Chapter 83
Jesse came out of the bathroom dressed in a pair of jeans and one of Richie's T-shirts. She found Jon, Dave, Tico, and Richie sitting at the table talking to a stranger.
Richie looked up when the door opened. "Here she is now," he said as he got up to greet her with a kiss.
"Hey 'Outlaw'," greeted Jon as he took her hand.
"WOW! Must be really bad if all four of you are here," said Jesse as she put her arms around Richie's waist.
"Let's go to the family room where we can get comfortable," suggested Tico.
"She needs to eat first," insisted Richie.
"I'm really not ready for food, Rich," replied Jesse. "I'd rather know what it is that has all four of you here and a stranger."
With his arm around her shoulders, Richie led Jesse to the family room where he took a seat on the couch and pulled her down close to him. The others followed and found a place to sit too. Tico took a seat beside Jesse with Jon in the chair closest to the couch.
"Jesse, this is Jack Carmichael, an attorney from Sayreville," introduced Jon. "I grew up with him and he specializes in high profile custody cases like yours. He also has a license to practice here in Virginia."
"Kevin hasn't filed yet," stated Jesse but then she saw the looks on the guys faces and she looked back at Richie. "Oh, my god, he HAS filed, hasn't he?"
"Do you remember talking to him last night?" asked Tico.
"Yeah, I'd just finished the open bottle when he called. We got into it about Stevie watching the show with me backstage; he made a crack about me chasing a man twice my age; I told him Richie was more of a man than he'd ever be; and he called me a drunk whore before he hung up on me. What is going on?"
"Kevin called back after the show and he wanted to talk to Richie but I took the call since Richie was still getting a shower. Richardson demanded that we bring you and Stevie back to Virginia immediately. He also said that if Richie walked away, he'd leave things as they are. If Rich didn't, he'd file for custody first thing Monday morning."
"You told him to go ahead and file, right? There's no way I'm letting Richie do that. Who I'm with is NONE of Kevin's business!"
"Of course I told him but it gets worse."
"We decided to bring you back here on the bus," explained Jon. "Not because Richardson demanded us to but because we didn't want the paparazzi to get pictures of you. He already knew you were drunk but at that point, it was our word against his."
"About thirty minutes from the house," continued Richie. "Tony called to let me know that Richardson was here at the house with a deputy sheriff and a court order.
Jesse tensed. "A deputy and a court order? To do what?"
"To take Stevie if you were legally drunk," answered Richie softly. "The deputy was to administer a breathalyzer test to check."
Jesse's tears were immediate. "Stevie? Where is he? You didn't let Kevin take him, did you?"
"We had to cooperate, Jess," said Tico calmly as he took her hand.
Jesse turned into Richie's shoulder as she began to cry. He held her, rubbing her arm, as the others tucked their heads. This was breaking their hearts.
When Jesse's tears seemed to be slowing down, Richie said, "I gave him a kiss for you and promised him you'd call as soon as you got up."
"He....he should be in....school. What...what about school?"
"Kevin said Stevie would finish the year here," said Tico, "so he probably is in school."
"Jess, we got Jack here to handle all of this for you," said Dave.
The first thing I want to do is check into this court order. We may be able to get your son back today," said Jack.
"Here's the copy the deputy left for Jesse," said Jon handing the paper to Jack.
Jesse looked on as Jack read over the court order. She was hoping there was something he could do but the more he read, his forehead furrowed and she knew it wasn't going to happen.
"Okay, let's figure out where to go now. Jesse, Richie has told me what he knows about your relationship with Kevin and he mentioned something about an agreement."
"Why can't you get Stevie back now?" asked Dave.
"It states that Kevin is to retain custody until he feels his son is no longer in danger."
"And as long as Richie's in her life, Richardson is going to say Stevie is in danger," said Jon.
"What can we do now?" asked Tico.
"We cooperate and Jesse, you need to walk a straight line until we go to court," said Jack.
Richie spoke up, "Can you take care of all this before we go to Europe?"
"When are you leaving?"
"Our first show is June 4th and we won't be back in the States until the end of June," said Jon.
"Jesse and I are supposed to be getting married June 27th."
"I'll do my best but I can't make any promises. It's going to depend on the courts here in Virginia. Jesse, tell me everything."
Jesse explained the last six years to Jack but Richie remained silent, lost in his own thoughts. He heard what Jesse was saying and the questions from Jack.
Finally, when Jack and Jesse were done, Richie took Jesse's hand. "Come with me."
"Where are we going?"
"Bedroom." Richie led Jesse through the house and when they were alone, he turned to take both hands in his. "Jessica, I love you with all my heart."
Jesse saw the look in his eyes and knew what he was going to say. "NO! Please, Richie....don't."
"I can't be the one to cause you to lose your son."
"Richie, NO!" she began to cry. "I love you!"
"I know, Jess, and I love you...that's why there's only one choice to make."
Tico and Jon had followed the couple and heard Richie. Instead of letting it go, they stepped into the room to stand on either side of Jesse.
Jesse turned to look at them. Taking Tico's hand, she pleaded, "Tell him, Tico, tell him that walking away is NOT an option."
"Stay out of it, Tico, please. The only way to fix this mess is for me to get out of the picture."
Jesse turned to Jon. "Talk to him. Make him listen."
"Richie, last night on the bus, you said you'd do whatever Jesse wanted to do."
"That was before Kevin pulled this stunt."
"It doesn't change anything, Richie," said Tico who was now holding Jesse as she cried. "He's STILL trying to cut you out of her life."
"Kevin hurt her deeply six years ago breaking her heart. You're going to rip it out if you leave her," said Jon.
"My past is going to cost her more than I'm worth."
"You are worth it," whimpered Jesse.
"I'm worth you losing your son?"
"Fuck your past," said Jon. "Stop and think about how you felt when you were in St. Paul. You were miserable and you screwed up a song you could play in your sleep. Think about how you felt when her mom kidnapped her...you were fucking nuts. You couldn't even focus on music. Thank god they got her back before we had to go on that night. How are you going to get through the rest of the tour if you walk away from her? You can't climb back into the bottle...you've worked too hard to get to where you are. You two are deeply in love and it shows every time you two look at each other. You belong together...to raise Stevie together, to have more children...to grow older together."
Jesse wiped her tears as she looked at Richie. "What song did you screw up?"
"We Got it Going On."
"My favorite song?!"
"Yeah," smirked Richie. Opening his arms to her, he said, "I'm sorry, Jesse."
Letting go of Tico, Jesse moved into his embrace. As the couple held on to each other, Tico and Jon slipped out of the room to give them some privacy knowing that they'd gotten through to Richie.
After several minutes, Richie asked, "Are you sure this is what you want?" asked Richie.
Looking up at him, "As sure as I am that I want to marry you!! Richie, I've never had to think about anything with you. It was...." seeing his necklace, she continued, "it was like finishing a puzzle...it was so right. We fit...even with the twenty-five year age difference, even with the fact that you're a big rock star. We belong together."
Richie cupped her cheek in his large hand, "I promise, you will have your son back. It may take a little while, but he will be back with you."
"Don't you EVER try to leave me again," she scolded as she put her hand on his. "You hear me!"
"Yes dear," he smirked scrunching his nose.
"My superman!" she whispered as she stood on her toes to kiss him.
