Chapter 101

Towards the end of the week Richie started to figure out his daily schedule. Finally he had caught up on sleep and had been able to get up to make breakfast on Wednesday. It wasn't much but he took it as an achievement because he could. Besides that, it was nice to get Daniel out of bed and get him dressed and ready for the day. He enjoyed picking out his clothes for him, making sure he had a cute tshirt to wear every day.

With Sarah following behind him, he carried Daniel downstairs to the kitchen where he passed him over to Sarah as he continued into the kitchen. He pulled open the fridge to grab a carton of eggs out. He looked around but wasn't able to find any bacon, must have used the last the day before. He started on the eggs and started making toast for everyone. As he waited on both, he started a cup of coffee for himself. Breakfast was easy, he enjoyed making breakfast on weekdays, simple with some eggs, bacon, when he had any that is, and toast. On the weekends was when he went full out with pancakes, waffles or french toast.

"Morning."
He looked over his shoulder to see Ava, as her voice had given away, as she went to join Sarah and Daniel at the table. "Good morning angel." He wished her, glad she looked all ready for school.
Ava dropped her backpack and sat down next to Sarah.

It was the easiness of family time that he loved to listen to, Ava talking to Sarah. Daniel patiently waiting for toast. Once the eggs were ready, he used his spatula to divide them and move them to plates before taking them to the table for Sarah and Ava. As he got his own, he stacked the slices of toast on a separate plate. On his last trip he got his own plate of eggs and Noah's.

He gladly sat down with the rest of the family when Noah finally walked in. Richie knew his own bedhead could look pretty impressive when he first got up in the morning but at least he straightened it out, unlike Noah who just left it as a mess. Kids.

"Am I driving you guys to school or are you driving?" He directed his question to Ava.
"I can drive but I have cheer after school. Noah can come hang out if he wants to and wait with some of the boyfriends." She suggested to him.
A resolute "No." sounded.
Richie frowned at his response. "I'll pick you up." He assured him, maybe they'd have a chat.

After breakfast he helped Sarah clean up the kitchen and said goodbye to Ava and Noah. He didn't mind all that much not getting to drive them to school. Ava could handle it on her own and he was proud of that.

In the living room, he turned on the TV and found a morning news show, ready to catch up on current events while watching Daniel play on his own. He looked up when Sarah sat down next to him, he leaned away a little to pull his arm back and hold her against him. "I love you." He reminded her.
She smiled back at him and reached in for a quick kiss. "I love you too."

It was an hour before Daniel crawled over to the couch and pulled himself up to look up at his parents.

"Hi DanMan." Richie said as he reached down to pick him up. "What's up?"

Of course, he didn't get a response but he was happy as his son settled in his lap and watched TV for a little while before getting fussy all together.

"Alright, alright." He stood up and walked back to Daniel's toy area. "I get it." He sat down with him and grabbed a couple toys. They played together like Daniel wanted, getting the attention he had been seeking. He played with him, trying to coax him into repeating words or trying to get him to stand up but each attempt he made at either was futile as Daniel simply refused.

He heard Sarah chuckled behind him, it make him look over his shoulder. "What?" He asked.
"I don't think he wants to talk."
"I know," he sighed, "but I just want him to say something. Mommy, daddy. Anything really, ball, car, block, cookie." That one caught Daniel's attention, making him look up.
"He understood that one." Sarah pointed out.
Richie smiled back at his son. "Cookie?" He asked, trying to coax him into saying it but Daniel made no effort. "If you want a cookie, you've got to say cookie."
"Bribing him, are you?" Sarah teased.
In response, Daniel just grunted frustrated.
"You can say cookie." Richie tried again. "Otherwise you don't get a cookie." He regretted it almost as quickly as he said it and watched Daniel's expression change and tears appeared in his eyes. "No, no." He started quickly. "Don't cry, you can have a cookie." He got up and headed to the kitchen.
"You're easy." Sarah said when he walked back in with a cookie.
"He was going to cry." He pointed out as he gave Daniel the cookie to eat.
"And you taught him that starting to cry will get him what he wants."
"I'll live with the consequences."

Not much later Sarah changed the TV to a movie to watch before she went and made sandwiches in the kitchen for lunch. Leaving the toys on the floor, Richie picked Daniel up and moved to the couch with him. The movie would keep them busy during lunch and would put Daniel to sleep easily enough. He knew Sarah would let him nap in his own bed but since he had been home, he had gotten used to letting Daniel nap on him while he watched TV.

Daniel woke up from his nap just in time for Richie to get ready to pick Noah up from school, not wanting to let him wait for over an hour until Ava was ready to come home.

"Do we need anything from the store?" He asked Sarah as he moved Daniel over.
"I don't think so unless you want anything."
"We're out of bacon." Richie clarifying why he was going in the first place. "Figured I'd go get some if you needed anything else."
"You can get a fresh salad bag if you want, some milk would be handy too."
"Okay." He got up from the couch and looked for his phone. "Anything else we need?"
Sarah shook her head in thought. "I can't think of anything else."
He gave her a quick kiss before heading out the door.

His drive to school was short and he got there just in time to be far enough away from the doors that most likely no one would notice him, the safest way for teenagers. He texted Noah where he was and just waited for him to either reply or show up as he browsed on his phone.

He looked up when he heard the door handle on the passenger side being pulled. Quickly, he pressed the button to unlock the door so Noah could try again.

"Hey." He said as Noah sat down next to him. "How was school?" He shifted the car into drive and pulled out of the spot he was parked in.
"Fine."
"Sounds like a lot of fun." The sarcasm was obvious but what else was he supposed to do to get a conversation going. "Anything interesting happen today?"
"No."
"Wild." He drove out of the parking lot and got onto the road. "We're going to the grocery store and pick some things up for you mom."
"Alright."
"If you're good, I'll let you pick out a snack." He could see Noah frown from the corner of his eye.
"I'm not 4."
Richie shrugged. "I was going to pick out a snack." What was wrong with getting a snack?

At the grocery store he got the few items he needed, then sneaked down to the aisle that had cookies. Couldn't ever go wrong with some oatmeal chocolate chip cookies.

"Do you want anything?" He asked Noah behind him.
Noah looked up at him with a question on his face. "No, I'm fine."
"You sure?" Richie asked, he wouldn't mind anything.
"It's alright." Noah decided.

Back at home, he parked the car in the driveway and got out, grabbing the bag of groceries from the backseat before following Noah into the house. He watched as Noah kicked off his shoes and headed up the stairs. Richie shook his head in thought and headed to the kitchen to put everything away. Once he got to the pack of cookies, he pulled it open and took a few out. Sure he'd have to share as soon as he got to the living room with them.

"Welcome back." Sarah said when he walked back into the room. "Did you get the salad?"
"Yeah." He sat down next to her and passed one of the cookies over as he bit into his second one.
Sarah took the cookie and took a bite as well. "Did Noah go upstairs?"
"Yeah, he wasn't very talkative on the way home."
"I'm sorry." Sarah frowned. "I don't know what's up with him. I thought after he was in school for a few weeks he'd figure it out but he just seems down."
He could only agree to that. "I know. He doesn't want to talk about it though."
"Don't take it personally. He's probably just trying to figure himself out. I understand."
Richie chuckled at that. "You understand being a teenage boy?"
"Maybe not exactly but I understand life can be frustrating when you're a teenager."

As breakfast was his specialty, dinner was Sarah's. During which he gladly occupied Daniel's time a little longer while Sarah worked on dinner. Ava had just gotten home and had headed upstairs to shower and get changed for dinner.

Richie looked up when she walked into the living room and sat down next to him and joined in with Daniel and him. He loved watching them together. The way Ava played with her little brother and made him happy was priceless to Richie.

The family had dinner in the kitchen together. Sarah and Richie took turns giving Daniel bites from his dinner, sitting between the two of them in his highchair, happily eating away each time food was offered to him. Dinnertime conversation was mostly led by Ava, as it usually was.

After she finished dinner, Ava helped out by taking Daniel back to his toys in the living room as Sarah and Richie tidied up the kitchen.

"Do you want tea?" Richie asked once he finished loading the dishwasher.
Sarah smiled at him. "Yes, please."
"I'll bring it out. Go see Daniel." He urged.

A few minutes later, he carried two cups of hot tea to the living room, placing them on the coffee table before sitting down next to his wife. Ava was still on the floor with her little brother but watching a TV show rather than playing with him.

"I'll start homework after this show." She said when Richie walked into the room.

The show finished a few minutes later and Sarah changed the channel to something she wanted to watch instead. Ava said good night as she headed up to her bedroom.

Now all alone with his toys, Daniel dropped them and crawled up to the couch, pulling himself up once again, wanting to be picked up. Richie placed his cup of tea back on the coffee table and picked him up. Their day was coming at an end and he knew Daniel would fall asleep on him in only a few minutes.

Sarah's drank her tea with sips and finished it when her show ended. "I can take him to bed if you want." She offered. The commercial block with give her enough time to do so.
"Sure." Richie kissed the top of his head and let him go, picking up his own cup of tea again.

Before going to bed, he made his usual rounds of the upstairs bedrooms. At the top of the stairs he turned to the right and stopped at Ava's room first. He knocked softly before pushing the door open.

"Ready for bed soon?" He asked her.
Ava got up from her bed, her books and paper sprawled out over the covers. "Yeah, almost done." She walked over to him and right into a hug.
He did the same as he did to Daniel and kissed the top of her head. "Good night. I love you."
"I love you too." She said before letting go and getting back to her homework.

Richie pulled the door closed behind him and walked down the hallway to Noah's room where he also knocked on the door softly before pushing it open as well.

"Getting ready for bed?" He asked Noah.
Just like Ava, Noah was on his bed but instead of homework, there was a laptop on his lap. "Soon."
"Alright." Richie agreed. "Don't stay up too late." He warned him, making sure Noah made eye contact with him before he left. "Love you." He said when he finally got it.

He made his last stop at Daniel's room, walking over to his crib quietly. The boy was still comfortably asleep, snuggled up with a stuffed animal. He reached down carefully and stroked his soft brown hair.

Carefully he got up, trying not to make a sound even though Daniel was a deep sleeper. A gift he had gotten from his dad. As he walked out of the room, he pulled the door halfway closed. Then walked into the room across the hall.

"Everyone asleep?" Sarah asked when he walked in the room, closing the door behind him.
"They will be soon enough."

He made his way to the bathroom to get ready for bed before joining her in the bedroom again. He stopped by the chair in the corner and pulled his tshirt over his head, dropping it on the chair, letting his jeans follow a moment later. His socks were thrown into the hamper, leaving him in his boxer briefs.

"Ready for bed?" Sarah asked when he got into bed and moved closer to her.
Richie shrugged. "I've got time for something else." He pulled her close against him and kissed her deeply.