Chapter 18
Parenthood
Although William, Will as he was soon called, was born a couple weeks early, he turned out a very healthy baby. He and J were released from the hospital on the same day as Coach. With wide hazel eyes that matched his mother's perfectly, Will stared in awe out the window all the way home. He soon made fast friends with both Romeo and Hercules (though he could do little more than gape at them). Hercules even abandoned his usual spot between Alan and J (when they let him in the room) to curl up with Will at night. Thus J and Alan began their life as parents.
***
Three Months Later
A scratching at the door woke J. Groggily, she stumbled out of bed and opened the door to find Hercules gazing expectantly at her. She reached down to pick him up. "Why aren't you with Will?" J turned around and suddenly noticed that Alan wasn't in the room. Yawning, J placed Hercules on the bed and wandered out into the hallway.
There she heard the sound of a hushed voice coming from Will's room. J tiptoed to the doorframe, freezing in place as she proceeded the scene. Alan was sitting in the large, two-person green armchair, next to the baby's crib. The crib was empty; Alan was cradling Will and softly talking to him.
"Hey there, little guy. It's me, your daddy. Your daddy…" Will stirred and awoke. Somehow he sensed the calm seriousness of the situation, and the baby stifled any cries to gaze up at Alan with trusting eyes. Alan smiled lovingly at his son as his voice grew reflective. "Your father. I want you to know something. I love you so much. I will always love you." Something in Alan's throat, a lump, choked him up. "I will never, EVER, be like my father." Alan allowed Will to grasp his pointer finger, whispering, "You'll always be safe with me. I love you and your mother more than anything else."
J couldn't spectate any longer. She pushed herself from the doorframe and moved to sit beside Alan. She wrapped her arm around him and pulled him close. With her other arm, she helped Alan support Will. As J rested her head on his shoulder, Alan leaned down to lightly kiss his son's forehead, then the side of his wife's.
***
4 years later
October 3, 1987
It was 2 p.m. on a Saturday afternoon. J was faced with a napping husband, hyper 4-year-old son, and an infuriating case of cabin fever. Just because she was a week or so past due date (yes, she's got another one in the oven) did not mean that she had to be placed under house arrest. Mike had even forced her from work three weeks ago, forbidding her to return until at least a month after the baby was born.
J was well beyond her bursting point. Will, bouncing energetically from sofa to wall to ceiling, was about to wake up Alan. If Alan woke, he would hush Will, tell him to stop disturbing Mommy, and take him out of the park, leaving J alone with the silence. J realized that Alan was trying to be considerate, and she appreciated it and loved him very much for it, but she could only take so much empty house before the quiet drove her insane.
"Hey, Will," J called at a loud whisper. "You wanna take a trip with Mommy?"
Immediately Will stopped running his miniature race car over the walls to nod his head vigorously at the prospect of a new adventure. "Yeah, yeah!"
"Alright!" J beamed and rumpled her son's red-blonde hair affectionately. "How'd you like to come and help me pick out some more clothes or something for your little brother or sister?"
Again Will agreed vehemently. J nodded, barely able to contain her elation about getting out of the house. She instructed Will to get his shoes on while she left a note for Daddy.
***
Thirty minutes later found mother and son at Babies R Us, one pushing a relatively empty cart while the other pranced alongside, preferring to be free rather than ride in the "baby's seat." As J browsed through the coat section, Will engaged himself in his latest and favorite game: trying to mimic as best as possible the voice that kept playing over the loudspeaker.
"—of one!" Will had just finished repeating the most recent phrase from the speaker when he heard an odd sound. Not odd in the sense of unfamiliar, but odd for the setting. "Mommy, who spilled water…" Will asked, turning around. The sight that met him caused his eyes to widen. "Mommy! What happened?"
J chewed on her lip, and flashed her son an uncertain half-grin. "Uh, Will, sweetie, looks like there's gonna be a small change of plans."
***
The ringing of the phone woke Alan. He slowly tripped his way to the kitchen, vaguely wondering why whoever was on the other end wouldn't hang up. He took slight note of the message left by J before picking up the phone and answering with a sleepy, "hello?"
Hercules, from his perch on the refrigerator, watched with mild interest as Alan's face changed from tired to shocked to panicked. "Yes? What? WHAT?!" Not bothering to change his disheveled clothing, Alan grabbed his keys from the counter, slammed the phone down on the hook, and dashed out the door.
***
Alan rushed into the hospital waiting room (déjà vu, anyone?) to find Will, watched by a nurse, sitting on a chair. Swinging his legs merrily to and fro, the young boy appeared very unconcerned as he sucked on the lollipop given to him by the nurse. Alan halted, panting, and addressed the two waiting for him. "What happened?"
Will jumped from his seat and ran to his father's side. Alan knelt down so that he was eye level with Will. A delighted, four-year-old boy grin played on Will's face as he spread his arms wide and laughed in glee. "Mommy peed her pants!"
***
Coach arrived within ten minutes to take Will home with him. There was no reason for Will to remain at the hospital for the duration of J's labor. It was a long, loonnng labor. By the time that Coach and Will returned the following morning to see how J was doing, she still had not delivered the baby.
The doctor decided to resort to more drastic measures to retrieve the baby. (an: i'm not sure if a procedure like that, to rush labor, is really possible or not, but it's not that big a deal so just go along with me). In order to do so, more people were required in the room, which consequently forced a very unhappy Alan out. He took to pacing the waiting room, observed by a drowsy Will working on another lollipop and a calm Coach browsing the morning's newspaper.
When J's cries, heralding the coming of the newest addition to the Yoast family, filled the air, Alan stopped dead in his tracks. He fixated himself as close to the door as he could, pressing his face up against the glass. Yet, he was unable to see anything because a group of nurses were blocking the view. Not too much later, Alan was nearly knocked to the ground when a nurse, holding a baby, came through the door. She gently handed it to Alan with a congratulatory smile. "Here's your daughter!"
Alan's lips pursed softly in his visage of disbelief as he examined every inch of his daughter. Focusing so intently on her, he barely noticed anything else around him. "A little girl, I have a little girl!" he breathed to himself. Alan did not register the same nurse coming through the door once again.
With a crooked, amused grin, she held out her full arms to Alan. "And here's your other daughter!" Alan's jaw scraped the floor as he nearly fainted.
Coach was off his feet in a matter of seconds to support the stumbling Alan from behind. "Thank you, miss," he said, taking his granddaughter from the nurse. "Since my son is still a little stunned, might I ask for him how J is doing?"
"Oh she's fine," the nurse answered reassuringly. "She's asleep, though. Giving birth to twins really wore her out."
"Not surprising," Coach replied as he shifted his granddaughter's weight. "Could you let us know when she wakes up?"
"Certainly," the nurse said before disappearing.
Alan continued to gape from his one daughter to the other, and finally at Will, who was much more awake. Now up from his seat, he was studying his sisters gravely. Suddenly, a mischievous grin broke through on his face as he remembered the phrase from the loudspeaker at the door the day before. Joyfully, Will proclaimed, "two for the price of one!"
