Daddy Arrives In Boston

Paxton woke up before his continuous feeding was finished. He was gagging and seemed uncomfortable. It appeared that he was dealing with thicker secretions again. Susanne felt that he was a little stuffed up as well. Susanne had to suction him multiple times and rock him back and forth. After about an hour, she finally got him to fall back asleep.

Susannne laid back down until his next feeding. Interrupted sleep was not ideal, but it had become her lifestyle for so long that she didn't know any different.

Moppy had agreed to watch Paxton so that Susanne could surprise Scott at the airport. She got ready and was out the door with plenty of time to get there. She didn't want to risk showing up too late because timing was everything. Scott texted Susanne when he landed to let her know that he got there safely. This gave Susanne appropriate heads up for her perfect execution. She was hiding behind the carousel when she spotted him in the distance. Her excitement took over. She couldn't wait to see the expression on his face when he realized that she was there. He went around one side of the carousel and she went around the other. She had managed to stay out of his line of vision. He sat down to wait for his suitcase to circle around the conveyor belt. She walked up unnoticed and sat down beside him. He casually looked up and did a double take. He knew she looked familiar. It finally registered that it was Susanne. He was so thrilled to see her. Susanne took Scott to the restaurant in the airport that she had eaten at almost everytime she arrived in Boston. They had a wonderful lunch together and spent the time talking. It was nice for them to be able to forget the world for a moment and focus on each other.

Scott was so eager to see Paxton that as soon as they were finished eating they headed over to the Yawkey House. He was sleeping when they arrived. He looked so sweet and angelic. Not too long after they had been there, he started to stir. Susanne and Scott were curious to see what Paxton would do when he saw his daddy's face. He was just waking up when his eyes locked onto Scott's. It was a priceless moment to watch him light up at his daddy's presence. Scott got to play with Paxton for a while. Paxton loved his daddy time.

Tonight they went down to participate in the monthly trivia night to try to keep their mind off of the upcoming surgery. It was a nice way for them to meet the other families that were staying at the house. The gentleman that led the group reminded them of the remarkable generosity that existed in this world. He spent well over an hour making sure that everyone went home with something. He made sure to find out where people were from and gear his questions towards things that they could relate to. For example, the couple from Iceland could participate because he asked them specific things about the region they were from. It was a perfect way to break up the redundancy of their schedule. The most touching part of the evening was watching one of the children that had a terminal illness choose prizes for her three siblings and her father that could not be there with her. She even chose a prize for a little newborn baby that was a spectator. Susanne decided to use her own last win to have the young girl make sure to pick out something for herself. She was very excited to pick out a new pair of flip flops. She hoped she could feel the effects of paying it forward.

After trivia, they all moved into the kitchen to enjoy a home cooked meal made by one of the employee's mothers. She had prepared barbecued chicken, broccoli, homemade maccaroni and cheese, and homemade chocolate cake. Susanne was weak and took a spoonful of the maccaroni and cheese. It looked too good to pass up. Once their bellies were full, they called it a night. They all retired to their room and most would probably finish the night out by watching the grammies.

Susanne went back downstairs to make more formula. She walked into one of the families discussing their situation with another family. Susanne was sad to hear that they had a child that had already had five operations and was currently waiting for a heart to become available for a transplant. The child was only three years old and had been in the hospital for two months. He had been on the transplant list for over four months now. She was praying that it would all work out for them, but she knew that it meant that someone else would have to lose a child. This mother brought out a scrapbook that was in the main room of the house. It featured pictures of all of the children that had stayed at the house. She encouraged Susanne to make one for Paxton. As she was flipping through the album, she came across pictures of Sam Oliver. This was the child that had passed away when they were in Boston the last time for Paxton's major heart surgery. Susanne was brought to tears the moment she saw his precious face. It was another trigger for her that she wasn't aware of until that moment. It just made her so deeply sad for Sam's family. She couldn't bear thinking about the fact that they had lost a child. He would have turned a year old at the end of this month. She knew that it would be a difficult time for the family and she was only hoping that they knew they were loved. She made sure to say a prayer for Sam and his family. She was reminded of the reality of the unfortunate circumstances that each family was facing that was staying in this house.