Chapter 107

"That was amazing" Richie said when he finished his last bite, feeling thoroughly stuffed at the moment.

Thanksgiving dinner had been absolutely perfect. When he came down with Daniel and Noah, Sarah had been impressed with how well Noah dressed up. So much that she had to get several photos on her phone before they could even start dinner. The table was set lovely for the entire family to have dinner together. With Ava's help small details like napkins were perfected before everyone entered the room.

Richie knew Sarah felt incredibly proud of her Thanksgiving dinner, it took a lot of organizing and work to decorate and prepare. In the end it definitely paid off.

Now, as everyone finished eating, the only remains of the perfectly set table was a large carved turkey in the middle of the table.

"Did you like it?" Sarah asked him for confirmation.
"It was perfect." Richie told her. "I'm so fucking full right now, it was that good baby."
"More pie for us." Joan interjected into their conversation.
He looked up at her in shock. "What? No, I have space for pie."
"But you're full." Sarah agreed with Joan now.
"There's a special space for dessert. There's always space in the dessert stomach." He explained quickly.

Leaving clean up for later, they moved to the living room to recover from dinner before moving on to pie and ice cream for dessert.

In the living room, Richie turned on the TV to find the football game he was missing. No one objected and he happily sat down to watch. Noticing Ava's boyfriend did the same, he struck a conversation with him as Ava kept trying to get his attention back on her. As a dad, he was watchful of any boy Ava brought home but he also had to socialize with them so he kept the conversation on the topic of football.

He looked up when Sarah sat down next to him on the couch during a commercial break. "Could we do a family picture?" She asked. "The three of you look so handsome."
The idea of a photo sounded nice to him, it'd been a while they had had a photo of everyone, almost everyone. "Let's do it." He said, getting up from the couch. "Where?"
Sarah frowned in thought, thinking it over. "By the piano, that would look nice."

For the occasion, they took several photos. A few of the five of them, some with their mothers included. Of course, Ava needed a few with her boyfriend and then wanted one of just the two of them. Which made Richie want in on that, he wouldn't pass up on a nice picture of him and his wife. It didn't take for Daniel to get frustrated with all the fussing about photos and put an end to everyone's photo shoot.

"We still have to play that game I got for Noah." He reminded Sarah on the way back to the living room. "Or have dessert."
"Lets keep dessert for a little later, we could watch a movie or something after the game and have pie then."
He nodded, he wanted pie but he could wait a little longer, for Sarah.

It didn't take long for Noah to set up the game on the coffee table, putting out enough pieces for all the players. Ava had joined him on the floor to play the game. Joan and Abbey would be watching their grandchildren play from the couch. Noah explained the rules, making sure everyone understood the point of the game.

"Who do you think did it?" Richie whispered to Sarah next to him, looking at the cards in his hand, he had no clue.
Sarah gave him a quizzical look. "I don't think we should discuss it."
"I think we should."
She folded the cards into her hand, making sure he couldn't cheat. "I don't think so." She looked at the coffee table, watching as Noah played the next round.
Richie scooted a little closer and whispered again. "I'll share the win with you." He offered.
"How do you share a win to a board game?"
"Shared bragging rights." He clarified quickly, trying to convince her.
"Dad." Ava caught his attention. "It's your turn."

He rolled the dice quickly and played his turn, moving his character a few steps towards the next room he was going to explore. Then watched as Sarah did the same.

He whispered again when it was Noah's turn. "We'll form an alliance."
Sarah couldn't help but chuckle at that one. "You're a goof." She told him plainly.
"Just think of what's at stake here."
"Which is what?" Sarah asked.
"The bragging rights."
Sarah chuckled and shook her head.

After the game ended, with Ava solving the mystery and winning the game, Richie brought up pie again. His dessert stomach was running on empty and needed to be filled before he would have bedtime left overs. He helped Sarah with tidying up the dining room, putting everything away for tomorrow. In the kitchen, Sarah got a stack of plates from the cabinet, along with forks from the drawer.

"Ice cream, right?" Richie asked as he pulled the freezer open.
"If you want it." Sarah agreed.
"I need it." He clarified. How was he supposed to eat pie without ice cream? That made no sense whatsoever.

Carefully, he placed the home made pumpkin pie on the coffee table, then put down the tub of ice cream. He was more than ready to cut up this pie and eat it. His mom always made the best pie, nothing else could even come close to it. Maybe he was biased.

Once he had his plate of pie and ice cream, he leaned back on the couch and looked up at the TV to see what was happening in the football game. So far nobody had complained about it being on and he gladly continued watching, knowing that soon someone would suggest a movie. Not that he minded watching a movie with everyone but football was important too.

As empty plates started to stack on the coffee table, he started dreading the moment football would be turned off. The score was so close and only 8 minutes left in this quarter. He watched as Sarah got all the dishes together again to bring it all to the kitchen. Usually he would help, but the game...

"Can we watch a movie?" Sarah sat down next to him, ready to snuggle against him and watch a movie.
"Definitely." He agreed quickly, even though he wanted to watch the game.
Sarah smiled and reached in for a quick kiss. "Thank you."

She was always worth it. With the TV remote he looked for the movie guide they could rent from. Letting everyone have a say in what they wanted to watch was getting them absolutely nowhere. Noah suggested one of the Harry Potter movies which Ava strongly disagreed with. With every suggested movie, at least one person had an objection. The only one that didn't complain was Daniel.

"You know what." Richie said after almost twenty minutes. "The only one not complaining is Daniel so we're watching one of his movies." He decided, even though it was a little unfair as Daniel never made himself heard.
Ava rolled her eyes. "So we're watching Nemo?"
"What's wrong with Nemo?" He asked her.
Ava shrugged, not really minding the movie.

Richie started inputting the title into the search menu but as soon as he pressed N, another movies popped up on the screen, catching his attention.

"Or we watch Narnia, since he likes his new book."

Making the final decision on the movie, he started it under the pretense that it was for Daniel.

When the movie ended, he carefully got up with Daniel who was asleep in his arms now. He had made it about halfway through the movie until he had dozed off in his dad's arm. Richie happily held him for the rest of the movie but as it had ended now and everyone else was ready to wrap up the day, he took his son up to his bed.

Carefully he checked if he needed a clean diaper before bed after taking his jeans off slowly so he wouldn't wake up again. Gently, he laid him down in his crib, making sure his stuffed animals were set up next to him. On his way out of the room, he turned on the little light they had for him, leaving the door open just a little.

Downstairs, he said goodnight to Ava as she headed up to her room, as did Noah.

Before going back to the living room to join Sarah with their moms, he made a quick detour in the kitchen and made a few cups of tea before taking them over to the living room.

Happily he sat down on the couch next to Sarah, cups of tea in their hands.

"Ready for football high lights?" Sarah asked, looking up at him.
He was a little surprised but gladly took the opportunity. "Yeah."

Sarah changed the channel to the sport's channel her husband wanted to watch, then got comfortable against him again.

He only got to pay half attention to football as Sarah, Joan and Abbey started talking over it. Discussing their day as well as catching up on everything that had happened since the last time they were all together. Sarah proudly told them both about Caleb up in Vancouver, away at university and what a great job he was doing there all on his own. She was very proud of his achievements and didn't mind a little bragging about it, knowing Abbey and Joan would be proud as well. The conversational topic made Richie interject with how he visited Caleb at work and got to hang out with him while he was up there.

Before heading up to bed, Richie walked into the kitchen, heading straight for the fridge. He pulled it open and looked for what would satisfy him at the moment. There were a lot of left overs but he was also heading to bed so perhaps he shouldn't be eating all that much. He peeled back the plastic wrap that was covering the turkey and pried a piece off before popping it into his mouth.

After a few bites, he closed the fridge again and headed up the stairs, surely Sarah would be ready for bed by now.

Sarah looked up at him from the bed where she had gotten comfortable. "Starting on the left overs?" She asked suspiciously.
"I don't know what you're talking about." He closed the door behind him before heading into the room.
"What else would take you so long downstairs?"
"Cleaning up."
Sarah chuckled. "Yeah, cleaning up the left overs."
"Don't make such good turkey then." He headed for the bathroom so he could join her in the bed in a few minutes.

Sarah made sure the baby monitor was turned on before she laid down and got comfortable with the pillows and comforter. It had been a long day and she was ready to snuggle against her personal heater and get a well deserved sleep with him.

Sarah complained when Richie lifted the sheets, letting in the cold air as he got into bed with her. To make up for it quickly, he moved close and held her.

"Thank you." Sarah said once she was comfortable in his arms.
"No problem, I love holding you."
Sarah smiled at that. "I meant for today."
"I didn't do anything." He was confused at what she meant, other than keeping Daniel occupied, he hadn't done anything to help out.
"You did a lot and you got Noah to dress up and look nice." She had been very impressed by that, she knew how much Noah didn't care for his appearance.
He shrugged a little, he just wanted to be a good dad. "Just trying to help him, plus, it gets him talking."
"Does it?" Sarah asked intrigued by that information.
Richie nodded. "Few days ago when we were at the bookstore and went for dinner." He explained quickly. "We've been bonding. He's even talking when I pick him up from school."
"What do you talk about?"

He thought for a moment, wanting to give a specific answer but couldn't remember all the details Noah had talked about during their drives home. Most were about classes and what he was learning but Richie couldn't remember what that was, it was much too academic to him.

"He's so fucking smart, I don't even understand most of what he tells me he learns in school."
Sarah smiled at that again, she knew that but it was always nice to hear how smart her son was. "He really is." She felt proud of him.
"I learned some other things too though."
Sarah looked up at him, wondering why his tone of voice had turned more seriously. "Like what?"
"I don't think he has any friends. He also doesn't like half the people in his classes."
Sarah waved it off quickly. "I'm sure he has a couple people he likes. He's just not as social as Ava and Caleb are."
"Yeah, I guess." Unsure of that, he agreed anyway.
"But thanks for getting him to dress up and fix his hair. He looked so handsome."
He smiled, happy that he had been right that it would make Sarah happy. "He only did it because I said you'd like it."

Holding her close in his arms, he wished her a good night before closing his eyes. Very ready for some sleep. The energy his earlier nap had given him had worn out. Now was the time to catch up on sleep, in a few days he would be hitting the road again. This time he would be alone and with a big time difference between them, he knew he wasn't going to get a lot of sleep while he was gone. He had to make time to talk to Sarah and more time to video chat with Daniel, he was sure that in two weeks his boy would grow a lot and he didn't want to miss it.

Chapter 106

Thursday morning he was woken up by Sarah's alarm clock beeping at the both of them. He sighed once Sarah stopped the noise.

"What time is it? Why are we getting up?" He asked, there was no school today, he didn't have to make early breakfast, why was he awake?
"It's 7, we've got to start on dinner."
He frowned at how little sense that made to him. "Dinner? Sweetheart, it's 7am, I like food but let's do breakfast first."
Sarah chuckled next to him. "You can have breakfast whenever you like. The turkey will need to be in the oven for a long time." She explained.
"It's too early." He complained again, moving closer to Sarah so he could hold her close against him. "Bed is much better."
"You want turkey." Sarah reminded him.
He sure did but turkey could wait. "I want something else." He said, pressing himself against her, making it obvious of what he wanted.

Sarah turned around to kiss him deeply, knowing just what he wanted right now. She could push back dinner for an hour if this was the reason. Her hand trailed from his chest, over his belly and stopped at the elastic waistband of his boxer briefs. She pulled back slightly from her kiss to look up at him.

Richie felt her finger hook over the elastic as she pulled it down, moving her hand inside to wrap around him. In return his own hand reached under the tshirt, pushing the fabric up to expose the breasts he wanted to feel as he kissed her again.

She stroked him slowly, cherishing the moment of their closeness as she returned his kisses. Enjoying each touch of his lips against hers. On her skin she could feel his hand move to her his, finding her panties and easily pushing them down as Sarah raised her hips for him.

Once off, he tossed the panties in the general direction of the closet. They wouldn't be needing those again. He moved from his position, making Sarah pull her hand back. He pushed his boxers down and settled between her legs, reaching over her to kiss her again. Never would he get enough of those soft lips. He trailed down to her neck, her shoulder, her breast before capturing a nipple and sucking gently as he rolled the other with his fingers.

"Richie." She moaned slightly.
He let go and leaned over her again. "I love you baby." He said as he reached in for another kiss.

Balancing on one hand, he used his free one to guide himself inside her. Noticing her breathing getting heavier underneath him as he did. He loved the feeling of being inside her. Slowly he started moving in and out of her with long and slow thrusts. His kisses were just as slow and gentle as he savoured every small friction between them.

Before long Sarah couldn't help but moan at his long strokes. The drawn out pleasure was making her reach her climax slowly. She wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him into a deeper kiss as an orgasm overcame her.

He returned her kiss, slowing his movement for just a moment as he waited for her before picking up his pace.

Sarah held on to him as his change in pace made her reach her second climax.

Knowing what he did to her, he continued on. As he felt the tell tale signs once again, he pushed up on his arms to look down at her, raising one to feel her breast again as he watched her reach her climax. Watching her do so ignited his own as he felt it rush through him. His thrusts became faster until he released inside her, sparking another orgasm for Sarah.

Looking down at her blissful face made him feel pleased. He lowered his arms so he capture a nipple between his lips again, making Sarah twitch at the sensation when he sucked gently. Releasing it, he moved to her side and held her close against him.

Sarah could hear his heart pounding underneath her as she laid on his chest. Thoroughly pleased, she listened to his breathing slowing down to it's regular rhythm as he relaxed again.

He watched her, knowing he loved her immensely, he pulled her a little closer so he could place a kiss on her head. Catching a whiff of her shampoo as he did so.

"I love you." He sighed, feeling so content in the moment.
Sarah could hear his contentment, it made her smile. "I love you too." She cuddled closer into him, wanting to forget she had a busy day ahead of her.

But that failed. "My mom will be here soon." Sarah said, sitting up in the bed, looking down at her husband next to her who still looked pretty pleased with himself. "Are you going back to sleep?"
He shook his head slowly. "No, I'll get up and shower." He made no actual effort to do so just yet.

Knowing how much she had to do before dinner time, Sarah did the opposite and got up, heading to the closet to get dressed. There was plenty of time to get everything ready and if not, she wouldn't mind having dinner a little later either. Leaving the closet in jeans and a tshirt, she saw he husband still in bed. On her way out of the bedroom, she stopped at the bed, leaning in to kiss him. She was sure he was going back to sleep.

Sarah was lifting the turkey into the oven when Richie walked into the kitchen in comfy pj pants and last night's shirt. She hadn't expected him and looked up surprised. "Thought you were sleeping."
"I said I was going to shower."
She pushed the over tray all the way in and closed the oven door. "It didn't look like you actually were."
"I did baby." He stated the obvious. "Do I need to dress fancy today?"
"You'll need to dress better than that." She walked over to her husband to wrap her arms around him.
He returned the hug and held her. "No pj's for turkey day?" He teased. "I didn't want to get dressed and then have to change."
"You don't have to dress fancy til this afternoon." Sarah smiled before reaching up to kiss him.

Richie liked that idea and let Sarah continue the preparations for dinner. With three women in the kitchen, it was safer to stay out of it all. Upstairs, he got Daniel out of bed and started to dress him, using the same logic Sarah mentioned earlier. The chance of Daniel needing a new shirt before dinner was very high after all.

With Sarah busy in the kitchen, the least he could do was keep Daniel occupied for most of the day. That way Sarah could use her all of her time for dinner.

He carried Daniel in his arms as he went down the stairs and headed to the kitchen. Glad to see his mom and Abbey had joined Sarah by now, knowing he didn't want to be in the way for them.

"We are just grabbing breakfast." He said as he walked to the fridge, three sets of eyes watching him do so. With everyone watching him, he started to feel self-conscious. "Guess eggs aren't an option." The counters were much too cluttered by the looks of it. "Can we have the milk?" He asked carefully, hoping they didn't need it.
His anxious behavior made Sarah chuckle. "You can have the milk."
"Can I have Cheerios?"
"Sure." Sarah said, passing him the box.
"No, wait, I want the waffle one." He said quickly changing his mind.
Sarah gave him another box. "Have them both." She turned around to grab bowls and spoons for him.

In the living room, he turned the TV on and looked for the Macy's parade to watch with Daniel, hoping it would somewhat entertain him as well. If not, they'd watch Nick Jr. instead. Daniel watched him expectantly, waiting for his breakfast as his dad was looking for a TV channel. He grumbled to catch his attention.

"Sorry buddy." Richie said, picking his channel and picking up the box of cereal to pour into a bowl for him with only a little milk. He didn't want to create a mess either, today was not the day for that. Next to him, he made sure Daniel had his bowl in his lap and spoon in hand. He was smart enough to know that the spoon would be forgotten in about five minutes but still wanted to teach him how to eat properly. Once he had Daniel settled, he started his own bowl, ready to watch the parade.

Their empty bowls stood on the coffee table as he pointed out characters on the TV to Daniel, enjoying the parade himself while trying to get Daniel to feel the same way. The parade had always excited him. He loved watching it when he was little, then he loved watching it with Ava when she was little and now he'd make sure Daniel would enjoy it as well.

A little after 10, they received Ava's company as they sat on the floor building with blocks. They could hear everything going on in the kitchen but Richie was determined to let them all be and take full duty of watching his little boy, which meant building blocks on the floor with him. He was happy for Ava to join him for some conversation as his attempts of making Daniel talk while he tried to watch some football were once again futile. He wasn't going to give up that easily, eventually the boy had to talk, and there was no way around that.

Around lunchtime, he carefully went into the kitchen, immediately all eyes were on him. "What time is dinner?" He asked quickly, stopping in his path.
"Probably around 4." Sarah said.
Richie nodded, accepting that. "I was just going to make Daniel some lunch and then take him for a nap." He joined Sarah on the other side of the island, their mothers busy at the kitchen table. "Everything going well sweetheart?" He asked her as he watched her grab a loaf of bread.
Sarah nodded. "Yeah, we're just talking and making food. Spending time together."
"Sounds fun." He grabbed peanut butter from the cabinet and helped Sarah with making a couple sandwiches for them. "I could help if you guys need me."
"I know." Sarah smiled at his offer, appreciating it. "We've got it covered and keeping Daniel busy is a lot of help already."

She watched Richie head back to the living room with a stack of peanut butter sandwiches to share. She smiled to herself, happy he had offered to help but happy he had some time with Daniel and Ava. He deserved some time with his kids before he had to get on the road again. It was the end of the road and it wouldn't be very long but she still wanted him to have that time.

Upstairs, he changed Daniel's diaper before carrying him over to his own bedroom. He pulled the sheets back on the big bed and hoisted Daniel into bed with him. It was still a few hours until dinner was ready, he was missing out on watching football right now but 7am had been much too early and a nap with Daniel sounded like exactly what he needed. He held Daniel close to him as they both went to sleep.

In the kitchen, Sarah was busy with preparing everything for dinner. Most of the morning was spent talking as it was too early to start on the side dishes. After Richie had taken Daniel upstairs, Sarah had started on peeling potatoes, appreciating her mother's help in doing so, in the mean time Joan busied herself with the sweet potatoes. They made sure there would be enough for leftovers the next day, maybe longer.

He felt his cheek being poked as he woke up. "Daniel." He groaned before opening his eyes. He heard a little chuckle followed by another poke. "Daniel." He repeated. "Stop it." Grabbing his son, he held him in a hug. "One day, you're going to love sleep just as much, just so you know." Richie said knowingly. "But I guess we better get ready for Thanksgiving dinner." Sitting up with Daniel in his arms was a little harder to do but he finally managed. He got up from the bed, ignoring the sheets behind him and headed to the closet, looking for what Sarah would want him to wear.

It didn't take long to get dressed but with Daniel in the closet, he ended up having to put all the laundry back in the basket, twice. Instead of leaving him on the floor, he finally picked Daniel up and carried him to his own bedroom to get dressed for dinner.

"How do we look?" He asked as he carried Daniel into the kitchen, making all three women look up at the two of them. He felt proud and accomplished when they all had the same reaction to his appearance with Daniel. Dressing up for Sarah was a success.
Sarah moved her pot off of the burner, putting down her utensils and started to walk over to them at the doorway. "Looks good." She said before reaching in to kiss him before looking at her little boy. "He looks so cute." She appreciated Richie had already taken the effort to get Daniel ready as well, making sure they both looked smart in button down shirts.
"Thanks." He smiled down at her. "Thought it would be cute if we matched."
Sarah's little frown didn't go unnoticed.
"Damn it."
She looked at him sympathetically. "Want me to come upstairs and make you match?"
"Please." He sighed frustrated.
Sarah followed him back up the stairs. "Who's matching who?" She asked as she watched him go up the steps in front of her, quietly enjoying the view she got.
"I was trying to go for that dark red, burgundy color you like." Richie explained, knowing she liked him in that color and since Daniel had the same features as he did, he thought Sarah would like it just as much on their little boy.
"It does looks very nice on you." Sarah assured him as they walked into Daniel's room. She went straight for his closet and looked around to see if Daniel had the same color shirt.
Richie busied himself with taking the shirt off of Daniel again as Sarah looked for a new one. "Sorry buddy." He apologized when the boy looked at him confused as to why he was just in his black jeans now.
"I think this will be close enough." Sarah said, passing him the new shirt when she walked back into the bedroom.
"Thanks." Richie said, only slightly frustrated with himself.
"You're cute." Sarah smiled as she watched him as he started to button Daniel's shirt for him. The frustration still clear to her.
Richie gave her a confused look. "Cute?"
She nodded again. "Yeah."
"I'm cute 'cause I mess up my colors?"
She couldn't hide the laugh that escaped her. "No, because you tried to match, that's cute."
"Oh." He realized. He buttoned Daniel's last button and looked him over. "Was it black?" He asked, not seeing much difference in Daniel's new shirt.
"Yeah."
"Bright red is a lot easier, you know." He pointed out.
Sarah shrugged. "You look great in that as well."
"Too late now." He said adamantly. He wasn't going to change again after all this effort.

Sarah joined their mothers in the kitchen again to finalize the last few dishes for dinner. The table was set and all that was left to do was the turkey.

Richie knocked on Ava's bedroom door before pushing it open. He noticed her in front of the mirror, all dolled up already.
"You look beautiful princess." He said as he watched her.
"Thanks daddy." She smiled back at him.
"When does he get here?" He meant the boyfriend.
Ava rolled eyes at him. "Dad."
"Alright." He said, backing off.

With Daniel still in his arms, he crossed the hallway to Noah's room. After knocking on the door, he opened it and looked in.

"Are you getting ready?" His question had an obvious answer as Noah wasn't anywhere near ready.
"Only takes a minute." Noah said.
"Could you maybe do that now?" Richie wondered. "Daniel and I are matching." He pointed out. "You should join the burgundy party."
Noah shrugged. "Blond doesn't go as well with burgundy, looks better with darker hair. Brings out the eyes."
Richie frowned at his well thought out excuse. "But your mom likes the color and we'd look nice in a photo."
"Fine." Noah got up and headed to his closet.

Richie shifted Daniel to his other side. The boy was starting to get heavy as he needed to be carried everywhere. They would definitely have to practise walking a lot more.

"I don't have the same color." Noah walked out of his closet wearing black jeans with a red button down shirt instead.
"Looks good to me." Richie shrugged.
Noah frowned at him. "Yeah, right."
"Shut up." He glared slightly but also knew Noah didn't know about his earlier mix up. "Maybe do something about the hair?" Richie gestured at Noah's perfect resemblance of bed head.
Noah frowned, not understanding what was wrong with it. "How does my hair matter?"
"It'll matter to your mom." Richie knew it would, she was trying hard to have everything look perfect. He wanted to make sure she got that.

He got Noah to follow him to his own bathroom, his plan forming in his mind. Once in the bathroom, he let Daniel on the floor, letting him crawl off as he made Noah sit down and passed him a comb. Noah rolled his eyes as Richie leaned against the counter, watching him.

"If you want long hair, you need to do something with it or it'll just look messy all the time."
"But I want it to look messy." Noah pointed out smartly.
That had become obvious to everyone. "But you have to get it messy in the right way." Richie told him as he grabbed a pot of hair clay.
"Okay. Now what?" Noah asked as he put the comb down when he was done, looking up expectantly at Richie for the next step.
"Now you add product to finish it off." He passed the pot to Noah.
Noah looked at the jar's instructions before opening it. "How come you're giving me hair styling advice?" He used the product like the jar instructed.
"'Cause I've seen too many make up artists to not pick up on stuff."
"And I'll look like all the douches in school." Noah mumbled.

Daniel making a loud noise by the bath tub made Richie look over. He stood up and went to clean up the bath toys he had found before picking him up, ready to head downstairs for dinner.

"Get your Clue game and lets go."

Chapter 105

Their weekend was spent mostly together. Ava was excited to have her grandma over and talked almost non stop about everything that had happened since they had last visited. Sometimes he wondered how she was able to continue talking, how she kept finding more and more topics to discuss or how she remembered another story she needed to tell. He was just happy she was so happy.

Joan happily took care of Daniel during the week while Richie and Sarah spent some time together without him. It wasn't much either, mostly preparations for Thanksgiving in a few days. Sarah was excited to prepare a big Thanksgiving dinner for the whole family, he knew that. Abbey would come over to help out during the day as well but he was sure there would be a lot more help from just about everybody else too.

At home, he carried all the groceries into the house for Sarah, placing all the bags on the kitchen island.

"That's a lot of food sweetheart." He said, looking at the amount of bags piled on the island now.
"You're going to love it." Sarah said as she grabbed the first one to start putting items away.
Richie frowned at that, knowing she didn't mean anything with it. "Are you calling me fat?"
She turned around from the cabinet she was trying to reach. "What? No." She said quickly.
"Are you sure?"
Worried, she frowned at him. "Yes. I wasn't think that at all." She said, starting to feel bad that he had thought so.
He chuckled, letting go of his joke. "I was just bugging you. Sorry." He apologized quickly, now feeling bad that it had made her feel bad.
Sarah shook her head and continued with the groceries. "That's mean, you should be helping me."
"I'm helping." He grabbed a bag and started putting everything into the fridge. She was right, he knew that, he was definitely going to love all this food.

Sarah had taken him up on his offer of watching Daniel so she could go out with a friend. Today, she was going to meet Taylor for coffee, it had been much too long since they had some time together and Sarah felt more than ready to catch up with a friend and have some time to herself.

After saying goodbye to Sarah, Richie joined his mom in the living room where she had taken occupancy of his recliner chair. He didn't mind and sat down on the couch instead. Daniel was standing next to the chair as he played with his toys, glad to have someone else to play with.

"You know," Richie started, "he talked last week. He tried to say guitar." He said excitedly disregarding that Daniel hadn't made any effort to repeat it since then.
Joan smiled at him. "I wonder where he learned that from."
"He loves guitars. I can't wait to teach him in a few years."
"No accordion?" She asked curiously.
Richie shrugged, maybe. "They've got these tiny little guitars for kids. 1/4 guitars they call them and they're only about 30 inches so when he's around 4, it'd be the perfect size for him. I'm sure Norm could find him the perfect one." He explained excitedly, waiting for Joan to respond but she continued watching him, knowing there was more to come. "And I want one too."
She smiled. "That's what I thought."
"They're tiny, so easy to carry around." He added on quickly. "I'll probably still teach him accordion when he's a little bigger though, just 'cause dad would have liked that as well. He's still so little now."
That made Joan feel happy.

After the weekend, the house turned quiet during the day. No continuous talking from Ava for most of the day. Daniel was happy to get his grandmother's undivided attention during the day. Richie was enjoying some more family time, still making an effort to make breakfast for everyone and picking Noah up when Ava had extra curricular activities after school and wasn't able to drive him home when school was out

Each time he went to pick Noah up, he tried to struck a conversation with him but Noah's one worded answers kept their conversations on the way home short. It was starting to frustrate him to watch Noah seem so mopey but not being able to get any answers as to why he felt like that. He wanted a happy kid.

Today he was determined to change that.

He unlocked the doors before Noah got to the car this time but still looked up when he sat down in the seat next to him. Today, he was prepared, he had a plan.

"How was school?" Richie asked like he always did, expecting the same answer as he always got.
"Fine."
Richie nodded, not pressing it. "Got any plans?" He asked, not moving just yet.
Noah frowned confused at him. "No?"
"Perfect." Richie said as he shifted the Ferrari from neutral to first gear.
Noah continued looking at him. "Why? Are we going somewhere?" He asked confused. "I'm still in my uniform."
"So take your tie off, unbutton a button, you'll be fine."

The drive wasn't very far or long, 10 minutes, if that. He pulled into the parking lot right next to the freeway, then drove slowly til he found a spot to park in. There were a couple stores and restaurants in the lot leaving it pretty busy but he still managed to find himself a parking spot close to the store.

"Where are we going?" Noah asked once Richie parked the car and turned it off.
Richie looked at him confused, it was pretty obvious. "Barnes & Noble?" He asked. "Where did you think we were going here?" This was the same book store they always went to and there weren't many other interesting stores in this lot.
Noah shrugged.
"Come on," Richie urged, "unless you'd rather go home." Knowing he wouldn't
"No." Noah answered quickly.
Richie gestured at the tie and jacket Noah was still wearing. "Take those off though." He suggested, watching Noah do so. "You've got to unbutton the first two buttons at least."
"Why?" Noah asked first.
"Trust me, a done up shirt without a tie doesn't look good and you're not in school." Richie shrugged, "Besides, you never know when a girl sees you."
"Okay." Noah listened to the fashion advise he was given.

As they walked to the bookstore, Richie told him they were doing this the right way, which meant stopping at the cafe first. Noah reminded him he didn't like coffee all that much but Richie waved it off. He knew Starbucks was Ava's thing but he wasn't going to only get something for himself, that just wasn't right.

He handed Noah an extra caramel and extra whipped cream frappe. "Trust me." He told him again before taking his own cup of coffee. Now they had everything they needed to browse books. It'd be impossible to go through an entire bookstore without a drink in hand. Instead of going to the magazine section like he usually would, he followed Noah around as he browsed books. He pointed out covers he liked or titles he liked, trying to get Noah's opinion on the books which worked fairly well to get a conversation going.

He sipped his coffee as he followed Noah to the Young Adult section, glad to see Noah at ease between the books. He looked at covers, spotting one. "Hey, I've read this one." He pointed it out, making Noah look up from the frappe he was drinking.
"You've read a book?" Noah asked.
Richie rolled his eyes at his joking comment. "Yes, one or two."
Noah walked over and looked at the book. "I would have hoped you've read The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe. I don't think you can say you've had a childhood if you hadn't read it."
Richie frowned at that. "What? So it's a must read?"
"Yes, absolutely. It's an absolute must, especially if you like Tolkien's books and knowing him and Lewis were friends and had many arguments about their books, you have to read both to understand that relationship."
"Okay," Richie agreed, "but the Lord of the Rings is like half a billion pages."
Noah chuckled at that and shook his head. "So it takes two or three weeks finish."
"You mean months."
He shook his head again.

They browsed more books, which sparked conversational topics where Richie was finally able to get some actual answers from Noah about school and life but it was almost an hour later, their drink cups had been tossed into a garbage can and so far Noah wasn't carrying any books. Richie was expecting to walk out of the store with at least a few books.

"Aren't you going to pick any books out?" He asked Noah who was still browsing.
Noah looked up, a little distracted. "Oh, I don't know. I have a lot on my e-reader I still need to read."
Richie shook his head. "I definitely haven't read as many books as you have but I do know that one can never have too many books and it's impossible to leave a bookstore without buying a book. That's like if I went to one of those guitar stores and didn't come back with something."
"That is true." Noah agreeing, he did have a good point.
"Alright. So what are we getting?"
Noah shrugged but continued looking at books. "We can get a picture book of The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, that way you can reread it with Daniel, refresh your memory, maybe you'll read the rest of the series."
"It's a series?" Richie asked surprised. "That's actually a good idea."
"Yes it's a series. Sometimes I wonder how you've survived so long without book knowledge."
Richie shrugged at that, following Noah to the children's section. "I mostly stick to conversations about guitars instead."

Noah lead the way, being familiar with this store, and easily found the picture book for Daniel. He picked it off of the shelf and passed it on to Richie then continued looking at picture books, finding several fun ones and passing those on to Richie as well.

Not much later he was carrying a small stack of picture books that were essential according to Noah. Even though he had wanted to get Noah something, he thought it was sweet he instead picked books out for his little brother. Richie carried the small stack of books to the register but stopped when he noticed Noah had lingered around the table full of board games, he head back to find out what had caught his eye. Perhaps he could get him a game instead of a book.

"Don't you have that?" Richie asked.
Noah shook his head. "No."
"How do you not have Harry Potter Clue? Get it, it'll be fun to play tomorrow after Thanksgiving dinner." Richie said, actually thinking it would be fun to play a board game with the family.

At the register, Noah pulled out his rewards card before Richie paid and the cashier put everything in a bag for them to carry. They were both quite happy with some books for Daniel, knowing the little boy loved listening to stories.

Outside the store, they made a quick stop next door at See's candy store and Richie picked out some chocolates, never forgetting how he could make Sarah happy. He picked out Sarah's favorites and as well as a box for his mother. He was a good son. Not forgetting everyone else, he got some for them all to share.

"Do you want to go home?" He asked Noah once they were outside again, still holding on to their bags. "Or we can go for dinner." He suggested. They'd spent a long time in the book store which was exactly what he had planned.
"I do have homework." Noah said but wasn't all that interested in having to work on that.
"You'll have plenty of time after. I know you usually finish that in less time than Ava." Richie headed back to the car to put the books and chocolates inside before looking over at Noah again. "There's sushi, seafood, Fresh Brothers or that Italian place over there." He pointed towards it.
"Let's just get pizza."

He easily agreed to that, locked the car and they headed to the small pizzeria. It was fairly small inside but they found a table and looked through the menu to decide what they were getting.

After they ordered their drinks and pizzas, Richie tried to coax Noah into a conversation again. This time trying to get more info about school. Noah didn't have much to say other that classes were fine and he didn't mind most of his teachers. When Richie asked if he minded the kids in his class, as a joke, Noah shrugged.

"What?" Richie tried.
Noah shrugged again. "Most of them are spoiled brats."
"Assholes." Richie agreed, not actually knowing. "What about in your honors classes though? Are there genius jocks too?"
"No, but those classes are mostly girls anyway." Noah explained.

Richie waggled his eyebrows suggestively at that. In return, Noah just shook his head, trying not to be embarrassed in public. If he had his pizza, he could avoid conversation.

"What about those guys you and Caleb used to hang out with?" Richie asked when their pizzas arrived, he picked up a slice, happy with his choice.
Noah frowned slightly at the thought. "Those were Caleb's friends." Noah pointed out, remembering who he meant. "They all graduated last summer."
"Oh." He had not realized that. "But you see Ava in school, right?" At least he hoped so.
"Sometimes we share a lunch period and she insists on sitting with me with some of her friends." Noah said before taking another bite of his pizza.

Richie nodded, getting the idea. At least Ava was trying to be kind and he appreciated that. Ava had more friends than he could count and more were added all the time. The close ones stayed the same but she always met new people. He was glad that family mattered to her too. He steered the conversation away from friends, getting the hint that Noah didn't have any and didn't enjoy talking about that. He changed it to class subjects which Noah gladly talked about until Richie brought up college. It wasn't that far away in time and applications were due soon enough but it halted the conversation nonetheless.

It was almost 7pm when Richie parked his car in the garage, he hadn't meant for them to be gone for almost four hours but he definitely didn't mind it either. He was glad he had had some time with Noah and was excited to tell Sarah about everything he had learned today. It was if today was the first conversation he had with Noah in the last few months. Before heading inside, he grabbed the boxes of chocolate as Noah took the bag of books along with his backpack and school blazer.

They found the rest of the family in the living room. First, he gave his mom the chocolates before sitting down next to his wife on the couch to give her hers as well. Making Sarah smile and reach in for a kiss as a thank you.

Richie surely wasn't the only one surprised to see Noah join Daniel in his play area. He watched as Noah pulled the books out of the bag and started showing them to Daniel, pointing out pictures as he talked about the books.

It made him smile.

Chapter 104

On Friday morning, Richie reached over to his nightstand to stop the incessant phone alarm from going off. Once silent again, he placed it back down before stretching and moving to sit up in bed. He looked down to see Sarah looking up at him. "Morning." He said.
Sarah gave him a smile. "Morning, how did you sleep? How are you feeling?"
She had added the last question the whole week. Her concern, made him smile. "I'm feeling good, ready for our week."

A little while later he was down in the kitchen, wearing the same pj pants but with a clean tshirt today, making waffles. An exception on a Friday morning. He was making up for not making breakfast all week.
The first waffle he finished, went to Daniel, happily tearing pieces off of it as he started eating.
It didn't take long for the teenagers to make their way down and join them for breakfast. Which meant Richie started brewing another cup of coffee, this one for Ava before he went to sit down at the table with his own mug.

"Are you coming to the airport with me?" He asked Sarah over Daniel between them.
She frowned, thinking before she answered. "It'll be close to Daniel's nap time."
"You're picking grandma up before we get home?" Ava asked surprised, looking over from the corner where she was waiting on her coffee to finish.
"Yeah, she wanted to be here before you got home from school." Richie explained even though he was sure he had mentioned the flight schedule before.
When her coffee finished, Ava sighed, "I just like picking her up with you," and walked over to the table to start her breakfast.

"I'm sorry." Richie said, understanding she was disappointed but there wasn't anything he could change now. Most likely, Joan was already at the airport. "She'll be just as happy to see you after school." He assured her before looking over at Sarah to continue their conversation.
Sarah thought about his earlier question. "It'll depend on when Daniel wants to nap." She said.
Richie nodded, accepting that answer.

After breakfast they said goodbye to Ava and Noah who were off to school. Sarah insisted on cleaning up the kitchen and getting some cleaning done before Joan would arrive. Richie made his best efforts to offer to help her to do so but Sarah insisted he should still take it easy and sent him off to the living room with Daniel. He picked Daniel up out of his high chair and carried him to the living room, walking past the sitting area towards the corner where all Daniel's toys lived opposite of where Richie's toys were housed.

"What should we do?" He asked Daniel, wanting a reply from him but not expecting one.
"Tar."
He looked down in shock at his son in his arms. "What?" He asked, did he just hear that?
"Tar."
"Tar? What's tar?" He asked confused, wondering if he'd even heard his son right and what he meant to say to begin with.

He watched as Daniel squirmed in his arms, trying to get down. Obliging him, Richie let him down on the ground, this time he didn't pull up his legs and stood on his feet as his father let go of him. Richie was dumbfounded again as Daniel took a few steps closer to his guitar stands. He only kept a few in the living room for whenever he had the urge to play something and the boy had been taught not to go near them. Daniel stopped a couple feet away from the stands.

"Tar." He repeated, looking at the guitars.
Richie shook his head, sure he was seeing and hearing things. He went and picked up his son. "Guitar?" He asked him, still surprised at getting an answer to begin with, followed by steps. He picked up the acoustic guitar and held on to it as he carried Daniel to the kitchen to find Sarah. "Sarah?" He asked as he walked over.
"Yes?" She asked, looking up at her husband, a cleaning cloth in hand as she paused from wiping the counters.
"You won't believe this." He bent down to let Daniel stand again but this time Daniel refused to stand on his feet, pulling his feet up each time Richie tried. He sighed after a few tries. "Fine." He let Daniel sit down. "I asked him what we should do and he said 'tar' so I asked him what he meant and he wanted down so I put him down and he walked over to my guitars and said it again." He explained excitedly.
"Really?" Sarah asked, putting her cleaning supplies on the counter and walked over to her boy. "Can you say it again?" She squatted down in from of him as she asked Daniel, who looked up at her with his brown eyes.
"Daniel." Richie said, trying to get his attention. He held up his guitar. "What's this? Say guitar again." He tried to coax him into it.
Daniel looked up at them both, confused brown eyes watching them.
Richie sighed, followed by Sarah repeating it. "Guess not." He looked down at Sarah again. "I'm sorry babe."
She waved it off quickly as she stood up but he noticed it did matter to her. "It's alright, he'll be saying tons of words soon enough."
"Yeah," Richie agreed, "We'll go play some guitar, you're free to come join us." He reminded her as he picked Daniel up again but Sarah insisted on cleaning the kitchen before Joan's arrival.

Back in the living room, he let Daniel down on the couch and sat down next to him. Daniel looked up at him expectantly. "Tar?"
Richie sighed. "Couldn't say that when your mom was around?"
He moved the guitar onto his lap and checked if it was tuned before starting to play an easy tune that Daniel would like. Even if he knew Daniel would like anything he played.

The little boy sat next to him, watching and listening to the music. It always made Richie happy to watch his son enjoy something he was so passionate about. To be able to share that with him when there weren't many other ways to share with him. Especially while he was still so little. If Daniel stayed curious, it could be something they'd share for the rest if their lives.

Soon enough, his easy tunes meant for Daniel's enjoyment transitioned into songs he enjoyed playing. Bits and pieces thrown together with some lyrics that went with them.

He didn't notice when Sarah walked into the living room, something that didn't surprise her anymore these days. She walked over and sat down in the spot Daniel had vacated to go play while he listened to the music. Watching her husband get lost in what he was playing was something she admired. There wasn't anything she was so passionate about that she forgot everything around her. Carefully she reached out and touched his arm.

He felt the soft caress on his bicep and opened his eyes as he looked to his right. He smiled and stopped playing, making Daniel look up at the missing sound. "Hi." He said to his wife.
She couldn't help herself and reached in for a quick kiss before asking her question. "I just wanted to ask what time you had to leave. Was it 11 or 12?"
"11 sweets." He answered, looking for the time. His wrist didn't have a watch and he didn't know where his phone was at the moment.
"Oh, okay 'cause it's 11 now." Sarah said.
"Now?" He got up to put his guitar back in it's stand. "I have to go." He wasn't even dressed yet.
"I'm sorry." Sarah said quickly. "I didn't realize you were so focused." She also got up from the couch and picked Daniel up from his toys to follow her husband upstairs.

In the bedroom, he headed to the closet to grab a clean pair of jeans, deciding these pj pants had done their best work this week, he pulled them off and threw them into the laundry basket. His shirt was clean, he grabbed a new pair of boxer briefs and a pair of socks, carrying it all as he walked out.

Sarah looked up and gave him a raised eyebrow, not minding him in boxers and a tshirt at all.
"What?" He asked as he walked by on his way to the bathroom.
"Nothing." Sarah said quickly.
It made him frown.
"Just a nice view." She clarified.
Richie finally clued in, realizing he wasn't wearing much. "You just like looking at my ass."
Sarah shrugged. "It's nice."
"Nice?"
"You need to get ready." She reminded him he was wasting time.
"You need to stop insulting my ass."
She was almost offended, she gasped. "I didn't insult it. I said it was nice."
"Underappreciating it is an insult." Richie clarified to her, waiting for her to make up for it, he gave her an impatient look.
"Okay, okay." She sighed. "You have a lovely tushy. Now go shower."
"Thank you." He said, accepting it. "I know you like the front better anyway." He added quickly as he started to continue his way to the bathroom.
"Go shower!"

Half an hour past 11 they were heading out the door. Opting for Sarah's SUV as Daniel's car seat and stroller were still in it and would plenty of space left for suitcases once they got to the airport.

"Are you sure he'll be okay?" Richie asked, knowing it was almost lunch time and nap time after that as well.
Sarah nodded. "I thought maybe we could go out for lunch and then by the time we get home it's definitely nap time."

He wasn't opposed to that, he liked spending his time with Sarah and Daniel even if it wasn't anything important. It was better than making the drive alone. This way, instead of blaring music, he'd get to talk to his wife.

At the airport they parked in arrivals and headed into the large building, using parking was the easiest way to skip out on paparazzi as they could just walk into the airport and skip the drop off zone where they hoarded the doors. He pushed Daniel in his stroller as Sarah walked beside him.

"Do you remember where we need to be?" She asked.
"I know where we're going." He confirmed as he lead the way through the airport. "I even checked if there were delays before we left."
"That's smart." Sarah agreed, following him.
He stopped near a Starbucks with seating area, the gate just across from it. "We can sit and wait if you want. Mom will probably be one of the last to get through." He explained, already looking for a table they could sit.
"Sure." Sarah agreed.

Richie found them a table and sat down, placing Daniel's stroller between the two chairs before he went and ordered some drinks for their wait. He returned a few minutes later and handed Sarah a slice of cake and a tea she liked before he sat down with her. The wait wouldn't be too long but he was right that his mother would stay on the plane until most people had left to not be rushed by others. It made sense to him and he didn't mind waiting for that. He sipped his coffee as he waited, people watching with Sarah.

At first a large crowd of people came from the gate, he looked up but stayed in his seat, watching the crowd thin out before standing up and walked closer to the gate. At least he was tall so he could look over some of the people crowding around the area, his mom being short made her easy to hide but he finally spotted her. He waved, trying to catch her attention as he walked over to her.

After a quick hug, he helped her back to their table at Starbucks and offered the drink he had ordered earlier for her.

"Sarah suggested we go for lunch before we head home, if you want to." Richie suggested, now ready to head back.
"That would be nice." Joan agreed.

They had a simple lunch in the city, not bothering with anything too fancy. Daniel kept up his good behavior until they were back in the car and ready for the hour drive home. Knowing he was just tired, Richie tried to ignore the crying as they drove and Joan and Sarah tried their best to calm him down but Daniel was relentless. Generally whenever he drove alone, he had music playing loudly, Daniel's crying was probably just as loud but it wasn't near the same of having loud music. He knew his son was upset.

Not until they were home and Daniel was being rocked in his rocking chair in his bedroom did he stop crying. Relieved, Sarah carefully got up with him and put him down in his bed. Glad he was finally asleep and hopefully would have a long nap.

Joan had decided on the same while Richie carried her bags to her bedroom, a quick lay down before Ava and Noah would get home from school.

Chapter 103

On Tuesday morning as Richie woke up he reached out to pull Sarah closer to hold but his hands only found a much smaller person. Regardless, he pulled him closer to cuddle him instead. Next to his wife, getting some Daniel cuddles was a close second. He finally opened his eyes to see if they were alone and found it was indeed just him and Daniel in bed. Lifting his head, he read the alarm clock on Sarah's nightstand. Past 10am, he had missed making breakfast for his teenagers before school again. He supposed he had a decent excuse not to get up. In his arms, Daniel seemed comfortably asleep, his mouth slightly open as his poor little nose was stuffy. He felt the same way but didn't want to disturb his son to get up and find some Tylenol's for himself, even if he'd feel better if he did, Daniel needed his sleep. Half of last night has been spent awake by Daniel being fussy, keeping his parents up as they tried to get him back to sleep.

A few minutes later he could hear the bedroom door opening, he looked up to see Sarah walk into the room. Seeing her made him stir inside his boxers regardless of how he felt. Her long blonde hair fell over her shoulder as she pushed the door closed behind her and continued on into the bedroom. She always looked so lovely and today was no different.

Sarah placed a plate, bottle and a mug on her nightstand before looking over at her husband and son.

"How are you feeling?" Sarah watched as Richie very carefully let go of their son to reach for the iPad on his own nightstand.
He unlocked the screen and opened up the notepad app he had been using since the day before. He cleared it before touching the screen to write out his message with his fingertip.
OK
"Yeah?" Sarah asked, not being too sure of that. "I brought you some peppermint tea with honey. The peppermint will help your stuffiness and the honey will sooth your throat."
He gave her a little smile as an answer.
"Have you taken any meds this morning?"
Richie shook his head slowly and added onto the iPad JUST WOKE UP.
"Okay." Sarah got up from the bed slowly as to not wake Daniel up. She watched the little boy snuggled up against his dad, his mouth still half open as he slept.

A few moments later she returned with the little container of Tylenol cold and flu, this time the daytime variety.

Repeating Sarah's actions, Richie slowly let go of Daniel entirely so he could arrange his pillows and sit. He accepted the pills Sarah gave him, along with the mug of tea she passed. Having noticed her little boy earlier, Sarah reached for the container of Vaseline she had for him and carefully applied some to his lips.

"Poor boy." She said, looking up at her husband. "Maybe later you and Daniel can take a steamy hot shower." She suggested.
His eyebrow raised in question.
"The steam would clear his nose, and yours." Sarah pointed out. The medication only did so much after all.
He nodded his response, a shower would feel pretty good.
"I brought you breakfast." Sarah remembered, reaching for the plate she had brought up. "Just some toast with jam."

They both looked down when they heard rutling sheets between them as Daniel stretched and looked up at both of them.

Richie took the plate that was offered to him to free Sarah's hands so she could pull her little boy into her lap. As she sat against the pillow covered headboard, she pulled up her knees so Daniel was snuggled close against her.

He took a bite of toast as he watched Sarah give Daniel his medication, rather making sure he was comfortable than letting him announce when he was feeling bad. He chewed his second bite as Sarah reached for the bottle of milk to pass to Daniel. He didn't often had milk anymore unless he needed soothing before bed or now, when he was sick.

Richie watched as Sarah held their son close as he drank. She stroked his hair out of his eyes, then continued stroking the soft brown locks that were only growing longer. Her face was full of love and care as she did so. He could always read it off of her and it was something he would always admire. The way she looked always gave away how she felt and he loved when she looked at him with the same expression. With Sarah, he always knew he was loved. That was a feeling he would always return.

When Daniel offered his empty bottle, Sarah placed it back on the nightstand, then looked over at her husband with a gentle smile.

"How was your toast?" She asked when she noticed the crumb filled plate already on his nightstand.
AMAZING he wrote on the iPad, making sure she could read it.
Sarah raised an eyebrow at him. "Yeah? Toast with jam was amazing?"
He pulled up the keyboard onto the iPad instead of using his finger to type out "anything you make is amazing."
Sarah read it before looking up at him. "I think you're just being sweet. Maybe later I will make you some chicken noodle soup."
DELICIOUS
Sarah scooted closer with Daniel in her arms and reached in to kiss her husband.
He pulled back after a few seconds to grab his iPad again. YOU'LL GET SICK.
"I'll take the risk." She smiled before giving him a quick peck again.

It was a little before noon when Sarah decided to go ahead and make lunch for her husband and take a break from the morning TV shows they had been watching to keep themselves and Daniel somewhat entertained. Before she left, Richie headed to the bathroom where he caught himself in the mirror. He had seen himself in many shapes but sick was never a good look. He could really use a shower right now, plus Sarah had said it would make him feel better.

"I think I'll take a shower while you make lunch." He said when he walked back into the bedroom, his voice was still hoarse but not as bad as it had been the day before. It was coming back, Sarah's teas with honey had helped a lot. It was only a cold, he knew that.
"What about Daniel?" She asked.
"The steam will help him too, right?"
Sarah nodded, it would. "Yeah, I'm sure he would appreciate his nose clearing up too."

Richie could only agree to that, congestion was always annoying. He picked Daniel up from the bed, kissed his wife quickly and carried his son to the bathroom. Making sure the door was closed behind him, he started up the shower, turning it to it's hottest setting to steam up the room before turning it down to a tolerable temperature for showering. Meanwhile Daniel found his bath toys.

When she finished preparing some chicken noodle soup with toast, Sarah started a kettle with hot water to make a new cup of tea for Richie. She heated another bottle of milk for Daniel and added a small amount of honey for him as well. Once everything was ready to go, she headed up the stairs to their bedroom. They'd mostly stuck to their bedroom the last two days but she could see Richie was getting bored very quickly of that.

The bathroom was filled with steam when she walked into the room, he sure had taken the steamy shower seriously. "I've got lunch ready." Sarah said as she walked in and closed the door behind her again, not letting his steam escape.
"Soup?" Richie asked, not very excited at the prospects.
Sarah grabbed a towel from the rack as she watched him turn off the water. "Yes, chicken soup is good for you."
"Lots of other things are good for me too." He said as he opened the glass shower door, letting Daniel sit and play a little longer as he accepted the towel from Sarah and patted himself dry before tying it around his waist.
"Such as?"
He quickly pulled her close and kissed her deeply. "My beautiful wife." He answered once he pulled back again.
"Maybe once you're better." Sarah pointed out as she grabbed another towel to get Daniel out of the shower as well.
"I'm sure I'm better already." He claimed quickly.
Sarah looked up at him as she held Daniel wrapped in his towel in her arms. "In the last half hour?"
"Definitely."
"Maybe, it's just the steam clearing your head too much." Sarah joked.
Giving in, he started to put on the pj pants he had been wearing. "We'll see tonight."

After lunch, the three of them moved to the living room, which was a nice change to the bedroom of the last two days even though they watched the same TV programs as they would in bed.

Before he knew it, Daniel was asleep on his chest again, something he was very grateful for and had been for the last week.

Their TV show finished and when Richie didn't ask if she wanted to watch something else, Sarah looked over to see he had fallen asleep as well. Just as she had done before, she pulled a blanket over him and turned the TV off to grab a book. Taking the quiet as the perfect time to get some pages read.

The front door opening, made Sarah look over the back of the couch to see who was entering. There were only two possibilities and they'd be together anyway. "How was school?" She asked when Ava walked into the living room and Noah headed upstairs.
"It was alright, nothing exciting." Ava sat down in her dad's chair, dropping her bag onto the floor next to it. "How are dad and Daniel?"
Sarah looked at them both asleep as well. "I think your dad is starting to feel better, Daniel's a little slower."
Ava frowned in thought at that.
Sarah noticed it right away, she knew what she was thinking. "It's just a cold. The doctor said he'd be fine in a couple days." She assured her.
Ava nodded. "Do you want me to make dinner?"

Sarah felt quite pleased with how much she had been able to read. It wasn't always easy to squeeze in time where she could just sit and read her book but with Daniel comfortably asleep in his dad's arms, she had to peace of mind she needed to relax. Ava had gone upstairs and Sarah had continued her book until she heard her husband start to snore next to her. Feeling bad for him, she got up and made him another cup of tea and found him the Tylenol's for when he woke up.

"What's for dinner?"
Surprised, Sarah looked up at him, she had just reached down to put his mug on the coffee table. She shook her head and answered. "That's your first thought when you wake up? Are you just always thinking of food?"
"No, sometimes I think of you."
Sarah chuckled and rolled her eyes as she sat down next to him, reaching for Daniel. "Maybe you are starting to feel better after all."
"You're right, it's just the meds." He said as he reached for the pills now that Sarah was holding Daniel.
Sarah reached out to feel his head as he sat back after taking the meds, holding his mug of tea. She frowned a little, "you do feel a little hot still."
He nodde, knowing how he felt and sipped his tea.
"Should I wake him up?" Sarah looked down at her son. "It's almost 5."
"No."

When Daniel finally woke up and had another dose of medication, he made his way off of his mother's lap and crawled over to his toys to keep himself entertained. Toys always made him happy but with his parents watching him, he looked over at them once in a while. Seeing how mommy was half paying attention to a book as daddy laid down on the couch with his head in her lap, watching TV and him. Mommy's fingers absentmindedly playing with daddy's hair as she tried to read. She did that to him too.

"Dinner's ready." Ava announced as she walked into the living room with a large stack of grilled cheese sandwiches and extra plates an hour later.

Having had such a long nap, Daniel wasn't as tired after dinner as he usually was. To him, it didn't matter if his parents wanted to sleep, he wasn't ready yet.

Relenting, they gave up on trying to settle him down with them and let him play a little longer.

"Are you feeling tired yet?" Sarah asked her husband next to her.
"Not yet." He said even though he could easily fall asleep if he wanted to.
"How's your throat? You've been talking most of the day but you don't sound too bad."
"It's alright. The tea you keep making really helps."
That made her feel good about herself. "You'll be able to sing in two weeks then?"
He nodded. "It's just a cold baby, not vocal chords." He pointed out.

They finished their last TV show when Daniel finally crawled over to the couch. He didn't bother with pulling himself up to demand to be picked up but just sat down, waiting for the same result. His parents were quick to catch on and Sarah picked him up to take him up to his room. Richie followed her but went to say his goodnights before meeting her in the bedroom.

He pulled off his warm socks before getting into bed. "Where's Daniel?" He asked.
"I thought he could sleep in his own bed tonight. I want to cuddle my husband." Sarah replied as she did exactly that. "He claimed he was feeling better earlier."
Richie sighed, holding her closer. "I'm sorry sweetheart, I'm really tired, I just want to sleep."
She pulled away a little to look up at him with a knowing smile. "I know. I was just bugging you."
"Meanie."
"I love you too." She said before reaching in for a quick kiss. "Go to sleep."

Chapter 102

"Hey Sarah?" He asked from inside Daniel's room. It was Saturday night and he was getting Daniel changed and ready for bed. He had had a busy few days. Yesterday they took him to a playgroup so he could play with other children his age and with Ava and Noah home today, they went on a family outing.
"Yes?"
He could hear Sarah down the hallway, putting away towels in the linen closet. "Come here for a second." He clarified, sitting Daniel up on his changing table, ready to change him to pj's.
"What's wrong?" Sarah asked from the hallway, before she joined him in the bedroom. "What's wrong?" She repeated in the room as she had not gotten an answer before.
She must have been able to read the worry on his face. "Does he feel hot?" His question made Sarah frown in worry as well.
Sarah reached over and felt his forehead too.
Richie watched her in question, waiting for her judgement.
"Yeah, kinda." She agreed.
"Where's that fancy thermometer?"
Sarah pulled open one of the drawers on the table and took out the infrared thermometer she had stored there before using it on Daniel's forehead. "101.8." Sarah read the thermometer.
Richie frowned at that, feeling a little more worried about his son. "Should we get him something to bring it down so he can at least sleep?"
"Yeah, probably a good idea." Sarah agreed, picking up her son and walking out of the room.

Richie followed her to their bedroom where Sarah sat down with their son on their bed. Richie proceeded to the bathroom to look for some baby medication, safely out of reach from Daniel. He pulled open the cabinet and looked through the little boxes on the shelf but wasn't able to find anything there for Daniel.

"I don't think we have anything." He said as he walked back out of the bathroom. "I can go to a drugstore and go get some." He suggested.
"Okay." Sarah agreed even though she had already gotten comfortable on the bed with Daniel, if he fell asleep before then, he fell asleep. "At least we'd have it for later."

He certainly agreed to that, he walked over and gave Sarah a quick kiss before walking out of the room. He hurried down the stairs and to the front door where he started to put his shoes on when Ava walked past from the kitchen.

"Where are you going?" She asked.
"Just to the drugstore, Daniel's got a fever."
"Can I come?"
Her request made him frown for a second. "I'm just going to the drugstore but sure."

As he parked the car outside the drugstore, he reminded Ava that this was an in and out stop, no browsing the store, making sure she agreed with that before he got out of the car.

Then, as soon as they were inside the store, Ava left his side and wandered off. Richie sighed and searched for the aisle he needed, then browsed the section of children medication until he found what he needed. He quickly grabbed a box and headed over to the register, spotting Ava by the drink coolers and called her over, loud enough for her to hear him but not loud enough to be disturbing to other shoppers around them. She looked over her shoulder before reaching into the cooler and joining him in line at the register.

"What are you getting?" He asked her.
"Just a soda." She said, her eyes wandering to the checkout items. She picked up two KitKats, adding them to their purchases.
"Two?"
"One for Noah." Ava pointed out.
"In that case," he reached over and grabbed another one, "for Sarah." He clarified.

In the car, Ava unwrapped he chocolate bar, as she looked up to her dad next to her. "Want to share?"
He smiled at her consideration even though he could have gotten his own if he wanted one. "Sure, thanks."
"You're welcome." Ava broke the KitKat in half and passed him the two joint bars.

Back at home, he followed Ava up the stairs, saying good night to her as he turned to the left while Ava went to the right towards her own bedroom.

"Got it." Richie announced when he walked back into the bedroom.
Sarah looked up at him, Daniel still comfortable in her arms. "Thanks."
"And I got you a KitKat." He said as he placed both items on the nightstand next to the bed.
He quickly looked down at Daniel, he was still awake, his cheeks a little flushed compared to earlier. It didn't seem like he was feeling all that great. "Just been cuddling?"
Sarah nodded. "Yeah, I thought he'd fall asleep but he's just been cuddling."
He shrugged at that. "That's not bad. At least we can give him some meds then." He sat down on the side of the bed next to Sarah and opened up the medication, using the syringe to measure off how much he needed to give him."Get him to open his mouth?" He asked.

Sarah helped him so he could give Daniel his medication. Afterwards, Richie put it back on the nightstand and got up to move to the other side of the bed. He moved a little closer to them so he could rub Daniel's back, hoping it would make him feel better soon. Seeing his son feel unwell always made him remember the first time Daniel had been very sick. He knew something like that happening again was always possible, even if it was most likely just a common cold or teething. The memory of it always popped back into his mind. With that, he also knew Daniel would be sleeping with them for the rest of the night.

It was very early morning when Daniel woke up crying, waking up his parents that were sleeping on either side of him. Both of them sat up to console him. Richie pulled him closer to comfort him and to try to stop him from crying any longer as Sarah reached to the nightstand for the thermometer, assuming the meds had worn out by now.

"102."  Sarah stated as she read the thermometer again.
"That's higher than it was when he went to bed." He slightly made his hold on Daniel looser when he stopped crying.
Sarah looked over at her phone quickly. "It's been nine hours though." She placed her phone back on the night stand and picked up the bottle of medication again.

Richie held him and stroked his back, hoping he'd go right back to sleep. 5am was not a time he wanted to get up, he could use another couple hours himself. He made eye contact with Sarah, both of them frowning in thought at the situation, unsure of how Daniel was feeling. The boy had stopped his crying and was comforted by his father's hold, his eyes were heavy and closed once again. Soon enough he would be back to sleep.

He woke up to his face being poked by tiny fingers, when he opened his eyes, Daniel's expression changed to happy. Before Daniel could continue, he reached out to grab his hand and pulled him closer for cuddles. Glad to see he was at least feeling better, his cheeks still had a pinkish flush on them.  It wasn't until he sat up that he realized his head was pounding. He groaned and laid down again but it didn't relieve it.

Sarah woke up next to him not much later, most likely due to the movement on the bed. He watched her stretch and smiled at her, waking up next to her still made him happy every morning.

"Morning baby." He said quietly, it wasn't that early but the house was still quiet.
Sarah gave him another short smile. "Good morning. How'd you sleep? How's the little man?"
"He seems alright. We've just been cuddling, waiting for you to wake up so we could have breakfast with you instead of alone."
"That's nice of you." Sarah sat up and checked her phone for the time, then got up from the bed to go to the bathroom. When she returned, she started getting dressed. "What about that breakfast?"

Food certainly got his attention. He sat up again, this time expecting the pounding in his head to start over but tried to ignore it. Not bothering to get dressed, he carried Daniel downstairs in the pj pants and tshirt he had slept in since Daniel had shared their bed.

Once in the kitchen, he really couldn't be bothered to be making breakfast. Yesterday he had gone all out and made waffles for everyone but right now he just wanted to sit down with his son.

Sarah watched him walk over to the coffee machine to turn it on and brew a first cup of coffee for the day. "How about I make breakfast for once?" She asked him.
He was so relieved she suggested it but tried not to make it too obvious. "That'd be great." He agreed as he pressed the button to start his coffee.
"Go sit down with Daniel, I'll finish your coffee for you so I can get started here." She urged him to get out of the corner she needed to get a pan out of the cabinet.
"Alright." He took the hint easily enough and went to sit down at the table with Daniel still in his lap.

It wasn't until mid morning when Daniel started to fuss again while they watched TV in the living room. He crawled over from his toys and wanted to be held again. It made Richie frown in thought when he pulled Daniel into his lap again.

"Guess he isn't feeling better after all." He concluded when Daniel simply cuddled against him, looking for comfort.
Sarah reached over to feel Daniel's forehead. "Still got that fever too. Maybe he caught something while we were out Friday?"
Richie shrugged, that was possible. "Maybe, there were a bunch of other kids there too."
"Exactly. Guess we'll take him to a doctor tomorrow."
"Probably a good idea." He agreed.

There was no way they'd be able to see his own pediatrician on a Sunday and going to the ER was a waste of resources. So far Daniel had been manageable so there was no need just yet. Besides that, the pounding in his head had finally subdued a little and he didn't plan on moving in case he risked it it to start again. He looked down at the little boy in his arms, thinking he perhaps felt the same way but probably worse than just a headache. Not much later he noticed Daniel dozing off in his arms, Sarah sat next to him, leaning against him, he felt so perfectly comfortable that he closed his eyes and relaxed.

He woke up to a kiss brushing against his lips. Instinctively, he kissed back as he opened his eyes, a smile forming on his face.
"Hey sleepyhead, you dozed off." She teased gently.
"I'm sorry, didn't mean to fall asleep."
"It's alright." Sarah said, reaching her hand over to his forehead. "You feel hot too."
He gave a little chuckle at that. "Thanks."
Sarah just rolled her eyes at his cockiness. "Not the kind of hot I meant."
"I'm going to take it that way anyway." He insisted on it.
She frowned a little as she watched him, looking worried. "Do you feel okay?"
"Yeah, just a little hot." He said but it didn't seem as if Sarah was convinced to believe him. "Just a bit of a headache and my throat feels scratchy. It's nothing." He tried to convince her again but knew it would be futile to even try. She wasn't going to accept it that easily.

He watched as Sarah got up from the couch and left for the kitchen, most likely to start on lunch. Daniel was still asleep in his arms and with Sarah gone, he carefully moved his legs onto the couch so he could lay down with Daniel. The boy needed his sleep and maybe he'd get some too. Sarah was right, he didn't feel all that great.

The living room was quiet when he woke up, he noticed right away Daniel wasn't in his arms anymore and a blanket was covering him. Slowly he sat up, looking for anything that would indicate what time it was. He couldn't have slept all that long either. As he pulled the blanket off of him, he got up from the couch to go look for Sarah and Daniel. A groan escaped him as he stood up and felt the pressure in his head worsen. It settled after a few seconds and he headed up the stairs to go check the bedroom.

He found Sarah and Daniel sitting in bed together, the boy looked pretty perky but his red cheeks gave away that it was just the medication making him feel better. Sarah took a break from the book she was reading to their son to look up at her husband and inquire about how he was feeling. As Richie joined them in the bed, he did his best to wave it off and convince her that he was just fine. He took Sarah continuing to read the story to Daniel as a good sign. Maybe she finally believed him after all.

When she finished the story, she passed him the book. "Why don't you read a little to him, he likes when you do the voices." She pointed out.

Richie took the book and moved to sit closer to them, arranging his pillows behind his back so he could lean against them. He opened the book again and found a different story, making sure Daniel was able to see the pictures as he read the story for him. Having Sarah lean in against him as she held Daniel in her lap, he felt happy to be so close to her and have a little family moment like that. It wasn't until the third page that his throat started to feel scratchy as he read the words out loud. Knowing it was keeping Daniel happy, he cleared his throat and continued on. Until the fifth page when his voice cracked in the middle of the sentence. He cleared his throat again and made it to the middle of the next sentence when his voice cracked again, this time it made him cough.

Sarah looked up and reached over to rub his back. "Alright?" She asked carefully when he finally caught his breath again.
He nodded before he tried to answer. "Yeah." He was surprised at how his voice sounded.
Sarah frowned at him. "Maybe I'll read the book." She reached over and picked it up.

A few hours later, after having finished watching a movie with Ava and wishing her a good night, Sarah asked him again how he felt.

"Crappy." He finally replied honestly, hearing how hoarse he sounded.
Sarah sighed and reached over to feel his forehead again. "I can imagine. I'm sorry you're sick too."
"I'm fine." He insisted although he could hear he didn't sound anything like fine and felt far from it.
"Why don't you take some cold and flu meds?" Sarah suggested. "It'll at least make you feel better so you can sleep all night and feel better in the morning."
"I guess."
"Come on big man." Sarah stood up from the couch and held out her hand to help him up.

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.