Chapter 63
Pushing the door open, Howie found Jesse sitting on the bed with Sarah showing her the valentines she’d gotten at school. When Sarah looked up, she flashed him a smile that took his breath away.
Sarah could see the look in his eye but she said brightly, “Hey, ‘D’.”
Moving quickly to the bed, he leaned in to cup her face. “Hey, Angel,” he whispered giving her a kiss. Looking over, he asked, “What ‘cha got there, ‘Princess’?”
“My valentines that I got today.”
Looking at the bag, Howie asked, “Where’s what I sent you?”
Jesse hesitated and looked up at Sarah.
“Go ahead, baby. Tell him.”
“Promise you won’t get mad?” questioned Jesse timidly.
“Jesse, just tell me,” insisted Howie.
“I gave it away.”
“You WHAT?” Howie’s voice rose in anger and Jesse cringed trying to hide next to Sarah. “Jesse, that bear was extremely special to me.”
“I know,” whimpered Jesse as her tears began to fall.
“Howie, you need to hear the whole story,” said Sarah calmly.
“Sarah, that was the bear Caroline gave me just before she died.”
“I know, ‘D’….just listen. Jess, tell him the whole story.”
“I gave it to Thomas…the new boy in class. He came in today and we were having our party and he didn’t get anything. He was sitting off by himself and crying so I gave him my bear.”
Howie’s anger vanished. “Princess, that was really sweet. I’m so sorry I got angry with you.”
“Tell him the rest, baby,” prompted Sarah.
“There’s MORE?”
“Yes sir. Thomas doesn’t speak English…just Spanish so I helped Mrs. Dugger understand what I could and she gave me a big gold star today.”
“That’s really great, Princess. I’m so proud of you,” beamed Howie.
“You aren’t upset about the bear are you, Papi?”
“Not anymore and you know something, your Aunt Caroline would be very proud of you.”
“Really?”
“Really,” smiled Howie as he pushed Jesse’s hair behind her ear. At the same time, Momma D joined them and Howie said, “You need to get your stuff together so Meme can take you home and to bed.”
”Yes sir.” Reaching up, she gave Sarah a kiss. “Mami, can I come back tomorrow too?”
“Of course, you can baby….if I’m still here. Dr. Johnson may let me go home tomorrow.”
Excitedly, Jesse asked, “Can I help you?”
“We’ll see, baby. It depends on when he lets me go. Now scoot!! You need to go to bed.”
“I love you both.”
“We love you too, baby. Mami, thank you for staying here with Jesse.”
Giving her daughter-in-law a hug, she said, “No need to thank me, sweetheart. You just get plenty of rest so you can take care of those two beautiful little babies. Son, be sure to get some rest too.”
“I will, Mami,” smiled Howie giving his mother a kiss. When they were alone, Howie held his hand up and Sarah placed hers against his lacing her fingers with his. “So what’s this about you going home tomorrow? Isn’t it too soon?”
“Nah…he sent me home after one day after I had Jesse. He hasn’t decided yet though.”
“You know, we’ve got a pretty special little girl.”
“Because of you.”
“You don’t give yourself enough credit, Angel. Jesse is just like you for the world…in EVERY way. You’d have done the same thing for Thomas if you’d been Jesse.”
“I just feel like I’ve made so many mistakes with her. I stayed in an abusive marriage until she was fifteen months old and then I didn’t have her for three years because I had been married to a drug dealer. Then when I did get her back, I drug her out on the road with me to chase my dreams and ended up sending her home where she was separated from us AGAIN.” Tears welled up in the corner of Sarah’s eyes. “I don’t want to make the same mistakes with Caroline and Dwaine. Howie, I’m going to give up singing and traveling with you and stay home….like a good mother.”
Howie smiled, “Angel, you ARE a good mother. You did what you thought was right for Jesse. You tried to raise her in a two-parent family and when that wasn’t possible, you got out. You can NOT blame yourself for what Russell did with his life. Now, you’re tired and your hormones…..” Sarah groaned and Howie laughed. “Sheena warned us it would be a couple days before your hormone levels settled. Now, I promised you a dinner of all your favorites from Red Lobster but I need to warm them up.”
“It smells sooooo good.” Looking into Howie’s eyes, Sarah reached with her free hand to touch his cheek. “’D’, you suck at hiding things from me. When are we going to talk about what you and Becca are keeping from me?”
“How about over dinner and I’m not intentionally keeping anything from you. Becca and I talked about some things Jeff told her earlier and I was going to tell you. Can you wait or would you rather talk before you eat?”
“Judging by the way you looked when you came in the room, I’d just as soon wait.”
“Let me go take care of your dinner then.” Howie gave Sarah another kiss before heading off to warm Sarah’s dinner at the nurses’ station.