Part 265

Sarah pushed the door open to find Nick and Becca sitting together talking quietly. "Hey, you two! Up for company?"

Glad to see Sarah, Becca beamed happily, "Of course!"

Jesse pushed past Sarah and bounced into the room. "Auntie Becca!"

Howie, Sarah, and Mr. Taylor followed Jesse into the room as Nick scooped her up in his arms.

"Hey, ‘Peanut’! What took you so long to get here?"

Jesse rolled her eyes, "Mommy and Uncle Dusty got into an argument at breakfast."

"It was nothing to worry about," reassured Sarah when Becca looked at her questioningly.

Becca turned her attention to Mr. Taylor. "Nick told me you were here! I’m so glad you came to see me!"

Giving Becca a fatherly kiss on the forehead, he said, "I wouldn’t have missed it for the world. So, where is my newest grandson?"

"Yeah, Uncle Nicky! Where is he? You promised me I could see him," scowled Jesse.

Laughing at Jesse’s attempt to look like Sarah when she was mad, Nick said, "He’s in the nursery with his doctor right now."

"And you two aren’t with him?" asked Howie amazed.

"Doctor ordered Bec to stay put," said Nick. "She did too much too soon."

Becoming concerned, Sarah asked, "What about your blood pressure?"

"It’s in the moderate range," answered Becca.

Speaking as a father, Mr. Taylor said, "Rebecca, you need to take care of yourself. High blood pressure is NOTHING to play around with."

"She’s been a very good girl, Mr…."

"Dad…please, call me ‘Dad’. When Howie and Sarah got married, I got five sons…not just one."

Nick smiled, "Thanks…Dad. Bec has been VERY good, following her doctor’s instructions."

"Uncle Nicky, I wanna see the baby," whined Jesse impatiently.

"You need to be patient, Jess. Let ‘Da’ visit with Aunt Becca for a little while."

"Jess, why don’t you give Aunt Becca and Uncle Nick the gift?" suggested Howie.

"Okay."

Howie handed Jesse the gift and she in turn handed it to Becca.

Patting the bed beside her, Becca said, "Climb up, Jess.."

"Bec, NO! Jesse’s not gonna sit still," said Sarah.

"Oh, Mommy!! I will be still!"

"She’ll be fine, Sarah. Nick, help her up."

Nick picked Jesse up setting her beside Becca on the bed. Jesse snuggled next to her resting her head in the crook of Becca’s shoulder.

"Wanna help me open it?"

As they watched Becca and Jesse, Howie took Sarah’s hand and pulled her close. She rested her head on his shoulder as he pressed his lips to her forehead and lightly stroked her arm.

Becca opened the box revealing a teething ring with a sterling silver dolphin attached. On the dolphin, Garrett's initials and birthday had been engraved.

Holding it up for Nick to see too, Becca asked in a voice that betrayed the tears threatening to fall, "Did you pick this out, Jesse?"

Proudly, Jesse said, "Yes, ma’am, but Mommy and Daddy got it ‘graved this morning."

"It’s beautiful, Jesse. Thank you," said Becca giving her a kiss on the forehead.

Howie said softly, "Bec, a donation…well, the bet Sarah lost to Nick…was given in Garret’s name to your AIDS foundation and Nick’s ‘Save the Ocean’s’ foundation."

"Thank you, guys…so much," said Becca wiping the tears.

Nick gave Becca a kiss too and the small group sat talking for a while until Jesse began to get fidgety.

"You ready to go see Garrett?" asked Nick.

"YES!" she yelled.

"Dad? Wanna go?" asked Nick.

"Certainly!"

"Sarah? Howie?"

"I’m going."

Sarah looked at Becca and decided to stay with her. "Go on. I’m gonna keep Bec company."

Howie asked, "Are you sure, Angel?"

"I’ll be fine, D," smiled Sarah hearing the concern in his voice.

Giving her a kiss, Howie whispered, "I won’t be long. Dusty will be by soon to get Dad."

As the door closed behind them, Becca said, "Howie seems even more protective…if that’s possible."

Sarah sighed taking a seat on the foot of the bed. "He’s just worried. I had a nightmare last night."

"About the plane?"

"Yeah," answered Sarah sullenly.

"Let’s change the subject," said Becca realizing that this was not a good topic right now. "Tell me about Claudia."

Sarah’s mood didn’t change much as she said, "What do you want to know? She’s a witch with a capital ‘B’!"

Becca laughed, "Jealous much?"

"NOOOOO!" snapped Sarah. "Claudia was Howie’s first love and they broke up for several reasons."

"Such as?"

"She didn’t like being away from him, she was jealous of the fans, and she accused him of sleeping with Lisa."

"She didn’t know him very well, did she?"

"Not at all, especially when she showed up to ‘comfort’ him yesterday…as if Howie would REALLY jump into bed with HER after losing ME," said Sarah smugly.

"Now THAT’S more like you," laughed Becca.

"God, Bec, I’ve never seen Howie be so cold or hateful."

"He was defending YOU…of course he was going to be like that. I’ve seen a side of Howie that doesn’t come out very often, least ways NOT to the fans, and it’s when YOU are involved. You forget I saw him go off on Kevin."

Sarah smiled thinking about how Howie could be when he was protecting her. He was actually worse than a mother lion protecting her young. "He doesn’t get mad often but when he does, he’s out of control."

"I know one person who can control him," smirked Becca.

Sarah grinned, "True!"

"How long is your dad gonna be here?"

"Dusty wanted him to stay with us for a week…until they could hire a new nurse." Sarah went on to explain what happened with Dusty and her dad.

The two friends sat talking while the others were visiting with Garrett.

They were interrupted by Sarah’s cell phone though and Sarah took the call. Hanging up, she said, "Bec, I need to go get Dad. I’ll be back as soon as I get him off."

Sarah leaned to give her a kiss and Becca said, "Give Dusty and Dad my love."

Part 266             The Dance Index(3)