I'm back with a Christmas present for you all! Here is the next chapter. I hope you enjoy!
Waking up the next morning, JJ carefully turned to check the clock without waking Will who was still out cold. It was only 4:38. She hated waking up this early. She couldn't go to the hospital for another few hours and it was raining so she couldn't go for her run.
She carefully removed herself from the bed and went into the living room. She opened the cabinet in the corner where they kept their photo albums and such. She pulled out a soft covered book covered in rattles, bottles, and duckies. She opened it to the first page and smiled. It was the first picture of Henry, Will and herself after Henry was born. She turned to the next page and allowed tears to fall as she traced his tiny foot and handprints with her finger before reading all the information she had memorized years before. This was her oldest's baby book that somehow she and Will had managed to fill out. She read every page and looked at every picture, crying as she read over his milestones. The tears were twofold; first, she realized her baby was growing up faster than she was willing to admit, and second, she realized her little girls wouldn't be hitting the milestones her son hit at the same time. She looked over every page, promising to buy books for the triplets and try to fill them out in the coming years.
When she had looked through the book twice, she grabbed a blanket and her laptop and curled up on the couch, determined to inform herself on her daughters' condition as much as possible. She found several organizations as well as online medical journals and blogs about kids with this disorder. She read everything she could, finding out that her girls had an increased chance of precocious puberty, reflux and hypoglycemia. She was about to start looking into treatments when Will came out of the bedroom.
"Jayje," he said, rubbing his eyes, "What are ya doin' up so early? How long have you been up?"
"What time is it?" she asked as he sat down next to her on the couch.
"About 7," he said, taking her computer and placing it on the table.
"It was a little before five when I got up," she said, "I couldn't sleep."
"You were thinkin' bout our girls weren't you?" he asked, kissing her forehead.
JJ nodded sheepishly. "I read a bunch of articles and found a foundation we can get involved in after the girls come home and a bunch of other stuff too," JJ said, "I just want to be ready when they come home."
"You are such a good momma," Will said, kissing her, "Our kids are so lucky to have you, and so am I."JJ smiled as she leaned into him.
After a few minutes, JJ looked up. "We need to get going," she said, "We need to get to the hospital. I need a shower."
"Mind if I join you?" he asked as she got up.
"Of course not," she said, smiling at him.
After having Henry, it had taken her a while to be alright with Will seeing her naked or even without a top on. However, after the triplets, she had needed him close to her and had also relied on him to help her change and use the bathroom the first few days when she decided not to take anything stronger than Advil for her pain. She wasn't completely confident in her body post babies, but she still loved having her husband near her. She knew he loved her no matter what and that helped her get through the uncomfortableness.
After their shower, Will made breakfast while JJ blew her hair dry and pulled it into braids. Once she was ready, she joined Will in the kitchen. They ate quickly, both wanting to get to the hospital. Will had the next two days off and they planned to spend most of them at the hospital. They also wanted to take Henry out to dinner if he was feeling better. Both of them were feeling extremely guilty about having Henry at Emily's, however, they knew they needed to be there for the babies more.
As they drove to the hospital, JJ tried not to think about all her fears with the girls. She knew today would be busy with talking to the triplets doctors and nurses to make sure everyone knew how to best care for the girls. Pulling into the parking lot, JJ felt tears well in her eyes again. She brushed them from her eyes as they left the car and grabbed Will's strong hand.
This hospital held so many memories for them. Henry had been born here; they had gotten engaged here, now the triplets had been born here. As they walked into the NICU, the nurse, Alexa, walked up to them.
"Good morning," she said, "They were fantastic last night. Savannah had an episode of apnea and bradycardia which pretty much means she forgot to breath and her heart rate went down. She's fine, don't worry. It happens a lot with preemies. We just have to give her a bit of stimulation to get her breathing again."
"Is it going to affect her long term?" JJ asked, fearing for her baby's life for the second time in less than twenty four hours.
"It should go away completely by the time she's a year," Alexa explained, "Sometimes these are one-time events, but often, they continue. We have her hooked up to a monitor and if need be, she will be sent home with one as well. It's nothing to worry too much about. She will be fine."
Will nodded as JJ went to Savannah's isolette, stroking her daughter's tiny hand.
"Can we hold them?" Will asked, anxious to start making up for lost time with the triplets.
"Of course," Alexa said, "Who wants to hold who?"
"I'll take Jamie," JJ said, "Will can take Savannah."
Alexa nodded as Will and JJ situated themselves in the chairs next to the isolettes.
"I can teach you two how to get them out of the isolettes," Alexa said, "That way you can hold them even if we aren't available to help."
"That would be great," JJ said, getting up as Will followed.
Getting the babies out turned out to be much easier than either of them anticipated and soon, Jamie and Savannah were happily situated on their parents' chests.
"Would you like to try breast feeding him?" Alexa asked JJ, noticing that Jamie hadn't been fed yet.
"Of course," JJ said, "I didn't know he could with CPAP."
"He most certainly can," Alexa said, "And it looks like he's hungry."
JJ nodded, watching her son's tiny mouth move in a suckling motion. She carefully situated him, covering herself with a blanket and hoping he would latch on. She suddenly felt a feeling she hadn't felt since Henry was a baby and tears started to form in her eyes.
"Will," she said, drawing her husband's attention from their daughter, "He's really doing it. He's really feeding."
"Congratulations Jayje," he said, smiling at her as he reached over and patted her shoulder, knowing just how long JJ had been waiting for this bonding with the triplets.
JJ smiled as she whispered to Jamie as he ate. When he finished, she burped him and smiled at her son, knowing this milestone put him one step closer to going home.
"I heard my big man is eating from his mommy," Dr. Chapman said, coming up to JJ and Will.
"He did," JJ said, beaming.
"How are you two holding up?" he asked, pulling up a stool, "I heard about the girls."
"We are doin' alright," Will said, answering for them both, "We know they aren't dying and that they should live relatively normal lives once we get them in the proper therapies."
"Exactly," Dr. Chapman said, "Well, Jamie looks good and I am thrilled he is able to eat orally. Now the main goals for him are to wean him off the Cpap which might be a struggle because his lungs have been slow to develop. After that, the only thing is getting a bit more weight on him and making sure all his other stats stay stable. I'm hoping by this time next month, we will be talking about his release date. Possibly even sooner if he does well."
JJ and Will both smiled at each other before giving Dr. Chapman a smile.
"Thank you so much," JJ said, looking at the little boy on her chest, "I don't know what we would do without all of you here in the NICU."
"You're both very welcome," Dr. Chapman said, "These little guys make it all worth it though."
Will and JJ nodded as Dr. Chapman got up, "He looks great," he said, "I'll see you guys later."
All during that day, Will and JJ were visited by a whole slew of people, some doctors coming to see the rarity that was the twins with RSS, some just their regular doctors and nurses, some new faces who introduced themselves and who all were there for the twins. They met with a dietitian, a physical therapist, a speech therapist, and Dr. Goodman came back to discuss more of the impacts of RSS on the girls.
By six pm, Will and JJ had seen over thirty people and were both overwhelmed with information. They decided they would leave the NICU early and go pick up Henry to take him out to dinner. JJ had called Derek and Henry's fever was completely gone and he was back to his normal, four year old self. Emily was still pretty sick but she promised not to come near Will and JJ when they came to get Henry.
After kissing all the babies, Will and JJ made their way to the elevator and out to the parking lot. As they climbed into the car, JJ leaned her head back on the seat and closed her eyes, pinching the bridge of her nose.
"What's wrong Jayje?" he asked, reaching over and rubbing her shoulder gently.
"Just overwhelmed," she said, "I just want to take them home and love on them and not have to spend every moment in the NICU and I feel like it's all my fault."
By now, tears were flowing and Will had her enveloped in as much of a hug as he could while still in the car.
"Chere," he whispered into her ear, "You know it's not your fault. Our girls were born different and there was nothing you could have done. And they'll be home sooner than you will realize and you will be pullin' your hair out."
She smiled through her tears, hugging him tightly, nodding her head in his shoulder.
"Now," he said, wiping the tears off her face and kidding her, "Let's go get our little boy."
JJ nodded, ready to see her oldest and get back to at least somewhat normal. As they pulled into Emily's driveway, they both smiled, knowing that they were about to see their little boy. They went to the door and before Will even had a chance to knock, the door flew open and a mess of blonde hair and jeans threw himself at them.
"Mommy, Daddy," Henry cried, jumping into Will's arms, hugging him tightly before reaching for JJ.
"Hey Henry," Will said, kissing his head.
"Hey monkey," JJ said, hugging her oldest to her chest.
"Hey guys," Derek said, "Come in."
"Thanks for watchin' him Derek," Will said, shaking the profiler's hand.
"No problem," Derek said, "When Em told me she was watching him, I couldn't resist coming over and helping. He was really well behaved even when he was sick."
JJ smiled at Henry, kissing his head and rubbing his back.
"How's Emily?" JJ asked, handing Henry to Will as Derek brought his bag.
"She's sleeping right now," he said, "If she's not better tomorrow, I'm taking her to the doctor."
JJ nodded in agreement. "Well we're gonna get goin'" Will said, "Thanks so much for watchin' him."
"You're welcome," Derek said, "Hey did you find out what's going on with the girls yet?"
"we'll tell you later," JJ said, "I want to let everyone know together. They will be fine though."
"Alright," Derek said, respecting their privacy, "See you soon."
"Bye," they all called, going to their car.
"I missed you this much," Henry said, holding out his arms as Will strapped him into his car seat.
"I missed you too," Will said, kidding his head before shutting the door.
"Can we see 'Vannah and Charli and Jamie today?" Henry asked.
"Not today," JJ said, "WE need to make sure you are 100% better so you don't get them sick, but we are going to go out to dinner."
"Yeah," Henry said, cheering.
Will and JJ smiled as they pulled out of the driveway and headed to Henry's favorite restaurant, Applebee's.
After dinner, they headed home, Henry falling asleep in the car. When they got home, they put Henry to bed before curling up in their bed with a computer to learn more about RSS so they could help their girls as they grew.
Hope you enjoyed this chapter. Merry Christmas to all of you! Let me know if you like this story or if you have ideas for other stories I could add to this series. Thanks so much for reading and reviewing and favoriting and following!
