Chapter 10
"So, tell me everything!" Carol said, making herself comfortable on the couch. Sandra smiled. "Well, where should I start…yeah. So, SJ came home from Australia and when Carrie saw me outside she invited me to come in to look at the pictures he made. That was when I met him for the first time!" Sandra stopped and took a nip from her beer. "Great, I still haven't seen the pics! But go on with your story!" Carol answered, leaning back. "Okay. Two days later he invited me to the theater. There he kissed me the first time. And then we had dinner and yeah, today we met again. Very interesting, right?" Sandra said and Carol laughed. "Well, of course it's interesting! You're falling in love with our neighbor boy; I think it's very exciting!" Carol answered but Sandra just shrugged. "Well, it's still very fresh…" she said and Carol nodded. "I know…but very sweet! I wish you good luck!" she answered smiling.
Later, Sandra helped bringing the kids to bed. "Sandwa can you wead us a stowy?" Kate asked when she was tucked in bed. "SandRa…not Sandwa! Try to say Sandra…and no sweetie, it's late already!" Carol said yawning. "Sandwa Sandwa Sandwa Sandwa!" Kate laughed and Carol rolled her eyes. "Good night then!" she smiled and Kate smiled too. "Alwight, good night then mum!" Carol just laughed and shook her head, kissing Kate's cheek. "Good night princess!" she said to Tess and kissed her cheek too. "Good night mommy!" Tess answered and closed her eyes. "They're so good today…what happened with them?" Carol wondered and Sandra shrugged her shoulders as they walked out of the twins' room. "No idea, but I like it! So…are you okay? I mean…" Sandra answered, knowing that she was sad because of Travis, but Carol cut her off. "I'm okay, don't worry", she just answered.
But nothing was okay. Carol couldn't sleep at night. She missed Doug around her. It felt so hot in the bedroom again. She wondered if Travis had a good night's sleep. It was the second night she got no sleep, but the more she tried the more awake she was. She reached for her cell phone and started to write Doug a message.
"Hey hun! How are you? Lot of work?" she wrote and then waited. "What are you still doing up? Go to bed!" came back some minutes later. Carol smiled. "Yes dad. I'll try it. But I miss you."
Doug didn't write back, but instead he called her. "Hey", she answered the phone with a smile. "Believe me, I miss you too! And not much to do right now…can't wait to go home though", Doug answered. "Can't you come home earlier?" Carol asked, not wanting to spend the night alone. "Sorry…I really can't. But I'll be home around 8, I promise!" Doug answered. "Okay then. I love you!" "I love you too! And now try to sleep!" Doug said and hung up. Carol smiled. After the telephone call she closed her eyes and she found a restless sleep.
The next morning Carol woke up because she heard some knocks at the front door. With a headache she got out of bed and went downstairs. "Hey, did you miss…" she started but stopped immediately as she saw who was standing in front of the door. "I'm sorry to show up without calling or anything…but…he doesn't stop crying…I'm Valerie, by the way", the woman in front of Carol said, but Carol could only look at the baby in the woman's arms. Travis. It felt like her heart stopped to beat, like she didn't know how to breathe anymore. Only some seconds later Carol came back to reality and she looked at Valerie again. "Why did you come here?" she said calmly. "I…I talked to Mrs. Garrett. I…she said…you're the only one who can calm him down. Please…he's crying since we got him…he didn't sleep very much…he cried all night!" Valerie moaned and a tear rolled down her cheek. "Please, come in!" Carol said, inviting the woman in. It already seemed that Travis got more silent. "Do you want a coffee or something?" Carol asked. "No…thank you…I had a bunch of cups last night…he just doesn't stop crying!" Valerie answered. "You can't come here every time he cries…" Carol answered, taking a seat beside the woman. "I know, but that's not what I'm here for!" Carol couldn't respond because the front door got open and Doug showed up in the living room. "Hey…what's going on here?" he asked slowly, stepping in front of the two women. "I'm Valerie…Travis doesn't stop crying. I don't know what to do", Valerie said, looking at the baby again. Carol got up. "Can I talk to you for a second?" she asked and Doug nodded. They went into the kitchen.
"I can't do this!" Carol said and started to cry. Doug hugged her. "Shhh…we don't even know what she wants!" he said and stroke over her hair. "I want her out of my house. I can't look at Travis. He's…god, why did she come here?" Carol whispered and Doug took a step back. "Listen; let's just hear what Valerie wants from us, okay?" Doug suggested and Carol nodded. "Okay then…" she whispered again and wiped away the tears.
"Okay Valerie. Can I take a look at Travis, see if everything is okay?" Doug asked as they came back to the living room. Valerie nodded and handed the baby to Doug. Travis cried even louder now. Carol's heart ached, seeing this and she was near tears again. "Hey Trav…don't you know me anymore? Why are you so mad?" Doug said calmly and Travis stopped the crying as soon as he heard Doug's voice. "Oh God…" Valerie murmured. Carol just had eyes for Doug and Travis. "Oh, you remember me, right? How's your food? Good? Show me how good it is!" Doug held Travis up and the little baby boy kicked his feet like a healthy baby. "Everything is okay with him!" Doug now said to Valerie and she looked up. "No. It's not. He's crying. Give him to me. He'll start to cry. I can't handle this!" Valerie got loud. "It's only been one day…" Doug answered but Val shook her head. "And one night. He needs to be with you", she now said calmly. "What", Carol asked, "what do you mean? It's not that easy!" Doug was really surprised by this answer. He expected that Carol would say okay immediately. "I know. Please call Mrs. Garrett to come. I…god, I can't take him home with me. I discussed this with my husband. I feel that this baby needs to be with you. Please. Help me", Valerie said. Doug and Carol looked at each other. "Just give us some minutes!" Carol said and her hopes rose again.
The twins woke up half an hour later. Carol got them dressed and then made breakfast. She herself wasn't hungry at all, but the twins wanted to have pancakes. Sandra helped Carol but was really puzzled. "What's going on?" she whispered. Carol sighed. "Valerie is here…she and her husband adopted Travis, but now she's saying she can't bear having him any longer!" Carol explained. "Why?" Sandra asked again. "Because it looks like Travis misses us…" Carol whispered back. Somehow it felt like all of this wasn't real at all. "Oh…wow", Sandra just said and Carol nodded. "Yeah…wow!" was all she replied. "Okay, I'm in a hurry; I need to be at school in 30 minutes! Erm…good luck then!" Sandra said to Carol and then waved to Tess and Kate. "Thanks Sandy", Carol murmured, standing at the kitchen counter and nipping her coffee that didn't taste very good to her.
Doug, no longer tired from his night shift, opened the door a little bit later to let Julia in. "What's going on?" Julia asked, putting off her coat. "Valerie is here…with Travis!" Doug whispered and led her to the living room. Now Carol and the twins were there too. Valerie was still crying but nobody said a word. Travis was sleeping on the couch, exhausted from all the crying. "Hi Valerie!" Julia said and they shook hands. "I can't have him any longer", Valerie said. "Why?" Julia asked. "He's crying all the time. When he's in his bed, he's crying. When I pick him up, he's crying. When Alex is singing him a song, he's crying. Then we came here and Dr. Ross held him and the crying stopped. Travis belongs here. I can't have him any longer", she explained. Julia just nodded. This was the first time in her career that something like that happened. She looked to Carol who was sitting there and staring into the air. "You need to sign some papers. Your husband needs to sign them too. Do you have a fax machine here?" Julia asked Doug and he nodded. "Well then let me phone my office and they shall fax the papers through. Are you okay, with all of this?" she asked again. "Of course", Doug answered because Carol didn't say a word.
"This is so crazy", Julia said as she was with Doug in his office. "Totally", Doug answered, "but it's the right way. You know that." Julia nodded. "I knew it from the beginning, but as I said, it wasn't my decision!" she answered and Doug nodded. "Carol isn't feeling very well, is she?" Julia now asked. "It's just a virus infection", Doug said and Julia nodded. "Oh, the papers are here!" she then said and sorted them. Doug couldn't believe it, but he really was nervous. He would have a baby soon.
"Good bye, Travis…good bye!" Valerie cried and kissed the baby on the cheek. Alexander, who came to the house earlier, didn't say anything but "bye". It seemed to Carol that he was happy to leave Travis here. And she herself could still not believe it. It seemed so unreal. So, Valerie and Alexander left the house and Julia now turned to Doug and Carol. "I'll send you the papers when they are ready, okay? Then you are his legal parents!" she said. "Thank you Julia. See you soon!" Carol now answered. Julia left the house and silence filled the hallway. "Carol?" Doug now said to her and she turned to him. "Wanna hold him now?" he asked, but she shook her head. "Not yet…first, I have to do this!" she answered and went to him. She took his head in her hands and kissed him passionately while tears of happiness ran down her cheeks. This was like it was meant to be.