Sorry again for the delay, I hope everyone had a great New Year ! ! ! Don't forget to read and review, I really do enjoy your reviews.
Chapter 25
Two days after Jamie and Eddie brought the twins home was Easter Sunday. Jamie woke up that morning to a very tired Eddie, between getting up to feed the babies and pumping she was exhausted. She had fallen asleep with Joey sleeping on her chest. Eddie woke up when Jamie leaned over and picked up Joey.
"I'm up, I'm up." Eddie yawned. "I need to feed Charlie."
"How much do you have pumped?" Jamie asked.
"Enough for a couple of feedings, why ?" Eddie asked sitting up in bed.
"How about you go back to sleep and I'll take care of feedings this morning." Jamie suggested.
"They need baths before church this morning, and I need to get a shower too."
"You need your sleep, I'll message Dad and let him know we won't be at mass this morning. We'll meet them at the house before dinner."
"Are you sure? Easter is one of the important holidays."
"Yes, I'm sure, and Dad and Pop will agree." Jamie stated firmly.
"OK, I'm not going to argue, but. . ." Eddie was interrupted by Charlie's cry. "I need to feed Charlie."
"I can feed her, that way you can sleep."
"Well then I need to pump before I go back to sleep."
"Ok, well then you do that then get some sleep, I'm going to feed our screaming daughter." Jamie smiled giving Eddie a kiss.
"Jamie, sit with me while you feed her, I want to see her."
"We'll be back in a few minutes." Jamie put Joey back in the crib and took Charlie out.
"It's OK sweet girl, breakfast is coming." Jamie said, rocking Charlie in his arms. When her bottle was ready, Jamie took Charlie upstairs and found Eddie almost asleep. He quietly got into bed next to her and put his arm around her and pulled her into him.
"Hmmm, I love when your arms are around me."
"Well, you only have one right now. Our daughter has the other."
Eddie opened up her eyes to see Jamie holding and feeding Charlie with one arm.
"How are you able to do that already?"
"I do have some experience with babies, remember?"
"I know." Eddie yawned. "I guess I'm just jealous."
"We've been parents a total of 5 days, give it some time." Eddie yawned laying her head on Jamie's shoulder.
"Are you almost finished ?"
"No, I have a few more minutes. I'm just going to rest here while I finish."
"I love you." Jamie whispered kissing her head.
"Love you, too." Eddie mumbled. Jamie smiled with his arms around his 2 girls.
Eddie awoke 3 hours later feeling much more rested. When she got up she heard Jamie talking. As she made her way downstairs she realized Jamie was talking to the twins. He was shirtless in the kitchen giving Joey a bath in the sink and Charlie was in the infant seat on the counter next to him with only a diaper on and a towel around her.
"Look who's being Superdad today." Eddie smiled wrapping her arms around Jamie's bare chest from behind.
"Hey, how are you feeling ?" Jamie asked turning his head back to get a kiss from Eddie.
"Much more rested but it's time to feed someone. Did Charlie already have her bath? "
"Yes, Ma'am. She's all ready to go if you want to feed her first."
"Bring Joey up when you're finished."
"OK" he replied back. Jamie finished up giving Joey a bath and putting on a clean diaper. He took Joey up to their bedroom where Eddie was sitting on the bed smiling at Charlie while she was feeding. Jamie leaned against the doorway smiling with a half asleep Joey in his arms.
"What are you smiling at?" Eddie smirked.
"How beautiful you are. You're a natural at being a Mom."
"I don't know about that, all I feel like I'm doing is feeding them and changing them." She laughed.
"It's how you look when you do those things. It's the loving look in your eyes, and the smile on your face. It makes me love you even more than I thought possible." Jamie told her sitting next to her in bed.
"Aww." Eddie said tearfully. "Damn hormones." Jamie laughed wrapping his arm around her.
"I love you so much, Jamie."
"I love you, too. Thank you for our babies." Jamie leaned over and gave Eddie a short lingering kiss.
Jamie held Eddie while she finished feeding Charlie and fed Joey. Both were sound asleep as they placed them in their crib a short time later.
"Now that they're asleep, let's go take a shower and get ready." Jamie told her.
"I like that idea, I need a shower." Eddie replied back. "I'll grab the monitor."
Within minutes Eddie was relishing in the hot water running over her body. Jamie joined her a few minutes later and wrapped his arms around her waist. Eddie turned in his arms and wrapped hers around his neck and put her head on his shoulder.
"This is one of the things I've missed the last few months."
"What's that?" Jamie asked.
"Being able to hold you this close." Eddie told him. "I loved every moment of being pregnant but I really missed being able to get this close."
An hour later, Jamie and Eddie were dressed. Jamie was trying to change and dress the twins without waking them up, while Eddie was packing up the diaper bag. Joey slept through the whole process, Charlie on the other hand was showing she was a light sleeper and fussed. Once Jamie was finished dressing her she settled down again once she was put in her car seat.
"How many diapers do you think we'll need ?" Eddie asked worrying.
"We're going to be there a few hours so I would think maybe 10."
"10? Don't you think that's a lot ?"
"Yeah, but at least we'll have extras in case of emergency." Jamie reasoned.
"Wait, I have a better idea." Eddie thought. "Why don't we just bring a package of diapers and leave them there."
"That's an even better idea." Jamie stated. "We're there at least twice a week, it makes sense."
"I have a package of wipes to leave there and one to leave in the bag, a couple of diapers to keep in the bag, and an extra two outfits." Eddie relayed.
"Just two extra outfits ? Jamie questioned.
"Two for each, I meant." Eddie clarified.
"Ok, that's better. I would suggest pajamas so we can change them before we leave."
"Oh, that's a good idea." Eddie said. "Where did you get that from ?
"I remember Linda and Danny changing the boys before they left because they always fell asleep in the car on the way home. Danny always said it was so much easier to just put them in bed instead of trying to change them when they got home. If they woke up, they were up for a while.
"I think we have everything now - diaper bag with diapers, wipes, extra clothes, burp cloths, and pump with extra bottles, box of diapers for your Dad's house, blankets to cover them in the car."
"Did you pack their milk?" Jamie questioned.
"Yes, there are 4 bottles in a thermal bag by my coat." Eddie told him. "Do we need to take the Pack 'n Play or did you drop off the extra one at your Dad's already ?"
"I put the extra one in the Explorer." Jamie informed her. "We'll leave it there along with the box of diapers and wipes. The car is warming up when you're ready."
"I'll go take the bags out and then help you with the twins."
"I'm good, you'll just need to lock the door."
Jamie and Eddie arrived in Bay Ridge about 20 minutes later. As soon as they pulled up Nikki and the boys ran out to meet them. They were excited to spend time with their new cousins. They let the kids help with taking the Pack 'n Play and the other items in but they weren't ready to let anyone else carry in the babies yet.
Henry met Jamie and Eddie at the door when they came in. "Erin, Danny take the babies into the living room for me. I need to spend some time with my new GG's."
"Good to see you too, Pop." Jamie said sarcastically.
"The twins are all he's been talking about since we got here an hour ago." Danny whispered after Henry left the room.
"It's not necessarily a bad thing, I say we go upstairs and take a nap." Jamie suggested to Eddie.
"Good idea, take the opportunity when there are others around." Danny told him. "Linda and I did that a few times when Jack was a baby. We were exhausted with one, I can't imagine how you are handling two."
"How long till dinner?" Eddie asked putting the bottles in the fridge and seriously thinking about Jamie's suggestion.
"The boys and I got the ham in about a half hour ago so you should have about an hour." Danny informed him.
"Where is my great grandson?" Henry called from the other room. "Danny?"
"I better get in there before Gramps sends out a search party for his 5 day old great grandson." Danny laughed. "Seriously think about it guys." Jamie and Eddie looked at each other seriously considering it.
"Danny's right." Frank agreed, greeting them with hugs in the kitchen. "Use Erin's room, she had the double bed."
"Uncle Jamie, where do you want this stuff?" Jack asked.
"Don't worry about that stuff now, go upstairs and take a nap. They'll be fine, there are years of baby experience in there." Frank reassured
"Is that an order, Commissioner?" Eddie teased.
"Yes" Frank grinned under his mustache.
"Did they go?" Henry asked Frank as he came into the living room.
"I had to play the Commissioner card, but yes."
Henry smiled, "Good, this is the toughest time, and they really need to keep their strength up."
Jamie and Eddie got upstairs and found a note on the bed. "Enjoy your nap. Don't worry about dinner, come down when you're ready. We'll take care of Joey and Charlie."
"Aww how sweet of them." Eddie gushed. "They even left us some water and snacks."
"Looks like my family is really getting to know you." Jamie teased, followed swiftly by a punch on his arm. Jamie pulled Eddie to him and wrapped his arms around him. Eddie laid his head on his shoulder and yawned.
"I think it's time we take advantage of our kid free time, we won't have much of it." Jamie stated. Once they got into bed Jamie wrapped his arms around Eddie while she snuggled into his side. They spent a few minutes talking about the last 5 days and all their blessings before Eddie, then Jamie drifted off to sleep.
Two hours later Jamie woke up still in the same position with Eddie still sleeping. A smile slowly formed on his face as he thought about the past year and how he never thought he could be this happy.
"What are you grinning about, Reagan?" Eddie asked sleepily.
"Just thinking about how amazingly happy I am, and how lucky I have to have a super-hot wife."
Eddie rolled her eyes, "I'm not all that hot right now."
"Five days ago you gave me the best gift ever after agreeing to marry me. I'm sorry you don't feel hot right now but I will always see you that way. I love you."
"Aww, Jamie." Eddie sniffed with tears in her eyes. "I. . . love. . . you. . . too."
"What's wrong?" Jamie worried
"Hormones"
Jamie laughed wrapping his arms around her. "Let's just lay here for a few more minutes before going downstairs. I know everyone, especially Dad and Pop, are spoiling the babies already."
Twenty minutes later, Jamie and Eddie came downstairs feeling good after their nap.
"Well, well, look who's up?" Pop smiled. "Did you have a relaxing nap?"
"We did, we can't thank you enough." Eddie expressed.
"It's hard to believe we are that tired after five days." Jamie added.
"Oh, just wait," Danny started. "You have no idea what you're in for, and for you guys it's times two."
"I think we're good for a few more months before they start moving around." Eddie chuckled. "Then I'm sure we'll be in a lot of trouble chasing them in two different directions.
"Are they sleeping ?" Jamie asked.
"Joey is." Danny told him. "Dad is in there just mesmerized with Charlie. He's been holding her all afternoon, for the exception of the 15 minutes he took to eat dinner."
"Jamie, come here." Eddie whispered peeking into the living room. They looked in and saw Frank asleep in his chair with Charlie on his shoulder covered with a blanket.
"I always hoped I would see this side of my Dad again. He loves his grandchildren." Jamie started. "For a long time I thought he would never get to meet my children."
"Jamie." Eddie put her head on his shoulder.
"Until I met you . . ." Jamie wrapped his arm around Eddie
"Took you long enough to do something about it." Eddie teased still whispering.
"Once I did though, I made sure you weren't going anywhere."
"Oh, so getting me pregnant was part of the plan ?"
"Of course", Jamie smirked, "although not quite this early in our relationship, we've only been together a year."
"Not even"
"Almost"
Henry snuck up behind them and whispered, "Leave your father be, and go get something to eat before your children wake up. There are plates made up for you, you'll just need to heat them up."
"Thanks, Pop." Eddie smiled giving Henry a kiss on the cheek.
Jamie and Eddie sat at the table enjoying catching up on the week with Henry, Danny, and Erin.
"So how's parenthood?" Erin asked.
"Exhausting, but the best feeling ever." Jamie said smiling. "I know it's only been a few days, but I love everything about it."
"I'm guessing you haven't been changing diapers yet then." Danny guessed.
"He's changed most of them and even helped me when Joey peed on me when I did his first diaper change." Eddie cringed remembering it.
Henry and Danny laughed. "The first time I changed Francis, I think he was about a week old and I had just gotten off tour. He soaked the whole front of my uniform." Henry chuckled. "It took me a few tries before I could change him without getting peed on.
"Same here." Danny started. "Jack got me really good when I changed him the first night. I left the hospital with a scrub shirt.
Erin had a hard time keeping a straight face. "I'm so glad I didn't have a boy." She said laughing uncontrollably.
"What's so funny in here?" Frank asked curiously walking into the dining room.
"We were discussing how we all got peed on by our sons." Danny explained. Frank chuckled.
"So which one of you did Joey get?"
"Me" Eddie admitted.
"Welcome to the club." Frank told her.
"Who got you, Dad?" Jamie asked.
"One guess." Frank grinned slyly looking at his oldest son.
"I'm guessing that would be me." Danny said.
"You were the first but not the last. I got peed on by all my boys but Joe had to make it the most exciting."
"Joe always had a way to make things more exciting." Erin reminisced.
"So what happened?" Eddie asked, her curiosity peaked.
"Well, it was late summer and very hot, I think Joe would have been around 3 months old. Mary and I had the kids outside swimming in a little pool, they were 4 and 3 at the time. In those days, you didn't have diapers made for the water so Joe went in the pool in just his diaper. Mary was holding him and letting him kick his feet and splash around, she ended up sitting him down in the water for a few minutes until she realized he needed a change - she could smell him." Frank began, the family laughed. "You see Joe had a way about him, a presence, and you always knew he was in a room."
"Looks like he started that early." Danny added.
"When Mary picked him up out of the pool she realized everything was leaking out."
"Ewww!" Eddie cringed.
"Just wait until that happens to you." Henry told her. "And it will."
"Keep going, Dad." Danny pushed.
"She started yelling at Danny and Erin to get out of the pool. I told her I would take Joe in and get him cleaned up and she could take the older ones out and change the water in the pool. I didn't want to take him upstairs because he was wet and messy. So, I sat him in the sink and took his diaper off. I washed him off in the sink, grabbed an old dish towel to dry him off and took him over to the kitchen table where the diaper bag was. I laid him down and went to grab a diaper from the bag. I kept one hand on him as I went looking in the bag and all of the sudden felt something warm. I looked over and he had a stream shooting a good 6-8 inches in the air. By the time I got the diaper over him he had left a puddle on the kitchen floor."
The entire family was now laughing uncontrollably.
"I can only imagine what Mom's reaction was." Erin commented.
"Actually your mother could not stop laughing when I told her what he did."
Just then the family was interrupted by soft cries coming from the living room.
"I'll get him, he's probably hungry." Eddie said.
"I just fed him an hour ago, maybe he needs to be changed." Henry let her know.
"Thanks, I'll check him."
After changing his diaper, Eddie brought a happy Joey back to the table with her.
"Hey there, Joey, did you have a good nap?" Jamie asked, smiling at his son. Joey squirmed and made cooing noises at his Dad. "Let me take him while you finish eating."
Jamie entertained Joey while Eddie finished eating.
"The kid's a natural." Danny commented. .
"Well, you guys did give me a few to practice with." Jamie reminded him.
"True, but you always had a way the kids." Henry acknowledged. "They are really lucky to have you and Eddie as parents."
"Aww thanks, Pop." Eddie gushed. "Thank you for everything today, that nap was well needed but I think it's time to take these two home. They're going to need to be fed soon."
"I'll call this week and see what day you need help. If you guys need to go food shopping or just want to get out for lunch." Henry told them.
"Pop, you don't need to do that." Jamie started.
"Nonsense." Henry replied back. "I want to spend as much time with them as I can. I'm not getting any younger, you know."
"Thanks, Pop. We'll take any help we can get, right Jamie ?"
Danny helped the new family pack up their car before heading home.
"Geez, I think we should host family dinner once and a while so we don't have to lug all this stuff around." Eddie laughed.
"I'm sure it will get easier as they get older."
"I hope so." Eddie replied back. "For now, though, I'm going to enjoy everything with them being this little, even if it means bringing the whole house with us.
"Do you know what I really want to do?" Jamie asked.
"What?"
"Get into bed and curl up with my beautiful wife and our adorable babies." Jamie smiled looking at Eddie.
"Well then, what are we waiting for, let's get going." Eddie told him reaching for his hand. "Other than our nap this afternoon, that is the best offer I've gotten all day."
