105. Emergency!
105
EMERGENCY!
Neil
“Does Charlie seem hot to you?” I let Martin feel our little boy’s head. He was irritable—Charlie not Martin—and I was concerned. My mate had lived through the baby years with Toby, and he and his late mate had asked themselves a zillion questions comparing Toby to others and questioning their parenting ability.
“Is he eating enough/too much?”
“That baby next door is already sitting up and Toby isn’t.”
“Is he breathing?”
“Why am I such a terrible father?”
So, Martin was my go to when Charlie reached or was supposed to have reached a milestone and when he wasn’t well. I’d placed my hand on the back of his neck and on his chest ‘cause the baby sites said that was the best place to check. Now I was heading to the kitchen drawer where we kept the thermometer and spare batteries.
“Maybe a little. I wouldn't worry about it, love. Look at his behavior. Is he drinking? That’s the most important, along with peeing.”
“He's doing all of those things and eating but he’s not himself.”
“Who is he? Toby snarked as he grabbed a cereal bar.
“You’re hilarious.”
“I know.” He bopped out of the kitchen and headed to his room.
After handing Charlie to Martin, I searched the drawer for the thermometer and checked the batteries. All working. While rectal thermometers were recommended for babies to get an accurate reading, I usually used an ear one but we had one of the others on standby.
Charlie squirmed and I cuddled him while Martin put the probe in our little boy’s ear. “Ummm it’s slightly above normal.”
“Let’s take him to the ER.”
My mate cuddled both me and the baby. “Let’s wait and see, love. Babies often get fevers for no apparent reason.”
I could cope with an upset tummy, a rash, and a runny nose but fevers freaked me the fuck out. I wanted to go now, needing a medical professional to assure me our baby was fine.
“How about we wait thirty minutes and check his temperature again? If it’s still above normal, we’ll head to the hospital.”
I agreed but that was a long half an hour. I counted each minute and then some, and I was waiting with the thermometer when the time was up. “Okay, I’m ready.”
Charlie yawned and once again he clung to my shirt and whimpered as Martin checked. “No change.”
My phone, wallet, and keys were waiting by the door and I’d warned Toby so he had his tablet and a book ready to go. We piled into the car and I sat between my two boys. Toby, my darling older son, consoled me by repeating what Martin had said. “Babies often get fevers for no reason, TD.”
“Thanks, sweetheart.” I gave him a kiss. I loved both my boys so much.
When Martin drove up to the ER, I took Charlie, leaving Toby in the car with his dad while they parked. “Baby with a high fever coming through,” I yelled. “Emergency!” I created a scene but I didn’t care. My child was ill.
Luckily there were few people waiting and no children. I hated being in an ER and listening to a child crying.
A nurse took one glance at Charlie and placed her hand on him. “He’s not burning up.”
“Well no. Not burning. But slightly above average,” I admitted.
He produced an ear thermometer, checked Charlie’s temperature and showed me the display. Normal. It was completely normal.
“But it wasn't when we left home.”
He nodded, a knowing look on his face, and he peppered me with the usual questions about whether Charlie had been peeing and drinking. Meanwhile, Charlie was reaching out for the guy’s clipboard and studying the people in the waiting area. He was gurgling and squealing at an elderly woman making funny faces at him.
“I understand fevers are scary for parents but he seems fine.”
Martin and Toby arrived only for me to admit that we were headed home again.
“That was interesting,” Toby admitted.
“You’ll understand if you ever have kids, son,” Martin told him .
“You were your dad’s starter baby,” I explained to Toby. “He’s gone through all of this before, but it’s new to me.”
“It’s okay, TD. We all love Charlie and worry when he bumps his head and stuff.”
“Wait, when did he bump his head?” I didn’t remember that.
Martin glared at Toby in the rear view mirror. “It was ages ago and it was nothing.”
“Oh yeah. I forgot I wasn’t supposed to say anything,” Toby announced.
Archer
“Something bothering you?” Micah asked as he wiped drool from Jasper’s face.
“Maybe. Maybe not. I keep thinking there was something I forgot to do such as turn off the iron.”
My mate gave me side eye. “Since when do you iron?”
I giggled at that. Any ironing that needed to be done in our house was done by Micah. I was terrible at it and left so many creases, there was no point. My mate was meticulous about that damned iron. It was almost as though he made love to the clothes as he got the iron to the exact temperature and then smoothed out the wrinkles.
Neither of us had wanted to cook and we’d had take out twice this week, so we decided to go to a vegetarian place Micah and I had gone before we mated. Even though we couldn't just jump in the car and go as we did before we had kids, it was nice to be out in the community, surrounded by the bustle of waiters and families talking about their day.
Working from home was what I enjoyed, but I missed being with people other than my mate and kids. And Daire. As Micah’s business partner, he was always in the house.
But I couldn’t enjoy our meal because I kept running my mind over what I’d had to do before leaving the home. I’d replied to emails regarding the motel project. Liaised with Nate about final video edits. My inbox had been dealt with and yet something niggled at me.
And then two things happened at once. Or maybe it was three. A little boy at the next table was playing with a toy fire engine, making noises as he pushed it back and forth across the surface. Almost simultaneously, Micah’s and my phone erupted with texts and in the distance a fire engine blared.
I leaped up. “I left a candle burning!”
There were horrified gasps from other people in the restaurant. Micah hated candles and warned me many times not to burn them, but I loved the scent in our bedroom. I never lit them with the kids around and always had the window open. My mate checked his phone and screeched, “Fire. ”
We flung money on the table and grabbed the kids. And both of us groused at one another while trying to strap our little ones in their car seats.
“I told you, Archer,” my mate seethed.
“I know.” Tears spilled over my cheeks as my fingers fumbled until the kids were finally secure.
Micah drove. I was a mess and leaned forward, hands on the dashboard as we rounded the corner and laid eyes on our house. The house my parents had helped pay for. We’d paid them back before my alpha dad passed away and even though my omega father hadn’t lived in the basement apartment for ages, I often pictured the two of them there, arms around one another.
And there was smoke. No flames. But mainly smoke. There was a fire truck outside. The acrid smell of burning wood blanketed the air and the building, and the surroundings were a soggy mess.
Daire was there and I left Micah to stay in the car with the kids. “It was my fucking candle, wasn’t it?” Fuck! Daire nodded.
“This your house, sir?” a firefighter asked.
I nodded as I wrapped my arms around my body. Micah appeared at my shoulder and said, “How bad is it?”
“The kids?”
“Ryder’s driven them to the manor. They shouldn't be around the smoke.”
“You were lucky.”
“Lucky?” I stared at the firefighter, not understanding what he was saying.
“Your entire house could have burned to the ground. As it is, the master bedroom and part of the roof have significant damage.”
“I broke into the house,” Daire informed us.
Turned out Daire had come to the basement apartment slash office to pick up a report and smelled burning. He called 911 and broke a window on the first floor. He’d put out some of the flames by the time the fire department arrived.
I hugged our grizzly friend. He was my hero. “I love you. Thank you.”
“But you can’t stay in the house,” the firefighter advised.
“What about 2B?” Daire suggested. 3B was unoccupied but empty of furniture but Neil had kept 2B pretty much the same as when he lived there. He used it as a bolthole and I think he also did some filming there as well as the office, but perhaps he only did it in the office. I wasn’t sure. And right now, it didn’t matter.
It was a one-bed apartment and considering our home had almost burnt to the ground, we couldn't complain. We were grateful.