Taking it all in...
A/N: I own nothing...
Saturday morning, Angela, Maddie, and Jamie arrive at the Hilton in New York. Jordan had already reserved a suite for them and he and the guys had already checked in. They walk over to the desk to get the key he left for them. As they're crossing the lobby, heading toward the elevators, Angela's phone rings. Pulling it out of her purse, she sees that it's Ricky.
"Hey, Ricky. We just got to the hotel." She watches as Maddie pushes the button for the elevator. "You and Simon are still coming tonight, aren't you?"
"Hey, Angela. We're coming. I mean, Simon and I are, but I think Rayanne wants to come, too." He hesitates before asking, "Is that alright?"
"Ricky! No, it's not alright. How could you even ask that? I don't want her there and I know that Jordan and Shane don't want her there, either." Getting into the elevator, she pushes the button for their floor.
"Angela, why not? Really, what did she do? At least she told the truth, right? It's not like she made a play for Jordan or anything."
"I can't talk about this right now, ok? I have Maddie and Jamie with me. Can I call you back in a little while?" They get off the elevator and head for their room.
"Angela, just think about it. What could it hurt? I'll talk to you later." Ricky ends the call, leaving Angela confused.
Angela VO: Why is Ricky taking her side? Does he even know what's going on? What am I supposed to do, just put on a happy face and pretend that nothing happened?
Angela opens the door to their suite and the kids rush inside. She's walking across the room when she sees a note with her name on in laying on the table. The kids go straight to the balcony, checking out the view.
"Angela, we had to do some interviews this morning. We should be back after lunch. Tell the kids to order room service. Get some rest. Love you, ~J ."
Deciding to take his advice, she calls out to the kids, "Hey, guys, I'm going to lay down for a bit before Jordan gets back. He says that he'll be here after lunch and you can order room service. Just don't go crazy with it, ok?" She walks into the master bedroom and turns back to them. "Don't open the door for anyone but room service, either."
She shuts the door and crawls into the unmade bed and pulls the covers up over her, falling asleep almost instantly.
Around one o'clock, Jordan, Shane and Tommy are getting off the elevator walking toward their suites. Shane looks over at Jordan and shakes his head, laughing. "Damn, Jay. That thing is messed up. I can't wait until Angela sees it."
"I think pink looks good on you." Tommy says, punching Jordan in the arm.
"Oh, shut the fuck up, both of you. I did this for my daughter. And it's not pink, it's pomegranate!" Jordan, sporting his now pink mohawk, laughs with them. "I'm cutting it after the show. I'll see you guys in a bit. I'm going to spend some time with my family."
Tommy and Shane stop at their door and Jordan continues to his. He unlocks the door and walks in. Maddie looks up and sees him.
"Oh my gosh, Dad! I love it!" She runs to him and he hugs her. "I can't believe you did it. This is so cool!"
Jordan and Maddie walk over to the sofa where Jamie is watching TV. "Man, Jay. I didn't think you'd really do it. It's cool. Can I touch it?" Jamie reaches over and touches the spikes. "How is it staying up like that?"
"They used some kind of hair gel. Don't get your hopes up, Maddie. After the show tonight, I'm cutting it." Looking around, he wonders where Angela is. "Where is your mom?"
"She's laying down, Dad. She said she was tired." Maddie sits down beside Jamie and turns back to the TV.
Jordan walked across the room and quietly opened the bedroom. Angela was laying on her side with her hand under her face. Not wanting to wake her, he gently closes the door behind him. He sits down beside her on the bed, content just to watch her sleep.
After a few minutes, she starts to wake. She rolls over on to her back and slowly opens her eyes. When she sees him, she smiles. Her smile quickly turns to shock as she takes in his appearance. "Oh, no. Jordan, what did you do?" She pushes herself into a sitting position, before reaching over to touch his hair. Watching him grin, she says to him, "I'm going to kill you! This isn't funny."
Trying not to laugh, he pulls her to him. "Isn't only hair, Babe. It'll grow back."
Burying her face in his shoulder, she starts laughing herself. "I bet Maddie loved it, didn't she? She said she wanted a pink mohawk."
"It's not pink. It's called 'pomegranate'. I wanted 'crimson glow', but they didn't have it." Hugging her, he whispers, "What, you don't like it?"
"Jordan, you could shave your head and you'd still be sexy. I just can't believe you did it."
"Well, after the show, I'm cutting it all off. I did this just for Maddie's birthday." He pushes her away from him a bit. "Let me look at you." He pulls her shirt up and rubs her belly. "He's getting big, huh? Is he moving around a lot?"
"I can tell he's there, that's for sure. He's seems to like laying on my kidneys." She takes his hand and places it lower on her stomach.
Jordan leans down and kisses her belly. "Hey, little guy. It's your dad. Wake up and move around for me." He talks to the baby as if it can understand him. And as if the baby hears him, he feels a slight flutter against his hand. "Hey, I felt that. Guess he heard me." He kisses her softly. "What about you? How are you feeling? Any problems?"
"No, Jordan. I told you I'm fine. The doctor says I'm healthy and the baby is healthy. We have nothing to worry about."
"Your blood pressure's ok? You aren't overdoing it?"
"I'm fine. Stop worrying!"
"I can't help but worry. I'm ready to get tonight over with so that I can spend the next 3 months making sure you're relaxed and happy. I dare anybody to upset you. You don't need any stress." An odd expression crosses her face. "What?"
"Well, I talked to Ricky earlier. Rayanne wants to come to the show tonight. I told him that we don't want her there." Frowning, she continues, "It's not so much her being at the show that bothers me. Ricky will want to come backstage with us after the show and if he and Simon do and Rayanne is with them, she'll expect to, as well. I don't think I want for her to be in the same stadium with you, much less the same room."
"Ah, Angela. Trust me, I know how you feel. I don't want her upsetting you, but I also want her to stay away from Shane. He's torn up about all this." Getting up from the bed, he reaches out to help her up. "You know that I can handle myself. She doesn't bother me."
"Well, I'm going to tell him that I don't want her there. She'll just have to get over it." Heading to the bathroom, she looks back over her shoulder at him. "I think your pink mohawk is hot!" She grins at him and shuts the door.
"It's not PINK!" Rolling his eyes, but still grinning, he opens the door and walks out of the room.
A few hours before the show, Angela is in the hotel room getting ready. Jordan had taken Maddie and Jamie with him so that he could take them backstage and let them check everything out. Angela was putting on her makeup when there was a knock on the door.
She looks out the peephole and sees Ricky, Simon and Rayanne standing there. Opening the door with a scowl on her face, she looks at Ricky. "Damn it, Ricky. I told you that I don't want to see her. Neither do Jordan or Shane."
"Angela, can we come in, please?" Ricky gives her a pleading look.
Angela steps back to let them in. "This can't take long. I've got to leave in a few minutes. The kids are with Jordan and I need to go be with them so that he can get ready." Ricky and Simon pass, then Rayanne, who is looking at the floor. "Have a seat. I'll be right back."
Angela goes into the bedroom and gathers her things. She picks up her phone and decides to text Jordan. "J, They brought her, anyway. What should I do? ~A."
Jordan wastes no time replying. "Don't argue with her. Let her come. It'll be ok. DON'T get upset. Love you, ~J."
She slips her phone into her purse and heads back into the sitting room. "I'm leaving. If you guys are coming, let's go." She starts turning off the lights as they all walk out into the hallway. She pulls the door shut behind her and walks toward the elevator, not saying anything.
Angela doesn't speak until they're walking across the lobby. "Rayanne, the only reason you're coming with us is because Jordan said it was ok. Don't go near Shane. He doesn't need this shit."
"Angelica, I just want us to go back to the way we were. Can we do that?" Rayanne turns to look at her as they're walking through the doors to step outside.
"What do you expect me to do, Rayanne? Pretend like you didn't tell me that you've been in love with my husband for all these years? Am I supposed forget all that? And what about Shane?" While they were talking, Simon haled a cab for them. They pile in the back and Simon sits up front with the driver.
Rayanne reaches for one of Angela's hands. "I'm really sorry, Angela. I never wanted you to know. I love you guys."
Pulling her hand away, Angela lets out a bitter laugh. "Yeah, well I know you love Jordan. You told me that already. I can't get that out of my head." Tucking her hair behind her ear, Angela turns to face Ricky. "I want you guys to go to our seats. I'm not taking her backstage with me. Ricky, you and I will talk about this later."
They arrive at Madison Square Garden and Angela heads in to find Deborah, leaving Ricky, Simon and Rayanne standing on the sidewalk. Deborah gives her a backstage pass and she heads for the dressing room. When she gets there, the guys are all dressed for the show. Maddie and Jamie are sitting with Jordan on a small sofa, while Shane and Tommy are sitting at the table in the corner. They're all talking about what happens during a show.
Jordan, seeing that Angela is upset, gets up and walks over to her and pulls her into his arms. "Hey, don't worry. Forget about her and just enjoy the show."
"Yeah, that's easy for you to say. You don't have to sit with her. She told me she just wants us to go back to the way things were before it ever happened. How am I supposed to do that?" She sighs and lays her head on his shoulder.
"Well, don't think about her. Just think about me, huh? I put you guys to the left of the stage. I don't want you down on the floor because it gets crazy down there." Giving her one last kiss, he lets her go. "You guys better get out there. We go on in just a little while. Have fun, ok?"
She and the kids wish the guys luck and head out to their seats.
Their seats were front row, right at the corner of the stage. The place was packed and more people were piling in. Maddie and Jamie were really excited, neither had been in the audience for one of Residue's shows. Maddie was rambling on and on to Ricky and Simon about how cool everything was. "Just wait, Uncle Ricky. Wait until you see Dad's hair! He did it just for me."
Angela VO: How do kids do it? How can they block everything out like they do? Why can't I do that? Right now, I just want to scream.
Simon, who had gotten up to sit beside Angela asks, "So, Angela, are you just going to ignore Rayanne for the rest of the night?"
"Well, yeah, that was the plan." Not wanting to talk about it, she changes the subject. "I'm glad you came, Simon. I haven't got to spend much time with you and Ricky." Ricky and Simon had only been together for about a year. They had met the year before when Simon was designing the set on one of the shows Rayanne was performing in.
"Ricky and Rayanne were excited about this concert. I have to be honest, this really isn't my kind of music. I'm going to take my seat now. Would you just listen to Rayanne?" He moves back to his seat and Maddie sits down beside Angela on her right and Jamie sits on the other side of Maddie. Rayanne takes the seat on Angela's left.
Angela VO: So, I can do this. I can just pretend like she's not here. I won't let her get to me.
Just as Rayanne turns to Angela, the lights go down and Residue takes the stage.
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