Wrapping Up(6)

I held my finger up to my lips to remind him to not say anything. Colt sat up slowly and we were able to walk Christian up to her bedroom without waking her. As we climbed into bed, Colt grabbed me and pulled me into his arms. “See you in a few hours, Darlin’.”

Morning came too fast, as did a screaming baby. Noah, who was going to be six at the beginning of the year, liked to think he could safely get his sister out of her crib by himself. Now, Colt and I would love to think that he could do it, but it still made us nervous when he did it. Before I could climb out of bed to attend to our daughter, Noah came walking in the room with her in his arms.

“Look, Chris, here’s Mommy and Daddy.”

I held out my arms for my daughter. She leaned over with little tear filled eyes and immediately stopped crying. “Noah, run downstairs and get Mom a bottle. Do you remember how to do it?” Colt was just making sure.

“Yeah, Dad, I am almost six ya know. Besides, Mom put a sticker on the button on the microwave. All I have to do is touch it.”

“Don’t forget to take the nipple off first.” Colt shook his head as I threw in that last reminder.

We heard Noah go running down the stairs and then a giant crash. Colt was out of bed, before I could even blink. By the time I made it down the stairs with Christian in my arms, Colt had Noah in his arms and was carrying him to the couch. “Tell me where it hurts, Bud.”

Noah was screeching in pain. He was using his one arm to point to his other one. Colt went to touch it and Noah screamed louder, causing his sister to begin crying. Colt stood up and came over to where I was standing. “Do you need some ice?”

He shook his head. “His wrist is already turning purple. I’m going to have to run him to the emergency room to get an x-ray.”

I turned around to start getting us ready. “Just give me ten minutes.”

Colt grabbed my arm and stopped me. “I can take him myself. It’s not a big deal. Besides, the family will be here in a few hours. There’s no tellin’ how long it will take. Just take care of Christian and I will call you when I know somethin’.”

Colt ran upstairs and came back down five minutes later fully dressed. He wrapped a coat around Noah. As he picked him up to carry him out to the car, I rushed to his side. “Noah, you’re going to be fine. I love you.”

He cried out and tried to reach for me. “Mommy!”

I knew he was in terrible pain to call me Mommy. There was no way in hell I was letting Colt take our son to the hospital without me and Colt knew it as soon as he looked me in the eye. He slouched his shoulders and carried Noah back to the couch. “Well come on then, get yourself dressed so we can get this kid looked at.”

I started running up the steps. “Call your mother and have her come here.”

I threw on a pair of sweats and one of Colt’s hoodies and changed Christian’s diaper. As I was walking down the stairs, I heard a car pulling up out front. My mother-in-law came running in the house. I didn’t let her talk as I handed her Christian. “She needs to eat her cereal and drink a whole bottle. She has a fresh diaper and we will call you as soon as we know something.”

She knew the drill, since she’d raised a little boy herself. With one child situated we rushed the other one as fast as we could to the hospital.

Three hours later, we were driving home with one unhappy child. He broke his wrist in two places and had to wear a cast up to his elbow. Since this was his second cast, he already knew what color he wanted and who was going to sign it.

We pulled into the ranch and saw my parent’s car in front of the house. Noah, who had pouted the whole way home, started getting all hyper in the backseat. I think before Colt had the car into park, our son was jumping out of the back. My father came running off the porch and met him halfway. He picked him up and spun him around.

My mother was content to stay on the porch swing with Christian on her lap and Colt’s mom at her side. They waved to us as we got out of the car. Colt walked up behind me and massaged my shoulders as we approached the house.

Once we all got inside, it became chaotic. My mother missed us and when she came to visit, she kind of took over. Since I appreciated the help and someone to keep Christian occupied, I never complained about it. Hell, if she wanted to stay up all night with my daughter, it would have been fine with me.

I heard my son scream and went flying for the front door. Ty came busting in the door with two child carriers and a diaper bag strap hanging from his mouth. He tried to smile, while the bag clung to his teeth. When I saw him pucker his lips, I gave a disgusted face and took the two baby carriers from him instead of the bag. As soon as I bent over to sit down the carriers, he had grabbed me from behind and swung me around for a hug. “Oh, Van, I am so glad to see you. Miranda said if she had to be in the car with me for another second she was going to rip out my tongue. Do you have any idea how traumatized I would be?”