Part 414
What was it Nick had said, ‘It’s just babysitting, not brain surgery’? They were five grown men who had nieces, nephews, a younger brother and sisters. Five grown men watching a three-week old infant who was sleeping peacefully and a five-year-old who was in the game room with Carlos and Tommy. What could POSSIBLY go wrong?
Becca and Sarah couldn’t have been gone long, maybe five minutes, but it was as if Garrett knew something was different. His eyes flew open and he began to whimper.
"Hey buddy, what’s wrong?" asked Nick in a soothing voice as he carefully lifted his son from the seat.
"Maybe he’s hungry," suggested Kevin.
Nick held Garrett in his arm and stuck his pinky in the baby’s mouth like Sarah had shown him. "Nope…not it."
"Maybe he had a night terror," suggested Howie. "Try rocking him and see if he’ll go back to sleep."
"A night terror? What the hell is a night terror?" asked AJ.
As Nick got comfortable in the rocking chair Billy had brought for Becca, Howie explained, "It’s like a nightmare. Sarah said Jesse use to have them when Russell started being abusive. It’s like their way of coping with what’s happening."
"But why would he be having one? I’m not being abusive to Becca like Russell was to Sarah," asked Nick as he rocked.
"No, but his world is changed for now," said Howie. "I’d be willing to bet that he knows Becca’s not here and THAT for him is something out of the norm."
Nick continued to rock as the others listened and watched. It was amazing to watch Nick with Garrett. Of the five, he had been the last one ANY of them, including himself, had imagined being the first to have a child. Howie and Sarah had always been the logical choice.
As Garrett snored softly, Nick settled him into the bassinet and the guys relaxed. So far, so good.
Then it happened. Jesse burst into the room. "DADDY! DADDY!" squealed the little girl as she ran to Howie.
That was all it took. Like a siren going off, Garrett let the world know that he was NOT happy being roused from his peaceful slumber.
"Jessica! Stop squealing! You just woke the baby," scolded Howie.
Nick had moved quickly to Garrett hoping to calm him as Jesse said, "Sorry, Uncle Nicky."
"Now, what is it that was so important that you had to come in here screaming?" asked Howie.
The crying baby distracted Jesse. She wanted to help and was now standing beside Nick rubbing Garrett’s back. "I’m sorry, Garrett. I didn’t mean to scare you."
"Jess?" repeated Howie not wanting to raise his voice.
Nick motioned to Howie. "’Peanut’, your dad is talking to you."
"Yes sir."
"Why did you feel the need to come in here squealing?"
"I beat Tommy at Alligator Bop," said Jesse excitedly.
Garrett was still screaming for all he was worth and Nick was getting frustrated. Looking at his watch, he realized that Becca was going to be at least fifteen more minutes.
"Guys, help me!" begged Nick as he shifted Garrett to his other shoulder to give his ear a break.
"What do you want us to do?" asked AJ.
"Why don’t you try giving him the bottle Becca left?" suggested Howie. "I’ll warm it up for you."
"Thank you, ‘D’," said Nick gratefully.
As Howie went to warm the bottle, Brian and Kevin began to sing lullabies they remembered from their own childhood. It seemed to work a little; they could now hear what was going on in the hall.
Howie returned with the bottle and Nick cradled Garrett in his arm to feed him
Quiet resumed and AJ said, "Man, has HE got a set of lungs."
"Tell me about it," quipped Nick whose ears were still ringing.
After Garrett had finished a couple ounces, Nick took the bottle from him and put him on his shoulder to burp him. One firm pat and Garrett spewed his ‘meal’ all over Nick and the chair.
"Ewww…. GROSS!" squealed Jesse and Garrett erupted again.
Howie pulled Jesse away, "Nick, hand him to me so you can go change."
Jesse tugged at Howie’s shirt. "Daddy," she whined, "do something! Make him stop."
"I’m trying, Jesse, but I need you to help. Why don’t you go back to the game room and see if you can beat Carlos this time?"
"I want you to go," pouted Jesse.
AJ spoke up, "Let me take GT and you go with Jesse."
"Thanks, ‘Bone’," said Howie passing Garrett off to AJ. "He needs a diaper. Think you can manage?"
"How hard can it be?"
Howie laughed, "It’s not brain surgery."
Nick groaned hearing his own words. "God, Sarah will NEVER let me hear the end of this."
Brian and Kevin laughed, "NOPE!"
"They make it look so easy," said AJ as he placed Garrett on the couch.
Howie left with Jesse and Brian and Kevin helped Nick get cleaned up as AJ started to unsnap Garrett’s outfit. Slipping his legs out, AJ leaned over talking to the infant, which seemed to settle him.
All three looked over at AJ. It was amazing how good AJ was with children despite being an only child. Turning back to what they were doing, none of them paid attention as AJ removed Garrett’s diaper. Wrong move! Cool air on a little boy and sure enough, Ol’ Faithful erupted.
"HOLY FUCKING SHIT!" growled AJ. "CARTER! You’re son just…. DAMN!"
All three turned as Garrett began to howl once more only to see AJ taking his glasses off. They all knew immediately what had happened and tried hard to stifle their laughter.
"AJ, you’d better hurry up before he does it again," warned Howie who was returning with Jesse.
"DAMN! I need to change clothes, not to mention clean up."
Howie sat down, trading places with AJ, and quickly diapered Garrett.
"’D’, Sarah’s got her cell, doesn’t she?" asked Nick.
"Yeah, why?"
"Call and find out where they are. There’s NO way in hell I can let Becca come back to this."
"I’ll call in a minute," said Howie as he finished dressing Garrett. "There you go, Garrett. Now come here."
Howie took Garrett in his arms and settled into the rocking chair. Then he motioned for Jesse to join him and he helped her into his lap. Together, the father and daughter began singing softly in Spanish to the infant. The other’s watched in awe as the two soothed the crying infant. In a matter of minutes, Garrett was sleeping peacefully once more.
AJ had rejoined them and said softly, "That was beautiful, ‘D’."
"Thanks, but it was Jesse’s idea."
Nick took Jesse from Howie. "Thank you, ‘Peanut’. That was really sweet of you and you’re gonna be an AWESOME big sis!"
Jesse put her head on Nick’s shoulder. "I’m really sorry, Uncle Nicky. I didn’t mean to disturb GT."
"It’s okay, ‘Peanut’. You were excited. Tell you what, why don’t you show me how you did it?"
"Whoa! Nick! You need to be here when Becca gets here," said Kevin.
"Howie…call Sarah and see where they are."
Howie got up to put Garrett back into the bassinet and then pulled out his cell phone. Touching a couple buttons, he put the phone to his ear to wait. A minute later he hung up and said, "Evidently she’s got it turned off." Looking at his watch, he added, "They should be back soon."
"’Peanut’, how about five minutes and then I have to come back?"
Jesse looked at Howie who shook his head ‘no’ just slightly. She looked up at Nick and said, "That’s okay, Uncle Nicky. I’d rather stay here."
"Whatever you want."
With that, they all settled in to wait for the girls. Talk was hushed but happy. Finally, the melodrama of late seemed to be going away and they could relax, enjoy being a ‘family’.
As the time for the girls to return approached and passed, each man began to check his watch. Howie was concerned that Sarah was cutting it close knowing they had papers to fill out, dinner, and to say good-bye to Jesse along with getting ready for a seven-thirty show. Nick just wanted Becca back before another disaster befell him with Garrett. As for Kevin, Brian, and AJ, they simply wanted their girlfriends to join them. AJ more so than the others because he had a surprise for Alison that only Sarah knew about.
Just as Kevin was about to call Billy, the group of ladies walked through the door. When Jesse saw Pollyanna, she started jumping and dancing around the room excited that her aunt was there and that she would be starting school soon. She jumped into Pollyanna’s arms, careful not to startle Garrett with her excitement though.
"Aunt Pollyanna!"
"Hey, Jesse."
Each girl, save Lynne, went to their respective guy greeting them eagerly as Jesse talked excitedly to Pollyanna.
Sarah was quick to realize that AJ and Nick had changed shirts so as she was hugging Howie, she whispered, "Are you gonna tell me about it later?"
"Everything," chuckled Howie.
"Nick, did Garrett sleep the whole time?" asked Becca as she looked in at her sleeping son.
All five men looked at each other knowingly and Nick said, "Nah, he woke up a couple times but it was cool. We took care of everything, baby, and he’s still in one piece."
Jesse piped up, "You should have heard him, Aunt Becca! He was louder than the girls who scream when Uncle Nick shakes his butt."
"Oh really," smirked Becca as Nick groaned. "Why was Garrett screaming, Jesse?"
Howie spoke up, "Nick can tell you about it later. Ladies, it’s good to see you again. Sis, how was the flight?"
"It was good but Jesse and I need to be back at the airport in a couple hours to check in."
"No problem."
Suddenly, everyone sensed the awkwardness between Kevin and Lynne. Kevin’s hands were shoved into his pockets and he looked every bit the nervous teen on his first date. He wanted desperately to take Lynne in his arms and greet her the way the others had greeted their girlfriends.
Lynne stared at the man in front of her, amazed that this man who performed for thousands upon thousands of girls night after night with such confidence and charm was now standing in front of her being shy. God, he was gorgeous dressed in a faded pair of jeans that had a hole just below the pocket that revealed the blue boxers he wore, a worn out pair of tennis shoes, and Led Zepplin T-shirt that hugged his chest revealing every muscular contour.
Blessedly, Garrett saved the day cooing happily. Lynne’s eyes cut to the baby as Becca picked him up.
"Oh Becca! He’s grown so much," raved Lynne joining Becca.
Talk started to center on Garrett and the couples began to exit Nick’s dressing room. The only ones left were Nick, Lynne, Becca and Kevin as Lynne played with Garrett while the two women talked more.