Oops (General Hospital)

Halloween

October 29th 2018

     "Leo, would you please stop running around?" Julian asks, shooting his son a look. Leo sticks his tongue out and keeps running, crashing into Lucas' legs.
     "Woah there, little man. What's got you all excited?"
     "Lucas, we're gonna take Derek home!" Leo exclaims, jumping into his brother's arms.
     "Wow, you are hyper this morning." Lucas comments, looking up to his clearly exhausted father. "How about we hang out today? That way Daddy and Kim can get Derek all situated at home and you can have some fun. I think there's a Halloween themed obstacle course at the park."
     "Cool! Daddy, can I go? Can I go?"
     Julian nods. "Course you can, Buddy. Keep a close eye on him, Lucas. He has a tendency to wonder."
     "Don't you worry about us, we're gonna have a whole lot of fun."

A Little Later

     Julian lays Derek down in his bassinet, running his finger down his sleeping son's stomach. "You're so perfect." He whispers, smiling down at him.
     Kim walks out of the bathroom, her hair falling messily over her shoulders. Julian turns his smile to her. "You look so, unbelievably beautiful."
     "I'm just wearing sweat pants and a tshirt." She points out, going over to him, wrapping her arms around his waist and resting her head on his chest.
     He sits her on the bed, helping her lay back, her legs off the side of the bed. She starts to laugh, running her hand through his hair. "Charlie, Derek is five feet away."
     "He won't know." Julian says, getting on his knees and pulling her sweat pants down.
     She stops him with a hand on his head. With his help, she sits up. "Why are you being so attentive?"
     "Because I love you and you're carrying my baby. Why does everything have to have an ulterior motive?"
     "It doesn't, I was just wondering. I'm not stopping you, in fact, I encourage you to keep going. Keep going with your mouth and, yeah, just keep going."

     Alexis opens the door, throwing her arms around Jax. "I've missed you so much."
     Jax puts his hands under her belly. "I've missed you! Look at this bump, it's so cute. You look so good. When are you due?"
     "January fourth."
     "That soon? Wow."
     She lets him in. They head to the couch. He leans forward, closer to her. "You were really upset last time we talked, are you better now?"
     "Yes, I'm better. Julian and Kim came back and the three of us made a new, better, custody plan. Baby stays with me full time for the first eight weeks. The ninth week, Julian gets one night with the baby. Then again, one night every other week for the next few months. At six months old Julian gets a night every week. At nine months he gets two nights a week. At a year he gets three nights one week and two the next. It's still a little too much away from me but it's a lot better. We're gonna stay on that three nights with him until Baby starts school, then we're gonna work something new out. Days are a little bit more go with the flow.
     Kim is an actual saint. She practically dragged Julian back by his ear. She was so mad when she found out how much time he was asking for. It's different for the other babies because their moms either don't want them or can't raise them.
     I don't really blame Julian. He was going through so much and I just added to that. Derek, his son, had just been born at twenty five weeks and Kim had this horrible complication. It's where the placenta will start to detach from the uterus wall. It hurts like Hell and can be dangerous. On top of that, he had to have surgery on his knee. So I really was the straw that broke the camel's back.
     Still, he pissed me off."
     "I'm glad everything is okay now." He says, kissing the backs of her hands.
     "Me too. But Jax, I have so much else to tell you."
     "I'm all ears."

Two Days Later

     Leo runs up to the door and knocks. "Tricker treat!"
     Julian pulls himself up the stairs next to his son, resting his hand on Leo's back. "It's trick or treat."
     "That's dumb. I don't want a trick. I want a treat." Leo mutters, looking back to the door.
     An older woman opens the door, a bowl of candy in her arms. "Oh, what do we have here? A little fire fighter? How adorable." She tilts the bowl so Leo can get what be wants. "Oh, you're the man who moved in the other side with his family. We were so excited to get a family with little kids in the neighborhood. Too many is too much, but one family is good fun."
     "That's nice to hear. We love this neighborhood, it's very embracing. Leo loves it too and I'm sure the babies will too. Derek already does." Julian says, moving his hand off the baby carrier on his chest. "You can't exactly tell, but he's a dalmatian."
     "How precious. I'll let you boys go now, but I'll have to find some way to arrange a playdate for your little boy and my grandson. Bye bye, now. You be safe." She waves them off.
     Julian follows slowly after Leo, pain shooting up his whole side. He gets halfway into the street and comes to a dead stop. Leo looks back, concern in his eyes. He bounces over and tilts his head. "Daddy, what happened?"
     "I need you to carry your brother." Julian tells him, unbuckling Derek's carrier and letting Leo hold him, waking the infant from what was a peaceful nap.
     Julian takes a step, the pain going from his knee up his spin and seemingly to every nerve in his body. He drops, shaking and whimpering, pain so harsh his vision blurs. Leo let's out a cry and runs back to the house they just came from.
     The woman opens her door and before she can ask why he's back, Leo cries, "Something is wrong with my Daddy!"

Ouch, that's gotta have hurt.