Part 87
Sarah grinned, "It’s positive."
"Yeah!" yelled Howie as he took Sarah in his arms and hugged her tight. He kissed her as he held her in his arms and let her slide down his body.
Sarah pulled away from the kiss. "D, it’s still early. Anything could happen."
"But it won’t! I’m gonna be a father!" and he dropped to his
knees in front of Sarah. Holding her by the hips, he kissed her stomach and then
said, "Little One! Today is just the FIRST of many days that you and your
mother will make me the happiest man on the earth!"
Sarah put her hands in Howie’s hair as he wrapped his arms around her. She thought to herself, ‘I just hope your faith is justified.’
The couple sat down to enjoy breakfast and Howie gave Sarah the rose. Howie talked excitedly the whole time, thrilled that Sarah was pregnant. There were no doubts in his mind that the baby was his and he wouldn’t even consider the possibilities.
After breakfast, Sarah was feeling a little better and wanted to get some fresh air. She and Howie decided to go for a walk so they dressed, grabbed their usual disguises (baseball hat and glasses), and headed out. Raoul followed them just to be on the safe side.
They made their way through the waiting fans downstairs in the lobby stopping for Howie to sign some autographs and answer questions. He even told the fans that he and Sarah were going to see the sights in town and they all told him some places to check out. It was amazing how they were waiting for him but when they left the hotel, they didn’t follow the couple, letting them have some privacy.
Out on the streets, the couple made their way through the crowds headed to a park one of the fans had told him about. They held hands as they walked admiring the sights and enjoying being together away from the hectic life of being on the road. In the park, they found an empty swing set and each took a seat in one still holding hands as they swung gently together.
"D, I don’t want to tell the others just yet."
"Why not, Angel? Everyone will be thrilled about it."
"I know but it’s still early. I’m scared something will happen."
"Sarah, the only reason you lost the baby last time was because you weren’t taking care of yourself. That’s not going to happen this time."
"I know all that. I’m still scared. Plus, we still don’t know that…."
"STOP IT!" Howie stopped swinging and pulled Sarah to him. He put one hand on the side of her face and she leaned into it. "Sarah, we covered this at the hotel. In my heart, I KNOW that this is MY baby. And if for some reason I’m wrong, which I doubt very seriously, I’m NOT going to stop loving you or the baby. It’s a part of you and I’m gonna stand by you through it all. Now, I do NOT want to hear you doubting it again."
Sarah grinned, "Trying to be forceful again. I love it when you take charge."
Howie laughed. "Yeah…and you’d better remember, I’m the boss," he said patting his chest.
Sarah leaned to him to kiss him. "Only because I let you."
Howie laughed, "You’re mean…but I love you."
Sarah turned her head into the palm of his hand and kissed it tenderly. "I love you too."
The two left the swings and started to walk some more as they continued talking.
"Howie, what’s gonna happen to AJ?"
"I don’t know. We’ve all discussed it and unfortunately, I think it’s going to come down to us doing an intervention."
"You don’t think he’ll quit, do you?"
"I don’t know. AJ loves to perform and he craves the attention so I doubt he’d quit performing completely. It could mean the end of the group though."
Sarah was silent as she thought about what she was about to say. It was something that had been on her mind for a while now and she needed to say it to Howie. "D, I’m not angry with AJ for what he did. I’m hurt and he betrayed my trust but I know it wasn’t the AJ that I know who did it. It was the stranger that has been hanging around drinking and doing drugs."
Howie looked at her, "I feel the same way, Angel."
"He needs help and he needs us…his friends. God knows, he was there for me…"
"And me when we were having problems. Sarah, I just don’t want you
alone with him."
"I understand, D, and I’ll be careful."
Howie and Sarah spent the rest of the morning walking through the city taking in the sites, signing an occasional autograph, and just enjoying being together. It was a welcome relief from the stress of being on tour and the situation with AJ.
The last place they went was the zoo so before leaving, Howie bought them lunch from a hotdog stand and they found a quiet, out of the way bench to sit on and eat.
Howie looked at Sarah noticing that she was pale. "Angel, have we done too much?"
Sarah leaned against him as he put his arm around her. "Yes, but I’m
glad we got out."
"Promise me you’ll take it easy this afternoon."
Sarah smiled because of the concern in Howie’s voice. She said tenderly,
"Howie, I’m pregnant…not dying. The exercise and fresh air are good for
me. Please…don’t start smothering me."
Howie laughed realizing how he sounded. "You know, it’s SO different
with it being YOU pregnant and not one of my sisters. That’s MY child growing
inside you and I want to make sure you BOTH are okay."
Sarah rolled her eyes. "GOD…it’s gonna be a LONG nine months," she groaned.
"I promise to be good."
"Oh, you’ve already BEEN good," teased Sarah. "That’s what got me this way in the first place."
Howie pouted, "I’m just GOOD? That’s it?"
"You are so full of it! You know it was more than just good…it was and ALWAYS is heaven."
Howie gave her a kiss and they finished lunch. They ended up having to take a cab back to the hotel since it was getting close to time for sound checks.