A loud shriek rang through the baby monitor, startling Nick from his sleep. He groaned as he climbed out of bed. Peering over at the opposite side of the bed, he saw Meggie wasn’t occupying it. He stifled a yawn as he sleepily walked across the hallway to the nursery. While Austin slept peacefully, Madison lay screaming for attention.
“What’s wrong, Maddie? Are you hungry?” Nick cooed, picking his daughter up. He wrapped a soft pink blanket around her small body, and carried her down the stairs to the foyer. As he walked into the kitchen, Meggie’s head popped out above the refrigerator.
”Oh… you got her… I was just filling bottles up for the next feeding,” She mumbled.
“Baby, go get some sleep. I’ve got it taken care of. Austin’s sleeping and Maddie’s is just hungry.”
”Alright. Goodnight,”
”More like good morning,” Nick teased as Meggie climbed the stairs.
He grabbed a bottle from the refrigerator, and set it in the microwave. After a few seconds, he took it out, and tested it on his wrist.
“All done,” He whispered to the tiny bundle in his arms. He went into the living room and sat down on the couch. Once he began to feed her, her eyes became droopy. As she finished off the bottle, he gently burped her.
”Better?” He asked, lying down on the couch. He placed her tiny body on his chest, and rubbed her back until she fell asleep. He pulled the multi-colored afghan off the back of the couch, and laid it across his legs and stomach. He watched car lights float across the wall, as the early morning traffic began to take action. A few more lights flew across, before his eyes begin to shut, and the sleep pulled him away from the real world.
Meggie awoke several hours later to the sun shining brightly into her eyes. Yawning, she peered over the fluffy pillow, to her alarm clock. Eight fifty-four. She managed to pull herself out of bed, and slipped her terry-cloth robe over her boxers and Nick’s over-sized tee shirt, which she had turned into pajamas. She padded down the hallway to the nursery, and slipped in quietly. While Madison’s crib was empty, Austin lay in his, gurgling and kicking in the morning sunlight.
”Good morning, little one,” Meggie cooed as she picked him up.
She laid him on the changing table, and began to undress him from his pajamas. She slid a new diaper underneath his bottom, and took off the dirty on, disposing it into the trashcan. She then began to dress him in a one-piece light blue outfit.
“Ready to go find Daddy?” She asked as cuddled him in her arms. She walked down the hallway, then down the stairs t the living room. There, she saw Nick and Madison, both sleeping peacefully on the couch, an afghan and baby blanket covering them.
“They look a little worn out… how about some breakfast?” They went into the kitchen, and she pulled a bottle of formula from the fridge. After warming it up, she settled down in the Lazy Boy across from the couch. All was quiet, until the doorbell interrupted it. Meggie balanced the bottle under her chin, as she opened the door. Brian stood outside, holding a bag from McDonalds.
”Good morning… thought you guys could use a meal,” He chirped happily.
”I sure can… I’m not sure about him… he’s still asleep. Come on in.”
Brian walked in and shut the door behind him.
”Here, let me take him. Go eat,” He said, taking Austin from Meggie. She gave him a grateful look as she disappeared into the kitchen, breakfast in hand. Brian sat down in the living room, just as Nick was beginning to awaken.
” Mornin’,” Brian said as Nick sat up.
”Hey… why are you here?”
”You don’t want me here?”
”I didn’t say that,” Nick groaned, falling back against the cushion.
”Just brought you two breakfast,” Brian chuckled.
“Thanks, but I’m not even hungry.”
”Are you feeling ok? You do look a little pale…”
”Yeah, I’m fine. Just tired. Haven’t gotten much sleep in the past month,”
“Go on upstairs and go back to sleep. I’ve got the kids. I’ll send Meggie up when she’s done with breakfast.”
”Are you sure, Bri?”
”Positive. Now go,”
Nick set Madison in the baby swing, then walked sleepily up the stairs. Meggie came in a few minutes later and collapsed onto the couch.
“Ah… peace and quiet. No screaming babies. Where’d Nick go?”
”I sent him back to bed, which is where I’m about to send you.”
”Nah, it’s all right. I’m actually not that tired. He’s just been pretty tired lately.”
As Austin finished his bottle, Brian began to burp him, by patting him gently on the back. A few minutes later, he took a half-asleep Austin back up to the nursery, and put him in his crib. He turned on the mobile, and left, shutting the door quietly behind him.
He quietly walked down the hallway, careful not to disturb Nick. He returned to the living room to find Meggie cleaning off the coffee table.
“Ugh, this place is a mess,” She said, looking around. “We haven’t had much time to clean lately,”
“Totally understandable. Here, let me help,”
“It’s alright, Bri. You don’t have to,”
“I have nothing else to do on this soon-to-be rainy Saturday afternoon. The yard is cut, the garden’s weeded, and the bathrooms are even spotless.”
”I think it’s time you got yourself a girlfriend,” She laughed, putting a pile of magazines into the wastebasket. She went into the kitchen, and returned with a roll of paper towels and a spray bottle of Windex.She began scrubbing down the windows, as Brian dusted off the coffee table and the top of the entertainment system shelves.
“Dang… I think these dust bunnies were about to turn into rabbits,” He chuckled, throwing away dirty paper towels.
A few hours later, the two collapsed onto the couch from exhaustion. Once they had finished cleaning the living room, they moved on into the kitchen, dining room, foyer, and then the three bathrooms.
Brian eyed the swing in the corner, which still held Madison. She was just beginning to wake up from her nap.
”I give her two minutes, before she starts crying,” Meggie said.
Brian reached over and gently pushed the swing.
”Was that a smile or gas, Maddie?” Brian asked, gently lifting her out of the swing.
“Please let it be a smile. No more dirty diapers for the day,” Meggie moaned.
Brian checked her, and sighed in relief.
”Any bottles made up on the fridge?” He asked.
”Yeah, at least four more,”
He went into the kitchen, and returned with a bottle full of formula. Madison gratefully accepted it into her mouth, and began to eat. But just as Meggie began to doze off, Austin’s wails filled the house from upstairs.
“Twin connection… I swear,” She mumbled, getting up. Wearily, she climbed the stairs and rescued Austin from his crib. Bringing him back downstairs, she got him a bottle, and began to feed him.
~ 4:00 P.M. ~
“Thanks for helping me out today, Bri,” Meggie said, hugging him before his slid his jacket on.
”It was no problem. I had nothing else to do. Hey Nick… remember… meeting at AJ’s house on Tuesday at seven oh clock,”
“Got it on the calendar,” Nick replied, holding a gurgling Austin.
”Alright. Well, then I guess I’ll see you two…err… four later,”
He waved as he shut the door and walked down the sidewalk.
“I hear the bed calling my name,” Meggie mumbled.
”Go on and go to bed. I’m going to put these little ones to bed, then hopefully catch the end of the baseball game,”
”Alright. Goodnight, baby,” She said, kissing him before going up the stairs. Nick followed her, a baby in each arm.
”Goodnight Maddie,” He said, laying her down in her crib. He covered her with a teddy bear blanket, then lay Austin in his crib. After covering him with a blanket, he turned their mobiles on. The small dangling animals, circled around, playing quiet nursery rhymes.
He turned the baby monitor on before shutting the door. He went back downstairs and collapsed onto the couch, remote in hand. Soon, his eyelids became heavy; the baseball game disappeared from his sight as he began to fall asleep.
~ Tuesday Morning ~
“Nicky, I’m leaving now. Have fun at the meeting,”
”Ok. Have fun with your mom,” He replied, kissing her quickly before she went out the door. He helped her buckle the twins into the backseat, then gave them each a kiss before shutting the door.
”What time can I expect you home?” He asked as she climbed into the driver’s seat.
“I’m not sure… probably after dinner,”
”Alrighty. Love you,”
”Love you too,”
As she shut the door, Nick went back inside the house. After playing a few games of football on his Play station, he turned it off and went upstairs to shower. Once he finished, he dressed in a pair of baggy jeans and a tee shirt from Sweden. Humming to himself, he left the room and began to walk down the stairs. As he hit the bottom stair, a sharp pain shot through his chest. He gasped and fell back onto the stairs. He tried to reach for the phone, which was only a few feet away, yet his breath was becoming harder to catch. Suddenly, the phone rang. With all his energy, Nick grabbed the phone.
He hit the ‘talk’ button, and held the phone against his ear, unable to talk right away.
”Hello? Nick? Meggie?” A voice asked.
”Br-ian… help…pl..ease,”
”Nick??” Brian asked, almost yelling into the phone.
“Nine…one…one…” He whispered.
“Ok Nick, AJ’s calling now. Stay on the phone with me, ok? I’m on my way over,”
“O..k…”
Tears of pain rolled down Nick’s cheek, as breathing became harder for him to do. Another sharp pain shot through his chest. He gasped for air, as Brian began talking to him, trying to get him to talk back. Nick’s world began to spin, and the room suddenly went dark. Brian’s voice was still there, yet so far away as if in a tunnel. The voice disappeared, and Nick fell back against the stairwell.
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