117 - Have a Nice Day

“Hey, Babes.”  Tony slid up behind her at the sink and draped his arms comfortably around her waist.  She turned her head from the carrots she was washing, offering her face for a kiss, which he gladly accepted. 

“Hey, Bunny.  How was your day?”

He shook his head with a rueful laugh and tugged lightly on her loose hair.  “I can’t believe you stuck me with that.”

“What?”  One dark brow lifted knowingly.  “Doesn’t matter that it sounds like a name for somebody’s crazy old aunt, you know you love it.”

God, that was a visual he didn’t need.  “No, I love you, so I tolerate it.”

“Bullshit,” she softly snorted.  “The fact that I  compared you to the Energizer Bunny makes you wanna swagger down to the New York Times office and take out an ad.  But if that’s what you need to say so that you feel like a man….”  She let the sentence trail away with a shrug and turned off the water. 

“Trust me.”  He clamped his arms tighter and bumped his hips against her bottom.  “I feel plenty like a man.”

“Yeah, well…”  She sidled out of his grasp and moved for the refrigerator.  “I may have to investigate that claim a little more fully when the kids aren’t about to waltz in and demand dinner.  Grab the big salad bowl from the top shelf, would you?”  Head stuck in the top shelf of the fridge, she merely pointed a delicate finger at the cabinet that held the requested item.  “And where’ve you been?  I kinda thought you’d be here earlier.”

It was after six o’clock, and Tony had thought he’d be here earlier, too, but the adventure into Mom’s attic had taken a little longer than he expected.  The box he’d been searching for, from high school, was in the far back corner under a bunch of other boxes.  Unmarked, of course. 

Doesn’t matter.  It was worth the pain in the ass to find it.

His mother hadn’t been home – some kind of ladies league thing – but his Pop had been there, and Tony got caught up in his sauce craziness for a while.  It was an obsession for John Senior at the moment.  Tony didn’t even know if Pop realized how obsessed he was.  Finally, he dragged his head out of the pot and put his wooden spoon resolutely down on the stove’s top.

“Anthony,” he began in that weirdly conversational, booming voice he sometimes used.  “I know your mother called to speak with you about the other night.”

It made him immediately wary.  To date, he hadn’t heard anything from his father about the subject – either Dorothea or his mother’s bitter commentary about the relationship.  “Yeah, she did.”

Feet spread wide, hands propped at his waist, his father glanced at the floor before fixing Tony with a stern look.  “She loves all of you boys, and she means well.  That doesn’t mean she always shows it in the best way.”

“No shit,” Tony blurted before he thought, then shifted uncomfortably on the kitchen stool.  He folded his arms and leaned on heavily on them, refusing to cower from his father’s scowl.  As old as he was, he still felt naughty for swearing at his parents.

“Jonny is successful – no great secret there,” Pop remarked, not bothering to chastise him for the unfiltered commentary.  “She wants all of you to be successful, but sometimes has trouble seeing that there are different markers for success.”

“Mm.”  What was he supposed to say to that?  ‘No shit’ was the first thing that popped into his mind, but since he’d already spouted that bit of wisdom, he chose to remain quiet this time around.

“It’s not that she’s – we’re – not proud of you.  We are.  You’ve become a fine man who makes a good living.  We want the best for you now, just like we always have.  Your … announcement just caught us off-guard.”

Tony smothered his sigh.  Clearly, nothing had changed since he was here last.  His mother’s phone call was all a bunch of pandering bullshit.

“So you’re defending her – and I guess your – stance.  The apology was just words.  You still think I’m a loser and a fucktard for falling in love with Dorothea.”

His dad’s eyebrows slid up into the crinkles on his forehead.  “I can’t say that I know what a fucktard is, but I’m gonna go out on a limb and say, no.  We don’t think you’re a fucktard – or a loser.”  He sighed and took a couple of steps, until he was able to rest his palms on the opposite side of the breakfast bar from where Tony was sitting.  “Anthony, my intent was to explain why you weren’t met with the reaction you wanted.”

“I didn’t want a reaction at all.  A silent nod of acceptance would’ve been fine.”  God knew he hadn’t been looking for a family feud over the whole thing.

“Listen, son.  We’re not bad people.  I’m sorry for your mother’s outspokenness and I’m sorry that I didn’t step in and explain better at the time.  Your son falls in with your other son’s ex-wife?  This is an awkward situation no matter who you are.  It’s gonna take some getting used to, but we know Dottie is a good girl.  If you’re happy, we will get used to it.”

Scratching at the five o’clock shadow on his jaw, Tony pointed out, “You’re not the one it’s most awkward for.  Didja stop to think about that?  It could be a miserable thing for the people who have to look it in the face every day, but they’re all dealing just fine.  The kids are okay with it.  Jonny’s okay with it.  I would think you could be okay with it no more than you’re gonna see us together, ya know?”

His father nodded sagely, a fleeting frown marring his handsome features.  “I can’t unsay what’s been said, Anthony.  I can just promise that you’ll never hear another bad word spoken about your relationship with Dottie, and that a son of mine won’t be disrespected by his parents that way again.  I’m sorry.”

There was nothing but sincerity in the dark depths of his Pop’s eyes and Tony felt the bands of tension gradually ease throughout his body.  He extended a hand across the counter, which his father accepted, and clasped it with a firm shake. 

“Thank you.  Now…  for the next out-of-the-blue  moment.  Pop, I’m going shopping for a ring and I’m gonna ask her to marry me.  It will probably be a long engagement,” he added with a grin, seeing the astonished expression on John Senior’s face.  “But I want her wearing my ring.”

The elder Bongiovi nodded slowly, the tiniest smile tugging at his lips.  “Thank you for sharing that with me.  It won’t be quite the shock that your brother gave us.”

Tiny smile, hell.  Tony full-out grinned.  “I hate that I missed that.  Did Mom have a seizure when Petey walked in?”

“It was more when she walked out…”

“Tony?”  Dorothea interrupted the memory of his day.  She was standing back at the center island rinsing and cutting lettuce.  “Bowl, please?”

“Mm-hmm,” he murmured, moving for the cabinet.  “I swung by Mom and Pop’s so it put me a little later than I expected.  Sorry.”

She continued the salad preparation, smiling with thanks when he plunked the bowl within arm’s reach.  “No need to be sorry.  I’m not trying to put a leash on you, but with the current state of affairs, I might have been a little worried.”

Dammit, he hadn’t thought she would worry about him.  “I didn’t even think about that, Babes.”  Tony sidled alongside her and  nudged her around to face him.  Curling a finger under her chin, he promised her sincerely, “I would’ve been nuts if I hadn’t known where you were and that you were safe, and I apologize.  Next time I’ll call, okay?”

Her chocolaty eyes went doe-soft, and one of them winked.  “I’d appreciate that.  I’d also appreciate it if you could go supervise Jakey and Romey washing their hands when you wash yours?”

“Is that a subtle hint that my grubby hands shouldn't be near food?” he chuckled, reluctantly allowing her out of his grasp. 

She wasn’t the least big apologetic and went directly back to her vegetables.  “Yep.  And I have a meatloaf in the oven that will be ready in ten minutes, so don’t get into a water fight with them.”

“That only happened once.”

“You mean I only caught you once,” was her all-knowing reply.

“You know too much shit.  I still think you’re a witch,” he tossed playfully over his shoulder as he meandered through the dining room.

He had just positioned his boot on the first stair when the phone vibrated against his hip.

Now who?

A quick glance showed Jon’s name.

“Hey, Big Brother.  What’s up?”

“Hey.  We’ve got a little problem.”

That didn’t sound good.  Tony stopped  and leaned against the bannister.

“Yeah?  What’s that?”

A nasty snarl came over the line, followed by, “Petey’s piece of fuck ex was here and fried my ass so he could toss the place looking for the plans to her invention.”

“Whoa, wait.  What?  Fried your ass?  Are you okay, man?”

“I’ll live,” he grumbled.  “Crazy fucker hit me with a Taser gun that he tweaked and juiced up.  Knocked me out for about an hour.”

Tony’s blood pressure spiked at the same time his stomach knotted. 

Dorothea’s fine.  You just left her.

“Did you get somebody to check you out?  Are you hurt bad?  And what the hell are we gonna do about this guy?  This shit isn’t gonna fly any more.  I’m over it.”

Jon rattled out a mirthless laugh.  “Yeah, tell me about it.  Your ass didn’t wake up feeling like it was on a slab at the morgue.  But I’m fine.  I wanted to let you know that I’m doubling security at my place and out there.  Don’t let anybody go out of the house without a bodyguard and, for God’s sake, don’t let anybody inside the gates without ID.  He posed as a delivery guy to get into my building here.”

“Jesus.”  He couldn’t repress the instinctual fear that slithered down his spine.  Tony would not allow anything to happen to Dorothea or the kids.  He’d die first.  “Okay, I’ll let Dorothea know.”

“No.”  His brother’s voice was adamant.  “She won’t do anything but go ape-shit.  That’s why I’m calling you.  Are you still licensed to carry concealed?”

At one point, he’d done a brief stint with Jon’s security detail on the road.  As a part of the job, he’d been required to go through some weapons training and get a permit to carry a concealed weapon.  Once in a while, if he was feeling destructive, he would find a firing range and release some frustration by shooting the hell out of a target.  Or ten.

“Yeah.  So you think I should be packing, even here at the house?”

“I don’t think it would be a bad idea, man.  This is all gonna come to a head very, very soon but, in the meantime, I don’t want anybody else to get hurt.  My family has to stay safe.  I’m counting on you to protect my kids for me, Tone.  Please.”