Michaela awoke feeling an overload of pain in her lower abdomen. It hurt to move, so she stayed still as she opened her eyes.
She became a little frightened when she opened her eyes all the way, she wasn't in her bedroom, she was in a hospital room. She was attached to a heart monitor and an I.V. What happened to her? Why was she in the hospital?
What did she do yesterday? She went to work, came home, ate dinner with her kids, and played a couple of rounds of Candyland with them. She didn't go to the gym that day or do anything strenuous or physical. The last thing that she remembered doing on the previous night was talking to Sully on the phone. When she talked to him, it was simply to make plans for Halloween.
Her kids had never been trick-or-treating before because they lived in a condo in Boston with mostly adult neighbors. Nobody gave out candy to the few children that lived in her building. Moreover, taking the kids trick-or-treating in her mother's neighborhood was out of the question because her husband didn't get along with her mother, and there would, more than likely, be a fight. Michaela typically bought a small bag of candy, popped some popcorn, and watched a child friendly Halloween movie like, It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown, and called it a night.
Sully said that Zachary had gone trick-or-treating before because when he was married, they lived in a subdivision, and not on the ranch. There were several children that lived nearby and his neighbors really did it up for Halloween. Everyone decorated their home, and everyone passed out candy. Usually husbands and wives would split duties; one parent would take the kids around to all the houses for candy, while the other parent stayed home and passed out candy. However, Zachary hadn't gone in a couple of years and Hanna had never been.
When Sully was in Michaela's subdivision, he saw that various neighbors had decorated their homes for Halloween. He said that meant that her neighbors would probably hand out candy. They made a plan to decorate her home for Halloween at the beginning of the week, and at the end of the week, on Halloween, they would take all the kids around the neighborhood to trick-or-treat. He even said that he could likely get his mother to sit in her home and pass out candy, so they could take the kids out together.
After she ended her call with Sully, she went straight to bed. She didn't even take a shower that night. She planned to take one in the morning. So how did she end up in a hospital room? What was going on?
Michaela tried to lift herself up. She struggled to sit up, the pain in her abdomen was very strong. She moved one of her legs to the side of the bed, and hoped she had enough strength to be able to stand.
"Hey," a masculine voice said, with urgency, as he sped to her bedside, "Where do ya think you're goin'?"
"Sully?" Michaela questioned. What was he doing there? What in the world was going on?
He guided her leg back to the center of the bed, and adjusted her blankets so she was tucked in, "Let's lay back down, come on."
Michaela felt too much pain to argue, so she complied with his request.
"There ya go," he said sweetly. Leaning on her pillow, he put an arm around her head and caressed her cheek. He used his other hand to caress her chin and then dropped a soft kiss on her forehead.
They were in a very intimate pose. Though she found that she liked the affection, the embrace, and the gentle kiss, she still wanted to know what exactly was going on. The way he touched her was like it was something normal; something he did all the time. They were often friendly with each other, but not that friendly.
"Why am I in the hospital?" she asked.
Sully smiled and kissed her temple, "Our baby was just born."
"What?" Michaela questioned.
"You don't remember?" Sully said with a laugh, "That's okay, I'll tell ya. She was in a transverse position, and the doctor couldn't get her to turn, so he had to go in and get her. Unfortunately, they had to knock you out completely. She came out just fine, and big! Nine pounds exactly," Sully placed a few more kisses on her cheek.
Was she in an alternate universe? How could she have just had a baby?
"I need to get out of this bed," she said aloud.
"Absolutely not," Sully said firmly, "I know you wanna see the baby but…"
Michaela thought this was ridiculous and started to struggle.
"'Chaela," He said, sounding worried, "I don't wanna hold ya down," he told her, and then lifted her so she could sit up a little more and sat behind her on the bed. He put his arms around her torso, just under her breasts and held her still. With a concerned voice, he said, "Look, I know you're on a lot of different meds right now. It's clearly makin' you disoriented and probably a little scared, but you can't get up, Sweetheart. Now listen, the nurse just took her to run a few tests, she'll be back in a few minutes. Then you can hold her all you want. I won't even ask for a turn."
"Please let me up," Michaela requested.
"Michaela, I'm not gonna let you hurt yourself," Sully said with a sigh, and then kissed the back of her head, "You just had a c-section, Darlin'. You ain't gettin' up. You ain't leavin' this bed."
Michaela didn't say anything. This wasn't just physically tiring; it was becoming mentally tiring as well.
"I know what'll make ya feel better," Sully said, and with one hand, he took off a gold chain that he'd been wearing around his neck and put it over her head, so it was around her neck. Then he leaned forward and kissed her cheek.
Michaela looked down. Instead of a pendant on the chain, there was a gold wedding band and an engagement ring.
Michaela's eyes shot open. The lights were off, and the house was quiet. She breathed a sigh of relief when she found that she was in her own bedroom. To make sure it had all been a dream, she threw her blankets off and lifted her pajama top. Her stomach was flat and there was no sign of a scar that would have resulted from a cesarean-section.
She felt around her bedside table and found her phone. The time was 4:47 and her alarm was set to wake her up in thirteen minutes. Now was as good a time as any to start the day, she supposed. She got out of bed and walked to the bathroom for her morning shower.
As they discussed, Sully helped her decorate her home for Halloween. She said that she wanted fall looking décor, rather than scary décor. That was easy for him. He simply got bales of hay from the ranch and brought them over. Then he placed pumpkins on top. He got on a ladder and used a staple gun to hang pumpkin shaped lights on the front side of the perimeter of her roof.
On Halloween day, he came over with Zachary and Hanna. Zachary was wearing his costume, but he brought Hanna's in a bag, so Michaela could dress her up. Matthew got himself ready, wearing a costume that was similar to Zachary's costume. As Michaela was getting Hanna, Colleen, and Brian ready, Sully went out to pick up a couple of pizzas for them.
As planned, Snowbird came over to pass out candy. She arrived before Sully returned with the pizza.
"Look at my Hanna Pretty Flower!" Snowbird said, lifting Hanna into her arms. Hanna was dressed like Tinkerbell for Halloween. Her hair was pulled back into a bun that was decorated with a ring of light green and white tiny hair flowers. Hanging from the back of the bun, were some curled light green and white chiffon ribbons, "Who did your hair? I know it wasn't your daddy. Was it you?" She kissed Hanna's cheek a few times and set her down so she could go and play with Brian.
Michaela laughed and nodded. She was just putting the finishing touches on Colleen's hair. Colleen was dressed as Belle. She was wearing a beautiful yellow dress with gold details that looked like it was from The Disney Store. Michaela matched Colleen's hair style as close as possible to the cartoon movie but curled the bottom of Colleen's hair into ringlets. Instead of putting a ribbon around the small bun on top, she put a ring of gold flowers, similar to what she did with Hanna's hair.
Snowbird looked at Hanna's costume. It was well made and beautiful and looked like it was from The Disney Store too. Snowbird believed that she could probably thank Michaela for that, just like she could thank her for the hair style. It's not that Sully didn't think it was important to dress his daughter up properly, he just didn't know how.
"I think the girls should switch costumes," Snowbird said.
"Why?" Michaela asked, as she was spraying Colleen's hair, so it stayed in place.
"Belle has brown hair like Hanna Pretty Flower, and Tinkerbell…What's her name?" Snowbird asked in mid-sentence.
"Colleen," Michaela replied.
"Tinkerbell has blonde hair like Colleen," Snowbird said, "You have a lot of hair. Look at all that pretty blonde hair that you have."
"Thank you," Colleen said with a smile.
"You're right," Michaela answered, smiling at Snowbird's comment, "You're all done," she told her daughter.
"Thank you, Mommy," Colleen said. She got up from the chair that she had been sitting in while her mother did her hair and went to see what her older brother was doing.
"Colleen loves Belle, so that was an easy choice," Michaela explained to Snowbird, "Sully asked me if I could pick up a costume for Hanna when I went shopping for Colleen. Of course, I agreed, but when I asked him which princess Hanna likes the best. He said that he thinks she likes Simba best. So, I picked Tinkerbell."
Snowbird laughed, "That's Sully for you. He pays attention to some things, but other things, he just doesn't. I do see his influence on your oldest son," Snowbird then nodded in the direction of Matthew and Zachary who were dressed as baseball players.
"Yes," Michaela said, "I told him, I will take care of Hanna and he can take care of Matthew."
"So, you have Colleen and Matthew," Snowbird pointed out, "What's your baby's name?"
"Brian," Michaela answered.
"Who picked his costume?" she asked, "He's so cute dressed as a little tiger." Brian wore a one piece, orange tiger costume with a hood.
"I did," Michaela explained with a smile, "I found his costume before all the others when I was shopping for just necessities at Target. When I saw that little tiger costume, I just fell in love with it."
"I got the pizzas," Sully said as he walked into Michaela's house and set two pizza boxes down on the dining room table. The pizza wasn't from a typical place like Dominos, it was from some gourmet pizza place that Sully wanted Michaela to try, "Hey, Ma," he greeted Snowbird when he saw her.
"Hey, Son," Snowbird returned.
Standing next to one another, the two women watched the sweetest display of affection take place in front of them. Hanna came running to Sully and held up her arms in the air, "Daddy, I wanna hold you! I wanna hold you!"
Sully lifted her up into his arms and kissed her cheek, "Yeah, let's do some Daddy holdin'. Kids, let's eat before we go out tonight!"
As the older children ran to the table, Michaela watched Brian walk toward Sully and lift his hands in the air, wanting Sully to pick him up too. Michaela felt a little rush of panic. She didn't want Sully to reject Brian, because he was holding his daughter right then, and in effect, hurt Brian's feelings. She also didn't want him to try to be polite, and put his daughter down to pick up Brian, and in effect, hurt Hanna's feelings.
Sully did something else entirely. He told Hanna, "Brian wants to do some Daddy holdin' too, Baby. Let's make room," He shifted Hanna, so he was holding her with one arm, and then he picked Brian up and held him with the other arm. Once they were situated in his arms, he held both toddlers at the same time, "You're like my little twins."
Michaela smiled lovingly at the scene in front of her. He handled the two little ones very well.
Michaela wasn't the only one watching the scene. Snowbird was watching too, and she was watching Michaela, and she liked what she saw. It was evident to her that Michaela was falling in love with Sully. Not only that, but Snowbird could also see that the two of them worked well together. She took care of the girls and Brian's costumes, and he took care of the older boys' costumes. She got everyone dressed, and he went out and procured dinner for everyone. Additionally, her grandchildren appeared to get along well with Michaela's kids. Michaela could be a good match for him, but knowing her son, he was probably moving at a snail's pace. Sully sometimes needed to be pushed, nay, shoved in the right direction.
Matthew and Zachary each got two slices of pizza. Zachary noticed Colleen looking at the pizza and not knowing what to do, "Do you need help?"
"She likes plain cheese," Matthew said for his sister. The pizza that he and Zachary served themselves was a meat lover's combination of pepperoni, Italian sausage, ham, and bacon.
"That's probably in the other box," Zachary said, and reached for the other box, "Hanna only eats plain cheese too."
"Same with Brian," Matthew commented.
Zachary opened the other box of pizza and found that half of it was topped with cheese only, and the other half was topped with mushrooms.
"Who eats mushroom pizza?" Zachary asked.
"My mom," Matthew answered, "It's her favorite."
Zachary removed a slice of cheese pizza from the box and placed it on a plate for Colleen, "Here ya go, Colleen."
"Thank you, Zachary," Colleen said.
"Let's serve the babies too," Matthew said. Zachary retrieved two plates and Matthew put one slice of cheese pizza on each plate for Brian and Hanna. He set both plates on the end of the table near where Sully was standing.
After all the kids were served, Matthew and Zachary were about to start eating when Hanna yelled, "No! Pwayers first! That good manners!" Making all the adults in the room laugh.
Sully eyed Snowbird as if he was silently asking her, what have you done to my little girl?
Snowbird told Michaela, "She gets that from me. My son knows it too. That's why he's looking at me cross-eyed."
"I think it's a good habit to get the children into," Michaela said and then got quiet.
"I'll say it," Matthew volunteered. They all seemed to be on the same wavelength that evening and opted to bow their heads instead of holding hands, "Bless us, O Lord, and these, thy gifts, which we are about to receive from Thy bounty. Through Christ, our Lord. Amen." Then he and Colleen both did the sign of the cross.
Sully placed both toddlers in chairs at the table and then he grabbed a slice of the meat lover's pizza and started eating.
"You're a Catholic?" Snowbird asked, "Quinn is an Irish last name so that makes sense."
"We're undeclared," Michaela said with a bit of a laugh, "My mother was raised Catholic and that's the prayer that she says before meals, followed by the sign of the cross. My father was actually raised Lutheran. He was half Irish, from Northern Ireland, and part German and Dutch.
"Oh, that's very interesting," Snowbird said, "I like our church because it's non-denominational. It was easier for my late husband and I to agree on. It's where I brought my boys up."
"What religion were you brought up with?" Michaela inquired out of curiosity.
"I'm from Utah," Snowbird said, "Like most people living in Utah, I was brought up as a Latter Day Saint."
"Mormonism," Michaela said, not expecting that.
"Yes," Snowbird confirmed, "My family converted generations ago."
"But your husband didn't share your religion? Was he from Utah too?" she asked.
"No," said Snowbird, "He's from Wyoming and he was raised Episcopalian, partly."
"Partly?" Michaela questioned.
"His family also had close ties with the Cheyenne living up there. They lived off of reservation land, but they were close to the people on the reservation. He was familiar with the old ways and the old religion," Snowbird explained, "It was a lot easier for him to give up the Episcopal Church, than it was for me to give up LDS."
"Where did you meet?" asked Michaela.
"Denver. He was studying at the University of Colorado in Denver. I had a degree already from BYU, but once I finished, I wanted to go on a mission for my church. I was a bad missionary," Snowbird laughed as she was talking to Michaela, "When we were dating, we used to take trips all over Colorado. We both liked Colorado Springs a lot, so that's where we moved once we were married."
"How did you decide on a non-denominational church?" Michaela inquired.
"Michaela, Ma," Sully called, "It's gettin' cold."
"We'll eat in a minute, we're talking," Snowbird said.
Sully looked at Snowbird suspiciously, wondering what exactly she was telling Michaela.
"Don't worry! I promised you that I wouldn't tell anyone that you like to suck your thumb at night and that you still sleep with a teddy bear," Snowbird joked, earning a laugh from Michaela, "I promised I wouldn't say it and I didn't tell her that. I didn't. Tell him."
"No, she didn't say that," Michaela answered, shaking her head and laughing.
Sully raised his eyebrows and groaned under his breath. Then he went back to eating his pizza.
"He's a good sport," she told Michaela.
"Yes he is," Michaela agreed.
"Where was I?" Snowbird said, "Oh yes. When we were first married, we didn't really discuss it. When I found out I was pregnant with our first child, I brought it up more and more. Cloud Dancing came with me to the Mormon Church a few times, but it just wasn't for him. We first tried to practice at home and simply read out of the Bible, but that wasn't enough for me. Then we found the church that we all attend now," Snowbird wanted to add, except Sully, to the end of her last statement. She decided that it was neither the time nor the place for her to discuss her concerns about Sully not attending church any longer.
"Can I ask about your names?" Michaela questioned, "I've never heard anything like Snowbird or Cloud Dancing before."
"Yes," Snowbird said with a smile, "Our naming practice was one of the things that both of our families had in common. We were given both English names and Native names. That's how both our families kept the Native American heritage alive. I am Sharon Snowbird. He was Lawrence Cloud Dancing. Our natural born son was Walter Walks on Cloud."
"I like that," Michaela said honestly.
"Sully followed tradition too," Snowbird said, "Sort of. I never got pregnant again for years after Walter was born. That was actually a blessing, because I don't think we could have fostered if we had more kids naturally. When Sully was about 14, I think, I got pregnant with a little girl. I was so excited, another baby and finally a girl after four boys, but it wasn't to be, I had a miscarriage," Snowbird took a long deep breath after she told Michaela about her miscarriage and then continued, "Now my son, Walter, hated being called Walks on Cloud, so I knew I had to be a little more covert when I named her. The name I picked out was Julia Aponi Lomasi. Aponi means butterfly and Lomasi means pretty flower. She was going to be a Spring baby. Well, years later, Sully named his daughter, Hanna Aponi Lomasi. That's why I call her my pretty flower."
"That's so sweet," Michaela commented, feeling her heart melt in her chest.
"Sully has always been sweet," Snowbird said, "Of our three fosters, he was the easiest to fall in love with. When Hanna was born, if he was going to name her after someone, I was expecting something to honor his birth mother, Kathleen. I was expecting Kathleen, Katelyn, Katherine or maybe Katie... When he picked that, I was really touched."
As they were trick-or-treating, Colleen, Matthew and Zachary walked ahead, going from house to house. They were faster than the two toddlers, but when they got to the end of a street, they stopped and waited for the toddlers to catch up.
Michaela and Sully were walking slowly. Sully brought along a large collapsible utility wagon that he usually used to haul sports drinks and snacks for the players during baseball season. Brian and Hanna sat in the wagon and were pulled by Sully as they walked from house to house; only getting out when it was time to walk to the front door of a house and say, "twick-or-tweat."
After a while, Hanna and Brian got tired and just stayed in the wagon while Sully and Michaela walked. The three older kids, however, seemed to be able to go on forever.
"I don't know why they want to keep going," Michaela said, "I'm only going to let them keep a sandwich bag of candy anyway."
"What!" Sully shouted, and then started to chuckle, "That's harsh!"
"I don't want them eating all that junk," Michaela insisted, "I don't want them bouncing off the walls from a sugar rush either. I only have two hands."
"You're lookin' at this the wrong way," Sully started to tease, "When they get the sugar rush, that's the exact moment when you make them do manual labor."
Michaela laughed and shook her head, "You're terrible."
"Well, my cattle can't clean up after themselves," He said, smiling and flirting, "Think about it the next time you need the leaves raked or the lawn done. Why do it yourself? Colleen can drag a rake, Matthew can push a mower."
"I don't do that now as it is," Michaela said, "I hired a teenage boy in the neighborhood who is trying to earn enough money to buy a car. He put flyers in the newspaper delivery boxes that everyone has under their mailboxes."
"Very entrepreneurial," Sully commented.
"That's what I thought," Michaela said.
"So," Sully said with a raised eyebrow as they walked, "What were you and my mother talkin' about for so long?"
"I'm sorry, Sir," Michaela said, it was her turn to tease, "that is between me and your mother."
"You hafta tell me somethin'," Sully said and continued to banter.
"And why is that?" She asked playfully.
"Because I need to know how much damage control I need to do," Sully said playfully, but he was semi-serious too.
"She said that you don't suck your thumb at night, but you do sleep with a pacifier," she teased him jovially, "and you don't sleep with a teddy bear, it's actually a stuffed dog that looks just like Wolf."
"Ha. Ha. Ha," Sully said, still being playful, but was pretending to be serious.
Michaela smiled at him and said, "She didn't say anything blackmail worthy. She discussed herself and your father mostly. All she said about you is that you're a really good son."
"Oh," Sully said, feeling a little relieved, "I feel like I should thank her now."
"No," Michaela said, giggling slightly, "Just keep being a good son."
To be continued. Please review =)
I hope you are having as much fun as I am!