Tragedy Strikes

We pull into New York city at around ten in the morning. Berlin Megan Wright Prolin was born four days ago, so that's my first stop. Kimmy and Chicklet wanted to come too, but we thought it would be too hectic so I'm going alone.

I get to Ramona and Rick's apartment and buzz the doorbell.
"Who is it?" Rick's voice demands.
"Sadie."
"Oh hey Sadie," he says happily, "Come right up." I hear a faint buzzing then push open the door.

I climb the flight of stairs and knock on the door of their flat. Tre answers the door, I had completely forgotten that he was coming to New York.
"Hey granpa," I joke as I give him a hug, "Grandson and granddaughter."
"Yup," he says happily, screw happy he's friggin giddy.

Suddenly the fire ball of a two year old hurtles himself at me. "Hey Jayce," I say picking him up.
"Someone's hiding in the closet," he whispers. How sweet he has an imaginary friend.

"C'mon wee man," Tre says taking the little boy out of my arms. I continue into the living room where Ramona has fallen asleep on the couch and Rick is looking over a bassinet.
"Hey Rick," I say quietly.
"Hey," he smiles, I creep over to the bassinet to see the baby girl fast asleep. "She's adorable."
"She has Ramona's eyes," he says softly.
"Mmm?" Ramona says starting to wake up, "Oh Sadie, you're here!"
"Yeah," I laugh as she stands up and hugs me.
"What happened to-" she starts.
"To what?" I ask trying to read her expression.
"Sorry, I didn't see my Dad sitting there,. I glance to my left to see Tre playing some sort of patty-cake game with Jayce.

Suddenly I see her smiling a bit wider.
"Hey, what's going on?" I ask suspiciously then suddenly I jolt at the feeling of someone's hands on my hips. I whip around to see Frankie with a huge dorky grin splattered across his face. "You jerk!" I laugh as I hug him. He has a crew cut and its his natural brown colour as apposed to the bright green I last saw him with.

"What did you do to your hair?" I ask as I rub his head.
"Well people don't take me seriously as it is and green hair doesn't help. Had to chop off the freakiness," he says rubbing his head, "And I have a lot of lawyer stuff for the store right now."
"Oh okay," I say looking it over once more, normal hair doesn't suit him. "When did you get here?"
"About an hour ago," he says smiling wildly again.

A tiny baby whine is heard from the bassinet. "Gotta feed her," Ramona sighs, I can tell she's really tired.
"Then I'll leave for a bit, I don't wanna see that," Frankie murmurs.
"Don't worry, I pumped some this morning," Ramona says as Rick heads into the kitchen. Ramona scoops the baby out of her bassinet and rocks her a little. I look down on the newborn, she really did have Ramona's eyes, bright blue.

"Here you go," Rick says handing the bottle to Ramona.
"Thanks." She puts the bottle to the crying baby's mouth.
"So are you guys moving back to California any time soon?" Tre asks as Jayce runs off to his room.
"I don't know," Ramona murmurs.
"I'll baby-sit anytime," he offers, "I love these kids."
"Well I've been talking to my boss to see if I can get transferred to the west coast office," Rick says going into down the hallway to find Jayce.
"And if not, we'll come for Christmas for sure," Ramona reassures as we watch the baby down the bottle of milk.
"But that's like three, four months away," Tre whines.

"Put me down Dad!" Jayce laughs as he gets carried back into the living room by Rick. He drops his son onto the sofa. The small boy clambers over to his mom. "Hi baby," he whispers, "Berwin." He touches her hand softly. He was such a cute and caring kid, he's going to make a good big brother.

Franky, Tre and I take Jayce to the park so Ramona can get some piece and quiet. As soon as we get to the playground Jayce runs straight for the slide, Tre runs after him.
"You're dad is really into the whole grandpa thing," I say chuckling.
"Yeah," Franky says shoving his hands in his pockets.

I roll my eyes.
"Can't you be happy just being an uncle for now?" I sigh.
"I didn't say anything," he protests. "I said I could wait a couple of years."
"Yeah I know," I murmur, "I don't remember you being so annoying when it came to sex."
"Huh?"
"When we were teenagers," I start, "we had a couple of times where we could've sex but I wasn't ready. How is this any different?"
"You're right," Frankie mumbles. "I'll contain myself."

"Uncle Fwankie!" Jayce yelps, "Come! Aunt Sadie too!" Frankie and I go over to the swings where Tre and Jayce are.