Pieces of Him by Alice Tribue Read Free Book Online Page B

You should mentally prepare yourself for sleep deprivation. That’s going to be hard. He’ll be up every two to three hours to feed. He’s going to want to sleep all day and keep you up all night, but you can’t let him do that. Wake him up often during the day,” she says, giving me a pep talk as if she’s an excited coach in the middle of halftime and our team is close to victory. She’s fucking nuts.
    “I made up his bag for you with plenty of diapers, wipes, and formula to last you for a few days.” She points at the black bag that Keri had brought to the hospital with her. “There’s a thermometer in there. The one you put on his forehead. It’s easy to use. There’s a couple of pacifiers, some burp cloths, and the few changes of clothes your girlfriend brought for him.”
    “Thanks.”
    “Try to keep track of how much he eats and how often. How many times he wets or messes his diaper. The pediatrician will want to know that when you take him to her in a couple of weeks. You’re going home with an immunization record. Keep it in a safe place and bring it with you to the doctor. We’ll file the birth certificate from here, and you should be able to pick it up at the municipal building in about two weeks. You’re going to need that.”
    “Jesus, I should be writing this stuff down.”
    “You’ll remember.”
    “I’ll certainly try.”
    “I put my number in the bag too, Max,” she says softly, and my eyes lock with hers. “If you need anything, if you have any questions, any doubts or concerns, you call me anytime.”
    Fucking. Killing. Me. I don’t say anything to her. What can you say to the person who’s dragged you through the pit of darkness whether you wanted her to or not? I would have been long gone if it wasn’t for her. I’m not proud of that, but it is what it is. I nod at her, and she comes forward and picks up the forms I’ve filled out.
    “I’ll be back with Xander as soon as I can. We had the photographer take his picture. I’ll need your credit card to pay for the package.”
    Is she for fucking real?
    “Are you serious?”
    “Every baby gets newborn pictures taken. You don’t want him to be the only one who doesn’t.”
    “Right because he’s really worried about pictures right now.” I roll my eyes as I pull my wallet from my back pocket and hand her my credit card.
    “Thank you,” she sings, literally sings it, as she turns and walks away. I go over all of the instructions she gave me in my head and pray that I don’t forget any of that shit. When I think I’ve managed to memorize most of it, I pull out my phone and call Jack. I figure he should know that he’s going to walk into an apartment that looks like it was hit by a tornado.
     

     
    “What the fuck did you do to your apartment?” are the first words he utters when he picks up. Clearly, I didn’t warn him soon enough.
    “I tripped.”
    “Jesus, man. Rachel thought you got robbed.”
    “Nope,” I reply with a shake of my head. I should feel embarrassed for tearing the place apart, but I’m not. It felt good and I needed that; I needed to get rid of that aggression before I came back to Xander.
    “Did you get it out?”
    “Yup.”
    “All right. We’re doing the best we can to clean this shit and set everything else up. When will you be here?”
    “Don’t know, waiting for the doctor to discharge him.”
    “We’ll try to work fast.”
    “I appreciate it,” I tell him and I do. I don’t have a family. I have very few friends and, besides Keri, no one who I hung out with on a frequent basis. Having Jack’s support right now is a tremendous relief.
    “Later.”
    “Later,” I reply before disconnecting. I spend the rest of my time in this godforsaken hospital trying to mentally prepare myself for what the next few days are going to bring. I’ll have Xander, and I’ll have no one to help me with him. I’ll have to figure out childcare for when I go back to work. I’ll have Keri’s