Chapter 28

Jon didn’t sleep well the night of the wrap party, he tossed and turned all night keeping Dorothea awake and getting more frustrated with himself the longer sleep evaded him. What frustrated him most was that he knew the reason for his insomnia, and Dot had teased him all night about it despite being kept awake herself by not just him but Stephanie, who woke up babbling at the most unsociable hours. Jon couldn’t sleep because he wanted to know the details about Richie and Jasmine’s relationship, just to prove to himself that he was right and had noticed the change in them as soon as they went to more than friends. 

He sat in the kitchen with a mug of steaming hot coffee rerunning the conversation with Dorothea sometime past 3am. She had accused him of being a gossip whore and had said he wasn’t interested in his friend’s wellbeing and happiness, just in proving himself right once again. She had called him a walking ego, and something else he couldn’t remember but he knew it wasn’t favorable. 

He sipped the warm nectar and let it flood his system with the vital nutrients to wake him up. Sighing, he grabbed the phone from its cradle and dialed the number he knew so well.

Richie was woken up by the shrilling of the phone next to the bed but he was reluctant to move to answer it as he had Jasmine lying in his arms and that was the most wonderful feeling in the world to him. He closed his eyes and willed the noise to stop before it woke up the sleeping beauty beside him but it wouldn’t relent. Groaning, he reached out his hand and yanked the phone from its holder. Seeing Jon’s name on the caller ID he knew it had to be early and his anger began to grow.

“What do you want?” Richie barked down the phone to his brother,

“Good morning to you too Dean. Look, I was wondering what you and Jasmine are doing today?”

“Not a lot, no plans.” He said, as he watched Jasmine sleep and ran his fingers along the exposed skin of her arm.

“Dot and I were wondering if you two wanted to come over later for some lunch. We haven’t just hung out for ages, probably not since Stephanie was born. The pool table feels neglected.”

Richie couldn’t stay angry at Jon for long, as much as he wanted to sometimes, he just couldn’t. Whether it was because he was too forgiving and soft, or whether Jon had some innate charm that worked even on his friends, Richie didn’t know. What he did know was that it didn’t take much for Jon to dissipate any anger directed at him.

“I could do with whipping your butt at some pool again, I haven’t slaughtered you for a while, and I haven’t had a cuddle with my favorite niece in forever. I’ll check with Jas but I’m sure that’ll be fine. Give us a couple of hours though.”

“Good. We’ll see you later. Dot really likes Jasmine man, I think it could be good for her to have someone around her own age to talk to now that she’s with Steph all the time and I’m not always here.”

“I’m glad she likes Jas, but then again what’s not to like? Give your girls a kiss from me, we’ll see you later man.”

Richie turned over and cuddled into Jasmine again, falling asleep for another two blissful hours. Jon also went back to bed and finally managed to sleep for more than a half hour at a time.

“You did WHAT?!” Dot yelled at Jon when he mentioned that he’d invited Richie and Jasmine over.

“Why don’t you ever give me any warning about these things? What are we going to eat?” she panicked.

“Calm down, I’ve ordered in. Just get dressed. They’ll be here soon. I’ve fed Steph too and she’s napping.”

An hour later Richie was sitting cross legged on the floor of Jon’s living room with Stephanie’s hands in his. She was making small steps towards him, squealing. She held onto his hands as he moved them around like an airplane, making her squeal louder.

Jasmine watched the scene in front of her with a smile on her face. It looked so natural for Richie to be playing with a child and he looked at peace with the little girl at the centre of his attention. A sad feeling briefly consumed Jasmine, wishing that she had had that kind of relationship with her father rather than the violent and scary one she had been left with. The feeling passed when Stephanie toddled up to her, with help from Richie, and climbed onto her lap,

“Baby?” Steph asked, thrusting a Barbie towards Jasmine. Jasmine smiled and took the doll. She played with Steph until lunch was ready, picking the child up and depositing her in her high chair at the table next to her father. 

“Let’s just eat in the living room today,” Dot said, lifting her daughter out of the chair.

“Sitting at the table is so formal and, well, we’ve never been formal when it’s just us. We only sit at the table when the guys are here because there is more room.” She explained to Jasmine.

They filled their plates and settled in the chairs and on the floor of the living room. Richie sat with his back leaning against the chair and his legs stretched out in front of him. They chatted amiably about their families and plans for the break before the tour. Jasmine hadn’t really thought past the next few weeks and the idea of a tour hadn’t occurred to her. She began to feel uneasy at the thought of being without Richie for so long, but also thought that it would be a good idea to get some space between them so they could put their relationship into perspective.

“So, you two,” Jon started,

“Yeah?” both Richie and Jasmine replied in unison.

“Details bro. How long have you two been…you know?”

“Just come straight out with it why don’t you?” Richie laughed.

“Not as long as you think I bet. About 3 months. It just kinda grew from friendship into something else, around the time Jas’ dad showed up.” Richie explained but not giving much detail.

“I guess having something awful like that happen made us both realize that there was more going on than just friendship.” Jasmine added shyly.

“Well, I for one am happy for you. I think you make a great couple. Rich, you did good, Jasmine’s so much more your type than the last few.” Dot said, winking at Jasmine.

“Unka Mookie Unka Mookie?” 

“Yeah sweetie?”

“Love Jamin,” Stephanie babbled in a way that it wasn’t clear if she was asking or stating her own opinion.

Whilst Richie’s initial reaction was to see her words as a question, he didn’t think this was the right moment to tell Jasmine. Jasmine’s eyes shot up to look at Richie for his reaction and wasn’t sure what she saw there. She could see he was battling with something but couldn’t place the emotions playing out in the swirling darkness.

Richie decided the best option was to see it as a statement and replied,

“And so you should little lady.” Then he asked Stephanie a question about her toys, which led to Stephanie dominating the conversation a little longer. 

Jon and Dot exchanged glances at Richie’s blatant sidestepping of their daughter’s words, to anyone over the age of 5 it was definitely a question, one that he had refused to answer. To Jon this meant one of two things, either Richie was having second thoughts or he had fallen hard but hadn’t told her. He hoped it was the second option.