Chapter 35

"Richie, where are you?" Sarah talked into her phone, sounding worried.
Richie sighed before answering but Sarah cut in again.
"I got home and there's nobody here, not even a note. What happened?"
"We're at the hospital."
"The hospital?!" Sarah exclaimed. Her worriedness changed into panic in an instant.
"Noah broke his arm or something." Richie said quickly, informing her as fast as possible. "He wanted to go skating and I went to get coffee and he fell. We've got x-rays, getting a cast now."
"I should come over."
"We're almost done here. We will be home soon." Richie promised although it took him a few minutes to reassure Sarah about Noah's condition.

After Noah had picked out a color for the cast they were ready to go, just as Richie had promised to his wife.

Only half an hour later they walked into the front door at home.

Sarah got up immediately and rushed to the front door, worrying about her son. She fussed and made sure he was feeling better before she let him go to his room.

"How did this happen?!" Sarah exclaimed once Noah left the room.
"I don't know." Richie said defensively. "He wanted to go to the skatepark so I took him there, he was doing fine til I turned my back for five seconds."
Sarah sighed.
"I'm sorry." Richie said, not knowing what else to say. "How did your exam go?"
Sarah looked up at him. "It went well, very well."
"Yeah?"
"I think I did great. I'll know next week and then I should get my certificate a few weeks later?"
"Already?" Richie asked surprised.
"I took on the extra course, remember, so I could finish the course faster because I was doing so well."
"I'm so proud of you." He felt very proud of Sarah for finishing the course she has set out to finish.
"I was thinking to continue with another course."
"Yeah?"
"Why not?" Sarah shrugged.
"Sounds good. You can never learn too much."

Just then Danny made himself heard to them, wanting attention and something to eat.

Summer was ending and soon both Noah and Ava would be back in school. Important birthdays were right around the corner and Richie's obligations to the next leg of the tour weren't very far away either.

Feeling happy with his family, Richie still felt indicisive about going back on the road. 

Chapter 34

He stared out the window a few more seconds before realizing what had happened across the street at the skatepark.

He grabbed Daniel's stroller, forgot about the cups, both coffee and juice and rushed out the door. Only briefly stopped at the edge of the sidewalk to make sure there were no cars before crossing and rushing over.

When he reached the crowding group of skateboarders, they moved to make space for him.

He found Noah.

Noah was laying flat on the concrete ground, his arm at a very odd angle.

Forgetting about Daniel but knowing he was safe in his stroller, he bent down next to Noah.

"Is anybody calling 911?" He called out before turning back to Noah, who was staring off into space. "You okay buddy?" He asked even though he knew he wasn't, he wanted Noah's attention to keep him from fainting. "Paramedics will be here in a minute. Hang in there."
Noah nodded weakly, not able to do much else.

A few minutes later he could hear the sirens of an approaching ambulance. A lot of the crowd has already moved away and now the rest moved to make space for the paramedics.

As a good and responsible father, he stayed with Noah the entire time the paramedics were helping him onto the stretcher and into the ambulance. He didn't want to leave Noah alone but he had to.

"Which hospital are you taking him to?" He asked the paramedics after Noah had been taken care of inside.
"Ceder Sinai is closest from here. You can follow us." The paramedic answered him as they got back into the ambulance to take Noah to the hospital.
"Thanks." Richie said as he hurried back over to Daniel to take him back to the car.

Getting Daniel into the car was a breeze but of course when he needed to hurry, the stroller had to be a pain.

Finally getting it into the trunk a few minutes later, he got in the car and started driving. The ambulance had already gone but he knew where the hospital was.

Praying for green lights, he headed off to the hospital to be with Noah. He knew it would only be a broken arm but that didnt make him any less worried about his son.

Maybe he still hadn't found a way to connect with him but that didn't make him love Noah any less.

Chapter 33

Noticing a shadow walking into the doorway, Richie looked up from where he was playing with Daniel on the floor of his bedroom.

He smiled up at Noah. "Everything okay?" He asked.
Noah nodded. "I was wondering..." He didn't end his sentence.
"What's up?" Richie got up from the floor, making sure Daniel was okay sitting on his own.
Noah hestitated but continued. "I was wondering if you could drive me somewhere."
"Sure, where do you want to go?"
"The skatepark."
"Skatepark?" Richie frowned, he had never seen Noah skateboard. Even surfing only happened once in a while. Not wanting to discourage Noah from something new, he agreed. "Just give me a few minutes to get Daniel ready and we can go."

Sarah had gone to write her final exam and Richie had stayed home with Daniel and Noah but going out was never a bad choice.

He quickly dressed Daniel in a nicer outfit, jeans and a cute tshirt. Even though he was a small boy, his closet was filled with tshirts. More than he would ever wear.

Fifteen minutes later they were in the car, on their way to the skatepark. He hadn't exactly been to the skatepark before but knowing where it was was good enough for him.

"How come you want to go skateboarding?" Richie asked carefully.
Noah shrugged.
"Just something you want to try out?"
"Sort of."
Richie frowned and looked over at Noah, seeing a light blush on his cheeks, then he smiled. "A girl?"
Noah's head turned in less than a split second, disbelieving that Richie had figured him out that quickly. He sighed. "Yeah."
"A skatergirl." Richie said. "Very cool."

Arriving at the park, Richie was glad to spot a Starbucks restaurant across the street. At least he could get a cup of coffee while he was there.

Before getting out of the car, Noah turned to him again. "Could you wait around here?" He asked nervously. "In case I really suck at skateboarding."
Richie smiled. "Don't worry about it. I'll be here." He answered, feeling like he said give girl advise.
"Thanks." Noah said and made to get out of the car.
"Wait," Richie said, "You don't need to impress her with skateboarding you know, just be you."
Noah looked away, then shook his head. "I'm not good enough."

Before he could say anything else, Noah had gotten out of the car and was walking to the skatepark. Richie couldn't believe it. Of course he was good enough, for any girl or any person. Not being able to do anything about it right now, he looked back at Daniel. "Lets get some coffee buddy."

Starbucks offered a not too bad view of the skatepark and the park behind it. Sadly no playpark for small children, Daniel would be too small anyway. Instead, Daniel sat next to the table in his stroller as Richie enjoyed his coffee, Daniel had a cup of juice.

From his point of view, he had made out which skater was Noah. While watching the others, he realized Noah didn't nearly have enough protection gear. A helmet was all he had but all the other skaters were wearing more protection.

Sudden crying from Daniel had him distracted but the smell easily made him realize what had disrupted his son's peace. Leaving his coffee on the table, he got Daniel out of the chair and took him to the washrooms to change him into a clean diaper.

As he returned and got Daniel back into the stroller, he sat down to take a sip from his coffee again. A little colder but still full of flavour.

Enjoying his drink, he looked out of the window. He frowned as he saw most of the skaters group up in a circle around somebody, skateboard disregarded everywhere. He leaned on the table to see closer but couldn't make out where Noah was.

Chapter 32

Only a week after their vacation at the lake had ended, the family was getting ready to say goodbye. Caleb had decided on going to school before classes started to have time to settle in and look for a job all before school started. Besides that the school also offered a few classes just before real classes started and he was ready to grab those chances.

Sarah had spend most of the week with Caleb, driving around and buying everything he would need at university.

Richie was sad to see his oldest son go, they wouldn't spend every Saturday studying guitar and music anymore. Caleb was finally getting the education he wanted, although he had learned a lot from Richie, school would teach him different things.

The four of them had travelled to the school to help Caleb with getting settled in the dormitory.

For both parents it was hard to say goodbye but Caleb was eager to start a new page in his life, which both of his parents understood. They wished him good luck, another goodbye and were ready to go home again with their youngest son, letting go of the oldest.


Arriving home, it was quiet as it always was when they got home. Sarah took that opportunity to study for her upcoming exam while Richie took care of Daniel.

The small boy had been awake the entire way home and must be exhausted by now. Richie carried him upstairs and to their bed. There wasn't anything better than having a peaceful nap with his small son.

Taking his jeans off to be more comfortable in bed, Daniel wouldn't care, he got in bed with Daniel next to him. He only pulled the sheets up to his waist, not wanting them too high for Daniel.

As he looked down at his son, he considered how much had changed in the last few months and how much would hopefully change in the coming months. Daniel was already approaching his first birthday, hopefully they would be expecting a sibling for him by then.

One of these times, it just had to work, it was bound to happen but being patient wasn't an easy thing when so many things were involved that were working against them. Their ages definitely didn't help it at all but they had gotten Daniel and they knew there had to be a chance for a next baby.


After their nap, they went back downstairs where Sarah was still studying.

"How's it going?" Richie asked as he sat down on the couch, letting Daniel sit next to him, still proud of him to learn how to sit.
"Good, actually, really good." Sarah answered. "Went through the entire text book, took notes of what I need to know. I'm ready for next week."
"You make me so proud." Richie said.

Sarah smiled over at him, glad to hear it because it wasn't always as easily to be studying instead of being a mother.

"So you won't mind if I take another course?" Sarah asked.
"Of course not." Richie answered, he knew it was unlikely Sarah was going to use her diplomas and find a job but if she wanted to study and learn, he couldn't stop her.

He knew she wanted to be a stay at home mom as she had done for her older children and he was glad he could give it to her so easily.

He couldn't blame her for wanting to do so, right now he was more than fine with being a stay at home dad. Work and tours were far from his mind.