Unlove You
Disclaimer: See Prologue.
Chapter 37: Baby Days
A/N: Wow!!!! I can't believe it --- over 600 reviews. Thank you all very much. It seems I've discovered the secret to getting lots of reviews --- write never ending stories.
"Are you sure I'm doing this right?", Sharpay asks while wincing.
"Well, Nickie seems to think you're doing it right", Lisa comments.
Lisa is standing next to Sharpay's hospital bed. She's been in a regular room for about two hours now and this is her first attempt at nursing the baby.
"Nickie?", Troy asks curiously, "Where'd that come from?"
"Well, calling her Lisa just seems a little confusing and dated and Nicole is fine when she's fifteen, but she needs to grow into that name", Lisa explains to Troy.
"Nickie...", Sharpay repeats and she gently touches the baby's nose, "I like it. Hello there, Nickie."
"And don't worry, it hurts a little at first, but that shouldn't last for long. Oh, and you should let her nurse about ten minutes and then switch her to the other side. That way you don't end up lop-sided."
"But she just fell asleep", Sharpay says in disappointment. "She isn't doing anything now."
"Well, you can try to wake her when you switch her over, but you're right. She's brand new right now and is going to be asleep more than she's awake."
"Is this a bad time?", comes a voice from the open door.
"Ryan!", Sharpay shouts as she instantly recognizes the voice.
Unfortunately, she also startles Nickie who jerks to wakeful state and instantly starts screaming and turning bright red.
"Oh, oh baby. I'm sorry. Shh, shh, it's okay. Every thing's alright", Sharpay coos to the baby as she puts her up on her shoulder to soothe her. Nickie's crying slows to a few jerky hiccups and she lets out a loud burp in the process.
"Sorry about that", Bill Evans says as he follows Ryan into the room.
"Daddy...", Sharpay smiles happily at him, "I didn't even know you were coming."
"We left as soon as Lisa called us."
Sharpay gives Lisa a grateful look and turns back to her family. Bill walks up to Troy and offers him his hand. "Congratulations, Troy." And then, he immediately moves over to the bed to hug Sharpay with the baby between them. "You look beautiful, Sharpay. You're glowing."
"I look terrible. I've barely slept the last twenty-four hours and I'm not wearing any makeup", she complains.
"In my eyes, you look beautiful."
"In my eyes you look dead tired, but we didn't come all this way to see you, you know?", Ryan says jokingly.
Sharpay turns Nickie around to show her off while remembering to cover herself back up.
"Oh, Sharpay!", Bill exclaims, "She looks just like you when you were born. I'll never forget it; you were the most beautiful baby I'd ever seen ... until now."
"Oh Daddy ...", Sharpay whispers through her happy tears.
"Hey, what about me?", Ryan asks incredulously.
"You? You were this scrawny little thing... your face was all smushed up and your head was pointy. It seems that Sharpay took up most of the room inside your mother and there wasn't much left for you", Bill explains with a grin.
"Wow, I can't believe it, Shar. You were bossing me around before we were even born", Ryan jokes.
"Very funny", Sharpay counters. "Hey, how long can you say? I go home tomorrow and ..."
"I'm sorry Shar, we have to go back today. Jennifer, Dad's wife, she has bronchitis and what with the two kids and all ..."
"It's okay, I'm just glad you got to come", Sharpay says a little sadly.
"Oh, I almost forgot. We brought some presents", Ryan announces as he runs back out into the hall. He reenters immediately with a huge box and three gift bags.
"Wow, what's all this?", Troy exclaims.
They spend the next few hours just being a family ... something they really haven't had a chance to do in the last twelve years. Finally, Ryan and Bill leave to head back to Arizona and to let Sharpay try to get some much needed sleep.
Chad, Taylor, and Gabriella creep silently into the hospital room.
"Are you sure it's alright for us to be here?", Gabriella asks quietly.
"Sure, the receptionist said it was okay", Chad replies confidently and a little too loudly.
"But I don't even think she's awake", Taylor whispers, "and where's the baby, anyway?"
"I'm awake ... now", comes a tired, irritated voice from the bed.
"Hi, Sharpay", shoots back a chipper Chad, "We're here to see this new baby. Troy called me at 3:30 in the morning and was screaming in the phone about how gorgeous this baby is ... so where is it?"
Despite how tired and sore Sharpay is feeling, she can't help but smile at Chad's description of Troy's phone call.
"It is a her and Troy should be back with her any minute now. They take her down to the nursery every shift change to check her vitals", Sharpay explains.
Gabriella slowly approaches the bed and speaks in a demure voice. "How are you doing? Was it hard?"
"I'm fine --- very tired and sore as ... well, we won't get into that. And yes, it was hard. It's the hardest thing I've ever done ... they don't call it labor for nothing."
"Wow, a baby!", Taylor exclaims as she comes around to the other side, "I can't believe it. I mean we're the same age and I'm no where near ready for anything like that."
"I'll let you in on a little secret, Taylor", and then, Sharpay leans forward, lowers her voice and continues, conspiratorially, "I'm not either."
Just then, the door opens and a bassinet on wheels starts to slowly enter the room.
"Here we are, Nickie; right back home with mommy", Troy says in a little baby voice. He is completely focused on the small bundle in the clear plastic bassinet that he's pushing and he doesn't even notice there are other people in the room.
"Umm, hey man", Chad says in a manly voice, an octave lower than normal.
Troy looks up in surprise and blushes in embarrassment at getting caught using his baby voice.
"Oh, hi guys. I didn't know you were here."
Gabriella snickers under her breath and Taylor just rolls her eyes.
"Well, let's take a look at the most gorgeous baby in the world", Chad suggests.
"It's just so happens she's right here", Troy says with a grin as he gently lifts the baby up. "She's asleep right now, but she'll probably wake up any minute."
"That's a sure bet", Sharpay puts in.
The two girls immediately swoop down on Troy like dogs on a bone.
"Ahh...she's so tiny", coos Taylor.
"Look at those little fingernails ... they're prefect", gushes Gabriella. "May I hold her?"
"Um, sure. Just make sure you support her head, okay?", Troy explains as he transfers the baby over to Gabriella.
"She's not tiny, by the way", Sharpay says from the bed. "That giant baby weighs nine pounds and one ounce. Oh and she's twenty-one inches long", she adds as an afterthought.
"Well, she looks tiny to us."
"That's because you didn't have to squeeze her ou...", Sharpay starts before being cut off.
"Sharpay...", Troy snaps in a warning tone.
"Sorry..", Sharpay mutters back insincerely.
"Seriously Sharpay, she's the most beautiful baby I've ever seen and she's not even awake", Gabriella tells her.
"Aaaw, I want one", Taylor says dreamily as she reaches a finger over to stroke her arm.
"You what!?", exclaims Chad.
"Not now, Chad ... some day ... in the future ... way in the future", Taylor explains more fully once she realizes how her statement sounded. "Oh, we brought presents", Taylor says as she hands Sharpay a brightly colored gift bag.
"Ah, a teddy bear", Sharpay exclaims as she lifts out the small brown bear with jointed arms and legs.
"I know it's a little cliche, but I made sure to get the baby-safe one so you don't have to worry about the nose or eyes coming off and her getting choked on it", Taylor explains.
"No, it's wonderful; she'll always remember her first teddy bear."
"Umm, here's mine", Gabriella says, blushing, as she hands over another gift bag while carefully balancing the baby. "I hope she'll remember her second teddy bear, too", she says apologetically.
Sharpay takes out the second bear and holds the two of them together. "Look, a matched set. Thank you, both." The bears are identical.
"I can't believe we picked the same present", Gabriella says disbelievingly.
"Great minds must think alike", Taylor tells her.
"Well, I think your minds think boring", Chad says as he brings out his gift. "Let see what a creative gift looks like."
Sharpay eyes Chad skeptically while she opens the bag. She pulls out a small piece of clothing and holds it up in front of her. It's a pink onesie. Immediately, her expression changes from doubt to awed appreciation when she reads the writing on the front.
"Oh Chad, it's perfect ... absolutely perfect", she gushes. "Thank you!"
"What's it say, Shar?", Troy asks curiously.
"Check this out", Sharpay says with a smile as she turns the onesie around for all to read. In the center is a hot pink and fushia crown and underneath the crown is written:
Drama Queen in Training
"Chad...", Troy says with a serious expression on his face. Just as Chad starting to become nervous, Troy breaks into a grin and finishes, "That's great, man...really great."
"What can I say? I'm a genius", Chad says smugly.
"Oh, look", Gabriella whispers, "She's waking up."
Slowly, Lisa Nicole stretches out her little body and opens up her mouth for a huge yawn. Then, her eyes pop open and she looks up into Gabriella's face.
"Wow, look at that!", Chad says excitedly, "Her eyes are open already! I thought that took a while."
"Chad, what are you talking about?", Troy asks him. He has moved over to Sharpay's bed and is sitting on the edge holding her hand.
"The baby's eyes, duh. They aren't supposed to be open yet, are they?"
Suddenly, Sharpay starts to giggle uncontrollably when she realizes what he's saying.
"Chad, you moron. She's not a puppy. Human babies can open their eyes at birth, duh."
"Are you sure? Cuz I always thought..."
Nickie picks that exact moment to get fussy and Gabriella moves her up to her shoulder and starts to slowly pat her back while she sways back and forth.
"Hey, you look like you know what you're doing", Troy comments.
"Yeah, I used to babysit a lot before I moved here, but never anyone this young."
Then, Nickie starts to anxiously bob her head into Gabriella's shoulder as she begins to fret even more.
"I'd better take her now", explains Sharpay, "She's rooting on you. She'll be crying for real in a second."
"Rooting? Like a pig?", Chad asks confusedly.
Before anyone can explain to Chad that newborns instinctively root around for their source of nourishment, Nickie breaks out into a full fletched crying jag.
"Wow, listen to that, she sounds just like a little cat, doesn't she?", Chad comments stupidly.
"What is it with you today, Chad?", Taylor asks, incredulously. "Puppies, pigs and now cats. Maybe you should go."
Gabriella hands Nickie over to Sharpay and she starts to position her to nurse, but then looks up at Chad with an expectant expression on her face.
"Chad, I need to feed her", Sharpay hints loudly.
"Oh, don't let me stop you ... You want me to get the bottle or something."
Sharpay cocks her head to the side for a second and then smiles slyly as she proceeds to feed her baby.
"Oh my lord!", Chad shouts, "Troy, my man, I gotta go. See you later. Um...nice baby." With that, Chad disappears from the room.
"You are one evil woman, Sharpay Evans", Troy tells her. He is still sitting beside her in the bed and he reaches over to lightly stroke Nickie's head.
"Yeah, you are that", Taylor agrees with a smile, "I knew I liked you. And who would have thought Chad, of all people, would be scared off by a little peep show?"
The four of them laugh for a few minutes at Chad's expense.
"Does it hurt?", Gabriella asks curiously.
She and Taylor have pulled up a couple of chairs to sit next to the bed.
"Oh yeah", Sharpay says bluntly. "But Mom says that won't last for long; I'll get toughened up pretty quickly."
"That's amazing, isn't it?", Taylor says, "I mean our entire society seems to worship women's breasts, but this is what they're really for. This is why they exist; this is their purpose. Not to be exposed for some teenager to ogle while he's sitting in his bathroom with the door locked. Right? I'm right, right?", when no one answers her, Taylor continues, passionately, "It's what's best for the baby and the mother. It gives the baby the right antibodies and it helps protect the mother and the baby from breast cancer. And all that happens just by doing what nature intended..."
"Taylor, chill out. Save it for Chad", Troy says, trying to halt her before she gets carried away.
"Gosh, it's late. We'd better get going", Gabriella tells them as she rises.
"Yeah, we have school tomorrow; we don't get to take the day off like you", Taylor adds.
"Oh, very funny. You know she only sleeps in two hour stretches. You're going to have a much easier day than me", Sharpay enlightens them.
"Are you going to be at school tomorrow, Troy?", Gabriella asks.
"No. Sharpay gets discharged tomorrow, so I'm going to stay out for that."
"Well, try to get as much rest as you can, okay Sharpay?", Taylor advises her.
"We'll both do our best. Right, Nickie?", Sharpay asks the baby who by this time has fallen back to sleep.
TBC
And so ends the first day in the life of Lisa Nicole Bolton. Hope you liked it. Please R&R. Thanks.
Oh, this is no lie. When my nephew was born, my brother-in-law seriously thought babies were like puppies and couldn't open their eyes when they were first born. And they let that man reproduce. Go figure.