I do not own EUReKA. Woe is me.

Eureka: From A to Z

Alphabet Soup

"All-i-son."

Allison cringed at the sound of her name. Each time he cried out, it reminded her of nails on a chalkboard. Never in her wildest dreams would she have believed that he'd act like such a baby. It wasn't as if he were suffering from a serious, debilitating disease; it was the flu for God's sake. The last two days, she'd been busy running around, catering to his every whim. If he weren't so stubborn, she could perform a quick procedure that would alleviate his suffering. But her strong, brave husband would have none of it. He told her he'd had too many scares when it came to Eurkea technology to trust anything voluntarily inserted into his body. She'd taken the day off and sent the kids to Grace and Henry's. It wasn't because they were susceptible to Jack's illness, but because having three kids in the house was too much for her to deal with right now. Presently, she was making him a bowl of his mother's famous alphabet soup. He'd had it emailed, giving implicit instructions on how it should be made. Allison could just have easily had S.A.R.A.H make a batch, but he said it wouldn't be the same. He told her it needed that motherly touch, and when he looked at her with those beautiful baby blues, how could she say no. In hindsight, she should've put her foot down. It wasn't that it was a complicated recipe, it just kept her stationed in the kitchen for the past hour, which didn't include traipsing back and forth to administer his medicine, hot cups of tea, and boxes of Kleenex.

"Allie?"

She'd had enough. She loved Jack more than anything in the world, but if he called her one more time with that nasally, raspy voice, she would choke the cold out of him. Just as she was about to give him a piece of her mind, the telephone rang.

"Hi Susan. How are you?"

It was Jack's mom, who'd apparently called to give Allison a bit of advice so that she could maintain her sanity during the current crisis. It seemed that the stories Jack told of his overly attentive mother during his illnesses were greatly exaggerated. While she did tend to him just as any loving mother would, there was something that he and his siblings never caught onto which saved her a lot of time and many a headache. Allison had to admit, it was genius. So, with her mother-in-law's recommendation, she took action. Twenty minutes later, curled up on the couch, a roaring fire, a good book and glass of wine, she exhaled. The concoction she'd made had knocked him out and would so for the next few hours.

Allison adored her mother-in-law, and though the idea of tricking Jack seemed cruel, she conceded.

Besides, like Susan said, "What he doesn't know, won't hurt him."

A/N: Eureka from A to Z is an idea I've been toying with for a while. Many times I come up with these snippets that don't necessarily fit into a chapter story. With these one shots of 500 words or less, I plan to write a theme around each letter of the alphabet. These are not drabble's, as I am too long winded to write something with only 100 words. I am looking for feedback. I'd like to continue all the way to Z, but if there is no real interest, I'll move on to something else. I will continue to write my usual stories in the meantime, these are just the little mental exercises I need when I get stuck.