Chapter Twenty-Four

20 weeks

"What are we gonna do with this?" Richie asked as he leaned further back into the couch, putting his feet on the coffee table, reading over the piece of paper with the lines that him and Jon had just written.
"Lets just keep it for now. Maybe we can do something with it later."
"Mmmhhmmm." Richie put the paper down on his thighs, reading it again. "It's not bad."
"Not bad at all."
"Just don't know how to go on." Richie shrugged and put it down, then reached over to pick up his guitar again.

It was Tuesday afternoon, Jon's kids would be home from school soon but the kids knew to not come bother them while they were writing. So far writing had been better the day before, today they seemed to constantly get stuck with some of the lines or the music to play with it.

Not only Richie's mind drifted off but also Jon's, they'd been writing for hours and they were in need of a break.

"So how's Sarah doing? The baby?" Jon asked carefully, knowing he wasn't supposed to really know about it.
"Oh she's good, baby too, we went to hear Sammy's heartbeat a few weeks ago." Richie said happily, it was still a nice memory to think of the baby's heartbeat.
"Sammy? You know it's a boy then?" Then he realized it would work for a girl too. "Or a girl?"
"No, we decided to wait on that, but we can tell people now."
"Oh good." Jon said, faking relief.
"You've already told Dot haven't you?" Richie knew him, he knew Jon would have told Dorothea.
Jon smiled guiltily. "Yeah, I have. She's very happy for you guys."
"Thanks." Richie smiled back.

His trip to New York wasn't very long, Sarah had given him permission to tell his mom the good news while she stayed at home, not wanting to take time off of work and knowing Richie would be busy with Jon anyway.

Richie could easily remember when he had told him mom when Heather was pregnant and they were expecting Ava. Again, he was happy and proud to tell her and was glad to see that his mom was excited too. Right away she wanted to make arrangements to come visit at the end of October and stay for a little while.

So far Richie didn't think that was needed, Sarah did have her own mom closer by after all but it still might be nice to have his mom at his house then too, so he agreed to it. Then hoped the baby wouldn't be up all night keeping everyone else in the house up too.


Thursday afternoon Richie was back at home with Sarah, they hadn't talked while he was in New York but Sarah seemed alright, she didn't mention anything bad to him and didn't look bad either. He assumed she was alright for now.

What her decision was on the lawsuit that would happen sometime soon, he didn't know. He just knew he had to phone the lawyer back this week, he still had a day before letting him know what they were going to do.

Richie's opinion hadn't changed at all. He still believed Sarah should help get Jonathan behind bars even though she was scared, it would be in court, there was no way he could physically hurt her and he'd be there to protect her too.

Thursday went on as any usual Thursday, summer had gotten around, Ava was at her mom's house and the boys were having a day at the beach, having left Sarah alone at home all day. Hopefully she had taken that time to think everything over for a last time. Richie needed an answer.

Richie and Sarah spent the afternoon together, watching television, having a calm afternoon. Richie still thought it was best for Sarah to stay relaxed and calm, she was pregnant after all.

He was glad when Sarah got comfy on the couch with him and put her head in his lap, to hold her, Richie put his hand on her belly, gently stroking. He started thinking about the baby inside there, Sammy.

What would Sammy be? How would Sammy be. Not just as a baby but as a toddler, child, teen and adult. He looked forward to see another little person grow up from a baby to an adult, like he was still watching Ava grow up.

Sammy? But they weren't sticking to Sammy, it was just a name for now until the baby was born. Like Sarah had said, something nicer than just saying The Baby every time. Sammy Sambora would be a bit repetitive, he preferred another name for after the baby was born.

His hand was still stroking Sarah belly, by now it was getting a little more obvious that she was pregnant, he liked it.

He felt something move against his hand, like a little kick, and looked down at his hand on Sarah's belly.

"Was that Sammy kicking?" He asked Sarah.
"Yeah, Sammy's been kicking for a while now, that was the biggest kick yet though."
"Oh." Richie wasn't sure if he should move his hand or not and carefully rubbed again. "It's okay right?"
"Yeah, just some kicks, you didn't cause it or anything."
"Good, got a little worried." Richie said honestly.

Their conversation awkwardly ended, both of them turning back to the television and watching their show together quietly.

"I love you." Richie said, looking down at Sarah on his lap. He felt like he needed to reassure her right now.
Sarah turned around, curled up a little bit and looked up at him. "I love you too."