Chapter twenty-five

The next morning they both woke up in their own beds, missing the other’s presence. Yet, they knew they would send the day together.

Richie decided to have a talk with Ava during breakfast to find out her opinion and how she felt about everything.

He prepared a simple breakfast for them and sat down with Ava at the kitchen table.

“So,” he finally started a little unsure after a few minutes, “eumh… You know me and Sarah…” Ava staring at him made him even more hesitant, what if she didn’t agree? “Sarah and me, we...”
“Dad! You didn’t marry her did you?” Ava asked in disbelief.
“What? No, I was trying to tell you she’s my girlfriend.” He finally said the words he had struggled with.
Ava chuckled and shook her head. “Yeah dad, I kinda figured.”
“You did?”
“She’s been here before; she went to Europe to see you… I still like her better than Denise.” She smiled, making Richie smile too.

He was glad to know Ava was okay with Sarah and liked her, he was certain she’d be around for a very long while.



Sarah had breakfast alone with her mom in their small kitchen, the boys were still sleeping.

“So how was Europe?” Her mom sat down at the table, putting down a cup of coffee for Sarah and picked up her own.
“It was great, lots of things to see and just great to be there.” Sarah answered before carefully sipping her coffee.
Abbey set her cup down and wrapped her hands around it. “What did you get to see?” She asked, interested in one of her daughter’s dreams of travelling finally coming true.
“In Germany we saw the hospital, in London the palace and Ireland really is that green.” She couldn’t help but smile at her memories.
“Hospital? What did you do at a hospital?” Abbey asked confused about why they would even visit a hospital.

Sarah sighed before she continued to tell what had happened. “I just got there and slipped in the shower and sprained my ankle pretty badly, Richie was convinced it was broken.”
“Again?” Her mother sighed too.
Sarah nodded and continued. “But it led to him saying he loves me.” She smiled at the memory of them at the pool.
Abbey gasped. “What did you say? Do you love him?”
“Of course I love him, he’s so sweet, gentle, caring and… loving.” She hesitated to add the last.
“Did you have…?” Abbey left her question open.

Embarrassed Sarah looked down at her cup of coffee, she still felt uncomfortable talking about sex.

“We did.”
“Good,” Abbey nodded graciously, “’cause a woman has needs.” She added.
“Yeah mom, I know.”
“We all need that.” Abbey shrugged like she didn’t notice Sarah’s discomfort.
“Mom! I don’t need to know that!” Sarah said shocked, too much information.
“We can’t talk about sex?”
“I prefer not to.”

It was still embarrassing, she hadn’t talked to her mom about sex since she was sixteen and it was just as uncomfortable as it had been then.



Around noon Richie showed up at Sarah’s front door to pick her and her sons up to go out for lunch.

They all got into Richie’s hummer together, the only car that would fit them all. Noah and Caleb were impressed.

“It doesn’t have shift gear?” Noah asked surprised.
Richie looked over his shoulder, a little surprised when he had just started driving. “No, it doesn’t.”
“That sucks.” Noah stated. “What’s the maximum speed?”
“About a hundred twenty miles an hour.” Richie shrugged.
“That’s not very fast. Do you have more cars?”
“An Aston Martin, a Ferrari--” Richie told him.
“Cool! Can you show me?” Noah asked excited, too excited to let Richie finish.
“Yeah, tomorrow.”



They kept it simple with lunch at the mall’s food court so everyone could pick their favorite.

Soon enough they sat down at big enough table to fit them all with five different kinds of food. Sarah started to suspect Richie liked sushi, it being the third time he picked it out.

Looking around her, she noticed the mall didn’t look much different since all the years ago she last went to one; all the same kinds of food were still there.

“Mom, you alright?”
“Huh?” She looked over at Caleb who had a worried look on his face. “Yeah, I’m fine.” She smiled as she felt Richie’s hand cover her knee.

He was proud for making yet another step forward, nobody would guess she had difficult past.

For Noah and Caleb it was the first time to see their mom out and to top that, with a man. They both knew he had made the change in their mom. As her sons, they were proud of her too.



During lunch they talked about their trip to Europe, telling the kids what they had seen, while the children told them about their own vacation.

In the middle of a conversation, Ava nudged her dad. “Dad.” She nodded her head in the direction of the Burger King restaurant.

Richie looked up in the same directed and immediately understood what she meant. “Fuck.” He swore when he noticed the camera with a big lens directed at them.

He meant to talk to Sarah before something like this happened.

“What’s wrong?” Sarah looked up at him.
“Nothing,” he grabbed his drink, “I’m out of coke.” He shook it to prove there were only ice cubes in it.
“You don’t need to swear for that, let’s get another one.”
He nodded, that would at least give him a few seconds to quickly tell her.

Together they walked back to one of the restaurant to get a new drink.

“Sarah, I got to tell you something quick, we’ll talk more later.” He said.
“What’s wrong?” She asked worried.
“Nothing’s wrong, just, you know I’m a rock star.” He started but paused to realize how dumb that was.
“I’ve noticed.”
He didn’t like telling her like this. “There’s a paparazzo over at Burger King.” He finally said it, adding a sigh.
“Oh.” There wasn’t anything she could think of to say.

She thought of Richie and Jon joking around about paparazzi but this was different, it was their private time, with their children, it was such an invasion of their privacy.

“I’m sorry; I meant to talk to you about it earlier. We can leave if you want to.” He offered; it must be uncomfortable for her.

He was the next person in line and quickly ordered his drink, then looked back at Sarah.

“We can stay. I’m your girlfriend, right? They’d find out anyway, wouldn’t they?” She asked him.
“You are my girlfriend,” he confirmed first, “and they would eventually.” His words were gloomy.

After picking up his drink they walked back to their table.

“We can talk more about it later.” He repeated. He needed to know if she really was okay with it.

Sarah simply nodded, she absolutely didn’t like her picture being taken but she didn’t want to show it.

Before they got to their table, Richie stopped her and reached in for a kiss. “I love you.” He reminded her gently.
“I love you too.”



They once again had dinner at Sarah’s house after spending the whole afternoon cruising around the mall.



After dinner Richie wanted to talk and asked Sarah for a quiet place to talk, just the two of them.

Sarah lead him up to her room, both realizing it was the first time he’d see her bedroom.

Sarah sat down on her bed while Richie looked around for a second as she padded the bed for him to sit down with her.

“It’s really fine Richie, the paparazzi stuff.”Sarah said before he could even start.
“I really wanted to tell you before and I’m sorry it was today.” He apologized again. “I know it’s not fun.” He added.
“It’s not.” Sarah agreed.
“Ignoring them is easiest.” He advised her. If they got their pictures without a scene, they’d leave faster.
“I guess so.” Sarah shrugged. “Will they keep following you now?”
“They’ll probably want to find out who you are. If you want I can tell my agent since that’s the person they’ll contact to find out.” Richie suggested.
“So we don’t have to deal with it?” She asked.
“Yeah.”

Sarah thought it over, it would be easier to let everyone know that way, everyone would know.

“I like that.” Sarah nodded, it was easier than dealing with it themselves.
“Everyone will know you’re my girlfriend.” He tried to make everything clear.
“Then they all know you’re taken, that’s good.”She stated.

Richie smiled, he was definitely taken and glad with it.

Sarah wrapped her arms around him in a possessive grip and rested her head on his shoulder. “You’re mine.”

He chuckled, he was.



The next day Richie went to pick up Sarah and her sons, considering she didn’t have a car, it was the only way, could she even drive?



Back at his house they spend the afternoon by the pool. He was glad to see Sarah in her purple bikini again. With her wearing less clothes he had a much better view of her breasts.

Tomorrow he’d spend alone with her, their first holiday together.

Ava would leave in the afternoon and after that he was picking up Sarah for their date and watching the fireworks. He loved watching them in the dark night’s sky but was sure to create their own fireworks afterwards.

For now he just hoped he could hide his excitement.