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ANYONE FOR DINNER Chapter 7
Howie and I settled into married life with ease. I loved being with him all the time. It was short lived however, there was a new tour planned that would take Howie over to Europe. I was a little upset that he was going to have to leave so soon, but then Howie pointed out I could use that time to look into the courses at the University of Florida in Orlando. I tackled that with a vengeance, making sure that I had the necessary courses to take what I wanted. One morning I woke up and just as I was putting my feet on the floor, I had an incredible urge to throw up. I made it to the bathroom just in time. I sat on the floor for a few minutes and composed myself before getting up. I felt better and decided to start with a shower. Howie had been gone for a couple of weeks. And I was missing him like crazy. After my shower when I went into the kitchen, I reached for the peanut butter and I almost threw up again at the smell of it. "What the heck is going on?" I asked out loud as I sat at the kitchen table and caught my breath. I felt better after that and went on with my day. The next morning I was expecting to feel sick again, but nothing came. I was just settling in to being a student again when I started to get sick again. I got worried this time and made an appointment to see a doctor that Pollyanna had told me about. I sat in the doctor's office nervous that she was going to tell me bad news. I had a habit of always preparing for the worst. The doctor checked me out, ordered some blood tests and then sat me down in her office to wait. She seemed to already know what was wrong with me as she had a smile on her face. I was still very nervous. Ten minutes later she came back and told me the news. "Well, Mrs. Dorough," I still smiled whenever someone called me by that name. "It appears that you are pregnant." I sat before her in shock,
"What?" Howie and I hadn't been trying to have a baby, but
then again we hadn't not been trying either. "Kind of. I mean we weren't really trying, but we weren't really being careful." I said with surprise. As the doctor started to tell me how I needed to take care of myself and when I should come back to see her, I tuned her out and thought of Howie. He was going to be so happy. He couldn't wait to be a father. But we thought that we would wait until they were done the latest tour before seriously trying. I had to tell Howie, "Uhm is it okay for me to fly?" "Absolutely. Just take it easy. Where are you planning on going?" "I think my husband is in Germany." I said. "I have to tell him in person." The following day I left for Germany. I had confirmed with their management to make sure that they were going to be there. I wouldn't tell them why, I just said that I needed to see him. I had also made sure that they didn't inform Howie that I was coming. I wanted to surprise him. I had spoken with the Dean at the University and decided that I would take this couple of days off and then continue with my classes until the baby came. Then if I wanted I could continue the following semester. We touched down in Germany several hours later. I had arranged to have a car waiting for me. The guys were going to be in Germany for a couple of days, so they had a hotel booked, the driver took me there and I made him wait. After showing the hotel clerk that I was Howie's wife, they allowed me into his room. I deposited my stuff and went back down to the car. The guys were doing their rehearsal at the venue, this was their first show here. I made it through the fans and the security with ease. I had walked around the hallways, trying to find the best way to get onto the floor. The guys were on stage trying to get through the rehearsal. I could tell that they were tired. They were being sillier than usual. I stood in the wings for a little bit watching them. When I couldn't stand it anymore, I made my way down the stairs that I had found. They still hadn't seen me yet. My stomach jumped at the sight of Howie. Or maybe it was the baby? I laughed to myself. It wasn't until I was almost at the stage that I was noticed. AJ saw me first. "Rory? What the heck are you doing here?" He said into the microphone. The music stopped and everyone looked over at me. Howie smiled brightly. He jumped down off the stage and ran over to me. "Hi honey, what are you doing here?" He asked giving me a tight hug. "I needed to see you." I said. It was killing me not to blurt out that I was pregnant, but I didn't want to spoil it for him. Howie instantly got worried, "Is there something wrong?" Nick came to my side and put his arm around me, "Of course there is nothing wrong, Howie. Rory, just couldn't stand to be away from me." He laughed. I turned to Nick, "Nicky, as much
as I want to feed your ego right now, I have more important things to
think about." Things were quiet for a split second and then Howie was all over me. Hugging me, kissing me, hugging the guys, laughing, jumping up and down. I knew that he was going to be happy. He stopped jumping around and sat back down, "How pregnant are you? And is it okay for you to have flown half way across the world?" I smiled at him, "I am about three months along. And yes, I asked the doctor before I came. I just have to take it easy." I explained. "We are going to be parents." I whispered again. The others had all left, allowing Howie and I to be alone, "Yes we are. I am going to be a father." He said pulling me into his arms. We held each other for a few minutes before Howie stepped back, "What about school?" "Oh, I talked with the Dean already. He said that I can continue with school until the baby comes and then I can pick up where I left off at the next semester. I know that we talked about this before and we decided that I would quit work once we had a family, but I want to finish this. Just so that I have something to fall back on. Is that okay?" I asked. "Absolutely. Whatever you want is fine with me. Now when is the baby due?' I laughed at how eager Howie was. A few minutes later they continued the rehearsal. I watched as they went through the routine. My hands placed lightly on my stomach. After they were done, Howie and I gathered around the phone and called both our parents. Each was beside themselves with happiness. I stayed with Howie and the guys for three days. Pretty much the whole time that they were in Germany. Once they were going to get on the bus that was when Howie told me it was time to go home. The traveling that they were going to do was too much for me. He had spoiled me rotten over the last two days. Hardly letting me lift a finger. I told him that I would take care of myself and our baby. When I got home, I realized just how much I missed Howie. It was hard to be away from him, but I counted down the days until he was due home. During that time I had my first set of exams for school and passed them with flying colors. Howie had sent me a diamond tennis bracelet since he couldn't be with me. This leg of the tour was almost over, they only had a month and a half left. It seemed to crawl by. By the time that he got home I was six months pregnant and showing. I had decided to skip going to the airport to pick him up. AJ said that he would drop him off on his way home. He was surprised when he walked through the door and saw me. "What happened to my beautiful thin wife?" He joked as he kissed me on the cheek. "She got fat." I laughed. Howie stepped back and looked at me, "Not fat my dear, just pregnant." He then got on his knees and put his ear to my stomach. "Hey you in there. This is your father speaking. I hope you were good while I was away." I threw my head back and laughed, "Of course he was. He only made his appearance known when I smelled coffee. Which lucky for me wasn't very often." Howie patted my stomach and laughed, "Don't you be making your mother sick, you hear." He scolded jokingly. To which he was rewarded with a light kick in the ear. This was the first time that Howie had felt that. His eyes lit up like a Christmas tree and he looked at me. "He kicked me." He whispered while rubbing his ear. "You're lucky, he's been kicking me for a few weeks now." I laughed.
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