Chapter Forty-six

37 weeks

After spending two wonderful weeks together, Richie had to leave. He had arranged something special for Ava's birthday with Heather. He wanted Sarah to go with them, for the last few days before he left for Europe but Sarah wasn't allowed to fly. Sammy was only a month away and the airline companies didn't trust it.

The day before, Abbey moved into the guest room to keep Sarah company and help her out whenever she needed something and Caleb and Noah couldn't help.

Richie had offered to hire a nurse during the time he was gone but Sarah claimed it was too much. Her mom's help would be just fine.

Every evening Sarah received a phone call at the same time, Richie sure was good at figuring out time zones and time differences. When it made her feel like Richie felt he needed to check in every night, she told him he didn't need to. She trusted him and knew he was busy with other things, especially next week when the tour would start.

"I just like talking to you." Richie said.
"As long as you don't feel like you have to phone me every night, I love talking to you too." Sarah explained.
"I know but I like telling you about my day."
"Alright, tell me all about it."

Richie continued to tell Sarah everything they had done for Ava's birthday in Vegas.

Hearing everything made Sarah feel left out but she knew there would be a lot more birthday that would be just as amazing. Ava's next birthday would be even bigger, that's how it went with turning 16 and having a daddy that could pay for the most amazing party of the year.

Sammy would be just as lucky.


As he waited for his plane to Amsterdam, Richie made another phone call to Sarah, he had to wait for several hours and thought talking to his wife and catching up was the best way to spend that time and calm his nerves.

He hadn't toured solo in a long time, it was different from touring with the band. He had to prove himself to the audience again, although he knew many of them would be Bon Jovi fans.

Luckily for him Sarah answered the phone on the first ring.

"We're almost taking off." Richie said, reading the time schedule once again. "It's gonna be a long flight." He sighed, knowing the flight would be over eight hours long.
"Just sleep on the plane." Sarah suggested, thinking that would be the easiest to do on such a long flight.
"Then I'll be jetlagged."
"Right, watch some movies then."
"That's what I plan to do. What are you doing?"
"The same, watching movies with mom. Relaxing, keeping calm."
"Good, you need to be calm."

Their conversation continued to more non important topics until Richie really had to go. He hung up after saying how much he loved everyone.

Along with everyone else from the band, he boarded the plane, found his seat and got comfortable for a very long flight across the world.



Amsterdam was a great city, next to sightseeing a little, they also went shopping.

Little tiny shops were most interesting to find unique items, he wanted to make sure he got something for everyone from each city he was visiting, make it extra special for everyone. Which also meant he had to look for 5 different things for 4 different people and one that still had to be born.

After a long search he finally found a onesie that would fit Sammy soon enough. Knowing Sammy's sex hadn't played in his advantage, he knew but he had to make sure he wouldn't tell Sarah in any way.

Gift shopping for everyone had been fun, but it also made him feel exhausted.

Along with Joel, they found a coffee shop, knowing well enough what coffee shops meant in The Netherlands. Those days were far behind but it couldn't hurt to just visit and find out if they sold any actual coffee too.

On the way back to the hotel it became noticeable that being around the fumes had an impact too, although it wasn't too great, it still made him feel a little different.


The next day was spent by holding rehearsals at the concert hall. The staff was great and helped as much as they could, answering every answer that was asked. That's how Richie found out the translation for Melkweg was The Milky Way which made him feel a little proud. He was performing in the milky way, the universe. He was greater than anyone else, except maybe the other bands that had played here, but even then he thought he was even greater.

They stuck to the schedule that had been set up, finishing rehearsals at 6 pm and going for dinner.

After dinner was when the good nerves started. He knew it was better to be nervous right before the show than hours or days before. Something he hadn't done in a long time but today was different. He was still confident, but a tiny little but nervous too. Nothing bad, he told himself.

An hour before the show, he decided to phone Sarah again to check up on things, maybe it would calm him down too.

Just as lucky as every other time, Sarah answered on the first ring. It became quite obvious she was carrying her phone with her all the time.

"Hey sweetie." He said gently, trying to let through he was feeling anxious.
"Hey, how are you doing? Aren't you about to go on?"
Richie checked his watch to be sure. "In about an hour, yeah. How are you doing?"
"Oh good, Sammy has been really calm today, no kicking or anything. Very relaxing today. Ava even stopped by to say hello after school."
"That's nice of her." He knew what a great daughter he had and how much she was looking forward to another sibling, still wishing for a sister.

They told each other about their days. Richie talked about his shopping trip the day before and how he was going to find Sammy a onesie in every city he was visiting. Useful souvenirs.

Sarah's days had been quite the opposite, calm and relaxed with very little going on. Everything around the house was taken care of by someone else, which made her a couch potato. She didn't object, with Sammy growing so much, there wasn't much she could do or wanted to do. Although today Sammy had been very calm, she had decided to agree with Sammy and keep calm.

"I gotta go." Richie finally said, a few minutes before he had to get ready.
"Go have fun. Good luck, I'm proud of you and I love you."
"Thanks, I love you too. I'll phone afterwards."
"I'll be waiting." Sarah said before disconnecting the call.

As she leaned over to put her phone on the coffee table, Sarah felt a strong contracting pain in her abdomen.