106 - Day Tripper

The lawyer’s office went okay, Petey thought.  Leo, to his credit, hadn’t blinked an eye at Jon’s choice of wife.  He had, however,  frowned at them and shaken his head over the terms they wanted instilled, saying it was all slightly unorthodox and he didn’t really agree with it.  That being said, he couldn’t provide a sound reason for them not to execute the prenuptial agreement and wills as they had already discussed.

Jon told him to write it up.

Two hours later, the paperwork had all been signed, they’d grabbed some lunch and were now in the back seat of a Town Car on their way to New Jersey.  Jon was on the phone letting his parents know they would be stopping by.

“Yes, Mom.  I would have told you about her.” 

Petey’s own phone buzzed.

[1:13 PM]DAVE: Marrying Jon?  REALLY?!? 

Petey smirked in amusement.  She had wondered if David would have anything to say to her about it.  He hadn’t asked to speak to her the way Richie had, but she’d had a feeling he was biding his time and gathering his questions.

[1:45 PM]PT:  Yes really.

Thick fingers tapped loudly against the car’s arm rest.  “I’m sorry you found out from Dorothea instead of me.”

[1:15 PM]DAVE: Have u lost ur mind???  Or are u PREGNANT?  I love him, but he’s a prick.

A snicker snuck through her smirk and she pushed the correct series of touch keys to reply while  Jon continued to placate his mother.  “She’s a good person.  You’ll like her.”

[1:16 PM]PT: No to both.  I love him too.

“Mom…”  He was agitatedly bouncing his knee.  “Mom.”  Jon’s impatience was now buzzing off of him like electricity.  “Mom! We’ll be there in twenty minutes and you’ll find out everything there is to know.  If we’re talking about it now, why am I bothering to come over?”

Oh, this is going to be so much fun.  I’m just giggly with anticipation.

She casually crossed one leg over the other, her sparkly pink Chuck tennis shoe swaying with the motion of the car.  Petey was about to return the phone to the outside pocket of her black cargo pants when it buzzed again.

[1:17 PM]DAVE: *sigh*  Best of luck to ya Tink.  If u need help let me know.

Her eyebrows furrowed, and her lips pressed together.  She didn’t like the way that sounded.  Why would she need help?

Jon’s sigh seemed like it rattled the windows when saying, “Her name is Petey.  Yes, Petey.”

[1:18 PM]PT: What’s that supposed to mean?

The leather of her jacket squeaked lightly against that of the seat as she slunk down.  Her black hoodie boasting a pink-bow-wearing skull rode up on her back, and she arched up to tug it back in place.  

“Mom, I’m hanging up now.  We’ll see you in a few minutes.”  He tapped the little glass screen with a grunt of annoyance.  “Lord, God, Jesus.  Do you know how long it’s been since I brought a girl to my mother?”

“That bad, huh?” she murmured, attention affixed to her phone.

[1:20 PM]DAVE: If he gets to be too much, call me.  Me n Rich have LOTS of experience talking him down.  We got ur back.

David must not know that Richie wasn’t happy about the whole thing, and that he wouldn’t be at the wedding.

[1:21 PM]PT: Thx, but I’m good.

“Yes, that bad,” Jon all but pouted, splaying a warm palm over her right thigh.  “I’ve only done this one other time, and that was over thirty years ago.  I’m a little out of practice.”

[1:21 PM]DAVE: K baby.  Just keep it in mind.  See ya Saturday.

“Who ya texting?”

“David.”  The phone was halfway in her pocket when it buzzed again.

[1:22 PM]DAVE: BTW, will ur dress be black?

Petey grinned.  She hadn’t even considered that as an option.  Oh the possibilities…

[1:22 PM] PT: IDK yet.  Thx for the suggestion.

[1:23 PM]DAVE: Don’t tell Mama B it was my idea!  She can be scary as hell.

That was even more reinforcement that this was going to be a fun visit.

[1:24 PM]PT:  On my way to meet her now. Thx for the encouragement.

Dropping hands that still held the phone in her lap, Petey wondered if she should be overly nice to the woman or if she was justified in giving as good as she got.  She didn’t want to make things hard for Jon, but her capacity for political schmoozing had seriously dwindled in the last few days.  There was a better than average chance she was going to be blunt and uncouth.  David’s warnings had done nothing but increase her anxiety over how the meeting with her future mother-in-law would play out.

[1:26 PM]DAVE: Um.  Sorry.  Ur not in full Tinkerhell regalia r u?

Glancing down at her predominantly black ensemble, Petey thought she was fairly mainstream today.  Pants, sweatshirt, tennis shoes and leather jacket.  Her eyeliner was heavy and the eye shadow glittered even more pinkly over top of pink contacts, but she hadn’t done any extra artwork.  Her eyebrow piercing was covered by loose wavy hair and shouldn’t be glaringly obvious. 

[1:27 PM]PT: Not full.  Just partly.

[1:29 PM]DAVE: Oh.  Alright.  My advice is to distract her with your smile.

Well, crap.

Now she wished she’d ignored Jon’s encouragement to dress like she wanted to. 

But isn’t it better to get it out there?  This is who you are, and either she accepts it or not.

[1:30 PM]PT:  Thx Dear Abby.  See you Saturday.

Turning her head, she found Jon staring moodily out the window and realized he’d been silent the past few minutes.  His hand was no longer on her leg, and she couldn’t recall him moving it.

“Hey.”  Petey tucked the phone in her pocket and glided her open palm over his hair in a caress. 

He gave her about three watts out of his million-watt smile, barely lifting one corner, and not turning to her.

“What’s wrong, Jon?”

“Nothin’ much.”  He allowed her to lace their fingers and lifted hers for a quick kiss.  “I’m just making lists in my head.”

Lists she liked.  She snuggled against his side, bringing her head to rest in the crook of his shoulder.  “Yeah?  So what do you have so far?  My mom is getting the flower, cake and caterer proposals together for me to look at.  She’ll probably have something tomorrow.  I need a dress, which I’m going to ask Gavin to help me choose.  I was going to ask Richie, but…”

He squeezed her hand.  “Don’t worry about Richie.  He’ll come around.  Sometimes he doesn’t like me much, but it always blows over.  You know how it is with family.”

She nodded silently, not wanting to linger over it.  “So by my count that leaves a license, wedding rings and…  security?”

“Yeah.  And music for the reception.  And the honeymoon.”  The corners of his mouth finally started pointing up instead of down.  “Do I get to pick out my own wedding duds?”

A sneaky little hand burrowed inside his jacket and under his sweater.  The fur on his belly was so soft.  “Being the musician in the family, I’ll leave that part up to you, if you don’t mind.  A honeymoon isn’t really necessary, and as far as your wedding duds go....” 

Petey tipped her head back and drank in his shadowed profile.  The high, sculpted cheekbones stood out prominently, along with his dimpled chin.  He’d been heard to say it was ‘just genetics’, so she tried to keep her overt appreciation at bay, but the man was sexy.  Serious Jon set her panties on fire, and playful Jon melted her heart.  It was a good combination.

“Well, what do you want to wear?” she finally got around to asking after she’d ogled him for what seemed like  minutes.

“Sugar, I don’t care.”  The curve of his mouth was soft as he looked at her with a rare tenderness in his eyes.  “If you want me to wear some crazy monkey suit, I’ll wear it.  I’d rather not wear chains or combat boots, but I’m okay with skulls.”

Petey perked up, hopefully.  “Really?”

“Oh yeah,” he said nonchalantly.  “I like skulls.  I’ve got a couple I keep in the dressing room.  There’s a big shiny one that I call King of Bling.”

Her delighted laughter couldn’t be suppressed.  There was nothing that made her happier than his ‘other’ side – the laughing, goofy Jon that didn’t come out to play very often.  “That’s priceless!  Do your fans know this about you?” she teased.

Tipping his head to the side with indifference, he shrugged.  “I’m sure they’ve seen them in pictures or something, but they probably don’t know I’ve named one.”

Still giggling, she tucked her head back into his shoulder, pleased when his arm came up to drape easily around her shoulders.

“We are going to take a honeymoon,” he informed her.  “It may not be a long one, but we’ll get away somewhere.  I haven’t seen your sweet little ass in a bikini yet, and I could use a break from the cold.”

“Mm.”  She refrained from telling him that she didn’t wear bikinis.  He would figure it out soon enough, and a warm beach actually sounded pretty good about now. 

If he wants to whisk me away, who am I to argue?  she thought with a wry twist of her lips.

The miles on the New Jersey Turnpike rolled by with each of them lost in their own thoughts.  For her part, Petey was weighing her wants against her mother’s in considering a black wedding dress.  That led to wondering if Jon’s mom would go apoplectic – not just about a black wedding dress, but about Petey in general.

“Jon?”  His heart thumped comfortingly against the palm of her hand, his face pensive as he watched the scenery fly by.

“Hmm?”

“You’re so quiet.  Are you worried about them meeting me?”  Them, of course, being his parents.

“Nah.  My mind is just preoccupied with details.  That’s all.”  His thumb scraped along the supple leather covering her arm.  “And Tony.”

She’d known there was something else bothering him.  Tony or Dorothea did upset him yesterday.  Why hadn’t he told her?

“What about him?”

His spine slumped further back into the seat, taking her with him.  “That shit Mom said to him about being like me.  She’s gotta understand what she’s doing when she says that kinda stuff.  It’s unfair and it ends up making them resent me.”

She didn’t have an answer for that as the car began to slow and sidle up to the curb.  Petey merely hugged him and said, “I love you.”