Accidental Attraction

20

Two and a half weeks after we had celebrated Kayla's 4th birthday, little baby Jade was turning a year old. We decided to do another small party with our usual crew. As with parties past, Tom helped Adam prepare the food while Diane helped me with decorations. Luke showed up and offered to help with the kids while we were all busy, which was a really big relief. When Chris showed up with his 6 and he was by himself, I was a little worried that my sister had gone into early labor again and hadn't been able to call me.

"Hey Chris," I greeted him. "Where's my sister? Did she go into preterm labor again?"

"Oh it's nothing like that," he promised. "She was experiencing some nasty Braxton Hicks contractions, so the doctor put her on bed rest for the remainder of her pregnancy."

"Poor girl," I said. "Well I'm glad you and the kids could still make it."

"Are you kidding?" he smiled. "Your sister insisted on it. She claimed that the older kids would be asking for their cousins if we didn't show up."

"She's not wrong," I said as Kayla came running over to greet her cousins. "Why don't you take the kids over by Luke and make yourself comfortable? We're almost done setting up and the food should be out shortly."

One month later, it felt like deja vu when we were doing the same thing to celebrate Andrew and Wyatt's third birthday. The kids had so much fun that day that getting them to sleep that night was a piece of cake. I remember every last one of them was in bed and asleep before 9. I took the opportunity to take a nice, warm shower since I knew I wouldn't have any interruptions. About 10 minutes in, thinking I heard Jade whine, I poked my head out of the curtain to get a better listen. Realizing it was just in my head, I went back to enjoying my shower. I finished up about 20 minutes later, dried myself off, and got dressed for bed. After brushing my teeth, I made my way into the bedroom and realized that the kids weren't the only ones who had gotten worn out that day: Adam was already passed out in the bed. I carefully climbed in next to him and drifted off to sleep.

Two weeks later we were celebrating Halloween. Adam offered to take the kids out trick or treating while I stayed behind and handed out candy. Before I could even get everything set up, my cell phone started ringing. I originally intended to ignore it, but knowing it could be Adam calling about the kids, I answered it.

"Hello?" I answered.

"Something's wrong," I heard Chris say. "She's breathing, but she won't wake up."

"Who?" I asked. "Sara? Hannah? Aurora?"

"Paige," he said. "She was supposed to be taking a nap. I went to go wake her up and she's not responding."

"But she IS breathing?" I asked.

"Yes," he replied. "I don't know what to do. I called you first and then I was going to call 911 if you can't get her to wake up."

"Ok, just hang tight. I'm on my way," I told him.

I jumped in my car and raced over to their house. I didn't even knock on the door, but let myself in and ran upstairs to their bedroom. Chris was standing next to the bed crying, and I could see for myself that my sister was breathing, but her eyes were closed. I walked over and gave Chris a hug, then told him to go and get me a cold wash rag. He returned a few minutes later with the rag, which I took and placed on my sister's head.

"When was the last time she had anything to eat or drink?" I asked.

"We had dinner at around 5," he said. "She ate, but not much. And I don't remember seeing her with a drink."

"I think she may be dehydrated," I told him. "I had the same problem the day I gave birth to Jade. Why don't you go and get her a nice glass of ice water."