Chapter 35

"Richie, where are you?" Sarah talked into her phone, sounding worried.
Richie sighed before answering but Sarah cut in again.
"I got home and there's nobody here, not even a note. What happened?"
"We're at the hospital."
"The hospital?!" Sarah exclaimed. Her worriedness changed into panic in an instant.
"Noah broke his arm or something." Richie said quickly, informing her as fast as possible. "He wanted to go skating and I went to get coffee and he fell. We've got x-rays, getting a cast now."
"I should come over."
"We're almost done here. We will be home soon." Richie promised although it took him a few minutes to reassure Sarah about Noah's condition.

After Noah had picked out a color for the cast they were ready to go, just as Richie had promised to his wife.

Only half an hour later they walked into the front door at home.

Sarah got up immediately and rushed to the front door, worrying about her son. She fussed and made sure he was feeling better before she let him go to his room.

"How did this happen?!" Sarah exclaimed once Noah left the room.
"I don't know." Richie said defensively. "He wanted to go to the skatepark so I took him there, he was doing fine til I turned my back for five seconds."
Sarah sighed.
"I'm sorry." Richie said, not knowing what else to say. "How did your exam go?"
Sarah looked up at him. "It went well, very well."
"Yeah?"
"I think I did great. I'll know next week and then I should get my certificate a few weeks later?"
"Already?" Richie asked surprised.
"I took on the extra course, remember, so I could finish the course faster because I was doing so well."
"I'm so proud of you." He felt very proud of Sarah for finishing the course she has set out to finish.
"I was thinking to continue with another course."
"Yeah?"
"Why not?" Sarah shrugged.
"Sounds good. You can never learn too much."

Just then Danny made himself heard to them, wanting attention and something to eat.

Summer was ending and soon both Noah and Ava would be back in school. Important birthdays were right around the corner and Richie's obligations to the next leg of the tour weren't very far away either.

Feeling happy with his family, Richie still felt indicisive about going back on the road. 

Chapter 34

He stared out the window a few more seconds before realizing what had happened across the street at the skatepark.

He grabbed Daniel's stroller, forgot about the cups, both coffee and juice and rushed out the door. Only briefly stopped at the edge of the sidewalk to make sure there were no cars before crossing and rushing over.

When he reached the crowding group of skateboarders, they moved to make space for him.

He found Noah.

Noah was laying flat on the concrete ground, his arm at a very odd angle.

Forgetting about Daniel but knowing he was safe in his stroller, he bent down next to Noah.

"Is anybody calling 911?" He called out before turning back to Noah, who was staring off into space. "You okay buddy?" He asked even though he knew he wasn't, he wanted Noah's attention to keep him from fainting. "Paramedics will be here in a minute. Hang in there."
Noah nodded weakly, not able to do much else.

A few minutes later he could hear the sirens of an approaching ambulance. A lot of the crowd has already moved away and now the rest moved to make space for the paramedics.

As a good and responsible father, he stayed with Noah the entire time the paramedics were helping him onto the stretcher and into the ambulance. He didn't want to leave Noah alone but he had to.

"Which hospital are you taking him to?" He asked the paramedics after Noah had been taken care of inside.
"Ceder Sinai is closest from here. You can follow us." The paramedic answered him as they got back into the ambulance to take Noah to the hospital.
"Thanks." Richie said as he hurried back over to Daniel to take him back to the car.

Getting Daniel into the car was a breeze but of course when he needed to hurry, the stroller had to be a pain.

Finally getting it into the trunk a few minutes later, he got in the car and started driving. The ambulance had already gone but he knew where the hospital was.

Praying for green lights, he headed off to the hospital to be with Noah. He knew it would only be a broken arm but that didnt make him any less worried about his son.

Maybe he still hadn't found a way to connect with him but that didn't make him love Noah any less.

Chapter 33

Noticing a shadow walking into the doorway, Richie looked up from where he was playing with Daniel on the floor of his bedroom.

He smiled up at Noah. "Everything okay?" He asked.
Noah nodded. "I was wondering..." He didn't end his sentence.
"What's up?" Richie got up from the floor, making sure Daniel was okay sitting on his own.
Noah hestitated but continued. "I was wondering if you could drive me somewhere."
"Sure, where do you want to go?"
"The skatepark."
"Skatepark?" Richie frowned, he had never seen Noah skateboard. Even surfing only happened once in a while. Not wanting to discourage Noah from something new, he agreed. "Just give me a few minutes to get Daniel ready and we can go."

Sarah had gone to write her final exam and Richie had stayed home with Daniel and Noah but going out was never a bad choice.

He quickly dressed Daniel in a nicer outfit, jeans and a cute tshirt. Even though he was a small boy, his closet was filled with tshirts. More than he would ever wear.

Fifteen minutes later they were in the car, on their way to the skatepark. He hadn't exactly been to the skatepark before but knowing where it was was good enough for him.

"How come you want to go skateboarding?" Richie asked carefully.
Noah shrugged.
"Just something you want to try out?"
"Sort of."
Richie frowned and looked over at Noah, seeing a light blush on his cheeks, then he smiled. "A girl?"
Noah's head turned in less than a split second, disbelieving that Richie had figured him out that quickly. He sighed. "Yeah."
"A skatergirl." Richie said. "Very cool."

Arriving at the park, Richie was glad to spot a Starbucks restaurant across the street. At least he could get a cup of coffee while he was there.

Before getting out of the car, Noah turned to him again. "Could you wait around here?" He asked nervously. "In case I really suck at skateboarding."
Richie smiled. "Don't worry about it. I'll be here." He answered, feeling like he said give girl advise.
"Thanks." Noah said and made to get out of the car.
"Wait," Richie said, "You don't need to impress her with skateboarding you know, just be you."
Noah looked away, then shook his head. "I'm not good enough."

Before he could say anything else, Noah had gotten out of the car and was walking to the skatepark. Richie couldn't believe it. Of course he was good enough, for any girl or any person. Not being able to do anything about it right now, he looked back at Daniel. "Lets get some coffee buddy."

Starbucks offered a not too bad view of the skatepark and the park behind it. Sadly no playpark for small children, Daniel would be too small anyway. Instead, Daniel sat next to the table in his stroller as Richie enjoyed his coffee, Daniel had a cup of juice.

From his point of view, he had made out which skater was Noah. While watching the others, he realized Noah didn't nearly have enough protection gear. A helmet was all he had but all the other skaters were wearing more protection.

Sudden crying from Daniel had him distracted but the smell easily made him realize what had disrupted his son's peace. Leaving his coffee on the table, he got Daniel out of the chair and took him to the washrooms to change him into a clean diaper.

As he returned and got Daniel back into the stroller, he sat down to take a sip from his coffee again. A little colder but still full of flavour.

Enjoying his drink, he looked out of the window. He frowned as he saw most of the skaters group up in a circle around somebody, skateboard disregarded everywhere. He leaned on the table to see closer but couldn't make out where Noah was.

Chapter 32

Only a week after their vacation at the lake had ended, the family was getting ready to say goodbye. Caleb had decided on going to school before classes started to have time to settle in and look for a job all before school started. Besides that the school also offered a few classes just before real classes started and he was ready to grab those chances.

Sarah had spend most of the week with Caleb, driving around and buying everything he would need at university.

Richie was sad to see his oldest son go, they wouldn't spend every Saturday studying guitar and music anymore. Caleb was finally getting the education he wanted, although he had learned a lot from Richie, school would teach him different things.

The four of them had travelled to the school to help Caleb with getting settled in the dormitory.

For both parents it was hard to say goodbye but Caleb was eager to start a new page in his life, which both of his parents understood. They wished him good luck, another goodbye and were ready to go home again with their youngest son, letting go of the oldest.


Arriving home, it was quiet as it always was when they got home. Sarah took that opportunity to study for her upcoming exam while Richie took care of Daniel.

The small boy had been awake the entire way home and must be exhausted by now. Richie carried him upstairs and to their bed. There wasn't anything better than having a peaceful nap with his small son.

Taking his jeans off to be more comfortable in bed, Daniel wouldn't care, he got in bed with Daniel next to him. He only pulled the sheets up to his waist, not wanting them too high for Daniel.

As he looked down at his son, he considered how much had changed in the last few months and how much would hopefully change in the coming months. Daniel was already approaching his first birthday, hopefully they would be expecting a sibling for him by then.

One of these times, it just had to work, it was bound to happen but being patient wasn't an easy thing when so many things were involved that were working against them. Their ages definitely didn't help it at all but they had gotten Daniel and they knew there had to be a chance for a next baby.


After their nap, they went back downstairs where Sarah was still studying.

"How's it going?" Richie asked as he sat down on the couch, letting Daniel sit next to him, still proud of him to learn how to sit.
"Good, actually, really good." Sarah answered. "Went through the entire text book, took notes of what I need to know. I'm ready for next week."
"You make me so proud." Richie said.

Sarah smiled over at him, glad to hear it because it wasn't always as easily to be studying instead of being a mother.

"So you won't mind if I take another course?" Sarah asked.
"Of course not." Richie answered, he knew it was unlikely Sarah was going to use her diplomas and find a job but if she wanted to study and learn, he couldn't stop her.

He knew she wanted to be a stay at home mom as she had done for her older children and he was glad he could give it to her so easily.

He couldn't blame her for wanting to do so, right now he was more than fine with being a stay at home dad. Work and tours were far from his mind.

Chapter 31

The next morning, Richie sat in the captain's seat, steering the house boat to a different location while he enjoyed the beautiful sight of the large lake.

The wooden door creaking as it opened, had him look up to see who was entering.

Noah took a step back. "Sorry, didn't know you'd be here. I'll find some other place."
"No." Richie said quickly. "Sit down, it's a nice view from here."

Noah concidered it for a sceond before walking over and sitting down in the other large comfortable seat.

Richie watched him sit and lean back in the chair, then saw how Noah picked up a book and open it. He knew how much Noah loved his books and didn't like interrupting him but he wanted to opportunity to talk and decided to interrupt before Noah could even start reading.

"Don't you like the view here?" Richie asked, unsure of how else to start a conversation with his son.
Noah closed the book and looked up. "Yeah, it's beautiful here."
"Thought that's why you came here?" Richie asked.
Noah shrugged. "It's a quiet place to read. Usually there's nobody here. It's a nice view, quiet and perfect to read."
"Don't you want to enjoy our vacation instead of reading all the time?"
The teenage boy frowned, picking up his book and ready to leave.
"No, I didn't mean it like that." Richie said quickly. "Don't you want to look around, see the scenes around here?"
"I do that, just not all day long."
"Okay, what about going out with Ava and Caleb and their friends? You could have brought one of your friends too, there's space enough on this book."
Noah gave him a wondering look. "I wouldn't know who'd to bring."
"Even two friends." Richie suggested.
Noah's look didn't change, if anything, it got more confused.

Richie left the conversation for what it was and turned to look out of the windows again, trying to find a perfect spot to stay for the rest of the day. There were so many beautiful places to see and still enough days to see all of them. He heard the rustling of pages being turned as he did so.

When he finally found a spot, he turned off the engine and decided to let the boat drift for a while, then he turned to Noah again.

"So what are you reading?" He asked, feeling sorry for interrupting.
Noah closed the book and looked at the purple printed cover. "Inkdeath."
"New book?" Richie asked.
"I have the series."
"What's it about?"

Just like last time, Richie was amazed at how Noah talked about his books. He was a quiet kid but when the subject was books, he was unstoppable. He could tell every little detail about the store with as much interest as if he was reading the book right then.

He wished he could see Noah's excitement like that in every day life. He had grown up very differently from Noah. Friends were always around him, it was the same for Ava, she always had friends over and was very social. Now he had a son that was completely different, and even after a year, he still had a difficult time relating to Noah. It was hard to find common interests when he wasn't open to sharing his interests.

It didn't make him love Noah any less, he was his son and he loved him. Although it did make him realize even more that every person was different. Ava and Caleb were socialble people while Noah was an introvert who preferred his own little world. What would Daniel be like? Or the child they were trying to conceive?

A knock on the door interrupted Noah's detailed explanation of the book he was reading.

Sarah walked in, carrying Daniel in her arms. "We found daddy." She told Daniel, then added. "And Noah." She looked up at Richie. "I didn't know you two were hiding in here. Talking about books?"
"Yes, we are." Richie answered, then looked interested at Daniel, back to Noah. "Why don't you read stories to Daniel? He'd love it if you would. Any book, you can read that one to him and he'd just love hearing your voice."
Noah frowned. "He would? He doesn't get it."
"That doesn't matter." Richie said encouraging. "He'd hear your voice, know it's you and that's what babies like, he doesn't need to understand what's being read to him."
"Oh." Noah said, his face filling with understanding. "Maybe." He got up from his chair and quickly walked passed Sarah and Daniel and left the room.
Sarah frown at Richie. "Everything okay?" She asked as she went to sit down in the space Noah had just vacated.
"I don't know. It's still so hard to connect with him."
Sarah sighed. "I'm sorry."
"Don't be. I do love him, we just don't really have any of the same interests."
"He really got being an introvert from me. Maybe it's my fault. Maybe how I lived my life while he grew up influenced him?"
"Don't be crazy. There's nothing wrong with being an introvert, it just makes it harder to talk to him and keep a conversation going. All he likes are books."
Sarah shook her head. "He likes more than books. History is a big thing for him too. He knows so much about history and not just American history. The presidents, that's something you could talk about. You'll get there, keep trying to get his interest."
Richie nodded. "I wasn't planning on giving up."

Sarah smiled, glad he wasn't, she knew her son was hard to connect to for other people. For her he had always been like that and that was how he was, she wouldn't change a bit about him. She was glad Richie still loved her son, even if it wasn't so difficult.

"How about spending some time with Daniel?" Sarah suggested. "He's easily to please, play him a song and he's completely lost in it." She reminded him.

She was right, something Richie loved so much about their child, how he could be captured by music so easily and lose himself in it at such a young age. There was no doubt in his mind that Daniel would share his musical talent. He couldn't wait to try and prove that.

Chapter 30

The hot sun was shining down on them. Richie had navigated the boat to the middle of the lake where they were now floating on the gentle waves, enjoying the movements of the water and the heat of the sun.

"This is what we needed."

He looked over at Sarah, she was right. Finally they could relax, the last few months were filled with stress. Now all they had to do was relax.

"Definitely, although I hope they don't wake Daniel up."

He gestured towards the back of the boat where a slide was attached and ended up in the water. The teenagers were very loving it, not minding if made them seem like little children. They were having fun and that was all that mattered to them.

"You know, we could sneak away." Richie suggested. "Nobody would notice us."
Sarah looked up at his suggestion. "Right now?"
"Yeah, they don't need us. We can go do something else, practice babymaking."

She considered it, he was right, nobody would notice them and to get pregnant, they really needed to try every shot they got to succeed.

She got up from her lounge chair and grabbed Richie's hand. "Come on then, we better hurry."


A few minutes later they were in the bedroom, kissing while clothes were dropping everywhere.

Once all her clother were off, Richie pulled Sarah onto the bed, making sure she was comfortable enough as he got on top of her. He kissed her deeply and lowered himself on his elbows to stay close to her. For him it was easy to get excited and release but even if it was a quicky, he still wanted Sarah to enjoy every bit of it too.

Gently he moved into her warm walls as he kissed her soft lips, but as soon as he was inside her warmth where he loved to be, his gentleness changed to urgency as he thrusts became fast and irregular.

Sarah tried to keep up with his movements, enjoying all the frictions he was creating for her.

His release came as a surprise to her but it trigerred her own.

As Richie stopped moving, he layed down on top of her, giving her one last kiss before cuddling close to her.

Sarah cuddled her husband back, loving him in the moment he was close to her. "I love you." She said, reaching over to kiss him again.
"I love you too." He cuddled closer, happy to be where he was.

So far he had loved every moment he had been home with his family, each moment had been worth it. The tour was far behind him.

They close in bed, touching each other gently as they cuddled. Gentle kisses and touches were shared until the baby monitor alerted them of Daniel.

"Can always count on him." Richie sighed. He didn't want to let go of Sarah but they couldn't let Daniel cry on his own either.
"Don't worry." Sarah comforted him. "I'll get him and we can go back to enjoying family time."
"Sounds good, we can sit in the hot tub."
Quickly Sarah turned to look at him. "We can't. Hot tubs aren't exactly good when you're trying to have children."
"Really?"
"It's bad for sperm, too hot."
He looked down at himself. "My poor sperm."
Sarah chuckled. "Don't think Daniel would like it anyway, he's got his kiddie pool."
"We'll share that." Richie agreed, finally letting Sarah go to get their son.

Out on the deck, it was still hot but even though the hot tub was off the list now, Daniel's kiddie pool was indeed refreshing. Although Richie was considering to try the slide in a little while. He couldn't wait until Daniel was old enough to enjoy it too. Right now he was having hard enough a time to stay sitting up in the water as he played.

Sarah watched him, knowing what he was thinking right now. She chuckled. "Go try the slide already honey." She urged him, knowing he wanted to do it.
Richie looked up at her. "Really?"
"Yeah, go, quick."

Richie got up and looked down at Daniel, sure he was fine with just Sarah paying attention to him.

Sarah watched as the kids moved away and let Richie have his try on the slide. She thought it was cute as he got on it and pushed off. Seconds later he was in the water. When he came back up, he had the biggest smile on his face. Childish, but she didn't care, as long as he was happy.

Chapter 29

"Ready for a week without internet, cell phone reception and no tv?" Richie asked once everybody was in the car, ready to go.

Nobody really answered him but he didn't care, they were going to the lake for a week and it was going to be great as it always was. It being Daniel's first time at the lake, made it even more fun. So many "first times" that they could enjoy with him.

"I hope it's safe." Sarah sighed. After all they were spending the entire week on a boat on a lake. Of course it should be child proof but it still made her worry for Daniel. He wasn't quite crawling or even walking yet but that didn't make a difference in it.
"It's safe for children. Gates everywhere, he'll be fine."

It would only take 9 hours to drive to the lake but why drive if you can half that time by flying. It had been an easy choice and plane tickets were ordered.



A few hours later Richie and Caleb were busy carrying bags onto the boat as Ava and her friend went exploring and pick out a bedroom. Noah had found a comfy seat on one of the couches and continued reading the book he had started on the plane.

Sarah carried Daniel around, following Ava exploring the entire house boat. Again she was surprised by how large a house boat could be. Last year there had been two people less on their trip but the boat seemed much bigger than just two extra people.

At the back of the boat she found the master bedroom and was glad to see a travel cot folded up in the corner. If there was a bedroom close enough to theirs, Daniel could have his own, otherwise they'd have to share for a week. She wasn't too sure if Richie would like that. Sharing meant no sex.

She sat down on the bed, feeling how soft but still supportive it was. She laid down Daniel and looked up when the door opened up.

Richie hauled two large travel bags into the room and moved them to the wall.

Smiling at Sarah he plumped down on the bed. "Way too many bags."
Sarah looked over to the bags. "Did you manage to get mine and Daniel's on board too?" She teased.
Richie turned his head and gave Sarah a look.
"I'm kidding sweetheart." She said. "Did you see Daniel's sharing a room with us?"
"What? Why?" He sat up to look for a baby bed.
"It's foldable. Isn't that easy, we can fold it up and put it away during the day." Sarah continued teasing her husband with it.
"There's gotta be a bedroom around here." Richie said, he got up from the bed and walked out the door.

The first door on the left in the hallway revealed their bathroom, a full bathroom with bath and shower. He liked the idea of that a lot. The next door he found a small closet, definitely not big enough for all his stuff. Almost losing hope, he opened the third door.

"Found a room!" He called back to Sarah.

The bedroom only had one bed but had space enough to put up the travel bed for Daniel.

He walked back to the bedroom, meeting Sarah half way, at which point he turned around to show her the room that would serve as Daniel's bedroom.

"Isn't that great?" He asked. "It's close to us so he'll be fine and we can practice on making a sibling for him.
"Practice? We need to do that for real, not practice."
"We'll do for real." Richie confirmed, he'd make sure they would. If it were up to him, Sarah would leave this boat pregnant.

Chapter 28

"Ready for graduation?" Richie asked Sarah the morning Caleb was graduating high school.
"I don't think I'll ever be ready for that." Sarah answered.

They were in the dressing room, picking out formal clothes to wear to the event.

"How about the pride you feel right now?" Richie asked.
Sarah looked back at him over her shoulder, smiling. "So immensely proud of him."
"Thought so." Richie smiled back.

They picked out their formal summer wear and dressed together.

Sarah picked out one of her summerdresses as Richie decided on a nice pair of pants with a matching shirt.

"Ready to go?" Richie asked.
"Almost." Sarah said.

Leaving Sarah to continue getting ready on her own, he walked out of the room and went across the hall to check on Daniel. He still needed to be dressed too.

Specially for the occasion they had bought Daniel a new outfit, a tshirt with a tuxedo print on it and a nice pair of black pants that would be useful for just about any day.

Gently he got Daniel out of his bed and cuddled him close as he brought him over to the changing table where he laid Daniel down again.

As always, Daniel started looking around at all the pictures on the wall behind him, even if that meant he'd had to squirm into difficult postions which made it even harder for Richie to change his diaper and get him dressed.

When he finally succeeded in the task, he picked Daniel up and turned him around so he could see the pictures. He pointed them out.

"There's mommy." He said, pointing to a picture of Sarah.

Each family member had a place on the wall in Daniel's room.

Daniel reached forward out of his own and grabbed for one of the photos. Quickly Richie stopped him and looked at the photograph.

"Yeah, that's daddy and your grandpa Adam. He would have loved you."

His eyes wandered to the picture frame between the two photos of Daniel's grandfathers with his parents. It was a perfect way to show Daniel his grandfather and a perfect way for Richie and Sarah to remember their dads. The poem was still true for him.

"Come on buddy, we better go watch your big brother graduate highschool." He picked Daniel up and walked out of the bedroom, ready to take on one of those daddy tasks of letting a child go their own way.

Chapter 27

Saturday morning Richie spent with his youngest son, the rest of the day was going to be spent with his one and only daughter. Just like he had spent last Saturday with Caleb, today he was spending the entire day with Ava. One of his favorite ways to spend a day with Ava.

After breakfast he said goodbye to Daniel who was going for his morning nap anyway. He changed him up in his room and got him ready for bed, then gently tucked him in.

For a minute, he stood by the crib and watched him.

When he was sure Daniel was peacefully asleep, he turned around and walked out of the room.

Down the hall he met up with Ava.

"Ready to go?" He asked.

The teenage girl quickly grabbed her belongings and was ready to go.

Together they walked to the garage.

"Why don't you drive?" Richie suggested once they got there.
"Really?" Ava asked amazed.
"You're getting better at it and you need practice. You drive."
"Okay." Ava said cheerful as she grabbed the keys from her dad's hand and got in the car in the driver's seat instead of the passenger's seat.

A little nervous, Richie got in on the passenger's side. Ava was doing great with driving a car but she had always practiced with her own car, not his.

"Where are we going?" Ava asked.
Richie shrugged. "You're the driver, you decide."
"The mall?" Ava asked unsure.
"Sure. You know the way?" Richie asked, making sure she did and would be able to drive the whole way on her own.
"Yeah, I do."
"Great, lets get going."

The instant Ava started the car and got off the driveway and onto the street, he felt very proud. It was great to see her drive on her own.

The whole way to the mall he felt nervous along with a mixture of pride. Ava was doing great so far but soon they'd be at the mall, where it was a lot busier and she would have to park the car in between two other cars. The idea of her scratching one of the other cars made him very nervous. If it was only a scratch and nothing more.

The tense moment came up sooner than he had thought when Ava picked out a parking spot.

"Here?" She asked, pointing at a place between two other cars.
"Sure." He agreed. "Just remember to use enough space but don't hit the other ones."
"I won't." Ava said full of confidence as she started to park the car.

Richie squinted, full of nerves as Ava turned the wheel. He knew she hadn't done this one a real parking lot yet.

When she parked, Ava looked at him. "Geez dad, it's fine."
Noticing that they indeed had parked, he looked out of the window. She hadn't done bad at all. "Nicely done." He commented. "Really."
Ava smiled. "Thanks dad." She smiled proudly, getting out of the car.

Proudly, he walked with Ava. Following her in and out every store that interested her wasn't the most interesting thing to do but feeling proud of her accomplishment, he didn't mind at all and followed her gladly, allowing her everything she wanted.

Other than shopping, paying for everything and carrying all the bags, it was also a great opportunity to talk to Ava. Just to have a few minutes where she could tell him anything she would need to.

Any time spend just with Ava alone, was great to him. The shopping wasn't his favorite pass time but to do it for Ava was completely different, it made her happy and that was really all he wanted for all his children. To see them happy and smile. That was all he really needed and for that he'd happily stroll around the mall for an entire day.

Chapter 26

"Did Caleb talk to you?" Sarah asked that same night when they were getting ready for bed.
"About playing guitar?" Richie asked to be sure he was thinking of the same subject as his wife was. "Yeah, he asked when we could play again. We played a little after dinner but Saturday, I'll devote the whole day to it."
"Really?" Sarah asked, pulling back the sheets of the bed to get in.
"Yeah." Richie sighed, doing the same actions as Sarah to get in bed. "It's all been about Daniel so Saturday I'll really make time for Caleb and next week Ava or Noah too and the week after."
"That's a nice idea." Sarah agreed. "Personally, I think I should go shopping with Ava, that way we can really catch up." She moved closer to him in the bed and smiled up at him as she wrapped her arms around him, putting her head on his shoulder to cuddle.
"Yeah right." Richie chuckled. "You just want to go shopping but yeah, it's a good idea."
"We could have our own girl's day. Sunday? So you can be home with Daniel."
Richie nodded. "Sounds good." He agreed, after all, someone did have to stay with Daniel. "What should I do with Noah though? I still can't get through to him that much."
Sarah cuddled closer, thinking of something too. "Take him to the bookstore but be sure it's one that has Starbucks so you can have some coffee, he can stay occupied for hours in a bookstore."
Again Richie nodded and smiled, having known that would be a good idea. "Right, instead of spending my money on clothes for Ava, books for Noah."
"He'll love it." Sarah cuddled into her husband with a smile on her face. "Let's get some sleep." She suggested.
"Good night." He reached in to kiss her gently.



Next Saturday, Richie stuck to his promise, after breakfast he took Caleb to his office upstairs where some of his favorite guitars were. The rests of his guitars were all safely put away in another room.

Caleb didn't nearly have as much guitars but his favorite to play now was the red one he got from Richie. It played much better than his old one and sounded ten times as good.

"So what do you want to play?" Richie asked as he picked up one of his guitars and strummed a few notes to check if it needed tuning.
"Doesn't matter." Caleb shrugged and placed his guitar over his lap as he sat on the comfortable couch. "We can just jam."
"And go from there." Richie suggested.

Caleb started playing.

Richie was too amazed too start playing his own guitar, Caleb's playing was sounding amazing. It had been weeks since they played together but he didn't remember Caleb being this good.

It took him a few minutes to recover from the amazement and to catch up with Caleb's tune.

"That's really good." Richie complimented him after they ended their jam session.
"You think so?" Caleb asked, not sure if it really was that good.
"Yeah, I wouldn't lie."
Caleb wanted to ask something but hesitated a few seconds before doing so. "So would you listen to a song I'm working on and give an honest opinion?"
"You're working on a song?" Richie said excited. Caleb had always wanted to play other songs, he hadn't written any of his own yet. "Of course I do."

The teenage boy pulled a piece of paper from his jeans pocket and flattened it on the couch next to him so he could read as he played. There weren't much words on the paper, mostly chords and notes that he was trying to go somewhere with.

He picked up his guitar and started at the top.

Richie listened to the first chord, how it smoothed into the next and the next. The melodies flowed into each other like a perfect harmony.

He leaned back in his seat as he listened to it, fully enjoying what he was hearing and very amazed that Caleb had writen it all by himself. The boy sure had improved, how had he missed this?

He did exactly what Caleb had asked him and gave a very honest opinion of the song and encouraging Caleb to continue to work on it. It was a rough version but with some work, it would become a diamond.

Richie knew his youngest son needed a lot of attention but he was going to make sure Caleb was going to get enough help with the song as he needed. In September he was off to a college to study music and a song like this would be a very good head start.

September was right around the corner, now was the time to spend as much time with Caleb as he could. All too soon, Noah and Ava would follow him off to college too.

Chapter 25

"Mom." Caleb complained as he walked into the kitchen where Sarah was cooking dinner for the family.
Sarah turned around from the stove. "What's wrong?" She asked, knowing her son's complaining voice and when it came up.
"What's up with Richie?"
Sarah frowned. "What do you mean?"
"He's been home for five weeks and we haven't played guitar since before we went on vacation."
"Daniel's been sick, we were at the hospital a lot."
Caleb sighed frustrated. "I know but it's been two weeks, we used to always play together and now he's never brought it up and I'm not sure if I should."

Sarah quickly turned around to turn over the meat to save it from burning.

"Just ask him if he wants to play guitar. Dinner's alsmost ready so go ask now if he wants to teach you some new stuff after dinner." Sarah suggested.
"I guess." Caleb sighed. "And what if he says no?"
"Then ask for tomorrow. He likes guitar, why would he say no?"
Caleb shrugged, "He's busy with Daniel most of the times."
"Just ask." Sarah repeated and turned back to cook.

Caleb walked out of the kitchen. "All about Daniel." He said under his breath but sure that his mother still heard him.

In the living room he found his father, as he had expected, with Daniel.

"Richie?" Caleb asked carefully.

Richie looked up, frowning, not used to it anymore when they called him by his first name. They'd been calling him dad for months and it surprised him that Caleb hadn't. Perhaps it meant something bad.

"Yeah?" He asked. "What's up?"

He got up from the couch and went to lay Daniel in his playpen, then joined Caleb on the couch.

"So?" He asked.
"We haven't played guitar in a while." Caleb said, trying to be straight forward as much as he dared to be.
"Oh." Richie thought back and realized Caleb was right. "We haven't. Sorry, it's slipped my mind with everything going on with Daniel."
"It's okay." He said quickly. "I was wondering if you could help me with a couple songs and maybe teach me something new."
"Yeah, of course." Richie said excited right away. "Now? Or sometime later?"

Caleb smiled, relieved that Richie did want to play with him and still pay attention to him too.

"I don't know. " He hadn't expected Richie's excitement and was a bit surprised now.

"Dinner's ready!" Sarah called from the kitchen as she got ready to set the table in the other room.

"After dinner?" Richie suggested quickly. "We can just jam for now and I'll help you with your songs on Saturday?"
"Yeah." Caleb smiled again. "That sounds good."
"Great," Richie got up from the couch. "Lets go help your mom set the table."

Caleb got up and followed his dad without a problem, not minding having to help out at all. He was getting a chance to play guitar with his dad again. Someone that he looked up to when it came to guitars.

After dinner, Richie stuck true to his word and went upstairs to Caleb's room as Sarah and Noah cleared off the table and did the dishes.

While playing, Richie realized how Caleb must have felt, how everyone must have felt the past few weeks. Everything had been about Daniel.

In five weeks, he had also missed spending time and playing guitar with Caleb and now he realized he missed the same with Ava and Noah but now he knew what he had to do.

Chapter 24

As he slept in the next morning, unconsciously he felt someone was watching him sleep.

Slowly he woke up, turning to his side as he opened his eyes to see Sarah staring at him.

"Morning." Sarah smiled up at him.
He moaned before answering. "Morning. What time is it?"
"Quite early." Sarah answered, moving closer to cuddle into him, her head resting on his chest.
Richie bent to kiss the top of her head, her hair smelled nice. "Then why are we up?"
"I realized we forgot something and I've been wanting to tell you since I remembered."
He frowned a little as Sarah met his eyes. "What did we forget?"
"Last week, was two years since we met."
"Oh." He remembered now, she was right. It had been two years already. "Slipped my mind, I didn't mean to."
Sarah smiled and kissed him. "I know, I forgot too. We've had a lot on our minds."
"So should we still celebrate this?" Richie wondered.
"Of course. I already had an idea how to celebrate."

He felt Sarah's hand move under the sheets. The warmness of her skin touched his thigh as he felt her slowly moving her hand up. It seemed like a good way to celebrate to him.

With only the slightest touch Sarah had made to his skin, he felt his dick reacting right away.

He gasped when her hand wrapped around him.

"Definitely not something you would have done two years ago." Richie said, enjoying the stroking feeling of Sarah's soft hand over him.
"No." Sarah agreed. A lot had changed in those two years. "Thanks."
Richie frowned. "For what?"
"Everything. Without you I probably wouldn't even have finished rehab successfully."
"We help each other." Richie said sweetly.

Taking his own words into action, Richie moved underneath Sarah's hand, leaning over so he was able to make Sarah lay down.

They shared a passionate kiss making them wanting to be even closer together, as Richie carefully moved on top of her.

Sarah’s head fell back into the pillows when he nuzzled her neck, giving him a better reach. His soft kisses trailed over her neck to her chest to settle on her breast. Sarah gasped when his warm breath covered her nipple and started sucking, making it hard. He licked away the wetness and gave her other breast the same treatment then made his way down.

He kissed the dark triangle of hair before finding the treasure of his trail.

She felt a soft kiss on her clit, barely noticeable. “Richie!” Sarah exclaimed excited.

She moaned when he sucked. His tongue parted her lips and pushed between them, inside her. “You taste so good.” He mumbled, hardly understandable.

Sarah reached her hands into his hair, pushing him closer to her. He pulled his tongue back and back up to her clit.

He felt she was getting close and moved his head away even though she was holding him.

Sarah moaned when he moved away. “Why?” She was so close now.
“Be patient.” He simply said and kissed her softly.

She knew Richie would want some kind of release too, she could feel him hard and ready against her thigh but he continued to kiss her softly en gentle, making it passionate.

He nudged her legs apart with his knee, settling in between her without ending their kisses.

“Richie.” She almost begged for him now.
His hands moved under her shoulders, pushing her up a little as he finally slid inside her.
“Ooooh.” Sarah moaned at the feeling of him filling her.

He rocked softly against her, taking it slow, he didn't speed up and kept his soft and gentle thrusts.

Sarah wrapped her arms around his shoulders, pulling him even closer than he already was; she kissed his shoulders and neck.

Richie felt her tighten around his dick already, she was getting close but so was he. His mind told him to speed up to get his release but he wanted the closeness, the feeling of Sarah’s soft lips on his shoulders and neck as her fingers slid up and down his sides.

“Rich I’m gonna…” Sarah moaned, he had already brought her close to an orgasm earlier, this wouldn't take much longer.
“Go.” He whispered, taking capture of her lips again.

Sarah’s orgasm washed over her, clenching around his dick, it set off Richie’s own orgasm. “Oh God.” They both gasped.

Carefully, Richie lowered himself so he could rest on Sarah's body. He could feel her nipples against his chest and enjoyed the aftermath of sex as Sarah continued to kiss his shoulders.

"New month, new year, think the hard times are past us?" Sarah asked gently, bearing in mind the past couple of weeks that had been hard for them.

Richie smiled at what she said, thinking of something else.

"Seems like hard times come easy, we do a lot of hanging on these days. But the heart finds a reason, and love always seems to find a way. Even if it hurts, even if it hurts us baby."

Sarah smiled back at him, reaching in for the kiss that he was going for.

Although his lyrics were old, he was right, they would always find a way.

Chapter 23

"Do you think this is has been our last stay at the hospital for at least a year?" Richie asked, then quickly added, "no wait. June, July, August, September, October, November, December, January, February. Do you think this is our last stay at the hospital til February?" He corrected himself.
Sarah chuckled. "Why February?"
"That's nine months from now, I'm planning to get you pregnant again and baby by March or so."
"I didn't know you had a schedule."
"It's not a schedule per se, it's more of a goal." Richie corrected. "A few weeks later would be fine too."
Sarah smiled. "Good to know."

Richie parked at the drugstore a few minutes later and Sarah got out of the car. She'd pick up everything they needed by herself as Richie stayed with Daniel.

He looked back at his son who was staring out of the window, it was hard to read his expression but Daniel seemed alright. Once again he seemed to be getting better and they all hoped it would stay like that this time.

"Daniel?" He asked but had to ask a few more times before he could get Daniel's attention away from the window. "What's so interesting out there?" He asked, not seeing what Daniel was seeing.

Daniel looked away after a minute and Richie focused on the store's door again, waiting for Sarah to come out.

When the door opened the next time and Sarah walked through it, Richie ignited the car engine again and waited for Sarah to get in.

"Got everything?" He asked as his wife sat down in her seat.
"Yeah. Let's go home so Daniel can rest."

Carefully Richie backed out of the parking space and drove home.



At home, Richie got the bag from Sarah so she could take Daniel inside.

Once they were in the kitchen, he looked through what Sarah had gotten. Most of it were meds for Daniel but he didn't quite understand why Sarah had bought half a dozen pregnancy tests.

"What are these for?" He asked, pulling one out of the bag to show Sarah what he was asking about.
"They're to test if I'm pregnant or not."
Richie gave her a look to say he was asking a serious question.
Sarah shrugged. "Lots of women have some bleeding during their pregnancy, I thought if I take a test, we're sure."
He frowned at her explanation. "You can have your period while being pregnant?"
"No, it wouldn't be a period really, but some blood loss is possible and maybe it's just that."
His face cleared up right away. "So you could be pregnant anyway?"
She shrugged again, "That's what I'd like to test."
"Wanna test that now?" Richie asked, he needed to know about this pregnancy as soon as possible.

Was he going to be a father again or did they have to try again? He needed to know. Having found out that it was still possible for Sarah to be pregnant had given him new hope for this pregnancy and he couldn't wait to find out.

"Sure." Sarah picked up a box and passed Daniel over.
Richie took his son and cuddled him close then looked up at Sarah. "Whatever the result is, it's fine. If it's negative we keep trying and if it's positive that's even better."
"So we want it to be positive." Sarah clarified what her husband had said as he contradicted himself.
"Don't we?"
"Of course we do." Sarah agreed with him.
"And if it's negative, we just have to have more sex." Richie suggested a solution.
"You'd love that." Sarah said as she walked out of the room to go to the bathroom. "No pressure." She told herself but feeling the complete opposite.

She wanted it to be positive too, that little bit of doubt had made her get the tests so she could be sure of it instead of wondering. Richie was right, if it was negative, they'd try again but she knew how much they both wanted another child. Rather now than in a few years, age wasn't on their side.

Richie sat with Daniel as he waited. He couldn't help himself but let his mind wander off to the future. Would Daniel have a little sister or a little brother? As a boy he would probably prefer a brother but Sarah wanted her own daughter. Another boy and then a girl? Or a girl and then another boy? Both seemed fine to him.

Caleb was leaving the house soon and in two years both Ava and Noah would follow, leaving them alone with just Daniel and future baby. Their house would be too quiet, it needed more life and joy, more children to keep it a happy place.

He was drawn away from his fantasy as Sarah walked back into the room.

"And?" He asked hopeful as Sarah sat down on the couch next to him.

She shook her head in the same motion as she leaned over to lean on his shoulder.

Carefully he wrapped his arm around Sarah, pulling her closer. "It's okay." He said, trying to believe his own words.

Sarah merely shook her head again as the tears started falling. The last few days she had held on to the hopes of getting a positive result anyway, against all odds.

"It's okay." Richie repeated, stroking Sarah's back, trying to comfort her through the pain.

Chapter 22

Walking into the children's hospital emergency department, Richie carried his son as Sarah walked ahead of them.

Holding Daniel so close, he now recognized Sarah's worries, Daniel did seem to have difficulty breathing.

He caught up with Sarah to get some help for Daniel.

"How can I help?" The receptionist asked.
"Our son was discharged about a week ago but he doesn't seem to be doing very well." Richie explained before Sarah could say anything.
The receptionist took Daniel's information. "Do you remember which doctor treated him?"
"Dr. Smillie." Richie said, still finding it a funny name.
"I'll check if he's available and if you take a seat to wait, I'll send him over as soon as he can."

Sarah and Richie took the advise and went to sit in the waiting area with other parents that were waiting to be seen by a doctor.

They only sat for a fewm minutes when a nurse called them to the ER where once again they were lead to a cubicle and were given an oxygen mask for Daniel.

Luckily Dr. Daniel wasn't too busy and showed up only half an hour later during which Sarah and Richie sat on the bed with their son. Daniel still didn't like the oxygen mask but also didn't seem to need it that much.

"Good morning." Dr. Daniel said cheerfully as he walked in along with a nurse. He read the chart quickly. "Daniel isn't feeling better?" He asked.
Sarah spoke up this time. "He's struggling to breathe again. It's declined since last week again."

After a quick check up Dr. Daniel was already pretty sure of what was going on.

"Pneunomia is common after whooping cough. We'll do another x-ray and go from there."


The x-rays confirmed the doctor's suspicion and Daniel was diagnosed with pneunomia only a week after recovering from whooping cough.

As parents they both felt let down, Daniel was getting better and now he was getting worse again. Their son should be happy and healthy instead of being back in the hospital.

"The only reason we're admitting Daniel today is to keep an eye on him today and during the night. To make sure he's strong enough to go home tomorrow morning." Dr. Daniel eplained to them.

Disappointed, the parents followed a nurse to a room where Daniel would stay the night.

"This sucks." Richie said after the nurse and doctor had left the room and left the small family by themselves.
Sarah sighed. "I know. I wanted him to be better now, not relapse."
"Yeah."

Richie sat down in one of the comfy chairs next to Daniel's hospital crib. The room was almost the same as the previous one was. A metal colorful painted baby crib in the middle of the room, two reclining chairs on each side and a pull out couch against the wall by the window.

Using his phone, he decided to update his friends about Daniel again. Back in the hospital.


The day passed without any events. Daniel didn't care much about where he was as long as his mommy and daddy were there with him.

Richie had kept him busy with music and played with him until he had to leave to pick everyone up from school and switched jobs with Sarah.


In the evening, they both stayed with Daniel, leaving their teenagers home alone for the night.

"What do you think?" Sarah asked.
"About?" Richie asked back.
"Daniel being here, do you think he'll get to go home tomorrow?"
Richie looked up at his son sleeping peacefully in the crib. "Yeah."
"So sure?"
"Yeah. He's been fine all day, he's got his medication and he doesn't even need the extra air." He listed the reasons why he thought Daniel could go home in the morning again.
Sarah nodded. "Good points. I hope so."

Chapter 21

That same night, Sarah and Richie sat in bed together before going to sleep.

Sarah wore one of her short, flimsy nightgowns that Richie liked so much before they'd strip down to sleep. For once, Richie was still partially dressed, tight boxers were all he was wearing as he sat close to his wife. He was still scrolling through stuff on his phone.

Sarah was holding the baby monitor, the sound had already been raised so she could hear Daniel breath as he slept in his own room. She still couldn't shake the worried feeling.

"Listen." Sarah said, holding the baby monitor closer to hear Daniel.
Richie looked up at his wife. She shouldn't worry so much. "He's fine."
"No, listen. His breathing sounds raspy."
He listened for a few seconds. "The doctor said he'd sound raspy for a while, he's still recovering."
"But it sounds like he's struggling to breathe, it's rapid again and wheezy."

Richie sighed, he didn't want his wife to worry this much about their son. He'd been very ill but he was recovering and it would still take a while to get back to normal, they both knew that.

"That's normal." He tried to reassure again.
"It's not." Sarah insisted. "I'm taking him back to the hospital in the morning."
"Fine." He gave in, at least that would give Sarah peace of mind. "We'll go in the morning."

With a sigh, Sarah placed the baby monitor back on the night stand next to the bed. Then she turned around to her husband, snuggling into his side, laying her head on his shoulder.

Putting away his phone, he wrapped his arms around his wife and cuddled her back.



In the morning Sarah woke up alone, she felt it without opening her eyes, Richie's presence wasn't there. Which disappointed her, waking up next to him was one of the best things in her life. Waking up in his arms was even better.

Opening her eyes, she noticed the room was empty, Richie wasn't there. She also didn't hear him in the bathroom or dressing room. What she did hear was Daniel on the baby monitor. He'd been a great baby and had learned to sleep through the nights quite quickly which all of them were very grateful for.

After getting up and putting on a matching housecoat that wouldn't reveal how flimsy her nightgown was, Sarah walked to Daniel's room.

Once she stood next to him, she became more worried about his breathing. Richie had been right, she knew that, Daniel still needed to recover but he hadn't been recovering. He'd been home for over a week but not progress. A mother's instinct told her that it wasn't right and that there was something more that needed to be checked out.

Daniel was still sleeping and believing sleep was one of the best ways to recover, Sarah left him to sleep some more while she went to look for Richie.

In the hallway she turned left and walked to his office. The door was slightly open and a light was turned on, she could hear Richie talk but nobody answered. He was obviously on the phone talking to somebody.

As she heard him end his call, Sarah gently knocked on the door and pushed it open.

"Everything okay?'
Richie sighed as he put the phone back in it's docking station and looked up at his wife. "Fine."
"What's wrong?" Sarah asked as she walked over to him.
"Nothing really, just phoned Jon to say I won't be on tour."
Sarah looked up at her husband, searching his eyes. "Do you regret that now?"
"Not at all but it makes me feel I'm letting everyone down."
Sarah understood and wrapped her arms around him, laying her head on his chest. "Who are the most important people in your life?" She asked him.
"You, Ava, Daniel and Caleb and Noah." He didn't need to think about it.
"You're not letting any of us down. We're all very happy to have you home for a few more months."
"Yeah." Richie agreed and wrapped his arms around Sarah too. Remembering just how important his family was to him. "Lets go get dressed so we can get Daniel checked out by a doctor." He suggested before reaching down to kiss Sarah. How glad he was to be able to go on doctor visits with Daniel, even though he didn't want to hear any more bad news.

Chapter 20

A few days before the next leg of the tour, going to Europe, Richie still wasn't sure if he was going. Sure Daniel was feeling better but he was anxious to leave him. Daniel's stay at the hospital had been an eye opening realization, anything could happen to his little boy.

Time was pressing and he knew he had to make a choice.

Leaving his fans again wasn't something he really wanted to do either, they wanted to see him perform but instead of feeling excitement before a tour, he simply didn't feel it. Right now, family seemed more important to him.

He needed to make his mind up, he also couldn't leave the band hanging just like that. If he was going to stay home, he had to let them know sooner rather than later.

"Richie?"

He looked up when he heard Sarah calling from their bedroom. They had just put Daniel in bed for his morning nap and were gonna spend some time together. She probably had thought of what they could do.

Getting up from his desk chair in his casual office, he already thought of putting on a movie and cuddling on the bed with his beautiful wife.

His office was accross the stairs landing, two doors away from their bedroom. In under a minute, he was standing in their bedroom but Sarah wasn't.

"Honey?" He asked, unsure if she was in the bathroom or the dressing room.
"Bathroom." She answered.

After gently knocking on the door to be sure, he carefully opened it and peeked in.

"Alright?" He asked, seeing Sarah sitting on the toilet.
"No."
Closing the door behind him, he quickly walked over to her. "What's wrong?"
"I'm bleeding, I need pads, underwear."
"Bleeding?" He asked confused.

She couldn't be bleeding. Sarah was pregnant again, they were going to see a doctor to be sure. She couldn't be bleeding.

"Richie?" Sarah asked. "Pads?"
He shook his head, "Right," and turned to reach for a pad to hand to Sarah.
"Thanks. Can you get underwear and pants for me too?"
"Yeah."

Dazed, he turned and walked to the dressing room to get clean clothes. It couldn't be.

He watched Sarah change in the bathroom but it didn't register in his mind.

"Rich? Are you alright?" Sarah asked once she had finished changing and noticed her husband standing there looking pale and absent.
He looked up and blinked a few times, feeling tears slip away. "Yeah."
Sarah walked over to him to take his hand. "Let's go lay down before Daniel wants lunch."

She pulled at his hand to make him walk out of the bathroom and to their bed.

Once they were laying down on the bed, Sarah moved close to him and put his arm over her body as he hadn't moved.

"Richie?" She asked again. "It was early on, we couldn't be sure of it yet."
"Yeah." He agreed.
Not feeling conviced, Sarah added. "It happened before Daniel too. We just try again next week."
Hopeful, he looked up at her.
"We weren't going to give up that quickly, were we?" She asked, looking into his worried, hurt eyes.
"We try again." He confirmed.

Sarah was right, they wanted another baby and weren't going to give up to quickly after they hadn't even really started trying yet. After Sarah's period, they'd just try again until they succeed.

"I'm sorry." Sarah said, looking at her husband and seeing him more hurt than she was feeling.

Knowing it had taken a few tries to be sure Daniel was sure, she hadn't put too much hope in it yet. She'd told herself to not get attached for another few months when it would be confirmed and sure that she was pregnant. She still felt the loss right now but felt strong enough to try again. It wasn't meant to be right now.

"Don't be sorry. It's not your fault." Richie told her firmly, he didn't want her to blame herself for it either. "Next week we try again." He agreed with her. "I need to make sure you finally have your girl after all."
Happy that he was not giving up, Sarah snuggled into him again. "We've got time."
"Yeah. I'll be here to keep trying."
"You're touring." Sarah pointed out.
Richie shook his head gently. "No, I'm staying home."
Surprised Sarah looked up at him. "Why?"
He shrugged. "The last month and a half, I've spend so much time with everyone, it's been so nice and I don't want to lose that. I want to teach Ava and Noah to drive. I want to see Caleb graduate and go out to college. I want to see Daniel, crawl, stand, walk and talk. I'm not gonna be there for all that if I'm on tour. Most of all, I want to be here with you and keep trying for our baby girl." He explained. "I'm staying home."

Chapter 19

"Where's my beautiful wife?" Richie asked as he walked back into the house the next morning after driving everyone to school.
"Kitchen." Sarah answered him.

Richie put away his stuff and walked to the kitchen, finding Daniel sitting in his high chair and Sarah sitting next to him at the table.

"Still having breakfast?" He asked confused.
Sarah looked up at him. "No, I got the mail."
"Is that good or bad?"

As he asked to the question, he walked to the fridge to get himself a drink. The mornings were getting hotter, summer was approaching.

"I'm not sure. There's a letter here for Caleb, from a university."
"That could be good." Richie said, pulling out a chair next to her.
"Or not."
"Why not?" Richie asked.
"It's from the University of Lethbridge."
Richie frowned. "Lethbridge? Where's that?"
"It's where my cousin lives, remember the ranch last summer?"
"In Canada? Why did he apply there?"
Sarah shrugged, looking at the unopened envelop. "I don't want him to go that far."
Richie looked at the envelop. "You didn't open it?"
"I can't open his letters."
"Maybe he didn't get in?" Richie tried.
"Maybe." Sarah shrugged, putting the letter down and getting up from her chair.

She picked up Daniel and waited for Richie to follow her to the living room where she sat Daniel on the floor and gave him his blocks again. The boy loved building.

"What are we doing today?" Sarah asked, sitting down again.
"Be together?" Richie suggested as he sat down next to his wife and pulled her close to hug. He gently placed his hand on her belly. "How's that going?"
"Still late." Sarah sighed.
"That's good."
"You better have made a girl this time."
Richie chuckled. "Yeah, yeah, I know, a girl. I didn't know we were trying, otherwise I really could have tried my best for that."
"Yeah, right, how?" Sarah chuckled.
"My super sperm can do anything."
"Super sperm?" She chuckled again.
Richie pulled her closer. "We got Daniel and with our age that was supposed to be hard."
"Took 6 months." Sarah pointed out to remind him that it hadn't been successful from the first try either.
"Yeah but it worked out perfect and now you might be pregnant again so, Super Sperm."
Sarah reached up to kiss him. "Whatever you say dear."

Chapter 18

After dropping everyone off at school, Richie returned back to his hopefully pregnant wife. He had made a quick stop to pick up some donuts for a morning snack and had driven home straight away.

Now that Daniel was out of the hospital, his mother had gone home to her house. Construction had finished and she had been very excited to go home. They would go visit her very soon.

When he walked back into the house, putting away his car keys and shoes, he noticed how quiet it was. Perhaps Sarah had taken Daniel upstairs after he had left.

He walked into the kitchen to get a drink to go with the donuts when he heard sounds coming from the living room.

Closing the fridge again, he turned around and went to check out the sound.

Unlike he had expected, Daniel was sitting in his playpen building a house out of his soft blocks.

He also noticed Sarah laying on her belly on the couch, a pillow over her head.

"Sarah?" He asked confused. "What's wrong?"
"Shhhh." She urged him to be quiet.

Trying to be as quiet as possible, he walked over to her and sqautted down next to the couch. Gently, he laid his hand on her back and started stroking.

"What's wrong?" He repeated.
"My head's killing me."
"Headache?"
"Everything hurts, every sound, all the lights. It hurts." She complained.
"I'll get you something."

On his way back to the kitchen, he quickly checked on Daniel but he seemed perfectly fine with the house he had built.

Once in the kitchen, he found different kinds of painkillers. Knowing Sarah couldn't take them while pregnant, he quickly started reading the instructions to them. Which weren't helpful at all because they all suggested a doctor's opinion. He wanted his wife to feel better now, not in an hour after he got off the phone. Besides, they didn't know if Sarah really was pregnant.

Picking up the instructions, he looked for one that was specifically for head aches and migraines.

Finally he found an appropriate painkiller to help his wife. He already felt bad it had taken him so long to find them.

He took a small bottle of water from the fridge, a cold pack and the donuts too and brought it all back to the living room.

"Can you sit for a second?" He whispered.

A few seconds later, Sarah managed to sit up and take the pill that was handed to her. She drank most of the water and wanted to lay down again but she was grateful for Richie closing the curtains as she drank.

He returned a second later and sat down where Sarah had been laying her head under the pillow.

"I was laying there." She said, not appreciating he had taken her spot.

Richie placed the pillow in his lap and patted it.

"Lay down," He said, reaching for the coffee table, "eat something first."
"I can't eat, it hurts to just sit up. I just want to lay down again."

Putting down the donut, he picked up the cold pack.

"Lay down." He instructed again as he patted the pillow.

This time Sarah listened and moved to lay down with her head on his lap.

Once Sarah was settled, she weakly smiled up at him before closing her eyes.

Her eyes opened in surprise when she felt the cold on her forehead but closed them again as it felt good.

"Since when do you get migraine attacks?" Richie asked, still whispering.
"I don't know. Hormones?"
"Maybe." He agreed.

A few minutes later he felt somewhat relieved to notice Sarah had fallen asleep.

He felt bad for her and hoped a nap would help her to feel better. He never liked seeing his wife in pain, especially this badly. Profusely he hoped that this wasn't going hand in hand with pregnancy. Nine months of pain like that would be too much to bear, he knew that without having felt it.

If it wasn't a sign of hormones and pregnancy, there were a number of causes. His mind immediately thought of the worst cases.

Those simply couldn't be true, Sarah was healthy, there was no reason to think that one migraine could have such drastic causes. It was a one time thing.

Trying to forget that train of thought, he looked at Daniel in his playpen who was rebuilding his block house. Seeing Daniel sit there as he laid the black perfectly on top of each other, made him feel very proud.

A week out of the hospital and he had made such progress. What did doctors know anyway?

Chapter 17

"He's doing it! He's doing it!" Richie said excited, scaring away the cat that was sleeping on the couch and waking up the dog.

Sarah rushed into the room, only a short distance from the dining room where she had been studying.

"What?" She asked, worried about what was going on.
"Daniel's sitting." Richie looked up at her with the proudest smile.

Sarah smiled back and walked around the couch to see Daniel sitting on his own on the couch. He was looking up at her, a little excitement and confusement in his eyes. Immediately she became as proud as Richie was.

A week after being discharged from the hospital and a lot of practice, their little boy finally got a hang of sitting on his own.

"Well done." Sarah reached for her son and picked him up to cuddle as she sat down where he had been sitting.

Richie got up from the floor and joined his wife on the couch, seeing how happy Daniel looked right now.

"How's studying going?"
"Good. I think I might finish this course earlier than expected." Sarah said confidently.
"That's great. Keep up the good work, I know you can do this."
She smiled up at her husband and reached in to kiss his cheek. "Thank you."

As she pulled back, she looked down at Daniel in her lap. Her little boy was growing up. If he could sit, crawling wouldn't be far away, she didn't need to have studied for that.

"I have to tell you something." She looked up at Richie, worried that he might not be happy about it after all.
"What?" He asked.
Sarah hesitated for a few seconds but then decided to just say it and have it over with, it wasn't anything bad after all. "I haven't had my period since before we went to Hawaii."
"You're late?" Richie asked to be sure he had heard it right.
"About a month now."
Richie nodded, thinking it over. "So you might be pregnant?"
"I guess." Sarah shrugged. "It's very early, so maybe I am just late. Stress can cause that and Daniel in the hospital was definitely stressful."
Richie nodded again, he knew that was true so maybe he shouldn't get his hopes up just yet. "But if you are pregnant, that's great."
Sarah smiled at him. "I'm glad your happy."
"Of course I'm happy. Daniel needs a brother or sister."
"Yeah." Sarah moved over to lean into her husband's side. "I was worried you wouldn't be happy about it."
He frowned, how could she think that? They both wanted to try for more children as long as they could. "Why?"
"Because Daniel is only 6 months old, the world tour and all that."
"I'm very happy." Richie clarified, "but like you said, it's very early."

Later that day, Richie recorded a short video of Daniel sitting. He had to inform everyone of the fact that his son was finally able to sit all on his own. Besides, his mother had gone home and Grandma Joan also needed to know that her youngest grandchild could sit.

Only a few minutes after he had sent the video, David was the first to answer.

Do I need to get him a "congratulations on learning to sit" present?

Richie laughed at that and immediately told him that Daniel would need presents for each mile stone he achieved.

He was proud of his son and wanted everyone to feel exactly the same. Daniel had had a very rough month and for him to end a month like that with such a big achievement made him a very happy father.

Chapter 16

Sarah walked into the living room to find her mother and mother in law having coffee together.

Joan looked up at who walked in, and asked right away, "Is Richie staying with Daniel today?"
"No, I'm not." Richie piped up from behind Sarah, carefully moving past her, carrying Daniel in his arms.

Both Joan and Abbey's faces lighted up with happiness.

Richie sat down on the couch, Sarah followed his motions and sat down next to him.

"Discharged this morning." Richie said happily. "Still on meds but well enough to finally go home."

Both grandmothers huddled around their grandchild immediately, making sure he really was okay now.

"He looks so much better." Joan said, watching Daniel look at them all.

Sarah and Richie smiled, it almost felt like the first time they brought him home. Then too, everyone had rushed over to make sure Daniel was alright and comfortable.

Now, he laid on Richie's chest. One of his favorite places to be, he was very happy to be so close to his daddy again. Richie felt the same way, even though Daniel couldn't say it, he just knew Daniel like this too. So close together, he could protect Daniel whenever he needed it and this was very comfortable for the both of them.

Sarah watched her husband, she could see how happy her husband was to have his son back. She felt the same but in a while she'd make sure she could hold her baby son for a while too.

At the hospital it had been difficult to cuddle him so close with the IV and all the coughing spells, now they felt like they did a few weeks ago, a new family again.

It was only morning so Daniel had a few more hours to spend with his parents before his siblings got home and the excitement would start all over again.

Sarah moved close to her husband, resting her head on his shoulder, looking down at her precious son. So very glad he had pulled through.

As she realized that, another thought crossed her mind. Daniel was healthy again, Richie had stayed home from touring to stay with his sick son but now that Daniel was healed, would he leave on tour again?

He had only been gone for a month but giving up your husband for a month and only see him a few times during that month, isn't as easy as people would think. Sarah needed her husband, she knew that wasn't a selfish thought, every married person needed their spouse and so did she.

She never wanted to let him go, home was where he needed to be, with his wife and children but his job took him places. Just like many other jobs would but that didn't change the fact that she would miss him. Not only Sarah would miss him, there were four children that would miss their father just as much.

Gently, she turned her head to look up at her husband's handsome face. For the first time in weeks, she could see the stress and worry had finally faded from his features.

Finally, she decided to just ask him. The easiest way to find out instead of worrying about what his decision would be during the next week until he had made up his mind on his own.

"Will you be going back on tour now?" She asked carefully, not entirely sure if she even wanted an answer to it just yet.
Richie turned and smiled down at her. "I don't know." He confessed.

He had a difficult choice ahead of him. Leave his son alone again or go back on tour. He knew he wasn't leaving Daniel alone exactly but if he went back on tour, he'd have to leave Daniel behind. He wasn't sure if he was ready for that just yet. Having seen his little boy so sick, he didn't ever want to leave him alone again. Who knew what could happen to him.

Of course he'd be just fine with Sarah but it was still different than actually staying home wit him. A choice that right now was too hard for him.

Instead, he looked down at that precious boy they had created and watched how he dozed off to sleep. Here, with Sarah and Daniel so close to him, he was perfectly happy.

Chapter 15

A week later, Daniel was finally going through his last check up. Today would be decided if he could go home the next day or not. It had been 24 days since he had been admitted to the hospital and to his parents and family that had finally been enough.

If it was needed, they'd have to let him stay longer but hopefully they could take him home again. Three weeks had been long enough. It had been very stressful for the entire family and it was time to release that stress and have Daniel home again.

Dr. Smillie entered the room along with nurse Jenny. Hopefully it would be one of the last time they'd meet.

Richie and Sarah were waiting eagerly with Daniel. They both knew the progress Daniel had made, he still coughed but didn't stop breathing or vomited anymore. It seemed like a normal cough that would go away in another week or two.

"How's little Daniel today?" The doctor asked as they entered the room. By Daniel's bed, he picked up the chart and started reading it.
"Much better." Richie answered right away.
Dr. Smillie nodded. "Looks like it," he looked up at them, "everything seems alright. We just want to do the same tests as we did three weeks ago to compare and see how his lungs are doing right now."
"Another blood test and x-rays?" Sarah asked, already dreading a blood test.
"Yes, we'll have the test results by tomorrow morning and then we'll know if he can go home."
Richie looked at his. "You'll be ready to go home go buddy, we're more than ready to have you home again."

Sarah reached over and rubbed her husband's back, knowing his words were very true. The house had become very quiet without Daniel there.

Sarah picked up her little boy and held him in her arms, letting the doctor get ready to do the blood test as nurse Jenny went to schedule him for an x-ray.

As they had expected, Daniel cried when the needle pierced his skin to get to a vain but Sarah held him tight and close, comforting him as best as she could.

"That's all." Dr. Smillie said. "Now we'll have the results in the morning but I have a pretty good feeling he can go home in the morning."
"Great." Sarah and Richie both agreed.

Sarah held her son a little closer to comfort him as Richie got up and followed the doctor out of the room. He Just needed to ask a few questions about Daniel. Mostly about the fact that Daniel had to go through a hearing test, which made no sense at all.

Gladly, Sarah looked down at her son. So very happy that he was finally getting better enough to go home again. More than three weeks at the hospital was definitely enough, they all needed the comfort of home again, to be their own little family instead of part of a hospital.

She was sure that Daniel would recover at home too.

Richie's conversation with the doctor didn't last very long but he wasn't any happier with the doctors explanation at all. He didn't agree with the fact that Daniel wasn't responding to his name.

Instead, he knew from what Sarah had told him from her textbooks that every child had it's own speed of developing. Some were faster than others but that didn't mean there was anything wrong with Daniel at all. There was enough time for Daniel to develop on his own time, the weeks in the hospital couldn't have been beneficial for him at all.

At his age he should be learning to crawl but at the moment he was only learning to sit. Richie was very confident that Daniel would catch up as soon as he had recovered from whooping cough, it had had a big impact on him, Sarah thought so too, he knew that.

He didn't want to hear from any doctor that anything was wrong with his boy. Daniel was a perfect 7 month old little boy.

Chapter 14

Having been sent home by Richie to study in peace, Sarah did as he had asked and found a quiet place at the dining table. David had stayed at the hospital with Richie and even though it was Sarah's turn to stay with her son, she also gladly took the time to study a little more. She had until February to write her exam but she had finished the first part of the course quite quickly and was eager to receive her diploma in childhood development. Already she was thinking about expanding on the subject.

Back at the hospital, David and Richie were discussing the past month. How different it had been for the both of them.

"I'm telling you man, even with Daniel in the hospital for three, I've never spend this much time with my other kids."
"Kid." David corrected him.
"Kids, the other three."
David nodded, understanding him now. "You mean Sarah's children."
"They're my kids too. I adopted them, they're now officially Noah Sambora and Caleb Sambora."
"Really?" David asked amazed, he didn't know it worked like that.
Richie smiled, proud of his two oldest sons. "Yeah, my sons." He confirmed. "I never knew how obsessed Noah is with books, it's really cool actually. Any book you name, he's probably read it and he remembers them all. I didn't know til a month ago."
Frowning, David answered, "How don't you know he likes books, wouldn't he have a ton of books?"
Richie shook his head. "No, he buys them at this used bookstore and returns them there too, so they can - as he says - live a second life."
That made David laugh out loud.

The noise made Daniel wake up, startled, he started crying.

In return, Richie got up immediately and rushed over to the yellow painted crib to pick his son up. Settling Daniel in his arm, he picked up his Winnie the Pooh bear and walked back to the couch where he passed the stuffed bear to David.

"He loves that thing." Richie told him as he sat down on the couch, laying Daniel down next to him.
"He's supposed to. He loves his uncle Davey." David answered, leaning over to see Daniel, still holding the bear.

Daniel looked up, reaching for the bear.

"Can I hold him?" David asked, leaning back to sit again.
"Yeah sure, just be careful with the splint, it's his catheter." He picked up his son again and carefully moved him into David's arm.

To Richie's surprise, Daniel stayed quiet and didn't cry at all. He frowned.

"What's wrong?" David asked confused.
Richie shook his head in thought. "Nothing, I was just thinking. When Jon visited and wanted to hold him, all he did was cry. Same with my mom when she first came to live with us. So we ended up just holding him ourselves but he's not crying, that's great."
David looked up at him, a serious expression on his face. "Honestly, if Jon was this close to you, you'd start crying too."
Richie chuckled, "Maybe."

Steering their conversation back to where they were before Daniel had woken up, David brought up his own thoughts on being home instead of touring.

"I'm missing Tiger's play tomorrow night, she finally got the lead for it and now I'm gonna miss it." David sighed, looking down at Daniel in his arms, remembering when his own children had been that small.
Richie sighed too, knowing the feeling but there wasn't much to be done about it. "She'll get the lead again." He tried.
"I know she will, she's amazing but it won't be the first time again. That's what I'm missing."
Richie couldn't agree more. "We miss a lot. We need a break."
David frowned. "Are you gonna be back in May?"

Richie looked at Daniel, who was comfortable in David's arms, right now he seemed fine but he wasn't being discharged from the hospital just yet. Next week perhaps, they didn't know.

"Are you?" David urged.
Richie shrugged. "I don't know."

Chapter 13

Thursday afternoon Richie had left the hospital, to trade it for the crowded airport. A very different kind of busy than the hospital was.

But Sarah wasn't left alone with Daniel either, her friend Taylor had come to visit them.

Sarah hadn't seen her friend in a while and it was great to see her again. They talked as Daniel slept in his crib. It was incredibly nice to have somebody to talk to and not only worry and focus on Daniel. For a while, she felt completely relaxed, without any worried. Just like a Friday night would be with Richie but that wasn't until tomorrow and so far they hadn't any plans for that yet.

Other than the comfort and support of a friend, Taylor was also to tell her more about whooping cough and how Daniel would progress. Which was very interesting to Sarah who wanted to be a doctor when she was still in college but never achieved that.

That didn't hold her back from learning and she told Taylor about her studying at home about child care. Her first exam had gone great and she was already studying hard for the next exam in August. She wanted to succeed in this, even if she wasn't going to get a job afterwards. Knowing about childcare, could only turn out positve for her youngest son and hopefully at least one more child.

Taylor hung about, staying longer to be able to see her idol. She always tried to keep her cool but it wasn't as if they had become friends over the time. She'd been invited to the house once in a while but wasn't that close to Richie either. A thing she didn't mind because she still had gotten the opportunity to talk to him at several occasions.

After being gone for almost two hours, Richie walked back into the hospital room, David was right behind him. Instead of saying hello to his wife first, as he usually did, he went to check on Daniel first. They had both been doing that, Daniel was their priority at this point. He was improving and getting better but they were still worried about him.

Daniel looked peacefully asleep, so he walked over to Sarah and reached in to kiss her deeply. It had been a stressful time, things were going better and he was determined to make sure the romance didn't leave their relationship. He needed it. As Sarah kissed him back, he knew she needed the same thing. Luckily it was almost Friday.

When he pulled away from Sarah, he noticed Taylor staring at him. He figured it was something she did.

"Hi." He said, then looked over at David who was also checking on Daniel. "You know David?" He asked the young girl.
Taylor nodded. "Yeah."
"That simplifiec things. He's Daniel's godfather, coming to visit."
A little starstruck as usual, Taylor nodded again.

"Richie!" Nurse Megane rushed into the room, quite nervous.
"What's wrong?" He asked confused.
She frowned. "What? Nothing." She sounded almost as confused.
Sarah started chuckling as both Taylor and David were just as confused as Richie was.
Richie paused, trying to think. "Then why did you come over here."
"I just saw you with David here so I had to come and ask you. I know I shouldn't be asking you at all but is there a fight between you and the rest of the band. Did Jon fire you? Did you walk away from the band? Is it the end of Bon Jovi."

Richie just stared at her. Was she serious? She came over to ask him such a stupid thing? He had bigger worried than what tabloids were spreading around. He could care even less about that than he already did right now. Unbelievable.

"The only reason I'm not touring, is because of Daniel being in the hospital. You're a nurse here, I would think you were able to figure that part out." He didn't care if he sounded angry when he said it, he was getting angry. He didn't need a nurse meddling with his private and work life.

Nurse Megane nodded, not minding Richie's answer but visibly relieved about what he had said. The band she loved wasn't breaking up.

Going back to her job as a nurse, she went to check on Daniel before leaving and being followed by Taylor.

Richie went to sit down next to his wife. "Good to know you weren't here all alone."
"Taylor kept me company, she was worried about your place in the band too."
"I've got more important things to worry about than what's going on in the tabloids."
"I know honey." Sarah reached over to hug him. "They're fans, they're worried about what's going to happen to the band they love so much."
"I know but I don't want to deal with that."
"I know." Sarah agreed again.

"So does anybody want to explain to me about what happened to my wonderful godson here?" David had gotten himself one of the comfy chairs next to Daniel's bed and watched the small boy. "He looks a lot like you already."
Richie smiled. "He does. The first few months he didn't, with the blond hair and blue eyes."
"He could have been mine."
"Ill weeds grow apace." Richie countered, then smiled. "He's the perfect little boy. Hardly ever cries, except when people hold him. He already sleeps throughout the night too and any music that I play will calm him down immediately."
"Music you play?" David questioned. "That's weird, you should let him listen to my albums. You'll see an immediate chance, he'd be much happier."
Richie laughed out loud. "Yeah right, he loves guitar. He really does." He insisted. "I'll show you when he's awake."

Taking David's question seriously, they started talking about how Daniel had gotten sick and how his cold had gotten worse and developed whooping cough but they didn't leave out how much progress Daniel was making and that he hopefully could go home next week.

Chapter 12

Stretching and opening his eyes, he saw his mommy and daddy sitting in the corner of the room on the pull-out couch. Daddy was sitting against the wall with mommy between his legs in front of him. He had his arms around her as she was stroking his thigh and reading a big book. Mommy and daddy were always close together. He didn't like being close to people except mommy and daddy.

Daddy looked up at him and smiled. He didn't know yet why people always did that.

"Look who's up." Daddy said and mommy looked too, also smiling.
"Maybe he'll want dinner soon, at least he's not throwing up after a coughing fit anymore."

A knock on the door couldn't distract Daniel but for mommy and daddy it did.

Daniel waited for two men in white lab coats to come over to him instead of searching for the sound of the knock. They were both smiling too but he didn't like these men and wanted them to go away.

Luckily, they turned around to mommy and daddy and started talking.

All the smiles became even brighter and made Daniel even more uncomfortable. All those smiles and those two men that gave him a bad feeling, was too much.

When one of the doctors came back to his bedside, he started to cry.

It didn't work as it was supposed to. When he cried, someone should give him to mommy or daddy but the doctor didn't and continued checking on him, even when he cried louder which sent him into a coughing fit.

After coughing so much, he was too exhausted to continue but finally the doctor stepped away from his bed. Hopefully he would leave again but Daniel didn't turn around to make sure he did.

Daddy got up and turned on the little black thingy from his jeans pocket that would play music and put it down next to him. Sometimes daddy would talk to the black thing, which was all wrong, it played music.

He listened to the relaxing tune as daddy went to sit with mommy again.

But daddy continued watching him, even though the music was nice to listen to, daddy's staring made him uncomfortable. Breaking his view of his parents, he watched his sheep next to him.
Sheep was always there.

He heard mommy and daddy talking but couldn't make out what they were talking about over the music. Instead of trying, he listened to the music again. He could hear daddy's voice, daddy making music. He already knew the songs by heart. It was always daddy singing, he didn't like when other people would sing. Just daddy.

When he felt hands around his body, he looked up to see mommy smiling at him. He reached his arms out to touch mommy's face as he was being picked out but couldn't figure put what that smiling thing was about.

He felt mommy's hand stroking over his head in return.

As mommy sat down on the couch, daddy's face came in to vision too.

"Lunch time buddy, lucky you."
"You can get lunch too." Mommy said as she started pulling up her shirt.
"Not what I meant, but I think I will."
Mommy looked away and smiled at daddy. "It's almost Friday."
Then daddy reached in and kissed mommy.

Impatient, Daniel could smell his lunch and pushed at mommy. He was hungry but he couldn't reach it to eat.

"He's hungry." Mommy said as she pulled away from daddy.

Finally she moved him closer so he could eat. As he drank, he didn't care about the rest anymore, mommy was close and lunch was great. What more did he need?

Chapter 11

A few days later, Daniel was going through another couple of tests. At least these ones didn't involve any needles.

Sarah and Richie still didn't understand why the doctor wanted a hearing test. Daniel heard them fine whenever he actually wanted to be listening. Other times he just didn't seem interested in whatever someone would say.

Of course Dr. Smillie didn't agree with their theory.

At least, they could stay with Daniel. They watched him through a window from another room. Standing together, Richie had wrapped his arms around Sarah to hold her and offer her comfort.

"I really think he's fine." He said honestly. Daniel always listened to music, if he couldn't hear, he wouldn't be listening to the music.
"I know." Sarah agreed. "This way, we're sure."
"True." He held his wife a little closer and kissed her cheeck.

Sarah watched her son intently, not sure of what the doctor in there was deciding on. Was the test going well or was it going all wrong? Did Daniel realize what was happening or was he scared and wondering where his mommy and daddy were?

"He's alright." Richie said, he could see Sarah's reflection in the glass. She looked too worried.
"I know." She said again. "I was wondering about something silly."
Richie frowned. "What could be silly?"
Gently, Sarah shook her head. "I was thinking about how his grandma's have been staying with him on Friday night but he'll never get to know his granddads."

As the memory of his dad popped into his mind, he helf his wife a little closer, wanting that little bit of support now too. He missed his dad every day and he knew Sarah missed her own dad too.

"He will." Richie assured her. "He'll love them too."
"How?" Sarah asked confused, how could say that?
A small sigh excaped him. "We'll tell him about his granddad's, everyone will and that way, his imaginition will make it even better than reality."
She leaned her head back on his shoulder and looked up at him with a small smile. "That sounds nice."
"Yeah, it does." He agreed.
"Next time we're home. Do you have any pictures of your mom and dad together or with you? We should add that to his room too. He should know them in some way."
"I like that idea. I'll ask mom for some photos if I can't find any."
Sarah nodded gently. "He's got pictures of everyone, they should be there too. I want him to know their faces and who they were."
A small smile spread on his face, full of agreement. He loved how Sarah had thought of it and she was exactly right.

They continued to watch Daniel and after a while the doctor finally got up and came to open the door to the room they were waiting and watching in.

"How'd it go?" Richie asked immediately.
"I need to go over most of the results some more but it went quite well." The doctor answered.
"So he's not deaf?"
The doctor shook his head. "I doubt it, he's just very distracted and disinterested about it."
Richie could only agree with that, his boy loved music. He knew that much. "Thought so."
Sarah was glad to know too. "Can we take him back to his room?"
"You can, I'll run the definite results by Dr. Smillie and we'll come discuss them with you." The doctor explained before stepping away from the open door to let Sarah and Richie through.

Sarah picked up her son and hugged him close. Glad he was alright after all.

By the time they got back to his room, Daniel was asleep in her arms. His head gently rested on her shoulder. Instead of putting him down in bed, Sarah sat down in one of the chairs and held him close for the remainder of his nap.