Jess smiled sitting in the kitchen with Cece, Schmidt, Winston and Aly waiting for Coach and May to arrive. It was over a year since the last time to group had been all together and they were going to be celebrating Coach and May getting engaged. "I can't believe Coach is really engaged." Winston said with a smirk. "He was as womanizing as Schmidt."
"I think Schmidt had a few up on him." Nick laughed as he took a drink of his beer.
"Hey, you've got nothing to say there, mister every college girl there ever was." Cece said giving Nick a look. "Yeah, you think I didn't hear all about you and your friend Dirk?" Nick looked at Jess as she tried to hide her laugh.
Nick put his beer down as they heard a knock. "You know Jessica, there's a few things in your secret bag too." He said as he opened the door looking over at Coach and May standing in the doorway looking at him.
"We interrupting?" May asked.
"No." Jess said as she stood up and the others walked closer while May and Coach walked into the apartment. "Nick's just being stupid." She said as Nick made a face at her. "It's so good to see you guys again." She said as she hugged them both.
"It's been forever." Cece smiled.
Coach nodded as May hugged the others. "It really has been. What's this I hear you all got kids?" he asked looking at the group as they smirked and smiled. As if on cue they heard a cry making everyone look at the hallway.
Jess made her way into the spare room that had once been Nick's office but was lost to the infant when he came along. "So, you're actually getting married." Schmidt said looking at Coach. "Never thought I'd see that day." He smiled.
Cece swatted him. "He means congratulations." She said as May gave a little laugh as Jess walked back out holding her ten-month-old son.
"This must be the famous Reggie." May said with a bright smile. "He is just adorable." She said.
Coach looked from Jess and the boy to Nick standing to the side, a little smirk on his face watching the two women and the baby. "Where are the other ones?"
"My mom's watching them." Aly said. "She took them to the zoo today, Reggie's a little too young to go with them so we get a kid free night and…"
"We get crying all night." Nick added as the others smirked and laughed. May took Reggie to hold him for a while as the group settled in, catching up and sharing stories of everything they had missed while they were separated.
Reggie started to fuss and squirm, making Jess take him back from being passed around. "Nick, can you get his bottle?" She asked as she delt with the fussing boy. He gave a nod before he moved around the kitchen making the bottle for his son and handing it to her. "Thanks." She said adjusting Reggie in her lap to feed him as the others continued talking. Coach couldn't help the little smirk as he watched Nick pull the baby into his arms as Jess cleaned up the bottle.
"So where are you getting married?" Cece asked. "You two aren't really from a certain area and you've been moving around. You have a place picked already?"
May looked at Coach as they shrugged. "We thought we'd have it out here." She said. "It's where we met and a lot of our friends are here, it makes sense to have it here."
"We're going to have a little wedding next month." Coach added.
"That only gives us a couple weeks for your bachelor party." Schmidt said looking at his friend.
"Is it going to be a real party?" May asked.
"More like they go out drinking, hit a couple strip clubs and get into trouble." Cece said as the woman looked at the three men.
"What? It works." Winston shrugged.
"It's a time-honored tradition." Schmidt offered.
The others looked at Nick as he shrugged making a face. "I'm not getting into this one."
"Are we doing it?" Winston asked looking at the others.
"Depends on if I'll be coming home to a naked guy in the bed." He said looking at Jess as she narrowed her eyes at him.
"Depends on if we need to have a husband wife talk." Jess said.
"Okay, there's a lot here that needs some explaining." Aly said, looking between the two.
Jess looked at her. "Coach came back and talked them into going to the strip club. I told Nick it wasn't a good idea, but he had to act cool in front of his friends."
"Nick was so whipped." Winston laughed as Aly gave him a look and he quieted down.
"So, we can't do it?" Schmidt asked confused.
Nick looked at Jess as she sighed rolling her eyes. "Do your ridiculous boys thing." Jess said as the others grinned and cheered while the women looked at them.
"We can't do this weekend." Schmidt said. "Ruth has a recital on Saturday, she got the main part in it." He said excitedly.
"The weekend after that I have a recertification for my gun." Winston said. "What about in three weeks?" He asked looking around as everyone shrugged. "Alright, then it's set." The friends settled into talks about the wedding and celebrations.
Jess rolled over as Nick walked into their room. She lifted her head, rubbing her eyes. "What time is it?" she asked.
"It's three in the morning." He said. "Go back to sleep."
She let out a sigh as she dropped her head back to the pillow as he got changed and laid down beside her. "You need to get a new bartender." She said as she scooted closer, laying her head on him as he wrapped his arms around her, kissing her head.
"I called Schmidt at two to tell him." He said with a little smirk. "Threatened to call him every time I have to cover until he finds someone." Jess gave a soft laugh as he smirked and the two started to dose off together. Suddenly they heard a cry. Jess groaned rolling onto her back as Nick took a breath.
"Get some sleep, I'll get him." Jess said.
Nick sat up. "Go back to sleep, I'm still up, I'll get him." He said giving her a quick kiss before he climbed from bed making his way to the nursery across the hall. "Hey, hey. What's all the yelling about?" He asked as he lifted his son into his arms. "You know you're keeping your mom up, and that's never a good idea. She gets a little crazy the less sleep she gets." He said trying to calm the boy. Nick laid him on the changing table to check the diaper before he took him out to get a bottle, but the baby didn't seem to want or need anything.
Reggie just held tight to Nick's shirt as he cried. Nick bounced him gently, holding him close, he touched his head furrowing his brow. "Feeling a bit warm. You better not be getting a cold; Mommy will freak out and you'll be in a bubble for the rest of your life." He joked as he walked back to the nursery for the thermometer, checking his temperature.
Jess walked out rubbing her eyes when Reggie's cries didn't stop. "Nick?" She asked as she leaned against the doorway to the nursery.
He looked at her. "He's got a little fever." He told her as she walked over pulling the medicine from one of the drawers.
"Here." She said as she pulled the medicine up into the syringe and handed it to him. "This should take the fever away." She said as she reached out gently touching Reggie's head. "I'll get him settled; you get some sleep." She said taking him from Nick letting him get some sleep after being up all-night working.
The next day Jess yawned coming from the bedroom as Nick made their breakfast. "You do know you don't have to be up at seven." Nick teased watching her.
"I can't sleep in, you know that." She said as she poured herself coffee as Nick smirked at her. Just as she was about to take a drink, they heard Reggie crying.
"Finish breakfast, I'll get him." He said as he handed her the spatula and went to get Reggie in his crib as he cried. "Hey there buddy." He said as he lifted the boy up finding him feeling warm again. "Still got that fever huh? He said as he took him to the changing table to give him more medicine and getting him ready for the day. As he came back out Jess was setting the plates on the table
"Everything okay?" Jess asked.
Nick nodded. "Yeah, still got that little fever." He said setting him in the highchair. "Gave him more medicine."
Jess walked over checking on Reggie. "It's probably his teeth, it can cause a fever with them coming in." She said setting egg piece on the tray letting him pick them up and eat. The parents continued their routine keeping an eye on Reggie as his fever seemed to come back as the medicine wore off.
Jess and Nick were trying to get some sleep after being up all-night getting Reggie to sleep. Reggie finally slept several hours letting them sleep until early afternoon when they heard him wake up with a cry. Jess and Nick sighed before she climbed from bed to take care of him. Nick laid in the bed another moment before he climbed out to see if Jess needed help. The two had been tag teaming all night to try to help their son feel better and they were both exhausted.
"Maybe we should call the doctor." Jess said worried as Reggie started coughing.
Nick shrugged. "I'm sure it's like you said. It's probably his teeth giving him some trouble. He's probably just hoarse with all the crying and it's making him cough." He said trying not to worry too much.
They spent the day trying to keep him comfortable, both exhausted as he seemed to cry and need them just when they sat and started to relax. It was after dinner when they were trying to go down the list of everything they could do. "Cece said to try to give him a bath, right? Maybe that'll help, we just need to get him through them popping through." He said as Jess sighed. "I'll get the bath started." He said as he wandered to the kitchen, cleaning and filling the sink, as Jess got Reggie cleaned up and walked out placing him in the water.
After a little while Reggie seemed to settle enough for them to give him more medicine and a bottle with some eggs before Nick's phone rang making him look at it and sigh. "What?" Jess asked, worried.
"Schmidt." He said.
"You have Coach's party." Jess said. "I completely forgot."
"I did too." He said rubbing his face.
Jess looked at him. "Go, get cleaned up and go have fun. I'll take care of this." She said.
"Jess…" He said watching Reggie sitting in the sink chewing on his toy looking around, not looking himself.
"Go, Nick. You haven't been able to go out with Schmidt and Winston in a long time and even longer since you've had time with coach. It's fine, go have fun, you can take over tomorrow." She said with a little smile as his phone rang again.
"You're sure?" He asked worried.
Jess nodded. "I'm sure. Reggie and I will be alright. We'll just take a bath and keep up with the medicine and we'll watch some movies and relax." She said looking back at Reggie as he made a pout face, ready to cry.
"I know, I would cry too, buddy." Nick said as Jess gave him a look before he smirked going to get changed. He walked over as Jess was drying Reggie and getting him in his pjs. "You're sure about this?"
"Nick, if you stay you know first of all you'll never hear the end of it from them and they'll never forgive me for making you stay home." She said looking at him.
Nick smirked. "Reggie's sick, it's not like you're saying I can't go." He said as she gave a look and he sighed. "Call if you need me to come home."
Jess nodded. "I will, just have fun." She said as he kissed her and headed out to meet the others at the strip club.
Nick pulled up and saw the others waiting outside with several other old friends of Coach. "About time you got here." Schmidt said annoyed.
"Yeah, sorry." He said walking over as they made their way in ordering drinks and celebrating Coach. Nick checked his phone to make sure Jess wasn't trying to call him, he was nervous leaving her alone with Reggie so sick. He had never been sick for so long before, a little once or twice, his teeth issues but never days in a row. He was sure Jess would be calling for an appointment first thing Monday morning to make sure he was alright, but in the meantime he was still worried.
Another old friend from college reached out grabbing Nick's phone. "Dude, stop being so down. We're here to party and celebrate not be checking our phones waiting for the old lady." He laughed.
"Give my phone back Joe." Nick said.
"No, party it up. It's a party night, a night to do anything." Joe laughed.
"Man, you're so whipped!" Another called as Nick tried to take his phone back, arguing with the men as they tossed his phone back and forth.
Nick stood up looking at them. "I'm not kidding. Give my phone back right now." He said.
"Nick." He looked over as Schmidt walked over holding his phone. "it's Jess, she sounds upset." He said worried.
"Jess?" He took the phone and turned away. "They decided it was a good idea to take my phone." He said listening. "Did you try another bath?"
"Oh! If it was for sexy time…." One friend teased behind him. Nick ignored him as he listened to Jess.
"I'm on my way." He said hanging up and tossing the phone to Schmidt. "I got to go." He said as he ran from the building trying to get home as fast as he could.
"What was that about?" Coach asked confused.
"He forgot his phone." Joe laughed.
Nick ran into the apartment where Jess was standing trying to calm the screaming Reggie. "Jess." He said as he reached out touching Reggie's head as the boy looked at him, his face red, tears streaming down his face.
"I tried everything, he was fine after you left, he actually got some sleep, and we were relaxing and then his fever spiked and he just… Nick it's not going down." She said worried, on the verge of tears.
Nick nodded. "Okay, it's okay." He said trying to stay in control, pushing his worry down as he grabbed a blanket wrapping it over Reggie. "Come on, we're going to the hospital. Better safe than sorry, right?" He said as they strapped him in his seat and Nick drove as fast as he could to the hospital.
Schmidt looked from the door to Coach as he and Winston looked worried. "Jess sounded really upset that she couldn't get a hold of Nick."
Coach turned and snapped the phone from Joe's hand. "What's going on?" He asked.
Schmidt called Cece. "Hey, did something happen?" He asked.
"No? Why?" Cece asked confused.
Schmidt walked outside making Coach and the others follow him as he put it on speaker. "The guys took Nick's phone and Jess called me. She sounded really upset, she said she really need to get a hold of Nick. When he talked to her, he said he had to go and he ran out."
Cece paused. "Nothing I can think of. I mean Reggie was having trouble with his teeth yesterday, she called to see what they could do, but…." She paused. "Wait a minute, I just got a text." They waited before they heard Cece's voice again. "Jess said they're taking Reggie to the hospital. His fever won't go down with medicine and it's up to 103.4."
The men looked at each other. "What hospital?" Coach asked.
"St Francis. It's the closest one set up for pediatric." She said.
"I'm calling Aly." Winston said turning away to call his wife.
Joe looked at them as they started making plans. "Coach, come on, you should be partying! Nick's just whipped, it'll be fine, it's his loss." He tried.
"Cece, Aly said to drop Ruth at our place, her mom can come over and watch them." Winston said.
"I'll drop her off and meet you there." Cece said as she hung up.
"Come on Coach." The other friend said.
"This is more important." He said as he texted May and they set out to the hospital.
Nick held Reggie as he cried, he paced the room, trying to calm the boy as Jess watched them, wanting nothing more than to help her son feel better but not knowing what she could do. "So, this is the great Reggie." They heard making them turn to see Sam in the doorway.
"Sam." Jess said. "I thought you and Diane moved to San Diego for you to work at that clinic."
"We came back. I missed helping the kids." He shrugged as he walked closer looking at Reggie. "What's going on with the little guy?" He asked as Nick handed the boy over.
"He's had a little fever for a couple days." Nick said. "The medicine kept it down; we gave him a couple baths and he was doing alright."
"He was fine and then all of a sudden his fever just spiked and the medicine and everything wasn't working anymore." Jess said fear clear on her face.
"He started coughing earlier, we thought it was just because of all the crying." Nick said as he fidgeted, watching Sam look at Reggie.
"Let's take a look at what's going on." Sam said as he laid Reggie on the little bed, looking him over. "He sounds a little congested. I'll give him something stronger for the fever and we'll run a few tests, but it looks like it's just a nasty cold he's got." He said holding the boy. "I'll get a nurse in to get everything moving."
"He'll be okay, right?" Nick asked nervously.
Sam gave a nod. "He'll be fine. Just needs a little extra help fighting whatever bug he's got. We'll get him back to smiling in no time." He said.
"Thanks, Sam." Jess said as he handed Reggie back to Nick and headed out to get everything moving to help the boy.
Cece met the others at the emergency room. "Jess said she would let us know when she knew anything, they're running tests." She said as they all sat, anxiously in the waiting room, waiting for any word from Jess as to what was going on.
Nick sat in the chair watching Jess and Reggie finally sleeping, cuddled in the hospital crib. He sighed, relieved his son was starting to feel better but still worried about what could have caused it in the first place. "How's the little guy?" He heard looking over as Sam walked back in seeing Jess cuddled with Reggie.
"He's good. Nurse said everything's looking better. Him and Jess fell asleep a little while ago." Nick said sitting forward. "Thanks, Sam. Thanks for everything."
Sam nodded. "You don't need to thank me." He said. "Diane and I wanted to come visit after he was born but we never really had a chance. I wish it was better circumstances but I'm glad I got to meet the little man."
Nick smirked and nodded. "Yeah, Jess wanted to make sure you saw him." He smirked as he looked at his wife. "He's really taking after her more and more, pretty sure I'm going to be in trouble." He chuckled as Sam smirked and nodded.
"You should get some coffee." He said, looking at Nick. "It's late and the lab never likes to get things done quick at night, so it's going to be a while. I'll let you know as soon as I get anything back, for now it's just keeping an eye on him until we know what to diagnose him with and get the right medicine to get rid of it." He explained as Nick nodded. Sam turned and left as Nick stood and stretched. He walked over, gently taking Jess' glasses off and setting them on the little table. He looked over the two before he wandered down the hall looking for a coffee machine.
He sighed as he searched, looking down another hall before he furrowed his brow. "What the…." He said as he walked out to the waiting room where he found familiar faces sitting in the chairs, Cece and Schmit were leaning against each other dosing off, Aly was asleep against Winston as he and Coach talked softly. "What are you guys doing here?" Nick asked, making them look over before they woke the others.
"Nick!" Cece said running over. "How's Reggie? Is he alright?" She asked nervous.
Nick looked at them. "What…? You guys…."
"We were worried about the little guy." Winston said.
Nick smirked looking at them. "Dr. Sam's taking care of him."
"Sam?" Cece asked.
He nodded. "Apparently, he's back. He's running some tests to see what exactly is, but he got the fever down. Jess and Reggie fell asleep a couple hours ago. We're just waiting on results." Nick told them before he nodded, leading them back to the room.
Cece walked over checking on her friend and the baby. "Surprised you're not in there." Coach said seeing Jess curled up in the crib.
Nick shrugged. "I figured I'd let Jess have it."
"You didn't fit, did you?" Schmidt said.
Nick shook his head. "I did not." He said as his friends smirked at him.
"Excuse me, it's well past visiting hours. Only family is allowed in here." A nurse said.
"They are family." Nick said. "They're my brothers and that's her sisters." He said as the nurse looked at him. "We're adopted." He shrugged.
"It's alright Maureen." They heard as Sam walked in with a smirk. The nurse looked at them again before leaving. "I was wondering when you would all show up." He smirked.
"Do you have the results?" Cece asked, stepping to Nick's side worried.
Sam gave a nod. "Everything was normal, it looks like it's a raspatory infection. We'll send him home with some medicine to keep the fever under control and to help his body fight the infection. He should be fine in a couple days, just follow up with his pediatrician." Nick nodded. "I'll come back in a few minutes with everything, and we'll get him unhooked and ready to go."
"Thanks." Nick said before Sam left again. "You guys don't have to hang around, head home and get some sleep, I'm sure you'll be up early with Ruth and DanBill." He said. "We're just going to be waiting to get released and head home."
"You better let us know when you're leaving." Cece said as Coach held his phone out to him. "I'll check in tomorrow. Let us know if you need anything." Nick gave a nod before she hugged him, and the others said goodnight. Cece paused at the door with Schmidt looking back as Nick walked over to the crib looking down at Jess and Reggie a moment before he gently woke her.
"Nick?" Jess turned, looking at him. "What's wrong?"
Nick shook his head. "We're going to be going home." He said as she sat up rubbing her eyes and he handed her glasses to her. "It's just an infection, Reggie will be fine. We're going to get some medicine and head home."
Jess looked so relieved before she leaned into Nick and he wrapped his arms around her, the two looking over as Reggie shifted in his sleep. Cece and Schmidt smiled before leaving the little family to get what they needed and leaving.
The next day they decided to take lunch to Jess and Nick. Cece knocked and Jess opened the door, a smile coming to her face as she let them in. "You guys didn't have to do this."
"We wanted to check on the little guy." Winston said as they set the food on the counter.
"He's taking a nap with Nick." She said softly as she nodded towards the couch where Nick was laying with Reggie sleeping on his chest. "He slept pretty good once we got home and he's starting to get back to himself but still a little off. The only way he would take a nap was like that."
"Who? Nick or Reggie?" Cece teased as Jess smiled.
"They'll be up soon." She said as she started to pull the food out and set it on the counter for everyone to get lunch. The front door opened, and Coach walked in.
"So, we doing a welcome home party?" He yelled. Everyone turned, shushing him. "What?" He asked confused before a toy basketball hit him in the side of the head.
"You wake him, you'll be the one dealing with him." Nick said in a harsh whisper before he slowly stood, still holding Reggie to him.
"I'll put him in his bed." Jess said walking over, taking the boy. "You go get something to eat." She told him before walking to the nursery to lay Reggie in his crib.
"What time did you get home?" Aly asked.
"Five." Nick said. "Staying up all night… not as fun as it used to be." He said as he sat with their friends as they fell into stories about the children and how things had changed, how happy they were and what they looked for in the future.