Chapter 39

A little while later he was heading down the stairs with Ava, her friend and Noah in tow behind him.

Once they reached the ground floor, Ava turned to walk to the living room, just before Richie stopped her. "Ava, come help carry things outside." He asked, making sure she came to the kitchen to help as well.

Ava turned back around and followed her dad and brother to the kitchen. "So Jon's here?" She asked once they were in the kitchen and Richie opened the fridge to retrieve everything he needed. "Yeah," he replied, "figured we would have a labor day get together." He explained to her, not wanting to let her know too much about what may or may not be happening. Starting out casual, he could still see where it goes and ask what his family thought about it as well. "Can you grab the flat of soda and the box of beer as well?" He asked her, dividing tasks between children. "And actually put them in the cooler outside, not on top or near the cooler, inside it." He clarified for her.
In response, Ava rolled her eyes but grabbed everything he asked for.
After Noah had put down his new e-reader, Richie handed him some packages of meat that he could carry with one arm.
Following both teenagers, he grabbed the remaining items.

Halfway out the kitchen, he turned around and headed back to the kitchen island, where he added Noah's electronic to his pile of items.

Once outside, he dropped all his items with Noah on a side table by the barbecue. "Can you go turn on the outside music?" He asked as he handed him his e-reader back, knowing he would be spending most of his evening reading at the table while everyone would be lost in conversations.

With Daniel on her hip, Sarah got up from her chair next to her mother and walked over to her husband.

"Do you need a hand?" She asked him gently.
He looked up at her and his son, giving them a small smile. "No, I'm good." He said as he started arranging which foods to put on the grill first.
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah." He reassured her.
"Even with..." She trailed off as she nodded in the direction Jon and Dorothea were sitting at the table with their children.
Richie looked over, then replied. "We talked. We're good."
Sarah nodded. "Okay." She leaned over to kiss him and walked back to the table to continue her conversations.

The outside speakers were turned on and music started playing around them.

Once his vegetables skewers for appetizers had grilled on the barbecue, he brought them over to the table as he left his racks of ribs and potatoes to themselves. From the drink cooler, he grabbed his own drink.

"Jon? Want one of these near beers?"
"Sure, sounds good."
"Does anyone else need a drink?" He asked before he left the cooler.
Ava raised her hand. "Can I have one of those?" She asked among mumbles of everyone else declining a drink.
He grabbed another, then noticed Noah walking back out to join the rest of the family. "Noah?" He asked, gesturing to the cooler.
"Sure." Noah walked over and grabbed a can from him.

Richie passed out the drinks and took a seat next to Sarah. He opened up his can, then grabbed one of the skewers he had just made when he noticed Noah struggling to hold the can still with his arm in a cast and opening it with his free hand. Reaching over, he opened the can for him. He loved his dorky son.

A few minutes later he went to check on the barbecue, this time Jon got up to follow him, leaving the rest to their own conversations.

They talked casually as Richie turned all the meats and potatoes to ensure they all cooked evenly before he added more to the grill.

"You said Caleb is in Vancouver during our show in October, what's he doing there?" Jon inquired.
Richie shook his head, still not believing it. "That's where he's going to university. He's going to UBC, apparently they have a better film production course there than they do anywhere in Los Angeles." Richie grunted. "Sarah was pretty upset about it but I get it, he wanted to do it on his own, you know? Prove that he could be on his own two feet."
Jon nodded, he understood that as well. "He's taking film production?" He asked.
"Major in film production and a minor in music technology. He wants to make music for movies and tv-shows and such."
"That's pretty neat."

Just then Jon's two sons ran past them, into the house, followed by all three teenagers.

Once all the food was ready, Jon helped carry it all over to the table with Richie, who grabbed them another round of non-alcoholic beers before sitting down and joining the wives. Minutes later, the children returned, all in swimsuits carrying towels, except Noah who joined them at the table while the four others went straight for the pool. On a regular day Richie would prefer his kids having dinner as a family but today he didn't care. Ava seemed to have fun and that was good enough.