Chapter 42

The next morning they were woken up by an early cell phone alarm.

Richie reached for the phone to snooze the alarm but Sarah reached over.
"Time to get up." She told him. "No snoozing."
"But it's 6 am." He complained at her scolding.
She snuggled into him. "Yeah, but you're making Ava and Noah get up early to prepare for school, so it's only fair. Besides, Daniel will be up soon so I'm going to shower while you make breakfast."
"Oh I make breakfast?"
"Yeah." She let go of him and got up from the bed. "You make breakfast."

His phone started playing the snoozed alarm as Sarah walked to the bathroom.

"Alright, alright." He groaned as he turned the alarm off and got up to dress in some temporary clothes, he'd get dressed after breakfast.

Leaving his bedroom, he headed down the hallway to Ava's room, where he knocked on the door and pushed it open a little bit. Just enough so she would want to get up to close it again if she wanted privacy. "Wakey wakey, eggs and bacey." He said into the room before repeating the knock on Noah's door. "Good morning sunshine, the world says hello." He said in a singsong voice before heading down the hall again. He enjoyed bugging his children in the morning, just a little playful teasing.

He peeked into Daniel's open room and was met with big brown eyes looking back at him.

"Good morning buddy." He said as he picked up his son and gave him a good morning cuddle before changing his diaper.

Once in the kitchen, he sat Daniel down in his highchair.

From the fridge he took out the jug of milk and a carton of eggs. He filled up a small bottle for Daniel, heating it up for him before giving him the milk. He was impressed how Daniel was able to hold his own bottle now and be a little more independent, he was growing fast.

In the large cabinet he found two pans to heat up on the stove. Carefully he cracked his first three eggs into the first pan, making sure the yolk didn't run. Then he scrambled 3 more in the other pan. While his eggs were cooking, he started toasting a couple slices of bread. He knew what everyone would eat, which made it easy to have breakfast ready by the time everyone got downstairs to join him and Daniel.

"Morning dad."
He looked over his shoulder. "Good morning my princess." He smiled at her as she sat down next to Daniel. "How did you sleep?"
"Alright, just too short."
"Come Tuesday you won't have a choice anyway."
"Unless I have a spare on Monday mornings." Ava pointed out.
"Doubtful." He didn't know, but he hoped not. "Do you want anything on your toast?" He asked.
"No thanks, I'll just use it to dip my egg." She answered. "I thought you were making bacon? I was told there'd be bacon."

Richie walked back over to the fridge to check it's contents. He'd happily make bacon for his little girl, anything for her.

"Turkey or piggy?" He asked without looking up.
"Turkey, let's be healthy." Ava suggested.
He took the package out of the fridge and went to retrieve another pan to cook bacon as well.

As he prepared the rest of the food, getting everyone's eggs and toast onto plates, Daniel finished his milk and started fussing.

"Maybe he's still hungry?" Ava asked, trying to be helpful.

Taking that as his cue, Richie went back to the fridge and fetched the container of diced fruit and a cup of yogurt. He loved taking care of his family. He pulled the blender from the corner where it sat, added a slice of bread to it, blended it up to crumbs, then added in the fruit and yogurt to blend up once again. Then passed the small container to Ava with a spoon. Who knew what that meant, she started feeding her little brother as her dad finished plating up everyone's plate. The next time he turned around, Noah was sitting at the table as well.

"Morning." He said to his son while handing him his plate of scrambled eggs, turkey and two slices of toast, along with a small bowl of diced fruit. He repeated the same with Ava and placed Sarah's place at her seat before he sat down with his own.

"Good morning." Sarah said, walking into the kitchen last and joining them at the table. She kissed her husband before taking a bite of fruit.
"Thanks for breakfast dad." Ava smiled at him as she tore her toast into pieces and dipped it into the yolk over her sunny side up egg.
"No problem." He said, he enjoyed making breakfast for his family. The last few months it had become a nice routine. "The least I can do for making everyone get up so early.
"That is true." Ava teased him.

He enjoyed his family. Times as simple as having a meal together were one of the most important things a family could do he thought. It was the perfect time to catch up on what everyone was doing and to discuss family issues. The time to bring up travel and have everyone included. The thought of telling his children that he may be going away for two months made him anxious. Instead, he watched how Sarah took over from Ava and fed Daniel the rest of his breakfast.

"Do you guys need anything else for school?" Richie asked them both.
Ava looked at him confused while Noah just shook his head. "Like what?" She asked.
"I don't know. Pens, erasers, markers, pencils, notebooks?" Richie suggested.
Ava chuckled at his list. "No dad, everyone uses iPads or laptops."
He frowned at the idea of that. "I'm amazed half of you school folk still know handwriting." He joked. "What about clothes then?" He suggested to her and caught her interest. "I'm thinking of going for a run first and maybe head out around 10 or 11?" He asked her. He would suggest to Noah but he knew the boy would not be interested in clothes shopping with his dad and sister.

Once everyone had finished their plates, he figured he had made himself anxious enough by now and needed to tell them eventually, may as well do so now before everyone dispersed from the room.

"So guys, I've got a question." He started out, making both teenagers look up at him. "I was thinking of maybe going back on tour for a few weeks." He finally said the words. "But I only want to go if it's okay with everyone."