EmeraldMoonGreen requested this one. Here you go, Amiga! Enjoy!

I own Rachel, Sasha, Amy, Sparkle, Tina, and Megan in this story. Ben 10 belongs to Cartoon Network and Man Of Action.

Always There For The Little Ones

It had been a very crazy two months as all of the younger kids at the mansion came down with the chicken pox. And of course, it spread fast among the kids that hadn't had it, so each week, the aliens were taking care of the kids that were sick.

Now, only Sparkle, Tina, and Megan had the chicken pox, and it was heart-breaking for the adults to see them suffering from the sickness.

"Thankfully, all the kids have had mild cases," said Rachel as she got some more calamine lotion to help the itching stop. "And thankfully, they're the last three to get sick."

"And the others won't get it again as they already had it once before," said Snare-Oh. "But still, I hate seeing Tina suffer."

"Sparkle's having a hard time with it too," said Feedback.

"And Megan," said Sasha. "Oh, I just hope the sickness has run its course now and we won't have to worry about it again."

"Hopefully soon," said Rachel in agreement.

Whampire came downstairs, looking exhausted. "Rach, does Frankenstrike have any medicine to help with stomach upset?" he asked. "Megan is having a terrible time keeping anything down."

"Oh, dear," said Sasha.

Rachel shook her head. "Sorry, bro. Frankenstrike said he doesn't have anything to help with that, especially where the kids can't keep anything down," she said sadly.

"Tina and Sparkle are having the same symptoms?" asked the Vladat and Rachel nodded.

"What do we do?" asked Amy.

"Guess just let their stomachs settle for a while," said Sasha. "Unless we could give them some ginger ale to help."

Rachel gently shook her head. "While that would help a lot, if they can't keep anything down right now, then ginger ale isn't going to help at this point, at least not until their stomachs have a good few hours to rest," she said.

"I think we could use a bit of rest too," said Snare-Oh.

Amy then perked up a little. "Why don't we all take a nap with the kids?" she suggested. "We've all had the chicken pox before so we'll be alright."

"That way, we can comfort our children," Whampire finished. "That sounds like a great idea."

Rachel agreed wholeheartedly. "You guys go ahead. I'll see about making something for the kids to eat in a few hours," she said.

She felt something wrap around her waist and saw it was two familiar black antennae. "Oh, no you don't," said Feedback gently. "We're not going to rest and have you force your exhausted mind to keep going."

"He's right, Rachel. You've earned a break as much as we have," said Whampire.

"Plus, if you keep going, you'll get sick, and we don't need another one of us sick," said Amy.

Rachel sighed. "Okay," she said.

With that, they headed upstairs. Whampire and Sasha lay down with Megan between them, Snare-Oh and Amy lay next to each other holding Tina, who had a blanket wrapped around her, and Rachel and Feedback lay down with Sparkle bundled up between them. They were all asleep in less than five minutes.

Rook came home after work and was surprised the house was quiet but then went upstairs and found the adults resting with the children. He went up to Rachel and kissed her on the cheek. She woke up and looked up at him. "Hey, honey," she said.

"Hey, how are the kids?" he asked.

She smiled a little. "I think the worst is over, but they'll still be recovering for a bit," she said and went to sit up. "Well, I should see about getting some dinner going."

One black hand grabbed her arm and gently pulled her down, making them both look at Feedback who woke up. "Rach, you've already done a lot and you didn't have to," he said gently.

"Of course I had to," she said. "The girls are my nieces after all."

Rook smiled. The devotion Rachel had to her family was one of the qualities that made her into the person he loved. He then sat down. "Why don't I call for some Chinese food?" he asked. "I could request the chicken wings for the kids."

Rachel and Feedback looked thoughtful. "It would be healthy," said Rachel. "And the girls love those chicken wings."

Feedback nodded. "Okay, I'm up for that, along with some barbeque pork," he said.

"And egg drop soup," Rachel added and then perked up and turned to Rook. "Honey, please order the family meal and get a container of what we all like so we can all share."

"Already done, love," he said. "I ordered it before I left work and picked it up on the way home. It's all down in the kitchen."

Rachel grinned. "You know what I absolutely love about you?" she asked him.

"What?" he asked curiously.

She smiled a bit more. "Your thoughtfulness, along with all your other qualities that make you the man I love," she said and stood up, kissing him and he kissed back.

A sudden giggle startled them and they saw Sparkle was awake, but then she looked confused. "Daddy, I don't see a spark," she said.

"What?" asked Feedback.

"Between Aunt Rachel and Uncle Rook. You told me that there's always a spark of love around and it's seen when couples who love each other kiss, but when Auntie Rachel and Uncle Rook kissed, I didn't see any spark," the four-year-old explained.

At her explanation, Rachel and Rook laughed and Feedback laughed too, seeing his daughter had taken the expression seriously. "It's not a visible spark like our electricity, sweetheart," said the Conductoid. "But you can see it in your aunt's and uncle's faces when they look at each other lovingly."

"Oh," said the little one, still looking a bit confused.

Rachel chuckled. "I'll explain it more when you're older, sweetie," she said. "Right now, how do you feel?"

"I don't itch much," Sparkle admitted. "But I am hungry."

"Me too," said Megan, who was being carried by her father.

"Well then, there's some Chinese dinner calling us," said Rachel as she went to get Sasha, Snare-Oh, Amy, and Tina. Thankfully, the kids were able to eat without being sick, much to their parents' relief and much to Rachel's relief. Frankenstrike then came in and said he had been successful in getting some medicine to clear up what was left of the kids' sickness, thanks to Rook getting some herbs from Plumber Headquarters. Rook had asked some of the other Plumbers to bring back some herbs that were indigenous to the planet they had been on and they had done so.

"Remind me to send a thank you note to Max Tennyson for all the Plumbers," said Rachel.

"Actually, they said they were happy to do it, and if you insisted, they'd only accept one kind of thanks from you," said Rook.

"What's that?" she asked.

"That they be invited to the big wedding when we have it."

Rachel grinned. "They are all most certainly invited to come, them and their families," she said.

"When is the big wedding, Aunt Rachel?" asked Megan.

"Well, we haven't totally decided on a day yet, kiddos," said the owner of the Grant Mansion. "But don't you worry, it will happen."

"Right now, why don't you kids go see your uncle Frankenstrike about that medicine and then you girls need more rest," said Whampire.

"Daddy, will you and Mommy read me a bedtime story?" asked Tina.

"Of course," said Snare-Oh and the three young ones scampered off to see their scientist uncle about the medicine and that evening was peaceful as the little ones fell asleep and the adults all crashed, exhausted.

Thankfully, it was only a couple days later that Megan, Tina, and Sparkle finally recovered from the chicken pox and were running around playing while the adults were just glad that they were better.

"I'm glad they'll only get the chicken pox once in their life," said Sasha.

"Second that," said Rachel and Amy together and the aliens all agreed, but they also would always be there for the little ones, no matter what.

Yeah, chicken pox is no fun.

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GoldGuardian2418