Chapter 31

The next morning, Richie sat in the captain's seat, steering the house boat to a different location while he enjoyed the beautiful sight of the large lake.

The wooden door creaking as it opened, had him look up to see who was entering.

Noah took a step back. "Sorry, didn't know you'd be here. I'll find some other place."
"No." Richie said quickly. "Sit down, it's a nice view from here."

Noah concidered it for a sceond before walking over and sitting down in the other large comfortable seat.

Richie watched him sit and lean back in the chair, then saw how Noah picked up a book and open it. He knew how much Noah loved his books and didn't like interrupting him but he wanted to opportunity to talk and decided to interrupt before Noah could even start reading.

"Don't you like the view here?" Richie asked, unsure of how else to start a conversation with his son.
Noah closed the book and looked up. "Yeah, it's beautiful here."
"Thought that's why you came here?" Richie asked.
Noah shrugged. "It's a quiet place to read. Usually there's nobody here. It's a nice view, quiet and perfect to read."
"Don't you want to enjoy our vacation instead of reading all the time?"
The teenage boy frowned, picking up his book and ready to leave.
"No, I didn't mean it like that." Richie said quickly. "Don't you want to look around, see the scenes around here?"
"I do that, just not all day long."
"Okay, what about going out with Ava and Caleb and their friends? You could have brought one of your friends too, there's space enough on this book."
Noah gave him a wondering look. "I wouldn't know who'd to bring."
"Even two friends." Richie suggested.
Noah's look didn't change, if anything, it got more confused.

Richie left the conversation for what it was and turned to look out of the windows again, trying to find a perfect spot to stay for the rest of the day. There were so many beautiful places to see and still enough days to see all of them. He heard the rustling of pages being turned as he did so.

When he finally found a spot, he turned off the engine and decided to let the boat drift for a while, then he turned to Noah again.

"So what are you reading?" He asked, feeling sorry for interrupting.
Noah closed the book and looked at the purple printed cover. "Inkdeath."
"New book?" Richie asked.
"I have the series."
"What's it about?"

Just like last time, Richie was amazed at how Noah talked about his books. He was a quiet kid but when the subject was books, he was unstoppable. He could tell every little detail about the store with as much interest as if he was reading the book right then.

He wished he could see Noah's excitement like that in every day life. He had grown up very differently from Noah. Friends were always around him, it was the same for Ava, she always had friends over and was very social. Now he had a son that was completely different, and even after a year, he still had a difficult time relating to Noah. It was hard to find common interests when he wasn't open to sharing his interests.

It didn't make him love Noah any less, he was his son and he loved him. Although it did make him realize even more that every person was different. Ava and Caleb were socialble people while Noah was an introvert who preferred his own little world. What would Daniel be like? Or the child they were trying to conceive?

A knock on the door interrupted Noah's detailed explanation of the book he was reading.

Sarah walked in, carrying Daniel in her arms. "We found daddy." She told Daniel, then added. "And Noah." She looked up at Richie. "I didn't know you two were hiding in here. Talking about books?"
"Yes, we are." Richie answered, then looked interested at Daniel, back to Noah. "Why don't you read stories to Daniel? He'd love it if you would. Any book, you can read that one to him and he'd just love hearing your voice."
Noah frowned. "He would? He doesn't get it."
"That doesn't matter." Richie said encouraging. "He'd hear your voice, know it's you and that's what babies like, he doesn't need to understand what's being read to him."
"Oh." Noah said, his face filling with understanding. "Maybe." He got up from his chair and quickly walked passed Sarah and Daniel and left the room.
Sarah frown at Richie. "Everything okay?" She asked as she went to sit down in the space Noah had just vacated.
"I don't know. It's still so hard to connect with him."
Sarah sighed. "I'm sorry."
"Don't be. I do love him, we just don't really have any of the same interests."
"He really got being an introvert from me. Maybe it's my fault. Maybe how I lived my life while he grew up influenced him?"
"Don't be crazy. There's nothing wrong with being an introvert, it just makes it harder to talk to him and keep a conversation going. All he likes are books."
Sarah shook her head. "He likes more than books. History is a big thing for him too. He knows so much about history and not just American history. The presidents, that's something you could talk about. You'll get there, keep trying to get his interest."
Richie nodded. "I wasn't planning on giving up."

Sarah smiled, glad he wasn't, she knew her son was hard to connect to for other people. For her he had always been like that and that was how he was, she wouldn't change a bit about him. She was glad Richie still loved her son, even if it wasn't so difficult.

"How about spending some time with Daniel?" Sarah suggested. "He's easily to please, play him a song and he's completely lost in it." She reminded him.

She was right, something Richie loved so much about their child, how he could be captured by music so easily and lose himself in it at such a young age. There was no doubt in his mind that Daniel would share his musical talent. He couldn't wait to try and prove that.

Chapter 30

The hot sun was shining down on them. Richie had navigated the boat to the middle of the lake where they were now floating on the gentle waves, enjoying the movements of the water and the heat of the sun.

"This is what we needed."

He looked over at Sarah, she was right. Finally they could relax, the last few months were filled with stress. Now all they had to do was relax.

"Definitely, although I hope they don't wake Daniel up."

He gestured towards the back of the boat where a slide was attached and ended up in the water. The teenagers were very loving it, not minding if made them seem like little children. They were having fun and that was all that mattered to them.

"You know, we could sneak away." Richie suggested. "Nobody would notice us."
Sarah looked up at his suggestion. "Right now?"
"Yeah, they don't need us. We can go do something else, practice babymaking."

She considered it, he was right, nobody would notice them and to get pregnant, they really needed to try every shot they got to succeed.

She got up from her lounge chair and grabbed Richie's hand. "Come on then, we better hurry."


A few minutes later they were in the bedroom, kissing while clothes were dropping everywhere.

Once all her clother were off, Richie pulled Sarah onto the bed, making sure she was comfortable enough as he got on top of her. He kissed her deeply and lowered himself on his elbows to stay close to her. For him it was easy to get excited and release but even if it was a quicky, he still wanted Sarah to enjoy every bit of it too.

Gently he moved into her warm walls as he kissed her soft lips, but as soon as he was inside her warmth where he loved to be, his gentleness changed to urgency as he thrusts became fast and irregular.

Sarah tried to keep up with his movements, enjoying all the frictions he was creating for her.

His release came as a surprise to her but it trigerred her own.

As Richie stopped moving, he layed down on top of her, giving her one last kiss before cuddling close to her.

Sarah cuddled her husband back, loving him in the moment he was close to her. "I love you." She said, reaching over to kiss him again.
"I love you too." He cuddled closer, happy to be where he was.

So far he had loved every moment he had been home with his family, each moment had been worth it. The tour was far behind him.

They close in bed, touching each other gently as they cuddled. Gentle kisses and touches were shared until the baby monitor alerted them of Daniel.

"Can always count on him." Richie sighed. He didn't want to let go of Sarah but they couldn't let Daniel cry on his own either.
"Don't worry." Sarah comforted him. "I'll get him and we can go back to enjoying family time."
"Sounds good, we can sit in the hot tub."
Quickly Sarah turned to look at him. "We can't. Hot tubs aren't exactly good when you're trying to have children."
"Really?"
"It's bad for sperm, too hot."
He looked down at himself. "My poor sperm."
Sarah chuckled. "Don't think Daniel would like it anyway, he's got his kiddie pool."
"We'll share that." Richie agreed, finally letting Sarah go to get their son.

Out on the deck, it was still hot but even though the hot tub was off the list now, Daniel's kiddie pool was indeed refreshing. Although Richie was considering to try the slide in a little while. He couldn't wait until Daniel was old enough to enjoy it too. Right now he was having hard enough a time to stay sitting up in the water as he played.

Sarah watched him, knowing what he was thinking right now. She chuckled. "Go try the slide already honey." She urged him, knowing he wanted to do it.
Richie looked up at her. "Really?"
"Yeah, go, quick."

Richie got up and looked down at Daniel, sure he was fine with just Sarah paying attention to him.

Sarah watched as the kids moved away and let Richie have his try on the slide. She thought it was cute as he got on it and pushed off. Seconds later he was in the water. When he came back up, he had the biggest smile on his face. Childish, but she didn't care, as long as he was happy.

Chapter 29

"Ready for a week without internet, cell phone reception and no tv?" Richie asked once everybody was in the car, ready to go.

Nobody really answered him but he didn't care, they were going to the lake for a week and it was going to be great as it always was. It being Daniel's first time at the lake, made it even more fun. So many "first times" that they could enjoy with him.

"I hope it's safe." Sarah sighed. After all they were spending the entire week on a boat on a lake. Of course it should be child proof but it still made her worry for Daniel. He wasn't quite crawling or even walking yet but that didn't make a difference in it.
"It's safe for children. Gates everywhere, he'll be fine."

It would only take 9 hours to drive to the lake but why drive if you can half that time by flying. It had been an easy choice and plane tickets were ordered.



A few hours later Richie and Caleb were busy carrying bags onto the boat as Ava and her friend went exploring and pick out a bedroom. Noah had found a comfy seat on one of the couches and continued reading the book he had started on the plane.

Sarah carried Daniel around, following Ava exploring the entire house boat. Again she was surprised by how large a house boat could be. Last year there had been two people less on their trip but the boat seemed much bigger than just two extra people.

At the back of the boat she found the master bedroom and was glad to see a travel cot folded up in the corner. If there was a bedroom close enough to theirs, Daniel could have his own, otherwise they'd have to share for a week. She wasn't too sure if Richie would like that. Sharing meant no sex.

She sat down on the bed, feeling how soft but still supportive it was. She laid down Daniel and looked up when the door opened up.

Richie hauled two large travel bags into the room and moved them to the wall.

Smiling at Sarah he plumped down on the bed. "Way too many bags."
Sarah looked over to the bags. "Did you manage to get mine and Daniel's on board too?" She teased.
Richie turned his head and gave Sarah a look.
"I'm kidding sweetheart." She said. "Did you see Daniel's sharing a room with us?"
"What? Why?" He sat up to look for a baby bed.
"It's foldable. Isn't that easy, we can fold it up and put it away during the day." Sarah continued teasing her husband with it.
"There's gotta be a bedroom around here." Richie said, he got up from the bed and walked out the door.

The first door on the left in the hallway revealed their bathroom, a full bathroom with bath and shower. He liked the idea of that a lot. The next door he found a small closet, definitely not big enough for all his stuff. Almost losing hope, he opened the third door.

"Found a room!" He called back to Sarah.

The bedroom only had one bed but had space enough to put up the travel bed for Daniel.

He walked back to the bedroom, meeting Sarah half way, at which point he turned around to show her the room that would serve as Daniel's bedroom.

"Isn't that great?" He asked. "It's close to us so he'll be fine and we can practice on making a sibling for him.
"Practice? We need to do that for real, not practice."
"We'll do for real." Richie confirmed, he'd make sure they would. If it were up to him, Sarah would leave this boat pregnant.

Chapter 28

"Ready for graduation?" Richie asked Sarah the morning Caleb was graduating high school.
"I don't think I'll ever be ready for that." Sarah answered.

They were in the dressing room, picking out formal clothes to wear to the event.

"How about the pride you feel right now?" Richie asked.
Sarah looked back at him over her shoulder, smiling. "So immensely proud of him."
"Thought so." Richie smiled back.

They picked out their formal summer wear and dressed together.

Sarah picked out one of her summerdresses as Richie decided on a nice pair of pants with a matching shirt.

"Ready to go?" Richie asked.
"Almost." Sarah said.

Leaving Sarah to continue getting ready on her own, he walked out of the room and went across the hall to check on Daniel. He still needed to be dressed too.

Specially for the occasion they had bought Daniel a new outfit, a tshirt with a tuxedo print on it and a nice pair of black pants that would be useful for just about any day.

Gently he got Daniel out of his bed and cuddled him close as he brought him over to the changing table where he laid Daniel down again.

As always, Daniel started looking around at all the pictures on the wall behind him, even if that meant he'd had to squirm into difficult postions which made it even harder for Richie to change his diaper and get him dressed.

When he finally succeeded in the task, he picked Daniel up and turned him around so he could see the pictures. He pointed them out.

"There's mommy." He said, pointing to a picture of Sarah.

Each family member had a place on the wall in Daniel's room.

Daniel reached forward out of his own and grabbed for one of the photos. Quickly Richie stopped him and looked at the photograph.

"Yeah, that's daddy and your grandpa Adam. He would have loved you."

His eyes wandered to the picture frame between the two photos of Daniel's grandfathers with his parents. It was a perfect way to show Daniel his grandfather and a perfect way for Richie and Sarah to remember their dads. The poem was still true for him.

"Come on buddy, we better go watch your big brother graduate highschool." He picked Daniel up and walked out of the bedroom, ready to take on one of those daddy tasks of letting a child go their own way.

Chapter 27

Saturday morning Richie spent with his youngest son, the rest of the day was going to be spent with his one and only daughter. Just like he had spent last Saturday with Caleb, today he was spending the entire day with Ava. One of his favorite ways to spend a day with Ava.

After breakfast he said goodbye to Daniel who was going for his morning nap anyway. He changed him up in his room and got him ready for bed, then gently tucked him in.

For a minute, he stood by the crib and watched him.

When he was sure Daniel was peacefully asleep, he turned around and walked out of the room.

Down the hall he met up with Ava.

"Ready to go?" He asked.

The teenage girl quickly grabbed her belongings and was ready to go.

Together they walked to the garage.

"Why don't you drive?" Richie suggested once they got there.
"Really?" Ava asked amazed.
"You're getting better at it and you need practice. You drive."
"Okay." Ava said cheerful as she grabbed the keys from her dad's hand and got in the car in the driver's seat instead of the passenger's seat.

A little nervous, Richie got in on the passenger's side. Ava was doing great with driving a car but she had always practiced with her own car, not his.

"Where are we going?" Ava asked.
Richie shrugged. "You're the driver, you decide."
"The mall?" Ava asked unsure.
"Sure. You know the way?" Richie asked, making sure she did and would be able to drive the whole way on her own.
"Yeah, I do."
"Great, lets get going."

The instant Ava started the car and got off the driveway and onto the street, he felt very proud. It was great to see her drive on her own.

The whole way to the mall he felt nervous along with a mixture of pride. Ava was doing great so far but soon they'd be at the mall, where it was a lot busier and she would have to park the car in between two other cars. The idea of her scratching one of the other cars made him very nervous. If it was only a scratch and nothing more.

The tense moment came up sooner than he had thought when Ava picked out a parking spot.

"Here?" She asked, pointing at a place between two other cars.
"Sure." He agreed. "Just remember to use enough space but don't hit the other ones."
"I won't." Ava said full of confidence as she started to park the car.

Richie squinted, full of nerves as Ava turned the wheel. He knew she hadn't done this one a real parking lot yet.

When she parked, Ava looked at him. "Geez dad, it's fine."
Noticing that they indeed had parked, he looked out of the window. She hadn't done bad at all. "Nicely done." He commented. "Really."
Ava smiled. "Thanks dad." She smiled proudly, getting out of the car.

Proudly, he walked with Ava. Following her in and out every store that interested her wasn't the most interesting thing to do but feeling proud of her accomplishment, he didn't mind at all and followed her gladly, allowing her everything she wanted.

Other than shopping, paying for everything and carrying all the bags, it was also a great opportunity to talk to Ava. Just to have a few minutes where she could tell him anything she would need to.

Any time spend just with Ava alone, was great to him. The shopping wasn't his favorite pass time but to do it for Ava was completely different, it made her happy and that was really all he wanted for all his children. To see them happy and smile. That was all he really needed and for that he'd happily stroll around the mall for an entire day.

Chapter 26

"Did Caleb talk to you?" Sarah asked that same night when they were getting ready for bed.
"About playing guitar?" Richie asked to be sure he was thinking of the same subject as his wife was. "Yeah, he asked when we could play again. We played a little after dinner but Saturday, I'll devote the whole day to it."
"Really?" Sarah asked, pulling back the sheets of the bed to get in.
"Yeah." Richie sighed, doing the same actions as Sarah to get in bed. "It's all been about Daniel so Saturday I'll really make time for Caleb and next week Ava or Noah too and the week after."
"That's a nice idea." Sarah agreed. "Personally, I think I should go shopping with Ava, that way we can really catch up." She moved closer to him in the bed and smiled up at him as she wrapped her arms around him, putting her head on his shoulder to cuddle.
"Yeah right." Richie chuckled. "You just want to go shopping but yeah, it's a good idea."
"We could have our own girl's day. Sunday? So you can be home with Daniel."
Richie nodded. "Sounds good." He agreed, after all, someone did have to stay with Daniel. "What should I do with Noah though? I still can't get through to him that much."
Sarah cuddled closer, thinking of something too. "Take him to the bookstore but be sure it's one that has Starbucks so you can have some coffee, he can stay occupied for hours in a bookstore."
Again Richie nodded and smiled, having known that would be a good idea. "Right, instead of spending my money on clothes for Ava, books for Noah."
"He'll love it." Sarah cuddled into her husband with a smile on her face. "Let's get some sleep." She suggested.
"Good night." He reached in to kiss her gently.



Next Saturday, Richie stuck to his promise, after breakfast he took Caleb to his office upstairs where some of his favorite guitars were. The rests of his guitars were all safely put away in another room.

Caleb didn't nearly have as much guitars but his favorite to play now was the red one he got from Richie. It played much better than his old one and sounded ten times as good.

"So what do you want to play?" Richie asked as he picked up one of his guitars and strummed a few notes to check if it needed tuning.
"Doesn't matter." Caleb shrugged and placed his guitar over his lap as he sat on the comfortable couch. "We can just jam."
"And go from there." Richie suggested.

Caleb started playing.

Richie was too amazed too start playing his own guitar, Caleb's playing was sounding amazing. It had been weeks since they played together but he didn't remember Caleb being this good.

It took him a few minutes to recover from the amazement and to catch up with Caleb's tune.

"That's really good." Richie complimented him after they ended their jam session.
"You think so?" Caleb asked, not sure if it really was that good.
"Yeah, I wouldn't lie."
Caleb wanted to ask something but hesitated a few seconds before doing so. "So would you listen to a song I'm working on and give an honest opinion?"
"You're working on a song?" Richie said excited. Caleb had always wanted to play other songs, he hadn't written any of his own yet. "Of course I do."

The teenage boy pulled a piece of paper from his jeans pocket and flattened it on the couch next to him so he could read as he played. There weren't much words on the paper, mostly chords and notes that he was trying to go somewhere with.

He picked up his guitar and started at the top.

Richie listened to the first chord, how it smoothed into the next and the next. The melodies flowed into each other like a perfect harmony.

He leaned back in his seat as he listened to it, fully enjoying what he was hearing and very amazed that Caleb had writen it all by himself. The boy sure had improved, how had he missed this?

He did exactly what Caleb had asked him and gave a very honest opinion of the song and encouraging Caleb to continue to work on it. It was a rough version but with some work, it would become a diamond.

Richie knew his youngest son needed a lot of attention but he was going to make sure Caleb was going to get enough help with the song as he needed. In September he was off to a college to study music and a song like this would be a very good head start.

September was right around the corner, now was the time to spend as much time with Caleb as he could. All too soon, Noah and Ava would follow him off to college too.

Chapter 25

"Mom." Caleb complained as he walked into the kitchen where Sarah was cooking dinner for the family.
Sarah turned around from the stove. "What's wrong?" She asked, knowing her son's complaining voice and when it came up.
"What's up with Richie?"
Sarah frowned. "What do you mean?"
"He's been home for five weeks and we haven't played guitar since before we went on vacation."
"Daniel's been sick, we were at the hospital a lot."
Caleb sighed frustrated. "I know but it's been two weeks, we used to always play together and now he's never brought it up and I'm not sure if I should."

Sarah quickly turned around to turn over the meat to save it from burning.

"Just ask him if he wants to play guitar. Dinner's alsmost ready so go ask now if he wants to teach you some new stuff after dinner." Sarah suggested.
"I guess." Caleb sighed. "And what if he says no?"
"Then ask for tomorrow. He likes guitar, why would he say no?"
Caleb shrugged, "He's busy with Daniel most of the times."
"Just ask." Sarah repeated and turned back to cook.

Caleb walked out of the kitchen. "All about Daniel." He said under his breath but sure that his mother still heard him.

In the living room he found his father, as he had expected, with Daniel.

"Richie?" Caleb asked carefully.

Richie looked up, frowning, not used to it anymore when they called him by his first name. They'd been calling him dad for months and it surprised him that Caleb hadn't. Perhaps it meant something bad.

"Yeah?" He asked. "What's up?"

He got up from the couch and went to lay Daniel in his playpen, then joined Caleb on the couch.

"So?" He asked.
"We haven't played guitar in a while." Caleb said, trying to be straight forward as much as he dared to be.
"Oh." Richie thought back and realized Caleb was right. "We haven't. Sorry, it's slipped my mind with everything going on with Daniel."
"It's okay." He said quickly. "I was wondering if you could help me with a couple songs and maybe teach me something new."
"Yeah, of course." Richie said excited right away. "Now? Or sometime later?"

Caleb smiled, relieved that Richie did want to play with him and still pay attention to him too.

"I don't know. " He hadn't expected Richie's excitement and was a bit surprised now.

"Dinner's ready!" Sarah called from the kitchen as she got ready to set the table in the other room.

"After dinner?" Richie suggested quickly. "We can just jam for now and I'll help you with your songs on Saturday?"
"Yeah." Caleb smiled again. "That sounds good."
"Great," Richie got up from the couch. "Lets go help your mom set the table."

Caleb got up and followed his dad without a problem, not minding having to help out at all. He was getting a chance to play guitar with his dad again. Someone that he looked up to when it came to guitars.

After dinner, Richie stuck true to his word and went upstairs to Caleb's room as Sarah and Noah cleared off the table and did the dishes.

While playing, Richie realized how Caleb must have felt, how everyone must have felt the past few weeks. Everything had been about Daniel.

In five weeks, he had also missed spending time and playing guitar with Caleb and now he realized he missed the same with Ava and Noah but now he knew what he had to do.