Grabbing a quick bite in the kitchen, Richie said he was gonna head to his mom’s for the night as it had been a few days and they had the record company dinner the following night.
“Let me know if you need anything. I can make phone calls from there too.”
Jon assured Richie he would and Richie left for his mom’s. Taking his beer into the living room, Jon turned on the TV to relax for a bit. It couldn’t have been more than a half hour later when he heard a car pulling up to the front of the house. He smiled, sure it was Amanda coming home. He opened the door as his mother was walking up to it.
Schooling his face to not show surprise, he called out to her. “Hey, mom.”
“Hello Jon,” his mother responded as she entered.
“What’s going on?” He asked, confusion evident in his voice.
His mother handed him a magazine and asked if he had read it. Jon looked at it, seeing “Jon Bon Jovi’s Newest Love Interest” on the cover.
“No, I haven’t read this. What’s the problem?”
“Who has she been talking to, Jon? Almost this whole article is about her, so who did she give an interview to?”
“Let me read it.”
Jon motioned for his mom to sit and he read the article. He was even more confused. There was nothing mentioned that any halfway competent reporter couldn’t have found out, including Amanda’s husband’s death and her mother. There were no quotes from her and nothing that indicated she had talked to anyone.
“There is nothing in here that even remotely hints that she gave an interview to anyone. So what are you talking about?”
“Are you blind? This entire article is about her and I want to know who she thinks she is giving interviews?” Carol was pacing now, her agitation clear.
Jon heard the door opening then and knew that Amanda had come home. She called out, “Hello! I’m back!” as she walked into the living room, carrying her few bags. She saw Carol standing there, Amanda stopped and her smiled dropped a bit.
“Hello Mrs. Bongiovi.”
“Out spending my son’s money again, I see.” Carol almost sneered, starting in immediately with her attack. “Who have you been talking to?”
Looking at his mother and at Jon, confusion was clear on her face. “I don’t understand.”
Carol snatched up the magazine where Jon had put it and waved it toward Amanda. “I’m talking about this, this article about you. Who interviewed you? When did you do this?”
“I haven’t talked to anyone. I don’t know who wrote the article.” Amanda again looked at the two of them.
“Mom, stop it! She said she hasn’t given an interview. Any reporter could have found out that information.” Jon attempted to reason with his mother.
“You’re just blind when it comes to her!” Carol turned to face her son.
Amanda had a slow to burn temper, but Carol had been against her from the beginning and her temper was starting to ignite.
“I don’t know what I did or said to you, but it’s pretty obvious that you’re going to believe the worst of me. That’s okay. You don’t have to like me and I don’t have to like you. I love your son and it’s what he thinks that concerns me.” Her tone was quiet and remained respectful, but Jon heard the steel underneath.
Turning to Jon, she spoke softly to him. “Jon, I don’t know why, but your mother has a problem with me. I think it would be best if I avoided situations where she’ll be present if at all possible.”
Understanding what Amanda was offering, to help by not attending functions where his mother would be, Jon gave his famous temper free reign. Shaking his head ‘no’ at her, he turned to his mother.
“Mom, I told you how things were going to be, but you’re not listening and the truth is you’re getting worse. I asked you not to make me choose, but you didn’t listen to that either.”
He walked over to Amanda and took her hand in his. “She’s staying with me because I’m not going to let her go. The one who’s going to get left out, mom, is you.” He stared at his mother and saw her eyes narrow.
“If you think I’m going to let this woman, this nobody, push me out of my son’s life then you aren’t thinking at all. Jon, listen to me. You don’t know anything about her. She came to you with nothing and you just took her in, let her in to your life and around your children. She has nothing to give to you, she can only take.”
Amanda was quiet during this speech by Jon’s mother, waiting to see what he would do. She had been dreading some sort of confrontation and didn’t know his mother well enough to even try to get through to her.
Jon, still holding Amanda’s hand, took a step towards his mother.
“You’re the one who’s wrong. She has lived a good, hard-working, simple life. She didn’t ask me to take her in, I asked her to come with me. You say she has nothing to give me. I don’t know if you mean money or prestige or what, but I don’t give a damn about any of that. What she’s given me is everything she has and everything she is.”
He stepped back towards Amanda and put his arm around her waist. He turned to her.
“Amanda, I’m not going to ask you to spend time around my mother until she accepts that she can’t run my life and that I’m not going to let her be rude to you. When we go to family functions, you are coming with me. My mother can either be civil to you or…” He turned and looked straight into his mother’s eyes, “…she can leave.”
Carol Bongiovi gave a small gasp at that. “You’re putting her before me? Is that what you’re saying?”
“No, what I’m saying is you have a choice. You can either be civil to Amanda or you can leave. I’m not going to let you do what you did at Dot’s, talk about her like she’s not there or bad-mouth her to anyone. I love her and thank god she loves me back. You need to stop this, mom, because I’m not going to let you hurt her.”
“I’ve always been looking out for you, you’re my son. I don’t understand why you don’t care about my happiness.” Carol’s voice was sad, but even Amanda could hear the manipulation underneath it.
“Actually, mom, what I don’t understand is why you don’t care about my happiness.” Jon’s voice was firm, but there was hurt and confusion in it. “Amanda makes me happy and I’m going to do everything I can to make her feel the same way.”
Slowly shaking her head, Carol realized she was losing some of the control she had managed to keep over Jon even through his marriage to Dot. She had never thought anyone was good enough for her son and this belief had colored many of her actions and words. Not being able to manipulate Jon into seeing things her way, although she would not have called it manipulation, was a new experience for her.
Looking at her son and at Amanda, she raised her head and visibly gathered herself together. She grabbed her purse and turned to leave, pausing only for one last shot.
“Someday you’ll realize that I’ve only had your best interests at heart and that you should have listened to me.” She walked to the door then and left, slamming it a bit as she did so.
They both stood there for a moment and then a small “wow” escaped Amanda’s mouth. She turned wide eyes to him and put her hands over her mouth. “Sorry,” she mumbled through her fingers. He actually smiled at her and the smile reached his eyes.
“All that and all you can manage is ‘wow’?” He grinned at her. “Honey, I’ve been dealing with my mother for my entire life. She’s just learning there are some new rules now.”
Amanda was surprised to say the least and shook her head. “I just can’t figure out why she’s been against me since she first met me. What could I possibly have done?”
“You didn’t do anything. She didn’t talk to me for almost three months after Dot and I eloped and it took a while before Dot learned to stand her ground with mom. Most of the time I don’t bother to argue and she thinks she gets her way. I’m not willing to do that this time, so she’ll have to be the one to change.”
“And you think she will?” Amanda questioned him.
The steel returned to Jon’s voice as he answered her. “She has no choice.”
~~
Carol Bongiovi drove home from Jon’s house, her mind working overtime. She was not used to being thwarted in what she wanted and she started making some phone calls. It was time to get her other sons involved.
~~
Jon and Amanda ate a rather late dinner that night and then decided to relax, watching an old favorite movie of both, “Young Frankenstein”. The movie helped take both their minds off the confrontation with Carol and gave them the bit of relaxation they needed. At the end of the night, they were curled together ready to sleep, when Amanda quietly whispered, “Thank you” to Jon. He just hugged her tighter and kissed the back of her hair.
Tuesday morning started with the ringing of Jon’s cell at an early hour. Looking at the readout, Jon stated, “It’s Tony”.
“Hey man, what’s up?”
“Just giving you a head’s up, Jonny, mom called me and Matty last night.”
“Yeah? What for?”
“She’s pissed and not at all happy about Amanda. She thinks we can talk some sense into you, and that’s a quote by the way.”
“God dammit!” Jon hissed into the phone.
“Hey, I’m not saying shit. I’m just letting you know, okay?”
“Okay, yeah, thanks Tony. She was here last night and I just don’t know what her problem is except she’s not getting her way in trying to run my life.”
“I already talked to Matt. He’s not gonna try anything with you as he already knows he screwed up the first time he met Amanda.”
“No shit! Alright, thanks for the info, bro’, I appreciate it.”
Jon hung up his cell with a low growl in his throat.
“Mom calling in reinforcements?” Amanda quirked an eyebrow at him.
Sighing deeply, Jon answered. “Yeah, she called Tony and Matt. I guess I’m just gonna have to show her I mean what I say.”
“I feel like I’m causing a problem here.”
Turning to her, Jon’s look was fierce in its intensity. “YOU are not causing any problems, she is and that’s who is going to do the changing. Okay, babe?”
“Okay. I have to follow your lead as I’m way out of my depth on this!” She grinned as he turned to her, pulling her back into his arms.
“Let me know if you need anything. I can make phone calls from there too.”
Jon assured Richie he would and Richie left for his mom’s. Taking his beer into the living room, Jon turned on the TV to relax for a bit. It couldn’t have been more than a half hour later when he heard a car pulling up to the front of the house. He smiled, sure it was Amanda coming home. He opened the door as his mother was walking up to it.
Schooling his face to not show surprise, he called out to her. “Hey, mom.”
“Hello Jon,” his mother responded as she entered.
“What’s going on?” He asked, confusion evident in his voice.
His mother handed him a magazine and asked if he had read it. Jon looked at it, seeing “Jon Bon Jovi’s Newest Love Interest” on the cover.
“No, I haven’t read this. What’s the problem?”
“Who has she been talking to, Jon? Almost this whole article is about her, so who did she give an interview to?”
“Let me read it.”
Jon motioned for his mom to sit and he read the article. He was even more confused. There was nothing mentioned that any halfway competent reporter couldn’t have found out, including Amanda’s husband’s death and her mother. There were no quotes from her and nothing that indicated she had talked to anyone.
“There is nothing in here that even remotely hints that she gave an interview to anyone. So what are you talking about?”
“Are you blind? This entire article is about her and I want to know who she thinks she is giving interviews?” Carol was pacing now, her agitation clear.
Jon heard the door opening then and knew that Amanda had come home. She called out, “Hello! I’m back!” as she walked into the living room, carrying her few bags. She saw Carol standing there, Amanda stopped and her smiled dropped a bit.
“Hello Mrs. Bongiovi.”
“Out spending my son’s money again, I see.” Carol almost sneered, starting in immediately with her attack. “Who have you been talking to?”
Looking at his mother and at Jon, confusion was clear on her face. “I don’t understand.”
Carol snatched up the magazine where Jon had put it and waved it toward Amanda. “I’m talking about this, this article about you. Who interviewed you? When did you do this?”
“I haven’t talked to anyone. I don’t know who wrote the article.” Amanda again looked at the two of them.
“Mom, stop it! She said she hasn’t given an interview. Any reporter could have found out that information.” Jon attempted to reason with his mother.
“You’re just blind when it comes to her!” Carol turned to face her son.
Amanda had a slow to burn temper, but Carol had been against her from the beginning and her temper was starting to ignite.
“I don’t know what I did or said to you, but it’s pretty obvious that you’re going to believe the worst of me. That’s okay. You don’t have to like me and I don’t have to like you. I love your son and it’s what he thinks that concerns me.” Her tone was quiet and remained respectful, but Jon heard the steel underneath.
Turning to Jon, she spoke softly to him. “Jon, I don’t know why, but your mother has a problem with me. I think it would be best if I avoided situations where she’ll be present if at all possible.”
Understanding what Amanda was offering, to help by not attending functions where his mother would be, Jon gave his famous temper free reign. Shaking his head ‘no’ at her, he turned to his mother.
“Mom, I told you how things were going to be, but you’re not listening and the truth is you’re getting worse. I asked you not to make me choose, but you didn’t listen to that either.”
He walked over to Amanda and took her hand in his. “She’s staying with me because I’m not going to let her go. The one who’s going to get left out, mom, is you.” He stared at his mother and saw her eyes narrow.
“If you think I’m going to let this woman, this nobody, push me out of my son’s life then you aren’t thinking at all. Jon, listen to me. You don’t know anything about her. She came to you with nothing and you just took her in, let her in to your life and around your children. She has nothing to give to you, she can only take.”
Amanda was quiet during this speech by Jon’s mother, waiting to see what he would do. She had been dreading some sort of confrontation and didn’t know his mother well enough to even try to get through to her.
Jon, still holding Amanda’s hand, took a step towards his mother.
“You’re the one who’s wrong. She has lived a good, hard-working, simple life. She didn’t ask me to take her in, I asked her to come with me. You say she has nothing to give me. I don’t know if you mean money or prestige or what, but I don’t give a damn about any of that. What she’s given me is everything she has and everything she is.”
He stepped back towards Amanda and put his arm around her waist. He turned to her.
“Amanda, I’m not going to ask you to spend time around my mother until she accepts that she can’t run my life and that I’m not going to let her be rude to you. When we go to family functions, you are coming with me. My mother can either be civil to you or…” He turned and looked straight into his mother’s eyes, “…she can leave.”
Carol Bongiovi gave a small gasp at that. “You’re putting her before me? Is that what you’re saying?”
“No, what I’m saying is you have a choice. You can either be civil to Amanda or you can leave. I’m not going to let you do what you did at Dot’s, talk about her like she’s not there or bad-mouth her to anyone. I love her and thank god she loves me back. You need to stop this, mom, because I’m not going to let you hurt her.”
“I’ve always been looking out for you, you’re my son. I don’t understand why you don’t care about my happiness.” Carol’s voice was sad, but even Amanda could hear the manipulation underneath it.
“Actually, mom, what I don’t understand is why you don’t care about my happiness.” Jon’s voice was firm, but there was hurt and confusion in it. “Amanda makes me happy and I’m going to do everything I can to make her feel the same way.”
Slowly shaking her head, Carol realized she was losing some of the control she had managed to keep over Jon even through his marriage to Dot. She had never thought anyone was good enough for her son and this belief had colored many of her actions and words. Not being able to manipulate Jon into seeing things her way, although she would not have called it manipulation, was a new experience for her.
Looking at her son and at Amanda, she raised her head and visibly gathered herself together. She grabbed her purse and turned to leave, pausing only for one last shot.
“Someday you’ll realize that I’ve only had your best interests at heart and that you should have listened to me.” She walked to the door then and left, slamming it a bit as she did so.
They both stood there for a moment and then a small “wow” escaped Amanda’s mouth. She turned wide eyes to him and put her hands over her mouth. “Sorry,” she mumbled through her fingers. He actually smiled at her and the smile reached his eyes.
“All that and all you can manage is ‘wow’?” He grinned at her. “Honey, I’ve been dealing with my mother for my entire life. She’s just learning there are some new rules now.”
Amanda was surprised to say the least and shook her head. “I just can’t figure out why she’s been against me since she first met me. What could I possibly have done?”
“You didn’t do anything. She didn’t talk to me for almost three months after Dot and I eloped and it took a while before Dot learned to stand her ground with mom. Most of the time I don’t bother to argue and she thinks she gets her way. I’m not willing to do that this time, so she’ll have to be the one to change.”
“And you think she will?” Amanda questioned him.
The steel returned to Jon’s voice as he answered her. “She has no choice.”
~~
Carol Bongiovi drove home from Jon’s house, her mind working overtime. She was not used to being thwarted in what she wanted and she started making some phone calls. It was time to get her other sons involved.
~~
Jon and Amanda ate a rather late dinner that night and then decided to relax, watching an old favorite movie of both, “Young Frankenstein”. The movie helped take both their minds off the confrontation with Carol and gave them the bit of relaxation they needed. At the end of the night, they were curled together ready to sleep, when Amanda quietly whispered, “Thank you” to Jon. He just hugged her tighter and kissed the back of her hair.
Tuesday morning started with the ringing of Jon’s cell at an early hour. Looking at the readout, Jon stated, “It’s Tony”.
“Hey man, what’s up?”
“Just giving you a head’s up, Jonny, mom called me and Matty last night.”
“Yeah? What for?”
“She’s pissed and not at all happy about Amanda. She thinks we can talk some sense into you, and that’s a quote by the way.”
“God dammit!” Jon hissed into the phone.
“Hey, I’m not saying shit. I’m just letting you know, okay?”
“Okay, yeah, thanks Tony. She was here last night and I just don’t know what her problem is except she’s not getting her way in trying to run my life.”
“I already talked to Matt. He’s not gonna try anything with you as he already knows he screwed up the first time he met Amanda.”
“No shit! Alright, thanks for the info, bro’, I appreciate it.”
Jon hung up his cell with a low growl in his throat.
“Mom calling in reinforcements?” Amanda quirked an eyebrow at him.
Sighing deeply, Jon answered. “Yeah, she called Tony and Matt. I guess I’m just gonna have to show her I mean what I say.”
“I feel like I’m causing a problem here.”
Turning to her, Jon’s look was fierce in its intensity. “YOU are not causing any problems, she is and that’s who is going to do the changing. Okay, babe?”
“Okay. I have to follow your lead as I’m way out of my depth on this!” She grinned as he turned to her, pulling her back into his arms.
Nice distraction there, Jon, but your mother still hates me.
Good for Amanda for telling Carol how she felt and good for Jon for telling his mom that she wasn't going to run his life.
I just wished she'd listen...
Looking forward to see how all of this unfolds...
Oh my God, she doesn't listen...one mother cannot possibly be that stubborn! I hope she comes to her senses. Jon has to talk to her one more time. If she would at least try to know Amanda better, she would soon realize that she's a very good person!
I sooo love your story!! I hope there's a lot more to come!!! And a wedding for Jon and Amanda :-D
Oh lord, what is that woman's problem???
great chapter!
Wow - Mrs. B, you're over the top with your control issues. Nothing a good psychiatrist can't help you with, lol.
Perhaps Amanda needs to exert a little anger as well. I appreciate her being polite but sometimes a good yelling can clear up any mis-understandings & show that she won't be pushed out of Jon's life.
Great chapter. I wonder how Jon will show Mommy Dearest that he means business. Looking forward to seeing how this plays out.
Colleen
Wow, Mommy Dearest! I love that, so true! Glad Jon finally stood up to Mom so that Amanda can feel more secure!