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

Gloria in the next room began shouting for her. “That girl is going to run me ragged tonight,” she said with a sigh. The two men grinned and Jake sat down with their son to fee him. He looked at Harry.
“Do you want to feed him, babe?” he offered. Harry shook his head and laid on the pillow, his arms felt heavy and his bones felt like lead.
“You feed him, honey, I’m exhausted,” he admitted and gave a weary sigh. He did get out the camera and took a picture of Dad feeding baby for the first time and grinned. Then he closed his eyes and dozed until his stomach woke him up.
“You know what I want, honey?” he asked and Jake looked at him.
“What’s that, babe?” he asked. Harry grinned.
“A rare roast beef sandwich with horseradish sauce and a giant pickle, no make that two sandwiches and some of that potato salad Fran made yesterday, would you mind terribly going home and getting that for me?” he asked and Jake grinned. He would have found a way to bring Harry the moon if he had asked for that as he gazed down at his sleeping son.
“Of course not, babe, I’m hungry too, I’ll be back as soon as I can,” he said and put Jackson back in the bassinet. Harry frowned.
“Take your time, drive really slowly and bring a gallon of green milk too, honey,” he told him. They kissed, long and hard and Harry felt lonely when he was gone and dozed for a while. He could hear loud shouting from the next room and grinned thinking that Gloria must be the kind of patient that all nurses hated getting.
“Where the hell were you for so long, I was screaming for hours, I couldn’t get up and I had to pee and I was trapped in here. What if there had been a fire, I could have died. What kind of nurse are you?” Gloria yelled at Fiona who sighed.
“I told you Gloria, I was in the delivery room with Harry, he came in right after you and had his little boy,” she explained and looked around the room. “I told David this before I left you, he was supposed to stay until I came back, where is he anyway, he wasn’t supposed to leave you all alone.” Gloria sighed.
“He had to go home, he was tired, it’s not his job to care for me, he’s not a nurse, you’re the nurse, why don’t you do your job,” she snapped. Fiona sighed.
“I’m only one person, sweetie, I can’t be two places at once, he wasn’t supposed to leave you alone,” she said firmly. “Now, what can I do for you?” she asked gently. Gloria sighed.
“I have to pee, can you help me to the bathroom?” she whined. Fiona smiled and walked over and showed her the catheter bag. Gloria frowned.
“You don’t need to pee, sweetie, you have a catheter in you, you’ve just had surgery and you need to stay in bed,” she informed her. “Now I can bring you some broth or some tea. There’s ice water by your bed and here’s the control for the view-screen. DJ and Steve set up some nice videos for you to watch and David can bring some more from home for you. Is he coming back to spend the night with you? That chair folds out into a very comfortable bed and I can bring a pillow and blanket for him.”
“Why would he want to spend the night in the hospital, why can’t Harry come in here and heal me so I can go home?” Gloria complained. Fiona looked surprised.
“Harry’s just had a baby, he needs to recover before he can heal anyone,” she told her. “I’m sure he’ll be in tomorrow.” Gloria sighed.
“I’ll take some broth and tea then and can you bring me two more pillows, these are flat,” she whined and Fiona smiled and left the room. She would be glad when Lily and Cindy came in to relieve her.
Jake came back with the sandwiches and extra clothes for him and Harry and found him sleeping and tried to make as little noise as possible. Harry grinned.
“If that’s my food you’d better hand it over before I have to kill you,” he retorted and Jake laughed.
“I didn’t want to wake you, babe,” he said and Harry tried to sit up and groaned a little. Jake was there immediately to help and they put the bed up and Jake brought over the tray table and soon Harry was munching on rare roast beef with hot and spicy horse- radish sauce, potato salad and a big, juicy pickle. Jake was amazed he could eat after having a baby.
“It was a lot of work, I’m starving,” Harry declared and Jake kissed him.
“It looked like a lot of work, babe, you did great,” he beamed and they both looked at Jackson and beamed so more. Fiona peeked in and grinned. Jake offered her a sandwich and she took one for herself and one for Dr. George.
After the sandwiches and about half of the milk Harry was helped to the bathroom to pee and brush his teeth and then he settled in to sleep.
“I’m so tired I bet I could sleep a year,” he exaggerated and Jake laughed.
“Well, you get some sleep, I’m on baby duty tonight,” he informed him and they kissed. Lily and Cindy came in and got a sandwich and some potato salad, kissed the baby and gushed over how much he looked like Jake and left, promising to look in on them later.
“Well, at least you’re staying with Harry, David went home; can you believe that?” Cindy was appalled. Her Pete had stayed with her every single time, like a husband should. In fact every husband had stayed with their wives during the delivery of their children. All of the children were welcomed to stay also, it was a small community hospital and having a baby was a family affair. The fact that David had deserted his wife and left her alone while everyone was with Harry in the delivery room had shocked everyone. What kind of a husband was he?
Jackson woke up every three or four hours demanding food and a diaper change and Jake, Lily or Cindy was there to take care of him. Harry slept soundly during every single episode and didn’t even blink during any of it. Jake worried about this for a while, but Harry had a very content smile on his face so he kissed his smiling mouth and went back to bed. Jake didn’t bring out the folding chair. He just crawled into the little bed with his love and Harry rolled over and made room for him and they snuggled together. Lily and Cindy thought this was the cutest thing they had ever seen.
“They look so cute together don’t they?” Lily whispered as they watched the two men sleep. Cindy nodded and they exchanged a smile.
“Little Jackson looks just like Jake, it’s amazing,” Cindy remarked. Lily nodded.
“And those purple eyes are so pretty, his mother must have been white, his skin tone is so creamy, he’s going to be so beautiful,” she gushed. Then Gloria screamed and they both frowned and did odds and evens to see who would be forced to see what she wanted. Lily lost and made a face.
“It’s your turn next time,” she said and now Cindy made the face.
Harry woke up a little after eight feeling very refreshed and wonderful. He glanced at his sleeping son and husband and decided that he stunk to high heaven and needed a shower. He looked and saw that Jake had brought clean clothes from home and went in to the bathroom to pee, brush his teeth, shave and shower. Then he felt like a new man, a man with a big, fat, flabby belly. He wiggled it around and giggled.
“A million sit-ups for you, young man,” he told himself sternly and went back into the next room just as Jake was waking up. “Good morning, Dad,” he greeted him with a smile and a kiss.
“Mm, you taste like wintergreen,” Jake murmured. Then he decided on a shower and a shave and went off to enjoy one. Jackson picked that time to wake up and Harry got his first look at tiny hands and feet and count fingers and toes and a very nice sized little circumcised prick.
“You’re going to take after your father, you lucky little man,” he told him son who looked up at him with the most adorable purple eyes. Harry was incredibly in love and kissed his tiny little belly. Then he changed his diaper and went in search of a bottle. He found this in the kitchen and prepared it. Fiona came in and smiled at him.
“I see you finally woke up; how do you feel?” she asked. Harry grinned.
“Like a new man and starving, what’s for breakfast?” he asked and she grinned.
“Your mother is bringing yours and Jake’s, she called and she’s on her way,” she informed him and he smiled again. They both heard a baby cry and she fixed a bottle and left. Harry took his back to his room and passed Gloria’s on the way and heard her shouting, “Nurse, nurse.” at the top of her lungs. He laughed and sneaked into his room, he wasn’t ready to face healing yet, not until he had his breakfast and some more green milk.
Barbara arrived as he was feeding Jackson and Jake rushed out of the bathroom at the sound of breakfast. She gushed and demanded that the baby be handed over and they exchanged baby and bottle for a big basket of food.
“He looks just like you, Jake,” she gushed. “But he has Harry’s eyes, Kate is astonished to say the least, she’s been pouring over Simon’s notes all morning,” she told them and they all laughed.
“Oh, blueberry muffins, my favorite,” Harry exclaimed and took a big bite of one. Barb grinned.
“I wonder why I baked those,” she teased and they all laughed. Jake went to fetch the green milk from the fridge for his love and they ate, talked and laughed for more than an hour before Barb kissed them both and left. Then Harry got up and sighed.
“I guess I’ll go and see how little Princess Gloria is doing,” he said with a big grin and Jake laughed and kissed him.
“Be nice, she’s just had a baby too,” he reminded him. Harry sighed.
“You know she hasn’t even held Emma yet,” he told his husband who looked shocked. “Not even once, not her or David has even asked to see their daughter, I feel sorry for that little girl being stuck with those two as parents,” Harry said with worry in his eyes. Jake shook his head.
“Why did they even have her if they didn’t want her?” he wondered. Harry sighed and picked up a glass of milk to take with him. He walked into the other room. Gloria took one look at him and began yelling.
“It’s about fucking time you showed up, I’ve been waiting all morning,” she screeched. Harry blinked and turned around to leave. Gloria panicked
“Wait, Harry, don’t go, please I’m