Finding a Family

Chapter 17

Freddie's POV
I was annoyed at Alan for the rest of the evening but all of my attention was focused on comforting Hannah. Understandably, she was pretty shaken up from seeing her mother in public. "She's gonna get me," Hannah said as I held her. "Darling Papa and I aren't going to let her hurt you," I said. "That's right love, Daddy and I will protect you," Alan told her. It took a while but we were able to get her calm. Unsurprisingly, she was pretty clingy for the rest of the day. At bedtime it look me a while to get her to sleep. I sat on her bed rocking her and singing to her until I felt her relax in my arms. After I was sure she was asleep, I carefully tucked her under the covers and kissed her goodnight.

I headed back to our room to find Alan sitting on our bed; he looked like he was in a daze. "What the hell were you thinking, following her mother like that?!!" I barked at him. "I'm sorry," he said. "You scared Hannah to death! What on earth were you planning on doing anyway?" I firmly asked him. "I don't know, I couldn't help myself," he replied. "What did you even say to her? Did she say anything to you?" I demanded. "As much as I wanted to give her hell for everything she did to Hannah, all could do was stare at her. She just kept apologizing. She had the audacity to ask how Hannah was doing," Alan replied. "You didn't tell her did you?!?!" I replied. "No! Of course not!" Alan said. "Good. That woman has no right to know anything about OUR daughter after everything she put her through," I told him.

"I'm sorry," he said. "I know," I said as I sat down next to him on the bed. Before I knew it I was kissing his mouth, then his neck, then his body. We made love slow and gently to make it last as long as possible. I took pleasure in his long, drown out moans. Ever since Hannah came into our lives, we had sex less often and less spontaneously. When we were able to make love we tried to relish in it and prolong it.

After we made love we showered together and went to sleep. At about two in the morning we heard Hannah stir through the baby monitor, "Daddy, Papa! Daddy! Papa!" she cried out. I went to get up to check on her, "no, no I got it, go back to sleep," Alan said placing his hand on my shoulder. I laid back down but still listened through the baby monitor, "what's the matter angel?" I heard him say. "Papa, I don't feel good," I could hear the tears in her voice. "What's wrong love?" he asked. "My head hurts." Once I heard that she wasn't feeling well I got up to check on her as well. "What's the matter?" I said as I walked into her room. "She says she has a headache, she feels a bit warm too," Alan told me as I moved to sit on the bed opposite of him. "Does anything else hurt love?" Alan asked her. "My ears," she replied through her tears. Alan reached to feel Hannah's ears but flinched right when he touched them. "She probably has an infection in her ears, we'll have to take her to the doctor tomorrow to get her some antibiotics," Alan said. "It hurts," Hannah cried. "She's in pain, isn't there anything we can do for her now?" I asked him. "I'll get her some ibuprofen, that will help with the pain so she can sleep," he replied before he walked out the room to get the medicine. "Daddy," she cried. "Shhh shhh it's okay darling. Papa's going to make it better," I said as I picked her up and rocked her. A few seconds later Alan came back with the medication and a glass of water. After Hannah took the pills Alan asked, "how would you like to sleep in Daddy and Papa's bed tonight love?" Hannah nodded her head and I carried her back to our bed where we all settled down for the night.

The next morning I woke up to find Hannah asleep, curled up into my side. Alan was walking back into the room from taking shower, "Good morning. I've made Hannah an appointment at the doctor for this morning," he whispered. I know it might sound odd for us to being seeing a doctor given that Alan is a doctor himself, but he preferred to stay in the role of Papa rather than Doctor when it came to Hannah. "Alright, I'm going to try to keep her sleep until then," I whispered back. "Sounds good, I'll go get started on breakfast," he replied. I slowly got up, careful not to disturb Hannah and got into the shower. When I was walking back from the shower I heard Hannah whimpering. "What's wrong darling? Do your ears and head still hurt?" I asked her as I sat down next to her and stroked her hair; she still felt warm. "Mmmm hmmm my tummy hurts now too," she replied in a shaky voice, "Oh darling it's okay, we're going to the doctor this morning we can get you better," I said.
After I got myself and Hannah dressed, Alan and I tried to get some breakfast in Hannah but she refused. I think it was a combination of the pain and nausea which made her lose her appetite.

We arrived at the doctors office and Hannah was curled in my lap as we sat in the waiting room. They called us into the exam room and I put her on the exam table but she still clung to me and buried herself in my chest. A few minutes later the doctor walked in, "Hello! My name I'm Dr. Meadows and you must be the princess I heard was coming into today," he said to Hannah which perked her up a bit. "I hear we're not feeling well, what seems to be the problem?" he asked. "She's been complaining of headaches and pain in her ears. I think I might be an ear infection. She also has a slight fever and has been complaining of nausea," Alan told Dr. Meadows. "Oh dear, I'm sorry you're not feeling well sweetheart. Let's have a look shall we?" he replied. "Okay darling, you're going to have to let go of Daddy now so the doctor can look at you," I said as I rubbed her back, Hannah whimpered in reply. "No, no that's alright, she can stay there if she's comfortable." Dr. Meadows said. "Are you sure?" Alan asked. "Yes, I find it's easier on both the patient and I if they are in a comfortable position. We might have to make some slight adjustments but I should be able to examine her just fine," the doctor replied. He managed to examine Hannah while she was in my arms with only a couple of slight adjustments. I noticed he was waiting until the end of the exam to look in her ears. "Okay sweetheart, I'm going to have to look in your ears now. I know they are hurting so I'm going to be really gentle, okay," the doctor told Hannah who let out a little whimper. "Okay why don't we lay you down on your side sweetness, I think that will make it easier," Dr. Meadows suggested. I helped Hannah lay down on her side and I could see the fear in her eyes at the thought of her ears being touched. "Okay princess I'm going to need you to stay really still. Daddy, Papa why don't you help her keep still," the doctor suggested. Alan held her head still while I did my best to hold her while saying out of the doctors way. When he placed the otoscope in Hannah's ear she  winced a little bit but didn't have any major reactions. "Okay good job. Now let's roll you over so I can look in your other ear," the doctor said. This time when he put the otoscope in her ear, Hannah cried out in pain and began to sob. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry sweetheart, I'm almost done," the doctor tried to comfort her. She continued to sob despite all of our efforts to calm her. "Good girl, good girl, okay all done," the doctor said as he carefully pulled the otoscope out. "After he finished I rocked Hannah and soothed her, "shhh shhh, it's okay. It's all over now darling, you're okay." After she calmed down a bit  the doctor told us, "Well Papa was right, both of her ears are infected. The left one is a bit worse than the right which is why it hurt her more when I looked in that one. I'm going to prescribe her some antibiotics. Make sure she gets plenty of rest and fluids and she should be feeling better in a couple of days." "Thank you," Alan told the doctor. "You're welcome," he replied as he handed Alan the prescription. "I'm sorry I hurt you love, I hope you feel better," he said to Hannah. She was still softly crying but she smiled at him. "Here this might help make you feel better," he said as he handed her a sucker. "What do you say darling?" I told her. "Thank you," she replied softy. "Oh your welcome princess. Now make sure your Daddy and Papa give you lots of cuddles, that should help get you better too," he told her. Hannah nodded her head and smiled in reply. "Don't he afraid to get in touch if you need anything else!" he said to Alan and I as we walked out of the room.