Amped Up: Why Is My Name Jason?

“Jason, Betsy, do I really have to do this?” my father asked as we headed out to the cemetery. “I mean, I can already see Mandolin. I see absolutely no point in going over here.

“Yeah, well, I do,” I exclaimed suddenly. “I mean, it’s been four years since that occurred and you still haven’t come out to visit Mom’s grave. You need to. Despite the fact that we can all see Mom, you still need to come here. Aunt Lizz, even though she’s been able to see Mom from the moment she died, has always come here to pay her respects. Uncle Nick, Uncle, and Uncle Frankie never questioned that though they knew of her ability. You never came here though. That’s why we’re here: so you can pay your respects.”

Four long years had passed since Dad and everyone else within the Jonas family had been given the ability to see Mom. A lot of things had changed since then, but this was not one of them; Dad, even after four years, refused to come to Mom’s grave. So, now we were forcing him. I sighed and walked over to my mother’s grave and sank down to my knees. Aunt Lizz did the same but not before yelling at Dad. “Kevin, over here now!” she yelled.

As my father came over, I thought back on some of the things that had occurred over the past four years. Since that night four years ago, I had gone through quite a lot. For one thing, I was now a musician, like my father. When it was discovered that I had musical talent like my father, I was asked about signing a record deal. That was something that never happened. Instead, I chose to finish high school. A short time later, Mr. President (Uncle Nick) decided that he was going to run for president. When this happened, Dad and Uncle Joe asked that I take Uncle Nick’s place while he was running for president. As it turned out, Uncle Nick became President Jonas just a little while ago meaning that I would be playing with my father and Uncle Joe as a part of the Jonas Brothers for at least four years, maybe more if Uncle Nick got elected to a second term in office.

Besides Uncle Nick being the President of the United States just as he always claimed he would, Garrett and Madison had actually become nice towards me. Mom and Dad had threatened to cut them off completely from their friends and everyone in the world if they didn’t stop calling me Voorhees. It worked. They didn’t. Right now, Garrett was off at college on a football scholarship while Madison was out modeling. When they came back to visit though, I never had to worry about Voorhees resurfacing; Dad would ground them if they did.

After a few minutes, I stood up. “We need to get going. Uncle Nick wants the entire family to be at the White House. We’re the only ones not there because I wanted Dad to come here.”

“Yeah, we do need to go,” Aunt Lizz said.

Dad turned to her upon hearing her say that. “Betsy, why in the world are you going out to Washington, D.C. anyway? You’re not exactly a part of Nick’s family. You’re only my sister sister-in-law. I see absolutely no point in you coming to the White House along with us when you aren’t even related to him. You, Teddy, Greg, Harmony, Forge, and Drake should be staying out here in California while the rest of us fly out to see Mr. President for whatever it is that he wants to see us for,” he complained as he stood up.

“Look, Kevin. Don’t even start with me. I mean, why in the world would I ever miss this? And besides, Nick asked me to come. Despite the fact that I’m not a part of his family, I was still invited along with Teddy, Greg, Harmony, Forge, and Drake. You guys are like a second family to me,” Aunt Lizz said. “Ever since Amanda married you twenty-two years ago, you, Joe, Nick, and Frankie have been like a family to me. So, I’m coming.”

“Whatever.”

Upon holding this conversation, I noticed that there was a blue rose sitting at the base of the tombstone. Bending down to pick it up, I soon came to realize that of all the flowers there, it was the one that was fake. “Why is there a fake flower here?” I asked my father and aunt.

“Ask Kevin,” Aunt Lizz said.

“Dad?”

My father sighed. “I remember giving that to Mandolin. It was before I even met her. Betsy and I were chatting about the best way to get back at my brothers for calling her a musical instrument. That was one of the roses I sent her; blue was her favorite color so that was the fake one. All the red and white ones were real and died naturally. But that one. That was the rose that would always be special to her; she wore it during the wedding. So, when Mandolin died, I dropped it over here swearing that I would love her until the last petal died. I’ve remained true to my word; I still do love her…and I always will. Nothing in the whole world will ever change that.” Dad pointed to his left ring finger to indicate that it still had the ring on the ring on there: a symbol of his love for my mother.

“You still wear that?” Aunt Lizz asked.

“Of course I do, Betsy,” Dad said raising an eyebrow. “I never bothered to remove it because Mandolin was the only person I’d ever love. No one else will ever come close.”

“Well, I thought you took it off. And anyway, how was it that you were able to put the rose down there without me seeing? I was there the entire time and never saw you place the rose here. So, how’d you do it? How’d you get the rose over here without me seeing it?”

“Simple,” Dad shrugged. “I came back that evening and dropped the rose here. After we got back, I began going through Mandolin’s things and found the rose. Remembering that I gave it to her, I drove back to the cemetery in the middle of the night so no one would know what I did and placed it here. The promise I made to her all those years ago is the reason I never married again; she was far too important for me to ever let go of.”

“Yeah, we noticed,” I replied.

“Very true,” Aunt Lizz agreed.

Dad rolled his eyes. “Would you shut it, Betsy? I get it. Up until fours years ago, I was far too upset with the fact that my wife left me to raise three kids…and you…when she died on my twenty-second birthday. The love I had for Mandolin was blinding me from the truth: that my youngest son desperately wanted my attention and was calling out to me by playing the one song I never wanted to hear. Playing Lovebug on Christmas Eve four years ago definitely got my attention. Just never do something like that ever again,” he exclaimed.

“Yeah, we know,” I said.

“Good. Now, can we please get going?” Dad groaned as he looked between me and Aunt Lizz. “I mean, if Nick wants us to get over there for whatever reason it is, we’re going to have to. Whatever Nick wants us to go to the White House for, it must be important and should be taken care of imminently. I really don’t think that we should keep Mr. President waiting.” He glanced over at Aunt Lizz. “Am I right about that, Betsy?”

“True,” Aunt Lizz said.

“So, then, I guess we should get going,” I shrugged as I placed the blue rose back at the base of my mother’s tombstone and stood up. “We should probably get going then.”

“Yeah,” Dad said.

“Then let’s go,” Aunt Lizz replied.

As Aunt Lizz, Dad, and I left Mom’s grave and the cemetery, I wondered why Uncle Nick wanted to see us in the first place. Ever since he became president, we hadn’t seen that much of him lately, but that couldn’t be the reason. President Jonas must have been planning something if he wanted the whole family, including Aunt Lizz, Uncle Teddy, Greg, Harmony, Forge, and Drake, to come. Maybe we’re going over there to play a concert, I thought. Now that would awesome. If we could play a concert at the White House because Nick Jonas was president, that would be great. Lovebug would have to be played. That’s it! That’s why Uncle Nick wants us over there to see him, Aunt Selena, Rebecca, and Scott. I decided that I wasn’t going to tell Dad or Aunt Lizz about my suspicions as to what was going on though; they would find out eventually what I now knew about.

“Jason?” my aunt whispered as she leaned back over the seat to where I was sitting. While Dad and Aunt Lizz were sitting in the front, I was on my own in the backseat. “You know, don’t you? You know that Nick wants you, your father, and Joe to perform.”

I nodded. “Just figured it out.”

She laughed. “I thought you would.”

“Why?”

“Because of everything that happened four years ago with your mother. You were the one to help your father realize that he needed to play Lovebug for my sister,” Aunt Lizz said. She sighed. “That’s why I’m glad it was you who possessed the ability. If Garrett or Madison had the ability, they wouldn’t have pushed as much as you did for Kevin to play the song. If it was either of them, I would have lost my ability to speak to Amanda.”

“Yeah, well, that’s only because of the bond I had with Mom,” I reminded my aunt as I thought of my mother’s ghost who was currently at the White House along with Uncle Nick and Joe. I asked Mom to go with Uncle Joe so that I could convince Dad to come to her grave; my plan, fortunately, worked resulting in Aunt Lizz and I getting Dad over here to visit Mom’s grave. “Mom, from the moment she died, was watching over me and making sure that I never forgot her. I was the last one born and, therefore, had the most time to bond with her. That’s the reason that I got her ability: because I had the most time to bond with her over the course of the pregnancy. Garrett and Madison both wanted out; however, I preferred to stay there just A Little Bit Longer. I mean, if I had known that Mom was going to die once I was born, I would have stayed in my mother’s womb.”

“I know you would have, Jason. Of course, things happened the way they did and there was no way to stop them. Even though I attempted to ask my sister about what was going on from the time that she got back from promoting her book until you were born, Amanda never told me the truth. I guess it was to protect me; Amanda knew that her death was inevitable and didn’t want me to try and stop it. My father came to her in a dream and predicted the exact day and time of death. I found out about it once Madison was born, which only left me about seven more minutes with my sister—seven minutes that I spent tearfully saying goodbye to the last person in my immediate family that I had left. It’s why I promised your father that I would stick around and help him raise you, Garrett, and Madison.”

“I wish Mom was still alive though,” I said with a sigh.

“I know,” Aunt Lizz said. “I know.”

A few hours passed and, when we arrived in Washington, D.C., Aunt Lizz, Dad, and I began making our way out to the White House. We were getting ready to play…well, at least Dad and I were. Aunt Lizz was acting weird; I think Uncle Joe rubbed off on her. Despite the fact that she never really displayed it before in the past, Aunt Lizz was a lot like Uncle Joe, a possible reason they were so close. I sighed as we walked into the White House and saw that Uncle Joe was acting the same way. Quinn and I exchanged a look, knowing that his father would never change. He’d always crazy old Joe Jonas; he has been from the moment the Jonas Brothers came into existence twenty-four years ago.

When I walked into the White House, it was Aunt Selena and Mom that greeted us. I said hi to them and went to find Uncle Nick, determined to figure out why he wanted the Jonas Brothers to perform. President Jonas was in the Oval Office. “Mr. President,” I said with a laugh. “Do you mind telling me why you wanted me, Dad, and Uncle Joe to perform?”

He shrugged. “I just figured you’d want to play. Plus, I had a little talk with your mother and she wants to annoy her sister a little bit after not being able to do so for awhile. Keep that between us though; your mother doesn’t want Beth to know what she’s doing.”

“Sure,” I said looking over at Aunt Lizz.

A few minutes later, Dad, Uncle Joe, and I got up to play a few songs including Lovebug and Play My Music. Once that was done, I noticed that a picture of my aunt in a starfish was displayed just behind us. When it appeared, I saw Aunt Lizz’s jaw dropped. “Amanda!” she yelled angrily. “Why did you tell them where that picture was? I never wanted Teddy, Joe, or Nick to see me dressed up like a starfish; that was one trip to Long Beach Island that I never wanted to remember. I thought that incident was buried the day you died.

Mom laughed. “Are you kidding me, Betsy? There is absolutely no way in hell that I would ever pass up an opportunity to show Teddy this. Even if I am dead, I was going to show him. For the past four years, whenever I’m not with you or Jason, I was with Nick and Joe talking to them about how to show Teddy this picture. I mean, I swore that I was going to show him this picture…even before we met the Jonas Brothers. So, here is payback for all of the times in which you bugged me about the relationship I had with Kevin.”

“Yeah, but I thought you already got revenge on me when you freaked me out all those years ago by dressing Teddy up in that spider costume and making me nauseous around him because of the apple pie,” Aunt Lizz said. “I thought we were even after that happened.”

Mom shrugged. “This was the last part of the plan, the part I never got to follow through with because Nick and Joe were the only ones who would do it. Unfortunately, it wasn’t until Kevin played Gotta Find You four years ago in which I was able to start communicating with them. I told them where the picture was stored back at the house in Pennsylvania and we started planning this out. Things took a sharp turn down once Nick was elected president though and we put the plan off…until now. I spoke to Nick about doing this who, in turn, contacted Joe about him, Jason, and Kevin playing a few songs. The picture was the reason Nick wanted you, Teddy, Greg, Harmony, Forge, and Drake to be here along with everyone in the Jonas family; it was all so this picture could be displayed for Teddy to see.”

“Amanda!” my aunt yelled.

“Hey, you deserved it!” Mom retorted.

“Whatever,” Aunt Lizz shrugged.

Dad laughed. “I knew there had to be a reason that Nick wanted Betsy here. Other than her, my brother only invited people in the Jonas family. Betsy is only related to us through my marriage her older sister…a marriage that only lasted nine months,” he said looking over at Mom.

“Kevin, she’s still my sister,” Mom exclaimed. “And besides, she’s friends with each of the brothers, particularly Joe. They love having her around. Plus, as I’ve sure you remember, Betsy did help you raise the triplets. Garrett, Madison, and Jason…particularly Jason all benefited from having my sister around. She was a reminder of me and the fact that I could only watch over them. Betsy, up until Jason was able to see me, was my link to the kids. To put it simply, Betsy is like family to you guys; she always will.”

“Whatever,” he shrugged.

Mom shook her head and went over to where Dad was standing. She put her arms around him and sighed. “Don’t do that, Kevin. My sister, as I’m sure you remember, is also your sister-in-law. And, if I were you, I wouldn’t be saying stuff like that around Betsy, particularly since she’s right here. Though she might deserve it, it shouldn’t be said.”

Dad nodded. “Fine.”

Things continued in this fashion for most of the day. I sighed. It was almost as Mom was alive. Only the Jonas family, Aunt Lizz, and her family could see Mom. So long as we were all together, everyone could see her. Not that it occurred very often anymore with Uncle Nick being president though. This was one of the few exceptions. And, even with everyone here, they were all separated into their different groups: Garrett and Madison were off in the corner talking about themselves (as usual!) while all of my cousins, except Quinn and Greg, were sitting at a table playing cards. Quinn and Greg were just sitting around doing I don’t even know what. Aunt Kyra, Aunt Selena, and Aunt Chloe were talking about the White House while Aunt Lizz, Mom, Dad, and his brothers were looking back on the past. As I listened to their story, I smiled knowing that I was the one who brought this all about. If it wasn’t for me, Mom wouldn’t be seen by anyone and none of this ever would have happened. I sighed and focused intently on the story my relatives were telling…or well, reminiscing about. Hearing about it was nice, particularly knowing that I was the cause of this; I allowed all of this to happen and brought them all together.