Jon Bon Jovi's Adopted Daughter

Chapter 4: Meeting

*Jon's POV the next week, July 7*

We hadn't told Richie or any of the guys about Bella yet. I decided to have all of them over to celebrate Richie's birthday. We were all getting ready for everyone to come over. I was out in the backyard grilling hamburgers, hotdogs and pretty much everything else anyone would want. Dot, Bella, and Steph were getting tables and chairs set up along with a few tables for food. Jacob and Jesse were running around the yard goofing off. Everything was perfect.

Around 12:30 everyone started showing up. I was still cooking. Bella was now watching the other kids as they all played together. Dot and April, David's wife, were getting a drink station set up when David came up to me.

"Hey, Johnny. Who's the girl watching the kiddos over there?"

"Oh hey, Lemma. It's a long story but she's our new daughter. Well, we're in the process of adopting her anyways. Her dad was killed in an accident a couple blocks from here. She ran off and ended up in our driveway. We couldn't turn her away."

"Poor kid. How's she doing?"

"She still cries herself to sleep but she seems to be holding herself together pretty well. We tried to make this feel as much like home to her as possible. Her name's Bella. You want to go say hi?"

"Sure." We walked over to her.

"Bella, sweetie. I want you to meet someone. This is David. We call him Lemma sometimes. David this is Bella," I introduced them. David held his hand out for her to shake.

"Hi, David. It's nice to meet you." She said with a smile. David pulled her to him and hugged her. She hugged him back. I pulled out my phone and took a picture of the two of them. It was so sweet.

Pretty soon everyone else showed up. Richie was the last to show. We wanted the party to be a surprise so we told Heather, his wife, to keep him busy until we were all ready. When he showed up we had everyone hide inside. After that, we all went back outside and started eating and playing together. Jesse was chasing Ava around the yard. I think he might've had a bit of a crush on her. It was cute. Bella seemed to stay pretty close to Dot and I. I wasn't sure if she was shy or nervous.

"What do you think Bella?" I asked. She hadn't talked much all day.

"Huh? Oh about what?"

"Everything. What's on your mind?"

"Oh, nothing. I don't know."

"You can talk to me, sweetie."

"Just missing dad I guess." She looked away from me. I smiled at her softly and set my plate on the table in front of us. She did the same thing. You could tell she was holding back tears and deep in thought.

"Wanna come sit on my lap?" I asked as I patted my lap. She came and sat in my lap. I rubbed her back and rocked her. She hugged me tighter and I kissed her forehead.

I looked out over the river and the houses on the other side as the sun was beginning to set. That made me think of a song. Here Comes The Sun by The Beatles. I started singing it in her ear softly. Richie heard me and started playing it on his guitar. He came over and sat on the chair she was sitting in before and started singing along. Soon enough everyone got quiet and listened in.

She eventually stopped crying. I continued to hold her. She pulled away from my neck and moved to one knee so that she could see everyone. She laid her head on my shoulder. I brushed the hair out of her face and whipped her tears away. She smiled a little. We were all pretty quiet. I tried not to cry for her sake. I felt so bad for her. She had been through a lot. I just wanted her to know that I'd be here for her anytime she needed me. I could sense that most of the adults were also trying not to cry.

"I love you, Bella," I said, cutting the silence.

"I love you too." She replied. She kissed my cheek and hugged my neck. Most of the ladies started crying at that point. I took a deep breath and tried to change topics to lighten the mood.

"So anyone has any requests?" I smiled and looked around.

"Oh hey, I got one Johnny. Let me go get my keyboard out of the car." David said.

"Well, in that case, why don't we all go inside and play since I've got everything we need in there," I replied. We all agreed and went inside. I got my guitar and we all got set up. Bella stayed with Dot. David started playing the opening notes for Here I Go Again by Whitesnake. It took me a couple of minutes to get it and then we re-started and played and sung together. It was nice. We continued on until everyone started leaving. It had been a little while since we had a jam session like that. It was fun and everyone had a good time.