Chapter 114
After twenty-five years of touring, the guys were accustomed to being away from their loved ones so when Richie became extremely cross, they wondered what the problem was. He had been fine at first but at lunchtime the day before the show in Madrid, things had changed.
Being the head of the group and Richie's best friend, Jon took it upon himself to find out what was eating the guitarist. He knocked gently on the bedroom door but didn't wait for a response. He stuck his head in to find Richie playing quietly on his guitar.
Looking up, Richie saw Jon but didn't speak. Instead, he went back to what he was doing.
Jon took a seat across from Richie and listened. The song was the new one Richie had written and performed for the engagement party. Jon thought about what Richie had said - Jesse had been his inspiration. There must be a problem now for him to be playing the song.
Finishing, Richie continued to look at the strings of his guitar as he asked, "Am I late for something?"
"No. I came to talk to you...see what the problem is."
"What problem?"
"The one that's causing you to be so grouchy. Did you have an argument with Jess?"
"No," answered Richie curtly.
"Look, we've all been separated from our loved ones. This is...."
"It's not that either, Jon." Setting his guitar down, Richie said, "Yeah, I miss her but hell, I'm going to see her in four more days."
"Then what's got you so irritable?"
Richie got up and moved to the window staring out at the city. "Did I ever tell you how I wrote that song?"
"Just that Jesse was your inspiration."
"That weekend after the custody case, we were talking about having more children. I asked her if we could go ahead and have them...because of my age."
"Makes sense. You want to be able to enjoy your children and take part in their lives."
"Well, Jesse decided to drop a hell of a bomb on me that weekend. She has a birth defect in her heart that makes a pregnancy risky."
"How risky?"
"She could die."
"WHOA! Are you still talking about having children?"
"She might be pregnant now." Richie turned around to face Jon, tears glistening in his eyes. "Jon, Jesse loves me so much that she's willing to take that chance."
Jon smiled, "I can believe it. Did she have any problems when she had Stevie?"
"No, but it was a high risk pregnancy."
"When is she going to find out if she's pregnant?"
"Today."
"Is she going to call you?"
"Not to tell me if she's pregnant. She wants to surprise me but damn, Jon....I don't know how to feel about it all. I WANT to be happy that she could be pregnant but I'm terrified of losing her."
"I take it you two haven't talked about this anymore since the day she told you?"
Richie sneered, "Oh, we've talked. She almost walked out on me. She knows how I feel and she keeps promising me that it'll all work out."
"What's got you so cross today then?"
"Because she's going to the cardiologist too and I wanted to be with her."
"Why didn't you stay back and go? You could have caught a flight and been here on time for the show."
"I thought you wanted me here!" grumbled Richie.
Jon ignored the remark. "Do you know who she's going to see?"
"Yeah, she gave me all the information so I can make sure my insurance covers it and the bills are sent to me. She also promised to get him to send me a full report."
"Why don't you call them yourself?"
"I guess I could," answered Richie as they heard 'I don't need no needle to be givin' me a thrill'.
Jon laughed, "When did you start using our songs as ring tones?"
"Jess did that," smiled Richie.
