Chapter 14
September
Chapter List
Nick pushed shut the freezer drawer just as the oven timer dinged. He went over and pulled out the pre-made pie crust he had bought earlier in the week and set it on the island by the bowls to cool. He opened the vanilla ice cream container and scooped some out in to the three bowls he had already sitting on the counter. Next, he poured out apple pie filler onto his and Elijah's ice cream, and cherry onto Greg's. Both fillings had been heated up and allowed to cool just enough so as not to melt the ice cream right away.
He began to crumble the pie crust up and poured that on top of the ice cream confections, followed by whipped cream. He put the ice cream and whipped cream away and placed the bowls in front of their island stools.
Greg walked in a few seconds later and dropped down onto his stool, "Elijah's coming. He had to pick up his puzzle." He looked over at the hallway, "Have you noticed that his stuffed up nose is almost constant now? He's also been tugging on his ear lately, not to mention those ear aches he actually complained about."
Nick nodded and sat down across from Greg, "I noticed."
"Jessie Conway mentioned it as well when I went to pick him up this afternoon from daycare. She said she was getting concerned." Greg paused to take a drink of his soda, left over from dinner, "I think we should make a doctors appointment for him."
Elijah walked into the room then, his fingers tugging on his earlobe. He walked over and leaned against Greg's thigh before popping his thumb into his mouth, an action they were beginning to see more of outside of just when he was waking up. Greg exchanged a worried look with Nick when he noticed that Elijah's mouth did not close around his thumb. He looked down and ran his fingers through Elijah's hair and brushed his fringe up and away from his forehead, "Want some ice cream, sproglet?"
Elijah shrugged and peered up at his dad with his big, brown eyes, "up please?"
It was a quiet request and asked in a tone that Greg couldn't refuse. He leaned over and lifted his son up onto his lap, so Elijah was sitting with both legs between his own. He pulled Elijah's ice cream within reaching distance and started in on his own, practically moaning as he tasted the concoction for the first time. It was almost like eating a cherry pie ala mode.
He went to shovel another spoonful into his mouth when Nick caught his eyes. Nick looked down at Elijah then back up at Greg, indicating his need to look at their son. Greg did so and frowned. Elijah had eaten away all of the whipped cream first, not an uncommon occurrence, but he had stopped after one bite into the smashed pie crust and apple filling. His face was a bit red and his eyes had a glassy sheen to them because of rising tears.
Greg set his bowl down on the island and rested the back of his hand against Elijah's forehead, "You have a fever." He muttered, pulling his hand back. He was surprised he hadn't felt the heat when he had ran his hand through his hair only moments before, but that was neither here nor there.
"hot." Elijah said with a nod, knowing and remembering what a fever felt like from his time with the chicken pox, "huwt too." He continued, pointing to his neck and nose.
"Nick..." Greg said, pushing away from the island and standing up. He set Elijah on the bar stool and had his son open his mouth so he could look inside.
"I'll go get his coat." Nick said, getting up and heading to the hall closet across from the stairs.
Greg acknowledged Nick's words with a nod of his head before he ducked down to see if he could see anything. Elijah's throat looked a lot redder than in should have been. He straightened up as Nick came back in carrying the small, nylon jacket. He wiped his thumb along Elijah's cheeks to wipe away the silent tears that were beginning to fall as Nick slipped the jacket up Elijah's arms.
Greg picked him up and tightened his arms around Elijah as his son burrowed close, his head resting on his shoulder. His right hand thumb was back in his mouth and his left hand had raised to grab hold Greg's shirt collar near the side of his neck.
Nick made sure to grab his cell phone off the table as well as Greg's before following them out to the garage, stopping only to grab the Tahoe's keys off the key hook in the mudroom. Walking into the garage, he wasn't at all surprised to see Greg in the back seat with Elijah.
The trip to the hospital was quiet, the only sounds were the trucks tires on the pavement and Greg's quiet words of comfort to his son. Nick occasionally glanced back via the rear view mirror, his concern and worry deepening each time he looked.
Nick pulled up the hospital drive and parked near the doors leading to the ER. By that time, Elijah was full out crying and was tugging and rubbing at his ear. Greg quickly unbuckled Elijah and climbed out of the truck. He turned and gently pulled Elijah out of the car seat and into his arms.
Nick joined them and shut the truck door once the two Sanders men were clear of impact. He watched while they made their way towards the stairs for the ER door as Greg gently pulled Elijah's hand away from his ear and took up rubbing and massaging in its place.
The ER nurse looked up from behind the glass partition as they walked in, taking in the massaging around the child's ear, the lack of proper sniffling despite the full out crying, and the crying that was practically silent. She quickly pulled forms out from under the desk and got a pen ready. The look of concern on both of the mens faces indicated that one of them, if not both, was the father and fathers tended to be forceful where their children were concerned. Usually.
Even though she had an idea, she had to ask, "What seems to be the problem?"
"Strong ear ache, consistently plugged nose, sore throat..." Nick trailed off and looked at Greg, trying to think if there was anything else.
"He's been tugging and rubbing on his ear for the past few weeks. I also checked his throat before we left and it was much more red than normal."
The ER nurse nodded and wrote all of that information down, "Anything else?"
"A fever. That started tonight before the ear ache became bad, but I don't know how high it is." Greg answered, pressing a kiss to Elijah's head.
"All right. I'll need you to fill out these forms. Do you have insurance?"
"Yes." Greg turned to Nick, who reached out and plucked Elijah out of Greg's arms.
As Greg sat down to fill out the forms, Nick walked over to the waiting area and sat down on one of the blue vinyl chairs. Elijah rested against his chest in much the same way Greg had been carrying him, with his head resting on a shoulder and his legs resting on both sides of Nick's stomach.
Nick massaged the ear with his right hand as his left made its usual sweeping motions along the tiny back. He lowered his head to rest against Elijah's, turning it slightly to watch Greg fill out the paperwork with a shaky hand.
After about ten minutes, the nurse came out of her office area and walked over to Nick and Elijah, "I have a bracelet for him if you could hold out his wrist?"
Nick nodded and used the hand that had been massaging the ear to gently tug Elijah's left hand from his shirt collar. The nurse slipped the plastic laminated band around the tiny wrist offered to her and snapped it shut just as Greg joined them, dropping down on to the seat attached to Nicks.
"It will only be a few more minutes." The nurse said, before an elderly couple pulled her attention away.
Greg leaned against Nick's shoulder and reached up to rub his fingers at the base of Elijah's neck. Elijah lift his head and shifted his body just enough so he could turn and look at his dad, while still laying on Nick's chest, "How you doing sproglet?" Greg asked, his voice just above a whisper.
Elijah shrugged a shoulder as Nick reached up to wipe his nose with a tissue he had gotten off of one of the end tables.
"Sanders?"
Nick and Greg both looked over to the swinging doors before standing up. They followed the new nurse to an observation room and when she motioned for Nick to place Elijah on the bed against the wall, Nick just sat down on it instead while keeping Elijah in his arms.
The nurse didn't bat an eyelash at this, instead working around Nick as she took Elijah's temperature, blood pressure and checked his ears. Whatever it was that she saw in the right ear made her frown slightly and when she looked in the left, her frown deepened considerably. She wrote something down on the chart and headed towards the door, "The doctor will be with you in a few minutes." She said over her shoulder just before she walked out.
As the door clicked shut, Greg leaned against the bed with his hand resting on Elijah's thigh, "Wonder what she saw?"
"With the past few weeks and the sudden onset of everything tonight, I'm wondering if he has an infection of some kind." Nick replied and after a pause added, "I wonder why the ER is so slow right now? It's only seven."
Greg snorted, "I doubt it'll be like this for long. We probably just managed to hit a lull in the incomings."
"Hmm."
Nick didn't have much of a chance to respond as the door opened and a man not much older then Greg walked in, Elijah's chart in hand, "Hello, I'm Dr. Kavanagh. Let's get this little guy checked out." He set the chart on the counter and grabbed a fresh pair of gloves, pausing to glance at Nick and Greg, "He's not allergic to latex, is he? Most people will tell me, but a few accidents have happened and I now find in necessary to ask."
Greg shook his head, "No, not to latex."
"All right." Dr. Kavanagh pulled them on and grabbed a tongue depressor from a glass jar next to the wall. He turned to face them and with no indication of wanting Elijah out of Nick's arms, he stepped forward with a small, comforting smile, "Okay, Elijah, I need you to open your mouth for me. Can you do that?"
Elijah looked at Greg, who nodded and smiled in reassurance, "k."
"A little wider," Dr. Kavanagh pressed the long piece of wood to Elijah's tongue, "Can you say 'Ah' for me?"
Elijah did as asked and the doctor nodded and hummed a bit to himself as he straightened up. He marked something down on the chart before grabbing the ear machine the nurse had used and pulled it closer. Before actually using it, however, he ran his fingers along Elijah's neck as well as under and behind his ears.
After he used the ear machine, followed by similar looking device on Elijah's nose, Dr. Kavanagh pulled off the gloves and leaned against the counter, arms crossed, "I would like to admit him. He's got a severe middle ear infection as well as irritated tonsils and swollen adenoids. The adenoids are going to have to be removed and I suggest doing just a partial tonsillectomy for now. As for his ears, is this his first severe ear ache? It says that he's been rubbing and pulling his ears lately but..."
"He's only had two others that he actually complained about and we treated them with ear drops." Nick replied.
Dr. Kavanagh nodded, "If this is his third, I'm going to suggest having tubes put in. All three things can be done at once, but he will have to be put to sleep. If it was just the tonsils or just the ears, it would be an outpatient treatment with your normal pediatrician."
"Why only a partial for the tonsillectomy?" Greg asked.
"There's a good chance that the tonsil irritation is tied to the infection in his nose and ears. If we don't have to remove them all the way, we usually won't. His adenoids, while also technically tonsils, are much smaller, are actually causing him problems and are most likely the root of the ear infection. I would prefer to have those out completely. Has he had any prior hospitalizations?"
Greg stiffened at the question and glanced at Nick from the corner of his eye. Because of this, he saw Nick's confused look at his lack of immediate answer, "Greg?"
Greg shook his head slightly and looked at the doctor, "Yes. April through part of June in '99."
Dr. Kavanagh looked down at the chart and then nodded slowly in understanding, "In any case, the nurse will be in a few minutes with medication and if you could let her know if you will admit him tonight or not, we'll get everything set up for you." Dr. Kavanagh gave them a small smile and walked out of the room.
Nick looked up at Greg and watched his lover bite on his lower lip, now the only outward sign at the moment of his anxiety, "Greg, I know what the doctor said, but...maybe we should take him to see Dr. Harcourt tomorrow. See what he says."
Greg looked up at Nick with wide eyes, though he was inwardly glad that Nick hadn't brought up his hesitation nor asked why Elijah had been hospitalized for such a long period of time. He knew it would come though, once Nick thought actually thought about it, "Why? What's going to be the difference between what he says and what the ER doctor just told us?"
"I don't know. Just," Nick paused, trying to gather his thoughts, "admitting him tonight and surgery tomorrow morning seems a little rushed."
Greg sat down on the bed with a sigh and tugged on his sweater sleeve, "Nick, what if the swelling in his throat gets worse tonight while we're at work, or even tomorrow when he's at daycare and we're at home sleeping? He could have trouble breathing or even stop breathing! I don't think...no, I know I couldn't put him through that when we had the option to fix it right away."
Nick could actually feel the guilt rising in his chest just at the thought of that happening. He gave a choppy nod in agreement, "Okay."
Greg wrapped an arm around Nick's back and rested his head on Nick's shoulder, "I just don't want to take that chance." He whispered, meeting his son's watery eyes.
"I know and neither do I." Nick replied, tightening his arms around the toddler, "The thought of surgery just bothers me."
"Why?"
"My cousin Alec, when we were kids, went in for surgery on a smashed leg he got while skiing. It was his first surgery of any kind and it turned out he was allergic to the anesthesia they used."
Greg lifted his head so he was looking at Nick's face, "That's horrible. What happened..."
"He was fine. It was a mild attack, though if they had left him on it longer it would have been more dangerous."
Greg kissed Nick's cheek and leaned back just as the door opened again. The same nurse who had brought them in entered, carrying a tray holding a multitude of items. She set it on the counter and turned to them, "Have you decided?"
Greg looked at Nick, who nodded his head. Greg faced the nurse again and said, "We're going to admit him tonight."
"Okay. I'll give him some drops for his ear and medicine for his throat now, then go out and get a room settled for him while you get him changed." She was quick and sure with both the drops and the medicine, administering both with a steady hand. Just watching her helped to calm Greg down a bit, "All right, here's the gown. I'll go and see about his room."
Greg took the hospital gown handed to him and thanked the nurse as she left. He took Elijah from Nick and stood him on the bed. Between the two men, they had Elijah dressed in the gown in no time. They had left him in his underwear and socks though, doubting the doctors and nurses would care much.
When Elijah was settled in a room and instructions had been given, as well as Greg filling out the forms to determine the anesthesia to be used, Nick dug out his keys and kissed Elijah on the forehead, "I'm going to run and get some pj's for him for after the surgery tomorrow. Need anything?"
"A book, maybe? One of my puzzle books too. Oh, can you call Grissom? I really don't want to leave him tonight." Greg asked, voice trembling slightly as he looked down at his son.
The tremble was barely discernible, but it was easy for Nick to pick up on, "Yeah, I can do that. I'll be back in a bit." He kissed Greg on mouth and left, leaving Greg alone with a shivering boy who was still crying.
Over an hour had passed and Greg was starting to wonder where Nick had gotten to. He was about to give in to his worry and call his wayward lover when he heard heard Nick's voice echoing down the hall.
"What do you mean I can't go in there?"
"I'm sorry sir, but visiting hours are over. Only family are allowed in now. I'll bring those things down there for you, if you'd like."
Greg could imagine Nick growling in anger at this point and Greg walked out into the hallway and groaned. Nick was upset all right, but it certainly wasn't fazing the nurse who was just about the same height as Nick. She was holding her hand out to him and scowling just as deeply as the Texan.
"Listen lady..."
"As I said, sir, it is family only." The nurse said, interrupting Nick.
"He is." Greg said, finally speaking up. He really didn't need a scene right now, especially since he could see a few curious heads popping out from doors along the hall.
"I beg your pardon?" The nurse asked, turning her head to look at him.
"I said, he is family."
"His last name indicates..."
"Is that how you determine if someone is related? There are many family members that have different last names so that's actually a bit discriminatory." Greg said, crossing his arms.
The nurse rolled her eyes and crossed her own arms, "Immediate family, Mr. Sanders."
"Well, he's that anyway." Greg said, glancing at Nick, "We're partners. He's Elijah's other father."
Much to the amazement of the two men looking at her, the nearly six feet tall nurse blushed a fire engine red, "Oh. Oh, I see. Go ahead." With that said, the nurse turned on the heal of her white peds and went back down to the nurses station.
Nick joined him at the door and they went back inside. A glance at Elijah showed the younger boy asleep, mouth open, and snoring away, "Grissom gave us both tonight off." He said, placing the bag he was carrying on the window ledge behind the chairs.
Greg groaned, "Both of us? People are going to start complaining if we keep doing this."
"Everyone on our shift knows about us and Grissom will probably tell them what's going on. They'll understand and get that this time, it's not our fault. Cindy on the other hand..."
"Will be plotting revenge." Greg interrupted, "One of her boys is graduating this year. Ten says she'll get back at me when graduation rolls around."
Nick shook his head, "I am not taking that bet." He turned slowly so he was facing Greg, "Why was Elijah in the hospital after his birth?"
Greg bit his lip and dropped down on to one of the chairs, "When did you..."
"In the truck on the way home. What you said kind of just hit me and I remembered that that was the year Elijah was born." Nick said, crouching down in front of him.
"Elijah was...born premature. His mother, from my understanding of what the doctors told me, came down with pre-eclampsia. They put her on medication but it didn't help. She had a cesarean when she was seven months along." Greg sighed and looked at Elijah, "In a way, it was kind of a good thing on my part. She informed me when she called that she had originally intended on putting father unknown on his birth certificate so that there would be no reason to contact me to sign away my rights. Not that I would have anyway, obviously. She felt a bit of guilt while they were stabilizing him and called me as soon as she got into recovery.
"My first glimpse of him was in NICU through the window. The couple who wanted to adopt him were in the room with him, rubbing his hand through the incubator gloves. Even though I wanted proof that he was mine, seeing that hurt so badly. He was just so tiny and here were these completely unknown people touching my son."
Nick reached out and clasped his hand, weaving their fingers together, "Did you ever find out why she was giving him up?"
Greg shrugged, "She's selfish and of really old money. She probably didn't want anything to get in the way of her inheritance including her own child."
"That's pretty..."
"Nick, you gotta understand, if it hadn't been for the school labs we never would have spoken to each other. We so did not run the same circles. She was like, poster girl for sorority, and while I was a frat, I was also a huge geek. I didn't have many friends outside of the chess club or my surfing group. Most of my frat brothers avoided me at times. My being weird did not start when I did at the lab. I've always been this way."
"So how did...?" Nick waved his hand at Elijah, "That amazing thing happen?"
"We got smashed. Big time. Our first assignment together, we agreed to study outside the classroom, but I didn't think much was going to come of it 'cause we did not get along. Thought a little wine would smooth the way to getting it done and over. Apparently, it led to other things as well. I still don't remember what happened. Was a bit of a lightweight at the time."
Nick nodded, "What about Atlanta? You said you flew there right away after she called."
"And I stayed until after he was out of the incubator for good and ready to go home. At the time, we were just preparing to start finals so as soon as I decided I wanted to stay with him after all the court crap was taken care of, I called my professors and made arrangements to take my finals as soon as I got back to the bay area."
Greg stood up and walked over to Elijah's bed and sat back down on the edge. He touched his sons hand before running his fingers through the auburn locks, "The first time I held him, I thought I was going to break him. I had only held one new born before that time and Elijah was so much smaller than that baby had been."
Nick sat down and wrapped his arms around the waist in front of him and rested his head on Greg's shoulder, "He's not all that bigger now. I thought the same thing when I held him for the first time after I met him."
"I still feel it at times. He's such a little monkey sometimes that I just start to freak out. I can only imagine how I'm going to be when he gets into sports. They'll pummel him."
Nick squeezed his arms and kissed Greg's soft neck, "I think you'll do fine."
The rest of the night passed passed much quicker after that then either man had figured it would. They spent the time reading, talking, doing Greg's puzzles together, and taking small naps as they both knew they wouldn't be able to sleep much the following morning until Elijah was at least in recovery.
Nick was down getting them coffee from the cafeteria when the nurse arrived with the IV drip containing the sedative to help put Elijah to sleep, "It won't take very long to kick in. Ten minutes tops." She said as she tied the rubber tourniquet around Elijah's arm. As she was inserting the needle into the back of his hand, a male nurse came in pushing a large gurney with an IV hook attached to it.
Greg switched Elijah to the gurney when motioned to do so and the nurse placed the bag on the hook.
"daddy?" Elijah looked up at Greg, his thumb in his mouth and eyes droopy from the mild pain medication he had been given the night before.
Greg leaned down and brushed a kiss across the warm forehead before giving him an Eskimo kiss, "You'll be fine, my little mouse. Nicky and I'll be here when you wake up."
"pwomis?"
"Yup."
Nick came in then and took in the scene before him. Greg was next to a gurney that held a tired-eyed Elijah, "Hey little man."
"nicky!"
Nick supposed that if Elijah's throat hadn't been sore and he hadn't been doped up on pain killers, as much as a three-year-old could be that is, the exclamation of his name probably would have been a shout instead of a hoarse whisper. He set the coffees on the window sill and walked over to stand next to Greg. He leaned over and kissed Elijah's cheek, his lips brushing the freckles that stood out alarmingly on the pale cheek, before whispering, "love you little man." as he stood back up.
"Me too sproglet." Greg added, hearing what Nick had said.
"luv you." came the whispered reply as Elijah's eyes fluttered shut.
Greg was practically a nervous wreck while the surgery was taking place. When he was sitting, his leg would bounce and his fingers would twitch and start tapping on the wooden arm rest of the chair. Every so often, he would get up and start pacing, coffee in hand as he walked the length of the room. Nick didn't have it in him to stop him, especially since his own leg was bouncing from nerves.
An hour after Elijah went into surgery, one of the nurses stopped by to inform them that Elijah was in recovery and doing fine, that he should be returned to the room in a half an hours time. As she left, Catherine and Warrick came in, stuffed animals in hand with mylar balloons tied around the necks of the furry creatures.
"Still not back yet?" Catherine asked, placing the stuffed black leopard on the bedside table.
"No. Half an hour." Greg said, smiling a bit at his friends thoughtfulness.
Warrick set the wolf next to the leopard and faced Greg, "How you holding up?" he had also been carrying a tray of coffees and offered one to the lab rat.
Greg shrugged and finished off his first cup of coffee as he accepted another from Warrick, "Better now."
Nick walked out of the bathroom then and smiled when he saw the visitors, "Hey guys. Kinda surprised to see you. It's only half an hour after shift end."
"Slow night." Catherine said, pulling a chair over from the empty portion of the double room, "My case was open and shut. Ended up helping Grissom and Warrick with theirs."
"Yeah, not that ours was much better. We were just about finished when she started helping." Warrick added as he sat on the arm of Catherine's chair, "Sara was pretty happy though. Since you weren't there, Nick, she got to work solo. Oh, she said she'll stop by your house later before work to see Eli."
Both Nick and Greg nodded and the conversation drifted to idle chatter while they waited for Elijah to be brought back.
Greg laid the pale, sleeping boy on the couch in the family room and covered him with his Harry Potter fleece blanket. Nick had dropped the two off at home and went out grocery shopping, Elijah now on foods for the next week that they either didn't have much in the house of or none of at all.
He went into the kitchen and was sort of surprised to see the island free of their desserts from the night before. Nick must have picked up when he swung by for their things. He pulled a soda out of the fridge and nearly tossed it across the room as his phone started vibrating against his hip. He had forgotten to turn the ringer back on after they had left the hospital.
Yanking it from his carrier, he glanced at the caller ID. It was Nick. Flipping it open, he pressed it to his ear, "Forget something?" He asked, a smile of amusement crossing his face.
/Wondering what you wanted for dinner tonight./
Greg shrugged to himself and stepped into the pantry, scanning the shelves, "How about spaghetti? You can make those garlic bread things out of hamburger buns that are really addicting."
/Do we have everything? I'll have to pick up an extra cottage cheese.../
"We have noodles. It's too late to take out a package of meat to thaw, so we need a pound of fresh. Sauce, either mushroom or garden, your choice." Greg said. He grabbed the package of spaghetti noodles and carried it back into the kitchen.
/Veggies?/
"French style green beans. All we have is a can of cut."
/What a thing to be picky about. Which Popsicles should I get? They don't carry those Mr. Freeze ones Eli likes beyond the beginning of September./
Greg blinked, "I don't know. Maybe those rocket shaped ones? And one of those boxes of variety flavors with the ice cream inside. Oh, and some frozen fruit bars. If he doesn't eat those, I will."
/Okay. Anything else?/
"You have the list."
He heard Nick snort/I meant food for us. You know, while I'm here?/
"Oh. We need bread and hot dog buns. Maybe grab an extra bag of hamburger buns and get some chicken patties. We can have that tomorrow night."
/That means another container of cottage cheese and some chips. It's amazing we don't get sick of dairy food considering how many tubs of the stuff we go through...You want those with cheese or without for the chicken?/
"With. We good?"
/Yup. See you when I get home. Love you./
"You too." Greg said and hung up. Just as his phone snapped shut, it started blinking and vibrating in his hand not a second later. Flipping it back open, he glanced at the caller I.D. "Sanders."
/Greg, you have another night off. Cindy said she has no problem staying./
"Really?" Greg was really going to have to get that women a gift or something. Her birthday was coming up soon and while he had given her a card last year, this year was certainly calling for something more.
/Yes. She mentioned her one of her kids having a tonsillectomy and that she knows how you feel./
"Cool. Thanks Grissom." Greg said.
Once off the phone with his boss, he placed a call to Rayne to let her know that she didn't have to watch Elijah that night either. After inquiring if her and Mark had eaten in preparation to invite them to a late dinner, he let her know how Elijah was doing and once he had her promise of coming up the next morning to watch Elijah while he and Nick slept, he hung up and plugged the phone into the downstairs charger.
He finally managed to get the top off his soda and was prepared to take a drink when the front doorbell rang. Groaning, he gulped half of it down as he went to answer the door.
Sara smiled as he opened it and held up yet another stuffed animal and balloons, "How's he doing?"
Greg stepped back to let her in and then shut the door, "He's sleeping right now. He woke up at the hospital long enough to eat and dropped right back off afterwards. Moving him to the car and then to the house did nothing to wake him."
"That's good. Where do you want these?"
Greg nodded towards the family room, "I put the ones from Catherine and Warrick in there so he can see them when he eventually wakes up."
"Okay." Sara brought the stuffed giraffe into the family room and set it on the coffee table with the two others. She leaned over Elijah and brushed some of his fringe with her fingers before straightening and turning to Greg, "He looks a little pale."
"Yeah, I know." Greg leaned against the wall and shoved his hands in his jeans pockets, "You want to stay for dinner?"
"Who's cooking and what are you having?"
"...Nick and spaghetti. Why?"
"Ooh, you convince him to make his garlic bread?" Sara asked, "I've only had them once but they were really good."
"I did and you didn't answer the question. Why did you want to know who was cooking?"
Sara raised her eyebrows and said slowly, "Greg, the last time I had something you made, the cookies were burnt to a crisp."
Greg rolled his eyes and turned towards the kitchen, "That was two years ago and I've gotten way better since. Rayne gave me lessons. Besides, who do you think cooked for Nick's birthday?" He paused and glanced back at Sara, "I was going to have Nick make some of the sauce without meat, but I think I changed my mind at your insensitivity."
TBC...
Chapter 15