Chapter 28

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

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

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

They picked out their formal summer wear and dressed together.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Chapter 27

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

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

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

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

Down the hall he met up with Ava.

"Ready to go?" He asked.

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

Together they walked to the garage.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Chapter 26

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



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

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

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

Caleb started playing.

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

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

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

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

He picked up his guitar and started at the top.

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

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

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

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

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

Chapter 25

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

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

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

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

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

"Richie?" Caleb asked carefully.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Chapter 24

As he slept in the next morning, unconsciously he felt someone was watching him sleep.

Slowly he woke up, turning to his side as he opened his eyes to see Sarah staring at him.

"Morning." Sarah smiled up at him.
He moaned before answering. "Morning. What time is it?"
"Quite early." Sarah answered, moving closer to cuddle into him, her head resting on his chest.
Richie bent to kiss the top of her head, her hair smelled nice. "Then why are we up?"
"I realized we forgot something and I've been wanting to tell you since I remembered."
He frowned a little as Sarah met his eyes. "What did we forget?"
"Last week, was two years since we met."
"Oh." He remembered now, she was right. It had been two years already. "Slipped my mind, I didn't mean to."
Sarah smiled and kissed him. "I know, I forgot too. We've had a lot on our minds."
"So should we still celebrate this?" Richie wondered.
"Of course. I already had an idea how to celebrate."

He felt Sarah's hand move under the sheets. The warmness of her skin touched his thigh as he felt her slowly moving her hand up. It seemed like a good way to celebrate to him.

With only the slightest touch Sarah had made to his skin, he felt his dick reacting right away.

He gasped when her hand wrapped around him.

"Definitely not something you would have done two years ago." Richie said, enjoying the stroking feeling of Sarah's soft hand over him.
"No." Sarah agreed. A lot had changed in those two years. "Thanks."
Richie frowned. "For what?"
"Everything. Without you I probably wouldn't even have finished rehab successfully."
"We help each other." Richie said sweetly.

Taking his own words into action, Richie moved underneath Sarah's hand, leaning over so he was able to make Sarah lay down.

They shared a passionate kiss making them wanting to be even closer together, as Richie carefully moved on top of her.

Sarah’s head fell back into the pillows when he nuzzled her neck, giving him a better reach. His soft kisses trailed over her neck to her chest to settle on her breast. Sarah gasped when his warm breath covered her nipple and started sucking, making it hard. He licked away the wetness and gave her other breast the same treatment then made his way down.

He kissed the dark triangle of hair before finding the treasure of his trail.

She felt a soft kiss on her clit, barely noticeable. “Richie!” Sarah exclaimed excited.

She moaned when he sucked. His tongue parted her lips and pushed between them, inside her. “You taste so good.” He mumbled, hardly understandable.

Sarah reached her hands into his hair, pushing him closer to her. He pulled his tongue back and back up to her clit.

He felt she was getting close and moved his head away even though she was holding him.

Sarah moaned when he moved away. “Why?” She was so close now.
“Be patient.” He simply said and kissed her softly.

She knew Richie would want some kind of release too, she could feel him hard and ready against her thigh but he continued to kiss her softly en gentle, making it passionate.

He nudged her legs apart with his knee, settling in between her without ending their kisses.

“Richie.” She almost begged for him now.
His hands moved under her shoulders, pushing her up a little as he finally slid inside her.
“Ooooh.” Sarah moaned at the feeling of him filling her.

He rocked softly against her, taking it slow, he didn't speed up and kept his soft and gentle thrusts.

Sarah wrapped her arms around his shoulders, pulling him even closer than he already was; she kissed his shoulders and neck.

Richie felt her tighten around his dick already, she was getting close but so was he. His mind told him to speed up to get his release but he wanted the closeness, the feeling of Sarah’s soft lips on his shoulders and neck as her fingers slid up and down his sides.

“Rich I’m gonna…” Sarah moaned, he had already brought her close to an orgasm earlier, this wouldn't take much longer.
“Go.” He whispered, taking capture of her lips again.

Sarah’s orgasm washed over her, clenching around his dick, it set off Richie’s own orgasm. “Oh God.” They both gasped.

Carefully, Richie lowered himself so he could rest on Sarah's body. He could feel her nipples against his chest and enjoyed the aftermath of sex as Sarah continued to kiss his shoulders.

"New month, new year, think the hard times are past us?" Sarah asked gently, bearing in mind the past couple of weeks that had been hard for them.

Richie smiled at what she said, thinking of something else.

"Seems like hard times come easy, we do a lot of hanging on these days. But the heart finds a reason, and love always seems to find a way. Even if it hurts, even if it hurts us baby."

Sarah smiled back at him, reaching in for the kiss that he was going for.

Although his lyrics were old, he was right, they would always find a way.

Chapter 23

"Do you think this is has been our last stay at the hospital for at least a year?" Richie asked, then quickly added, "no wait. June, July, August, September, October, November, December, January, February. Do you think this is our last stay at the hospital til February?" He corrected himself.
Sarah chuckled. "Why February?"
"That's nine months from now, I'm planning to get you pregnant again and baby by March or so."
"I didn't know you had a schedule."
"It's not a schedule per se, it's more of a goal." Richie corrected. "A few weeks later would be fine too."
Sarah smiled. "Good to know."

Richie parked at the drugstore a few minutes later and Sarah got out of the car. She'd pick up everything they needed by herself as Richie stayed with Daniel.

He looked back at his son who was staring out of the window, it was hard to read his expression but Daniel seemed alright. Once again he seemed to be getting better and they all hoped it would stay like that this time.

"Daniel?" He asked but had to ask a few more times before he could get Daniel's attention away from the window. "What's so interesting out there?" He asked, not seeing what Daniel was seeing.

Daniel looked away after a minute and Richie focused on the store's door again, waiting for Sarah to come out.

When the door opened the next time and Sarah walked through it, Richie ignited the car engine again and waited for Sarah to get in.

"Got everything?" He asked as his wife sat down in her seat.
"Yeah. Let's go home so Daniel can rest."

Carefully Richie backed out of the parking space and drove home.



At home, Richie got the bag from Sarah so she could take Daniel inside.

Once they were in the kitchen, he looked through what Sarah had gotten. Most of it were meds for Daniel but he didn't quite understand why Sarah had bought half a dozen pregnancy tests.

"What are these for?" He asked, pulling one out of the bag to show Sarah what he was asking about.
"They're to test if I'm pregnant or not."
Richie gave her a look to say he was asking a serious question.
Sarah shrugged. "Lots of women have some bleeding during their pregnancy, I thought if I take a test, we're sure."
He frowned at her explanation. "You can have your period while being pregnant?"
"No, it wouldn't be a period really, but some blood loss is possible and maybe it's just that."
His face cleared up right away. "So you could be pregnant anyway?"
She shrugged again, "That's what I'd like to test."
"Wanna test that now?" Richie asked, he needed to know about this pregnancy as soon as possible.

Was he going to be a father again or did they have to try again? He needed to know. Having found out that it was still possible for Sarah to be pregnant had given him new hope for this pregnancy and he couldn't wait to find out.

"Sure." Sarah picked up a box and passed Daniel over.
Richie took his son and cuddled him close then looked up at Sarah. "Whatever the result is, it's fine. If it's negative we keep trying and if it's positive that's even better."
"So we want it to be positive." Sarah clarified what her husband had said as he contradicted himself.
"Don't we?"
"Of course we do." Sarah agreed with him.
"And if it's negative, we just have to have more sex." Richie suggested a solution.
"You'd love that." Sarah said as she walked out of the room to go to the bathroom. "No pressure." She told herself but feeling the complete opposite.

She wanted it to be positive too, that little bit of doubt had made her get the tests so she could be sure of it instead of wondering. Richie was right, if it was negative, they'd try again but she knew how much they both wanted another child. Rather now than in a few years, age wasn't on their side.

Richie sat with Daniel as he waited. He couldn't help himself but let his mind wander off to the future. Would Daniel have a little sister or a little brother? As a boy he would probably prefer a brother but Sarah wanted her own daughter. Another boy and then a girl? Or a girl and then another boy? Both seemed fine to him.

Caleb was leaving the house soon and in two years both Ava and Noah would follow, leaving them alone with just Daniel and future baby. Their house would be too quiet, it needed more life and joy, more children to keep it a happy place.

He was drawn away from his fantasy as Sarah walked back into the room.

"And?" He asked hopeful as Sarah sat down on the couch next to him.

She shook her head in the same motion as she leaned over to lean on his shoulder.

Carefully he wrapped his arm around Sarah, pulling her closer. "It's okay." He said, trying to believe his own words.

Sarah merely shook her head again as the tears started falling. The last few days she had held on to the hopes of getting a positive result anyway, against all odds.

"It's okay." Richie repeated, stroking Sarah's back, trying to comfort her through the pain.

Chapter 22

Walking into the children's hospital emergency department, Richie carried his son as Sarah walked ahead of them.

Holding Daniel so close, he now recognized Sarah's worries, Daniel did seem to have difficulty breathing.

He caught up with Sarah to get some help for Daniel.

"How can I help?" The receptionist asked.
"Our son was discharged about a week ago but he doesn't seem to be doing very well." Richie explained before Sarah could say anything.
The receptionist took Daniel's information. "Do you remember which doctor treated him?"
"Dr. Smillie." Richie said, still finding it a funny name.
"I'll check if he's available and if you take a seat to wait, I'll send him over as soon as he can."

Sarah and Richie took the advise and went to sit in the waiting area with other parents that were waiting to be seen by a doctor.

They only sat for a fewm minutes when a nurse called them to the ER where once again they were lead to a cubicle and were given an oxygen mask for Daniel.

Luckily Dr. Daniel wasn't too busy and showed up only half an hour later during which Sarah and Richie sat on the bed with their son. Daniel still didn't like the oxygen mask but also didn't seem to need it that much.

"Good morning." Dr. Daniel said cheerfully as he walked in along with a nurse. He read the chart quickly. "Daniel isn't feeling better?" He asked.
Sarah spoke up this time. "He's struggling to breathe again. It's declined since last week again."

After a quick check up Dr. Daniel was already pretty sure of what was going on.

"Pneunomia is common after whooping cough. We'll do another x-ray and go from there."


The x-rays confirmed the doctor's suspicion and Daniel was diagnosed with pneunomia only a week after recovering from whooping cough.

As parents they both felt let down, Daniel was getting better and now he was getting worse again. Their son should be happy and healthy instead of being back in the hospital.

"The only reason we're admitting Daniel today is to keep an eye on him today and during the night. To make sure he's strong enough to go home tomorrow morning." Dr. Daniel eplained to them.

Disappointed, the parents followed a nurse to a room where Daniel would stay the night.

"This sucks." Richie said after the nurse and doctor had left the room and left the small family by themselves.
Sarah sighed. "I know. I wanted him to be better now, not relapse."
"Yeah."

Richie sat down in one of the comfy chairs next to Daniel's hospital crib. The room was almost the same as the previous one was. A metal colorful painted baby crib in the middle of the room, two reclining chairs on each side and a pull out couch against the wall by the window.

Using his phone, he decided to update his friends about Daniel again. Back in the hospital.


The day passed without any events. Daniel didn't care much about where he was as long as his mommy and daddy were there with him.

Richie had kept him busy with music and played with him until he had to leave to pick everyone up from school and switched jobs with Sarah.


In the evening, they both stayed with Daniel, leaving their teenagers home alone for the night.

"What do you think?" Sarah asked.
"About?" Richie asked back.
"Daniel being here, do you think he'll get to go home tomorrow?"
Richie looked up at his son sleeping peacefully in the crib. "Yeah."
"So sure?"
"Yeah. He's been fine all day, he's got his medication and he doesn't even need the extra air." He listed the reasons why he thought Daniel could go home in the morning again.
Sarah nodded. "Good points. I hope so."