Part 331
When the car reached the airport, the DLF jet was ready and waiting. Howie and Nick got the children, Brian got the bags with the bodyguards’ help, and Kevin and AJ were left with Sarah and Becca.
As they were headed to the jet, Sarah stopped short grabbing her leg. "Damn!"
"What’s wrong, Sarah?" asked Becca.
"My leg hurts. It must have stiffened up on the way over here."
AJ and Kevin were behind the girls and stopped with them. "Tigger, are you okay?"
"NO," growled Sarah. "My leg hurts and it’s YOUR fault."
AJ laughed, "You didn’t HAVE to run from me you know."
"Oh, I could have stood around and let you just soak me, huh? I don’t THINK so!! Since it’s YOUR fault, why don’t you CARRY me?"
"Carry you? What do I look like, a body builder or something?"
"What’s THAT suppose to mean?"
"Look at you…you’re as big as a freakin’ house. Are you sure you’re really only four months pregnant? Man…Howie needs to keep you away from the food," teased AJ.
"AJ, that’s mean," reprimanded Becca as she laughed.
"But TRUE!" cackled AJ as he put his arms around Sarah.
"Oh no you don’t! Get OFF me!" replied Sarah pushing him off. "Big as a house, huh?"
Kevin smiled, "I don’t think you’re that big, baby. I think you’re absolutely beautiful!"
Sarah stuck her tongue out at AJ. "See what YOU know!"
AJ laughed, "Yeah, yeah!!"
Kevin scooped Sarah up in his arms as he said, "I’ll carry you, baby."
"Thanks, Kevin," said Sarah. "This is how a GENTLEMAN treats a lady, Alex…take lessons."
"Well, I never claimed to be a gentleman."
Sarah wrapped her arms around Kevin and they headed to the jet where Howie and Nick were waiting. Seeing Sarah in Kevin’s arms, Howie became concerned.
"Angel, did you get dizzy or something?" he asked as he took Sarah from Kevin.
"No, my leg hurts and AJ said I was as big as a house," pouted Sarah.
Howie grinned and kissed her on the tip of her nose. "I don’t think you’re as big as a house, Angel. I think you’re extremely beautiful."
"You would say that…so you can keep on doing the ‘nasty’ whenever you want," shot AJ. "Not to mention, you ARE her husband. You’re SUPPOSE to say that."
Nick spoke up in Sarah’s defense. "She is beautiful, Age."
"And you’re sucking up," snarked AJ. "Face it, Sarah. There
is NO ONE on this jet that can give an unbiased judgement. You’re as big as a
house."
"Fine, Alex. I’m as big as a house and you know what I’m gonna do. I’m gonna sit on you like the house in ‘The Wizard of Oz’ did on the Wicked Witch of the East and SMASH your sorry ass! NOW….what do you think of THAT?"
Everyone laughed as Brian said, "Well, I personally think Sarah is extremely beautiful now that she’s showing. She’s NOT as big as a house. And I have NOTHING to gain!"
Sarah stuck her tongue out at AJ again. "SO THERE!"
Brian asked, "Sarah, can I get you some ice for your leg?"
"Thanks, Brian. I’m gonna try to go to sleep with ice on it."
Howie helped Sarah get settled while Brian got the ice. The others were busy settling in too and in minutes, the jet was moving.
Thirty minutes in the air, Sarah was sound asleep with her head on Howie’s lap and the only ones awake were Howie and Kevin. Kevin looked at Sarah as Howie absentmindedly played with her hair.
"Howie, how did you know Sarah was the right one? I mean, I know you had been dreaming about her but once you two met, how did you know?"
"I don’t know. I just did," answered Howie as he looked at Kevin. "What’s wrong, Kevin? Having doubts about Vanessa?"
"I don’t know."
"Wanna talk?"
"I don’t know where to start."
"Just pick a spot and go with it."
Kevin took a deep breath and began, "After all that’s happened, I thought I was ready to settle down, start a family, so I decided to try and get Vanessa to join us so we could work on our relationship."
"That’s good."
"I THOUGHT so too. I’ve tried calling her four times and can’t catch up with her. I leave messages but she won’t call me back. After the last time, I decided to call Lynne."
"Lynne? As in Toronto…THAT Lynne?"
Kevin smiled, "Yeah. I had a really good time that night she and Julie took us out on the town after the show. And she called me one day because she was worried about Becca."
"Starting to have feelings for her?"
"I think so. Talking to her tonight….it was good, comfortable. I could hear something in her voice. I can’t explain it though," said Kevin and he told Howie about the phone call.
Howie laughed when Kevin told him about how Lynne had answered the phone. "Kevin, I’m gonna go out on a limb here. I think that you’ve stuck with Vanessa for so long because she was a connection to Sarah for you. She was a part of Sarah’s past and you didn’t want to disappoint Sarah by breaking up with her. Lynne is fresh…no ties to Sarah which is what you need. I can’t imagine being in your position given your feelings for Sarah. When you two were dating, I always knew I’d have Sarah back and I knew I still had a part of her that you couldn’t touch. But you…you have to sit back every day and watch her knowing that you have to make do with what you’ve got."
"So what do I do?"
"What’s your gut tell you to do?"
"Move on."
"With Lynne?"
"I’d like to see where it goes."
"Then go for it but I guess I’d better warn you. Sarah has arranged for Vanessa and Ali to join us for your birthday. It’s a travel day and she thought it would be nice to have the whole gang together."
Kevin sighed. "Maybe I should give Vanessa a chance. Has she agreed to
join us?"
"From what I can gather, yeah. Sarah was talking to her the other night on
the computer…on the way from Detroit to Minneapolis."
"I guess I’ll see what happens then."
"Kevin, you’ve got to make yourself happy. If you’d rather not, then I’ll tell Sarah to cancel it. Don’t worry about Sarah either. She wants you to be happy."
"Thanks, D."
"Not a problem."
Sarah stirred a little and Kevin grinned. "She sleeping better?"
Looking down at her, Howie said tenderly, "Yeah, she is and without the sedatives. God, Kev, she’s so amazing. She gets knocked down; I think she can’t handle it; but she comes back stronger than before."
Kevin grinned. "It’s because she’s got you. You two are what’s amazing, D."
"I wouldn’t trade a second of my life with her."
The two men continued talking quietly as the plane headed to LA. The conversation eventually turned to music and the two were lost. They shared their ideas for a future CD and where they wanted to direct Sarah with her career. Before they knew it, they were landing in LA and the rest of the plane came to life.