American Woman: Book 2

Chapter 46

"Hey dad I want you to meet my girlfriend, Jensen. Jensen, this is my dad, John." Prince introduced us as we walked into the kitchen. I extended my hand and he took it firmly. "Nice to meet you, Mr. Nelson." I smiled at him. "Please call me John. So you're the woman Prince stole from Lenny Kravitz, right?" My eyes got big as saucers and I couldn't think of anything to say. "No, dad, that's not how it was at all. I can't believe after all these years you still believe anything the media puts out there, especially about me." Prince say defensively.
"But she was married to him, right?" He asked, darting his eyes between the two of us.
"Yes sir I was, but we had separated before Prince and I started dating...."
"Oh sweet thing, you don't have to defend yourself to me. I wasn't the picture of faithfulness myself. And unfortunately for you, it seems I've passed that trait down to my sons. Not sure any of them have been loyal to their women...."
"I have. At least in my marriage I was, and I have and will be to Jensen. Some people can change their ways." Prince says, through gritted teeth.
"Oh well aren't you just Mr. Perfect? He also gets his narcissistic tendencies from me. We both think we are the better musician. You know I used to help him write his songs. I taught him how to play the piano, but he seemed to take to the guitar more..."
"Prince is mind blowing on the piano too." I interject, feeling a strong need to defend him. Not that what I said wasn't true. I just didn't want to listen to his dad bash him.
"What like on top of the piano? You aren't the first woman to say that." He dad chuckles.
"No sir, I meant playing the piano..."
"Are you even a musician young lady?"
"No..."
"Precisely. It really irks me when people who don't know a damn thing about music try to be an expert on it."
"With all due respect, I wasn't trying to be an expert, nor do I think I am. But I do know what sounds good. I grew up listening to musical greats and Prince is right up there with Ray Charles, Stevie Wonder, Elton John, Billy Joel...just on the piano, that's not mentioning all the other instruments he can play and that's also not including his voice, his songwriting, or his stage presence. I don't know of any musician, ever, who could do all the things he can at the level he can. Do you?"
"Well..."
"Of course you do. Probably yourself, right? Or anybody but your own son. Most parents want their children to be more successful than themselves, to achieve goals beyond anything they ever dreamed. To be that jealous of your own child is appalling. Have you ever told him you're proud of him? That you think he is great at what he does? Hell have you ever just told him that you love him...him...not the musician? " By this point John, Prince, and the entire family were staring at me dumbfounded. I knew I had probably overstepped my bounds and pissed them all off, including Prince. My stomach started to churn and my face grew hot. Just as I was about to turn to escape the tension I had created, somebody belted out "she told you dad! That white girl has attitude!"A few of them started laughing and clapping and cheering. The silence remained between the three of us for several more seconds before I began to apologize for my outburst. "I'm sorry. I had no right to say any of that. I don't even know you. I just..."
"Wanted to defend your man." John interrupts. "I'm not sure Prince has ever dated a woman who would have the guts to stand up to me or anyone like that. I sure never had a woman who would do it to that level for me. Most men would kill for that, son. You better hang on to her. And maybe there was a little truth in what she said. I am proud of you. I do love you. But I have and will always play piano better than you." He turns and heads into the living room. I rolled my eyes a little as I watched him sit down in a recliner. I was afraid to make eye contact or start a conversation with Prince, unsure of his reaction to me verbally abusing his father, who I just met, in front of his whole family, on his birthday. Prince grabs my hand and ushers me into a bedroom down the hallway. My heart started racing thinking I must be in for quite the earful if he feels the need to pull me away from everyone. He closes the door behind us and swiftly walks over to me and grabs my waist, pulling my body to his. He leans down to my ear and whispers "that was the best birthday present I've ever gotten." He begins a trail of warm kisses down my neck, making me instantly moan from relief and passion. "You aren't mad at me?" I managed to choke out. Prince pulls back to look at me in the eyes. "No momma. I'm not mad. It turned me on. Not only what you were saying, which did inflate my ego, but the fact that you didn't hold back just bc it was my dad. He's right. Nobody, man or woman, has ever done that. Not that I need someone fighting my battles for me, but it was sexy...."
"What if I just made it worse between the two of you?"
"I promise it won't. I've never heard my dad say he was proud of me or loved me until just now. You don't even realize how huge that was for me...and him. He may never say it again, but at least I can now say I heard him say it. And he had to have meant it bc he's too fucking stubborn to say it just to appease someone..." There was a loud tap on the door and someone said "hey man food is ready. And can I take Jensen to work with me tomorrow? I really need to tell off my boss."
I started giggling and shook my head. "Great. Now they all think I'm some mouthy bitchy woman."
"Well aren't you?" Prince asked, smiling and kissing my forehead.
"No! At least not most of the time, and I sure don't want your family to think that."
"They don't. They are just amazed. Nobody has ever stood up to my father like that. He would knock you through the wall, but I guess he's mellowed a little in his old age. Come on. Let's go eat. And try not to attack anyone else unless I give you the go ahead." He chuckled.
The rest of the visit went off without a hitch. There were several jokes and references to how Prince must have finally met his match...that he wouldn't be able to control me, how I must wear the pants, how he found someone who can dominate him, etc. It was all in good fun, but it did make me feel uncomfortable and it was something I wanted to address with Prince after we left. We spent the rest of the afternoon chatting and eating cake. At some point, John couldn't stand it anymore and wanted to challenge Prince to a duel on the piano. Prince didn't want to, but John was relentless and other family members were encouraging it so Prince finally gave in. While they were going back and forth to see if one man could play something the other was creating on the spot, Mattie walks up to me. "I know Prince has probably told you some unflattering things about all of us, but I want you to know we all do love him. Not for what he can do for us. His father and I made some terrible mistakes when Prince was a kid, and we both wish we could take some things back. We have tried to reconcile things with him, but he is very hard to reconnect with once he's lost your trust. We know we are responsible for how difficult he can be to get along with and be in a relationship with. I know we just met, but I've never seen my son look at anyone the way he looks at you. Please be patient with him. He saw and heard a lot of things growing up that no child should. His father and I were both deep into our church when Prince was really young and sent him some conflicting messages I know. We even let the church get into our heads enough to make us think something was really wrong with Prince when he used to have his seizures, like demon possessed type stuff..."
"I'm sorry, seizures?" I asked, becoming extremely confused by the whole conversation.
"Yeah well you know it was the 60s and we couldn't afford good medical advice so we weren't sure what was wrong with him. Now we know it was epilepsy, but back then we had no idea what it was or how to fix it..."
"He's epileptic?! I didn't know that. I have never seen any medication either."
"He doesn't take any. He started having seizures when he was a toddler. Then when he was about 7, he came up to me one day and told me an angel had told him he wasn't going to be sick anymore. He never had another episode to my knowledge."
"Wow. That's amazing."
"My point in telling you that is he had a very rough childhood in many ways. And his father and I didn't help matters, especially once he became a teenager. But we have always loved him and want the best for him. I really thought once he became a father he might draw closer to us, but unfortunately it wasn't meant to be. Maybe one day though. I just hope we live long enough to see it..."
Loud cheering interrupted her as Prince and his father seemed to have stopped the contest and were playing together. It was amazing. His dad was a really good pianist, I will give him that. By early evening, Prince and I made our departure. In the car, Prince seemed to be in a good mood. "Thanks for going with me baby. I haven't had that good of a time with them in forever, maybe ever. And nobody even hit me up for anything this time...probably too afraid of you." He said, winking and grabbing my hand.
"So...about that..."
"Jensen I was kidding. They liked you. I swear."
"It's not that. It's just...when they were talking like I'm the dominate one, it really got me to thinking."
"About what?"
"About how that's true to a certain degree, and I don't like that. I mean I don't want to be controlled, but I do want to be the woman and play my part."
"So what is a woman's part to you?"
"Well not to be the dominate one...at least not the majority of the time. I know I'm too mouthy for sure. Sometimes I just wish I could start over with you. I've let my insecurities and issues plagued too much of our relationship."
"Momma we both have things we need to work on...everyone has things they need to work on, especially in a relationship. Don't beat yourself up. I don't want to start over. I think we have learned a lot about each other the last few months. We are still figuring each other out and what makes the other tick, what buttons to push or not push...I love you and want to figure out how to make us better and stronger."
"Me too baby. I don't want to ever be without you. But we have to control our anger towards each other when we get mad. I'm afraid we are going to say or do something so awful one day and they'll be no coming back from it."
"I agree momma. But let's sidebar this conversation. It's my birthday and I just want to relax and not talk about anything too heavy tonight."
"Ok. So why have you never told me you used to have epilepsy?"
"Whoa that's a little heavy too. Who told you that?"
"Your mom..."
"Why was she telling you that?!"
"I have no idea. Just saying you had a rough childhood and then brought that up and how they didn't know what it was..."
"Yeah I think they thought I had a demon for awhile. Crazy shit! Apparently I said an angel cured me. I don't remember it. I remember having seizures sometimes but I was pretty young. I never think about it. I wasn't intentionally trying to hide it from you or anything."
"I didn't think that. So you've never had one since you were a kid?"
"Nope. I think people can grow out of it too so I don't know why mine really stopped. Maybe it was divine intervention, who knows? I'm just glad I don't have to deal with it. Could you imagine being on stage and falling over with a seizure?"
"So is it genetic? Does anyone else in your family have it?"
"I don't think so and no nobody that I know of has it. Why? You don't want to have kids with me if it was?"
"Of course I still would! I was just curious. I hope your bad attitude isn't genetic." I respond, slapping his thigh.
"Ohhhh my bad attitude?! Let's think of all the things our children could inherit from you Miss mouthy, hard headed, stubborn, bull headed..."
"Ok!!! Let's hope they just inherit our good traits."
"Oh yeah? Like what?"
"Musical talents, sexiness, honesty, generosity, kindness, sense of humor..."
"Ok so what are they inheriting from you?" He says, smiling.
"Some of that was me!!!"
"I know baby. I hope they inherit your musical talents and sexiness too..."
"Those were not me..." I say, rolling my eyes and giggling.
"The sexiness definitely is." He says, pulling the car into the garage and turning off the ignition. "Speaking of how sexy you are....I've been waiting all day for my birthday sex. I hope you aren't tired bc this is going to last all night. We have a lot of making up to do."
"Oh don't worry. I'm not tired. And I do have a little something planned. And I hope it's worth it bc after tonight, we are celibate."
"Shit! I forgot about that. It's ok. I have faith you will break soon."
"Remember there is no masturbating either. And what I have planned for tonight would be great masturbatory aid. So good luck with that baby."
"I'm a man. You think I don't know how to hide masturbating. Been hiding it since I was a kid."
"Let's just go inside Skipper. I'm going to call you that all night long!"
"Please don't!"
"Fuck me harder Skipper! Oh Skipper right there..."
"Well that's a sure fire way to keep me limp."
Giggling I lean into his ear and run my hand on his crotch. "Come on daddy. Let me show you what I have in store for the birthday boy."