Chapter 2.7

ORIGINAL CONTENT OF D.C. BLU. DO NOT COPY AND/OR REDISTRIBUTE WITHOUT THE AUTHOR’S PERMISSION. PLAGIARISM IS CRUEL. PLEASE BE RESPECTFUL.

2.7

The next day, Bailey sat with the nurse who taught him about all the care a newborn would need — especially preemies. His two babies didn’t show signs of complications yet, but the doctors told them that complications could arise later. So, the lessons helped him to recognize signs and symptoms to watch for.

These lessons also gave him a refresher course on how to care for babies, because it had been nearly twenty years ago that he helped with Matt. However, while the nurse was patient and went through everything methodically, Bailey still had to ask her to repeat somethings since he was distracted. Why? Because after he got back to the room to sleep that night, he found Tyler missing. He called the manipulator only to get his voicemail. His brother was hiding.

When he confronted Val about it, all he got was, “Don’t worry, Jerry and I are working with Tyler. Nothing you need to think about.”

That scared the shit out of him. Val and Tyler? Working together? Dia-fucking-bolical! So he called Jerry.

Before Jerry could even say hello, Bailey had asked, “What are my brother and sister up to?” Trying to keep himself from losing his shit.

Jerry chuckled. “B, congrats on the kids. I’m good by the way. You?”

He took a deep breath. “Sorry. On edge.”

“I get it.”

“Now, be one hundred with me. What’re they up to? Cause I asked you to keep an eye on my brother and keep him out of trouble. But I hear that you’re working with them, both?”

“Full disclosure?”

“Please.”

“Nothing you need to kill anyone over.” Jerry answered sounding amused. “Tyler came up with a decent plan. Val is helping him do it the right way. And I’m just ground support to keep an eye on all Tyler’s movements just in case he gets sneaky.”

Bailey blew out a breath.

“You got enough to migraine over, B. Let me and Val handle Tyler. We got eyes on him twenty-four seven. So no need to worry.”

At first, Bailey was going to open his mouth and say thank you, but felt it odd that they had someone watching him like a hawk…twenty-four seven? Yeah, he asked Jerry to help him manage his brother just in case the big guy ran across his brother’s scheming since they worked for the same company…but Val too? He knew with Val’s connections to the mob world, she had the resources to keep an eyes on the troublemaker…but why did she volunteer to help? Because Jerry asked? Or did Matt ask? “You have people…spying on Tyler every second?”

“Yep. You asked me to help keep him out of trouble didn’t you? How else you plan to keep that one in check? So, I recruited Val because… She knows people.” Jerry chuckled. “Hate to break it to you, B, but it takes a village for him.”

Bailey groaned. “Thanks.”

“Mmm, hmm. Anyway, you look stressed. Get some sleep, you’ll be no good to the munchkins if you’re not on your toes, daddy. Later.”

Bailey nodded then paused and glanced around, wondering how Jerry knew how he looked. Was he in the hospital? Then he saw the security camera on the ceiling of the hallway. Shaking his head, he waved at it, ignoring the security guards’ strange glances.

That conversation had been early that morning.

Now it was around lunch and he tried focusing on his baby nutrition lesson. But he still couldn’t help but worry.

Then a loud booming voice woke him from his fears.

“Bailey! My favorite QB!”

Bailey whipped his head around at the noisy voice. “George, what the hell? You see I’m busy.”

George ignored his glare and rushed him, lifting him bodily from the stool Bailey had been sitting on and squeezed the shit out of him. Then he dropped Bailey onto his feet. “I can’t believe you started the show without me! I didn’t even have time to grab baby gifts.”

“Show? This ain’t television,” Bailey said shaking out his limbs after being squeezed like a plushie.

“Sorry. Wrong choice of words.”

“Why didn’t you go find your wife?” Bailey asked sitting back down.

“I did! Then she shooed me away and told me where to find you.” The red-head leaned toward the table filled with pamphlets and booklets. “Ooo, whatcha learning?” He picked up a brochure and flipped through it.

“Learning how to take care of my kids. You should stay and listen for when Molly has one.”

George’s eyes brightened, then dimmed as he slouched. “I love my Molly cake, but I don’t think she wants kids.”

“Really? She was talking to me like she was thinking about it.”

“Whoa.” He perked up, and started grabbing a bunch of pamphlets like he was at some all-you-can-eat buffet. “Do you have a bag I can stuff these in?”

Bailey and the nurse looked at him like he’d lost his mind.

At that moment, the door swung open.

“Bailey!” Molly’s excited voice had him up on his feet before she could utter another word. He ran past her out of the room and down the hall. Was Cody finally awake? Bailey should’ve waited for Molly to finish, but he was too anxious. It had been almost a full day. They had expected her to be awake already, but his best friend seemed to like sleep more. Then again, she’d always been a heavy sleeper.

Sure enough, when he got into the room, Cody was laying looking like she just woke, eyes still in a daze. Leaned up on his elbow and laying beside her on another hospital bed that was pushed next to her, Matt watched as Cody got used to her surroundings. Val stood close by, holding a cup of water.

“Hey,” Bailey said walking in with Molly and George coming behind her.

She smiled faintly blinking slowly. “Yo.”

“Stupid question, but how do you feel?” He asked stepping up beside Val to look down at her.

“The pain sucks. But I’m good. How are the kids, Dad?” She asked lazily.

He scratched his nose embarrassed. “So far…amazing.”

There was a knock on the door before it was pushed open with doctors and nurses piling in. Bailey and his family all moved to the side to allow them to check her over and make sure she was fully aware, no brain damage or other issues

Once they finished the preliminary check-up, they scheduled more tests for an hour later. After the medical team left, Bailey took a seat on the bed beside Cody.

“Is Gabe still sleep?” Cody asked.

“Yes, we’ve already moved him to a more comfortable location.” Val answered.

Cody frowned and tilted her head in confusion. Then those green eyes narrowed, “He’s not here in the hospital?”

“We can talk about it later. Once you’ve completed all your tests and everything looks good.” Val answered.

Cody nodded slowly, taking the water that Val handed out to her. She slowly drank then paused looking up at everyone. Then she glanced down at the glass of water. “Is it drugged?”

“No,” Val said confused.

“Then why the hell are all of you staring at me?” Cody asked screwing up her beautiful face in disapproval.

“Cause, your highness, you’ve been unconscious forever, and we’re trying to make sure you’re really okay since we love you to pieces. Is that okay with you, Princess Molly number two?” Molly answered batting her long lashes innocently one hand landing on her hip lick some’s mother.

Bailey groaned.

Cody’s eyes grew big. “Who the hell is Princess Molly number two?” And thus started the sisterly fight that proved that Cody was just fine and Molly was overly ecstatic.

****

That evening after Cody finally got out of bed, she walked with Bailey to the nursery where the babies were incubating. After all the tests, most of them came back with normal levels, but the doctors wanted to keep her for a few days for observation.

Bailey helped her scrub down and gown up so they could go into the controlled environment of the nursery. Once they were both inside and sitting next to the incubator, Cody smiled a dazzling expression.

“I can’t believe they came out of me. So weird.” Cody chuckled face nearly pressed to the glass.

“They did, Mama Cody.”

She laughed louder, the sound addictive. Then her face dimmed. “Is it alright? To call me that?” Her face drooped. “I was just a surrogate after all.”

“Seriously? Cody, you’re my best friend – my sister, my family. I don’t see you as just a surrogate. If you want to be a mother to them, I welcome it. They’ll need a tough mother to keep me from spoiling them.”

“But…” She turned to face him, with a melancholy expression. “Tyler might get jealous and Gabe…fucking Gabe.” She leaned back into her chair looking bitter.

“First, Tyler will probably barely interact with Sabrina and Shaw, but I’ll work on him. And you don’t have to be worried about him being jealous, because he’ll probably be thrilled if you took the twins so he can have me to himself. Second, Gabe loves you.”

Cody snorted. “Well, he has a funny way of showing it.”

Bailey didn’t want to get involved in their relationship, hoping they would work it out, but Cody’s sadness over the past month now seemed to morph into anger. “I can guess the fight had something to do with the twins. But now that the babies are born, isn’t it something that can be fixed?”

“I don’t know. Now that you’ve told me I can be a part of the babies’ lives, I want to be. So it’s up to Gabe to decide if he can put up with that. Because I’m fucking tired of compromising to be with my friends and family for that asshole.” Then she got up and left, leaving Bailey stunned.

What happened that Cody, who was big-hearted and always forgiving, appeared so upset and even curse the man she loved?

This was one of the few times he hoped that Tyler’s plan really worked to reconcile Gabe and Cody.