Ricky and Amy had an OB-GYN appointment, and they decided to leave John with Ricky's Foster mother Margaret. Ricky's Foster Father was at the hospital in surgery.
They were super excited about the appointment because today they were going to find out the gender of the baby. Pretty soon, they would know if John what's going to have a little brother or a little sister.
Amy was hoping that the baby would it be another, but Ricky really wanted a girl. It's not that he didn't love his son or anything. It's just that he and Amy already have a son. He thought that it would be perfect if their next child was a girl. that way, they would have one of each gender.
Amy drove the family of 3 to Margaret and shakers house.
Once they had arrived, Ricky had gone around to get John out of the car.
John didn't want his daddy and mommy to leave.
" My buddy." He said when he lifted John out of his car seat. " You will have fun at Grandma's house! You always do and don't worry, Mommy, and I will be back before you know it!" Ricky said, trying to console his son.
"No, Daddy! I don't want you and Mommy to go! Whaaa whaa " John started to cry. He buried his head into Ricky's shoulder and held on tight.
" I know, I know you don't want mommy and I to leave, but we have to. we have an appointment with Mommy's baby doctor. It's very important that we go to the appointment so that we can make sure that the baby in mommy's tummy is healthy!" Ricky tried to explain to his son so that he would understand.
Amy was busy getting bags full of toys, games, extra clothes, books, toys, and pull-ups for John. One of the bags also had John's favorite teddy bear and blanket. Just in case he ended up getting fussy and needed a nap. Both Amy and Ricky knew that it was next to impossible for them to get John to go to sleep without them.
The Pull-Ups were because Amy and Ricky were in the process of toilet training their son.
They also brought a plastic bag with a mini potty in it so that hopefully Margaret would be able to continue his bathroom schedule when they were gone.
Ricky was a little shocked that Amy felt like she had to bring that much stuff for John when they were only going to be gone for a couple of hours.
Maybe it was a lot of stuff to bring, but Amy didn't care. She was in her nesting phase of her pregnancy. She just wanted to make sure that Ricky's foster parents AKA John's grandparents would have everything would have everything they would need in order to look after their son properly while they were gone.
" Hey little man, can you keep a secret?" Ricky asked his son, who was still in tears.
John was still crying, but he nodded yes in response to his dad's question.
" Can you promise me not to tell Mommy, Grandma , Grandpa or Nana, and Papa?" I asked him. " Okay, remember you can't tell Aunt Ashley and Uncle Toby either." He said.
" what about Uncle Ethan and Aunt Kathy or great Mimsy or granny?" John asked Ricky. ( granny is Nora Ricky's biological mother.) " not even aunt Grace and Uncle Jack or Uncle Ben and Aunt Adrian? Or Alice and Uncle Henry?" John questioned his dad again.
" no little man, you can't tell them either. " okay I will make a deal with you. You have to promise me one thing. When I let here out of my arms you are going to be a good boy. You're going to go and play with grandma. You have to make sure and listen to what she tells you and behave. No jumping on furniture no yelling or screaming when we leave. Okay?" Ricky asked John.
" okay Daddy, I promise Wou that I will be a good boy." John told his dad in a sad tone of voice.
Ricky took a deep breath and hugged his son.
" all right then, when mommy and I go to see the baby doctor today we are going to be finding out if you are going to be getting either a baby brother or a baby sister." Ricky told John.
" oh wow! Really Daddy?" John asked his father excitedly.
" yes John really!" Ricky repeated.
" I can't wait!" John cried. " I hope I get both a brother and a sister!" John cried out.
" well, I don't know about that." Ricky spoke, a little surprised about his son's over excited reaction.
" I can't wait to play with it!" John cried out.
" well, little man I'm afraid that unfortunately that won't be happening for a long time yet." Ricky said.
" wait, why not Daddy?" John asked.
" well first off the baby in mommy's tummy hasn't been born yet. And even after he or she is it will be a long time before you are able to play with him or her like you do with your friends at the nursery." Ricky begin to explain.
" but, why Daddy? Why?" He asked as he began to got upset again.
" well, you see little man when the baby is first born he or she will be too little for you to play with at first. You will have to wait until he or she grows up a little bit and then you can play with your little brother or your little sister." Ricky explained as best he could to his to his son.
Ricky locked the car door and followed Amy who who had already gone gone into the house with John and his arms. He continued to talk to talk to his son as they made their way inside the house.
" when Mommy and daddy come home from the hospital with the new baby we are going to have to spend a lot of time taking care of him or her." Ricky spoke.
" why daddy? Why" John asked his father.
" when we come home the new baby won't be able to look after itself on his or her own. he or she will be depending on me and Mommy for a lot of things." Ricky continued to say.
" what kind of things?" John asked his father. Ricky thought for a moment. Amy was busy talking to Margaret about how things where going with her pregnancy. She was also making sure that Margaret was all up-to-date on her grandson's new schedule.
There was a part of Ricky that wandered if both Amy and himself should be having this conversation together with John. But there he was, his sweet little boy upset and frightened of what the future might hold. He wasn't just going to let has questions go unanswered.
" what kind of things? Well, you are a very big boy now!" Ricky began.
" I am?" John asked confused
" yes John you are! You sleep in your big boy bed." Ricky praised his son.
" I do!" John spoke confidently. " how else am I big Daddy?" John asked his father wanting to know more.
Ricky had to think quickly. " you can feed yourself! " Ricky spoke. " you go to the Nursery and work on your numbers, letters, shapes, and colors. You are also learning about the weather, the days of the week and the months of the year. You use your big boy sippy cup instead of a baby bottle. when you sit sit at the table to eat with mommy and and daddy you don't sit in a high chair anymore! You is it and your Big Boy booster seat attached to the table. You got a visit from the passy fairy and she took all of your passies to give them to the babies who need them! Ricky told John trying To play it up.
" I did Daddy I did!" John exclaimed excitedly.
" yes, that's right little man you did!" Ricky exclaimed. Ricky gave his son a big hug and a kiss on his forehead.
" and guess what else you did?" Ricky asked the toddler.
" what else did I do Daddy?" John asked his father once again a little confused.
" you are a very big boy because you don't use diapers anymore! No, little man you don't. instead, you started to use Pull-Ups and go pee pee and poo poo in the potty all by yourself!!" Ricky praised His Son excitedly.
" you're right Daddy I did!" the proud 2 year old announce to his father.
Ricky gave John another big hug and a kiss on his forehead.
" hello there Son , how are you today?" Margaret asked Ricky as she came over to great both her son and her grandson.
Ricky got up from where he was on the floor with John.
" hi Mom I'm good, and how are you doing?" Ricky asked his mother as she came over and gave him a hug.
" oh, well you know same old same old." Margaret spoke Softly.
" so Amy has filled me in on everything that I need to know to look after my special Little Helper today." She said.
" come on, seriously Ricky?" Margaret asked her son.
" what? What do you mean?" Ricky asked with both worry and confusion spread across his face.
" after all this time Amy still really doesn't trust me to look after John?" Ricky's mother asks him.
" what? What are you talking about Mom? Of course Amy and I both trust you to look after John! you and Dad are his grandparents after all." He told his mother trying to be reassuring.
" really? Because after that conversation with Amy it doesn't seem like she has very much faith in me." Margaret began to say.
" hold on a minute mom." Ricky spoke. He crouched back down on the floor so that he was closer to his son's eye level.
" hey buddy why don't you go and see Mommy. She can help you find Teddy okay?" Ricky told his son and appointed John and the direction of his wife.
" what are you talking about mom?" Ricky asked his mother after John was out of earshot.
" I don't know, I have only babysat John like, a million times and she is going over everything with me like it's the first time I've met my own grandson!" Margaret cried out.
" John likes to eat this but he doesn't like to eat that. Make sure you take him to sit on the potty every fifteen minutes. Don't forget To check his pull up when he gets up from his nap." She said.
" does she not remember that I have had tons of foster kids in here? Kids of all ages infants, toddlers, preteens, and yes teenagers. Does she even know I was the one who taught you how to change on diaper or feed a baby?" She asked her son.
" yes mother, of course she trusts you and of course she knows where and how I learnt how to feed and bathe infants . She knows you taught me how to dress babies, change diapers, and yes how to potty train toddlers." Ricky said trying to reassure his mother.
" it's just that the baby is making her really hormonal right now. she started her nesting phase of her pregnancy." Ricky spoke trying to explain everything that was going on with his wife to his mother.
" it's all right now I understand what's going on!" Margaret spoke reassuring person that everything is going to be all right.
" so I have everything that you and shaker are going to need an order to look after John. Everything is set up in Ricky's old room." they both heard Amy say.
" where is John?" Ricky asked her. " Ricky, don't worry John is fine. He is in your old room playing with his toys." Amy told Ricky and Margaret.
" well, don't you think we should both make sure we say goodbye to him and that he understands that we are going to leave now?" Ricky asked his wife, his voice filled with worry and concern for his son.
" I think that that would be a good idea, Amy." Margaret said agreeing with her son.
" alright then , John could you come out here and see us for a moment?" Amy called out to her son.
both Amy and Ricky crouched down so that they were at eye level with John.
" okay buddy we have to leave now. Remember what you and I talked about, okay?" Ricky talked to the toddler.
" yes daddy I member." John told his father.
" that's my good little man." Ricky praised his Son. All right come and give Daddy a hug." He said.
John went over To his dad and gave him a hug. Ricky juges his son back and lisses him on his forehead. "I love you buddy." Ricky told his son.
"Come here baby." Amy called over To John . John walked over to his mother to give her a hug.
" don't worry buddy we will be back to come and get you soon." Amy told her son trying to be reassuring.
Amy and Ricky both got back up off the ground and said goodbye to Margaret.