The Kids Grow Up by Trish Hanan (novel24 .TXT) 📖

/> They had the children’s birthday party the day after Christmas as they had done the previous year and Fran and Harry made five little cakes which everyone gushed over and Dr. George and Shelley came with their children to see Emma turn three. She was the most adorable little girl with her blonde curls and bright blue eyes and for a moment they both regretted not taking her. But Jackson kept hugging his sister and she obviously adored him too so they decided they had made the right choice. Especially since they had Georgie who was seven, Andrea who was five, Doris who was three and little Ted who was one. They had their hands full with their own children, they didn’t need twins. They didn’t know how the boys did it; even with Fran to help, five little ones and a sixth on the way; that was way too many children in their eyes.
“Great party, Daddy,” Harry gushed to Jake that night as they climbed into bed. Jake grinned.
“I think they got more cake on them than in them, babe,” he teased. Harry giggled.
“I think so too, but that’s the fun of it, what’s the sense of turning three if you can’t eat cake with your hands?” he teased back. Jake reached for the cocoa butter.
“You look like this one’s going to explode out of you,” he remarked and they both laughed.
“This one wants out something fierce, he’s been kicking my belly button and trying to force his way out,” Harry giggled. Jake grinned.
“Sean, it’s not until tomorrow,” he told the belly sternly and Harry giggled again. Then Harry got that look in his eyes.
“Say, have you ever made love to a man with five kids on the night before he gave birth to his sixth?” he asked suggestively with his eyes half-closed and slantly. Jake shivered and wrapped his arms around his love.
“No, babe, I never have, but I’d love to,” he whispered and kissed him hard and passionately. Harry whimpered and they made love nice and slowly and then fast and hard the way he loved it. The dogs lied on the floor and laughed at them.
A terrible pain in his gut woke Harry up at four in the morning and he felt a gush of water rush out of him. He groaned and shook Jake.
“Honey, the baby’s coming, you’ve got to get up,” he said sleepily. Jake shot out of bed and reached for his clothes and turned on the light.
“Oh, my God, Harry; are you alright?” he asked with panic in his voice. Harry sat up and giggled.
“I’m just having a baby, I’m not dying,” he declared and began rubbing his belly. Then he looked down at the gaping hole. “But we’d better call everyone fast, this one wants out and he wants out now,” he said gasping. Sticking out of the belly button were two little feet.
“Jesus Christ,” Jake swore. He rushed Harry to the car and on the way called everyone and told them to rush to the hospital. They even called Fran to wake her up and didn’t take the time to stop by her room Jake was in so much hurry.
When they got there they were the first to arrive so Harry used his I.D. to get them in and they turned on all the lights and everything was all set up. Jake helped him get out of his clothes and into the hospital clothes and he got into his and a contraction hit and he helped him onto the table and Harry just had to push.
“I have to push, Jake, get ready to hold your son,” he yelled and Jake sat down and nodded.
“Okay, babe, I’m ready,” he said and Harry pushed and the baby came halfway out. Then Harry relaxed for a moment and Jake held onto the tiny body with a cloth feeling very calm. Then Harry pushed again and the tiny shoulders came out and just the head was left in and another contraction came and the head was out. Jake cleaned the face like he had seen the doctor do four times before and then Dr. George was there huffing and puffing like he’d been running.
“I see you boys started without me this year,” he teased and both men grinned. Dr George tied off the cord and Jake cut it and Sean let out a fierce scream and they all laughed. Then Fiona rushed in right on time to take the baby and laughed when she found out that Jake had delivered his own son.
“Well, after three you should know what to do,” she teased. Jake grinned and kissed Harry who grinned at him. Dr. George took care of him and ran for the urinal and everything was fine.
“Kate’s going to be pissed that you forgot to call her,” he remarked and Jake slapped the side of his head.
“Oh, shit, I knew there was someone I forgot to call,” he said and Harry kissed his hand.
“Oh, well, she’s going to have to understand, honey, its not every day you get to see your baby’s feet sticking out like that, you panicked and I panicked,” he told him and they all laughed.
“Here’s Sean Talbert and he’s got pretty feet,” Fiona declared and they all laughed again. Jake held him.
“Hello, Sean, guess you really wanted to say hello,” he whispered and kissed him. Harry smiled and kissed him too. Then they put him in his old room which was beginning to feel like home and Jake got to feed him. Fiona peeked in.
“You know, Harry, I could really go for a cheeseburger,” she declared and Harry’s eyes lit up. Jake laughed.
“Cheeseburgers it is, you guys want bacon on those,” he asked and they both grinned and nodded. He laughed again.
“With onions and pickles, honey, and lots of mayonnaise,” Harry said. Jake leaned forward to kiss him.
“Thanks for my son, Harry, you did a great job,” he whispered. Harry touched his cheek.
“You did a great job, Jake, you were fantastic,” he told him. Jake beamed and looked down at his son.
“I can’t believe I got to hold him first, even before the doctor,” he gushed and Harry grinned, then he closed his eyes to snooze. When he woke them it was eight in the morning and the whole family was there and he was having cheeseburgers for breakfast and having the time of his life.
Ryan took one look at his new baby brother and declared him ‘my’ which made everyone laugh. But the little boy obviously meant it because once they took Sean home; Ryan spent every second he could and followed Sean around. When he was sleeping he would sit near the bassinet and wait for him to wake up. Harry put them both in the same room because Ryan was so attached to the baby and fussed when they were apart. And the new baby was a happy babe and Ryan changed overnight from a quiet shy little boy to a laughing giggling boy and Harry didn’t want to take the chance of him changing back. Now Ryan would sit for hours with his brother and the two of them would giggle together speaking a language only they could understand. It was wonderful.
“You should stop now, Henry,” his mother Kate told him. “All of your children have playmates, Jackson has Emma, Adam has Cassie and now Ryan has Sean. The next child will be a lonely child with no one to play with. Why do that to him or her? Stop now.” Harry was appalled.
“Mom, the next child will have four brothers and two sisters to play with and he’ll only be a year younger than Sean, of course the other children will play with him. Don’t be silly and he’ll have me and Jake, he won’t be a lonely child, where do you get these things you say, out of a hat?” he retorted. She shook her head.
“Mark my words, you’re going to regret having the seventh,” she warned him. He wanted to kill her.
“Well, the next baby will definitely be Ester Chang’s baby, don’t you want to see her genes passed on?” he teased her and she flushed.
“Of course I do, I loved Ester, she was brilliant, oh, never mind what I said, have the baby, Ester’s genes deserve to be passed on to future generations,” Kate declared. Harry giggled and went to the kitchen for apple slices to pass out to the kids. She frowned
“They’re going to get all sticky and smear that all over the furniture, for heaven’s sake; why not do that in the kitchen?” she snapped. He grinned and showed her the wet towel he had brought to wipe sticky hands.
“I’ve got it covered, Mom,” he informed her and she smiled.
“Of course you do, Henry,” she said and kissed him and the new baby and went home.
Dr. Jackson came to see the new baby and all the little one squealed and raced to meet him. He knelt on the floor so they could all rush into his arms for a group hug.
“How are my grandchildren?” he boomed and they all giggled as he kissed them and they kissed him. He loved his grandchildren and they loved him. He picked up all five and carried them laughing into the living room and sat on the rug with them. Harry and Jake laughed and Jake brought out the newest one for him to hold.
“Another son, you the man, Jake, you’re getting me that basketball team to coach, I just know you are,” he bragged and Jake laughed. Then he told his dad how Sean had arrived feet first sticking out of Harry’s belly and he had to deliver him at the hospital before anyone else arrived. Dr. Jackson was really impressed.
“You delivered him yourself, I’m proud of you, Son, mighty proud, you hear that Sean, your daddy brought you into this world, that’s impressive,” he gushed and he kissed the baby while Harry took pictures. Then he had to feed him and while he was changing him, Sean peed on him and this made him laugh up a storm. Then he played with the little ones and guess accurately that Emma’s picture was a purple frog when Jake couldn’t.
“Oh, yeah, Son, see the legs, that thing’s gonna hop right off the page,” he declared and hopped the picture off of all the children’s heads to make them all giggled. Harry could have kissed him; he was so good with the little one. When he left he invited him and the family to dinner Friday night.
“Bye, Jackson,” he said and gave him a big hug and got one in return. Dr. Jackson smiled down at him.
“You did great, Harry, those are beautiful children,” he gushed. Harry grinned.
“Your son gave them to me,” he said and the older man laughed.
“Yes he did, see you Jake,” he hollered. Jake waved.
“I never thought I’d live to see the day when my Dad would hug you,” he said wrapping his arms around his love and nuzzling his neck. Harry shivered and grinned.
“Hey, you just have to know what to give the man, I just gave him six grandchildren,” he teased. Jake’s hand went down to see if the nuzzling had an effect and it had, Harry was