This Is Us - Chapter 77: Chapter 77

*Thomas POV*
"Be gentle Jaydean, see you have to be careful,"
I warned my eldest daughter as little Rumi was our last victim of the night, lying in the babies' bathtub sling and flailing his arms around in a panic as we gave him his first bath together. Jaydean gently wiped her baby brother's baby soft skin with a small washcloth covered in soap while I massaged his tight black curls with water and baby shampoo.
"I am being careful Daddy, I swear," Jaydean retorts as she gets the insides of his little hands. Rumi suddenly clenches his fist tight and starts to let out a few frightful cries.
"Oh Roo, it's not that bad, shhh. You're okay, I'm right here," I told him as I massaged his little head and took the washcloth from Jayde to wipe his face. His cries turn to a small whimper with the warm cloth on his face.
"I think Rumi likes that," Jaydean giggles while tickling the bottom of her baby brother's toes making him flinch and kick in response.
"Jaydean, please stop messing with him," Matty tiredly mutters to her from across the kitchen island where he was sitting, waiting for the baby to be transferred to him so he could lather our last quad in lotion and dress him up.
I heard a small chattering and looked up to find Matty rubbing the arms of his long sleeve sweatshirt for warmth with his teeth chattering. We all looked tired with little to no sleep after caring for the quads for a week but Matty looked beyond tired with the darkest circles I've ever seen under his eyes, his skin a lot paler than usual, and small tears leaving from his eyes as he shivered.
"Baby? Are you okay?" I asked him and he sniffled a bit, rubbing his eyes and yawning.
"Me? Yeah, I'm fine why? It's just a little cold in here, that's all," He said and I looked down at Rumi, giving him one last rinse.
"I think Mommy's lying, what do you think little guy?" I poked Roo's little cheek before taking his slippery body and handing him off to Matty.
"Lying about what?" Luca asked from the couch as he was looking over our other three little ones who were rocking in their baby swings and matching dinosaur onesies.
"I think there's something wrong with our husband and he's refusing to say anything," I bring up as Matty quickly towel dries our last baby and kisses Rumi's little feet before drying his hair. His hands shake as he applies the baby oil to his skin, his hands shaking as he puts the diaper on him.
Luca comes up behind him and runs his hands over Matty's, helping him put the strap on Roo's diaper and taking over for him as he puts Roo in his little dino onesie so he'll be like his brothers and sister.
"Jaydean, why don't you go watch the babies for us and make sure they stay asleep, okay?" I asked our soldier for a big sister and she takes on the mission without question like the amazing daughter she is.
"I'm fine guys, really," Matthias shivers again and I walk around the countertop, forcefully turning his barstool so he's facing me and he yelps in pain.
"Baby, you shouldn't be in that much pain anymore, you should be getting a least a little bit better every day but it seems like you're just getting worse," I tell him honestly and the small tears that were escaping his eyes earlier were now coming down.
"I-I-I'm in so much pain guys," Matty finally confesses and Luca places a hand on Matty's forehead.
"Holy shit love, you're burning up," Luca pulls his hand away and I grabbed Rumi in one arm while reaching in the drawer and searching for our thermometer in the other. Once I find it, I hold it out for Matty to take it but he refuses to open his mouth.
"Open up," I command and he giggles a bit.
"That's what he said," He wheezes and Luca crosses his arms.
"Matthias Jackson, this could be serious, come on now," Luca begs and Matty rolls his eyes, finally opening his mouth.
"You guys are no fun anymore," He pouts before wrapping his lips around the thermometer and smirking until the number keeps going up. Instantly going from 97F [37 C] degrees to 104F [40 C] within seconds before beeping a caution.
"I'm calling Mari," I instantly reach in my pocket and pull out my phone but Matty grabs it from me.
"No, I'm fine. I'll be fine, I just need to be with my babies," He tells me as he holds my arm in place while staring at the precious newborn nestled in the crook of my arm.
"Don't take me away from them, it will kill me," he whimpers and I almost debated doing it when I heard Luca talking on his phone.
"Hey Marius, so it seems Matthias has a temperature of a little over 104, should we be concerned?" Luca asked and Matty had a look of sheer betrayal written on his face. I gripped the base of his chin and looked directly into his hazel gray eyes.
"Listen stubborn, you might need the babies, but the babies need you to be their mommy now and later when they're not little babies. So we need you to-"
"We need to take him to the emergency room now, Marius said there's not a second to waste," Luca put his phone down and looked at me. The two of us doing a mental game of who would stay with all four babies plus Jaydean while the other took Matty to the hospital.
"Go, I'll call our in-laws for backup," I told him and he nodded in understanding but Matty was still shaking his head.
"N-No I'm telling you guys I'm just fine so leave me here, no, no, NO!" Matty fights as Luca reaches for his stool and scoops our husband into his arms.
"We don't have time to waste and frankly you don't have a choice," Luca threatens in this deep scary voice but Matty weakly slams his fists against Luca's strong chest.
"Put me down you idiot! I told you I'm fine!" He yelled but Luca didn't care as I grabbed the car keys and slipped them into the pocket of his shorts, gently kissing his cheek.
"Keep me updated," I gently reminded him and he nodded as I opened the door for him while he carried Matty out to the car, not caring that he was thrashing around and fighting like a wild animal.
I slowly closed the front door behind them and let out a deep breath, scared for Matty's safety.
"Is mommy going to be okay?"
I turned around to face Jaydean who was looking up at me with those large blue eyes dressed in her nightgown. I carefully switched Roo to my other arm and gently pet my little girl on the head.
"Yeah sweetie he's going to be fine, he's just not feeling so well," I told her and her eyes started to water.
"Oh sweetheart what's wrong?" I asked her and she sniffled a bit.
"I'm worried about mommy, I don't want him to be sick like I was," She whimpers, knowing the hospital was the place where only very sick people go, like when she had been diagnosed with cancer and spent a month in and out of Grayson Memorial, sometimes within inches of her life.
"No, mommy's going to be okay baby. He's not that kind of sick. Here, let me just put Rumi down and I'll put you to bed with warm milk and a bedtime story. Sound fun?" I asked her and she slowly nodded.
"Okay, you can go ahead and get cozy, I'll just call your grandfather's over to help with the babies," I told her and she slowly walked back around the corner to the hallway leading to her room. I looked down at Rumi and kissed his soft forehead as he peered up at me with those little brown eyes.
"Look at you, only quiet when there's a ton of drama going on huh? Are you going to be a reporter when you're older?" I jokingly asked him, trying to take my mind of Matty as I put Roo down in his swing.
But how could I when each and every one of our babies including Jaydean, reminded me of him.
*****************************
Answers to precious questions?
A. Luca would sip some pomegranate tea with honey or a caramel latte. He would also eat a few buttered croisants and scones with jelly.
B. Matthias would have you laughing your ass off the second you walked into the karaoke room as the two of you sang together.
C. Thomas likes a good deep dish pizza and he would talk to you about his babies and show you pictures of all the little ones.
Also Nakoa's upcoming book has a cover in progress with a full cast for your viewing pleasure. I'll give you ONE LAST TEENY TINY PREVIEW....
***
"You stay safe out there and keep your witts on you, I raised you to be smart, you hear me Nakoa?"
Dad told me as he wrapped his strong arms around me and squeezed me as tight as he possibly could.
"Okay dad, but you're suffocating me," I gasped as he finally let go of me and I was spun around to hug my mother next. He was a lot shorter than me with his head on my chest he also squeezed me tight and I felt like I was going to cry from his tears wetting my uniform.
"You better come back you little pain in the ass," He sniffled and I gently kissed the top of his head.
"Aish mom, of course, I'll come back to you. I always will," I reassured him even though I wasn't so sure.
My Papa attacks me next with tears dripping down his cheeks as he held me in a tight hug.
"I'll miss you so much bunny, but we're all so very proud of you," He said in that familiar soothing British accent that I missed the most along with cooking beside him.
"I'll miss you too Papa, keep your head up for me please," I quietly pleaded with him, with everything going on he had hit his lowest lows after separating from my mom and dad. Papa was secretly my favorite father, but I would never tell them that.
"Don't worry about me Koa, worry about yourself please," He reassured me and gently kissed my cheek.
I finally turned to face my squad of sibling next to me as all four of them huddled around me and held me tight. There were no words to describe how much I would miss them but I knew I was serving my country to make sure they were safe in their beds at night.
"Squadron, it's time for final goodbyes before we head out to your deployment!"
There was the slamming of a door which disrupted the crowd and I looked over to see the man I, unfortunately, call my husband running in just seconds before I leave. He rushes into my arms which I held open for him since I still loved him, even if he'll never love me back.
"Nico, what are you doing here? I told you that you didn't have to come," I whispered to him as he cried into my shoulder.
"Koa please, I'm so sorry. I couldn't let you leave without telling you how sorry I am," He says and my heart felt more torn than before.
"It's okay Nico. I told you when I come back, we'll figure out the divorce and..."
"Koa, that's not-"
"AND LADIES AND GENTLEMEN IT'S NOW TIME..."
.
.
.
I stared at the photo of my family just a week before I left them. A single teardrop falls on the film and I quickly wiped it away when I heard the soft footsteps before me.
"You holding on there Jackson?" I looked up to see surgeon Sebastian Rivera standing in front of me chewing on a piece of gum with his hands on his hips.
"Yeah, I just miss them is all," I confessed as I folded the photo back up and put it in my pocket.
"Oh, I'm sure it's hard. Having a big family and all. How does your husband feel about everything?" He asked and I laughed.
"My husband? He doesn't care about me. He never really did," I admitted and stood up, suddenly feeling uncomfortable with so many emotions while on call.
"Jackson, I wanted to talk to you about last night..."
"LEEEEROOOOY JENKINS!"
The loudspeaker announces and I snagged my gear from the table.
"Well, duty calls," I told him, quickly grabbing his waist and stealing one speedy kiss before running as fast as possible to Intel.
"What's up?" I asked Intel and the crew and I paused, waiting for the call to scramble.
"We've got an American CAT Alpha [most critically injured] but we're waiting for the call,"
I stand on edge, seeing the area on screen and knowing it was going to be bad.
"We have two amputations with a...SCRAMBLE!" Intel calls out and we start running towards the chopper. On my adrenaline fuelled jog, I catch a flash of Rivera who was off duty today, clutching my dog tags wrapped around his neck tightly.
"I'll be back Seb," I whispered to him under my breath knowing he wouldn't hear me.
"ALPHA PEDRO LET'S GO!"