Author note:
Hi I am posting back to back things getting a little hectic at work and might not be able to post but writing is coming along, thanks for the support.
Chapter 32
We had to sneak into the hospital. My interview had been aired and now everyone wanted to know what happened to Baby Boy Doe.
At least I took that small comfort that they didn't know Baby Boy Doe is Jake. Yet.
I looked over to Houston. He looked as overwhelmed as I felt but he never let go of my hand. Everything he said in the car echoing in my head. Who was this person? He had done a complete 360. He was listening and was being supportive. Not what I expected from my best friend and I liked it.
We would be going in by gurney one of us would be dressed like Andrew and the other on the gurney. Houston says he would be on the gurney. I let out the breath I was holding not wanting to be wrapped up with bandages or worse tied down. Adam handed me a cap and an EMT shirt.
"I'm taking all of your shirts Andrew, what are you going to have left to wear."
He laughed.
Houston looked at both of us wanting to know why I was laughing with someone he didn't know.
"I'm going to have to undress in front of you again aren't I?"
Houston squeezes my hand, not at all happy with the banter between me and Adam. "I promised not to peek this time." He said this as he went to the front of the ambulance
Houston pulled me close and whispered, "why is he very familiar with you and why were you undressing in front of him?" the last he said in growled.
I looked at him and could have sworn I saw green specs of jealousy in his eyes. He let me know in not so many words that he was not happy with other men looking at me getting undressed. I tried to explain but he was not letting me speak. I kissed his cheek then pulled my shirt off and he stopped his tirade. I put on the shirt Andrew had given me and told Andrew I was decent and asked if he needed help bandaging Houston up.
Houston still hadn't said anything. I came close to him and whispered, "you've seen me in tinier bikini tops than this bra, if I knew this is what it would take to shut you up I'd have done it sooner."
He was still in shock. I took the bandages from Aw as he started to wrap them around Houston's head and face.
Once we were done we had gotten to the hospital, Andrew wasn't kidding when he said it was a circus.
Houston cursed, "This isn't going to help us at all, they will be asking more questions and want to know why we are still involved."
I tried to control my anger, "Why are we involved? Because we care, a baby was abandoned or taken. We don't know what happened to his mother and we made a choice to help him. Why can't they see that? I'm not ashamed. I'm proud to be able to assist Jake, the only thing I'm scared of is they have the power to take him away from us. They won't do it, will they Houston?"
He gave me a hug, "We will fight. I've never seen you back down from anything and I will be right by your side and our family will be right behind us."
We arrived at the ambulance bay, Andrew had contacted Carol and she was waiting. Houston got on the gurney and I pulled my hair into a ponytail and put the cap on and a pair of glasses.
Houston motioned me and I got close to his mouth, "Can you borrow those you look like a sexy librarian in them. CJ I don't think I'm going to be able to unsee this and seeing you in your bra all within 15 minutes, be still my heart."
I could see the smile behind the bandage. "Behave yourself or I will tell Carol to use some big needles on you."
I helped Andrew wheel him into the hospital while his partner snuck into through the front. Carol hugged me and gave us an update.
"Well they think they know who the leak is." She looked over to Houston, he was being unwrapped by Andrew.
"Who was it and what do they have against us?"
Carol looked at me and put her arm around me. "Sis it's someone that is very good friends with Ashley Jacobs and she didn't like what Cowboy Casanova did to her friend and of course it was your fault that they didn't marry. So that is how she had information on Jake she went into his records when she saw you in the NICU she was curious why you would be there and started to snoop around. She thought it was your baby at the beginning since she saw you gowned up then when she saw both of you well she had to call her BFF and spill the beans. I swear there must be a fan club of Houston's ex's and they must get together once a month to compare notes."
I rubbed my hand over my face. Why did his past always come to bite me in the ass? I couldn't put the blame on him. It was his past and I'd have to deal with it. If and when we had our talk and decided to move forward this is one of the things I would have to accept. He couldn't run from his past and that's where it should stay in the past. I was there when he dated all those women as his best friend. It didn't bother me much then but now I could feel that green monster inside of me stirring. If we did move to being more than friends, one thing I would not tolerate would be how he would react to other women and I would make that clear. I wanted a commitment and would not settle for anything else.
"Are you mad sis?"
I nodded no. "It's his past Carol. There's nothing I could do about that and if I want to take that next step with him I'm going to have to accept this. I think that's what scares me. What if I can't deal with these exes coming on to him in front of me? Seeing him with Ashley was just a preview of what might happen and I will admit I wanted to pull that bottle blond off his lap and over the balcony. But I'd never tell him that. I don't understand why his exes never liked me much. You know Carol, not all his exes didn't like me. Some of them I'm still friends with. not that he knows about it I think that would freak him out."
Carol laughed, "Only you CJ would make friends with the competition or like the saying says keep your friends close and your enemies closer."
Houston came behind me and put his arm around my waist. Carol raised her eyebrows and I rolled my eyes.
"What did I miss? Did they find the leak."
Carol said she would tell us later but we had to get to the NICU Roxy was waiting for them. I started to walk towards the NICU Houston right beside me. We got there and noticed the extra security around all the doors. We showed them our badges that gave us access to Jake. Carol said she was headed back to the Beach house and I told her Star had instructions on how to cook all of Mama Novellis' goodies.
They let us in and we found Roxy.
She looked up and smiled, "Hi I didn't think you were going to make it with all the media in the front. Can you believe they are here for the little man in there? Amazing how this blew up. He's not the first abandoned baby. Oh and we saw the interview. You did really well and that last question I hope she calls. We want Jake to have a happy ending."
I hugged her as did Houston. I told her how scared I was giving that interview and now look at this mess we've brought to his doorstep. She shook her head and said the person who leaked the information would be dealt with and all the nurses and doctors had attested to this when the hospital administration came down to see if me and Houston had leaked the news.. Houston thanked her and all the other staff saying that it made them both feel better knowing that. He also apologized for any trouble they had caused them. He had his arm around me
She brought us over and saw one of the nurses over Jake. I nearly gasped but covered my mouth with both my hands. I didn't want him to hear me. I looked down and saw the incision on his chest and tears started to fall from my face. I turned to Houston's chest and he held me.
"Hey pardner, how are you? We are back, you know I couldn't keep CJ away from you. Oh me and you are going to have to talk. It seems you've replaced me as her number 1 guy so we might have to chat about that and maybe share that honor."
He starts to stir. Following Houston's voice he started to kick. The nurse smiles at us and whispers that he had been asleep all this time just waiting for us to make an appearance. She said he must be hungry and needed to be changed. She said she would be done in a minute and we should go gown up before he started to show how loud he could be.
We nodded and Houston moved me towards the changing room. He sat me down and I still hadn't said a word. I looked over to where Jake was and felt sick.
Houston leaned down to me and whispered in my ear, "You can wait in the waiting room CJ you don't have to be in here, seeing Jake like that took me by surprise too but I got this. I don't want you to feel like you have to do this. I won't push you. As long as he has one of us he will be fine he will understand. I need to keep you safe too. I can't have you and him in this hospital. So go if you want I will fill in till you are able to."
He pulled away but I stopped him and pulled him towards me. He was quiet as I cupped his face and kissed him. I didn't care who saw us. What this man just did for me, stepping up and making sure that if I wasn't up to this he'd take over and wouldn't push me into doing it. My heart swelled and even my brain stopped doubting that maybe he was ready for us.
He pulled away, stood up and brought me with him. He held me tight.
"Thank you for being here for me and Jake. I don't think I could have dealt with this and I'm not scared anymore. We will deal with all of this, we won't back down and deal with this together. I'm going to go change and then you can and we will go tend to Jake and tell him about our crazy day and show him how he's changed all of our lives and how his family can't wait to see him."
I went to get changed and came over to Jake. He was awake and I reached out and grabbed his hand and he latched on to my finger.
"Hi lil man we are back they couldn't keep us away. You've been resting and that makes me very happy you will be getting better and then out of this place. I bet you're hungry and let's see if we need to change you first."
Roxy came over as did Houston. Roxy had a diaper with her and wipes. She placed her hand on his diaper and nodded, "Yup this little guy needs to be changed so which one of you wants to do it?"
I was about to say me when Houston said he wanted to. Roxy asked him if he remembered what to do and he said yes I went to the other side as Houston started to take off the diaper and I started to rub Jake's arm and talk to him of what we were doing.
Houston removed the diaper and got close to tickle Jake when a large stream of pee came straight to Houston's face.
"Jake! Hey pardner a little warning, oh jeez CJ I'm all wet come over here and finish this."
He looked at me but all I did was laugh and laugh. I couldn't move and thank heaven that Houston had covered Jake or I'd be just as wet as he was. Roxy came over and she started to giggle as did the other nurses that were tending to the two new babies that were Jake's neighbors.
"Oh Mr. Jake, Did you just Baptize Houston? Look at CJ she can't stop laughing and I think she needed that after the scare you gave them this morning. So come on I think I'm going to have to finish the job for Houston, while he goes and changes. Now let's be a good boy and not wet auntie Roxy okay?"
Houston left Jake with Roxy and I tried to stop laughing but I needed this to relieve the stress I had been under. I wiped the tears from my eyes and Jake started to stir.
"Hey little guy don't worry about Houston he will be back and I'm here to keep you company till then.
I'm sure you must be hungry huh?"
Roxy finished changing him and went to get his bottle. Houston came over with a new gown on.
He came next to me and looked down at Jake while taking his hand. "I'm back pardner I'm dry so how about a little warning next time but at least we got CJ to laugh. She's had a rough day and I can see she needed that break, it warms my heart. So thanks buddy."
Jake looked at him and continued to kick, never letting his hand go.
I put my hand on his head and started to run my fingers through his hair. I really didn't realize how brown it was. He seemed to like that. I'd stop and he'd start to move his head wanting more.
"Okay Mr. Jake it's time for your bottle CJ do you want to feed him if so we need to get you set up on the recliner."
I nodded and went to the recliner, Roxy set me up and asked me to pull down my gown so we would have skin to skin contact after the feeding. Houston brought Jake over. He started to fuss and was starting to whimper like he wanted to cry.
Houston held him close and started to sing to him 'you are my sunshine' and I smiled. I love hearing him sing. He had such a deep, rich voice and Jake agreed with me. He stopped whimpering and started to listen to him once he was done. Houston ws next to me and Roxy helped him lay him in my arms.
"Roxy, do we have to do the feeding exercise again or do you think he can do it on his own?"
"Let's try the exercises, I'm hoping he decides to eat on his own. I really don't want to put a feeding tube in him."
Houston sat on the stool Roxy had given him and we started with the feeding exercises. He started to fuss and showed us he was not cooperating. We tried again and this time he let out a cry and started to grumble his displeasure.
I looked at Jake, "Hey little man we are going to need you to help out here. We are going to give you your bottle and you need to eat. So please baby, we don't want them to put the feeding tube in you please Jake take your bottle for us."
He stopped and looked at me. I started to run my fingers through his hair and he started to settle. I took the bottle from Houston and placed it on his lips. He didn't make a move, Houston started to push his cheeks together and he was being stubborn. I continued to run my fingers through his hair and started to sing to him. I sang him the same song my daddy used to sing to me and Houston tried again and this time he latched on. I kept singing to him. Houston joined in and grabbed his hand. He continued to eat and I continued to sing. All the nurses stopped to see what we were doing.
Jake drank his whole bottle and we showed it to Roxy who smiled, "That's it Jake I knew you were hungry."
You are making us very happy and your team is the reason. Okay little guy let's get you some skin to skin action, CJ you need to burp him and then we can do the skin to skin."
Houston gave me the burping towel and placed it over my shoulder and I sat up a little and I started to pat his back.
He wanted to keep an eye on us and didn't want to cooperate like he knew something was wrong. He kept moving around and didn't stop till Houston moved right next to him.
"Jake honey come on let's get you burped and then we will sing to you okay? You need to behave yourself if you want us to get you out of here. So come on, help us out."
Jake finally gave a big burp and spit up some of his milk . That shook him and he started to cry. Roxy came over and took Jake from me and gave him to Houston. I patted his back and said I was going to change. I was given a new gown to change into. I went back to join my men when I stopped, as had the other nurses. Houston had taken off his gown, was shirtless and had Jake on his shoulder singing to him.
That image was now etched into my mind. I looked around and groaned if we were trying to be low key this wasn't the way to do it.
Other nurses had just happened to walk by the NICU and others started to come by and getting an eyeful of a shirtless Houston. I came next to him and sat down on the recliner I motioned for him to give me Jake. He pouted and I motioned again and to come closer he did and I whispered that he needed to put his gown back on before every nurse in the hospital would be coming into the NICU. He turned around and all the nurses that were staring scattered while the ones that were in the room averted their eyes and cleared their throats. He mouthed sorry to me as I had pulled my gown down my shoulder so I could lay Jake next to me. I looked for Roxy and she wasn't around. Houston put his gown on and sat next to me. Jake was settling in and was looking at Houston.
"Do you know the effect you have on women? I swear you are really oblivious to those things. Why would you take your gown off and be shirtless? You are going to be highlighted in all these women's dreams tonight. You, shirtless and singing to a baby? Oh I just hope there aren't any pictures."
He looked at me and said, "Only one woman I want to be in her dreams and you know who she is. So CJ you gonna be dreaming of me tonight?" He waggled his eyebrows and gave me one of his sexy smiles.
Boy was I in trouble.