* 2 weeks later*
My feet hurry down the hallway as I go to check in one more time on our newest arrival. She entered the word kicking and screaming and had weighed in at a whopping 9 pounds and 3 ounces of indignant baby girl.
She has the dubious honor of being the first newborn I assisted in delivering in my new position and is cute as a button. I had gotten to help care for several newborns and their Mommas in the maternity unit in the last two weeks, but she is the first I got to actually assist the Midwife in delivering. Watching her be born had stirred something deep inside me.
I knock softly before entering the maternity suite and smile when I see my tiny patient bundled up sleeping in her Daddy's arms.
The mental image of one of the guys holding a future child of ours makes me blink back a sudden surge of emotion. I tell my out of control maternal instincts to calm the heck down, we haven't even discussed children, for all I know none of the guys want them. Besides how would we chose who got to be the biological Daddy? The mental image of stick all the guys names in a hat and pulling one out has me laughing as I enter the room and gently and efficiently do my job.
Handing the little bundle, now screaming because she was not impressed with me taking her vitals back to her Daddy, I have to chuckle again at the look of blind panic on his face as he tries to figure out how to soothe her. I help him rebundle her and show him how to gently rock her.
As she settles down I help Mom to the bathroom and back to her bed. I get her settled and after introducing her to the nurse on duty I take my leave.
I check in one last time at the nurse station to make sure they have everything under control before clocking out. I quickly head toward the staff section of the parking garage, hitting the auto start and unlocking my doors. Thankful again to have my car back.
Two weeks ago, just before I started this new position my car decided to start making funny noises and had to go to the shop for repairs. All three of my guys had enthusiastically suggested they drop me off that first day for good luck and I had happily let them.
Remembering that first morning my cheeks burn with anger at the judgmental nurse who had almost ruined my first day back. She had seen me kiss all three of them goodbye and had made a cruel comment about me and then threatened to raise a stink with our supervisors about it.
I had sharply told her to back off and that my relationships were none of her damn business. I had then marched into my supervisor's office and explained that I refused to hide the men I love because some people had issues with my personal choice. When I was done I asked her flat up if my unique relationship was going to cause issues with my job.
My boss proved once again how wonderful she was when she hastened to assure me that my love life was no one's business and demanded to know who had made me so upset. She assured me she would personally deal with the nurse in question and had proceeded to show me the ropes of my new job.
Shaking off the grin at the news I heard today about the judgmental nurse getting transferred to night duty geriatrics ward. I get into my car, still snickering at the mental image of her dealing with the older generation. Most who hate hospitals with a passion to begin with, they are not happy about getting awaken late at night by a nurse and have no issues loudly expressing their displeasure. It is the worst shift in the hospital and she is on it for the next six months.
I mess with the heat settings, and turn up the radio, before carefully backing out and taking off out of the parking garage. I head towards my old apartment, now solely Brittany's. She took some time to think about it and decided four days ago that she just wanted to stay where she was at versus moving to a smaller apartment. We had all been waiting for her decision. I had thought she'd want a slow transition but she had shocked me when she announced that she thought it would be better to move me over to the guys sooner rather than later. So the last few days had been a whirlwind of activity around our work schedules getting her settled.
Last night we had taken my name off the lease, so she was now the only one on it. When she had the new lease papers in her hands, she had given me such a big grin.
"Look at me now Sissy," she had said giving me a hug and an excited laugh. I had laughed too, glad to see the shadows that were always in her eyes these days temporarily gone.
No amount of subtle sisterly probing had gotten her to share and I had dropped the topic for now. The last few days had been heart wrenchingly wonderful watching her make plans on what she wanted to change in the apartment we'd shared.
I had sighed at the bitter sweetness of the moment, remembering a million different memories when she had looked to me for guidance. She was my sister, not my child, but in some ways it felt like I was letting her go and I was plagued by worries and fears for her.
I had buried them deep, and showed her the support she needed as we quickly got my stuff moved out and everything else prepared. While we were working together getting everything sorted out we had had a good time. We had kicked the guys out, wanting this final transition to be just us sisters. Only letting them come help with the heavy lifting.
Last night we had gone over everything one last time and I was happy to see that we had got everything set up, but now, driving back there for the final go through, I was terrified. My whole life I had watched over my sister, we were a unit. She had always been there and I don't know what I'm going to do without my sister there every day.
I take a deep breath and remember the talk I had with the guys the other day. They had been wonderful through this transition, showing no signs of jealousy or anger while Brittany made up her mind, and they had positively jumped when she suggested the accelerated time table of moving me out.
I think they would have had me out that night if I'd let them, they were that anxious to have me in their home permanently. A huge part of me was right there with them and couldn't wait for this evening, my first official night in my new home.
Thinking back these last couple days I am proud of my sister. Together we had gotten so much done, and I just couldn't believe it.
We had managed to get the lease switched, the utilities switched, and the furniture rearranged to her liking.
As I continue my drive hom.. I mean to Brittany's apartment I remember how happy she was when she discovered I was leaving all the furniture there with her. When she asked if I was sure I had told her that my guys had given me a dream bedroom and their house was completely furnished so I had no need for the furnishing I had bought us.
So nothing needed to be bought, and she had set to contemplating how she wanted to rearrange the rooms to give them a new look. The guys had helpfully supplied the muscle as she moved and rearranged the room to her own unique style. None of us pointed out her final style looked remarkably like the original one just tilted ninety degrees, me because I didn't want to hurt her feelings and the guys probably out of fear that she'd make them rearrange it again.
Besides furniture, I was leaving everything else except my clothes, personal items, and some of our pictures. All of it was packed up waiting for me and the guys to load it later this evening.
She was talking about painting the walls a different shade and buying some different art for the walls. I had reminded her to stick to her budget that I had managed to convince her to let me help her build using her new salary. Telling her that she should think carefully about each item she did to the apartment as she would have to change it back when she decided to move.
She had scoffed at me reminding me about her inheritance. Not wanting to be the nagging sister, I still had gently pointed out that the funds I had gotten transferred over were for emergencies or to save up for big purchases like the new car she had just gotten.
