There was a silent conversation going on with the Cahills. You didn’t have to be a genius to figure it out. What exactly that conversation was about, I didn’t know. But I intended to find out. I wouldn’t say anything about what Mason and I had talked about earlier, but there was more to it than that.
Mom came over and put her head on my shoulder. “Are you hanging in there?”
I nodded, “Yeah, the best I can.”
Lynn walked back in the room with a small smile on her face. Mom lifted her head off my shoulder and grabbed my hand.
“MacKenzie’s going to be ok, at least for now. They are taking her down to get a CAT scan, just to see if they missed something.”
I sighed in relief. My mom squeezed my hand and I could feel her palms sweating. Mrs. Cahill walked over and patted my shoulder weakly.
“The doctors think she might have had a seizure, but they can’t be too sure without the scan.” Lynn looked at Mrs. Cahill and then glanced at Mom before making eye contact with me. “She was awake for a few minutes and she was saying your name.”
I closed my eyes and my head fell forward.
“That’s great news, Hunter.” Mom said.
I whispered, “I know.”
Later that day, Mr. Cahill stopped in and bought us all pizza, which I was immensely thankful for — I didn’t feel like eating shitty cafeteria food again. Everyone took turns going in and checking on CC. She was resting peacefully again now and the doctors had confirmed that she had suffered a seizure. They said there was a small chance of her having brain damage but they would not know until she woke up.
Mason, Cooper and Mr. Cahill excused themselves for a little while; I figured they were going to talk about what their father found out earlier. I didn’t have the energy to waste on worrying over that shit right now. I knew if it were something serious they would tell me.
Hailey was the last one to visit CC before everyone left for the night. She kissed the baby on his head and whispered, “Take care of your mama little one, and while you’re at it your dad could use a little care too.”
I smiled at her. She gave me a one armed hug, careful not to hit the baby in my arms. “I freshened her up for you. You can thank me later.” She kissed the side of my head and walked towards the door.
Mason gave me our signature handshake and then said, “Go take care of my sister.” He bent his head and kissed our little man before grabbing Hailey’s hand and leaving.
“Well it looks like it is just me and you little guy, you ready to go see your mom?”
He grunted, I guess that was my answer.
I placed him in the bassinet and then strolled down the hall to CC’s room.
When we walked in I cracked a little smile. Hailey had freshened up CC, just like she’d said. Her hair was piled into a very loose bun on top of her head, her face had just a touch of make-up and her lips shimmered slightly. She looked like Sleeping Beauty.
I took our little man back out of the bassinet and stood close to CC. I wanted nothing more than to hold both my babies in my arms at that moment.
I decided right then that I was going to press my luck. I placed the baby in the bassinet for just a second. I turned back to CC; put my arms behind her neck and under her knees and moved her over just a little bit. I reached for the collar of my shirt and pulled it over my head and threw it on the chair, then took the baby out of his onesie. I picked him and his blanket up and ever so gently climbed into bed with CC.
The three of us cuddled together. We needed to smell her. To feel her breathe. To hold her.
No matter what struggles lay before us, we would keep going, because we had the will and strength to overcome it all. No matter what was beyond our control, nothing could ever take away from the family bond we made right at that moment.
6
A week passed and CC still hadn’t regained consciousness. The doctors were saying they were leaving her to wake up naturally. She had the surgery to fix her crushed ankle, which was now in a cast, along with her wrist. The nurse removed the stitches from her forehead that morning. The bruises on her body were yellowing, but her skin was pasty white, not the normal milky white that I loved. I missed staring into her bright blue eyes. I missed the way she kissed me. I missed her voice.
The baby and I were adjusting. He was being released today. Jaylinn and Cooper were going to be staying with us to help me look after him while I ran up to the hospital for a few hours each day. If they had to work, Chloe, Mrs. Cahill or my mom would come over. Chloe offered to keep him overnight tonight, but I wasn’t ready for him to be out of my sight for too long.
I was standing in the kitchen, washing the baby’s bottles and getting ready for his homecoming when Cooper walked in behind me, still half asleep.
He mumbled something to me that sounded like “good morning” but I couldn’t be sure. It was only 5:35 a.m. and Cooper wasn’t a morning person.
“Did I wake you up?” I asked him through a yawn.
“No, your sister did. She’s f**king nuts to sleep with. She elbowed me in the eye.” He shook his head. “Last night she punched me in the nose.”
Good, serves him right; he shouldn’t be sleeping with her anyway. They were still claiming that nothing was going on between them. “Maybe you shouldn’t sleep with her; you know you do have your own f**king house.”
He grumbled. He knew I was f**king with him. I appreciated everything that everyone was doing for us, but I still didn’t like him being with my sister. He was the biggest player out of all of us.
“So did you name my nephew yet or what?” He asked, taking the OJ out of the fridge.
“No. I don’t want to name him without your sister.”
“Well it’s kinda weird when someone asks me what his name is. I don’t want to keep talking about Kenzie every time someone wants to know.” I nodded my head; I knew what he meant. People were asking me too. “You’re going to have to name him today before you can bring him home.”
“I know. It just doesn’t seem right to without her.”
“Well until you decide, I’m calling him Chaos.”
I looked over at him with my eyebrows pulled together. Chaos. Okay, I like that, and it does seem fitting.
“If you don’t like it, we can call him something else.” Cooper said.
“No. No, I like it. It fits. He was born into the chaos.” I grabbed a burp rag off the counter and smiled all the way back to the bedroom. The more I thought about it, the more I liked it.