Twist of Fate

Baby Steps

Juniper

1st Time Walking

"Okay, so sit up on the edge of the bed. Is the scarring or stitches hurting you at all?" Carter asks.

"A little. Not too bad. It will soon, I'll bet, when we mix walking and cramping with stitches and scarring." I say.

"I was thinking the same thing. But let's get started so you can handle being on your feet before they kick in, what do you say?" she asks. Louis and I both nod. "Okay, so we're only going to walk around the room this time, and if you're feeling fine, we might walk out and down the hall, but Louis would need to carry you back, because technically that's a lot of walking for a first time." she informs us.  I nod. "Louis, your arm needs to be around her waist, and June, your arm needs to be around his neck, or however high you can get before getting off the floor. I'll take the rolling monitor, and we can get moving." Carter instructs. Slowly, slowly, slowly, I put my feet on the floor for the first time in days, probably weeks, because of how little I was moving at home, and I'm so glad I'm wearing socks, because it's cold even with them on. And then I inch my way into a standing position, and I feel the burning sensation in my stomach near my stitches immediately. "Louis, comforting her if she gets tired is definitely encouraged, by the way. That's not a hint to do it now, just reminding you." Carter adds, and I see Louis nod. 
"Yeah, I'm glad we started this before cramps kicked in, because holy mother of God, this burns." I comment, the burning becoming a little more apparent, and I feel Louis' hand making tiny circles on my back, and although the pain doesn't subside, I am definitely comforted by the familiar motion.
"Okay, now just start moving like you're walking, but Louis and I will hold you up a little so the pain subsides a little. Each time, you'll move a little further, and be more on your feet, until tomorrow when we leave you totally on your own and just walk with you." Carter says, and Louis and her both lift me almost off my feet. Just my toes are on the ground, and we slowly move around the room, each step burning, but not as bad as it was with all my weight. We even walk into the other room to say hi to the little boys, and I see a rocking chair. 
"You and I need to come in here later. They're probably hungry." I say to Louis, who nods.
"And they've probably missed mummy." he adds.  
"Mummy certainly missed them." I comment, sighing as we make our way out of the room and back to the bed. I ease my way back down, and relax with the feeling of burning gone.
"In two hours, I'll be back for Louis' last shift, and then we can walk Zayn through his duties, and then go from there. Good?" Carter checks. We both nod, and she heads out. "See you all later!" she says cheerily, closing the door. I turn my head to talk to Harry, and see he's asleep in his chair.
"Awww, Haz. LouBear, look." I whisper. 
"He's such a kid, isn't he?" Louis chuckles. "We should get him up so he sleeps tonight." he jokes, shaking Harry awake in the process. 
"Huh? Kale better wave... I like her.." Harry mumbles, sitting up. I start laughing so hard my sides hurt as Harry goes beet red. Louis rolls on the floor, tears on his face. "I mean, kale the food. It had hands, and I wanted it to wave, and then I turned around and it was a girl, and she was waving and being nice. I liked her as a person." he lies. 
"Liar. We're not stupid. I might have crippling depression, but my eyes and ears are top-notch." I call him out, as Louis finally decides to recompose himself and stand up, wiping his eyes and sitting next to the younger boy. 
"You're smitten, kitten." he laughs, messing up Harry's hair, which I notice is getting really long.
"Shut up, Mr. Married-With-Triplets-And-Experiencing-Life-Changing-Moments." Harry sneers playfully.
"You're single, and fans can throw themselves at you without a cheating scandal in the tabloids." Louis reminds him. I shudder at the thought of tabloids, but pass off as being cold, because Louis is looking, and I already feel needy, I don't need more piling up. "As for you, lady..." he says thoughtfully, pointing at me. "We need to do something to help you out of bed when tabloids fire up again. They're bad now, but they'll be worse when we're back in the public eye. With Zayn no less." He thinks out loud. "I think we just need to keep ourselves busy. Hiatus at the end of this year. We'll keep the house here, but we need to go house hunting, furniture shopping, couldn't kill us just to get a interior designer. But no matter what, we need to keep busy and keep you out of bed, busy, and not pregnant. Which means I have to work on not pinning you to a wall for fun for a while......" Louis continues, while Harry retches. I giggle. "But anyway. We'll cook again, and start maybe going for runs, and that sort of thing. Do you think that might work? Bed at night and after a long day, but the couch is also available, so you can sleep and hang out and we can make sure you're okay when you wake up." Louis finishes. I nod slowly, fiddling with my fingers.
"I think that's the best way to handle things, yeah." I agree, and Harry nods to say he agrees, before his phone goes off, and he groans.