'Til Death Do Us Part- Part 10 A little less than a year later I was working on a new album. Kevin was off constantly on business, AJ was doing work with (as, whatever) Johnny No Name, Nick was working with his band, Howie was helping out his sister, and Brian was dipping his feet in a solo gig.
One day I took a break from recording. I'd promised AJ I'd go shopping with him to get a present for his girlfriend's, Adrienne's, birthday.
I called Kevin when I woke up, hoping he hadn't left his hotel room yet. He hadn't.
"Hello."
"Hey, baby."
"Hey, you're up… late," he said, a smile in his voice. I smiled.
"I'm not recording today. I'm gonna go shopping with AJ, actually."
"I see. Tell Johnny I said hi."
I laughed. "Will do."
"Let me go, you got me just as I was leaving."
"Okay. Think of me."
"Always do. Love you. Kiss Christina for me."
"Okay, love you, too." I hung up, then called AJ. He'd be up by now. But the phone just kept ringing and ringing. The machine should've caught it by now. Then the ringing stopped abruptly.
"Fuck. Where is he?" I turned the phone off and looked at Christina, tossing the phone on the couch. She gazed up at me, her green eyes curious. I smiled and picked her up.
"C'mon, baby girl, you're gonna go visit Denise for a little while."
She smiled and giggled at Denise's name.
"Dici!" she chirped. She couldn't say much yet. She had mommy and daddy down. She called AJ A (sounded a little like Ah), and Nick Ni Ni. She still hadn't quite grasped Howie and Brian.
I grabbed her bag and my purse from the couch, grabbed my keys and phone from the kitchen counter, and left the house.
After I dropped Christina off with Denise, I drove to AJ's.
I was expecting the door to be locked when I got there. I was surprised to find it wasn't. I pushed the door open carefully and stepped inside. The foyer mirror greeted me, in jagged pieces on the floor.
"AJ?" I called, stepping over the glass. I glimpsed my reflection in the shards; distorted and twisted.
I found him in the livingroom, sitting on the floor against the wall. He was in jeans and nothing else. His knees were drawn up and a little more than half empty bottle of vodka dangled from his fingers between his knees. I tried to remember how much had been in the bottle the last time I'd seen it, but my memory sucked. I glanced around the room. The answering maching was in pieces on the floor, the discombulated-looking phone beside it.
I looked back at AJ. I noticed faint tear stains on his cheeks.
"AJ, sweetheart, what are you doing?" I asked softly.
"Hoping to drink myself to an early death. I finish this -which was full, mind you- and make my blood alcohol level high enough to kill me. I'm halfway there."
AJ was an interesting drunk. He got intellectual; almost philosophical. But that didn't mean he was a fun drunk.
"What happened?" I asked carefully, sitting on the floor in front of him. He shrugged his shoulders.
"Adrienne broke up with me."
I studied his face. His eyes were so sad.
"I'm sorry," I murmured gently.
He stared at the vodka in his hands.
"I can't kill myself. What would the world do without Johnny No Name?" The last sentence was spoken in his British Johnny accent. There was a cynical tone to his words. I didn't laugh.
He sighed, exasperated, and slammed the vodka bottle against the wall. I flinched as it shattered and he dropped the neck of the bottle on the floor.
"I loved her, God damn it. Then this morning: 'AJ, I can't see you anymore. I need to "find" myself'." He made exaggerated quotes with his fingers.
"I loved her and I thought she loved me." Tears were building up in his eyes, threatening to spill over his long eyelashes.
"You're a woman, Mary. Tell me why you all choose to play with men's emotions. We're not all heartless bastards," he muttered bitterly. I shook my head.
"I don't know. Maybe it's a hormonal imbalance."
He stared at me for a long time. Then he just broke down. His legs stretched out and he just began to cry. I put my arms around him and held him tightly.
"C'mon, AJ, you don't need to be alone," I said softly after a while. He nodded.
"I know."
We stood up and I went back to his room to get him a shirt. He'd broken the lamp in there, too.
I handed him the shirt and watched as he pulled it over his head. Then I followed him from the house, wincing as he walked through the shattered mirror. I hoped he hadn't cut his feet.
When we got to my house, the alcohol finally seemed to have its effect on him, and, essentially, he passed out on the couch.
I shook my head, feeling sorry for him. 'Course, he'd hate me if he knew I felt sorry for him.
I left him sleeping while I went to get Christina from Denise. She didn't ask why I was back so early, and I didn't wanna tell her.
When I came back, AJ was still asleep, so I fed Christina and put her down for her nap. She didn't object.
Then I sat down in one of the chairs in the livingroom and stared at AJ. I thought briefly about calling Kevin and telling him about it, but I didn't know where he was or what he was doing, and I didn't wanna interrupt something important. So I sighed and pulled out a song I was trying to finish.

AJ stayed with us for a long time. We were debating on whether or not he should sell his house and move in with us. Our list of pros was a lot longer than the list of cons. Eventually he did, and sorta became a live-in babysitter. He took Christina with him to a lot of Johnny recording sessions, usually because he wanted to.
By now, Christina was almost five years old, and Kev and I had been married just over four years. Kevin had taken a few weeks off and we celebrated our anniversary. The guys released another album and finished their tour in the few weeks before the anniversary. I was in the midst of yet another album, but I was almost finished, which meant a tour soon. This was, I think, my eleventh album. Even I was surprised my career was going so well. I figured I'd be like Cher. Still performing and recording in my fifties. Minus the plastic surgery and somewhat (former) deadbeat husband.
In about mid-October, Kev was up in New York. For once, AJ, Christina, and I had a relatively relaxing day at home. Kevin was supposed to come home that night. He called around 6:30.
"Hey, baby, I'm about to get on the plane."
"Good. You have time to talk to Christina?" I smiled at her bouncing form on the couch.
"Yeah, put my other baby girl on."
I grinned. "Here, baby, talk to daddy." I handed her the phone and her eyes lit up as she eagerly pressed the phone to her ear.
"Daddy!"
I stood up, kissing the top of her head, and walked into the kitchen.
"Should we go out?" I asked AJ. He was at the kitchen table, writing something. He shrugged his shoulders.
"I guess. Lord knows you can't cook."
I shot him a look and he grinned.
"Once Christina's off the phone, we'll go."
Christina came in the kitchen, the phone extended.
"Daddy wants to talk to you."
I took the phone from her.
"We're going out, why don't you go help AJ get ready?"
AJ shot me a look this time as Christina happily took his hand and led him from the room.
"Hey."
"Hey. I probably won't get home 'til kinda late, so don't wait up. Unless you want to."
I grinned. "I don't think so, sweetheart. I gotta get up early tomorrow."
He sighed, trying to sound exasperated.
"Okay."
I laughed.
"Okay, baby, they're calling my flight, so I gotta go. I love you, and I'll see you soon. Tell Christina I love her."
"Okay. I love you, too." I hung up and went back in the livingroom.
"You guys ready?"
"Yep," AJ said as he and Christina walked out.
"C'mere, baby," I said. Christina walked over to me.
"AJ's gonna pay for dinner, right?"
Christina nodded, grinning.
"I heard that. But I'll be nice this once."
"We've got him trained."
Christina giggled. "Yeah!"
AJ rolled his eyes. "C'mon."

We came back home at about 7:45. Christina got out her little workbook from preschool and worked on her (simple) assignment while I handled some business stuff. AJ lurked around the house. When I felt him put something on my head, I sighed.
"AJ, what are you doing?"
Christina looked up and giggled. "Mommy's a bunny rabbit!"
"No. Mommy's a Playboy bunny."
"No mommy isn't," I said, taking off the ears and throwing them playfully at AJ.
"What's a Playboy bunny?"
"Something AJ wishes he could have. But he doesn't know Hugh Hefner well enough."
"Who's Hugh Hefner?" she asked, struggling a little with "Hugh".
"Someone AJ idolizes. And someone you'll never meet."
"Why not?"
"Because he's a messed up little man just like AJ."
AJ shot me another look and I grinned at him.
"You finished with that?"
Christina nodded. "Yeah."
"Okay, then it's time for you to go to bed."
She set her book and pencil on the coffee table and I took her back to her room. I helped her get ready for bed.
"When's daddy coming home?" she asked as I tucked her in.
"Soon, baby. Tonight."
"Are you sure?"
"He'll be here when you wake up."
"Positive?"
"I promise."
"Daddy says you should never break promises."
"Your daddy's a smart man. Now go to sleep."
"Okay. 'night, mommy, love you."
"Love you, too, baby. Daddy loves you." I kissed her cheek, then stood up and turned the light off.
"Sleep tight, baby. Sweet dreams," I murmured, then closed her door halfway and went back out to the livingroom.
"Mary, check it out," AJ said, pointing at the tv. MTV was playing the video for "Your Touch", the song Kev and I did together. AJ grinned.
"Man, this is almost like voyeurism."
I laughed. "Shut up."
"You guys are practically gettin' it on!"
"You're just jealous."
He narrowed his eyes at me and I stuck my tongue out at him.