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.