By Beej

Jake yawned as he limped to the kitchen. He’d just finished feeding the twins and needed some liquid refreshment himself.

He’d recently thrown his crutches away, but was still using sticks, although when he was in the apartment he managed to get around without them by making sure he walked close enough to the wall to steady himself. Right now he was leaning heavily on any piece of furniture that was within reach.

He opened the door to the double fridge and looked inside. Two shelves were full of baby milk. Angie was breast feeding, but always seemed to have enough spare to store for night feeds, which Jake insisted on taking care of. There was way more than normal stored though, and he made a mental note to ask Angie about it when she woke up later. He took out a carton of juice, took a glass from the cupboard, and sat at the kitchen table drinking slowly.

He leaned back in the chair and smiled. He was tired, but blissfully happy. He was in his penthouse apartment on the wharf in Sydney, and he had his wonderful new family safe and sound with him. It had been great being able to stay up at the farm during and after the birth of the twins, but the city was where his work was, and he was feeling stronger every day and knew he would soon need to get back to the office. He placed his arms on the table and rested his head, just for a minute.

Angie woke up and stretched. She reached out her arm and found an empty space by her side. Turning, she touched the pillow. It was cold. She looked at the clock...7:00 am. She hadn’t been disturbed when Jake got up to feed the twins, but he should have come back to bed ages ago. She sat up and yawned, then found her robe and headed for the nursery.

The twins were fast asleep, holding hands as they always did. She wondered for a moment how they would cope when they were too old to share their crib. She looked round, but Jake was nowhere in sight.

She checked the little nursery bathroom…empty, then went back and checked their ensuite…also empty. She padded softly through the apartment and noticed that there was a light on in the kitchen. Walking through the door, she stopped and smiled. Jake was fast asleep at the table. She went over to him and kissed the top of his head before going over to put the kettle on.

Jake stirred when the mug of steaming tea was put on the table in front of him. He sat up slowly, wincing, and stretched gingerly.

"G’Day, gorgeous," he smiled.

"Good morning, sweetheart. Just how long have you been out here?"

"Just a couple of minutes. I rested my head for two ticks."

"What time did you feed the twins?"

"Um, I think it was about 3:30 by the time I finished up. Why?"

"Darling, it’s now just gone 7:00. You’ve been asleep at the kitchen table for over three hours. That won’t have done your back any good. Drink your tea. I’ll go get your sticks and then we can both go back to bed for a bit."

He smiled as he watched her go back to the bedroom, rubbing his back trying to ease the ache that was taking a hold of his body. He sipped his tea and grinned. If taking the night shift with the kids to allow his wife to sleep meant having a sore back it was well worth it, even though he knew he’d be suffering for most of the day, not that he’d let on to Angie.

Just then Angie walked back in with his sticks. She sat and drank her tea, holding his hand and looking at him over the rim of her cup, eyes gleaming, then when they were both finished she helped him stand and walked slowly with him back to their bedroom.

"With any luck we’ll get another couple of hours in bed," she said hopefully.

"I told you putting them in the nursery was a good idea," he grinned in reply. "We don’t have to worry about waking them up."

"Contrary to some opinions, it takes a lot to wake a sleeping baby."

"I know, Luv, but when there are two, it only takes one to wake up to start the ball rolling."

Angie helped Jake back into bed and got in by his side. She snuggled up and rested her head on his chest, listening to his strong heart beating.

"Thank you for taking the night feeds. Being able to sleep through charges up my batteries to get me through the day."

"It’s my pleasure, Luv. I don’t think I could stand not being able to help out with the feeds. It’s a good job you have more than enough milk. And talking of milk…why have you stored so much in the fridge?"

"Ah, I was going to talk to you about that after breakfast. Star gave me a call yesterday and asked if I was up for a shopping outing. She wants to look at wedding dresses, Jake. Isn’t it too exciting!"

"And are you up for it? I don’t want you to get over tired."

"I’m more than up for it. As much as I adore our times up at the farm, I do miss the big city shopping. Grafton isn’t exactly Sydney, now is it."

"Okay, I agree with that. As long as you think you’ll be okay."

"Well, there’s only one thing. Would you be up to looking after the twins on your own?"

Jake had a strange look on his face before he answered. "You’re willing to leave them with me without supervision?"

Angie slapped his shoulder just as he started laughing. "Of course I am, silly. You’re their dad. If a decorated SAS officer can’t handle two little babies for a couple of hours, who can?"

They settled down in each other's arms and napped for a couple of hours before the babies decided it was time to be fed again. Angie got comfortable in the bed while Jake went to the nursery to get the twins. He took them from the crib and placed them in a Moses basket on wheels to get them back to Angie, then he handed Nyree to her while he cuddled Taiaroa, comforting him until it was his turn to feed.

They bathed and dressed the twins together, then settled them in their double crib before heading to the kitchen to feed themselves. Angie checked the baby monitor then turned to the fridge. She took out juice and milk and turned to Jake holding up a pack of bacon. Jake shook his head.

"I’m fine with toast, Luv, unless you need feeding up before your expedition."

"No, I think toast will be okay for me as well. Star said she’d take me to lunch."

"I’m paying her too well," Jake laughed, ducking as Angie threw a sugar cube at him.

They enjoyed their breakfast, sharing pages of the paper and reading each other anything that caught their attention. Jake cleared up and set the dishes in the washer while Angie took a shower and got dressed. Jake was a bit slower, still having to sit in the shower for fear of slipping, but he was soon back in the loungeroom with her, and they were comfortable on the sofa when the security phone rang.

"That’ll be Star," Angie said, jumping up to answer the phone. She spoke for a few seconds and then turned to smile at Jake. "I’ll just open the front door ready, save her ringing when she gets up here."

Star came in, all smiles, hugged Angie and then went over to the back of the sofa and put her arms around Jake’s shoulders, kissing the top of his head. "Morning, Boss. You’re looking good."

Jake took hold of her hand and steered her round to the front of the sofa so that he could see her. "You’re not looking too shabby yourself, Luv. You sure you need to go shopping?"

Star picked up a cushion and threw it at Jake. "I’m sure Angie has told you just what I’m on the lookout for."

"Yeah, does Drew know?"

"It was his idea, Jake. He said he’d try and pop up to see you when he finishes work today. I think he wants a chat."

"I’ll look forward to it. Are you both rushing off, or do you have time to drool over the twins?"

Star grinned, "Just you try and stop me. I promise not to wake them up."

"No worries, they both have full bellies, so they should be right for a few hours. Go knock yourself out."

Star followed Angie to the nursery and gazed at the twins in wonder. "I can’t believe how much they’ve grown since we were up at the farm."

"I know. It’s amazing, isn’t it. Between you and me, I do worry when Jake carries them both. At least with one he can still use one stick, but he just loves cuddling them both together."

"Is he going to be okay while we’re out?"

"Oh yes, don’t worry, Star. He’ll behave. Let’s leave the little tykes in peace and get ready to go."

They went back to look for Jake, who by this time was sitting out on the terrace enjoying the morning sunshine. He turned when he heard them come through the door.

"Ready to shop until you drop?" he asked with a twinkle in his eye.

"We sure are, Boss. I promise to stop Angie buying up all the baby things she sees, and I’ll get her back right after lunch."

Jake hugged both of them and walked them to the front door. "Have fun, you two."

"Call me if you need help," Angie said, hugging him back.

"Get out of here both of you. Me and the kids will be right."

Jake settled back on the sofa and closed his eyes. His back was still sore, but he was determined not to take any meds. He’d grabbed the monitor from the kitchen and put it on the coffee table so that he’d hear the babies when they woke up.

He woke a couple of hours later when he turned in his sleep and almost fell off the sofa. There was no sound from the nursery and he checked the time, almost noon. He went to look at the babies; they were still fast asleep. He didn’t expect them to wake for a while yet, but decided what he was going to do next would be worth the hassle if they did.

It didn’t take long to get the changing supplies up together, the milk bottles in an eski, and the babies ready for a trip outside. He was soon in the lift down to the residents parking and putting the still-sleeping babies in their seats in the back of the car. He folded up the double stroller and got behind the wheel. He was soon driving slowly along the wharf service road and out onto Cowper Road Parkway heading towards the harbour.

Jenny and Brian were sitting behind the reception desk sorting through the mail when they heard the lift doors sigh open. They both looked up to see who the visitor could be, and Brian jumped up to rush down towards the lift. Jenny let out a little squeal of delight when she realised who was coming out of the lift.

"G’Day, Boss," Brian beamed, taking the changing bag from Jake’s shoulder and lifting the eski out from under the stroller. "You should have called up from the garage. I would have come down to give you a hand.

"No worries, Brian. Steve was doing a security check and saw me pull in. He gave me a hand to the lift."

"Jake, what are you doing here? Where’s Angie?"

"Hi, Jin. I’m fine, thanks for asking," he winked. "Angie has been kidnapped by Star on a shopping spree. I’m on baby watch until they get back."

"Did you need any help?" she asked.

"No, not at all. I got bored. They’ve been asleep since their brekkie. I guess the place was too quiet. It’s such a lovely day I just packed everything up and brought them over. Thought we could go to the park."

"Won’t the sun be too bright for them, Boss?" Brian asked.

"I’ve got a parasol in the car, and we can find a spot under the trees as well. Anyone up for it?"

"I’m game," Jenny replied.

"I’d love to, but I’ve got a conference call booked with Chicago and London, and you know how difficult that is to set up with the times."

"Okie dokie, Brian. You’re up next time then," Jake smiled. "I just want to pop in to see Drew on the way down, then we can head off."

They were soon parked up by the Opera House and Jake got the stroller set up. Jenny helped him with the babies, and they walked through the gates, slowly because Jake didn’t have his sticks, relying on the stroller to keep him upright.

They walked around the harbour wall until they came to a couple of large trees, then pushed the twins across the grass to a seat. Jake didn’t think that he was up for sitting on the grass yet, so left Jenny to spread out the blanket and sit close to his feet. They left the babies in the stroller in the shade as they were still sleeping. They chatted for a while until Nyree woke up. Jake took the bottle warmer from under the stroller and turned it on.

"Oh, I didn’t know you had a battery-operated warmer. I was wondering how you were going to heat up the bottles."

"Well, I guess we could have asked at the café, but I didn’t want to take the kids too close to the bat roosts. Believe it or not, we saw this in a little shop up in Grafton. Angie said she didn’t think we needed it as she was feeding them herself, but I went in and got it anyway."

"I guess she thought that you would only need the main one for the night feeds."

"Little did she know that I was going to make a break for freedom the minute her back was turned," Jake laughed.

By the time the milk was warmed up, both babies were awake and hungry so Jenny took Taiaroa and Jake had Nyree. He was oblivious to the smiles from the passing visitors to the gardens, his attention completely on his children. Most people just smiled as they passed, some pointed, some actually stopped, but only a couple walked over to say anything.

Jake was amazed that they seemed to be causing a stir after one older lady came over to say how wonderful she thought it was to see a father feeding his child. Jenny had to explain that she wasn’t the mother when she was congratulated on the twins. She giggled at the expression on Jake’s face.

"Jake, you have two of the most beautiful children on the planet. Of course people are going to stop to admire them. I should think a lot of them are admiring the father as well."

"Get off the grass," Jake retorted.

Fed and changed, the babies soon settled down to enjoy a cuddle from their dad and Aunty Jenny. Jake’s stomach rumbled and he checked his watch.

"Shit," he said softly. "I need to call Angie."

Jenny settled Tai into the stroller and got out her cell phone. "I’ll do it, Jake. Don’t disturb Nyree."

"Thanks, Luv.  Could you ask her how she’s  going and if she has a time to get home?"

Jenny called Angie and relayed the message. She grinned as she listened to the reply. "Jake, she wants to know why I’m calling and not you."

Jake pulled a face at her.

"He’s having a cuddle with a beautiful girl right now, Angie. No, I’m not at the wharf. We’re in the botanical gardens. Yes, that’s why he was asking about your timing. He didn’t want you to get home and find it empty. Yes, okay, I’ll tell him. See you later."

"Well?" Jake asked.

"They are just thinking about having some lunch, then they have one more shop to check and will be making their way back home."

Righto, tell you what then, let’s get the kids back to the car and head for home. I’ll stop somewhere for some food for us and we’ll have lunch on the terrace."

"Sounds like a plan."

"Have you had a good day?" Angie asked as she came through the front door behind a load of shopping bags.

"Not as good as you by the look of it," Jake replied, grabbing the bags before they hit the floor. He kissed Angie and looked behind her. "Where’s Star?"

"She decided to go straight home. If you think I’ve got a lot of bags, you should see her stash. She wants to put the stuff away before Drew gets home."

"Sounds like a good idea," Jenny laughed.

"Hello, Jen. Did Jake call you in for backup?"

"Not at all. He decided to take the kids out to see a bit of Sydney, and kidnapped me from the office to join in the fun. I think the only thing he wouldn’t have managed on his own was spreading the blanket on the grass."

"I would have left them in the stroller if I was on my own, Jin," Jake said.

"So, you had a wonderful day then, Daddy?"

"I sure did, it was good."

"You wouldn’t mind doing it again then?"

"Any time, my sweet…just maybe not tomorrow," he grinned.

"Don’t worry about that. I think it will be at least a couple of weeks before my feet recover from traipsing round town, but I’ll take you up on the offer again soon. It’s good to know you don’t mind me having a break now and then."

"Hey, Daddy Day Care is here whenever you need him, Luv," Jake said, kissing her soundly.