A/N: See Chapter 1 for Disclaimer.
Chapter 8: George Loves Girls
"What is takin' so long?" George asked impatiently as he continued pacing up and down in the hospital waiting room. It was now the night of the thirtieth of September, a Saturday, and George, Louise, the Willises, and Mr. Bentley were all in the hospital waiting room of the East Side Medical Center, anxiously waiting for news about Jenny and the baby, while Florence was at home with Sarah and Savannah. All the men were standing while Louise and Helen were sitting down together, all of them waiting on pins and needles for news from the delivery room. It was three days before Jenny's due date, and she'd gone into labor at around eleven o'clock that morning. And at about five o'clock that evening, with the contractions getting much closer together, they went to the hospital. "It's been hours!" George complained.
"George, relax," Helen told him. "This is Jenny's first baby, and first babies often take a long time."
"Yes, George, I know it's hard, but try to be patient," said Tom.
Louise chuckled. "Patient? Him? He hasn't been patient a day in his life," she teased. And George could easily see it in his wife's eyes that she was kidding with him, and he laughed. But in all reality, George had grown a very great deal over the past several months, and he actually had become much more gentle and patient, and he was absolutely wonderful with Sarah and Savannah.
"Now Mr. J., you of all people should know better than to worry," Mr. Bentley kindly teased George. "After Mrs. J.'s cancer miraculously being healed and you two having Sarah and Savannah at your age, you of all people should know to have faith."
A bit surprised, George looked at Mr. Bentley and said, "I didn't think you believed in Jesus, Bentley."
"For a long time, I didn't. But seeing everything that's happened with you and Mrs. J. all through this year…seeing Mrs. J. recover from her cancer, seeing you two have two beautiful baby girls, just like what happened in Mrs. J.'s dream…it's pretty hard to remain an unbeliever after that."
"Alright, Bentley!" George happily cried out while giving him a friendly slap on the back.
"I'm so grateful to hear that, Mr. Bentley," Louise said very happily.
"I think if Florence were here, she'd say, 'Praise the Lord!'" said Helen, and they all joyfully laughed and smiled.
"Praise the Lord indeed," Louise agreed.
In the next moment, a nurse came walking out from the delivery room, and she said, "I'm looking for the family of Lionel and Jenny Jefferson."
"Right here!" George cried out with a big smile, and as the young, pretty black nurse approached them, Louise and Helen stood up.
She then looked at George and asked, "Are you Lionel's father?"
"I sure am."
She smiled and said, "Lionel told me all about his baby twin sisters you guys had a few months ago. I hope you like girls, Mr. Jefferson, because you've just had another one added to the family. Jenny just gave birth to a very healthy, beautiful baby girl a few minutes ago."
Tom, Helen, and Bentley cheered, and then George locked his eyes with Louise's eyes and pointedly said, "I love girls."
Louise knew that George wasn't really saying that to the nurse or to everyone else in the waiting room; he was saying that to her specifically, and it went a long way in healing her heart.
"She weighs seven pounds, ten ounces, and she's twenty inches long, and she's perfectly healthy," the nurse informed them.
"Is Jenny alright?" Helen asked.
"Oh, yes. She's fine," the nurse assured her. "Lionel wanted me to come out here and tell you guys because he knew how anxious you'd probably be for news, and he really doesn't want to leave Jenny and the baby right now."
"Well that's perfectly understandable," said Tom.
"Thank you for telling us, nurse," Louise said with a kind smile.
"You're more than welcome. Congratulations," said the nurse.
"Thank you," said Helen, and then the nurse left. And as she walked out of the waiting room, everyone started hugging and kissing each other and celebrating.
Miss Kathryn Grace Jefferson was properly introduced to all her grandparents later on that night, and it wasn't until a few minutes past one that morning that George and Louise finally got back home. After walking into the nursery very quietly to check on their sleeping babies, they went into their bedroom and got changed for bed.
Once they got into bed, George and Louise were lying on their sides, facing each other, and George said to Louise, "Katie's so beautiful, ain't she?"
Louise nodded and said, "Absolutely. She's so very precious. It feels so good to finally be grandparents, doesn't it?"
"It feels amazing. It just love bein' grandparents with you," George whispered as he lovingly stroked Louise's cheek.
"I think we should do something special to celebrate the occasion before you and I go to sleep for the night," said Louise with a very mischievous grin.
"Let's wait on that a little while, Weez. You just gave birth yourself, you know."
"George, it's been well over three months. And ever since we found out about that I was pregnant with the girls, we haven't made love once. It's been almost an entire year since we've made love."
"I know, sweetheart. I know. It's not that I don't want to make love to you, Weezy. But there's somethin' I need to take care of first."
"What's that?"
"I've been meanin' to talk to you about this for a while. I guess now's as good a time as any. Before we start havin' sex again, Weezy, I…I wanna get a vasectomy."
"A vasectomy?"
"That's right."
"George, I just turned forty-seven last month. I highly doubt there's any chance that you and I are going to be getting pregnant again. Not at my age."
"We never dreamed you'd get pregnant with twins at forty-six, either."
"That's true. But Sarah and Savannah are a miracle. They're that proverbial needle in the haystack. I really don't think there's any chance of us getting any more needles in any more haystacks, George."
"Maybe not, but I've been lookin' into it, and some women can still be ovulating all the way into their fifties before they finally go through menopause. The chance of it happenin' may be extremely small, but even so, I don't wanna risk you gettin' pregnant again, Weezy. I think another pregnancy would be way too dangerous for your health. Everything we've been through over this past year showed me just how much I've been takin' your health for granted, and I don't ever wanna make that mistake again. Your health is priceless, Weezy, and I'm just so sorry it took you goin' through all of this to make me appreciate it. And I don't wanna take any unnecessary chances with you."
"Oh George, that's so sweet and considerate of you, but I really don't think it's necessary for you to put yourself through a vasectomy. I really don't think there's any chance that we'll be getting pregnant again."
"Well like I said, the chances of it happenin' may be pretty small, but I don't wanna take any chances at all. Just let me do this, Weez. For my own peace of mind."
"Oh George, you're so sweet. Okay, love. If you feel that this is something you need to do to have peace of mind, then you have my support."
"Thank you, Weez," said George.
"And thank you for being so thoughtful," Louise told him, and then she gave George a long, loving kiss. "I love you so much, George."
"I love you too, Weezy," George whispered, and then after giving Louise another kiss, they turned off the lights and went to sleep.
After enduring endless teasing from Lionel over the next two days, George went into his doctor's office that Tuesday, accompanied by Louise, and got a vasectomy. However, their doctor warned that the vasectomy would not be completely effective until eight to sixteen weeks later. So George went to see his doctor again eight weeks later in late November, and thankfully, the doctor was able to confirm that the vasectomy was now completely effective. So the next day, after leaving Sarah and Savannah at home with Florence, George and Louise checked into one of the most luxurious hotels in Manhattan, and for the next week, they enjoyed a second honeymoon there. But even though they were so very happy to be able to make love to each other again, and even though they had such a wonderful time on their second honeymoon, they missed their babies so much, and they were over the moon to see them again when they returned home the following Wednesday, the sixth of December.
When Louise and George got home that morning, Helen, Jenny, and Baby Katie were all there to welcome them, along with Florence, Sarah, and Savannah, of course. (Lionel and Tom and Mr. Bentley wouldn't be there to welcome them back until later that evening, after they got home from work.) And it wasn't long before the twins, both of whom were standing up in their baby walkers, started crying, clearly needing a nap. Baby Katie was in her baby carrier on the couch, and she quickly began crying as well. So George picked up Baby Sarah, Louise picked up Baby Savannah, and Jenny picked up Baby Katie, and they took them all into the master bedroom and laid them down on George's and Louise's bed side by side. They fell asleep almost instantly, and Louise, George, and Jenny just stared down at their priceless baby girls, completely enamored with them.
"I could just watch them sleep all day," Louise whispered.
"So could I," Jenny agreed.
George then wrapped his arm around Louise and said in a low voice, "Ain't nothin' better than comin' home to the three most beautiful baby girls on earth. Right, Weezy?"
"Right, George," Louise whispered with a smile, and then she and George kissed.
Jenny looked at George with a smile and said, "You really like having all these girls around, don't you, Mr. Jefferson?"
"I love girls," George said softly with a big smile. And then he turned his gaze to Louise and told her, "Including this one." And in that moment, he gave Louise a long, passionate kiss while Jenny smiled at them.
George had been a terrible man before, especially when it came to the way he treated his wife and his disgusting views of women. But it was obvious now that he had more than learned his lesson. Instead of stupidly looking down on girls and women as he had done most of his life, he now had nothing but the deepest love and gratitude in his heart for his wife, his daughters, and his granddaughter. And as he gazed down at Sarah, Savannah, and Katie now, he knew that he would constantly thank God for them and for Louise every moment of his life. He knew that Jesus had been with them every step of the way through this difficult journey, always making sure they had everything they needed to survive it, and he knew just having Louise standing there beside him was the most incredible miracle, just as Sarah, Savannah, and Katie were. And they were all miracles he would never take for granted.