Image Courtesy
of The Writers Ranch
Lou laid Shannon Kathleen in her crib next to her twin sister, Lisa Ellen, glad for once that her 5 week old daughters both fell asleep while eating. Born a few days after Christmas, "Lee" slept constantly and during the day would often have to be woken to be fed, but as soon as Lou would go to sleep at night, "Katy" would wake her up every two hours on the dot to be fed. Kid often joked you could set the clock by her. Lou had barely gotten any sleep since the twins were born, but she wouldn't have it any other way.
She loved her daughters more than she thought she could ever love someone, and knew Kid felt the same way. From the moment he learned they were going to be parents, he strutted around like a rooster during mating season. Even when she was as big as a house, it was like he was pointing at her stomach and silently bragging "Look what I did!"
Silently backing out of the room, not wanting to wake the babies, Lou closed the door and headed downstairs as there was a knock on the door. As she went to open it, the knocks grew louder and as she flung open the door she started in on the intruder.
"I swear to all that is holy, if you wake Katy and Lee..." She paused as she saw the unexpected visitor. "Jimmy! What are you doing here? I thought you were still with Rosemary, is she with you?"
Jimmy pulled Lou into a bear hug and smiled. "I got into town this mornin' alone, and saw Kid over at the Marshal's office with Teaspoon. And I figured it was time I came by and met my nieces."
"Good to see you, Jimmy," Kid said as he came up behind Lou as she pulled out of Jimmy's embrace and kissed her neck. "Lou just finished feedin' them and they're sleepin' right now. How about we go check out the new foals Rachel has over at the old station?"
Lou turned around and glared at her husband. "Excuse me?"
Kid groaned at her tone. "I figured you wouldn't mind."
"Kid," she said as she grabbed his shirt and started pulling him towards the living room. Jimmy chuckled and shut the door before following the couple.
"Don't you remember that I was going over to Rachel's this afternoon? I told you the day before yesterday I needed to get out for a few hours. You promised I could."
Kid shook his head, "I'm sorry, Lou. I musta forgot. Well no problem, the three of us can all go together."
"Are you forgetting something?" Kid shook his head. "Or should I say someones?"
Kid hung his head. "Well let's take them with us. I'm sure Rachel would love..." Kid stopped as he noticed Lou taking a deep breath and holding it.
"Kid, first of all it's too cold to take them out. There's two feet of snow on the ground, and even if I bundled them up they could still get sick. I already think Katy's comin' down with something. And second, the whole point of me going to Rachel's was to give me a chance to get away for a few hours and relax. I ain't had a more than a couple of hours of sleep since they were born and you said it would be good for me to get away when I talked to you about it."
"Lou, I'm sorry, really I am, guess I just forgot. Besides, if you're gone, what do I do if one of them gets hungry? It's not like I can feed them. I would if I could, but I just don't have the equipment."
Jimmy chuckled knowing that even though Kid meant well, the new father was just digging himself into a deeper hole. But then again, he could never resist taking a shot at either one of them. "From what Kid tells me about how often Katy eats, I can't help wonderin' if she might be Cody's."
"You ain't helpin' Jimmy," Lou and Kid hissed at the same time.
"Kid, I just fed them both and they're down for the count. They'll likely sleep until I get back. But there's bottles in the icebox for emergencies. Please, Kid," Lou begged.
Kid nodded, knowing he wasn't going to win this argument. Kid kissed her cheek. "Just be careful walkin' over there. And promise to come back if it starts snowin' again, alright?"
Lou smiled, "I promise. You boys have fun babysittin'. And I won't be gone too long. Jimmy, try not to get him into any trouble," she called out as she walked out the door, grinning mischievously.
"How much trouble can we get into watchin' two sleepin' babies? Tell Rachel I'll come by and see her later," Jimmy called out as Lou shut the door a little too loudly. Immediately they heard a high piercing wail from upstairs.
Kid groaned. "That would be Katy... Lou did that on purpose didn't she?"
Jimmy couldn't stop laughing. "Ya know, I think she did. Should I go get her?"
Kid shook his head. "No, I'll just rock Katy for a few minutes and she should settle down. Come on, it's time for you to meet your nieces."
Jimmy and Kid headed up towards the stairs and were immediately stopped in their tracks on the top landing.
"What in the?" Jimmy asked scrunching his nose. He felt like he was about to gag.
"I don't know," Kid replied. "Maybe you should go get Lou."
Jimmy didn't need to be told twice and flew down the stairs throwing open the door taking as many of the deepest breaths of fresh air as he could. He could see Lou walking towards Main Street and called out to her.
Lou heard Jimmy call after her, but kept on walking. She knew when she slammed the door she would probably wake Katy, but if she went back now, she'd never get to Rachel's. Kid had put down both girls by himself several times and Lou knew that her daughters were in capable hands.
Jimmy shook his head and went back inside, relieved that Katy had stopped crying. He climbed the stairs and laughed at the sight of Kid trying to change his daughter.
"What's the matter Kid, never changed a diaper before?"
Kid glared at Jimmy. "Of course I have! It's just Lou's always been here with me, and it was never this bad. Where's Lou?"
"She didn't hear me callin' after her," Jimmy walked over to where Kid was changing the baby and cringed when he saw the diaper. "What is Lou feeding them? That's disgustin'!"
"What do you think she's feeding them? Now get over here and help me."
Jimmy chuckled. "Well no wonder she has such... no wonder Lou's... uhm... gotten so big if that's how much is comin' out."
"What are you doin' lookin' at Lou's chest?"
Jimmy grinned. "It's not like that. I'm just sayin' you can't miss them 'cause of the babies. You must be one happy man."
Kid grinned, "Well yeah they are kinda nice to look at but she's too sore for me to touch and..." Kid blushed as he realized what he was saying. "Shut up and hold her legs while I wipe her off and powder her." Before Kid could put a new diaper on Katy, both he and Jimmy heard an odd noise and suddenly the smell from earlier returned. Both looked down to see it wasn't coming from the baby they were dealing with.
Kid shook his head as he heard Lee make cooing sounds. "I should've known. Lee is normally the well behaved one where as Katy here, is the trouble maker. But separate the two of them and all hell breaks loose. Jimmy would you?" Kid asked indicating with his head the other screaming baby still in her crib.
"What the hell am I suppose to do? I've never changed a baby!" Jimmy started to panic. This was not what he had in mind when he came over.
"Just pick her up and bring her over here. I'll finish cleaning Katy and then you can put the diaper on while I clean up Lee."
"That doesn't sound too bad, I guess," Jimmy replied as he crossed the room and picked up the other baby. She stopped squirming as soon as he picked her up and grabbed a fistful of his long hair, bringing it to her mouth. "No honey, that's not your momma. Ouch!" He hollered as she pulled even harder.
"She can't be hungry, Lou just finished feedin' them." Kid said laughing. He learned the hard way that when one of them was hungry, they would grab on to the nearest object and try to suck milk out of it. "Here, take Katy and put the new diaper on. It's not that hard, you've had to have seen your sister change one."
Jimmy nodded. "And if you can do it, I'm sure it won't be a problem for me," he handed the one baby to Kid while taking the other. Jimmy made quick work of putting the new diaper on. When he was done, he stood back and admired his handiwork. "Not bad if I say so myself," Jimmy bragged as he picked Katy up.
Kid laughed. "Yeah, Wild Bill, quickest diaper draw in the west!"
Jimmy chuckled. "That'll really help my reputation. Now what do I..." Jimmy heard that all familiar sound and looked down as Katy's diaper and what would have been its newest contents fell from her tiny body on to the floor.
Katy started making sounds and smiled up at her uncle.
"I swear if I didn't know better, I'd think she was laughin' at me," Jimmy chuckled.
"I think you're right. Let's finish these two up and get them back to sleep. I'll try to find something else for you to wear, and you can throw those clothes in the fire."
Jimmy looked down and saw his clothes were now stained and shook his head. "Yeah, don't think I'll be wearing these ever again. Then again someone might think twice before callin' me out."
It was Kid's turn to chuckle. "Hell, I may shoot you just for the smell alone. Here, take Lee now and rock her while I'll change Katy again."
Jimmy took the now sleeping Lee and sat down in the rocker while Kid changed Katy. He looked down at the tiny baby in awe. He'd been thrilled yet jealous when he learned his friends were expecting. He knew he would never be the type of father Kid would be, because someone would always be coming after him, but holding this tiny bundle in his arms, he wished his life was different. Then again, if all diaper changes went this way, he'd rather face someone coming for Wild Bill Hickok any day!
Three hours, three bottles, six diaper changes, and four clothes changes later, Lou returned and became worried when she didn't find Kid and Jimmy downstairs. She ran up the stairs and became furious at the sight of the nursery.
"What in the..." she yelled. "I'm gone for three hours and come home to find both babies awake, the nursery looking like a tornado can through and you boys sleeping and wearing my... Are those my robes?"
Kid woke at Lou's screaming as Jimmy sat up and tried to retrieve his hair that had once again found his way into Lee's hungry mouth. Both men looked at each other, stood, handed both now screaming babies to Lou, and ran out of the house and through the snow like hell, not even caring they were still wearing her robes.