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Chapter 28
The girls slept in, but Christine made Mike and Levi blueberry pancakes, Mike's favorite. She sat down next to Mike and smiled as he gave Levi a small bite. Mike had embraced his second round of fatherhood well, even if he'd been delayed.
"Do you want another?" Christine asked.
"Pancake? Sure, but I'll get it." Mike said as he stood up and went to the stove. He came back with the plate of pancakes and sausage. "I do like this chicken apple sausage stuff." Mike said.
"I meant…baby." Christine said. Mike promptly choked on his coffee.
"Uh…is this a trick question?" Mike asked after he recovered himself.
"No. Just…I am going to miss him being little. We still could, you know?" Christine asked.
"We could, yes. But, where is this coming from? I will try not to be such a baby hog, I promise." Mike asked.
"I don't know. I understood why you had to stay gone, but
I guess I was thinking you might enjoy being there from day one with a baby." Christine remarked.
"That would be nice, but we can't have a baby just for that reason. And what about the girls?" Mike asked.
"I hadn't thought about that much. I would be worried that they would think we were trying to…I don't know…" Christine replied. Mike reached over and squeezed her hand.
"If you want a baby; then we will entertain it. Once things between the two of us are fixed and we are more confident about the girls, okay?" Mike asked.
"Okay." Christine agreed.
"And in the meantime; if you ever want to buy more of this sausage; I'm game for it." Mike said. It made Christine laugh. She leaned over and gave him a long kiss. The girls were coming down the stairs and Christine got their pancakes and sausage.
"What are we doing today?" Katie asked.
"I think we need a day at home, not doing much at all." Mike said before Christine could voice anything.
"Can we all nap together?" Hannah asked, one of her new favorite things to do.
"I think that sounds like an excellent idea." Christine said.
"We'll get breakfast cleaned up and settle in." Mike replied.
"But will Levi want to nap?" Katie asked.
"He was up through the night, so I'm sure he can be convinced." Mike answered. He reached around Levi and patted Katie's shoulder.
"I thought I heard him crying." Hannah remarked.
"So, are you girls done eating? Let's get these dishes cleaned up. Your mom can handle Levi." Mike said. He kissed the top of Christine's head before standing up. The girls began helping him clean everything up while Christine cleaned Levi up. He cuddled into her chest. Before too long, they were all settled on the couch, watching a movie. Levi fell asleep first, quickly followed by Katie who fell asleep, cuddled up to Mike.
"She's doing pretty well." Christine remarked. Mike looked at their oldest daughter and nodded.
"I guess, all things considered." Mike remarked.
"I will feel better when she feels more like going to her therapy appointments." Christine replied.
"Me too." Mike said.
"Do you remember that meat loaf you used to make? I was thinking I would like that for a date night here at home." Christine said.
"Not something fancier?" Mike asked.
"I've been thinking about that meat loaf for a long time. It was a pregnancy craving that never went away once I had him." Christine said.
"Alright. I can definitely do meat loaf." Mike answered. He leaned over and gave her a kiss.
"Anything you want? Its your date too." Christine asked.
"Those sugar cookies…" Mike remarked.
"That's easy." Christine said. He smiled over at her but both Katie and Levi were stirring, so he attended to Katie while Christine moved Levi around.