Hi All,
I can definately say that this chapter is the longest I have written yet. It covers alot of information that will be important in the future.
I hope you like this,
Enjoy!!!
BabyButt
Chapter 74
Rick stood there with tears flowing, not even trying to stop them now. He looked directly at Peter and put his hand on Peter’s shoulder and said tearfully “Thank you so much!”.
Becky got scared watching Daddy cry. She hugged his waist tightly and said “Daddy what’s wrong?” with a fearful voice.
Rick pulled Becky back gently from his waist, knelt to one knee and said “Nothing’s wrong Baby, I’m just very happy to see you feel safe now. It’s hard for Daddy to see you so frightened Baby, it hurts bad, right here.” He said, placing her hand over his heart. Seeing Becky’s eyes fill with tears and her thumb find her mouth, he quickly added “It’s OK Baby, Daddy knows you can’t help being scared, and I’m OK, I just have to let it out once in a while. I wouldn’t trade the time we’ve spent together today for anything in the world Baby.” with a big, tearful smile and a kiss to her cheek.
Becky smiled and kissed him when Daddy said that. She had felt terrible that she was hurting Daddy. She couldn’t help being afraid, and he understood that and even though it hurt, he wanted to be with her. That made her feel very, very special.
Sharon also had wet cheeks, watching this scene unfold. She felt for Rick. He had it harder from her perspective. While Billy didn’t want anyone to come near him and he wouldn’t let go of her for anything, Becky was truly terrified, and wasn’t a baby. She knew this had to make ordinary tasks very difficult for both of them.
Rick pulled back from Becky, stood and held her left hand in his, her right thumb being occupied at the moment. Looking down, he said “I’m alright now Baby” and winked at her.
Peter saw April outside the doors and put his finger up signaling her to wait a moment. Once Becky was settled, he motioned for April to continue.
April pushed the intercom button and said “Becky, can I please come in? I have lunch for you and your family.”
The sound startled Becky and she immediately moved closer to Daddy putting her arms up and said “Up Daddy.”
Rick picked her up, but this time shifted her to his right hip, keeping her from hiding, while allowing her right hand to be free so she could nurse her thumb. “It’s OK Pumpkin, April wants to come in so we can eat.” He told her softly. “Aren’t you hungry Sweetheart?” he asked.
Becky nodded.
“Well, then push the button and let her in so we can eat.” He told her.
“You do it Daddy.” She told him.
“No Baby, that I will not do.” He said as he gently took her chin and forced her to look at him. “Mr. Peter told you NO ONE will push that button but you, not even me.” He explained firmly. He could see that opening the door was frightening for her, but knew she had to take this step. He was going to leave it up to her though, not forcing her to let April in.
After a moment of thought, Becky reached out and pushed the rocker switch so the top part was flush with the wall. A dull thud sounded and the outside door slid open. April rolled a cart into the space between the doors and the outer door closed. When the inner door opened, she pushed the cart into the room and said “Thank you Becky, you’re such a good girl.” with a warm smile.
Once the inner door slid shut, Becky was quick to push the button down to lock it. “That’s it Baby, you’re all set now.” Rick told her with a smile.
Becky felt much better. She kicked her legs once to let Daddy know she wanted to get down. She was really hungry and the smell of the food was making her mouth water.
Rick set her down gently and gave her a soft pat on her padded bottom. He then stood up and crossed his arms to see if she would be alright with not holding his hand. Seeing her anxiety increase, he reached down and took her left hand in his, and led her to the second bed in the room. The crib had been taken out and replaced by another bed for Becky and Rick. He lifted her up and sat her down on it, moving a tray table so it sat right in front of her. Sitting down, he said “Alright, let’s see what Miss April brought us to eat, shall we?”
Becky scooted so she was sitting against him. He was fine with that. “It’ll take time for her to get through this.” he thought, but was extremely thankful that things weren’t the same as they had been at the house.
As April set two trays down in front of Becky and Rick, Sharon told Billy “It’s time for Nummies Baby.”, laid him down on his side facing her breast, and pulled her shirt up so he could see her nipple.
Billy anxiously turned his head and looked at Daddy, fiercely nursing his binky.
Rick saw this and told Becky “I need to take care of something Pumpkin, I’ll be right back.” Before she could object, he moved forward and knelt on the floor in front of Billy. He reached up and pulled Billy’s pacifier from his mouth and gently, but firmly turned his head toward Mommy’s nipple. “Nursey for Mommy Baby Boy.” He told Billy as he gently pushed his head forward until Sharon’s nipple was touching Billy’s lips.
Billy felt the nipple and reflexively opened his mouth, latched on and began nursing on it.
“That’s a good baby, Mommy loves it when you nursey.” Peter told him. A moment later, Rick got back up on the bed, scooting close to Becky, and they began to eat.
Sharon smiled her thanks to Rick. She was so glad he handled that the way he did. He could have just told Billy it was OK, but instead had physically helped him to nurse, and that showed Billy that Daddy wanted him to nurse. “Cathy was right, this was a good idea.” She thought as she started eating her lunch.
A little while later, Billy was sound asleep, still suckling at mommy’s breast. Rick noticed Becky squirming, winked at Sharon and pushed the finished tray back from the bed. He picked Becky up and said “I know a little girl that needs to go potty.” and headed toward the bathroom.
Once he got them inside, he set Becky down on her feet and told her “OK Pumpkin, go ahead and go potty. Daddy’s gonna stand right here while you go.” And turned his back to her. A second later he heard a tearful “Daddy?” and immediately turned to see that Becky was really upset.
Kneeling down, he asked “What’s wrong Baby?” pulling her close.
Becky, feeling frightened that Daddy would get upset said “Can you do it? I’m sorry I’m bein’ a baby Daddy, but I want you to do it.” with tears flowing.
Rick felt awful. He had automatically assumed that she would be OK with this. “I’m sorry Sweety, I really didn’t mean to scare you. I didn’t realize you would want me to help you like last time. Sure I will.” he told her and reached for her waist. A second later, he had her PullUp down and her skirt held up out of the way and lifted her onto the potty, allowing her to hold onto his neck like they had done before.
As soon as Daddy had her on the potty, Becky stopped crying. She didn’t care that she needed to poop and that daddy would see her do it. Having him do this was very important to her. Relaxing, she went pee first and then moved her bowels. When she was all finished, she said “OK Daddy.” and sat still.
Rick didn’t even ask, he just got some toilet paper and pulled her forward and wiped her bottom. Repeating the process to make sure her bottom was clean, he picked her up and set her on her feet and pulled her training pants up and then straightened out her skirt. Looking right at Becky, he said “Pumpkin, don’t ever be afraid to ask me to help. I won’t get mad at you for it, I promise. And your not being a baby, Pumpkin.”
“I’m not?” Becky asked.
“No you’re not. Tell me, do you see Billy ask me or Mommy to put him on the potty?” he told her.
“No.” she answered.
“Why is that?” he asked her.
She thought a second, and then smiled a big smile and said “Because he’s a baby.”
“That’s right Pumpkin. If I thought you were a baby, I would put a diaper on you and not even bother to take you to the potty.” He explained.
He had thought about explaining that he might ask her to try to do for herself after a while, but decided that could wait. It was too soon to worry about that. If she needed to be a little girl and have her daddy put her on the potty and wipe her bottom for her for a little while, then he was fine with that.
Becky kissed him gently on the cheek before hugging him close and taking her thumb. “I lub you Daddy.” She said sweetly.
“I love you to Baby.” Rick said and hugged for a moment and then said “Let’s wash our hands.”
When they came out of the bathroom, Rick saw Becky yawn big as she walked with him toward the bed. When they got to the bed, he sat down and told her “I think you need to lay down for a little bit Honey. You look really tired.” and reached down to untie her shoe. Once he united the other one and pulled both off, he pulled back the covers on the bed, picked Becky up and laid her down gently on the bed. Handing her Charley Bear, he pulled the covers up and kissed her on the forehead and said “Sweet dreams Pumpkin.”
Becky smiled a sleepy smile and replied “Night Night Daddy.”, hugged Charley close and put her thumb in her mouth. Five minutes later she was sound asleep.
“Hmmm. Well I hadn’t counted on that, but it will give us some time to talk about where they both are.” Peter told Rick.
“Counted on what?” Rick asked perplexed.
“Ummm…well….I’m stuck here now. She can’t let me out.” Peter answered with a smile.
“Oh.” Rick said sheepishly. “Do you think she’d wake up if we opened the door?” he asked.
“Don’t even think about it.” Peter said with a no-nonsense tone. “The last thing that little girl needs is to wake up and see that she’s not as safe as she thought she was.” He added.
“You’re right. It would make things ten times worse. She wouldn’t trust anyone then.” Rick replied.
“Exactly. That would be so much worse. We are fortunate, ans so is she, that she feels she can trust you. Without that who would she turn to?” Peter asked.
“I don’t even want to think about that.” Rick answered.
“I’ll put up with having to sit for a while. If something comes up, then I’ll wake her up, but I will not open that door for her.” Peter decided.
“Why is she tired? She took a nap this morning.” Sharon asked.
“It’s the medicine. It has that effect on some children, but it will wear off as her body gets used to the medication.” Peter explained. “How did it go in the bathroom?” he asked Rick.
“She wouldn’t do it for herself. She was in tears, asking me to do it for her. I had to pull her panties down and sit her on the toilet. She didn’t have any problem going both number one and two with me right there. She said ‘OK’ when she was done going and sat waiting for me to wipe her bottom.” Rick explained.
After a moment he added “She apologized for being a baby, and I reassured her she wasn’t a baby because she didn’t wear a diaper and used the potty.”
“That was the best way to handle it in my opinion. For the short term, let her lead the way. If she wants you to take her to the potty and help her clean up, then by all means do it. Once we have dealt with the fear and anxiety, then you can work on getting her to do it for herself.” Peter explained.
“I noticed she is sucking her thumb, when was the last time she did that?” he asked.
“She was six.” Sharon answered. “We had a heck of a time getting her weaned from it too.” She added.
“Don’t try to discourage it now. Let her have that. It’s the one thing she can count on no matter where she is. It’s typical for a child to regress after a traumatizing event. Just let her do what she needs to do, within reason, to get by for now. It’ll work out all right in the end.” Peter told them.
“What are we going to do tomorrow?” Rick asked.
Peter said “Let’s worry about that tomorrow. We have no idea how she’ll respond by then.”
“You’re right.” Rick said.
“How is Billy coming along?” Peter asked.
Sharon said “He’s getting a lot better about nursing and taking his binky. He even let me play with him with his Pooh Bear earlier.” With a laugh she added “I don’t think he’ll ever give up his blankie again now.”
“I’m glad to hear he’s coming along. Just keep doing what you’re doing.” He told her.
“What do we do about school?” Rick asked.
“I’ve been thinking about that and I think it would be a very bad thing to try to get Becky to go back right now. Where is her birthday in relation to the school year?” he asked.
“Her birthday is in November, so she was able to start school early, why?” Sharon answered.
“Hmmm….how do you think she’d take staying back a year?” Peter asked.
“Why would she stay back?” Rick asked.
“I doubt we’ll be able to get her back in school before April or May. She can’t go to school while on the medication because for one, I don’t want to keep her on it that long, because it can become addictive. For two she would be sleepy or have a hard time concentrating on the work. So she can’t go back before the meds are no longer needed. Like I said, I don’t think she’ll be back in school until the year is almost out.” Peter answered.
“Oh. Well what about a tutor?” he tried.
“Unless you know someone Becky will trust, I don’t think you will get her to sit with anyone and be able to concentrate on what they will try to teach her.” Peter explained.
“No, she’s going to have to be held back.” Sharon decided. “She was started early and I think I did her a disservice by doing that. She was always a little immature for her age and this will actually help I think. Plus, she won’t know any of the kids in her new class, and that might help reduce the stigma that comes from this story being on the front page of the paper.” she explained.
“You’re right she’s always been immature, and it would be a lot easier on her.” Rick said.
“I think it’s the best way. It will give her the time she needs to work through this.” Peter told them. “I’ll be giving you a letter for the school system. The law says that their supposed to be in school. The letter will solve that problem.” He added.
“Good. I had no idea how I was going to explain to Billy’s principal.” Sharon said.
“You will probably have to go see him anyway, and bring Billy with you, but the letter will help.” Peter explained.
“Thank you.” Sharon said gratefully.
Peter looked at her with a reassuring smile and said “Trust me, when his principal sees Billy and talks with him for a moment, that will be all that’s needed to take care of that problem. Do both of them go to the same school?”.
“Yes they do.” Rick answered.
“Good. Seeing Billy may eliminate the principal’s desire to physically see Becky when you talk to him.” Peter explained. “Tell me, when do you have to return to work?” he asked.
“Right now, that’s up in the air. Paul, the owner of the firm, told me to go home and not come back until he called me. The problem is, we are supposed to take a trip to Disney in ten days. I don’t have that much leave.” Rick answered.
Sharon with a concerned expression asked Peter “Do you think we’ll be able to take them there after all that’s happened?”.
Peter with a pained expression thought a moment and answered “I don’t know. How long are you supposed to be there?”.
“Seven nights.” Rick answered.
“It depends on how they’re doing and how it’s done. Let me think on that one, and I’ll let you know if I think the trip is a good idea later this evening.”. Peter advised. He stood up and looked at his watch. Looking to Rick, he said “I hate to do this, but I need to go see another patient. I am going to have to ask you to wake her long enough to open the door.”.
Rick, not happy, but understanding the need, reached over and picked Becky and Charley Bear up and held them close. Becky still had her thumb in her mouth. She whimpered softly when he moved her. “Becky Honey, you need to wake up Baby so Mr. Peter can leave the room.” he said shaking her slightly.
Becky opened her very sleepy eyes and looked at Daddy. She saw Daddy carry her to the door.
“You need to open the door Baby so Mr. Peter can go see other little girls and boys and help them feel better.” he told her softly.
After a moment of thought, and after tightening her grip on Daddy, Becky reached out and pushed the button to open the door. Peter quickly said “Thank you Becky.” and moved through the door. Once he was through the second door, Becky quickly locked them.
Rick told her “Good girl.” with a pat to her bottom. He carried her back to the bed, laid her down and covered her back up. Giving her a kiss, he said “Go back to sleep Pumpkin.” and sat down next to her. She was asleep within seconds.
“How are you holding up?” Sharon asked her husband reaching out for his hand.
Rick said “I’m alright.” and took her hand in his and kissed it gently.
“She’s in for a rough ride.” Sharon told him.
“I know. I think letting her be a little girl will help though.” he offered.
“Are you sure it’ll be alright?” Sharon asked.
“What do you mean?” Rick answered with a puzzled expression.
“Well, Becky isn’t far from puberty honey. She’s gonna go through some changes soon. It might take two years to start, but it might start in a few months. What if she wants to stay a little girl for longer? Do you want to be the one to explain to her about how her body is changing?” she explained.
“No, not for all the money on the planet.” he said with a chuckle. Thinking for a moment, he said “I don’t know hon, I just know it was the right thing to do.” with a worried expression and a big sigh.
Sharon realized that he thought she was saying he made a mistake. “Look,” she said a little harsher than she meant to. “I didn’t mean to give you the impression that I think you’ve done something wrong. I was heartbroken when you brought her in and she was so frightened. I know the last day had to be hell for you, harder than it was for me with Billy. Please don’t think that I feel you handled this wrong. You did exactly the right thing Honey.” she explained.
“I don’t know, Hon. I just know in my heart that trying to push her to be eleven will not work.” he replied.
“Richard,” she said with tears in her eyes. “I’m sorry. I should have just trusted your judgment. I want you to know, right now, that I’ll support any decision you make on this.” she told him softly.
That got his attention. Sharon almost never used his full name. He could see that she regretted balking earlier. “Look Honey, I don’t know a lot of things, but I know I love you, and I love these two beautiful children. I know that it had to be almost impossible to endure what went on here yesterday. And I’ll Admit, this has been one of the hardest weeks of my life, but I do feel strongly that we should just let her be a little girl for a little while.”.
“That’s good enough for me.” Sharon assured him. “You let me decide when it was time to make a decision on how and how long to help Billy. I’m going to leave this one to you Honey, after all, she’s always been Daddy’s little girl.” she added with a smile.
With misty eyes, he said softly “Thank you.”.
Peter, standing out at the nurses station, called Rick’s cell phone. When he answered, Peter said “Please call my cell when Becky is ready to go to bed for the night, will you?”.
Rick said “Sure, why?”.
“Because we are going to need to ask Becky if you can open the door only for me or April, otherwise, we can’t care for the kids properly.” Peter answered.
“OK, that makes sense, I’ll ask her.” Rick responded.
“Do me a favor and let me do it. She might agree if you asked her just because she wants to please you. If I ask her, she won’t have that problem.” Peter clarified.
“OK, I’ll call and then we can deal with it then.” Rick assured him.
Peter replied “Thanks, I’ll wait for your call.” and hung up the phone.
It was eight O’clock when Rick saw Becky yawn for the second time. He decided that it was time for her to go to bed. Billy was being burped by Sharon at the moment.
“Come here Pumpkin.” Rick told Becky as he picked her up off the bed where she was playing with a toy that April had brought in earlier for her. When Becky looked at him, he said “It’s time to get ready for bed Baby. I want you to go potty for me.” and he picked her up and carried her into the bathroom. Standing her in front of the toilet, he said “I’m going to put this gown on you Pumpkin, that’s what you need to sleep in for tonight, OK?”
Becky said “OK Daddy.” and raised her arms up over her head.
Rick taking the cue without talking about it, began to undress her. When he had her down to her training pants, he noticed some of the flowers had disappeared. He didn’t know if she’d wet when she was napping, or if she’d just got caught up in playing and wet. He wanted to approach this very carefully.
“Sweety, did you have an accident when you were playing?” he asked her warmly without a hint of displeasure in his voice.
“No Daddy.” she said and looked down at her training pants.
“Did you wet in your sleep Honey?” he questioned.
“I don’t know. I can’t remember, I was sleeping.” she answered.
That struck him as funny and he chuckled and hugged her. “I love you Pumpkin.” he said as he patted her bottom, trying to see how wet she was.
“I love you too Daddy.” Becky replied with a smile.
“OK Pumpkin. Let’s get you on the potty.” he told her as he pulled her training pants down. Lifting her up, he gently set her on the toilet and waited until she was done going pee. “Are you all done Baby?” he asked.
“Yep.” she said with a smile.
Smiling back at her, he gently leaned her forward and wiped her dry. Picking her up and putting her back on her feet, he pulled her training pants all the way down and said “Step out of them honey.”. Throwing them into the trashcan, he grabbed a clean pair from the shelf and brought it down to where she could step into them. Without a word, she put her feet into the training pants and Rick pulled them up snuggly into place.
He picked up the hospital gown and held it out so she could put her hands into the sleeves. Once he pulled it onto her, he pulled her close, wrapping his arms around her and tying it while he hugged her. He wasn’t sure she would take too well to being turned away from him, and decided now was not the time to find out.
“Alright Baby, let’s get our hands washed and your teeth brushed, and then Mr. Peter wants to talk to us.” he told her.
Sharon watched as Rick carried Becky out of the bathroom. Becky looked cute hugging her daddy close with her training pants clearly visible through the opening in the back of her gown. When she took her thumb, it made the picture complete. Sharon saw a little girl of six or seven. She was bigger, but the image was unmistakable. “Hi Sweety.” she told Becky with a big smile.
Becky kicked her feet once to let Daddy know she wanted down. When he set her down, she went to Mommy and very carefully, trying not to disturb her nursing brother, hugged Mommy around the neck. When she felt the gentle pats on her padded bottom, she smiled and gave Mommy a kiss and told her “I love you Mommy.”.
Sharon kissed her on the forehead and answered “I love you too Baby. Did you brush your teeth?”.
“Yes. And Daddy said I did a good job.” she answered solemnly.
“You’re such a good girl.” Sharon told her with another pat on her bottom.
This made Becky smile big. Looking down at Billy, she asked “Is Billy alright?” her smile loosing some of it’s luster with her worry.
“Yes Honey. He’s just fine, and you’re such a good big sister for asking.” Sharon said comfortingly.
That made Becky feel good. She kissed her Mommy again and returned to Daddy’s side just as he put his phone in his pocket. Reaching up, she said “Up Daddy.” smiling at him.
Rick no sooner picked her up, than Peter asked over the intercom if he could come in.
Billy was startled by the sound of the intercom and started to cry. Sharon quickly started to sooth him and he went back to sleep.
“Perfect.” Rick thought with a silent thanks to his baby boy.
Becky pushed the button to let Peter in and once she locked the doors, they went to sit down on her bed. “Hi Mr. Peter.” she told him.
“Hi Becky. I need to ask you something very important.” he told her. “Do you know how we need to give Billy medicine and check his and your heart and breathing every so often?” he asked.
“Yes.” she answered.
“Well, did you know that we do that all through the night too?” he continued.
“No I didn’t.” she told him.
“Well we do. If we didn’t, he might get sick. Usually, he never even wakes up when we do it.” he explained. “The problem is, as it is right now, we’re gonna have to wake Daddy up so he can wake you up to open the door so the nurse can come in to make sure Billy is OK.”.
Becky thought the next thing he would ask her would be to leave the door open. This frightened her immensely and she quickly pulled close to Daddy and held on tight, tears forming, and nursed her thumb.
“It’s OK Becky. I don’t want you to leave the door unlocked, I promise.” Peter told her comfortingly.
Hearing this, she turned to look at him and asked “You don’t?”.
“No. I don’t. I want you to let Mommy or Daddy open the door only for the nurses or Myself. I’m sure they will promise not to open it for anyone else.” he said.
“It’s important?” she asked.
“Yes Baby, it’s very important.” Peter assured her.
Becky looked at Daddy and he told her “I promise Baby, no one else without asking you first.”
When Becky looked at Sharon she said “I promise.” with a reassuring smile.
Still a little anxious, Becky asked Daddy “You promise to check and see if it’s locked?”.
“I’ll check it twice Honey, I promise.” Rick told her.
With a resigned sigh, she said “OK.” with the anxiety still in her eyes.
Peter knew there was no way they could wake her every time they needed access to the room. He hated to cause her any fear, but saw no other way. Smiling, he said “Thank you Honey. You are such a brave girl.”.
Becky just snuggled with Daddy, nursing her thumb.
Rick patted her bottom and told her “I think it’s bed time for you little girl.” and picked her up and laid her down on the bed facing toward the wall. Putting Charley Bear under her arm, he pulled the covers up and tucked her in. Kissing her forehead, he said “It’s night night time Baby, snuggle with Charley and take your thumb.”. When she did as he asked, he said “That’s a good girl, now close your eyes Baby, and I’ll be right here.” reaching over to pat her bottom in a slow gentle rhythm through the covers.
“Night night Daddy.” she said and closed her eyes.
Peter talked quietly with Sharon and Rick for a little while until he was sure by the sound of Becky’s steady breathing, that she was asleep.
Changing his tone a bit, he said “I need to tell you two some things, and I want you to listen to me.”.
Both Sharon and Rick turned to look at him. “What is it?” she asked.
“It’s nothing bad, I assure you. Actually, it’s quite the opposite.”. he told them.
“OK…” Rick replied.
“You are supposed to leave in ten days for Disney right?” he asked.
“Right.” Rick answered.
“Wrong.” Peter told them. “You will leave tomorrow.”.
“What?” Rick asked confused.
“Please don’t get angry with me, but I’ve done something I NEVER do. I’ve meddled.” Peter said nervously.
“Peter, out with it.” Sharon told him firmly, like she was talking to a child in trouble.
“Look, I’ve spent the last four and a half hours on the phone with a bunch of people. Cathy was one of them. You’re going to Disney, leaving tomorrow, and coming back when you were originally scheduled to return. So instead of seven nights, you’ll be there for fourteen nights.” he answered, looking at the floor.
“How?” was all Rick could get out.
“Well, you can’t be a doctor for twenty something years and not know a lot of people. I called a very good colleague of mine, and asked if he knew anyone at Disney. It turns out, he knew someone that could help me with this. So I took the liberty of calling and extending your stay.” he explained.
“Peter, I appreciate this, I really do, but I can’t afford to…” Rick started.
“You don’t have to, it’s been taken care of.” Peter told the floor tiles.
“Who? Please don’t tell me you did this.” Rick asked.
“No, I swear, I didn’t.” Peter answered.
“Who Peter?” Rick asked again.
“I’m not allowed to tell you that.” he told Rick.
Tears stinging her eyes, Sharon said “Judge Kramer.” as if it was a certain fact.
When Peter didn’t respond, Rick asked “Why would she do that?”.
“Because she swore to me that she would find some way to make up a small part of the pain she caused by signing the order to have the kids removed from our home.” Sharon answered. “That’s why she called you into her office before we left. She wanted you to find a way for her.”
“You are too smart for your own good Sharon. Please swear to me you won’t say a word. She was devastated. She needed a way to make it up to them.” Peter pleaded.
“And if we refuse?” Sharon asked.
“Then a lot of time and money will have been wasted, but more importantly, a kindly old lady will have her heart broken.” Peter said softly.
“Damn him.” Sharon thought. There was no way she could refuse after seeing how hurt Francine had been in her office. “OK, lets say we accept this. How are we going to get there? Billy won’t be able to fly now. It would terrify him.” she told him.
“Well,” Peter started.
“What now?” Rick asked.
“You know that bus that your company uses to transport VIP’s from one place to another?” Peter asked, again talking to the floor.
“You called Paul?” Rick asked startled.
“It was the only way I could guarantee that you had the time off. But he offered it without even knowing there was a need.” Peter explained apologetically. “It’s sitting at your house right now. Frank and Rachael are helping your Mom load clothing, toys and everything else you should need on board.”.
Sharon only had one question left. “Peter, why?” she asked.
“What do you mean why?” he asked defensively.
“Why Peter?” she asked again.
Peter was quiet for almost a full minute. Sharon could see he was wrestling with something. Just before she told him it was alright, he didn’t have to tell her, he looked up.
“When Julius was just diagnosed, my wife and I wracked our brains to figure out how to spend some time with him that would make him very happy.” Peter started.
“Peter, I’m sorry, you don’t…” Sharon said with tears stinging her eyes.
“It’s OK.” he told her looking straight into her eyes. “We looked at a lot of options. Julius liked Pooh Bear, just like Billy does. The best option I could find was Disney. Before things got bad, when Julius still had the energy to do things, we took him there.” he paused a moment and then with a thick voice said “Sharon, it was like walking onto another world. Everything was made for him. The rides, the play areas, the character breakfasts, they made this little boy so happy…” stopping for a moment when his voice broke.
His eyes overflowed when he started again. “There is a restaurant there, called the Crystal Palace. Every hour or so, Pooh Bear, Tigger and Piglet come out to see the guests, moving from table to table. When Julius saw Pooh, he was so happy he cried. When pooh hugged him, all the fear of the tests and the needles and the sickness disappeared for a while. They pulled him from his chair along with all of the other children there and danced in a big oval that covered the whole section of the dining room. He was so happy, holding Pooh’s hand as they danced around the room. I don’t remember him ever being happier.” he finished.
“Oh Peter.” Sharon cried softly as she took his hand in hers.
“Please, take them. I guarantee that Becky will feel safe there. With Pooh Bear’s help Billy will learn to be away from you physically. Just please, take them.” he pleaded.
Rick, with tears of his own, said “OK, we’ll take them.” with a thick voice, gripping Peters shoulder.
After a moment or two, Peter got control of his emotions. “I am going to send April with you, if you don’t mind. She can tend to Billy’s medical needs, and will be a big help for the first few days. You are going to have your hands full with children for a while as neither of them will want you to put them down. April can help by getting drinks and things.” and looking straight at Sharon he added “She will also pester you to drink a lot of fluid and eat well while you’re there. Besides, the children trust her, and that’s worth it’s weight in gold right now.”.
“But Peter, what about her job.” Sharon asked.
“Don’t worry, she’ll have her job when she gets back here. In fact, the state is paying the bill for her to accompany you. It’s a medical expense that’s a consequence of the fiasco with Social Services, and Judge Kramer specifically ruled that any expenses were to be covered by the state.” he explained.
“If Billy has any issues, a very good neurologist by the name of Gary Roach will take care of it. We went to medical school together and he did his residency right here along side me. I trust him.” Peter told them.
“If you trust him, that’s good enough for me.” Sharon said with a smile.
“He has Billy’s medical records, and I’ve explained what’s going on with both of them to him. If there’s a problem that needs medical attention, he’ll either take care of it, or he will see that someone who really knows their stuff will.” he added.
“Is there anything that you didn’t think of?” Rick asked him.
“Well, I have to confess, Phillis helped me to cover all the bases.” Peter admitted.
“Thank God for Mom.” Sharon said.
“Because the bus has a queen size bed in the back, and two pull down beds, you won’t have to worry about hotels on the way down. Paul has secured a driver, and they have temporarily installed a partition between the driver’s seat and the rest of the bus. This way, Becky doesn’t even have to see him. The kids will only see you two and April. There is a phone to talk to the driver so you can stop and get food. He will stop at a facility on the way there and back that will provide electricity and water to the back, and has a hotel room for him to sleep, so you don’t need to leave the bus for the entire trip there.” Peter said. “We’ve scheduled the trip to take two days to get there. That will give more time for Becky to adjust.” he added.
“Jesus, you arranged all of this in the last five hours?” Rick asked incredulously.
“Yes, but I had a lot of help. Everyone I talked to wants to see to it that these two little ones have the time of their lives, and are well taken care of.” peter told him.
“I…Thank you.” Sharon said, kissing Peter’s hand as fresh tears flowed. “Thank you so much.” she added.