Thanks man, for taking the time to read and for the compliment. ;)

Chapter Seven: A Wedding and A Dream

The next day I awoke to find Stephanie standing over my head staring intensely.

"Yes?" I asked.

"That hobo bastard is gone." She said smirking, knowing that I would be second-guessing myself soon.

"Well...did he take anything?"

"How should I know John? You invite some guy into our house and then expect me to take inventory?"

"No, you're right...I'll go check the place." I sat up, got dressed, and went out to search the house to see if anything had noticeably been taken. By the time I reached the East Wing I was wishing we had bought a smaller house. How extravagant we were back then. It was kind of ridiculous. Anyway, I finally finished the first floor so I decided to go check the studio in the basement. I opened the door to find that there were lights on at the bottom of the stairs. Slowly I made my way down until I reached the corner to turn into the room and I stopped to listen. What I heard took me by surprise. It was Jack Jameson, legendary country music superstar, playing a haunting song like I had never heard before on my guitar. His voice was a bit harder compared to his old recordings but I stood there shocked until he finished. I heard him put the guitar down and he started walking my way when I finally turned the corner and stopped him.

"Er...I was just checking out your...stuff. I'm sorry if I overstepped my boundaries."

"Not at all..." I said honestly. "You want to play some more?" I asked with wishful dreams.

"No...I think I should go." He said and he tried to push past me.

"Wait a minute. Come sit down...I want to talk." He nodded and sat down on the couch.

"I know I shouldn't have been wandering around your house Johnny. I was just curious about your music is all." He said. It hurt me to see my hero with so little pride left, so I picked up a black Martin off the wall and handed it to him.

"This is yours now Jack. But you have to promise to play me that song again before you leave my house." He looked up and slowly took the guitar from my hands. A tear built up in his eyes until finally falling down his cheek.

"I believe God must have sent you to me Johnny Johnson."

"I believe God brought us to each other."

Over the next two months me and Jack played song ideas off each other. He had a lot of his old songs and a bunch of new ones all in his head so I helped him write them down. He would then listen to some of the old and new songs of mine that I was building for my solo venture. All the while, The Rockers were still mixing and preparing their final outing and Stephanie was getting ever closer to giving birth. We had booked a day for the wedding and everything was going to play out nicely. She was still angry about Jack, but she knew what it meant to me and was slowly becoming numb to the idea.

The day of our wedding was as marvelous of a day as anyone could ever experience. It was a grand occasion that was just public enough to give people the gist of what was going on, and just private enough that me and Stephanie could take in the wonderfulness of the moment. When I stood up there and saw her walk down the isle, I was truly at my happiest point. Every fear and doubt I had about my future was gone and I was in a state of natural ecstasy. We made a promise in front of that preacher that we would love each other until death do us part. I guess it must seem like we broke our promise to each other since we divorced...but not really. Because the people we were when that promise was made, did in fact die. We became different, thus is natural I guess. By failings on all sides, we grew apart. No blame can be made.

After we wed, I was off to begin promotional stuff for The Rockers and the first of the farewell albums. I was prepared for what I was going to do, but scared as hell too. I was embarking on what might be my last tour with the guys. Strange just doesn't describe that feeling. The album was released to good reviews and the first of the concerts was received nicely as well. So my fear was pointless, but there was still much more to come. We had two more albums to mix and release, and I had a question to ask Jack when I finally got home.

"Will you record an album with me Jack?" He had not recorded anything in nearly thirty-eight years.

Chapter Nine: An Upcoming Tour, and an Upcoming Daughter

The Rockers were enjoying a publicity rejuvenation because of our announced break-up. Everyone wanted to have us on their show or at their venue. We tried to hit as many interviews as possible, but the tour would be later. It kind of hurt to know that they only wanted us because we were going out, when they wanted nothing to do with us for most of are careers. Still, we were eager to get out there one last time. The hugeness of the event made it feel all the more complete. We felt like that was the perfect way for us to leave; finally getting noticed.

I had Jack down in the studio with us while we recorded the second album so that he could give his thoughts. He tried to keep them back so as not to hurt our feelings, but I yanked them out of him. I wanted those valuable bits of information, and so did the rest of the guys. That's what was always nice about being with Joey, Randy, Gary, and further back, Robert and George. Those five guys all knew what music was and shared my goal of creating the perfect song. We may not have accomplished that goal, but we tried for nearly thirty years.

The second album was released to great reviews just as the first one was. We only had eleven more songs to record and then it was out on the road for our farewell tour. I was still wrestling with Jack to agree to help me with my solo effort, and now I wanted to talk to him about coming on the road with us. I had hopes that opening for us would get him back into that musical place and he would want to go forward with me and my album. Of course, he refused every time I asked him for nearly two weeks. In that time we got the album recorded.

It was pretty anti-climactic thing, recording that final song. We just hit record and did our bits and edited them together. Not much different from any other song in our library. But I turned my chair around and looked at Jack.

"The tour is in 17 days. Will you open for us, or should I get some kids who can't play worth a shit?" I asked. He shook his head and sat back on the couch.

"John...you know I would...but I haven't played live in years."

"All the more reason to come with us sir."

He smiled. "I'll think about it alright. If you leave me alone for more than five seconds I might have a chance to come to a conclusion." We both laughed and left the studio. Stephanie was at the top of the stairs.

"Finished?" she asked.

"Yea...actually the whole thing is done I guess. No more recording for The Rockers....weird." I didn't feel as empty as I expected to but I was still kind of broken up about it.

"Well, I thought I should let you know that I've got some news for you."

She said this very formally. I found this confusing but then her face broke into a smile and she embraced me. "It's a girl John." she cried. Unlike most fathers, I was not unhappy that I was having a daughter. I was even more proud. Stephanie and me spent the entire day together, one of few days that we spent like that. We just hung around the house with each other, discussing names and how we were going to raise a daughter.

My God, I was happy.

Edited by user 13 October 2011 23:51:16(UTC)  | Reason: Not specified

OOC: Thanks, I'm starting to feel like I'm just writing it for me and you now. lol

OOC: Nah, I just meant that I feel like I'm writing this simply for nostalgia purposes later on. ;)

Chapter Ten: The Last Ride

The final tour of our careers. Just thinking about it felt sort of blasphemous. We knew that there was always the possibility of getting together again later for special occasions, but the fact that this was going to be our last big tour together...wow. The tour bus was always parked at my place, so that is where we all met. Standing at my gate watching the guys come down the road towards me was like watching a great march into battle. They all got out of their cars and I helped them get their suitcases into the bus. Stephanie came out to talk with us. It was a great time, like old times. Mostly just chit-chat, but sometimes those are the best subjects to talk about.

Everyone slept in the basement that night, including Stephanie. We spent the night drinking, though no alcohol for me due to my bum ticker. Ha ha, we listened to the new cuts a few times and discussed how we could improve them before the release day. Then we shared ideas for the tour and what kind of songs we'd like to play at the later dates. We had spent a few months rehearsing, so we had our act and our set-list ready, but we like to add in a few lesser known songs towards the end of the tour just to spice it up. This tour, it would be sort of like paying homage to those songs that we left behind.

Jack came down around 11pm to talk about his plans. He told me that he wanted to play a few of his old songs and then three of his knew ones. I told him that he could play anything he wanted and do it anyway he wanted. Like I expected he said he was just going to play his acoustic guitar and sing his songs. I offered him a beer and we spent the night laughing until we all fell asleep. Laying there with Stephanie by my side and the guys snoozing around me, I felt great.

The next day I kissed Stephanie good-bye and got into that bus to being the journey across the world that I had gone on so many times before. I left my wife, and my unborn daughter, hopefully I would be back in time to see her give birth...that was what I hoped for anyway. I guess I should have put family first, but I had already put so much of my time and effort into this tour and the albums. I had my mind on ending The Rockers in the perfect way, I guess I forgot that I should be focusing on the beginning of a life.

The arena loomed on the edge of dawn like a humongous figure of stone painted perfectly on a backdrop of the rising sun. After all the years of my career, the way the arena rises from the flat lands like that still gives me chills. Its a haunting image, yet a powerful one. I never enjoyed playing places buried in the city as much for that simple reason. Anyway, we pulled up to a massive crowd cheering for our arrival. We would only be staying here one night before heading out again, unlike our usual regime of staying in town a few days to enjoy the sights. By now, we had enjoyed many sights and just wanted to get in as many dates as we could to say farewell to everyone.

We played our gig, did a fine job I guess. There are always hiccups during the first show on a tour. I felt bad about that since this would be the last time we would play that city. So I called everyone into the room to discuss what we would be doing at the next place. I told Joey that he needed to tighten up the bass lines as he was little off-beat, and Randy flubbed some notes during the solos. They should have slapped me and told me to bug off because I had missed a few of my own notes too, but they smiled and nodded the whole conversation until finally I left them.

Walking down the hall I could hear music that sounded curiously like Jack's opening set. I pushed open a door to see Jack watching a tape of his performance. He was smiling and laughing, so I decided to leave him to his thoughts. A man approached me to inform me that Stephanie had called. I'll call her tomorrow, I thought.

Chapter Twelve: Doing it Wrong

With the tour cancelled, and Stephanie in the hospital with the baby (we had yet to name her), I was sort of left with a situation which I was not only unwanted in, but also was helpless in. So I began writing music, as I always have in those sorts of situations. I never left the hospital spare once though and that was to get my guitar. I would sit in the waiting room with my guitar and a notebook scribbling notes and entertaining the people in there. I listened to a lot of other stories that touched me and broke me while I was in there, it put my problems in perspective a little bit. I heard about people who were losing their children to cancer, losing their loved one's to tragic accidents, all sorts of horrible things happening to great people.

So over the two weeks that we were left in complete darkness, I wrote around five songs. Of which I took three back home with me, I tossed the others. I was finally on speaking terms with Stephanie again despite how angry she was with me still. She knew that we needed to make-up for when the baby was healthy enough to take home. Us arguing would not be right in any way with our new daughter in the house. Eventually we started talking about names and what she wanted to call her. I had some of my own ideas from all the times I had thought about it throughout my life, but I decided that Stephanie deserved first naming rights. She picked the name "Helle." I believe she chose it because of a tale in Greek mythology.

We had just decided on Helle's name when the doctor entered the room. Naturally we were kind of concerned at the sight of him but he waved us to calm down before speaking.

"The child is doing quite well Mrs. Johnson, and we believe she may be ready to take home within the next two or three days. Have you decided on a name?"

"Yes...Helle." she said softly as she exchanged a smile with me.

"Good. I will bring in some paper work for you two to sign and then its just a short wait before you guys can take her home alright?" He smiled and left the room. Stephanie turned to me.

"This whole thing has been so stupid John...we're better than all of this." All I could do was nod and look her in the eyes as she continued. "Helle is very lucky. She comes from two people who had disappointing child-hoods...and so now we can make sure that she has the best possible kind."

"And we will." I said sincerely. I will skip forward a few minutes to the most embarrassing part of my life story. Very much unlike the press you normally hear about me and Steph, and thankfully the doctor kept it a secret.

The doctor returned with his paperwork to find me and Stephanie enjoying each others company to say the least. We stopped and turned to look at him as he stood in the doorway. Finally he closed the door behind him and sat down next to the bed.

"You're doing it wrong." he said.

Chapter Thirteen: Heart, Soul, and Rock n Roll

So there I was, I had a daughter and a lovely wife, and I had just come into some new off-time from work. We went home and spent the next couple of weeks devoted to Helle. She was all we wanted to spend our time on, and she was so much fun. For a child so young, she had already developed quite a personality. She would do little things and laugh at others that we knew would develop into her core traits as she grew older. Witnessing those sorts of things were the sort of precious moments in life that you would have to be an utter fool not to notice.

Jack was having fun as well, we had talked about what sort of role he could play in my daughters life early on in the arrangements of him living with us. We had all agreed (even Stephanie) that he would be a sort of grandfather too her and he was enjoying that immensely. He would talk to her and make her breakfast, let her play with his finger as she grabbed at it, he just became a younger man when he was around her and that was great to see too. I guess it made us all a little younger and brighter, I don't know if Helle realizes that now that she is older and all that came to pass has passed by. I hope she does, I may have to talk to her about that later on...

Finally though, I began to contract the music bug again and I started talking to Jack about what sort of album we could put together. I had all my songs picked out and so did he, but we weren't sure what exactly the album was going to sound like or how we were going to blend his songs with mine. He would often respond with a short sentence such as, "Heart and soul, with rock n roll." Really though, I needed to get down to the gritty part of music production so I brought him down to the basement one night when it was raining and Helle was sleeping easily.

"We need to get started Jack, it's been nearly three months since Helle was born and I need to pick up my guitar again." I said. He just smiled and walked over to the mixers and various recording tools I had there.

"Hit record then, friend." I said nothing, but I followed his simple instruction as he walked into the booth. He sat down with his guitar that I had given him and pulled out a wrinkled old piece of paper from his jeans. Simple as it seemed, he played out one of the best songs I had ever heard, which coincidentally I had not heard on tour...he must have been saving it. A simple song, called "Every Bit of Me" that tells a narrative about a man devoting himself to a woman despite all his misgivings. He let the last note ring out and then stood up and returned to me in the studio room.

"How was that?" he asked.

"Just you and your guitar? Nothing more?" I asked back.

"Me and my guitar, nothing less." he replied.

I smiled and turned to hit the play-back. Again I listened as the song rushed into my ears and heart, this time I turned some knobs and hit some buttons until I felt the song was perfectly mixed. We must have spent over two hours down there on that song, but it felt like minutes, maybe seconds. I turned back to Jack and as soon I saw him smiling I knew I had gotten it right.

"I think that one's done." he said. "Your turn."

I stood up and grabbed my guitar from it's stand, he sat down and prepared the recorders. I knew exactly which song I was going to play, it had been one of the three that I had brought home from the hospital. I had edited it slightly since being home, but for the most part it was exactly as it had been written in my time of doubt. "Must Have Been You" was its final name when it was released, and its subject is just that. I guess it's about Stephanie and how she had helped me through my wild times, but it's more about Helle and how I wanted to help her as she grew up and went through hers. That song has a lot of fear and doubt in it, not to mention some comparisons between me and my father. I looked at Jack when I came back into the room with him and he just sat back and stared at me.

"Heart and soul Johnny...that song comes from a broken heart and a tragic soul." he said.

"Nah, just a fools heart and a blessed soul."

Edited by user 25 October 2011 20:41:55(UTC)  | Reason: Not specified

((Good shit.))

Chapter Fourteen: Fucking it Up

We spent a lot of our time on recording and editing after that. Recording and writing, I guess. I don't remember if any of the blurbs I wrote afterwords were ever used for anything but I know I was holding a pen just as often as I held a guitar those days. One thing I wasn't holding though, was Helle. Stephanie was the one putting her career on hold so that she could raise our daughter, I wasn't quite as smart. Me and Stephanie were spending less and less time together and I was becoming more and more involved with the new album. Jack went along with me and we went into the studio anytime I got the notion to do so. Jack was no idiot though, he brought it up to me one day.

"Johnny...I think maybe you should spend the day with Stephanie and Helle...besides I'm not feeling well today." he said.

"I'll spend the afternoon with them, come on down Jack. I've got some really great ideas I need to try out, I'm thinking of adding piano to this song I wrote when I was sixteen." I was just too hyped about all of these old songs, that even Jack couldn't get me to see reason.

So that was how we spend the next month or so. I would be in the studio, occasionally with Jack, while Stephanie and Helle would be off to the zoo or something. If I could have seen myself, I might have stopped and taken notice of what a blunder I was making of my life. Stephanie never said anything to me personally though, in fact, she barely ever said anything at all to me. I think she must have just been trying to keep peace between everyone until the album was done. We all thought that after that was finished, I would focus on Helle. We were wrong.

We wrapped the album some time in late July. Me and Jack sat in the studio and listened to the entire thing all the way through and then went up-stairs. I found Stephanie sitting there with Helle. I bent down and let her play with my finger as I looked at Stephanie.

"We're finished Steph, do you want to hear it?"

"Maybe later." she said. "What's your plans now?"

I paused, "Well, I guess I'll start writing again. Maybe plan a small tour to promote a bit. I want this album to get to people you know?" She just looked at me.

"Yea." She stood up and grabbed Helle and left the room without a word. I found out later that she had left the house but at the time I just turned to Jack and smiled.

"What do you think? Up for a tour?" I asked.

"John..."

"I'm thinking we could do ten dates in various corners of the country and that should get the album promoted well enough and then..."

"John!"

"...What?"

"You are going to fuck up everything you've worked for if you dont stop and take a good hard look at what's going on around you." He was very stern and sweating a little.

"Hey! Where do you get the nerve to talk to me like that? What are you even talking about?"

"Cause I've been there John! You are me and you're doing what I did! What your father did!" That took the cake, I grabbed his shirt and pushed him against the wall but before it went any further he went limp and fell to the floor. He had passed out.

I called 911 and rode with them to the hospital. I had a lot on my mind, but for the most part I just felt bad about over-reacting like I had. What Jack was trying to say kind of skipped across my mind and kept going. I was just worried about him. They took him into a room to do some tests and I sat in the waiting room. He met me there a little while later.

"Whats going on?" I asked urgently.

"Nothing, just...lack of oxygen or something. Let's go."

He never showed me the paper in his pocket. If he had I would have known that Jack had cancer then, instead of finding it out later. Maybe I could have helped, maybe not. It's hard to say.

Edited by user 04 November 2011 04:33:28(UTC)  | Reason: Not specified