Part 494
From the doorway, where the shadow was replaced by the large man, a booming voice was heard, "Well, well…if it isn’t the Doroughs and the Carters. It’s SOOOO good to finally meet these two ladies and of course, the newest Backstreet Baby."
Coolly, Howie said, "Sarah, Rebecca, this is Lou Pearlman."
Everyone-Billy, Raoul, Tommy, Howie, Nick, and Becca-held their breath waiting for the inevitable explosion. They just knew after last night’s tirade and now Lou’s arrival that Sarah was going to unleash her fury on him.
And they continued to wait as they watched in complete astonishment. Lou extended his hand to take Sarah’s. "It’s a pleasure to finally meet the lady responsible for upholding Howie’s clean-cut image, not letting his dirty little secrets out."
That was it, the bait they were waiting for, the match to the dynamite but once again, Sarah surprised them. "Mr. Pearlman," she said coolly pulling her hand from his. "I love my husband a great deal and I will NOT tolerate you making such implications. If you’re here for a social visit, I’d appreciate you leaving. I’m NOT accustomed to entertaining people who intentionally steal from their clients or degrade them, especially when I love them."
"A strong lady," said Pearlman looking at Howie.
"Extremely," said Howie with his arm around Sarah pulling her closer. He was proud of her for maintaining her cool.
"Why ARE you here?" asked Nick guardedly.
Lou turned his attention to Nick and Becca now. "Another beautiful lady. Nicky, she certainly isn’t what I expected you to settle down with. In fact, I never thought you would settle down, more the ‘love ‘em and leave ‘em’ type, kinda like Kevin."
"No one cares what you thought," snarled Nick. "What the hell are you doing here?"
"I came to talk to Howie and Sarah," answered Lou seeing neither Howie nor Nick were going to tolerate much more.
Becca had had more than she could take and it was quite obvious Sarah wasn’t going to say anything. Passing Garrett off to Nick, she gathered herself standing toe to toe with Pearlman. "You have ABSOLUTELY nothing to say to ANY one of us. How DARE you show up at our suite after your nasty comments last night."
Sarah put her hand on Becca’s arm. "Bec, he’s not worth it," she said softly.
Becca whirled on Sarah. "He may not be worth it but you and Howie ARE!"
"Bec, I appreciate you sticking up for us but…"
"YOU didn’t hear what he said about YOU, I did." Whirling on Lou again, "How DARE you use Sarah’s past to judge her? What do you know about her other than the RUMORS you’ve heard? You’re a filthy pig using OTHER people for YOUR GAIN!"
Billy stepped in cutting Becca off. "If you’re going to insist on staying, let them get into their room, Pearlman," barked the burly man.
Howie spoke up, "We don’t have anything to discuss, Mr. Pearlman."
"Oh, I think we do. Your attorney called me this morning."
"Then talk to my attorney. Billy, get him out of here."
Billy and Raoul grabbed Lou by the arms as he said, "I’m not dropping ANYTHING from my book, Howard….the whole story of Sarah’s drug addiction, fucking you, AJ, and Kevin, her bulimia, murdering her ex-husband, and your homosexuality. It’ll ALL be in the book.
Fury flew through Becca and she managed to get around Billy to slap Lou, "YOU BASTARD!"
At the same time, Howie felt Sarah stiffen but the shock of Becca’s action seemed to negate any action Sarah would have taken. They all stared in shock as Billy managed to grab Becca to protect her from any action Lou may have taken.
"Raoul, get him out of here," commanded Nick who felt helpless to do anything to protect his wife.
Tommy took Billy’s place and he and Raoul led Lou to the elevator and Billy led Becca into the suite followed by the others.
With the door closed, Billy said, "Becca, are you okay?"
Angrily, Becca snapped, "I’M FINE." Glaring at Howie and Sarah,
"I can’t believe you two! How can you stay so calm? That was the man who
TRASHED you both on television. Howie, YOU heard what he said about Sarah!"
"Bec, calm down," tried Nick setting Garrett on the couch.
"NO! I will NOT calm down. Sarah has fought so damn hard to get past all that and now that fat bastard is going to print it in a book for ALL to see! And you! I’ve heard the stories about Lou and what he did to you! How could you stay so calm?"
Sarah put her head on Howie’s shoulder, "Bec, I know you’re angry…"
"So were you last night! Remember the TV!"
"I remember the TV and I’m not saying seeing him or hearing what he was going to put in his book didn’t infuriate me but Howie’s right. Letting Lou know he upset me is letting him win. Calm down. Lou Pearlman is DEFINITELY not worth running your blood pressure up."
"Becca, I promise, Steve is NOT gonna let this go," reassured Howie.
Nick took Becca’s trembling body into his arms and he kissed her hair. "Baby, just like all this Denver stuff that we’ve dealt with is in the past, so is Pearlman and what he did to us individually and as a group. We’ve dealt with all that, gotten our settlement, and moved on. Please, Sarah’s right. He’s NOT worth running your blood pressure up."
Becca sagged against Nick’s body. "But he said so many hurtful things."
"Yeah, he did," agreed Howie, "but we’re better than he is. We know the truth."
"Becca, we BOTH have very bright futures…Pearlman’s the past," said Sarah gently seeing her friend’s tears.
"I guess you’re all right," sniffled Becca.
"Okay, you four need to get your mind off Pearlman. Howie, a package from your sister arrived while you and Sarah were out. It looks like a tape," said Billy handing Howie the package.
Howie grinned knowing what it was. "Come on. This is the tape Pollyanna and Angie made of Jesse’s first day of school," said Howie as he led Sarah to the couch.
"Oh cool!" beamed Nick excited that they were going to see Jesse. He led Becca to a chair pulling her into his lap.
Howie stuck the tape in the VCR and joined Sarah on the couch. She leaned back against him and he wrapped his arms around her. Howie nuzzled her neck as he caressed her stomach.
"How do you feel?" he whispered.
"I’m fine, ‘D’," smiled Sarah turning just enough to kiss him.
"Looks like they began taping from the very beginning of Jesse’s day," sighed Becca as they all watched Momma D going into what appeared to be Howie’s room.
"’D’, why wouldn’t she let Jesse sleep in one of your sister’s rooms?"
"I don’t know, ‘Angel’."
From the TV came Pollyanna’s voice, "Howie, Sarah, Jesse chose Howie’s room so she could feel closer to you two. Mami is getting her up now. Howie, you know the routine."
Nick looked at Howie. "Well, what’s the routine?’
"Just watch, Nicky," answered Howie softly.
Sarah heard the catch in Howie’s voice and she put her hand on his. Whispering, she asked, "Are you okay?"
Howie nodded his head as they watched Momma D gently waking Jesse. They watched for over an hour as Jesse got ready for her first day of school.
Just before stepping onto the bus, Jesse turned to the camera and waved as
she said, "Mommy, Daddy, I love you."
With tears in their eyes, Howie and Sarah whispered together, "We love you, Princess."
"That was so sweet," sighed Becca as she wiped a tear from her eye.
"I really miss the little peanut," said Nick as he too wiped a tear.
Sarah looked at Howie’s watch. "’D’, she’s home from school. Let’s call her."
Howie reached for the phone, dialed his mother’s number, and waited. A minute later, "Hey, Princess."
He had to hold the phone away from his ear as they all heard her squeal, "DADDY!"
Laughing, Howie put the phone back to his ear. "Hey Princess! Are you enjoying your milk and cookies?"
"How did you know I was having milk and cookies?" asked Jesse incredulously.
"Because, when I was your age, Meme use to fix them for ME after school. Princess, I have three others who want to talk to you too so I’m gonna put the phone on the speaker."
"Okay, Daddy."
Howie switched the phone over and Sarah spoke first, "Hey, baby! How was your day?"
"It was great, Mommy! Mrs. Dugger is REALLY nice and she lets me bring Daddy’s CDs to listen to at lunchtime."
"That’s really cool, baby. What’s Mrs. Dugger teaching you?"
"Nothing, Mommy. I don’t stay with Mrs. Dugger in the mornings, only during center time."
Concerned, Sarah asked, "Where do you go?"
"To Mrs. Walker’s room."
Howie looked at Sarah and whispered, "She’s a first grade teacher, I think."
"Baby, what do you do in Mrs. Walker’s room?"
"Reading and Math."
"Are you having fun, ‘Peanut’?"
"UNCLE NICKY!" squealed Jesse. "I’m having LOTS of fun but I miss everyone and all the older girls on the bus ask me about YOU all the time!"
"We miss you too," laughed Becca. "Guess what, Jess? It snowed here yesterday and your mommy put snow down Uncle Nicky’s shirt."
Jesse laughed, "Mommy! You should be nicer to Uncle Nicky."
"You tell her, ‘Peanut’."
"’Princess’, is Meme there?"
"Yes sir."
"Let me talk to her, please."
They all heard Jesse call for Momma D and then her voice. "Howard?"
"Hey, Mami."
"Where are you, son?"
"Denver. Sarah and I are taking a few days to ourselves to sightsee and shop for the twins. Mami, what’s going on with Jesse? Why’s she going to Mrs. Walker’s class?"
"Son, it’s not a bad thing. Mrs. Dugger called a couple days ago and said that Jesse is too accelerated to be held back with the kindergarten curriculum so they put her in the first grade class for Reading and Math."
Sarah spoke up, "But why come back to the kindergarten class?"
"For the social aspect."
Howie looked at Sarah questioningly and she shrugged her shoulders and said, "Mami, I really want to talk to Jesse’s teachers about this."
"Why don’t you call them tomorrow morning, sweetheart? I’m sure they’ll talk to you about it."
"I think I will."
"Mami, is Jesse happy?"
"Yes, she is. Oh, she misses you two and she’s cried herself to sleep a couple times but for the most part, she’s happy."
Looking at Sarah, Howie said, "That’s all that matters then. Is she close by?"
"No, she’s outside now with your father. Do you want me to call her in?"
"No ma’am. We’ll call her before she goes to bed."
"Mami, thank you for all you’re doing for her and for us," said Sarah trying to stifle a yawn.
"Sweetheart, you need to take a nap. Howard, you get that child to bed and make her rest. I swear, you expect entirely too much from her…singing every night, traveling from town to town on that bus. She SHOULD be home taking care of herself and those babies. Not everyone is like you and wants to stay on the go constantly."
The two couples laughed as Howie said, "Mami, I promise, Sarah’s doing just fine and so are the babies."
"Mami, I had a check up yesterday and an ultra sound. Everything is perfect!"
"Momma D, I got to see the babies too," said Nick grinning at Sarah.
"Rebecca, are they trying to pull one over on me?"
"No ma’am. Sarah really is doing fine. She’s still having morning sickness but Howie’s making sure she rests and eats right."
"I’m counting on you to make sure Howard does right by Sarah. He tends
to get caught up with his business and forgets Sarah is pregnant with MY
grandchildren."
Becca smiled as Howie gave her a wink as she said, "I promise to keep them straight."
"Mami, we’ll call later, before Jesse goes to bed."
"It was great talking to you, Mami," said Sarah.
"I love both of you. Take care," and the connection was broken.
"Okay, young lady. You heard Mami…bedtime."
"I want to talk to Jesse’s teacher."
"’Angel’, you heard Mami…Jesse’s happy."
"And she’s a year ahead of other’s her age," pointed out Becca. "That’s WONDERFUL, Sarah."
"It still bothers me. They should have asked us before they did it."
"Sis, you haven’t exactly been available for consultation, you know. You’ve been working. Momma D said they called her. That’s why she’s there, to take care of these things for you while you and Howie are on tour."
"I gave them our cell numbers," mumbled Sarah. Looking at Howie, she saw a guilty expression on his face. "What? Why do you look like you just robbed the cookie jar, Howard?"
"I…uh…I forgot to tell you Mrs. Dugger did call while we were in Albuquerque….and don’t call me Howard.."
"Damnit, Howard!" steamed Sarah. "How could you forget that our daughter’s teacher called?"
"She said Mami could handle it and it wasn’t important that you call her back."
"Anything that has to do with Jesse is important," snapped Sarah trying to pull away from him.
Howie stopped her pulling her back against him. Nuzzling her neck so his beard tickled her skin, he said, "Before you go getting your panties in a wad, ‘Angel’, let me apologize."
Sarah was trying hard to stay angry with him but it wasn’t working. "No, damnit! I wanna be pissed a little longer."
Nick and Becca laughed as Sarah’s anger quickly gave in to giggles as Howie continued to tickle her.
"Too bad you weren’t here last night," laughed Becca. "Maybe she wouldn’t have busted the TV."
"Ummm…probably not," sighed Sarah. "I can’t stay mad when he does this."
Pushing her up, Howie said, "Let’s go to the bedroom so I can apologize properly and YOU can get some sleep."