Until the Very End

Chapter 37

Meryl had an awful night. Like clockwork, Don's phone was going to alert him when it was time to wake her up and check on her, but most of the time he didn't even get that chance. She either woke up with an awful headache or throwing up from nausea. Meryl tried so hard not to wake up her husband, but Don always woke up when he felt her moving or running into the bathroom to get sick. Meryl kept wanting him to go to bed, but he wouldn't, not when his wife needed him. Meryl felt awful that he wasn't getting his rest, but Don didn't care. He wanted to be there for her. If she wasn't throwing up or dealing with a headache, then she was nursing. Luckily, the babies only woke up once needing to be nursed. But it happened to be right after she threw up. Then nursing made her feel worse. Don was finally able to get her to eat some crackers and drink some ginger ale. He wished she would let him give the babies a bottle, he understood why she didn't want him to do that, but it just made him worry about her more. This was the cycle all night. Leaving an exhausted Don and Meryl.

***

Don felt like he had just fallen asleep from the last time Meryl had gotten sick when he heard the babies beginning to fuss. The last thing he wanted was for them to wake her up. He quickly got out of bed and went over to the cribs. "Hey, you guys. Daddy is here. Let's try to stay really quiet until Mommy wakes up. And try not to be hungry, if you can. Mommy really needs her sleep. So, it is just Daddy this morning, so you need to bear with me. I can only pick one of you up at a time, and technically I'm not even supposed to do that. I don't want to get in trouble with Mommy. So, help your old man out, okay?"

***

Meryl woke up when she thought she heard the babies babbling away, and her husband's soft voice. She carefully sat up, knowing how it made her sick if she did that quickly. She smiled at the sight of her husband sitting on the floor with their babies while playing with them. Her first thought was that he shouldn't have picked them up because he could injure himself since he was still healing from his surgeries. Then she thought of how of course he did that. He's her Don Man. Doing everything he can to take care of her and the babies. She finally made her presence known. "What are you three cuties doing down there?"

"Hey, baby." Don smiled as he looked up, and held up his hand before she got out of bed. "Oh no. You had a rough night. They've been helping Daddy out."

Meryl shook her head with a laugh as he got up and handed Brady to her, with a kiss to her forehead, and she kissed Brady. "It still looks like you're lifting them. I'm not sure how our 4-month-old babies can help with that."

"It's all in the legs." He winked at her as he picked up Mags, then joined his wife in bed. "I'm sorry if they woke you. I was trying to keep them quiet."

Meryl leaned over to kiss her daughter and then gave her husband a proper good morning kiss. "You shouldn't be doing all of this yourself. Baby, between me being sick last night and the babies, are you getting any rest?"

"I'm fine." Don dismissed her concern. "A more important question is, how is my girl?"

Meryl sighed, knowing she needed to be honest with him. "Would you believe me if I said just peachy?"

"Not on your life." Don said making her laugh. "You don't need to tell me, I can see how crappy you're feeling. Unfortunately, it is just par for the course. We'll keep on your meds. You sleep when you're not nursing. We will continue your schedule with your medications."

That's what Meryl was afraid of, she knew he would say that. Which meant that he wasn't getting any rest either. He was so busy taking care of her and the babies. She absolutely loved him for it, but it made her worry about him even more. She could see in his eyes, just as he could see in hers, just how badly he was feeling. "Don Man, I am really worried about you."