Epilogue

Christmas 2012

(Sixteen Months Later)

“I love you.”

Lilah craned her neck to smile up at him and leaned into the strong arm encircling her waist.  Those three words thrilled her today just as much as they did the first time she heard them, well over a year ago.  To her never-ending delight, not a day went by that he didn’t say them, and not a moment went by that, if she was within arm’s reach, he wasn’t touching her in some way, shape or form.

When Tony Bongiovi gave his heart, he gave it all and Lilah considered herself exceptionally blessed to be on the receiving end.

“I love you, too.”

Not that it had been an idyllic journey from that hospital emergency room to where they stood now, in the home of Tony’s parents.  For every light on the elegantly decorated Christmas tree in the Bongiovi living room, there had been a problem to resolve, a decision to make or a compromise to negotiate.  Some were easier than others, but they all shared a common thread of love, respect and honesty.

As any couple developing a relationship, there were some basic hurdles to jump, starting with family.  In Lilah’s case that really meant Joanna and Andrew, because her parents weren’t really involved in her daily life, and her extended family tended to go with the flow. 

When her son met Tony for the first time, he stepped up to shake the older man’s hand with his jaw firmly squared and not a drop of fear in his eyes. “I don’t care about your bank account or how many celebrities you know.  You hurt my mother and I will make sure that pain is reciprocated.  Exponentially.”

Lilah had held her breath, almost worried that he would laugh in the teenager’s face, but Tony nodded respectfully and without a trace of humor.  “That’s exactly what I’d expect, but you don't have to worry about it.  On my word."

And just like that, the two most important men in her life came to a mutual understanding that created a foundation on which they could bond.  They respected one another.  She couldn’t have asked for anything more. 

As for the other side of that family coin, Tony’s parents were warm and welcoming.  So were Dorothea, her children, and Matt and his family.  Jon, however…

“Did you make those cookies I like?” the man in question asked, turning sideways to slip from the living room to the kitchen before his wife caught him making his third trip since the end of dinner.  Typically stringent about what he ate, he was using the holiday as an excuse to indulge.  “The cinnamon ones?”

“Snickerdoodles,” Lilah patiently supplied for probably the dozenth time.  It turned out that he had a vicious sweet tooth for cookies, and it had been love at first bite with her snickerdoodles.  He just couldn't – or had no desire to – remember what they were called.  “And of course I did.  They’re in the bowl with the red lid.”

She and Jon had come to an understanding very similar to that of Tony and Andrew.  They both loved Tony enough to find some common ground, and that ground held her promise not to hurt his brother.  Thus, the seed of their own mutual respect had been planted and continued to grow.  More and more, they’d even been known to chat just because they wanted to, not because the social setting or family mandated it.

“You’re an angel and the devil all rolled into one,” he murmured with a playful wink.

Lilah chuckled softly, one side of her mouth creeping into a fond smile.  “Have to keep you on your toes.”

“You saved me some, didn’t you?” Tony’s breath tickled her ear with his conspiratorial whisper.  “And some of Joanna’s fudge?”

She poked an easy finger into the slight mound of his belly, the facets of her antique ring set glittering up at her when she twisted her wrist to deliver an extra dig.  “You know I did.” 

It had taken a while - several weeks, in fact - but he and her best friend had found their way as well. Once they realized the full extent of each other’s love for Lilah, they’d forged their own kind of friendship with Jo’s Million Dollar Fudge doing its fair share of the forging.

Their friendship was significant enough for Tony to enlist Jo’s expertise in executing a ‘surprise’ wedding last Christmas Eve.

When he off-handedly broached the possibility of marriage after Labor Day, Lilah had told him that she didn’t see the need.  They were back and forth between L.A. and Lexington, not always together, but it was okay.  He loved her, she loved him and she couldn’t possibly be any more content. 

He was content with that for a while, but started ‘casually’ mentioning marriage more and more often.  His argument was that theirs was the most significant relationship he’d ever had and he really wanted them to validate the significance with rings. 

That had been fine with Lilah.  She had no problem with commitment rings; it was the pain in the neck and practicalities of a wedding that turned her off.  City Hall felt cheap and tacky, but a traditional ceremony was complicated at their age and with their scattered family.  Weddings were a dog and pony show for the rest of the world and best left to the young and starry-eyed, in her opinion.

So they had chosen a beautiful antique gold and diamond wedding set for Lilah and a thick gold band for him.  Exchanging private vows of love and fidelity had made it ‘real’ enough for her.

Or so she thought.  Until the first time someone referred to Tony as her husband.  Given the rings, it was entirely logical that the guy changing the oil in her Camaro might ask if the car was hers or her husband’s.  The man was probably wishing his wife had such good taste in cars, for Pete’s sake, but it started to dig at Lilah. 

Not that she ever told Tony that.  She continued to assure him she was perfectly content with the status quo, because she knew that piece of paper would only legalize what was in their hearts.  That piece of paper hadn’t done her a damn bit of good before, why should it make any difference now?

But he knew her.  And he knew that her eyes lingered on the life-sized wedding photos in the window of the mall’s bridal store, even though her only comment was that she’d never seen him all dressed up.  Seeing as he wanted the same thing and that her best friend was a bridal consultant, Tony took all the work out of her hands.

On Christmas Eve last year, Lilah primped and prettied herself – wearing her hair up in a loose Gibson-girl style at Tony’s request – for a formal party at Joanna’s house.  He, dressed in a black suit and banded-collar tuxedo shirt, had ushered her into the black Camaro for their short trip.

Only they didn’t go to Joanna’s house. 

They went to Castle Post, Lexington’s very own medieval castle which acted as a hotel and event locale for the well-to-do.  When she asked what they were doing there, Tony’s response had been, “I want you to be my wife in every sense of the word.  You didn’t want the headache of planning, so I tried to be the white knight you once called me and rescue you from that.  Joanna orchestrated the whole thing.  Our friends and family are inside and Jo has a dress waiting for you – the one you’ve been ogling at her shop.  So whaddaya say, Bluegrass?  Will you marry me?”

Needless to say, she accepted with tearful eyes and a joyous heart.  After all, she was a girl underneath all that practicality. 

It turned out to be good timing, seeing as…

“Anthony.”  His mother’s voice captured his attention from behind and Tony turned with a smile. On her hip was a beautiful baby girl crowned with a downy fuzz of dark hair.  She was impatiently tugging at the hair bow that matched her little plaid pants and red shirt.

“Yeah, Mom?”

“I changed her diaper, but now she wants Daddy.”  Laughing, she tightened her grip around the little girl’s waist when she threw the full weight of her body toward Tony, pudgy little arms waving in the air.   “Don’t you sweet girl?”

An eerie chill of déjà vu crept down Tony’s spine as he released Lilah and stepped forward to claim his daughter. 

This was the recurring dream from last summer.  The baby his subconscious had recognized as being less than a year old was actually six-month-old Micah Jane Bongiovi, who had been graced with her mommy’s middle name and a modified version of her daddy’s middle name. 

She was the best part of both of them, in Tony’s prejudiced opinion.

“Hello, my pretty angel,” he cooed to the infant that had him wrapped around her chubby little finger.  “Did you wake up from your nap happy?  Are you Daddy’s happy napper?”

“Hey, squirt,” Jon greeted the child with a gentle chuck under her chin.  “You look more like your mama every day.  Thank God.”

“Don’t give her that!”  Tony smacked away the few cookie crumbs that his brother was ready to pop into Micah’s mouth.  “She’s too little for cookies.”

Much to his annoyance, Jon only snorted with ridicule.  “Lighten up, Papa Bear.  It ain’t gonna kill her.  Wait ‘til you have four of ‘em.  As long as they aren’t juggling knives or killing each other, you won’t care what they do.”

Tony’s eyes immediately connected with his wife’s and found a vivid question mark painted in their depths.  He parked the baby on his left hip, automatically doing that bouncy thing she liked and her gleeful babble made him smile. 

“You want to tell him, or should I?”  Lilah questioned softly.

“I got it.  Actually…”  He turned so that he was able to address his entire family at one time.  Lilah had told her family yesterday when they celebrated Christmas Eve with them.  It was only right that he be the one to tell his family – particularly Jon.  “If you guys wanna listen up just a second, Lilah and I have some news to share.”

Adults interrupted their conversations and shushed the kids until everyone had obediently directed their attention his way.  With Micah on one hip and, tucking Lilah into the other, he nodded his appreciation. 

“You know that we’ve been bouncing back and forth between Lexington and L.A. for a while now.  Lilah isn’t crazy about California and Kentucky isn’t the best base for me, from a business standpoint, so we’ve had to come up with a compromise.”

Lilah’s arm curled more tightly around his waist in a display of her unwavering support and he reciprocated without conscious thought.  This decision hadn’t been an easy one, but with their commitment to ‘no bullshit’, respect and a whole lot of love, they’d come up with what they believed to be the best middle ground for their family. 

“The first of February, we’re moving to Jersey.  We bought a nice six bedroom in Edison.”

There was a murmuring of happy surprise, especially from Romeo, Jake and Rocco, who were thrilled that Uncle Tony would be that much closer now.

“Isn’t that an awful lot of bedrooms for the three of you?” his dad asked curiously.

“Well…  Yeah, it probably seems like it.”  He couldn’t keep the smile from twitching at the corners of his lips.  “Andrew loves L.A. and his music career is looking promising, but we’re going to keep a bedroom for him just in case, and Lilah wants a couple of guest rooms.  Then our bedroom, one for Micah and the last one will be the nursery.  For the new baby.”

The smile he’d been trying to contain broke free when Lilah buried her cheek into his chest.  Her own grin was lighting up her face.  She’d been so damn excited to realize she missed her period a couple of weeks ago. 

Right after they realized she was pregnant with Micah,  Lilah confessed something that she’d been hiding from him for some time.  Apparently, she’d wanted to get pregnant as far back as Europe, but had been afraid to bring up the subject to him.

In hindsight, it was probably best that she hadn’t, because it would have freaked him right-the-fuck out.  Now, though, it was simply one more example of his wife’s sweetness.  She wanted him to have a child and wanted to be the one to give it to him.   

As far as he was concerned, from the instant he realized they’d lost a baby, Tony had known there could be no other woman to carry his babies.  If she was physically unable to, then he would simply be the best uncle and step-father he knew how to be.

But he was glad it hadn’t come to that.  Not only did they have Micah, now they would have a second little Jersey-Bluegrass.

“Congratulations, man,” Jon applauded him with a hearty pat on the back, prompting a startled cry from the baby.  “I think that’s great.  There’s nothing in the world like having kids.”

“Yeah, well, you might not be so happy about it when you hear the last bit of news.”

“Oh?”

Jiggling his daughter’s fussiness away, he apologetically met Jon’s eyes.  “I’m not going on tour with you this time.  I want to stay home with my wife and kids, so I’m changing jobs.  Bongiovi Brand pasta sauce is going to be my career now.”

“You’re up and leaving me?”  Jon’s mouth flattened into a tight line and cool blue eyes went narrow when he flipped his gaze to Lilah.  “I knew you were trouble the minute I saw you.”

Her shoulders tensed up like concrete along with her jaw, and her spine went ramrod straight.  Giving his wife a look that said he would take care of this, Tony opened his mouth to ream his brother a new one at the same time Jon’s mouth melted into a wide grin. 

“It’s a damn good thing you can bake.  I’m gonna need a lotta suckerpoodles to make up for this.  I’m talkin’ a LOT.”

Everyone in the room burst into a riot of assorted laughter and the love of Tony’s life assured Jon, “You’ll have all the suckerpoodles you can handle and then some.  I promise.”

And they lived…

Happily Ever After

Thank you for sharing Tony & Lilah's story.  I hope along the way you've found something to laugh about, cry about and maybe even think about.  As always, I appreciate the support and encouragement you all give me.  :o)

♥blush