Booby Trapped and Baby Proofed (19 page)

“I’m going to put your suitcase in the car and get Ethan into his coat. Do you think you can hold on a little while longer?”

“Do I have a choice?” she joked.

Harrison grabbed Angel’s suitcase and went out and put it in the car. He grabbed Ethan’s and Angel’s coats and went back to the bedroom. He found Ethan still by Angel’s side. Harrison got him off the bed and put his coat on him. Then he reached for Angel’s. “Sit up, honey. You have to get into your coat. It’s cold outside.”

Angel groaned, but she sat up and let him put the coat on her. Harrison helped her into her shoes and walked her to the front room and sat her down on the sofa. He put Ethan in the car seat in the back of the car and went back for her, then walked her out.

Angel stopped when another pain hit her. “Sweet Pea wants out,” she said. “This is one time, we should give her what she wants.”

Harrison chuckled weakly, but Angel didn’t look well. He got her into the car, closed the door, and got into the driver’s seat. Luckily, the hospital was just five minutes away. He telephoned Everett and told him to meet him at the hospital. Then he telephoned Daria so she could be there to help Angel in case she didn’t want him to touch her.

****

“Push,” the doctor told her.

Angel didn’t think she could push anymore. She’d been in labor for ten hours now and she was tired and sleepy.

“It’s almost over,” the doctor said. “I can see the head.”

Angel pushed while a nurse helped her. The epidural she’d been given took away the pain, but she could still feel the pressure as the doctor moved the baby’s head and shoulders through the birth canal. Angel rested for a moment. It felt like she’d been in labor for days. “I’m thirsty.”

“You can’t have anything yet,” the nurse told her.

Angel frowned. He mouth felt dry as the Sahara Desert.

“Okay, I need you to push one last time” the doctor told her.

The nurse got back into position behind her.

Angel pushed with all the strength she had left. Finally, she felt something squirmy leave her body. “Ah!” she said, sinking back down on the delivery table. She heard a clip, some suction, a slap, and then as lusty wail.

“Congratulations, Angel. You have a healthy baby girl,” the doctor told her.

Angel smiled and then closed her eyes.
Damn, Harrison got his wish
.

She heard the nurse working to clean the baby up while she lay on the table waiting for the after-birth to be delivered. She felt unbelievably tired, but was glad when she heard that the baby had all her fingers and toes.

“Would you like to see your daughter?” a nurse asked.

Angel opened her eyes and turned her head in the direction of the nurse’s voice. “Hey, baby,” Angel said to the infant who was trying to put one of her fists into her mouth. “You’re a big one.”

“She weighs eight pounds and two ounces,” the nurse told her. “And look at all the hair.”

Sweet Pea’s hair looked light brown, but she couldn’t be sure under the lights and with the sweat still rolling down her face. “Welcome to the world, Sweet Pea,” Angel said contently. She closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep.

****

Harrison was in the waiting room talking to Everett and Daria when Angel’s doctor walked in.

Ethan flipped through a children’s magazine while he waited.

“Congratulated, Mr. Calloway. You have a daughter.”

Harrison cheered loudly and hugged the doctor.  “How is my wife?” he asked once he freed the obstetrician.

“She’s fine, a bit tired and demanding water.”

“And the baby?”

“She’s perfect. She weighs eight pounds and two ounces. And she’s twenty-one inches long.”

“She’s going to be an Amazon,” Daria teased. “When can we see them?”

“You can see the baby shortly, but Angel needs to sleep for a while. It’s been a long day for her.” He shook Harrison’s hand. “A nurse will come out to get you and take you to the nursery to see the baby.” He turned on his heels and walked back to the door.

Jeb came into the waiting room just in time to congratulate Harrison. “Trudy sent me for Ethan so you can stay with Angel.”

“I can’t let you do that. Trudy is still recovering,” Harrison said.

“Trudy insists,” Jeb said. “And you know she’s going to end up getting her way. We still have some clothes for him at the house and Angel’s going to need you for the next forty-eight hours or so.”

“Okay,” Harrison finally agreed.

The nurse came out and called Harrison and the others. They followed her to the nursery.

Another nurse pushed an incubator to the glass.

Harrison looked down.
Baby girl Calloway, eight pounds and two ounces
. Yes, it was the right baby. It was Sweet Pea.

“Oh, look how precious,” Daria said. “She looks like a little golden baby doll.”

Sweet Pea had golden skin and hair, and brown eyes. Something tugged at his heart and he felt overcome with emotions. Harrison lifted Ethan up to the glass so he could see his sister. “It’s Sweet Pea,” he told his son.

Ethan gazed into the glass. “My baby,” he said with a chuckle. “She can play with Bunny.”

Harrison hugged Ethan. Maybe it was not going to be so bad after all.

Chapter Sixteen

“Cerrie stinks,” Ethan announced as he followed Angel into the nursery.

Angel chuckled. “You don’t smell like a bed of roses either when you go to the potty sometimes.” She lifted the baby. “Urg, you are a stinky girl. We better get you cleaned up before Daddy gets home.”

Cerrie laughed, squirmed and kicked her feet as Angel tried to get her out of her clothes so she could get the dirty diaper off her.

It was hard to believe that eight months had passed since she’d given birth to Cerrie. And Harrison had been wonderful and helpful throughout it all. “You need a bath, young lady.” Angel removed the messy diaper and Ethan backed away. Angel chuckled as she cleaned Cerrie’s bottom with a wipe.

Ethan returned to her side after Cerrie smelled like a baby again. “Where is Cerrie’s pee-pee?”

Angel had been expecting that question. “Cerrie doesn’t have one. She’s a girl.”

Ethan looked totally confused. “She’s broken.”

Angel tried not to laugh. “No, girls are made different than boys. She’s not broken.” She put Cerrie back into the baby bed while she walked into the bathroom and ran some water in the baby tub for Cerrie’s bath.

Ethan kept following her around and then he plopped himself down on the closed toilet seat once Angel put Cerrie into the tub.

Angel wet Cerrie’s hair.

Cerrie laughed and made animated faces and noises while Angel added the shampoo to the now brownish-blonde curls. Cerrie splashed the water wetting her face and laughing.

Ethan hopped off the toilet set and came over to the side of the tub to investigate.

Angel continued to wash Cerrie’s hair while Ethan watched, mystified. She held her laughing child back while she rinsed the shampoo from her hair. Angel quickly dried it with a towel and then sat Cerrie back into a seated position.

Cerrie took advantage of the situation and began splashing and kicking the water, wetting both her and Ethan.

Ethan backed up quickly.

She’d never seen a baby take to water so well, especially since they still had to battle Ethan to wash his hair.

She dried Ethan off. Maybe it was time for him to get a haircut. His curls now hung down his back. He looked like a three-year-old rock star. “Do you want to get your hair washed next?”

“No,” Ethan said, shaking his head.

“Cerrie’s not afraid to get her hair washed. Look, she’s having fun.”

Cerrie continued to kick and splash in the water.

“Cerrie’s broken,” Ethan said in defense of his bravado.

His accusation took on a whole new meaning. He wasn’t taking about her lack of a penis. He thought his younger sister was crazy because she liked to get her hair wet. Angel smirked. Ethan had the driest wit for a child. She went back to bathing Cerrie. She took the protesting baby out of the water and dumped the water so it could go down the drain. She wrapped a towel around Cerrie. Before it was over, she was soaking wet. “Fun’s over,” she told her angry child. “You can’t stay in the water all day.”

Cerrie cried all the way back into the nursery.

Ethan followed and continued to watch as Angel wrestled Cerrie into a diaper, a pretty yellow sun dress, and matching yellow sandals.

“Watch your sister while I go change,” she told Ethan. When she returned, she found him staring at Cerrie through the rails of the bed. Angel lifted Cerrie out of the bed so she could comb her hair. “You almost have a bigger afro than mama,” she told the child, who had stopped crying and had taken an interest in talking baby gibberish to Ethan. She put Cerrie on the carpeted floor while she went back to clean up the bathroom.

“Get down, Cerrie,” she heard Ethan say.

Angel hurried back into the nursery. Cerrie had crawled over to Ethan and was standing up, holding onto him. She jumped up and down, nearly knocking Ethan down.

“Cerrie won’t leave me alone,” Ethan said, trying to get away from the playful infant. “She’s trying to get me.”

Angel got Cerrie off Ethan. “She’s only trying to play with you.”

Ethan moved out of his sister’s path and Cerrie tried to crawl back over to him. Ethan continued to run away from her.

“Don’t be mean to your sister,” Angel told him. “She’s just a baby. You’re a big boy and have to protect her.”

Ethan seemed to think about what she said. He sat down on the floor and Cerrie took advantage of the situation, crawled into his lap, and sat down.

“You’re heavy, Cerrie,” Ethan said. Cerrie leaned her head against his chest and hugged him. “My Angel. Cerrie is squeezing me.”

Angel shook her head. Lord help the girls in his future. Ethan had vain, egotistical, and arrogant male written all over him. She lifted Cerrie off Ethan. “She’s just trying to show you that she loves you.”

Ethan stood up quickly and straightened out his clothes. Lately, he’d been caring about his appearance. “She slobbered on me.”

Cerrie wiggled and tried to get back down on the floor.

“A little slobber won’t kill you. Let’s go check on dinner. Daddy should be home soon.” She walked out of the nursery with Cerrie.

Ethan followed at a safe distance. They were seated in the den watching television when Harrison finally came home.

Ethan’s eyes were glued to the screen watching Go, Diego, Go. He didn’t watch SpongeBob as much now. He’d moved on to more advanced shows.

Cerrie, on the other hand, could care less about television. She was too busy in her playpen having fun. She tossed her toys out of her playpen, trying to hit Ethan with them. Most of the soft, plush toys were now scattered all over the den.

Harrison stood in the door watching Cerrie before she noticed him. One of the toys finally made it over to Ethan, bouncing off his head.

“Ouch. My Angel, Cerrie is hitting me.”

“What are you doing, Sweet Pea?” Harrison asked their daughter, startling her.

Cerrie finally noticed him. She squealed and bounced up and down in her playpen. “Da-da.”

Angel smirked. Cerrie hadn’t said mama yet, but she knew her daddy.

“She’s playing war games,” Angel said. “Ethan is the enemy.” She stood up and began picking the toys off the floor and putting them back inside the playpen.

“Ooh, look how pretty you look, Sweet Pea,” Harrison said, lifting her up and into his arms. “And you smell so good. Mama must have just given you a bath.”

Cerrie cuddled up against her father like she was the best baby in the world.

Angel smirked. Daddy’s little girl was a hellion.

“Hello, Master Ethan,” Harrison finally said to his son.

“Hey,” Ethan said, not taking his eyes off the television.

Harrison shook his head. “At least one of my kids is glad to see me.”

“Ethan is glad to see you too,” Angel said. “He’s just sulking because Cerrie wet him up when she was in her tub, and she tried to play with him.”

“And he doesn’t want to play with her?”

Angel shook her head. “She bullies him. I guess she was cute until the novelty wore off.”

“Maybe we should have another baby so Cerrie can have someone to play with,” Harrison said loud enough for Ethan to hear.

“Don’t even jest,” Angel whispered to Harrison.

“No,” Ethan answered. “Cerrie is my sister.”

Harrison chuckled. “He’s still so selfish.”

Angel finally managed to get a kiss from her husband, even though Cerrie tried to push her away.

Harrison chuckled. “At least she’s not trying to wipe your kisses off.”

“Rotten daddy’s girl,” Angel said to Cerrie. “At least Ethan still thanks I’m wonderful.”

Harrison kissed Cerrie’s cheek. “I still think you’re wonderful too. I’ll show you later.” He paused. “What’s for dinner?”

“Fried trout for us, fish sticks for Ethan, and baby food for Cerrie.”

“Urg,” Harrison said, teasing Cerrie. “You have to eat baby food.”

Cerrie giggled and hugged her daddy around the neck.

“Cerrie is broken,” Ethan said.

Harrison stopped playing with Cerrie. “What does he mean?”

“Cerrie’s pee-pee is gone.”

Angel smirked. “He was in the nursery when I changed Cerrie’s diaper. He noticed that she doesn’t have a penis.”

“Oh,” Harrison said. “Cerrie is not broken,” Harrison told Ethan. “She’s a girl.”

“I tried explaining that to him.” Ethan was almost four and as smart as a whip on some things.

“You’ll learn to appreciate the difference when you get older,” Harrison told him.

Angel popped him playfully on the arm. “He’s not old enough for that conversation yet.”

“At least he knows there’s a difference. Maybe Roy won’t seem so fascinating to him now.”

Angel shook her head. “Haven’t you and Everett been friends since you were toddlers?”

“Yes, but—” Harrison said.

“But nothing. It’s no difference. Both of you grew up and married women. Ethan is developing normally for someone his age. Doesn’t he play with all the kids at the dojo?”