Cheering And Serenading

“John!” Harriet called after him but he didn’t even stop.

I closed my eyes and silently cursed, you selfish son of a b****! I didn’t need to look at Jordan, I knew that he was upset that his father didn’t say anything; John not saying anything was actually worst than his yelling. When he yelled you knew he was upset but you also knew he’d get over it; when he didn’t say anything, he could go days ignoring you.

Personally I’ve been on the receiving end of both. John once told me that my sassy mouth would get me into a lot of trouble one day. But try as I might, I can’t get him to stop liking me. I didn’t want him to treat me like his ‘favorite daughter’ because I was neither; I didn’t deserve that title. I was rude and spoke my mind, I told him exactly what I thought of him and his treatment of Jordan and I didn’t give a rat’s ass about him.

I stood there watching Jordan tell his mother about Jenna, he seemed happy but not as happy as he was before when he told Nick about her. I turned my attention to Nick and mouthed to him that I would be back before I slipped out to find John.

The door leading to the basement was opened now, John normally spends a lot of time down there building stuff; he’s a carpenter by trade. As I descended the stairs, he began to use one of his power tools and I jumped. By the time I made my way across the basement to the shop that he had set up, he had stopped using the tool, so it was quiet again.

The door creaked when I went through it; John glanced over his shoulder before turning his attention to the piece of wood that he just cut. “What do you want?”

“I want to know why you didn’t say anything about Jenna.” I walked over to where he was standing. “You were so happy about Nick and Amy’s baby when you found out, why can’t you be happy about the granddaughter you already have?”

“Why don’t you mind your own business for once?” John snarled at me.

I shrugged, “Everything that happens to Jordan is my business.”

John glared at me for a moment and then he grabbed my left hand. “If that were the case, it would his ring on your finger.” He dropped my hand, “But he’s just stupid enough to let you go.”

“Jordan isn’t stupid!” I snapped at him. “In fact he’s the only one of your sons who has made something of himself! He worked really had to get where he is, and it’s never good enough for you! I don’t know why he even cares about what you think; you are such a self centered bastard!”

I expected John to yell at me, but he didn’t. He glared at me for a moment and then he started to laugh. “I hope your guy knows what he’s getting into,” he shook his head. “Jordan probably couldn’t keep you happy anyway.”

“Argh!” I threw my hands up in the air and shook my head. “Why do you do this? Does it give you some sick pleasure to make Jordan miserable? He never did anything to deserve the way you treat him!” John turned away from me. “Why do you treat him like crap John? Why are you nicer to me than you are your own son? How can you be so proud of the other two for being losers and piss on Jordan?”

John spun towards me and grabbed me by the arms, “Listen here Anna, and you listen good. This is my house; who the hell do you think you are coming in here and talking to me like this? What I do here is none of your business. If Jordan has a problem with the way I treat him, he should be man enough to come to me himself, instead of sending you to fight his battles for him.” John released me and stomped over to the door. “Get out of my sight!”

I followed him to the door but turned just after I stepped through it. “Do you really want to miss out on getting to know your granddaughter?” He didn’t say anything as he slammed the door in my face. “Jordan isn’t going to bring Jenna around to see Harriet when there’s all this tension between the both of you,” I yelled through the door. “Don’t be a jackass John you’ll end up hurting the people you do care about.”

Jordan was waiting for me when I got to the top of the stairs, “Why do you even bother Anna? You know he’s never going to change,” he looked down at him feet as he continued, his voice cracking a little. “Dad hates my guts and I don’t know why.”

“Oh Jordy,” I threw my arms around him. “I know it doesn’t mean much, but I think you are the best thing since sliced bread.”

Jordan reluctantly laughed, “I think you are pretty great too.” He moved back to smile down at me, “At least I know you’ll always be in my corner.”

“Cheering you on,” I did a little jump in the air, “Go Jordy!”

He laughed for real, “Does Josh know you are this silly?”

I grinned, “Yes and he still loves me.”

“Yes he does,” Jordan nodded. “How about we get out of here? It’s still early; Josh might still be up so you can spend some time with him.”

The idea sounded really awesome to me but I tried not to let it show too much. “But what about you? I’m supposed to spend the night with you, remember?”

Jordan threw his arm around my shoulders and turned me towards the front door. “Don’t worry about me, I think I’m just going to go home and crash, I’m pretty beat.”

Raising my brow, I asked him if he was sure. “Yes!” He smiled as he helped me with my jacket. “All I’m going to do is go home and crash in front of the TV. I might even sleep on the couch.”

I laughed, “Don’t do that, you always end up sore when you do.”

We left his parent’s house in a better mood than when we went in there, despite what happened with his father. When I asked him if he would be taking Jenna over there soon, he told me that he would. “Mom wanted to call Heather up and see if she could go over tonight! I had to promise her that I would take her to see my baby tomorrow.” He smiled at something and then he laughed, “Mom wanted to keep my picture!”

I laughed, “And you weren’t about to let that one go, were you daddy?”

Jordan turned and gave me this funny look. “You know, that sounds really creepy. But I like it. I can’t wait to see Jenna again, hey maybe this weekend Heather will let me spend some time alone with Jenna.” He was quiet for the rest of the drive to Josh’s place. When I went to get out of his truck he stopped me. “Thank you for coming with me tonight.”

I leaned over and gave him a hug, “That’s what I’m here for Jordy. Good night, I’ll see you tomorrow,” I gave him a quick kiss on the cheek before I hopped out of his truck and made my way to Josh’s apartment.

There was no answer when I knocked on his door; I knew he was home because his car was sitting out on the street. So using the key he gave me, I let myself in. There was a light on in the living room, so I called out to him as I removed my jacket but there was no answer. Moving further into the apartment, I smiled when I realized that the water was running in the shower.

I went to knock on the bathroom door to let him know I was there but I stopped when I heard his voice, he was singing! I pushed the door open a little and I listened to see if I could figure out what he was singing but he stopped, laughed, said something that sounded like ‘no, not that one’. He hummed for a couple seconds and then he launched into another one.

Here you come knockin' on my door baby
Tell me what you got on your mind
I guess those college boys all went home for the summertime
And you're lookin' right, lookin' good, lookin' like a woman should
So why is it so hard to find
A place to lay your pretty little head down once in a while
You run on a little tough luck baby
Don't you sweat it

I tried not to make a noise but I couldn’t help but giggle, it wasn’t that he was a bad singer, he was actually really good. I just never thought he would be the guy to sing in the shower.

He had stopped when he heard me, “Anna?” He questioned as he whipped back the shower curtain enough to peek out.

“Hey handsome,” I smiled at him.

He stared at me wide eyed before he chuckled. “Hey beautiful. Care to join me?”

I wasn’t sure if he was serious or not, I didn’t care. I reached for my shirt and tugged it off. It wasn’t long before all my clothes were in a pile at my feet.

Josh pushed back the curtain, not caring that he was getting water on the floor. He held out his hand to me, when I slipped mine into his, he started to sing again.

Everything is waiting inside for ya
You know I got it
So come and get it