Chapter 57
Sarah and Howie’s time with the twins was cut short by the nurses. They wanted to get the newborns to the nursery for all the standard ‘stuff’ they needed to do – baths, weigh–in, measurements, and a visit with the pediatrician. Adding to their abbreviated visit was Dr. Johnson’s insistence that Sarah have a mild sedative to sleep. Before the twins were taken, she was having trouble keeping her eyes open and she was sleeping peacefully shortly after they were gone.
Sitting on the bed beside Sarah, Howie gently played with her hair running his fingers through it and brushing it back. A light knock interrupted his thoughts.
The door opened and AJ stuck his head in. “Hey…mind if I come in?”
“Come on in. Sarah’s sleeping but I could use the company.”
AJ held the door so it wouldn’t slam and then moved to the bed. Looking at Sarah as she slept, he asked, “How is she?”
Seeing AJ’s concern, Howie said, “She’s fine. It’s just a mild sedative to help her rest.”
“Cool. Where are the babies?”
“The nursery, getting checked in.”
“Why don’t you go up with them? I’ll stay with ‘Tigger’.”
“You sure?”
“Positive.”
“You haven’t had any sleep.”
“Neither have you. Go on. I’m not going home for a while anyway.”
Howie saw the expression in AJ’s eyes as he watched Sarah. “Wanna talk?”
AJ tucked his head. “It’s just today. I thought I’d finally found ‘it’.”
“It?”
“Happiness….like you and ‘Tigger’ have. God, ‘D’…I watch you two together and you’re so perfect and you’re so happy. You planned your wedding without ever asking Sarah what she wanted but you knew….you knew exactly what would make her happy and it was what you both wanted. Ali started planning ours and it was like World War Three broke out. It’s been one argument after another between us and with Mama. If we can’t get THAT right, how in the hell are we gonna make a marriage work? Forget trying to have children.”
“It takes work, ‘J’, and when you hit a snag, you can’t look for a way out or give up. You have to work through it together. Sarah and I don’t get it right the first time all the time but we don’t give up on each other either. Do you want it to work with Ali?”
“That’s just it. I thought I did.”
“But now?”
“Now I don’t know.”
“What happened yesterday….before you came to the club?”
“We had another argument over the wedding. ‘D’, there’s just too many things in the way. There’s no way in hell we’ll ever work through them all and I don’t know if I even want to try. Look, I really don’t want to talk about it any more so go check on the babies. I’ll stay here with ‘Tigger’.”
Without any arguments, Howie placed a light kiss on Sarah’s forehead and headed to see his children. He knew Sarah would ask about them when she woke and he also wanted to check on security. He knew the fans were going to do whatever they could to see the twins which flattered him, but he didn’t want it to cause any problems for the other new moms and dads.