Part 302
Another town, another show, and another day closer to Becca rejoining the group. There were three people who were more eager than the rest for that day to come.
Sarah wasn’t exactly sure she was going to be able to keep Howie from killing Nick. It had gotten to the point that even when Nick spoke, Howie became irritated with him. She was just grateful that they were only on the buses at night, when they were sleeping. She had tried every thing she could to break the tension and she was now resorting to using Jesse to keep the peace.
Everyone was gathered in the game room after sound checks and Jesse was playing with her games. "Uncle Nicky, play Twister with me, please," begged Jesse.
"Okay, ‘Peanut’, but we need more people for it to be any fun."
"I’ll play," spoke up Brian.
"I’m in," piped up AJ.
"I’m game," said Kevin as they all kicked off their shoes.
"Mommie, are you and Daddy gonna play?"
Sarah had been working on the computer with Howie lying behind her watching. She looked up now to say, "Not this time, baby. I need to finish this work for Daddy."
Denise was there as well and asked, "Jesse, do you mind if I play?"
"No ma’am."
Howie said, "Give me the spinner, Jess."
As the guys spread the plastic game board on the floor, Jesse handed Howie the spinner and then joined the others. She stood with Brain and Nick on either side of her since they’d agreed to help her. She was still unsure of which was left and which was right.
As the game progressed, the group became a twisted mass of arms and legs. Jesse, being so small, was able to go under the others and it looked as though she would easily win.
Sarah had finished on the computer and was now waiting and watching the game. She was laughing so hard she had tears streaming seeing the guys in a tangled mass. Oh, the thoughts she was thinking and the fan fic that could be generated from this simple child’s game.
"Howie, where’s the camera?"
"On the bus. Why?"
"This is TOO good to pass up! I could post this on the internet and sit back to watch the fan fic that it would generate."
Howie laughed, "Angel, don’t forget Jesse’s in the midst of all that!"
"I’ll be sure not to get her in it," said Sarah giving Howie a kiss before going to get their camera.
Sarah hadn’t been gone more than a couple minutes when the fun took a major turn for the worse. "Right hand, yellow," called Howie.
"Awww…crap," mumbled Kevin as he had to reach through AJ’s legs to get a spot leaving his eyes level with Nick’s crotch.
"Uncle Bri, which one is my right hand?" whispered Jesse in his ear.
"This one," he answered touching her right hand.
Reaching under the mass of tangled bodies, Jesse put her hand on a yellow circle and waited for the others. The last to reach was Nick and as he moved, he threw AJ off balance and they all came tumbling down with Nick landing on top of Jesse.
A muffled cry came from under the pile and Howie jumped up. "Damnit, Nick!! GET OFF HER!"
Worried that he’d hurt Jesse, Nick moved quickly. "Jesse, are you okay?"
"My arm hurts," cried Jesse.
All the guys quickly extricated themselves and turned their attention to Jesse.
"Let me see it," said Nick.
"You’ve done enough, Nick!" growled Howie picking Jesse up.
"I didn’t mean to hurt her," snapped Nick "It was an accident."
"You’re four times bigger than her! You could have done a better job of avoiding her," shot Howie angrily. Then softening his voice, he asked, "Where does it hurt, Princess?"
Tears cascaded down as she pointed to her wrist.
Kevin asked, "Can you wiggle your fingers?"
Jesse tried but whimpered, "No sir!"
Kevin looked at Howie, "It might be broken. You should probably take her to the ER."
"The show starts in a couple hours, Kevin. I’ll never be able to get her there and back."
Sarah walked in to find Jesse in Howie’s arms crying. "What
happened?" she asked calmly.
"The Blonde Wonder fell on Jesse," said Howie angrily.
"It was an accident," whined Nick.
"Let me see it," said Sarah moving to Howie. Taking Jesse’s arm gently, she felt along her wrist and tried to move her fingers getting soft whimpers from Jesse as she tried to be brave. "It doesn’t feel broken."
"I’d feel better if you took her to get it checked," said Howie.
Denise spoke up, "Howie’s right, Sarah. Don’t take any chances.’
"Before I do ANYTHING, I need a bag of ice to keep the swelling down."
Brian appeared magically with a bag of ice and a towel "Here you go, Sarah."
Seeing the tension between Howie and Nick, Sarah said, "I’m glad to see someone can act mature and keep a level head. Thank you, Brian."
Sarah took Jesse in her arms as Brian helped wrap the towel and ice around Jesse’s wrist.
"Sarah, you need to make sure you take security with you," said Kevin.
"I will, Kevin. Someone tell Billy to get a car, please." Sarah looked to see that Howie and Nick were in the middle of their own silent confrontation and she said coolly, "Howard! Nickolas! You two need to STOP it…NOW! It was an accident. Howard, go get my pocketbook so I can take Jess to the hospital."
Sarah’s tone told Howie that she wasn’t going to take ‘no’ for an answer and turned away from Nick. "Want me to carry her?"
"I’ve got her. Denise, can you go with me?"
"Of course. I’ll meet you out back."
Howie and Sarah left the group with Jesse headed to the car and Nick looked helplessly at the others.
"I didn’t mean to hurt her," Nick said defensively when he saw their accusing stares.
Kevin and AJ just shook their heads as Brian said, "We never said you did, Nick. But you should have been more careful."
Running his hands through his hair, he thought to himself, ‘Just fucking great! One more thing to add to Howie’s list of why he wants to kick my ass! And I’ve probably pissed Sarah off in the process.’
***************
He found them curled up together on the bed; mother and daughter sound asleep. Looking quickly, he saw both of Jesse’s arms…cast-free. ‘Good,’ he thought relieved.
Closing the door behind him, Howie stripped down to his boxers and climbed into bed with the two. He had Jesse between them and he reached to brush her hair back. Then he ran his hand down Sarah’s arm stopping with her hand, resting his on hers.
Sarah woke and whispered, "Hey, ‘D’."
"Hey! I didn’t mean to wake you."
"It’s okay. I was kind of waiting for you. Can you take Jesse out to her bed?"
"She can stay where she is. What did the doctor say?"
"Just bruised."
"You been back long?"
"We got back during the 2050 video."
"Mmm…. I missed you being in the audience."
Sarah heard the tears in Howie’s voice and she squeezed his hand. "D, take Jesse back to her bunk, please…so we can be together."
Howie did as she asked and as he put Jesse into her own bed, she woke.
"Daddy?"
"Shhh, Princess. Go back to sleep," whispered Howie giving her a kiss.
"Hold me, please."
"Scoot over."
Jesse moved so that Howie could lie beside her. Knowing how much like Sarah she was, he began to sing softly to her, "Hush little baby, don’t say a word…Daddy’s gonna buy you a mocking bird…And if that mocking bird don’t sing, Daddy’s gonna buy you a diamond ring…And if that diamond ring don’t…."
"Daddy, why were you mad at Uncle Nick?"
"Because he could have hurt you really bad."
"Don’t you love Uncle Nicky anymore?"
"Why would you ask that, Princess?"
"Because you’re always yelling at him."
Howie thought about the question and then said, "Jesse, it’s not that I don’t love Uncle Nick…it’s just that he does things to really upset me, like tonight when he fell on you. You’re my first priority."
"You don’t yell at Mommie when she upsets you."
"It’s different with your mom. When you get bigger and the twins are here, you’ll understand how a brother…"
"Or sister."
Howie smiled, "Or sister…can be. You’ll understand how you can love them so much but they can make you so mad!""
Sarah was listening from the doorway and had to wipe the tears. Looking up, she saw Nick at the other end of the sleeping area doing the same. They caught each other’s eye and a silent understanding was exchanged. In the end, it would all work out.