Author's Note: Aww, thank you all so much for all the reviews! You make me blush ;-) hehe. So here's the next chapter... and I've also started another LWD fic (I couldn't help myself hehe) that I'll be posting soon. Hope you enjoy:-)
The following day, Casey and our Jake were released from the hospital. Casey was feeling fine, or so she said. I could tell she was still exhausted. I held Jake in my arms as my Dad drove us home from the hospital. Casey laid her head on my shoulder and drifted off to sleep as soon as the car started moving. I stared at Jake the whole ride home.
He was so small; I had forgotten how tiny babies were. It had been years since Marti was a baby, and I don't really remember Edwin as a baby. He was wearing a blue set of fuzzy pajamas that Nora had sent up with my Dad. It was a little bit big for Jake, but he looked nice and warm in it. I kept him wrapped up in his blue hospital blanket and held him close to make sure he didn't get cold. It was mid-autumn, and the biting Canadian winter air was beginning to show signs of its incoming.
The nurses had said that Jake was "an angel." He slept for most of the night, and when he did wake up, he only cried for a few moments before settling down by himself. They said he was the quietest baby in the nursery. That was surprising, seeing as how Casey and I were his parents. We had never exactly been known for our quiet presence.
Jake was now awake, just looking around, taking everything in. His mouth dribbled a little, and I carefully brushed the drool away with the corner of his blanket. He stared up at me when I did that, and all I could do was stare back in awe as he seemed to study my face. It was like he knew who I was.
"Hey buddy," I said softly, giving him a smile. He just continued watching me, his blue eyes so inquisitive and curious. I leaned down and pressed a gentle kiss to his chubby little cheek. I couldn't believe he was really my son. That I was really a father. It all seemed so surreal.
The car stopped and I looked up to realize that we were home. I glanced over at Casey, who was totally zonked out on my shoulder, her lips parted and face peaceful.
"Case," I whispered gently, nudging her with my elbow, as my hands were quite full.
She stirred and then mumbled a sleepy, "Whaaa?"
"We're here," I hid a chuckle and watched her slowly sit upright. She yawned and looked over at Jake in my arms. She smiled then.
"Are you ready to come see your home, Jakey?" she asked in one of those Baby-Talk voices.
I groaned. "Jakey? Come on, Case. This kid is a masculine kinda guy. Not a Jakey kinda guy."
She narrowed her eyes at me, in a faux-angry glare. Then she smiled. "Let's bring him in now."
I was kind of excited to bring Jake into the house, too. "Ready, Jake?" I asked him. He stared up at me. I chuckled and saw Casey smile brightly out of the corner of my eye.
"Let's go," I said and we climbed out of the car. My Dad was waiting at the front door for us. I followed Casey inside.
"Surprise!" there was a chorus of cheers as we walked into the living room. The room had been decorated with crêpe paper and a sign that said, "WELCOME HOME, JACOB!" in Edwin's neat handwriting. In the room were the grinning faces of Nora, Edwin, Lizzie, Marti, Emily and her entire family, and a few other neighbors that Nora had actually become friends with.
"Oh my gosh," Casey covered her mouth with her hand, completely surprised.
"Where's my grandson?" Nora rushed over to coo over Jake, who remained silent yet alert in my arms. He seemed to be taking everything and everyone in though his wide eyes.
"He's so good," Lizzie said, noticing that Jake didn't make a peep through all of the commotion.
"He's the best baby," I agreed proudly, smiling down at him.
"Ooh, let me see him," I heard Emily say. She had been hugging Casey. Now she stepped in closer to me and peered down at Jake, who was starting to close his eyes.
"Ohhh!" Emily gasped. "He's SO cute, Casey!" She grinned and looked up at me. "Congratulations, Derek."
"Thanks," I smiled.
"Isn't he perfect?" Casey said with a dreamy smile on her face as she stared down at Jake fondly, leaning in closer to me.
"Oh stop, you're making me blush," I pretended that she was talking about me.
Casey and Emily both laughed.
"Not you, dork," Casey said affectionately.
"Dork?" I feigned hurt. "Is that how you're going to treat me in front of our children?"
"Child, Derek," she rolled her eyes with a smile still on her face. "We only have one child."
"For now," I answered.
Her jaw dropped slightly and eyes widened as they met mine in a surprised look. I didn't say anything. Neither did she. But we looked at each other for about a full minute. Our mutual stare was interrupted by Nora.
"Do you want me to hold him while you two open presents?" she asked us.
We both looked at her.
"More presents?" Casey squeaked. They had already bought us a billion things for the baby—bottles, diapers, formula, toys, clothes. What else could the tiny guy actually need?
I reluctantly handed Jake over to Nora, though, and Casey and I both sat down on the couch. Emily's mother thrust a present in our faces.
"Here," she announced, and Casey slowly took it from her with a "thanks." I watched her open it, pulling out a pair of blue pajamas with little circus animals printed on it, and one of those baby monitor things so we could hear Jake if he cried and we were in another room. It was a good idea.
"Thank you," Casey and I both thanked Emily and her parents.
Another couple, the Fablers, who lived across the street, gave us a 50$ gift card to some baby clothing shop. Again, a very nice idea.
Then, my Dad threw us a box. Casey let me open it, and my eyes widened when I saw a tiny jersey of my favorite hockey team, the Leafs, for Jake. That was incredible.
"Awesome!" I exclaimed with a grin. "He'll be the youngest Leafs fan."
My Dad laughed, patting my shoulder in a fatherly way. I couldn't wait to see Jake in it… maybe the two of us could watch the hockey game together tonight.
"Thanks, George," Casey thanked my Dad, knowing I was ecstatic about the jersey. Probably more excited than I should be.
"We have one more surprise," Edwin piped up.
I remembered what it was. Hell, I had helped set it up. I knew Casey was going to love it. I grabbed her hand and pulled her onto her feet with me. She looked over at me, confused.
"It's in your room," I explained to her.
Intrigued, she followed the whole group of us into her bedroom upstairs. Inside was a good-sized baby crib, white with blue and green printed sheets. My Dad had wanted to get yellow when we bought the sheets, since we didn't actually know what sex the baby actually was, but I told him firmly that it was going to be a boy, and picked out the blue sheets. The comforter was multi-colored, with the scene of a cartoon bear sleeping peacefully. There was a little mobile of matching bears that hung above the crib, and two stuffed animals already inside it. All in all, it was one hell of a crib.
Casey teared up at the sight. I figured it was probably because her hormones were all over the place still so she was overly emotional. She cried and hugged everyone, thanking them, and then buried her face in my chest to cry some more. I rubbed her back and ran my fingers through her hair, knowing she would calm down in a few minutes.
"Thank you so much," she said finally when she composed herself and disentangled herself from me. She hugged Nora and my Dad, then Lizzie, Edwin, and Marti.
That night, Nora prepared a special meal to celebrate. My Dad wanted to help, but I gave Edwin a look, and quickly he went to distract him, getting his mind off of cooking. Which George Venturi really should never be allowed to do.
"Jake is probably hungry," Casey said as we heard noises from the baby monitor. I followed her up to her bedroom, where Jake was now wide awake in his crib. He was making little noises, fidgeting, but not really crying.
"I'll go get some formula," I told her.
Casey shook her head, carefully picking up Jake. "No, you take Jake, I'll go get it." She smiled as she laid our son in my arms. I smiled brightly down at the little guy. I could already see bits of both me and Casey mixed on his little face. I sat down on Casey's purple comforter just as I heard a sing-song voice call, "Smerrrr-ek?"
"In here, Smarti," I answered her, and my little sister came bouncing into the room.
"Smerek, I wanna hold Jake. I didn't get to," she gave an indignant look, putting her hands on her hips. I could tell she was going to be the source of many ulcers in Dad's future. She walked over sassily and then stuck out her lower lip in a pout. "Pleeeease, Smerek?"
I sighed. I didn't know if it was a good idea. I looked at her pouting face, and relented. "Fine. But you have to do exactly what I say, okay Smarti? You have to be very gentle with him."
She nodded vigorously, and I had her sit down all the way at the top of Casey's bed, her back against the headboard. I told her to prop Casey's pillows on each side of her, and put a cushioning blanket on her lap, making it fool-proof. I wasn't taking any chances.
"Okay, Smarti, you have to hold him just like this," I showed her. She seemed as though she got it, so I gently placed Jake in her small arms. I sat right in front of her just in case.
Marti peered down at the bundle in her arms in wonder. "He's so little," she commented.
"You were that little too, once," I told her.
Marti scrunched up her face at the thought of it. Jake stared up at her.
"Is Jake my brother?" she suddenly asked me.
I coughed. I wasn't surprised that she was confused. It was confusing. Especially for a seven year-old. But I didn't really know how to explain things to her…
"Uh, no, he's your nephew," I corrected her, silently praying that she wouldn't ask any more questions about it.
"Nephew," she seemed to play with the idea as she gazed at Jake.
Thankfully, Casey walked in at that time. She looked a bit nervous for a split second, seeing Marti holding Jake, but saw the precautions I had taken and visibly relaxed. "I've got Jake's bottle," she said.
"Can I feed him?" Marti looked up at Casey.
I looked over at Casey, too. Casey looked hesitant at first, but slowly nodded. "Okay. But you have to be very gentle with him," she said to Marti.
"I will!" she looked giddy now.
I watched as Casey showed Marti how to feed the baby. But I wasn't watching what they were doing. I was just watching Casey. She was a bit heavier now than she had been pre-pregnancy, but not as much as everyone had figured. The doctor said it was because Casey has a fast metabolism, and Jake wasn't a very big baby. In fact, Casey barely even showed until she was several months into her pregnancy. I looked at her now. She looked great. Even in sweats and no make-up, with tangled hair in a messy ponytail and rings around her eyes, she still looked like my sexy Casey. A very tired, worn-out Casey, but a sexy Casey nonetheless. I knew her labor had taken a lot out of her, and she was still exhausted from it. After dinner, I was definitely going to insist that she go to bed.
Speaking of dinner, it was actually really good. Nora had went over the top, cooking a variety of different foods so we were completely stuffed in no time. After finishing, Casey sat back in her chair and closed her eyes. I placed a hand on her thigh. "Case, why don't you go to bed now?" I suggested to her.
She opened her beautiful blue eyes, the same eyes Jake had inherited, and sighed. "I'm sure Jake will be waking up soon—"
"I'm sure I can handle it," I interrupted.
She looked a bit surprised. "Are you sure?"
"Positive," I nodded in affirmation. "Plus, Nora and my Dad are around in case I need them. You look like you're about to pass out at any minute."
Casey gave a soft chuckle. "I am exhausted," she admitted.
"Then go to sleep. Sleep in my room so Jake won't wake you up. I'll take care of him for the night."
I knew she was floored. I kinda was, too. I was being uncharacteristically generous.
But Casey was worth it.
"Thanks, Derek," she gave a soft smile and pressed a warm kiss to my cheek.
"Just get some rest," I told her. She nodded, saying goodnight to everyone, and told me to wake her up if I needed her. I shooed her off with the wave of my hand and she went off to bed.
"That was very mature of you, Derek," Nora complimented with a smile. She seemed quite impressed.
I felt myself begin to blush, which was also very rare for me. I tried to hide it, but wasn't sure if I was really successful. "I should, uh, go check on Jake," I quickly got up and left the table.
Jake was still sound asleep, his face so peaceful. I felt a smile tug at my lips as I watched his rhythmic breathing. It was so hard for me to believe that I had actually helped create this little life. This perfect baby boy.
"Derek," a voice came suddenly, and I looked up, a bit startled. It was Nora. She smiled, having caught me staring at Jake. I probably had some goofy look on my face. But I didn't blush. "You have a phone call."
My eyebrows instantly knit together. I couldn't even guess who it could be. And I especially would never have guessed who it actually was.
"Yeah?" I asked curiously into the receiver after walking downstairs and picking up the phone.
"Hey, Derek," the familiar voice replied.
Sam.
"Sam?" was all I could reply with, completely taken by surprise. I kind of figured our friendship had ended when he found out about me and Casey. We had exchanged several words, none of them very pleasant, and went our separate ways. The only times we talked thereafter was during hockey practice and games—and strictly game talk.
"Yeah, I uh…heard about Casey having the baby," he said quietly.
I pursed my lips together. "Uh, yeah, she did."
"What…uh…what is it?"
"A boy," I answered, not able to keep the pride out of my voice.
Sam seemed to let out a breath, as if he could barely believe it. "Wow." There was a pregnant pause. It was a bit awkward. Then, "Congratulations, man."
I had never in a million years expected THAT to come from Sam's mouth. I didn't even know what to say. So I just let out a chuckle. "Thanks, Sam. Thanks."
There was another awkward pause after that. I knew I had to say something. I took a deep breath. "Sam…I'm sorry." And I was. Sorry for the things I had said to him. Sorry for getting with Casey even though I knew he wasn't over her. Sorry for breaking our friendship to begin with. We had had a lot of good times in the past; we had been friends for years. It was dumb that I had let us end the friendship so abruptly. I tried to convey all of that with one "I'm sorry." And just like Sam, I knew he would get it.
"I know. Me too," he answered. "So…can I come see him?"
I smiled. "Sure, man. Come whenever."
"You think Casey would mind?" he asked, a bit of hesitance apparent in his tone.
"No." My Casey never held grudges. "Come visit tomorrow, if you want."
"I just might do that," Sam responded. And I knew we were back at peace.
I hung up the phone, thinking about how great my life was now.
And wondering what the catch would be.