Chapter 13 – Family Man
Leighton very much enjoyed the winter months. With the sports season over and fourteen weeks until Spring training, he had nothing but time on his hands. This was the time of the year when he could allow his overtaxed muscles a chance to relax for a while. Sometimes he would tackle various household projects like plumbing upgrades and re-painting bedrooms. Mostly though, Leighton just appreciated being able to spend time with his family—something that he rarely had the chance to do during the summer because of his crazy game schedule. During these three and a half months he could play stay-at-home daddy while Morgana worked, at the same time giving his mother a well-deserved break from babysitting duties and allowing her to take her annual vacation back to Japan.
This year had been a little different, though, for one very important reason.
It wasn’t exactly planned, but once Leighton and Morgana found out that they were expecting again they were both beyond ecstatic.
Of course, the coming of a new child heralded all manner of changes in the house to accommodate their still-growing family. In spite of the lack of space Leighton was still very reluctant to move, mainly because most of the houses around town were simply not built for a family of seven soon-to-be eight. As they weighed their options it became clear that their best course of action, at least for the time being, was to just continue building onto their current home...
...and build they did. This time, it was Sam who reaped the benefits. The room was much larger and better suited to his many hobbies than the tiny room to which he had been accustomed. It was quite possibly the best thirteenth birthday gift that Leighton could have given his son, and Sam was absolutely ecstatic about it.
With his eldest fully moved into new accommodations, Leighton could set about the task of converting his old room into a nursery for their newest family member. A new carpet, a few rolls of wallpaper, and a bit of paint to match with the color scheme of the crib they had picked out. It was a simple endeavor, truth be told, but in the eyes of his darling wife it was absolutely perfect.
That was all the satisfaction that Leighton ever needed. Now they were more than ready.
Neither of them had much longer to wait; Morgana went into labor a little less than two weeks later. It was late in the evening a mere three days before Snowflake Day…and happened to be right in the middle of the
worst blizzard that Sunset Valley had seen in over fifty years. To make things worse, the battery in Morgana’s truck was absolutely dead and there was no way that Leighton’s little car was ever going to make it past the end of the driveway. They were, for all intents and purposes, stuck.
It wasn’t long before Morgana felt the need to start pushing, and they quickly realized that hospital or no, the baby was on its way…and
fast.
Sam, once he had gotten over the initial shock of everything, gathered his three younger siblings together and brought them upstairs while Leighton made a frantic phone call to the hospital.
Much to his relief it happened to be Geoffrey who was on-call that day, and he was more than willing to lend a hand. He talked Leighton through all that he needed to do to bring their baby safely into the world. Overall everything went smoothly, and when all was said and done Morgana had given birth to a happy, healthy baby girl.
The older children were instantly enamored with her. Alexia had the amusing idea of naming her baby sister “Snowflake” given the circumstances of her birth. While neither Leighton nor Morgana were quite so sure about that, the name Winter certainly seemed appropriate.
And so, Winter Jade Sekemoto made her debut, and Leighton felt like the luckiest man in the world.
Slowly but surely the family fell into a new routine. Mornings were most definitely chaotic, but nothing that they couldn't handle. Leighton would see Sam and Alexia off to school while Morgana tended to the needs of Winter and the twins. Between breakfast and baths things usually didn't settle down until well after ten, and even then they were still constantly on the go. Usually by about one the twins were ready for their nap, leaving a small respite of quiet time before Sam returned home a little bit after two.
It was absolute pandemonium, but in a good way.
One particular morning thereabouts two months later was a bit more chaotic than most. Winter had been awake and crying several times throughout the night and early morning, leaving Morgana a veritable zombie when the alarm clock went off at five-thirty.
Upon seeing her tired eyes Leighton insisted that she go back to sleep. For once Morgana didn't protest—a sign that she truly was dead exhausted—and Leighton set about the tasks of the morning while his darling wife caught up on some much-needed sleep.
Everything went reasonably well, aside from a few too-crispy pancakes and a slightly dusty toddler after Jeremy got into the flour. Sam assisted in the cleanup as much as he could before the bus came, for which Leighton was grateful. By the time ten o' clock rolled around the twins were fed, bathed, and happily playing in their room.
He couldn’t believe just how much his sons had grown in the past couple of years. In just one more year—far too soon in his book—they would be joining their older siblings and going to school.
Jeremy was already ready to go, at least in his mind. On the first day of school this year he dressed himself and tried to leave with Alexia, crying uncontrollably when Morgana stopped him. “But I
wanna go!” He had insisted. “Wanna go to school!” Whether or not he would actually keep that attitude when he was old enough remained to be seen, but Leighton certainly hoped so.
His twin was in many ways the opposite. Where Jeremy was vocal and outgoing, Justin was equally quiet and shy, and where Jeremy was independent, Justin much preferred being safe and warm in his daddy's strong grasp.
They were like night and day, yin and yang, so incredibly different that one might imagine they would never get along, and yet they were the absolute best of friends. In Leighton’s mind, that was the most precious gift of all.
Content that everything was as it should be, Leighton took the opportunity to look in on his sleeping wife. He was rather surprised to find their bed empty, especially given her level of exhaustion. Realizing that she must be checking on Winter, Leighton made his way over to the nursery and ever so slowly opened the door.
He saw Morgana sitting in the rocking chair, her eyes half-closed with a wistful grin on her face as their infant daughter lay in her arms. Leighton very nearly melted where he stood; it was quite possibly the most amazingly beautiful thing he had seen in his life. For several minutes he just stood there and watched, in awe of the woman he had married and the life that they had just created.
Winter began to fuss a bit and Morgana opened her eyes. Only then did she notice Leighton standing there, and she smiled broadly. “Hey, you.”
Leighton approached the chair and kissed Morgana on the forehead. “Did you sleep at all?”
“Most definitely,” she replied. “Thank you...I really needed that.”
“I thought you might.” He turned his attention to their baby daughter. “How’s Little Miss doing?”
“Still fussy. Her diaper was clean, and I tried giving her a bottle but she just wasn’t hungry.” Morgana heaved a sigh. “I was just about to put her in her swing...it always seemed to work for her brothers.”
“Here, let me take her,” Leighton offered, carefully taking the babe into his arms and cradling her close before placing her in the baby swing.
For several minutes both Leighton and Morgana watched as Winter cooed and giggled at the motion of the mobile above her. Then, ever-so-slowly, her eyes began to drift closed as the soft music lulled her into a gentle slumber. Finally, after a long and exhausting morning, their infant daughter was resting...and now so could they.
As soon as they had left the nursery Leighton pulled Morgana into an embrace and kissed her deeply, eliciting a contented sigh from his wife. Both of them knew that they didn't have much time to be alone, maybe a half an hour at best, but they were bound and determined to take full advantage of it.
Surely enough, the pitter-patter of toddler feet interrupted their reverie not twenty minutes later. Jeremy came trotting into their bedroom with his twin brother in tow and a big smile on his face. “We come up on bed too pwease?”
The look in his son’s eyes was far too cute for either of them to resist. With a chuckle Leighton lifted Justin and Jeremy onto the bed and tucked them under the covers between him and Morgana. Not five minutes had passed before both of them were cuddled up against their mother, eyes closed and fast asleep.
Leighton smiled at the sight and gently kissed them both on the forehead. It was in that moment, as he suppressed a yawn, that he realized just how tired
he really was. Settling down beside them he closed his eyes and allowed himself to relax, and before long he too had fallen asleep.
---
The sound of Winter crying awakened Leighton from his slumber a while later. He sat up, blinking his eyes a few times to try and clear his vision. What time was it?
“Three o' clock?” He said aloud when he read the clock on his nightstand. How in the world had he slept this late—and why hadn’t Morgana awakened him when she got the boys up from their nap? Bewildered, Leighton pulled himself out of bed and ventured toward the nursery, where he was surprised to find Sam holding his baby sister and feeding her.
“Winter was crying, and Mom was busy with Justin so I came in,” Sam explained. “I guess she was just hungry.”
Leighton smiled. “Thank you, Sam. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate the help.”
“Hey, no problem. I know it’s been crazy with Grandma on vacation and all...” His voice trailed off. “So um...Dad, would you mind if I had a friend over later this afternoon? I promise we’ll keep quiet and won’t get in the way,” he quickly added.
This immediately piqued Leighton’s interest. “Oh? Who?”
“Just Sandi."
“Of course. Just...make sure that you keep your door open if you two decide to go into your room.”
Sam blushed hard. “
D-Dad! It's not like that. Sands and I are just friends.”
Something about the tone of his voice clued Leighton in that there was more to it than that, but he was not about to pry. The last thing he wanted to do was make his son uncomfortable by bringing up such a touchy subject. It had only been a few months since Sam found out that his long-time crush was seriously dating someone else, a blow that took the wind out of his sails for the better part of three weeks. Nothing that Leighton could say or do seemed to lessen his son’s pain, and that alone broke his heart.
“Just leave him be,” Yumi had suggested.
“He’ll get over it eventually. Teenage hormones are a fickle thing at best.”Fickle indeed.
“All right. You two just have fun,” Leighton finally replied with a grin. “Just make sure that you do your homework, all right?”
“Yeah, I will. Thanks!”
The rest of the afternoon went on about as usual. Alexia called just before four asking if she could spend the night over at Lacey’s house, and after confirming it with Jamie both he and Morgana wholeheartedly gave their approval. There was the not-so-small matter of dinner to attend to, which with that many mouths to feed was challenging even on a slow day. It took a couple of hours, but by the time evening rolled around the main tasks for the day were done and the family was ready to sit back and relax for a while.
There was something to be said for the simplicity of enjoying a television show on the sofa. With his twin boys playing on the floor beside him and his infant daughter gurgling in his arms, Leighton was hard pressed to think of a more pleasant setting.
As the evening wore on it was soon time to put the younger ones to bed. Leighton kissed both of his boys good night as Morgana led them upstairs to their room. As Leighton made his way toward the nursery with Winter, he noticed that the front door was open slightly.
Just outside, under the light of the gibbous moon, Sam was saying good night to his best friend.
Leighton grinned and went along his way, pausing only long enough to quietly close the front door before bringing Winter into her room. As he snuggled his daughter for one last time for the night, he couldn't help but reflect on the day. Sure, it had been hectic. Being the parent of so many children was an exhausting job, a job which, Leighton was the first to admit, was at times very daunting.
But Leighton was, above all else, a family man...
...and he would have it no other way.
