Chapter 67

The next day, Miranda and Callan had the entire day to themselves.  Brie and David insisted on having little Grace all day once they came in.  The adults spent the day passing her around, cooing and playing with the first baby in the family in ten years.

When it was his turn with the new baby, Jake sat in the same arm chair that he had sat in with most of his nieces and nephews and all of his kids and grinned from ear to ear.  “Hey Uncle Jake”, Eli said, “when you gonna hand over me niece?  I like to hold her today you know.”  He was teasing, of course, though Jake had been holding the little girl for quite some time.

Jake chuckled.  “When you have a set big enough to come over here and take her, Elijah Michael.  Until that time comes, you can wait your turn.  I’ve had to wait through your parents, Callan’s parents and your grandparents, and after I’m done Aunt Lilah wants to hold her for a little bit before going to the clinic for a client.”

“When are you going to let them come home so that I can fight with my brothers and sisters over who gets to hole her?” Isaiah asked.

“Probably tomorrow”, Jake said as he gave his new great- niece a bottle.  She was starting to get fussy like she needed to eat.  “When I hand Gracie off, I’m going to go check on Miranda.”  He paused.  “But before that happens I need to weigh this little angel and see if she’s gaining of losing.  I suppose after that and after Aunt Lilah holds her, one of you can if you take it up with your parents and grandparents.”

“That’s so not fair”, Kelsi said.  “You’re just this side of evil, Uncle Jake.”

“Uh… get over it?  I’m your uncle last time I checked and therefore I make the rules seeing as it is my house.”  He smiled down at the baby girl in his arms.  “Isn’t that right, little one?  This is Uncle Jake’s house and he makes all the rules.”  Once she was done with the bottle of breast milk she was drinking, Jake put her on his shoulder and burped her like he’d done with countless babies before.  “Come on Gracie; let’s get all of that gas up off our tummy.”

Miranda came out of the room to check on her newborn daughter and saw her uncle.  “You’re so cute, Uncle Jake.”

He chuckled.  “How do you figure?”

“I’ve heard the entire exchange out here.  My brothers and sisters giving you a hard time and that you would dismiss them then turn to a newborn for validation as if you know she’s going to agree with you is adorable.”

“If you say so Miranda”, he said right before hearing a belch in his ear.  “There you go.  You burp just like your mama did when she was your size.”  He pulled her away from his shoulder and smiled at her.  “And looking at you make me SOOO jealous of your Grampa Malachai.  I can’t wait to be a grandpa myself one of these days.”  He looked over at Miri.  “You still shouldn’t rush it though.  I’ll relax on the ‘not until I’m 50’ rule but don’t be in a big hurry.”

Miri laughed.  “Believe me Daddy; I’m in no big hurry.  I want to be wearing a wedding band.”  She looked at Jax and winked.  “Got that?” she joked.

Jax just laughed.  “Your wish; my command.”

Jake just shook his head as Grace started fussing again.  “Here Miranda.  Take a seat and feed your daughter while I go upstairs and check on your grandparents.”

“Are Gramma and Grampa alright?” she asked as she took the baby from her uncle so that he could stand.

“Gramma’s back was bothering her a little while ago so they went to go lie down.  They’re fine.  Gramma just needed to stretch out and now that their kids are all grown Grampa is all about taking care of Gramma.”  He stood and felt his back locking up and the knee he blew out in high school popped audibly.  He grimaced in pain and kept headed up the stairs, passing Delilah on the stairs.  “Baby, we need to talk after you get home from the clinic.”

“About?” she asked.

“I’ll tell you then.  It pertains to a couple of things.  I’m actually about to run off everyone that doesn’t live here and isn’t here because their daughter/sister just had a baby.”

“Feel free.  There are too many people here.  When you get accustomed to having a certain level of peace, you like to maintain it.  Not that I don’t enjoy having Miranda, Callan, and Grace here but the additional people need to leave.”

“Exactly.”  He kissed her cheek quickly.  “Go on to work.  I know you want to see Grace, but Miranda is feeding her and until I manage to run Malachai and crew off you having the chance to see her is slim unless decreed by Mom and Dad, or Miranda and Callan.”

She nodded.  “I understand.  Malachai’s kids are aunts and uncles now.  We can let them have their time with the baby before I get mine.  Now, if it were Miri or Ira that had just become a parent that would be a totally different story.  I would wait for no one but Mom and Dad.  I would even take the baby from you.”

“I bet you would”, he laughed.

She leaned in and kissed him.  “You go check on Mom and Dad.  I’m going to go to work.  I’ll be back in a couple of hours.”

He smiled.  “Sounds like a plan.  By then I should have everyone run out of the house so that we can have a quiet conversation without having to hide in one of the offices.”

“I love you, Jakey.”

“I love you too, Lilah.  Now get out of here before you’re late.”

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“What did you see last night that had you crying?” David asked Brie as they rested in one of the guest rooms.

“Matt”, she said with a heavy heart.  “He was checking up on me, letting me know that the time is creeping for us.”

“Really?  What else did he say?”

“That time moved differently on the other side.  Oh, did you know that at his last doctor’s appointment before he died his doctor told him that his entire chest cavity was full of cancer, even his ribs and sternum?”

David looked shocked.  “I had no idea.  Did he tell you that?”

“Yeah, last night when he visited me.”  She sighed.  “I wish he would have told us.  There may not have been anything that we could have done, but I would have still liked to know.”

“I’m sure he and Jen had their reasons for not telling us.”

“Jen didn’t even know, David.”

He looked at her in shock.  “Are you serious?  Jennifer didn’t even know?  Wasn’t she at all of his appointments while they stayed with us?”

“She was, but according to what Matt said to me last night she wasn’t in the room at that last one.  I think Matt knew he was going to get bad news and he didn’t want it to hurt her.  He thought he was protecting us all by not telling us.  What kind of nonsense…”

“I seem to recall us not wanting to tell the kids the morning he died that he was dead until after the body had been removed from the house as a way to attempt to protect them.”

“That’s what I’m getting at David.  It didn’t work.  We still had to tell the kids because they all knew that something was up.  The only one that knew until we told them was the only one that was over the age of 18 at the time.”

Before David could think of a response, there was a knock at the door just before it opened.  “Topic on pause”, he whispered.

“I’m not interrupting anything, am I?” Jake asked.

“Not at all”, David said.  “What can we do for you, Jake?”

“Just checking on you, that’s all.  I wanted to see how Mom’s back was doing; how your knees are feeling.  Nothing too major.  That; and I wanted to get away from all of the noise down there.  I have too many people in my house.”

“Run them off then”, Brie said with a soft laugh.  “If you don’t want them here and they don’t have a reason to be there, tell them to get lost.”

“Oh, I plan on it after I check your back.”  He offered his mother a hand and helped her sit up so that he could check her out.  “Is it still bothering you?” he asked as he palpated her lower spine.

“Not really.  The muscles are still twitching every now and then, but that’s about it.”

He nodded.  “Is that pretty normal?”

“More so than you might think”, David said.  “There are times we’ll be relaxing and your mother will be lying on my chest, and I’ll feel the muscles twitching.  It doesn’t alarm either of us anymore.”

“Does it hurt when they twitch like that?” Jake asked.

“Nope.  Not anymore”, she said with a sigh.  “I’m afraid I’ve gotten used to it.”

He nodded and stood.  “Are you two feeling up to coming downstairs and getting something to eat?  I know you’re both getting to a point where you need to eat.”

“We’ll be down after you run everyone off that doesn’t have a reason to be here”, Brie said.  “We’ve been enjoying the peace and quiet up here.”

“I understand that.  I’m too old for this shit”, he said with a sigh.  “I’m actually considering retirement.”

“Really?” David said.  “Lost that fire?”

He shook his head.  “Not by a long shot.  But, I’ve got other issues coming up and I need to slow down and take care of me now.”

“Have you talked to Delilah about it?” David asked.

“Not yet.  I’m going to when she gets home from the clinic.  I’m not deciding anything without consulting her first.”

“Smart of you.  I remember when your mother and I had that conversation for her to retire.”

“I never would have decided to do it had Dad and I not talked about it first”, Brie added.  “It’s a big decision.  I’m sure that the two of you will come to the decision that’s best for the two of you and your family.”

He smiled genuinely for the first time that day.  “Thanks Mom and Dad.  I’m glad that you two have so much faith in me.”

“Of course we do, Jacob.  We have faith in all of you, as well as your children.  You know what’s best for you and for your family”, David said.  “We know you’ll make the right decision.”

“Now, why don’t you go run everyone off and let us stretch and more around a little bit before we come down to eat?” Brie said with a smile.

Jake chuckled and gave his mother a half salute.  “Aye ma’am”, he said as he walked toward the door.  “Thanks for the impromptu chat.  I kinda needed it.”

“You’re welcome Jacob.  Now scram”, his father said with a laugh.

He couldn’t help but join in as he left the room, replying, “Scramming.”

---------------

Eli was finally getting to hold his new niece when Jake came down the stairs.  He looked from Eli to Miranda and Callan.  “Where is everyone?” he asked

“Aunt Meagan and Aunt Jordan went into town for something then they’re going back to Jordan’s”, Eli said, his eyes never leaving the little angel in his arms.  “Mom and Dad had to take Jenni to her art class thing and they’ll be back for the other 2/3 of the trips, and Isaiah and Chelsea had to go back to the house to start packing to go back to New York.  Isaiah has to get back for classes and Chelsea has some auditions that she needs to get to.  She’s auditioning for the lead in Peter Tchaikovsky’s Sleeping Beauty as well a ballet adaptation of A Midsummer Night’s Dream by Shakespeare.”

Jake chuckled.  “Ah yes, ‘If we shadows have offended, think but this and all is mended, That you have but slumbered here, while these visions did appear.’  Fantastic piece.  I loved reading Shakespeare in school- both high school and college.”

Eli nodded in agreement.  “Oh yeah, Classical Lit.  I loved that class, though I have to admit when we hit Shakespeare I was more one for the comedies than the tragedies.”

“Same here.  Not a big fan of the tragedies, other than Hamlet and Macbeth.  My favorite Shakespeare of all time has to be Much Ado About Nothing.”

“Good one.”

Jake took a deep breath and sighed.  “Where is Uncle ‘Miah?”

“His place out back”, Callan said.  “He said something about helping Aunt Jona make some of her herbal concoctions for the clinic to sell in general.  She also has a few requests from clients that she needs to fill.”

Jake nodded.  “Cool.  If the house starts filling with unnecessary people again, let me know and I’ll run them off.  Miranda needs peace and quiet so that she can recover from having a baby and Gramma and Grampa just want peace and quiet.”

They all nodded.  “We’ll let you know, Uncle Jake”, Miranda said.  “I don’t want a lot of people around right now.”

“Ok.  And so there won’t be.”

---------------

Once David and Brie came down, Jake started making lunch for those that were there.  While he was doing that, he had Jax- who wanted to be a pediatrician- look Grace over to assess when she could go home with her parents so that both sets of grandparents could dote on her with no problems.  “Not that I don’t enjoy having Miranda here, but the sooner they go home the sooner I’ll have my house back”, he said to his parents after running his children off.

“This is very true”, David said with a nod.  “You just need to tap into that amazing patience you have.”

“I’m afraid my patience is running a little thin today.”

Jax came in.  “I looked the baby over; she should be just fine to go home tomorrow.”

Jake nodded.  “Thanks Jax.  I’m sending Miranda home tomorrow too.  She’s getting a shower now.”

“I don’t blame her.  I’d probably feel disgusting after all that she did yesterday too.”

“Just wait until it Miri”, David said.

“Oh we’ve already had a chat about that one”, Jax laughed.  “She’s determined that she’s not having a home birth unless there’s NO OTHER WAY.  I really can’t argue.  It’s her body.”

Brie nodded slowly.  “Good man.  I knew I liked you for a reason.”

“Are you sure it’s not the accent Mom?” Jake teased.

Brie rolled her eyes.  “Pretty sure.”

Jax grabbed a chip and one of the tea sandwiches that was sitting on the platter on the counter.  “I’m gonna head upstairs and do a little studying with Miri.  We’re testing each other on medical terms.  We’re going to try to test out of the class when we get back to Chicago so that we can move on to bigger and better things.  We’re both pretty bored with the class.”

“Having doctors in the family would do that to you, I would think”, Jake laughed.  “If you need help I’m down here.”

Jax and Delilah passed each other as he left the kitchen.  Delilah looked exhausted.  “I really hate that particular client”, she said shaking her head.  Brie looked a question at her and she clarified.  “One of my regular Body- Mind clients comes in with all kinds of mental issues linked to trauma as a child.  I’ve been working with her for a couple of years now once a month.  She’s not making any progress because she doesn’t want to get better and stop living with the trauma.  I know that the muscles hold on to trauma but if you don’t want to let it go then there’s nothing I can do.  I’m about to call her psychiatrist that there’s nothing I can do for her.  I’ve been trying and there’s nothing I can do.  She doesn’t want the help.”

Brie nodded.  “That’s the best thing you can do, dear.  If she doesn’t want to give it up then there’s nothing you can do.”

Delilah smiled.  “Thanks Mom.”  She looked at Jake.  “Everyone is gone.  Did you want to go somewhere private so that we can talk?”

Jake shook his head.  “Nah.  Mom and Dad know what I want to talk to you about.”  He had been leaning over the counter on his elbows.  He stood up straight and felt his back protest.  “Damn my spine”, he said under his breath.  “Anyway”, he looked at his wife, “I’ve been thinking recently that it’s about time I retire.  It’s been 23 years that I’ve been practicing medicine.  I’ve done it all and then some.”

“What brought this up?” she asked.  She would support him no matter what his decision; he knew that.  She just wanted to know what had caused him to start thinking retirement.

“My back issues.  You and I both know that even though Jona’s been stuffing foods high in natural sodium down mine and Jeremiah’s throats, my issues are far too advanced for it to make too much of a difference.  I’m going to have to have surgery.  I’d rather not be worrying about a medical practice when that happens.  That and my knees are acting up.  I may need a knee replacement.  It’s just that time.”

She nodded.  “I understand that.”  She took a deep breath and sighed.  “Jakey if that’s what you feel is best for you then do it.  You know that I’ll take care of you if that’s what needs to happen.  You and I have been saving so that we can retire early anyway.  I’m going to wait until the twins are out of school.  Samantha has been talking about learning to do what I do so that she can take over for me at the clinic.  If you feel it’s best for you to retire, then do it.  When were you thinking about doing this?”

“Beginning of the year.  I want to finish out the fiscal year.  It will give me time to decide which of the young med school graduates that works for me is worthy of becoming partner in practice.  No way in hell am I selling my half of the practice.  They can buy in under the stipulation that they don’t change the name.”

“I don’t blame you.  You and Tom worked hard to establish Draiman- Thibodaux Neurology.  There’s a certain standard of care that comes with hearing that name.  Changing it would change the expectation.”

“My point exactly.”  He glanced at his parents briefly, then back at his wife.  “We’ll talk about the other thing later.  For that, I really do want us to be alone.”

She nodded.  “Not a problem, my love.  We’ll talk some more later.  Right now, I need to go get changed and head back to town.  I’ve got a doctor’s appointment with that osteopath down the street from the clinic.”

“Set me up an appointment with him while you’re there.  The doctor I’ve been seeing is a moron.”

She nodded.  “You’ve got it.  What do you want to see him about?”

“My knee.  I blew it out in high school.  Tore my meniscus playing soccer; dislocated it, all kinds of stuff.  I want to see if he refers me to an orthopedist or what he suggests.”

“We remember when you blew out your knee”, David said.  “What’s going on?”

“I stood up to come check on you and Mom and Miranda and Eli heard it pop.  They didn’t say anything, but I know they heard it.  It’s been grinding and all that fun shit.  I just need to get it looked at and my asshole doctor is giving me the run around, thinking that because I’m a neurologist that I don’t know that he’s bull shitting me.”

“Have you tried any essential oil treatments?” Brie asked.

“I have.  They’re not really helping.  Jona’s been a big help, but I need to have a doctor look at it.  I honestly think that I’m going to need a knee replacement.  I’ve not always been kind to my knees.”

Delilah nodded.  “I’ll talk to him and see what he suggests until he can see you and while I’m there I’ll set up an appointment for you.”

“Thanks baby.  No wonder I love you”, he laughed.

“Yeah.  I keep you organized and on your toes.  And I love you too.  Now, if you’ll excuse me I’m going to go change so that I go to the doctor.  I’ll see you all in a little while.”  She kissed her husband before heading out of the kitchen to do what she needed to do.

Jake smiled to himself even though he wasn’t alone.  “I’m so glad she said yes 23 years ago.  I don’t know what I would have done the last several years if she hadn’t.”

“Yeah.  Neither do we”, his father said.  “Neither do we.”