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Before I could groan, the baby monitor chirped beside me.
“Mr. Jonathan?” Kiyah called weakly.
“How are you feeling, Kiyah?” I answered, helping Kierra strip Daisy out of her soiled clothing.
“Awful. Can I have crackers and ginger ale?”
“Yes, ma’am. Does anyone else want some?”
“Hold on. Grant, do…do…you want crackers and ginger ale?” He grunted. “He says yes.”
“Okay. What about Casey?”
“He’s sleeping.”
“I’ll be there in a minute.”
I signed off with Kiyah and nearly cried. I was exhausted—wewere exhausted after returning home from our trip. Anthony had taken the kids and his family to a food truck park for lunch Sunday afternoon, and everyone contracted food poisoning from a taco truck, except Anthony, who opted for burgers and fries instead.
For the past two days, we’d been nursing five children who had fluid coming out of both ends, and the end was nowhere in sight. The smell of vomit and diarrhea clung to the inside of my nose, and the entire house needed to be aired out and scrubbed from top to bottom.
“Jon, did you send the flowers to Simone?”
My head fell back with a heavy sigh as I stared at the ceiling. “I forgot. I’ll get to it this afternoon. What hospital room is she in again?”
“325. I can do it,” Kierra offered.
“No, I said I’ll do it. As long as there aren’t any bathroom incidences, I’ll get to it after I get the kids’ snacks.”
Poor Simone suffered the worst and was admitted to the hospital due to severe dehydration because of all the fluids she lost.
“Actually, don’t worry about it. She should be discharged tomorrow. I’ll swing by the house with flowers and soup for her. But you need to check on Anthony and see if he needs anything.”
“I texted him this morning. He’s still at the hospital and hasn’t left her side since she was admitted.”
“Did you—”
“Yes, I gave him an update on Nori.”
“Good. When you go downstairs, make me a list of things I need to pick up from the grocery store.”
“Pedialyte, for sure. Don’t get the orange flavor.”
“I know, Jon,” Kierra huffed in frustration. I didn’t take her slight annoyance to heart. It’d been a rough few days—sleep was scarce, and taking a piss in peace was a luxury. Kierra despised grocery shopping and slyly volunteered to go to get some fresh air and time to herself, no doubt. I wanted the next few weeks to be as stress-free as possible for my partner; so far, we were moving in the wrong direction.
“Wait…what’s that smell?” Kierra asked.
We looked over at Nori and found her squirming and scrunching her face in her sleep. She farted, and I guarantee there was more than air in her pull-up.
“That would be Nori Rene.”
“How much you want to bet she had a blowout?”
“Kierra, you should be the last person placing bets. You still owe me $15k.”
Our smiles matched as we were reminded of our wild time in Las Vegas. I wish I could say I was disappointed that we spent most of our last day in bed, but I wasn’t. I spent my day wrapped in the tender embrace of the woman I loved, and there was nowhere I’d rather be.
We left the rental long enough to engorge ourselves at the Bacchanal Buffet. I’d never eaten so many crab legs in my life, but it was worth it. We visited Build-a-Bear Workshop and made a bear for all the kids, Nori included, and I splurged on a pair of his and her Cartier watches for Anthony and Simone because we appreciated how flexible they’d been with watching the kids.
