Chapter 50
His mother was still asleep, so after grabbing a banana that he could eat in the car, he left a note telling her he had gone to the hospital.
He arrived just as the nurse finished changing Riley's diaper and was going to wake Jordan so she could nurse him. Instead, when the young woman saw Woody, she asked if he wanted to wake his wife. With a grin, he took the baby he already felt like a father to, and leaned over to tenderly wake Jordan.
One eye popped open and seeing him so close to her she smiled ruefully. "You were awake?" he questioned.
"Like I could sleep through all the racket that little guy makes!" she laughed.
His grin widened, "So you were faking, were you?"
Jordan shook her head at his silliness as the nurse handed her the baby. Unselfconscious that Woody was standing so near, Jordan opened her gown and began to nurse Riley.
Woody wasn't sure what to do! He was torn between his fascination at watching this very intimate act between mother and son, as well as the fact that this was the first time he had seen her breasts…well okay, it was only one breast, but still! He also felt like an intruder on this private moment and embarrassed at his less than pure reaction to her partial nudity.
As he was trying to decide between gawking some more or averting his eyes and possibly leaving the room, the nurse spoke. She told them their doctor would be in soon on his rounds and it was highly likely they could go home at that time.
Woody's mouth fell open and he questioned, "What are you talking about?!"
Jordan sighed, "Woody I tried to tell you this when the subject was brought up on the maternity ward tour before Riley was born. As soon as mother and child are pronounced okay, they can go home."
"But in Wisconsin women stay in the hospital three days after having a baby! You just came in last night and it's only been seven hours since Riley was born!" he protested.
"I know," she told him. "But this is a big city hospital and they are very busy. Riley and I are fine, so there is no reason we can't go home."
"That is as long as you can take a walk up and down the hall before the doctor comes around," the nurse cautioned.
"I'll do it as soon as this guy finishes nursing," Jordan stated.
Woody sat down in the chair next to the bed, still a bit dazed at how fast things were moving. Yesterday it had been just the two of them, only friends as far as he knew and now they were a family of three, and Jordan was claiming that she loved him! He had hoped to find time while she was here in the hospital to be able to talk to her about that. It was pretty certain that with his mother at the apartment they would have very little time alone to talk. Then to find out that Jordan was going home so quickly and would still need to finish nursing, accomplish a walk, and see the doctor before she was released…well it didn't leave much time for an intimate little talk!
When Jordan asked him to take Riley and put him in his bed so she could go to the bathroom and get dressed Woody had to shake himself so he could do as she asked. She wanted to be ready when the doctor said she could go home. Woody suggested that she save her energy for the walk and get dressed afterwards.
Seeing the wisdom of his words when she felt how wobbly she was as she shuffled to the bathroom, Jordan told him she would wait. With his arm around her waist, they made one slow circuit down the hall, around the nurses' station, and back to her room. She had to admit that just that little bit of a walk had tired her out more than she had expected.
Woody helped her back into bed and advised her to take a short nap while he got her things and the baby ready to go. Jordan nodded, already half asleep.
To be continued…
