At the docks, Sarah went to work making sure that everything was in order while Howie made sure their stuff was taken to their cabin. He also wanted to make sure that his ‘surprise’ for her was ready. He had arranged for their suite to be decorated for Christmas since they hadn’t done anything at the condo.
Around lunchtime, Sarah’s family arrived but she was in the middle of arranging the first ‘meet and greet’ for Howie so he met them as they bordered the ship. He also showed them to their cabins.
Mr. Taylor asked, "So, where is my daughter?"
Howie laughed, "She’s in the middle of setting things up for tonight. She’s arranged this whole thing."
"We really need to talk to her, Howard," said Mrs. Taylor.
Howie noticed that they seemed a little concerned and he asked, "Is there something I can help with?"
"Well..." hesitated Mrs. Taylor as she looked at her husband.
"Howard, we’ve had some rather disturbing phone calls lately," said Mr. Taylor. "I know she’s told you about her ex-husband and we were extremely grateful that you were there to help her with the divorce but it seems he’s trying to get back in touch with her. He’s been reading some news articles about her and he’s sent them to us."
Howie shook his head. "This is unbelievable. He’ll stop at nothing to get her back."
Mr. and Mrs. Taylor were confused. Mr. Taylor asked, "Care to explain?"
"Let’s sit down and I’ll explain everything to you."
Howie spent the next hour with Sarah’s parents telling them what had been going on and he had to go into their break-up since the articles that Russell had sent them were from that time-period. He didn’t tell them what happened at Tabu that night with Kevin and AJ but he did tell them about the miscarriage and the bulimia. He also told them about Russell stalking Sarah and what had happened at the condo. It was a relief to her parents to see that Howie was concerned about Sarah and was not treating her the way Russell had led them to believe.
"Thank you, Howard. I knew I was right about you when you first called to help with the divorce."
"Mr. Taylor, my every intentions are to marry Sarah. I love her beyond words and I will do WHATEVER it takes to protect her and make her happy."
"You’ll be a welcome addition to our family, Howard," said Mrs. Taylor as she kissed Howie on the cheek.
Sarah walked in about that time and joked, "Okay, Daddy, you’re suppose to keep Mama AWAY from my boyfriends."
Both of her parents greeted Sarah with a hug as Howie watched.
"I see you’ve put on some weight since we last saw you," said Mr. Taylor. "You aren’t quite as bony."
"It’s Mrs. Dorough’s cooking. I’ve eaten there every night for the last two weeks with my schedule....."
"They know everything, Angel," said Howie so that Sarah wouldn’t try to cover up what had been happening. "Russell has been busy getting to you through them."
"Oh wonderful. So much for....."
"Howard has told us everything along with the fact that he wants you to forget about everything that’s been going on. This is the last time ANY of us will mention it, baby girl," said Mr. Taylor.
"Thank you, Daddy."
Mrs. Taylor said as she took Howie’s hand, "Sarah, you have our blessings to marry this young man and if you don’t, we’re going to seriously consider checking you into a mental hospital if you don’t."
Sarah smirked at Howie. "There you go again! Are you really afraid I’m going to say no?"
Howie laughed, "Nope! I have too many people on MY side for that."
Mr. and Mrs. Taylor were happy to see that Sarah and Howie were extremely happy together but Mr. Taylor added, "Sarah, I do have some parental concerns that I want to touch on before we let this whole issue go. You’ve had to grow up very quickly with what Chrissy and Russell did to you but I want to remind you that you got yourself into that situation by not being careful. We’ve never approved of pre-marital sex and you’ve lost a second child that was unplanned. I REALLY think that you need to reconsider your living arrangements."
Howie and Sarah both blushed and Sarah said, "Daddy, Howie and I are mature, consenting adults. Sure, my pregnancy was unplanned but Howie and I are different from Russell and me. Had I carried the baby to term, it would have been born into a LOVING relationship I’m not going to change anything about my relationship with Howie but rest assured, we ARE being careful."
**************************
The rest of the cruise was exactly what Howie and Sarah had hoped it would be. They spent every second they could together and the families had a ball meeting each other and Sarah’s family became very interested in helping the Dorough’s with the foundation. They were at every event with Sarah and Howie and donated what they could to the charity.
The night of the concert that Howie, Pollyanna, and Chelsea put on for the people, Howie decided to go through with having Sarah play too. He took the mike after Pollyanna finished and said, "I hope everyone is enjoying the show tonight. At this time, I have a special treat for all of you. There’s a young lady who is very close to my heart in the audience tonight. You’ve all seen her throughout the cruise and she’s the one responsible for EVERYTHING. I want to introduce you to her. She learned about the Dorough Lupus Foundation one night when I took her to meet my family. She asked questions and listened to me tell her everything. When I was done, she wanted to become a part of the foundation, to help in whatever way she could and she took over organizing this cruise, updating the foundation website, and whatever else needed to be done for me while I was on tour or busy with my other career. This may not seem very amazing to you but she also runs the Backstreet Youth Center in Orlando and handles a large portion of my other business interests while I’m busy. She’s also a fantastic girlfriend, giving me her full attention when we’re together. Along with ALL of what she does for me, she’s an amazing friend to everyone in her life and she’s EXTREMELY talented. I’d like for you to meet my angel.....Sarah Taylor."
The crowd applauded and Sarah was pushed out on stage by John. Howie took her hand and pulled her to him giving her a kiss as he did. "Thank you, Howie."
"How many of you would like to hear Sarah play the piano?"
Sarah looked at him as if to say ‘I’m going to kill you for this’ but as the crowd applauded their desire to hear Sarah play, she gave in. Howie led her to the piano and she asked him quietly, "Are you going to sing?"
"Yeah....just pick whatever you want and I’ll follow."
Sarah decided to play some Christmas music and as she began, Pollyanna, Chelsea, and Howie joined her. Howie managed to convince Sarah to play several songs and on the second one, he got the audience singing too. In the end, Sarah, Howie, Pollyanna, and Chelsea all received a standing ovation.
After the evening’s events were done and all was quiet on the ship, Howie and Sarah went for a walk on the deck. They walked hand-in-hand together silently for a while and then Howie stopped her when they reached the front. There was a soft ocean breeze blowing and the moon was full. The sky was bright with stars too. All in all, a very romantic setting. Sarah looked into Howie’s eyes as he brushed her cheek softly. She was so incredibly in love with him that she started to cry.
"Oh, Angel, what’s wrong?" he asked softly, brushing the tears away.
"Nothing’s wrong but EVERYTHING is SO right. Howie, I don’t think I
can tell you how much I love you."
"You don’t have to, Sarah. I see it in your eyes and I hear it in your
voice when you call my name. I feel it in your touch when you wake and reach for
me to hold you."
"I don’t want this to end, D. I’m so happy here."
"The happiness doesn’t have to end, Sarah. We’ll still have it when we go home, I promise you."
"You can’t keep the real world from creeping in though and in just over a month, you leave for eleven months."
"You can come with me...just like the Millenium tour, Sarah, and I expect you to join me some....at least once every two weeks."
Sarah tucked her head leaning against Howie’s chest as he rubbed her arms. She ran her finger down his chest and played with the buttons of his shirt. "D....when we do get married, will you want me with you...on the road?"
Lifting her chin with his hand, Howie said, "Most definitely...and it’s not that I don’t want you with me now, Sarah, it’s just that I have kind of put you in a situation that I need you at home just as much as I want you with me. I’m working on finding someone else to take over for you but there’s no one I trust as much as I trust you. This is OUR future we’re talking about, Angel."
Sarah yawned and Howie couldn’t help but laugh.
"Come on. Let’s go get some sleep. Tomorrow is our Christmas."
Resting her head on his shoulder as they walked, Sarah said, "Christmas, with my family....."
"Our family. We may not be married but the two families have certainly come together."
"I know. By the way, thank you for decorating our suite for Christmas but I wish you had let me do it. I missed us decorating our place together this year."
"I know but there are plenty of Christmases to come in the future, Angel."
****************
The next day was event-free for Howie and Sarah but it was just as busy. Howie had arranged the whole day to be a Christmas celebration for the two families and a dinner was being prepared for everyone as well. They started the day with the exchanging of gifts. Howie and Sarah had gotten everyone something and of course, the two families had brought their gifts along. Sarah surprised Howie by giving him a new watch. They both laughed remembering the night the other one had been ruined and this time, Sarah had bought one that was water-resistant. She also had gotten him a new wallet.
Howie managed to surprise Sarah as well. Thanks to John and his sisters, he had gotten Sarah a new kitten and they had kept it for him throughout the whole cruise. Sarah cried when she saw him but she was extremely happy.
Sarah’s niece, Ashley, asked, "What are you going to call him, Aunt SaSa?"
"Yeah, Angel, what are you going to call him?" asked Howie.
Sarah laughed, "How about ‘Swivel Hips’?"
Howie blushed as everyone laughed. They had all heard her call Howie that when they were talking about him performing. Howie said, "No....I don’t think so."
Holding the kitten up to look at him, Sarah thought about what to name the kitten. She looked at Howie and said, "How about ‘Millenium’? That’s when we got together, just before that tour."
"Sounds perfect," said Howie as he gave Sarah a kiss. "Okay...it’s time for the parents to open their gifts from Sarah and me."
Mr. Taylor looked at the two and said, "This cruise was enough, Howard."
"No....this cruise was nothing, not even a part of your Christmas gift. Sarah and I wanted you along and the cruise line was more than willing to accommodate us. No....this is something that Sarah and I wanted to do for both sets of parents and fortunately, I’m in a position to do it. I’ve been able to do for my parents quite a bit since the group finally broke through and I’m glad to be able to do for you too now, Mr. and Mrs. Taylor."
Mrs. Taylor took the box that Elizabeth handed to her from Howie while Mrs. Dorough took the one from Ashley. They opened the box at the same time to pull out airline tickets. The set for Sarah’s parents were to England and Mr.and Mrs. Dorough’s were for Ireland.
"Howard, this is WAY too much," said Mr. Taylor.
"No, Sarah and I talked about it. Both of you have always wanted to return to where you originally met so we arranged for a week’s stay in England. It’s all paid for and the tickets are open-ended. All you have to do is call the travel agent to let her know when you want to go. The number is in there with the tickets."
"This is so wonderful," said Mrs. Taylor. "Thank you so much, Howard."
"You’re welcome. Mama, the same for you and Daddy. All you have to do is call Christine and let her know when you want to go. She’ll set it up."
The parents gave Howie and Sarah hugs for the gifts and then the families spent the afternoon enjoying themselves. The kids took off together to have fun while the adults found things to do together. Sarah’s brothers and Howie’s brother and sisters had become just as close as the children so they all got together to hang out. It was a very relaxing day for everyone.
***********
The flight back to Orlando seemed a bit tense to Howie. Sarah was unusually quiet but he knew she was thinking about what they were headed back to. He wasn’t particularly thrilled with it himself but there wasn’t anything he could do to change anything. Hopefully Russell would get the message to leave Sarah alone and they would be able to get on with their lives. Little did he know what they were about to face.