Chapter 14
As Howie drove through the quiet streets of the neighborhood, signs of a new day beginning started to pop up…a paper boy making his rounds, a jogger stretching before starting his journey through the neighborhood, a single light cutting on as a mother rose to get ready for her day. They both knew that in the house they’d just left, the day would be a long one with a multitude of emotions to deal with.
Howie’s thoughts were on Nick and Becca. Would they survive this round of ‘Andrew’ interference or had Nick managed to completely screw it up with his petty jealousy? The man, Andrew, had tried to change things, to make it up to Becca for what he had done but at what costs? Hopefully Sarah was able to keep Becca from bolting yet again.
As Howie was about to ask Sarah about her evening with Becca, she took a cleansing breath and rubbed her stomach. He glanced at the clock on the dashboard, making note of the time, as he reached over to take her hand in his. As she took another cleansing breath, he asked, "Are you okay?"
"I will be."
"Do we need to stay in town?" he asked squeezing her hand. He was worried that she’d done too much and now she was going into labor.
"No, it’s just Braxton-Hicks. They’ll go away after I’ve had some sleep." Sarah leaned her head on his shoulder as he pulled away from an intersection. Letting go of his hand, she began to play with his fingers and in a timid voice, she asked, "What are your plans for today, ‘D’?"
Howie smiled in the dark knowing what she wanted and knowing he had every intention of giving her her wish. "I’m going to take my beautiful wife home, make her her favorite breakfast, and then tuck her into bed so she can get some sleep."
"You aren’t gonna join her?" whined Sarah.
"Oh geez," groaned Howie. "You ARE tired. YES, I’m going to join you, just as soon as I make sure Jesse gets off for school okay."
Yawning, Sarah changed the subject, "What did Nick have to say?"
Howie shook his head. Jesse was just like her mother for the world. Just as soon as they got what they wanted or a satisfactory answer, they’d change the subject. "We talked about Andrew leaving Becca the money and how hurt he is over the lack of support from Brian and Kevin for his solo CD."
"You know that the money for my foundations came from him too?"
"No, but it doesn’t surprise me. How is Becca with all this?"
"Confused."
“Do you think she’ll bail?”
Before Sarah could answer, another contraction hit and she had to focus on getting through it. Normally, the false labor pains were nothing more than minor irritants and Sarah would never do more than cringe so Howie was concerned now that she was using the breathing techniques to get through them, not to mention, there wasn’t but about ten minutes between the last two.
Pulling off the road and stopping, Howie said, “Angel, are you SURE this isn’t the real thing?”
“Well…no, not really,” answered Sarah meekly. She knew it wasn’t the real thing….yet. “When I had Jesse, I started with Braxton-Hicks and by mid-morning, it turned into the real thing.”
“That’s it. We’re going back to Orlando to Mami’s. If this is it, there’s no way in HELL I’m taking any chances,” and he started to turn the car around.
“No, please, ‘D’. Just take me home. If I am in labor, I promise, I’ll give you plenty of time to get to the hospital,” pleaded Sarah. “I’ll be more comfortable in my own home and besides, we don’t have my bag.”
Running his fingers through her hair, Howie looked at her, searching for any sign that she was just trying to cover up. “’Angel’, I’m worried about you. You should have stayed at home tonight.”
“Oh great…so I could go into labor and NOT have you around!? Thanks but NO thanks,” frowned Sarah.
“Hey, you know better,” chastised Howie as he tweaked her nose. “Are you sure you’re okay?”
“I’ll be fine, ‘D’,” promised Sarah as she smiled at him. “I have you by my side.”
“Yeah, you do….forever, Angel. Let me get you home so you can rest,” and he put the car in drive again.
As Howie pulled back onto the highway, Sarah asked, “You asked me something before the contraction.”
“Huh…oh, yeah. Did Becca give you the impression that she would bail on Nick this time?”
“No, she knows he loves her and she loves him. Does she have a reason to bail…other than the fact that Nick is being a jackass?”
“Sarah, that’s not fair. Nick knows he’s wrong but he’s young and confused. No, he hasn’t cheated on her but what happened at the club the night he got arrested could cause major problems if the press ever gets hold of it.”
“What’s that suppose to mean?”
“He was trying to help a girl who was being harassed by some drunk guy…”
“Drunker than Nick?”
“Yeah.”
“Becca doesn’t know that.”
“I know and I told Nick he needed to tell her.”
“Sounds like they both need to sit down together and talk this out. Becca’s confused about how she feels about Andrew leaving all that money for her. Howie, it was MILLIONS. Her foundation is set even if she doesn’t get any funding from anywhere else.”
The two continued comparing notes about their conversations with their friends and when they reached the house, they’d come to the conclusion that if Nick and Becca would just talk to each other, things would be okay. They also decided that Sarah was just having false labor pains and she needed rest so Howie helped her inside and put her to bed immediately.