Chapter 86

"What's got you guys so sneaky and whispering?" David asked when they got back to the hotel. "You guys better not be trying to upstage Daniel's birthday party." He said sternly even though he was sure they weren't.
"That's all in your hands." Richie assured him as the four of them headed to the elevator down the hallway.
"Then what's with the whispering?" David asked again, more seriously.

The questioning made Richie uncomfortable, he hadn't told anyone but Jon that Sarah had been pregnant again. It had been so early on he wasn't supposed to say anything to anyone but he couldn't keep it from Jon. He never could. How could he even explain it the David and Tico now?

"Maybe it's none of your business." Jon said when he noticed Richie's behaviour after they got into the elevator. "Or perhaps we are just planning a perfect time for you to babysit Daniel while we go live it up." He pressed the button for their floor as the doors closed.
David shrugged. "Fine by me. I probably like that little dude more than you guys anyway."
"Wow that's hurtful." Jon tried his best to try and sound offended.
"The little dude is literally a part of me." Richie argued as well.
David scoffed. "You think he's like you just because he's got your eyes, hair, love of guitar and like 50 percent of your DNA?"
"Kinda yeah."
David shook his head. "So full of yourself."
"Oh fuck off." Richie told him, glad when the elevator arrived to their floor and their conversation had taken a slight turn away from their earlier subject.
"Why don't you just let them be?" Tico asked David as he stepped out of the elevator before the others.
"Because they were being secretive and whispering about something." David reminded him.
Tico started heading down the hallway as the others followed him. "Maybe they're planning a way to shut you up?"
David laughed out loud. "Impossible!"

They reached the end of the hallway where their rooms were next door to each others. Two on each side of the hallway.

"Hey Richie." Jon said, watching David open his door but stop as he heard Jon call.
"What?" Richie asked him, confused when Jon walked back to him and whispered.
"Nothing, just messing with Dave." He leaned in as he whispered, his eyes locked on David who was watching them closely.
Tico shook his head at their antics and closed his door behind him.
Richie smiled to himself, then looked over his shoulder at David for a second before whispering back. "You're going to piss him off." Richie said but he knew what Jon was doing. "But thanks."
Jon padded him on the back and walked back to his room, looking back at David again who narrowed his eyes at him. "I'm watching you." David said along with the handgestures.

When he walked into the hotel room, everything was exactly how he had left it six hours ago. He kicked off his shoes by the door and walked to the sitting area. The side lamp by the couch was still on, he dropped his bag on the chair next to him. The curtains in the room were still wide open, not that it mattered on this floor and he was too tired to be all that bothered. He noticed the light in the bathroom was still on and went to turn it off. As he walked by the crib in the room, he noticed it was empty which must mean Daniel was still in bed with Sarah. Once by the bathroom he forgoed his original plan and quickly used the bathroom before looking in the mirror he didn't feel as sweaty and gross as he had when he left the stage but he still needed to change out of these stage clothes. With Sarah and Daniel asleep, he didn't want to be all that noisy in the bedroom and wake Sarah them up just to look for clothes to wear. In the mirror he noticed everything was still exactly as it had been when Sarah finished her bubblebath that morning, towel discarded on the floor that no one had bothered to pick up until now. He hung it on the towelbar and made sure it looked straight. On his way out of the bathroom he made sure to turn the light off this time.

He walked over to the little kitchenette and poured himself a glass of water. He leaned against the counter as he drank it. Noticing the formula powder tin on the counter top, he frowned. It wasn't used, he was sure of it. Daniel always had a bottle of formula before bed to settle down but here stood his bottle, unused. Frowning, he checked the baby food jars they had brought along for him for dinners but none of them had been used. In fact, nothing in the kitchenette had been used. It was all exactly as he left it.

With a sense of urgency, Richie walked over to the bedroom. The room was completely dark by now and he left the door open so he could at least see somewhat in the dark with the light from the main room. Sarah hadn't moved at all on her side of the bed and Daniel laid in the middle. Immediately he recognized the clothes he had dressed Daniel in earlier that morning.

Carefully he picked Daniel up from the bed, lifting him so he could rest his head on Richie's shoulder. His wet diaper was obvious when Richie supported his body with his arm as he carried him out of the room. Quietly, he pulled the door closed behind them and sighed. It'd been a long day.

He felt confused and at a loss.

He picked up the diaper bag from where they had left it on the stroller and moved Daniel to the couch, he noticed brown eyes looking back at him. It made him smile. "Hey buddy. Just going to change you and then it's back to bed for you." He whispered gently eventhough Sarah most likely couldn't hear him.

Richie grabbed a new diaper and started changing his son but as soon as he moved the soiled diaper Daniel started crying. Trying to be quick so he could soothe his son, he lifted his legs to change him into a clean diaper, and Richie found the reason of his son's distress. In frustration, he closed his eyes for a moment and let out a sigh before reaching into the diaper bag to rummage through it and find the diaper rash cream. "I know, I'm sorry buddy." He soothed as he applied the cream and fixed the clean diaper. Not bothering with a pair of clean pants, he lifted Daniel into his arms, hoping to calm him down with some bouncing.

The bouncing did not settle Daniel down at all, and the crying continued. The last thing Richie wanted right now was to wake up Sarah. He stood up and started pacing to try and soothe Daniel but noticed the unused bottle in the kitchenette and put it all together. He'd forgotten about what he had seen earlier in his frustration of Daniel's dirty diaper situation. In a hurry, he grabbed the formula and the bottle, then walked out of his hotel room. Right now was not the time to wake Sarah up. The confusion he had felt was starting to feel like anger.

With Daniel crying, he walked to the room next to him and knocked.

Jon opened the door almost right away, a look of confusion on his face when Richie walked into his room with a red faced Daniel crying loudly. "What happened?"
"He's hungry." Richie said as he walked to the kitchenette. Jon's room was the exact same as his had been. "Can you please help?" He noticed Jon had followed him and passed Daniel over to him so he could free his arm.
"Where's Sarah?" Jon asked confused at what was going on.
Richie shook his head as he filled up the bottle with water and proceeded to scoop formula into it before placing it in the microwave.
Jon carried Daniel over to the couch and tried to calm him down without any success.

The microwave beeped at him and Richie pulled the door open, attached the nipple to the bottle and swirled it as he joined Jon on the couch and picked Daniel up into his lap, letting him take the bottle. With a sigh of relief he leaned back against the back of the couch when Daniel went quiet and started drinking.

"What happened?" Jon asked again after they enjoyed a few moments of quiet.
"I don't know." It all probably hadn't taken more than ten minutes but he felt exhausted.

Richie sat up again and looked around the room. Noticing Jon's stuff scattered around the desk, a glass of wine with the bottle next to it on the coffee table, shoes and socks to the side of the table, the TV set to a newschannel.

"I'm sorry." Richie said, clearly he was interrupting Jon's unwinding time from the concert.
"It's fine." Jon said as he reached for his glass. "As long as you don't mind me."
"It's fine." Richie said, absentmindedly he started stroking Daniel's back, glad he had calmed down now that his belly was being filled.

He thought of what had happened but couldn't understand.

"Thanks little mister." Jon said, making Richie return from his thoughts.

Jon put the empty bottle on the coffee table as Daniel moved in his father's arms and laid down with his little head on his chest. Richie put his arm around his son and stroked his back again, trying to relax him.

It only took Daniel a few minutes to go back to sleep.

"I don't understand." Richie said quietly, voicing his thoughts. "I understand she's sad. I'm sad too but I wouldn't just ignore my son all night and leave him starving and in a dirty diaper."
"Is Sarah okay?" Jon asked.
"I don't know what's going on. She was asleep when I went to move Daniel from our bed to his crib. That's when I noticed his pants were wet and when I changed him he started crying because of the rash hurting and I didn't want Sarah to wake up because-" He ranted but cut himself off.
Jon frowned at him. "Because what?"
"I'm so angry at her." He groaned in frustration. "I don't think I've ever been this angry at her. I don't think I've ever been angry at her at all." Richie groaned again.
"She's having a hard time." Jon reminded him.
"I know but that shouldn't be an excuse to forget about Daniel."
"I know." Jon agreed.
"She's taking this so hard and it hurts so much to see her like this but then this." He looked down at Daniel to make sure he was still sleeping. "I don't know how I'm supposed to feel."

Jon got up from the couch and walked to the fridge, carrying his wine glass, he pulled a bottle of water from the fridge door and passed it to Richie as he sat down again to top up his own drink.

"Daniel's okay now, he's sleeping and won't remember a thing. Sarah's sleeping," he paused to wait for Richie to nod his confirmation, "so right now just take your time before you head back there and talk to her when she wakes up."

Richie nodded, there wasn't much else he could do right now. Daniel's immediate needs were taken care off and as far as he knew Sarah was just fine, at least physically. Daniel was comfortable in his arms, leaving Richie with no free hands as he held his son and the bottle of water. Jon's advice seemed fair. Wind down and go to bed. He tapped his cold bottle of water against Jon's arm, making him flinch as he watched the news channel. "Can you open this?"