April 2008

Lost Highway Tour

"C'mon, slugger...women wait for no man. Remember that," David said seriously after catching and scooping a hyped-up Issac into his arms.

Sadie laughed and smacked her husband's ass, grinning at her boys. She wrapped her arms around David's waist, gripping his jacket gently. "Not true. I was always waiting for you."

David glanced down at his beautiful wife, his smile brightening. "I'm glad you did..."

"So am I," she whispered and stretched up to kiss him. They both laughed as Isaac made his displeasure known by throwing his head into David's chest and whining.

"Hey, fella," David said, his voice a rumble in his chest. "You can't have all the fun." He set down his son, who wobbled to Sadie, and grabbed her legs to steady himself. "Obie got a special pair of headphones made."

He grabbed them from his travel case and handed them to Sadie. Black with the Bon Jovi heart and dagger on one side and Isaac's name on the other. Inside, they were heavily padded with foam.

"I'll have to remember to thank him," she replied, testing the cushiness of the foam. "I know it was last minute with getting a fill-in doctor for the office..." She picked up Isaac and set him in his stroller, strapping him in and popping a pacifier in his mouth.

David shrugged into his black suede jacket and chuckled. "Don't worry, baby. Besides...it keeps Obie on his toes. Can't let him get too lazy. Here, slugger," he shoved two more pacifiers in Isaac's tiny fists. "Just in case one goes flying."

"Hey now! He hit that blonde chick square in the head," Sadie giggled. "You have to admit...that was impressive."

"The lengths Bryan men will go to just to wrangle a female," Richie jibed. "If they couldn't throw something at them or tie them to a bed, I swear to God chloroform would come into play!"

"Pretty sure I've had all three," Sadie piped up.

"The King's point has been made!" Richie laughed, throwing his arms up in success. "Toss some my way sometimes, huh?!"

"Ah-hem," Roxy arched her eyebrow at her fiance. "You need no such thing, Mister!"

Richie snorted. "I will if this...sex slump continues."

David and Sadie exchanged a look with Tico across the room. They had all speculated as to why Richie and Roxy hadn't tied the knot yet...most of the crew had money on them breaking off their engagement.

"Your better half has spoken," Tico pointed between the two with his cigar.

"Sex slump, my ass," Roxy said, rolling her eyes. "It's been less than a month, babe. You've gone longer when out on the road. Right?!"

"A month?!" Sadie mouthed silently to Dave.

"Well, yeah, of course," Richie shrugged, "but you've usually been here and I've been in some bum-fuck of a town on the other side of the world...not in the same bed at night. Not even the peep of a titty when I called."

"Poor baby," Roxy pouted at him. "You'll survive."

"Trouble in paradise?" David asked, spraying on cologne and slipping into his favorite leather boots.

Five minute call for the band on stage. Five minute call for the band on stage. The call came over the radios situated around the dressing room initiating a flurry of activity before the pounding on the door by Mike Rew.

"Let's go, you lot!" he yelled, opening the door. Sadie rushed to slip the headphones onto Isaac and David helped her into a sleek red moto jacket. They pushed the stroller from the dressing room and joined Jon and the others in the hallway.

Richie kissed Roxy, asking, "You'll be side-of-stage, baby?"

"Of course, babe. I'll be there soon," she said. "I love you. Have a great show," and pushed him out the door to follow Tico.

"Hands in!" Jon yelled and waited for his brothers to do his bidding. "Have fun, boys, but not too much fun. Just coz your women are here," he pointed directly to Richie and David, "doesn't mean you get to slack off. Ya hear me?!"

"You kidding? I slack off and suddenly I've divorced again, paying child support and eating canned soup," David joked, winking over at Sadie who stuck her tongue out.

"Alright, alright...we got an audience waitin' out there," Jon said. "On three. One. Two. Three!"

The cheer went up and they were herded toward the roaring auditorium, with Roxy and Sadie trailing behind and taking up their preferred positions.

For most of the concert, the girls stayed well into the shadows with Isaac. The toddler was happily bopping in his stroller, mesmerized by the spotlights and camera flashes from the audience.

Jon, however, had other ideas and gestured over to Sadie to bring Isaac out onto the stage. "I need you all to be very quiet for a moment...we have a special little guest who's gonna hear his Daddy sing tonight. Don't wanna startle him. Come on out, little man."

Sadie brought him out and gave him over to Jon, who smiled at the toddler. Isaac looked out to the audience and grinned shyly before tucking his little head into Jon's neck and peeking back out.

When Sadie came back to the wing, Roxy said to her friend, yelling to be heard through their own IEMs, "I'll be right back if Richie's looking for me."

Sadie nodded but her attention was focused on her son and husband, ready to run out for Isaac if anything went awry. "Take it away, Lema!" Jon yelled into his mic.

On the first note from his Daddy's keyboards, Isaac's head popped up and squirmed in Jon's arms. David nodded and Jon put the toddler onto the stage floor, laughing with Bobby and Hugh as he took off to Dave's platform.

"If you were in these arms...I'd hold ya...I'd please ya...I'd tell you that I'll never leave ya...until the end of time..." David sang to the arena, dancing and bouncing alongside his son. Isaac held onto Richie's pants and bopped to the song, toppling over briefly then regaining his footing.

Dave reached out one hand to his son, the other flying over his keyboard and piano. Isaac sat on the platform at his Daddy's feet and watched in awe as Dave sang.

"We stare at the sun, and we made a promise. A promise this world would never blind us. And these were our words. Our words were our songs. Our songs are our prayers. These prayers keep me strong and I still believe, if you were in these arms..."

Roxy returned to see six grown men on stage all going goo-goo over the baby, and she smiled as she slipped her arm over Sadie's shoulder, resting her head against her friend's.

"You okay, sweetie?" Sadie asked.

Roxy squeezed Sadie's shoulder and nodded. "I just had to get something from my purse before the encores and go to the bathroom. Again."

Sadie hugged her friend and David brought the song to an end. He lifted Isaac up and the baby boy waved to the cheering crowd, getting a kiss on the cheek from his daddy, and ran clumsily towards his momma.

She scooped him up and chuckled. "My little performer...those men are something else."

"It's one big, very big, family, isn't it?" Roxy asked rhetorically, her voice wavering slightly drawing Sadie's attention again.

A few fans were craning their necks and stretching cameras to try and catch another glimpse of Isaac and Sadie promptly returned him to the stroller, angling it more towards David and less of the crowd.

"Are you sure you're okay? Is everything...well...are you and Richie still...good?"

"Silly!" Roxy giggled. "Of course we are. I'm just a little off tonight."

Sadie studied Roxy curiously and thought about Richie's comment earlier. A sex slump just wasn't in the cards for someone like Richie...and Roxy loved him too much to simply withhold from him. Her skin was pale but still held a slight glow.

"Oh! There's Mike," Roxy said. "I gotta do something. Be right back." She kissed Sadie's cheek and bent to kiss the top of Isaac's head and pulled a face at the little boy when he grabbed her hair before racing off to catch the road manager.

Sadie watched Roxy as she spoke to Mike who nodded, changed the channel on his radio and passed it over to her. Roxy spoke into the radio but Sadie didn't hear any chatter in her ears so she wondered who she was speaking to.

Roxy handed the radio back to Mike and hugged him briefly before walking back to her post in the wings, with a secretive smile on her face.

"What are you smirking about, gorgeous?" Sadie asked, hip-checking her bestie.

"Me?! Smirking?! I think you have me confused with the great leader out there," Roxy laughed and pointed toward Jon who was looking toward them. Roxy waved at Jon who just shrugged and nodded.

"I know he's not wanting me out there," Sadie giggled. "Maybe you're getting stage spankings!"

"Ha!" Roxy laughed. "Wouldn't that be something for the fans?!"

The house lights promptly went dark following Livin' on a Prayer and the main part of the concert drew to a close, with the men moving off-stage amidst cheering, screaming and clapping, to refresh before the first encore. Roxy held a towel out for Richie, who accepted it with a kiss.

Sadie and David were doing similar things. Both men gulped down hydration drinks but when Richie took a sip of his singular glass of wine, Roxy turned her head at the last moment when he tried to kiss her.

"What was that?!" he asked with a confused look as he changed his sweat-sodden shirt for a dry one and reached for his hat.

"Sorry, babe," Roxy gave him a tight smile, taking the hat from his hands and placing it on his head. "My handsome Cowboy. Knock 'em dead, babe."

Richie grinned and hollered as he accepted his double-neck from Takumi before stepping back into the spotlight, taking a seat and starting a haunting melody as the rest of the band took their places.

David followed Richie's lead, bringing in the strings that made the very essence of Wanted. Jon let Richie take vocals on the A verse, strumming his guitar and winking at a couple of fans in the first row.

Meanwhile, in the side-of-stage, Roxy started wandering around, trying to stretch and limber up some ill-used muscles as discreetly as she could. Unfortunately, she also had a pair of eyes watching her every move.

"Lack of sex will make you stiff," Sadie said pointedly.

"Huh? What?" Roxy asked.

"I said lack of sex will make you stiff...unless you're trying to get out a stubborn fart. I could always do to you what I do with Isaac..."

"I'm...I'm just tired of standing around so...," Roxy let her words die off because she couldn't find any more to cover her movements.

Sadie slid a chair to Roxy with her foot and grinned. "Sit down...relax...Hungry? I got some salted peanuts if you are. Crackers? Meat sticks?"

"I'm fine, Sadie!" Roxy snapped, throwing her hands in the air. "I...I just felt like stretching. I'm damn near 40...if I need to stretch, I'm gonna fucking stretch!"

"Someone's a little...snippy. Been like that long?"

"And someone's being a little nosey bitch," Roxy arched her brow at her friend. "Richie and I are fine. More than fine, okay?!" She sighed, rubbing her temples. "Sorry...I don't mean to bite. But can you just...trust me? Please?!"

Sadie sighed and rolled her eyes. "Fine...don't tell me...." She pushed Isaac's stroller back towards David and sat with him in the dark. It certainly didn't help her patience that her son was starting to get fussy.

Roxy felt bad for keeping a secret from her best friend, but Sadie had done the same to her when she'd fallen pregnant. She just needed to get through these next few songs and then the break. She paused in her stretching, leaned against the wall, and took a few deep breaths. She really needed to relax.

Seeing that Sadie was struggling to keep Isaac occupied, being way past his bedtime and with so much activity, Roxy walked over to where Sadie sat. She stooped down in front of the stroller to talk to her favorite little boy.

"Hey, buddy," she said. "Wanna dance with Aunty Rox for a little bit and give Mommy a break?" Roxy looked at her friend and asked, "If that's okay with Mommy?"

"I'm too tired...y'all do whatever you want with him," Sadie replied coldly.

"Oh, dear," Roxy said to Isaac as she unbuckled him. "I think Aunty Roxy has upset Mommy. But it won't be for long. She'll go to bed happy tonight, I promise." She scooped the baby up, ignoring the quizzical look from Sadie, and twirled around the side-of-stage area with Sadie's son.

Before she knew it, the band was taking their final break before the last encore. Richie was happy to see Roxy with Isaac and the little boy held his arms out to his uncle who flew him through the air, squealing with happiness, to his father.

Richie came back to change into yet another shirt and hat. "Almost done, babe. Jonny said there's a slight change for the final song for some reason. He wants to do Hallelujah...acapella. With Lema on harmonies. He must be feeling good tonight."

"So you can slack off on the last song?!" Roxy feigned surprise. "Saints be praised."

The crowd was becoming more and more restless the longer the break was and, as some unseen voice in their ears called them back on stage, the wall of noise was like a punch in the gut to Roxy and she couldn't imagine how the guys did it night after night, though it definitely explained their partial hearing loss.

As Jon stepped up to the mic, he looked around the audience and nodded. "We got a lotta friends here tonight and we're grateful for that friendship." He paused as the crowd roared. "So the boys and I want to finish tonight off real special for all you folk."

He turned to David and nodded to him to start the opening of Hallelujah and as soon as people recognized the melody a reverential hush descended with the lights. The crowd was bathed in dim blue and a spotlight of the same hue trained on Jon.

Roxy stood in the wings and blew out a nervous breath, placing her hand on her belly in the darkness. She kicked off her shoes and left them with Richie's stage trunk that held his hats and other paraphernalia.

Roxy opened herself to feel the music as she stepped out onto the stage to dance between front of stage and Tico and Dave's risers, taking the audience and band, bar Jon, by surprise as a wave of confusion rippled through the auditorium. Richie was struck mute, even missing one of the harmonies.

In her ear monitors, Roxy could hear Tony barking orders to his crew. "I don't care what you've got to do, follow the girl. Follow Roxy with a blue. Something's gonna go down, I can feel it! Video, are you getting all of this?!"

Roxy visited each of the band as they played, dancing around them, offering them smiles and winks when their eyes questioned her. For David, she blessed him with a high leg rise...just close enough to brush a single curl.

"I'd heard there was a secret chord...That David played and it pleased the Lord...But you don't really care for music, do you? Well it goes like this...The fourth, the fifth, the minor fall, the major lift...The baffled king composing Hallelujah...Hallelujah, Hallelujah...Hallelujah, Hallelujah..."

Richie, who was used to Roxy dancing everywhere they went, watched her in confusion as her dress flowed around him in a cloud of fabric, using him to steady herself for the more intricate movements.

His fingers flitted out and the delicate chiffon fell like a waterfall from beneath her bustline, which had filled out recently. Her perfume formed an impenetrable, heady circle around him, sending him into another dimension. It had been too long since she had danced for him...too long.

"Well, your faith was strong but you needed proof...You saw her bathing on the roof...Her beauty and the moonlight overthrew ya...She tied you to the kitchen chair...She broke your throne and she cut your hair...And from your lips, she drew the Hallelujah...Hallelujah, Hallelujah...Hallelujah, Hallelujah"

Roxy wrapped her arms around her fiance's waist, swaying him in her arms and making Richie smile as she laid a kiss against his cheek and, once the audience figured out who the woman was, the cameras and phones came out en masse and pointed at the couple dancing together.

For once, Jon Bon Jovi was not the center of attention at his show.

"Well, maybe there's a God above...But all I've ever learned from love...Was how to shoot somebody who outdrew ya...And it's not a cry that you hear at night...It's not somebody who's seen the light...It's a cold and it's a broken Hallelujah...Hallelujah, Hallelujah...Hallelujah, Hallelujah..."

As Jon was nearing his final notes, Richie pulled Roxy around to face him and stepped out of microphone range. Dancing in a slow circle, Richie asked, "You're so beautiful, baby. But you're gonna get this pretty dress ruined with all my sweat."

"Can't a girl surprise her man once in a while?"

"I love surprises, you know that," he said, gazing at Roxy lovingly.

"Oh, I know...so that's why I've got a very special one for you," Roxy reached into her bodice and pulled out a rolled-up black and white photo. As the lights faded to a deeper blue, she held it up to Richie and smiled. "Our tiny hallelujah."

Richie stopped dead in his tracks. Nothing else mattered at this moment. "What...who...," he stuttered, taking the photo from her hand and stared at it intently.

"Rox...darlin', are you...are we...holy fuck!" he exclaimed, loud enough for the microphone to pick up. He fell to his knees and the whole arena erupted as he held her hips and kissed her belly. He gazed up from the floor at her, and asked, "Really?!"

"Yeah! We are," Roxy cried, wrapping her hands around his neck as he sobbed in surprised relief. "We're having our baby! You're gonna be a Daddy again!"

Isaac came toddling out from the side stage, carrying a tissue, and brought it over to Richie. "Thanks, buddy," Richie said as David stepped down to the main floor to take his son out of the commotion to come.

"Congrats, man," David said, enveloping Richie into a one-armed hug before turning to Roxy. "You're sure it's his?!" he joked before hugging and kissing her. "Congrats, sweetheart."

They were all plunged into darkness. "Give us a moment, folks...we promise...one more song," Jon said to the audience. Band, girls, immediate stage crew...all closed in around Roxy and Richie. There was a squeal of excitement followed by groans of disgust.

David carefully handed over Isaac to Sadie, the little boy farting each time he laughed and cheered. "Oh sweet Jesus, we have a level 12 tushy squirt," David chuckled.

"Smells like you after Taco Tuesday," Tico guffawed, elbowing Dave in the stomach.

"Poo-nami incoming!" Richie yelled.

"Get used to it, King," Roxy whispered in his ear. The two smiled at each other and Roxy grasped at his shirt.

In the melee Jon changed up the final song to their classic, crowd-pleasing Living On A Prayer. "Let's finish this fucker on a high, boys!" he yelled and held his hand into the middle of the band huddle. "Let's go!"

"I better go before Jon throws me into the front row," Roxy said, kissing Richie. "Get back to work, Daddy."

"No, you're staying right where I can see you," Richie said. "If this is a dream, I don't wanna wake up," he said, kissing her soundly as his guitar tech stood by patiently with his guitar.

Jon counted the band in and Roxy was almost pushed off her feet with the force of energy from the audience. She started to move backward, out of Jon's frenetic racing back and forth across the stage but Richie turned and shook his head, indicating with his head for her to stand beside him.

The notes faded into reverb as the song finished after two reprises and the band fell together at the front of stage, congratulating themselves on the show. This time Roxy did manage to melt into the background, waiting at the top of the central stairs that Jon usually used and the whole band used after their bows.

"Isaac! Wait!" Roxy heard Sadie grumble loudly. Then, "You're not dressed properly," moments before the little boy toddled forth from the top of the stairs and stood in the middle of the stage behind his father and uncles, and danced, shaking his diapered butt much to the audiences delight.

"He's so cute!" Lorenza commented to Roxy as she was leaving the stage with the other lesser band members, leaving the five brothers on stage together, arm in arm. She'd just stepped down from her riser after placing her violin back in the stand for her tech to pack away for transportation.

"Isn't he, just?!" Roxy agreed. "I'll see you at the after-party?" she asked and the violinist nodded then headed down the stairs.

Sadie appeared beside Roxy then and leaned on her friend. "I swear that boy is just like his father," She sighed. "Always looking for attention."

Roxy grinned at her friend and dropped a kiss on her cheek. "You wouldn't have it any other way though, would you?!"

"Not a chance in Hades," the brunette smiled. "I love my boys...all five of them."

Roxy found Sadie's hand and held it up in front of them both. "Jovi Girls for life, right?!" she said as they watched David bend down and hold his arms open to his son.

Then the rest of the band did the same, confusing the toddler for a moment but Isaac took it in his stride and went to each of his uncles for cuddles, ignoring his father much to the amusement of everyone except David. Even two pretty fans in the front row had his attention. Isaac waved shyly at them and blushed when they waved back.

Once maximum cuddles had been reached, Isaac then allowed himself to be scooped up and coaxed into blowing kisses to the rest of the audience.

Richie raced toward the stairs first, followed by David, Tico and Jon taking up the rear. Sadie and Roxy followed their men down the stairs, grinning at the collective groan as the house lights went up.

"I really hope you all don't plan on bringing him onstage all the time," Sadie admonished David, securing Isaac in his stroller although he was wide awake and bouncing around.

"Nah," Tico said. "The toddler takes the girls' attention away from the singer and then we'll have two toddlers on our hands when Jonny doesn't get his quota."

"Hey!" Jon exclaimed. "I resemble that remark!" he chuckled, tossing a towel at his drummer.

"And you!" Sadie called out. "Little Miss Secrets! I need details and a good excuse as to why you didn't tell me!"

"Well," Richie interjected, looping his arm across Sadie's shoulders. "You see, my penis went in Ro-."

"Not that kind of detail!" Sadie exclaimed, slamming her hands over her ears and elbowing him in the ribs. "And get your sweaty, musty, stinky self off me," she laughed.

Roxy hugged Sadie and said, "I'm sorry. I wanted to tell you sooner but...I was scared that something would go wrong. Again." She looked over Sadie's shoulder to her fiance. "That's why I didn't even tell Richie this time. Forgive me, Aunty Sadie?!"

"Depends," Sadie smirked and side-eyed her best friend, "Can I plan the baby shower???"

"I wouldn't consider asking anyone else to do it, honey!"

"Good answer! I forgive you!" She exclaimed, kissing Roxy's cheek.

"This calls for a celebration!" David boomed over everyone as he rocked the stroller back and forth, trying to lull his son into slumber.

"Showers first!" Both girls ordered the men, pointing toward the door and wrinkling their noses.

"And maybe if you boys behave, you'll get a little sugar later," Sadie said with a wink and Roxy waggled her eyebrows.

*~*~*Thank you to the readers!!*~*~*

We've enjoyed taking our beloved men on this journey and thank you to those that came on it with us!