CHAPTER TEN
Susan woke up to find Phillip making his way out of bed, "Are you ok?" she asked.
"Yeah, just need to go to the bathroom," he said. "Is it OK if I take a shower?"
"I don't see why not," Susan said. She opened his backpack and pulled out some clothes that David had packed for him when he took her home the other day and handed them to him. Phillip made his way to the bathroom and was soon in the shower.
It wasn't long before he was finished and walked out dressed in a t-shirt and his sweats. He climbed back in bed and picked up his game, "What level are you on?" Susan asked.
"Still on six, but I think I'm almost finished with it," he answered.
"Good morning," the food services lady said as she came in the room with Phillip's breakfast tray.
Phillip put away his game and lifted the lid on the tray allowing the smells from the plate to escape. The color left Susan's face, "Oh," Susan said.
Phillip looked up, "Are you OK?" he asked when he saw the look on her face.
"Umm, I need to get something in my stomach. Will you be OK for a while?" Susan asked.
"Sure," Phillip said.
Susan got up and walked out of the room rather quickly. Away from the room her nausea settled enough that she was able to get to the vending machine at the end of the hall in the stairwell and get a bag of pretzels. She sat down on the bottom step and ate a few of them slowly until her stomach settled. Once her stomach was under control, she made her way to the cafeteria to get a decent breakfast knowing that the few pretzels she ate wouldn't last long.
David walked in Phillip's room to find him finishing off French toast, "Where's Susan?" he asked.
Phillip swallowed, "She said she needed to eat something and then left kinda quick."
"Was she OK?" David asked.
"She had a funny look on her face," Phillip said.
"Funny look?"
"Like she was about to toss her cookies," a voice said behind him. David turned around and saw House standing there. "Sometimes smells trigger that response," he said pointing to Phillip's breakfast tray. "What was on your tray?"
"French toast," Phillip said. "Oh, and hot tea," he said making a face. "I don't like tea."
"I'm going down to the cafeteria to find her," David said.
"You stay here, I'll go," said House. "You have an appointment with the dietician in a few minutes and at least one of you needs to be here when she comes." House left the room and David sat down in the recliner to wait.
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House walked in to the cafeteria and found Susan sitting at a table eating toast and drinking hot tea, "Heard you had a sudden bout of morning sickness," he said.
"Managed to keep everything where it belonged," Susan said. "I just needed to get something in my stomach besides acid."
"Yeah, they call that morning sickness," House said.
"It won't be any worse than that; at least it wasn't last time," Susan said.
"You're not going to be able to hide this for long, especially if the nausea gets worse," House said.
"A. I'm not hiding anything. I'll tell David tonight and B. the nausea is not going to get any worse," Susan answered as House sat down across the table. "I just can't figure out how this happened."
"Umm, well it's like this, when a man and woman…," House started with the twinkle in his eye that he only ever allowed Susan to see.
"Right," she interrupted. "I think we can stop there. No, it's just that we've been very careful, especially with the changes that I'm starting to go through. I can't predict anything anymore and I have to gauge everything on how I feel. I've only allowed non-protection when I knew without a doubt that you know what was going to happen that day, and I haven't messed that up yet."
"How many of those 'you know what's' have you had since you got married?"
"Two," Susan said.
"And you've been married nearly three months. You're not that irregular." House said.
"I am for me. Remember even you told me I was as regular as an atomic clock, now I vary as much as a week this way or that," Susan explained. "Enough variation that I can't just look at the calendar anymore, so we've been careful."
"David wants a kid doesn't he?" House asked.
"Yes, but we talked about it and he understands my hesitation," Susan said. "He's agreed that the risks are pretty high and both of us are in our upper 40's. Most people our age are starting to have grandchildren, not starting over with newborns. We'll be the oldest parents in the school when this one starts kindergarten."
"Bet the protection has a few man-made holes in them," House said.
"David wouldn't do that. We don't keep secrets from each other," Susan said.
"Everybody lies."
"Not David," Susan said. "Not about this. He might not tell me everything to try to protect me, but he wouldn't go behind my back and do something like this. He loves me too much." Susan took another bite of her toast.
"He is protective, but he's also possessive," House said.
"How do you mean?" Susan asked.
"He's always holding or touching you, like he's expecting you to run off," House said.
Susan smiled, "He's not being possessive. He's overcompensating."
House looked at her inquisitively and Susan explained, "I've shared with him everything from my marriage to Jeff. He knows that Jeff was 'hands off' except when he had to touch me for some reason or another and he knows that I craved that attention. He's trying to make up for that so I won't feel the same way with him, so every time we're in the same vicinity, he's holding my hand, or has his arm around me. He even sleeps like that, though he knows not to crowd me too much because I get too hot at night otherwise."
"I'd still check the prophylactics," House said. He stood up, "I wouldn't take too much longer down here; your possessive lover boy will start hunting you down if you don't show up soon."
"I didn't realize he was here already," Susan said. She took her last bite of toast and got up.
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Susan arrived back in Phillip's room moments after the dietician. David looked over at her as she came in, obviously relieved to see her, "I heard you were feeling a little sick earlier."
"I'm fine, I just needed to get something in my stomach," Susan said blowing it off as nothing.
The dietician introduced herself to Susan and then the four of them sat down in varying places around Phillip's bed and went over the dietary restrictions necessary for a person with OTC Syndrome. She explained that because Phillip was still growing that he did need some protein but that they should limit his intake to 12 grams per day and that he should be checked regularly for his ammonia levels. She also told him that his doctor would prescribe medication to help keep the ammonia levels down, but that despite everything they would do to keep levels in the normal range; it was possible when he was middle aged that he would need a liver transplant. Hearing that was a surprise to David and Phillip, although Susan already knew that this was a possibility. "You knew this already," David said to Susan.
Susan nodded.
"Why didn't you tell me?" David asked.
"I was planning on it later; I just didn't want to talk about it in front of Phillip. I didn't want to worry him and who knows what treatments they'll come up with in the next few years. We're going to follow the diet closely and do everything we can to protect his liver and we're going to stay current on the research surrounding the disease," Susan said.
Phillip looked at Susan, "You gave your liver to Dr. House. He's doing OK."
"Yes, you can live a long time with a liver transplant, but let's not cross that bridge unless we have to," Susan said. "We'll do everything we can to keep yours healthy."
The dietician took her leave having left behind a stack of literature for them to read along with a number of recipes for them to try. David started packing up the literature and Phillip's things when the nurse came in to start the procedures to release Phillip from the hospital. She handed Susan the prescriptions that Dr. House had written out for Phillip along with a note with David's name on the front which she handed to David without opening it.
David opened the note and read it, glanced up at Susan, and then put in his pocket, "What did it say dad?" Phillip asked.
"It was personal," David said.
Phillip got out of bed and sat down in the wheel chair he was required to sit in until he left the hospital building, "I'm glad to go home."
"So are we," David answered. The three of them walked out of the hospital together, but since they were in two different vehicles, Phillip rode home with his dad. Susan decided to run by the drug store on her way home.
Susan returned to the house about a half hour after David and Phillip. She walked in the door and headed to the bedroom with her purchases and then went into the kitchen where David was trying to figure out what to fix for lunch that was within Phillip's new dietary restrictions. "Hey," she said walking up to him.
"Hey," he said smiling down at her. "What took you so long?"
"I deviated to the drug store to pick up a few things," Susan said.
"Deviated? Funny way of putting it. So, are you ready to talk to me yet?" David asked. "I know there's more than just the potential liver damage on your mind."
"Where's Phillip?"
"I'm right here," Phillip said as he walked in the kitchen. What are we eating? I'm hungry."
Susan opened the refrigerator, pulled out an apple and tossed it over to Phillip, "Eat that to hold you over and we'll work on one of the recipes we picked out." Susan pulled out the cookbook, opened it and the three of them together prepared their first vegetarian dish.
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Susan sat on the edge of the bed pulling off her shoes while David was in the bathroom. He emerged a few moments later significantly less dressed than he had been when he went in. Susan got up and came close, just as she came near and he put his arms out, she passed by in a teasing manner, "My turn," went into the bathroom and closed the door.
David growled, "Tease!" He heard Susan laugh through the door.
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Phillip had just turned off his light and crawled in his bed. He heard his dad make some noise at Susan and her laugh. He couldn't hear the details of their conversations, just mumblings and of course sometimes, if he was lying awake at night he heard other sounds, but usually he couldn't hear them at all. Of course, when he did hear them he knew what they were doing, he was twelve after all and he knew all about sex. He remembered last month when Jerrod was spending the night, they heard those noises. Jerrod had been telling him about his step mother and how much she was always getting into his business making Phillip wonder how long it would be before Susan did the same thing. Suddenly Jerrod got a look on his face as he listened to the sounds through the vents, "I know how you could keep her out of your business," he said.
"How's that?" Phillip had asked.
"I'll show you tomorrow," he said and then the boys turned up the volume on the video screen and concentrated on their game.
The next morning, they snuck into David and Susan's bedroom and Jerrod went into their bathroom. He started looking through the cabinets. "What are you looking for?"
"Your stepmom's medicine."
"Why?"
"I want to see if she's on the pill," Jerrod said.
Phillip looked confused, "What pill?"
"Don't you know anything? The one that keeps her from getting pregnant," Jerrod explained.
"Oh, I see her take two pills every morning, but she said they are to keep her blood pressure normal."
"Are they in a packet or something that looks like a wallet?" Jerrod asked. "My real mom's are in a round packet."
"These are just in regular pill bottles," Phillip said.
"Then that's not them. I bet they use condoms," Jerrod said and he went to the bed and opened the drawer "Bingo. I need a needle."
"Why?"
Jerrod looked at Phillip, "Do I have to explain everything to you? If we poke holes in these, then she'll get pregnant. Then she'll be so busy with the baby that she won't have time to bother with you."
"Oh. I don't think we should do that," Phillip said.
"It's the only way Phillip and I promise it will work."
"I don't know," Phillip said.
"You're just chicken," Jerrod said as he started rummaging through the drawer. He found a small sewing kit for repairing buttons and things, "Perfect." He pushed a needle through the first condom.
"Jerrod stop, I really don't think we should do this," Phillip said. "Let's go back upstairs and play another video game."
"Fine then," he said dropping the condom back in the drawer, "I was just trying to help you out."
They had gone back upstairs and by the time Jerrod had to leave, Phillip had forgotten about the condom until just before bed. He couldn't go down and get it then because his parents were already asleep in their in their room. He decided he's go in there in the morning and throw it away. The next morning he'd gone in their room, but the condom with the needle hole in it was gone.
Phillip knew what he needed to do, but he also knew that he would get in a lot of trouble. He tossed and turned for a while and then finally got up and headed down stairs.
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Susan came out of the bathroom in her nightshirt and walked over to her side of the bed. She pulled a bottle of lotion out of her drawer and started rubbing some on her legs, "My skin is so dry right now. It's driving me nuts."
David sat up in bed and took the lotion from her, "Lay back." David put some lotion in his hands are started massaging it into the skin on her legs.
Susan melted into the bed, "You are too good to me," she said savoring the moment. After a couple of minutes of the most wonderful massage she had ever had, she said, "I've been thinking."
"No kidding," David said teasing her. Susan went silent. After a moment David stopped and looked at her, "Well?"
"Well what?" Susan asked with a twinkle in her eye.
"What have you been thinking?" David asked.
"Oh, you want to know," Susan said. "Nothing." David stopped massaging, "Hey don't stop!" Susan said.
"Oh, you want me to continue," David said with a laugh in his voice.
Susan smiled at him. "Phillip doesn't want me to be his stepmom. Instead of just giving me guardianship of him, would you be OK if I adopted him? That way, I'd be his real mom and this whole stepmom issue he has been dealing with goes away."
David continued his massage, "I think I would like that, but we should leave it up to Phillip. We'll talk to him about it tomorrow." David finished massaging the lotion into Susan's legs and started working his way over the rest of her body nudging her out of her night clothes as he was doing so, "I don't know why you insist on wearing something to bed, you know I'm just going to take it back off," he said as he nuzzled down closer to her.
"Two reasons, I can't sleep that way because I feel too exposed," Susan said lifting her arms as he removed the night shirt.
He pulled her closer to him, "You said two reasons," as he started kissing her neck and ear.
Susan's breath started getting heavier, "I like the way it feels when you take it off."
"Oh, that's just naughty," he said with a growl. He pulled Susan under him and reached to the nightstand for the package she always had prepared for him. It wasn't there, so without missing a beat he deftly opened the drawer and pulled one out.
Susan reached for his hand and took the package away, "You don't need this tonight," she said softly and dropped it to the floor. David grunted his acknowledgement and found his way home.
David and Susan lay staring at the ceiling, their breathing slowly coming back to normal pace, "So I guess I've got about a week or so of limited access," David said.
"No," Susan said. "No limited access."
David turned his head toward her, "But the only time you've let me go without is when you're getting ready to start."
"I know," Susan said.
David was quiet for a moment, "Have you changed your mind about trying?"
"No," Susan said.
"Then what was the occasion, not that I'm complaining, but…"
"Once the dam has been breached, you may as well open the flood gates," Susan interrupted.
"The dam has been breached?" David said working out the metaphor in his mind.
Susan turned toward him, "One of your little swimmers managed to escape, though I haven't figured out how. We're always so careful."
He turned toward her, "You're pregnant?" Susan nodded. David smiled at her then sobered when he saw the look in her eyes. "What's wrong?"
"I'm scared," she answered. "I'm too old, David. So many things can go wrong."
"And we're not going to worry about them. We'll get you the best care and Phillip and I will be with you every step of the way."
"Phillip is the other thing I'm worried about, he's only just now accepted me. What's going to happen when the baby comes along and I have to place so much of my attention on the baby and less on him? How's he going to react?"
"We've got nine months to get him used to the idea; it'll be fine," David assured her. "Well, I guess nine months, how far along are you?"
"It's been almost six weeks since my last cycle, but Greg thinks I'm about four weeks. He's set up an appointment for me with Dr. Anderson. He says she's the least idiotic, which means that he has a lot of respect for her."
"This explains a lot actually," David said. "All the references about you needing to take care of yourself and that sudden bout of nausea….," he trailed off thinking, "Susan?" Susan looked into David's eyes, "Why did you tell House before you told me? I know he's your brother, but I'm your husband. You should be comfortable to tell me anything."
Susan smiled and rubbed her hand across David's face, "I am comfortable to tell you anything," Susan said. "I didn't tell Greg. He told me. Believe me, if I'd known, you would have been the first person I told."
"How did he know?" David asked.
"He just did. He's that good at what he does," Susan said. "In fact, he's already saved our child from a long life of kidney problems." David looked at her in question. "I was talking to him in his office when he asked out of the blue what medication I was on for my blood pressure and when I told him he wrote out a new prescription. Linsinopril causes kidney deformations in the second and third trimester. If he hadn't gotten out of prison early…" Susan's voice caught, "I just thought I was going through menopause."
David brought Susan closer to him and held her tight, "And that's why everything is going to be fine. You have the best doctor in the world for a brother and he's going to be watching you like a hawk. The only person more protective of you than him is me. Everything is going to be fine. Our baby is going to be fine."
They cuddled for a while and then Susan got up and made her way to the bathroom, stopping to pick up her nightshirt and fresh underwear on the way. She shut the door and left David to his thoughts. His son had finally accepted Susan as his mother and although he had a genetic condition, he was going to be okay. His wife was pregnant with his child and though he wasn't upset about it at all, he couldn't help but wonder what happened. He didn't remember any tears or slippages…..there was a knock on the door, "Dad? Can I come in?"
"What's wrong Phillip, are you OK?"
Phillip opened the door, "I need to talk to you."
Susan heard Phillip come in the bedroom and heard them talking. She finished dressing, turned out the light and opened the door quietly so she could hear.
"….and then he poked a hole in it and when I came back to get it and throw it away it was gone."
"Son, I'm at a loss for words here. I can't believe you would do something like that," David paused for a moment and the more he thought about it, the angrier he got. "Son, you've allowed Jerrod to influence you far too much. This is serious son, your actions…..no, don't start blaming him for your actions," he said pointing at Phillip when he saw him start to defend himself. "You knew what he was doing and you could have stopped him before the damage had been done or at the very least taken the damaged one from him and threw it away then. Your actions," he said pointing at him again, "have consequences, serious ones. Because of what you've done, Susan is pregnant. This isn't going to be easy for her at her age and the baby is at a higher risk for Downs Syndrome among other things and while we will all love the baby and be blessed by it, this pregnancy should have been her decision to make and you took that away from her," he continued, his voice getting louder and more firm the longer he went. "You've hurt her over and over because you apparently lack the ability to see things yourself. This is it Phillip, I've had it. I think I've been pretty patient up to now, but not anymore. I don't want you hanging around Jerrod anymore."
Phillip started to argue back, but David interrupted him, "No, I don't want to hear it. No more; period."
"Phillip, go to your room. We'll talk about this tomorrow," Susan said from the bathroom doorway.
Phillip turned his head to look toward Susan, "Yes ma'am," he said quietly. He left and went to his room.
Susan came to bed and climbed in, "You need to calm down."
"I can't believe this," David said. "Why would he do something like this?" He looked over at Susan, "Why aren't you angry?"
"Not much point, what's done is done. As you said, we're going to love the baby and be blessed by it. Besides, this happened weeks ago. He only just opened up to me yesterday. This confession is his way of coming to terms with his actions over the last couple of months," Susan said. "He wants to be forgiven."
"So, you're saying that we should just let it go," David said.
"Not at all, there needs to be consequences for his actions and behavior, but he needs to know we still love him despite everything."
"What kinds of consequences?" David asked.
"I'm thinking diaper patrol," Susan said with a smile. "Seriously though, let him stew over what you said tonight and then tomorrow we'll talk and make that decision. However, I don't think your limiting his exposure to Jerrod is going to work; they go to the same school and have several classes together. I think he feels bad for everything and my guess is that he'll limit his time with Jerrod on his own."
Susan yawned, "I'm tired." She kissed David on the cheek and laid down facing away from David, letting him to his thoughts.
After several moments he said, "Susan?"
"Mmmhmm."
"I'm taking you on a honeymoon weekend after next."
"What about Phillip?" Susan asked opening her eyes.
"You know that note that was with the prescriptions? It was from House," David said.
"Ok," Susan answered not quite understanding.
"It said, 'Bring the kid over in two weekends; you can have three days.'"
Susan smiled, he did it again. He never failed to come through for her even when in prison or under house arrest, "Sounds good," she said and went to sleep.
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House lay in bed staring at the ceiling. He couldn't sleep. By now he figured, Susan had told David about the baby and he probably told her about his note. What was he going to do with a pre-teen boy for three days? Well, there was the guitar; they could start with his lessons. At the rate Phillip was going, he'd have that game whipped in two more days. They could play video games; he wondered if the kid knew how to play chess. He'd ask Wilson what to do, he'd know. He turned on his side and saw the stack of letters on the nightstand. He reached over and picked them up.
He sat up in bed and took off the rubber band from around the letters. He took the top letter off the stack which was the oldest and opened it. When he pulled out the letter and unfolded it, a string bracelet fell out. He picked it up and looked at the pattern Susan had designed when she braided it. He slipped it on his wrist and began to read, Dear Greg…
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David turned on his side toward Susan and spooned up behind her leaving a little bit a space between their bodies so she wouldn't get too hot. He gently rubbed her back, carefully so he wouldn't wake her. He thought about everything that had happened in their lives over the last three months. So many changes and adjustments for everybody in such a short period of time: House had been in prison and then suddenly was not, but he still wasn't free so he was adjusting to life bound by restrictions, something he certainly wasn't used to. He and Susan had gotten married and they were adjusting to life with each other. Phillip had to adjust to having Susan in his life full time and on top of that now had to deal with his illness and the restrictions on his diet. Laura was due to be home in a few weeks for Thanksgiving break; they'd tell her their news, and she'd be happy for them and then would go back to school. It wouldn't affect her a great deal until she came home over the summer. It'd be good to have her home then because that would be perfect timing to help with the newborn. And then there was him; he was married and about to be a father for the second, no third time in his life if he counted Laura too – and he did. He was older and Susan was right, it would be a lot harder this time around than it was when they were young. His hand found its way to the bottom of her shirt and he slipped his hand underneath and up the front. He had to reach up to her chest and hold her there for a minute – he was a guy, he just had to, but soon he moved his hand down to her abdomen to cover his baby. Yes, lots of changes to adjust to in his life and while this one was a big one, it was one he was more than happy to accommodate. He kissed the back of her neck and fell asleep.