Tuesday, October 29, 2013

Chapter Fifty-three

After spending the weekend in the hospital with almost their entire family, Sarah and Baby Boy Sambora were finally allowed to go home on Monday.

Richie made sure his son was strapped in his seat, making sure he was perfectly safe before he got in the car himself too.

The drive home, was one of the carefullest Richie had ever made, driving a few miles slower than the limit was, his foot hovering over to brake to ensure that he would react as soon as possible to avoid any sort of accident.

Along with Sarah, he also looked over his shoulder a few times to check how his son was doing. He looked so tiny in his car seat.

"Everyone is at school?" Sarah asked, making sure they would arrive to a peaceful and quiet house. She could have gone home earlier but they preferred late morning on Monday because the older children would be at school and it would be calm for the baby's homecoming. A little baby like him didn't need all the excitement.
"Yeah, Caleb drove. Ava's staying with us instead of at her mom's. Thought she would."
"Of course, she wants to see her little brother."
Richie nodded. "As long as all her girl friends don't visit yet. Too many squeals for him."
Sarah chuckled a little, Ava's friends were all overly excited girls.
"We could also skip the friends visiting and pick them up from school later. Then they can only see him for a few minutes. Easier." Richie suggested, not wanting to share his little boy too much.
Nodding, Sarah considered it. "What if he's sleeping?"
"We'll just put him in the seat and drive to the school, annoy Ava by waiting at the gate, if he's asleep they all have to be quiet and we can leave sooner." Richie explained his idea.
"I don't know." Sarah said, unsure about letting the baby leave the house just yet and being around so many people.

"We really need to name him." The baby had settled down in his living room crib as Sarah and Richie sat on the couch, observing him.
"I know." Sarah sighed. "I never thought it would be this difficult to name a baby but it's such a major decision."
Richie nodded, agreeing, the name would have to last an entire life time, they needed to put thought into it but they had been trying to think of names for months now and now time was getting very close.
"I want something traditional for him, nothing fancy like they do with children nowadays. Something decent, but something that can be cute too."
Again, Richie nodded and pulled his phone from his pocket.

Richie did as she asked and searched for a list of traditional names.

"Aaron? Benjamin? Dan?" He started listing the alphabetic list. "Then I like Daniel better." He quickly added.
"Daniel?" Sarah looked up at him. "Meaning?"
Richie tapped his phone a few more times, waiting for the page to load. "God is my judge." He finally answered.
Sarah smiled at him. "That works for us and our pasts. No one can judge what bad lives you can go through before changing it all around and create something like this."
Richie nodded. "Yeah, that sounds good. I like Daniel, Danny, Dan. It works."
Sarah looked down at the baby in her arms, his face relaxed as his eyes were closed but she didn't think he was asleep. "Daniel." She said softly.

Both were amazed as the baby opened his eyes, shining his bright baby blues at them, knowing that was their sign for naming him.

"Daniel." Sarah said more firmly, making the decision.
"Middle name?" Richie asked, making Sarah sigh.
"That too?" She chuckled. "This was hard enough."

Richie scrolled through the names, figuring they could wait a little longer before deciding on the next name. There were a few names he liked but then didn't like the meaning of, or the other way around where he liked the meaning but didn't like the name that went with it.

"Isaac means laughter."
Sarah looked up at him again. "Yeah? That's nice." She agreed.
"Daniel Isaac?" Richie asked.

Sarah looked at her son, sleeping in his crib, Daniel Isaac. God is my judge and laughter. Their newborn baby would bring them much laughter and happiness. In a way it fitted with the meaning they had given to Daniel only a few minutes ago.

"Daniel Isaac Sambora." She agreed.



By the time school was over, Daniel had just woken up. It was a relief to Sarah who didn't want to expose him to all kinds of germs just yet.

Richie had understood from the first time and hadn't asked again. He got up from the couch and walked the few steps to Daniel's crib.

"Hey baby." He said softly as he picked up the crying baby, cuddling him to try to calm him down again. "Think he's hungry." Richie brought him over to the couch and sat down again, waiting for Sarah to be ready to feed him before passing him over.


Not much later, everyone got home from school and the peace and quiet had gone away. Usually they all spent time in their rooms after school, doing their homework, talking to friends or making plans to go out but now all three of them stayed in the living room, watching their little brother.

Daniel got passed around to everyone, being held and cuddles by all his loving siblings. His blue eyes shining bright whenever someone looked at him.

Wednesday, October 23, 2013

Chapter Fifty-two

The next morning a nurse brought Sarah a list of names of all the babies that were born in the past few months at the hospital.

Together with Baby Boy Sambora she tried a few out but didn't want to decide without Richie. No one had ever had this much trouble with naming their baby, she was sure of that. Most parents had picked out names months before the baby was born and now they were indecisive.

Richie had gone home in them morning to change his clothes and bring clothes for Sarah and their baby, preparing all the rest at home for the arrival of their baby too.

Before returning to the hospital, he stopped at one of the baby stores they had shopped at before to get a stuffed animal for his son. Something he could love forever.

While Richie was gone, she had another visitor. Sarah was known at the hospital and everyone she had worked with and was working that morning had popped into the room to say hi to the new baby and check on Sarah.

As to be expected with a tiny baby, everyone thought it was adorable but they didn't only talk about the baby. Sarah also got to hear what had changed while she was gone, even if it only was a few weeks since she had left.

Taylor was the most excited visitor that stopped by, her interest didn't only stay focused on the baby but also having heard about her idol cancelling the rest of the tour due to laryngitis. She just had to be sure he was alright even though she was bummed out she wasn't able to see a concert now.

For her friend, Sarah thought she could ask her husband if there was anything he could do. The show in New York had been cancelled but he had agreed to continue the Q&A. She knew he didn't want to leave her or Baby Boy Sambora alone but he couldn't cancel the concert and promise the Q&A and then cancel that too.

To make sure he wouldn't be gone too long, Richie had decided to fly to New York in the morning and fly back after the concert. His son was more important than staying in New York to visit friends. While he was there, Joan would be at his house too so Sarah had helped from both their mothers.


Richie returned to Sarah's hospital room, finding her holding the baby and reading papers.

"How's my son doing?" Richie asked as he walked into the room.
"He's good." Sarah looked at the beautiful baby in her arms. "He just finished his breakfast." She informed her husband.
"What? And I missed it?" He sounded surprised and shocked, but most of all, hoarse.
"I'm sorry, he was hungry, I couldn't let him wait."
Richie waved it off. "It's okay, there's still lunchtime for me to watch him eat." He explained. "What's that?" Richie asked as he put down the bag of clothes on the floor and sat on the edge of Sarah's hospital bed to read the papers too.
"A list of names of all the babies that were born since August."
"Quite a list." Richie remarked. It was a few pages long.
"I asked for it so we could get some inspiration."
Richie chuckled. Naming their son had been a real hard trick. "Any luck yet?"
"No." Sarah said. "But I was thinking about names and about Caleb and Noah. For them I picked biblical names, maybe we can do that."
"That doesn't sound bad." Richie agreed, taking his phone out of his jeans' pocket to search the web for biblical names. "What about the meaning of the name?"
"I haven't thought about that but Caleb and Noah's were perfect for what was going on at the time so maybe something like that for this one too." She held her baby a little tighter.
"Something like, happy? Joy? Love? Us and our pasts?" Richie asked, trying to understand what Sarah was saying.
"Yeah." She agreed but didn't know which names would be perfect for that. "What did you bring?"
"His crib here seems so empty and plastic, I thought I'd buy him something." He pulled out a little sheep from the bag he had brought in with him.
Sarah took it and showed it to Baby Boy Sambora. "It's really soft. He'll love it."


Richie left his wife and son in the afternoon. He was reluctant to do so because his precious baby bay would miss him. Or he would miss him. He wasn't sure if a baby that young would already miss him but he knew his three other children were missing him too and had to go pick them up for another visit.

It didn't take long for him to return to the hospital with all the children. Sarah's room was going to be crowded but home would be the same.

Ava walked up to Sarah first, making sure she would be the first to hold her little brother.

Sarah gently passed him over and let Ava hold him.

"Does he have a name yet?" Ava asked as she watched her little brother look up at her with his bright blue eyes.
"No, we're still indecisive. We want something special but haven't found anything yet. Taylor got me a book of names during her break." Sarah picked up the large book. The cover said it had over 5.000 names for boys but so far it hadn't helped Sarah.
Ava didn't know what to say about it. It had been months, how hadn't they thought of a name yet.

A few minutes later, Baby Boy Sambora was held by one of his older brothers as Ava was reading the book of names.

Caleb looked over at Richie. "Do you think he'll like guitar too?"
"Andrew." Ava said, saying all the names she liked out loud, not caring what everyone else was talking about.
"He might." Richie said.
"Brayden."
"Because, I bought this book with nursery rhymes and it's got sheet music for piano and guitar and for singing too but then I could play guitar right, maybe he'll like that." Caleb suggested.
Richie wanted to answer but got cut off by Ava. "Carter." He sighed before answering. "Baby's love music. He'll love it that you'll play for him. Makes them calm."
"Dylan."
Richie sighed again, his daughter was having fun but it was a little annoying she was doing it while he was trying to talk.
"Ethan."
"So if he can't sleep or something, I could play and he'll be calm? That easy?" Caleb asked.
"Fynn."
"Yes." Richie agreed immediately and excited.
Ava looked up. "Really?" A little confused.
"No." Richie shook his head, then looked at Sarah for agreement. "No." He confirmed when Sarah made the same head gesture as he had.
"Fine." Ava sighed and continued. "Granger. That's a name?"
"Must be, if it's in your book." Caleb said annoyed, still wanting an answer from Richie.
Ava gave him a mean look and continued reading.
Richie picked up where they had left off. "If he can't sleep at night, you can play for him. We'll just put the baby monitor in your room. That's great."



Saturday, October 19, 2013

Chapter Fifty-one

"There's a group of people claiming to be your family." One of the nurses said gently as she carried the little baby into the room that Sarah had just settled in to.
"Teenage girl, two teenage boys and an elderly lady?" Richie asked.
"Yes." The nurse answered as she placed the newborn in Sarah's arms.
"Sounds like our other kids and your mom." Richie said.
Sarah smiled when he said other, he still loved Caleb and Noah as his own kids even though he had his own biological son now.
"I can sent them in?" The nurse asked.
They both nodded.

Ava was the first to sit on the hospital bed next to Sarah to look at her newborn sibling. The baby was sleeping wrapped in a white cloth so only its head was visible.

Ava reached out to stroke its cheek. "So tiny." She said softly as she looked into the bright eyes that had just opened to look back at her.
Sarah smiled up at her. "Yeah he is."
"It's a boy?" Ava asked surprised. She leaned in a little closer to study her newborn brother's face. "He's perfect."

Sarah and Richie thought exactly the same about their 7.5 pound, 19.5 inches bundle of joy.

Richie made sure everyone knew their baby was born by texting everyone in his and in Sarah's contacts list. Not minding if some people got a double text.

Baby boy Sambora met the world on October 19, 1:35am. Measuring 19.5 inches and weighing 7.5 pounds. Perfect

After that a bunch of text messages were sent back. To dodge them, he had phoned his mom to tell her the good news even though it was the middle of the night. She was excited and even more excited when Richie told her he'd sent pictures soon. He knew his mom would want to come visit her first grandson but he'd arrange a flight in the morning.

"Can I hold him?" Ava asked hopeful. "I know how." She added quickly and held her arms like she was holding a baby to prove she could.
"Sure but be careful." Sarah sat up a little so Ava was able to take her little brother.
Ava looked at him with a mixture of adoration and amazement on her face. She already loved the little baby in her arms as much as any sibling could love the other. Her daddy was now someone else's daddy too but she didn't mind sharing with a baby this cute.

Caleb and Noah watched closely, both adoring their new sibling too.
"Can I?" Caleb asked after a little while and held the baby carefully as Ava passed him over. "Hi little brother." He cooed.

Sarah loved watching them, the adoration, love and amazement in their eyes told her that her youngest son would always be loved and protected by its older siblings.

On his way to meet grandma next, the baby had wiggled itself free from the tight cloths around him so he could move his tiny arms.

Abbey watched her grandson with the greatest joy. She hadn't expected to receive another grandchild in this life and here he is. A beautiful pink baby boy with the cutest little nose, perfect red lips, sweet baby blue eyes and a little bit of short blond hair on his head.

"Don't you want to hold him?" Sarah asked Noah, who hadn't yet.
"I can't." He answered quickly.
"Why not?" Sarah asked. "Come here."
Ava moved from the bed so Noah could sit down as Abbey passed the baby back to Sarah.
"Just hold your arms like this." Sarah showed him how she was holding the baby and waited for Noah to get his arms right before reaching over to place the tiny baby in his arms.
"See, you can." Sarah said.

Noah held him tightly, making sure he wouldn't drop the fragile baby.



An hour later, Abbey took the teenagers home again so Sarah could get some rest but she was still too amazed by her son.

Richie got on the bed next to his wife and kissed her cheek.

"You need to sleep. You must be exhausted and baby boy Sambora will need you in the morning." He reached over to check the little hospital bracelet that read:

Baby boy Sambora

Instead, the baby caught hold of his finger and didn't let go, tightly holding on to his daddy's finger.

"He doesn't want to go either, he wants to be with us." Sarah said. If she could, she'd hold him in her arms forever but Richie was right, she was tired.
"I'll hold him, he doesn't have to go back to the nursery just yet." Richie suggested. "Then you can sleep next to me."
Satisfied with knowing her baby wasn't going anywhere, Sarah agreed and moved the baby over.

Richie moved him gently so his head could rest on his shoulder and he could still hold him as Sarah cuddled into his other side to sleep.

"We need to name him something better than Baby Boy Sambora, although that's original." Richie said as he gently stroked the baby in question its back.
Sarah sighed. They still hadn't been able to name him and had a feeling it might take them a while before they could finally agree on something that was the perfect fit for their baby boy.



Sunday, October 13, 2013

Chapter Fifty

38 weeks

"Maybe you're right." Sarah said after going through another contraction, the previous one had only been 5 minutes ago.
"We should go to the hospital then." He said, getting off the bed to help Sarah up.
"Yeah." Sarah agreed and let him help her up.

Before going downstairs, Richie hurried to Ava's room, informing her where they were going.

Once in the car, Sarah felt another contraction. They were getting more painful each time.

"We'll be at the hospital in a few minutes. Hang in there." Richie encouraged as he started the car.

Luckily Richie was right and they were able to reach the hospital in a few minutes. Late Thursday night traffic was working in their advantage.

As soon as Richie parked the car, Sarah swung her car door open, eager to get out and finally go through labor. The past two weeks with Sammy acting up so often, were bad enough. Now she wasn't leaving without a baby in her arms.

"Wait, I'll help you." Richie came around the car to help his wife out of the seat.

At the entrance, Richie helped Sarah into a wheelchair, having a short flash back to when she first joined him on tour and they had spent an evening at a hospital in Germany, today would hurt a lot more but their reward would be one of the greatest gifts.

After checking in, quick examination by a doctor, Sarah was admitted and lead to the maternity ward.

This is it.

"Daddy, keep an eye on mommy." The nurse said after helping Sarah get situated in bed.
Richie watched her go and then took Sarah's hand again, giving her a firm squeeze. "You're doing great. We'll get to meet our child in a little while"
Sarah nodded, not really listening to him but trying to get through the pain of another contraction.
"Should I get you anything?"
"No, stay here." She held his hand tighter, not wanting to leave.

A few minutes later, Sarah's doctor walked in. "Mr. and Mrs. Sambora, I heard baby Sambora will be joining us soon. Lets see how soon." She immediately did her few checks.
"And?" Richie asked, still sounding terribly hoarse.
"Wow, is that because of a cold?" The doctor asked.
Confused for a few seconds, Richie stared at her, then realized she meant his hoarse voice. "From singing." He explained quickly.
She handed him a mask. "Wear one anyway, don't want to risk that." She said, making sure he put it on. "We're ready to go." She announced next.

One of the nurses came in to help them to the delivery room. On the way there, Richie didn't let go of Sarah's hand.

Once everything was settled and ready, Sarah was told to push. With the contractions being so close together, there wasn't anything else she could do than listen to her body and push.
Richie forgot about how hard Sarah was squeezing the bones in his hand together, watching her go through labor was his complete focus. His beautiful wife was giving life to their child, who cared about his hand being crushed?

Knowing Sarah was going through immense pain, he encouraged her as much as he could.

"Crowning." The doctor announced.
"Almost there. Just a few more pushes." Richie encouraged.
Sarah almost screamed with the  next contraction and push.
"Few more." Richie repeated, supporting Sarah as she pushed.
The doctor looked up at Sarah. "One more big push to get the shoulders and you're done."
Sarah nodded and leaned back a little.

For no use because the next contraction was there before she could take a breath.

Once again Richie supported her through it, wincing when she screamed of pain, feeling bad that she had to go through all that pain.

Then another cry made him  forget about the pain and all the hard work she had to go through.

Relieved, Sarah laid back, happily listening to the discontented cry as Richie cut the umbilical cord, watching him, she could see the tears in his eyes.

She only had to miss him from her side for a few seconds.

"Thank you." He pulled his mask down and kissed her deeply, showing all his thanks and love. "I love you so much." He said once he pulled back from the kiss.

She reached out to wipe away the tears from his eyes and kissed him again.

Wednesday, October 9, 2013

Chapter Forty-nine

38 weeks

Sarah woke up feeling a presence behind her, a hand on her belly. Immediately knowing who it was, she turned around in his strong arms and reached up to kiss his lips, neck and chest.

Richie woke up to a tickle-y feeling. He smiled, knowing what Sarah was doing and slowly opened his eyes.

"Morning." He croaked.
Sarah looked at him, raising an eyebrow. "No talking." She cuddled into his side. "I missed you."
"I missed you too."
Gently, she poked him. "It's so good to have you home. I'll take care of you, we'll stay in bed all morning." She pulled up the sheets even higher so they were nice and snuggly in bed.

The most part of their day was spend in bed, enjoying each other.

Thanks to his ipad and typing skills, Richie was able to tell Sarah all about the tour without talking too often. Being on vocal rest was already becoming a drag, especially when Sarah told him to not talk at all.


In the afternoon, Richie met with his vocal coach. Someone that had helped him throughout the making of the album and would have a better idea about his voice than a doctor in London that was a stranger to him.

"I'm allowed to talk." Richie said as he walked back into the living room afterwards.
Sarah gave him a stern look.
"Not too much but I'm allowed to."
"It would heal faster if you don't, I just wanted to help."
Richie sat down on the couch next to her, putting his arm around her shoulder. "I know, but I like talking, especially to you." He paused for a few seconds. "And I haven't talked to Sammy yet."
"But you have to be careful, I don't want you to lose your voice again, you already sound terrible now."
"Not my sexy voice?"
"It's nowhere near your sexy voice."
Richie pouted.
"I told Ava you were coming home, she's coming over tonight."
He nodded. "Great, I missed her too."


After school, the whole family was finally together again.

Letting everyone enjoy their time, Abbey, who was still staying at the house, had offered to prepare dinner for everyone.

"How's it been with your mom around the house again?" Richie asked hoarsely as he watched Sarah, who was watching her mother go to the kitchen.
"Great, like it used to be before I met you. It's been nice but she looks so tired, did you see?" She waited for Richie to nod before continuing. "Every time I ask her, she says she's fine. I don't know what's wrong."
"She's been helping you a lot, maybe it's just that."
Sarah sighed, not really believing that. "I hope so."

The rest of the evening, they spent as a family, watching television and talking through most of the shows until there was a good movie on to watch.

Abbey had excused herself and gone to bed after everyone had said good night to her.

Despite being sick, Richie loved being home again, his wife next to him, his children close to him. It was where he always wanted to be but being a musician, he'd have to travel the world. If he could, he'd just take everyone with him. It worked when Ava was little and didn't have to be in school. Maybe Sarah and baby Sammy could travel with him too. The next tour was too early for that but maybe the tour after that one.

During every commercial break, Ava thought of something she still needed to tell her dad. Which made everyone wait for it during the next commercial break. When Ava asked why they were all staring at her as if they were expecting something, which made them all laugh.

Noticing Ava didn't understand what was so funny, Richie quickly explained why they were laughing, which triggered Ava's memory of something else she needed to tell him.

When the movie had ended and all the kids had gone up to bed, Richie helped Sarah up from the couch. Only being 38 weeks, he wondered if she was going to get any bigger in the next two weeks.

"Ready to go?" Richie asked, for once not sounding too hoarse.

Just as he asked, Sarah felt another contracting pain, making her lose the air in her lungs and steady herself against her husband.

"Not again." She groaned.
"What was that? Was that Sammy?" He asked quickly. "What do you mean, not again?"
As the pain eased away, Sarah regained her composure. "It's just false labor, Sammy's been doing that for two weeks."
"Two weeks? When?"
"Right before you went on stage, every time after you phoned me to tell me so."
"And you didn't tell me?"
"It's false labor! The contractions never got any closer together and stopped after a few hours, everytime and then you'd phone me to tell me the concert was over."
"Alright, alright, calm down. Let's just sit down again then." Richie suggested.
"No. I want to go to bed." Sarah said stubbornly, knowing it would stop in a few hours.
Richie nodded, not wanting to refuse her.

He helped Sarah up the stairs and to bed, making sure she was comfortable enough.

Saturday, October 5, 2013

Chapter Forty-eight

38 weeks

Next Wednesday morning, Richie woke up to the sound of his phone. He didn't remember having set an alarm for the morning, they wouldn't be travelling until late that evening.

He reached out and unplugged his phone from the charger, accepting the call.

"Honey, are you okay?" Sarah sounded worried.
"I-" The rest of the sentence went lost. He tried again but no sound came out.
"Richie?"
Trying again, his voice was completely gone.
Sarah sounded even more worried when he didn't react.

He sighed, sat up in bed and opened the messages on his phone, hoping Sarah wouldn't disconnect the call and would read his text.

I lost my voice

He quickly sent the text, making it short to be faster.

The call got disconnected.

Did she get the text? Why didn't she say so if she did?

Before he could do anything else, an invitation for FaceTime popped up on his phone. Relieved, he clicked to accept.

"You lost your voice?" Sarah asked, still sounding just as worried.
Richie tried again to say something but it was too hoarse and too unclear to make any sense of.
"Don't talk, just nod. Is it sore?"
Richie nodded.
"Just your throat? Anything else? What about a fever?"
He frowned, not knowing which question to answer first.
"Fever?" Sarah asked, understanding she was asking too many things at once.
He shrugged.
"You're still in bed. I just woke you up." She finally figured it out and felt sorry.
A weak smile, to say it's okay.
"You didn't phone me back last night after the concert and I was worried but then I figured you'd be sleeping and I was going to bed now too so I just had to be sure before I was going to bed. I'm sorry."
Thumbs up, it's fine.
"If you do have a fever, you should probably see a doctor, especially since your voice is completely gone."
He sighed.
"I'm sorry honey. I can't imagine how disappointed you'll be if you have to cancel the tour but you have to think of your health."
He nodded slowly.
"Go back to sleep for a bit, might still help a little bit but see a doctor too."
Richie nodded again, agreeing.
"Phone me back, okay? I might not be able to sleep anyway. I love you."
This time he managed a very hoarse, "I love you too."
"No talking." Sarah smiled before disconnecting the video call.


A few hours later, Richie texted Sarah again, not wanting to wake her up in case she was sleeping.

Laryngitis. Have to cancel next 3 shows. Coming home


Sarah read the text after she woke up in the morning. Reading it, she felt disappointed and sorry for her husband. She knew how much he was loving the concerts and the crowd, it was unfair he had to cancel shows now.

She also felt somewhat relieved he'd now be home for Sammy, feeling that, she felt guilty for feeling it.


A few hours later they were able to talk again.

"I'm so sorry honey. What did the doctor say?" Sarah asked when they were able to video chat again.
Richie gave her a look to ask how he was supposed to answer that without talking.
"Did your cold cause it?"
He shrugged, it could have but not necessarily.
"The doctor didn't know either? Is it contagious?"
He shook his head. He had asked about that, wondering what would happen if Sammy was early and didn't have an immune system yet.
"That's good. You should take a hot shower, the steam would help your throat and the shower would be relaxing."
Nodding, he agreed, it didn't sound like a bad idea.


Richie would stay in London for another day, not feeling up to a long flight at the moment and had been able to arrange a private jet. That way he'd be home the same day, late in the evening.

The hours before Richie left the hotel, were the hours they talked the most while he was abroad. Most of the band had already gone home too, so he was mostly on his own. Which made time for video calls with Sarah, Ava and the boys.

Not able to wait any longer, he showed Sarah all the onesies he had bought for Sammy.

Thursday evening they talked until Richie had to get on the plane. For the rest of the afternoon Sarah stayed around the house, not doing much at all.

Even though she had had a quiet and uneventful day, for what could be called uneventful, she felt tired earlier than she usually did. Her husband would be home in a few hours, getting a book to read, she got in bed, determined to wait up for him.

At least Sarah would have her husband back home, at her side where she needed him most right now.


Thursday, October 3, 2013

Chapter Forty-seven

37 weeks

5 hours later, Sarah had no clue how to tell Richie what had happened just now.

There were only a few options of how he'd react. He'd want to come home immediately and cancel the rest of the tour, or panic.

Either way, she had to phone him back, she'd been avoiding his calls for long enough now.

She picked up her phone carefully and phoned Richie back.

"Hey, did I wake you?" She asked when the phone was answered.
"No, I was going to phone you once more before going to bed." Richie answered, sounding tired.
Sarah hadn't figured out the time in Amsterdam but it must be the middle of the night. "I'm sorry, I fell asleep and missed your calls." She decided lying was easier than making her husband panic and act on overreacting thoughts.
"It's okay, I figured."
"Do you want to talk about the concert or are you too tired?"
"Never too tired for that."

Sarah relaxed back as she listened to her husband excitedly talking about the concert, the songs he played and the reaction of the crowd. She was sad to have missed it but knew he had an amazing time and his shows would only get better as he gained confidence with it every evening. That way the last concerts, the ones she would be able to go to, would be best.

It made her happy to know how happy her husband was, she knew that she had made the right decision by not telling him just yet. Maybe next week or when he was home.

She knew it wasn't right to lie to him and keep things from him but it was for his own good even though he wouldn't be happy about it once he found out. Worse than not happy, he'd be disappointed, sad and angry about it.

For now, she enjoyed her time with Sammy a little different.

"You should go to sleep." Sarah said after a few moments of silence.
Richie sighed. "Yeah, I think so. Time difference is catching up with me. How are you anyway?"
"As good as always." Sarah said with a smile even though Richie couldn't see it.
"And Sammy?"
"Really great." The happiness sounded through her voice.
"Good to hear. Tell Sammy to keep calm. I love you, both."
"We love you too. Phone me whenever you get up."
It took another second before Richie answered. "That's the middle of the night for you."
"Doesn't matter, I might be up anyway."
"We'll see. Good night, I love you."
"I love you too."

Richie hung up the phone and turned over in bed, he had already gotten comfortable in bed before Sarah phoned him. He was glad she had finally answered the phone but he thought something was up. It seemed like Sarah was keeping something from him but he didn't exactly know what, he couldn't think of what it would be either.

Hoping it wasn't anything bad, he also hoped that Sarah would tell him if anything seriously wrong happened or something very good and Sammy decided to make an entrance into the world.

Then he realized, even if Sarah let him know when Sammy was on the way, he'd never be there on time. A flight from Amsterdam to Los Angeles was at least 9 hours, if she was in labor for that long, he'd feel horrible to not have been able to support her through it.

If that had happened, Sarah would have told him they had a baby now, he was sure of that.

Quickly checking the time again and making sure he had set an alarm for the next morning, he pulled the sheets up over his shoulders, got comfortable and closed his eyes, trying to forget all the worries, Sarah's strange phone-call had brought up.