Cooper Land and Cattle

Chapter 10 - Life is Messy

Jack walked into Maggie's hospital room with flowers, balloons, and two teddy bears. One dressed in blue and the other dressed in pink. Maggie was fussing with the babies clothes. Garrett's outfit was a little too tight but Gracey's outfit was too big.

"Vera you just bought this outfit for Garrett and the little chunk is already gonna outgrow it! Poor Gracey, looks like she has barely put on an ounce and Garrett is trying to get to ten pounds before he is two weeks old!" The doctor's said that the babies must have been hugging each other in the womb. Gracey behind Garrett, like he was protecting her from prying eyes. No one heard her heartbeat because it was so faint and unsteady. No one looked further than Garrett because he was directly in front of Gracey at all times. Garrett Jackson Cooper weighed in at 8 lbs 3 ounces, where little Gracey was only 4 lbs 2 ounces and on the border of failure to thrive.

William had plans to take her to the best pediatric cardiologist in the country as soon as he could get her there. First bring everybody home then the plan to travel will be formulated. The number of the helicopter Bill hired would definitely be needed. The twins were stable and content as long as they were together. Maggie was stable and gaining her strength back. The nightmare was hopefully be over for a while but Will wanted to head off any problems before they stressed Maggie. Dr. Forney assured the new parents that their children were stable and ready to leave the hospital but that Gracey would need to stay on a monitor until she saw the cardiologist to decide whether or not she needed surgery. Gracey would most likely grow out of it.

"Maggie, stop fussing they look fine!" Jack assured her.

"Let her fuss, they will only be little for short time." Vera scolded Jack.

"Thank you for the flowers, Jack," Maggie beamed at him.

"Is anybody ready to go home?" Will said as he walked into the room with two empty car seats.

"It is time to go see your legacy, Garrett and Gracey," Bill stated.

"Let's blow this taco stand," Maggie said as she started to pick up one of the car seats with a baby strapped in.

"No, No, Maggs - Dr. Forney said absolutely no lifting. No overdoing, No, No, No. You are on complete rest until someone assures me that you are completely healed." Will stated with feeling. Maggie knew she had taken him to the breaking point so she was not going to push it. She sat back down on the bed and dutifully waited for the wheelchair to take her downstairs.

She had heard the nurses talking a couple days after the babies were born.. About that crazy Dr. Cooper who would not let his wife die."He rode the gurney right into the operating room. I have never seen a man so lost when he thought he lost her, and so relieved when Dr. Forney said she would make it. He cried harder when he thanked God for saving her, than he did when he was praying to save her. Wish I had a guy that loved me that much."

William let the wheelchair go first and held back with Jack for a moment. "You get your dad on that thing we talked about Jack?" he said as he was grabbing the car seat handles."My schedule is going to be tight so I need you to take lead on this. I need to you to help me keep Maggie's stress level low."

"She okay with being left out of the plan?"

"She has a daughter with a hole in her heart. I don't even think it will cross her mind, and it is my hope that we will have this taken care of before it comes back up on her todo list." Will said with confidence.

"My Dad's on it and wants to have a meeting when you have time. Says he has some of the information for you and will probably have a clearer picture by the time you are able to get away." Jack conveyed at a hush tone as to not get anyone else's attention.

"We need to have her uncle go away before this goes to court. If I can get my attorneys to file a motion to get this crap thrown out, I may be able to get some sleep at night"

"Who are you kidding, Will, you have kids now, the days of sleep are over. That is something you gave up when you got her pregnant." Jack kidded as he slapped his friend on the back.

"You are coming to the house, Jack, I may need a drinking buddy. That bottle of Bourbon you bought me at graduation may need to be opened." Will asked as they walked up to the Suburban.

"I will follow you over if it means free drinks." Jack assured him as he opened the backdoor to load the two new little Coopers into the largest suburban that Chevrolet ever made. Jack thought Will never does anything half hearted.

"Good, see you at the house." Will buckled the babies into their seat bases and climbed into the driver's seat."So what are you and Jack working on that you don't want me to hear about?" Maggie questioned scaring him with her insight.

"Would it do me any good to deny that we are working on anything other than the kids baptism/christening." Will smiled trying to stall the inevitable.

"It would probably help if you knew that Father McNeil stopped by yesterday to baptize the babies so that Gracey could be baptized before any surgery she may need. We can still have a big baptism and pick their Godparents but I told him it would be Jack and Edna. I figured she would keep Jack on the straight and narrow if something were to happen to us. He baptized them with a vial of holy water to make sure she was protected. If you want to keep my stress levels down do not hide things from me - William Cooper. I am your wife and partner, not a delicate flower. I have survived the scariest night of my life. I can strategize with everyone about the lawsuit." Maggie assured him.

"We are meeting in my office for a drink and Jack can fill us both in. His father has been doing some digging." Will explained as he got onto the highway heading to the ranch. It was a quiet ride home. Not that they were mad at each other but they were trying to find a level of understanding with each other. They were getting back to each other. Maggie leaning on Will's physical strength while Will leaned on Maggie's determination.

As they cleared the ranch gate Will had another confession. "I hired Edna's sister to live at the house and take care of Garrett and Gracey."

"You hired a nanny? I thought we talked about being involved parents." Maggie questioned.

"I hired Abigail because she is a registered nurse, her husband died, she could start right away, and it kind of helped Edna get her into town. You know I can not run my office without Edna so it was a survival decision. I can not have both Edna and I out of the office. This way you have someone that is centered on you and the kids while I am out on animal calls." Maggie heard what he was not saying, he wanted to make sure someone could help her save Gracey if it all went bad when he was not home.

"I can live with this but I wish we could have discussed it before the decision was made. I did not die or lose my mind, you have to stop acting like it." Maggie said realizing it would help Will sleep at night if Edna's sister was there to help. "Maggie you did die, for four minutes and thirty-four seconds and ...." Will grabbed her hand and kissed it. She could tell that he was too emotional and his cowboy pride would not let him continue the conversation.

"Will, it is okay, Abigail is going to work out, and you need to realize that I still want to be an independent woman that is treated as an equal not a trophy."

"I will work on it."

"You better, I think Vera is starting to like me and she might just take my side in this argument."

"Don't bank on it Maggs, with you out of the way she can make Gracey into a girly-girl." Will said as he smiled and didn't let go of her hand. Her hand had a heart beat and that was the reassurance he needed to keep his world revolving.

The drive to the ranch seemed quick. As they pulled the suburban up to the door it seemed every pick up in the county was in the driveway. All the players were present for a strategy meeting to get Ernie Driscoll out of their lives forever. Maggie was tired but ready. This was for her children. No one was taking away their inheritance, not even their great uncle. She was grateful that Abigail was there to care for the twins so she could hear the information that everyone had gathered and find out what their chances were to get this will issue kicked out of court.