Chapter Nineteen
After setting the Moses basket on the bed spread, Greg crawled on his hands and knees across his bedroom floor, picking up every little sock, body suit and hat that had spilled over the laundry basket when he brought it up earlier. He dumped them back into the basket, peeling his sticky t-shirt away from his chest as the heat in the house continued to rise. It wasn't until he stood up that he realised it was blood that was making his shirt stick to him and not the sweat on his chest.
He wasn't in any pain, so he made his way through to the bathroom to clean himself up. He didn't appear to be bleeding through his stitches anymore and he had a doctor's appointment for this afternoon, so he decided to just stick a bandage on it for now. Both his mother and Nick would have insisted he go straight to the emergency room for something like this, but he didn't fancy waking up the twins, just to get it checked out.
Avery had been home for two days now, giving him the first experience of life with twins, but he hadn't got a wink of sleep since. His lack of sleep was mostly due to the fact that he was alone though, as Nick was still in the hospital.
He was starting to get the hang of juggling two babies needs though. Ethan seemed to sleep a lot more than his sister did, but Avery mostly just wanted to be held when she woke up crying, rather than being fed or changed. He spent the whole day yesterday with her glued to his chest as she cried whenever she was handed over to his mother so he could go to the bathroom or set her down for a diaper change.
Greg tossed his t-shirt into the laundry hamper, grabbing another from his chest of drawers. He climbed onto the bed with the twins, watching their little chests rising and falling inside the Moses basket. He wanted to experience the first moment that they both came home with Nick, but he was still recovering from his operation, so he had to savour it for the both of them.
"Nooo, don't wake up." He whispered, gritting his teeth together as baby Ethan started to whimper. He waited a moment to see if he'd settle down and go back to sleep, but he was almost fully awake after only a few seconds. "Are you getting hungry again, bubba?" Sliding his hands beneath his baby boy, Greg lifted him out against his chest, checking his diaper first. "Your wet." He pressed multiple kisses to his little cheek, before he lay him down on the bed. He grabbed for the diaper bag off the floor, hearing the front door opening as his father came home.
"Greg... we're home!" He called up the stairs to him, ushering the two boys through the door after picking them up from their clubs. "Jacks, don't run off. We have to wash those hands of yours before you touch anything." Daniel hung their bags up by the door, putting their shoes away neatly, before he hurried after Jackson. "C'mon, big guy." He caught him at the door to the playroom, carrying him through to the kitchen. "Your Daddies don't want little blue hand prints all over their furniture. Colt you too."
"I don't have paint on my hands though." Colt followed his granddad through to the kitchen, watching him washing his younger brother's hands over the sink. "Granddad, when's Daddy coming home?"
"Hopefully tomorrow." Daniel lowered his grandson to the floor, grabbing the towel to dry off his little hands. "Then you're gonna have to be a big boy to help Papa take care of Daddy and the twins." He lifted Colt onto the counter, squirting some soap into his hands. "Have you been helping Papa out since they both came home?"
"I did." Jackson spoke up.
"I've changed a diaper." Colt slid off the counter as soon as he was done, drying his hands on the towel. "Papa let me hold, Avery yesterday, but she didn't like it. She only likes, Papa. Nana couldn't even hold her yesterday. She kept crying."
"Your Papa was like that with me when he was little. I was still working after he was born, so he was with Nana all day. Then when I came home at nights and tried to hold him, he'd cry his eyes out for his Mom. He warmed up to me eventually. Baby's just take a while to get used to people. They don't have as good eye sight as you and it can be quite scary when you're that small and lots of people want to hold you." Daniel pointed out to his grandson, hanging the towel back up. "Does anybody want a snack before we find some toys to play with?"
"No, thank you." Colt grabbed one of the ice cold juice boxes from the fridge door, piercing the straw through the box, before he made his way out into the garden to play on the climbing frame.
"Don't take that up the top there." Daniel called out to him, turning towards the stairs as he heard footsteps.
"Hi, Buckaroo." Greg slid his hands beneath Jackson's arms, lifting him against his hip. He pressed multiple kisses to his child's forehead, carrying him through to the kitchen with him. "Hey, Dad. Thanks for picking them up."
"It's okay. Are you alright?" He took a seat at the counter, watching him hugging his child tightly against his side. "You seem a bit..."
"Tired?" Greg filled in the blank, letting his son down as he started to struggle in his arms. "The twins hardly slept at all last night. I've finally got them down at the same time, but I don't know how long it will last."
"Aren't you supposed to sleep when they sleep or something?"
"Ideally." Greg sighed softly, before he responded to the cries coming through the baby monitor in his pocket. He cautiously made his way back up the stairs, scooping out the loudest baby first. He took his daughter over to the change table he had wedged up against the wardrobe, softly cooing as she squirmed and cried louder with each passing second. He unbuttoned the poppers to her onesie, cringing at the sight of her exploded diaper. "Lovely, you couldn't have waited for Daddy to come home before you did that. Dad!" He called out for help, realising her diaper had exploded up her back.
"Yeah... oh," He plugged his nostrils as soon as he saw what had happened, grabbing the extra diaper bag from by the door. "You got one of those baby bath things?"
"Yeah, it's in the bathroom." Greg balled up the soiled onesie from his daughter, hesitating for a moment before he finally opened the diaper. "Don't fill it past the Max Level marker." He called out to his father, grabbing the box of baby wipes to start moping his daughter up. "Ew... I thought girls are supposed to be sugar and spice, and everything nice. Did you test it first?"
"I have bathed a baby before, Greg. Believe it or not, I bathed you every night until you were at least nine." Daniel pointed out to him, setting the baby bath down. He carefully lifted his granddaughter off the change table, lowering her into the baby bath, so his son could clean her off. "You know, when you were fifteen, we had one of your baby cousins staying over while her parents were having a weekend away. After your first diaper change of her, you told me that you were never ever going to have a baby of your own. Now here you are, four babies later."
"I grew up." Greg pointed out to him, lifting his clean newborn against his chest. "I bet just about every kid says they never want to have a baby at that age, especially when that baby threw up all over my stereo." He reminded him, laying Avery on the bed, rather than the dirty surface of change table. "I believe I also said that I would never ever fall in love or get married, but that was before I ever met, Nick. Besides, my babies are so much cuter than..." He tried to remember her name.
"Stella." His father reminded him, handing him a fresh diaper. "She got married last year. I think she's expecting her first baby by December."
"My babies are still cuter." Greg smiled at him, kneeling down to press multiple kisses to his daughter's tiny little hand. He dressed her in a clean body suit, lifting her tiny little body against his chest now that she was all clean. "Have you seen a pacifier anywhere?"
"You mean... this." Daniel picked up the furry pacifier from the floor. "You got anymore?"
"Nick put a new packet somewhere." Taking a seat on the edge of his bed, Greg gently smoothed his hand up and down his daughter's back, trying to sooth her back to sleep by himself. "Did you leave Jackson downstairs alone?"
"No, he's in the garden with Colt. They're playing with the soldiers in the grass. I'll get back to them now. You don't need any more help, do you?"
"Nope, I'm good now." He smiled at his father, soothing his little angel back to sleep. He held her for an hour or so, before Ethan woke up, crying out for his next feed. Greg lifted him out of the basket, adjusting the two of them in his arms, before he took the two of them downstairs. He balanced them both on one arm, while he grabbed some clean bottles off the draining board, getting them ready to fill with formula.
"Let me." His father took the bottle from his hand, grabbing another one, before he searched for the tops that fit them. He searched around for what he was supposed to do next, getting a smile out of his son.
"Here, swap." Greg carefully handed him one baby at a time, freeing up his hands to make up some bottles for them. He took the made up bottles and baby's through to the front room as soon as he was ready, catching up on his recorded TiVo while he fed them.
Grabbing for the remote as his cell started to ring, Greg paused his programme, before he struggled to pull it out of his pocket to answer it. "Hold on," He set the phone on the sofa beside him, while he adjusted the baby's on his lap to a comfier position. "Hello?" He finally answered the phone, resting it against his shoulder, so he could still hold the bottles for the twins.
"Hi, it's me." His husband spoke softly, relieved to finally hear his partner's voice.
"Nicky, are you okay? Is something wrong?" He immediately started to worry.
"No, I just wanted to call." Nick assured him, "And hear your voice. I'm fine. They've got me on some stronger pain killers. I can't feel anythin' below the waist now. Doc's dischargin' me tomorrow mornin'."
"Good, it's about time you got back here. We miss Daddy, don't we?" He smiled at the twins in his arms. "What time do you want me to pick you up?"
"I already called Catherine. You need to stay there with our babies. I'll be there soon." He stopped the younger man from arguing with him. "So, what have I missed?"
"Your daughter's diaper exploded this morning. It was all up her back and everything. There's a story we can tell future boyfriends to scare em off." He teased, gently brushing his fingertips through the gorgeously thick dark hairs on her head. "She doesn't sleep as much as Ethan either. Maybe she's just getting used to the house or something. I had her glued to me all day yesterday. Every time I put her down or handed her to Mom she'd cry her eyes out until I was holding her again. I haven't been able to shower yet because she always wants to be with me."
"Ew, so I'm comin' back to a smelly husband?" Nick chuckled softly. "She's gonna be Papa's little princess then."
"Maybe." Greg placed his thumb in her hand, watching her little fingers immediately curling around it. She barely did it in the hospital, so he was glad to have her home and healthy. "Ethan's been a little quieter since she's been here too. You were right, he really was missing his sister. I put Ethan in the Moses basket last night, while I bathed Avery and he cried continuously, until she was laying beside him. They definitely can sense each other."
"Well they've been together since they started growin'. It's like a natural comfort to them to feel somethin' familiar. They were so drugged up in the hospital that they weren't aware of anythin' that was goin' on around them, but now they're with you and each other they feel safer." Nick looked around the empty room he was in, wishing he was home with his family now. "Are the boys home yet?"
"Yeah, Colt ran straight into the garden without so much as a hello. Jacks looks a little tired. I didn't get much out of him again. Oh and Colt lost a tooth in the pool at his swimming lesson yesterday. My Mom and like three other Mom's at the pool side were pointing it out in the water to the lifeguard guy that was trying to fish it out." He giggled, setting the phone on speaker so he could remove the finished bottle from his son's mouth. "He didn't want to leave it out for the tooth fairy though. Apparently Max told him that there's no such thing, so he decided to hang onto it himself."
"You let him keep his tooth?"
"No, give me some credit. It's in the jar with all the other ones we took, before he found out that the tooth fairy wasn't real." Greg lifted Ethan against his chest, keeping Avery in the other arm while he gently patted his baby boy's back to wind him. "Oh and we got a card from your Mom yesterday. I'm not listed by name, but she remembered all the kids names."
"You're not listed by name?" Nick frowned into the phone. "What are you listed as then?"
Greg grabbed for the card from the dresser behind him, rereading what his mother in law wrote. "It's says to my lovely son, Nick and his husband. There's hesitation marks in the first three letters of husband, so maybe she planned to call me something else before she wrote that."
"Don't analyse it." Nick chuckled as the CSI saw a case in everything. "I'm surprised she even put that. She tells people I have a partner as though we're in business together."
"It's a nice card too." Greg turned it over, looking at the front again. "It's two little white bunnies sitting in little teacups. Oh and Catherine picked up the cutest little outfits for the twins. Ethan's one is blue and it says 'Buy One' and Avery's is pink and it says 'Get One Free'."
Nick chortled softly, wishing he was there even more now. "You know, sometimes it's hard to believe you're the same Greg that I fell for all those years ago." He confessed, thinking back to the first time he ever really met the goofy young lab tech. "I can't ever remember you gushing over cute baby clothes, or anythin' for that matter."
"I grew up." Greg defended himself again, brushing away an eyelash from his daughter's little cheek. "I guess when Colt first arrived, I didn't really have any of those natural parenting instincts, so I just kinda let my mother take over so I didn't have to do a whole lot. I admit that I never wanted kids before him, but Colt and you have... domesticated me, I guess. When you used to talk about your dream of having a big family, it used to make my skin crawl." He confessed, staring down at the two little bundles in his arms. "I never imagined it would be like this though. Now I love these little baby's so much, that I would literally do anything for them. I wouldn't give them up or this life that I have with you for anything."
"You can't imagine ever goin' back to bein' the adorkable lab tech that made me fall in love with you?"
"No." The younger man smiled, watching his son giving out the cutest little yawn. "I'm still him though. I just... grew up. You still love me though, don't you?"
"I've never stopped. I just keep lovin' you more and more every day."
"See, that's why Daddy's are the best." Greg whispered to the twins in his arms. "Get some sleep, baby. I'll see you in the morning. I love you."
"I love you too... bye." Waiting for Greg to hang up first, Nick gave out a soft sigh, before he set the phone down. He tilted his head back against the pillow beneath his head, staring up at the blank ceiling above him. He continued to stare at it for what felt like hours, waiting for morning to come, so he could go home.
As soon as morning arrived, he had to wait for his doctor to get in to discharge him, before he had to wait for Catherine to pick him up after her shift. "Sorry, I'm here. I know I'm late. I got held up at the lab." Catherine finally arrived nearly an hour late, handing him his jacket that he had requested from his locker at the lab. "So, did it all go okay? What'd they tell you?"
"It went okay." Carefully sliding himself off the bed, Nick pulled his jacket on, letting Catherine sort out his collar for him. "I got an infection so I had to take antibiotics and they wanted to keep me in longer to keep an eye on me. Now I'm completely swollen below the waist, but they said it should go down in a few days." He pointed her attention to his bag, while he slid his feet into his sneakers by the bed. "I can't work, exercise, drive, lift anythin' or have sex for at least two to four weeks now. I asked them if I'd be able to lift my baby's and they said it's best not to."
"They just don't want you to cause further injury." Catherine tried to reassure him. "Just get Greg to lift them into your arms."
"He's not supposed to lift anythin' either. He just had a major surgery."
"Man you two are a wreck." She chortled, lifting his duffel for him. "Okay, are you ready to go? Do we need to get a wheelchair?"
"No, I'm walkin'." He insisted, walking on ahead of her. He wasn't quite as fast as he used to be, but he managed it down the stairs and out to Catherine's car clear across the parking lot. "Could you have picked a spot any further away?" He sarcastically remarked, waiting for her to unlock her car. "Take it easy okay?"
"I will." She threw his bag into the back, watching him struggling to sit comfortably in the passenger seat. "Maybe I shoulda got you one of those donut things?"
"Just drive." He scowled at her, eager to get home and see his twins together for the first time. He had been in hospital for the four days that his daughter had been out of it, so he was eager to see what she was like without all the monitors and wires strapped to her inside the incubator. "Have you been round to see the twins yet?"
"Yeah, I saw them two days ago."
"Is Greg doin' alright with them?" He queried, wishing he didn't have to ask, but he hadn't witnessed it for himself yet.
"Yeah... I think so." She nodded, driving in the direction of his house. "He seems like a natural juggling all their needs. It's hard to believe he's the same Greg when you've seen him expertly changing diapers and soothing them to sleep in his arms. He looks a little tired, but everyone gets that lack of sleep period with a newborn. He seems to be managing though and his mother wasn't interfering too much while I was there."
"I think she's finally startin' to accept that he's a grown man now." Nick chuckled, opening the window beside him slightly to let in a breeze. "She's been a little less interferin' since they adopted the kids too. I think she's startin' to worry that they're gonna up and leave to another city soon. The kids don't like travellin' too much, so they mostly stay with one of Greg's Aunts when his folks come down here. They're on their summer vacation at the moment, so his folks have been comin' down one at a time to see the twins."
"What have you got planned with the boys for the rest of their summer?"
Nick gave her a shrug as everything pretty much revolved around the twins at the moment. "They've been to the beach with their grandparents a few times. Colt's got his swimmin' lesson every week with his friends and Greg enrolled them in this activity club. They do somethin' different every week, like paintin', cookin' and all that. Evelyn's taken them out with her kids a couple of times. I think by next year we might actually be able to plan a holiday. We haven't had one since... our honeymoon." He realised, getting a smirk from the woman beside him.
"Jackson's getting bigger, isn't he. He was a tiny toddler last time I saw him, but he's shooting up like a weed now."
"Did he talk to you?"
"I think I got a hello." She remembered the timid child hiding behind Greg's legs most of the time. "He looks just like Greg now, but he definitely doesn't take after him. It's quite surprising that he's like that because Colt's always been loud and hyper. Were you a shy child?"
"No." Nick shook his head, getting a curious look from the woman. "I wasn't. I wasn't like Colt, but I wasn't as quiet as Jackson either." He readied his hand on his seatbelt as they turned into his street, excited to be home with his family again. "Hey, Freddie." He waved to Evelyn's son, riding his bike up and down their street. As soon as she pulled into the driveway, Nick left Catherine to get his bag, while he stumbled up the driveway of his house.
"Da-ddy." Jackson hurried out of the door the second Greg opened the door.
"Aye, mind the drive." Nick swept his son into his arms, brushing down his bare little feet from the shingled driveway. "Still in yah PJ's." He smiled at him, pressing a kiss to his little forehead. "Did you miss me? I missed you." He hugged him tightly, greeting Greg in the doorway with a slow tender kiss to welcome him home. "You smell like baby powder."
"You smell like disinfectant." Greg sealed their lips together again, pulling back as he saw Catherine making her way up the driveway. "Thanks, Catherine. Did you wonna stay for some breakfast?"
"No thank you, I'm gonna head home and catch up on my sleep." She handed him the bag from her hand, giving Jackson a playful tickle. "Take it easy, Nicky. And you're not supposed to be lifting." She reminded him, pecking a kiss to each of their cheeks before she left. "Bye."
"Bye." Greg waved her off, taking Jackson from Nick's arms, so he could help him with his jacket. He gently wrapped his arms around him once his jacket was off, breathing in his familiar scent beyond the stench of hospital. "Are you okay?" He pulled back slightly to look into his eyes. He wanted to be there when he was discharged to hear everything from the doctor, instead of hearing it from Nick who often tried to hide the truth from him in case it upset him.
"Yeah... I'm good." His husband smiled back at him. "I won't get my results for another couple of weeks, but my doc said it all went okay. I've just gotta rest up and I should be back to normal within two weeks. Where's Colt?"
"S-eeping." Jackson answered, hugging his father's legs.
"He's still asleep, but I was just about to start on breakfast. Have you had any?"
"No." Nick kicked his sneakers off, holding his son's hand as Jackson led him through to the front room. He leant down as he saw the Moses basket on the floor, seeing his sleeping twins for the first time. They were laying side by side, barely taking up any room inside as they were so tiny and had their little arms and legs curled up close to their tiny bodies. They had bought two baskets so they could have one each, but so far Greg had only been using the one to transport them around the house.
"You can hold them if you want. Ethan should be waking up for his bottle soon, just be careful."
"He's got hair." Nick knelt down to get a closer look, seeing soft little patches of hair starting to grow on Ethan's bald head.
Avery was wearing a very light pink and white stripped body suit with her little legs sticking out the end, while her brother was wearing a light green and blue stripped one with a pacifier in his mouth. Nick watched the two of them sleeping for a moment, getting to know their little habits. Ethan was a very still sleeper, his only movement was the gentle sucking of his pacifier every couple of seconds. Avery was continuously moving beside him though. She stretched her little legs out, raising them off the mattress every time she moved her arms, making it look as though she was doing some sort of baby aerobics.
"Here you go, baby." Greg handed him a hot mug of coffee, waiting for him to sit down, before he handed him the plate of egg bake from his other hand. He pressed a kiss to the top of his head, smiling as he couldn't take his eyes off the little life's that they had created. "I said you can hold them if you want."
"No, I just wonna watch them." Nick smiled at him. "Thank you. Did you wake Colt up?"
"I'm just gonna go get him now. Jackson's at the table."
"Don't lift him." His husband warned him, realising neither of them could actually lift their children for the next couple of weeks without rupturing a couple of stitches. Greg gently roused his son from his sleep, assisting him to get out of bed rather than lifting him and popping a stitch like he did yesterday. He took him downstairs, helping him into the chair beside his brother.
"Why can't we sit with Daddy?" Colt asked him, seeing his father sitting alone in the front room.
"Well... okay, let's go." He grabbed the boys plates, taking them across the hall to the front room. He let them sit down on the sofa beside Nick, before he set their plates on their laps, hurrying back to get his own. "Welcome home, Nicky." He pecked a kiss to his cheek, getting a smile from the man as they were finally all back together.
Thank you for reading, one more to go.
~ Holly