Jake had stretched out in the recliner in his wife’s room while he let his parents and twin jump and run every time Miri needed something. He had hit a wall and couldn’t go anymore. Sleep was easy to find when he unfolded the foot rest on the recliner and laid back. Yes, he was hungry. He hadn’t eaten anything all day. Sleep was the only thing on his mind at that point. When his eyes closed, there was nothing left to be said. He slept the sleep of the dead.
When he awoke it was to the smell of bison in the air. His mother had made good on her promise to bring them bison that night. He sat up slowly and stretched. “What is that intoxicating aroma?” he asked.
“It’s contraband; that’s what it is”, his mother laughed. “I’m not supposed to be bringing you guys food from the outside, but you don’t eat hospital food and I couldn’t stand to watch Delilah eat another bite of the horrid stuff.” She fought off a shiver from the thought.
“The food’s not that bad, Mom”, Delilah laughed.
“Delilah, honey, they’ve been cooking pork in that kitchen, I can smell it. We don’t eat pork.”
“And I’ve given it up since moving out here to be with your son. I see your point.”
Jordan made a face. “Oh, the smell of cooked pig turns me stomach. And the sad thing is that there are nights that Davina and I have to cook separate meals because most of what she eats is pork.”
“Then how the hell do you two live together?” Jake asked before he took a bite of the delicious smelling burger. It melted in his mouth as he chewed.
“It’s not without its challenges. But, the good thing is that she doesn’t accuse me of cheating every time I turn around and we have a lot in common. Everything else can be worked out as we go, and you all know me. I like a challenge.”
“You’re lost what’s left of your ever loving MIND, Jordan”, Delilah laughed. “There’s got to be more than THAT there if you’re already living with her.” She herself took a bite of the bison burger her mother in law had snuck into the hospital for her. After she swallowed what was in her mouth she spoke again. “I think when they bring the new menus for tomorrow that I’m going to add to it that my food can’t be prepared anywhere near pork.”
“That might be wise”, David said.
“Yeah, it keeps down the confusion down there in the cafeteria kitchen”, Brie added, then heaved a sigh. “Can you two handle tonight on your own or does someone need to be down here to help you out?”
Jake nodded with a yawn. “Yeah, now that I’m good and rested, I think that we can handle it. I’d been going for 36 straight and I finally just shut down.”
“Like that time you damn near did a face plant in the foyer?” David asked with a laugh.
“Yeah, like that. Then I ended up running on adrenaline to fix a problem with a patient. My adrenaline wore off yesterday this time around. I’ve been running on nothing but will power.”
David laughed. “We’ve been there, haven’t we, baby?” he asked his wife.
“Oh, yeah, several times”, she laughed back.
“Willpower and caffeine; those were the days”, he laughed.
“Some of the few times in my life that I actually drank coffee.”
“You drank coffee, Mom?” Jake asked.
“Yeah, after the quads were born. You two”, she motioned to the twins, “and Maddie, I didn’t need it. But, OH MY FUCKING GOD! THE QUADS!! I was very grateful when Kristen said, ‘You two go get some sleep before you flatten your faces on the marble counter top’.”
Delilah and Jake couldn’t help but laugh.
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Delilah’s doctor came in to examine her and see how she was doing. “How are we feeling Mrs. Draiman?” he asked.
“A little better, but I’m still in a lot of pain.”
“Well, considering everything you’ve been through in the past 48 hours, that’s to be expected. Let’s check out that incision.”
She pulled the blanket up around her waist and pulled her gown up so that the doctor could check out her incision. “How does it look, Doc?” she asked.
His eyes doubled in size. “A lot better than I expected, that’s for sure.” He gently pressed on her stomach.
“I’ve always been a faster healer. That’s why I’m such a good dancer. I heal quickly and I’m a fast learner.”
“Well, in a couple more days the skin will have completely re- knitted. That’s a good sign. The sooner the skin heals from the incision the sooner everything deeper can heal.”
She smiled. “So, we are you going to release me from this hell hole?”
“In the morning. You don’t need to be here. You need to be taking care of that little angel that was delivered yesterday. How is she anyway?”
“She’s getting so big so fast. She put on a pound and a half in the last day and a half.”
“That’s great news. I’m sure that her neonatologist is happy with the progress.”
“She is”, Jake said. “I speak with her every time we go down there.”
“That’s good. I’m sure you’ll be taking her home in no time. Well, I’m going to go start the paper work to send you home, Mrs. Draiman. Good luck with everything.” And the Doctor walked out of the room.
“I can go home tomorrow”, she said with a laugh. “That means I can get a shower.”
“I’ll put in a call to Mom to have her bring us some clothes when they come up here tomorrow.” He laid a kiss on her temple. “You want to get check on Little Miss Miriam?”
“Yeah, get me out of this bed for a few moments, please.” After he put the rail down, she swung her legs off the edge. “Do you think we can attempt getting me into a rocking chair when we get down there?”
Once she had her arms wrapped around his neck, Jake lifted and set her in the chair. “That will all depend on the mood she’s in when we get down there and if she wants to be fed right away or not. But, we can give it a try.”
“It will be nice to get to sit in a rocking chair and not in a wheelchair with our daughter. Our daughter. That sounds a little weird coming out of my mouth right now.”
“I know. I’m still getting used to it myself.”
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Miri was quiet when they arrived, but as soon as they were done scrubbing in, she started fussing. “It’s like she knows you’re here”, one of the nurses said.
“She can sense the love”, the charge nurse said as Jake opened his mouth to respond. “She knows when one of her relatives are here because the love is there. I noticed that when the doctor here’s twin sister or one of his parents came down. She knows that she’s loved and she wants them to know that she knows it.”
Jake helped Delilah get situated in one of the rockers before taking Miri out of the incubator. “Hey, beautiful girl”, he said to his little one quietly. “Daddy’s here. I brought Mama along for the ride again this time. Are you hungry or do you just want to be held for a minute?” She’d quieted down the moment he picked her up.
“Looks like she wants Daddy”, Delilah said with a smile.
“It looks like”, he said, claiming the rocker next to his wife. He rocked his daughter slowly as she stared at his little angel’s features. “Mom’s right”, he said from out of left field.
“What do you mean?” Delilah asked.
“She’s the perfect combination of the two of us. My curls, your eye color and shape, my nose and chin, your cheekbones and lips. She’s the perfect balance of the two of us.”
Delilah smiled. “Yeah, she is. But, she’s so tiny.”
“I know. I wasn’t a tiny baby from what I’ve seen from pictures and from what my parents tell me.”
“My grandparents said the same thing. I was a chunky baby.”
“I was chunky, but I was healthy. Jordan and I both were.”
Miri started fussing shortly after, giving her parents the signal that she was hungry and needed a clean diaper. Daddy changed her diaper and handed her to Mama who nursed her. Jake couldn’t help but smile as he watched the two people that meant more than anything to him in the world. The two of you are my life, he thought. Nothing will ever happen to you if I can help it. Hell will have no fury like me scorned should any harm befall either of you. There are all kinds of guns in my parents’ house and I know how to use each and every one of them. Nor am I afraid to. As he thought this, the look on his face changed from warm and happy to cold and calculating. Nothing would hurt his wife or daughter, not if he had his way about it.
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The next time he spoke to Dr. Firestein, Jake learned that his little girl was almost at the weight they wanted her at to allow her to go home and that the next day she would not only be taken off of the oxygen, but out of the incubator to be put in the regular nursery. “I’d like her to spend a few days in the nursery before I say she can absolutely go home. But, I’m amazed at the progress she’s made considering the trauma that caused her birth. She’s growing so fast it’s not funny. She’s putting on lots of weight. She’s nearly double her birth weight and she was just born a little more than 36 hours ago. She may be home by the middle of next week and not in three weeks like I’d thought originally”, the woman said.
“That’s honestly the best news we’ve gotten all day”, Delilah smiled.
“It’s great news, that’s for sure”, Jake laughed. “I can’t wait to get my girls home so that my brother and sisters will get off my ass about holding their niece.”
“I’m sure that Isaiah and Miranda will want to hold Miri too”, Delilah added with a smile.
“Not on their lives”, Jake said. He meant it too. “She way too little and I don’t want them to forget their holding a baby and not one of Miranda’s dolls and drop her, or think they can throw her around.”
“Jakey, honey, calm down. Everything will be ok. I promise you that. No one is going to hurt that little girl.”
“Not and live to tell the tale.”
Delilah sighed. “Do I need to do another one of those guided visualizations with you so that you will chill the hell out, Jacob?”
He smiled. “No, but I mean what I said. Miranda and Isaiah don’t get to hold her until she’s bigger.”
Delilah smiled. “Settle down there, Daddy. Everything will be ok. We’ll just have to sit them down and tell them NICELY that she’s too little for them to hold right now.”
Jake took a deep breath. “Ok, Mama. If you’re certain that will work.”
“I am. They’ll understand, Jakey. I know they will.”
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