A Rock & Roll Romance (28 page)

“Y
ou’re going to be a grandpa.” Jake beamed.

“Seriously?”
Ron asked skeptically.

“Absolutely.”
Jake reached in his back pocket and pulled out his wallet.

He took
out the ultrasound picture and pushed it over to Ron. He picked it up and looked at it with tears in his eyes. It was emotional just watching it, and I started to tear up along with him.

“Aubrey
, I don’t know if Jake told you this or not, but I was never able to have children of my own. I was married to the love of my life. Unfortunately, some years ago she was tragically killed by a drunk driver. We were already in our forties when it happened, and I never remarried. Instead, I ended up putting everything I had into giving back. It was either that, or suicide. I started working with a youth mentoring group, and that’s how I met Jake. He was such a lost boy when I met him. Scrawny little thing he was.” He wiped his eyes with a handkerchief and took a long sip of water. “Years later I tried to adopt him. They didn’t see it as a fit environment because I was a single, middle-aged man. Regardless, I think of him as my son. I made sure no matter where he was that I spent as much time as possible with him. Then one day when I brought Jake to my house he walked over and picked up my old guitar. You see, when I was a youngster in the seventies I used to jam with a group of guys. I saw he had musical talent and made sure that he got lessons and had whatever he needed to thrive. The rest is history.” He said proudly.

             
I was a full on blubbering mess.

“Th-that’s wonderful.” I sobbed.

              Jake reached over and rubbed my back.

“It was much more than
that, and you know it.” Jake told him.

“Just because you were dealt a shit hand doesn’t mean you had to play it. You’re a smart kid
, and you’ve made me proud, son.”

“Thanks Pops.”

              I could see that Jake was starting to get emotional.

“It’s twins.” Jake laughed trying to change the subject.

“Of course it is.” Ron shook his head laughing.

We headed outside to see where the wedding was going to take place. It was beautifully landscaped. There was a fountain
a little ways out where we would be saying our vows. I could envision the whole thing already. My parents, Granny Jean and Piper would be here in a couple days along with Mark. Mama Bee and Rosie were coming in to prepare all the food. Penelope was coming with her mom and dad. She was so excited when Jake asked her to be our flower girl and the doctors said it was fine. Blake, Derek, Kevin and Kevin’s girlfriend Bryn were coming in on Wednesday night. Brett, Ri and Kayley were coming in last minute since Jake sent them on an end of tour vacation. That was it for the guest list since we wanted to keep it as small as possible with just the people that mattered most to us.

Jake
excused himself to answer his phone. He had a brief conversation with the foreman from the construction company he hired to oversee the build. They were supposed to be starting on digging the foundation for the new house tomorrow. My parents were thrilled we would be living so close, especially with the babies coming. We sat outside in the fresh air for most of the day. At dinner, we ate barbecued chicken around the fire. The sky was so clear that you could see every star in the sky. We said goodnight to Ron and retreated to Jake’s room. He led me down to the other side of the house where his room was and opened the door.

             
The room was very much Jake’s style. The walls were painted a bright blue. It had a queen size wooden bed with a rust colored comforter. There was a dresser against one wall and a giant flat screen hanging on the other. He put our luggage down and led me into the bathroom. There was a sunken tub in the actual floor. I grinned at him. He turned on the faucet and pulled my shirt over my head. He kissed his way down the throat.

“I adore you.” He whispered in my ear.

              He pulled his shirt over his head and helped me slid out of my shorts. I stepped down into the lukewarm water. He slipped in next to me. I moved over so that I was straddling his lap. I looked into his eyes. I was feeling completely captured in his trance. He lifted his hand to the side of my face. I leaned into it. We were both completely lost in the moment.

I loved being skin to
skin with him. It almost made us feel like we were one. I lifted up and slowly slid down onto his hardness. I kissed him passionately and started moving, slowly and deliberately. He wrapped his arms around me and held me close the entire time. We found our release together, and it was such a powerful moment for me. After everything we've been through in such a short time, we were here. We were going to get married and had a growing family on the way. Jake kept kissing me, refusing to let me off of him. Finally, he helped me out of the tub and dried me off, kissing where the babies were.

             
When I woke up the next morning, I hurried to get dressed. We had to go into town to obtain our marriage license. I picked out a yellow sundress with white flowers and threw on a pair of flip-flops. I added a yellow flower clip into my hair and walked to the kitchen. Jake was drinking a cup of coffee with Ron and laughing. As soon as he noticed me he came over to kiss me good morning. I said hi to Ron and poured a glass of orange juice. Jake already had my vitamin ready and popped it in my mouth.

We ate breakfast
together before heading to town. We walked into the court and filled out all the necessary paperwork. They said we could pick it up in two days. Jake helped me back into Ron’s Chevy pick-up truck and started going in the opposite direction from where we came from. We drove for fifteen minutes before Jake came to a stop in front of a run-down apartment building.

“This is where I grew up.” He said solemnly.

              I looked around at the dilapidated, gray building covered in graffiti. My heart sank thinking that a kid actually had to grow up in a place like this. Not just any kid, but Jake. I knew he was born into a set of circumstances beyond his control, but it still hurt. You could clearly see that this place was shady, even during the daytime. I could only imagine what it looked like at night. He leaned on the steering wheel and looked at the building that was once his home. I think he was looking for some sort of closure. I reached over and put my hand in his. I interlaced our fingers, and he brought our hands to his lips and kissed mine. He took one last look before we drove away.

He said he wanted to make
one last stop before we went back to the ranch. He stopped at a stand on the side of the road and picked up a bouquet of flowers. We drove to the other side of town and pulled into a cemetery. He kept going until we were almost at the end before he stopped. He got out with flowers in hand. He walked around to my side and opened the door. I climbed out and took his hand. He led me down the path. We stopped at a pink headstone. It was his mom’s.

Crystal M. Parker

May the angels lead you home

11/3/1970-12/22/1997

              I did the math in my head. She had been gone sixteen years, which was how old she was when she had Jake. She was almost his age now when she died and would have been forty-three. I looked at the date of death. She died right before Christmas. As usual he knew what I was thinking.

“She died right before Christmas. I didn’t even know what
Christmas was other than what I saw on TV and what the kids in class used to talk about. They used to get really excited about it, but I never had one Christmas as a little kid. She would make me pancakes as long as she wasn’t too strung out. My first real Christmas was with Ron when I was twelve. He got me this shiny, red Gibson guitar. I’ll never forget it. He gave me a couple beginner’s books and helped me learn all the cords. When I was ready, he showed me how to write music. Someone broke into my and Blake’s apartment when we first moved to LA and stole it. I literally searched everywhere for months to see if I could find it. I checked every pawn shop in LA but never found it.”

             
He kneeled down and placed the flowers in front of the headstone. I knew even though he didn’t have a lot of pleasant memories with her he still loved her. A child’s love is unconditional. Unfortunately, some parents don’t deserve it. I think she wanted better. She just didn’t have the skills to achieve it. She loved the drugs more. I think that’s the main reason why Jake just funded a rehab center for mothers with young children near Phoenix. He was hoping it be open by year-end. It’s going to be a safe place with a playground and lots of support for the mothers. It’s going to be named The Crystal Parker House in her memory. His main goal is going to be getting the people that want the help out of their situation and give them coping skills to build a better life. I loved his humanity. He always thought there was more to do and said that was the main perk of being really famous. If you attached your name to something it would get done.

I watched as he paid his respects. I wanted to say something
to comfort him, but I was at a loss for words. I never liked the word ‘sorry’ when it came to instances like this. It seemed to lack meaning. Instead, I placed my hand on his shoulder showing my support. He placed his hand over mine. He looked deep in thought.

“I don’t know you if you can hear me or not
. I know I haven’t really come here much, but I want you to know I’m okay. I don’t hate you. If anything things worked out the way they were intended to. I wish that you were able to turn yourself around, but I’m going to try and help others like you in your honor.” He wiped a tear from his eye. “I’m getting married in a couple days to the strongest girl I’ve ever met. Her name is Aubrey, and she’s amazing. I don’t know that we would have met if things were different and I wouldn’t want to have a life without her. I’m going to be a dad in a few months, too. I won’t make the same mistakes that you did. I’m going to be the best dad I can for my kids. More importantly they’re going to know how much I fucking love them. I know you loved me in your own way, at least I think that you did. I don’t know when I’ll be able to come back, but I just wanted to let you know that I forgive you.”

             
I wiped the tears from my face with my free hand. He had been carrying around that burden for a long time, and he was finally able to let it go. We didn’t talk too much about the past because it was of little consequence anymore. I let him know about Jeremy, and we never talked about it again after that. I was grateful he understood and never pushed me to talk about it again. I’m sure there will always be triggers that set me off. But, for the most part I have been able to get back to a normal life. He’s taught me what a gentle loving touch is, and I know that he would never hurt me. I think it’s the same thing with his mom, but he’s been holding on to that burden for a lot longer. He had to deal with the situation for a lot longer than I did, essentially his entire childhood.

I wondered what life would have been
like had I we never met. What if he had a normal childhood with normal parents? Would he be the same person that he is today? Would he still be the lead singer of Battlescars or would he be doing something else? I thought the same thing about if that night with Jeremy never happened. How would my life have been different? Then I realized it doesn’t matter because our pasts were exactly that. We have each other now and that’s all that matters.

Jake

              We were at the airfield waiting for Aubrey’s family to land. We officially picked up our marriage license on the way here. I can’t believe it’s only a couple days away! I looked over at my beautiful bride to be and smiled. Aubrey and Ron were getting along awesome, and he adored her. I knew he would. We had a chance to talk last night after Aubrey went to sleep. It brought me back to when I was a teenager, and he would lecture me relentlessly about the way of the world. I would look at him like he was a crazy, old man, but I would listen to him anyway. It turns out he was right about 99… make that 100% of what he told me. I thanked him for being the dad I never had and for all of the opportunities he afforded me, from my first guitar and lessons, to giving me the money to move to LA and follow my dream and everything in between.

I was lucky to be surrounded by such selfless people
, Aubrey included. She was always thinking about others before herself, which would be one of her best qualities as a mother. Nothing is going to be about us anymore because we’re going to have little people to worry about. I can’t wait until she starts getting a bump. Her dress arrived last night. She was hoping it was still going to fit because she gained two pounds since the original fitting. I offered to help her into it, but she said it was bad luck and that she would wait for her mom and Piper to help. I was looking forward to introducing Tim to Ron and vice versa.

I watched as the small plane landed on the tarmac.
I got out to help Tim load the luggage into the truck. Once everything was loaded up we had to cram everyone inside. We had Tim, Caroline, Piper and Mark in the back and Aubrey and Granny Jean were up front with me. Luckily it was a roomy truck. I started the ignition and headed back to the ranch.

             
Aubrey was animatedly talking with her mom and Piper about the wedding plans and how she wanted everything set up. She was so excited, and it was contagious. I would have been excited anyway, but seeing her like this just pushed it up a couple notches. Granny Jean was bitching about wanting to stop at a reservation so she could get cheap cigarettes. Tim and Mark looked like they were surrounded by too much estrogen and needed a beer, or several. When we pulled into the ranch, everyone practically jumped out of the truck, except Aubrey.