Part 145
Slamming the door behind her, Sarah began to cry. Why the hell was HER husband paying Becca so much damned attention? After all, she was pregnant too…with twins to boot. All she had gotten from him in the last three days was the demand to work and no break except to throw up. She needed someone to talk to and it was DEFINITELY not someone here. They were all too busy with ‘Little-Miss-Never-Been-Pregnant-I’m-so-helpless’ to care what she was going through. Damn Howie!
Sarah picked up the phone as she looked through her pocketbook. There it was…the number she wanted. She looked at the number as she dialed and waited.
The voice on the other end asked, "What extension?"
"69 please."
Sarah listened to the phone ringing and then the voice, "Whad up?"
"Bone?" said Sarah softly trying not to give away the emotions in her voice.
"Sarah? You sound so distant. Where are you?"
"Oh, God…Bone! I’m in Baton Rouge," cried Sarah.
"Baby…what the hell are you doing there? I thought you were on your honeymoon."
"We were but it’s a long story. Bone….I need you! Can you talk?"
Alex paused knowing that he had to be at a session in a matter of minutes but he also heard Sarah’s tone and knew she needed him. "Yeah, baby…I can talk. Tell me what’s wrong?"
"Bone…god…where the hell do I start? This is all so fucking screwed up."
"Start by telling me why you’re in Baton Rouge and NOT Hawaii."
"Okay…Aaron is doing a pay per view tonight and his opening act bailed. Nick called us EARLY Sunday morning and asked Howie if I could do it. Obviously he said ‘yes’ and we flew to LA Sunday and spent the rest of Sunday and all day Monday working on material with Kevin. Now, we’ve spent the better part of today working on the show for tonight."
"Okay…so what’s up with the tears and where the hell is Howie?"
"That’s just it, Alex. Howie is SO DAMNED concerned with Becca to even give a damn about me. Damnit, Alex! Becca crosses her eyes wrong and EVERYONE jumps. She plays that ‘I’m so helpless’ shit so well that EVEN Billy jumps! God….I HATE HER."
Softly and calmly, Alex said, "Baby, you don’t hate her! She’s your best friend. You’re just tired, that’s all." Sarah began to cry more and Alex did his best to calm her down but given they were on the phone, he felt helpless. "Sarah, what else happened today to upset you? This isn’t like you at all."
"God…let’s start with the fact that I spent the better part of an hour this morning throwing up. Then over breakfast, all Howie could do was WORRY about Becca being tired and her ankles swelling. Oh, and there was his comment about how BEAUTIFUL she is and how pregnancy SUITS HER. Then, if that weren’t enough. While I was out BUSTING MY ASS for this show, Becca’s sitting with him getting a back rub and laughing about god only knows what! To top it off, she fucking passes out and Howie is the FIRST one to her and follows Nick to their dressing room. He held her, Alex…the way he held me when I lost our baby! Like he LOVES HER more than me…."
"Stop right there! Howie is so far gone in love with you it’s NOT even funny, Sarah!"
"But Alex," whined Sarah.
"Baby, listen to me. Howie worries about you constantly but you’re
tough…you always have been and you’ve made it clear to ALL of us that you
can take care of yourself. Becca’s different from you. She had a shitty
relationship with that Andrew guy…"
"What about me? I spent 8 years with a man who was dominating and possessive? I lost my daughter and…."
"But you STILL had your family…Becca didn’t have her family…just you. She didn’t have a mother to guide her or brothers to teach her how to handle jerks like Andrew."
Sarah listened to what Alex was saying and knew he was right but she was still upset. Softly, she said, "I wish these were your babies."
That got a rise out of Alex. "NO, YOU DON’T! Sarah, you love Howie…you
have since the day you met him and NOTHING…not my love or Kevin’s love
changed that. When you lost the baby last Halloween, Howie lost it. All he could
do was stare at pictures of you when you were pregnant with Jesse and wonder
what you would have looked like if you were pregnant with HIS child."
"Then why doesn’t he say things like THAT to me?"
"You aren’t so damn insecure that you need to be told, Sarah. Look,
how long before the show starts?"
"I don’t know…a few hours."
"Why don’t you curl up on the couch…there is a couch there in the dressing room isn’t there?"
"Yeah."
"Okay, curl up on the couch and get some sleep. From the sounds of it, you’re exhausted! I’d be willing to bet that Howie will be in there shortly to check on you."
Sarah snorted, "More like to come see if he can get another couple hours out of me before I have to go on!"
"I doubt that. He knows you’re tired, I’m sure," soothed Alex. "And baby, I think you’re gonna be the sexiest pregnant lady out there."
Sarah laughed, "Thanks, Bone. I guess between the lack of sleep and my hormones playing with my body, I just overreacted."
"You…overreact! Never," teased Alex. "Baby, I love you and if Howie doesn’t straighten up, call me and I’ll come kick his butt for you."
"Thank you, Bone," answered Sarah as Howie walked into the dressing room. "Want to talk to him? He just walked in."
Howie asked, "Who is that?"
"Alex," answered Sarah. "Bone, I’m gonna go wash up. Here’s
D."
Sarah passed the phone off to Howie and went into the bathroom to wash her face. She listened from the bathroom as Howie talked to Alex.
"Hey, bro! How are you?"
"Cool… Look, D… I can’t talk. I’ve gotta go to a session that I’m
late for now. Do me a favor?"
"Name it."
"Go tell your wife how beautiful she is…just for the hell of it."
"Sure," said Howie confused. "I’ll talk to you later."
As Howie hung up the phone, Sarah came out of the bathroom and settled back onto the couch. "You didn’t talk to Alex long."
"He was late for a session, Sarah. Are you okay?"
Trying not to be snippy with him, she said, "If you call puking my guts
out for the hundredth time today okay, sure…I’m just peachy."
"Are you over the nausea?"
Sighing, Sarah said, "Yeah."
"Then come on. I want you to run through the set one more time and then
it’s time to do sound checks."
"D, no….I’m tired and I want to get some sleep before the show. They
got me while I was practicing earlier for sound checks."
"Sarah, you need to do this. Now come on," he said sternly.
Sarah had never gone against Howie’s wishes but she looked at him now and said, "NO! I’m gonna get some sleep, Howard."
Howie looked at her and saw that she was tired but he was too. "Look,
this is YOUR career…you can’t just…"
"BACK OFF, DAMNIT!" growled Sarah.
"FINE! I’m going out to take make sure they DID get you."
Howie left her in the dressing room and Sarah lay down on the couch. She pulled Howie’s jacket over her and began to cry again.
Outside the door, Howie leaned against it and ran his hands through his hair remembering what Alex had said before hanging up trying to figure out why he had said it.
Raoul saw him and came over. "What’s wrong, boss?"
Howie looked up at him and said, "Just trying to figure something
out."
"Is Sarah okay? She looked kinda mad when she went in there."
"She’s just tired. Look, I forgot something in there. Let the sound crew
know that they’ll have to go with what they got while Sarah was
practicing."
"Where are you going?"
"Back in with my wife."
Raoul smiled and watched Howie go back in.
Howie went in to find Sarah in tears on the couch clutching his jacket. She looked up at him and asked, "WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU WANT NOW?"
Softly, Howie said, "I just came in to be with you for a little while.
Do you mind?"
"I figured you’d be off holding Becca’s hand," snarled Sarah
before realizing what she had said.
Howie let it slide and went to her on the couch. He didn’t say anything as
he climbed behind her and wrapped his arms around her tight. He nuzzled her neck
letting his beard tickle her shoulder and he whispered, "I don’t think I’ve
told you today how beautiful you are," and he began singing softly to her.
Sarah’s mood softened and she put her hands on his arms as he held her.
Nothing more was said and Howie held her as she fell asleep.