sevasey fanblog #1751

Clarshevasey Family Condo, River North, Chicago, Illinois – Thursday, January 14, 2016, 6:30 a.m. 

The morning after the hearing, Jeff was awakened by the sound of Ellie cheerfully babbling to herself in her crib. In the best mood he could remember waking up in since Christmas 1988, he pushed the covers aside and sat up on the side of the bed. 

“Good morning, El.” 

“Daddy up,” Ellie observed. 

“Yep, looks like Daddy and Ellie are both up,” he agreed. 

Lulu, meanwhile, was still fast asleep, one thumb in her mouth and the other arm draped across her eyes to block out the early morning sunlight shining through the curtains. 

“Lulu s’eepin’,” Ellie informed him. 

“Yep, Lulu’s still asleep. Perks of being Deaf, huh?” 

Jeff transferred into his wheelchair, then got Ellie from her crib. He “cheated” a little, briefly standing on one leg to make it easier to reach over the crib rail. His physical therapist wouldn’t approve of bearing all his weight through a leg that was essentially reconstructed four months ago, but even for someone of his height, lifting a toddler out of a crib while sitting down could be a challenge. 

Once he had her on his lap, he grabbed a sky blue jogger and sweatshirt set from the closet and a clean diaper from the shelf under the changing table, then got her dressed. She wasn’t particularly interested in cooperating with the process that morning. He didn’t let it show, but it was hard not to laugh at the way she twisted and stiffened her body to dodge her pants. (He suddenly understood why Lauren usually put her in a dress.) 

“Do you want to see if we can wake up Kelly and Matt?” he asked once she was dressed. 

“Kelwy,” she agreed. 

After the events of the past few months, it was easy to understand why Ellie was more attached to Kelly than anyone else, while Lulu was Team Matt. Jeff didn’t particularly mind coming in second to them… They were pretty great. 

Leaving the bedroom door cracked open so he could hear if Lulu woke up, Jeff took Ellie across the hall. He knocked lightly on the door to make sure they wouldn’t interrupt his boyfriends having uncharacteristically quiet sex, then went ahead and let himself in. 

Despite their conversation and Jeff’s knock, Matt and Kelly were both still sleeping when they entered, but Houdini met them at the door with her tail wagging. Kelly, whose pillow was on the floor for reasons Jeff could easily imagine, had his head on Matt’s bare chest, and Matt had an arm wrapped around Kelly’s body. The blanket was pushed down far enough that Jeff could see the waistband of Matt’s boxers, and since Kelly’s weren’t on the floor, it was a safe bet he was wearing his, too. 

“Dini!” Ellie greeted Houdini. 

That finally woke Matt and Kelly up. 

“Oh, good morning,” Kelly said, reaching towards Ellie in invitation without lifting his head. 

“Good morning,” Jeff answered while Ellie excitedly babbled. Using his foot to propel his wheelchair, he rolled over to the bed and passed Ellie into Kelly’s arms. 

“Morning already, huh?” Matt asked with a smile. 

Jeff leaned down to scratch behind Houdini’s ears. “Apparently.” 

🔥🔥🔥

Clarshevasey Family Condo, River North, Chicago, Illinois – Thursday, January 14, 2016, 8:15 a.m. 

Jeff decided to keep Ellie and Lulu home from daycare to spend the day together, just because they could. While Kelly drove Logan to school, Matt and Jeff put a sheet of easel paper on the kitchen floor and let Ellie and Lulu scribble on it with egg-shaped crayons. That activity lasted all of two minutes before Ellie realized the paper they were drawing on would be just as much fun to rip up as the wrapping paper they had so much fun with on Christmas. 

While the girls shredded paper, Jeff asked Matt, “You wanna get the fire truck so we can distract them from crying when they realize their paper’s all ripped up?” 

Matt eagerly nodded and jumped up to go and get it. They all knew the fire truck was more of a gift for himself as it was for the twins, and Kelly and Jeff loved it almost as much as he did. They kept it in Matt and Kelly’s closet when it wasn’t in use so the girls wouldn’t run over each other with it while they weren’t looking — not that there was ever a moment when at least one of the adults in their household wasn’t closely watching them. 

Ellie went first the last time, so when Matt came back with the fire truck, they put Lulu in the driver’s seat and Jeff held Ellie on his lap. The girls never seemed to mind going one at a time. They were just as happy to watch the other drive as they were to be the one behind the wheel. 

“We should bring them to the firehouse and let them drive around the hallways there,” Matt suggested. 

Jeff shrugged. “I don’t want to be that guy who hangs around the firehouse after he retires. It makes people uncomfortable.” 

Thinking of Benny, Matt shook his head. “You would be welcome anytime. And you aren’t technically retired yet, anyway.” 

Jeff smiled. “Not everyone at 51 is in love with me.”