New Year, Book 2, chapter 43 (M m+f+g+ fist rom lact ped cons oral) {martinmac} What a night, I finally had fallen asleep in the early hours of the morning, I had gone in to check on Ruth several times and could see that her sleep was disturbed. I hadn't heard our babies wake up in the night but assumed they had. Natalie was sleeping peacefully beside me. I could hear a murmuring from the cot I moved out to see Nerys looking up at me, I felt behind her and quickly realised she had a wet nappy at the least. I lifted her out of her cot and quickly released the bottom half of her sleeper suit, quickly followed by her waterproof pants and the nappy. It was a matter of minutes to clean her bot and dry it before taking a fresh terry nappy, at least they were shaped to fit her body. finally she was clean and dry and smelling of baby powder. She seemed quite content so I sat down with her to play, blowing raspberries on her tummy. I heard movement behind me. Morning Roy, that was a nice surprise last night, Ruth was telling me about it when I fed the babies, oh, is one of them awake?" "Yes, Nerys, she woke up wet so I have changed her." "Thanks darling, does she want feeding?" "I don't think so, tell you what, I'll give her to you and then you can see if she is after the milk bar." I carried Nerys over to her mum who welcomed her with open arms. "I'll go and start breakfast and get the others up for school. I was soon in the kitchen and heating the catering grill to temperature, as it warmed I went upstairs to wake the children. Sam and Caitlin were first. I was so pleased to see Sam climb out of bed and walk to the bathroom as 6 months earlier he had been paralysed. Then it was through to wake Steph and Kate. I went back to the kitchen and continued with the breakfast, I left Ruth sleeping as I knew she had been very restless during the night. Caitlin, Steph and Kate went into my room and helped Natalie with Laura, Steve and Andy. They liked to play mum and had soon learned how to change them and then wind them after Natalie had fed them, Laura was always last to feed as she needed more milk being 3 1/2 months older than the triplets. Though they would catch up with her over the months ahead. I finished the breakfast preparations and took trays through to Natalie who had just finished feeding Laura and to Ruth. "Morning Ruth, breakfasts ready, sit up and take it." There was a loud yawn as Ruth surfaced from sleep. "Hello Roy, did last night really happen or was I dreaming?" "Yes love, you really spoke to your dad. Now sit up and eat your breakfast, the babies have all been changed, fed and dressed, Natalie is eating her breakfast and I'm going back to eat mine." Ruth sat up and took the tray from me and lifted her lips for a kiss. I gave her a quick kiss and left to join the youngsters in the dining room. I stopped by the servery and dished my self a plate of sausage, bacon, eggs, tomato, mushroom and toast, then sat down with the children to eat and talk before they had to leave for school. "We had an exciting time last night, Nick rang to tell us he had met up with Ruth's dad, he spoke to Ruth and will be ringing tonight. As you can guess Ruth is very excited and tired as she didn't sleep very well after the call, that's why I took her breakfast in bed." The children were thrilled and as soon as they had finished their food they were into Ruth's bedroom to talk about last night. I smiled and cleared the table and loaded the dish washer. I looked at the clock and saw that the taxi was due in 5 minutes. I went through to Ruth's room to chase my excited children out to get their coats and bags plus put their shoes on. Ruth was buried beneath the children assuring them she wasn't going to be leaving. "I've too much work to do helping out with all you children and the babies, anyway I just love working for your dad he's just so kind." I gave a cough and smiled as she blushed scarlet. "Off you go you lot, clean your teeth and get ready for school, the taxi will be here in a minute." There was a flurry of kisses and they were off. I rescued Ruth's tray and put it on the bedside table. "Now then, your dad will be ringing later today, he is sure to want to come over to visit with you. We are all leaving for Athens on the 12th of August, Nick and the others are returning on the 9th of July. So the last date for your dad to go home would be the 9th of august as after that we'll be busy getting packed and ready to go, between those dates anything would be alright, if you make it after the 16th of July then the schools have broken up and the children will be able to help Natalie and I with the babies, or after we get back in September." "Thanks Roy, I was worrying how my dad can come and visit with me working." "Well you are entitled to holiday pay you know?" "Well yes, but it just feels wrong." "There's nothing wrong with you taking time to meet your dad and family." I was buried by a happy young girl in a brief nightie throwing herself into my arms. I could feel my shoulder getting wet with tears. "Now then, what's the waterworks for?" "Oh Roy, I thought I was all alone, no family, no friends." She stopped speaking, unable to continue talking. "I thought we were your friends as well as your employers?" "Oh you are, but most people are friends with their parents, and I didn't have any, my mum had always hated me." Again she had to stop, I pulled a hanky from my pocket and wiped her streaming eyes, I helped her to blow her nose, it was like caring for a young toddler again. "Thanks Roy, you're so good to me." As she said that Natalie joined us. "They're all cleaned, fed and asleep." "Oh I should have been helping you Nat." "It's alright, I had plenty of help this morning, you had enough to cope with from last night." Saying this she came over and nuzzled up to Ruth. "We're now alone with the babies and they are all fast asleep. I think it's time we gave Ruth a good time, she's so far up in the air it's not fair." With that she was lifting Ruth's nightie over her head. I dived in and engulfed a warm boob in my mouth. "Oh Roy, that feels so good." I brought my hand in to play with her pussy as Natalie moved in on her other boob. I felt Natalie change position as she moved down the bed to attack Ruth's pussy with her lips and tongue. Her tongue lashed across my fingers when we collided. We soon had Ruth gasping with delight. I was tweaking her nipples and enjoying her cries of delight as the loving pain pierced through her. Natalie moved my fingers from Ruth's clit and engulfed it, I could tell what she was doing by the effect it had on Ruth, she must have taken the clit between her teeth and nipped it hard as Ruth's body bent like a bow string as her orgasm crashed through her. We continued playing her like a fiddle, plucking and pulling and caressing. I left her boob and moved down beside Natalie. I left her tormenting Ruth's clit as I started to fill Ruth's pussy with my fingers, first 2 fingers as I reached inside to massage her G spot, then as her pussy flooded I inserted more of my hand. Allowing me to stretch her cunt and massage the g spot with my knuckles, my wrist was twisting and rotating as I reamed her grasping pussy. I watched as Natalie sucked on her clit, stretching it from her pleasure pit. Then as my ministrations brought her back to her peak Natalie bit gently on the stretched and swollen flesh. Ruth's orgasm shot through the highest reaches, her body was arched on her neck and her feet, like a drawn bow, thrumming with the tension. She gave a scream and slumped back onto the bed, her body limp and floppy as her orgasm wiped her out. Natalie released her clit from her teeth and I slowly pulled my fist from deep within the pleasure mine. "I think we have wiped her out darling, I think I shouldn't have made that last bite, I think it was too much for her." I smiled and nodded my head in agreement. "I'll just go and fetch us some drinks Nat." "Okay, I'll keep Ruth company." I went into the bathroom and wet a couple of face cloths and brought them back for Natalie to use on Ruth and on herself. Then I went through to the kitchen and fetched three glasses and a bottle of water. I returned to see Ruth slowly waking up. "Did you enjoy that then Ruth?" "Oh yes Roy, the two of you were spectacular. You gave me so much I can't believe it. All I want to do is go to sleep, I feel absolutely shattered." "Well what I would suggest is that you go back to sleep now and so you will be refreshed when your dad rings." Natalie climbed in beside Ruth and snuggled down, I smiled and left them to sleep until one of the babies woke up. I went out to see the new house, I joined Danielle in the site office and checked on the alterations list. Since the original plans had been drawn up the family had grown more than expected. With Steph and two of the triplets plus Ruth as nanny, that was 4 bodies more than we had planned for. The ground floor now had a playroom come nursery for the babies in the day time and a full nursery with a flat for Ruth as part of my suite. She was going to live in our flat and help Natalie with the childcare. She had her own entrance off the balcony plus her bedroom and our bedroom had doors opening into the nursery. Ruth and Natalie had been busy with Danielle designing the nursery. It had everything they could need for childcare. Jerry and Dick were busy designing the office space. The amount of space for the office had been halved but they were still a very good size. A lot of the other ground floor rooms had been re designed to take into account the increase in people living in the house. The whole of the ground floor had under floor heating. I had covered all the options for fuel. There was a gas boiler in the basement along with a pair of hot water generators for all the domestic hot water. There was also a connection to the Aga in the kitchen, the heat pump in the atrium and the wood burning stove in the lounge. All in all a very cost effective way of heating the house, and with the swimming pool in the atrium the heat pump would keep the air dry. Danielle and I then walked over to the house and entered through the kitchen door, my eyes were taken by the wide smooth expanse of tile, both floor and walls were tiled to make it easy for Rachel to keep the kitchen clean, it would make it more difficult for the kitchen fitters, but not impossible, to mount all the wall units, the work top and cupboards below were clear of the wall and floor to allow for easy cleaning. Where there were power outlets they were waterproof boxes so that when the clean up was in progress there was no worry of water and electricity meeting. I then moved into the atrium, the swimming pool was complete, except for the water, it had its cover on and the railings surrounding it were up, the barbecue pit in the centre of the atrium was complete along with it's flue; that acted as a constant passive ventilation duct, carrying the stale air from the house, through a heat exchanger in the cap and out to the world. The pre heated fresh air was distributed through all the rooms, on the whole the building would always be fresh and dry. The flooring in the atrium was a mixture of flagstones, decking and carpet. The raised bed by the kitchen door had been planted with herbs to allow them to get established before Rachel would start using them. The rest of the ground floor was timbered with a waterproof timber care system, there would be rugs in some of the rooms but for the time being there were protective layers of paper and plastic to be taken off as the furniture was brought in. I moved down into the basement, now that was an eye opener, there were the plant rooms which provided the heat and hot water to the house. There was also a very large standby generator and a large battery Uninterruptible Power Supply system to carry the power until the generators were up to speed. The bank of batteries we had would last for half an hour at full load, if the generators weren't up to speed in 5 minutes the system would start shedding the load, to extend the battery life, first to go would be the lights as the emergency lights would have taken over, followed by the entertainment centres and the computer systems, only the house computer would keep running as that controlled everything else, the fridge and freezer and the pumps in the heating system. On critical standby we had 8 hours of running time. In that time we should be able to supply power to the house from another source. All the fixed appliances and the computer stations were hard wired to the plant room to allow for central control and power management, at the moment though the plant room just had a huge bundle of cables dropping out of the central trunking and looking like snakes wriggling on the floor in three separate bundles. It would be a major task to terminate all the cables and wire them into the supply relays. The standby generators were sitting in the corner of the room, gleaming monsters ready to fire up and supply the power. Big notices screaming stand clear, these machines will start with no warning. Today was the testing of the generators. Danielle was going to simulate a power failure to check the workings. I heard the footsteps on the stairs as she came down to join me. I watched her press a remote control, there was a thud from behind me as the relay dropped out and the emergency lighting came on, a red light flared on the UPS box and then there was the whine of a starter motor turning and the number one generator rumbled into life. The UPS warning light went out as the engine note stabilised. Danielle checked the gauges and meters and only when she was satisfied that all was well did she turn off the number one generator. As she turned the key the noise from the engine died away only to be replaced by the sound of number two generator starting up, there was a brief flicker from the UPS warning light before the load was taken up again. "Well Roy, that was a success, the next time we do that test is when we have everything connected and running, then we can really check everything in the system works. Oh and have you noticed the seals on the door?" I turned to look and saw thick silicon seals fitted in the door frame. "What are they for?" "Well if you look at the back wall you can see some black nozzles, they are the discharge horns for a carbon dioxide dump, it would have been halon gas but that's not allowed now, so we have a carbon dioxide system, the cables all enter this room through sealed grommets the generators have a direct air feed and exhaust to and from outside so if there is a fire in here then the extinguisher will have it out before any real damage can be caused. The problem will then come with clearing the carbon dioxide from here." "It looks like my instruction to protect the house have been taken very seriously." "Oh they were, and we have had the well water checked, it is purer than the tap water, so that is being used in the house with mains water as a back up. In fact the only utility that isn't backed up is the gas supply, but even that is not critical as we have other heat sources available." Danielle then led me back upstairs to the library. That was a great loss, years of book collecting gone, However all the books were catalogued and the insurers had managed to replace most of them. There were only a dozen or so that weren't easily available and they were being hunted. The rest were in the piles of boxes in the storage container outside waiting to be moved in, unpacked, catalogued and put on the shelves. Though that would be a little while until all the decorating had been finished in the study. As we walked around the house you could see the computer hubs, LAN ports and clean electrical supplies, in every room, except the bathrooms. In most rooms there were computer hubs on each wall so that computers could be anywhere without worry, the extra cost to wire in now was minimal compared to the overall cost of the network. All the network ran back to the server room beside the main plant room. It too was fire proofed to protect my data plus it backed up in real time to the external server and then onwards to Craig's server farm. I didn't want to rely on good fortune to protect my data again. The designers had really gone to work on the systems in the house, there was an intelligent alarm system which tracked people as they moved in the house so it remembered which rooms should show people and how many; so if anyone came in through a window it would alert us. This meant we could have windows open, yet remain secure. There was also a very full sprinkler system, linked to the alarm system. If a sprinkler should let go then the alarms would sound and the system would tell me where the fire was and how many sprinklers were involved. It would also ring those of my staff who were retained fire fighters at the same time as it dialled 999 to call the emergency services. (In Great Britain 999 is a national number to ring to contact the police, fire or ambulance in an emergency.) All in all I was very pleased at how the work was progressing, if all went well the move should take place whilst we are either in Greece or at the Great Dorset Steam Fair. If not then it would be in early September. I made my farewells to Danielle and headed back to the house for coffee. *** Natalie was up and in the kitchen talking with Rachel as she prepared our lunch. The babies were still sleeping, but I didn't expect that to continue, Just as Rachel put on the potatoes to boil to go with the salad I heard the wail of a waking baby. I looked at Natalie and raised one eyebrow. "Come on darling, you'll have to leave your chat with Rachel as when ones awake the rest are sure to follow." Natalie and I were soon in with the babies. Nerys was awake and looking at her brother who was making all the noise. Natalie picked up Andy and I picked up Nerys to change them ready for their lunch. I had definitely pulled the short straw as Nerys was plastered. I wiped the worst off and carried her through to the bathroom, thank heavens for showers. Ruth joined me as I washed the muck of my daughters little bum. It didn't take a lot before she was clean and ready to be dried. She was kicking her legs and gurgling with pleasure as I blew gently on her tummy. I heard a shout of surprise from the bedroom. I carried Nerys through and laughed as I watched Natalie wiping her face and saw the little fountain subside from Andy. "Your dear son just peed on me." I laughed. "Some of your friends would have enjoyed that and had a good drink. I picked up a wipe and cleaned my wife's face, I can see the other two are waking, if you take these two and feed them, I'll get the other two changed and ready." I picked up the two babies as they started to wake up. Ruth came through and took Steve from me so I dealt with Laura. We soon had them ready and I played with them both whilst Ruth went back to dress. She was back before Andy and Nerys were fed so she helped me to entertain the two still waiting, as they finished I took Nerys and Ruth took Andy. I had put a muslin square over my shoulder as I held her up to help to wind her. As usual the bubble of air came up with a posset of milk. "Like brother like sister, Nick used to do that when he was a baby, after every feed there would be a little bubble of milk, thank heavens for muslin squares. I wiped Nerys' face and soothed her to sleep. We soon had all the babies asleep in the big travel cot we kept in the dining room, there was room for all 4 of them to sleep together and under our eyes. Rachel had just drained the potatoes so we went to the servery and helped ourselves to lunch, very full plates of ham salad. Roy, I still find it hard to believe last night, did I really speak to my father?" "Well, all I can say is he seemed to really know your mother, and the times fitted for him to have been your dad." "When could he come to visit with me?" "Well anytime between today and the day we fly to Greece for the Olympics, it would be better if he comes after the schools go back in September as after Greece we are all going to the Great Dorset Steam Fair. We'll just have to sort it out when he phones." "When do you think he'll ring me?" "Well it's 7:00am in New York now, so this would be the earliest, but I think 3 or 4 o clock would be more realistic." "You said the schools go back in September, is Natalie going back to school then as well?" "Oh yes, there is a full time nursery and they're expecting them all, so it means that in September your daytime work load will drop and that will give you a good chance to visit with your dad." "Oh thanks Roy, that makes me feel much better." We finished eating and Natalie and Ruth went through into the lounge where they could relax whilst still being close enough to hear the babies, whilst I started to deal with my paperwork in the study. It was at 2:30 that the phone rang and I was speaking to Lance Jones. I told him that in many ways the best time for him to see his daughter would be in September as she would have more free time. Then I called to Ruth to take over the call. Natalie joined me to give Ruth the privacy she needed to talk with her dad. We sat there in a friendly hug as we heard the murmur of Ruth's voice, finally I heard the ping on the phone system as she hung up. It was a matter of a few moments and Ruth came through to join us. "They're coming on the 10th of September or thereabouts, dad and his wife are coming with their children. They've checked with the Red Lion that they have room, he will book now. I'm a little scared that I'm going to meet my dad after all these years." We all went back into the lounge and I drew Ruth and Natalie down to sit with me. Ruth ended up on my lap with Natalie kissing her. We just sat there enjoying each other's company when we were disturbed by the sound of the taxi drawing up outside, our peace was going to be broken as the children returned from school. Ruth climbed down from my lap as we went through to the kitchen to sort out their sandwiches and cake. Kate would be leaving for cubs as soon as she had finished her tea and changed into her uniform. She would be meeting with her boyfriend Larry, who had moved back in to the village with his mum and dad soon after Larry had run away. On Friday nights Kate stayed at his house after theatre group and then he stayed at our house on Saturday and Sunday. It worked well, Steph and Sam had joined the cubs. Caitlin was going riding tonight as she did most nights. Natalie and Ruth would be here for when Caitlin returned from riding as I would be at cubs myself. I went up to change into my leaders uniform and then walked with the others to the village hall for cubs. I was meeting with the scout and cub leader to finalise the summer camp plans, I would be missing them as I would be at the Olympics. I watched as the inspection and start of the meeting happened and then went into the back room with Akela and the scout leader. We were checking all the arrangements, when the assistant Cub Scout leader, Baloo, came in with a young cub in tears, It took a few seconds for me to recognise Nerys through her tear ravaged eyes, she had visited me just before my wedding. "What's wrong Nerys?" "Oh Roy, Jo's ill, she's very sick and I don't know what to do." "Well that's for your mum to deal with, not you." "But mums ill herself she's been in bed for weeks now." "Okay Nerys, I'll take you home and we can get this sorted out." "Oh thank you Roy." Akela went to get Nerys' coat and would then tell my crew that I had gone and that she, Akela, would take them home. I walked with Nerys back to the house and quickly told Natalie where I was going. I then got the car out and drove to Nerys' house, she quietly opened the door and I was greeted with that miasma of sickness, Nerys took me into Jo's room, she was lying on the edge of the bed with a bucket to hand, I felt her forehead, it felt like a red hot cannon ball, the flesh on her arm was flabby when pinched, she was badly dehydrated, I was on the phone then to Dave and he promised to come round at once, I went to the kitchen and brought her a glass of water, Jo took a sip and had hardly swallowed it when she was vomiting again. I reached across and felt her tummy, it was board hard. I phoned Dave again and gave him my observations. "Roy, I think I'll send an ambulance as well." Nerys then took me to her mums room, unbolting the door to go in, Diane was cowering in her bed, In my short talk with her I recognised the symptoms that my late wife had of depression and voices. "Diane, haven't you spoken to the doctor, they can help you with medication." "No one can help me, and they'd take my children as well." "Your children need help and care, and so do you. I'll take them home with me, well Nerys as her sister needs to go to hospital because she's poorly. Then I'll look after them both while they get you sorted." It was so sad to see a grown woman weeping like a terrified child. I was listening out for Dave and when he arrived I took him into see Jo first. My suspicions were confirmed as Dave listened to her tummy with a stethoscope and reported no bowel sounds, she had obstructed. On my authority he phoned the Nuffield and arranged for her admission and for a surgical registrar to be waiting to see her; if X rays confirmed her blockage she would need to be prepared for possible surgery. Then it was in to mums room, Dave noticed the bolt on the door. "Nerys, what's the bolt for?" "Jo put it on when mum tried to get the tablets to kill herself." We sent Nerys to sit with her sister whilst Dave talked with Diane. It was a very sad litany, one which I was all too familiar with. Sue had been very similar when her medication was wrong. Diane said she wouldn't go into hospital, she agreed her daughters had locked her in as she wanted to kill herself. Dave took me out of the room to speak with me. "She has to go into the psychiatric hospital tonight, If she won't go voluntarily then I will have to section her under the mental health act. Then she will have to go, the question is what happens to Nerys?" "Do you really need to ask that, she is friends with all of my children and also with my wife. She comes home with me. I'll just ring Natalie." The phone call was the work of minutes which resulted in Natalie telling me to bring Nerys home before I even suggested it. "I hoped that would be the case, let's see what happens." We returned to Diane. "Diane, you need to go into hospital for treatment and for your own protection, plus it's not fair on Jo or Nerys to have to look after you." "What's going to happen to my children, I can't leave them?" "It's alright Diane, Jo's on her way to hospital." "What's wrong with her, what's happened?" "It's alright, her bowel seems to be blocked, we're just waiting on the ambulance for her. Nerys will come home with me, we've plenty of space for them. You just need to concentrate on getting well," I was smiling through gritted teeth, I could she that she was very unwell. I watched as her face changed, she had gone away from us again, I remembered the look on my wife's face when she was hearing voices and seeing visions. Suddenly she was trying to get out the door, I held her firmly as Dave opened his bag and prepared an injection which he pushed straight through her nightie into her leg. "Hold her Roy, the jab will take a few minutes." Slowly I felt her body relaxing as the drug took effect, finally she was asleep. "I'll just ring for the duty social worker and the consultant, we need to get her sectioned under the mental health act." I heard the ambulance draw up for Jo so Dave left to get her sorted, they quickly strapped Jo onto her stretcher and wheeled her to the ambulance, Dave got in whilst they put a drip up for her then handed over a letter for the hospital. We then had to wait on Diane, one of the mental health nurses came out with Jon, the social worker, I recognised him as he had looked after my wife. "Roy, you take Nerys home now, I or another social worker will come out and see you in the morning when we know more about Diane. You are on our panel as a foster carer so I'll sort everything in the morning." I helped Nerys collect her clothes and the toys she wanted for tonight. "We'll come back tomorrow to get the rest of your things and sort everything, I'll explain to school why you're off." Nerys scampered round packing her clothes, she then helped me pack a bag for her sister. Then after letting Nerys give her sleeping mum a kiss I took her home. I garaged the Range Rover then took the suitcase in one hand and Nerys in the other. Natalie was waiting for us in the entrance lobby, she had seen me drive past as I went to park the car. "Nerys, you come in here, don't worry about your sister and mum, they're being looked after now, we just need to take care of you, now I think what you need is a hot bath and some supper before settling down for bed. Roy the others are all asleep in bed." "Thanks Natalie, that would be nice." Natalie and I took her through to our bathroom whilst Ruth went into the kitchen to prepare a supper for us all. We had just got Nerys into the bath when one of the babies woke up for the late evening feed, this had developed so that they slept through the night most nights, and if they woke it didn't take much to get them back off. Natalie went through and started with the babies, soon being joined by Ruth. I meanwhile was washing young Nerys. I was taken back to last year when she and her sister had visited just before my wedding. "How long has your mum been ill Nerys?" "I can't really remember, it's been a long time now, but she's been getting worse since Christmas." "Poor you and Jo, why didn't you ask for help?" "Mum was scared that we'd be taken into care and she'd never get us back." "Well you're in care now, with Natalie and I, we're foster carers with the council, Steph is a foster daughter, though we'll probably be adopting her shortly as it didn't work her living with her brother. Jon, the social worker will be out with someone from the children's team in the morning, I'm pretty certain that you and your sister will be fostered with us." I finally had her clean and lifted her out to dry her. She snuggled on my lap as I dried her hair. "That's nice Roy, I feel really good now." "I can see Steph's gown on the door, lets put that round you and then we can go to the kitchen and I can continue to do supper. I put the gown around her and carried her through to the kitchen, I pulled out a towel and put it on the countertop and sat Nerys on it to watch as I cooked our supper, I had grilled some sausages and then put some tomatoes into a fry pan with olive oil to cook, as Natalie and Ruth rejoined us I put the bacon on to grill and the bread to toast. As we sat down to eat Nerys turned to Natalie and me. "Can I sleep in your bed tonight, I remember how much fun we had last year." "Of course you can Nerys, that'll be no problem." I smiled as I watched Nerys try to finish her meal, there was still one sausage and some tomato on toast left when I saw her eyes roll up and her eyes shut and her body started to slump forward, I quickly grabbed her and lifted her into my arms. It was a short walk to place her in my bed, Natalie came with me and helped me to remove her gown before I laid her in the middle of the bed. Giving her a gentle kiss I covered her with the quilt and returned to finish supper. After we finished I rang firstly the Nuffield to found out how Jo was doing, the x ray showed her bowels were backed up and a social worker had given the authority for a laparoscopy, she was in theatre as we spoke. I arranged to phone back later that night. I then phoned Shelton Hospital and was quickly forwarded to the Marches Unit, the modern unit that had replaced the old fashioned wards. My voice was recognised by Trevor from when Sue had been a regular patient in the unit. Diane had been admitted to the secure unit on the ward, what was disparagingly known as the lock up, she had two to one nursing care in there as she was so suicidal, As soon as she was safe she would be moved out onto the main ward. I felt very sorry for Nerys and Jo, It had been hard enough for Nick when his mum was ill, but he did have the benefit of a resident father. Natalie and I went to bed, carefully sliding either side of our little visitor. I leant over Nerys and kissed my wife goodnight. I smiled and kissed Nerys' head before switching off the light. It had taken me back having to ring Shelton. I put my head on the pillow and tried to settle down to sleep. Finally I drifted away conscious of a young body beside me. I was woken by the light of a new day and a hard pair of lips battering against mine. "Morning Nerys, how are you this morning?" "How's mummy, how's Jo?" "Well I spoke to the hospitals last night and they were ok; if you come with me I'll ring the hospitals again." Nerys was first out of bed and through to the lounge. I went via the bathroom and then joined Nerys in my chair and picked up the phone. I was very conscious of her nude body laid along my body. I got through to the Nuffield and was soon speaking with the high dependency ward, it only held 2 beds, the staff nurse was able to assure me that I had been named as next of kin and that Jo was doing well, in hospital speak, she was comfortable, in normal language she was in pain but it was being controlled and she would be awake later that morning, if I would like to come in after 11:00 I would be able to speak with her after the doctors had been round. Nerys was very happy at what I reported, the news from the Marches ward was not so encouraging. They had used a major sedative in the end as Diane was so disturbed, she had been trying to bang her head against the lock up door. She had been taken to the county hospital for X rays and then returned. The word from the unit was no visiting yet. It sounded like it would be a while before I could take her daughters to visit. Steph was next to join us as I cuddled Nerys. "Morning Steph, as you can see we have a new guest, she won't be going to school with you all this morning as we need to sort a lot of things out. I watched the time when Caitlin came down to go riding, I could see we would have another Becky here, she was becoming an incredible rider, she was already competing against riders 5 and more years older than herself. I decided it was time to get dressed so I sent Steph to dress then took Nerys with me, I got her to get some clothes from her bag and then to rejoin me in the kitchen after dressing. It was a happy meal as I introduced Nerys to the rest of my family, she had seen them at school but didn't know them. The taxi arrived to take them all in. then I took Natalie her breakfast I found her in bed with baby Steve and Ruth. I gave Natalie a kiss and then her breakfast, then I fetched a second tray of breakfast for Ruth. They had just finished eating when the phone rang, it was Ailsa. "Morning Roy, Jon rang me this morning to tell me about Diane, Jo and Nerys. I gather you've got the girls and mum is in the Marches Unit?" "Not quite, Jo is in the Nuffield, she had emergency surgery last night, but the plan is for her to come here with her sister when she gets out of hospital. Becky, her best friend will be here by then." "Oh, where is she at the moment, if you don't mind me asking. "She's on the school trip to New York with the others." "Oh, who went?" "Well let's see, Nick, Becky, Jim, Mandy, Tim and Callie." "What all 6 of them, Callie as well?" "Oh yes, we got Laura weaned to Natalie before Callie went, we got her dried up as well. It was the thing needed to get Laura to go to Natalie." "Well that's good to hear, are they enjoying themselves?" "Oh yes, best thing is Nick has found Ruth's dad." "Her dad, you're joking?" "No it's true, he and his family are coming to visit in September." "Well that's great, but lets get back to Jo and Nerys. Will you be able to look after them for the time being. Jon says that mum will be in hospital for at least 2 or 3 months." "That's no problem, I knew the girls already as they are Nick and Becky's friends, they stayed over last summer just before the wedding. I don't see any trouble bringing them into the family." "In which case, I'll bring round the forms this morning for Nerys. And then when I've talked with her I can get you to sign them, then when Jo is ready to come out of hospital the same, oh who's paying for her treatment in the Nuffield? It's a private hospital." "Oh, that's on my account, I got the doctor to arrange her admission there, as it makes life a lot easier for us." "That's fine, I'll see you shortly." I hung up and went back to the bedroom. "Natalie, that was Ailsa, she'll be round shortly to sort Nerys out, she will deal with Jo nearer the time of her discharge. Natalie decided that she would get up and get dressed, Ruth was already in her shower and I could see Nerys in the lounge. I went back to join her. I sat in my chair and before I could even get comfortable I had a young girl laying in my arms, I smoothed her forehead and gave her a kiss, I was not surprised to see her eyes flickering shut, her life had been rather stressful and she was trying to catch up on herself. Natalie came through and smiled as she saw me and went to the kitchen to make us another coffee. Before I finished drinking it Ruth was at the front door welcoming Ailsa. "Hello Roy, Natalie and this must be Nerys." "That's correct, Nerys, this is Ailsa, Ailsa is my family social worker as I have both adopted and fostered children here. She is here to discuss with you what's going to happen next." I was aware of Nerys wriggling under my arm. "Roy, I can see that someone feels safe with you." I looked down at Nerys hiding under my arm and smiled down at her. "Nerys, whilst your mum's in hospital would you like to stay with Mr McGarvy?" "Oh yes please miss. I feel safe here." "Well that'll be fine, I have brought the papers for Mr McGarvy to sign, I have also prepared papers for your sister if she wants to stay with Mr McGarvy as well but they're in the office, I will see her later in hospital and then if she wants to come here, she can when she is discharged. Here is a temporary letter confirming that you are the nominated foster parents if she wishes to join you, that gives you more official position with the hospital. We made our farewells to Ailsa and then sorted out all she had brought over with herself. Natalie had seen Teresa and given her Nerys' front door key and sent her over to the house to clean up and get it ready to lie empty. I then rang the school to tell them where Nerys was and that she would be back in next Monday, then I was speaking to the high school explaining that Jo was in hospital after major surgery and wouldn't be back until the new term in September. The clerk said she would forward her report card with Nick. By this time the morning was almost finished and we joined Rachel for lunch, a rather nice beef salad. Ruth and Natalie were going to take Nerys shopping this afternoon as most of her clothes were too tight or just plain worn out. I was going to meet up with the shepherd as we took delivery of a small flock of Herdwick Sheep that we had bought under the auspices of the "The Heritage GeneBank." It was a work being carried out with York university to protect the national flock of this ancient breed. Herdwicks were at risk of extinction, because of infection with Foot and Mouth Disease and the pre-emptive killing of tens of thousands of Herdwick sheep around infection sites in the Lake District. I was known as a farmer who had an interest in old breeds and the professor had contacted me. I was only too happy to help. I had gained a lot of information from http://www.herdwick-sheep.com/index.htm and was happy to be considered for any other at risk breeds. I was fortunate that I was not dependant on wool sales or meat sales to survive but could invest in the history of British farming to keep the widest breadth of animal, so that if there was a problem in the modern flocks the genetic strengths of the old breeds was still available to restore the flocks. I was up with the shepherd and Jerry as the sheep came surging off the sheep transporter and into their field. We had got them all finally unloaded when I looked across the valley and saw the Range Rover returning. I could see them all get out, Natalie and Ruth carried the babies in and I watched Nerys carrying carrier bag after carrier bag into the house. I was in for a fashion show later. I watched Mervyn and his dogs move the sheep across the first field and into a second field. The rams were then taken to yet another part of the farm to keep them away from the ewes. Finally we waved the transporter away and were able to leave the new flock to settle in. Jerry and I walked back down to the house, he went on to his office and I walked in to the house, Nerys was busy trying on new clothes, I looked at the clock and said. “Nerys, I think it’s time for you and I to go and see your sister.” “Okay Mr McGarvy, can I go like this?” I looked again to see the smart yellow top with blue denim skirt, white ankle socks and white trainers, absolutely adorable. “That’ll be perfect, I’ll just change my jacket and we’ll be off.” I gave Natalie a kiss, went through to the bedroom to change my trousers and jacket and then we were off. As we walked to the car I said to Nerys. “I think you can join the others and call me dad and Natalie mum. We’ll be looking after you for the time being.” “Okay Mr… er… dad.” I smiled as she stumbled over calling me dad. I soon had her strapped in the car and was off to the Nuffield hospital outside Shrewsbury. I walked in to the little ward to see a white faced teenager supported by pillows, a tube coming from her nose, a saline/glucose drip in her arm and a catheter coming out under the covers. I could see a hand control in her hand which I knew would be so that she could control her pain medication. Her eyes were open, the pupils little pinpricks from the morphine. “Hello Jo, how are you feeling today.” She gave a small, well it could either have been a grimace or a tight smile. “Feel wasted, pains not too bad, this keeps that away.” She held up her hand. “The social workers been in, is it true we’re staying with you?” “Well Nerys is and you can if you want.” “Oh yes please.” She fell silent for a while, Nerys and I sat there holding Jo’s hand. “Where’s mum?” “She’s in the psychiatric hospital, she’s very poorly indeed.” “I knew she was very ill, but she didn’t want to go into hospital.” “That was a bit unfair on you, you had to do everything for you all.” “Yeah well, what else could I do?” I shrugged my shoulders, I knew only too well the bind she had found herself in, I had experienced the same problem with Sue. “I’ll leave Nerys with you, I’m just going to check with the staff how you’re doing.” I then walked out to the nursing station. “Can you tell me what has been done to Jo and what was wrong with her?” The nurse picked up a folder and checked with me. “Can you tell me your name?” “Roy McGarvy.” “That’s fine, I knew you but I had to do the official check,” I smiled and gave her my driving licence to double check my details and the letter from Ailsa. “Right, she had a Meckel's diverticulum, that's an extra pouch on the intestinal wall, it caused an ulcer in the ileum which was bleeding and that caused the obstruction. They removed six inches of the ileum which was burnt by the acid produced in the Meckel's. What we're waiting for now is the bowels to start working again, then we can start her on a light diet and then if all goes well she should be ready for discharge in about six or seven days, may even be sooner. We'll know when the bowels restart because she will start pushing huge amounts of wind out. Her intestines were opened and that leads to wind. She will be a very embarrassed young lady." I smiled at the thought of Jo playing the trumpet voluntary. I walked back into Jo's room and told her the information I had been given. "Oh and Jo, Becky returns from America tomorrow night so I'm sure she will be into visit you on Saturday or Sunday." "That'll be good. I did envy her going on the school trip." I watched as her eyes slowly drifted closed again. The morphine was making her drowsy, her sister moved beside her and gently kissed her, then we left her to her sleep. "Dad, why is she falling asleep like that?" "Did you notice that button switch in her hand?" "Yes dad." "Well every time she presses that it feeds her pain medication and that makes her very sleepy." "Oh, okay dad." We left the ward and drove back via the school campus, I saw the receptionist at the high school and confirmed the details about Jo and watched as she updated her file. Then we went on to the primary school and saw Miss Hollis, I explained that Nerys would be back at school but she had been taken into care fairly late last night and she was now my foster daughter. We then headed for home, she was welcomed into the fold by the other young people and was quickly off playing with them after having some sandwiches and cake. My family knew how to help a troubled pre teen, they had all been there, done that and got the T shirt. The best thing was Nerys knew her problems were caused by her mums illness and not by the cruelty of a parent. In the corner of my study were a couple of large bags of clothes that Teresa, my cleaner had brought over after cleaning Nerys' house. Natalie and Ruth went through them, Nerys' clothes were all too small as well as being threadbare. We couldn't check Jo's clothes for size but they were all worn out as well. "Roy, I'll measure Jo tomorrow when I go in to see her, then we can get her some clothes, jogging bottoms and loose t shirts to start as she won't want tight clothes pressing on her scar." The evening passed quickly, Nerys had a bath straight after dinner and went to bed, she wanted to be in my bed again, I wasn't surprised. I spent time with all the other children, helping them to understand why Nerys and Jo would have to live with us. Finally we got everyone to bed, the babies had all been changed and fed. Natalie had gone to bed immediately after feeding the babies. I locked up the house then headed for bed. I smiled as I went into my bedroom from the bathroom, Nerys was latched onto Natalie's boobs and was feeding as well, I could see dribbles of milk from the corner of her mouth. I climbed into bed beside her and slipped my finger into Nerys' mouth to break the suction and moved Nerys off Nat's boob. She locked onto me and gave a loud sigh as she collapsed into herself. Tomorrow I would have to visit Diane, but that was tomorrow, this was tonight. I kissed her forehead, turned off the light and settled into bed. If you have liked this, all the chapters and other stories are available for download at ftp://ftp.asstr.org/pub/Authors/martinmac/ I hope you enjoy these stories, if you do please write to me and tell me at martinmac2002@email2me.net YOUR ATTENTION PLEASE! The moderated story site or the ftp site you downloaded my ramblings from is run totally by volunteers. From the authors to the editors and moderators, no one receives a penny for their services. 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