31 weeks
Sarah fell asleep in Richie's arms. Thinking she'd had a busy day of worrying and being pregnant, Richie decided to let her nap before their evening out, relieved that Caleb had driven everyone to school that morning.
"Mom?" Noah asked as he walked into the bedroom.
"She's sleeping." Richie said quietly, watching Noah walk over. "What's wrong?"
"Caleb is looking for you, something about guitars."
Richie nodded and looked over at Sarah.
She woke up hearing Noah's voice but it took a few seconds for her to realize it and really wake up.
"What's wrong?" She asked.
"Nothing, I think Noah wants to talk to you in private." Richie said gently. He gave her a soft kiss and got up from the bed.
"What?" She sat up a little and looked at her son.
"Nothing bad." Noah insisted and got on the bed next to her, waiting for Richie to close the door behind him before going on. "It's about me and Caleb and about Richie too."
Sarah frowned, hoping he'd continue.
"Since that first day in court, Caleb and I've been wondering about something..." he hesitated," and I did the research so I know it's possible."
Still confused, Sarah asked him, "What?"
Noah looked down, obviously it was hard for him to tell her but he had to tell her. "I read that stepparents can adopt their stepchildren." He said, still looking down.
Sarah watched him, was he asking for Richie to adopt him and Caleb? Was that what they wanted? Would Richie want that?
"If their biological parent denies them, the stepparent can adopt them and since Jonathan doesn't want us," he explained, "and we don't want him." He quickly added. "Maybe Richie wants us." His voice sounded softer and quieter as he said it.
"Would you like that? For Richie to adopt you two?" Sarah asked, making sure she was understanding what he was asking.
"I think so, me and Caleb talked about it during the summer and now we decided to ask for your opinion."
Sarah nodded, she was touched that her sons thought so much of Richie that they would want him as their father.
"Remember that night me and Richie had a fight, the night you passed out and had to go to the hospital and found out about the baby?" Noah asked.
"Yeah."
"We had a stupid fight, Richie and me." He went on. "I told him he wasn't my dad because he was telling me to go do my homework and he said he was a better father than any father I've had... And that's true, he is."
Even Sarah had to agree with that.
"I know he's got a closer bond with Caleb because they both play guitar but I still like him a lot too. He's helpful, he's nice to us, teaches us stuff, he tries to do everything for us and I think that's what a dad is supposed to do, right?"
As Sarah looked at him, she saw the emotions had gotten to him. She reached out and hugged him.
"Jonathan doesn't want us so maybe Richie does."
Sarah let go of the hug and made him face her. "He would, he loves you, both of you."
"But I'm too scared to asked him." Noah confessed.
Understanding how hard that must be to ask a stepparents, Sarah hugged her youngest son again.
She didn't know what to do either, she could suggest it to Richie or hint something about to see how he would react and go from that.
He loved both her sons, she knew that, he might not have said it with so many words, for which he had his own reasons but she was sure he loved them as his own sons. The same way he'd love Sammy.
"Would you like me to talk to him first, just to see if he'd consider the idea?" Sarah asked her son.
Noah nodded. "If you could."
"I'll ask him tonight, just bring it up but I won't ask it straight out, I think you and Caleb should do that."
"I already asked you, Caleb can ask Richie." Noah decided quickly.
"You're both sure you want to do this?" Sarah asked. "No backing out later?"
Noah shook his head. "No, we're sure. You know Caleb wants to change his name as soon as he's 18."
Sarah nodded, she knew all too well. "Okay, I'll talk to Richie."
Afterwards their conversation turned to a lighter subject until Sarah had to start getting ready for her date.
While she was picking out her dress, Richie walked back into the room.
"Everything alright with Noah?" He asked, looking at his wife in the dressing room.
She looked up and smiled at him. "Yeah, he's fine, he just needed to talk, you know how he is."
Richie nodded. "Yeah, I know."
"You don't mind, do you?"
"No of course not, he loves and trusts you so of course he wants to talk to you."
Sarah frowned and walked over to him. "You know they love and trust you too."
Richie smiled. "Yeah, I know, I love them too."
Carefully Sarah reached up and kissed him. "Thank you."
