"I'm sure you both appreciate that this loss of hearing could just be the result of glue ear, in which case we can treat him easily, but I think it's best to cover all our bases. I'll schedule Ben for an audiogram first thing in the morning, and then once we get the results back we can know more. OK?" Dr. Abernathy, the paediatric audiologist, gently tickled Ben's stomach. The little boy giggled, which made the doctor smile.
"Don't worry until you have to." He advised. "In most cases, this type of hearing loss is totally treatable." Allison picked up her son and held him close to her chest.
"Should we have Lucy checked too?" She looked towards the corner of the exam room, to where Amy was sat with the little girl on her lap. Lucy was sleeping peacefully.
"From what you've told me her hearing is fine. If she has any problems then we can check her when they arise. For the moment I think our priority is Ben here." Ben giggled again as Dr. Abernathy pulled a face.
"Thank you." Allison said, shaking Dr. Abernathy's hand.
"No problem. Schedule the audiogram with Cynthia, and I'll see you tomorrow."
"So, how did it go?" Greg asked. He had been stuck in a meeting during Ben's appointment with the audiologist.
"Probably glue ear; he's scheduled for an audiogram tomorrow at 10."
"Well that's ok. We can fix that. Can't we Champ!" Greg said, taking his son from Allison and tickling his chubby little leg. The boy folded over with laughter, but made hardly any noise.
"I know he's going to be fine. I just don't like thinking he might not be." Greg gently kissed his wife.
"Are you ok to work?"
"Of course. Amy's going to take them both home."
"Well," Dr. Abernathy sat on the edge of his desk, surveying the file he held in his hands. "Ben's audiogram showed slight hearing loss, although it is difficult to tell with a six month old. However, the tympanometry test did show an increased level of fluid in the inner ear."
"He has glue ear." Greg said, bouncing his son on his lap. Lucy, who was sat on Allison's lap tried to lean forward and grasp the file Dr. Abernathy was holding.
"Exactly. Now, he doesn't seem to be in any pain or discomfort, but given his age I don't want to risk leaving an infection untreated so for now I'm going to prescribe a course of mild antibiotics, and then we'll have him back in for a check-up in three months or so."
"This is going to go away?" Allison asked, abandoning virtually all of her medical training and focusing only on her maternal instincts. They actually weren't dissimilar from her instincts as a doctor, just fiercer. Dr. Abernathy smiled.
"In most cases it clears up on it's own, the antibiotics are just to help him along." He answered reassuringly.
"Thanks." Greg said to the doctor, standing with his son.
"Schedule the appointment with Cynthia, and if there are any problems before then, don't hesitate to come back."
"Come on Ben. It's not that bad. Look, Daddy can take it." Greg pretended to take a spoonful of the antibiotics that his son had been prescribed. The little boy looked at him stubbornly.
"Yeah I wouldn't fall for it either." Amy said, standing beside her father and slotting Lucy into her highchair. "Look Ben." She took the medicine spoon out of her father's hand and held it in the air. "Here comes the train Ben!" She made a series of choo-choo noises as she brought the spoon expertly into her baby brother's now wide open mouth. Ben looked startled at the taste of the medicine but snapped his lips. Beside him, Lucy began making frustrated noises and reached for the spoon. Allison, who was bringing the twins lunch over, laughed.
"You really don't want any of this stuff." Greg said, taking the spoon and medicine bottle away from the twins. Both looked slightly outraged but were satisfied when Allison placed their bowls on the trays in front of them.
"Yum." Amy said, her voice tinged with sarcasm. "Green goo. Dee-licious." Lucy and Ben picked up their spoons; at 6 months they had already learned to feed themselves.
"Duba." Lucy answered, followed by "Nama," from Ben.
"Exactly." Replied all three adults.
"Look Ben...this one has your name on it." Amy said, sliding the brightly-wrapped present across the floor to where the little boy was sitting in Allison's lap.
"And this one's for Lucy." Greg passed a box to Amy, who had the little girl seated in her lap. Both babies patted the objects with slight caution, but helped enthusiastically when Allison and Amy began to tear the paper for them. The wrapping was discarded, joining the sea of ribbon, bubble-wrap and paper that had covered the dozens of Christmas presents the twins had already opened. The gifts were piled on opposite ends of the couch, one pile for Ben and the other for Lucy. They had gifts from 'Santa', from Allison and Greg, Amy, and doctors Chase, Foreman, Wilson and Cuddy had all given them presents too. Both sets of grandparents had spent Thanksgiving with the family, and had given Christmas presents then.
"Sa-Fa!" Lucy exclaimed, pointing at her gift.
"That's right it's a doll!" Amy grinned at Lucy, before turning her attention to Greg, who was holding a video-camera in one hand whilst recording what gifts were recieved from who with the other.
"To Lucy, Merry Christmas from Uncle Eric and Aunt Libby." She read off the card. "That's so cute."
"They gave Ben a monster truck," Allison added, indicating the red and black toy which her son was bashing contentedly against the floor, babbling nonsensically as he did it.
"That's my boy." Greg laughed, focusing the camera on his son's delighted face.
It was half past eight by the time Greg, Allison and Amy flopped down in the living room, absolutely exhausted from the twins first Christmas. People had been popping by all day; Wilson and Cuddy had both been invited to dinner, Chase and Foreman – each with their girlfriends – had arrived during the afternoon. By the time everyone had left, and the twins had been bathed and put to bed, it felt like they had all been awake for hours.
"We still have presents to open." Allison said, pointing to the piano where presents for Greg, Amy and herself had been stored out of the reach of the twins. Once they had realised that there were toys inside the brightly coloured packages, anything remotely similar had been the target of intense scrutiny as they tried to get it open.
"I'm too tired." Amy mumbled, eyes closed as she snuggled down into the over-sized armchair.
"You are never too tired for presents." Greg retorted, struggling to heave himself away from the welcoming comfort of the couch. "Here." He began taking presents off the piano, handing them to his wife and daughter. "Open, enjoy and then we can all go to bed."
"Who knew Christmas could be so exhausting?" Allison said, as she pulled the ribbon off of a small rectangular package. Inside was a black velvet box. When she opened it she saw a silver wrist-watch. It was an almost identical version of the watch she had inherited from her grandmother when she was a teenager, and had lost somehow during the move to college. She had been devastated at the loss.
"Greg!" she breathed.
"Is it ok? It's the closest I could find to the one in the picture."
"It's perfect." Allison leaned and kissed her husband on the cheek. "Now open yours." With the same care as Allison had taken with her present Greg removed the paper. He grinned and kissed her.
"Thank you."
"What is it?" Amy asked; from her position on the couch she couldn't see what was inside his present. Greg held it up; the newest version iPod nano. His old one had been rendered useless in an unfortunate incident involving two six-month-olds and a jar of baby food. He still couldn't understand how they had managed to get the baby food underneath the screen of the gadget, but he had been too humiliated to take it to the shop. Amy laughed.
"And what about you?" Allison asked, noticing that in the time it had taken her and Greg to open one present each, all but one of Amy's gifts were opened and balanced on the chair around her.
"Sweater from Lisa, necklace and earrings from James, perfume from Robert and Carrie, set of three books from Eric and Libby. $100 from Nanna and Grampy and $100 from Grandma and Grandad." Amy pointed to each gift in turn. Nanna and Grampy was what Amy called Allison's parents, while Greg's were Grandma and Grandad. The twins called every adult over the age of 60 "Guff" which was both cute and embarrassing at the same time.
"Open the one from us." Allison urged, pointing to the final present. It was wrapped in purple, shiny paper, adorned with an artistically twirled silver ribbon. She pulled the ribbon gently and then hooked her finger underneath the tape, unwrapping the gift slowly. Laying on top of a black and white patterned book was an envelope, which she opened. Inside was a check, for $1000.
"Whoa." Amy gasped, staring at it. "This is way too much."
"As parents, it's generally us who get to decide what's too much. Don't spend it on junk, ok?" Greg said, smiling at the astonished look on his daughter's face.
"Promise." Amy answered, moving the check cautiously to one side and opening the black and white book. Inside, the pages were adorned with pictures, underneath each was a description, written either in Greg or Allison's handwriting.
"I hope you don't mind we stole your idea." Allison said, as Amy flipped through the pages, smiling at the pictures; Greg and Allison's wedding, copies of the twins' ultrasound photos, the baby shower, the picture the nurse had taken of all five members of the House family sat on Allison's hospital bed the day the twins had been born. There were more recent pictures too; of Ben and Lucy in the tub, laying side by side on the living room carpet with faces covered in spaghetti sauce. Pictures of the five of them, Amy with the twins, Amy with Greg and Allison. On the back page there was no picture. Instead there was a network of lines, with names, and dates underneath them. A family tree.
"This must have taken you forever!" she breathed.
"It was worth it." Allison replied.
And that's the end of Part Two. I'm thinking about a Part Three, but we shall see... :)