Chapter 23
Piper opened her eyes blearily when she heard Liam start crying again. The second night had not gone as smoothly as the first night. If she didn't know any better, she would say Alex had jinxed them with all the stories she told her yesterday. Liam had been fussy all night, only settling to sleep when she or Alex was walking him around the room. Alex took him for a walk up and down the halls one time so Piper could get some rest. But she didn't really rest. She just waited on them to come back then took over, walking him. Every time they laid him down, he would scrunch up his face and ball his little fists and cry. By now she didn't know what to do. He didn't want to eat, he didn't need a diaper change, he was swaddled, Alex even changed his sleeper, thinking maybe he was uncomfortable in the one he had on.
Groaning, she gingerly got up out of bed. She was a lot less sore now, but certain movements too quickly still caught her and a searing pain would shoot across her abdomen. Shuffling across the room, she took him from Alex. "I'll take over. You lay down. Or go get coffee. You look like you need coffee babe." Piper said, kissing Alex on the cheek.
"I need an IV drip of the shit. What's wrong with him Pipes? Should I call a nurse?" Alex asked
"Language. I don't know Al. No, don't call the nurse. We might as well learn to deal with these things now. I'm sure he will settle down eventually. Go on, get coffee, whatever you need. I'll be fine with him." Piper told her
"Language" Alex mimicked under her breath as she walked out the door. Finding her way to the lounge, she fixed herself some coffee and sat down in the chair for a minute. It had been a long night. Going over everything the nurses told her while he was in NICU, she couldn't think of a thing she may have missed. Shaking her head and rising from the chair, she made her way back to the room. When she opened the door, she found blessed silence. Stepping in and looking around to make sure she was in the right room, she saw Liam in the bassinet and Piper standing over him.
"What did you do? How did you get him quiet AND laying down?" Alex inquired.
Laughing a little, Piper told her "I burped him. Kinda silly we never thought of that, huh? Mom of the year award right here."
"You burped him? That's it?" Alex asked
"Yep. Now, let's get an hours sleep before he wakes up again. Hopefully we go home tonight and we can all sleep in our bed. God, our bed Alex. I can't wait to be in it. With you. And Liam. With so much room!" she said as she made her way over to the bed. Climbing in, she waited for Alex to join her. Yawning, she looked at Alex. "Aren't you going to come sleep for a little bit?"
Shaking her head, Alex said "You sleep, I'll just sit here and watch you. I love to do that."
"Alex, we have to sleep when he sleeps. Get in this bed. I know it's uncomfortable and cramped but it's a lot better when you're in it with me." Piper said
Giving in instantly, Alex went over and climbed into bed with Piper. "God, you're so right. I can't wait to be in our bed. The sheets are softer, the mattress is so much better, it smells better and we have real pillows. Not pieces of cardboard with random pieces of cotton glued on for good measure." Alex grumbled. Piper laughed and scooted close to her. Laying her head on her shoulder, she yawned again and put her hand under Alex's shirt, resting it lightly on her stomach. "I miss your skin Al…" Piper mumbled before falling asleep. Alex put her hand on top of Piper's, linking their fingers before following her into a light sleep.
/
"You hear that baby boy?" Piper said to him "You get to go home tonight!" Smiling she turned to Alex. "Alex, did you call Polly to see if she could be back up here to pick us up in a couple hours? I don't want to take a cab home with him. It's too cold out there."
"Yes, dear, I called her. She said she would be here by 6 and if we weren't ready, she would run grab dinner for all of us then come back." Alex said to her
"I wish my doctor would hurry up" Piper said, rubbing her head.
"You ok babe? You've been rubbing your head all afternoon." Alex asked
Looking at Alex, she rolled her head on her shoulders. "Yea, fine, just tired and a bit of a headache from lack of sleep. I'll be perfect once we get home. Promise."
Coming up to her Alex placed her lips on her forehead. "Pipes, you're warm again. Let me page the nurse"
"Alex, no. It's nothing. I'm fine. I'm tired and worn out is all. I'll be like this for the rest of my life thanks to Liam. It's called parenthood. Just ask Polly when she gets here." Piper said
Half an hour later, Piper's doctor walked in. "Piper, how are you this evening?"
"I'm great. I'm so ready to go home. Dr. Hosford discharged Liam already. We're just waiting on you to discharge me so we can all go home and get back to some normalcy." Piper told him
Alex spoke up "Actually, she's had a headache all afternoon and a little while ago, she felt warm to me. She swears she's just tired, but can we check her one more time, just to be sure?"
Piper glared at Alex. Huffing, she turned to Dr. Sharpe "Surely that won't be necessary. I'll see you in a couple weeks for another checkup and if anything happens between now and then, I can call, right?"
Dr. Sharpe looked between Alex and Piper. "Unfortunately Piper, I won't have to check you again. You're latest blood tests show your white blood cell count is still elevated. Higher than I would like and much higher than I feel comfortable with sending you home. I'm sorry, but you're going to have to stay at least one more night. We'll do antibiotics through IV this time, they work faster that way. Hopefully we can get whatever this is knocked out and I can have you home by this time tomorrow night."
"No! Dr. Sharpe, please. I'll take all the antibiotics I need at home. I won't miss a dose. I'll drink plenty of fluids and get as much rest as I can. Please let me go home with Liam. Please." Piper begged.
"Pipes, listen to him. You still aren't fully recovered. I don't want you getting worse and then ending up back here for more than a day or two. One night babe. We can do this for one night. " Alex reassured Piper.
Dr. Sharpe spoke up "I really think we can have you home by tomorrow night Piper. But like Alex said, we can't risk you getting worse and coming back for a longer period of time. I'll send a nurse in to start the antibiotics immediately and I'll see you first thing in the morning."
Dr. Sharpe left the room and Alex and Piper just looked at each other. "What about feedings Alex?" piped asked.
"There's still some frozen packs down in NICU, I'll get them before I leave and you can feed him one more time before I go. We will be ok for the night. I'll be back up here first thing in the morning for you to feed him. One night kid, we can do anything for one night. Remember that time I left you in Malaysia for an entire week? Be thankful I'm a much better wife than I was girlfriend" Alex said, trying to make her smile.
"Let me have him. I want to hold him until you leave. Is your phone charged? Will you leave your charger? Mine is on my desk at home, you can grab it when you get home. Text me until you go to bed and every time you get up with him. And you call me if anything happens. And if he does anything different or cute, I want a picture of it. And don't give him a bath without me, just wash him a little. Oh and don't let him sleep in his room. Make sure you put his bassinet in our room." Piper rattled off.
"Babe, it's ok. I got us, remember? Everything will be ok and I'll be back here before you know it. I'll see if I can borrow Polly's car so I don't have to bother her with bringing us back up here in the morning. We really do need to look into getting a car when you get home. Why don't you do that tonight? Find us a hot car that's still safe for Liam to be in. Send me pictures. I'll even FaceTime with you before bed tonight, how's that?" said Alex
"Good, good. Yes, that's good. Alex…." Piper uttered
"Hey, come on. I can do this." Alex stated with more confidence than she actually felt. The reality was, she was trembling on the inside. She was scared shitless. She had to take Liam home by herself and keep them both alive and sane until tomorrow morning. 'Deep breaths, Vause' she coaxed herself.
Polly walked in then, took one look at both of them and said "What the hell happened in here? Someone piss in your cornflakes?"
"Language" Piper said to her.
"Jeez Pipes, he's not going to retain any slang or foul language yet. Trust me. Finn heard the F-Bomb regularly the first six months of his life. Pete said it every time he turned around." Polly stated.
Alex filled her in on what was going on and asked if she could drop her at home, then borrow her car for the night and most of tomorrow. "Oh Pipes. I'm so sorry honey. Yes, yes of course you can Alex. If you guys get to go home tomorrow, I'll just have Pete bring me over there to pick it up. Otherwise, don't worry about it. I cleared my schedule until next week because I didn't know what all was going to be going on here. Keep it as long as you need it."
/
Liam cried the whole way home. He was not a fan of the car seat or car rides. Alex sat in the back with him on the way to Polly's but on their way home, he was all alone back there and it broke Alex's heart. By the time she got the car seat, his bag, her bag and the keys to the front door, she was a wreck. Liam's cries had reached screaming proportions and Alex just knew the neighbors were going to come out in the hall to see what all the racket was about. No one came and Alex eventually managed to get them both inside without losing anything. Throwing the bags down on the floor, she took Liam over to the couch and carefully got him out of his car seat. He began to calm some but his crying never stopped.
Walking and bouncing around the apartment with him, she started talking softly to him. "I know you miss Mommy, I miss her too. Tomorrow morning, we will go right back up there and stay with her all day. I promise little man. Please, can we not have another night like last night? We are both tired buddy and we need to look fresh for Mommy tomorrow or she will never let us have sleep overs again. Let's change your diaper and call Mommy to tell her we made it home."
Laying him down on the changing table in his room, she took the diaper off and found a present. "Well, well, maybe this is why you were crying so much little man. I would be screaming too if I shit my pants." Looking down at him, she said "Language, I know. We will keep this between us. Think of it as…our sleep over rituals. You fill your pants with poo and Mama cusses about it?"
Just then her phone rang. Looking down, she saw it was Piper. "Hey babe, we were just about to call you. We just got in and I needed to change Liam's diaper. He had a mess in there for me."
She listened to Piper and answered her questions and reassured her some more. She told her she needed to go wash Liam off and feed him and hopefully get him down for a couple of hours so that she could take a shower in her amazing bathroom. Sighing at the thought, she told Piper she loved her and quickly got off the phone. Taking Liam into their bedroom, she laid him in the middle of the bed, then went and got a warm wash cloth. Wiping him down, she changed his clothes, then swaddled him. She took him to his room and put him in his crib while she went to warm some milk for his bottle. Her phone went off. It was a text from Piper:
I miss you guys. Kisses to you both
Smiling, Alex replied:
We miss u 2. Cant wai 2morrow. Muah
Bottle ready, she went to get Liam and feed him. Sitting in the rocker in his room, she rocked and fed him. When he was finished, he had fallen asleep and had milky drool coming from the corner of his mouth. It was adorable. She snapped a picture for Piper and sent it to her quickly.
Burp him was her reply. Rolling her eyes, she settled Liam onto her shoulder and patted his back until he let out a small burp. Taking him back into their room, she placed him in his bassinet, then went to shower. By the time she got out of the shower, she had two text messages and a missed call from Piper. Calling her back as she rubbed lotion on, Piper answered before the first ring was over. "Alex, what happened? Why didn't you answer? Is Liam ok?"
"Pipes, relax. Everything is fine. I took a shower after I got him down. He's in his bassinet, in our room. Still sleeping." Alex laughed.
Talking for a few more minutes, they got off the phone. What to do, Alex thought. She didn't want to watch TV. Reading didn't hold much appeal either; she didn't think she could concentrate long enough. She was tired but she didn't know how to sleep without Piper tonight. Sighing, she pulled her phone over and sent her a text:
A: I miss ur skin kid. miss me?
P: You know I do. What are you doing?
A: laying here thinking abt u. remember that nite n dubai?
P: which night? We were there for 4 days
A: the nite we watchd the sunset frm the rooftop, then fucked all nite up there.
P: of course I do. Best night in Dubai ever. Why do you ask?
A: what wuld u do 2 me if we were bk there?
P: Alex Vause! Are you trying to sext with me?
Laughing, Alex shot off a smart ass reply. She missed Piper. Looking over at Liam, an idea formed in her mind. As long as Piper didn't call…
Piper continued to text with Alex. Her eyes were getting heavy and she was just about to ask her if they could FaceTime when there was a soft knock at her door. "Come in" she called out.
The door opened slowly. No one came in at first. Frowning, Piper started to get out of bed when she heard a grunt and a whimper. She knew those noises. Moving as fast as she could, she rounded the bed. There, in the door way stood Alex and Liam. Alex was smiling at her. Sitting Liam on the floor, she opened her arms. "Five hours. Less than five hours and I missed you too much. I would rather sleep in that awful bed with you another night than at home without you."
Piper rushed into her arms, molding herself to Alex's body. Squeezing as tight as she could, she kissed along Alex's jaw, finally landing on her lips. "Thank you" kiss "for coming back" kiss "tonight. I missed you so much."
"Let's go to bed, Kid"