Post by Claire Jayne Madden on Jul 30, 2013 11:17:09 GMT -5
Claire groaned as she laid her forehead against the side of the porcelain, reaching her hand up to flush the toilet again before she sat against the wall. She held her hand against her forehead, looking at the doorway as Brayden made his way into it, holding onto his batman sippy cup and blanket with a bemused expression on his face. “ Mom sick,” he said as a statement, though he had a puzzled look on his face. Little words that he could jumble together. Plus she had said ‘sick’ so often lately that it was probably sticking with him. Claire gave a small nod as she dropped her hand and offered a small smile. “……. Cereal and batman,” Brayden offered with a lift of his eyebrows. Surely that would fix all of her problems in his mind. Claire smiled tiredly and gave a nod. “ I’ll wash my face and meet you in the living room,” she said, pulling herself up tiredly as she made her way to the sink. Claire stood at the sink, staring down at the water as she tried to determine whether or not she should go to the doctor. She had told Shane a couple weeks ago that she felt like she had a stomach bug – but she hadn’t expanded on it. He was gone on tour, and she didn’t want him to worry about her still being sick. Maybe she could watch cartoons with Brayden for a little bit, and then head into the doctor. It was just a matter of taking him with, or asking Ethan or Dalton to watch him for a couple of hours. Claire leaned forward, splashing the cold water over her face and continued to wash it before shutting the light off and heading back to the living room with Brayden.
“ What are you drinking, scotch?” she asked sarcastically as she looked down at his cup. Apple juice. “ Talia would be proud,” she said lazily as she laid her head back and turned up the volume on the television. The bowl of cereal in Brayden’s lap looked way too big for him. But seeing as how she didn’t exactly trust him to not spill milk all over it yet, he was reaching his hand into the dry cereal of frosted wheaties and eating them plain as he watched his show. Claire leaned her head down, kissing the side of Brayden’s hair before she continued to comb her fingers through it. Whenever there was a commercial from the show, she switched it to Taboo Tv quickly, just to see if there were any updates about Shane’s tour. But she stopped as she held the remote, watching the commercial as she felt like she was being slammed into a brick wall. The pregnancy commercial made her question what she should have a long time ago. How could she have been so stupid as to not think about it. But this time the idea didn’t dread her like it had in the doctors office almost two years ago. This time she and Shane had been trying. So if she was.. this would be a miracle, right? Claire switched it back to Batman, looking down at Brayden as she combed his hair, “ Do you want to go see Uncle Dalton?” she asked as he kept his eyes locked on the screen. “ No,” he said calmly, though not taking his eyes away. “ Do.. you want to go see Kenzie? Play batman?” she asked again. There was a moment of silence before he tried to annunciate in the most adorable way that little children do. “ Yes,”. Claire smiled, having a thought to herself that Dalton might kill her for. “ Why don’t we have a playdate with Kenzie where you two play Batman… and uncle Dalton can be Thor. And Batman can beat up Thor and steal his hammer,” she said, kissing the side of his head as Brayden gave a quiet giggle. Settled. Claire picked up her phone, first calling Logan and then calling Dalton. Thor needed to babysit. Claire waited for Kenzie to show up, fixing Brayden’s hair into a faux hawk and finding the rest of his Batman gear so he would be ready to play. The moment she opened the door, she smiled at Logan, missing an opportunity to greet him appropriately since Kenzie was pushing her way through the door yelling for Batman. “Dalton should have fun…” Claire said with a slight smirk before she leaned in and gave Logan a hug. “ I shouldn’t be long. Just the appointment and then I’ll be home. But I can watch the kids for a while if you’re wanting a guys night. Blake on tour. Kid out of the house. What will Logan Renner do with his time? Probably buy a company. Or six.” she said before winking at him.
After he left, Claire went back into the living room and watched as Brayden was sitting on the couch, watching his batman show wrap up. Kenzie had settled herself into holding his hand and singing quietly to herself lyrics that sounded like she was singing about the caped crusader, occasionally pushing all of her curls out of her face. She stood there, watching them and their innocence, knowing that someday they wouldn’t be so innocent together, until Dalton knocked on the door. Claire stood up straight, going to answer it quickly before she stood on her toes to give him a hug. “ Thanks Thor. I know the kids are excited,” she said before kissing his cheek. “ Brayden sweetie, uncle Dalton is here,” she called out before going into the living room. Kenzie was already glaring at Dalton. Probably for stealing away her play partner. “ Alright, I’ll see you guys soon” she said before leaning down to kiss Brayden’s cheeks and waved as she left the home. Once she got to the doctor it all seemed to be common practice to her at this point. Blood work, visit with the doctor. Wait for results. She had asked for a couple of the stickers to take home, knowing that Brayden would like to have them. And probably Shane. She could taste the blood on her lips from gnawing at her bottom lip, anxiously waiting. “ Mrs.Madden?” the name called out and Claire looked up, offering a small as she followed the doctor into his office. “ So Claire Madden..” he said with an amused expression. “ You know this is probably unprofessional. But I’ve never told either of you this.. I’ve been a big fan of your husbands music for the last couple years. I used to listen to Coffeeshop soundtrack on repeat when I was studying to graduate med school. Guy’s a lyrical genius,” he offered. Claire gave a small smile as she nodded. “ I guess I’m not the usual person you would expect to be a huge fan of his music. A doctor..” he said, tapping his thumb against the clipboard. “ Though I don’t think anyone expected him to fall in love with and marry a ballerina either. My little sister was devastated.” he added, offering her a smile. “ Well I’m sorry to have added to that,” Claire said with a chuckle. “ And she was devastated when you two had your first son. Devastated that you were Australian and not American. Devastated when you guys got married in Italy…. And whenever you guys decide to release the information.. she’ll be devastated that you’re having a second child together,” he said before lifting his eyes up to look at Claire. “ You’ve gotta be shitting me,” Claire said as she lift her eyebrows up excitedly. “ Ah!” Claire screamed at the top of her lungs before wrapping her arms around him tightly. “ Mrs. Madden. I have to be honest in the fact that I’ve never seen people as young as you actually WANTING to expand your family,” he said with a confused laugh as he pat his hand against her back. “ Thank you so much!” she said as she squeezed him tighter this time. “ Well, we’re not finished. You know the drill on pre-natal vitamins, getting your ultrasounds together. Right now I would say you’re at about two months. So you’re due date is going to be somewhere around mid February I believe,” he offered. But quite frankly it was sort of all going in one ear and out the other. How was she going to tell Shane? “ Thank you so much, I’ll take care of everything. Thank you,” she said before picking up all of her things and basically ramsacking her way out of the office.
Since they had been talking about trying to start a family ; Claire had been referring to it as trying to get ‘Batman his Robin’. Brayden needed a little sidekick. Sure he had Kenzie. But Claire knew where that was going to end up. Claire went into the mall quickly, stopping at one of the shops that embroidered t-shirts. She looked over the designs carefully, before settling on a shirt Brayden’s size, embroidered with “ Batman Gets His Robin. Coming To You February 2014” so it looked like a movie title before she decided that was going to be cute enough. Since it would take about a half hour, she decided to spend her time going to the food court, getting a pretzel with melted cheese. Why not. She was going to get fat anyways. So on that note, she got a second one. She might as well buy Brayden a few presents while she was here, plus Kenzie might want a new doll or something. Claire stopped in the stores, picking up a few purchases before going back and collecting her t-shirt. She didn’t know what Shane’s schedule was today, whether it was an off day or a show night. But hopefully he would be able to Skype either way so Brayden could show him his new shirt. The entire drive home she hadn’t realized that she didn’t put on music. She was too anxious. She’d texted Shane multiple times. And it sounded like he had a show tonight – but he could Skype with them before he had to head on to the stage. Well that would work well enough. If he had the day off, he would probably be so excited he honestly wouldn’t know what to do with himself. This way at least he had a show that he could go get all of his excitement out with. Claire pushed her way through the door, trying to carry all of the bags in her arms before she set them down. She wanted to tell Dalton – but she also knew that Shane had every right to know first. “Thank you so much, I hope you had fun,” she said, kissing Dalton’s cheek as she kneeled down to pick up Brayden and squeeze the heck out of him – even if Kenzie was screaming at the top of her lungs about it until Claire put him down. The second she did, Kenzie wrapped her arms around Brayden. It was strange really. Kenzie cuddled with Logan all the time around Brayden. But apparently no one else could cuddle Brayden. “ Mine,” she heard Kenzie say softly and Claire just gave a nod before looking at Dalton. “ You and Ethan will come over for dinner soon, yeah?” she asked before Dalton made his way out and left her alone with Kenzie and Brayden. “ Kenzie do you want to say hi to Uncle Shane?” Claire asked as she started getting the computer to turn on. “ Yeah,” Kenzie said as she climbed onto the chair by the computer. Claire kneeled down by Brayden. “ We have to show daddy your new shirt, okay?” she asked him with a smile. She watched as Brayden looked at the shirt. He couldn’t read. It probably didn’t look special at all. “ You’re getting a little sibling,” she said as she tried to explain it to him, watching as the little wheels behind his head were turning. “ A baby?” Kenzie asked as she pushed her hair away from her face. Claire nodded before looking back at Brayden. “ There’s gonna be a baby, is that okay?” she asked. Kenzie was a little older, her vocabulary was a little better. And she seemed protective of Brayden at the moment. “ Where is it?” she asked cautiously before Claire gestured to her stomach. Kenzie’s eyes grew wide, “ You ate it,” she said in shock before she looked at Brayden. Clearly concerned Claire was going to eat him, too. Claire kissed Brayden’s cheeks before picking him up. “ Come on, let’s show daddy,” she said before sitting down with Brayden in her lap, pressing the button to call Shane on Skype. Claire wrapped her arms around Brayden, kissing the back of his hair. “ Hi uncle Shane!” Kenzie screamed the second Shane’s face popped up. Kenzie stood so her face was in the camera and tried to give it a kiss before she hopped down. “ Hey babe,” Claire said with a smile. “ I know you probably don’t have a lot of time…” she said, pushing her hair behind her ear. “ Baby, show daddy your shirt,” Claire said, holding Braydens hips as he stood up in her lap and she smoothed out the fabric of his shirt so it was easier for Shane to read.
“ What are you drinking, scotch?” she asked sarcastically as she looked down at his cup. Apple juice. “ Talia would be proud,” she said lazily as she laid her head back and turned up the volume on the television. The bowl of cereal in Brayden’s lap looked way too big for him. But seeing as how she didn’t exactly trust him to not spill milk all over it yet, he was reaching his hand into the dry cereal of frosted wheaties and eating them plain as he watched his show. Claire leaned her head down, kissing the side of Brayden’s hair before she continued to comb her fingers through it. Whenever there was a commercial from the show, she switched it to Taboo Tv quickly, just to see if there were any updates about Shane’s tour. But she stopped as she held the remote, watching the commercial as she felt like she was being slammed into a brick wall. The pregnancy commercial made her question what she should have a long time ago. How could she have been so stupid as to not think about it. But this time the idea didn’t dread her like it had in the doctors office almost two years ago. This time she and Shane had been trying. So if she was.. this would be a miracle, right? Claire switched it back to Batman, looking down at Brayden as she combed his hair, “ Do you want to go see Uncle Dalton?” she asked as he kept his eyes locked on the screen. “ No,” he said calmly, though not taking his eyes away. “ Do.. you want to go see Kenzie? Play batman?” she asked again. There was a moment of silence before he tried to annunciate in the most adorable way that little children do. “ Yes,”. Claire smiled, having a thought to herself that Dalton might kill her for. “ Why don’t we have a playdate with Kenzie where you two play Batman… and uncle Dalton can be Thor. And Batman can beat up Thor and steal his hammer,” she said, kissing the side of his head as Brayden gave a quiet giggle. Settled. Claire picked up her phone, first calling Logan and then calling Dalton. Thor needed to babysit. Claire waited for Kenzie to show up, fixing Brayden’s hair into a faux hawk and finding the rest of his Batman gear so he would be ready to play. The moment she opened the door, she smiled at Logan, missing an opportunity to greet him appropriately since Kenzie was pushing her way through the door yelling for Batman. “Dalton should have fun…” Claire said with a slight smirk before she leaned in and gave Logan a hug. “ I shouldn’t be long. Just the appointment and then I’ll be home. But I can watch the kids for a while if you’re wanting a guys night. Blake on tour. Kid out of the house. What will Logan Renner do with his time? Probably buy a company. Or six.” she said before winking at him.
After he left, Claire went back into the living room and watched as Brayden was sitting on the couch, watching his batman show wrap up. Kenzie had settled herself into holding his hand and singing quietly to herself lyrics that sounded like she was singing about the caped crusader, occasionally pushing all of her curls out of her face. She stood there, watching them and their innocence, knowing that someday they wouldn’t be so innocent together, until Dalton knocked on the door. Claire stood up straight, going to answer it quickly before she stood on her toes to give him a hug. “ Thanks Thor. I know the kids are excited,” she said before kissing his cheek. “ Brayden sweetie, uncle Dalton is here,” she called out before going into the living room. Kenzie was already glaring at Dalton. Probably for stealing away her play partner. “ Alright, I’ll see you guys soon” she said before leaning down to kiss Brayden’s cheeks and waved as she left the home. Once she got to the doctor it all seemed to be common practice to her at this point. Blood work, visit with the doctor. Wait for results. She had asked for a couple of the stickers to take home, knowing that Brayden would like to have them. And probably Shane. She could taste the blood on her lips from gnawing at her bottom lip, anxiously waiting. “ Mrs.Madden?” the name called out and Claire looked up, offering a small as she followed the doctor into his office. “ So Claire Madden..” he said with an amused expression. “ You know this is probably unprofessional. But I’ve never told either of you this.. I’ve been a big fan of your husbands music for the last couple years. I used to listen to Coffeeshop soundtrack on repeat when I was studying to graduate med school. Guy’s a lyrical genius,” he offered. Claire gave a small smile as she nodded. “ I guess I’m not the usual person you would expect to be a huge fan of his music. A doctor..” he said, tapping his thumb against the clipboard. “ Though I don’t think anyone expected him to fall in love with and marry a ballerina either. My little sister was devastated.” he added, offering her a smile. “ Well I’m sorry to have added to that,” Claire said with a chuckle. “ And she was devastated when you two had your first son. Devastated that you were Australian and not American. Devastated when you guys got married in Italy…. And whenever you guys decide to release the information.. she’ll be devastated that you’re having a second child together,” he said before lifting his eyes up to look at Claire. “ You’ve gotta be shitting me,” Claire said as she lift her eyebrows up excitedly. “ Ah!” Claire screamed at the top of her lungs before wrapping her arms around him tightly. “ Mrs. Madden. I have to be honest in the fact that I’ve never seen people as young as you actually WANTING to expand your family,” he said with a confused laugh as he pat his hand against her back. “ Thank you so much!” she said as she squeezed him tighter this time. “ Well, we’re not finished. You know the drill on pre-natal vitamins, getting your ultrasounds together. Right now I would say you’re at about two months. So you’re due date is going to be somewhere around mid February I believe,” he offered. But quite frankly it was sort of all going in one ear and out the other. How was she going to tell Shane? “ Thank you so much, I’ll take care of everything. Thank you,” she said before picking up all of her things and basically ramsacking her way out of the office.
Since they had been talking about trying to start a family ; Claire had been referring to it as trying to get ‘Batman his Robin’. Brayden needed a little sidekick. Sure he had Kenzie. But Claire knew where that was going to end up. Claire went into the mall quickly, stopping at one of the shops that embroidered t-shirts. She looked over the designs carefully, before settling on a shirt Brayden’s size, embroidered with “ Batman Gets His Robin. Coming To You February 2014” so it looked like a movie title before she decided that was going to be cute enough. Since it would take about a half hour, she decided to spend her time going to the food court, getting a pretzel with melted cheese. Why not. She was going to get fat anyways. So on that note, she got a second one. She might as well buy Brayden a few presents while she was here, plus Kenzie might want a new doll or something. Claire stopped in the stores, picking up a few purchases before going back and collecting her t-shirt. She didn’t know what Shane’s schedule was today, whether it was an off day or a show night. But hopefully he would be able to Skype either way so Brayden could show him his new shirt. The entire drive home she hadn’t realized that she didn’t put on music. She was too anxious. She’d texted Shane multiple times. And it sounded like he had a show tonight – but he could Skype with them before he had to head on to the stage. Well that would work well enough. If he had the day off, he would probably be so excited he honestly wouldn’t know what to do with himself. This way at least he had a show that he could go get all of his excitement out with. Claire pushed her way through the door, trying to carry all of the bags in her arms before she set them down. She wanted to tell Dalton – but she also knew that Shane had every right to know first. “Thank you so much, I hope you had fun,” she said, kissing Dalton’s cheek as she kneeled down to pick up Brayden and squeeze the heck out of him – even if Kenzie was screaming at the top of her lungs about it until Claire put him down. The second she did, Kenzie wrapped her arms around Brayden. It was strange really. Kenzie cuddled with Logan all the time around Brayden. But apparently no one else could cuddle Brayden. “ Mine,” she heard Kenzie say softly and Claire just gave a nod before looking at Dalton. “ You and Ethan will come over for dinner soon, yeah?” she asked before Dalton made his way out and left her alone with Kenzie and Brayden. “ Kenzie do you want to say hi to Uncle Shane?” Claire asked as she started getting the computer to turn on. “ Yeah,” Kenzie said as she climbed onto the chair by the computer. Claire kneeled down by Brayden. “ We have to show daddy your new shirt, okay?” she asked him with a smile. She watched as Brayden looked at the shirt. He couldn’t read. It probably didn’t look special at all. “ You’re getting a little sibling,” she said as she tried to explain it to him, watching as the little wheels behind his head were turning. “ A baby?” Kenzie asked as she pushed her hair away from her face. Claire nodded before looking back at Brayden. “ There’s gonna be a baby, is that okay?” she asked. Kenzie was a little older, her vocabulary was a little better. And she seemed protective of Brayden at the moment. “ Where is it?” she asked cautiously before Claire gestured to her stomach. Kenzie’s eyes grew wide, “ You ate it,” she said in shock before she looked at Brayden. Clearly concerned Claire was going to eat him, too. Claire kissed Brayden’s cheeks before picking him up. “ Come on, let’s show daddy,” she said before sitting down with Brayden in her lap, pressing the button to call Shane on Skype. Claire wrapped her arms around Brayden, kissing the back of his hair. “ Hi uncle Shane!” Kenzie screamed the second Shane’s face popped up. Kenzie stood so her face was in the camera and tried to give it a kiss before she hopped down. “ Hey babe,” Claire said with a smile. “ I know you probably don’t have a lot of time…” she said, pushing her hair behind her ear. “ Baby, show daddy your shirt,” Claire said, holding Braydens hips as he stood up in her lap and she smoothed out the fabric of his shirt so it was easier for Shane to read.
