Tuesday, November 19, 2013

Chapter Fifty-six

A few days later, Richie found Sarah with Daniel in the living room. Forgetting what he was doing, he sat down next to Sarah and wrapped an arm around her, pulling her close against him.

His son was smiling up at his as Sarah sighed annoyed.

"What's wrong?" Richie asked quickly.
"Space?" Sarah asked, shrugging away Richie's arm.
"You need space?" He asked confused.
Sarah moved a little uneasy, "You're so close to me, constantly."
Richie frowned, not understanding at all.
"You can't even leave me alone for five seconds."
Still frowning, Richie asked, "What's wrong?" Sarah had never minded him being close why would she now?
Sarah sighed.
"What?" Richie insisted.
Sighing again, Sarah answered. "I'm just tired."
"Tired?" Richie asked confused. "Are you sure that's it?"
"Yes. Daniel needs constant attention and I just want a few minutes to myself."
He nodded. "Okay, so give him to me and go nap?"
Sarah frowned, considering it.
"Come on, I'm not sick anymore. It's been over a week."
"Yeah, alright." Sarah gently moved her son over.
Richie took him gently and cuddled him. "Now you go to bed and nap as long as you need to. I'll be daddy."
Sarah nodded and got up from the couch. "Thanks." She said before leaving.


A few hours later, Sarah walked back down the stairs, having a view of the living room where Richie was pacing as he was making a phone call.
Quietly Sarah walked in, wondering who he was talking to. When he didn't say anything at all and hung up the phone, he looked at Sarah. His look was worried and confused.

"What's wrong?" Sarah asked.
"I can't get a hold of mom."
Sarah frowned. "Why? She's in England."
"The storm got a lot worse. I called David and his house is totally flooded. Mom's is probably too, that's why she won't answer the phone."
"Rich?" Sarah asked. "She's in England."
"What?" He asked confused, too worried to make sense of that.
"In England, visiting friends, remember? She left last week."
Richie's face cleared up immediately when he finally understood. "Oh. Right."
"Yeah."
"Then I should call her neighbors to check out how bad it is."
"You could try that. Where's Daniel?"
Richie pointed at the playpen. "He's sleeping."

Sarah went over to look at her son. Richie was right, he was sound asleep. There was no reason to wake him up. His meal could wait until he woke up. Sleeping babies should be left to sleep.

She turned around to see Richie worrying again.

Quietly walking over, Sarah took his iPhone before he could react.

"Now sit down and watch the news some more. You don't need to phone anyone. They're busy with cleaning up and your mom isn't anywhere near it."
"What about everyone else that lives there?" Richie protested.
"You can't do anything right now. The power is out, phone is probably out too and they're all trying to deal with what just happened. Your mom and friends are safe, tomorrow you can phone as many people as you like." Sarah explained, hoping he would understand it.
"I guess." Richie sighed as he sat down on the couch.

Sarah sat down next to him and moved close against him.

"Don't need space anymore?"
"Need my husband." Sarah smiled gently and reached in for a soft kiss.
"Good."

Just then Daniel announced he was awake and more than reading for his afternoon snack.

"Sounds like somebody else needs you." Richie said, letting go of Sarah and getting up.

He looked over the edge of the playpen. "Hey buddy, mommy's right here." He gently picked him up, supporting his head. "Chill, you're getting food."

Sarah had arranged her shirt so she was ready to feed the baby as Richie passed him over.

"He's hungry." Richie commented as he sat down again, watching his son starting to eat immediately.
"Yeah, he was supposed to eat half an hour ago."
"When did you last eat?" Richie wondered.
Sarah stroked her son's back as she thought about it. "This morning, I guess."
"Then you really need to eat." Richie said, already getting up to prepare lunch for Sarah.

Sunday, November 10, 2013

Chapter Fifty-five

Richie happily walked out of the theatre after the fan event.

It had been an amazing few hours to meet his fans and talk to everyone. His throat hurt now but he still felt happy.

After answering all the questions everyone had thought of, Richie had brought out his own surprise. Calmly he had waited for the technical programs to do their task and after a few minutes the crowd could see a picture of Daniel. Everyone aw'ed immediately, making Richie feel proud of his son.


He got into the car that was waiting for him to drive to the airport.

The drive was short but it wasn't until he was on the airplane that he felt relaxed again. He wanted to get home to his family again.

Once the airplane was high up in the air, Richie tried to sleep but unlike usually, the loud engines kept him awake.

Luckily, with the change time and the time it took to get back home, he'd be home around the usual time he and Sarah were able to go to sleep after Daniel's last meal. Too bad he had missed it today but he could make up for it by feeding him at 4 am. He'd have to get up in the middle of the night but he didn't mind one bit. For Daniel he would do everything.

Only 5 days old, but already all his electronics were full of pictures of his baby. Remembering that fact, he picked out his iPad and looked at pictures of Daniel.

"Is that your baby?" A stewardess noticed as she walked past.
Richie look up, smiling. "Yeah, my boy."
"How old is he?" She leaned in a little to see the pictures better.
"Just 5 days, he was born Friday night."
"He's adorable. Congradulations."
"Thanks." Richie smiled at her again.
The stewardess smiled and nodded and continues her work.

The plane had an entertainment set for every passenger but Richie couldn't find any interesting tv shows or movies. Music always interested him and picking out an album cover that looked cool or a title that sounded interesting, he selected the album and plugged in the headphones to listen to it as he continued to look at all the pictures of Daniel he had.

The pictures weren't only of Daniel, often somebody was holding him. His older brothers and older sister were crazy about him too. It was amazing to see how much a tiny person like him could be loved so much.

Daniel still had to meet a lot of people but a plane wasn't a good place for such a small child, they'd wait for everyone to come to their house.

Abbey was still helping out at home but soon Richie's own mom would come to visit her new grandchihld too. Of course they had sent her pictures already but as she was abroad, it wasn't easy to just come over. As soon as her vacation was over, she was planning to visit her family. Richie looked forward to it very much, he might be grown up and have his own children but he still liked it when his mother came to visit. Time was a precious thing.

Finally the plane landed, to his relief, now he could finally get home.

He packed all of his belongings, which weren't much, his iPad and a few business files. That was all he had brought so he wouldn't have to go through baggage claim. That way he could save time.

Outside, it was very dark, a car was waiting to drive him home.

Putting his bag next to him on the car seat, he leaned his head back against the head rest. So close to home, he started to feel very tired. It had been a long and busy day. Besides that, the headache hadn't left him all day. Being sick never worked for him. Other people would have a cold for a few days but he always had to develop something else and stay sick for weeks. He hated it, especially now with Daniel. A baby's immune system wasn't that powerful yet.

The drive home went smoothly, no trafic and only took about half an hour.

Gladly he got out of the car and walked into the house. The spaceous entry was dark and quiet. As he had hoped, everyone had already gone to bed. Hopefully Sarah had been able to do so too. Daniel was a happy little baby that loved to be cuddled and held after he ate. He would do so later that night so Sarah could catch up on some sleep.

Leaving his bag by the stairs, he quietly walked up the stairs.

Instead of going into his own bedroom, he walked into the opposite room. Turning on the small light that stood in the corner so it wouldn't create too much light. On the rocking chair that Sarah had picked out, laid Daniel's stuffed animals, except for one.

Richie walked over to the crib but found it empty, only the stuffed animal he had bought for his son was laying in the bed.

Turning around and turning the light off again, he walked to his own bedroom to find the most precious scene he could imagine. The nightlight on Sarah's bedside table was still on, breaking the darkness of the room.

In bed, Sarah was reclining against her pillows, asleep with Daniel sleeping cuddled on her chest.

The sight was adorable, it had become clear that was Daniel's favorite way to sleep but thinking it wasn't safe, Richie carefully picked him up and laid him in the basinete next to their bed. That way he didn't have to go far.

When Richie turned around, he saw he had woken up Sarah. "Sorry." He said as he started to undress.
"It's okay, we fell asleep together. He needs to sleep alone too."
"You looked very sweet." When the only clothes he was wearing were his boxers, he got in bed. "I missed you." Moving close to his wife, he wrapped his arms around his.
Sarah easily adjusted to the new position and laid her head on Richie's shoulder to sleep.

Tuesday, November 5, 2013

Chapter Fifty-Four

Richie woke up with a hand pressed to his forehead. Opening his eyes, he saw Sarah looking down at him. "What are you doing?" He asked hoarse and confused.
"You're sick again, or still, at least you have a temperature." She pulled her hand back.
"It'll go away." Richie answer, turning to his side to look at her. Sarah was right, he felt like crap but he needed to go to New York today.
"Are you sure you want to go?"
"Yeah, I already had to cancel everything, I can't let these people down too. No singing, just talking."
Sarah smiled. "They're all going to love your voice."
"My fans love me regardless of my hoarse voice."
"So do I," Sarah reached in to give him a gentle kiss, "and don't you forget it."

Richie wanted to say something more but Daniel could be heard from the opposite room and Sarah had left to go to his aide before he could say anything more.

When he finally found the strength to get up and put on a pair of pants, Richie followed to where Sarah had gone.

In Daniel's room, Sarah was sitting in the rocking chair, nursing him.
Richie stayed in the doorway and watched.

"You know that's the most precious thing in the world?" Richie asked.
Sarah gently smiled up and him. "What?"
"Moms feeding their babies, it's a special thing. Such closeness, it's a special bond that just moms can have."
"You thought that much about it?" Sarah asked confused.
"Not really, it just is."
"I guess that's true." Sarah agreed. "Not like you can do it."
"Nope, I get the joy of talking to him about the birds and the bees."
Sarah chuckled. "That's ages still."
"Have to prepare mentally for it." Richie countered. "I'm gonna go get ready."

Back in the bedroom, he got his clothes together and packed a bag to take to New York. Sure he was feeling terrible but he wasn't letting his fans down any more than he already had. They were looking forward to and as long a he didn't sing, he should be alright.

He wasn't flying til a few hours later and would fly home after the short event. It would be more relaxing if he stayed the night at the hotel but he wanted to be home more than that he wanted to relax. Missing Daniel was something he hadn't done yet and wasn't looking forward to.

Before heading downstairs, he took a few painkillers to make his headache go away and hopefully feel a little better, then made sure they were in reach in his travel bag.

Sarah walked in with Daniel a few minutes later. Getting settled on the bed, she moved her pillows to be able to sit as she held her son.

"You know how lucky we are? He's so calm, hardy ever cries." Richie got back in bed, puling the blankets back over him, he felt they were still warm.
"Just when he's hungry." Sarah answered. "Noah was like that too."
"Yeah?" Richie asked as Sarah nodded. "By the way, Ava doesn't want to go to her mom's house so do you mind she stays here with you?"
Sarah smiled, knowing Ava wanted to see her little brother. She had already proved herself as a great older sister. "Of course I don't. It's her house too."
"Thanks."

Richie reached out to stroke Daniel's short, light hair. With his blond hair and blue eyes he always looked angelic, especially when he was sleeping or simply resting quietly. So far he was a very calm baby. Things could change, they both knew and they had only started, there were many years to look forward to but now they had to enjoy Daniel as a little baby.

"I'm gonna miss him." Richie confessed. "I'm gonna show a picture of him tonight."
"You haven't done that on Twitter yet?"
"No. I wanted to keep him all to myself but I'll show a picture tonight to update everyone. Kinda good I got sick, otherwise I would have missed it."
Sarah shrugged, not thinking it was good he was but in a way he was right.

Carefully, Richie reached out to take Daniel from Sarah arms. He had to leave soon.

He gently laid Daniel on top his chest, cuddling him. He hoped his son still had the newborn baby smell, he just couldn't smell right now.

It was still unbelievable he finally had the son he had always dreamed of, his tiny baby boy. As perfect as his older brothers and sister were but just that little different. His first baby with Sarah and honestly he hoped it wouldn't be their last, at least one more baby would be nice. He'd need to talk to Sarah about it.