Part 86
The entourage arrived in Boston for what was to be five shows. No one could have suspected what was to come. Being there meant that they were in one town for more than a day or two and Sarah was grateful for the time. Ever since leaving Nashville she hadn’t been feeling well; constantly dizzy and nauseous. She had originally chalked it up to the stress over AJ and his situation but she was beginning to rethink that now.
Friday morning, Howie woke to an empty bed but he didn’t have to wonder long where Sarah was. He heard her in the bathroom. Sleepily, he got up to check on her only to find her leaning over the toilet throwing up. Quickly he grabbed a face cloth, got it wet with cool water, and held it on her forehead as he pulled her hair out of the way. When she was done, Sarah leaned back into Howie’s arms grateful that he was there.
"Are you okay, Angel?"
"No! I think the only thing I didn’t hurl was my breakfast from two years ago."
Howie laughed, "That bad?"
Sarah nodded her head but didn’t say anything afraid she’d start again.
"Do you think it was something you ate?"
"I don’t know, D. I haven’t felt good for a while now."
"I thought so. Why haven’t you said anything?"
"I didn’t want to worry you and I just figured it was the stress created by AJ."
Howie REALLY didn’t want to ask the next question but he had to be sure.
Reluctantly, "Sarah…this…do you.."
Sarah knew exactly what he was wondering and quickly said, "NO! God NO! I
WANT to eat and I’m NOT making myself throw up."
"I was just checking. You’re probably right, it’s probably the stress. Why don’t you hang out here today rather than go to sound checks? You can get some rest and then join me for the show."
Sarah sighed, "How upset would you be if I didn’t go to the show?"
Howie hugged her close. "Not very. I’d miss you but your health is more important. Let’s go get some breakfast. I’ll order you some toast and ginger ale."
At the mention of food, Sarah paled and leaned over the toilet to throw up again. Howie held her head and her hair until she was done and then handed her a clean cloth to wash her face.
"Angel, just out of curiosity, could you be pregnant?"
"We aren’t exactly using protection, Howie."
Howie grinned and said excitedly, "Angel….this could be it! How soon can you do a home test?"
"I could take one tomorrow but what about the dizziness?"
"I don’t know."
"I could go get one later, while you’re at sound checks and do it in
the morning."
"Sounds good. Come on. Let’s go in the other room."
Howie helped Sarah up and then followed her out to the bedroom. While Howie called for breakfast, Sarah curled up on the couch to wait and think. She thought about what Howie had asked…about her being pregnant. The thought had already crossed her mind and she’d already done the figuring. If she were pregnant, there was the distinct possibility that the baby was AJ’s and she knew how Howie would react to that. She had already bought a pregnancy test but was procrastinating doing it for fear of the results. Now Howie suspected the same thing and was obviously thrilled with the prospect.
Howie sat down with her and wrapped his arms around her pulling her close to his chest. "Hey…what’s got you so distracted that you don’t hear your favorite man?"
"Huh?"
"I called you three times to ask you if you wanted anything other than
toast."
"I’m sorry, D. I didn’t hear you."
"Obviously. Talk to me, Angel. What’s going through that beautiful head
of yours?"
Sarah laughed softly as she played with his wedding band. "You know me too well, D. I was just thinking about what you asked me."
"About being pregnant? Angel, it’s what we’ve wanted…I thought. Aren’t you excited?"
"Sorta…D, I love you with all my heart and I want to have your
children."
"Then what’s the problem?"
Sarah looked over her shoulder at him. "Howie, I didn’t just get pregnant over night. It happened a while ago."
"I realize that. So when was it?"
"Two weeks."
"Angel, we’ve made love every night for a month. Was there any particular night that I should remember?"
Exasperated that Howie wasn’t getting the point, she said, "We were in Nashville two weeks ago or have you forgotten?"
"So….shit!" he said finally realizing what she was saying. "You mean?"
Sarah nodded her head as a tear trickled down. "The last time, before the miscarriage, I never doubted that the baby was yours but now…I’m scared. What if?"
Howie held her closer. "Angel, I know you’re scared and so am I but we still have to have faith. It’s gotten us this far and until there’s proof that it is AJ’s, then I’m going to believe that this is MY baby," he said as he rubbed her stomach.
Sarah smiled. "We don’t know for sure that I’m even pregnant."
Kissing her on the neck, Howie whispered, "Then we need to find out, don’t we?"
Howie’s breath combined with his morning stubble on her neck tickled Sarah causing her to laugh. She asked softly, "How bad do you want to know?"
"Bad…but I’ll have to wait. Or will I?" he asked when he saw the twinkle in Sarah’s eyes.
Sarah kissed him. "Think you can wait three minutes?"
"Yes!"
Sarah went to her bag and reached into the side pocket pulling out a home
pregnancy kit. "I’ll be back in a few minutes."
While Sarah was in the bathroom, room service was delivered along with the
single white rose Howie had asked be delivered. He set the food on the coffee
table and was getting ready to go check on Sarah when she emerged from the
bathroom with something in her hand.
Anxiously, Howie asked, "Well?"