Code Red

A dream

From Georgie ❤️💍:

Good morning sleepyhead! I miss you soo much. The doctors are saying if I feel strong enough I can go home tonight. Have a good day at work hun. Love you xx

Immediately, Alex's face brightened and he suddenly had a spring in his step. The thought of his new little family coming home tonight was so exciting and he wanted to plan a big surprise for when they arrived. He ran down the stairs and into the living room where he noticed the empty pizza boxes and cans from the night before where he watched a movie alone.
This will need tidying before Georgie gets back. He sighed and thought to himself.

***

Starring at the clock as each second ticked by, Alex was counting down until he could leave work and go and see Georgie. He had aimed to write a report on each of the new recruits but had only managed to draft 4 sentences when his phone rang.

He read the name that flashed up across the screen and delayed answering it. When he finally did pick up he answered bluntly and with a tone of disgust.

"What do you want?" He growled.

"I need you to do something for me."

"You can't bribe me! You wanted a divorce. We got a divorce! Now leave me alone." He pulled the phone from his ear and was about to hang up.

"It's about your sons. The other two." The women replied calmly.

All of a sudden, Alex was reminded of his other two sons. Truthfully, through all the excitement of his new family with Georgie he had forgotten about his other boys, Fletcher and Ryan. They would both either be 8 or 9 now, he wasn't quite sure, but although they were living with his ex-wife he still had a responsibility for them. She had limited how much he was allowed to see them but they still meant everything to him and nevertheless he stayed on the phone at the mention of their names.

He breathed heavily.
"Only if you promise to leave me and my new family alone."

***

Alex was finally ready to welcome home his wife and new son; "welcome home" banners trailed across the front door and windows, "baby boy" balloons stood proudly in the living room alongside their favourite Chinese takeaway - it was nothing fancy but he knew it would mean a lot to Georgie as she was always complaining how horrible the hospital food was and how she wished it was Chinese.

He couldn't stop smiling as he strolled out of the hospital, holding his wife's hand and carrying his son in his car seat. Securely clipping the car seat into the back he double checked the seatbelt before carefully driving home. As they pulled up on the driveway, Georgie noticed the banners and smiled.

Walking into the house Georgie noticed the effort that Alex had put in to decorate the place with congratulations and welcome home decorations. She was particularly excited to see the Chinese takeaway laid out on the table. "Thank god! I'm starving!" She exclaimed as she hugged Alex for doing this all for her.

They kissed and then Alex pulled away. "There is one more thing, babe." He announced shyly. "I love surprises!" Georgie got excited. "But..I'm unsure about this one. It was a hard decision to make." Georgie began to get worried as he seemed withdrawn - this didn't seem like a good surprise anymore.

"Daddy!" Fletcher and Ryan suddenly ran into the room and wrapped their arms around Alex's legs as he lifted them both up effortlessly. Georgie smiled, still wondering what Alex was hiding.

"The boys. They are the surprise. I hope you don't mind if they join our little family and live with us." Alex revealed as his sons pulled funny faces at Georgie.

She was relieved. Georgie had always asked Alex why he wasn't making the effort to see his sons more, so she was more than welcome for them to join the family. After all, Alex is their father. However, she was filled with confusion about how their mother could abandon them like that.

"So boys! Meet your little brother Jacob!" Alex pointed out as Jacob scrunched up his little face and began to cry.

"He's loud!" Ryan complained shoving his fingers in his ears as Alex tried to make the boys laugh and calm Jacob.

Georgie had to take a step back - when did she become so lucky? She had always dreamt of having her own family like this and now her wishes had come true.