Pampered to Death

by Diana Orgain

  That alone was enough to have me on edge – forget the case! I wanted to check in on my mom.

  “Really quick is hospital lingo for several hours,” I moaned. “You and I both know it’s going to be forever before they come back with my discharge paperwork. Would you go check on Mom and come tell me how she is doing?”

  “Of course,” he said, leaning into me. “Honey, I’m so glad you’re all right. You’re my whole world.” He straightened. “I’ll be back in a minute. They said she’s down the hall, right?”

  “Right,” I said, and I smiled at him as he dipped out of the room. I could breathe a little better already knowing that Jim was going to go check in on her. Again, it’s not that I didn’t believe the doctor or anything – it was my mom, though. A girl is going to worry about her mom.

  As though the universe just wanted to prove me wrong about hospitals, the doctor arrived in the room just a few seconds after Jim had left.

  That was a lot quicker than I though.

  Dr. Morris entered and handed me a clipboard with a substantial amount of paperwork to sign.

  “I’ll have a nurse help you into a wheelchair. We’re not allowed to let you walk out of here. Hospital policies.”

  “Really?” I questioned. “I feel fine. I’m sure I could walk.”

  He nodded. “Sorry, but you have to be pushed out of here.”

  “Fun,” I said, handing him the clipboard. “My husband will be back in a minute. I sent him to check on my mom, so I guess he’ll and do the pushing.”

  “Good, we’ll wait until he gets back then. Oh, and don’t worry. Even though you passed out, we don’t believe you breathed in enough carbon monoxide poison to hurt the baby,” he said. “We’ll be sure to monitor the baby’s growth and development carefully the next couple of months to be sure.”

  What?

  I was so confused by that statement.

  “Um... I thought you told me to not breastfeed for a couple of weeks and that she would be fine.”

  “Oh, no, I’m talking about the other baby,” he said.

  “What other baby?” I asked.

  The man looked just as confused as me. Clearly, we were not talking about the same thing. I sat upright, the thought registering with me.

  “Oh, you think I’m pregnant,” I said with a laugh. “No, we just have the one. Our daughter.”

  Then Dr. Morris laughed – quite hysterically, in fact. “Ma’am, I thought you knew. We just tested your blood to see how extend the carbon monoxide poisoning was. You’re all right, but Kate, you are pregnant.”

  “I’m not pregnant,” I said, and he nodded and smiled at me. “I’m pregnant?” I asked.

  “You’re pregnant,” he said.

  “Oh!” I exclaimed, and I felt a bit woozy. Jim and I had not been planning on having another little one for a while. In fact, we hadn’t even talked about when a while would be.

  I’d just started my own business.

  Jim was working a new job.

  Laurie was only five months old for crying out loud!

  But, the thought of a new baby made me grin. “Wow!” was all I could say, and a warm feeling filled my heart.

  We are officially expecting baby number two.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Pregnant! Pregnant! Pregnant!

  I’m pregnant!

  I was filled with both extreme anxiety and a level of excited euphoria that I couldn’t quite describe. My little Laurie was going to be a big sister. She was only five months old. I did math in my head, trying to figure out about how old Laurie would be when her little brother or sister arrived. I realized I was probably only a month pregnant – how fun to catch it so early on!

  I thanked Dr. Morris for informing me, and he said he’d have a nurse roll me to my mother’s room since Jim hadn’t returned yet.

  Knowing Mom, she was probably talking Jim’s ear off.

  Two nurses helped me into a wheelchair, and one of them rolled me down the hall. My brain was all over the place. I lamented on how Jim had found out I was pregnant with Laurie, and it wasn’t the best story. He had literally been standing right outside the bathroom while I peed on the stick.

  We’d been trying for a few months, so he found out within seconds of me finding out. This new little bundle of joy was a bit more of a surprise. My first instinct was to dart toward Jim and tell him; he’s always the first person I want to share good news with, but I stopped myself.

  Nope!

  I need a good plan. The first time around, I didn’t get to be one of those mom’s who did something funny and clever to reveal to her husband by some sort of game or silly tradition that he was about to be a dad.

  No – my lips were sealed.

  I was determined that I was going to come up with something really good to surprise Jim this time. I couldn’t wait, and my mind already started to plot different scenarios.

  I’d seen online a mom reveal that her hubby was about to be a daddy by putting baby booties inside a fancy watch box for his birthday – he had gotten really excited thinking he was getting a Rolex only to be greeted with something even better, and I had always found it fun to watch.

  Yes, I’m going to come up with something phenomenal!

  The nurse rolled me into my mom’s room, and as I had suspected my mom was talking chatting her head off.

  He smiled at me and thanked the nurse for bringing me to the room. They rolled me up next to my mom’s bedside, and I reached over and hugged her.

  I was so relieved to see that she was all right, that tears rolled down my cheeks.

  “My goodness, Kate!” my mom exclaimed. “They’ve had me hooked up to an IV all day, and they want me to stay overnight!”

  “Seriously?” I moaned on her behalf.

  “You couldn’t have found me five minutes earlier?” my mom joked – at least, I think it was a joke. Sometimes it was hard to tell with mom.

  “I’m sorry you have to stay here overnight. I can have Jim run home and pack me an overnight bag so you don’t have to be up here alone,” I said.

  “No, you go home to Laurie,” mom said, patting my hand. “Besides, Galigani called and said he was on his way – and he already has an overnight bag packed. He’s going to sleep in that chair in the corner.” She waved her thumb toward an ugly, worn out lounge chair.

  I smiled though. Galigani was good to Mom – and to me, I suppose. He was a great mentor. I’d learned a lot from him.

  “I’m glad you’re both all right,” Jim said and then scowled. “This really irritates me, though. I don’t like the thought that someone may have targeted you two.”

  “Me either!” my mom exclaimed. “I’m the one who knocked her head against the tile floor when I went down.”

  “Mom, you hit your head!” I cried.

  “She’s fine,” Jim assured me. “Doctor says she doesn’t have a concussion or anything.”

  “Good,” I said, relieved.

  My mom could be very melodramatic at times.

  “How are you, sweetheart?” my mom asked. “Are you okay? I was told you passed out too!”

  “I did,” I said. “But I was in and out of there really quick. I think I was already a little dizzy from the hot tub.” It then occurred to me that you’re not supposed to get in a hot tub when you’re pregnant.

  Oh, geez, I drunk champagne at the spa a few days ago.

  Calm down, I told myself.

  It’s not like I’d guzzled a bunch of alcohol, and they say a little wine isn’t bad for you during the first months of pregnancy anyways.

  And, it wasn’t like I was in that hot tub for that long.

  You’re not supposed to get a massage like that when you’re pregnant either, I thought and realized that I was going to be just as paranoid of a pregnant lady with my second kid as my first.

  I shook it off, realizing I didn’t need to get myself worked up – especially if I wanted to find a way to surprise Jim with the news.

  He always pic
ks up on things that bothered me very easily.

  I needed to stay strong!

  First order of business was to make an appointment with Dr. Greene, my OBGYN. She’d set me straight.

  Galigani arrived, eager to discuss the case, but Jim shut him down.

  He wrapped a protective arm around me, and said, “No shop talk now, Galigani. I have get Kate home and let her rest.

  Galigani nodded. “Of course. We’ll talk later,” he said to me.

  I was a little disappointed, because there was such much I wanted to discuss with him, but I was also super eager to see Laurie. I missed her after not having seen her all day!

  Jim rolled me out of the hospital and then drove us to Paula’s. I was positively giddy to pick up Laurie. I gave her a million kisses, and she cooed at me in the adorable way she always does.

  I was and still am so in love with that little girl! I stared at her little face wondering if her future sibling would look just like her. I hoped so because Laurie was such a cutie pie with her peaches and cream complex, big blue eyes and tiny button nose.

  Paula clucked over me, like the mother hen/best friend she was.

  “I’ll call you tomorrow and check in on you,” she promised, as Jim, Laurie and I took off toward home.

  Laurie was super sleepy. As soon as we got home, I gave her a bottle, and she went right to bed.

  While I would have loved to sit up all night coddling her, I was actually really glad she went right to sleep that night. It’d been a long, trying day. I was ready for bed, and sleep hit me as soon as my head touched the pillow.

  I was having a pleasant dream about Laurie and her future little brother or sister when I suddenly stirred in the middle of the night.

  The clock on my nightstand read 3:08, and Jim wasn’t in bed.

  I bolted upright. What was going on?

  I grabbed a robe, and headed down the hall to Laurie’s room. The little nursery lamp was on, illuminating the room with a soft light. Jim was in the rocking chair softly singing, and I have to say it was one of his most attractive moments.

  I’d walked in on a beautiful father daughter moment that just made me want to squeal. They looked so cute. She was fast asleep, and he was holding her so gently and just softly singing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star to her – pretty much the only lullaby he knows.

  He spotted me standing in the doorway, and his face lit up. He turned his head to a side table where a half empty bottle of breast milk sat.

  “I put her back to sleep,” he whispered.

  “Good job, Daddy,” I said with a wink. “You should have woken me.”

  “No,” he said. “You spent your evening at a hospital after getting poisoned. I think you deserved a rest. You actually freaked me out when I woke up because I never hear Laurie before you. I had to check and make sure you were okay before I came in here.”

  “I was out cold. Having pleasant dreams, acutally” I said softly, smiling at the sleeping baby in Jim’s arms. “Go ahead and put her down.”

  “I don’t want to,” he said with a grin but stood up anyways. He leaned over the side of the crib, and placed her down, letting his hand linger under her head for a moment before stepping back with a satisfied look on his face.

  I watched him stand there for a moment just looking at her, and I knew that there was no one else in this world I’d rather be doing this parenting thing with.

  No one else in this world that loved Laurie as much as I did but him.

  My heart surged with love for my family and I fought back emotional tears.

  The two of us tiptoed toward the door, and Jim grabbed the half empty bottle before turning off the nursery lamp. We slipped out completely, and Jim overly cautiously closed the door behind us.

  He smiled that bright smile of his; this was a proud moment for him. He had always been good with Laurie, and he had put her to bed and watched her on his own plenty of times, but I could tell there had been something different about this moment.

  We snuck back to the bedroom together, and I asked him why he was so chipper.

  “She’d been really upset,” he told me. “And, you remember that time I had to put on your robe to get her to calm down so she could smell your scent?”

  “Yeah,” I said, laughing at the memory of walking in on Jim rocking Laurie while wearing my house robe.

  “I didn’t have to do that this time,” he said. “It was just me, you know? She was really upset, and I was able to calm her down. And she giggled at me right before she fell asleep. She really loves me.”

  “You’re so cute,” I teased him as we crawled back into bed. He yawned, but he just seemed so thrilled.

  Yes, this was a proud daddy moment for Jim indeed.

  It made me all the more excited about telling him baby number two was on the way, but I wanted to do something special. I just had to come up with something.

  “Goodnight, Jim,” I said, as he turned out his bedside lamp.

  “Night, honey. Get some rest. I love you.”

  “I love you too.”

  Chapter Sixteen

  I awoke the next morning to a text from Paula pleading for a babysitter as our usual go-to sitter, Kenny, had an audition. Apparently, the SF Opera was losing one of their senior Trombonist s, who was moving to Seattle. So, this left an opening for Kenny. We all wanted him to pursue his dream, so we encouraged him as much as possible.

  Two babies plus my own?

  I got this. I texted her back and told her I would be more than happy to watch the little ones for a few hours while she ran out and did some shopping for a client. Us work from home mom’s had to have each other’s backs – right?

  Jim was long gone by the time I arose that morning, headed off to a meeting with some top brass from his new gig.

  I felt like I needed to do some mental preparation to take care of a toddler and two little babies all at once. Before Paula arrived with her two little angels and while Laurie was still fast asleep in her crib, I headed up into the garage.

  Danny was a two-year-old, and two year old’s are pretty rough on you as far as their attention span is concerned. Or at least, that’s what Paula keeps telling me.

  If my hunch was correct, there were some old toys of mine and Jim’s stashed somewhere from when we were little. I had plenty of little baby toys that would probably entertain Danny, but I was hoping to find something a little interesting for him.

  Most of the boxes was mine – just a bunch of stuff my mom had saved and eventually declared she had no room for at the house. A lot of my little girl stuff, though, had already made its way down into Laurie’s room.

  I frowned, realizing after digging through several boxes that a lot of the stuff was still a bit too old for Danny and anyway it was mostly dolls. Not really anything a kid who every never took off a superhero cape would be all that into.

  Just when I was about to give up on my search, I hit the jackpot.

  The one tiny little box that held Jim’s childhood possessions was shoved in a corner of the garage.

  “Heck yes!” I exclaimed, excited to see what was stored inside.

  It was marvelous.

  While a lot of it was old, sentimental stuffed animals with missing eyes and clumpy fur, there were a few things that were just perfect.

  An classic set of superhero’s including your friendly neighborhood Spiderman. Some things, like little boys loving superheroes, just don’t change from generation to generation – and Jim had the entire Avenger’s set.

  Danny’s going to love this.

  I snagged every last one of them and took them into the bathroom sink to scrub. Once upstairs I marched into the living room, and I didn’t just lay them out.

  No, that would be boring.

  I set them up in poses along my coffee table like they were fighting each other.

  I’m sure Danny would lose his mind; these were really nice, vintage looking toys of characters I’m certain he was familiar with. Once my set up of Earth’
s mightiest heroes was complete, Laurie hollered out for me from her room to let me know she was up and ready to get going on the day.

  My little angel has perfect timing.

  After changing her diaper and giving her some pre-pumped milk, I set her on the floor with some of her own toys in the living room to play. She was finally getting to where she would pick up little toys and fling them around; rattles were still a personal favorite at our household.

  Breakfast and a quick pot of coffee, and by then it was time for Paula to arrive. Paula was the one mom I knew who always arrived at the time she said she would. When she came rolling in the driveway at exactly 9:15, I made a mental note to ask Paula to teach me her mystical mothering ways.

  I was getting better, but I always arrived at least ten minutes behind now that I had Laurie. If I was going to keep a professional appearance with my new self-employed career, I needed to step up my game.

  I heard little Speederman screeching in the driveway – probably excited to be doing something different that morning. Peering out the window, I saw Paula rocking the mom look. Sunglasses and her hair pulled up in a neat bun, a baby on one hip, and her arm reached out and snagging the crazy little toddler without even having to look to nab him before he could run out into the street.

  Paula was that mom all moms aspired to be. She always seemed to have her stuff together. Never left the wipes at home. Never had to run back into the house for a hundred things before pulling out of the driveway.

  Dressed to the nines, in her matchy-matchy clothes.

  I want to be just like Paula when I grow up.

  I met her at the door. “Morning,” I said, grinning.

  “Thank you so much for this,” Paula said, ushering her children inside.

  “Ah, Mommy look!” Danny exclaimed, running right past me – his little cape flaring behind him. He had spotted the Avenger’s team assembled.

  “Speederman!” he cried out, and his little hands were all over those toys the second he reached the coffee table.

  Paula laughed as she entered into my home. “Oh, wow, Kate, where did you get those?”