Jay pulled into the driveway, coming home from work. The sun had set hours ago, but he couldn't get away. He usually tried to be home for bedtime. Sam had trouble going down at night. He pulled the keys out of the ignition, and walked up the pathway to the front door. He opened the door and was welcomed by the bright lights of the house, the screaming of an infant. He took 3 steps in and took his coat off. He saw his 5 year old daughters whip by him fighting about who got to play the doll. He continued through the hallway towards the sound of the screaming baby. He saw Sam lying in his bouncy seat atop the counter, Erin nowhere in site. "Er?" Jay screamed.
"I'm up here," Jay heard her call from up the stairs. He followed the sound of her voice into the little girls bathroom.
"Hey, why are all the kids still up?" He asked as he took a step into the bathroom and saw Maddy hunched over the toilet.
"She's been throwing up for the past hour. She has no temperature, and I can't leave her here alone like this. I've been running up and down those freakin' stairs all day. He won't stop crying no matter what. He's not hungry, he's not tired, and his diaper isn't wet. I have no idea what's wrong with him. The twins haven't stopped fighting over that stupid doll since before dinner, and nobody took their naps today," Erin replied as she looked up to Jay, tears welling up in her eyes. "I'm exhausted," she slumped and continued to rub Maddy's back.
"Daddy I don't feel good," Maddy said from her place on floor.
"I know sweetie. Er, you stay here, I'll handle it," he still had a screaming Sam in his arms as he continued down the stairs and walked in the direction of the pattering foot steps and constant bickering. "Why are we fighting over the doll?" Jay screamed over the noise. "Didn't I tell you to be good for your mom when I left this morning?"
"Daddy, I was playing with it first, and Jessie took it from me. She hasn't given it back to me," Emily cried.
"Jessie, give me the doll," Jay demanded.
"No, I want to play with it," Jessie forcefully pulled it from Emily and hid it behind her back.
"Jessie give me the doll. You and Em are in big trouble for not listening to mommy already, so give it to me, then go get into bed. No story tonight. Go!" Jay said sternly. Jessie handed him the doll and they both bolted up the stairs and into their room.
He took a look at Sam, red faced from crying. Jay went back to the kitchen and found his pacifier lying next to the bouncy seat he had previously occupied. He tried to put it into the baby's mouth, but he wasn't taking it. He took a bottle from the fridge, warmed it up, and tried to feed him. Sam had begun to drink the bottle only to spit it out and start wailing all over again. Jay sighed. Jay walked up to the nursery, right next to Maddy's room and began rocking the infant. Ten minutes later the baby was fast asleep in his arms. He stood and placed the baby in his crib, turned the lights off and closed the door.
"Er? Hows Mads?" Jay said walking into the bathroom. Maddy was lying down on the cold tile of the bathroom floor. Maddy's head lying in Erin's lap. He saw Erin's head resting back against the counter, eyes closed. He picked Maddy up off the ground and held her in his arms. "Er?" Jay shook Erin's shoulder gently. "Babe," Erin's head jolted forward as her eyes opened abruptly. "Hey, I'm going to take Maddy to her bed, Sam's asleep, then I'm going to check on the twins, and you are going to go get into one of my t-shirts, and go to sleep," she nodded and Jay helped pull her up with is free arm. He kissed her head and followed her out.
"Daddy?" He heard a mumble from his shoulder.
"Hey baby, daddy's just going to put you into bed. If you still feel yucky come wake me up okay? We'll let mommy sleep," he felt her nod and placed her in her bed with Simba on her chest. He leaned down and kissed her warm forehead. "Love you baby girl," Jay said as he turned on her nightlight and turned off the light. He closed the door and traveled into his bedroom.
He closed the door and saw Erin lying atop the covers. He walked over and lifted her up slightly so he could pull the covers down. Once the covers were all the way down he released her body and pulled the covers over it. Jay undressed down into his boxers and slid into the bed next to her. She rolled over onto her stomach and placed a hand on Jay's chest. "It seems like you had a pretty bad day," Jay stated as Erin dropped her head to Jays shoulder.
"It wasn't bad, it was horrible," she sighed. "The kids were everywhere. I can't wait until I can go back to work, and not have to do this every day."
"Yeah, I miss you at work. But I have to admit, I am jealous of you. Most days our kids are pretty great. Now go to sleep, you look tired," Erin nodded as Jay kissed the top of her head. He sat there and staring into the darkness until he heard her breaths slow and her body become limp. He soon followed.
XXX
Erin awoke slowly, she pulled her hand from under her pillow and over to Jay's side of the bed. She felt coldness, meaning he had probably left for work already. She sat up slowly and glanced at the clock, 10:45. She slept in. Baby Sam hadn't woken her up through the baby monitor; Maddy hadn't run and jumped on the bed. Where the hell were her kids. She stood, pulled on a pair of pants and opened her door. She heard little giggles coming from down the stairs. She slowly walked down hoping the kids weren't just playing by themselves. She took a step into the kitchen and saw Jay holding the baby while he drank his coffee. Probably his third of the day.
"Morning sleep head," Jay smiled as he looked up to see her.
"Why didn't you wake me? And don't you have work?" Erin asked confused. She sat next to Jay and took the mug from his hand.
"Took the day off, I thought you could use some sleep after yesterday. Maddy has developed a fever, so she's sleeping up in her room," Erin nodded as she finished off Jay's coffee. "I also moved the baby monitor to her room so I can hear if she needs something."
Erin wrapped her arms around his left bicep that wasn't holding Sam. "Thank you, for last night and this morning. I don't know what I would do without you," She then rested her head on his shoulder.
"You'd probably go insane," he smiled and leaned down to kiss her. She pulled away and rested her head back onto his shoulder. She reached out her hand and rubbed Sam's stomach. He turned his attention to his mother and gurgled. "We ran out of back up bottles, so you're probably going to have to feed him in a little."
"You ran out of bottles? You should have woken me up, so we didn't run out of back ups."
"After yesterday, you needed your sleep. This little guy could make it a few hours," Jay reasoned.
"Mommy!" Emily and Jessie yelled as they came into the kitchen. They looked towards their father who was nodding his head, urging them to apologize. "We're sorry about the doll yesterday. It wasn't very and we know that know," Erin watched as they hung heir heads in shame.
"Come here babies, mommy's not mad at you. But, now that Sam is here you have to be extra good and help mommy out," Erin said as she got up and went to give her girls a hug. "I love you two."
"I love you too mommy. I drew you a picture," Emily said as she handed Erin a picture of stick figures, one tall looking man, obviously Jay. Another slightly shorter, obviously her, three little girls, and a baby.
"It's so beautiful Em, I love it. I'm going to hang it on the fridge," Erin stood and walked over to the fridge and placed a magnet on it. "Perfect," she exclaimed. She heard Sam gurgle and realized it was time for him to eat. "Here, gimme my baby boy," Erin told Jay as she reached for him. "We'll be upstairs in the rocker. If you need me just let me know."
Erin started for the stairs when Sam's gurgle became light cries. She quickly walked over towards the nursery and sat in the rocker. She lifted Jay's t-shirt and raised his head to begin eating. After a short while, Sam pulled his lips away and slowly drifted to sleep. She pulled her shirt down, and stood up to place Sam back into his crib. She went to turn on the baby monitor, and realized Jay had taken it to Maddy's room. She slowly left the room and entered Maddy's room. She saw her sitting up playing with her lion. "Hey Mads, how are you feeling?" She asked.
"I feel better, can I go play with Jess and Emily?" She asked.
"Well it certainly sounds like you're feeling better. Let me take your temperature," Erin raised the thermometer to her mouth and stuck it under her tongue. When the thermometer beeped she took a look. "99.5, you're good to go kiddo. Go wash your hands before you go downstairs please," Erin watched as Maddy nodded her head and ran out of her room. She grabbed the baby monitor and went to put it in the nursery. She walked over to the crib and stared down at her baby boy.
"Hey," she jumped as she felt hands wrap around her waist. She placed her hands on his. "We did pretty good huh?"
"Yeah, we did pretty good with all four of them."
"I love you, you know that?" Jay asked as he placed his chin on her shoulder.
"After last night and today, I think I figured that out," Erin smiled.
"You know, Em and Jess fell asleep watching TV, this one looks like he's out, and Maddy wanted to take a nap with her big sisters."
"So?" Erin laughed.
"I can show you, better than I can tell you," Jay said as he pulled her out of the nursery and across the hall to their bedroom. He shut the door with his foot, and pulled her closer to him. His mouth found hers as they made their way towards the bed. She dropped to the bed as she scooted her way up towards the pillows. Jay took off his shirt and came to Jay above her. Just as Jay was about to replace his lips on hers he heard a knock at the door.
"Mommy! Mommy! Mommy! Jessie threw up on Emily," they heard Maddy's voice from the other side of the door. Jay groaned.
"Jay, put your shirt back on. I'll get Jessie, you clean Em up," she demanded as she pushed Jay off her and ran out the door.
Two chapters in two days! Wow! I thought that I had time, so I'd do it now, and not make you guys wait a whole other week. This week is INSANE! But Easter is coming, and I'm going home for break again, so I'll have more time to write, HOPEFULLY! Anyway, give me your thoughts. I'm thinking of skipping forward to Sam's baby milestones, like talking and walking and stuff. But I hope you enjoyed!
