Part 161
After leaving Baton Rouge, Howie and Sarah flew to Virginia to check on the house and Mr. Taylor. It was obvious to both of them that Mr. Taylor was definitely getting worse so together, they made the necessary arrangements to have someone check on him daily.
Howie also got the chance to talk to Dusty about the letter their mother had sent him. Dusty was relieved that Howie was going to tell Sarah the truth. It was something he felt should have been done a long time ago. In fact, he had never approved of them lying to Sarah in the first place but had gone along with it to protect his sister. She had been on death’s door at the time and he was worried that Russell would do something to hurt her even further.
With their return to Orlando, the couple sank themselves into their work. The businesses were running fine but Howie and Sarah both wanted to be involved whenever they could get the chance. Howie also hired a private detective to look for Jesse without telling Sarah. He wanted to surprise her and hoped that it wouldn’t be difficult to do. There was also Sarah’s music. Kevin flew back with Vanessa to help Sarah and agreed to perform a couple songs with her when she sang in LA.
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"So what's all this stuff for?" Nick looked around in confusion at all the various and sundry objects Sarah had tossed on their living room floor.
"Everything plays a part, Nick."
Sarah was busily setting up for their first official Lamaze session. She'd watched the tape Becca's doctor had sent her, and was pretty sure she remembered most of it from when Jesse was born, and was excited to be doing this for Nick and Becca. Howie wasn't involved at all, so he sat off to the side as merely an interested spectator. He figured he'd be one step ahead of the game when Sarah started her classes in January.
"Okay, you two, come on down here."
"On the floor?" Nick stood over Sarah, his hands on his hips and his eyebrows raised in disbelief.
"Yes, on the floor." Sarah shot him a look when he simply stood there. "Nick, we don't have all day."
"Sarah, this is stupid. Becca's not gonna give birth on a floor, so why-"
"NICK!" Sarah glared at him. "Becca, how do you stand it?" she asked, shaking her head in sympathy for her best friend's marital plight.
Becca leaned close to Sarah and in a stage whisper replied, "Because he has a really big-"
"BEC!" Nick was aghast.
"Heart. I was gonna say 'heart'. What did you think I was gonna say?" she asked innocently as Howie smothered a laugh behind his hand.
"Nick, we use the floor because it gives us more room to work, and it gives better support for Becca's back. Okay? Think you can handle that?"
Nick shot her a look and helped Becca down onto the floor. For the next half an hour they went over the breathing techniques and began learning a whole new language.
"Damn, Bec, this is nuts." Nick stood up to stretch, leaving Becca reclining against her pillow.
"Nick, it's only controlled breathing," Becca laughed. "You do more breathing than this in half a concert."
"Bec, I do NOT pant onstage, ok?"
"No," she giggled, "I forgot. That's just the girls in the audience."
Howie was laughing openly by now and Nick shot him an aggravated look. "Hey, D, let's see how you laugh when it's YOUR turn to do this shit."
"Wanta put money on how well I can do?" Howie shot back.
"Yeah, Kaos, put your money where your mouth is." Sarah sat back and stretched, too.
"This should be good," Becca mused. "So Nick, you think you can do this better than Howie?"
"Hell YES," he snorted.
"You're on," Howie said, dropping to the floor with Becca.
Sarah looked at Becca, shook her head as if to say 'boys, what can you do with 'em?'
"Ok. All three of you do this. Bec, you might as well practice one more time too. Ready?"
They all nodded, listening to Sarah for instructions. "So when I click the stopwatch, what do you do?"
"Deep cleansing breath," they all replied.
Sarah laughed. "Very good. So here we go … now." She started the stopwatch and all three of her pupils took a deep breath, exhaling slowly. "Ok, the contraction's beginning." She watched as all three of them began to pant. Becca's face was a mask of concentration as she stroked her belly and listened to Sarah count down the remaining time.
Howie was fine, he seemed to have excellent breath control, but Nick, Nick looked as if he was one step away from passing out. His face was pale and a cold sweat had broken out on his forehead.
"Three, two, one …. That's it! One more deep cleansing breath and you're done until the next one." Sarah watched as Becca and Howie did as instructed, but Nick was no longer with them. Becca turned just in time to see him sway and hit the floor.
"Nick!"
"Oh fuck me," Sarah said irritably. "D, get me some cold water while I revive Mr. Macho over here." She crawled over to Nick and patted his face. "Come on, Nick, rise and shine," she laughed. "God Bec, how DO you stand it?"
Becca was laughing almost too hard to answer. "NOW do you see why I want YOU in the delivery room with me? Nicky, wake up!" She smoothed his hair back away from his eyes as he tried to sit up.
"Here Nick." With a twinkle in his eye Howie pressed a glass of water in his hand.
"Fuck, " Nick mumbled. "You guys suck."
"Nick, I'll make you a deal," Sarah said. "When it comes time for Bec to deliver, you just hold her hand and let me do the real work, ok?"
"Yoo hoo," Becca called waving her hand, "Excuse me? Seems like I'M the one who's going to be doing all the work?"
"Of course you are, baby, " Nick said, "And I'll be there to help."
Sarah snorted and rolled her eyes. "God help us."
"Angel, we need to get going. I want to stop by the club before we head back to Cocoa." Howie stood, pulling Sarah up to join him.
"Bec, you think you've got the hang of this?"
"I guess so," she shrugged. "It doesn't seem so hard. We'll have plenty of time to practice, right?"
"Of course, but it'll be a little harder on the bus. That's why I wanted to get started before we all head back out on the road. And don't forget, you need to pick something to use as a focal point."
"A what?" Nick asked.
Becca answered. "Something to concentrate on during the contractions, Nick. I think I'm going to use the dolphin you gave me."
"Baby, can't you just look at 'me'?"
"No, she CAN'T, you fool," Sarah laughed. "You're the one that got her this way in the first place. By the time she's in the final stages of labor you're going to be the LAST person she wants to look at."
"I'm hurt, Sarah," he said pathetically, with a hand over his heart. "You wound me."
"Oh give it a rest, blondie," she laughed. "I think the lack of oxygen has gone to your brain. Bec, go take a nap or something and take him with you so he can recover."
Howie moved her toward the door. "We're outta here. See you guys in a few."