Hope for All- chapter 59
Angela woke up around six in the morning to the babies fussing. She was as well rested as she could have expected. Mona surprised her by being relatively attentive throughout the night, allowing Angela to get two blocks of three hours of sleep at a time. The twins, on the other hand, wanted to nurse what felt like constantly and continued to confuse night and day. Their longest stretch of sleep was from midnight until two in the morning.
"Hello my little loves! It looks like you gave your grandma a run for her money last night! So much for her early morning date!" whispered Angela to the babies as she took a quick glance over at Mona asleep in the bed. She picked up the babies and brought them into the nursery, changing their diapers and putting them into fresh clothing. She decided to let Mona sleep and headed downstairs to make herself a cup of tea. She put them both in the stroller as she put the kettle on.
"Alright you two! You're not due to eat for about another half an hour. You think you will allow me to have a cup of tea and some breakfast?" she asked as she boiled the tea. She made herself some toast and was able to both eat her breakfast and drink all of her tea before the twins started to fuss.
"Thank you for letting me get in a meal! Okay let's get you both fed…" she said as she wheeled the stroller into the living room. She was able to set up on the sofa, picking up the twins and getting them to latch. She was about a half an hour into their feeding when Tony walked through the front door.
"Tony! What are you doing home? Is Jonathan okay?" she asked as she started to panic something was wrong.
"Yes he's fine Angela. The doctor came in and checked him out. He's doing really well and even slept pretty well! He was given the go ahead to have regular food, just smaller portions. He asked for my homemade pancakes so I figured I would whip him up some and you can bring them back over to him" he said as he sat down next to her on the sofa.
"Thank god he's okay! How did you get home?" she asked as she handed Anna to Tony to burp.
"Paul happened to stop by after his shift to see Jonathan and offered to drive me home. They scheduled a consultation meeting with the fertility clinic for next week. I said maybe they could come over before hand and we could all talk, ya know answer any questions we can" he said.
"Oh that would be wonderful! Just as long as Jonathan is doing well. It will be good to see them again" she said as she took back Anna to finish feeding.
"So how were my little angels? Did you allow Grandma and Mommy to rest or did you party all night?" asked Tony.
"They still have nights and days confused but I was able to get some sleep in! Poor Mother had the last shift with them and now she's out cold upstairs. So much for her date this morning! They did allow me to get in breakfast this morning though!" she said.
"That's great Angela! I can't wait until everyone is home tomorrow. I miss being with these guys! Although sleeping for more than two or three hours at a time has been nice" he chuckled.
"I wouldn't know!" she laughed.
"So how are we going to do tomorrow? I was thinking of seeing if they can discharge him either before or after my class and I can bring him home. Your doctors' appointments aren't until the afternoon so I will definitely be around for Jonathan and the babies" he said.
"Let's hope he can come home in the morning. Assuming all is good, I'll pick Samantha up from school and go so we can get there and get back in between feedings" she said.
"Alright that sounds like a plan. Let me get started on breakfast so you can head back over" he said as he headed into the kitchen. Tony was able to make a batch of blueberry pancakes for Jonathan, leaving some for the rest of the family. Angela was able to finish feeding the babies and got changed just as Mona and Samantha were waking up.
"Alright Tony. I'm going to head over now but if you need me, just call" she said as she kissed the babies and Tony goodbye, taking some more stuff plus the food for Jonathan.
"Okay you two! Just us for now! I really need to get some cleaning done upstairs plus all the laundry from this past week! You two wanna help your Dad?" he asked to the babies. Both were sound asleep in his arms.
"I'll take your silence as an agreement! Alright! Let's start on laundry! I'll teach you how to sort whites and colors, delicates and of course your clothes! You guys get special detergent and it smells so good! If it wasn't so expensive, I'd wash everyone's clothes in it! Okay let's get started!" he said as he stood up and headed upstairs. He spent the next hour doing the laundry and cleaning the bedrooms, the twins content to sleep in the carrier while he did the laundry and in their bassinets when he cleaned their bedroom. Matthew started to stir just as he was finishing making their bed.
"Alright Matthew! What's wrong little man? You let Daddy get so much done! You need to be… oh no… not again! Another blowout! Oh it's everywhere! And I just finished your wash!" he said as he tried to comfort him.
"Okay you are going to have to wait here until I can get someone to help me!" he said as Matthew began to scream, waking Anna in the process.
"Oh Anna it's okay! Samantha! Mona!" he shouted down the hallway. He was met with silence. He not so silently cursed being alone right now. He took two deep breaths as he went back over to soothe the twins.
"Alright it's just us right now! Matthew you are going to need another bath I'm afraid! Or at least a scrub down! Now how am I doing this solo?" he thought out loud.
"Okay! Let's get you undressed Matty and go from there! Let's throw a towel down on the bed first. Anna let's hope a pacifier holds you for a bit until I can get him changed…" he said as he took off all of Matthew's clothing and diaper. He went through almost an entire box of wipes before he finally got him cleaned up.
"Alright! You're as clean as I can get you without a bath! Once Mommy gets home it's bath time! Okay let's get you changed into some new clothes… which I don't have! Okay let me run and get some" he said as he wrapped him in a towel and placed him in the bassinet with Anna. He went to grab more diapers, wipes and a change of clothes for Matthew.
"Okay! Let's get you changed… oh no! Anna! You too! And it's all over both of you! I was gone for less than a minute! How?" he said as he just stood there as both babies began to cry.
"Everything okay in here?" asked Samantha as she poked her head in the bedroom.
"Oh thank goodness! I need your help! I just changed Matthew but now Anna needs to be changed and it's everywhere again! I'm going to need to get them into the bath but I need your help! Can you try and change Anna on the bed and wipe her down while I go and grab their bathtubs?" he asked as he headed out of the room, not waiting for her to answer.
"Sure Dad!" she laughed as she placed a towel down. She picked up Anna and placed her on the bed, followed by Matthew.
"Okay this is my first dirty diaper! And what a first one too! Oh Anna… you poor baby!" she said as she took off her clothes. She put another towel over Matthew to make sure he wasn't cold and tried to quickly clean up Anna. She finished with Anna and moved onto Matthew. By the time Tony came back in, she had both babies cleaned and wrapped in towels.
"I set the tubs up in the kitchen. Can you help me bring them downstairs?" he asked.
"Sure Dad… I think you will need all the help you can get!" she laughed as she picked up Anna. Tony picked up Matthew and they headed downstairs. Tony grabbed the diapers, clean towels, and a change of clothes for both babies as they headed into the kitchen.
"Okay Samantha… gently put her into the tub, making sure you support her neck. Take the washcloth and put a small amount of soap and make sure you start at her head and make your way down her body. Avoid her eyes and ears" he said as he placed Matthew in his bathtub. Samantha was very careful to follow all of Tony's instructions and soon both babies were clean.
"Great job Samantha! You're a pro! A blow out diaper change and a bath! You're ready for babysitting!" said Tony as he took Matthew out of the bathtub and wrapped him in a towel. He handed him to Samantha as he got Anna out and wrapped her up as well.
"Thanks Dad! It wasn't nearly as hard as I thought it would be! I mean by myself would have been too much but having help wasn't bad at all, right Matthew?" she said to the baby.
"You're a natural! Okay let's bring them into the living room and get them changed" said Tony as they headed into the living room. As they sat down on the sofa, Angela walked in the front door.
"Hi sweethearts! How's everyone?" she said as she came over to them.
"Both babies had blowouts again so we cleaned them up and gave them a bath! Just getting them changed" said Samantha.
"Again? Oh dear… well thankfully you were here to help your Dad!" she said as she took over for Tony.
"She's a pro! A natural! We will be set once we are ready for a babysitter! Okay I'm going to go and clean up both bassinets as they are both a mess and get yet another load of their laundry started! It never ends!" he chuckled as he headed upstairs.
"I thought you'd be at the hospital longer. Dad was okay… minus being a bit overwhelmed when they both needed a bath!" she laughed.
"Oh I'm sure he was more than a little overwhelmed! I know I would have been! Thank you!" said Angela as she finished changing Anna. She picked her up and kissed her as she cuddled her close to her body.
"I was going to stay longer, but I realized I forgot parts to the breast pump. So I wanted to get home before they were due for a feeding. I'll head back over there later today. Some of his friends from school came to visit so I gave them some privacy" she said.
"That's nice he has some visitors. Dweebs of a feather flock together!" laughed Samantha as Angela rolled her eyes.
"Do you need me to stay and help out?" asked Samantha as she finished changing Matthew.
"No I think we are good. You have plans?" asked Angela.
"Well Bonnie asked if I could go to the mall" she said.
"Go and have fun! Just be home for dinner. If you want, go in my purse and take out twenty dollars… just don't tell your father!" she chucked.
"Really? Thanks Mom! I… I mean Angela…" she said with a look of shock on her face.
"You're welcome sweetheart…" said Angela. She didn't want to make her feel uncomfortable, so she didn't make a big deal about it. Just then, Tony came back downstairs with a basket full of laundry.
"They are so tiny! How can they possibly have this much laundry? And more importantly, make that big of a mess… twice in less than a week!" he chuckled as he headed down to the basement to start the laundry.
"Go ahead before your Dad gets back. I'll take Matthew" she said as Samantha handed him to Angela. She hugged her goodbye, stopping to get the money as she headed to the door. Samantha stopped and looked back at Angela, who was busy making cooing noises to the twins. Samantha smiled at them before turning around and heading out the door.
"So I missed your second bath! It looks like you were in good hands though! Looks like you both are wide awake now! I think we should try some tummy time! Let's get you set up on the floor" she said as she put them in the stroller. She took a large blanket and put some brightly colored toys on the floor as she placed each baby on their stomach on the floor. She carefully sat down next to them on the floor as she took some of the toys and placed them in front of them.
"Angela? Where are you?" asked Tony as he came up from the basement.
"On the floor Tony. Starting them on tummy time! Jonathan hated it at first but once he could hold his head longer, he loved it. So far they don't seem to mind it but we just started" she said.
"Oh! Let me get the camera!" he said as he got the camera and took a bunch of photos. He got down on the floor and grabbed some of the toys.
"Look at how strong Matty is already! He's practically holding his head up already! Way to go buddy!" gushed Tony.
"I know! She's coming along too! She's turned her head a few times too! Tiny but mighty right little girl?" she gushed as she rubbed Anna's back. After a few more moments, both babies started to fuss. Tony and Angela picked them up and sat back down on the sofa.
They spent the next couple of hours taking turns caring for the twins. Tony headed back over to the hospital to visit Jonathan. Once Mona got home from her now afternoon date, Angela headed over to the hospital to relieve Tony. She stayed with Jonathan until dinner time when she headed home for the night. Jonathan managed to convince Tony and Angela that he could spend the last night in the hospital alone. After dinner and the living room was straightened up, they headed upstairs to turn in early. They both called Jonathan to check in one last time before picking him up early the next morning.
"Okay you two! Let's get in a feeding before hopefully allowing us to get some sleep…" said Angela as she latched them both.
"With everything that went on today, we never got a chance to talk about our conversation with Jonathan" said Tony.
"I know! I'm not surprised though. You've been much more of a father to him these past few years than Michael ever was… it makes sense now that we are married he would feel comfortable calling you dad" she said.
"Well I was surprised! In a good way though! I love that kid like he is my own son… always have and always will. I just figured because he had Michael in his life, he wouldn't think to call me anything other than Tony" he said as he wiped away tears in his eyes.
"So I spoke to Samantha about it. It doesn't exactly concern her but I wanted to make sure she didn't feel any pressure to call me mom. I could tell she was conflicted about it, which makes sense. Her relationship with Marie was completely different than what Jonathan has with Michael. She did accidentally call me mom earlier today. She caught herself but the look of shock on her face was real. I didn't make a big deal about it. I love her like she's my own daughter and that will never change" she said.
"I'll talk to her about it too. How did we get so lucky to have four amazing kids Angela?" he asked as he took Anna from Angela to burp.
"I don't know Tony but I'm beyond grateful that they are ours, all of them…" she said as she leaned over to kiss Tony before finishing their feeding.