Chapter Eighteen

"Are you keeping some big secret from me?" Serafina said getting dressed. They were sitting on oppisite sides of the bed, backs facing each other. Jon had his white shirt on, he was putting on his socks next. "Serafina, I can explain" he said looking over his shoulder. He stood up and sat next to her. "My name is John Bongiovi, not Frank Sharkey. I'm a rock star, not a lawyer." He told her truthfully. Serafina slapped him across the face.

"I CAN'T BELIEVE... I can't believe you would do that to me!" she said standing up, tears swelling up in her eyes. "I should have known that you were lying! It's my fucking job to know if someone is lying or not!" Jon stood up to try and comfort her but she pushed him away. "Serafina...I don't know why I did it. I shouldn't have done it, I just didn't want you to fall in love with Jon Bon Jovi the rock star, I wanted you to fall in love with, John Bongiovi, the stupid man. And when you asked if I was Frank, I was so happy that you didn't know who I was, I just had to lie. I wanted to tell you. I knew I had to tell you, but I couldn't. I didn't want to ruin what we had." Jon said sitting back down.

Serafina threw her stilleto at him, the heel hit him right in the eye. "You bastard" Jon put a hand over his eye, "I deserved that, Serafina you have to understand why I did it. Do you know how annoying it is going around, in so many different countries, and people you have never met before know your name, come up to you and start talking to you like your best friends?" tears were rolling down his face and Serafinas. Serafina was sitting down on the ground, her back against the wall. Jon came over and sat next to her. "Don't.. don't hate me." He said trying to put an arm around her. Serafina shook his arm off, "Afraid your too late.." Jon felt his heart sink, he couldn't remember the last time he was so sad. "Fine then, I promise that this will be the last time you'll see me. I won't put you through anything like this again. Carry on as though you never met me, never heard of me... it will be like I never existed." Jon said standing up, he looked back at her one final time, tears in his eyes and then left.

Jon hobbled down the hall, wishing he had just told her who he really was when he first met her. Regretting on doing that. Now he would never see her again. He thought about how he felt when Dorothea died...he was extreamly upset. Leaving Serafina... he was numb. He had just lost the love of his life because of his stupididty of lying about how he was.

three months later...

Jon was lying on his sofa staring at the ceiling. Thinking about Serafina. How he hurt her...he still couldn't believe he did what he did. He heard the front door open and then close, Stephanie walked into the room. She was wearing a pair of ripped jeans and one of Jon's old t-shirts. Jon laughed a little "You pull that t-shirt off better than I ever did" he looked at his daughter closely, something was different about her. "Dad, can you help me with a song that I have to sing at school?" she asked, Jon noticed she had a lip ring. "Sure I can, Stephy, when did you get the.." he pointed to his lip. Stephanie touched her piercing, "I got it done yesterday, 'Chelle did it for me" Stephanie said with a shrug. "She did, did she... what's the song?" Jon asked, making a mental note to ring Michelle later. Stephanie handed him a piece of paper, he read it out loud "Tears in Heaven" Jon knew that when he heard Stephanie singing this, tears would come to his eyes. He knew that she'd think about her mother when singing this song and it would be very emotional.

Serafina walked down Grafton Street, her umbrella was up. Every bus she went past had his face plastered on it, every billboard. Every raido station was playing him. She couldn't escape and she knew if she moved back to New York that it would be even worse. "Get your Bon Jovi tickets here!" she heard a man yelling out. He would be coming to Ireland for a month next week, he would be playing in different parts of the country. She was furious that he chose this country to come to out of all the other countries in the world he chose a stupid green little island.

"Hey, miss! Can you come talk to us for a minute?" a man asked, he was holding an RTE micraphone in hand. She walked over to him, "You have won a VIP and the last ticket for Jon Bon Jovi's first night here in Dublin!" he said handing an envelope to her. "You were the five hundreath person to walk by me today, congratulations!" he said shaking her hand. Serafina faked a smile, something she had been doing a lot lately. "Thank you" she said, her voice barely audible. "What's your name?" he asked, his arm around her shoulder, stopping her from running away. "Serafina Williams" she answered staring at the ticket. "Well Serafina, I hope your ready to have the most amazing night of your life, your seats are on the side of the stage and you will have a chance to go on stage with Jon Bon Jovi for four songs!" "Thank you so much!" Serafina faked her excitment and then left. She walked as fast as she could. Did she get these tickets for a reason? Did Frank... Jon and her really belong together?

"I don't think you need any help with it baby girl, that was amazing." Jon told Stephanie truthfully. She was an amazing singer, Jon said he would help her when she's finished school to get a deal but she refused. "I want to get it myself, I don't want a record deal because I'm your daughter. I'm going to earn it the hard way, like everyone else" was her reply. She was very independant. She took after her mother that way. If someone offered that to Jon when he was sevensteen or so he would take it in a heart beat.

Chapter Seventeen

A relaxed, lust-filled smile graced Jon's angelic face. “Beautiful,” he breathed, walking closer to Serafina, whom was now fully naked. He wrapped around her waist from behind. “Absolutely beautiful” he said, his lips brushing her ear, causing her to shudder pleasurably at the sensation.

Serafina thought of a way to show 'Frank' that she really knew who he was.

Jon picked her up and gently laid her down on the monstrosity, which he called a bed . As he did so, she allowed herself to look at all of him as he leaned over her, and she had to quickly stifle a gasp at the perfection. His chest blended flawlessly into his V, a thin trail of brown colored hair trailing down from just below his navel to the length of him in between his legs.

“You should close your mouth. It might stay like that,” he teased in a low voice, lowering himself on to her and trailing kisses up and down her neck and jaw. She hadn’t even realized her mouth had dropped open, and she hastened to close it, refusing to think about anything except his skin on hers, his mouth against her.

“Jon…” she whispered softly, reverently, as his mouth descended past her collar bone, heading toward her chest. Her body tensed in anticipation as he hesitated above the swell of one breast. Jon hadn't taken any notice of her calling him 'Jon'

"May I, Serafina?” he asked, looking up at her from under his eyelashes. Even if she had wanted to say no before, she never could’ve when he looked at her like that, his steel blue eyes smoldering up at me with burning desire and passion.

“Yes,” she gasped, and closed her eyes as his lips cautiously closed in around one nipple, his tongue flicking out to lick it.

“Oh!” she cried out, arching her back into him while jolts of electricity radiated through her, everything sharpened and blurred all at once.

Jon broke away quickly, panting just as hard as she was. “Serafina,” he whispered, his voice tortured. “You have to hold still. I can’t…I can’t…”

“I’m sorry,” she mumbled back. All she could think about was his mouth on parts of her that no one had ever touched like he did before.

He pinned her to the bed tightly, lowering his mouth to her breasts again. She struggled with herself to not squirm as he licked, nipped, caressed, and massaged the entirety of her torso, but it was so very difficult. His name came from her lips in a moan.

He looked up at me, “Do that again,” he ordered, his mouth parted slightly, his eyes half-lidded.

“What?” she was too far gone.

He didn’t respond, but he pulled himself back up to her, kissing her softly but passionately as his hand trailed down her body, coming to cup my womanhood. She gasped at the feel of his finger outlining the lips of her desire, and she couldn’t resist groaning his name in a gasp as his finger entered her.

“Moan my name, Ser,” he panted, begging, into her ear. “Do it, please.” Another finger added to the one already pumping her, and her body had no choice but to comply with his request. She lost herself, only aware of the spreading ache, the tingling in her legs that longed to be wrapped around his hips, pulling him into her deeper.

“Jon,” she gasped, as his fingers continued their wonderful work, his lips kissing burning trails all over her neck, his breath fanning over her rapidly with his heavy breathing. “Stop, please. I want you inside me…” she wouldn’t let that powerful light of paradise overcome me until she could feel him filling her.

“Oh Serafina…” he whispered, gently removing his fingers from her, and moving to hover, and then rest, between my legs. “I love you,” he breathed, kissing her mouth repeatedly. “I love you.”

“I love you too,” she murmured, locking her arms around his neck. “Please Jon…I want to feel you.” This time Jon realised what she had said, Oh shit.. oh shit.. oh shit... oh shit!!!!! Stay calm.. maybe she was calling him by another lovers name.

“Okay,” he whispered to her. He met her eyes and their gazes locked. “Keep looking at me,” he pleaded.

“Okay,” she whispered back, their lips brushing, focusing intently on his mesmerizing, steel blue eyes. She wasn’t sure if she could look away.

He nodded, and with a slight, quiet groan he entered her slowly, looking in her eyes like his life depended on it, before freezing as soon as he was all the way inside, allowing both of them time to adjust. But she found she didn’t need it. There was no pain, for all she could think about was him. Her everything. Inside of her. Completing the gap she didn’t know was there, filling the hole that never realized it was empty. He was solid, and so very there, surrounding her. All her senses could focus on was him.

And all she could feel was Jon beginning to move inside of her, his hands gripping her tightly for an anchor as she did for him. But it wasn’t tight enough. She wanted to feel him. She wanted to be so close there was no telling where she began and he ended.
“Hold me,” she breathed in a moan, as he gently thrust in and out, making stars come to her eyes, a pleasure she never thought possible. “Hold me…”
And he did. He gripped her arms tightly to him, burying his face in her neck.

Later on he wrapped his arms tightly around my ribs, kissing her shoulders. He gripped her hips and held on like she wanted him to. She'd never felt so loved, so safe, so insanely out of her mind with pleasure as she did in this moment.
It was perfect.

Chapter Sixteen

Six months later...

"So, your telling me that you met a girl six months ago, made up a different life, fell in love with her, didn't tell her that your in love with her, didn't even ask her out on an official date yet?" Richie said, he couldn't get over it. Sure this kind of things happened on TV, but in reality?... Jon nodded "Yes, and for the past six months I've been wanting to tell her I love her" Richie raised an eyebrow "what about coming clean about your made up life?" "That too" Jon sighed. "Just tell her.. everything" Richie suggested.

Serafina cuddled up on the sofa, she was flicking through channels. Every programme with a lawyer in it made her think of Frank, every one with someone smiling, someone with great hair, someone with the same hair color.. anything! She had been in love with the man for the last six months but had been too afraid to tell him. She had practised in front of a mirror but she still couldn't do it. He hadn't even asked her out on an official date yet, she hadn't even seen his apartment! She sighed, "Oh frank..." she closed her eyes and imagined him there with her. Lying on the sofa, his muscular arms wrapped around her.

Jon had bought an apartment down town, just to add to his 'Frank' role. But she hadn't seen it yet. He didn't want to come clean, Frank was great. She liked Frank, he was sure she would be highly upset if he told her then she wouldn't like Jon. He had to see her today and tell her how he felt, maybe take her up to his apartment down town and tell her the truth then. He had never been more nervous in his life, he stood up and looked for his phone.

She stopped flicking through the channels when she saw Oprah was on. It had just started, "Our first guest today is, Jon Bon Jovi!" she said, the crowd went crazy. Serafina hadn't heard of Jon Bon Jovi before. It was an old episode. A blond man walked on screen, he was beautiful. He had perfect hair.. perfect teeth... an angelic face. "FRANK?!" Serafina shouted realising who she was seeing on TV. She watched the interview, it was definitely Frank or should she say Jon Bon Jovi. So had Frank been lying to her for the past six months about who he really was? She quickly opened her laptop and typed in 'Jon Bon Jovi' into Google. She read all about his life on Wikipedia, everything he had told her was there well a part from being a Lawyer. So he had just changed his name and profession, the rest was really him.

Her phone rang, it was Fran.. Jon. She wanted to hear it from him. "Hello?" she answered, "Hey, Serafina. I was wondering if you would like to go for a coffee or something? I need to tell you something, important." Serafina was relieved, he was going to tell her about the Frank thing. "I'd love to, I'll meet you at Starbucks in half an hour" Serafina said hanging up. She couldn't be angry with him, she loved him too much to be angry with him.

"So?" Richie prompted Jon, "I'm meeting her at Starbucks in half an hour.." Jon told him. "Could you mind the kids for me tonight?" Jon asked, a smirk grew across Richie's face. "Feeling lucky, huh?" he asked. Jon didn't answer.

Jon sat at their usual table in Starbucks, waiting for Serafina to arrive. He decided to go order because he knew what she would get. "One hot chocolate and two cookies and one regular coffee, please" Jon said. While waiting for the coffees and cookies he looked around to see if Serafina had arrived in the mean time, she had and she had never looked more beautiful. Though, Jon had to admit, she looked more and more beautiful every day to him. He gave her a smile and a wave, she returned the smile and wave. "Hi!" she mouthed. "Here you go, that will be $8.75 please" Jon took out his wallet and handed him $2o, he hadn't anything smaller. "Keep the change" Jon said taking the coffees and cookies and walking down to Serafina. You can do this, you can do this! Come on! If you can play in front of 92,000 people, you can surely tell this one person that you love her!

"Hey, this is for you" Jon said handing her the hot chocolate and cookie. A smile grew across her face, "Thanks, so what was this.. important.. thing you need to tell me?" she asked, already guessing. Jon took a couple of deep breaths. He tried many times before but always ended up saying something like "I love.. this view" or "I love... what you've done with the place" He was going to tell her that he loved her, if it was the last thing he would do. "I love you" Jon said out straight. Serafina couldn't stop smiling, Jon looked nervous. "I love you too" she said, a beautiful smile grew across his face. "I just realised this morning that you haven't seen my apartment, would you like to see it?" he asked, neither had touched their drinks or cookies. "I'd love that" she said standing up.

"This place is amazing!" Serafina said looking around, they were sitting on the sofa, side by side. Jon turned to her, it's now or never! and kissed her passionately. Serafina automatically kissed him back, her arms wrapped around his neck, his arms wrapped around her waist, her fingers in his hair. He quickly lay on top of her on the sofa. Still kissing passionately, rubbing their hands all over each other's bodies.

Chapter Fifteen

"I can't believe you don't have our mothers cell phone number!" Matt said. It was 2am, Christian was passed out on the sofa, Matt was pretty drunk, Jon was sober, just staying up to keep Matt company. "Why should I have her number? I hate the woman!" Jon said sipping his coffee. "I know but still...what about when their minding the kids?" Matt said getting out his cell to find his mother's number. "Fine, give it me" Jon said getting out his own cell, Matt passed him his phone and Jon put in the number. "There, I put her under 666" Jon said handing the phone back to him. "Let me guess the ring tone, sympathy for the devil?" Matt said laughing, "Good idea!"

Jon was awoken by his phone ringing, the ring tone was Satisfaction. "Serafina" Jon said looking for his phone. He found it, he was sitting on it. "Hello?" Jon answered, he looked at the clock on the wall and saw it was 10am, then saw he had fallen asleep on the sofa. "Hey, Frank. I was wondering if you would help me pick out an apartment? Are you working today?" she asked. Jon had to take in what she was saying, it took him a few minutes. "No, I'm.. I'm off today" Jon told her, "I'd be happy to help" he said with a yawn. "Thanks, I'll meet you at your apartment at 12?" she asked, Jon had forgotten that he had told her where he was living. "Yeah, I'll meet you outside the building" Jon said hanging up.

Romeo was sitting on top of Christian, drawing on his face. "Munchkin, you shouldn't do that. Come on, we'll get dressed and go to the diner for breakfast" Jon said picking Romeo up and taking him upstairs. Jon decided to let Romeo decide what he wanted to wear, he could come out with anything on. Jon walked down the hallway, stopping at Stephanie and Jesse's rooms to wake them up. He finally arrived at his room. Something he liked and hated about this apartment, a part from pictures, there was nothing to remind him of Dorothea. She had never lived in this apartment.

He walked into his wardrobe, grabbing the first jeans he saw. A brown long sleeved t-shirt that showed off his amazing body. Jon couldn't stop thinking about Serafina, not since the first time he laid eyes on her. Was it possible he was in love with her? He always got lost in their conversations, hours seemed like minutes. She was beautiful, he always wanted to be with her, he went to sleep thinking about her, he woke up thinking about her, he dreamt about her, every time he heard her name he had butterflies in his stomach... "Oh shit.." Jon cursed, realising he was in love with her. He wondered if he should tell her. He looked in the mirror, "Serafina, I want to grow old with you... No! why would I say that to her? That'd creep me out if someone said it to me, oh wait someone did say it to me, it did creep me out..." Jon really wanted to tell her how he felt, maybe he could write a song? No... he was meant to be a lawyer, a song would blow his cover. "Daddy! I ready!" He heard Romeo call from the door. "Okay, munchkin, I'm coming" Jon said grabbing some sunglasses and going out to Romeo. Stephanie, Jesse, Jake and Michelle were waiting to go. "Get into the car, I have to do something.." Jon said handing Michelle the keys.

Chapter Fourteen

A week later...

"All the blood tests have come back clear, the rest will be back in about a week, deep down I think it might just be viral. We're putting you on Brufen, it will take a few days to kick in." Dr. Clayton said writing something down on Jon's chart. "So, it's not Lupus?" Jon asked, Michelle had told him all about Lupus. "No, no, it is not Lupus. Your free to go" he said. "Thanks doctor, I really appreciate everything you've done" Jon said shaking Dr. Clayton's hand.

Jon had been in hospital for the past week, he had got blood tests and many other tests done. He had an x - ray and found out he had been constipated for about six months. A female nurse had given him something up his ass and Jon was sure she felt someone touching his 'manhood' and pulling at his 'fur down there' He couldn't wait to get home, today he was going to take it easy at home with the kids and whoever else may be at his house. He might ring Serafina and ask her if she wants to catch a movie or have a bite tomorrow. All the nurses on the ward came to Jon's room to say goodbye, he got a few hugs and a lot of the nurses slipped pieces of paper with their number in his bag or jacket.

He started to slowly hobble out of his room when a nurse came up with a wheelchair. "I'm fine, really" Jon said. "Go on sweetie, it's no trouble. I'm on my break anyway!" the nurse said with a wide grin. Jon sighed and sat into the wheelchair. "Where's your car?" she asked. She was chewing gum loudly and it was really annoying Jon. Jon was about to tell her that he could take it from here but knew she wouldn't take that for an answer. "It's the Lincoln Navigator right there" Jon said pointing to his car. She slowly pushed him over to his car, blabbering on about something that Jon was sure he couldn't care less about. "Like if you don't want to play for the troops that's fine I just think.." Jon looked up at her. "Excuse me?" he said, "I heard that you didn't want to play for the troops that were coming home.." she said again. "I didn't say I didn't want to, I said I couldn't! I have family commitments that day, how about you go leak that to the press. I'll probably read about everything that happened me and supposedly happened me in this hospital in the morning paper tomorrow anyway!" Jon snapped getting out of the wheelchair and getting into the car. The poor nurse looked like she was on the verge of tears when Jon drove away.

Jon was stuck in a mile long tail back. After ten minutes he decided to turn on the radio. The beach boys blasted at top volume, "AH, BA BA BA BA BARBARA ANN!" causing Jon to jump with fright. It was Richie's Beach Boys CD. "Bloody hell, Rich, you crazy motherfucker" Jon said with a laugh switching the CD. It was a CD that Stephanie had made him when she was about ten years old, a mix of all his favorite songs. The first song was 'Rag Doll' by Aerosmith. He turned the volume back up and sang along. "Rag doll, living in a movie, hot tramp, daddy's little cutie, your so fine, they'll never see you leaving by the back door.." he felt his phone vibrating in his pocket. "Aw shit.." He said, the traffic had just picked up again. He turned down the volume and got his phone out, he quickly glanced at the number, he didn't recognize it. "Hello?" Jon answered, "Jon it's your mother." he heard Carol say. "Hi, mom, bye, mom" Jon said hanging up and throwing the phone onto the passenger seat.

When Jon got home to his apartment, all his children were there to welcome him home, along with Claire, Matt and his father. "Daddy!" Romeo said running over to Jon, he hugged his leg. "Hey munchkin," Jon said bending down to give him a hug. The only one that didn't welcome him home was, Jake. "So I made an appointment with that Dr. Walker, for Jake" Jon said quietly to his father. Dr. Walker was a child psychiatrist, Jon had made an appointment with him to see Jake, unfortunately it was on the day that he was asked to sing for the troops, his son was more important to him then troops coming home. Jon's friend, George McGee, recommended Dr. Walker to Jon, he had taken his own daughter, Sophie, to see him and apparently did wonders. "My grandson is seeing a shrink?!" John Sr. said, about to freak out.

"You know, I can't imagine you two being married" Stephanie said to Christian and Claire, who were still very good friends. "Three months into the marriage it would be like, hunny I had an affair" Claire said, "Oh, with who?" Christian said looking shocked. "His name was Donald" Claire replied, "Me too!" Christian said pointing to himself. Everyone laughed. "Do you want to fuck me?" Christian asked Claire, "Sorry, I don't do gay guys" Claire replied laughing, "Oh, gosh, that's too bad because I do!" Christian said. They loved making these kind of jokes, it was fun.

Chapter Thirteen

Serafina couldn't stop smiling since she met Frank. She couldn't wait for Monday, she would be able to see him again. She was having lunch with Harlow and Vivianne. "So, how did it go?" Harlow asked, "From that smile, I'm thinking, GREAT!" Vivianne said. "We had a few drinks, talked, didn't get into anything personal, just hobbies, bands we like and stuff like that. Then he took me to this mile long flower market and gave me a single red rose, then he asked did I want to meet up with him to have a few drinks again on Monday!" she said excitedly. Harlow and Vivianne's smiles dropped. "He asked you did you want to meet up and have a few drinks?" Harlow asked. Serafina nodded, she couldn't understand what was wrong with that. "What? What's wrong with that?" Serafina asked, panicking a bit now. "Hunny, a few drinks is what friends do, a dinner or movie is a date" Vivianne said putting her hand on top of Serafina's.

"Mom, can you drop me to the park?" Dakota asked Serafina. "Why?" Serafina wanted to see if she was going to tell the truth to her. "I'm meeting Jesse" she said. She was telling the truth. "Sure hun" Serafina said grabbing her car keys.

"Dad, you can go now" Jesse said to Jon. Jon smiled "It took me fifteen minutes to get over here, It'll take me another fifteen to get back to the car. I'm going to eat my lunch here. You and Dakota can go off by yourselves, I'll meet you here at five o' clock" Jon said to him.

"Mom, you really don't have to walk me to him" Dakota said, she was embarrassed that Serafina was walking her to Jesse. "Sweetie, I'm going to go for a walk anyway" Serafina said. They saw Jesse waiting, hands in his pockets. Serafina looked at the man sitting on the bench. Jesse said something to him and the man smiled. Serafina would know that smile anywhere, it was Frank.

"There she is" Jesse said to Jon. Jon looked at Dakota, she was very pretty. "She's a keeper man" Jon said with a smile. "No, she isn't." Jesse said. Jon looked back up at Dakota, he saw a woman walking next to her. It was Serafina. "Oh shit... Jess, do your old man a favor, pretend my name's Frank" Jon said to Jesse. "Sure" Jesse said, that was Jon's code name for when fans were around.

"Hey Jesse!" Dakota said giving him a kiss on the cheek. "Hi, let's go for a walk. Nice to see you again Miss. Williams" Jesse said walking with Dakota. "Frank? Is that you?" Serafina said when Jesse and Dakota were out of hearing distance. "Hey Serafina, fancy seeing you here" Jon said smirking. "Have you eaten?" Jon asked, not wanting his sandwich. "No" Serafina lied. Surely lunch would count as a date."Good, I know this great restaurant" Jon said getting up. His feet were killing him but he tried his best to walk at his normal pace. It was killing him. He walked up to his car and opened the door for Serafina. He had his Lincoln Navigator, the family car. He hoped to god there was nothing of the kids with their names on it, or his. "I love your car" Serafina said. "Thanks" Jon said relieved he could sit down.

"So, do you have many kids?" Serafina asked, eager to know him better. "I have six kids, Christian, Michelle, Stephanie, Jesse, Jake and Romeo" Jon said, "And you?" Serafina smiled, "Only Dakota, six kids, wow. I always wanted a big family" she said still smiling. "Are you Irish?" Jon asked, he just noticed her accent, he loved the Irish accent well really anything about Ireland. "Yeah, I am. I moved over here when I was twenty. I'm from Galway" she said smiling. "My..." Jon was about to tell her about Claire being from Ireland, but didn't know what to call her now. "My son, Christian, had a wife, Claire, she was from Ireland too" Jon told her. Jon couldn't take his eyes off of Serafina. "So, Frank, tell me about yourself" she said. Jon didn't know whether to make up a life about himself or just tell her the parts that weren't to do with his rock star life. "I was born in New Jersey, raised there. My father was a plumber turned hairdresser. He was an Italian. My mother was a playboy bunny, she worked in the restaurant. I have two younger brothers, Anthony and Matt. I hated school. I missed about one hundred days in my last year of high school, I graduated by the skin of my teeth." he laughed, then realised that might have been the wrong thing to say seeing as he was supposed to be a lawyer. "I was just kidding about the hundred days...I went to law school and then when I graduated I went to Paris and met a girl, her name was Jacklyn. You could say it was love at first sight. I married her, we had twins, Christian and Michelle. Then I realised that it wasn't love, it was lust. We divorced, I moved myself and the twins back to New Jersey, Jacklyn stayed in Paris. Then I met my high school sweetheart, her name was Dorothea. We dated for about six weeks and I asked her to marry me and we went to Vegas and got married, didn't tell a single soul about it. We had four children, Stephanie, Jesse, Jake and Romeo. When my youngest, Romeo, was one and a half, Dorothea died." Jon had never talked about this to anyone. But something deep down let him know he could trust her. "Oh my god...I hope you don't mind me asking, what happened to her?" Serafina asked. "We were at my parents, my mother wanted some pears. Dorothea said she would cycle down to the shop and get some for her. Next thing we heard a truck hoot I ran outside and down the street. She had been hit by the truck, she died in my arms" Jon said, tears in his eyes, staring into space. He was having a flashback.

Chapter Twelve

Jon sat in bed that night reading his book, The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari - he had read it five times already but loved it. But he couldn't concentrate on the book, something else was on his mind, or someone was on his mind. He couldn't get Serafina out of his head, she was so beautiful and they had so much in common. He couldn't believe he lied to her about his name, he felt awful about it. He was meeting her again on Monday, same place, same time. He thought about telling her the truth - that his name was Jon Bon Jovi, not Frank Sharkey. He was a major rock star, not lawyer. That he had four homes, a mansion in New Jersey, a penthouse apartment in New York , a huge holiday home in East Hampton and a chateaux in the south of France and not a tiny apartment in Harlem. But why ruin what he had going on here? It mightn't even lead anywhere! It could just end up being two drinks and then they'll never see each other again.

Jon's door opened, Romeo was standing there with his teddy bear - Mickey. "Daddy I had a scary dream" he said, Jon was thankful that he had decided against sleeping nude that night. "Want to stay in here tonight Munchkin?" Jon asked, Romeo nodded his head and climbed into the bed and cuddled up to Jon. Jon had to admit, he sometimes wished his kids would have bad dreams and come into him, he hated that empty space in the bed. "Can I turn off the light tonight?" Jon asked, some nights Romeo was afraid of the dark, other nights he wasn't. Romeo thought about it for a few minutes and then decided against it, "No!" he said closing his eyes.

When Jon woke up the next morning the first thing he heard was someone shouting. He slowly got out of his bed, he went to scratch his ass and it felt wet. "Did I..." he looked at the bed and remembered Romeo slept in there with him last night, "Romeo" he said to himself. He quickly changed his boxers and went downstairs.

Christian and Claire were in the living room having a screaming match. "Sssh! It's too early for daddy" Jon said half asleep putting a finger up to his lips. "Guess what, Jon. Guess what your son has decided" Claire said sounding pissed off. Jon narrowed his eyes and looked at Christian "What did you do now?" he asked. Richie came in and sat on the armchair in the corner of the room, it was known as 'Richie's seat' because he was the only person who sat in it. "We were having sex last night," Claire began, Jon really didn't want to imagine his son having sex. "And when we finish he turns to me and says, 'Hunny, I think I'm gay'!" Richie dropped his newspaper and burst out laughing. Jon turned to him and gave him a dirty look, he pointed to the door leading to the kitchen, "Go - Now!" Jon said then turned back to Christian and Claire. "I guess it's too early for humor" Richie said trying to hold in the laughter. "Son, I support you in everything you do, but that is not what you say to your wife, of two days, after having sex - now daddy's going to have a morning pick me up" Jon said walking to the kitchen.

"This family makes me look sane!" Richie said laughing, he was doing the crossword. "A kitchen utensil, five letters" Jon sat down looking around the kitchen, there was a knife on the table. "Knife" he said, Richie counted the letters and wrote it down. "What's your mom and dad going say about Christian?" Richie asked writing down different answers. Jon hadn't thought about what they would say and what would it matter? As long as Christian was happy. "Dad will be fine with it, he might be a bit shocked at first but he'll accept it, mom will be the bitch she always is and flip out" Jon said, Richie shook his head. "What?" Jon asked raising an eyebrow. "I just can't understand why you still hate your mother so much" Richie said. "Well there's two answers for that, one, she hated Dorothea, two, I'll never forgive her for what she did to Dorothea" Jon said crankily. "And yes, my family does make you look sane, which is very strange because your not sane!" Jon joked, "Ain't it the truth!" Richie said laughing.

"This is all because you don't go to mass! God has put a curse on your son!" Carol said to Jon, Jon rolled his eyes, his mother didn't like the fact that he didn't go to mass. "That's your Catholic up bringing gone down the drain!" John Sr. rolled his eyes at her also, "Carol, being gay is not a curse from God! And it is not because he doesn't attend church, If Christian wants to be gay, let him be gay!" John Sr. said to his wife. Carol looked shocked and defeated, "Well I still think he should go to mass! You'll go to hell if you don't attend church, do you want your children, MY grandchildren, to go to hell? I certainly don't!" she said poking Jon in the chest. "Mom, I don't have time to go to mass, I'm nearly always on the road!" Jon told her. "Your always on the road because you want to keep yourself busy so you won't have to have the truth about Dorothea!" John Sr. shot her a look, 'Don't!' John Sr. mouthed to her, but it was too late. She had already said it and Jon was furious. Jon stormed out of the house and slammed every door he went through as hard as he could. He knew slamming doors was childish but he didn't care, it was a way to release his anger.

Richie and Matt were waiting in the car for him, Matt couldn't face his parents today, they would just nag him about being thrown out by his wife. "How'd it go?" both Richie and Matt asked. Jon took a few deep breaths before talking, "I hate that woman!" Jon said driving off fast. "Went pretty good then" Richie said slightly laughing. Jon shot him a murderous look, Richie stopped laughing. Usually in this situation, Jon would go running or work out. But with this thing he had he couldn't. Then he remembered his doctors appointment.

Chapter Eleven

It was 8:30 pm, Serafina was meant to meet her blind date at 7pm. "Great, I've been stood up.." she said standing up from the table and walking to the bathroom. "I'm not going to cry...I'm not going to cry.." she tried to tell herself. Before she came she didn't think she was looking forward to the date but then she saw an old man giving his wife a single red rose, they kissed and walked down the street holding hands. She wanted to know what it felt like to grow old with the one person you love. She looked in the mirror, tears were rolling down her face. She laughed at herself and began to fix her make up. She took out her cell phone and dialed in Harlow's number "It's over already?! It's only been an hour and a half!" Harlow said answering the phone. "He didn't come" Serafina told her. "Aw hunny! Maybe he's at the bar...go ask some cute guys their names, if he's called Frank then it's him!" Harlow said, she was always the optimistic. Serafina sighed, "Okay, but if he's not there I'll call you and you can come get drunk with me" she said with a laugh.

Jon sat looking at the people around the bar, making up stories of their lives. He needed to get away from all the chaos at home, Jacklyn was very upset with Christian and they started fighting, they were probably still fighting. Jake still wouldn't talk to him, he still believed that his pretend daddy was his father. Stephanie had a boyfriend, even though nearly every teenager her age had a boyfriend or girlfriend, he didn't like it, he didn't want his little girl growing up and the boyfriend happened to be Nick Jonas. He spotted a woman coming out of the bathroom, she was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. He couldn't take his eyes off of her. She walked to the bar, so gracefully and sat down. Jon decided this was a good time to get another drink, he could have a closer look at the beautiful woman.

"Sorry, I hope you don't mind my asking but what's your name?" the woman asked him. Jon guessed she was a fan wondering if it was really him. He looked at her and realised she really didn't have a clue who he was and he wasn't going to tell her his real name, he decided to use his middle name. "Frank" he answered. She burst out laughing, "I thought you had stood me up!" she said laughing, Jon hadn't a clue what she was on about but decided to go along with it. "Do you want a drink?" he asked, she nodded. "What's your name?" Jon asked handing the barman some money, they started to walk down to Jon's table, "Serafina Williams," she said reaching out her hand for him to shake. Jon shook her hand, "Frank Bon..Sharkey, Frank Sharkey" Jon lied.

Serafina couldn't get over how handsome Frank was, his hair and teeth were just perfect. She looked like a dishcloth next to him, she had never seen a man more good looking than Frank. "So, Frank, what are you interested in?" she asked, Jon couldn't take his eyes off of her, she was too beautiful. "Frank?" she said again, Frank... Frank.. Oh! that's me! Jon thought. "Yes?" he asked not realising how much he was smiling, Serafina laughed a little "What are you interested in?" she asked once again, "Music, politics, charities, I don't know, stuff like that" he said laughing, he had never been asked what he was interested in before. "What about you?" he asked, "Pretty much the same" she said smiling. "Can I show you something?" Jon asked Serafina, she nodded "Sure"

"This is my secret hiding place, only me and three thousand florists know about it" he joked. He had taken her to the flower market, he hated to admit it but he was a sucker for flowers. This place was gorgeous, for a whole mile it was all flowers and nothing but flowers. "This is amazing and the smell!" Serafina said inhaling. Jon smiled and picked up a single red rose and handed it to her. "For the lady" he said and handed the florist more money than the rose was worth.

Chapter Ten

Jacklyn pulled up outside her ex husband's New Jersey mansion, she didn't know whether to be furious, happy or sad. All Jon told her on the phone was "Christian needs to tell you something, important" It seemed Jon was waiting for her to arrive because he was there opening her car door for her, "Jacklyn," he said greeting her with a smile. How much she missed being married to Jon, he was a real gentleman, romantic, funny, caring...and amazing in bed. "Is Christian okay?" she asked her French accent was evident though she had been living in America for years, "Right now, yes, when he tells you what he did... you tell me" Jon said walking towards the house with her.

Christian was in the living room, playing guitar and singing Love bug by the Jonas Brothers for Ava, the Jonas Brothers were her favorite band and ever since she was little she had been Christian's 'girlfriend'. "Now I'm speechless, over the edge and just breathless, I never thought that I'd catch this, love bug again, hopeless, head over heels in the moment, I never thought that I'd get hit by this love bug again. I can't get your smile out of my mind, I can't get you out of my mind, I think about your eyes all the time, your beautiful but you don't even try, you don't even, don't even try..." he spotted his mother and father standing at the doorway. "Ava, darling, how about you practise the thing I was showing you on the guitar," he said handing her the guitar. "Ah, kiss!" he said before she went away, she came back and kissed him on the cheek.

"Mom" Christian said standing up to greet her with a hug. "Christian, what's this news you want to tell me?" she asked raising an eyebrow. Christian gulped, he didn't know how she would react, she could be delighted for him or furious with him for not telling her. "I got married to Claire last night" he said straight out, Jacklyn sat down "The Irish girl?" she asked, neither Christian nor Jon knew if she was happy, sad or furious. "Yeah, Claire, the Irish girl" he replied. "So your telling me, last night you got married to your Irish friend and didn't bother to ring anyone so they could celebrate with you."

Jon decided to sit down, this could take a while. He put his hand into a fist and then released it, it was extremely sore, his fingers were swollen, he looked at his left hand, it was fine. He looked at his arm, he had a bad rash. He quickly pulled his sleeve down to cover it up. His face felt like it was burning - like he was embarrassed. He ignored what Christian and Jacklyn were saying, "Excuse me" Jon said standing up, his feet were very sore and so was his left knee - if he got a pain in his knee, it was always his right knee because that was his bad knee. He knew he was about to fall so leaned onto the furniture and walked slowly out of the room.

Richie saw Jon and burst out laughing, "What? Did the ex embarrass you and then beat you up?" he asked. "Shut up, Rich, my joints are aching and my whole body feels like it's on fire." Jon said sitting down, Michelle raised an eyebrow "How long have your joints been aching?" she asked typing something into her laptop. "My knee and feet have been sore for a couple of days... why?" Jon asked - Michelle was brilliant at diagnosing people's illnesses, she could be a doctor, in fact Jon had told her several times to become a doctor but she refused. "I think you might have slapped face syndrome, but go to a doctor because it could be worse like, Lupus or something" she said. Jon hadn't a clue what Lupus was but he didn't like the sound of it.

Chapter Nine

When Jon woke up the next morning the first thing he did was make a cup of coffee and then he sat down at his laptop. He googled 'Nick Jonas' he went into the Wikipedia, he was relieved to find out that Nick and his brothers all wear purity rings. "That's a lot off my chest" Jon said to himself. "What's a lot off your chest?" he heard Stephanie ask, he shut the laptop down as fast as he could. He anxiously looked around the room and saw Time magazine with Obama on the cover, "That Obama's the president" he said raising a hand then put it down again. Stephanie gave him a weird look "Right dad.." she said walking to the kitchen. Jon followed her into the kitchen, he thought about asking her about Nick but didn't know how to. He saw Stephanie was getting a cup out to have some coffee so he poured some coffee for her. "So did you have a good time last night?" Stephanie held onto her locket and smiled, "I had a great night, thanks so much dad!" she said going up to him and giving him a kiss on the cheek. "I was thinking ,maybe, we could all go out for lunch, you, me, Richie, Ava, Jesse, Jakey, Romeo, Christian and Michelle" Jon suggested, he was going to start spending as much time as possible with all his family, "Lunch... I can't, I'm meeting a..." she hesitated for a minute, not wanting to tell her father that she was meeting her boyfriend, who happened to be Nick Jonas, for lunch, "a friend for lunch" she said. Jon nodded his head, he was about to suggest dinner but he didn't feel like having his dinner at 5 o' clock and later in the evening would be far too late for Jake and Romeo.

Jon stayed in the kitchen and read the morning papers, Stephanie went into the living room to go on her laptop and talk to Nick on video chat. Jon listened to the conversation from the kitchen, unknown to Stephanie. "I wrote you a song" he heard a boy say, Nick he presumed. "You did?" Stephanie said excitedly, "Can I hear it?" she asked. "It's not that good, but sure.." Nick said laughing. A nice melody on a guitar started to play, Jon picked out the chords, C and A, "You,You're like driving on a Sunday,you, you're like taking off on Monday,you, you're like a dream, a dream come true. I, just a face you never notice, I, just trying to be honest with myself, you, with the world."

Jon heard a laugh, it was Richie. "Didn't your momma ever tell you that eavesdropping was rude? and on your own daughter!" he said walking over to the fridge, Jon put a finger up to his lips.

"You might think, that I'm a fool for falling over you, so tell me, what can I do, to prove to you, that's it not so hard to do, give love a try, one more time, cause you know that I'm on your side. Give love a try, one more time, Ooh"

Jon looked back up at Richie, who had an empty cheesecake box in his hands, "I'll buy a new one," he said trying to hold back the laughter, Jon always went crazy when he ate a whole cheesecake by himself. He sat down at the table, "So did you find anything out about Nick Jonas?" Richie whispered, "Yeah, he and his brothers wear purity rings" Jon said putting his hands together and looking up at the ceiling, closed his eyes and he mouthed 'Thank you god!'

Jon's leg twitched, Jon didn't react to it at all, he stood up and as soon as he put weight on his left foot, he fell. Richie quickly helped him up, "Man are you okay? This happened the night before as well, maybe you should go to the doctor," Richie said helping him get back on the chair. "I'm fine" Jon said.

Michelle walked into the kitchen, Jon loved watching her walking - she was so graceful, she would put a ballerina to shame. "Dad, the stupid toaster isn't working" She said looking at Jon. The toaster kept popping her bread back up, seconds after she had put it in. Jon got up to walk over to her but once again he fell. Michelle ran over, "I can't feel my leg" Jon said grabbing it, to make sure it was still there. "Do you feel any tingling?" Michelle asked, helping Richie get him back up onto the seat. "Yes" Jon replied, "Your leg's asleep" she said walking back over to the toaster, "How do you know it's just asleep?" Richie asked, he was imagining all weird and wonderful things to be wrong with Jon. "How do you not know that?" Michelle said laughing.

Christian walked into the kitchen with his keys in hand, he threw them on the table, he had a stupid smirk on his face, the last time Jon had seen his son look so happy was at his third birthday party when he was given the biggest slice of cake. "What's up with you? You look like you just ate a whole cheesecake" Jon said looking at Richie, "I said I'd buy a new one!" Richie said leaning back in his chair. Michelle decided to give up on the toaster and sat down at the table with everyone else. "I.. got married" he said. Richie fell back on his chair and hit the ground, Jon spat out the orange juice that Michelle had given him. "To who?!" Jon asked, "Oh, don't tell me it was that girl you were dancing with last night, you just met her!" Michelle said, sounding a bit disgusted. "No, after I slept with her she told me that her boyfriend would be back in an hour" Christian said with a shrug, "Then I was walking home and I met Claire and I looked her in the eyes and I decided to finally tell her I had loved her since the first day I met you and we went to some new place they opened in New York and got married, by Elvis" he said laughing. Jon shook his head and buried his face in his hands "Do you know how upset your mother is going to be? How upset EVERYONE is going to be? I know for a fact that everyone would have preferred to have been there with you. God help you if you and Claire should ever get a divorce!" Jon said, then remembered that he had done the exact same thing with Dorothea. He now realised how hurt everyone must have felt and how Christian feels right now. "Your one to talk" Christian muttered.

Chapter Eight

"Okay munchkin, this is the plan," Jon said crouching down to Romeo's height, he was going to find out who Stephanie's boyfriend was. "Your going to be sitting up on daddy's shoulders and when you see Stephanie tell me!" Romeo nodded excitedly, he loved going on his daddy's shoulders. Jon picked him up and put him on his shoulders and started to walk through the massive crowd. He had to admit, Stephanie sure knew how to throw a party, Jon had been to a lot of parities before but this is one of the best he had been to, if it wasn't his daughters he would probably enjoy himself more.

Romeo kicked Jon hard in the chest. Jon grunted slightly, Romeo sure had a hard kick. Jon got him down and held him up, "I see Jesse!" he said with a smile. "Thanks munchkin, but we're looking for Stephanie, not Jesse," Jon said and put him back on his shoulders.

Christian sat at the bar, he felt a lot of eyes on him. He looked around the room and there was a lot of girls looking at him. They were smiling and winking at him. Christian tried to hold back the laughter, some of the girls couldn't be any older than fifteen. A long legged brunette walked up to him, she looked much older than any of the other girls, twenty maybe. She sat next to him and rested her chin on the back of her hand. "Hello" Christian said leaning up on the bar. "Hi" she said smiling and looking into his eyes. She stroked his cheek with her index finger, "Want to dance with me?" she said slightly biting her lip. Christian had a feeling that he would be doing A LOT more than dancing with her this evening, especially after a few drinks.

Jesse and Dakota were sitting down in a dark corner of the room. "This party's so cool!" Dakota said, Jesse squeezed her hand a bit tighter. She looked at Jesse and he leaned in and kissed her. Dakota was the one to break off from the kiss, "How about we just dance?" she asked standing up and pulling him to the dance floor. Jesse groaned, he hated dancing.

Romeo kicked Jon hard in the chest, for the tenth time. "Stephanie!" he said excitedly, Jon put Romeo on the ground and started dancing with him, going closer to Stephanie. She was dancing with a boy, taller than her with dark curly hair, he was wearing a grey suit. He guessed that was Stephanie's boyfriend. The boy looked familiar but Jon couldn't quite place him. The boy leaned in and kissed Stephanie, Jon went to walk up to him but a hand on his shoulder stopped him. He looked behind him and saw Richie, "Don't, you have to let her grow up" Richie said picking Romeo up, "Come on, let's go get a drink," Jon followed.

Michelle looked around the room to see if there was any guys she could dance with, but they were all Stephanie's age. She sighed and watched Christian dancing with some girl, he looked like he was enjoying himself. "'Chelle Chelle!" she heard a little voice call, she looked around and saw Romeo running towards her. He looked so cute in his little jeans, shirt and shoes. "Hello!" she said picking him up and giving him a hug. "Who is a handsome boy tonight?!" she said to him. He gave her a cheesy grin "MEEE!" he said. "Hey sweetheart," she looked up and saw Richie and her father standing in front of her. She didn't have the best relationship with her father, it was a love hate one. He didn't always approve of what she did, visa versa. "I see you bothered to take some time off to come" she said to him. Jon rolled his eyes, she had never forgiven him for not turning up at her sweet sixteenth, after promising her he would. "How many times must I say sorry?" he asked, "daddy! daddy! daddy! You'll never guess who are here!" Ava said running up to Richie, "Who?" Richie asked looking at Jon for a hint. Jon shrugged. "NICK JONAS! Uncle Jon, can you introduce me to him? Please?" Jon raised an eyebrow, he hadn't a clue who she was talking about. He seemed to be the only one who didn't know who he was. "Oh yeah, he's been with Stephy all evening, just ask Steph to introduce you to him, she won't mind" Michelle said to her. "Will you come with me uncle Jon?" she asked excitedly, Jon looked at Richie, "He's in a band called the Jonas Brothers," Richie told him. "Come on!" Ava said grabbing Jon's hand and pulling him towards Stephanie and Nick.

Chapter Seven

"Mom!" Dakota shouted from her bedroom, Serafina was downstairs and refused to answer her, she had told her a thousand and one times, if she wanted someone, she had to come into the same room and speak to them not shout at them from another room. After five minutes of calling her, Dakota came downstairs. "Mom!" she said a bit fed up, Serafina looked up at her "Yes hunny?" she asked. "Can i borrow your straightener, please?" she asked with a smile, she knew her mom wouldn't let her unless she was polite. "For what?" Serafina asked flicking through her magazine. "Oh, well a girl from school invited me to her sweet sixteen tonight.." she said happily, she had just started at that school, Serafina was delighted that she had made some new friends after her first day. "Of course you can Hun!" she said putting the magazine down and walking up the stairs into her room.

Dakota had transferred to her current school at the very end of the year, she felt so awkward going in on the first day - a new girl in a huge school with gangs... at the very end of the year. "What are you going to wear?" Serafina asked handing her daughter the straightener. Dakota walked into her room and brought out a lovely blue dress and heels. "I like it" Serafina said approving of the outfit.

"So who's birthday is it?" Serafina asked when they were in the car, on their way to drop off Dakota. "Her name's Stephanie, I didn't catch her last name... well it was really her brother, Jesse, that I became friends with and then he got me an invite from Stephanie" she explained. Serafina smiled, "So is Jesse your boyfriend?" Dakota bit her lip and smiled. "No" she lied. Serafina knew she was lying, she always knew when ANYONE was lying but Dakota always forgot that. Dakota's phone beeped - she got a text message. It was from Jesse, 'Hey you at the party yet? Jesse x' Dakota smiled, 'no, moms driving me, think I'm about a block away. See you soon, Kota x' she text back.

Five minutes later they pulled up outside the hotel where the party was taking place. A boy, he looked about fourteen or fifteen, was waiting outside. He was wearing, what looked like, very expensive fitted jeans and a fitted shirt with black and red sneakers. He walked up to the car and opened the door, "Hey Kota, Mrs. Williams" he said with an amazingly white and beautiful smile. "Hello" Serafina said smiling back, "The party should finish about twelve, one at the latest, I promise to get Dakota back safe and sound by the latest one, nice meeting you" Jesse said helping Dakota out of the car. "That's fine Jesse, nice meeting you too" she said as he closed the door. She drove off, Jesse sure was a good catch for Dakota, even though she only met him for a few minutes she could tell he was a charming, handsome young man.

Serafina checked her calls when she got back in home, she had four missed calls and four voice mails. "Hey Ser, Harlow here, okay so I have the date set up, your going to meet him tomorrow night at Apple.. you know the pub? I think your really going to like him, Hun, ring me when you get this." Ah Apple... she knew it all too well, she had had one too many, one - too - manys there. "Hey Serafina, I have a case for you for Monday, just ring me back and tell me if you want it." Of course she would have to say yes to wanting it, Walter never rang up and told her about a case unless he thought that there was no other person for the job. "Serafina, this is your mother, I'm coming to visit you and Dakota next week. See you then." Oh great, her mother was coming to visit, well that should be fun. "Ser! Harlow rang me and told me about your date tomorrow! You must ring me as soon as you get home tomorrow and tell me ALL the details. Okay, love you" Vivianne was always one for all the juicy details.

Chapter Six

Jon walked into the kitchen the following morning, or so he thought it was morning, it was really 2pm. Richie was raiding the fridge to get food for the kids. "Mornin'" Jon said yawning and pouring himself a cup of coffee. "Afternoon" Richie corrected him, he took out some ham, cheese, tomato, mayo and butter. "Oh by the way, Stephanie's really pissed with you.." Richie whispered. Jon pushed his eyebrows together in confusement. Next thing Stephanie stormed in. She gave her father a murderous glare. "Where were you this morning?!" she shouted, this morning.. this morning... Jon tried to remember where he was meant to be this morning, was he meant to pick Stephanie up from her friends? ... No! he was meant to meet Stephanie to visit Dorothea. "Hunny, I'm sorry.. I really am! We can go now!" Jon couldn't believe he had forgotten. "I don't want to go! I was there already! This morning, when you should have been!" she stormed out of the room.

"Oh Jonny, I say this with all the love in the world, you have to get an alarm clock. Stephanie was really expecting you to be there today and you weren't like you never are. Jon you really have to start being there for the kids or they'll wind up hating you." Richie told him. He'd been wanting to tell him that for a long time, but could never find the right moment. Sure, he wasn't always there for Ava, he missed her birthdays, plays etc. but Heather was there when he wasn't, Dorothea can't be there when Jon isn't.

Jon looked at the calender, it was Friday, Stephanie's sweet sixteen was on tonight. This was something he wasn't going to screw up on her - he had let her get whatever she wanted for it, which wasn't a lot, she was easy to please. He had also gotten her the perfect present - a heart shaped locket, he and Dorothea had it made when she was a baby for sixteenth, engraved on it 'To Stephanie, Happy sweet sixteenth, love mom and dad xx' On one side there was a picture of her with Jon and Dorothea when she was ten minutes old and on the other side there was another picture of her with Jon and Dorothea but from her thirteenth birthday. He knew she was going to love it, love it much more than a car.

The phone rang, "Hello?" Jon said answering, "Hey bro, uh I have a favor to ask.." it was Matt his youngest brother. Jon knew what he was going to say, "She threw you out again and you need a place to stay?" Jon asked, Richie rolled his eyes. Desiree was always throwing Matt out of the house, mainly because of his excessive drinking and gambling. "Thanks Jon, your the best!" he said, "You'd think I'd know that by now.." Jon said with a laugh.

When Richie had the sandwiches made they both went into the play room, where the kids were. Jon took a sandwich from Richie and walked over to Jake, "Hey buddy! Want a yummy sandwich that uncle mook made for you?" Jake took the sandwich, but then gave him a funny look. "Where's daddy's sandwich?" he asked Jon, "I'm not hungry right now Jakey, I'll have one later," Jon said kneeling beside Jake. "Not you! Daddy's sandwich!" Jake said pointing to the air. "Jakey, I'm your daddy, no one else." Jon said realising that Jake had an imaginary father. He didn't like this, none of the older kids had had imaginary friends before, let alone imaginary parents! "Hey Jon, come on, let's go get Matt's room sorted for him.." Richie said dragging him out of the room.

Then Jon remembered Stephanie's locket. "I have to find Stephy" Jon said running back to his office. He went over to the painting on the wall and took it down - behind it was a safe. He always thought it looked cool in the movies and it's the most obvious place to look for a safe that no one would bother looking there. He put in the code - Stephanie's birthday, 05 31 93. It opened and he got out the small wrapped up box, it even had a red bow on it. Jon smiled and put it in his pocket.

He lightly tapped on Stephanie's bedroom door, "Come in!" Stephanie said. Jon entered her room, it was painted a Basie color - it was such a feminine room for such a rocky girl. She was on her laptop on her bed something Jon had bought her for missing yet another one of her plays that she stared in. Jon sat on the bed next to her, Stephanie looked coldly at him and then typed something into the computer really quickly, Jon read over her shoulder. 'I luv u 2, c u 2nite babi, XxX' then she closed the laptop really quickly. Did Stephanie have a boyfriend? Jon wondered, he would have to check him out tonight, though Stephanie was a tough cookie, if the boy was lucky enough to impress her and steal her heart then Jon would be happy with him as long as he didn't have tattoos, a motorbike and was obsessed with drugs, drink and sex. "Hey baby girl, look I'm so sorry I wasn't there today, I had a late night last night and didn't wake up. I know it's no excuse but it's the truth. As you know I'm taking a few months off.. maybe a year or two, so I'll be there a lot more than I have been for the past three years." A smile broke out on her face and leaned in and gave him a hug. "Thanks dad" she said. Jon hugged her until she let go.

"I have something for you.." Jon said getting the little box out of his pocket and handed it to Stephanie. She opened it carefully, like she was guessing what it was. Her face lit up like a Christmas tree when she saw the locket. "Oh dad! It's perfect!" she said giving him a kiss on the cheek. "Ah, that's not the best bit.." he took it off of her and opened it for her. He saw Stephanie put her finger and thumb up to her eyes and shutting them tightly - trying to keep back the tears. Jon knew she would love it. "We had it made for you when you were a baby," he explained. "It'll be perfect with my dress!" Stephanie said walking over to her over sized wardrobe and taking out her dress.

Chapter Five

"I've started to notice that there's more girls in my classes than boys and more and more are switching over to my classes," Christian said lighting up yet another cigarette. "Girls obviously love French and Music more than guys do" Michelle suggested but really knowing why all the girls were moving to his classes. Christian was supposedly a very handsome man, a flirt, a romantic, a gentleman, very smart and a bit of a bad boy. Combine all those traits together and you've got the perfect man. Christian taught french and music at Jesse and Stephanie's school. All the girls went gaga over him. Christian was as fluent in french as he was in English, he and Michelle were born and raised in France twenty three years ago.

Their mother, Jacklyn was a french burlesque dancer she met their father near the Eiffel Tower twenty four years ago. It was love at first sight, they were married six months later. A very very private wedding and a very very private marriage. Only close family and friends knew about the marriage. It was never publicly announced that Jacklyn was pregnant or that she had twins so when people found out, twenty three years later, they were very surprised. They were never kept a secret, their father moved them all to New Jersey when they were six, Jacklyn stayed in Paris. A year later their father remarried and had another child - a girl.

Christian sat down at his grand piano and started to play a beautifully, it was Moonlight Sonata. Christian always loved the piano, he was very musical, he could sing and play many different instruments. Moonlight Sonata was something he taught himself when he was twelve years old. He had heard his grandfather listening to it many times since he was a baby and one day he sat down at the piano and picked out the notes to it. That was another thing he took after his father in.

Chapter Four

It was dark inside Jon's house when he entered, which was strange seeing as it was 5pm and it was at the end of May. He dropped his bags where he always did, right inside the door, and turned on the light. "SURPRISE!" people shouted, he looked at the people standing in front of him - it wasn't a lot. There was Stephanie, Jake, Romeo, Richie, Ava, his father and.. oh the joy... his mother. "Daddy! Daddy!" Romeo said running up to him, he grabbed onto his leg and wouldn't let go. Jon picked him up and gave him a big bear hug,"how you doin' munchkin?" he asked putting him back down, Romeo smiled up at him - his big brown eyes looked happier than he had ever seen before. His brown eyes.. Jon's heart sank, Romeo had Dorothea's brown eyes it nearly felt like he was looking into her eyes. His not so little, little girl came and gave him a big hug. "I missed you" she whispered, Jon kissed the top of her head, "I missed you too baby girl" he whispered back. He noticed Jake wasn't coming up to welcome him back, it was unusual for Jake, he was usually the first to welcome him home.

Jon's father went over to Jake, "Jakey, how about you go say 'hi' to daddy?" he suggested - John Sr. always had a way with kids. "No!" Jake refused loudly, that hurt Jon and it was evident in his face. "Why not?" John Sr. asked, "Because, daddy says not to!" he told his grandad, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. John Sr. nodded in agreement, he looked as though he understood and so did everyone else, apart from Jon.

Jon gave his children the presents he had got for them - one of his ways to try and make up for lost time, but still Jake wouldn't go near him. He ran out to the back yard and started playing catch by himself. Then Jon noticed Jesse wasn't around, Jon was quite used to him not being around if he was gone away for a week or two, Stephanie and Jesse were used to it, but when he was gone for over a month he was usually there to greet him.

Richie came over to him with a drink in hand, he handed the drink to Jon. "Thought you might need this," Richie always knew these things, Jon was grateful for such a great friend in his life. He took the drink and chucked it back in one go. "Where's Jesse?" he asked watching Jake play by himself, "Tony said something about Jesse, Chris, 'Chelle and shopping, but he said it kind of quick and he was in a hurry so I didn't pick it all up.." Richie answered, Jon nodded as if he understood, but he didn't. He couldn't stop thinking about what Jake said, "Because daddy says not to!" What did he mean by it? Jon hadn't said not to welcome him home. For the rest of the night Jon didn't speak much, he tried to play with Jake but yet again he refused.

Richie put Ava, Jakey and Romeo to bed, Stephanie was gone to her friends, Jesse wasn't back yet. The phone rang, it took a few moments for Jon to realise that is was ringing. "Hello?" he said answering the phone "Hey! Dad! Welcome home! Mind if I stay at Chris and 'Chelle's tonight?" he asked, Jon closed his eyes "If you want son, I'll pick you up tomorrow?" he asked, Jesse said something to Chris "Chris said he'll drop me home..." he told his father then hung up.

Richie came down the stairs, "Man, you need to give those kids a bed time!" he said laughing slightly. Jon looked at the clock, it was 2am, Richie was right, it was far too late for a five and seven year old to be up. "I'm going to bed" Jon said standing up, he started to walk and fell. "I think you had one too many drinks man" Richie said helping him up and steadying him on his feet. Jon had only one drink and that was hours ago, he was drinking coffee and soda for the rest of the night. "I don't think so.." he started to walk again but once again he fell. "Need some help?" Richie asked laughing, Jon nodded, Richie picked him yup and threw him over his shoulder and carried him up to his bed.

"I'll see you in the mornin' man" Richie said turning off the light and walking to the door. "You might want to check that I'm still breathing in an hour or two" Jon joked, "Always do" Richie said walking out the door. As soon as the door was closed, Jon broke down crying. "Oh Dorothea..." he said curling up to where she used to sleep. He missed her so so much, he and Stephanie were going to visit her in the morning and bring her flowers - red roses, her favorite.

Chapter Three

Serafina sat listening to the FBI agent asking a thirty year old man suspected of murdering his wife questions and watching his reactions to the questions. Serafina was a psychologist with an expertise on body language and especially micro-expressions. "Tell me Mr. Foster, did you murder your wife?" The FBI agent asked once again, Mr. Foster's mouth and eyes were open, his eyebrows were slightly raised and his nostrils were flared. He looked the FBI agent right in the eye, "No, I did not kill my wife" he said, Serafina noticed he was rubbing his right hand as he said it. She stood up and left the room, the FBI agent soon followed. "He's lying, he killed her. He was showing fear in his facial expression, though it was only a micro-expression, I saw it. His eyes and mouth were open, eyebrows raised, nostrils flared. Also, he looked you right in the eye when answering and put a part of the question in the answer," she said. The agent looked confused, "I thought people avoided making eye contact when they were lying?" he asked pushing his eyebrows together, Serafina held back her smile. "No, that's bullshit, when people are lying they want to see that you believe their lie," another agent handed her a cup of coffee, she smiled thankfully to him. "Once again, thank you very much Miss. Williams" he said shaking her hand, "Your welcome" The agent nodded to some cops standing by with handcuffs, they went into the room and arrested the man.

As she walked out of the building her phone started to ring, "Hello?" she answered, "Hey Ser, you up to a coffee?" her best friend, Vivianne, asked. Serafina smiled, she would die to have to coffee and catch up with Viv, "When am I not? Meet you at Starbucks in fifteen?" they always went to the same Starbucks - it was probably the nicest in New York. "See you then" Vivianne said and hung up.

Starbucks was about twenty minutes walking distance and seeing it was unusually quite today - probably the fine weather, it would take ten minutes driving. She stood at the side of the sidewalk and hailed a cab. For some reason one or more cabs always stopped when she hailed in a matter of seconds. Two stopped this time, she got into the one nearer to her. "Starbucks on 1378 Madison Avenue, please" she said closing the door. Once again her phone went off, but this was a text. 'Hey sweetie, let me set you up on a blind date, love Harlow' Serafina rolled her eyes, her friends were always trying to set her up with a guy, but she thought she wasn't ready to start dating yet. 'I don't think so, sweetie' was her reply. "That'll be forty bucks" the cabbie said in a New Jersey accent, Serafina sighed and handed over forty bucks. "Tip?" the cabbie asked putting out his hand, "A tip? Sure.. here's a tip for you, have a shower!" she said closing the door.

When she got in the door of Starbucks, she saw Vivianne sitting down. "Hey Hun!" she said giving her a hug, "How are you?" Vivianne asked handing her a cup of coffee. "Exhausted!" Serafina replied with a laugh. "So Harlow rang me and said you turned down yet another blind date.." Serafina sighed, her friends have been trying to set her up on a blind date for the past three years. "Come on, he's really nice! Funny, handsome, smart.. he's into politics, charitable and loves all the same music as you!" He sounded her type, smart, funny, handsome, charitable..."Fine!" Serafina said finally giving into her friends.