Story: Phoenix
Chapter 22
Disclaimer: See Chapter 1
Previously: Jed and Abbey talked through their earlier argument and came to an understanding
Summary: Jed and Abbey share a Christmas snack early Christmas morning; during a family visit to the NICU, Liz and Ellie are finally introduced to their little sister; Jed and Abbey get to hold Zoey for the very first time
"SON OF A - " Abbey winced at the pain, hopping on her right foot while trying desperately to tighten her grip on her left. She squeezed the toe with all her might as if it would take away the throbbing ache and stifle the erratic scream itching to escape her lungs.
She knew she should have worn her shoes and if only they hadn't made so much noise when gliding across the carpet, she would have. But she opted for a quieter approach, a soundless attempt to arrange the Christmas gifts just as the real Santa Claus would - without waking a soul.
So much for that.
Her entire body had tensed with a violent jolt when her foot slammed right into the side of a large, square-shaped gift. A crystal salad bowl, she guessed, based on its side, its weight, and its ability to produce a significant amount of pain to a defenseless little toe.
The initial high-pitched squeal penetrated the walls and echoed down the hall. Jed immediately stirred under the covers. Throwing the blanket aside and sitting up, his feet automatically slipped into his slippers as his hand reached for his robe. He cautiously walked out of the bedroom, his arms still searching for the holes in his sleeves.
He poked his head around the corner, but saw no one. He looked towards Ellie and Lizzie's rooms and the study which had been turned into a guest bedroom for Abbey's parents, and still, he didn't see or hear anything. His eyes wandered back to the corner of the living room, the area where garland and ornaments decorated a six-foot Christmas Tree. Underneath, the line of presents had expanded considerably.
"Abbey's home," he whispered to himself as his lips curved into a sly grin.
The faint sound of her rummaging around in the bathroom put his mind at ease and he glanced at the plate of oatmeal cookies and tall glass of milk she had left on the counter. He reached for a cookie and brought it to his mouth, a tiny corner nestled between his lips as he took his first bite.
"Put it down." That familiar sultry voice vibrated in the air. She stood behind him, agitated and unamused.
Jed dropped the rest of the cookie onto the plate as he turned to face her. "I already ate the cookies and milk the girls left for Santa, so what's this?"
"A little treat I prepared for myself." She limped around him, heading to the kitchen. He followed.
"What happened to your leg?"
"Not my leg. My toe," Abbey replied as they both took a seat at the table. "I stubbed it on that salad bowl my parents bought us. Damn near took the nail off. I had to wrap it with a wet paper towel just to stop the bleeding."
"Oh, God, Abbey, I'm sor..." He stopped abruptly, the grin now returning to his face. "...how do you know it's a salad bowl?"
There was no verbal response. She just stared at him the way she always did to remind him of the uncanny instincts she had, the ones he eventually came to accept, without question, to avoid further confusion. "Anyway, these are my cookies."
She pulled the plate from out of his reach, but he grabbed the glass of milk before she could get to it. "That's fine. It's my milk."
"I poured that milk."
"You POURED that milk? That's how stingy we've gotten now?"
"Yes," she teased as she took a bite of her cookie. "So what are you doing anyway?"
"I heard a sound. I assume it was you screaming in pain."
"Good assumption."
Jed graciously pushed the glass in her direction, smiling when she reciprocated by breaking off half of her cookie and sharing it with him. "I see you've added some gifts to the pile."
"Yeah. I bought a few more things for the girls the last couple of days."
"I already bought the girls all their gifts. I bought everything on the list."
"I wanted some extras."
"Like what?" He took the glass out of her hand, clenching it in his grip and absently twirling it after pushing the rim of the vessel against his lips.
"I bought Lizzie the bra she wanted."
"Abbey!" He seemed to age right before her. His eyes grayed and his undetectable wrinkles suddenly appeared in tiny creases across his forehead.
She took a second to savor that adorable look of panic before responding. "The pink one, Jed. Not the padded one."
"Oh. Okay, then." Even his nonchalant tone didn't mask the intensity of the emotions she sparked with that little revelation. He stood up then and approached the top shelf of the pantry.
"What are you doing?" Her brow raised, she shot him an incredulous glare as he held up an unopened package of cookies. "Oreos?"
"I don't like oatmeal."
"Oatmeal is good."
"It's Christmas, Abbey. I want to tantalize my taste buds with a little more than rolled oats."
Truthfully, those Oreos looked good to her too. She waved her finger to welcome him back and before he even took his seat, she clawed at the package, gasping in shock when he turned away from her. "Hey!"
"What happened to 'oatmeal is good'?"
"It is when there's nothing else around, but since you went to the trouble..."
"Uh uh. You insulted the wonder that is the Oreo. You don't get rewarded for that."
"I questioned you for wanting one. That's not exactly insulting the Oreo."
"Semantics, My Dear." He pulled them away from her wandering fingers as he opened the plastic and helped himself. "So the girls were a little upset that you didn't meet us for church tonight."
It was more of a question than a statement, asked delicately to avoid a hint of judgment or disapproval. The distance that Abbey created between herself and her faith right after her attack had broadened since Zoey's birth.
"I'm sorry they were upset. I'll talk to them."
"They'll be fine. They're thrilled you've been spending so much time with them the past few days." He twisted the top of the chocolate cookie, keeping the plain side for himself and handing her the creamy half. She accepted with a grateful grin.
"I'm thrilled to be spending so much time with them." Finally, she had started to find the tenuous balance in her devotion to her three daughters. "Which reminds me..."
"You know what?" Jed leapt to his feet to retrieve a small gift-wrapped box from under the tree. "I want to give you this tonight."
"On Christmas Eve? You never let me open presents on Christmas Eve."
"It's five a.m., Sweet Knees. Technically, it's Christmas." He leaned forward and kissed her cheek as he slipped the gift into her hand. "Besides, this is something I wanted to give you in private. The other gifts you'll open in the morning."
Attentively listening to hear the jingles inside, Abbey shook the box. "It's the diamond bracelet."
Her strong declaration wiped the smirk right off Jed's face. "It is not!"
"Jed, I know about the diamond bracelet you hid in the dresser drawer."
He was reminded of his conversation with Ellie three weeks earlier, when she, too, admitted knowing about the bracelet. Of all the things for his middle daughter to inherit from her mother, it had to be her nosiness. "That bracelet's going back to the store this weekend."
His indignation only fueled her mischievous laugh as her fingers worked around the tape to tear open the present. Inside the paper sat a small velvet box - red with gold trim, dotted with flecks of gold across the exterior. She lifted the top and gasped at the lovely sight. "Oh my God."
"You know what it is?"
"I have no idea," she admitted, shaking her head while holding up the sterling silver-chained necklace. A small white oval-shaped gem hung from the middle, shining with a myriad of colors designed to sparkle when it caught the light. On the left side was another tiny stone, this one bluish green, outlined in matching silver. And on the right, yet another one - a lighter blue, almost transparent. All three were entangled perfectly, set inside a pendant resembling a three-leaf clover.
"This one here," he pointed to the middle stone, the shiniest of the three. "This is October's birthstone. It's an Opal for Ellie. This one," he held the left gem between his fingers. "It's the color of sea water, Aquamarine, the stone for March and for Lizzie. And finally," he began as he moved to the only one left. "This is for December. It's a Blue Topaz for our youngest little angel, Zoey."
"You had this made?"
Jed nodded as he took it from her grasp. "Let me."
He draped the chain around her neck and clasped it in the back. Abbey's hands fell to the front where she protectively curled her palm around all three gems. "It's beautiful."
Any attempt to compose herself proved to be a fruitless effort. Gales of tears clouded her vision as she stammered and stuttered, searching for the perfect word of thanks, yet knowing there was no such thing. "I don't know what to say."
He lifted her chin with his finger and grazed her lips with a kiss. "No need to say anything."
"You always come up with the most beautiful presents."
"I try."
"You succeed. I love you so much."
"I love you too, Abbey. And I'm so grateful to you for giving me three beautiful daughters whom I love with all my heart."
Their lips met again. This time, Abbey pressed her mouth to his, holding him in her arms and stroking his back while standing on the tips of her toes for the perfect angle. After they parted, she ran her thumb over his face to wipe away the streak of lipstick that smudged his lips. "Sorry."
"No problem. Lizzie's been practicing making me up. I'd make a pretty good-looking female if I do say so myself."
"Wouldn't surprise me a bit." Abbey's chuckle soon ended as she donned a more serious expression. "Jed, speaking of the girls...I wanted to ask you something."
"What?"
"What do you think of us taking Liz and Ellie to the hospital to see Zoey?"
"Really?"
"They should get to meet her. You've been saying that all along. Do you still think it's a good idea?"
"Yeah." He cupped his hand around her waist and pulled her into a hug. "I do. I really do."
Zoey had been growing at an agonizingly slow, yet steady pace. The doctors had recently moved her from the infant warmer to an enclosed incubator, an indication that her condition was gradually improving. The enormous crowd of tubes and machines and monitors responsible for detecting the slightest glitch in her recovery seemed to dwindle every few days. She was breathing on her own now so the ventilator was no longer needed. From time to time, she would squirm around her bed, look up at every visitor, and even coo as her only form of friendly expression.
She still had a long way to go before they could take out the IVs, discontinue the phototherapy used to treat her short bouts of jaundice, and discard the feeding tube put in as a precaution to ensure she'd receive all her calories for the day. But with a hopeful prognosis, Abbey realized there was no harm in being introduced to her big sisters.
The Bartlets made their way up to the NICU lobby on Christmas afternoon, Abbey's parents, James and Mary, accompanying them. Apprehensively, Liz and Ellie approached their father and glanced through the window as he pointed out their sister's incubator.
"That's her?" Lizzie's face instantly crinkled as she saw the infant wiggling helplessly. "She's so small."
"They're all small," Ellie replied as Jed picked her up so she could reach the glass.
"But they're not supposed to be. You were a lot bigger."
"I was?" she asked her father.
"Yeah, Sweetheart, you were."
"How come she's so small then?"
Abbey stroked the five-year-old's bangs off her forehead. "Babies stay in their Mommy's belly until they're big and strong and ready to come out. You were born a whole week after you should have been. Zoey wasn't. She was born too early."
"How come she came out if she wasn't ready?"
"That sometimes happens, Princess. Babies can't control it...and neither can their mothers," Jed answered as he lowered Ellie to the ground and stared at Abbey. Even the most simple words presented an opportunity for him to reinforce the fact that Zoey's premature birth wasn't her fault.
Abbey appreciatively stared back, her eyes beaming with gratitude for such a considerate husband. After several silent seconds passed between the two, she addressed her family. "Okay, how are we going to do this? We can't all go in at once."
"Why not?"
"They have to limit the number of visitors because they have to keep it quiet." James took his place in front of Abbey and proudly turned his attention to his newborn granddaughter. "Abbey, you and Jed take the girls. Your mother and I will wait."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes," Mary replied. "You take your time."
Jed looked at his two older daughters as Abbey picked up the wall phone to gain entry to the secured nursery. "So who wants to go first?"
"Ellie can go." Amazed by the size of the tiny infants, Lizzie couldn't peel herself away from the window. "I'll wait here with Daddy."
"Okay, Goldilocks. Are you ready?" Abbey took Ellie's hand and guided her through the double doors that led to the sink.
Ellie snapped her head from side to side as she took in her surroundings. Beyond the doors in front of them was a room she was sure would frighten her. Never had she seen so many machines or heard the echo of so many monitors beeping at independent intervals. It was overwhelming for the young girl as her mother spun her around to direct her to the footstool. She took a step up and began to wash her hands, the rough, antibacterial soap producing suds that burned between her palms.
"Mommy, it hurts."
"I'm sorry, Sweetie. It's going to kill all the germs though so none of the babies get sick."
Ellie held her arms straight up, just as her mother taught her, and waited for Abbey to cover her hands with a pair of gloves. Next, she wrapped her in a blue gown, tying the strings around her neck and her back. She repeated the procedure on herself, then led Ellie through another set of doors that led to the nursery.
"Abbey!" Nurse Patti practically ran towards the pair. "I just tried to call you!"
"What's wrong? Is she okay?" Abbey frantically picked up her pace towards Zoey's incubator.
"She's great! In fact, she's better than great." Patti rested her hand on Abbey's arm, instantly calming her before she continued. "How would you like to hold your baby girl?"
It took a few seconds for Abbey to catch her breath and fully digest what Patti was saying. Her eyes widened and her brows shot up to reveal a couple wrinkles of her own. "Really?"
It was her dream come true. Since the moment Zoey was whisked out of the delivery room, no one had been permitted to hold her. Jed and Abbey were forced to settle for only occasional touches while they longed for the day when their daughter could finally be held.
From his perch on a chair in the lobby, Jed watched Patti pick up the underweight baby and twist the IVs and cords around her frame to easily place her in Abbey's arms. His own eyes began to tingle with tears as he bit down on his lower lip.
The three-week-old baby struggled to gain control over her moving limbs by squirming to loosen her mother's firm grip. But that wasn't going to happen. So soft and vulnerable, weak and lethargic, Zoey basically lay helpless against Abbey's delicately adequate hold. Abbey smiled a smile so exuberant that it rippled infectiously through the faces of her loved ones as she held the infant up towards the window, taking notice of the way Jed had pressed himself against the glass.
"Patti, can they...please? We'll be quiet."
Patti had worked the NICU for more than five years. She knew the rules and usually, she followed them meticulously. But every once in a while, she was faced with a dilemma that nipped at the mother beneath the nursing scrubs, the part of her that could surrender to the emotions of others, cry with them in their anguish and celebrate with them in their joy.
"They'll have to scrub in and they can only stay for a few minutes," she adamantly warned.
"Thank you!" Abbey grasped Zoey's slippery little body and nodded at her husband, a gesture he immediately understood.
Jed, Lizzie, James, and Mary disappeared into the scrub station for several minutes then followed the trail to the nursery. As Lizzie led the group, Jed lagged behind the others. His body trembled. His feet stumbled. His entire demeanor had nearly crumpled into a quivering mass of nervousness.
"Really?" he asked his wife, still caught in a wave of disbelief.
Abbey tilted her head to the side as she gently slid the baby into the cradled cocoon Jed had formed with his arms. "Really."
"Oh God. She's still so light. Hey, Zoey." Jed called her name in a soft, soothing voice. He caught her attention and sighed in relief as her beautiful green eyes gazed up at him.
"Hi, Zoey," Liz added, pulling on her father's waist to get a better look at her sister. There were only a few strands of light baby fine hair that covered her head. She may have inherited her mother's eyes, but those gorgeous long lashes were the same ones Lizzie inherited from Jed. "She's so pretty."
"Zoey, that's your sister, Lizzie. And over there, that's Ellie. And your grandparents, they're here too." He shifted her tiny frame in his arms so everyone could get a good look.
Ellie speechlessly admired the scene standing next to her mother. All this time, her insecurities had pushed to her to the brink of tears, but now, she truly understood what was happening. There was nothing the least bit threatening about a baby so small and innocent. It was a brand new feeling for the youngster. She had been born into a family she loved from birth, but she never imagined the introduction of a new human being into her life could stir so much affection. Her heart was racing with a powerful urge to hug the baby.
"Mommy?"
"Go on, Sweetheart." Abbey encouraged her with a soft shove as Jed kneeled to her level.
"Smile for Ellie, Zo."
"She's not smiling."
"I don't think she can yet, Baby. We have to give her a few more weeks." Abbey lifted Jed to his feet and reached for Zoey. "Okay, my turn again."
"Do the needles hurt her?" Concerned, Ellie looked over the web of IVs poking her sister's fragile flesh.
"I doubt she can feel much pain," Jed answered. "The doctors and nurses are doing what they can to make her as comfortable as possible."
Zoey's eyes erratically shifted from person to person. Her lashes fluttered and her pink, puckered lips withdrew into an involuntary frown across her face. A screeched sob followed instantly as she stretched her little fingers so stiffly, they began to shake against her will. Abbey rocked her back and forth in an even rhythm as Jed stroked her bare belly with his thumb.
"She's probably scared of all these people." Lizzie joined her father, gently touching her hand to Zoey's face to stop her crying. "It's okay, Zoey. We won't hurt you."
Standing back, away from the others, Ellie's voice barely carried as a whisper. In fact, no one even heard her sweet tone filling up the cramped space by Zoey's bed until Zoey's tantrum faded into light whimpers in response to her singing.
"Hush little baby, don't say a word, Mommy's gonna buy you a mocking bird. If that mocking bird don't sing, Mommy's gonna buy you a diamond ring."
All of a sudden, all eyes were on Ellie. The shy little girl retreated inside herself and leaned back against the wall. Her hands were clasped in front of her and shoulders heaved forward to shield her from the intruding stares.
"It's okay, Ellie," Mary assured her. "Keep going. She likes it."
"She does, Sweetie." Jed grabbed her forearm to pull her towards the crowd. "Keep singing."
Ellie began again slowly. Quietly. The lyrics dragged in some places and were cut abruptly short in others. "If that...diamond ring turns brass, Mommy's...gonna buy you a looking glass." It was as if she was embarrassed to continue.
"And if that looking glass gets broke..." Abbey waved her along as she joined in to put her at ease.
"Mommy's gonna buy you a billy goat. If that billy goat won't pull, Mommy's gonna buy you a cart and bull..."
With her eyes fixated on Ellie's mouth, it was obvious Zoey was mesmerized by her sister's song. She listened closely, hypnotically, not a single sound escaping her lips as she waited for Ellie to finish.
TBC