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June 2007
Greg walked into the break room to get his coffee fix when Nick spotted him.
"Hey welcome back Greggo. I was wondering when you would get tired of diaper duty," joked Nick. Greg rolled his eyes and started fixing a pot of Blue Hawaiian; he had been on leave for about three weeks with Jenna and Katie.
"I'll take a dirty diaper any day over dumpster diving thank you very much," said Greg.
"So how's life outside the NICU?" asked Nick. Greg poured himself and Nick a cup of coffee and thought back to the last couple of weeks.
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The beeping of a machine sent both Greg and Jenna sitting bolt right up in their chairs and looking around waiting for a nurse or doctor to swoop in for Katie. Katie however was sleeping in her bed not five inches from them; the beeping was from a heart monitor attached to the baby in the crib across the room. Jenna looked at Greg and shook her head.
"I'll never get used to it, no matter what they say." She looked at her watch and sighed. "It's almost time for morning rounds; let's hope it's a good morning." Jenna reached into the bed and moved a wire off Katie's neck.
Katie had a set back on her second night in the hospital, she had stopped breathing again in her sleep and they had her put back on the respirator and steroid treatment, it turned out not to be apnea, it was an infection in her lungs and they had placed back in the NICU to be sure she was going to be alright once she left. The doctors had assured them that an infection was better than apnea, since it was caught early it wouldn't spread and could be treated with little to no issues, with apnea it would be a forever issue that would have to be watched closely until she was an adult. They were taking steps forward, she had taken her off the respirator three nights ago, but she was still attached to a breathing monitor just in case and she was almost finished with her antibiotics.
Jenna started playing with Katie's hair and she looked at Greg and gave him a small smile.
"You wanna shower first this morning, you look like hell." Greg gave her a small laugh.
"And you're Princess Diana with your hoodie and workout pants on. Do you remember who's visiting today is it my parents or your mom?" asked Greg.
They were only allowed a few visitors in the NICU and his parents and Jenna's mom had been taking turns visiting them. They would come in each day and would bring them a change of clothes or they would sit with Katie in case they wanted to eat or just go outside for fresh air.
The nurses and other doctors told them they could go home if they wanted and they would call them if there was a change in her condition; however Greg and Jenna were like most parents in the ward, you have to pry them away and even that may not work. They had learned how fast conditions could change, when Jenna and Greg returned to the NICU a baby that was slated to go home in two days started suffering from a blood infection that night and died the next day, the furthest away either one of them had been from this room in a week was when Nick and Catherine made both of them go with them to breakfast at a café down the street and that was for an hour and they went back to the hospital.
Before Jenna could answer Greg's question, the med student that had been assigned to them Kelly Downing came over and handed each of them a cup of coffee.
"Good morning how's Athena?" The doctors and nurses gave all the babies in the NICU tough guy nicknames; they said it made them fight even more. Kelly had dubbed Katie Athena to keep up a trend going on in the ward, they had an Ares in the crib next to them and a set of triplets across the room had been dubbed by another med student as Helen, Odysseus and Achilles.
"She woke up by herself for her feedings last night." That was another issue they were worried about, sometimes Katie would sleep through her feedings and Jenna would have to wake her up. She was gaining weight though and was off her feeding tube and when she was awake she seemed to be more alert and active. Kelly reached into the bed and woke Katie up, Katie looked at her and she started to fuss. Kelly just smiled at her and started taking off the breathing monitor and talking to Katie in a cheerful voice.
"I know, I'm you're favorite person in the whole wide world. I come in each morning, wake you up for a seven am poke and prod and if you're a good girl I'm not sticking you with something. I promise that this is going to be over soon and you'll never see me again and that will be a very happy day not only for you but for mommy and daddy too. Ok, let's take a listen," Kelly pulled out her stethoscope and listened to Katie's heartbeat.
"Good heartbeat, let's listen to your lungs." Kelly moved the scope and took another listen. "I'm going to order another chest x-ray to see what's there, but I think if she keeps up her own breathing today and tomorrow, her weight gain is good, I think our little Athena can go home," Kelly handed Katie to Jenna and Katie grabbed a fist full of hoodie and just stared at them with great big doe eyes. Jenna kissed her on the forehead and looked back to Kelly.
"How soon can the x-ray be done?" asked Jenna.
"We can do it after Katie gets breakfast and after you two have showered, because both of you look horrible. I've been here for hours and got called into three deliveries and I somehow look better than both of you." Greg just looked at her.
"Gee thanks, your concern for us is staggering." Kelly just shrugged.
"Someone has to make sure that mom and dad are taken care of." Kelly walked over to do her exam on another one of her patients and Jenna stood up with Katie.
"I'm going to go into the private room and feed her; you take first shower and see if the Breakfast Brigade is coming in this morning. Just think we have good news for them," said Jenna.
The Breakfast Brigade consisted of Nick, Catherine, Warrick, Mandy, Wendy, Archie and Hodges. They came in after shift ended and brought Greg and Jenna breakfast and they took turns seeing Katie in the NICU, they were only allowed two at a time and since they weren't family they could only see her for a few minutes. Greg got of his chair, bent down and gave Katie a kiss on the cheek.
"See you in a few," said Greg. He reached into a little cabinet that each parent had in the NICU and grabbed his clothes and his shower kit, took off his scrubs and headed out of the NICU and towards the lobby and the bathrooms. He reached the lobby and was about to head into the hallway that lead into the bathroom when someone called his name. He turned around and was surprised to see Grissom standing there holding a small white bear; he hadn't seen his boss since the night Sara had been kidnapped.
He had gone to see Sara before Katie's return to the NICU and neither she nor Grissom were there. According to what Catherine had told him later on that night, Sara had left the hospital against medical advice after being treated and Grissom had called Ecklie to ask for two weeks off for both of them and neither one had been heard from after Grissom called Ecklie and put Catherine in charge of the night shift and neither Grissom or Sara were picking up the phone. Greg couldn't help but feel a little let down by the two people who were his mentors and future godparents to his daughter, they hadn't been out here at all since Katie was born, in fact neither one had seen her yet. Greg knew that Sara had gone through a horrible experience, but was it to much to ask for a phone call or a hello from them, considering what the team went through to find her.
"Little early don't you think?" asked Greg and Grissom shrugged.
"I heard that visiting hours started at eight, I figured that I would come in and just wait," said Grissom. "How are you?" Greg felt that this was a really dumb question considering where he was.
"I'm tried; I haven't slept in a real bed, had a real meal, or taken a good hot shower in a week. I'm almost out of leave time and," Grissom cut him off.
"No you're not; I gave you four weeks of my leave time. You can give any co-worker leave time if you have over fifteen weeks of it saved. Trust me; I have over fifteen weeks of it saved even after taking sabbatical. Take as much time as you need to get things settled with Katie and Jenna."
"Thank you…how's Sara?" asked Greg. Grissom looked around the lobby and than back at Greg.
"She wants to go back to work; you can imagine how well it went over when Ecklie and I both told her no that she had to wait a few more weeks." Greg sighed and decided to tell Grissom what he really thought and what the team had been saying.
"I just…it was really shitty not just to me but to the whole team the way you guys went into hiding and haven't seen anyone," said Greg. "We were all freaked out about what happened to Sara and I already knew you guys were together, but to the rest of the team it was a bombshell and you just dropped it on them and than you don't talk to anyone for a week and it was unfair to everyone who was out there looking for her."
"Sara and I…we've never been good at dealing with people and we realize our actions were very selfish to those around us and we would like to start apologizing to everyone, we just, we needed some time alone to figure out what to do next and we still don't know what to do but hiding wasn't the answer. We figured if we were going to start apologizing to people that you and Jenna should be at the top of the list."
Greg nodded, he was still slightly peeved off at Grissom, but at least he was trying to make an effort.
"I was getting ready to take a shower, but Jenna's feeding Katie in the NICU. Hold on a second." Greg walked over to nurse at the front desk and asked her if it was okay for Grissom to be in the NICU."
"Is he family?" she asked.
"Yes," Greg lied, the nurse knew it, but she decided to wave the fifteen minute rule.
"I'll take him to the NICU and explain the rules," she got up and gestured to Grissom. "This way please." Grissom went to follow the nurse he paused and looked at Greg.
"You really look horrible; I never thought I would see you without product in your hair or five o'clock shadow," said Grissom.
"You know if freaks people out when you try to joke like that."
"Oh I wasn't joking." He turned and followed the nurse down the hall. Greg shook his head and went into the bathroom.
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"And than when the Prince and Cinderella went past the tree, two white doves called out: There they go, there they go! No blood on her shoe; the shoe's not to small, the right bride is she after all," said Jenna. She had taken Katie into one of the private rooms that was attached to the main NICU room to feed Katie.
Considering everything that went on in the NICU, you think a little thing like breastfeeding in the open wouldn't be an issue, but some moms like Jenna wanted a little privacy and alone time and there were several rooms that allowed them to have some alone time.
She had started telling Katie the stories her own grandmother used to tell her from Grimm's fairy tales during feeding time. The doctors encouraged her and Greg to talk with Katie when she was awake so she would be interested in staying awake longer and get used to her parents. She and Greg decided that story telling was the best way to keep the baby interested. She wondered if the baby had any understand of what Jenna was telling her, but she seemed to like the sound of Jenna talking to her. Right now the little girl just looked up her with her great big eyes, one hand had a fist full of her own hair and her other hand was pulling on a loose strand of Jenna's own hair.
"I promise not to drop you so you can ease up on the hair pulling," Jenna pulled the baby away from her breast and pulled her shirt back down. "Sorry pumpkin you cleaned me out for right now," said Jenna when she noticed the baby getting ready to pout.
She put Katie on her shoulder and started trying to burp her. She felt Katie get an even firmer hold on her hair and she just buried her little head into small towel Jenna was using. Jenna smiled and started rubbing the baby's back; she had been worried that she and Katie wouldn't bond after being separated right after Katie was born, but Katie seemed to take her and Greg just fine.
"I love you very much sweetheart and I can't wait to take you home. Your Nana and Papa Sanders and your Nana Clarissa are going to spoil you rotten and all your adopted aunts and uncles can't wait till you're home. You're one very lucky little girl to have so many people love you so much." The lab rats and Jenna's own employees had pretty much adopted the little girl and she had heard Archie and Mandy refer to themselves has Uncle Archie and Auntie Mandy. She felt Katie let out a loud burp right in Jenna's ear.
"Well thank you very much; it's nice to know you love me too." Someone knocked on the door and a nurse poked her head in.
"Miss Bianchi, you have a visitor."
"Ok, I'll be out in a second." The nurse nodded and walked back out. Jenna got one more burp out of Katie and went back into the main NICU room. A man was standing by Katie's crib with his back to her. Jenna couldn't tell who it was from the back and she tensed up. No one could get in the without a nurse letting them in or getting approval from a parent.
Maybe this is Greg's uncle from California, thought Jenna and she walked over to crib.
"Excuse me," said Jenna. The man turned around and Jenna was surprised to see Grissom there holding a plastic wrapped stuffed animal. "Hi."
"Hello Jenna, I'm going to assume that is Katie Sanders. Hi there," said Grissom reaching out and touching the baby's hand. Katie wrinkled her forehead and looked over at him.
"It's alright, he doesn't bite." Katie unwrinkled her forehead and took Grissom's finger.
"She's very pretty, congratulations." Jenna put Katie back in her crib and sat down in her chair, Grissom sat down and handed Jenna the bear.
"It's from Sara…do they wrap everything from outside here in plastic?" asked Grissom.
"It's a rule, keeps the germs away. I think it's going to freak her out to go home and touch something that is fuzzy. This is really sweet, where is Sara?"
"She's in a meeting with HR to discuss our relationship, she gets to talk with Ecklie sometime in the near future." Grissom looked a bit uncomfortable and his cell phone started going off. He eyed it and turned it off. "Speaking of Ecklie I think he's stalking me…he calls at least twice a day, I'm waiting for him to stop by our house."
"I was shocked when he came in last week and gave Greg the paper work for family medical leave and he got us a gift card to Target."
"It's nice to see the politician in him is still alive." Jenna shook her head and went to say something when Kelly and the head doctor of the NICU Dr. Mill came over to them.
"Athena is set up for an eleven am x-ray and we would like to treat her for another seven days on antibiotics, unless you give us permission to do a spinal tap. If her fluid is clear, means the infection is done and she can go home sooner," said Mill. Jenna bit her lip and thought
"God I know you guys stick babies all day long…" Greg finished with his shower walked in on the middle of the conversation.
"What is she being stuck with now?"
"We can either do a spinal tap to see if the infection is gone or we treat another seven days with meds," said Kelly. Greg looked down at Jenna.
"What do think?"
"The tap will let her get sent home sooner?" Kelly nodded. "Than do it, I wanna take her home." Mill smiled at them
"Great, Kelly can you get the tap set up for Athena." Greg's jaw drop, he liked Kelly but the thought of a med student sticking something in his daughter's spine freaked him out.
"I would feel better if you did the tap, Dr. Mill." Mill nodded.
"Ok, I'll be back after rounds." The two doctors went to leave and Jenna touched Greg's sleeve.
"I want Kelly to do it, Katie likes her."
"Jen…"
"You were a student once upon a time; everyone has to learn sooner or later."
"Ok, Kelly can do the tap." Mill and Kelly looked at each other.
"Alright, Kelly go set the tap up," Mill walked away and Kelly went across the room to set up what was needed. Grissom looked at both of them.
"Why were they calling her Athena?"
"It's a nickname all the babies in NICU get one. We had a Zeus in here a few days ago," said Greg. Grissom gave a small smile.
"Athena, the goddess of the heroic endeavor, I imagine being here is a heroic endeavor."
"One that I hope is almost over, I just want to take her home," said Jenna.
"Ok, who's up for poke and prod round two?" asked Kelly. Greg reached into the bed and took Katie out.
"Not really up for it, but if it gets her home sooner…" said Greg. The group went over to a table and Greg handed Katie over to Kelly. Kelly undressed the baby and laid her down.
"Ok, Mom can you get her to lie on her side and hold her there?" Jenna moved the baby to her side and held her there Greg walked around to see what Kelly was doing. Kelly draped a sheet over Katie's lower half and pulled out a needle and swabbed a bit of Katie's back.
"Ok just hold her head and her hip steady. And this will all be over with in just a second." Kelly stuck the needle in Katie's back and started withdrawing fluid from her.
"I'm surprised that you're this good with this crowd watching," said Jenna. Kelly smiled.
"You should see how good I am when I not post call." Greg's jaw dropped.
"You've been working over twenty four hours and I let you put a needle in my daughter's back."
"It's only been thirty hours and trust me I worked more hours than that when I was a trauma nurse," said Kelly.
"You were a trauma nurse?" asked Greg.
"Over seven years, I just decided that it I was going to work like a doctor, I may as well earn the degree and pay of one. And it is crystal clear," said Kelly holding up a tube of fluid. Katie started crying and Kelly put a Band-Aid on Katie's back.
"It's over now baby, you want your daddy. Here he is," Kelly handed him Katie and she looked at him like he was the meanest person in the world and Greg just hugged her and she just buried her head in his shoulder.
"I know I'm a mean daddy letting them poke you like that." Kelly labeled the tube and handed it to a tech.
"We're going to run it to see if there is anything in it, but since it came back clear and if her chest x-ray comes out alright, we can look at filing out her discharge papers. I'll see you in a couple hours," Kelly got up to get her next assignment and Jenna looked at Greg who was rubbing Katie's back and shushing her. Katie had her thumb in her mouth and had a fist full of his shirt in her other hand.
"You're going to spoil her rotten, she's barely two weeks old and she has you wrapped around her finger."
"Trust me, he's fallen for less," said Grissom. Greg made a face at both of them.
"Don't listen to them sweetie. Just wait till we get you home, I'll spoil you even more than."
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"We're still trying to get some things settled. My parents left two days ago and now Frankie, Karen and co are coming in to town for their summer vacation…I was lucky that I got my parents to leave, I seriously think they were going to move in with us," said Greg and Nick started to laugh.
"I told you, first time grandparents would drive you crazy," said Nick. Greg handed him a cup of coffee and sat down.
"So how are you adjusting to parenthood?" asked Nick.
"I'm adjusting," said Greg.
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"You know I have a B.S in Chemistry, I graduated Phi Beta Kappa, and I'm a great CSI. Yet, getting a car seat into a standard four door import from China stumps me," said Greg. Jenna started laughing at him and she looked down at Katie whose eyes seemed to be running a marathon looking around. She brushed some hair off the baby's forehead, it had been three days since the chest x-ray and all of Katie's tests had come back with good news and she was waking up on her own and breathing just fine and they were given the okay to take her home. Greg's parents had dropped off the car seat last night and now Greg was struggling trying to figure out how to get it in properly. Jenna tapped Greg on the shoulder.
"Here let me, take Katie," said Jenna. She handed him the baby and crawled into the backseat and started buckling the car seat in.
"You be surprised how many times I had to help Ofilia and Frankie do this. Ok, through the tunnel and around the bend," muttered Jenna winding the lap belt through the car seat and buckled in and shook the seat to make sure it didn't move and than she got back out. "Ok, daddy would you like to buckle your little girl in?" Greg got back into the car and started buckling Katie in who couldn't seem to stop looking around, her little eyes seem to be going a mile a minute. He smiled at her and gave her a kiss on the forehead.
"I'm gonna sit in the back with her ok," said Jenna and she got in the back seat. Greg shut the door and went to the driver's side and got in. He put the car into drive and they left the hospital.
"Wave bye bye to the hospital and to the tubes and machines, and to seven am poke and prods," said Jenna taking Katie's little hand and having it wave bye. Greg looked into the rearview mirror and grinned at the sight of Jenna playing and baby talking with Katie.
"Now when you get home, you get to meet your big brother Gabriel. He's big and fat and fuzzy. And whatever you don't touch his catnip fish or his tail it will cause a lot of trouble if you do. And I think you have a big sister, she's green and she talks a lot, Daddy calls her Cricky. You are a very lucky little girl to have such a blended family." Greg was driving the speed limit, something that tended to piss off the regular Vegas driver off and they blew around Greg, honking their horns and glaring at him. He tensed up and gripped the wheel tighter, he knew people drove like morons but it seemed more annoying today and he wished he could call Brass and have him get some uniforms out here to set up a speed trap. Jenna looked at Greg and gave him a smile.
"Relax sweetie, we're almost home and she's fine…oh she's trying to make a spit bubble, I never thought spit bubbles would make me so happy," said Jenna. Greg pulled into the apartment complex and parked. Jenna unbuckled herself and got Katie out of her car seat and Greg got the passenger door open.
"Let's just get her inside, it's hotter than hell out here. We'll get the suitcases later," said Greg he wrapped an arm around Jenna and they headed upstairs. Katie yawned at them and her eyes were drooping. "You and Gabriel are going to get along just fine, you both sleep for hours on end."
"Oh she'll get out of that soon and you'll be sorry," said Jenna. Greg went to unlock the door when his father opened for him.
"Welcome home." His father gave him a hug and he gave Jenna a kiss on the check and he looked down at Katie and smiled at her. "Hello sweetness." Greg's mother elbowed him.
"Let them in," Noah got out of the doorway and let them in and Kari started hugging them and baby talking to Katie, Clarissa came out of the kitchen and hugged both of them.
"Welcome home, dinner is almost ready."
"Yeah food that hasn't been reheated and served on a meat tray," said Jenna.
"Oh come on, meatloaf Monday that ended up being cheeseburger Tuesday was good for me," joked Greg. Jenna went to say something when Katie started rubbing her face into Jenna's shirt and fussing.
"Ok, dinner for you first than me. If you guys want to eat without me go ahead. Come on sweetie; let's go see mommy's room."
"Miele, why don't you go and see the baby's room," said Clarissa.
"I, we didn't finish it yet," said Jenna looking at Greg who was grinning at her. "What did you do?" He simply shrugged.
"You had everything you wanted to buy bookmarked on the computer. The grandparents just took the gift cards bought it and set it up for you." Greg smiled and led Jenna down the hall and opened the door that lead to the spare bedroom. Jenna grinned and looked around the baby's room. The grandparents had bought a dark brown crib and had it made with the sheets that Nick had bought them a few months back and a green and white knit blanket hung off the side of the crib
"Nana Olaf made it, she's sorry that she and Papa couldn't travel out here this month. They plan on being here for Katie's christening" said Kari.
"It's alright, I like the blanket, I can't knit to save my life," said Jenna taking in the rest of the room. A rocking chair was placed next to the window and the changing table. They had gotten a little stand in the room that had a lamp and a framed picture of her, Greg and Katie from about a week ago at the hospital.
"It's really nice, thank you," said Jenna. Katie started to cry and Jenna shook her head. "Ok I get the hint, um can I get a moment?" asked Jenna.
"We're sorry principessa for holding up your dinner. We'll save you a plate," said Clarissa and she and the other grandparents left the room. Greg shut the door and closed the blinds while Jenna sat down with Katie and got her ready to nurse.
"So do you like it?" asked Greg. Jenna smiled at him and started feeding Katie.
"Yeah, it's really…ow go easy on those they aren't going anywhere. She's your kid alright," teased Jenna. Katie had latched on to Jenna and she had one hand in her hair and her other hand was holding on the Jenna. Greg sat down on the floor and he reached up and started rubbing Katie's back and her head.
"I never thought me and my daughter would share a common of love for boobs, think she'll stay interested in those?" asked Greg. Jenna nudged him with a foot.
"Only till she's able to eat solid food, than she won't care for them at all, I hope you two find something else to share interest in." Greg and Jenna sat there quite while Katie was being feed and Greg didn't speak up again until Jenna was finished feeding Katie and Katie was dozing off again and Jenna handed her to Greg.
"Do you want to get her into some pj's and we can put her to bed," said Jenna. Greg took the baby and looked at her and felt hopeless lost, the nurses in the NICU had done the dressing and changing because of everything she had been hooked up to. They had given him a mini crash course in what to do when he came home, now he was drawing a blank.
"She's so tiny," muttered Greg. Jenna looked up at him and despite the fact that Greg looked scared out of his mind she couldn't love him anymore. She got out of the rocking chair, hugged him carefully and took Katie from him.
"Ok, let's do this together than."
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Around two am Katie woke them both of them with crying. It scared the hell out of Greg and he almost fell out of bed. Jenna groaned and got out of bed and staggered down the hall to Katie's room. Greg fell back on the bed and part of him really wanted to go back to sleep, he hadn't slept well in almost two weeks. The other part of him knew he should get up and help Jenna out, he had slept through Katie's midnight feeding, he realized it when he felt Jenna coming back to bed and she curled up next to him. He sighed and got up and headed down the hall. Jenna was sitting in the rocking chair and was rocking Katie and stroking the baby's head. She looked up at Greg and gave him a sleepy smile.
"She just needed a change and a cuddle." Jenna got up and put the baby back in the crib and gave her a pacifier to suck on and she tucked the baby in. Greg came up and hugged her.
"I'm sorry that I suck at this being a parent thing." Jenna put her head on his shoulder.
"You don't suck; you're just new at it. I'll be back to bed in a minute, she didn't want to eat but my body is saying it's time to feed her." Greg gave her a hug and headed back to bed, he dozed off and woke back up when Jenna got back into bed and wrapped an arm around him. He took her hand in his and dozed off for what felt like a few minutes when he heard Katie crying again. He looked at the clock and it was close to four am, he rolled over to wake Jenna up and stopped himself.
You're not going to get better at this dad thing unless you start trying. Greg sighed, got out of bed and headed down the hall to Katie's room. She had spit out her pacifier and was started to go red in the face from crying so hard. He reached into the crib and picked her up.
"Hey, hey, shush, shush…what's the issue here?" She wasn't wet and she didn't smell like she needed to be changed. "Hey you want breakfast…come on kjæreste let's get some breakfast," Greg held her so her head could rest on shoulder and he headed into the kitchen. Gabriel woke up and eyed them like they were crazy from his bed on the sofa. Greg grabbed a bottle from the fridge and put in the microwave and he rubbed Katie's back while they waited.
The crying was now a series of whimpers and she had buried her face in his shoulder. The microwave beeped and he took the bottle out and checked the temperature and he almost forgot to grab a dish towel before heading into the living room. He sat down next to Gabriel and started to give Katie her bottle; she wrinkled her forehead but took the bottle. Greg shook his head, Katie had either been on a tube or breastfed, and this was technically her first bottle.
"I know it's not what you're used to, daddy is trying though. So you think you can cut me a little slack?" Katie downed half the bottle before he realized it and he remembered that she was to be burped after so many ounces. He took the bottle away from her and she gave him that puppy dog look.
"Hey I don't make the rules here," he put her on his shoulder and started patting her back. "If I'm doing this wrong you'll let me know right?" He looked at Katie and her eye lids were getting heavy and starting to drop. She let out a little burp and Greg kept rubbing her back. He started toying with her hair and he felt her little hand opening and closing on his shoulder and after a few minutes that stopped and he noticed that she was sound asleep.
Gabriel looked at him and he jumped on to the back of the sofa and started to walk towards Katie. His mom and Nana and Papa Olaf were worried about them keeping the cat with a baby in the house especially with all the wives' tales Nana Olaf had heard about cats and babies, Greg assured them that the cat and baby would learn to co-exist and the cat would not hurt the baby. Greg repositioned himself on the sofa so that he was propped up and Katie was laying on his chest.
"If you want to see her fuzz ball get down here." Gabriel walked along the back of the sofa and onto the arm where Greg was and rubbed on him. "Yeah I missed you too," he reached one arm up and started petting the cat. Gabriel got on his shoulder and just stared at Katie but didn't try to get any closer to her. Greg looked back down at Katie and gave a small smile; he didn't think it was possible to love another person this much. He felt Gabriel being taken off him and he felt Jenna wrapping her arms around his shoulders and she started to rub Katie's head.
"Told you that you didn't suck, welcome home daddy."
Notes-Sorry for the long delay, I've been busy with work and school and I got really stuck trying to write this chapter and restarted several times, so I hope that people like it.