Chapter forty-three

The airport was just as busy as every other airport Sarah had been to in the last two months but now it didn't seem to bother her at all.

Richie led the way to where they had to be, he knew his way around airports much better than Sarah did.
Soon enough they were standing with a bunch of other people, waiting at the gate.

"When do Ava and your mom get here?" Sarah asked while they were waiting for her family.
"This afternoon but we don't have to come pick them up." He explained.
"Why not?"
"They'll get here with everyone else and they'll be driven to the hotel."
"So Ava won't be on her own?" Sarah asked relieved.
"No, she went to my mom's a few days ago and they'll be flying with everyone else's wives and kids." Richie continued to explain.
"Good, I was a little worried she'd fly on her own."

Richie smiled to himself in thought, Sarah was worried about his daughter. She was worried so she cared. He knew Sarah was kindhearted and cared for Ava too but this made it definite, he felt a little relieved and glad.

Sarah was first to spot them in the crowd that was walking through the gate. Once the boys were close enough she gave them great big hugs while Richie greeted her mother. Sarah hadn't told them yet and she couldn't wait.

She let go of the boys and turned to her mom, opening her arms but her mom stopped her and grabbed her hand, turning to look at her ring finger.

"What's this?" She asked.
"We're engaged." Sarah's smile couldn't possibly get any brighter with Richie proudly standing next to her.
"Aw honey." Abbey reached in to hug her daughter, then Richie. "I'm so happy for you."

Both boys stood watching surprised and dumbstruck.

Finally Noah was the first to say something. "Mom, really?"

Sarah realized she should have discussed this with them, at least let them know the possibility but now it was sure.

"I'm sorry I should have told you guys more about Richie and me." Sarah quickly said.
Noah looked even more surprised. "No, we're happy for you." He said just as quickly and turned to Caleb for confirmation. "Right?"
"Yeah, we are, just a bit surprised." Caleb answered.
"Aw boys..." She leaned back in to hug them. "I love you guys."



The rest wouldn't arrive until dinner time so they spent the day around the hotel, the boys spend the afternoon by the pool while Abbey went to nap.

In the mean time Ava and Joan arrived, Ava knocking excitedly on Richie's door. When he finally opened the door she gave him a big hug.

"Missed you too." He said before Ava let go.

Richie's mother was the next to hug him, then she stood back and looked at him.

Richie posed for her, making several silly poses, making Sarah chuckle at how cute he was.

"You look fine." She said approvingly, "now introduce me to your girlfriend." She insisted.
"Fiance." Richie corrected.

Both Ava and Joan gave him a questioning look.

"I asked Sarah last week." Richie explained, Sarah started blushing




When Abbey returned to Sarah and Richie's room to find out the planning, she immediately got introduced to Ava and Joan. Richie decided they should leave early so they could have more time with their families before all the rest arrived too.

Tonight was the end of tour party, the reason why families were coming.

All together they walked down to the elevator at the end of their floor that was completely used by Bon Jovi members, family and staff.

"Who's that girl?" Caleb asked, watching a blond girl in a bikini, holding a towel walk past them. She had smiled politely and walked past them.
"That's Stephanie, Jon's daughter." Richie told him.
"Oh." Caleb cocked an eyebrow.
"She's older than you." Sarah said, then glanced at Richie for confirmation, he nodded.
"So? She's still hot."

Richie thought it was quite funny but let it go and got in the elevator with the rest.

He noticed Caleb looking at every girl that walked past them, Sarah was right about Caleb being after girls, he really was.



There was a big hall reserved for the tour party, later the rest would join them for dinner there and after that they'd party.

They sat at a table that was big enough for them all, their mom's instantly got along, just like Ava and the boys had done. Sarah couldn't believe how easily everything fell into place with this. Things had been so different years ago.

Joan asked Sarah a bunch of question about her life, where she had grown up, what she had done after school... The explanation of Sarah's previous marriage was kept quite short. Richie stood by her and together they explained how wrong her marriage had been. Joan understood and went on to ask how they met.

After that everyone started talking about what the children had done the last few weeks during their summer vacation and their plans for the rest.



When everyone else started arriving, Joan took Richie aside for a few minutes. Her only son, she had to know he was making the right decision with this.

"Yes mom, I'm very sure."
"I'm just watching out for you." Joan told him.
"I know mom, but I really want to do this, I don't want to be without her anymore, it just feels so right." Richie explained.
"I want you to be happy."
"I am happy. Happier than I have been in a long while."
To that Joan nodded and hugged him. "I love you son."
"I love you too mom." He hugged her back.



For the rest of the night, Abbey and Joan got along great, they kept mostly to the table during dinner and the party, not wanting to be in a crowd of people.

Their dinner was just with the rest of the band. Halfway through, Caleb nudged Richie's side.

"Who's that girl?" He whispered, looking over at another girl.
"That's Gabby, she's also older than you." Richie pointed out.
"She's pretty too." Caleb smiled a bit.
"You do know these girls are daughters of my best friends?"
Caleb lighted up. "So you can help me?"
Richie laughed. "No."

At the end up dinner, Richie decided to stand up, when he cleared his throat everyone looked up at him.

Sarah already started blushing.

"So... You've all got to meet Sarah during the last few weeks." He started a little nervous but got more courageous. "I guess you've all notice how happy we are together." He took a breath. "So, I decided to make it official and you can all expect wedding invitations sometime soon, at least I hope it will be soon."

Sarah's face turned even redder than it had.

"Why are you blushing?" Richie asked when he sat down again.
"Everyone is staring at us." Sarah answered.
"They're happy for us."


They had dinner all together and afterwards, more people joined the hall and their party really started, a band played and Richie asked Sarah to dance with him.

A slow song was playing and a little reluctant Sarah went to the dance floor with him. Richie placed his arms around her hips and Sarah reached up to put her own arms around his neck, slowly swaying to the music music with him.

A party alone with the crew and staff was a lot easier for Richie, nobody asked him if he wanted any sort of drink, he appreciated that a lot.

He had noticed a few times, trying to talk to Stephanie, he thought it was quite funny.

When Sarah was in the bathroom, Jon walked up to Richie after he had played a song.

"You know that boy talking to my daughter?" He asked a little possessively.
"Caleb, Sarah's oldest."
"He better not have any plans of become a lawyer or something." Jon warned.
"He's actually quite interested in his guitar." Richie told him.
"Interesting, that might not be so bad then." Jon nodded and walked away, seeming to be thinking.
Richie chuckled.

Sarah returned only a few minutes later and conveniently another slow song started playing and Richie asked her to dance again, this time Sarah rested her head on his shoulder while they swayed.

This party was a lot more fun than the one a few weeks ago, even more than his birthday, just because Sarah was there too.



Well into the night the party finally ended when everyone started going back to the hotel, they still had a concert the next day.

By the end everyone seemed to getting along just fine. Abbey and Joan had sat together at their table the entire evening, talking about their children and grandchildren. Joan was excited to have Richie and Sarah and the kids over for a few days before they went back home and left on their vacation.



Pretty tired, Sarah and Richie got in bed together, laying as close as they always did. Richie was glad the tour was finally over and he could now spend his time with Sarah, exactly what he wanted to do.




The next day was a pretty calm day for everyone, they slept most of the day and met up in the afternoon to discuss concert stuff while their families were off to the pool or other activities the hotel offered. Of course Caleb was at the pool, Noah on the other hand found the game room where he found 3 younger boys he had seen last, even though they were a good few years younger than him, they had a great time playing arcade games.



The last concert Sarah enjoyed from the side of the stage with everyone else.

"Richie does look a lot happier than a few month ago."
Sarah had been introduced to Jon's wife, Dorothea the night before and smiled.
"It can only be because of you."
"I hope so." Sarah agreed.
"I'm happy for the both of you and congratulations, seems like Richie doesn't want to wait to get married either?"
Sarah chuckled a little. "Yeah, he's seems a bit impatient, doesn't he?"
"At least he didn't do what Jon did. When we finally made our minds up we ran off to Vegas. Our parents weren't happy with that, insisted we had a decent wedding party a few months later."

Sarah chuckled again, she liked Dorothea, it had been a while she had started to make friends but this was a start.

The concert seemed to go and on but finally it did finish, the crowd didn't seem to agree and kept on cheering.



In the hotel room, Richie celebrated his own end of the tour party in a private way with Sarah. Now that they had pretty much done everything sexually, Sarah was a lot less reserved about it and let Richie do what he really wanted. And what he really wanted was hearing Sarah scream his name she had done before.



The next day they said goodbye to everyone, the tour was over, they wouldn't see each other for a while and needed some time to themselves, they all knew that fact.

Everyone said goodbye at the hotel and they all went to separate ways.

Jon was off to Croatia with his family. Tico was going home to Florida and both Richie and David were going home to New Jersey. Only a week from now Richie would be taking Sarah and the kids on the vacation Sarah had suggested.