Paris - Chapter Fifteen
Present Day
Dr. Cassandra Jamieson (or Cassie), as she was known
to her close friends) smiled to herself as she quietly
opened the door to Annie’s room. JC was sprawled in
what looked like a very uncomfortable position in the
chair next to his wife’s bed. He was holding her hand
in his, their fingers intertwined, while a sweet smile
set itself comfortably upon his lips.
At the sound of the door creaking closed, JC’s eyes
opened to half-awake silts. "Oh, hey Cassie," he
mumbled, stretching and trying to rub some life back
into his tired eyes while also stifling a yawn. Truly
an impressive show of multi-tasking.
Shaking herself from the slightly hypnotic spell JC's
eyes were so capable of casting, Cassie walked towards
him. "Sorry JC. I didn’t mean to wake you."
"Oh, that’s okay." He finally finished stretching and
seemed a bit more coherent now. "I wasn’t really
sleeping anyway. Just kind of daydreaming about when I
first met Annie in Paris." He smiled, shaking his
unruly hair. "Maybe I’ll write a book on it someday,
then Lance can produce it as a movie." He laughed.
"Annie and I have definitely had our share of intrigue
and romantic moments."
Cassie smirked, not wanting to disturb Annie. "You
know, you’re one of the most romantic guys I’ve ever
met."
"Yeah, I know," he said with a self depreciating
laugh. "Annie always says that too."
"But I’m pretty sure that she loves you even more
because of it. She’s always saying how much the
special and unique things you do for her make her feel
that much more loved."
"Thanks," he replied, trying to hide the embarrassed
blush he now felt spreading over his face. To rescue
himself, he decided a change of subject was in order.
"Now enough about me." He stood, trying to stretch
some feeling into what was left of his back.
"Cassie, I didn’t know you worked at this hospital."
JC continued when his exercise in futility was
finished - his spine felt like it was about to go on
strike. He had been so intent on trying to convince it
that bending was a good thing, a safe thing, and it
should do what it was made to do or he would think of
something even more painful to do to it that he hadn’t
noticed until now that Cassie was wearing blue
surgical scrubs.
Cassie was a plastic surgeon and had worked at
Restoration Hope with Annie for the past few years. "I
sometimes do an occasional surgery here to help out
some of my former colleagues. Since the one today is
fairly routine, I thought I’d stop in to see you,
Annie and the babies before I’m needed."
"That's cool. By the way, how did you know we were
here?"
"Are you kidding?" Cassie laughed, shaking her head.
"You’re the talk of the hospital."
JC’s face took on the expression most people get when
waging a three-way war between a stiff back, bleary
eyes and general lack of sleep; a rather incoherent
one. "Really?"
"Well, let’s see." Cassie held up her hand to start
counting off fingers.
"One - Lance, I think that’s his name, was sitting for
most of the night in the maternity waiting room with 2
huge teddy bears."
Another finger up. "Two - the nurses at the maternity
station were gushing about the dreamy pop star with
the gorgeous blue eyes who was so wonderfully
supportive of his pregnant wife during the birth of
their twins." Cassie smiled. "You really impressed
them."
JC’s earlier blush seemed a light predawn tease
compared to the one that now spread across his face.
"Three - The ‘green around the gills’, chalky white
face and panicked look when Annie was getting her I.V.
was noted with some degree of amusement." She chuckled
softy at his expression.
"All right, all right," JC raised his hands in
surrender. "So I have a little needle phobia."
"Little?" Cassie looked at him in disbelief. "JC, I
read the article where you talked about your "little"
needle phobia. You need help!"
"Okay, why does everyone always seem to focus on
that," he muttered, getting irritated.
"Hey, calm down. I was only teasing." She glanced at
her watch. "I’d like to take a quick look at the
babies, then I really have to get going."
"Do you want me to wake Annie?"
"No, I’ll stop by later to talk to her. Right now she
needs her rest - she’s been working really hard in the
past few hours."
"She was amazing." JC smiled proudly. "I know I
couldn’t have done what she did." He laughed, shaking
his hand. "You know, I think the blood is finally
coming back to my hand."
They walked over and peered in at the babies. "They’re
so beautiful," Cassie whispered, staring at the twins.
"I’m so happy for you." The quiet moment was broken by
Cassie’s pager vibrating in her pocket. She glanced at
it as she pulled it out, then turned towards him.
"Gotta run," she said quietly. "I’ll be back later."
After giving him a quick kiss on the cheek, she
slipped out of the room.
As the door closed, Annie stirred. "Who was that?" she
asked sleepily, looking at JC.
"Cassie. She stopped in to say hi, but didn't want to
wake you up. Said she'd be back later."
"That’s nice."
The serene moment was broken as the babies began to
fuss.
"Hungry again?" JC chuckled as he made his way to to
their cribs. He glanced back over his shoulder. "Which
one do you want first?"
"Whoever seems the hungriest." Annie smiled as JC
brought over William. "The nursing instructor said
she’d teach me how to nurse them both at the same
time."
He returned her smile. "That should prove
interesting."
No sooner had the babies been fed and changed, then
JC’s and Annie’s folks arrived. There was the usual
oohing and awing, cooing, crying and speculating of
the babies' looks that always happens with new
grandparents. After about an half an hour they left to
set things up at the new parents’ home. Annie’s mother
was going to stay for a few weeks, but if anything
came up afterwards, JC’s parents lived right down the
road.
Joey and Kelly arrived a little while later. Once
again, the conversation centered around the babies.
Joey made a few crude remarks, which earned him a good
smack upside the head from Kelly.
JC took the opportunity to go out, telling Annie he
was going to stop by the house and see that her
parents got settled in. Then he’d shower, change and
come right back. The other reason was because he’d
thought of a wonderful surprise for Annie, but didn’t
want to let her know just yet.
The day dragged along and consisted mostly of well
wishers calling, and flowers and cards being
delivered. TJ had quietly slipped in when no one else
was there and had a nice visit with Annie. As he was
leaving, TJ told her that he would stop by the house
to make sure the infant car seats were properly
installed in JC’s car.
Things just seemed to be settling down when Cassie
finally made it back to the room. She was chatting
with Annie while holding William when JC returned from
his secret mission.
He walked over to Annie’s bed and kissed her, then
gently took Claudine in his arms. "Reach in my
pocket." he said, turning.
She reached in and pulled out a small blue jewelry
box. Opening it, she gasped at first, then started to
cry quietly, one hand to her mouth. "They’re so
beautiful, Jace." He bent down when she motioned him
and kissed her softly. "Thank you," she whispered.
Annie turned the box to show Cassie. Inside were two
sapphire hearts - a pink one and a blue one. Noting
Cassie’s perplexed look, she laughed. "JC gave me a
charm bracelet on our wedding day which has a single
ruby heart. Every year he adds another one to
represent each year of our marriage. These two are for
the babies."
Cassie turned to JC and smiled. "My earlier assessment
is confirmed."
JC blushed as he handed Claudine back to Annie, but
before he had a chance to speak, Justin and Chris came
in the door. They immediately began teasing JC about
the babies, then walked over to hug Annie.
It was only when JC took William from Cassie that they
even became aware of her presence.
Chris wiped his hand on his pants and held it out as
he walked over. "Hi, I’m Chris," he said easily,
smiling.
"Cassie," she replied, taking the proffered hand.
Playfully, Justin shoved Chris aside and grabbed the
now vacated hand for himself. "I’m Justin," he purred,
kissing the back of her hand. "Trust me, you don’t
want to hang out with an old man like Chris now, do
you?"
Cassie was slightly taken aback and was unable to
answer. Annie watched a hurt look spread across Chris’
face. He noticed her watching and quickly slid into a
more neutral expression.
Justin continued his pursuit. "How would you like to
have dinner with me?" Seeing the doubt in her eyes, he
quickly added, "I won’t take no for an answer."
Cassie was at a complete loss. "Yeah, I guess so," she
said quietly, letting go of his hand.
He offered her his arm and escorted the doctor out the
door while Chris stood there completely dumbfounded.
JC walked over and put a hand on the older man’s
shoulder. "Hey, would you like to join us for dinner?
It’s just hospital food, but it’s not really all that
bad."
"Huh?" Chris jerked as if waking up. "No, that's all
right," he added distractedly. "I think I’ll just go
home." He nodded goodbye to them both, then hurried
from the room.
JC joined Annie at her bed, noticing the worried look
on her face. "What’s wrong, baby?"
Annie looked at him with concerned eyes. "Josh, I have
a bad feeling about this."
Story Tags: Be the first to add a tag to this story
