Chapter 108

Tomorrow morning he would have to leave for Japan. Knowing that made him a little sad. The last few weeks at home had been wonderful. He got to spend them exactly how he wanted, he got a lot of family time with everyone. Several times he had the chance to take Ava out for lunch or dinner just to spend some time alone to talk and catch up on everything that was going on in Ava's life, which was a lot. With Noah, he had tried to do the same, although not as successfully as it was with Ava but he still felt like he had gotten to know him better in those few weeks. Their trip to the bookstore had really sparked it all and he could kick himself for not doing something like that before when he reminded himself that he had done exactly that before without the same results. He was happy to look back on their afternoon as a real bonding moment. Their drives home from school were a little more talkative as Noah would actually tell him about classes. Noah wouldn't say so but Richie started to get the idea that Noah wasn't having the best time of his life in high school like Ava was. Being gone for almost all of the first school semester, did not make him feel better about that, he should have noticed how Noah was feeling. Instead he thought Noah was fine and spent his time with Ava and Daniel. He hoped that the small moments of hair styling, playing clue, discussing Daniel's new picture books and judging movies on their books during the last few weeks meant something to Noah as well. Maybe once he got back, he'd get on those drive lessons again.

"I'm going to miss you so much." Sarah said as she got into bed next to him.
He turned off the TV he had forgotten about a while ago and moved to cuddle her. "I'm going to miss you too. It won't be long." He assured her.
"I know, but you'll be so much further away. With the time difference, I won't get to talk to you as much."
Sighing, he agreed. "I know but we'll figure it out. It's only about two weeks."
Sarah nodded and cuddled closer against him, not wanting to let go of him tonight.

The next morning, he was up early. Ava had already gone to Heather's house the night before but he was still determined to make breakfast for everyone before he left.

It was looking to be a very long day. He had to fly to New York first before meeting up with the rest of the guys to head to Japan tonight on the band's airplane. So far, he planned to catch up on sleep and try and not be too jet-lagged by the time they arrived in Japan tomorrow.

He didn't look forward to it.

Trying to make breakfast, and the day, a little more fun for everyone, he decided on making pancakes for a change. One could never go wrong with pancakes after all and he knew Daniel loved them. As he baked his pancakes, he had Daniel in his high chair next to him. Sarah was still upstairs getting ready for the day and he wanted to get as much time as he could with his little boy before he had to leave him behind.

To his surprise it was Noah that walked into the kitchen first instead of 10 minutes before they had to leave for school. Except, today he would be taking Noah to school as Ava wasn't there to carpool with. Richie had planned to drop Noah off at school, then head straight for the airport and to New York.

After breakfast he had to remind himself that it was only a short time. Exactly like how he wanted to tour, a few weeks at a time instead of months at a time. It'd be less than two weeks, he knew that, and two weeks would be over very quickly. Then, he would have a nice long break to be at home, work on his own stuff and be with his family. Time for himself.

"I'll miss you." He said as he held Sarah in a close hug, not wanting to let go just yet.
Sarah sniffed against him as she held onto his embrace.
"Please don't cry."
She pulled her arm back to wipe her eyes. "I try."
"I know." He soothed, rubbing her back.

Saying goodbye to Daniel he felt a little thorn, knowing Daniel didn't fully understand he would be gone for two weeks. Knowing he didn't understand entirely made Richie feel bad for leaving him, even if he wasn't upset about it at all.

He knew his son would miss him. Even if he couldn't say so.

Together with Noah, he walked out of the house to the car he had rented for the morning. Before walking out the door, he gave Sarah one last kiss before giving Daniel a quick kiss on his cheek, making him giggle and squirm. Richie loved it.

Sarah held Daniel in her arms as she stood in the doorway, watching her husband get in the car as the driver loaded the last bag into the trunk. She waved at them, at least she would be able to go pick Noah up after school. It wouldn't be the same without her husband around the house. From inside the car, she could see him wave as well, it made her smile and wave at him again until the car got onto the road.

"You'll make sure your mom's okay, right?" He asked Noah, worrying about leaving Sarah while he was in Japan and Australia. He didn't want anything else bad to happen while he was so far away.
Noah shrugged. "We'll be fine."
Richie sighed, the boy had a point, but he couldn't help but think of her episode last month. "I know."
"I'll make sure she's happy." Noah agreed.
It made him smile. "Thanks."

The driver parked at the school not much later.

It didn't take Noah long to grab his backpack and open his door, Richie had to stop him. "Wait a second."
Noah dropped the backpack and looked up at him expectantly.

Richie shook his head in thought, he would be on the other side of the world for two weeks and his son didn't seem to have any objections to that.

"You know you can always call me if you need me, right?"
Noah nodded, unsure of what he would need. "Sure."
"If you need to discuss a book or something."
"Yeah."
"Or just talk." Richie continued.

A knock on the car window made him look over his shoulder. He smiled as he pushed the door open.

"Hey baby girl." He said, quickly getting out to give Ava a hug.
She hugged him tight. "Are you heading to the airport after?" She asked.
"Yeah, just dropping Noah off but I'm glad I got to see you." He let her go from his hug to take a good look at her. "I love you."
"Love you too daddy."
"I have to go." He apologized but Ava nodded, and let him go.

He smiled as Ava took a step back so he could get back in the car to say goodbye to Noah but once he sat down to do so Noah had already gotten out. He sighed, as he looked out the window, he could see Noah walk up to the school building. Sometimes he just didn't understand him.

After checking in at the airport, he went through security and searched for his gate. Not wanting to spend too much time lingering around. He stopped at a Starbucks for a coffee and looked for a store to get a snack.

He bought himself a chocolate bar and looked at the magazine stand, reading titles as he tried to make a choice on what to read. As soon as he spotted a guitar one, he picked it up, not minding much what the articles inside would be about as long as it would keep him busy for the next few hours. Having time to kill,  he browsed the book shelves as well. Noah had inspired him in doing so. He picked up a book with an interesting title and decided that he would have enough time on the way to Japan to read a few pages in it.

Before boarding the plane, he sent a quick text to Sarah and Ava, letting them know he would be taking off soon. He didn't expect an answer from Ava, as he hoped she was a good student in class but was happy to see Sarah answered almost right away. Reminding her he loved her very much, he sent off his next text. He knew he would do exactly the same when he arrived in New York and again by the time he would be leaving New York.

As they announced boarding for business class, he put his phone in his pocket and retrieved his ticket from his shoulder bag and headed over to the desk.

On the plane, he grabbed his guitar magazine before putting his shoulder bag away for now. He pulled his phone from his pocket, checking if he still had reception and sent Sarah an update. This flight wouldn't be too long, he knew that too but he would still rather not be on it at all. He loved to tour, he knew that as well but he loved being home with his family more. Only two weeks,  he had to remind himself. After that, he had as much time as he wanted. At least, he hoped so. There was no way he would be able to do nothing for a long time.

Before they landed, he finished his magazine. In the end, it wasn't as interesting as he had hoped and he decided to leave it behind for the next person.

When he got off the plane and was back inside an airport, he sent Sarah a text to update her. Then, sent another one to Jon to let him know he had arrived and just needed to get his bags.

Not much later, he walked into the lounge Jon had told him to meet him in.

"How was your flight?" Jon asked when he spotted Richie.
Richie shrugged at his question. "It was alright, not that exciting."
"When is flying exciting?"
"When we get turbulence." Richie stated quickly.
Jon glared at him in return. "Don't even bring that up."
"You scared?"
"Fuck off."
"I think you're scared." Richie teased. "You've been doing this for like thirty years, how are you still scared of flying?"
"Fuck you, I'm not scared." Jon defended himself. "Sometimes I get a little nervous."
Richie laughed at him. "You can sit next to me later, okay? I'll hold your hand when you get scared."
"Fuck off."
"Just looking out for you man." Richie shrugged.

It wasn't long before he was back on a plane, at least on this one, there was better company than on the last flight. Maybe he would actually get to read his book during this flight. He'd already flown for five hours and he felt very sorry for his ass that he had to fly again and sit on it even longer. For his own entertainment, he had made a big deal to sit next to Jon.

Before the plane started taxi-ing he sent his last text to Sarah for a while. Continental, he'd have WiFi to talk to her but since this was going to be a long international flight for them, it would also lose service. Instead, he remembered the book he had bought and reached for his bag from the floor to retrieve it. Along with it, he got his glasses, ready to do some reading.

Halfway through the first page, he heard Jon next to him. "What are you reading?"
Richie rolled his eyes at the question and looked up. "I don't know."
Jon frowned at him. "Then why are you reading it?"
"'Cause it looked interesting when I saw it but then someone started asking questions when I started reading."
"Fine. Read your book then."
"Thanks."

He opened the book again and started back at the top of the page to read it again, not finding where he had been cut off just a minute ago.

A few pages into it, he got sucked into the story. Just as he had hoped it would be.

Once he was about halfway through, he folded the corner, thinking of how Noah would scold him for damaging the book like that.

He put the book on the table and looked at Jon next to him. "What time is it?" He wasn't wearing a watch himself and wasn't going to look for his phone if Jon was absorbed in his own.
"Almost 5.30."
"Oh dinner time." Richie responded cheerfully, although according to California time it wasn't nearly time yet.
"Isn't any time dinner time for you?" Jon asked him, locking his phone and putting it down.
"That's pretty bold."
Jon looked confused. "What?"
"Calling me fat like that while you definitely eat just as much."
"I also run a lot more."
"But I don't have messed up knees."
"For fuck's sake." David chimed in. "The both of you shut up. Some of us are trying to watch TV."

Richie had been right and it wasn't long before they had dinner which was fairly alright according to him. Better than what they served on regular airlines but still a microwaved meal. In the end it was a lot better than not having dinner at all.

Around 8, he pulled out his phone, wanting to text Sarah but remembering he wouldn't be able to do so. The last text he had sent her had been about 5 hours, just before the plane took off. He just wanted to talk to her, see what she was up to but instead just re-read the last few texts he they had sent to each other. Without WiFi his phone was almost useless, he exchanged it for the book he was reading and continued the story.

Deciding to leave the last 75 pages for later, he picked up on the heated conversation David and Jon were having next to him. Their talking was starting to distract him anyway.

It was around midnight when they decided to turn off to lights and try to get some sleep. They'd be landing is just under 6 hours. He watched everyone disperse in the cabin to find a quiet and comfy spot to get to sleep. Except Jon didn't move from next to him. He knew Jon wasn't going to sleep unless he was exhausted but instead of picking up a conversation again, he picked up his book to finish reading.

The last pages were intriguing and made him read faster to finish the book.

He turned the last page and closed the book. Pretty impressed he had finished it during the flight and how he had liked it. He'd have to tell Noah about it once they arrived in Japan.

"You going to sleep?" He asked Jon as he put the book back on the table.
Jon gave him a look that showed he should know better than to ask.
"Thought so." Richie said. "Well, I'm going to nap so I'm sorry if I snore." He apologized in advance.
"You could just go lay down." Jon told him.
"I have to make sure nobody opens the blinds and freaks you out." Richie said, making sure the blinds were down.
Jon's eye roll was almost as impressive as the ones Ava did.
"I'm just looking out for you man." He tried to sound more sincere this time, he was only half joking.
"Go to sleep." Jon grumbled at him but Richie took his instructions and did so.