***The Next Day***
Jennifer and Jonathan spent the day playing with Jessalynn and just resting, since Jonathan needed to rest as well.
Stephen came and visited for awhile in the morning.
"Sweetheart, has anyone been in the guesthouse since I was there at Christmas?"
"No, why?"
"Well, I was going to stay there last night, so I took my things to the guesthouse when I arrived and then Marnie convinced me to stay in the house, so I went and got my things. And I was going to grab some pajamas that I left in the bureau the last time, but they weren't there, which isn't that big of a deal. But, it looked as if someone was staying there".
"That's strange".
"I'll have Max check it out in the morning".
"Max is in Canada, darling. He should be home today or tomorrow".
"Oh yeah, that's right".
"Pa, how was Jagger this morning?"
"It was the funniest thing. Marnie had him downstairs in the high chair, feeding him a bottle, and I came downstairs to get some coffee. He saw me and let out the loudest squeal, and started clapping his hands and kicking his legs. He wouldn't stop till I picked him up out of the high chair".
Jennifer was laughing.
"He loves his Poppy".
"He is a happy boy. I think your aunt is going to have a serious case of withdrawals when she goes home. You might have to let her come visit every few weeks or so".
"I would love that".
Susan came in to examine Jessalynn.
"Ok sweetpea, let's see how you do without the feeding tube".
Jennifer held her while Susan gently removed the feeding tube.
"Good job, princess. Mommy is so proud of you!"
Jessalynn smiled really big and clapped her hands.
"Ok, so for her first bottle, try only giving her half of what you usually give her. If she tolerates that well and can keep it down, then give her the other half. After that, she can have regular sized bottles".
"Got it".
"And if there aren't any other issues, then we can talk about her going home tomorrow. I'll check back in with her this afternoon".
"Wonderful!"
Jonathan held Jessalynn while Jennifer made her a bottle, and then helped feed her as well.
Jessalynn fell asleep on Jonathan's chest after her second bottle, so Jennifer offered to take her.
"No, it's ok. I've missed holding her. She's not hurting me".
Stephen decided to head into town, so Jennifer and Jonathan reclined the bed and took a nap with Jessalynn.
Jennifer slept the best she had in over a week, with Jonathan right by her side.
***The Next Day***
Susan officially discharged Jessalynn, and Jonathan's doctor discharged him as well, in the late afternoon.
They were all packed up and about to head to the car when the nurse came in with a wheelchair.
Jonathan held Jessalynn as the nurse pushed them out. Jennifer followed behind with their bags.
"I am so ready to get home".
"Yes, I am too".
***Willow Pond***
Jennifer and Jonathan came inside the house, with Jessalynn.
"Look who's home! Daddy and Jessalynn!"
Jagger squealed really big and clapped his hands a few times.
"Jonathan! It's so good to have you home!"
"Thanks, Aunt Marnie. I'm glad to be home myself".
Jonathan got settled on the couch, and then Jennifer handed Jessalynn to Aunt Marnie. She picked Jagger up and loved on him for a few minutes and then brought him over to Jonathan.
"Hey there, buddy. Daddy missed you".
They all sat around talking and relaxing for about an hour.
Max came in.
"Mr. H! Mrs. H! What's with all the extra cars in the driveway?"
"Max1 You're home!"
"Hey Max! Great to see you!"
"Max, glad I got to see you this time!"
"Hey there, Mr. Edwards. How nice of you to come visit".
"Max, this is my Aunt Marnie. She's been helping out. Things have been a little chaotic, to say the least. Aunt Marnie, this is Max, he's like Jonathan's dad".
"Hello, nice to meet you".
"Likewise. Mrs. H., what do you mean things were chaotic?"
"Well, Jonathan went on a fishing trip with Jack, and then Jessalynn got the flu. I took her to the hospital and they admitted her, and then found out she had the flu, RSV, and pneumonia. Jonathan tried to get back here but his flight was hijacked, and he was almost killed. And to top it off, the kidnappers sent me a message supposedly from him that said he was leaving all of us and going off the grid for a bit. So, I was in the hospital with Jessalynn, thinking he's left us and that she wasn't going to make it. So, Pa and Aunt Marnie flew out here to help out, and Rachel helped out as well, and then Jonathan and Jack were rescued and brought to the hospital and I swear, that's the exact moment that our princess decided it was time to get better".
"That's quite a story. Mr. H., are you ok?"
"I'll be fine, Max. I have a torn rotator cuff and a broken shoulder blade, and I have to buy a new plane, but I'm alright".
"Glad to hear it".
"Max, before you went out of town, were you in the guesthouse at all?"
"No, Mrs. H. I haven't been in the guesthouse since Mr. Edwards was here last, at Christmas time".
"Well, that's strange. Pa was saying he left some pajamas in the guesthouse and now they aren't there".
"It's alright, sweetheart. I have plenty more at home".
Aunt Marnie headed to the kitchen to make dinner while Stephen and Max visited, and Jonathan and Jennifer played with the babies.
About half an hour later, she came back into the living room.
"Ok, dinner is served. Cheesy Shrimp and Grits, just the way Suzanne used to make them".
Jennifer teared up, thinking of how much her mother loved to cook.
They put the babies in their high chairs, and a few minutes later, Jagger started pitching a fit.
They tried everything, until finally Jonathan picked him up and held him while he ate.
He calmed down as soon as they sat down.
"I think someone has missed you".
"Probably about as much as I missed him".
"I don't want to encourage him to cry and pitch a fit to get his way, but I think tonight we can make an exception".
Jennifer did the dishes with Aunt Marnie afterwards, while Jonathan and Stephen took the babies into the living room.
"Aunt Marnie, now that Jonathan is home, we want you to stay a few days so we can have a real visit".
"I would love that, sweetheart."
"Is there anywhere you want to go that you haven't been to?"
"Oh yes. I would love to go to Italy and Spain and see all sights".
"That sounds wonderful. Jonathan and I loved our time in Italy and I haven't been to Spain in so long. It's beautiful there, though".
They headed into the living room, with bottles for the babies.
"Ok, it's almost bath time and then bed time for baby 1 and baby 2".
"Mommy, let's let them stay up a little longer tonight. Please? For Daddy?"
"Ok, for Daddy".
"Jennifer, Jagger had a bath this morning".
"Oh, well, then maybe we can move bath time till tomorrow morning for both of them".
They played with the babies after their bottles, and Stephen was enjoying getting Jagger to laugh.
"Pa, he just absolutely adores you".
"Feeling is mutual, sweetheart".
Stephen called it a night around 10, just as Jennifer and Jonathan were taking the babies upstairs.
'Darling, are you sure you can carry him?"
"Yeah, I'm positive. He's on my opposite shoulder".
They said goodnight to Stephen and then got the babies down and then headed to their bedroom.
Jennifer helped him change for bed, and put some of the muscle rub the doctor prescribed on his shoulder.
"How does it look?"
She held up a mirror and let him see it in the bathroom mirror.
"Wow. That's a dark bruise".
"Yeah, it is. But it will heal, and you're home and that's all that matters".
She quickly changed for bed, turned on the baby monitor and then climbed into bed next to him.
They turned the lights and he wrapped his good arm around her.
"It feels so wonderful to be able to sleep in our own bed".
"Yes, I agree. I never want to see the hospital again".
"I want more than anything to make love to you all night long, but my shoulder is killing me".
"When you're well, honey. When you're well".
She gave him a few kisses and then they settled in to get some sleep.
Pretty soon, they heard a faint knock at the door.
"Mr. H? Mrs. H.? It's Max. I think we got a problem".
"Come in, Max".
Jennifer flipped the light on.
"I was downstairs in the kitchen, getting some milk. And I heard something, and I looked up, and I swear, there was a man staring at me through the window. I flipped the lights on, and ran to the window, but he was gone. I took a look outside, but couldn't find him. But I found some footprints in the mud that I know I didn't leave".
"Does anything appear to be stolen?"
"Not that I can tell".
"Call the neighborhood patrol, and ask them to drive by and see if anything's amiss out front. Make sure the doors are locked and the gate is locked, and we'll figure out the rest in the morning".
"Got it, Mr. H."
Jennifer turned the light out again and they snuggled back up.
"Darling, Rachel and Aunt Marnie both, in the past week or so, have mentioned something about hearing something or someone at night, and they get up to look and it's just the wind".
"I'll call a tree trimmer in the morning".
He sleepily kissed her.
"Goodnight, I love you".
"Goodnight, I love you too".
***The Next Morning***
Rachel and Jack rang the doorbell around 9.
Jennifer went to answer it.
"Good morning. How did you get in the gate?"
"Well, I had the buzzer in my car. I can't find it now though. I think it's under the seat. But, it's ok, because the gate was open".
"The gate was open?"
"Yeah, just like someone had just come through it and it hadn't closed yet".
"That's strange. Nobody's been in or out this morning."
She closed the door behind them.
"How are you feeling Jack?"
"Grateful to be alive."
"Glad to hear it".
They went into the kitchen, where Jonathan was sitting with the babies. They were both in high chairs.
"We decided to start feeding the babies solid food this morning, so you're just in time to see how they do".
"Wonderful!"
Jennifer quickly mashed up some carrots and put them in a bowl. She handed Jonathan a bowl and spoon, and kept a bowl and spoon for herself.
30 minutes later, the babies were covered in carrots and Jennifer was declaring it a success.
"Darling, Max and Jack and I are going to take a look around outside".
"Ok, be careful. Max, don't let him use his shoulder or lift anything".
Marnie, Rachel and Jennifer stayed inside with the babies. They got them cleaned up and then Jennifer cleaned off their high chairs.
"What are they looking for outside?"
"Well, it's the strangest thing. You both told me you heard things at night the last few days, and then last night, Max said he was in here getting some milk and heard someone and he swears he saw someone looking at him through the window. So, he took a look outside but didn't see anything and it was so dark. So, we said we would take a look this morning. Jonathan said he was going to call a tree trimmer. Max said that there were footprints outside he knows he didn't leave though, so Jonathan wanted to just check it out".
"Well, that's a start."
"Yeah, I thought so too".
Just as they were finished with getting the kitchen and the babies cleaned up, the phone rang.
Jennifer handed Jessalynn to Aunt Marnie, and grabbed the phone.
"Hello?"
"Hi. It's Susan. Can I make a house call to check on my favorite sweet pea?"
"Absolutely! Come over anytime".
"I'll see you in ten minutes".
They all got settled in the living room. Jessalynn and Jagger were playing on the floor in their play yard, while Jennifer and Rachel and Marnie were visiting.
Stephen came and sat down near the babies. Jagger kept tapping his hand on Stephen's foot.
Susan arrived soon after, so Marnie and Stephen took the babies on a stroller ride, so Susan and Jennifer could talk without the babies squealing.
"Hi, come on in".
"Hello. So, how was your first night home?"
"Wonderful. Jessalynn slept almost 6 hours straight. I was amazed".
"That's great. Any signs of dysregulated breathing or struggling to breathe?"
"Not that I've noticed. She's on a stroller ride with her aunt and her poppy right now. She's been very smiley this morning. We started the babies on solid food this morning and they both loved it".
"Wonderful! What did you pick?"
"Carrots".
"Great choice. Always give a veggie first, so they don't get hooked on fruits. And remember, yes, they are twins, but they are still two people. One of them might like something the other one doesn't, and that's ok".
"Got it".
"Well, I'm glad everything is ok with her. I knew it was going to be, but I just had to make sure".
"Why?"
"Well, last night after you guys left, there was a disturbance at the hospital. And I decided I just wanted to see for myself that you guys were all right".
"What kind of disturbance?"
"Well, after you and Jessalynn left, one of the volunteers came up to the floor. And she walked around a bit, looking for a place to volunteer. And the nurses said she was her regular, sweet self. And then all of a sudden, she was in the hall, screaming and crying that she had lost everything. The nurses couldn't calm her down, so they called the psych unit, and they had to sedate her just to get her to breathe normally, and get a regular color back in her face. She spent the night in the psych ward, and checked herself out this morning before anyone could figure out what happened".
"I wonder what upset her".
"I have no idea. Nobody could get her to say anything, and then when she was calmed down enough to speak again, she just refused to answer any questions and demanded that she be released. Because she's over 18, the hospital couldn't keep her there without a court order".
"Well, hopefully, she'll be ok. I have to say I can absolutely understand how she feels. There were several moments, especially in the beginning, where I thought I would be walking out of there without my daughter and heading to the funeral home to plan her funeral. I hope that isn't what happened to her".
Just then, the back door opened. Jonathan, Jack, and Max all came inside.
"Hey, did you find anything?"
"Yeah, we did. Where are the babies?"
"On a stroller walk with Aunt Marnie and Pa".
"Let's bring them inside".
Jack headed to the door to go tell Rachel to bring them back inside.
"Jonathan, what's going on? You're scaring me".
He came over and sat next to her.
"Darling, we looked all around the yard and along all the edges and all through the guesthouse. Someone has definitely been in there, and someone has been coming in and out of the property at night, through a hole in the fence at the back. We found tire tracks on the other side of the fence, so it looks as if they were coming and going through that part of the fence. I'm going to call and have someone come and put a new section of fence up, and also some solar motion detected lights on the back of the house, and on either side of the path that leads to the fence".
"Great idea".
Jack came back inside with Rachel and Marnie and the babies.
"Ok, so until this project is completed, we are all staying inside the house".
"Jonathan! That's a little overboard, don't you think?"
"I'm just trying to keep everyone safe, that's all. Let's just all be watchful, ok?"
Jennifer nodded.
Jennifer took Jessalynn from the stroller and sat down next to her father, as Jonathan disappeared into the study to make the phone calls.
"Jonathan is just trying to protect all of you, sweetheart. He means well, and after his plane accident, he feels as though he has to prove himself to you and the babies and everyone else".
"I'm worried, Pa. Really and truly worried".