All My Life

Chapter 9

Meryl felt like she had just fallen asleep, again, when she heard Brady start crying. She looked at the clock on her bedside table and realized it was time for his and Mags' early morning feeding. She couldn't help but smile as she saw that her husband, Charlotte and Charlie were still asleep in her bed. She knew she couldn't nurse in bed like she usually did due to Charlotte and Charlie being in it so she got up and went over to Brady's bassinet. "Hey little mister, you're the first one hungry this morning. Usually your sister beats you to it." Meryl bent down below the bassinet and grabbed a diaper and some wipes. "Let's go ahead and change you right here. Mommy and Daddy can't change you in our bed like we usually do. Let's try to be quiet so we don't wake up your sister just yet; or your daddy and cousins." Meryl picked him up and then picked up a receiving blanket off the end of the bed and walked over to the large overstuffed chair in the corner of the room. She got Brady situated and covered him up. She sighed in relief that he immediately latched. "Thank you for latching so well for Mommy; I'm a little stressed this morning and it makes me happy when you eat." Meryl thought that was one last thing she had to worry about at the moment. She then looked over to her bed and wondered what she and Don were going to do about Charlie and Charlotte. She and Don both believed them; and neither of them could stand the thought of sending them back to an unsafe and upsetting home environment. However, they knew that legally there was nothing they could do at the moment. At just that moment Mags started crying. "Shit." Meryl cursed. She knew that Don wouldn't be able to get her.

"Darl?" Don said waking up; but noticing she wasn't in bed beside him. "Where are you?"

Meryl waved her hand in the dark and whispered back to him. "In the chair in the corner, babe. I'm nursing Brady. Is there anyway you can scoot Mags' bassinet over here?"

"I'll figure it out." Don said as he got up and hobbled over to Mags' bassinet.

Meryl was squinting in the dark to try to watch him. "Please don't hurt yourself."

"We've got this; don't we, baby girl?" Don cooed as he bent over and kissed Mags' head. He then took his crutch and pressed the bottom of the crutch to the bottom frame of the bassinet and managed to push it over to Meryl's chair. He was then able to hobble over, sit on the arm of the chair, pull the bassinet closer and reached in to grab the baby; who immediately settled down in her father's arms. He then gave Meryl a proud smile. "I told you we had this."

Meryl reached over and pulled his head down with her free hand so she could kiss his lips. "Thank you. I wasn't sure how I was going to juggle all that if she woke up; which of course she did."

"Why didn't you wake me?" Don asked. "I would have helped." Don saw the look she gave him. "Well, I would have figured something out."

Meryl winked at him as she looked under the blanket to make sure Brady was doing okay; and then back at her husband. "And you did. I was just kind of thrown off my routine."

"Change her after?" Don asked as Meryl nodded. "Baby, what are we going to do about Charlotte and Charlie? I mean they can't even sleep in a room alone."

Meryl shook her head as Brady finished and she and Don traded off. "Oh, I already changed him."

"Doing my job for me, Mrs. Gummer?" Don teased as he kissed Brady's little head.

Meryl got Mags latched and then threw the blanket over her. "I don't know what to do, Don. I mean, they aren't our children; but I promised Di."

"Well, we have 3 days to figure it out." Don said as she agreed. "We learned a lot from both of them in just a few hours time last night; I have a feeling we will learn even more this weekend."

Meryl sighed. "Have I neglected them? Did I miss the signs?"

"Sweetheart, for the past year you have just been trying to stay alive; that has been our focus." Don pointed out as agreed. "I mean we've had dinners, we've gotten together. Lou took them with her to visit you in London during Iron Lady. It wasn't like this before he started dating Rebecca. It sounds like she hasn't been around all that long."