Without a Sound, Everything Changes

[carolina_stokes]

There was no sound, nothing at all, except for...

Carolina was puttering in the kitchen, putting the last touches on the chocolate banana cake that she was making for Nick's birthday. All week, she had played delibrately dense, not mentioning his special day.

Of course, nothing could be farther from the truth.

Comments

[sara_alexis]

Sara could sense that something was wrong, and it wasn't just because of the yelling. So, she picked up the phone, held it up to her head, and pressed Daddy's button like Mama said.

As it started making phone sounds, Sara ran over to Mama to see what was happening.

"I call Daddy."

[carolina_stokes]

"Thank you sweetheart. When Daddy comes on the phone, could you tell him to come home right now? And if Uncle Gil or Uncle Greg or someone else answers, ask them to get Daddy right away, okay? Tell them it's an emergency."

Carolina was trying to smile, while trying to relax in this uncomfortable position. "You're such a big girl helper, Sara."

[_nickstokes_]

When Nick answered the phone, Sara was still receiving instructions from Carolina. "Hello?" He heard Sara's voice asking questions. "Sara?"

She spoke into the phone for a brief second. "Hi, Daddy."

"Sara? Hello? Babygirl?"

"Daddy say hi! Whuz mergency Mama?

Emergency. That was loud and clear, enough to get Nick up from his desk.

[carolina_stokes]

"Tell Daddy to come home, because I think the babies want to come and say hi, okay?" Carolina was trying to get up, but she was still kind of winded.

"Sara, tell your Daddy to come home right now, and ask him to call Uncle Bane on his cellphone so he can come to the house, okay?" It wouldn't be long before Dwee would wake up, and the nanny still wasn't back yet.

[_nickstokes_]

"Actually, I think that would be pretty cool. It would be the best present I ever got." Nick smiled, giving her a kiss back before opening the door for her. Bane had already pushed the seat all the way back in preparation. "Plus, we could have three cakes."

He helped her in, making sure she was comfortable and buckled in securely before running around to the driver's side.

"You sure we have a while? I can grab the blue light from my car to get us there faster." Partially kidding, partially not. "I mean, I'm going to drive fast, but I could drive faster."

[carolina_stokes]

"As long as you don't get stuck someplace for hours, we should be fine, Nicky." Carolina stretched her legs out. "Three cakes? Hmmmm, I think that could be arranged. Oh, and I suppose the surprise is out of the bag, but your family is supposed to be here, today, for a barbeque for your birthday, Nick."

Carolina chuckled as her cell rang. It was Ryan, who had landed at the airport with Elizabeth, and they were en route to the house. "No...don't come to the hospital, yet. Just stay with the kids and make sure everything is okay for Nick's folks."

Hanging up, she winced in pain as a strong contraction rolled through her body.

[_nickstokes_]

"Carolee?" Nick saw her hurting and somehow managed to slip his hand into hers, giving it a gentle squeeze. There wasn't much else he could do, except let her know he was there for her one hundred percent, and of course, drive her to the hospital, very quickly. "I love you."

"Don't forget to breathe." It was the only standard birthing line he could remember at the moment.

[carolina_stokes]

Carolina chuckled, squeezing Nick's hand gratefully. "I love you, too, and don't worry. I've done this before."

They drove on, and Caro didn't worry about how fast Nick was driving. She knew that he would take care of her, and that he was a great driver.

"Your mother is going to be very excited."

[_nickstokes_]

"Carolee, Carolee! Look!" Nick was beaming with pride for both his strong, wonderful, amazing wife and his new, itty bitty (and slimy) daughter. "There she is! Wow..."

Surprisingly, he still had function left in his hand, and as Carolina's death grip loosened, he leaned kissed her forehead and gave her hand a gentle squeeze.

"Do you want to cut the cord, Dad?" The doctor offered Nick a pair of surgical scissors, which Nick eagerly accepted. It was almost a rite of passage. One little snip and their tiny baby girl was handed off to one of the nurses to be weighed and examined on the small table against the wall.

"She's beautiful, like her Mama." Nick grinned and gave Carolina another kiss.

[carolina_stokes]

Carolina smiled, which turned into a grimace as another contraction hit. "She's a pushy little miss, Nicky. You may have to deal with that later."

The baby was wailing, as the nurses suctioned her nose and throat and did all of the tests.

"Okay, Mom, it looks like we have a few minutes. Just breathe and try to relax." The doctor moved over to look at the baby girl, while Caro made a face at Nick. Only a man would tell a woman in labor to relax.

[_nickstokes_]

Nick looked over at the doctor with his eyebrows raised, then back at Carolina. "Want me to call Dr. Smith?" Nick asked in a low voice. "I bet she could teach this guy a lesson or two."

The baby was still wailing, more so than before now that the doctor was looking at her. Nick frowned. "I don't think she likes him either."

After a quick exam by Doogie Howser, a nurse brought their baby girl over, wrapped in a pink blanket. She was still whimpering, and her little hand was poking out, as if to protest all the moving around. "We're going to take her to get looked at more thoroughly in a little bit, but for now I think she wants to say hi to her mom and dad."

[carolina_stokes]

"I think it's too late, but yeah, we should call her, just to let her know." Carolina chuckled, while she shifted to a more comfortable position.

When the nurse brought her over, Carolina smiled at Nick, nodding so the nurse hands the baby to her daddy. "Oh, Nicky...I think we have another daddy's girl there, love. She's got your eyes, honey."

[_nickstokes_]

Nick stared at the nurse who had put his son in a purple hat. "Uh huh..." He didn't want to be rude, so he gave her a smile and nod. The nurse handed him to Nick, blissfully unaware of his dissatisfaction with the purple on his son.

As soon as she left the room, Nick looked at Carolina with his eyebrows raised. "How can they run out of blue hats? Really? Just pink and purple? Purple isn't really that neutral."

He looked down at the baby and was surprised to see him looking back with big bright eyes. "Hey...look at you, all wide awake. Daddy's gonna go look in the gift shop later to see if I can't find you a blue hat."

[carolina_stokes]

"I saved your hat, once Dwee outgrew it." Carolina chuckled at Nick's reaction. The orderlies came in to move her to a regular maternity suite, which was private and would have chairs and a cot for Nick in it. Dr. Smith assured her that if all went well, she should be able to go home tomorrow, as long as she agreed to rest for a couple of days, at least.

"Oh, and there's a growing crowd in the waiting room, including a young lady who informed me quite sternly that there was no Elmo allowed because she was the big sister." Doctor Smith laughed, and walked with them to the room, and helped settle Carolina in the bed.

[_nickstokes_]

Once Carolina was settled comfortably in bed, Nick pulled up a chair so they could be next to each other. He knew that if Sara got her way, it wouldn't be long before the rest of their family made their way into the room. And if they didn't, he would go out to get them in a few minutes.

"Should we name these two before we're completely surrounded and they start crying?" He grinned and held the baby, so Carolina could see his little face and so that he could see his mama and sister.

[carolina_stokes]

"Well...I like Emily. Miranda. Chloe." Carolina gently rocked the sleeping little girl. "I kind of like the idea of Nicole."

Looking at their son, she smiled, and made a funny face to him. "Andrew? Michael? I like Marcus, or Jacob."

She leaned over and kissed Nick gently. "I like simple names. Nothing that can get them beat up or made fun of."

[_nickstokes_]

Even with the gift bag clutched in her left hand, Sara managed to climb up on the chair that was next to the bed to get a good view. She smiled at her new brother and sister and got as close as she could. "Hi! Emmie Jacup, look I got you presents. See?" Digging through the tissue paper, Sara pulled out something pink for her new sister and something blue for her new brother.

Nick chuckled and took Dwee from Bane. "Hey, Little Man... You're a big brother, buddy." After giving his boy a kiss on the forehead, he took him over to Carolina's bedside to see the new babies. "You wanna say hi? Don't worry. We'll get him a new hat later."

[carolina_stokes]

Jacob let out a little squeak, but Emily just snoozed. Being born is hard work for a little girl. Carolina leaned up carefully to kiss both Sara and Dwee, mindfull of the tiny bundles in her arms.

"Sara, you did a wonderful job. Those are just perfect, honey. You're a super big sister." Carolina grinned at Nick, holding Dwee. "Son, what do you think of your little brother and sister? Huh? Pretty neat, huh?"

Bane grunted and grinned. "We're gonna need another nanny, boss. Seriously."

[sara_alexis]

Getting on her knees, Sara carefully moved on to the bed to put the new toys next to the babies, and since she was there, she decided to snuggle up against Carolina. She pointed to Jacob. "Baby likes me, Mama. He say hi."

Nick sat down and let Dwee stand on up on his lap to see the babies. Nick was a little worried Dwee didn't like the babies because he still hadn't said anything about them, other than his comment about the purple.

"Look Dwee...that's your new sister Emmie and your new brother Jake. Can you say Emmie and Jake?"

[carolina_stokes]

"Jake loves his big sister...and brother." Caro looked at Dwee, who was wriggling around in his daddy's arms. "Emmie's still sleepy. But she's going to love her present, Sara. I know she will."

"MY MAMA." Dwee pointed at the babies and shook his head. Uh, oh...Caro was worried about that. He was at that possessive stage age. "Bebe go 'way."

"Dwee, honey. The babies just got here." Carolina smiled at Nick. This was to be expected. They would have to make sure that both Dwee and Sara got lots of attention.