Friday 17th October
5pm
After twelve unbelievably long weeks in NICU, Ellie, the youngest of the octuplets, was the last of the octuplets to be discharged. Sam was at home with the other seven, waiting for Tom to come home with Ellie becuase it took so much effort to take all seven out that it just wasn't worth it when Tom could easily manage at the end of his shift to bring the little girl home by himself in the car, rather than the minivan.
Sam was almost finished breastfeeding Megan and Summer, and sometimes it felt that all she did was express milk, or breastfeed, and because she did that, Tom changed the majority of the nappies. Unfortunately, Sam hadn't been able to produce enough milk for all of them, though she did produce a lot, so all of the babies took around 6 small amounts of breast milk a day, and three small bottles of formula per day.
Sam looked down, and noticed that neither of the girls were suckling, but they were still latched on becuase they often nurses for comfort, but Sam was getting annoyed with it, because it took up so much of her time.
"You two aren't even hungry are you?" Sam sighed as she used her little finger to tease their mouths off of her breasts and then clipped her bra back together. "Let's put you two to bed, and then you can see your sister soon." Sam had the technique of carrying two babies and putting them down in their cot perfected as she laid them in the same cot as Leah and then held their hand as they slowly fell asleep.
There was just three cots in Sam and Tom's bedroom, all along a wall. And they shared the cots with the same siblings that they shared an amniotic sac and placenta with - Aaron, Jonny and Charlie shared one, then Leah, Megan and Summer, and then Bella and soon, Ellie in the third one.
Sam was absolutely exhausted because whilst Tom went to work during the day, she was left to look after the babies that had been discharged, before Tom came home so that she could go to NICU for a few hours. However, she hoped that now Ellie had been discharged, she wouldn't have to leave the house at all until she returned to work.
She heard the front door open downstairs, despite the fact that in their nine bedroom home, she was quite far away from it. Sam smiled because she knew that Tom would have Ellie, however he emerged with her in her carrier, and then Fletch and Zoe came in too.
"Oh... Hi." Sam said confusedly as she took the carrier off of Tom and took Ellie out for a cuddle.
"Zoe wants to discuss your maternity leave and Fletch has a proposition for you." Tom stated. "And NICU gave me the rest of your milk that they had so I'd better go and put it in the fridge." Tom stated before he left the room.
"Right." Sam said still with a hint of confusion before she got comfortable on the bed and leant against the headboard with Ellie in her arms.
"Right, so in total, you are entitled to 52 weeks of maternity leave, and so far, you've had 24 weeks leave." Zoe stated whilst Fletch went over to the cots and kept them all settled. "And, I just wanted to know if you have a rough idea of when you'll be returning. As in, are you going to take maximum leave or?..." She trailed off.
"I don't know." Sam admitted. "I... I want to get back to work but... I mean, they're 12 weeks old, but they're only just beginning to develop like a newborn would because they were so premature- Fletch what are you doing?" Sam demanded as she watched him pick up one of the infants that she recognised to be Bella. Sam was very protective of her children, even with people she trusted - she had actually questioned Tom on occasions when he picked them up because she just wanted them to rest.
"It's alright, I think she's got a wet nappy, I'll change her for you." Fletch said as he carried her over to the changing table.
"Oh... Sorry I didn't mean to snap." Sam apologised.
"Don't mention it." Fletch turned around and gave Sam a smile, before he returned to change the nappy.
"Well isn't this cozy?" Tom smirked as he entered the room, and then picked Jonny up for a cuddle because he hadn't seen his children since he had left for work that morning. He sat on the bed besides his wife.
"I think I... I will take nearly maximum maternity leave, but I will want to come in sometimes and work a few shifts just to start getting the hang of it." Sam said to Zoe.
"Yeah? Well maybe in a couple of months, you could start coming in on Friday and Saturday evenings, we could always do with an extra pair of hands." Zoe stated.
"Right, that's that sorted, now Fletch has got something to say." Tom said eagerly, and Sam gave him an analysing look before she looked at the nurse who had finished changing Bella and was laying her back down in her cot.
"Fletch?" Sam queried.
"Well, because of protocol - and I just want to make this very clear that I am innocent - I have been suspended for two weeks because a patient has accused me of assaulting him. So I was thinking whilst I've got two weeks free, and you're going to be home without any support during the day, that maybe I could come round and help out. Providing that teas and coffees were free of course, but I'd be happy to come around here to take some weight off of your shoulders." Fletch explained. Sam glanced confusedly at Zoe as to why he had been suspended.
"Trust me, I know Fletch is innocent, but the patient has made a formal complaint and I have to follow it up, so Fletch can't return to work for a while." Zoe explained.
"Okay well, if you're offering then that'd be great thanks." Sam nodded and Tom looked at her in shock. "What?" She protested innocently.
"Samantha Kent, accepting help? Are you feeling alright?" He joked.
"If I didn't have Ellie in my arms-" Sam threatened.
"Ah, but you do, so you can't do anything." Tom said smugly. Then Ellie began to make noises of distress, and tears rolled down her cheeks. "And the milk machine is leaking again." Tom announced jokily as a couple of wet drops appeared on Sam's pale blue shirt on both sides.
"You are so annoying sometimes." Sam moaned at her husband as she carefully slipped off of the bed with Ellie against her chest, and then left the room.
"Is she alright?" Zoe asked concernedly.
"Yeah, she's just shy when it comes to feeding." Tom said quietly whilst he laid Jonny down in his cot next to his brothers.
"Right, I suppose we'd better get going then." Fletch stated.
"Yep okay, I'll give you a ring sometime to sort out times for Monday." Tom stated.
"Okay, enjoy your weekend." Fletch smiled.
"Yep, see you on Monday Tom." Zoe said before Tom showed the pair out of his home.
It took Tom a while of searching the house, until he finally found his wife curled up in an armchair in the smallest of the four living rooms that they had, and she was feeding Ellie whilst she gently stroked her light brown, soft hair that had grown to a two inches long already. She was using kangaroo care so she a had her shirt unbuttoned and Ellie was tucked inside of her shirt against Sam's abdomen to keep her warm.
"She's got your curls." Sam said softly.
"Yeah. And next time would you mind telling me where you're going because it took me ten minutes to find you in our mansion." Tom said smugly.
"Would you mind not calling me a milk machine in front of my friend and my boss?" Sam retorted.
"What? You are a milk machine though!" Tom protested and suddenly they heard cries coming from upstairs.
"I bet it's Leah." Sam stated as she slowly manoeuvred herself off of the armchair whilst she had an arm under Ellie's bum to support her weight.
"I bet it's Charlie." Tom stated before he sprinted up the stirs before the child disturbed the other six children up there.
Sam slowly made her way up the stairs whilst Ellie continued to suckle, and when she made it to the bedroom, she found Tom standing cuddling Leah and gently bouncing her.
"I told you." Sam stated smugly.
"What?"
"I said it'd be Leah." Sam stated.
"This isn't Leah, this is Megan." Tom stated.
"No, that's Leah isn't it? I put Leah in the pink baby grow." Sam stated.
"Well, there's only one way to find out." Tom stated as he went and laid the baby down on the changing mat. They had gotten new wrist bands for all of the babies so that they could label each of the children, because although it sounded mean that they couldn't recognise their own children, they really did not want to mix them up. He undid her baby grow, and pulled her left arm out of it before he read the label.
"Well?" Sam queried. "It's Leah isn't it?"
"Yep." Tom sighed.
"Told you." Sam said smugly.
"But she looks exactly the same as Megan!" Tom protested quietly whilst he redressed the baby and then picked her up again to soothe her.
"No, Leah has a little freckle on her cheek already." Sam stated.
"Wait, I thought it was Summer who had the freckle." Tom stated. "Oh for gods sake, I'm useless at this."
"No you're not. I've spent a lot more time with them, that's the only reason why I know who's who." Sam stated.
"But that's it, I should be spending as much time with them as you do. I hate having to work." Tom stated.
"Well look, you've still got a few weeks holiday that you can take off of work. I mean, Fletch can help me for the next two weeks while he's off of work, and then the week after that, maybe you could take it off of work and then you can stay at home." Sam suggested.
"But then that'll be mid November and I'd rather have a long holiday around Christmas and new year." Tom stated.
"Well then do that. Book two or three weeks off at christmas instead, and you'll have plenty of time with them." Sam stated.
"Okay." Tom nodded. "Speaking of which, one: what're we doing for christmas presents for the babies? and two: what are we doing for our anniversary?" He asked.
"I was going to spend the mothercare voucher for them because we could get them some colourful toys, and they could do with some new blankets and things like that." Sam replied. "And as for our anniversary, I'm happy just to have a nice dinner or something, I don't really fancy going out." Sam admitted.
"I've got an idea of what we could do without going out." Tom said suggestively. But he watched as Sam tensed up and then put Ellie down in her cot as she had finished feeding so he put down Leah too.
"Tom... I..." Sam trailed off awkwardly as she really didn't know what to say. She knew their anniversary was just over two months away, but she knew her body wouldn't be back to what it was before then, and she didn't want him seeing her. Sure they had shared showers in the hospital a couple of times after her c section, but that was in a steamy dimly lit room, and he always stood behind her. He hadn't seen her since their last shower together, and that's the way she intended because even though it had been 12 weeks since the birth, she had still not found the time to start running again because she was always needed for feeding.
"Look, just tell me if you don't want to." Tom said softly.
"No I want to it's just..."
"Just what?" He asked as he took her hands in his. "Has the bleeding stopped?"
"Yeah, of course it has." Sam stated timidly.
"And have you started your periods again yet?"
"No."
"Well then what's the problem? Sam, I would understand if you don't want to, I just want to know why." Tom pleaded. "Is it me?" He asked eventually.
"What? No of course not." Sam said.
"Then what?" He repeated.
"Tom please, please I don't want us to fight." Sam pleaded.
"Neither do I. Look, is it your body?" He asked solemnly and he watched as Sam slowly looked up to meet his eyes with a look that he knew meant yes. "Well then why didn't you tell me in the first place?"
"Becuase I know you're just going to tell me you don't care and that I look fine blah blah blah Tom, but it's me. I need to feel comfortable before we can be that intimate again, I'm sorry." Sam mumbled.
Sam looked up as he didn't say anything, and she was about to try and leave the room to escape the tense atmosphere, but instead of leaving the room, she stepped into Tom's arms by mistake as he pulled her into his embrace and held her tightly.
"You shouldn't be sorry. You haven't done anything wrong." Tom whispered over her shoulder.
Tom gently swayed from side to side as he held her in his arms for a few minutes, when the moment was interrupted by a loud wail.
"That's Aaron." Sam and Tom stated at the same time as they pulled apart because they both knew that he was the loudest. Sure enough, as they turned around, Aaron - who was in the middle cot - was clenching his fists and turning red, but as soon as he saw his parents appear besides his cot, he held his arms out towards Sam.
"Oh no no, with a face like that, you look like you've done something for daddy." Sam stated as she looked at Tom.
"What?" He said confusedly.
"He's got a dirty nappy." Sam stated.
"But I can't smell it."
"No, because he's only just done it. C'mon, change him." Sam ordered. Reluctantly, Tom bent down and picked Aaron up under his arms and carried him like a bomb about to explode before he laid him on the changing table.
"I am so knackered." Sam said exhaustedly as she fell back onto the bed and closed her eyes.
"Why don't you express enough milk for tonight and then I can feed them?" Tom suggested.
"Becuase I can't express enough for tonight." Sam stated. "It literally comes whenever milk is needed but I can't just make loads suddenly."
"Well then, express as much as you can, and there's quite a few bottles in the fridge. And the extra can be made up with formula."
"No, that'll affect my supply and I want them having breast milk as much as possible." Sam stated. "Anyway, how about we try the impossible challenge of bathing again?" Sam smiled as she sat up on the bed again, whilst Tom finished changing Aaron's nappy.
"I thought you said you were exhausted." Tom stated.
"Yeah but, watching you trying to bath them always cheers me up." Sam stated before she headed into the ensuite bathroom to turn the taps on in the large oval bath that had plenty of room for Sam and Tom to share a bath, but that didn't mean that they could bath all of their children at the same time yet becuase they needed plenty of support and they weren't very good at sitting up by themselves.
"Right, I'll do the girls, you do the boys." Sam ordered as she reentered the room, and began to sort out eight clean white hooded towels, and the plastic box which contained baby shampoo, bubble bath and body wash for infants.
"And you'll still be done before me." Tom stated.
"It's not my fault you can't control your sons." Sam smiled.
"It's not my fault that my sons have inherited your MMA skills when it comes to bath time." Tom protested.
Finally after a good twenty minutes of preparations, they were ready to bath their children. All eight babies - who were wrapped in their hoodie towel with only a nappy on - were lined up in their car seats becuase it made it easier to keep them there until they were needed, and Sam tidied their cots up and changed the sheets and blankets so they were fully prepared. Usually, Tom washed one baby on the right, and Sam would wash another on the left in the same bath to speed things up.
"Let's start with you." Sam cooed as she unstrapped Bella.
"Dangle her above the water and see if she kicks or pushes down." Tom said quietly as he unstrapped Jonny. Both parents held the naked baby under their armpits and lowered them slightly, when Jonny kicked the water and splashed all up Tom's top. "Wow, you're not even in the water yet and I'm already wet, I think that's a record, well done Jonny." Tom said patronisingly before he dunked the baby into the warm water and sat him down where the water came up to his waist.
"Bella's fine." Sam said innocently, as they watched Bella push down a little in the water with her feet, then place her hands on Sam's arms because she liked physical contact with her mother.
"Well Bella's female, all of your sons are little pain in the backsides, aren't you Jonny?" Tom smirked but Sam splashed some water at him, and Bella giggled loudly like the stereotypical baby would. "Aw! I have been waiting for a giggle like that for ages!" Tom smiled as he forgot about his wife splashing him, and smiled proudly at his daughter.
"Well maybe I should bully you more often." Sam remarked as she gently poured water over Bella to keep her warm. "And they're not my sons, they're ours." Sam corrected.
Sam had just wrapped Ellie in a towel and held her against her chest as she gently towel dried the brown, soft hair on the top of her head and she had finished bathing all five of the girls. However, Tom had only just put Charlie, the third and final boy, in the bath.
"Hurry up, I want to read them a story before we put them to bed." Sam ordered before she went into the bedroom to put a nappy, a sleepsuit and a hat on Ellie, and then laid her down in her cot besides her twin, Bella. "Are you done-" Sam began as she poked her head around the bathroom door, only she burst out laughing as she found that Charlie has his hair bubbled up into a little spike on the top of his head, and Tom had a beard made of foam. "What on earth are you doing?" She laughed.
"Nothing..." Tom said as he quickly wiped the beard and off and began rinsing the shampoo out of Charlie's hair.
"Right, you are the only one that isn't asleep, so please just close your eyes and at least pretend that you're asleep." Tom whispered to Charlie as he leant over the cot containing the three boys.
"He probably just wants this, I took it out when I was changing the sheets." Sam stated as she picked up the small meerkat toy and placed it besides the infant. It was the same small toy that Charlie had had in his incubator since he was just a few hours old. "Night night." Sam whispered and slowly, Charlie closed his eyes and drifted off. "Right, that gives us about an hour before one of them wakes up, if we're lucky." Sam stated as she and her husband flopped onto the bed...
Thanks for reading, please review :)
