Chapter 56

He speed dialed Sarah and put her on speakerphone as he started packing up his suitcase he had hardly used.

"Hey there handsome."
Her beautiful voice made him smile, his brain offered him a mental image of how often she had said those words to him. He smiled as he answered, "hey there beautiful. How are you doing?"
Sarah sighed. "I was enjoying some nice sleep but now I get to talk to you."
"I'm sorry for waking you up. I'm just packing up at the hotel, then we're heading to the airport and off to Mexico so I probably won't get the chance to talk to you until I get there tonight."
"It's alright," she said, "you can always wake me up to talk. Are you excited to get back on tour?"
"I kind of am. I miss you and the kids though. How's Daniel doing?"
Sarah sighed, making Richie worried. "He actually slept pretty well last night. I'm trying not to give him the pain relief too often."
"But he's in pain." He didn't want his little boy to be in any sort of pain. Hearing his sad cries always pulled at his heart.
"I know but it's not good to give it to him too often either so I'm letting him chew on teething toys and freeze them so they're cold to numb the pain. Don't worry, I give him the painkiller when he really needs it." She explained her technique of trying to manage Daniel's teething pain.

Soon most of his clothes were packed into his suitcase, he had traveled light as most of his tour gear had been sent off to join the rest of the band's, wherever it was right now.

"So we arrive in Mexico around 6, I guess that's 2 or 3 for you but I will text you when I get there and we'll see."
"Okay, sounds good." Sarah agreed. "Be safe." She reminded him. "I love you."
"I love you too. I'll text you later." He said before disconnecting the call.

He finished packing everything he had brought and felt ready to get going. He still had an hour before check out but there was nothing else to do here. Instead Richie had decided to head over to Jon's as they would share a ride to the airport since they were only minutes apart.

In the hotel lobby he walked over to the front desk where he dropped his bag.

"Checking out?" The front desk agent asked him with a bright smile.
"Yeah." He said.
"Room 416, right? Richie?" The agent asked again.
He smiled. "Yes."
"Are we charging the credit card we have on file or did you want to use a different method of payment?"
"No, that's fine."
"And I have an email address here, do you want the receipt emailed or printed?"
"Email's good." He said.
"Then you're all set to go. I hope you had a good stay and we hope to see you again." She smiled at him again.
"Thanks." He picked up his bag again and headed out the automatic front door.

He stuck to the promise he made to himself and decided to walk over to Jon's apartment. The only suitcase he brought wasn't that large and he didn't mind pulling it down the street.

Getting some air was always nice as well, even though when it wasn't exactly fresh. He remembered being in New York, the hustle and bustle of the city every single day. Not that Los Angeles is a quiet place to live but at least he was half an hour away from that city and has some peace and quiet. He much preferred his home to where Jon lived. Downtown of such a large city was not the place where he would want to raise his children.

His walk wasn't too long but he made quick pit stop at a coffee shop, not for coffee as he knew Jon always had a pot brewing in the morning but for some muffins. He ordered half a dozen of assorted muffins, making sure his favorite was in the batch before paying and heading out to the street again. Soon enough he stood in front of the door, pressing the bell again. Moments later he was buzzed in and headed up the elevator to meet his friend.

"Hey man," he said as he walked in, kicked his shoes off by his suitcase and headed over to the open kitchen, the cardboard box of muffins in hand, "how's it going?" He asked Jon who started pouring a second cup of coffee.
"I think I'm almost ready." Jon said as he passed Richie the cup of coffee, taking a sip of his own cup.
"What do you mean almost?" He put down the box of muffins and opened the lid, quickly grabbing his out and offering the rest to Jon then accepted the beverage and took a tentative sip to test the temperature of the coffee.
"I've got everything packed, don't worry." Jon assured him as he picked out a muffin from the box. "Just trying to make sure everything is organized. All our gear arrived in Mexico already so that's good."
"All of it?"
"Yeah, instruments are all there. They're setting up our stage and lighting so it'll be good to go tomorrow night. We'll do soundcheck of course to make sure it's all good."
"Then why are you worried?"
"I don't know." Jon sighed.
"Alright then," Richie said, "shut up and drink your coffee."