Chapter 54

“Hi.” Jay replied hesitantly. Somehow, now that Jon was actually here, he wasn’t sure why he’d asked for him. Just some instinctive reaction that he was the one person who could help him right now. “Thanks for coming, uh…..boss……I mean……” Shit. What do I call him?

“Jon’s fine.” Jon said, seeing the confusion and accurately guessing the cause. “I wouldn’t presume to expect anything else, Jay, but maybe ‘Jon’ is better than ‘boss’?”

“Jon.” Jay repeated, his relief palpable. ‘Boss’ hadn’t felt right, and there was no way in hell he could imagine calling him ‘dad’. Sure, he was his father, but he wasn’t his dad. Besides, it wasn’t a word he’d ever been accustomed to using. One thing about his mom - she’d not been one of those single moms whose kid had to endure an endless chain of ‘uncles’. Maybe that was partly why he’d excelled at sports, finding in his coach the closest thing he’d had to a father-figure.

“So…..d’you wanna tell me what happened?”

“Not much to tell.” Jay blew out a breath, looking Jon square in the eyes for the first time since he’d arrived. “I went up to the hospital to see mom, and the cops were just hauling Fabian out of her room. Mom had already told us he was the one who…….who….that he………”

“S’okay, son. Jay.” Jon winced at his slip, but Jay was lost enough in his thoughts that he missed it.

“She told Desi and me it was Fabian who’d hurt her, and when I saw him there…..I snapped. Only got a couple punches before that lady cop yanked me off him.” A smile flickered briefly, then died just as fast. “From what she said on the ride in, he was already hurtin’, ‘cause Desi had kicked him in the balls when he introduced himself to her.”

“Who’s Desi?” Jon had to ask.

“Kadie.” Jay shrugged. Already ‘Desi’ was how he thought of her, and he forgot nobody else used the name. “Her name is actually Karenza Desiree. Most folk use her initials - kinda - and call her Kadie, but…….”

“But you needed a name only you used for her.” Jon finished for him, Jay looking at him in surprise until Jon grinned. “My……wife. Everybody used to call her Thea, back when we met. Was only after we got together I started calling her Dot - or Dotty - and it kinda stuck. Then, of course, the fans got a hold of it and that was that.”

Jay smiled suddenly, for the first time seeing Jon as just a guy. Not a rockstar, or his boss, or a newly discovered, and instantly, impetuously hated, father. But a guy who was trying to help. Maybe it was seeing his mom so dangerously ill again, or the shock of his own instant attack on Nick, but a lot of Jay’s anger at Jon had evaporated. At least for now. Yeah, being hauled off to jail - or close to it - gives a guy some perspective, he thought wryly.

“But one of the last things mom said to me……”

“Last things?” Jon interrupted, blanching. “She’s not……”

“No! God, I hope not! I just meant, last time I saw her, she said…..”

“Oh, thank God.” Jon’s voice was gusty with emotion, the words heartfelt, and Jay felt a prickle of empathy as he realised that Jon actually did care about his mom. Well, realised it or allowed himself to believe it. “Sorry, Jay. What did she say?” Jon continued.

“She said that we should talk. She said the three of us, but I guess that won’t be happening right now. I know she’s really worried about your kids finding out from the media, though. Finding out about me, I mean.”

“Yeah, they don’t deserve that. She told me the same when I first saw her up in your hospital room.” Jon buried both hands into his hair for a moment, looking down at the scratched metal tabletop, the next words muttered almost to himself. “She’s been protecting me a long fucking time.”

Suddenly sensitive to Jon’s feelings - not even sure why - Jay refrained from reminding him just how badly she’d allowed herself to be treated in her attempts to protect him from his youthful indiscretion, but it turned out he didn’t know Jon that well yet.

“I swear to Christ…….” Jon snapped suddenly, painfully. “….I get my hands on him……Jesus, what she let him do, to protect me…….protect my family…..”

“I think the cops have a good case against him.” Jay said softly. He wouldn’t explain it here, when he wasn’t sure whether conversations were recorded, but on the ride over Detective Kellogg had been unprofessionally honest about the evidence against Nick. Okay, so they hadn’t yet checked his DNA against the evidence gathered by Doctor Riviello, but given the circumstances of Nick’s arrest - partway through attacking Kadie - he certainly looked as guilty as sin.

“And what about against you?”

“Uhhh……well he was kinda already cuffed when I hit him……”

“And the cops saw you do it?”

“Ohhh yeah.” Jay blushed.

Jon lowered his voice slightly. “Have they read you your rights yet?”

“Uh….no!” Jay said in surprise, looking closely at Jon. “The detective and Desi seemed to be doing one of those woman-to-woman secret communication things about that, but I didn’t……”

“That’s what I thought. Just don’t mention it, ‘kay?” Jon said.

“Okay.” Jay replied. Jesus, he’s just as cryptic as they were. What the hell am I missing here? If they don’t read me my rights, what difference does it make? I’m still under arrest. Not really like I can deny it, since two cops saw me do it……so they question me and I tell them the truth. I assume Jon has arranged for a lawyer, but he can’t really get around it - not like they need much physical evidence, so no chance of getting off on a ‘technicality’……. His eyes widened suddenly as the penny finally dropped, and he looked at Jon incredulously.

“Yeah, I needed it explained to me, too.” He smirked, nodding at Jay. “So just shut up about it for now.”

“Yes, boss.” Jay smirked back at him, the similarity of their expressions startling Jon.

It really was like looking in a magic mirror, showing himself 20 years ago.

“So, I called my lawyer.” Jon said, covering his astonishment at seeing ‘himself’ so much in Jay. He’d never seen it in Jesse, Jake or Romeo - Stephanie was turning out like her mom - but maybe that was just because they were still kids. “He’s on his way over now. But we need to talk, Jay, about what we tell the media.”

“Nothing.” He said flatly.

“That won’t fly, and you know it.” Jon chided him. “Hell, ignoring anything else, you’re the rising star quarterback on the Soul, Jay, and you were brought in here in handcuffs. The papers will be all over it.”

“Shit.” Jay said succinctly, then looked across the table. “You need to tell your kids. Soon. Hell, soon as they start questioning Nick, you know he’s going to spill his guts about it, don’t you? Won’t take long for it to hit the media then.”

“I know.”

“I think…..” The younger man’s voice was suddenly resolute. “I think you should go home, Jon, and talk to your kids. Do it now, before there’s even a chance of them finding out in the news.”

“But I can’t leave you here…..”

“Why not? Not like I’m going anywhere.” He smirked again. “Your lawyer’ll be here soon, right? I assume you explained the ‘situation’ to him, so he’ll take care of it.”

“Yeah, I told him.” Jon said slowly. Dammit, he’s right. I hate that he’s right, but he is. Steph, Jesse, Jake and Romeo need to be told now. Hopefully they won’t hate me as much as Jay does……. “Okay. I’ll be back, though, soon as I can. You have my cell number, right?”

“No.”

Jon dug a card from his pocket and laid it in front of Jay, mindful of the ‘no touching’ rule. He stood up, looking down at his son. His son, dammit!

“Once we get this squared away, d’you want to meet them?” He asked suddenly, blue eyes meeting identical Bongiovi blue as Jay looked up in surprise.

“I……..” He looked away. Do I? Do I want to meet his children? His other children. My……Jesus…..my brothers and my sister…….half-brothers and sister anyway…… Looking up again, Jay saw Jon waiting patiently for his response, and he drew a deep breath before saying something he knew could have a huge impact on his life. “I guess that’ll depend if they want to meet me.”