Surprise!

“Darlin’, we’re here,” Richie announced into the gate at the end of the driveway, even as he punched in the code.

“You made great time from the airport,” Jen’s voice answered. “Now hurry up so I can meet your daughter, and we can get dinner going.”

The gates slid open and Riche’s rental glided through.

“Daddy, this is almost as big as our house,” she said. “Is Jennifer in a band, too?”

Richie laughed. “No sweetie, she makes her money using her brains, not her voice.”

“Whoa,” his daughter answered, as the house came into view. “It’s so pretty!”

Richie parked the car and switched off the ignition. “Ready?” he asked the two ladies in the back.

“Ready, dear,” Joan answered, smiling. “Why didn’t she mention anything about meeting me, dear?” she added sweetly.

Richie was saved from answering by the front door opening. Jennifer came out onto the porch, smiling and waving.

“Oh, Richard, she’s lovely,” Joan said. “Her poor leg.”

“She’s alright, Ma,” Richie answered. “Uh, c’mon.”

Jennifer had watched the sleek black car wind up the driveway. The windows were tinted, so she couldn’t see where Ava was sitting. She was nervous to meet this little girl. She knew that Richie doted on his daughter, as a Dad should, and hoped like crazy that Ava would like her.

As Richie’s door opened, he unfolded his frame from the seat with a grace big men didn’t often enjoy. When he stood, and smiled at her, Jennifer’s heart started to beat faster. She was so glad he was here. “Where’s your daughter?” she called out.

The rear driver-side door opened, and a tall, gorgeous little blonde girl emerged. She wore denim capris and layered tank tops and plastered herself to her father’s side, waving shyly at Jennifer. “Hi,” she called. “I’m Ava. I like your house.”

“Hi Ava,” Jennifer called back. “Thanks, I’m Jennifer, and I like it too. Come on in.”

“What about Grandma?”

“Grandma?” Jennifer asked. Holy shit, she thought, he brought his mother. A moment of panic swept through her, quickly replaced by annoyance. She was going to kill Richie. “Of course Grandma can come in too. Where is she?”

The other rear door opened, and an older woman with Riche’s easy smile slid out. She was wearing light cotton pants and a peach sweater over an ivory shell. “Right here, dear. It’s lovely to meet you.” Jennifer came down the stairs slowly and extended her hand to Richie’s mother.

She was going to absolutely kill him for not warning her.

“It’s a pleasure and a surprise to meet you, Mrs. Sambora. Welcome to my home.”


“What on earth were you thinking?” Joan asked her son, cuffing the back of his head. They were in the room Jennifer had chosen for her; the one next to Ava’s. Richie was helping his mother unpack her things. “You don’t spring a surprise like this on a woman! Honestly.” She had taken one look at the visage of terror on Jen’s face, and knew that her usually smart son hadn’t bothered to tell her that he was bringing his mom for a visit. Jennifer had covered nicely, though.

“Ma, I didn’t want to make her nervous, worrying about you coming,” Richie answered. “And truth be told, it was sort of a spur-of-the-moment decision. To come with Ava, I mean.”

Joan shook her head. “I don’t care. You needed to give the woman a warning.”

Ava came in then, with Jennifer close behind. “She’s got the coolest fireplace, Grandma. I bet we could fit a car in there!”

“Even your Daddy’s Humvee?”

“Even that one,” she said, smiling. “And there are ducks in the pond out back, and a room just for watching movies, like at Uncle Jon’s house, and…” she chattered on, talking about the tour Jennifer had taken her on.

She shot a glare at Richie, and he looked sheepishly down at his feet. “Uh, sorry about springing Ma on you.”

“Richard!” Joan admonished. “Do not compound your idiocy by lying to the woman.” She looked at her granddaughter. “Your father didn’t tell Jennifer that I was coming. He thought it would make a nice surprise.”

Ava frowned up at her grandmother. “Why wouldn’t you be a nice surprise?”

Jennifer laughed. “It’s fine, really. I have the room, and you’re not nearly as scary as I thought you’d be. Did Rich show you the bathroom and where the towels and such are?” Joan nodded. “Great. Why don’t we all go downstairs to the kitchen for some fresh lemonade?”

“C’mon, Grandma,” Ava chirped, pulling on the older woman’s hand. “I know where everything is already.”

When they were out of earshot, Jennifer punched Richie in the arm.

“Ow!” he complained, rubbing his bicep. “Jen, I know I should have told you, but you were already so nervous at meeting Ava and—”

“And you thought it would be better to spring them both on me at once? Nice.” She shook her head. “Remind me to forget to tell you the next time my family’s dropping by, Mr. Sleeps Naked.” She sighed. “Oh, alright, come help me downstairs.”

Down in the kitchen, Ava and Joan were sitting in the sunny nook, overlooking the back yard. “You have a lovely home,” Joan said. “Ava showed me all around down here.”

“Thank you, Mrs. Sambora.”

“’Joan’, honey,” she said. “Please call me ‘Joan’.”

“Joan then, thank you. I wasn’t planning on anything fancier than hamburgers and hot dogs out on the grill for dinner. I could zip out the store and get something else if you’d rather have something more grown-up.”

“Heavens no,” Joan answered. “Whatever you have planned is perfectly fine. What can I do to help?”

“Not a thing. Rich is going to do all the work. We can sit and you can tell me all about when he was little, and all the stupid things he used to do.”

“As opposed to this latest smart thing?”

Jennifer laughed. “Exactly so. Would you like an onion burger or a cheese one?”

Joan smiled. “Cheese, please.”

“Just like me, Grandma!” Ava said. “’Cept I’m having a hot dog too because I’m starving!”

“There’s some fruit in the fridge if you’d like.” She turned to Richie. “Please bring the fruit salad and some bowls and spoons, then you can get dinner going. The rolls are in the freezer and need to be thawed before they’re toasted. The meat’s in the fridge. Onions and cheese are already diced, you just have to add them to the meat and make the patties – the press is over there,” she pointed to the counter, then turned away.

Richie swallowed hard. He certainly hoped Jennifer wasn’t too mad at him. He wanted to be able to enjoy this visit with all his girls. He fetched the fruit, bowls, and spoons and brought them to the table. When he turned to go back to the fridge, Jen caught his arm. “Aren’t you forgetting something?” she asked, eyes twinkling. When he just stared at her, she tapped her cheek.

Smiling widely, he leaned down to kiss her cheek. “Hi baby,” he said. “I missed you.”

“I missed you too,” she answered, and leaned forward to peck his lips. “Now, back to the cooking ,wench!”

Ava and Joan laughed, and Joan launched into a story about Richie as a precocious 3-year old who steadfastly refused to keep his clothes on. Ava told a story about how he bought her a purple Hannah Montana guitar, and tuned it in the store before bringing it home, and how the clerk took his picture with his camera phone, “and Daddy had to pay him a hundred dollars to erase the picture.”

“Yeah,” Richie said, “it was just what I didn’t need Uncle David ever seeing.” He took the plate of meat out to the patio. “You want to eat out here?” he called back into the kitchen.

“Sure,” Jennifer answered.

After Richie cooked, they all enjoyed their dinner out in the warm evening air. When the bugs came out in earnest, they adjourned to the living room, and Joan had Ava run up to her room to bring down the albums she had brought. Jennifer, sitting on Richie’s lap, clapped with delight as Joan flipped through the “Photos of young Richard” as she called them.

By the time they got through the last of the albums, Ava was nodding off. Richie scooped her up and carried her up the stairs. “If you wait,” he said softly, I’ll be back for you.”

“No, don’t be silly,” Jennifer said. “I can manage for one night.” She turned to Joan and said, “Rich told me that he’d carry me up to bed at night when he was here so I didn’t have to do the stairs. He’s very sweet.”

“When he isn’t being an idiot, yes, he is a sweet boy,” Joan answered.

“Ma,” Richie complained.

“Clean slate tomorrow,” Joan sing-songed. “A rule in our house,” she explained to Jennifer. “No matter what happened, it had to be resolved by the time you retired. When you woke up, it was with a clean slate.”

When they got upstairs, Richie brought Ava into her room and Jennifer pulled down the bedclothes for her. When Richie put her down, she yawned and asked innocently, “Where is your room, Daddy?”

He pointed out the door and said, “Across the hall, baby girl.”

Ava frowned. “But that’s Jennifer's room".

“Yes dear,” Joan said, winking at Jennifer. “Daddy’s sleeping in there to help her in the night if she needs it. Her bed is very tall, remember?”

Ava nodded. “OK, Nanna, but you are so lying. I’ll bet he just missed her."

“You’re both right honey,” Richie said, kissing her daughter’s forehead. “Now get some sleep, and tomorrow, when Jen goes to work, I’ll show you all around her town. Maybe we can go into Boston too, and meet her for lunch?” He looked at Jennifer, who nodded.

“That sounds great, Rich,” Jennifer answered. “Goodnight Ava, sweetheart. If you need anything, come right in and get your Daddy, okay?”

“Okay. Do you have to work all week?”

Jennifer smiled and sat on the edge of Ava’s bed. “Nope, my boss is a great guy, and I’ve arranged to go in tomorrow because it’s Monday, and get things all set up for the week. Then, I can work from my home-office the rest of the time. It’ll be great, because then I don’t have to dress up.” She pulled a face.

Ava giggled. “I like to dress up.”

“Me too, once in a while, but every day? Bo-ring.” She rolled her eyes, making Ava giggle again. “We’ll have plenty of time to hang out get to know each other, alright?”

“Okay. Can we swim in the lake?”

Jennifer shuddered. “If you want, but the water’s icky. We can go to my Mom’s one day; she has a pool and would love to meet you and your grandmother, I’m sure.”

“How come you don’t have a pool?”

Jen laughed. “I promised my Dad I wouldn’t get one; that way I have to go see them all the time, at least in the summer. I always keep my promises, especially to my Daddy.”

“Me too.” Ava yawned widely. “I’m sleepy. ‘Night Daddy. ‘Night Grandma. G’night, Jennifer.”

Ava collected goodnight kisses from her father and grandmother, and closed her eyes. Richie and Jennifer said goodnight to Joan at her door, and disappeared into Jennifer’s room. When Jen would have left the door open, Richie closed it behind them.

“What are you doing?” she hissed.

Richie took her into his arms and kissed her thoroughly. For long minutes, his arms held her up as her legs went weak. For long minutes, his hands spanned her back and held her close to his heart. For long minutes, he made love to her mouth until she was breathless and weak. When he broke the kiss, he smiled into her eyes. “I’m greeting you properly, and didn’t want an audience. Granted, it’s not how I want to spend our first night back together, but I can’t be sure that Ava won’t wake up looking for me.”

All Jennifer could manage was a moan and a whimper.

“Daddy?” a voice called from across the hall.

Richie chuckled. “Be right there, angel,” he called. Kissing Jennifer gently one more time he said, “I’ll be back.”

Jennifer went into her bathroom and reluctantly brushed her teeth – she didn’t really want to wash the taste of him from her mouth, but she did. She changed into her sleep shirt and brushed and braided her long hair, securing it with an elastic.

“We’re back,” Richie said softly.

Jen went back into her room to find Richie standing there with Ava in his arms. “She was scared,” he said apologetically.

“It’s fine, sweetheart.” Jennifer went over and smoothed Ava’s hair away from her face. “Put her on my side.”

Richie put his daughter in the bed, and Jennifer climbed in on Richie’s side, scooting carefully to the middle. Ava sighed and rolled over, opening her eyes sleepily.

“It’s alright, Ava,” Jennifer said, stroking the girl’s soft hair. “Daddy’s right here in case we need him.”

“Okay,” she said, and closed her eyes again. “G’night, Jennifer.”

“G’night Ava.”

“Good night, Daddy,” Ava said, over Jen’s shoulder.

“Good night, Princess. I love you,” Richie answered, his eyes warm with love for his daughter.

“Love you too. Heaps.” Ava smiled and settled in to the bed, and was asleep in minutes.

Richie snuggled up against Jen’s back, and wrapped an arm around her waist. “Sorry,” he breathed in her ear. “I was hoping for a different kind of night together.”

Jen turned to lie on her back and looked up into Richie’s pretty eyes. “Rich, it’s okay, really,” she whispered. “I want her to be comfortable here, and if this is what it takes to get her used to the house, that’s fine. Honestly.” She hugged Richie to her. “She’s a beautiful, sweet little girl. You done good, Daddy.”

Richie chuckled. “Well it’s more like I didn’t screw her up too badly, but thanks.” He kissed Jen’s lips and settled in next to her. He sighed with pleasure when Jen rested her head on his bicep and slid her arm around his chest. With his family all safely tucked in around him, Richie relaxed and fell asleep.