Chapter Fifty-nine

On Christmas day, Daniel was the first to wake up which resulted in Richie and Sarah waking up earlier than they had expected too.

With a sigh, Sarah turned to face her husband. "Morning." She said, looking up into his eyes.
"Morning dear." He reached in for a soft kiss. "Merry Christmas."
Sarah smiled. "Merry Christmas to you too honey."

As they shared another kiss, Daniel made himself heard again.

"Better go get him." Sarah said, pulling away from Richie.

In the bedroom, she first reached down into the crib to sooth Daniel before picking him up. She laid his head on her shoulder and stroked his back gently so he would know she was there for him.

When he had quieted down, she held him up and looked at him. He looked as adorable as ever.

She changed his diaper and dressed him in his Christmas outfit. It was still early but at least he'd be dressed then. After she had put him his red socks with white snowflakes on, Sarah picked up her son and walked back to her bedroom.

"Morning." Richie sat up and held the sheets up for Sarah.
She gently laid Daniel between them.
"That's cute. Baby's first Christmas." He read the text on Daniel's shirt, seeing the Christmas tree print underneath it.
"I got it last week, thought it would be cute."
"Very cute." Richie agreed.
"It'll be cute until he drooled all over it."
"He's growing a lot." Richie agreed again. "His blue eyes have even gone."
Sarah smiled, looking at her son's bright eyes. "Knew he'd have your eyes."


Two hours later, the whole family sat in the living room. Daniel's shirt had been covered up by a seasonal bib and three teenagers sat waiting for the go sign to unwrap their presents.

A large christmas tree stood decorated by the window. This year a new ornament had been added. Each child had their own letter as an ornament in the tree. Daniel got his very own to add this year.

"Because it's Daniel's first Christmas. He should have his presents first." Richie decided for all of them and secretly teasing the older children.
"Mine first!" Ava said excitedly, hurrying over to the Christmas tree and picking out a red wrapped gift with a big bow.

In the end Daniel had a bunch of new toys, clothes and stuffed animals.

Afterwards, they all exchanged their own gifts with each other.

Joan had the joy of celebrating Christmas morning with all her grandchildren.

For lunch, Abbey joined the family too. Altogether they had a large lunch together in the dining room.

Afterwards, Daniel took a nap in his bed upstairs.

The rest of the afternoon was spend by enjoying their presents.

Richie loved seeing his family so happy. His mother here with them for Daniel's first Christmas, made it even better. His daughter was happy with every gift she got. She was always happy with everything she got, even the smallest thing. He was glad to know that his sons were exactly the same.

Quietly, he got up from the couch.

Sarah looked up at him questiongly but Richie only smiled. The smile told her everything as he went upstairs. She watched her family, just like Richie had.

A few minutes later, he returned with a brown manila file. He cleared his throat so everyone looked at him. He showed the file, trying to find words.

"I think this is the perfect moment to share this information."

Everyone frowned him.

Richie shook his head and took out two pieces of paper and handed one to Noah and the other to Caleb.

Ava couldn't wait another minute and looked over Noah's shoulder as he read it.

"Birth certificates?" Ava asked confused.
"Yeah." Richie smiled as he sat down with Sarah again. "Amended birth certificates." He clarified.

The boys weren't his stepchildren anymore, they were officially his children now.

Both boys didn't know what to say at the moment but everyone felt the same thing. Their family was finally complete in an official way.

Chapter Fifty-eight

A month later Richie was playing at the Craig Ferguson show for an entire week. He often watched it at home but now he could really make part of it.

It was the most fun he had had in a while except for not being home with his baby son. Daniel had grown a lot in the last month but he still saw him during the rest of the dag.

The baby still hadn't grown used to Joan and continued to cry whenever she picked him up. By now it was starting to worry them all. The same happened when friends came around and wanted to hold the baby.

Arriving home later after the show, Richie went straight up to Daniel'd bedroom but found the little bed empty in the dark room.

Turning around, he walked back to his own bedroom. Sarah must have taken him to eat not so long ago.

It was one of his favorite things to see, his wife and son together.

He walked into the room quietly. The lights were all turned off except for a small table lamp.

Sarah was laying down in bed, snuggled into the sheets.

Because she didn't react, Richie figured she was asleep already and started undressing for bed.

As he sat down on the bed, Sarah looked up at him.

"Thought you were sleeping?" Richie asked, wondering.
"I was. Thought it might have been Daniel who moved. He just wouldn't sleep earlier."
Richie frowned as he moved closer. "He didn't? Why not?"
"I don't know but I finally turned on the show and you were playing, that's when he started to calm down. He must have regocnized your voice on tv."
Richie smiled, looking down at his little boy laying in between them. "He must have."
"He fell asleep when the show finished."
"That's so sweet." He reached out to stroke Daniel's blond hairs. "Should take him to his own bed though."
Sarah agreed. "You can take him then."

Richie sat up and carefully picked up his boy. Daniel stirred but didn't wake up as he was carried to his own bed to sleep.

As a good father, Richie made sure he was tucked in and his stuffed animals were sitting on the edge, far enough from Daniel's head. That way Daniel had enough breathing space.

The small light on the cupboard was left on. As Richie walked out of the room, he left the door open so they could hear Daniel even though the baby monitor would make sure of that too.

Quietly, Richie got back in bed with his wife.

"Tired?" He asked gently.
Sarah moved closer to him, laying her hand on his bare chest as she looked up at him. "Maybe."
"Maybe?" The answer was too unclear for him.
"Maybe not." Sarah said, moving her hand lower over his chest and belly.
"Really?" He asked his third question unsure.

They hadn't been intimite since before Daniel was born. Thinking back quickly, he was sure it had at least been 3 months ago. If Sarah was ready, he definitely wasn't complaining.

When he felt Sarah's hand go inside his boxers, he knew she was sure.

He reached over to kiss his wife, then pulled her closer against him as they shared a romantic kiss.

"Missed you." He said, pulling up the sheets to move even closer and take a good look at his wife.
"Tell me about it." Sarah said as she reached in to kiss again.

Soon their minimul clothes had gone scattered to the floor.

His wife looked just as beautiful as she always had, making him very eager. He held her close as they shared another sweet kiss.

After three months of nothing, Richie was ready to burst but he was going to make it worth a three month wait for both of them.

Chapter Fifty-seven

Saturday morning, Richie was glad it was finally Saturday. He'd been busy all day Friday with interviews on TV and radio. It had kept him busy the entire day. Now he was glad the weekend was there.

During the rest of the week he had been able to contact some contractors to fix up his mother's house. He also got a hold of her in England and tonight she would fly over to Los Angeles instead of going home to New Jersey.

Even though his week had been pretty busy, the weekend would be busy too. Tonight his mother would fly in and move into the house for a while until they were able to fix up her house. Tomorrow they were having a party for everyone to come meet Daniel.

During his busy week, Richie also got a very nice surprise. A call from his agents made him go down to the office to pick up a big book.

He had been absolutely surprised when she handed it over to him. Confused at the moment, Richie had leafed through it, noticing all the kind words and pictures from his fans. It instantly made his day great to read messages from all of his appreciative fans.

Today being his day off, he sat down on the couch with the book and was determined to read each note carefully and really look at all the pictures.

"What do you have there?" Sarah asked, seeing her husband reading a large book.
"A fan book."
Sarah frowned. "A fan book?"
Richie nodded. "Yeah, my fans sent a book with messages and pictures. I'm just reading it now."
"Oh right." Sarah sat down next to him. "That's so nice of them."
Richie agreed.
"Anyway, I got your mom's room ready for tonight."
Richie looked up from the book. "You didn't have to do that."
"I know but Daniel was sleeping so quietly, I thought I'd just do it quickly."
"He's got a big day tomorrow."
Sarah chuckled. "He's looking forward to it."

The day went bye quietly until the older kids has to get ready for the halloween party they were attending that evening.

Dealing with two things at once, Richie was supposed to bring them to the party and then drive to the airport to be in time to pick up his mother. Then around midnight he'd had to go out again to pick everybody up from the party. That wasn't hard to do.

Ava was the first to go get ready, she instisted on having dinner early so she would have more time to get ready and prepare.

Even though Ava took the most time into getting ready for the party, Caleb had put the most time into his own costume. He hadn't had a haircut since the summer, making his hair grow out until it was long enough to look like a glam rock star.

"Dad!"

Richie looked back to the hallway. His son was right next to him, having his dinner. He didn't talk yet.

"That was Caleb." Sarah clarified for him.
"I know but, they don't call me dad yet."
Sarah shrugged. "Maybe they do now."

Richie got up and went upstairs, going to Calebs room. He knocked on the door, waiting for Caleb to tell him to come in before going into the room.

"What's wrong?" Richie asked.
Caleb stood infront of a mirror, wearing an old t-shirt and hold a pair of scissors. "How many cuts should I put into it to look like a real 80s rockstar?"
Richie laughed, then realized Caleb was being serious. "Well, you gotta show off what you got. That was the point of it." He shrugged. "You could always go shirtless."
"No." Said Caleb quickly.
"Then I guess you can cut a deep V-neck or cut open the sides or something."
Caleb laughed. "Thought you were the 80s rock star here."
Richie ignored it. "What pants are you wearing."
"Skinny jeans?" Caleb asked.
"Not even leather pants or spandex? You need spandex if you're gonna be an 80s rock star." He put the emphasis on needing it.
"I don't have spandex. Nobody does anymore."
"You could have asked. Just wait here." Richie left the room and went into his bedroom.

Somewhere in the back of the closet he found clothes had been untoched for years. He had to look for a while but finally found what he needed, black spandex, white stars on the sides of the legs. They might be a bit big for Caleb but it should work anyway. That was the great thing about spandex.

Carrying the pants, he walked back to Caleb's room.

"This is what you need."
Caleb looked, his eyes widening with surprise. "Are you serious?"
"Yeah, you need it. If you're gonna dress up you better do it right." He laid the pants down on the bed.
"Thanks." Caleb said. "You don't still have make-up do you?"
Richie shook his head. "You'll have to ask Ava if you can borrow some stuff."

On his way back downstairs, Richie checked on both Noah and Ava too.


Before leaving to bring everyone to the party, they said goodbye to Daniel and Sarah.

Richie took a look at all four kids dressed up for halloween. A few days late but for parties it still worked.
Caleb looked pretty good as an 80s rock star, Noah had dressed up as Doctor Who. The eleventh Doctor Who, as Noah had pointed out a few times. Ava was wearing shorts and a top, finishing off with bunny ears. Last but definitely cutest, Daniel was wearing a Batman onesie.

Richie said goodbye to his youngest son and kissed Sarah goodbye. He'd be back in only an hour or so.

He drove to the address Ava had given him, where the party would be. He knew a lot of people at Ava's school and knew where the party would be. Before letting everyone out of the car, he reminded them again that he would pick them up around midnight. They all complained as he had expected but they had to be part of Daniel's day tomorrow too.

At the airport he was very happy to see his mother. It had been a while and it was always great to see her. They hugged a few minutes before letting go and get the luggage.

The drive home was fairly short, the traffic was calmer than usual. In less than an hour they arrived at home.

Joan got out of the car as Richie was getting her luggage from the trunk. She was going to stay for a while but had only brought her suitcases from England. She hadn't stopped at home. Richie had changed her ticket to Los Angeles instead of New Jersey.

"Can't wait to see my grandson." Joan said as Richie finally opened the door.
"He's probably in the living room with Sarah. Go ahead." He put down the suitcases by the stairs, then followed his mother into the living room.

Sarah sat on the couch, holding Daniel in her arms. "You're back." She looked up.
Richie came over and kissed her quickly, then sat down in his chair.
Joan sat down next to Sarah. "What a beautiful boy. Dressed up for Halloween even."
Sarah chuckled. "Richie's idea but it's cute. Wanna hold the superhero?"
"Of course."
Sarah carefully moved her son and Joan picked him up, immediately craddling him but Daniel didn't agree and started crying immediately.

All three looked at the baby worriedly. He was fine a second ago, why would he start crying all of a sudden?

Joan tried to calm him down, gently rock him, rub his back but nothing helped to calm him down.

"I don't know what's wrong." Sarah said.
"He probably just wants his mommy." Joan said, not thinking too much of it and passed Daniel back.
As soon as Sarah held him, Daniel stopped crying. "I'm sorry. I really don't know."
"It's fine."

The rest of the evening Sarah held Daniel until it was time for him to go to bed. Being tired, Sarah decided to go to bed early too.

In the end Richie was up alone, Joan had gone to bed too. With time difference it was very early morning in England by now.

Richie got comfortable in his chair and turned on the TV, trying to find a good movie. He wasn't lucky until he found a Halloween special horror movie. That would keep him busy for a while.