"Guys?…", Rusty walks back into the room, looking at us quizzically.
Me and Cappie are half asleep, Cappie sitting in the chair beside my bed hunched over and laying against the side of the hospital bed in a state of being half asleep half awake. I'm similarly trying to keep my eyes open as I hold Noelle in my arms.
"Wow you guys look… dead", Rusty laughs.
"Well we didn't get quite as much sleep as you did last night Rus", I give him a look as I groan.
"Yeah well I'm not the one who got someone pregnant so…", Rusty laughs, crossing his arms at us.
"Hey, c'mon. It was one time!", Cap perks up a bit, still tired but looking up from laying over the side of my bed to try to defend himself.
Me and Rusty laugh then.
"Oh by the way guys I was just walking around the lobby area, because I'm like, beyond bored here, and I decided to call Dale. I thought I should fill him in about you guys having the baby and he says congrats! And he also went on and on about how he thinks it's fitting that you gave birth on the lords day because you've always reminded him of the Virgin Mary Case…", Rusty gives me an awkward look, looking back and forth from me to Cap.
"What the hell?", Cappie laughs then.
"I know right", Rusty starts to laugh. "But oh, reminder! No saying the word hell in front of Dale. Seriously I've made that mistake before and then you're into a whole big lecture from him, so not worth it".
"Well I'm still stuck on how I have anything in common with the Virgin Mary", I giggle then. "This baby was made the traditional way, he does know that right?"
We laugh then.
"Hey I wonder if Dale thinks that our baby is like… the second coming or something?", Cappie's eyes go big as he gives us a look of fake shock, joking around as per usual. "Is that the correct term those Jesus people use? I'm not really familiar".
"I think it is", Rusty snickers.
"Well Dale probably just prefers to think you're a virgin Case because… he's basically obsessed with you", Cap scoffs.
"Well unless he thinks that immaculate conception is actually physically possible…", I giggle then as I trail off. "Although... hey Rus do you think mom and dad would buy the whole Virgin Mary, immaculate conception thing?"
I give him a look then, joking with him.
"Yeah I don't think so Casey", Rusty shakes his head with a laugh.
Rusty's phone pings then and he pulls it out of his pocket to look at it.
"Guys wake up okay? I just got a message that your surprise is in the lobby, about to come up in the elevator", Rusty grins like his evil plan is all coming together.
Me and Cap look at each other at the exact same time, sharing a look of confusion.
"Spitter did you order pizza to the hospital? Because if so, that's pretty awesome", Cappie grins.
"No", Rusty groans. "Although… we could do that later. But anyway, your surprise is people… two people".
"And it's not mom and dad?", I question.
"No, god Casey, how many times do I have to assure you it's not them?"
"Sorry I just… If it's not Ash, and it's not Rebecca and Evan…?", I shrug but then turn to hear a knock on the door.
"Hello…", I hear a dopey voice I knew well.
"Oh my god! Beav?!", Cappie's whole face perks up, finally actually looking more awake.
Cap fixes his messy hair and then stands up, seeing Beaver in the doorway.
"And I'm here too! I'm the one that got us up here", Katherine stands beside him.
"Katherine?!", I smile, surprised and happy to see her.
"It's true though, this hospital is really confusing guys. I never would've been able to find my way up here without my special lady's help", Beaver nods and then looks over to Katherine with a love struck smile. "By the way, the labour and delivery floor is scary… I heard some screaming like someone was being killed in here".
Me and Cap share a look then as we stifle in a laugh.
"Well yeah Beav, labour is serious stuff. Casey just about broke my hand the other night before she got an epidural", Cappie laughs holding up his hand and I shake my head at him.
Katherine comes over to me then, looking at Noelle sweetly.
"Casey! I can't believe your baby came early!", Katherine beams as her and Beaver make their way into the room, a balloon in Katherine's hand and a teddy bear in Beaver's. "Is this sweet thing here the little ZBZ KT baby?"
Katherine gestures to Noelle laying against my chest.
"Yeah, she's right here. Meet Noelle guys!", I giggle, and prop her up slightly, moving her so they can see her better.
"Noelle!", Katherine smiles. "How festive!"
"Yeah well, she ended up born on Christmas Day", I grin, holding her little hand in between my two fingers.
"And I chose her middle name, Elizabeth", Rusty interjects, looking proud of his uncle and godfather duties.
"Like the street that crosses Greek row", Cappie explains the meaning with a smile. "Where the KT house is on the corner of. Because that's where me and Casey met".
"Hmm I never notice street names so I wouldn't know", Beaver says with a shrug.
"Yeah believe me, I know Beav. That's why I had to pick you up at 2am on your way back from Doblers for a whole year before Wade got a car and took over", Cappie laughs and Rusty joins in with a snicker.
"Hey Cap your baby is like… literally as big as a beer bottle", Beaver stares in awe at Noelle, moving closer to my hospital bed to see her.
"Yeah I guess you're right", Cappie laughs. "And just as breakable too Beav".
"Does that mean I can't hold her?", Beaver frowns, sulking.
"Well… uh", Cappie looks to me.
"Maybe if you sit beside Cappie he can show you how to hold her properly but you have to be really careful with her Beav", I warn him.
"I can do that", He grins. "I got her a teddy bear!"
"And I got a pink balloon for you Casey. It says get well soon, since I heard from Rusty about your surgery", Katherine smiles and gestures down to the IV in my hand still giving me pain medication.
"That's so cute, thanks guys. You didn't have to do that", I pucker my lip out giving them a soft smile.
"Of course we did! She's like… our niece", Katherine smiles. "Not to mention, Rusty said we're the first ones to be able to visit because of the bad weather".
"Yeah about that, I thought you were going home to Connecticut for the holidays Katherine?", I question.
"Well…", Katherine grins as she tucks her hair behind her ear, a blush taking over her cheeks. She looks to Beaver sheepishly then.
"My lady just couldn't stay away", Beaver smiles, wrapping his arm around Katherine's back. "She ended up staying with me in Cincinnati. So we were only about 45 minutes away from Cyprus".
"Aw that's awesome. Well it's so nice to see you guys!", I smile.
"Yeah I can't believe this, it's like a KT holiday reunion!", Cappie smiles as Beav comes over to hug him and they pull a reluctant Rusty in too as he laughs.
Katherine comes over to me then, looking down at the baby.
"Wow she is so cute Casey. I've never seen a newborn baby like this before", Katherine smiles. "It's making my own uterus tingle".
"Oh wow… how… cool", I nod awkwardly.
Katherine looks her over as I turn Noelle so she can see her face.
"She looks like you I think Casey", Katherine smiles.
"Yeah Cappie thinks so too", I grin.
The guys turn to pay attention to us again.
"Wanna give her your bear Beav?", Cap smiles, patting Beaver on the back.
"Yeah totally!", Beaver looks excited and starts to approach me, looking like he doesn't exactly know what to do around a baby. He's currently looking down at Noelle like she's an atomic bomb.
"It's okay Beav, here just c'mere", I giggle at Beaver as I gesture for him to come over.
"Here you go little baby", Beaver bends down to hand the teddy bear over.
Noelle just stares at him without doing anything.
"She's not grabbing it Cap, do you think she'd rather have another toy?", Beaver turns to look at Cappie.
"No don't worry Beav", Cap scoffs. "She's just too young to know what's going on. When she's older she'll like it more. Honestly right now the only thing on her list of interests in life is really just… boobs".
Cappie jokes with a shrug and a smirk.
"Well me and her should get along just perfectly then", Beaver grins.
"That's just what I was thinking!", Cap jokes and I roll my eyes at them with a laugh. "Here I'll take the bear and put it with her stuff, she'll definitely like it when she's not so… new to the world".
Katherine puts the balloon down on the table beside me, finally giving my room a bit of color.
"I really appreciate you guys coming to see us, I hope your drive here was okay", I smile at them.
"Oh yeah it was fine, a little bit of snow is nothing. I used to be a competitive ski racer so I'm used to the cold", Katherine waves it off.
"Of course you were", I laugh.
"I just learn something new about my sugarpuss everyday don't I?", Beaver grins, pulling Katherine over to him to kiss her.
"Beaver, not right now", Katherine giggles like a giddy teenager. "We don't want to make everyone jealous with our love".
I look over to share a look with Cappie, then with Rusty as the three of us try not to laugh.
"Well actually guys… you're not the only couple in the room now", Rusty gives them a look.
"Spitter… did you and Cap go the way of Heath's lifestyle?", Beav asks, being completely serious.
"No Beav", Rusty groans. "I'm talking about Cappie and Casey!"
"You two are together now?", Katherine smiles. "Oh thank god! This is exactly what I've prayed for. Now I can have my double date fantasy! Oh if the girls in high school could see me now".
Me and Cap share a look then.
"Yeah, we finally just took the leap. Casey told me she loved me after Noelle here was born and the rest is history", Cappie smiles. "At first I thought maybe it was the drugs from the surgery and giving birth clouding her mind but… I think they've worn off a bit now and you don't hate me yet right Case?"
Cappie smirks his usual smirk at me.
"Eh", I shrug, playing along. "No, you're still alright I guess".
"Romance at its finest", Cappie grins mischievously as we joke back and forth.
"Well what a perfect moment to celebrate!", Katherine announces. "A new baby, and a new relationship! It's like a fairytale!"
"Yeah it kind of does feel kind like a fairytale", I grin sheepishly, trying to hide my blush. "Except for the sleep deprivation, the diapers, the crying…. Not to mention I can barely walk or move because my abdomen is killing me…."
I trail off then.
"Translation, use condoms Beav", Rusty mutters over to Beaver and we laugh.
The door opens then and Tanisha walks through.
"Oh! Sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt, it looks like you have some visitors", She smiles.
"Yeah these are our friends", I nod. "And don't worry about interrupting, it's okay".
"Guys this is Tanisha. Who is basically an honorary KT brother… sorry sister, at this point", Cappie smirks at her.
"Sorry I just started my shift and I'm a little out of it, what is a KT?", Tanisha gives him a laugh.
"It's his fraternity", I jump in quickly then as I laugh. "We're um… in the Greek system at CRU. Or we were, we've graduated now".
"Oh interesting", She laughs.
"Yeah Tanisha helped me learn how to change diapers, how to feed the baby a bottle, how to swaddle…", Cappie explains. "And she's been dispensing me puddings off the record".
"You're crazy Cappie!", Tanisha says with a laugh as she hits his arm lightly, joking with him.
For some reason Cappie could bond with just about anybody. People just took to him. It was something I both admired and was sort of jealous of him for. It's why so many girls flocked to him. I could admit it, he was charming. And I think people could tell it came from a fairly genuine place. Cappie never really has any ulterior motives other than to just joke around and have a good time.
"Well hun, I was actually just coming in to take you for a walk again and to check how much you're bleeding, we want to make sure you're bleeding less and less by the day", She explains. "But I'll come back in an hour or so".
"Oh god you're bleeding?!", Beaver looks over to me worriedly. "Good thing the nurse is here!"
"It's… not that kind of bleeding Beav", Cappie explains to him with a shake of his head. "Don't worry, Casey's fine".
"Well I'll see you guys later. And I'll see you too little Noelle", Tanisha waves to her, speaking in a sweet voice to the baby as she gives us a smile.
"Okay thanks Tanisha", I give her a smile and she closes the door behind her.
It ended up being so great to see Beaver and Katherine. They had both sanitized their hands and then held Noelle, which made me nervous, but it ended up being fine. Cappie sat on the cot beside Beaver while he held her and keep his hand on her the whole time, I think feeling pretty worried himself about her safety.
We'd talked more, I'd filled them in on my entire labour story and how we had to get here in a blizzard. Katherine and Beaver told us about their Christmas at Beaver's mom and dad's house and how Beaver's mom loves Katherine.
Then after a little while they'd decided to go home. Rusty had now fallen asleep on his fold out chair.
Right now I was just feeding the baby because she had been fussy and must've been hungry. It took a while to make it work, and took Cappie helping me position her right, but she finally managed to latch onto my boob.
"Hey Cap?", I look over to him once he's sat down again in the chair beside my bed.
"Yeah?"
"I can't believe I've only really thought about this now, but… did you manage to get ahold of your parents? You know, to tell them about the baby?", I ask him, feeling a little guilty for not asking him about this earlier, I'd just been so overwhelmed and tired.
"Well… no", Cappie shakes his head with a slight laugh. "I… kind of like the little bubble we're in together right now I guess".
Cap shrugs then and I know exactly what he means. It was nice it just being us.
"But I guess I should try to call them soon. I have a few different cell numbers for them, hopefully one works and I can at least tell one parent", Cappie scoffs with a shake of his head, like he's slightly annoyed by their off the map lifestyle. "If they've ditched their cells which they often do then I'll probably just have to wait for them to contact me. Last time I heard from my mom was around Thanksgiving and she knows the baby is coming in January so…"
"Well if you can't reach them it's okay", I shrug, giving him a smile, trying to comfort him. "Because you've got us and… your parents will meet her eventually".
"Yeah", Cappie nods as he looks over to me, lips pursed as he grins. "I'm not worried about it. I'm just focused on the two of you".
I smile at him shyly then, his words often making me feel like this, like butterflies are taking hold of my stomach.
"Hey Cap, there was something else I wanted to talk to you about", I bring up and he nods, giving me his attention. "Well you know at home how her nursery is in my room?"
"Yeah?", he nods, looking a little confused.
"And we were wondering how we were going to move her stuff back and forth when we switch off nights, like moving her crib and changing table and stuff?", I explain. "Well, what if… we could actually give her her very own nursery?"
I shrug then and I start to see a smile forming on his face.
"You said a month or so ago that if you bunked in with me", I say, using Cappie's wording. "Your words not mine…"
I let out a laugh and Cap smirks.
"If you were in with me then we could turn your room into a nursery. Not that I'm trying to give away your room to her. If you still want your space I totally get it-", I start to ramble nervously but Cap takes the chance to cut me off.
"I definitely don't want space", he asserts immediately, giving me a smile. "Seriously I want the opposite of space when it comes to you".
"Okay", I giggle. "So…"
"So what you're saying is you want me in your bed every night now?", he gives me a suggestive grin then, teasing me a bit.
I roll my eyes at him and then narrow them, giving him a look when they meet his again.
"Well it would make a lot more sense", I shrug. "For the baby".
"It's okay Case, you can just admit that you can't resist me", Cappie shrugs then, joking around with me as he laughs.
"Well you are my boyfriend now", I give him a grin.
"So I'm moving into your bedroom then?", He says more like a statement than a question, his grin turning into that mischievous look he gets.
"Yeah", I nod up and down. "Except it wouldn't be my bedroom, it would be our bedroom".
I give him a nervous smile then, hoping I'm not moving too fast, but if I'm being honest these past few months we've probably been moving way too slow. Which was a hundred percent my doing out of my own fears.
"Sounds good to me", he grins winningly as he licks his lips.
"Except… we're keeping my duvet and my overall design and color pallet", I give him a look then as I cross my arms jokingly. "I can't really get on board with your colorless frat boy aesthetic".
Cappie laughs then, amused by this.
"Fine by me, I've been waiting for a while to fully upgrade to spending every night in your bed status. So I can't be too choosy", he jokes and I blush.
"Okay so it's settled then", I grin. "Noelle you're gonna have your own room!"
I look down at her with a giggle. She's stopped suckling now and just has her eyes closed.
I pull my bra back up then.
"And I'm gonna get to spoon your mommy full time now", Cappie speaks to her, moving closer to us to run his hand across hers. "And… do other fun stuff of course".
He looks up to me then with a sinful grin, getting that glint in his eye of his.
"Cap!", I reprimand him. "Baby!"
I point to Noelle and give him a disapproving look.
"Don't freak out", Cappie waves it off nonchalantly. "She's fast asleep in a milk induced coma and she doesn't understand anyways".
"Okay fine", I laugh at him with a good natured roll of my eyes. "The other 'fun stuff' you have in mind isn't gonna happen for a while though Cap… unfortunately".
"Yeah I know, I'm well versed in the postpartum stuff you know Case", Cap gives me a look. "I know it's six weeks".
"I hate to burst your bubble but since I had a c section, they say to wait even a little longer than that", I sigh.
Cap shrugs then, not looking worried.
"Well I waited for you for two whole years", Cappie reminds me with a scoff. "Of course… that night during rush junior year was a fun treat in the middle there but… I think I can handle it".
He laughs then and I smile. He really did wait for me. Didn't get too serious with anyone else because he'd already basically decided it was me or nothing. If I loved anything about him the most, and it was a long list of things and hard to choose my favorites, it was that. That he had always put me above everyone, had never gave up on us even when I basically had.
"Okay good", I smile at him then, my heart full of so much love for him that it felt like it was going to burst. It felt like that a lot lately. The baby, being back together with Cap… it was the sweetest love I've ever experienced. "There's still tons of other stuff we can do though…"
I give him a suggestive look then, joking with him and I giggle when I see his reaction, his eyes going wide as he smirks.
"Mmm what did you have in mind?", He grins.
"Come closer and I'll show you", I give him a look, setting my eyes on him as I grin.
He smiles and does as I say of course, moving his chair closer to me, trying not to wake the sleeping baby in my arms as I take my hand to pull him in to kiss me.
"Mmm", I moan against his lips and I can feel him smiling through our kiss.
"Knock knock!", I hear a voice then and me and Cappie part and turn to see Tanisha has opened the door. "Sorry I guess I'm interrupting again".
She laughs nervously as she comes in the room.
"No, no", I turn red, embarrassed slightly that she's walked in on us kissing. "You're not at all. I'm ready to go for a walk. I feel a little stronger today actually".
"That's great!", She gives me a genuine smile. "Dr. Goldsmith is in today, back from her two days off so she's going to see you soon, check you out. And then I'm thinking we're going to take your IV out, start you on pain medication in pill form. And you may even be able to leave tomorrow afternoon if all goes well".
"Wow that's awesome", I feel excited then. "Not that I don't like it here but I'm a little… tired of this room".
I let out a laugh then.
"Don't worry, I totally get it. You probably want to get your daughter home, sleep in your own bed, have your own food", She smiles. "Which reminds me when we get back from walking I'm going to take your lunch order. We need to keep you eating and drinking lots. Besides helping you recover, it's very good for breastfeeding".
"Okay", I nod. "Sounds good to me".
"Well hun, let's get you up", Tanisha comes around to my bedside as I pass Cappie a sleeping Noelle and he sets her down in her bassinet slowly, trying not to wake her up. "Looks like your baby isn't the only one whose getting some sleep".
Tanisha gestures over to Rusty who is completely passed out now.
Me and Cap share a look as we laugh.
Cappie grabs my Uggs for me then, bringing them over and helping put them on my feet so I can go walk. I'd mostly just been walking around the room in my socks.
"Thanks Cap", I give him a smile, as I sit up 90 degrees now, feet hanging over the edge of the bed. It hurt my stitches more to sit like this, but I knew in a few days it probably wouldn't hurt so much. It just sucked right now to have such little mobility.
"Yeah of course", He waves it off like it's nothing. "Okay your boots are on and you're ready to go".
He looks up at me with a grin and then stands back up straight.
"Great, now I'm just going to have you go to the washroom first, we're gonna check your pad, see if some of the vaginal bleeding has subsided", Tanisha explains as she helps me up from the bed to walk to the washroom.
"Okay", I nod, feeling a little awkward, but kind of used to it at this point. Even yesterday when I'd had a catheter in they'd kept checking me, trying to make sure I wasn't bleeding too much. I'd already lost a lot of blood during my surgery.
Me and her go in the washroom then and I move my gown so I can pull down my underwear, seeing less blood than I had last night when I had gone to the washroom.
"Great, that's well on track Casey. You can have bleeding for up to 6 weeks though. But it shouldn't be insanely heavy. It can be similar to having a light period", She explains.
"Really? Even though I didn't have a vaginal birth?"
"Yes, it's mostly because when your placenta is removed it leaves a wound on your uterus and takes a good while to heal. It's why we tell women not to use anything in their vagina or have sex for at least 6 weeks, and a little longer if you've had surgery like you have", She explains.
"Oh okay", I nod awkwardly.
"Well I'll leave you go to the washroom, I'll just be outside", She smiles.
"Okay thanks", I nod.
If it was anyone else this might be even more awkward, so I was really glad Tanisha was working again today. I felt pretty comfortable with her now and she was the nicest nurse I've met through my whole pregnancy.
I come out of the washroom to hear Tanisha talking to Cappie whose listening to her intently.
"I'm just explaining to your boyfriend here about the placenta", Tanisha explains when she sees me come out of the washroom, holding onto my IV pole as I use it to help me walk.
"Yeah crazy stuff", Cap nods. "But hey at least your bleeding is lighter".
Cappie gives me a smile then and I can't believe I'm talking about the flow of my blood down there with him. But this kind of stuff has kind of just become mundane with us at this point. Cappie didn't really shy away from it, he was fully into learning about any of it.
I smile then thinking about the fact that Cappie will be a good dad to a daughter. Even if he's spent most of his life around guys.
"Yeah it is good that it's lighter", I nod then, giving Cappie a look, a mix of confusion and trying not to laugh.
"Well let's get going Miss Casey, we're going to try and make it around the whole floor this time", Tanisha smiles at me.
"Ooh", Cap grins giving me that joking smirk of his. "Good luck guys".
I narrow my eyes at him playfully as I start to follow Tanisha out. But I stop in my tracks when I hear a loud cry.
I turn around then to see that Noelle's being fussy, crying in her bassinet.
"Aw she must've woken up", I frown, not really wanting to leave now.
"It's probably because she knows you're leaving", Tanisha explains.
"Really?", I confirm.
"Yeah of course, you're her mother. You're the one person she knew well before she even came into the world", Tanisha explains. "Newborns are very bonded to their mothers".
Cappie has already picked Noelle up and is trying to rock her back and forth, making noises with his lips as he tries to soothe her.
"Ughhh", I hear Rusty stir in the corner of the room, waking up.
"It's okay Case, she'll stop crying eventually. I'm gonna try to use the pacifier thing", Cappie tells me.
"Yeah? You think it's okay if I go?", I ask Tanisha.
"It's hard being a mom for this very reason… and so many more. But sometimes you have to leave your baby. We'll be gone five minutes if that", She touches my arm lightly, comfortingly, as I nod.
"Okay", I sigh and then look to Cappie with Noelle in his arms and I walk over to them, lugging my IV pole with me. "I'll be back soon honey don't worry".
I touch her arm then as I truly feel like my heart breaking that she's crying. I guess this is what being a mom feels like.
"Don't worry Case, I've got her", Cappie assures me with a nod and has now, after a few tries, finally gotten her to take to the pacifier a bit and her cries become a little less intense.
"Okay be back really soon", I wave to Cap and Rusty and then make my way out to the hallways of the hospital that I just about felt like was my new home at this point.