The Next day, we were in a panic trying to get all the kids packed and into the my mustang. we were just about to pull out of the driveway when John's cell phone rang.
"John, your cell" I said handing Maggie her sippy cup and John his cell phone
"Thanks Baby," John said, "Hello?, Oh hey mom..how's hawaii?"
"Mamaa!!" Bailey yelled
"What, sweetie?" I said turning around and seeing him swing a toy car around,"that's good honey really".
"All right, let me talk to Nik, and see what she say?.yes i love you too, bye" John hung up the phone,"Promise you won't get mad?"
"Why? What's up?" I said reaching over and putting a pacifier in Olivia's mouth
"My parents flight got cancelled and so they are throwning an inpromptu thanksgiving dinner and were wondering if we wanted to come up with the kids," John said getting on the highway
"I promised my family we'd come up with the kids, what are we going to do?" I said checking on the kids, who by the grace of God, had all fallen asleep.
"I got it, we'll eat dinner at my parent's house and dessert at Stacey's." John said
"We don't do dessert, remember? Ok so what if you take Maggie and Bailey to your parents house for dinner and i'll take the baby to Stacey's then we'll meet at Stacey's and i don't know, take the kids out for dessert and then we'll come back to Stacey's and sleep." I said putting my head on John's shoulder
"Are you sure?" John said putting his one free arm around me
"Postive, besides it's not like it's christmas or anything, it'll be great." I said falling asleep
We drove all day, Maggie Bailey and Olivia slept through the entire ride, only waking up when they got hungry or when Bailey accidentally spilled his milk all over Maggie and she screamed so loud, we nearly slammed into a minivan.
But finally we made it into New Hampshire, and after getting lost and two frantic calls to Stacey, we finally made it there.
"Are you sure about this?" John said handing me the baby carrier and one of the three diaper bags we have
"Postive, say hi to your mom and dad for me." I said kissing him and watching him get back in the car,"Bye Guys..be good".
"Bye Bye Mama!" Maggie yelled
"MAMAMA!" Bailey yelled
"Ok Livvy, it's just you and me, time to face the music," I said walking up the walk way
"AUNTIE!" a little voice from inside thehouse screamed
"ALI BABY!" I yelled back standing at the front door
"Hey cousin," Stacey said opening the door
"Hi Honey" I said kissing her cheek
"Oh look at little Olivia! Stacey squealed hugging me and trying to look at the baby
"Whoa, ok can you help me? because between the baby and the bag, it's getting a little heavy," I said
"Right,I'll take the baby" Stacey said taking the carrier out of my hands
"Ok..thanks" I said climbing up the stairs,"Hi Ali"
"AUNTIE" She cannonballed into my arms
"Whoa! careful Auntie still has some of her stitches in!" I said carrying her into the living room.
I put her down on the floor and she immediately ran over to the baby
"Hello Livia, hi" Ali said, "can we take her out of the carrier,Mommy?"
"If Auntie says it's ok" Stacey said getting on the floor
"Sure," I said
We played with the baby until she fussed and then i gave her bottle, which she fell asleep halfway through.
"Go to sleep, go ahead baby" I said rocking her
I put her in Ali's old crib, which had been set up in Ali's room next to her big girl bed then i walked back out to the living room
"Is she asleep?" Stace asked
"Yup, oh i'm exhausted" I said leaning back against the couch
"No one said having kids would be easy" Stacey remarked
"Says she who only has one." I replied
"Oh spare me". Stacey rolled her eyes
"It's true." I insisted then Olivia started to cry,"Coming Baby"
"Hi Sweetie!" I said picking up the baby, she stopped crying and started smiling, "that's my girl"
I changed her then brought her out to the living room, where Ali was playing with a rubber ball, i put Olivia on floor and then played with both girls until Olivia got fussy and i put her back in her crib, then i tried to stay up long enough to read Ali a story but fell asleep half way through.
Olivia let me sleep in until 7:30 then preceeded to scare the hell out of me with a giant shriek that would send Madonna's hair in every direction.
"Hi sweetie!" I said picking up the baby and putting her on the changing table," Happy thanksgiving!"
"Auntie?" A little voice said behind me
"Hi Ali Babe, happy thanksgiving!" I said changing Olivia diaper
"Happy thanksgiving!..where's Mommy?" Ali asked rubbing her big blue eyes
"I think she's downstairs with Nana, if you wait a minute we can all go downstairs together." I said buttoning up Liv's pjs and taking Ali by the hand and we walked downstairs.
"Hey honey," Auntie greeted us,"can you help me with the stuffing?"
"Sure just let me put Miss Olivia in her swing" I started to go back up the stairs
"Auntie, can i hold her please?!" Ali said hopping from one foot to the other
"Sure but you have to be very careful ok?" I said walking over to the couch
"Yup". Ali said as i put the baby in the crook of her arm,"Look Mommy!"
"That's great Ali-boots but we need to use our indoor voice, remember?" Stacey reminded her
"Ok Mommy..Hi Livvy" Ali kissed one of her hands
I walked into the kitchen, made the stuffing, made the salad and made the appetizers,i kept looking up just to check on them, as i was putting the cream cheese on the celery i looked up and saw they'd both fallen asleep.
"Stace, look!" I said as she was chopping some olives
"Oh wow! that is so adorable! i'm going to go get my camera!" Stacey said running up the stairs
"Auntie, can you watch them while i take a shower?" I said pushing a piece of hair behind my ear
"Sure". Auntie said sitting on the couch
I turned on the water, quickly washed my hair, threw on a gucci black skirt and a white tank-top, blow dried my hair and threw on a little bit of makeup, i opened the door and walked back into the living room. Just in time to Auntie asleep and my child screaming.
"It's Ok, Olivia, it's ok". I said picking her up
"I didn't do anything!." Ali defended herself
"I know, Honey, i think she's just hungry." I said digging through the diaper bag and pulling out a bottle.
She must have been hungry because she sucked down two bottles, i brought her upstairs, changed her diaper and then changed her into a little white dress with a sash and put a headband on her.then started to bring her downstairs.
Just before i got to the bottom step, the door flew open and my mother breezed in
"Hi Ma". I said
"Hi Cole, oh there's my little girl! Hi Olivia!" My mother said holding her arms
"Hi to Nonie." I said giving her the baby
My mother took the baby downstairs followed by my father who came in looking like he'd just come from a funeral
"Hi Pop". I said
"Hi Kid" My father said hitting me on the arm then walked downstairs
"FOOD'S READY!" Auntie shouted as i opened to door to go into her apartment
"All right!" I called back
I took the baby from my mother and sat down at the table.
"Ok everyone, let's say Grace". Auntie stood up,"Louie, you start"
"Dear Lord, bless us and the meal we're about to eat,we've had many blessings this year with Olivia being born and Ali going into the second grade plus Louis and Jen finally getting married in Febuary." Uncle Louie started
"Who figured i'd be married before him?" I said laughing
"We did" The entire family said then laughed
"So God, thank you for our blessings Amen" Uncle Louie finished
We passed around the dishes and the baby, just as i had put the fork to my mouth, the phone rang
"Oh what the hell?" Auntie swore as she picked the phone,"Hello?, no hold on please.Nikki it's for you". She handed me the phone.
"Hello?" I said handing my mother Olivia
"Is this Nicole Distefino?" a voice asked
"Yes, who is this?" I asked
"This is Jodi, i'm an admitting nurse at Mass General, i'm sorry to have to tell you this especially on the holidays but your husband was admitted to the hospital". The voice sounded apologic
"What? why?" I said dropping my fork
"There was a car accident, your husband was hit by drunk driver on the Pike". Jodi said
"Oh my god! is he all right?" I said starting to cry
"i'm not going to lie to you M'am, it doesn't look well, your husband suffered bruises,broken bones and fractures." Jodi said
"What about my children?" I said whispering
"oh a Maggie and Bailey Distefino, they're still up in the NICU being looked at." Jodi said
"I will be there as soon as possible, please tell them i will be there" I said
"Of course" Jodi said then hung up
"Oh my god, oh my god!" I jumped up
"What wrong? what happened?" Stace asked
"John's been in a car accident". I said getting dizzy
"Oh my god, is he all right?" Auntie asked
"No he's got broken bones and they don't what else, oh my god." I said crying
"What about Maggie and Bailey?" Ma asked
"I don't know!" I sobbed harder,"i need to get to the hospital, now..come on ,Olivia we gotta go". I said reaching for the baby
"Nik,leave her here, you can't be lugging a baby carrier around the hospital". Uncle Louie said
"Yeah All right," I started to walk out but came back in,"Can one of you come with me?"
"I'll go". Stacey said standing up," Andy, watch Ali ok?"
"Yeah, sure". Andy agreed
We raced to Stacey SUV and climbed in.
"Stace, i'm scared," I blubbered
"I know,honey, he'll be fine.". Stacey said pulling onto the highway
"How am i am going to take care of three babies?" I said wiping my nose
"You have us, you'll always have your family." Stace pointed out
"But you guys are in New Hampshire, i live in New York, i can't just uproot my kids and leave my entire world behind," I said starting to cry
"But you need to also think about he does need time recover, your going to need to get a job and an apartment here because i'm sure he won't recover overnight". Stace pulled off into the Boston exit
"I realize that, but i just don't know what i'm going to do, i've a job that requires me to travel, three children under the age of three, a husband who maybe paralyazed, and two well now one car payment plus the skate shop, i don't know how to survive without him". i said crying hard
"Well, this a switch, usually your Miss Independent.". Stacey said pulling into the parking lot.
"I know, i guess you were right, having kids does change everything," I said sobbing harder,"But Stace, i don't know how to survive without him! he's my whole world!"
"I know honey, i know" She said pulling into a parking spot and hugging me
We walked across the parking lot in silence,halfway across she grabbed my hand and squeezed.
We walked through two double doors, to where the front desk was.
“Hi, I’m looking for a Jonathan Distefino?” Stace asked the woman behind the desk, who then typed in his name
“Ah, yes he’s in room 354, take the north elevators up to the third floor, it’ll be the fifth door on your right.” The woman said giving me a sympathic look
Stacey grabbed my arm and led me to the elevators.
“Wait, we didn’t ask about Maggie and Bailey.”. I said wiping my nose
“I know, I figured we’d ask the doctor after we hear about John.” Stacey pushing the elevator buttons
“Oh my god! We need to call John’s parents.” I said realizing I’d forgotten to call my in-laws
“I’ll do it afterwards, no reason to not scare them for no reason.” Stacey said leading me into the elevator.
We rode up in silence then when we got off the elevator and Stacey lead over to the nurses station.
“Boy, you sure know your way around Mass General.” I remarked
“Yeah, well in between Uncle Louie, Ali and Andy, you tend to learn a few things.” Stacey said,”Oh and I don’t think I’ll need to call your in-laws”
“Why?” I said with my head down
“Because their here”. Stacey pointed them out
Kathy and George were sitting in the waiting room chairs, he was asleep and she was clutching Rosary beads and he was asleep.
“Mom, Dad” I said tapping Kathy on the shoulder
“Oh Nicole!.” Kathy stood up and hugged me, George immediately woke up and hugged the both of us,”Oh Hello Stacey” Kathy noticed Stacey was just standing there
“Hi, have the doctors talk to you?” Stacey asked
“No, they were waiting for you, Nicole”. Kathy said sitting down
“Oh that’s not right, I’m going to go have a talk with them.” Stacey marched over to the nurses station and got right up into the head nurse’s face.
Whatever she said worked because right away the doctor came out
“Are you Jonathan’s wife?” The Doctor asked
“Yes” I nodded
“Please come with me.” The doctor said then led us down the hallway and into an office.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t introduce myself, My name is Dr.Wyatt Cooper.” The doctor said
“I’m Nicole, this is my mother-in law Kathy, my father-in law,George and my cousin Stacey.” I introducted them
“I’m terribly sorry we have to meet under these conditions.” The doctor said
“What’s wrong with my son?” George asked
“He sustained a concussion, broke left arm, his right knee was broken and we had to insert pins into the knee cap.” The doctor said
“Will he be able to walk again normally?” Kathy asked
“Yes with the help of many months of physical therapy.” The doctor said
“Are there any more injuries?” Stacey asked
“Yes he broke his nose and twisted his back severely.” The doctor said
“Is he able to be transported because we live in New York"I said whispering
“No, I’m sorry for the next few months, this will be Jonathan’s home.” The Doctor said
“Is my husband conscious?”. I said crying
“No because the concussion is so severe, he is in a mild coma which I fully believe he’ll be waking up shortly.” The doctor said,”Do you have any other questions?”
“No, thank you” We stood up
“Wait, what about my children!” I said just before going through the door,"they were admitted to the hospital also"
“I’m sorry, but I didn’t attend to your children, if they were injured they’d be up in NICU” The doctor said
“Thank you” I said
We walked back out to the waiting room
"Before i go in and see John, i'm going to go get Maggie and Bailey." I said wiping my eyes
"Of course,darling of course" Kathy said hugging me
"Stace?" I said after Kathy let me go
"Right behind you." Stacey said
We walked back to the elevator.i couldn't stop crying
"Honey, you have to control yourself, this isn't helping." Stacey said
"I know,i can't help it, these are my babies". I said taking a deep breath
"I know Nik, I know" Stacey leading us into the elevator and pushed the 5th floor button
We walked up the NICU, which is where the sick babies are and looked into the Nursery, but i couldn't find Maggie or Bailey.
"Excuse me," I said,stopping a nurse who was rushing past me,"I'm looking for Maggie and Bailey Destifino?"
"Oh are they yours? they are such darlings! and so smart too, they're in the pediatric playroom, down the hall". The Nurse said pointing to a room down the hall
"Thanks" Stacey said
We walked down the hall like a couple of prisoners waiting to be executed.
As soon as we reached the room, i got incredible dizzy.
"Are you all right?" Stace asked grabbing my arm
"I'm fine" I said taking a deep breath, then pushed open the door
Bailey was sitting on the floor with a little girl and they were rolling a ball back and forth, the little girl had her head bandaged and at first i thought it was Maggie but then i realized the little girl had blond hair whereas Maggie has redish brown hair.
"Hi Bailey!" I said as cheerfully as i could
"Mamama!!" Bailey clapped his hands
"How are you sweetheart?" I said picking him up and hugging him and kissing him
"Ball!!!" Bailey said, he didn't have casts, bandages or anything on him, he was perfect.
"I missed you, did you miss me?" I said starting to cry
"Mama,truck!" Bailey said playing with my necklace.
"That's great, sweetie." I said hugging him harder
"Careful, Nik,your going to suffucate the boy" Stacey said
No comments:
Post a Comment