Chapter Twelve

6 weeks

It was a peaceful and calm weekend, Sarah was sure she was able to go to work again on Monday. Since Thursday she hadn't seen her food a second time after she ate it, which was a great relief. The doctor had said it might get worse but she hoped it wouldn't and that this was all of it.

Her biggest relief was the fact they didn't need to visit a fertility doctor anymore, she dreaded that the most, to possibly hear they wouldn't be able to conceive and that it might be her fault. Now she definitely didn't have to worry about that anymore. 6 weeks pregnant, almost 7 probably, only about 30 more to go.

At the moment she wasn't looking forward to the baby's birth yet but all the steps in between, a heartbeat, announcing that she's pregnant, whether it's a boy or a girl, feeling him or her kick, most of all, seeing the baby on an ultrasound.

As she waited for Richie to come to bed, she thought about the past two days. Richie had been busy writing and composing with Jon, she knew he liked being at work so she let him be, after all, he hadn't worked all week so he could stay with her.

Other than seeing Richie happy to work, she was glad that he had let Caleb join them on some guitar playing. She knew how happy that had made Caleb, to work with two professionals that he could learn a lot from.

Sarah's thoughts were disturbed when Richie walked into the room.

"Done working?" She asked as he walked over to the bed and sat down.
"You know what I really want to do right now?" Richie said as he moved to lay down next to his wife.
"Have a good night's sleep?"
Richie chuckled. "Not exactly." And reached in to kiss Sarah.

He kissed her slowly, really tasting her, letting his tongue move next to hers just as slowly. His hand raised to stroke her cheek and disappeared into her blond hair.

For a long time he kissed her passionately, until his hand retreated and lowered to cup her breast through her nightie.

Richie liked this nightie, it had a deep cut and he could easily reach his hand into it as he kept kissing her. It had been a while now and he wanted to make it last and worth the wait.

Sarah loved his gentle touches, his hands were as they always were, the calluses from playing his guitar, playing across her skin set her nerve endings a blaze.

Slowly he made the straps of her nightie fall off her shoulders and moved it down to expose her breasts. His lips finally pulled away from hers. He bent his head and lowered his lips to Sarah's breasts.

Sarah watching him kissing her skin until the passion took over, her hands disappeared in his dark hair, holding him there so the feeling wouldn't stop.

He whispered sweet words of how much he loved Sarah and how happy he was between kisses.

Sarah could only respond with breathless moans to his attentions and whispered adorations. Just when she didn't think she could get much higher from his kisses alone, his lips once again came up to meet her own.

As soon as Sarah could, she took her chance, and pushed at him to sit up, then made him lean against the headboard. She pulled the straps of her nightie back up, putting it back in place as she straddled his still clothed hips.

She leaned over, said, "I love you so much," and reached in to kiss him just as sweetly as he had done earlier.
"How much?" He teased.
"This much." Sarah kissed him again, even more passionate than before.
"And what do you exactly do you love so much?" Richie continued to tease when Sarah's lips let go of his again.

Sarah sat up a little and let her hands to under his t-shirt, pushing it up to his chest.

"I love your belly." She bent down to kiss just above his belly button.
"What? All that fat?" Richie teased.
"What fat?" Sarah asked as she stroked her finger over his treasure trail.
"There's no abs." Richie pointed out.
"Who needs abs?" Sarah said as she pushed his shirt up even more, exposing his chest. "I love your chest, your pecs." She did the same as before and kissed each pectoral and licked his nipples.

Richie moved up a little to take his shirt off, then leaned back against the headboard.

Sarah stayed where she was, watching Richie, she went on and placed her hands on his shoulders and moved them up and down his arms.

"I love your arms too, cause they're so strong and when you hold me I always feel safe."
Richie smiled at hearing that as Sarah kissed both his shoulders.

Instead of pulling back, she immediately moved up to kiss and nip his chin. "I love your chin." She mumbled as she went on to his jaws, "and your jaws," and moved to his cheekbones, "and your cheeks." She moved up a little to look him in the eyes. "I love your eyes and your lips." She kissed his lips as passionately as before until regretfully pulling back and getting off of him, unbuttoning and unzipping his pants.

Richie looked at her a little confused, wondering if she was going on or if that was it.
"Turn around."
Still a little confused, Richie turned to lay on his belly.

Sarah straddled his thighs and leaned down to kiss his back. "I love your back." She said each word between kisses as she kissed down his spine.

Because she already had unbuttoned his jeans she could easily pull down his jeans and expose his ass.

Richie was trying to watch her from over his shoulder, he liked what Sarah was doing, it was a first in foreplay.

Sarah moved to sit lower, her hands on his ass. " I love your ass too." Debating with herself is she should continue or not, she bent down and nipped his skin.

Then she moved off of him again. "You can turn around again."
Richie got up and did so. "Anything else you love?"
"Maybe." Sarah sat next to him and helped him out of his jeans, then leaned down to his thighs. "I love your legs too." She said as she kissed his legs now too, down to his feet and toes. "And I love your toes."
"My toes?"
"Yeah your toes."
Richie shrugged, why not, he thought. "Anything else?"
"No, I think that's it." Sarah said as she sat down again in her first position.
"There's gotta be something else you like." Richie urged, knowing what was left.
Sarah looked pensive, teasing him some more. "Well alright, I guess I love your dick." She said as she grabbed it and held it in her hands, then bent down to kiss it. "I love how big it is."
Richie groaned as Sarah took him in her mouth, the compliment didn't hurt either.

After a few minutes Sarah pulled back and said, "and I love how it fits inside me." She moved up, lifting up her nightie a little and sliding down on his cock.

Richie groaned again, he agreed on loving how it fit inside her.

Sarah started moving up and down on him slowly, making the strokes last.

Richie reached up and pulled the straps of her nightie down, exposing her breasts so he could cup them both as she moved on him.

It only took her a few strokes to find her release that had been so close while they were kissing a while ago. She released, panting his name.

As always Richie wasn't far behind and found his own release as Sarah internal walls starts tensing around his dick, gripping him tight so he had to let go and wrap his arms around Sarah.

He held her tight for a few minutes until he could feel both their heartbeats slow down again.

Then rolled her to her side, stroking the hair out of her face, pulling the straps of her nightie back up, he slowly pulled out of her but held her close all through the night.

Chapter Eleven

"Dad, uncle Jon is here!" Ava yelled as she let him in, then slammed the door shut and went back to the living room.

Sarah walked into the hallway from the kitchen, checking if Jon found his way.

"Hey Sarah, how are you?" He walked over and they shared a short hug.
"I'm good." She said as she let him go again.
"Yeah?"
Sarah noticed his eyes linger to her abdomen, she knew it wasn't noticeable yet. "Richie told you?"
Jon's eyes flashed back up. "He didn't mean to, it just slipped."
Sarah chuckled. "I know, keep it quiet please. Everything's fine though, baby's fine too."
"I won't tell. How many weeks?"
Sarah smiled and put her hands on her abdomen. "Six weeks."
"Congratulations, guess we can't go touring in the fall then."
"Nope you can't, you can't take my husband away then."
"I wouldn't. Where is he anyway?" Jon asked, wanting to get to work now.
"Upstairs in his office. You know where it is."
"Thanks." Jon said as he got his stuff together and started up the stairs.

It was a calm Saturday. Around noon Ava went out with some friends, while the boys stayed home. Noah as usual, on a day off, was absorbed in a book until Caleb offered to go to the beach for a while. Which then left Sarah with a very peaceful and empty house, Richie and Jon were upstairs, leaving the ground floor very quiet. Richie still wanted her to take it easy so Sarah decided to watch a movie in the living room.

The boys returned from the beach by the time Sarah''s movie ended, it was almost dinner time and she knew she should start on dinner but she didn't know how she'd manage it. All week she had been in the hospital and her wrist still hurt, she couldn't lift anything. Her sons decided to wait a little longer since Ava wasn't back yet and Richie and Jon were still working.

An hour later, around 7 pm, Richie and Jon came back downstairs, just as Ava walked in through the front door.

"I'm starving." Richie said as he walked into the living room, where Sarah and Noah were both enjoying a book. Jon walked in after Richie and sat down as well.
Sarah put her book down and looked up at him. "I haven't made dinner yet."
"Yet? You're not supposed to make dinner, you might have a broken wrist. I've made dinner all week but I think we should just order something, I really don't want to."
"You sure? I could try." Sarah asked him, she always made the family's dinner.
"No you shouldn't." Richie said. "We can order sushi or something."
"I can't have sushi." Sarah reminded him.
"You can't?"
"Baby, raw fish."
"They've got cooked fish too." Richie suggested instead. "Is that okay?"
"Yes, thank you."

An hour later, everyone was sitting in the living room, enjoying dinner and a popular tv show they all could enjoy.

Richie and Jon went back to Richie's office to write some more, they only had the weekend because Jon had to go home the next day already. They had planned for Richie to go to New York Friday evening until Sunday evening but with Sarah in the hospital they had to change their plans.

Sarah didn't mind Richie was busy, she knew he loved his job and that he needed to write. He was working on his solo album about which he was very excited about but Sarah hadn't heard anything of it yet, Richie wanted to be completely sure about his songs before letting her listen to one. Sarah understood that he needed to finish it first, it made sense, how could she judge half work anyway?

She missed her husband a little as she sat in the living room with three teenagers, Ava was very comfortably lounging in the couch with her feet up on the coffee table and her phone in her hands, giggling, chuckling and smiling. Noah was multitasking watching the TV show Caleb was watching and reading a book in the meantime.

"Think Richie's still playing guitar with me tonight?" Caleb looked over at Sarah during a commercial break.
"You can ask."
"What if he's busy?" Caleb asked unsure.
"You can always ask."
"Think he'd mind?" He still sounded unsure.
"Just ask him."
"Maybe he and Jon can show me how to make songs."
"They might, you should ask."
"I'll go ask." Caleb said, nodding, as he got up from the couch and passed the remote to Noah, then picked up the new bright red and white guitar that Richie had given him the night before. So far Caleb hadn't let it out of his sight.

Sarah chuckled to herself as her eldest son left the room and went up the stairs. Sometimes it was really easy to give advice, the only thing Caleb could do was ask.

When he didn't return after 10 minutes, it seemed obvious to Sarah that Richie and Jon had let him join in.

She sat back in her seat and put her hands on top of her abdomen again, she noticed she'd been doing that all week. How would life be with another child, a little baby. Teenagers would probably complain when the baby cried, she smiled to herself as she thought of the future. Boy or a girl? She wanted a girl, she had 2 sons and she had a stepdaughter now but having her own daughter would be different. Just like how Richie still wanted his own son too.

Would they try for another? So they'd both have their wish?

The house would get so crowded, a family of 6, by next fall. Next fall would also be Caleb's senior year at high school, would he go on to college and move to a different city to study? They hadn't really talked about it yet, it was getting time to do so.

How would they like being older siblings to such a small sibling. Ava would probably like not being the youngest anymore. Maybe she would love to be an older sister. Sarah wouldn't know, neither would Richie, they both didn't have any siblings. It had to be different for teenage girls than for boys. Girls were girls, they love little babies.

A little crib in the corner of the living room, for the baby to lay in during the day, so it could enjoy being around the family too. Sarah could imagine it all, sitting right here, holding her little baby as they watched TV.

Either way she knew the baby would be loved by all of them, regardless it's sex and how much it kept everybody up at night.

Chapter Ten

Friday was Caleb's birthday, Sarah felt disappointed she wouldn't be able to wish him a happy birthday until later.

Instead Richie had prepared waffles for breakfast as Caleb had asked. Luckily his cooking skills had improved in the last seven years and his waffles were as great as they always were.

The entire week he had cancelled working on his record, instead Richie had spent his days with Sarah at the hospital. He only left her to pick up the kids and take them to visit until dinner time when they left Sarah alone for the night. She needed her rest.

After breakfast Richie brought everyone to school as he always did and continued his way to the hospital.
"Hey honey." Sarah said cheerful when Richie walked in.

Richie was glad to hear the cheer in her voice, she looked better too. "Hi sweetie", he went over to give her a quick kiss, "how are you?"
"Good, might be getting discharged."
That explained her cheerfulness. "Really? Have you seen your doctor?"
"Not yet but I haven't thrown up since Wednesday evening." She said even happier.
"That's good. I miss you at home."
"I miss you too. I like sleeping with you much better." She reached in to kiss him.

Everything she had eaten since Thursday had stayed down and it made Sarah feel much better and much happier, she was almost herself again.

She smiled against Richie's lips. "We're having a baby."
"I know."
"A tiny little baby. I bet it'll look like you." Sarah smiled.
"Nah, I think it'll be as cute as you."
Sarah's smile didn't fade, she was glad with the compliment. "Guess we'll have to wait 'til November then."
"Yeah seems like it."

"Knock, knock."

They both looked up to see Sarah's doctor and nurse standing in the doorway.

The doctor checked Sarah over quickly and answered the remaining questions they had.  She confirmed Sarah estimated guess of November and according to her calculations it would be November 2nd.

Sarah asked about being discharged and was told if she could hold breakfast down she could be discharged before noon.

Two hours later they were on their way home again.

At home Sarah settled on the couch with Richie. He didn't leave her side until he had to drive back to the school.

When she was finally alone Sarah got up from the couch and went to walk around the house. She had been stuck in a bed for four days and felt like she should at least do something and walking around counted as doing something.

Richie's trip went the same as it always did, it was routine.

"Aren't we going to the hospital?" Caleb asked when Richie took the way home instead of the way to the hospital.
"Not today." Richie answered, maybe it would be fun to keep it a surprise that Sarah was home.
"Why not?" Caleb asked confused.
"We can't today." After all, it would be weird to go to the hospital if Sarah wasn't there.
"What the hell?"

When they arrived at home, Noah had pitched in on complaining why they weren't going to the hospital but Richie still thought it would be more fun to surprise them.

Sarah was in the kitchen, preparing a snack for herself when she heard the front door open.

"You know how unfair that is?" She heard her oldest son say as he walked in.
"Is it? I think it's pointless to go to the hospital right now." Richie said.
"How can you say that?" Sarah thought she could hear hurt sound through Caleb's voice and made her way closer to the hallway.
"Because I'm right here." Sarah decided to fix his problem.
Caleb looked at his mom, then annoyed, looked back at Richie. "Very funny."
Sarah pulled him closer. "Aw honey, it was a surprise. Happy birthday."
"Thanks mom." Caleb reached in to hug.


For dinner they went to Sarah her mother's house. That way Abbey could celebrate her oldest grandson's 17th birthday too.

Abbey had prepared a lovely meal for all of them and promised dessert in a few minutes as she started cleaning up the kitchen.

Richie stacked the plates and brought them over to the dishwasher before Abbey had the time to get up.
"You got yourself a good man." She smiled at Sarah as she slowly got up to help Richie put the dirty dishes into the dishwasher.

It was noticeable that Sarah was much happier again, Abbey thought she'd ask about it later. First Caleb would get his birthday cake and presents.

Everyone moved to the living room while Richie continued to help Abbey clean up the kitchen and get the cake ready.

Abbey opened the door to the living room so Richie could carry the cake to the coffee table and put it down.

Caleb leaned over from where he was sitting in the couch and looked at his cake.

"Grandma, that's amazing!" He said amazed looking down at a guitar shaped cake with 17 candles covering it.

After having a piece of cake, Caleb started opening the presents he had been given. Noah's gift was fairly small but when Caleb unwrapped it he found guitar picks and new guitar strings. Ava's present was even smaller than Noah's and he wondered what could be even smaller, when he unwrapped it he found a small guitar shaped memory stick.

Next he unwrapped the present he got from his grandmother, a lot bigger than the two he had just opened, a shoulder bag with a print of a guitar on, he instantly wondered if all his school books would fit in it.

When he picked up Sarah's present it was immediately the last present too, which was a little disappointing but the book that he found made it much better again, sheet music of the best 500 rocks songs.

Before Caleb could ask, Richie told him he would get his last present at home, Richie had decided to keep it safe at home just a little longer.

As Caleb started leafing through his book Abbey moved closer to Sarah and whispered, "Are you pregnant?"
Sarah was completely surprised, she hadn't told her mom yet, they were going to wait with telling everyone but if her mom knew... "Why do you think that?"
"You just look happier, more relaxed and pregnant."
"I look pregnant? How does somebody look pregnant?"
"You just do. Are you?"
"It's a little early on but-"
"Aw honey." Abbey gave her daughter a hug. "I'm very happy for you, both of you."

Chapter Nine

Half an hour before school would be out, Richie said goodbye to Sarah and told her to have another nap.

Sarah couldn’t sleep, lunch had gone as bad as breakfast and she still felt sick, although the fluids in her IV made her feel better, it didn’t take away the sick feeling of throwing up.

Staying in the hospital, wasn’t so bad, it was like she was on the other side of her job almost. She knew everyone, all the nurses, except, usually she would sit at the reception desk, not lay in a private room.

Richie’s leaving also gave her a few minutes alone, the first time that day. She was finally pregnant, she almost couldn’t believe it but there was proof so it must be. She could finally relax, she didn’t need to worry about getting pregnant anymore. In fact she never should have worried, she realized that now and also knew how silly she had been to give up so quickly.

Carefully she laid both her hands on her abdomen, she was pregnant and had been for a while. When was it going to be due then? She had forgotten to ask. 9 months, a given, if she was 6 weeks pregnant… She started counting everything out and if she was right, they’d have a little baby at the beginning of November. She’d ask later to be sure.

She tried to sleep again, Richie would be back in a little bit with three teens that would have questions.

“Hey, Sarah.” Taylor walked in the room.
Sarah looked up. “Are you working already?”
“Yeah, starting in a little bit. How are you? Did you get the results?” Taylor walked over to where Sarah’s chart was laying.
“Yeah, can you-" She wanted to ask Taylor not to look in the chart, remembering what she agreed to with Richie.

Sarah and Richie had agreed to keep it quiet and only tell the children now but Taylor had already opened the chart and started reading.

Taylor’s eyes went wide as she looked back up at Sarah, who was smiling already.

“You’re pregnant.” She said amazed.
Sarah nodded.
“Were you trying to get pregnant?” Taylor asked.
“We were, I just didn’t tell anybody.”
“Not even me?” Taylor teased.
“Sorry, we weren't going to tell anybody yet.”
"Who do I got to tell? You're like my only friend around here." Taylor said.
"I know but you're a fan of Richie."
"I wouldn't do that, you know I love Richie. If I had known you were married to him when I met your, I probably wouldn't have told you how much I love him."
Sarah chuckled, remembering how excitedly Taylor used to talk about Richie and his music.
“You’re really pregnant?” Taylor asked excited.
“It looks like it, yeah.”
“Congrats, I’m so happy for you guys. I bet Richie has wanted more kids for a long while.”

For a minute Sarah didn't know anymore what she should say. Taylor was her only friend from the day she started working at the hospital. At first Sarah had found it sort of cute how Taylor talked about her favorite rock star, the longer she didn't tell Richie was her husband, the more she didn't dare to. I had almost taken a month to confess.

“Don’t worry, I’m not gonna tell anyone, besides, patient confidentiality.” Taylor reassured her.

Taylor kept Sarah some company and Sarah asked for reassurance about her calculations. Taylor agreed it would be around that time but it would be best to ask a doctor to be sure.


In the meantime Richie arrived at the school, as usual he waited in the car, the kids would come to the car.

While he waited he phoned Jon, if Sarah was going to be in the hospital, he couldn’t go to New York for the weekend especially if he didn’t know how long it would be before Sarah was allowed to be go home again.

He dialed Jon’s number and after asking the usual “how are you” he had to tell Jon he couldn’t come over.

“Why not?” Jon asked, they had arranged it last week, why’d he cancel a week later?
“Sarah’s in the hospital and we don’t know when she’ll be discharged.”
“Is she okay?” The worry was noticeable in his voice.
“Yeah, acute morning sickness.” He said before he realized what he had said.
“Morning sickness?” Jon asked back, surprised.
“Oh fuck, I wasn’t supposed to tell anyone yet.”
“I won’t tell. Maybe if she’s a bit better by the weekend, I’ll come over and we can do some work?” Jon suggested.
“Uh yeah, I’ll let you know when Sarah’s discharged and we’ll see then.”
“Great, got some good ideas for songs.”
“We’ll see. I gotta go.”

They said goodbye and Richie put his phone away again, watching the school gates again.

Noah was the first to get to the car.

“How’s mom?” He asked after he had dropped his backpack in the trunk and got in the backseat.
“She’s fine, it’s nothing bad. I’m taking you guys to see her now.”
“Okay.” Noah agreed as they could hear the trunk being slammed shut again, and another time after that.


“Where are we going, dad?” Ava asked as they walked into the hospital.
“Visiting Sarah.” He thought it would have been needless to point out, but apparently not.
“I figured, I meant what kind of ward she’s in.”
“Just the ward where she works.” Richie said as he pushed the button to call an elevator and the three kids came to a halt behind him.
“But is she sick or…” Ava insisted.
“We’ll tell you in a minute.”
“Is Sarah pregnant?”

Richie tried his best to ignore the question and act like he hadn’t heard Ava ask it as he got into the elevator.

“Dad?” Ava tried again after the elevator doors closed and the four of them were the only ones in the elevator.

Again Richie ignored her question, he wanted to tell them with Sarah there.

“Dad? Is Sarah pregnant?” She asked again.
“Shut up Ava.” Caleb said annoyed and Ava gave him a mean look. "Why would she have to stay in the hospital if she's pregnant? She fainted at home and something could be really wrong so just shut up." He snapped at Ava, sharing a worried glance with Noah.
Ava glared back at him. “You’re overreacting, just wait and see.”
Caleb’s eyes turned back to Ava. “She’s MY mom.”
“Hey, hey, hey, calm down, both of ya. Just wait, Sarah’s fine, just go with that.” Richie told both of them as the elevator doors opened again.

Richie lead the way to Sarah’s private room, where Taylor was just leaving, he nodded and smiled at her and went into Sarah’s room, walking over to her bed to kiss her.

“Did you sleep any?” He asked.
“No, Taylor came in after you left, she read my chart.” Sarah said apologetically.
“It’s okay.” He couldn't be angry with her while he had told Jon too. It was accidental.

He stepped away and let Noah and Caleb some time with their mum.

“Are you really okay?” Noah asked again after a few minutes.
“Yeah.” Sarah tried to assure him, she looked up at Richie for a second, glanced at Ava and then back at her sons. “I’m pregnant. You know we were trying and it’s just really bad morning sickness.”

All three teenagers stared from Sarah to Richie, Ava had a confident smile on her face.

“Really? That’s it?” Noah asked in disbelief. “Why’d you pass out then?”
“Cause I hadn’t really been able to eat in 3 days.”
“So you can eat now?”
“No but now I have an IV that gives me everything food would give.” Sarah explained.
“But it’s gonna stop right?” Caleb asked the next question.
“Of course, don’t know when though.” Sarah said unsure.
“I hope it stops.”
Sarah chuckled. “So do I.”
“When’s the baby gonna be born?” Was Ava’s question.
For this Sarah looked up at Richie, telling him too. “We haven’t asked the doctor but I think it’ll be November.”
“When do we know if it’s a boy or a girl?” Ava went on excited.
“Not for another few months.” Sarah said and could see a bit of disappointment on Richie’s face.
“I hope it’s a girl.” Ava said.
“A boy.” Caleb argued.
“No, a girl.” Ava insisted.

Richie sighed. “Didn’t I tell you two to quit it?”

Chapter Eight

The next morning Richie tried to rush everything, the evening before he had quickly explained everything that had happened to Caleb and Ava and hoped they would be satisfied with the explanation he could give. He didn’t know anymore.

He brought them to school after breakfast and to their surprise got out of the car too after he had parked it.

With Noah’s help he found the History teacher and could go explain why Noah hadn’t studied, asking if he could do the test another day.

Luckily Noah’s teacher had been understanding and had allowed for Noah to do the test on Wednesday instead.

After his stop at the school he continued his way to the private hospital Sarah was staying.

He easily found his way back to Sarah’s room, happy to see she was already up and looked pretty good.

Not wasting a second, he went over to kiss her.

“Feeling better?” He asked cheerful, hoping she did.
“A little.”
“Have you had breakfast?”
“No.” She answered gloomy, dreading it already.


Sarah had been right to dread it, the IV might have made her feel a little better but throwing up the bit of breakfast made her feel worse again.

Another nurse came to set up another IV drip for Sarah.

Richie got back on the bed with Sarah and held her, hoping they’d have the results soon and she could really start feeling better.

Sarah got comfortable against Richie again, settling in her favorite position, resting her head on his shoulder. Her wrist was now in a splint and it didn’t hurt as much to move it so she could lay it over Richie’s belly and hold him.


“Mr. and Mrs. Sambora?” A different person walked into the room, followed by the same nurse.
“Yeah?” Richie asked, sitting up but trying not to disturb Sarah just yet.

The nurse introduced the doctor, “Doctor Smethwyck has the results of your wife’s blood tests.”

Richie nodded, then looked down at Sarah on his shoulder, not entirely sure if she was sleeping or not.

“Sarah? Honey, did you hear that?” He asked carefully.
“Mmmmhmmm.”
“You did? Are you awake enough?” He asked just as carefully.
“Yeah.” Sarah nodded and moved to sit up a little and be able to look around the small room.

She now also noticed the new person in the room, a female doctor, a couple of years younger than herself. She couldn’t remember the name the nurse had just mentioned but the doctor didn’t look familiar. The IV was making her drowsy so she wanted to sleep, but she needed to pay a few minutes of attention.

When her brain unfogged she looked up at the doctor, waiting for an explanation to follow now.

The nurse interrupted the doctor before she could say anything.

“We also need to check Sarah’s wrist, we haven’t been able to check if it’s broken or sprained.” She explained.

Doctor Smethwyck nodded. “We’ll have to take a closer look at that.” She agreed.

Richie couldn’t believe they were discussing that right now. In fact he could care less if Sarah’s wrist was sprained or broken, it would hurt her anyway. The blood results were a lot more important and would finally explain why Sarah had fainted.

Finally the doctor opened the file and reviewed it before looking up at them, then at the nurse and back to them, making both Sarah and Richie even more nervous about what the results would be.

“Well?” Richie asked impatiently.
The doctor hesitated, “Eumh. Well, yes…”

Richie cocked an eyebrow, was she going to tell or beat about the bush some more? He was really close to losing his patience now.

“Well?” He urged on a little irritated.
“Yes. Your wife’s hCG levels seem to have been raised.” The doctor finally said.

Richie searched his brain for the abbreviation but couldn’t find it in his dictionary.

“What does that mean?” He asked confused.
“Human chorionic gonadotropin, it’s a hormone.” The doctor quickly said.
“How much has it raised then?” Richie asked worried now if it could be something bad.
“It’s at 6310 right now but –“

Richie didn’t let her end her explanation, he looked down at Sarah who all of a sudden looked a little better, a bit cheerful.

“Is that a bad thing?” He said even more worried about it.
The doctor chuckled and shook her head. “No, it means,” she took a deep breath, “that your wife is pregnant.” She smiled gently.
“What? Pregnant? Really?” He said more and more excited.
Doctor Smethwyck nodded again. “Most certainly.”
“But,” he looked at Sarah again, even more confused than before, then back up at the doctor, “how long?”

She in turn looked back down at the file, reading. “I would say about five or six weeks.”

Richie had to do some thinking, looking from his wife, to the doctor, to the nurse. How hadn’t Sarah known this? Hadn’t she noticed any of the signs? Her period being late, not coming? The throwing up, of course that was it, he realized.

“How didn’t you notice?” He finally asked Sarah.
She gave him a small smile. “Can we talk about it later?” She asked carefully.
Richie nodded, “Right.” They still had other things to worry about now.

“Of course, we now can’t x-ray your wrist to check if it’s broken.” The doctor said apologetic to Sarah. “To be sure, I think it’s best to put on a cast and check in a few weeks.”

Sarah agreed, she understood x-rays could be harmful to such a young baby.

“I’ll let nurse Harris do that.”

Immediately the nurse got into action and got everything ready to do so.

“So how come Sarah passed out then?” Richie finally asked.
“It’s called acute morning sickness.” Doctor Smethwyck answered. “Of course morning sickness doesn’t only occur in the morning and for some women it can be the entire day. The nausea usually starts around 6 weeks of pregnancy. It tends to get worse over the next month or so.”
“It’s gonna get worse?” Richie asked in disbelief.
“It depends, it’s different for each pregnancy. Anyway,” she said, trying to get back to her thought, “it’s called Hyperemesis Gravidarum.”

Richie looked even more confused and a little relieved Sarah looked confused too, at least he wasn’t the only one that didn’t understand.

“Which by definition is the loss of at least 5 percent of the total body weight.”
“That’s not good.” Richie said, at least understanding that.
“It isn’t.” Doctor Smethwyck agreed. “Sarah needs to stay for a few days, to get back to health and strength and so we can monitor weight and how much she eats.” She explained to Richie.
Richie nodded.

“Alright then, congratulations.”

She gave the nurse a few more instructions and left the room.

Fairly quickly Sarah’s wrist had been put into a cast. Sarah couldn’t decide on which color and was completely fine with the regular white but Richie decided it should be purple instead.


Richie spent the entire day in the hospital with Sarah. He was incredibly happy and was even happier to see that Sarah was probably even happier than he already was. It was making her look better although it didn’t help her keep food down.

He had cancelled their appointment with a fertility doctor but together they had decided to only tell the kids right now and wait a little longer before telling anybody else.

“Did you really not know you were pregnant?” Richie asked a while later, still wondering how she could have missed all the signs.
Sarah shrugged.
“What?” He asked.
“I don’t know, it just took so long to get pregnant and I just didn’t think it was going to happen. I really thought we needed help and that I couldn’t be pregnant.” Sarah explained quickly, hoping if she said it fast it wouldn’t be so bad.
“Oh.”
“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have given up. Apparently I just needed a little more patience.”
“Yeah you did, you knew it wasn’t going to work the first time. It takes a few tries.”
“I know but it took six months-“
“Four.” Richie interrupted.
Sarah nodded. “Everything just seemed so perfect and I guess I was just disappointed getting pregnant didn’t work at the first try.”
“It only took four months.” Richie pointed out.
“I know, now it doesn’t seem so bad anymore that it wouldn't work earlier.”
“No?”
“No, now we’re having a baby, that's what's important.”

Chapter Seven

After the nurse had been gone for a few minutes, Richie joined Sarah on the bed, being careful so she wouldn’t hurt herself to make space for him. Once settled, Sarah rested her head on his shoulder, feeling much better. She felt supported by Richie’s hard muscles as she leaned into him, getting drowsy because of the fluids she was getting.

“Sarah?”

Richie looked up to see another nurse standing by the curtain.

Sarah was a little slower to react but smiled when she noticed her too. “Taylor, what are you doing down here?”
The nurse smiled as she walked over. “I had to come and get something, just spotted you. What about you? Are you okay?”
“Better now.”
“What happened?” Taylor asked.
“I don’t remember. I was going to the bathroom, next thing I knew Richie was sitting next to me on the bathroom floor, telling me to wake up.” She wanted to wait for the blood results before telling what had been going on the last few days.
“Richie?” Taylor looked over at him. “You haven’t introduced me to your husband yet.” She smiled even brighter.
“Oh right, Richie,” she quickly looked up at him, “this is Taylor she’s a nurse here and Taylor, this is my amazing husband, Richie.” Sarah smiled up at him.
Richie smiled back, then looked up at Taylor. “Nice to meet you.”
Taylor was still smiling brightly, then realized she hadn’t said anything. “Maybe I can arrange you a private room at our ward.” She suggested to Sarah.
“That would be nice.” Sarah agreed.
“I’ll go find out who your nurse is and get you a room, you know everyone up there anyway, makes your stay nicer.”
“Thanks.”
“I’ll come check on you later.” Taylor said before she left.

Sarah settled back on Richie’s shoulder after Taylor left and closed her eyes again.

Richie held his wife as he waited for the nurse to return. So far it seemed like the IV was making her drowsy, although she started to look a little better, he didn’t know if that was a good or a bad sign.

Just in case, he texted Noah again, still trying to keep him up to date. After that he stared at the clock outside the curtains, over the reception desk. The more he stared, the slower time seemed to go but he needed to wait. The hands on the round clock seemed to tick so slowly, he couldn’t believe that was how long a minute took.

9.02       9.03       9.04       9.05

Time was going too slow, he needed to know what was wrong with his wife and he needed to know now.

Finally the curtain was pulled open further and the nurse that had treated Sarah walked into the cubicle.

“Alright, I found you a private room in one of the general wards.” She said brightly, then noticed Sarah. “Oh I’m sorry.” She said apologetic.
“It’s alright.” Richie assured her.
“Well, I found a bed, Sarah will have to stay for observation at least tonight and we’ll have the test results tomorrow morning. Can’t risk making x-rays right now so I’ll have to make a splint for now.”
Richie nodded. “Okay.”

He carefully turned to Sarah. “Honey, you have to wake up.”
“Hmmmm.” Was all Sarah said.
“Come on honey, you’re getting a nice private bed and you can sleep there.” He tried again.

A little resistant Sarah moved off his shoulder and tried to wake up more.


A few minutes later Sarah her left wrist was splinted and she couldn’t move it at all, it felt better. Not only her wrist felt better, whatever was in her IV was making her feel better too and drowsy.

Her private room was a little mainstream, light colors on the wall, a window, a small bathroom and a tv up on the wall.

As soon as everything was settled Taylor popped back into the room, she wasn’t wearing the hospital scrubs anymore and walked over to Sarah’s bed, sitting down on the edge.

Richie had moved to the comfy chair next to Sarah's bed, still staying close to her and watched them.

“Any news yet?” Taylor asked hopeful.
Sarah slowly shook her head. “No, dehydration.”
“You’ll be alright in a few days then, no worries.”
Sarah nodded, agreeing. “Did you finish your shift?”
“Yeah, you know I don’t like working evenings but I didn’t have another choice but now you can tell me about New York.”

Sarah smiled at her friend and started telling her about the few days she had spent in New York with Richie.

There wasn’t much to tell, Richie had been working most of the time, leaving Sarah with a lot of free time that she didn’t know how to fill. She also told her about Jon’s birthday party and could notice Taylor getting even more excited.

Richie watched them from his chair and was really glad that his wife had been able to make friends at work. Even though he was confident she would, he still had worried at first but this was the first time he was actually meeting one of her friends.

Taylor seemed like a nice girl according to him, probably early or mid twenties, she seemed a typical nurse, a caring person and he was glad that Sarah had a friend like that.

Then he noticed Taylor’s necklace, a golden heart and dagger, the heart and dagger he had seen so often.

Acting like he wanted to be closer to Sarah, he got up from the chair and sat down next to Sarah, careful for her IV and watched them talk.

Their conversation slowed down after a few minutes and ultimately went quiet.

“I like your necklace.” He said pointing at it.
Taylor’s hand rose to her neck and covered her necklace, her face turned a shade of pink.
“Where’d you get it?”
“A concert last year.” Taylor admitted.
“So you’re a fan?”
“Yeah. I thought you wouldn’t like if I’d started swooning and I tried to stay professional like a nurse should because you were probably more worried about Sarah.” Taylor answered.
“That’s nice of you.” Richie smiled, really appreciating it.
“I really admire your music.” Taylor said quickly.
Richie chuckled. “Thanks.”

Taylor left a few minutes later and left Sarah and Richie alone.

One of the nurses on the ward came to check on Sarah a while later and told her to try to get some sleep.

An hour later Richie was sure Sarah was sleeping and got ready to go back home. He’d rather stay the whole night with Sarah but there probably were three worried kids at home. He needed to talk to them and figure something out for Noah’s history test the next day.

10.30pm Sarah has to stay the night, results in the morning, I’ll be home soon