7 - One Plus One

"Zeke, you're supposed to be getting ready for school. We're going to be late." Cailen said even though they really weren't.

Ezekiel grumbled something out, something Cailen couldn't make out but it didn't matter. It was probably something along the lines of 'I don't want to go to school'.

"Come on, up, up!" Cailen said, slipping his hands under the boy's armpits to lift him to his feet.

"But, Cailen-" Ezekiel began to protest.

"No, come on, we're going to be late and I've got to go to work." Cailen reminded him.

Ezekiel huffed and stomped over to his bed where an outfit was laid out for him. Asher thought it wasn't necessary to pick out an outfit for the boy but Asher had never tried to get him dressed for school.

Cailen let Ezekiel pick once and Ezekiel had come out butt naked, much like he is now, and that was the end of that.

Cailen stayed as Ezekiel pulled his clothes on to make sure he actually got dressed and didn't just go back to playing with his toys. Once he was dressed and had his backpack, they made their way down to the car and were heading off to school to drop him off.

It was a daily routine, one Cailen was quickly getting used to, figuring out the exact amount of time he needed to stop for a tea on the way to the hospital.

*****

"Okay, have a good day at school, love." Cailen said, leaning down to kiss him goodbye on the head.

Cailen kind of loved that the boy no longer seemed awkward when he did that. It actually didn't seem to faze him anymore and he actually started smiling up to Cailen everytime.

"Bye, Cailen." Ezekiel said before shuffling away from the car to join the other kids shuffling about in front of the school.

There were teachers all around, supervising and making sure everyone got inside so Cailen knew it was okay to leave, or at least get into his car.

When Cailen did get into his car, he looked back over once again to spot Ezekiel by the steps with another boy that looked a bit older than him.

This boy had blonde hair and was taller than Ezekiel with his arm thrown over Ezekiel's shoulder.

Cailen doesn't remember Ezekiel ever telling him about any friends that he was making. Whenever asked about it, the boy would kind of shut down and they didn't want to push him.

Cailen wasn't an idiot, obviously Ezekiel wasn't making many friends, if any at all, but it's not like he could just go around bribing kids to be friends with his kid. That'd be a little weird and would no doubt raise suspicion with other parents- suspicions that might get the police involved.

But maybe Ezekiel was finally making a friend?

Cailen hoped so.

*****

Cailen was ready to go home.

He was so ready to go home.

All day has been nothing but running from room to room listening to elderly people complaining about the temperature of the room or the texture of their food. It's not like he could really do anything about either thing.

He didn't cook the food, he just delivered it and he couldn't change the thermostat to make one person comfortable while everyone else got to suffocate in the heat.

The best Cailen could do was offer another blanket but they never seemed to be happy about that either.

The most exciting part of his day had been trying to track down an elderly man with dementia that was roaming the halls. He had found him in the lobby staring out the window in his hospital gown and had to coax him back up to his room.

It had just been one of those days that sort of dragged on and Cailen could not wait to go home.

What Asher had promised him didn't help either. It had Cailen watching the clock, willing the hands to move which really did not make the time tick by any faster. It had been a long time since they've had a night alone together and even if they do nothing but cuddle, it'll still be wonderful.

He loved Ezekiel, he did, but he and Asher still has needs... And those needs couldn't be fulfilled with an eight-year-old running butt naked with a Batman action figure.

Cailen was looking forward to tonight and was really happy to look at the clock and see that it was time to go home.

"I'm free!" Cailen cheered, lifting his hands in the air in celebration then dropping them and the clipboard he was holding onto the counter of the front desk, making a loud clacking sound and earning a glare from the older woman behind the desk.

The older woman behind the desk was someone who Cailen was quite fond of and had actually grown close to over the years he's worked here.

Her name was Madeline and she was probably the most sweet and caring person Cailen has ever met but at the same time, if you crossed her in anyway, you had better run.

She was an older woman, probably about fifty or sixty though Cailen didn't know exactly how old because even he knew not to ask for a woman's age. Her hair was greying and she had a few wrinkles by the corners of her mouth and creases on her eyes. She was even shorter than Cailen but Cailen knew not to let that fool him.

He's seen her put a drunken biker who had a drill dropped through his foot- something he pulled out on his own and walked to the hospital to get looked after- in his place, making him cower away from the tiny woman.

"Did you finish with Mrs. Cruz?" Madeline asked, shuffling through some papers on the desk.

"I did. She is all tucked in and probably already asleep." Cailen informed her, handing her the clipboard with all the patients’ information on it.

"Alright, well then, we'll see you tom-" Madeline was saying but was interrupted by what Cailen liked to call the 'Bat Phone'.

He lived with two Batman fanboys, okay? It was hard not to make the reference.

The 'Bat Phone' was a phone used by the ambulances to call ahead of time so the hospital could get a room ready for an emergency.

It wasn't a call Cailen liked to take. It didn't usually offer good news.

"Or maybe I'm not free just yet." Cailen mumbled, knowing full well that if the other nurses were busy, he'd have to stay.

Madeline gave him an apologetic smile as she answered the phone. She didn't say hello, in fact she didn't say anything because it wasn't really the time for chit-chat.

She nodded her head along to whatever was being said on the other end. She didn't look upset so Cailen held hope for whoever was on their way with whatever emergency they had.

When she hung up the phone, she sent out a page, asking any available nurses to head to the front desk. If no one showed right away, Cailen would be sent to prep the room.

"Leah," Madeline greeted the nurse that answered the page, Cailen breathing a breath of relief.

"Pregnant woman, contractions less then seven minutes apart for Dr. Sage." Madeline explained, not needing to say anymore because most nurses knew exactly what they needed to do in these situations.

Leah, a blonde preppy girl, nodded her head and took off towards the labor ward.

Cailen's relief was short lived when what Madeline said sunk in.

A pregnant woman for Dr. Sage was on her way. Dr. Sage was Hazel's doctor.

Hazel could be on her way right now. Hazel could have gone into labor.

Cailen debated running to get his phone to call Matthew but he knew that wasn't the best idea.

He knew that, because he couldn't run in the hospital without a good excuse. By the time he made it to his phone, the ambulance will have already arrived. Also, he doubted Matthew would answer his phone if Hazel was going into labor.

So instead, Cailen sat and waited patiently by the ambulance drop off entrance, nervously fiddling with his thumbs. He would just wait to see who it was.

If he didn't know the person, he would leave, but if it was Hazel, then he was certain Matthew will be freaking out.

It wasn't long before he heard the sirens, the sirens growing louder as the ambulance drew closer.

The next thing Cailen knew, the doors were being thrown open and a group of paramedics were rushing through while pushing a gurney through with a screaming Hazel sitting on it.

She caught sight of Cailen as she passed, Cailen giving her a reassuring smile before searching for the husband.

Hazel was escorted down the hall, a moving swarm of commotion leaving people they passed in a daze. Matthew then came through the doors, a baby bag hanging off one shoulder, another bag of some sort off the other and a back pack on his back.

He looked like mess- a panting, sweaty mess, but that wasn't unusual for these circumstances.

Sometimes, Cailen thought the father needed breathing exercise more than the mother did.

Matthew looked a little lost, searching around for something until he spotted Cailen standing off to the side, grinning at the dishevelled looking man.

"Cailen!" Matthew said in relief. "Hazel, she's- she's-"

"I know. That's why I'm here." Cailen said, rushing over to Matthew's side because he was beginning to hyperventilate.

"She's in labor. She's- She's in labor, Cai." Matthew said between panting breaths, pointing down the hall as if Cailen have missed that commotion. "I- I'm gonna- I'm gonna be a dad." Matthew continued and Cailen vaguely wondered how that conclusion hadn't passed through his mind before, like maybe nine months ago.

Cailen could actually feel Matthew's breath on his face so he grabbed Matthew by the shoulders and gave him a quick shake.

It was kind of funny to see a guy that was usually so calm and collected, freaking the fuck out.

"Matt, calm down. Hazel's the one in labor, not you. She needs you to be calm for her." Cailen explained, watching as Matthew nodded his head, visibly trying to calm himself. "Okay, Daddy-to-be, let's get you into some scrubs." Cailen said, grinning mischievously because he knew Matthew was going to hate having to wear scrubs.

After all these years of Matthew teasing him about having to wear them, he was going to get his payback.