"I'm home!" Jamie announced, walking through the front door of the apartment. He kicked off his shoes and shut the door behind him. "And I have dinner!"
He smiled as he heard a brief commotion come from their bedroom then the quick patter of small feet. Grace came running out of the bedroom with Conor toddling behind her holding Eddie's hand. Grace's school and Conor's daycare had unexpected closures today which led to Eddie having to stay home. Jamie had offered to stay but Conor had been a little fussy that morning and wanted no one but his mother.
"Whatcha bring me, Daddy?!" Grace asked eagerly as she jumped up and tried to read the top of the boxes in his hand.
"Pizza of course," he smiled, setting the boxes down on the table. "A pepperoni for you and Conor, a supreme pizza for mama, and margherita pizza for me."
"Great because I'm starving!" she replied. She greeted her father happily with a hug and kiss on the cheek. Conor tried to follow after her, but not before Jamie picked him up and smothered his plump cheeks with kisses.
"Hey buddy," Jamie said, cuddling him close. "Were you good for your Mama today?"
"They wore Mama out today," Eddie responded for him with a teasing smile. She ran a hand over Conor's head. "But nevertheless, they were perfect."
"Good," Jamie responded, leaning in and pressing a quick kiss to her lips. "Let's eat some dinner, then baths and bed for these two so we can have the rest of the night for ourselves."
Eddie's eyes lit up, "I like the sound of that."
Jamie and Eddie quickly set up the table and got their children ready for dinner. Grace sat in a regular chair with a small booster seat while Conor sat next to his father in his high chair. They each got their respective slices of pizza and began to eat.
"I don't know how you can still eat that," Jamie commented to his wife as he saw her grabbing another slice of her pizza. "I thought you would've been sick of it by now."
"I know," she replied. "But it's still so good."
Eddie's biggest craving while pregnant with Conor was a supreme pizza with every topping known to man on it. She got a random hankering for it one day and it's been her favorite ever since.
"Can I try it?" Grace asked as she eyed the pizza.
"You want to try it?" Eddie questioned. The four year old had been refusing most vegetables that came her way lately so it seemed odd that she would find Eddie's pizza appealing.
"It looks good," Grace said. "Can I please try it, Mommy?"
"Okay," Eddie replied. She cut off a small piece from the slice she had and put it on Grace's plate. "It has peppers on it though so be careful, honey."
Grace grabbed the piece and took a bite. She chewed it slowly, making faces that Jamie and Eddie chuckled at.
"What do you think, munchkin?" Jamie asked. "Do you like it?"
She gave a few more good chews before swallowing it. "It's okay…" Grace finally responded as she took a big drink of her water. "But I don't want another one."
Jamie and Eddie laughed. They continued with their dinner but Eddie couldn't help but notice that Grace had grown solemn and had pushed her food away. A few minutes later, she noticed that Grace was continuously itching her arms and legs.
"Are you okay, baby?" Eddie asked gently, moving a few hairs out of her face.
"My tummy hurts," she responded, tears starting to pool in her eyes. "And I feel really really itchy!"
Jamie's eyes widened. He stood up and walked over to her. Then, he pulled down the collar of Grace's shirt to find that hives were starting to break out over her neck and chest.
"We need to take her to St. Irene's," Jamie said calmly to his wife. He could tell that she was slightly alarmed at their daughter's state and knew that he needed to stay calm for all of their sakes. "I think she's having an allergic reaction. We need to go now because her throat could start to swell."
"Oh my god," Eddie responded quietly.
"You grab Conor and I'll take her," Jamie continued. "Grab the diaper bag and I'll meet you down in the car."
"Where are we going?" Grace asked worriedly, watching her mother hurriedly go around the apartment gathering their things. "What's happening?"
"We're going to take you to the hospital, sweetheart," Jamie informed her, running a comforting hand down her back. "I think something you ate is making you feel bad. The doctors there are going to give you something that will make you feel all better, okay? Me and Mama will be right there with you."
The tears began to flow but Grace gave her father a small nod.
Jamie picked her up, threw his coat over her, then rushed out the door with Eddie and Conor following behind.
"How is she?" Danny said, rushing into the waiting room to find a whole clan of Reagans seated. Once they heard that Grace was in the hospital, everyone dropped what they were doing and rushed over.
"We don't know anything yet, son," Frank replied.
"What happened?" he asked.
"Jamie told me that he thinks she had an allergic reaction to something she ate," Erin responded as she stood up and sat Conor on her hip. "They've been back there for awhile. I haven't seen her but Jamie said she broke out in hives and everything. He just came out really quick to give me Conor and went back inside."
"Da," Conor shrieked happily as he reached out for his uncle. Since the one year old had a limited vocabulary of only three words, "Da" was Jamie and Danny, "Pa" was Henry and Frank, while "Ma" was Eddie and Erin. He had a name for his sister too but it was a bunch of gibberish that only she could understand.
"Hey buddy," Danny smiled, taking the little boy from Erin's arms. He threw him up in the air a few times, which made Erin slightly panic due to how high he was throwing him.
"That's too high!" Erin exclaimed, hitting Danny's arm.
"He's fine," Danny replied. He set Conor down, grabbed his small hand and began to walk around with him. "Besides, better we wear him out now so he can go straight to sleep once he gets home. I'm sure Jamie and Eddie might have a long night ahead of them with Grace so they don't need two kids giving them trouble."
They each took turns in entertaining Conor as they waited. It wasn't too much longer until Jamie finally came out with Eddie, who was holding a sleeping Grace.
"There she is," Henry said gently, giving a soft smile at the sight of his great-granddaughter. He walked over and pressed a firm kiss to the top of her head, then hugged his granddaughter-in-law and grandson. "So what's the verdict?"
"Olives," Jamie sighed. "She's allergic to olives."
"Olives?" Danny questioned as he walked up with Conor. "I thought you guys have nothing in the house with olives since you're allergic."
"We don't," Eddie replied. "But we had pizza for dinner and my supreme pizza had olives on it. We usually ask to take them off but I guess they forgot. I don't mind them but I didn't even think about the possibility of Grace being allergic."
She gave a sad look to her daughter and cuddled her close. Both Jamie and Eddie were feeling a little guilty for what happened but knew that there wasn't any way either of them could've known that Grace was allergic.
"Well at least we know now and can make note of it," Frank said, giving a reassuring pat on the back to his daughter-in-law.
"Did they have to give her a shot?" Erin asked.
Jamie nodded, "Yep. One in the thigh and another one in the arm. With a pretty big needle that definitely looked like it hurt. She cried the entire way through. Eddie held her and I held her leg down."
"Thankfully, what they gave her should have her sleep for the rest of the night," Eddie added. "And the doctor said that it would probably be a good idea for her not to go to school tomorrow."
"Well Pop-Pop will be over tomorrow first thing with her favorite cookies," Henry promised.
"And Auntie will take her some lunch," Erin added.
Danny raised his hand, "I got dinner."
Eddie smiled, "Thanks guys. You really don't have to do all of that but I know she'll appreciate it. And thanks for coming tonight."
"Buddy over there didn't give you too much trouble, did he?" Jamie asked, looking over at Conor who was being entertained by Danny's badge.
"Not at all," Danny replied as he gently patted Conor's back. "He was hamming it up for the nurses over there."
"Do you want me to take him for the night?" Erin asked. "I'm not going in tomorrow so I can keep him for as long as you need."
"Oh, thanks for offering but it's okay," Eddie replied. "Grace is going to sleep the whole night anyways. And me and Jamie both are going to be home tomorrow. I'm sure he'll pass out as soon as we put him in his car seat."
"Thanks for coming guys but we better get these two home," Jamie announced. He reached out for Conor, who immediately went to him and laid his head on his shoulder.
The family quickly said their goodbyes. As Eddie predicted, Conor went straight to sleep once Jamie strapped him into his car seat. It took a minute to pry Grace from Eddie, who had been holding onto her mother for dear life when they gave her the shots. She stirred slightly when they placed her in her booster seat but went back to sleep after a reassuring kiss on the forehead from her mother.
"That was... a lot," Eddie said quietly, taking her place in the passenger's seat. Then, she looked over at Jamie. "You were really great tonight."
"We were great," he emphasized, reaching over and putting his hand on her leg. He put the car in drive and started to take them home. "We both brought her to the hospital, hon."
"Yeah but you were the one who recognized what was happening and took action. I looked at her and freaked out inside. I don't know what I would've done if you wouldn't have been there. And I was the one who gave her the dang pizza!"
"I knew what was happening because I'd been through it before. And you would've done the exact same thing as me if I wouldn't have been there. Plus, you were the one who recognized that something was up with her in the first place."
"I know but I feel like I put her in danger..."
He shook his head at her, "You better stop with the way you're thinking, Ed. Both of us were there so if you want to place blame somewhere, you can throw it at me too. There was no way we could've known that she was allergic."
"Yeah..." she trailed off.
"Who was she clinging to when we were in the room?" he continued. "You. You didn't put her in danger, babe. Not at all. You're her safe place. She didn't even bother to look up when I tried to hold her. She just wanted you. She knows that when her Mama is around, she's safe."
Eddie gave a small smile, "Thank you. That makes me feel better."
"If there's anyone who should be beating themselves up, it's me," Jamie said. "If there's anything that she had to get from me, the last thing I would've wanted was the stupid olive allergy."
Eddie gave her husband a sad smile and placed her hand over his, "It's okay, Bub. Like your dad said, at least we know now."
Jamie nodded and squeezed her leg. They sat in a comfortable silence as they drove home with Eddie peeking back at Grace and Conor every few minutes. Tonight was a scary night for them as parents but it did remind her of one thing. No matter what was thrown their way, her and Jamie were always one hell of a team.
