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Chapter Ten

That night after the last of our visitors had left and Liv lay sleeping peacefully (thank you, drugs), I headed down to the NICU.

Noah Gene Carter had arrived in this world almost exactly ten months after his sister. Even though his weight was decent and his APGAR test scores were good, he had developed a little bit of jaundice that had landed him in an incubator in the NICU. I tried to stay positive. The way I looked at it, he was just chilling in his own little crib under special lights with two other late pre-term babies.

“You’re not even a day old and you have your own place,” I teased him as I settled into a chair next to the incubator. He was wearing these little tiny eye shields to protect him from the light. They made him look like a fly. A cute fly, but still a fly.

I stuck my hand through the armhole in the side of the incubator and stroked his head.

Liv had gone to pieces when Dr. Tresher had told her that Noah was going to have to stay in the NICU until the jaundice was under control. We had both hoped that because of his decent weight that we might be able to take him home as quickly as we did with Brooklyn.

“There’s a lot more involved then weight,” Dr. Tresher had explained. “We need to monitor the jaundice and test organ function and monitor breathing. Then we need to make sure his sucking reflex is strong and that he’s able to hold down milk and be able to pass urine and stool.”

“Noah, you need to do a couple things for daddy, okay?” I whispered. His little miniscule fingers opened and closed. “I need you to drink a lot of mommy’s milk; since you’re my son, that shouldn’t be a problem. Carters are boob men, remember that. Then you need to take a nice big poop. Preferably when Uncle Brian comes to visit tomorrow, alright?”

He squinched up his face and I prepared myself for a cry. Instead he yawned.

I felt like I hadn’t slept in about a month. I pressed my forehead against the glass.

“I think your dad should get some sleep. What do you think Noah?”

I looked over at Dr. Tresher. She must have snuck up behind me when I wasn’t looking. She smiled and placed a hand on my shoulder.

“You’re going to have a long day tomorrow. Get some rest.”

I glanced at my watch. It was two o’clock in the morning.

“What are you still doing here?”

“I came to check on my favorite little patient,” she said. I sat there and watched as she checked him over with the gentle precise care that only someone who had years of experience could give.

“He’s a tired little guy,” she finally said. “His heart looks great. We’ll check him tomorrow. I have no doubt a little bit of light treatment will pink him up again.”

“Thank you,” I whispered. Dr. Tresher shook her head.

“It’s my job, Nick. Now please follow doctor’s orders and get some sleep. Liv’s going to need you just as much tomorrow as she has these past few weeks.”

I stuck my hands in my pockets. “I know. Good night.”

“Good night, Nick.”

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“This is the longest walk of my life.”

“Just take your time, sweetie.”

“I feel like I’ve been sawed in half.”

During Dr. Tresher’s rounds, she had advised Liv that she needed to get up and start getting the blood circulating again. Of course, getting up right after getting your stomach split open was easier said than done. I was currently helping Liv to the bathroom with the assistance of a nurse. If I had my way I would have carried her. The pain written on her face was killing me.

“We’re at the door,” I said encouragingly. I opened the door and the nurse walked Liv in the rest of the way.

“That toilet seat’s a long way down,” she said wearily.

“I can get you a riser," the nurse offered.

“Great. You might as well get me a Metamucil and some prunes while I’m at it.”

The nurse looked at her blankly. Liv’s eyes swam with tears.

Old people need risers.”

Liv had been incredibly emotional the day after Brooklyn was born but this time the hormones were mixed with the pain from the surgery and the stress of Noah being in the NICU. She had cried the entire time she pumped breast milk this morning.

“Honey, just take a riser,” I said. She sniffled.

“Okay.”

Twenty minutes later I held onto her hands so she could lower herself back down into bed. She stopped and shook her head.

“I want to go to the NICU,” she said.

“We can go later. Go ahead and rest for a little bit,” I said.

“Nick, I need to see him.”

How could I argue with that? Using my foot, I scooted over the wheelchair. The nurse came over and helped Liv turn around and sit down into the seat. I kicked down the foot rests.

“Let’s roll,” I said.

As I wheeled her up to Noah’s incubator I saw Liv lean forward. She moaned, but it didn’t stop her from wanting, no needing, to go as close as possible.

“Hey Noah,” she said softly. She reached her hand through the armhole and touched the bottom of his foot.

“How’s my baby boy doing?”

I knelt down next to Liv’s wheelchair and put one of my arms through as well. I wanted to hold him again so badly it hurt.

“He’s already looking better,” one of the NICU nurses said, stopping by the incubator.

Liv smiled gratefully. “That’s because he’s tough like his daddy.”

“When was his last feeding?” I asked.

“About an hour ago. He took it right down. Bodily functions are working well too.”

So he didn’t wait for Uncle Brian, but that was okay. I would happily change all the poopy diapers in the world to get him out of the incubator sooner.

We spent about a half hour by Noah’s side, talking and stroking him softly. It was hard to tell if he was sleeping or awake with the little eye patches on, but it didn’t matter. He was here and we could touch him and see him and that was enough. Finally, I saw Liv lean against the back of the wheelchair; the pain too much to hide.

“Time to take you back to the room,” I said, standing up.

“Just five more minutes,” she begged.

“I promise we will come back later today,” I said. She sighed and closed her eyes.

By the time we made it back into the room, we had visitors. Brian bounced up out of his chair the moment we came through the door. Leighanne came over and leaned over Liv, hugging her gently.

“How are you doing?” Brian asked seriously. For all the insane joking around we did, there were times when we could actually act our age. This moment happened to be one of them.

“We just came from the NICU,’ I said in way of explanation. “He’s doing better today.”

“That’s good to hear. You’ve been in our thoughts and prayers constantly since Kevin called,” Leighanne said.

“Where’s Baylee and Kayleigh?” Liv asked.

“My sister’s watching them,” Leighanne said.

“Well, let me get Liv in bed and then stay and have some delicious hospital food with us,” I said. Livvy laughed; that simple action caused her to let out a cry of pain.

“I’m sorry,” I said. Liv’s hands wrapped around my arms and I hoisted her from the chair and helped her ease down into bed. She placed a soft pillow over her abdomen and situated herself on the hard hospital mattress.

”Who’s going to help you when you go home?” Leighanne asked worriedly.

“I am,” I said.

“No offense buddy, but she’s going to need more than you,” Brian said.

“My mom’s going to stay with me,” Liv said. “And Angel.”

“Do you know how long you’ll be in the hospital?” Leighanne asked.

“Well my vitals are almost completely back to normal. Dr. Tresher said if everything continues this way that I’ll be released in four days.”

“What about Noah?” Brian asked.

“It depends on how fast the jaundice disappears and also on weight gain. I know they want him at about five and a half pounds before releasing him. I can’t imagine him being here more than two weeks,” I explained. I looked at Brian.

“I’m not going to go on the publicity junket man, I’m sorry.”

Brian looked at me like I was crazy. “We already knew that. Don’t be sorry. We’re just going to sit on couches and hype the fabulousness of our amazing harmonies,” he said, breaking into a grin. “I’ve already suggested that we use a blow-up doll as your substitute. No one will probably know the difference.”

I stuck my tongue out. “Very funny.”

“Have you guys started choreography?”

Brian nodded. “Yeah, but we’re not going to do as much as we did last tour. Kevin’s back is still whacked up and AJ’s knee is going to hell. We figured that if we were really feeling energetic that we could put more dancing in the second leg of the tour. I know that you’ll be able to pick up on what we have done easily. Luckily, the dancers have the harder moves so they’ll make us look good.”

“Who do we have for dancers?”

“Let’s see,” Brian said thoughtfully. He held up his left hand and counted them off as he went along. “There’s Ashley…she’s a red-head. Then there’s Tanesha who looks like Tyra Banks. Kiki hails from China and Yasmine comes to us directly from the last Justin Timberlake video.”

“That’s only four,” I pointed out.

Brian wiggled his last finger. “Oh! Yeah, Kevin and AJ hired back one of the dancers from last year.”

I felt my stomach clench a little bit. “Oh? Which one?”

“Andrea.”

“Andrea?” Liv said with a smile. “Wonderful. I haven’t seen her since the wedding.”

“She was your roommate for the tour wasn’t she?” I asked.

Liv nodded. “Yup.”

“Until you became her roommate,” Brian teased.

“Well, I’m sure she’s excited to have been picked,” Liv said.

I nodded. I had a feeling it wasn’t her dancing skills that had gotten her a spot on the Backstreet dance squad.

“Nick?”

I looked up. I had the distinct feeling that I had just been told something.

“Huh?”

“Didn’t you hear me?”

I shook my head. “Sorry, just…tired.”

Brian smiled sympathetically. “You do look exhausted. I was just saying that we had to change our schedule around a little bit this summer.”

“Why?”

“Rochelle’s pregnant. She’s due in June. With twins.”

I looked at him in surprise. “Really?”

Brian nodded. “Yeah, AJ told us last week. They wanted to get through the first trimester first. After all the miscarriages…they just wanted to be sure.”

I smiled. “That’s terrific.”

With that good news in mind, I tried to be a little more optimistic. Andrea had been a good dancer. Maybe that was all there was to it. AJ had promised me that his lapse of sanity had been a one-time deal. Things had to be better now. Andrea wasn’t…no couldn’t be a tour plaything.

Right?