Tuesday, July 2, 2013

Chapter Thirty-Three

30 weeks

Not soon afterwards they were back at the hotel. They had booked a studio for the whole week because they hadn't know how long it would take. The studio was large, with a kitchenette and sitting area, it also had two seperate bedrooms. That way everyone still had their privacy like they would at home.

"What are we doing for dinner?" Richie asked when they got back, trying to divert the attion of the lawsuit and he was hungry.
"Lets let Noah and Caleb decide." Sarah suggested, she was unbelievably proud of her sons, she was happy to let them decide whatever they'd do that evening or even the rest of the week.
"Pizza Hut." Sounded by both of them.
Sarah was happy they at least agreed and looked Richie to see if he agreed.
"You don't want to go to an actual Italian restauran?" Richie suggested, preferring a decent restaurant to a fast food place.
"No, Pizza Hut, it's been ages."
"Okay. Pizza Hut." Richie agreed.

After getting instructions at the desk, it was easy to find the nearest Pizza Hut

At the restaurant they were seated fairly quickly and were all handed menus.

"Hawaiian?" Richie asked, knowing Sarah's usual preference.
Sarah groaned in disust. "No, I want the four cheeses one."
"Cheese? But you don't like cheese." Richie said confused.
"I didn't know you got to decide what I like and don't like." Sarah said, looking at him quite annoyed.
"I'm not telling you what you should like, just a bit suprised you want the cheese one." Richie explained.
Sarah sighed. "I want the cheese."
"Alright. Fine by me." Richie said, hoping to avoid more trouble about cheese. Sarah never had cheese so why would she want cheese now?

For himself he ordered a pizza with lots of kinds of meat and vegetable. He hadn't been to Pizza Hut in ages either and it was kind of nice to eat there again. Knowing Sarah was going to let the boys decide everything they'd do that week because they had had the courage to be a part of a lawsuit, he thought he would probably do the same thing if Ava had to go through something similar.

Emotionally, after a year of being a family, he did see Caleb and Noah as his sons. Not biologically but the bond they had was something he though every dad had with teenage sons. He believed a father didn't have to be biological but the person that took care of the children as his own. That was how he always tried to treat them and thought everything about merging their families had gone very well.


The next morning they packed a few bags and drove out of city, up to the Canadian border.

"Where were we going again?" Caleb asked after half an hour.
"Glacier National Park and after that we're going to Lethbridge." Sarah explained.
"And that's where your cousin lives." Caleb recalled. "Why the park then?"
"Because Noah wants to go and it'll be fun, we could see bears."
"Right." Caleb nodded, and picked up his electronics again to keep himself busy for the 4 hours drive to the park.

Around lunchtime, Richie parked the car by a lake. The drive was long but it was nice to see the country so closeby. They had lunch by the car before they packed a bag and followed the trail to the lake.

"Lets go hiking." Noah suggested while they were skipping stones.
"Hiking?" Sarah asked. "I don't think that's a good idea for me."
"Oh." Noah said disappointed. "We could just drive the trail up the mountain, that's cool too."
"In a bit, okay?" Richie asked, knowing he was the one that would drive but he'd been driving for four hours already, he needed a break. "You and I can walk a part of the trail." He suggested to Noah, that way he could at least stretch his legs.

Noah looked over at his brother, who was still listening to his iPod, skipping stones. He knew he was interested in going and agreed with Richie.

The trail they followed was made clear for hikers and was almost uneventful. After a few minutes they saw a sign for St. Mary's Falls and decided to follow it, thinking it couldn't be that far.

An exhausting 40 minutes later they finally heard the rush of water falling off a cliff.

"Finally." Richie sighed when he saw the waterfalls.
Noah merely laughed, it had been a long walk but it was worth it. "We have to get on the bridge to take some photos." He walked further tot he bridge, that way they could face the falls and take a few pictures.

Noah had been right to want to go to the park and Richie was glad they had done the walk together. In interests he had less in common with Noah than with Caleb. The waterfall was beautiful, the water a clear blue. He felt bad that Caleb and Sarah had missed out on this.

They took a break and took their time taking pictures of the waterfall and the river, then went on their way back by the river.


"There you are! You were gone for almost two hours." Sarah said angry when they finally got back to the lake and where the car was parked.
"We saw a sign for waterfalls but didn't think it would be that far." Richie explained. "Were you worried?" He asked, stepping over to hug her.
Sarah nodded and hugged him back. "I'm sorry for yelling." She felt tears burning in her eyes but had no idea why and tried to wipe them away.
"Why are you crying?" Richie asked and wiped away her tears.
"I don't know." She said trying to laugh it away.
"Come on, lets drive up the mountain then find our way to your cousin's house." He gave Sarah another hug before letting go.

In the car, Noah got his camera back out and looked for some good photos they had taken.

"Look mom, the water was so blue, it was just really amazing to see and look, I even got you a photo of d-" He caught himself just in time but his mood turned around. "Richie." Instead of showing the rest of his photos, he sighed and sat back in his seat.

3 comments:

  1. Aww, Noah almost called Richie "Dad."

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  2. Awww, Noah. Haha it's all about the cheese :)

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  3. Awww Noah is so sweet! I think that someday will call Richie 'Dad'. The waterfalls sound really nice

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