Cincinnati, 2003:

Jon watched as Mrs. Germanotta posted bail for him. He knew that once he stepped foot outside of the police station, that his ass was grass. But Mrs. Germanotta didn't say anything at first. The ride home was awkward. Jon made sure his eyes were glued to the scenery outside. The radio was on but that didn't make anything better. When they arrived home, Jon was anxious. He wanted to go straight to his room, close the door, and hide under the covers for the rest of his life.

Mrs. Germanotta opened the door and walked in. Jon walked in after her and tried to book it to his room.

"Sit your butt down on the couch," she said.

Jon slowly walked back to the couch and sat down.

"Why is it that I had to take time off of work to bail you out of jail? And on top of that, you ditched school today!" Mrs. Germanotta said.

"It was only one time, Mom," Jon said.

"I know you didn't go to school on Monday," Mrs. Germanotta snapped. "Jonathan, what are you doing? Graduation is coming up. I want to see you walk across the stage at graduation. How do you think Adriana would feel if you weren't there?"

"She would be sad. Like I would be..."

"Keep that in mind, Jonathan."

And so he did. And from that day on, he got his act together.


Present:

"How was school today?" Jon asked J.J.

J.J. was silent during dinner.

"J.J.?" Jon said.

"I didn't go to class. I hid out on the playground," J.J. murmured.

"Why did you do that?" Jon asked.

"I didn't want to read in class. I don't like reading out loud," J.J. said.

"You're still afraid your classmates will laugh at you?" Jon asked.

J.J. nodded his head.

"I'm don't feel well. Can I lay down?" J.J. said.

Jon got up and took J.J. to his room. J.J. slipped out of his clothes and into his pajamas. He laid down in his bed. Jon sat beside him.

"J.J., you can't let your fear of your classmates laughing at you dictate to whether or not you go to class. You're very smart. You're very special. Just because you have a small setback doesn't mean you're not intelligent like the rest of your classmates. Okay?"

"Okay. Thank you, Daddy. I needed that. I love you very much."

"You're welcome. I love you very much, too. Sweet dreams."

Jon kissed J.J. on his forehead and cut off his light.

"Daddy! Daddy! Look!" J.J. said. He ran into the living room and hopped on the couch next to this father.

Jon read the paper that J.J. had given him.

"Well I'll be damned! You got a perfect score on your paper! See? I told you that you could do it!" Jon said.

J.J. hugged his father.

"This is the best day ever!" he said.

"I'm sure it is!" Jon said.

"I'm gonna show Mommy when she gets home!" J.J. said.

Someone rung the doorbell. Jon got up and answered the door.

It was Damien.

"Oh hey," Jon said.

"Hey. Can I come in?" Damien asked.

"Sure. Would you like something to drink?" Jon asked.

"No, I'm good. I know this is awkward and everything but I wanted to talk to you real quick. Um...Marty and Jack told me you go see a therapist to talk about...some things. Um...I was wondering if I can come, too? I mean...if that's okay with you."

"Sure. I'll just call my therapist and I'll tell him that you're coming with me."

"Thanks. Um...I was just curious because...well...sometimes I feel angry and upset and everything. I still suffer from PTSD..."

"You're not alone. I still suffer from it. It's not bad as it was before. I've come a long way and everything has gotten better. But there was times where I thought I'd hurt my wife and my children. Then me and my wife would argue with each other and sometimes the arguments would be physical."

"Oh dear. That's not good. But I understand what you mean though. I didn't mean to appear all weird and all dropping by but I wanted to just ask you about the therapist thing."

"It's no problem."

"Thank you. By the way, you have a nice house."

"Thank you. You take care of yourself."

"You too."


The next day:

"What are you baking?" Jon asked. He had smelled the aroma of something sweet as soon as he entered into the house.

"I baked a cake. I saved a piece just for you," Adriana said. She handed him a plate with a piece of cake on it.

"Thank you darling," Jon said.

"You're forgetting something," Adriana said.

Jon gave Adriana a sweet kiss on her lips.

"Better?" Jon said.

"Yes."

Jon started eating the cake.

"Damn, this is good!" he said. He continued eating until there was only crumbs left on the plate.

No, wait. He ate the crumbs, too.

"How can you eat so much..." Adriana pondered.

"I have a big appetite!" Jon said.

"I can tell. Your children are the same way..." Adriana said. "I'm going to buy J.J. and Aiden more shoes."

"Already!? Adriana, we already bought them shoes last month!" Jon said.

"Well, they're growing Jon. Just like you. You're six foot four for goodness sake!" Adriana said.

"Please give me more cake," Jon said.

"Jonathan, I know that you won't get paid until Friday. But the boys need some more shoes," Adriana said. She handed him another slice of cake.

"I have some money saved up. I'll go buy the boys more shoes," Jon said.

"I know it's hard," Adriana said.

"Hard? No. Tough? Yes. The reason why I've been coming home later than usual is because my asshole boss wants to be a dick to me and keep me working late," Jon said. "Gus even volunteered to help me with some paperwork but I'm not going to risk him getting fired."

"We'll be okay," Adriana said. "We will be just fine."

"Mommy, Daddy, have you seen Cookie?" Maddy asked.

"He's under the table sleeping," Adriana said.

Maddy grabbed the cat and left the kitchen.

"You want to talk about work?" Adriana asked.

"If I didn't have the children to take care of and you as well, I would've been fired from kicking that bastards ass," Jon said.

"Don't do that," Adriana said.

"Trust me: when I start getting thoughts like that I think about you and children," Jon said. "Damn...where has time gone?"

"I know. We're already thirty," Adriana said.

"Don't you remember when times were more simpler?" Jon said.

"Yeah. When we were both carefree. Well, I still had to make sure you weren't in trouble," Adriana said.

"I know. I was a piece of work," Jon said.

"Well, even though times were much more simple and great for us, I think everything is still great now," Adriana said. "But I want...nevermind."

"What?" Jon said.

"It's nothing," Adriana said.

"Tell me," Jon said. He placed his plate down on the counter. "Talk to me, Adriana."

"I want you to just lay with me in bed. Just me and you," Adriana said.

Jon could tell that Adriana was tired.

"Alright," he said.

Picking her up, Jon carried Adriana into the bedroom. He laid her down on the bed and laid down next to her.

"Better?" Jon asked.

"Yes," Adriana said.

Adriana was out like a light in the next few minutes. Jon laid there and listened to Adriana snore. He soon remembered the time Adriana had called him with an "emergency". She was pregnant with Jasmine, so of course that made Jon worry. Jon had rushed home as fast as he could. All Adriana wanted was Burger King and for Jon to rub her feet.


Flashback:

Adriana didn't care whether or not she made a mess. She wolfed down her whopper and started working on the fries. She was eight six months pregnant and didn't care about anything at this point in time.

"That feels great," Adriana said.

"I'm glad it does. It's just funny how you called me and told me there was an emergency..." Jon said.

"It was. I was hungry!" Adriana said. She finished her fries and gulped down the rest of her drink. "Now I'm horny."

"Adriana...I love you but I should head back to work," Jon said.

"No! STAY!"

Adriana reached for Jon and pulled him closer to her.

"I've missed you..." Adriana said.

"I've missed you, too," Jon said.

"Just a few minutes is all I ask," Adriana whispered. She had lifted up her dress and opened her legs.

Jon unzipped his pants and pulled them down along with his boxers. He pushed Adriana's panties out of the way and slid his cock into her.

"That feels so good," Adriana whispered.

Jon spent the next two hours pleasuring Adriana.


Present:

Jackie had come over to check on the kids. The chick still thought Jon was mentally unstable to take care of his own kids. She had some faith in Adriana but she still had her doubts. The children saw Jackie standing on the porch and let her in.

"Where are your parents?" Jackie asked them.

"Mommy and Daddy are asleep," J.J. said.

"Is everything okay? Are you guys okay?" Jackie asked.

"Yes. We're eating cake," Maddy said.

"Come watch Tom and Jerry with us," Aiden said.

Jasmine was sitting in her father's recliner. Even at a very young age, she didn't like her cousin Jackie that much.

And it was because Jackie was the main reason Jasmine would find her father crying late at night. She had a heart to heart with her father.


A few nights ago:

"Daddy, why are you sad?" Jasmine asked.

Jon wiped his tears away.

"It's nothing," he said.

Jon picked Jasmine up and sat her on his lap.

"Look, I want you to listen. Daddy loves you. Daddy loves you, your brothers and your sister, and Mommy as well. Daddy will have his moments sometimes where he doesn't feel good. But that doesn't mean I don't love you."

"I love you, too. Who made you cry?"

"Your evil cousin Jackie."

"Why?"

"I don't know. She hates me."

"I don't. I love you. You're Daddy."

Jasmine hugged Jon. Jon hugged her back and cried again.


Present:

"Hey, Jasmine. How are you?" Jackie asked.

Jackie went to give Jasmine a hug but Jasmine pushed her away.

"Leave me alone," Jasmine said.

"Don't be rude," Jackie said.

Jackie grabbed Jasmine's arm and tugged on her.

"STOP!" Jasmine screamed.

Jasmine tried to break free of Jackie's grasp but Jackie held on.

"What is with you!? See, your damn parents don't know how to keep you in line!" Jackie said.

"You're hurting her, Jackie!" J.J. said.

"I'm not! Your sister is being a brat!" Jackie said. "Be still! I just wanted a damn hug!"

"No hug!" Jasmine said.

Jasmine bit Jackie's arm as hard as she could.

"OW! YOU LITTLE BRAT!" Jackie screamed.

Jackie managed to shake Jasmine off of her. Jasmine tried to run away but Jackie caught her and started spanking her.

"MOMMY! DADDY!" Jasmine screamed.

This woke Jon up immediately who sensed something was wrong. He heard yelling in the living room and immediately got up to figure out what the hell was going on.

"Let go of her!" Jon heard Maddy say.

Jon walked in and saw Jackie spanking Jasmine.

"Hey!" Jon said.

Jackie got startled and let go of Jasmine. Jasmine ran to her father and cried.

"You need to control your damn child!" Jackie yelled.

"You had no damn business putting your hands on my child!" Jon yelled back.

J.J., Aiden, and Maddy quickly got up to go to their rooms. Maddy took Jasmine to her room so she could calm her down.

"I wanted to give her a hug and she acted up. She got what she deserved!"

"She doesn't like you, that's why she acted up. Why are you here?"

"I was checking on the kids."

"I don't need your help, thank you. Please leave. NOW!"

"Don't you dare yell at me!"

"I can yell at you if I want to!"

"What's going on?" Adriana asked.

"Get your husband," Jackie said.

"Leave," Jon said.

"Adriana!" Jackie said.

"What!?" Adriana said.

"Are you going to let him talk to me this way?" Jackie said.

"Please leave," Adriana said.

"I'm not leaving until I get an apology," Jackie said.

"You're not getting one, you bitch. Now I said to leave-"

Jon was interrupted when Jackie slapped him across the face.

Adriana gasped.

This was the last draw for Jon.

Adriana immediately knew this wasn't going to end well.

"Jonathan..." Adriana said.

Adriana watched as Jon's right hand balled into a fist.

"JONATHAN!"

Before Adriana knew it, Jon's fist connected with Jackie's face.