Hazel Rain

Chapter 23

EIGHT WEEKS LATER

His arms and legs flailed wildly as the doctor checked his hips, "He looks great, he's growing at a steady clip, he's put on some weight." She moved to check his other joints, "How's he sleeping?"

Adam laughed, "That's funny...he isn't a fan of sleep."

It had been a exhausting eight weeks, the only one who seemed to get any significant sleep had been Hazel and the sleep deprivation had even hit her a night or two.

Kim rubbed her eyes wearily, "Well, it's seems Sam is a bit of a night owl, he does his best work at night, and he will sleep during the day. He's quite the napper." Kim held his sleeper in her hands, "He takes a really long nap in the late afternoon, he can sleep close to four hours, he tosses in a few power naps in but only the one really good nap."

"Ah, he's got his nights and days mixed up, try and keep him up for as long as possible during the day. Reset his clock if you will, that usually sorts it out. How is he feeding?" The doctor wrapped Sam back up in his blanket, "you're breast feeding without issue?"

Kim nodded, "He's a champ when it comes to eating, he goes about  three hours between feedings. I've started to  pump and use the bottle more frequently to get a better idea of how much he's eating and for Adam to be able feed him during the night."

"What's he taking?"

Kim curled her lip, "On average about four ounces but he has taken as much as six. We're kind of just feeling him out, sometimes it seems like he's starving."

"I would just go ahead and bump him up to five ounces and see how he does with that." She motioned for Kim to dress Sam, "How's my sweet Hazel?"

Adam folded his arms across his chest, "She's okay."

It had been hard for Hazel, she had initially loved having Sam home but she quickly grew tired of him and started asking when he would be leaving. She hated it when Kim had to attend to his needs.

"Alright, Sam the man. I get it you're hungry" Kim got up from where she'd been sitting on the floor with Hazel, "I need to feed Sammy, I will be back in a few minutes."

"No! Play with me. Not Sammy." Hazel grumbled, her eyes filling with water, "Sammy's bad!"

"Haze! Sam isn't bad, he's a baby and he's hungry." Kim told her, she grabbed Sam from his seat, "I promise as soon as I'm done feeding Sammy, I will play again. Ok?"

From that point on they tried to pay extra attention to Hazel, some days it worked and some days it didn't.

Kim had redressed Sam and lifted him up against her shoulder, it was his preferred position.

Adam looked at his hands, and then back at Kim, as if he was asking her permission to speak, wordlessly she gave it to him.

"Can we ask for your advice about something?" Adam asked, they had only spoke to Trudy and Mouch about it and that was only because they'd been at their house for dinner when it happened.

"You're such a sweet boy, Sammy." Trudy sang to the infant in her lap, "I can't believe that your daddy had a hand in you...."

"Ha-ha" Adam smirked, "I happen to be very sweet, aren't I darlin'," Adam glanced in Kim's direction, Hazel sat on his knee.

"Daddy?" Hazel asked, "Not daddy...Uncle Adam, right? Sammy's daddy in heaven like mine." She looked up at Adam for confirmation.