Chapter 47

Before he knew it, the week was over. Whenever there was limited time, life always went too fast but he spent his week with his family as he wanted to.

He drove his children to school and picked them up every day. The drive was short but he enjoyed the time he got with them and to hear them talk about their day.

His own days were spent at home with Sarah and Daniel. Together they had tried to interest their baby boy in walking again but Daniel refused to do so. He was perfectly content with standing at the coffee table or couch with his toys within hands reach to play or be carried wherever he needed to go if he couldn't crawl there.

In all, Richie had enjoyed his week spending extra family time with everyone. It's where he loved to be.

Saturday evening, after dinner he would drive over to Heather's house again. As Richie wasn't home, Ava would stay at her mother's house. For Sarah it was convenient as well, she would only have to worry about her sons.

Noah had already left the dinner table while Ava had stayed behind.

Sarah and Richie started cleaning up the table and putting away dishes. Daniel waited patiently in his high chair, watching what everyone else was doing.

"Have you finished packing?" Sarah asked as she passed the dinner plates to Richie to put into the dishwasher.
He positioned the plates as Sarah gave them to him. "Almost. I've got my stage clothes packed, just have my regular clothes left to pack." He said, then looked over to the table as he heard Ava starting to tap her fingers on the table top, he frowned.
"Do you need help packing the rest or any help at all?"
"I should be fine but you're always free to help." He finished loading the dishwasher and closed it.

He could still hear Ava rhythmically tapping her fingers tips on the wooden table. It caught his attention again. He only had to look at Ava tapping her fingers, bouncing her knee under the table and looking up at the ceiling to know what was going on.

Without saying anything to Sarah, he nodded his head towards Ava, making Sarah look over as well. She frowned at him and gave him a little smile before picking up Daniel from his high chair, she gave her husband a quick kiss on his cheek before she left the room.

Richie walked over to his daughter at the table, pulling out the chair next to her and sat down.

Ava looked at him but looked away to stare at the ceiling again, continuing her tapping.

He reached over and put his hand over hers, holding her hand. She tried to keep her eyes averted but he still noticed.

"Ava?" He asked.
She tried her best to not make eye contact and ignore his question, he knew that too.
"What's going on?" He asked her gently, knowing what was coming.
Ava shook her head and averted her eyes again.
"I can't help you through this unless you tell me what's going on in your head." Richie said calmly, making it clear to her he'd listen to anything she needed from him.

He would always have the time to listen to her and help her figure out any situation she was going through. Even if he wasn't around, Ava would always be a priority. She knew that too.

"Is it cause I'm leaving tomorrow?" He asked her, watching her making eye contact for a second before she looked away again, letting out a deep sigh. It gave him his answer. "You're allowed to be sad over that, you don't have to have panic attacks for it though." He saw the tears well up in her eyes and pulled her close against him, holding her. "It's only two months, I'll be home by thanksgiving." He reminded her carefully. "I thought you wanted me to go?"
She nodded, pulling away from him. "'Cause it'll make you happy."
"What makes me happy is you." Richie reminded her.
"But playing music makes you happy too." She pointed out. "I want you to play."
"Then why are you having a panic attack?" He watched more tears fall from her eyes.
"What if I need you?" She asked softly.
He smiled at her, feeling sad that she was so worried. "Then you call me, like you've always done. You're one of the smartest and strongest 15 year olds I've ever known and not just because I'm biased."
Ava chuckled at that, dismissing it. "Yeah, right." She said sarcastically.
"I'm not kidding." He said, giving her hand a supportive squeeze. "You're going to be fine. School's been going well so far. Your mom's doing well. You'll be fine and if you need a different space, Sarah would love having you here too."
She nodded slowly, understanding.
"You don't need to worry. I love you more than anything and if there's anything you need while I'm gone, you just call me. Okay?"
"Okay." She agreed, meaning it.
"It's going to be fine." He repeated again and pulled her into a hug. "You don't need to stress yourself out over something like this."
"But I feel bad."
"How so? Why do you feel bad?"
Ava sighed, letting go of her dad again, shaking her head as she ran a hand through her hair.
He knew how she processed and waited for her.
"Because I want you to go and do what you enjoy but I also just want to have you here and not have you go."
He smiled at her, reminded of what a beautiful girl she was inside and out. "Sweetheart," he said, "that's how I feel about you all the time. Every day."
She frowned at him, not understanding what he meant, only for a second did her bouncing knee relent but it quickly continued.
"Every day I've looked at you since you were born and I thought of how wonderful it would be if you could just stay as little as you were. If you could just stay 4 for a little while longer or 8 for a bit longer or maybe 12 but then I look at you now and I see where you are in life and I just can't wait for you to become the wonderful woman you are becoming." He smiled at her, completely in awe of her. "I wish I could keep you as small as you were but I have to let you go too so you can be who you are and do what makes you happy." He sighed. "There are many moments in life where you wish you could just grab the moment and hold on to it for as long as you want but it's when we let go that we learn the most about a person and ourselves." Richie smiled encouragingly at her. "It's one of the hardest things to do, letting someone go to do what they need while you desperately want to hold on to them because you need them but it's when you let go and release them that you can enjoy their happiness and grow yourself to be ready for your own steps ahead."
Ava wiped fresh tears from her eyes. "So I have to let you go back on tour to see for myself that I'll be fine?"
Noticing how her bouncing leg under the table had finally stopped. He took it as a good sign, Richie nodded. "And you will be."