Part 9
Peeking in, she saw her parents snuggled together sleeping peacefully. She looked up to say, "Uncle AJ, they’re still asleep."
"Do you remember your special way to wake your daddy?"
"Of course I do you silly," responded Jesse rolling her eyes.
AJ laughed and said, "Well go on then."
"But the bed’s too high."
"I’ll help you."
AJ picked her up and they went in together. He set her down gently on the bed and Jesse leaned close to Howie, her hair falling in his face as she gave him butterfly kisses on his cheek.
Howie woke slowly. "Hey, Princess," he whispered. "Who brought
you here?"
"Uncle AJ. Daddy, are you okay?" she asked softly. It was the first time Jesse had seen Howie and as she asked him, tears fell on his face.
"Shhh…don’t cry, Princess. I’m gonna be just fine. Your mom isn’t going to let it be any other way. Here, sit so I can see you."
Jesse sat up and Howie took her small hand in his. "Daddy, are you
REALLY gonna be okay?"
"I’m REALLY going to be fine, Princess. You know, you just keep getting prettier and prettier."
Proudly, Jesse said, "That’s cuz I look like Mommie!"
Howie and AJ both laughed and Howie said, "You sure do and you know something, I’m going to have to chase the boys off when you get older."
"Daddy!" protested Jesse. "MY boyfriend is going to be JUST like you."
"That’s my girl," smiled Howie as he cupped the little girl’s chin.
AJ asked, "How long has ‘Tigger’ been asleep?"
Howie looked down at his wife as she continued to sleep. "I’m not sure. With all the nurses coming in here every hour and asking me stupid questions, it’s all running together."
"What kind of questions are they asking you?"
"Stuff to make me think. Sarah helped them asking me stuff about us, when we met, important dates, lyrics…stuff like that."
"Man, I hate it when a woman asks ‘stuff’ like that. It’s a good thing you’re laid up."
"Why’s that?"
"Sarah can’t and won’t hurt you if you forget."
"Daddy, do you remember when you met Mommie?"
"Of course I do, Princess."
Sleepily, Sarah said, "He sure did, down to the very last detail. Good morning, baby."
"Good Morning, Mommie!"
"Mornin’, ‘Tig’."
"Hey, ‘Bone’. What time is it?"
"Almost ten. We’d have been here at daybreak if a certain ‘Little One’ had had her way," said AJ as he tousled Jesse’s hair.
Laughing, Sarah rubbed her eyes and tried to unfold herself. "I don’t doubt it."
"Angel, why don’t you go with AJ and get some breakfast while I talk to Jesse."
Concerned, Sarah said, "Howie, you aren’t strong enough to be alone with Jesse just yet. You just came out of ICU yesterday."
"Oh, Mommie, I can take care of myself AND Daddy."
Sarah looked at her daughter sitting next to Howie. She nodded her head, "You’re probably right, Jess. Okay. I’ll be back in a little while."
Howie squeezed Sarah’s hand seeing the look of concern in her eyes. "We’ll be okay, Sarah. I have a few things I need to talk to Jesse about."
Sarah looked at him curiously. "Like what?"
"That, beautiful Angel, is between my daughter and me," smirked Howie as he winked at Jesse.
"Come on, ‘Tigger’. Let’s go eat," said AJ motioning to the door.
Sarah leaned over to kiss Howie, "Baby, don’t overdo it. You just had…."
"I’ll be okay," said Howie putting his finger to her lips to silence her. "Go get something to eat."
As the door closed behind AJ and Sarah, Jesse began to cry and Howie pulled her to him. "Come here, Princess."
Jesse curled up in Howie’s arms and he stroked her hair as she whimpered, "Daddy, you aren’t gonna die, are you?"
"Not for a VERY LONG time, Jesse. The doctor and nurses are taking excellent care of me and your mother isn’t going to have it any other way."
"But all these tubes and wires and machines?"
"To make sure I’m okay, Jess. I’ve never lied to you before and I’m not going to start now. What happened to me was VERY serious and yes, I could have died…but I didn’t. It’s also okay to be scared."
"It is?"
"Of course! I’ll share a secret with you. Meme and your mother were BOTH scared."
"NO WAY!" said Jesse incredulously.
Howie smiled, "Neither one of them will ever admit it, but yes, they were, and your mom still is. She’s a strong lady but she gets scared too."
"Very strong. Daddy, how much do you love Mommie?"
Howie smiled, "I love your mother a great deal, Jess. There aren’t enough stars in the sky or grains of sand on the beach to measure my love for your mother."
"Have you always loved her?"
"From the minute our eyes met."
"How did you meet?"
Howie wiped Jesse’s tears as he told her about how he had met Sarah including how they’d both had dreams about each other. Howie finished by asking, "Do you know what today is?"
"No sir."
"It’s our anniversary. Four years ago today, I married your mother."
"WOW!"
"Yeah, your mom is pretty ‘wow’ too! Now, I need you to do me a really BIG favor."
"Anything for you, Daddy."
"I need you to look out for the twins. They don’t understand like you do. All they know is that I’m not there and your mother isn’t around much. You need to be a good big sis and help out."
"Okay, Daddy."
"And remember, it’s okay to be scared. If you need to talk, don’t hold back. You can call your mom here on her cell phone and there’s always Meme, Aunt Becca, and the whole ‘family’."
As Howie said this, Sarah and AJ returned. Sarah saw how drained Howie was and was worried that he had done too much. She looked back at AJ and he had the same look of concern.
"Hey ‘Little One’. Did you have fun talking to your daddy?"
"Yes sir. Uncle AJ, I’m ready to go back to the hotel."
Sarah was surprised. She’d been expecting an argument but here Jesse was asking to go back on her own.
AJ asked, "What’s up?"
"Well, Daddy and Mommie need to be alone ‘cause it’s their anniversary and Daddy needs to rest so he can get better and he asked me to do something for him," said Jesse importantly.
Sarah looked at Howie who gave her a wink. "How about I walk out with you, Jess?"
"No, Mommie. You stay here. I’m a big girl and you need to be with Daddy."
"Well…okay. Can I at least have a hug and a kiss before you go?"
Sarah took Jesse in her arms to help her down from the bed and the little girl gave her a big hug and kiss. Then she scurried out of the room without AJ.
"Whoa…Jess…." Called out Sarah.
"Don’t worry, Tigger. Raoul’s at the elevators watching for her."
Before AJ could leave though, Howie whispered, "Alex, I need to talk to you."
"Okay."
Sarah realized that Howie wanted to talk to AJ alone so she said, "I’m gonna go speak to Raoul for a minute."
Sarah left the room and AJ moved closer to Howie. "D, you’ve done too much."
"I know," he said weakly. "But I needed to it for Jesse. Look, I need a gift for Sarah. I was going to go get it myself but…"
"Say no more, bro! What do you want me to get?"
"A single white rose and a diamond bracelet. My wallet is with my stuff at the hotel. Get my credit card."
"Don’t worry about that. Want me to have it delivered here?"
"Get Raoul or Tommy to bring it. Thanks you, Bone."
"No problem. Let go so Sarah can come back in here and make sure you rest."
Howie closed his eyes before AJ could leave and the younger man leaned over to kiss him on the forehead. Howie looked up at him and whispered, "That’s twice, man. This is becoming a habit."
"Just sharin’ the love!" cackled AJ. "Later, bro!"
