Late morning on Wednesday, December 22nd, Appliance World arrives with the frost-free freezer Matt ordered. Ironically, Betty is nursing Rosalina at the time of the delivery, so she is pleasantly surprised when she enters the kitchen and finds the freezer connected and cooling.
"When she is done nursing, we'll have extra food storage space," comments Matt as he and Betty examine the freezer.
"Yes, we will, but that is not an excuse to go get a membership to one of those warehouses," teases Betty.
"Yes, ma'am," replies Matt with a smirk.
"It arrived just in time," remarks Joyce, "You are running out of space in the fridge and the regular freezer is already half full of your milk."
"Any suggestions on how to maximize the amount of milk we fit in there?" Betty asks Joyce.
"Actually, yes I do," responds Joyce. "If you lie the bags down flat to freeze them, you can them stack them in boxes within the freezer. You label each bag with the date so you use the oldest first. I had one family that I worked with previously where the Mommy was as prolific with milk as you are and that is what she did."
"Only one, well then that woman is in excellent company since Mrs. Gorgeous here does everything at 150%," comments Matt as he gives Betty an adoring look and sweet kiss.
Blushing slightly at Matt's compliment, Betty retorts, "While I'd like to think that my attitude is contributing to the volume of milk I am currently producing, I suspect that some of it is luck and some is due to our wonderful daughter."
"Both of my beautiful ladies have a role in your breastfeeding success thus far," says Matt, with Rosalina, who is in Matt's arms, cooing and giggling, seeming to know that the adults are talking about her; this results in laughter all around.
Following Joyce's instructions, Matt and Betty both take turns flipping the filled bottles into the breastmilk bags, squeezing them to get out any air, holding them over the sink to make sure they are sealed, and then placing them in the freezer. They leave 2-plus bottles worth of milk in the fridge, yet still have 5, 6oz bags in the new freezer.
Picking up the phone, Betty calls Ignacio and asks, "Papi, any chance you, and maybe Elena, would like to watch your now middle grandchild for a few of hours tomorrow while Matt accompanies me to the eye doctor for my lasik consultation?"
"We'd love too!" exclaims Ignacio, "Rosalina and Rosemarie are so close in age, they are almost like twins. With you all spending time in England, I want to treasure every opportunity to be with her."
"We'll see you at 10am, then. That should give us plenty of time to get to the clinic and maybe get some lunch too," states Matt.
Ignacio and Elena arrive at the town home at 9:50, with Betty informing them that Rosalina will likely be up within the hour and want to eat. Betty and Matt leave, getting to the eye clinic a few minutes early. They complete the paperwork, read over the materials, and wait to see the doctor.
After finishing the exam, Dr. Salvo tells them, "Betty is definitely quite near sighted, but her vision is still well within a correctable range. I know that you will be returning to England shortly, so we could schedule the surgery, which is done on an outpatient basis, next Monday."
Glancing at Matt, Betty replies, after taking a deep breath, "Let's go for it. I've worn glasses since I was 8 years old, so it will be a bit weird to not need them, but, as my husband has pointed out, they have recently been somewhat of a necessary nuisance."
"Wonderful," responds Dr. Salvo. "I think you'll find the convenience of not needing glasses well worth it."
"Now it says here that you have a baby," states Dr. Salvo.
"Yes, our daughter, Rosalina, is a little over three months old and has begun to grab at Betty's glasses," answers Matt, with pride evident in his voice when speaking of their daughter.
"This may seem like an odd question, but are you breastfeeding?" asks the Doctor.
"Yes, in fact, exclusively, thus far," replies Betty. "Is that a problem?"
"Not necessarily a problem, but, since you are given a mild anesthetic for the procedure, you will not be able to nurse her for about 4 hours after the surgery. We recommend that you use a breast pump and then throw away the milk you get at that 4-hour or so mark. Some women are reluctant to go that long without nursing, don't want to discard the milk, or both," remarks Dr. Salvo.
Betty and Matt look at each other and laugh, with Matt informing the Doctor, "Betty is currently making enough milk to feed at least twins. Even if Rosalina prefers getting her milk directly from Betty and not from a bottle, she'll make do with an extra bottle feeding or two."
Smiling, Dr. Salvo says, "May be uncomfortable at times for Betty, but will serve her well in terms of this procedure. Please make arrangements with the receptionist for a time to arrive. If you are able, you can even bring your daughter here to the appointment and nurse her right before we start, decreasing the chances of her having an extra bottle-feeding. You would want someone to be able to take her home though since you'll be here for at least two hours."
"Thanks for the suggestion and we will likely have her help drop her Mommy off before leaving with a full belly," comments Matt.
Arriving back home after enjoying a lunch out, just the two of them, and some shopping, Betty and Matt find Ignacio on the floor playing with Rosalina. Betty motions for Matt to be quiet so that she can observe her father's loving interactions with her daughter, getting a bit misty-eyed with how natural and comfortable Ignacio is with Rosalina.
Clearing her throat, Betty softly says, "Papi, we are back and have my surgery scheduled for Monday."
"Mija, that is wonderful," responds Ignacio. "While your glasses are almost like a part of you, I'm sure you'll get used to not needing them very quickly."
"Would you be able to accompany us to the doctor's office and then watch Rosalina for a few hours afterwards?" asks Matt.
Betty informs him, "Because of concerns with the anesthesia getting into my milk, they suggested that I nurse her at their office right before the procedure and then she'll need to have a bottle for the next feeding after that."
"I'll arrange, rearrange my schedule if I have to," replies Ignacio, " Any extra time with Rosalina, and you too, is worth it."
"Thanks, Papi, we appreciate it. We'll see you on Saturday at Hilda and Bobby's for the first Christmas with the girls," Betty tells her father as they warmly embrace.
"I wouldn't miss it," states Ignacio. "Even though there will be two babies there, it will be hard to compete with the excitement of a dropped pregnancy test at last year's gathering," teases Ignacio as he gets ready to leave.
As Betty opens the front door so that the driver can bring in their various purchases, Ignacio asks, "What is all of that?"
"We decided to make use of modern convenience with a New York twist on things. We ordered gifts over the internet during the last few days, but had them hold the presents for those we will see between now and Christmas. We had them ship the gifts to those overseas or to those who we might not see," answers Matt.
"You avoided the crowds but still got to enjoy shopping, something all women seem to like, smart move," comments Ignacio.
"Yes, we decided to not have any big surprises or shockers like last year. You had to remind us of that, now didn't you," retorts Betty with a smile.
After sorting the purchases into piles so that they know which to bring to Matt's mother's home on Christmas Eve and which they will take with them to the Talerico's on Christmas Day, Betty and Matt enjoy the rest of the day as a young family, playing with their blossoming daughter and getting some personal time in as well.
"She's had her last planned feeding of the night," comments Betty softly as she enters Matt's art studio, comes up behind him, wraps her arms around his waist, and plants a kiss in the middle of his back.
Shivering reflectively, Matt, with a wide smile, turns around, and embraces Betty, lowering his mouth to hers, giving her a sultry kiss that leads both of them to groan.
Betty seductively whispers, "We need to get to our room NOW. Even though it is very tempting to stay here, there is no bed and only a hardwood floor."
Matt, who is unable to speak, nods his head and follows Betty to their room, where he locks the door and then takes her back into his arms. They resume their ardent kissing, but then take their time to undress each other slowly, layer by layer. Finding the other extremely responsive, they are rapidly both engulfed in an avalanche of passion.
As they lie together, wrapped in each other's arms, Betty runs her hands across Matt's back as she announces, "I don't know how my not needing glasses will impact things, but I don't see how things can get better between us."
"I agree. I am not sure how things will change without your glasses, other than it will be easier for me to glance into those amazing eyes of yours. You are fantastic for who you are. I love you for who you are and not what you look like. With that said, any positive changes in your appearance are an unexpected bonus for both of us," replies a still slightly breathless Matt as he gives his wife an intense, yet sweet kiss and pulls her even closer.
They fall asleep in each other's arms satiated and satisfied with the knowledge that they are with their partner for life.