so good. The guys, by some unspoken agreement were all in dark suits and the girls, well, we were all dressed to the nines. As I was doing my perusal I noticed Cori walking up. This was it.

Richie played the most beautiful version of the wedding march I had ever heard. I decided I was going to have to ask him to record it for me for when Matt and I have our day. We turned to see Nathan and Sam walking toward us. As Nathan laid Sam’s hand in Jon’s, Richie stopped playing. In a motion that couldn’t have been more fitting, he slid the guitar around so it was hanging upside down on his back and took his place next to Jon.

I can tell you the ceremony was beautiful and brief, but I couldn’t tell you what was actually said. I was too busy trying to keep the tears at bay. Thank God for waterproof mascara. When the Justice of the Peace told Jon he could kiss the bride I would swear he let out a sigh of relief. We heard the “finally” he tried to say under his breath too.

The Reception

When we got back to the hotel I just stopped and stared. What Hath had done was amazing. There were screens set up to block out our space and they were draped with white batting and hundreds of tiny white lights. The long table was set and there were daises and yellow roses randomly strewn along the length of it. I looked over at Matt, "I want ours to be like this." I loved the intimacy and romance of the day and I knew I wouldn't accept any less.

Now, on the forum in PMs we girls had talked about what to get the happy couple for a gift. I mean, what do you get for two people who had everything or could go out and buy it if they didn’t? Hath came up with the idea of hiring a designer to take care of Jon and Sam’s back garden at their new home. Marcelli had sent some of the designs he thought they would like and Hath had them on display on easels around the room. She had really outdone herself.

When we heard that Sam and Jon were here David opened the doors and announced them and we greeted them with a round of applause, a glass of champagne and hugs and kisses. Richie and Cori each gave heartfelt toasts to the happy couple and I found myself digging for a tissue again. Damn, I spent the first part of the week laughing more than I can ever remember and now, today, I am a crying mess. The food was brought out after that and we ate every morsel. When the cakes were brought out I thought Sam was going to bust a gut laughing. Hath had had a razorback cake made complete with bridal veil. It was awesome.

Jon and Sam shared their first dance as man and wife and how fitting was it that they danced to an acoustic version of "The Last Night?" Jon had recorded it especially for them for today. I know, you're thinking, they danced to a Jovi song? It truly fit them though. Now that they had each other, neither would even have to be alone again. As they danced Sam started to notice the easels set up around the room. She dragged Jon over to look at them. Together they turned, “what is all this?” I nudged Hath, “this was your find, you tell them.”

Hath proceeded to fill them in on what exactly we had done and how the designs were just that, designs. If there was something else they would rather have Marcelli would work with them to find something they would be happy with. Jon and Sam were truly grateful. Sam gave her a hug before dragging Cori to look at the other designs and Jon released her from her week of servitude.

It wasn't long after that Jon and Sam said their goodbyes, eager to get on with the wedding night. The rest of us stayed for a while, dancing and enjoying each other's company. We would all be heading our separate ways all too soon and we wanted to make every last moment together count.

Oh My Jovi Air!!!

~Queenie


Thursday dawned bright and early for us. We were traveling to Washington today for the show tonight and the wedding tomorrow. I don’t know how we managed to keep this secret from Sam but we did. I know, at least for me, I didn’t want to suffer the wrath of Jon if I messed up. No thank you!

Matt was awake already which surprised me. Apparently he had been up earlier to use the bathroom and had found Ang outside taking pictures. They seemed to have really hit it off. I’m glad. Maybe I can convince him that a trip across the pond would be a perfect honeymoon. We’ll see.

We went down to find Lucy in the kitchen with coffee already made. I took that first sip and when the caffeine hit I looked at them, “damn, my coffee really is good isn’t it?” I laughed and Lucy made some smart remark about me breaking my arm patting myself on the back. She went to wake Riche and get ready and threatened bodily harm again if she found any of us cooking when she came back. Since we had been warned, Matt and I went to shower and get dressed.

I dressed comfortably for the flight today. Oh my God the flight today. We are flying on Air Jovi! I can’t believe it. I was sitting on the bed with my yoga pants and bra on when Matt came in from the bathroom and found me with a faraway look on my face. “Uh babe?” He walked over and waved his hand in front of my face, “babe?” I blinked and his pretty baby blues came into focus, “what?” He laughed, “you were a million miles away. What were you thinking about?” I grinned and kissed his cheek with a smack, “we are flying on the Jovi jet today!” He pulled on his pants, “not like that you’re not!” I looked down and laughed at myself, “sorry, I’m just too damn excited.” I pulled on my long sleeve t-shirt and topped it with my Soul jersey.

Ang came and knocked on the door, “ya’ll about ready?” She was sounding more and more like us everyday. I looked at Matt, he had just pulled his sweatshirt over his head, “we’ll be there in a minute” I called out. Running my fingers through my hair I shoved a stretchy headband in to keep my curls out of my eyes, slipped my sneakers on as Matt was tying his and we were ready.

We got to the airport around 9:30 and were whisked through private security. It was so going to suck flying commercial when we go home. Then, we are on the tarmac looking at the Jovi jet. I looked over at Ang, she had two cameras going and Richie was razzing her about that. She stuck her tongue out at him, it was the best she could do. Matt and I were having a contest as to who could grip whose hand the hardest. I think he was winning. We were living out every fans dream as we walked up the steps and into the plane. It was incredible. Hath, David, Jon and Sam were already there waiting for all of us, greeting us with hugs and kisses. Ang got dragged to a seat by Hath and David, Matt and I ended up by Hugh and Tico and Richie and Luce got what was left by Sam and Jon.

I took my coat off and was about to sit when I heard Jon’s voice, “nice shirt Queenie.” I looked down and remember that I had my jersey on. Shit. I didn’t even turn around, “thanks.” He didn’t let it go. “Have you been to a game or did you buy it with my signature on it?” I sighed and turned around, but I still couldn’t look him in the eye. “Actually, I went to the game last June against Dallas. You signed it yourself, but you didn’t seem to be enjoying yourself.” Dammit, I hadn't meant to let that last part slip out. I sat down as he pondered what I had said. “You’re right Queenie, I wasn’t in a very good mood that night. I didn’t think it showed though.” I was surprised, “you remember that night?” He nodded his head, “sure, we lost 59-56 but I don’t remember you though.” I shook my head, “why would you, there had to be 16,000 people there that night. I hope this season goes better now that you picked up Chris Jackson. Maybe you’ll get that gaudy ring you’ve been wanting.” He laughed, “maybe Queenie, maybe.”

Once we were in the air I saw a look pass between Ang and Hath just before Ang got up and headed to the media center. Ang had been working on the pictures she had been taking that week and we were now going to see the fruits of her labor. The last shot had to be my favorite. It was all of us up on the rooftop with the city skyline behind us. We were all just shoved together, no rhyme or reason, arms around whomever we were next too. It was a picture of pure friendship and love. I hope I get one of those to keep.

When she was finished she handed us each a wrapped package. In it were two framed photos, one of all of us girls together and then one individual shot. The one she got of me that I had no idea she was taking. I was on the barstool watching Sam and had my skirt been hiked up any further, it would have been illegal. Matt loved it.

She also proceeded to inform us that we will each be getting a disc of the photos later, when she has them all finished. We knew she meant after the wedding, but Sam still didn’t know. I can’t wait until Jon tells her. This is has been killing all of us not being able to talk about it.

When we got to the hotel the guys had been hustled off to sound check and Matt, the girls and I got to our rooms and settled in. We met up in Sam’s room and she hits us with “I don’t want to go to the show tonight. I’m tired and want to rest.” We asked if that was all it was and she eventually told us that she really didn’t want to watch Jon kissing and smacking some girl on the ass.

Lucy jumped right in and said she would stay with her. I told her I would too before I even looked at Matt. Hath and Ang wanted to stay too. Hath jumped in, “Matt you go to the show and tell the guys what’s going on. We’re going to have ourselves a little pajama party here.” I moved over to Matt and took his hand, “are you okay with this?” After yesterday he knew I needed a little more time with the girls, “It’s fine, you have fun and I’ll see you later.” He kissed us all good-bye and headed out.

Sam was going to order up some pizza and movies but Lucy told her that she had brought a few with her just in case. We got to critique Jon as a painter, a vampire and a leading man. Damn that man is HOT. I know, I know, he’s taken, but one can’t help looking, even if it is her girlfriend’s man.

Sam crashed out around 10 and we girls headed back to our own rooms. I waited up for Matt to get back and he walked in about two hours later. He got ready for bed and crawled in next to me, “did you have fun baby?” I cuddled up to him, “I did, thanks for tonight. How was the show?” He just shrugged his shoulders, “they sounded good.” That was it; he didn’t say anything else. “And?” He just looked at me, “and what?” I shook my head, “what songs did they do, did Richie ham it up with Lorenza, did Jon smack the Bed of Roses girl on the as again tonight? What shirt did David wear?” I rambled out a few more questions and Matt just laughed, “you should have given me paper and pen so I could have taken notes for you. Sorry babe, the only question I could answer is about Jon. He did not smack the girl tonight.” I sighed, “I guess that’s what youtube is for.”

We talked a bit longer before drifting off to sleep. Tomorrow was going to be a very busy day.

On Our Own

~Queenie

Wednesday morning I woke early. Sometimes I have trouble sleeping in a strange place and, even with Matt there, I was awake with the birds today. I didn’t hear any other sounds in the house and, not wanting to disturb Matt, I tiptoed out of our room after donning a zip up hoodie over my pj’s and went to the kitchen. Have you ever noticed that the kitchen is the general gathering place in the house? We have spent more time in that room this week than any other I think.

I started the coffee and feeling a bit ambitious, decided to throw together some chocolate chip cookies. I didn’t need a recipe for those; I had that one memorized. I was in luck too, Lucy had all the ingredients for them. I turned the radio on and was quietly singing along when Ang strolled in. She looked as if she had been up for a bit and was just tucking her phone in her pocket.

“What smells so damn good hon?” I smiled over at her, “well, its either the coffee or the first batch of cookies.” Ang went and poured herself a cup of coffee, “I’m going with both!” She looked at the cookies, “can I have one?” Just then Lucy wandered in, “just what is going on in here? I thought I told you I would cook?” I took Lucy a cup of coffee, “I know you did, but I was up early and just couldn’t help myself. If it makes you feel any better Martha can clean up.” She laughed at that and then looked at what I had done, “it’s only cookies, I guess that’s all right.”

Ang, Lucy and I discussed breakfast and decided that we were going to go out. We all got dressed and, not being able to wake either Richie or Matt, we left a note for them and headed out. Have I mentioned Lucy’s new Lexus? It is fab-u-lous! She took us to the Colonial Cafe and she surprised the shit out of Ang and I by ordering the three-egg breakfast. I knew she had been doing weight watchers so I had to ask. “What about your diet?” She looked across the table at me and grinned, “I’ve been good, not cheating, well not too much anyway and I’ve lost another 2 pounds this week. I deserve a treat.” I smiled and hit her arm, “that you do girlfriend, that you do.”

When we got back Ang holed up in Lucy’s computer room doing lord only knows what. Playing with the pictures I would assume. Lucy and I heard the guys in the kitchen and found them drinking coffee and eating cookies together. I’m glad they get along so well. I plated the breakfast I had ordered for Matt and sat with him while he ate. Richie and Lucy went to sit in the other room to talk about realtors. Lucy told us at breakfast that Richie wants her to move out to LA as soon as possible so she needs to get a few things done before that can happen.

When Matt went to shower I took a cup of coffee to the sunroom and curled up in a cozy chair and enjoyed the quiet. It seemed as if we hadn’t had any of that since we arrived in Chicago. I caught the reflection of my sweatshirt in the window and had to chuckle. I was wearing my 49ers hoodie and a black turtleneck. I shook my head at what I was thinking. Football, its why we’re all here. It seemed almost ridiculous to think that I had met these four wonderful women and the band that I have loved forever on a football forum chat room of all places and now here we are, halfway through our visit, closing in on a wedding that we are more than honored to be included in.

I took a sip of my coffee and wiped at a stray tear that had rolled down my face. “Hey.” I looked up, Richie was standing in the doorway. “Hey Rich.” He stepped into the room, “are you okay?” I wiped the other side of my face, “yea, just feeling a bit wistful I guess.” He sat down “about what exactly?” I took another sip of my coffee and then looked at him, “do you realize that we are halfway through our visit already? The wedding is in two days and then we all go back to our regular lives.” Lucy and Matt had heard us talking and they joined us. “What’s going on?” Matt was curious as to why I had been crying. I waved him over to sit by me, “I was just saying that our visit is half over and then we have to go back to our real lives.” I looked over at Richie and Lucy, “It’s been great being with you guys, Hath and David, Ang, Jon and Sam, Tico and Hugh. I’ll be sad to see this week end.”

We chatted a bit more and then we heard Ang ask about where to find a store that had picture frames. Lucy rattled off the name of one or two and Ang went to find her coat. As she came back we stopped her. “Where do you think you’re going?” I was sure she wasn’t going to try to find the store herself. Boy was I wrong. Well Richie started in on her and, Ang being Ang, she gave him the what for. Whooeee, I’m glad I wasn’t on the receiving end of her temper. Richie even took two steps back from her. I think he felt a bit intimidated. In the end Lucy handed the keys to her Lexus to Ang along with directions and Ang headed out. Lucy threatened her with bodily harm if anything happened to her baby.

Matt and I donned our coats after she left and headed out to take a short walk. I was still feeling a bit down and Matt could tell. He took my hand as we walked, “you sure you’re okay?” I felt tears pricking at my eyes again, but I held them back, “yea, I’m fine.” We stopped and he turned me to face him. He could see the sadness in my eyes and he wrapped his arms around me, “its okay baby, we’ll see everyone again.” I let the tears come then, “I hope so, but its not like we could just call them up and say ‘hey, what’s going on, wanna grab dinner tonight.’” Matt laughed, “you’re right, but you have to know that we’ll get together with all of them eventually. There are babies coming you know.”

I stopped at his words and smiled, he was right. I had forgotten about that. I hugged Matt tight and kissed him gently, “thanks baby. I love you, you’re the best.” We headed back to the house to see what everyone was doing for dinner.

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.

Dinner and Bowling...

~ Queenie

Monday morning I woke to the sound of Ang yelling “Sambora!!!” I could only imagine what was going on. I crept out of bed and poked my head out the door to find Ang and Richie in the hallway, Ang looking slightly more than embarrassed and Richie standing there, wearing only a towel! Holy hell! “What is going on out here?” I asked trying not to gawk at a nearly naked Richie. Ang looked over at me “the second grader forgot to lock the damn door” was her parting shot before she slammed into her room.

As I was leaving my room to head downstairs I passed Richie in the hallway, he was looking quite proud of himself. “What did you do now?” He grinned and shook his head at me, “I’ll let Ang tell ya. She’s fixing breakfast if you’re interested.” He paused at Lucy’s door, “we’ll be down soon.” I continued to the kitchen to find Ang just ringing off the phone. “Who were you talking to?” She briefed me on the conversation she had had with Hath.

I smiled, “did ya see anything?” I waited and when she blushed and didn’t answer I knew the answer. “You did, didn’t you?! Front or back?” Hey, I had heard the rumors like all of you have, I wanted to know if they were true. “How old are you?” She teased. I wasn’t going to let her off so easy. “Come on Ang, spill sistah!” “Yeah, spill!” Lucy had come into the room during the conversation and had to add her two cents. I thought Ang’s head was going to come clean off the way she whipped it around when she heard Lucy. We finally convinced her to tell us and she swore she was going to fly home right then.

When Richie walked in she had a few more choice words for him along with his cup of coffee and at her parting shot I thought he was going to choke. She said he was hung like a kindergartner. I almost died. It was too funny. Poor Matt he walked in at the end of all of this and we’re all laughing, he had no idea what was going on. I finally managed to tell him I would explain later.
David and Hath showed up a short while later. We girls were all going to the doctor with them for the ultrasound. We wanted to know if we were going to be honorary aunties to nieces or nephews. We made David drive and the rest of us piled in the back of the van, chattering all the way like a bunch of hens.

After the excitement of Hath’s doctor’s appointment (they are expecting twins!), David dragged Hath out for a walk and the rest of us took over the kitchen. We had the radio going, and were talking and laughing when Hath came back, not only had she and David talked, but Jon had dragged her on an errand as well. She had an odd look on her face as she came over by me. “I need to talk to you” she said quietly so the others wouldn’t hear. I looked around and, without saying anything I took Hath’s hand and we high-tailed it down the hall to the room I was staying in. “What’s up?”

Hath paced back and forth, “remember that conversation we had in PMs with Jon about why we women go nuts for him?” Oh Shit! I swallowed, “yeah.” She continued pacing, “well apparently so does he.” I groaned, “Oh God, is the closet big enough for both of us? I’m so not going back out there.” Hath stopped pacing, “if we don’t, he’s going to know something is up.” I shook my head and looked up at the ceiling before looking back at her, “you’re right, but that doesn’t make facing him any easier. Maybe if we don’t say anything he won’t either. I just don’t know that I can look at him now.” We moved to the door, “if he figures out this is bothering us he’s not going to let it go, is he?” I really didn’t want to have to deal that. Hath shook her head, “nope, and then you’ll get to see the Jon I’ve been dealing with.”

We just started to head back to the kitchen when he bellowed, “Jeeves!” Hath rolled her eyes and I had to laugh. “Go ahead, I’ll be right there.” I continued on to the kitchen and she went into the living room. Jon was sitting at one end of the couch and Hath dropped to her knees in front of him, “yes boss?” He tried unsuccessfully not to smile, “I’m thirsty, get me a glass of water.” Hath stood and bowed slightly, “yes sir, right away sir.” As Hath headed to get him his drink Ang motioned for me to follow her. She had presents for all of us and she decided that since everyone was sprawled around the living room that now would be a good time.

Richie, being the overgrown child that he is, decided to help Ang with her suitcase figuring he'd get his present first that way. We all followed them up the stairs and got to the room just in time to see Richie throw all his weight into lifting the suitcase (Ang had told him it was heavy) and it going over his head with the momentum taking him with it and seeing him land on the bed. We all stood there laughing and Ang took off like a shot. She had gotten him good! Richie wasn't about to let it go and he shot up off the bed and took off after her. We all followed back down and got there in time to see Richie go flying, AGAIN! Ang had flipped him through the air and all six foot one of him landed on the couch!

Lucy, after first checking that Richie was okay started in on Ang and we were all laughing and amazed that Ang tossed Richie around like a rag doll. I think I need to take some lessons. It was impressive!

Once we were all settled down and Richie was over his embarrassment, Ang passed out her gifts. She had made each us girls an absolutely gorgeous cashmere sweater, mine was a deep red with a deep vee which pleased Matt to no end. I also got a t-shirt with "Queenie" on the front of it and "If you piss me off, heads will roll" on the back. She even had a shirt for Matt, his said "Queenie's KISA" on it. Have I mentioned that I love this woman yet?

She had t-shirts for all of us and, for David, an extra special care package. As she tossed it to him she told him, "this is from me and Hath!" It was a ton of new stage shirts! Of Richie complained that she was playing favorites and she threatened to deny him his Jack chocolates. That shut him up right quick, but seeing the look on his face she caved and told handed him a box and told him there was more upstairs. He took off and we could hear his triumphant "all right!" all the way down in the living room.

Before we girls headed out to the kitchen I ran into my room and grabbed two bags, handing one to Sam and one to Hath. They both looked at me, "what's this for?" I rubbed both their bellies, "for the little ones from Auntie Q." They pulled out the little sweatsuits I had found and there were awwwws all around the room. Sam squealed in delight at the Razorback one. "How did I not see you buy this yesterday?"

I smiled at her, "I had it mixed in with the others so you wouldn't see it." I gave her a hug and then turned to Hath,"you know you will have to dress one of the LJs in the Giants one at least once and send me a picture, right?" She laughed, "well if I have to. Thanks Steph. These are very sweet." I hugged her and handed one last small package to Ang.

"Aw you didn't have to get me anything." I rolled my eyes, "just open it." She smiled as she did, "whoo hoo Queenie's coffee!" Everyone laughed and I nodded, "yep, its going international now!" I heard a "hmph" and looked over to find Richie trying not to smile as he was pouting. "You got a problem Zan?" He nodded, "what about your Harem leader?" I laughed and went and kissed his cheek, "oh fearless leader, every morning when you drink your coffee, that's your gift from me!" We all laughed. There were hugs and kisses and thank yous all around and the girls headed to the kitchen to finish dinner.

Lucy took over one counter putting the finishing touches on her lasagna. She had made it once before for us back when we were all in Arkansas when Sam had her car accident, and it is out of this world.

Hath and Sam were at the table working on the garlic bread and homemade croutons while Ang was tearing lettuce and cutting vegetables for the salad.

As for me, I was at the other counter preparing dessert. Tiramisu was on order for today. Now, my recipe calls for Kaluha and having two mommas to be in the group, I had to ask before adding it.

“Hey Hath and Sam?” Almost at the same time they looked up “what?” I shook my head and laughed, “okay, that was scary. If I add the Kaluha, will you guys eat this?” “How much” Hath asked before Sam could even open her mouth. I shrugged, “couple of tablespoons.” Sam managed to get her answer in before Hath this time, “add it, just don’t tell the guys.” Jon walked in right then “don’t tell the guys what?”

Without thinking and without looking at him I said, “that we’re tired of hearing ‘Shout’ at the end of Bad Medicine.” What, it was the quickest thing I could think of. Jon rolled his eyes “don’t you girls talk about anything else?” I shrugged my shoulders and looked at the girls, “is there something else we should be talking about?” Jon shook his head and looked at Hath, “Jeeves,” he handed her his empty glass, “I need a refill, and bring it to me in the other room.” He started to leave the room but after getting a jab in the stomach from Sam, he turned back, “please.”

We continued working together and talking, getting the dining room table set and scuttling the guys back into the other room every time they came into the kitchen looking for a taste of something. First it was Jon looking for a taste of the sauce, Sam shooed him away. Then it was Richie trying for a piece of bread and I thought Lucy was going to break his fingers. David managed to grab an olive and a carrot from the salad bowl only because Ang had been distracted. When they sent Matt in he tried to stick his finger in the dessert and I smacked him with my spoon. “Enough! Go back in the other room and behave!” Matt put on his best pout and trudged back into the other room, defeated. I looked at the girls, “you’d think they hadn’t eaten today or something.”

It’s a good thing Lucy has a large dining room table. Tico and Hugh joined us that night so there were 11 of us sitting down to dinner. The table was loaded with a feast of favorites and, after a quick prayer of thanks, we dug into the delicious meal.

After the lasagna was gone and the dishes done, we girls excused ourselves to get ready to go bowling. Matt looked at me, “get ready?” I nodded, “yeah, gotta change clothes and pretty ourselves up a little.” He, along with the others groaned and rolled their eyes. “We’re just going bowling, what’s wrong with what you are wearing?” I looked down at myself, I was wearing a long sleeve t-shirt and loose comfy jeans. I shook my head, would these men ever understand? “Nothing if we were staying in, but we are going out and I want to freshen up a bit.” With that I turned and headed down the hall after the girls.

When I walked into the spare room I stopped dead. “What is that?” Hath had pulled out an outfit from the closet and was showing it to the girls. “It’s my old bowling uniform.” She told us about her bowling in college and this was the outfit they had all worn, each in a different color. Hath’s was pink, hot pink. Hot pink poodle skirt with a black crinoline slip underneath to poof it out, matching shirt, black scarf tied around her neck and a pink and white polka dot headband. She looked like she stepped straight out of a 50’s sock hop or something. It was fantastic.

I changed into to slim black jeans and my own cute bowling shirt. I bowl on a league and our shirts aren’t anywhere near as outrageous as Hath’s outfit, but they are cute in their own right. First, let me tell you that it’s a man’s shirt so I had had mine tailored so it actually fits me. Its black with a red collar and the button placket down the front is red as well. Our team name "Pin Heads" is embroidered on the back along with a googley-eyed cartoon bowling pin. I know, I know, its lame, but it works for us. Mine also has “SQ” embroidered over my left breast.

Ang took a look at me, “SQ?” “What’s that mean?” I looked at the girls, “you all know that I bowl on a league, right?” We had talked about it on the board and Lucy looked at me, “yeah, and?” I sighed “well, I wasn’t totally honest when I said I wasn’t all that good. I didn’t want to brag and sound all full of myself, but my average is 185 and the ‘SQ’ stands for Strike Queen.” Ang patted me on the back and looked at the other girls, “hot damn, we are going to kick their asses.”

I picked up my bag, which held my prized ball and shoes which matched my shirt. My ball is a custom black Brunswick with a red crown emblazoned on it and it weighs 12 pounds. When we walked back into the living room, the guys looked up and stopped. Jon laughed and told Hath that she and David were going to make quite the pair tonight. We turned then and saw David coming into the room with his own, let’s just call it colorful, satin bowling shirt with the joker embroidered on the back.

Matt came over and looked me up and down, motioned for me to turn, he hadn’t seen my bowling shirt before. “Nice shirt baby.” He traced the “SQ” with his fingers, “what’s that mean?” I gave him a quick kiss as David and Hath were doing a little dance “you’ll just have to see if you can figure it out.” “Can we go now?” Richie was getting impatient. We all grabbed coats and bags and headed out.

The bowling alley wasn’t far from Lucy’s house and she had reserved a private back room for us. More's the pity, we wanted to see the guys out in public bowling, but I guess beggars can’t be choosers, right? The room had four lanes, air hockey table, jukebox and we had our own waiter. This was going to be fun.

I wandered over to the computers and, as the rest of them were arguing about who was bowling where and with whom, I got us all set up. “Hey!” They all looked over at me, “do you wanna bowl or just stand there yapping about it?” Lucy came over to me, “what did you do?” I smiled, “we are all set to go, just find your name and that’s where you’re at.” I did manage to keep the couples together, but it was still boys against the girls, we would just tally up at the end. Lucy, Sam, Richie, Jon and Hugh were together and Ang, Hath, Tico, David, Matt and I were together.

As we started bowling, Ang sauntered over to the jukebox and, dropping more than a few quarters in, made several selections, and the guys cringed when “One Wild Night” started spewing from the speakers. She called out to Jon, “wanna give us a little cha cha cha?” He flipped her off. Hath and I high-fived her. “Nice song choice” Dave stuck his tongue out at her.

It got to be my turn and I have to tell you I was a bit nervous. I just hoped I could live up to the “SQ” on my shirt. I swear I could feel 10 pairs of eyes on me as I took my turn. Now, I throw a 12 pound ball and have been for several years and when I throw it, I throw it hard. I let the ball go and with a resounding “crack” the pins danced and fell. It was so pretty. I turned and everyone was looking at me, just like I thought. “What?” Matt grabbed me, “nice one. I think you’ve been holding out on us.” I fluttered my eyes at him, “who me? I just got lucky.” I winked at the girls. We were so going to win.

Hath got up and leaned over David to give him a good luck kiss and I wasn’t sure David was even going to be able to stand up what with Thelma and Louise looking at him like that. He took his turn and managed to get one pin. So much for Hath saying that he threw a pretty good ball. Ang put a little wiggle in her walk and took her turn, leaving the guys to wonder just what they had gotten themselves into.

When Hath got up to take her turn, she did a pirouette and kept it almost decent, but Richie was up on the other side and got distracted by the amount of leg showing and dropped his ball, behind him. Hath flounced over and laid her hand on his arm, "baby, that's no way to treat your balls." She bent over, giving Hugh and Jon a shot of Thelma and Louise that had Jon groaning and covering his eyes, picked up the ball, dusted it off and gave it a gentle caress. She handed it back to Richie, laying her hands over his "gentle, baby" then winked at him and left him to take his turn. He threw a gutter ball. Lucy patted his arm as he sat back down next to her, “its okay baby.”

Hath was finally able to take her turn and her ball, which is pretty cool with the flames on it, flew down the alley and she got herself a strike. Before she could sit down Jon yelled “Jeeves!” She looked over at him, “yes boss?” He held out a towel, “buff my ball.” She walked over to him, looked at Sam winked and shrugged before reaching for Jon’s belt. He started sputtering "what are you... STOP!" and grabbed her hands, “no you crazy bitch, my bowling ball!” He looked over at David, “control your woman man!” He threw his hands up, “she was just doing what you said.” We were all laughing so hard we could barely bowl.

By the fifth frame or the beer frame as it is sometimes called the guys figured out what we were trying to do and starting retaliating. When Ang got up to take her next turn David got up and walked past her, making sure his front came in close contact with her back. Well she got all distracted and ended up nearly missing.

The ever quiet, sunglass-wearing Hugh even got into the act. He stepped up to take his turn and missed. Now, if any of you don’t know, the beer frame is where the person who does not strike has to buy drinks. Well he and I were the last ones to go, everyone else had, miraculously, gotten strikes. He didn’t. As I got up he called out “hey Queenie.” I looked over at him, “yeah Hugh?” He took off his glasses, his dark eyes staring intently at me, “I’ve got $50 says you don’t get a strike and you have to help me get the drinks.” I looked around at the rest of them and before I could say anything Tico piped up, “I’m in” he winked at me and pulled a $50 from his pocket. The rest of the guys did too, including Matt! I looked over at him, “you sure you want to do that?” He nodded, “oh yeah.”

I looked at the girls, “well?” They all nodded, “go for it!” I looked back at the guys, “okay, ya’ll asked for it.” I went and picked up my ball. They all thought they could rile me, but I loved the added pressure. Made it all that much more fun when my ball flew down the alley and I got a strike pretty enough for TV. I turned to find the guys mouths hanging open, “did ya really think I was gonna miss?” I walked to each one of them plucked my money from their fingers, kissed their cheeks and said “thank you” when I relieved them of their money. When I got to Matt I kissed him and whispered “strike queen” in his ear. He looked at me with a big question on his face. “What?” I kissed him again, “SQ means strike queen.” He groaned and shook his head. “Guys,” he called out, “we’ve been had!”

I turned to the girls, “Girls, drinks are on me!”

By the end of the evening the girls had beaten the guys soundly two games to nothing and we were all in high spirits when we headed back to Lucy’s for dessert.

Seeing the Sights...

~Queenie

Sunday morning I woke to Matt’s mouth nuzzling my neck and his hand stroking between my legs. I stroked my hand up and down his back, “babe, we have to…” I trailed off as he hit a sensitive spot. He smirked as he looked at me, “what was that?” I tried again, “we are meeting everyone at the hotel and going sightseeing this morning.” He pulled his head up and looked at me, “I like the sights I’m seeing right here.” I laughed, “you are so bad.”

He lowered his head, catching my lips and then working his way down my neck to my chest, pushing the blankets out of his way, his hand continuing to tease me. I sighed when he captured one hardened nipple and worried it lightly between his teeth. Letting one go he blew on it lightly and worked his way to the other, pausing to look up at me, “you still want to get up?” I shook my head and as his mouth found my other nipple I reached under the blankets to find him hard and ready. I stroked him lightly and he growled against my breast, the vibrations running straight through me. I could feel my orgasm mounting and I wanted him to be in me, “baby, please” I begged him. He moved up over me and slid into me slowly. I savored every inch of that wonderful feeling of being filled. I sighed as I felt him buried to the hilt. He looked down at me, “feel good baby?” I pulled him closer, “amazing” I told him as I kissed him. He moved then and with every hard thrust he took me closer to the edge of oblivion. As we reached our orgasm together we tried to be quiet. We didn’t want Ang to hear us.

When Matt dropped onto his back next to me he pulled me close, “love you baby.” Just then there was a pounding on the door, “are ya going to get out of bed already? We do have somewhere to be in half and hour you know.” I laughed, “we’ll be ready Ang” I yelled as I wrapped my arm across Matt’s chest. “I love you too. Now, we really need to get ready.”

We showered and dressed and were at the hotel with minutes to spare, but we ended up having to wait for Richie and Luce. Why didn’t that surprise me? When they finally showed their faces we gave them a round of applause and loaded into the SUVs.

Lucy showed us her Chicago. She took us by Grant Park and Buckingham Fountain, explaining that the fountain was shut off in the winter but still, it was something to see.

Our next stop was Navy Pier. We drove up to the top of the parking deck and we all filed out of the Suvs. Lucy was right, the view was spectacular from up there. We all milled around a bit, Sam took pictures of each of us and then wanted to climb up on the wall to get a better picture of the lake. Jon put a stop to that right quick so she settled for holding her camera up and just snapping a few shots. We noticed a few people starting to stop and stare, trying to figure if the guys were really who they thought they were. Jon started to get antsy, “can we go now?” Sam wanted one more picture, “I want a group shot first.” We had one nice couple take a picture of the whole lot of us and then we piled back into the vehicles and were on our way.

We went by Shedd Aquarium, Field Museum and the Museum of Science and Technology, but had no time to go through them. I looked at Matt, “we’ll have to come back.” He nodded his agreement. Then Lucy took us to Soldier Field. I think she just wanted a chance to run Grossman over. Her Bears hadn’t had a very good year and I think she wanted some retribution, but that was just me.

Sam got excited about the “L” train, which I myself had heard of but had never seen. She wanted to ride it, but Jon put his foot down. Lucy told her about the muggings and that put an end to that. Oh well, better safe than sorry, right?

We stopped back and Lucy’s so she could take care of Gypsy and ended up bringing her along. I guess she wanted to be a part of the harem too.

We enjoyed the show from backstage again. I’m really getting use to this! The guys were spot on as usual. We didn’t stick around too long after this time. When Lucy and Richie left, Matt, Ang and I headed back to Lucy’s. We sat in the living room for a bit, rehashing the day and sharing a couple of Ang’s Jack chocolates before calling it a night.

Shopping, Sound Check and.... The Show!

~Queenie

Hearing voices coming from somewhere, I rolled over, I pushed my hair out of my face, glanced at the clock and groaned. 7:30, what the hell is everyone doing up already? I dropped my head back down on the bed and swore when I heard voices in the hall. I didn’t want any of them to see me like this. I stripped off last night’s clothes, slipped on my robe and went to see what was going on.

I found Hath, Ang and Luce in the kitchen. Ang and Hath were sitting at the table dressed and chatting, Luce was standing by the coffee looking about like how I felt. Without a word I crossed to the coffee pot and took the cup Luce offered as I studied the two at the table. “Jon call you already Hath?” I took a sip of the hot brew as she frowned and nodded her head, “yeah and he was way too chipper for 7 in the morning.” I moved to the table, sat down and looked over at Ang, “where the hell did you go already?” Hath jumped in before Ang could answer, “this crazy bitch went running this morning.” I looked at Ang, “you are outta your freaking mind woman!” She patted my arm, “what’s the matter sweetie, got a bit of a hangover this morning?” She was so smug, the damn Irish in her, she didn’t have any trouble this morning. I stuck my tongue out at her, “bitch.”

Sam wandered in then and we got our things together for later so that Hath could take our stuff to the hotel. After she was on her way we had breakfast and got ourselves ready for a marathon shopping day. Matt is joining us today and I fear he may want to take the first flight to anywhere but here by the time we are done.

Lucy took us shopping on the Magnificent Mile and holy hannah, I haven’t seen so many stores and restaurants in my life. We were in heaven, though judging from Sam’s reaction, she probably thought it was hell. Have we mentioned that shopping is not her favorite sport? Matt put up with us trying on shoes and looking at clothes, oohing and aahing over baby things. And, speaking of baby things, I found the sweetest little sweatsuits for LK and LJ. Believe it or not I found a Razorback one and had to have it for LK along with the Giants one I found. I bought a couple of those and they even had a Patriots one. So, each of the babies is going to have an outfit to wear come next football season courtesy of Auntie Q. I love baby things!

Matt was really a good sport. He carried a bunch of stuff for us and kept the eye-rolling and smart ass remarks to himself, mostly. He even put up with all of us asking, “does my butt look big in this?” Have I mentioned I love him yet? I treated us all to lunch at a great little pizza place that Lucy knew of and we all got to find out just what Chicago-style pizza was. By the time we finished there we had just enough time to drop our stuff off at the hotel and head over to the United Center for sound check.

When we got into the arena Jon had Hath running all over like a chicken with her head cut off. We heard very loud “fuck me!” and then Jon started laughing and we knew he was just being a pain in the ass. He told her he was just messing with her and she joined us down near the front to watch. Now, having been a Jovi fan for more years than I care to admit here, this is a dream come true, well one of a few anyway.

When the guys started in with Let’s Make it Baby, Hath and Ang, putting on a show for the guys, started grinding against each other. I thought David was going to have a heart attack and Richie, well, we got a “holy shit” through the talk box and we were in hysterics. Jon decided to end sound check then and there, deciding it was in his best interest to get everyone the hell out of there.

Backstage we met Obie and Tony and several others that keep the show moving. It was quite the operation. We headed back to the hotel for a light dinner and man, can I just tell you, Ang she can eat! She had picked on stuff all day today, had pizza at lunch and was now chowing down on a man-sized steak. I like to eat as much as the next person, but I just don’t know where she puts it all. God bless her!

After dinner we girls disappeared up to David’s room to get ready. I walked with Matt to his room first, kissed him and told him I’d be back. Knocking on the door Lucy tugged me inside and dragged me over to where the others were standing and looking at Hath. I noticed the plastic bag right away. “What is that?” She pulled out the outfit, “Jesus Hath, you are so gonna get in trouble.” She shrugged it off, “just giving David a little tease. Jon already warned me not to distract him too much, I figure this should be just enough.”

I shook my head and grabbed my bag, “girls I’m gonna get ready in Matt’s room. I’ll meet ya’ll downstairs.” I headed down the hall and using my key, slipped into the room. He was sprawled across the bed, eyes closed and looked for all the world like he was asleep. I felt kind of bad for him. First I dumped him off with the guys last night and then I dragged him all over hell’s half acre with the girls today. We didn’t have much time but I wanted to know that I appreciated him putting up with our antics. I dropped my bag and approached the bed, crawling up from the end, straddling his hips. He smiled, “hey baby, I was just resting for a minute.” I leaned over and kissed him, “that’s okay baby, you just lay there and relax.”

I worked his shirt up and off and trailed kisses over his chest, following the trail of hair down to the button on his jeans. I paused and looked up at him, his eyes were still closed and there was just a hint of a smile playing on his lips. I slid his jeans and boxer briefs off and crawled back up, stroking his legs on the way. I ran my fingers lightly over the quickly hardening length of him before leaning over and taking him in my mouth.

At his groan of approval I continued, gently rolling his balls in my hand as I alternated long slow glides and short quick thrusts. I felt him stiffen under me and sucked hard as I squeezed the base of him with my free hand. His hand was tangled in my hair, holding my head as he thrust his hips up, meeting every stroke of my mouth. I could tell he was close so I sucked a bit harder and was rewarded with his groan “baby, God baby, I’m … oh shit!” I took all he offered and I let him slip from my mouth. He pulled me up to him and kissed me soundly, “what was that for?” I stroked his cheek, “just because you have been such a good sport the last two days. I love you.” He kissed me again, “I love you too.” I sighed, “we need to get ready. Think you’ve got the energy?” He closed his eyes, “you go get started and I’ll join you in a minute.”

We met the others downstairs with just a minute or two to spare. I looked at Ang and Hath and felt slightly underdressed. I had on dark curve hugging jeans, a black v-neck form fitting shirt, red CFM boots and my dark red leather jacket. Ang had on slim fit jeans a black leather vest and those tat sleeves. They were way cool. And then there was Hath all in black. I sidled up to her so I could speak without being overheard. "That so isn't the outfit that was in that small plastic bag." She grinned, "you'll see later. Shhh." What a group we must have looked like.

We all had our backstage passes and we rode over with the guys in the SUVs. It was more than a little surreal entering the arena with the guys. Yet another dream come true. We watched Daughtry from the side of the stage and then were ushered to the Fan Pits to watch the first part of the show. As Hath walked out with Jon’s guitar the first time Ang hollered “Slutzilla” and I thought David’s eyeballs were going to fall right out of his head, either that or he was going to throw Hath down right there on the stage and fuck her brains out.

After Bad Name we were ushered out of the fan pit and into the front row! We had a hell of a time, even Matt was enjoying himself. I think he’s a closet fan, but he would never admit it. When the solo came during Bed of Roses and Jon kissed that girl and then smacked her on the ass, I thought Sam was gonna climb up on stage and smack him. She was pissed. We reminded her that it was just part of the show and she settled a little, but she was still mad.

After the encore we headed backstage to wait for the guys to go back to the hotel for the after party. Ang and I decided to have a little fun of our own with the guys. We were both sitting on Matt's lap when they came in, and David and Richie stopped dead as we both planted kisses on Matt.

David found his voice first, "Ang, you hurt me. I thought I was your guy?" Before she could respond Richie offered, "you two-timing us already darlin'?"

Ang smirked at the both of them, "you were taking too long boys and this one here," she nodded toward Matt, "well he was here and Queenie had no objections."

Out With the Girls...

~Queenie


Our girls night out tonight is Sam’s bachelorette party. She doesn’t know because we can’t tell her as it would ruin Jon’s surprise. But we know it is and we are going to make sure she has a great time tonight.

When we walked into Hennesey’s, I swear every pair of eyes in the place turned in our direction as we handed our coats to the coat-check guy and, putting a little extra wiggle in our walk, we followed the waiter who led us to our table in the middle of the room. As we took our seats and started to peruse the menus, our waiter came over to let us know that the gentlemen at the bar wanted to buy us a round of drinks. I looked over at Hath, “how old are they?” I had my back to the bar and didn’t want to be obvious by turning around and looking. She looked quick, “I’d say mid to late 20’s.” I shook my head, what the hell, tonight is about the fun, right? We let them buy us drinks and we enjoyed our meal.

My chicken marsala was fabulous. The chicken was cooked to perfection and the mushroom and wine sauce was out of this world. Before we finished we had another round of drinks in front of us and the pool table was beckoning from across the room.

We squared up the bill and deserted our table for a smaller bar table near the pool table. Lucy, Sam and I hung back while Ang and Hath took the first round. They were amazing. They guys from the bar that had bought us drinks came over and challenged the girls. I have never seen anyone play like Ang and Hath did. It was unbelievable. They pulled out all the stops and had the guys drooling where they stood. I snapped a bunch of pictures and we are going to have to do a bunch of editing before we can show these to the guys. The way the girls were leaning and bending over, there is way more cleavage on display than the guys would find appropriate.

Ang and Hath took the first two games and then Sam got involved. Now, a few months back she managed to beat the guys on Jon’s table and come to find out, this is totally her game. She nearly gave the boys a heart attack when she leaned over the table and her gloriously pregnant girls were on display. (Jon is so gonna love the pic I got!) She won the third game and, feeling somewhat bad for these men, we offered to split the drinks but they guys wouldn’t have it. They said we had won and they weren’t ones to welch on a bet. We graciously accepted and if I remember right, we hadn’t paid for a drink yet.

As we finished at Hennesey’s we headed back to the coat check and headed out to find our driver. The gambling boat awaits.

In the back of the car we chatted and laughed about the guys who had just been swindled. As we pulled up to the boat we reapplied our lipstick, fluffed our hair and headed inside to, hopefully, win some and not lose much. I’m not much of a gambler, I like the bells and whistles of the slots and I also like me a game of hold ‘em. I hoped I could find a table with a buy in of less than $50.

The drinks were flowing and, on the way to the tables I stopped at a King Tut’s Treasure slot game. It’s a multi-line slot and the payout was fairly good. “Hold up girls, I wanna try this one.” They stopped and walked back to me. I dropped a $20 in the machine, if you’re gonna play, might as well go the max, right? I took a deep breath and, being that it was Sam’s night I looked over at her, you wanna do the honors?” She grinned at me and pulled the handle. Well, the machine started going crazy, bells ringing, whistles blowing.

I looked and the three of the five lines were flashing and the machine started spewing coins. I grabbed a cup and starting filling it. I looked over at the girls and laughed, “Girls, lunch is on me tomorrow!” When the machine finally stopped I took my cup of coins and found a cashier. I decided after that I wasn’t going to push my luck anymore and cashed out. I won $200, well $180 if you count the $20 I put into the machine. I tried to give Sam half of it since she pulled the handle, but she wouldn’t take it. So I decided that I’m gonna buy her something for LK tomorrow.

We headed to the blackjack tables after that and found a table that had a reasonable (read that as $20) in. I’m not a blackjack player so I just watched. Ang and Hath were doing pretty well and Lucy and Sam wandered over to try Roulette. We had drinks brought to us most of the rest of the evening, paid by who we don’t know. All I know is, I had way more to drink than I probably should have and was starting to feel more than a bit silly.

After the girls were done with their games we found Ang chatting up some guys and Hath had to yell to get her attention. We, Lucy, Ang and I stumbled along with Sam and Hath back to the tables. Hath wanted to try her luck at a different game and Lucy and Sam wanted to try the slots. At this point, I was just trying to stay standing. We played around for a bit longer and as the minutes ticked toward 3 we decided it was time to head home. We stumbled our way back to the car and then into Lucy’s house and I fell into my bed, fully clothed. It had been a hell of a night!

Hey Lucy, We're Home... Primping & Preening

~Queenie

When Richie finally shut the van off in the driveway at Lucy’s we all piled out of the van. I looked back to the vehicle and then over to all of us and had shook my head. How did we all fit in there? Everyone was talking and I tugged on Matt’s hand and had him come around to the back of the van so we could get our bags out. Before I opened the door I turned to Matt “you okay?” He just nodded his head, “I’m fine, stop asking me that.” I leaned in to kiss him and was all but lifted off the ground by a pair of strong arms that weren’t Matt’s.

“What are you two doing back here?” I looked up and smiled, it was Richie. “Hey Richie, how are you?” I turned and gave him a hug. We hadn’t said hello at the airport and he had yet to meet Matt. “I’m fine darlin’. How are you and,” he smiled and pointed at Matt “who’s this guy?” I smiled, “Richie, this is Matt.” Matt extended his hand, “hi, it’s nice to meet you.” Richie shook his hand, “its nice to meet you too man.” As we opened the back doors I heard someone call out, "Rich man, are you gonna hog all the girls today?" It was David, he had made his way to where we were and, of course, was feeling slighted. "Hi David" I gave him a wave and he grabbed me in a hug. "Hey Queenie, how are ya?" I looked up at him, "I'm doing fine. Congratulations. I knew she would say yes." David laughed, "so you did. Thank you again." I kissed his cheek, "I'm glad it worked out. Now, come say hello to Matt and let's get these bags unloaded."

Lucy led us inside and showed us where we would be staying. I looked around, noticing all the little “extras” she had, flowers on the tables, special towels in the bathroom, flowers in our room. “Lucy, you really didn’t have to go to so much trouble. I told you a pillow and a blanket would have been fine.” Lucy waved it off, “it’s no big deal really, no trouble at all.” I gave her a hug, “well, I appreciate it and I have a gift for you.” I went and unzipped my bag and handed her the package. She smiled, “I hope its more coffee.” I laughed, “how did you know?” What I didn’t tell her was that I had included my “recipe” if you could call it that. She would now know how to make the coffee like I do.

She left to finish with the other girls and Matt shut the door behind her. “Finally, I have you all to myself for a minute.” He was leaning against the door and pulled me to him. I wrapped my arms around his neck, “so, what do you think of my friends?” He kissed the tip of my nose, “I like them. You met some nice people baby.” His mouth closed over mine and we shared a heated kiss. Just as Matt's hands started to roam, David pounded on the door, “hey, you two at it already, you just got here!” I pulled my mouth from Matt’s, “still think they’re nice?” He laughed and together we headed into the living room.

Jon had taken Hath to run some errands and the rest of us spent the afternoon getting reacquainted. It was nice to all be together again. Before we knew it, it was time for the girls to get ready for their night on the town.

Primping and Preening

By the time Hath and Jon got back it was nearly 5 and we had all congregated in the spare room. She showered and joined us. The music was blaring, we were talking and laughing, you’d have thought we all reverted to being teenagers or something.

Hath and just got her fabulous Jimmy’s on her feet when we heard Jon yell for her. She put her robe on and left the room. He came back told us we were going to want to see what was going on so we all followed to the other room.

Ten minutes later we were all back in the room, door clicked shut behind us, “are you going to let him get away with that Hath?” I couldn’t believe what had just happened. Hath just shrugged, “he had me order up my own paybacks, that was pretty good.” She promised that she would still dig at him so we let it drop.

I picked up my perfume and looked around, we were all in various stages of dress, Ang and Hath were comparing ink. Ang had a heart and dagger tattoo on her shoulder, the smirk showing at her waist and a smaller version of the joker on her hip. She looked spectacular in her blue bustier and short as sin skirt. Damn I wish I was taller. Her legs went on for miles.

Hath was stunning in her black and white Steve Madden dress that she had picked up that day in New York. She was right about the no bra thing. The dress wouldn’t have looked half as good if she had worn one and those shoes, they were killer.

Sam looked lovely in her short black skirt and white on white lace top. The cleavage she was sporting, holy hell, Jon was going to have a heart attack. Loved her boots too. I hope she goes back and gets the CFM ones she had her eye on after the baby comes.

Lucy was a vision in purple. The dress was fantastic add to that the black stilettos with the ankle strap and Richie was going to have to be held back in order for her to get out of the house.

Matt knocked on the door then, “half hour til the car gets here girls.” I smiled, “we’ll be out in a minute sweetie.”

I sprayed a little “Romance”, just my favorite bath and body works perfume on and donned my black tights, short black skirt with a skinny belt and my red wrap top that I bought at Macy’s that day in New York. With my push up bra on the girls were amply displayed and the diamond circle pendant Matt had given me for Christmas nestled right above my cleavage nicely. I zipped up my own pair of Jimmy’s, black knee high boots with a 4 inch heel. My hair was a tousled sexy mass of curls and as I slid on my black trench coat, Ang led us out to the living room.

The conversation that had been going on came to a halt when we entered the room. All eyes were trained on us and no one was talking. Richie found his voice first, “come on girls, what are ya wearing under there?” With a glance at each our coats hit the floor in unison and the guys just stared. I was starting to get a bit uncomfortable. “What?” I looked down at myself, was my skirt tucked up in my hose? Was my shirt inside out? I looked over at Matt, his eyes were wide as saucers, “say something, please!” He walked over to me and the guys all started talking at once. Matt grabbed my coat and urged me to put it back on and he started buttoning it up for me, “no way are you going out looking like that.” I pouted, “don’t you like it?” He shook his head, “I love it and that’s why you’re going to keep your coat on.” I kissed his cheek, “if I get any tips I’ll save ‘em for ya.”

The car had arrived by then and Matt snapped a couple of pictures before we all piled into the car. With drinks in hand, the driver closed the door and we were off.

Queenie has Arrived

~ Queenie

I grabbed Matt’s hand and as we deplaned and headed toward the gate. I started trying to look around and over people to see if I can see anyone, only slightly dragging Matt behind me. “Slow down babe, they’ll be there.” I tugged on his hand, “I know, I know, but I can’t help it, I’m excited.” As I said that I heard “QUEENIE!” With a laugh I took off, giving Matt no choice but to follow.

I stopped when I saw who was waiting with them and Matt ran right into me, nearly knocking me to the floor. “What’d you stop for?” I turned and talked low “are you ready for this?” Matt looked a little confused, “ready for what?” I rolled my eyes at him, “three guys standing off to the left, do you see them?” Matt glanced over, “yeah, why?” I smiled and kissed his cheek, he can be so oblivious sometimes. “That’s Jon, Tico and Hugh. Are you ready?” He swallowed and took a deep breath “let’s go.” I dragged him the rest of the way and let go of his hand as I was pulled into hugs and kisses with Hath, Lucy and Sam.

When the girls let me up for air I looked over at Matt, “come here honey, meet my friends.” He came over and, remembering Hath from back in November, held out his hand, “Hi Hath, it’s nice to see you again.” She ignored his hand and kissed him on the cheek. She turned to the girl on her left, “This is Lucy.” Again Matt stuck out his hand and again it was ignored, she kissed him on both cheeks. When he got to Sam, he didn't bother holding out his hand, he just accepted the kiss on the cheek. As he was saying his hello’s I looked over at the guys.

I was more than a little nervous myself after the conversation Jon, Hath and I had had one night in PMs on the board. He asked us what it was about him that made him so attractive to the female population because, well to use his words, "my wrinkles have wrinkles. I just don't see it". Well, Hath and I answered him as best we could and then decided that this weekend, we were going to hide in the closet the entire time. I was so wishing the floor would just open up and swallow me, but since that wasn’t going to happen, I sucked up my courage, pasted a smile on my face and went to say hello. “Hi Jon, how are you?” He took my hand and kissed my cheek. “I’m good Steph. It’s nice to see you again.” I looked around and Tico and Hugh were waiting for their turn to say hi. I stepped toward them, hugging Tico first, "hola Tico, como esta?" He smiled, remembering that I had spoken in Spanish to him the last time we had met. "Hola chica, estoy bien, e tu?" I looked over at Matt and then back at Tico, "Muy bien Tico, muy bien." I gave Hugh a hug and turned back to Jon.

Jon looked past me and gave Matt the once over, damn another tall one. Looking back at me he took my left hand to inspect the ring, “Congratulations by the way. Now, do I get to meet this guy of yours?” I motioned Matt over and looked around to make sure no one was paying attention, “this is Jon.” Matt stuck out his hand, hoping this time it was going to be shook and he wasn’t going to get kissed. “I’m Matt, it’s nice to meet you.” Jon took his hand, “it’s nice to meet you too.” I laced my fingers with Matt’s free hand, and turned to Tico and Hugh, "guys, this is my Matt." They said their hellos and I tugged on his hand, “come on, let’s go find our bags.” Jon rolled his eyes and looked at Matt, “how many did she bring?” He laughed “Two, plus her carry on. I told her she didn’t need to bring 7 pairs of shoes, but she didn’t listen.” I stuck my tongue out at them and decided to let Matt find his way with these guys and caught up to Lucy, Hath and Sam.

Ang is in the Country

“Where’s Ang?” I asked Hath and Luce. Luce looked around, “Dave and Richie were waiting to meet her. We’ll go find them after we get your bags.” I looked at the girls, “are you sure that was a good idea? Leaving the two of them to meet Ang I mean? You know how those two have been lately.” Hath and Luce both laughed “we know, that’s why we left them to it.”

Now, if ya’ll have been following along on the forum, you know that for weeks now Richie and David have been going at each other over who is going to kiss Ang first. Richie was razzing Dave about how he kissed his other fan first (that would be Hath) and how he should get to kiss this one too. Dave wasn’t about to let him get first crack at Ang, and was giving it back about him stealing one of the ‘Richie’ girls away. I swear you’d think they were 10 years old or something the way they had been going at each other.

After Matt and I got our bags we headed over to where the international flights came in. We stood far enough way so the guys wouldn’t notice us right off, but close enough to see Ang (we knew it was her by the Patriots cap she was sporting) grab Richie and Dave’s asses and see them jump about a mile and a half off the floor. Didn’t they realize it was her? Come on, she said she was a tall redhead, don’t they know what that looks like? Jeesh, even Matt elbowed me and pointed her out.

Lucy had noticed Ang coming up behind them and after the ass grab she moved in between the two of them as they stood there dumbfounded and watching as Lucy gave Ang a smack right on the lips. The looks on Dave’s and Richie’s faces at that, total ‘holy shit I can’t believe they did that right here in front of everyone’ look. We about lost it then, the tears were streaming down my face I was laughing so hard. I thought Hath was gonna wet herself and Matt, well, he didn’t know what to think and he was gripping my hand so hard I thought he was going to break my fingers. That was right about when David grabbed Ang and laid one on her. Caught her totally off guard and her hands were flailing and flapping before finally grabbing onto his shoulders. She was slightly dazed and had no time to recover before Richie got his lips on her. I think it was a good five minutes before she could talk again. I don’t think I’ve ever laughed so hard before.

After recovering ourselves we greeted Ang proper with hugs and kisses of our own, even Matt got one that time, we started toward the doors and the van. That’s when Ang grabbed one of the security guys and asked for a group picture. Well, we all got lined up and the security guard snapped a picture or two when Jon and Sam joined us, with him complaining that he wasn’t ready. Now, we are all lined up, girls in front guys behind us with their arms wrapped around us. Jon and Sam got situated, now it was Ang’s turn. She ended up between Hugh and Tico.

We all piled in the van and I swear this weekend is going to be nothing but smart ass remarks and laughter. Matt, Tico and Hugh were in the back, I sat with Lucy and Sam, Hath, David and Ang were in the middle and Jon and Richie in front. Talk about your clown car. We were chatting away and something got mentioned about sleeping arrangements and Hath blurted out that she was sleeping with Ang. Well, Jon’s head whipped around so fast after that statement that I swear he gave himself whiplash and I thought Richie was going to crash the van. Ang said that we were all too easy to fool. Matt looked at me like we were all nuts. I leaned in close and whispered, “Relax, it’s only going to get more outrageous from here. Take a deep breath and just go with it. This is going to be one hell of a week baby.”

Queenie is on Her Way

~ Queenie

So, we are at it again. Right now we are on a plane to Chicago to meet up with the rest of the Harem for a reunion of sorts. You remember the Harem, right? Hath, Lucy and I all met on a football forum and then, after Hath won a bet, we met for real back in November in New Jersey at a Bon Jovi show. That is also where we met Sam (Samantha Sinclair, soon to be Bongiovi) for the first time along with Jon, Richie, David, Tico and Hugh. This time though, we have a new friend joining us. We are finally getting to meet our friend from across the pond and by pond I mean the Atlantic Ocean.

Yep, you guessed it; Ang or Ukfootydunce as she is known on the forum, is coming to Chicago to hang with us and Richie and David are already fighting over who gets to kiss her first. I have a feeling no one is going to go unscathed in the kissing department this weekend. Oh, before I forget, WKG (Matt) is with me this time! He gets to meet all my friends too and while we girls are having our night out on Friday, he will be hanging with the guys and yes, I do mean those guys. He’s as nervous as a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs. I told him to relax, they are just normal regular guys and I reminded him that he already met David back in November in Jersey. He says he’ll be fine but I don’t know, he’s looking kind of pale at the moment.

So much has happened since November when I first met Hath, Luce, Sam and the guys. There are babies on the way courtesy of Sam and Jon and Hath and David. What’s that, Hath and David? Oh, they hooked up back in November and things have been moving right along for the two of them. They are very happy, but I will let Hath tell you all about it. Matt and I are engaged, and Ang figured out who the guys are, hence her appearance this time around.

I can’t wait to see my friends again. Other than an impromptu visit to Hath in the City a week or so ago, we haven’t seen each other since November. That was a fun trip. Hath and I were chatting on the board and something came up about lunch and I said if I was flying she was buying. She agreed and it just came about that quickly. We had lunch at the Rainbow Room with Sam and then we all went shopping. God I love shopping in NYC. There is no other place like it in the world. I got some fabulous boots too, Jimmy Choos that I just happened to bring with me for our night out tonight. Hath also invited me to stay the night with her and David. His place is fantastic and I am fairly certain that my little house would fit inside it, twice.

But I digress…

This weekend should be interesting to say the least. Another bet was made on the forum; this time between Hath and Jon. Needless to say with the Giants winning the Superbowl, Hath is now Jon’s indentured servant (read that as Slave) for the duration of our Chicago stay. She was so not happy about the outcome, but being the good sport that she is, is willing to take whatever Jon can dish out.

One other thing, Sam doesn’t know it, but our girls night out is actually her bachelorette party. Yep, you guessed it, Jon and Sam are getting married and Jon is planning a surprise wedding for her. So we decided that our night out together would be for her. I have a feeling that Luce, Ang and I are going to be more than a little drunk, after all the two momma’s to be can’t be imbibing so we will have to do it for them.

Okay, well you get the gist of the trip and the flight attendant is giving me the hairy eyeball so I’d better wrap it up now. Luce is supposed to be meeting us at the gate. I hope she didn’t forget. Better yet, maybe she sent Richie and David to meet us, that way Matt can be initiated one guy at a time. Relax honey, you’ll be fine.