Chapter 40

After watching the fireworks together in the back yard, Jon and Dorothea wished them a good night and prepared to drive back to the hotel the four of them were staying at.

Richie asked his daughter to help him clean up the table and take dishes inside to load into the dishwasher.

Sarah in return, put her hand on his arm as he made ready to get up, she stopped him. "How about you get Daniel ready for bed? I'll help clean up." She offered as she passed Daniel over to his lap.
He took his son from her and held him close. "Are you sure?" He asked.
"Of course, you did all the work tonight, I'll do this."
"Okay." He agreed.

With Daniel on his lap, he still helped stack the places he could reach around him, perhaps he would eat another rib or two before Sarah took it all away. He'd work out tomorrow.

Daniel started snuggling into him and that was the sign for Richie that he was ready for bed. He got up from his lawn chair and took Daniel to the kitchen, where by now the sink was being filled and the dishwasher was being loaded as well.

"You don't have to clean everything up." Richie said as he grabbed milk from the fridge and grabbed one of Daniel's bottles.
"Rather get it all done, then it's done." Sarah replied.
"I know," He sat Daniel down on the counter so he could pour milk into the bottle, "but it's late and you're probably tired as well." He picked his son up again and walked over to the microwave, heating up the milk.
"I'm alright, Ava's loading the dish washer so that'll do most of the work anyway."
"I guess so."
"Besides, I can sleep in tomorrow." Sarah pointed out with a smile.
Richie smiled back at her, then the microwave beeped at him. "I like the sound of that." He agreed and took Daniel's bottle out of the microwave. "I'll see you in a bit." He said before leaving the kitchen and taking Daniel up to his room.

Once in Daniel's bedroom, he laid him down on the change table and started undressing him, changing his diaper and dressed him in his pajamas before getting comfortable in the rocking chair and feeding his son his bottle.

It didn't take long for Daniel to dose off as he drank his warm milk and cuddled with his dad.

When Richie was sure he was sound asleep, he put the bottle away and got his phone from his pocket. He found the email Jon had sent him earlier and opened the file that showed him the tour schedule along with all the other information about rehearsals or media days.

Today was the last day of August, in three days school would start. There would be two days for rehearsals in New York before they'd fly to Mexico on the 9th. They'd fly home on the 23rd and then it would still be about a week before the concert in Vancouver so he would have time to see Caleb, he liked that idea. He scrolled further down to the list, after the show in Las Vegas, they'd have a couple days off so he would have enough time to go home for at least 1 night, maybe they would be able to celebrate Thanksgiving in October as well, Sarah would definitely enjoy that. At the end of October there would be a handful of days off before doing 5 nights in November, then the rest of the month off. At least he'd be home for American Thanksgiving then. December didn't have many nights either and after that he'd be home for the rest of the holidays.

All in all he didn't think it was a bad time to come back, sure he would miss out on birthdays but he also knew Ava was understanding about his work, she has known her whole life what it was like. For Daniel, he felt a little different. His first birthday was a big milestone but he also wouldn't know the difference if they celebrated it early or later. He would be there for Daniel's first Christmas where he would be able to open his own gifts and be amazed by everything that comes with the holiday.

He smiled at the memory of Ava's first Christmas, the bright, big eyes looking everywhere, discovering all the sparkling and colorful lights.

He would be committing to just about 2 months of touring, then they'd have to work on a new album before another tour would start. Two months and then they'd take a couple months break again. It probably wouldn't be until later into the next year that they'd start writing or composing for a new album.

Two months was all he wanted to commit to, at least for now. See how the last legs of the tour went instead of committing for a lifetime.