Chapter 112

Packing up his suitcases that morning felt somewhat like a bittersweet moment. He was happy to finally go home and looked forward to time off with his family again but being on the road had also been a lot of fun. Last summer he might not have thought so but he was glad he had made the decision to go back on tour. There were a lot of family moments he knew he missed out on but there were great memories on tour as well. He had a good time with his friends, now he was ready to go home and have an even greater time as they celebrated Christmas and the end of the year.

"Are you ready for this one?" He asked Jon as he followed him on the stairs to the plane cabin.
Jon's groan made him chuckle. "How many hours is this one?"
"This one, 13 hours." Richie reminded him, loving it when Jon groaned again. "Then 6 more hours after that." He added on.

They found their seats and got comfortable for the long haul.

"Can I have a layover at your house?" Jon asked, not looking forward to a total of 19 hours in the air and knowing it would take much longer than that.
"That would mean you get home even later." Richie pointed out to him.
Jon sighed, not liking that idea either.
Richie shrugged his shoulders at that, it was true, and they both knew that. "Just looking out for you man."

Once in the air, he decided on the easy way out. Being able to sleep anywhere or anytime truly was a wonderful gift especially when combined with the ability to function perfectly fine on a lot less sleep as well. Knowing jet lag would throw him completely off schedule anyway, he decided to kill his time with a nice nap.

When he woke up the cabin was dark and quiet. Jon was still next to him. Tico had moved away and David sat across from him. Carefully he tried to stretch his legs, not wanting to disturb anyone but also needing to get up. Being stuck in the corner by the window, he knew that was going to be very unlikely.

Trying to find something to do, he pulled out his iPad from his bag by his feet. There had to be some sort of games on there.

"You must be bored." He heard after a while from his right. Richie looked over to see Jon watching his iPad.
"You fell asleep on me." Richie said to him.
Jon slowly sat up, getting back in a more comfortable position. "You're the one that went straight to sleep when we got into the air."
"You weren't entertaining me."

It wasn't long before everyone else woke up as well, which led to them having breakfast or lunch. It wasn't much longer now and Richie was getting more than ready to disembark this plane and not look at one for a long while.

Travelling back from Australia was always more fun than returning from Europe. This was the only time, he didn't have to get on an extra flight to make his way home. That surely was the best thing about going to Australia.

Richie was more than happy to get off the plane and leave his friends on it to continue their journey home. Thirteen hours of flight was enough for him, if the guys wanted to add on an extra six just to get home, he would let them do so by themselves.

Once in a car in the way home, he grabbed his phone and decided he needed to point that out to Jon and David. What was a friendship if he couldn't tease them a little bit?

After that, he sent Sarah a text, letting her know he would be home very soon. Then, enjoyed his drive home from the backseat of the SUV. Although he hadn't been away that long, it felt good to see all the familiar places around him.

The driver pulled up to the house. Once the car was parked, Richie opened the door and got out of the car, ready to be home. He quickly helped the driver with getting his bags out of the trunk of the SUV and started to move them to the front door. By now, Sarah had figured out he was home and he was happy to see her waiting in the door with Daniel for him.

Leaving the bags for what they were, he went over to his wife and kissed her deeply. So happy he could do so again. Twenty days had been much too long to go without a kiss. When he finally pulled back, he held his arms out for Daniel to come to him.

"You started Christmas decorating?" He asked when he was finally inside. The railings on the stairs had been decorated with colorful garland and bows.
"Not everything." Sarah said quickly. "Ava came over last night wanting to get it ready for you but we left the living room and the tree." Sarah continued, hoping that would make him feel better.
"It looks great already." He said, happy to be home in a half decorated house.

He happily spent the rest of the morning with Sarah and Daniel, playing with his son as he caught up on the last few weeks with his wife. Sharing stories when he got home was something he always enjoyed. There were many to tell and many to hear about.

After Daniel napped and the three of them were back in the living room, he started going through the boxes of Christmas decorations.

"Ava will be home soon." Sarah reminded him as he opened a box.
He looked up briefly. "I know, just looking for something."
Sarah watched him for a moment as he riffled through the box. "What are you looking for?" She finally asked, curious about what couldn't wait.
"Got it!" He exclaimed as he pulled out a small item that was wrapped in tissue paper. Carefully, he unwrapped it and placed it on the mantel piece above the fire place. "How's that?" He asked.
"Looks good." Sarah agreed, recognizing it now that he had put it down. "What about Ava?" She asked carefully, remembering last year.
He waved it off quickly. "She doesn't actually mind, just acts like she's embarrassed by it. It's cute and it reminds me of how little she was."

They both looked over when the front door opened to see Ava and Noah walk into the hallway. Ava happily dropped her bag by the staircase and headed into the living room to great her father back home.

"Missed you." She said as she hugged him tightly.

Richie loved tight hugs from his daughter and all too happily returned it, he had missed her as well.

"Are we decorating now or later?" He asked her as he let go off their hug.
"Now." Ava answered adamantly.
Richie nodded shortly, liking that idea very much. "Okay. Let's get started so we can have hot chocolate after and watch a movie."
"I'm sure we can have hot chocolate whenever we want."
He shook his head. "No, only after Christmas decorating."
"Okay." Ava slightly rolled her eyes as she followed Noah up the stairs.

Richie unstacked the boxes as he waited for them to come back, then ripped off the tape he had used last year to seal the boxes. Sarah watched him do so from the couch, happy to be watching instead of being part of the decorating for now as she kept Daniel occupied.

Not much later Ava returned to the living room, changed from her school uniform and ready to start decorating the Christmas tree and the rest of the house.

Every year he loved watching Ava being creative and turning the entire house into a picture perfect Christmas decor. Just about as good as what they'd see in the movies they'd watch for the next couple days. Richie followed the instructions she was giving him on where to place certain ornaments on the Christmas tree and helped her reach for the top branches when she was just a little too short to do so herself. Once the tree was finished, Ava continued on to the rest of the living room, taking each items as Richie unwrapped it from its tissue paper or from the box it was kept in for safekeeping.

Sarah watched them both, enjoying how Daniel exclaimed little oh's and ah's whenever he noticed something new that he liked.

"It looks great." Sarah said when it looked like they had finally finished.
"Just need the star." Ava watched as Richie took it out of its box and reached to put it on top of the Christmas tree, finishing it off. "Perfect." Ava smiled.
"I suppose it's time for hot chocolate then?" Sarah asked, getting up with Daniel in her arms.

With cups of hot chocolate in their hands, the four of them sat down on the couch in the living room. Richie had made sure the fire place was on, adding to the experience of Christmas even though it wasn't all that cold outside. He sat close to Sarah, an arm wrapped around her shoulders as he held her close against him, watching the Christmas movie Ava had picked out for them. Having his family close by like this was exactly what he needed today. Nothing would ever beat the feeling he felt when they were all together and sharing a wonderful family moment.

Their excitement for decorating and preparing for Christmas next week, had occupied them so much, they forgot about dinner until Noah came downstairs asking when dinner would be.

After dinner, Ava decided to follow Noah upstairs, as happy as she was her dad was home again, she did still want her own time. Her phone had been exploding with text and other kind of messages for the last few hours and perhaps she would take some time to reply them.

Once again, Richie happily sat down on the couch with Sarah, this time holding Daniel close and hoped the little boy would be off to sleep soon. Some time alone with Sarah was just what he'd need to finish off his lovely homecoming.

When Daniel had been sleeping in his arms for almost half an hour and Sarah's tv show ended, they decided to take him to bed and do the same for themselves. Carefully carrying Daniel to his bed, Richie tried his best not to wake him. With care he laid his son down in his crib, as always, he took his moment to watch him. The boy looked so peaceful when he slept, he cherished that.

"I'll meet you in bed?" He asked Sarah as they walked out of the bedroom, leaving Daniel's open by an inch.
Sarah smiled and reached up for a quick kiss from him. "Sounds good. I'll be waiting." She said, knowing it sounded suggestive.
Richie watched her go into their bedroom, enjoying his view before heading down the hall to say goodnight to his teenage children as per his usual at home ritual.

Having that quick chat before saying good night to Ava was something he held dear very much. It had started much the same as he did now with Daniel, making sure he was asleep before leaving him. Now he knew Ava wasn't going to sleep straight away but having those few minutes to talk and end their day always made him feel better. He knew she treasured it to, on the rare occasion that she went to bed before him, Ava would always come and find him to catch up on their day before saying good night. He loved that he had built that relationship.

After saying his good nights and stopping by Daniel one last time, he opened the door to his own room. He didn't feel anywhere near tired but after being away for almost three weeks, there was nothing he looked more forward to than sharing a bed with his beautiful wife.