Sorry it's been so long… the craziness of life has gone to epic proportions lately!
Chapter 7
Cassie: 10 weeks old
"Okay Nate, I'll be back sometime tonight. Sully's coming over soon, right?" Elena asked while fidgeting with her cross body purse, trying to appear collected. This would be her first time away from Cassie for a whole day and she hesitated by the front door, looking apprehensively at her husband. Today she had to travel to the nearest immigration office in the city, four hours away, for papers for Cassie in order for them to make their way to their home in Spain.
"He said he'd be here soon. Are you sure we can't all go together?" Nate looked up at her from his spot on the couch where he was cradling a sleeping Cassie, anxiety visible on his face.
"We talked about this Nate, I don't want to put her, or us for that matter, through that long car ride. We'd all be miserable," She ruffled her hand through his hair before leaning down to kiss him.
Then, a quick knock at the door signaled that Sully had arrived. Opening the door, she was greeted with a warm, "Hey darlin'." Sully strolled in, setting a six pack down on the coffee table in front of Nate and clapped his hands together while looking back at Elena, "I'll make sure these two stay out of trouble."
"Oh, because you keeping Nate out of trouble has gone so well in the past?" Elena smirked, raising one eyebrow, looking from Sully to Nate, who just shrugged. "Okay boys, keep the craziness to a dull roar. There's three bottles in the fridge just in case." With that, she leaned down to give her daughter a kiss on the head and was out the door.
When the door clicked shut, the two men looked to each other, "I guess it's just you and me and the kid, kid."
"We've survived worse, I guess," Nate laughed, and Cassie joined in the conversation by kicking a foot out straight into her father's groin. More surprised than hurt, Nate winced and shot his friend a silencing look. "Make yourself useful, would ya, Grampa Sully?"
"Hey now, we talked about this. I'm too young and pretty for 'Grampa'," Victor said while hesitantly reaching for the squirming baby.
"Oh man, Elena's gonna want a shot of this moment," Nate chuckled while cracking a beer and reaching for the always-nearby camera on the table. The scene was comical to say the least, with Victor holding Cassie at arm's length with a suspicious look, while the newly awake Cassie looked at him with an equally dubious expression.
Nate snapped the photo and laughed again when the digital image popped up on the screen, "She's not a bomb, Sully…Well not most of the time," the second half of his sentence spoken more quietly as Victor attempted to readjust the baby closer to him.
"Yeah well, I've seen her work on you enough times to justify a little caution," he replied while still holding the baby rigidly, making her squirm more.
* * * 2 hours later...
"Kid's got a set of lungs on her, doesn't she?" Sully winced, covering one ear.
Nate gave him an anguished look in response, continuing to hush and bounce the inconsolable baby, "She feels really warm."
"She's the color of a beet, too. You got a thermometer or something, Nate?"
"Thermometer, right…" Nate quickly walked to the bathroom in search of the object.
Sully heard a small crash and the sound of things falling on the floor along with a slightly higher pitched cry from Cassie. When he went to investigate, he saw Nate sitting on the floor of the bathroom, assorted toiletries on the floor around him, and with a thermometer popped into the baby's mouth.
"101," Nate read, eyes growing wide.
"Goddammit," Sully muttered, scratching the back of his head, "Well, let's go, kid, I'll drive."
"You should really call Elena, Nate," Sully glanced in the rearview mirror at Nate who sat next to Cassie in the back seat, trying to soothe her while growing more panicked.
"She'll just worry, and I don't want her rushing home with the way she drives. I'll wait and see what the doctors say before I call her. I don't want her to think I can't handle it."
After hurriedly checking in, Nate followed a nurse down a familiar hallway towards the pediatric unit. It was located next to the NICU where they had spent the first weeks of Cassie's life. He shuddered slightly at the not-so-distant memory, looking down at his red-faced daughter squalling in the baby carrier. "I hope this is just a quick visit this time…"
A familiar doctor came by shortly. When Nate heard the words "nothing serious" and "ear infection" he finally let out the tense breath he had been holding. As if on cue, his phone began buzzing in his back pocket.
"Hey, hon," Nate answered, trying to keep the now-fading anxiety out of his voice.
"Hey Nate, how's my baby?"
"Oh, I'm great. Are you on your way back yet?"
He could almost hear her eyes roll when she answered, "Funny, Nate. And yes, I'm just getting on the road now. "
A high-pitched cry rang throughout the small room as the doctor began putting antibiotic drops into one of Cassie's ears and Nate winced.
"Why is she screaming like that?" Elena said, clearly alarmed.
"Well, don't worry Elena, but we're at the hospital…" Nate began.
"The HOSPITAL?! Why didn't you CALL me, Nathan!?"
Nate held the phone away from his ear slightly as his wife riddled him with panicked questions. He quickly tried to explain, and heard her calm down slightly, although he knew she was frustrated being hours away yet.
By the time all of her questions had been answered, Cassie was ready to be discharged with a prescription for ear drops. Nate made Elena promise not to rush her long drive and she begrudgingly agreed to drive only 'slightly' over the speed limit. He had held back from saying how badly he wished she was there with him before she had finally hung up. His heart rate was only beginning to stop racing and the wailing from his newborn was tearing up his heart.
Strapping her back into the car seat, Nate walked out into the waiting room and spotted Sully flipping through a magazine.
"You can read German?" Nate asked incredulously.
"Not a word. Just in it for the pictures," Sully smiled, standing up.
"Ear infection," Nate stated, answering his friend's unanswered question when he saw him look down and give Cassie an empathetic look.
"Of all the luck, kid," he replied, shaking his head slightly as they started for the hospital exit. "And how did Elena take it?"
"Oh, I'd say pretty well. She only called me a dumbass twice for not calling her right away," he chuckled.
Sully chuckled, too, "Boy, Nate, and here I thought your life would calm down a little when you two started a family. Apparently I've learned nothing in the 20 years I've known you."
And I'll stop that little moment there. Hope you all enjoyed it!
