Shayne and Courtney had become, to put it lightly, quite loose with who had keys to their house. Damien and Saige had returned their house key with the note they left on their counter when Courtney was first discharged from hospital after Charlie's birth, but in the days leading up to the baby shower – and, from what the nurses in NICU have been telling them, only a few days before Charlie can finally go home if he doesn't have any more events – they hand one of their keys back to Damien and Saige, and another to Shayne's parents who have just got back to LA and are helping with the setup.
They visit Charlie the morning of the baby shower, as they have done every single morning since she had been discharged three weeks earlier. He isn't in a full-covered warming and ventilation crib anymore and he's lost all but the heart and oxygen monitoring wires attached to him, and the only tube left is a feeding tube they only use sometimes, but he still wiggles around excitedly every time they arrive in his small hospital room.
"Hey Charlie! How you doing today, buddy?" Shayne asks him, brightly, leaning down to scoop up the infant from his open-top crib almost as soon as they get into the room. He doesn't respond vocally – he still isn't quite at even the cooing stage yet, although he has started crying normally when he wants something (or, still, when he has to be bathed) – but he snuggles into Shayne's arms as he always does, although his eyes glance across to find his mother, too.
"Hi Charlie," she laughs softly, reaching out to gently stroke the back of his hand (still small, but substantially larger than it was when he was born), "have you been a good boy for the nurses overnight? Did you sleep okay?"
"He had quite the tantrum over having to be bathed last night before bed, but he slept well after," the nurse in the room stands up and wanders over towards them. Sometimes, Courtney wishes they could just have a moment with him alone, but she understands why NICU nurses are so permanently on call.
"You really don't like bathing do you?" Shayne comments, with a raised eyebrow, glancing down at Charlie. It had become such a constant in his time in NICU: he rarely cried for food or sleep given he was on a strict schedule that meant he was rarely hungry or tired enough to need to do so, he had never cried at being held or picked up – granted, he'd only been held by Courtney, Shayne, and his three grandparents – and he never seemed to cry for boredom. But every single time he realised it was bath time, he cried and whined and screamed, no matter who was doing the bathing.
"Buddy, we're not going to let you grow up as one of the gross men that never showers. You gotta be clean, okay?" Courtney tells him, almost sternly, the nurse laughing softly in response as she wanders back to her seat at the side of the room.
"Nothing else to report from overnight, either, he's doing really good still – and as long as he doesn't have any more events and his temp stays up, he'll be good to go home with you guys on Tuesday," she tells them, Courtney feeling her body tingle with excitement and trepidation all at the same time. Tuesday. Only 3 days to go.
"He needs to feed by mouth for 24 hours straight before he's discharged, right?" she asks, trying to tone down the excitement in her tone, although when she glances up at Shayne to see his eyes filled with just as much brightness and a hint of teasing, she knows she didn't succeed.
"Yeah, yes, he does, and it would be good if a lot of that was breastfeeding to make sure he's happy with that and it won't be too difficult for you when you get him home," the nurse explains, Courtney nodding gently.
"We might book the overnight room for Monday night so we can be here for all that, then," she muses.
"That's a great idea – and we can actually move him into that room with you, so you get a full night looking after him here where you can call on help if you need it before you head home," the nurse agrees, "I can go organise that now, if you're comfortable with me stepping out for five minutes? He'll be fine, he's not due for a feed for about an hour and you know how to keep him comfortable."
YOU ARE READING
Safe
Fanfiction"I got you, Court. You're safe. You're gonna be okay," he tells her in almost desperate reassurance, barely above a whisper and feeling his words stumble slightly as his breath hitches. She seems to push closer in response, her tears flowing freely...
