"Claire." Serah said. Her mother sat before her, looking sadly at her.
"No, not Claire, honey, Serah."
"No, Claire, no! Swah!" Serah responded. "Swah!" her mother sighed. She turned around, and grabbed the pacifier she had laid on the table.
"Say, pacifier." she said, holding the object out to her daughter. Serah looked at her, and then pointed at the object in her mother's hands. "Yes, mommy knows that this is a pacifier. Now say it." Serah continued to stare at the object, and then opened her mouth to say something.
"Pa, paf…." she stopped, trying to sound out the words again. "Claire!" she shouted.
"Oh, Serah. You can't grow up only saying your sister's name."
"I lub you." Serah said. "I lub you, I lub you." she repeated. Her mother smiled, and then handed the pacifier to her. She took the pacifier, and stuck it in her mouth.
"Mommy loves you too, Serry." she said, as she reached forward. She wrapped her arms around her, and lifted her baby out of the high chair. "Claire! Sweetie, we have to go!" she shouted. Today was the day she had been dreading. They were going to go to the doctor's office to get Claire and Serah their shots. "Claire, come on!" she shouted. A few moments passed, with no Claire.
"Where is that girl?" she wondered aloud. She carried Serah down the hallway, and then went in the girl's room, but couldn't see where her daughter was at. "Claire? Where are you, baby?" she asked. She moved around the room, scanning around for where the little one may have been. Serah removed her pacifier, some of her saliva dripping off of where she had sucked.
"Claire!" Serah shouted. "Claire, Claire, Claire!" she chanted sing-song like.
"Claire, come out." her mother said. It was then that she noticed a pair of beady little eyes, looking at her through one of the holes in the closet door. "Claire, I know you don't like going to the doctor," she started to say, as she approached the door. "But you have to get these shots. Both you and Serry." she said as she reached the door.
She grabbed the knob with her free hand, and then slowly turned it. Then, she flung the door open, and Claire tried to run past her. But the woman was quick, flinging her arm out in front of the girl. Her arm wrapped around her front, and she lifted her up off of the ground. She screamed as loud as her little lungs would allow her.
"No, mommy, no!" Claire screamed, swinging her limbs all around in an attempt to get out of her mother's hold.
"Claire, calm yourself down!" she exclaimed. Immediately, she realized that there was no way to get both of her girls down to the car at once. With both arms full of little Farrons, she couldn't open the door. It didn't help that Claire was going insane in her arms.
"Claire!" Serah shouted, reaching out for her older sister. "Claire, Claire! No! Claire!" she shouted, trying to grab her sister's arm.
"No!" Claire shouted. She had started to cry, trying to get her mother to feel bad. "Mommy, I don't like needles!"
"No one does, sweetie, but you have to get these!" she explained. She carried her daughters over to the door, and then reached for the doorknob, making sure that Serah stayed on her arm. She twisted the knob, and then bumped the door with her side so it would open further. When she got outside, she kicked the door back, and then descended the steps to get to her car.
When she finally got down to the car, she found herself in another predicament. She had to get her keys out, and open the car door. So, she sat Serah down on the ground, and then reached into her pocket for the keys.
"Claire!" Serah shouted, pointing up at her big sister. Her mother opened the back door, and then placed Claire in the back seat. Before the little girl could do anything, her mother locked the child lock, and then slammed the door shut. Then, she picked Serah up, carried her to the other side of the car, and then opened the door opposite where she had put Claire. Then, she placed Serah in the car seat, and buckled her in.
Their mother closed the door, and then got up front. "Claire, honey, buckle your seatbelt.
"Claire!" Serah shouted, reaching over to her sister. Claire reached up, and grabbed the seatbelt. After she had fastened herself in, she crossed her arms, and stared straight ahead with an angered face. Serah put her pacifier in her mouth, and then looked over at her sister.
"Aren't you too old to have a binki?" Claire asked. Serah stared at her sister, and then smiled happily. She pulled the pacifier out of her mouth, and pointed it at Claire.
"Claire!" she shouted. She went as far as the car seat would let her, and stuck her pacifier into Claire's mouth. Claire spit the object out of her mouth, and then let out several disgusted sounds.
"Baby germs, yuck!" she exclaimed. Serah laughed at her sister's dismay, along with her mother.
When they finally reached the doctor's office, their mother got out of the car, and then opened the door Claire was sitting next to. She undid her seat belt, and tried to get away from her mother, like she was trying to hurt her.
"No!" she exclaimed.
"Claire, I don't have time for it." she said, wrapping her arms around her. She squirmed, and tried to swat her mother's arms away. But within just a few seconds, she was lifted out of the car, and held up by one of her mother's arms. After she had a good hold on Claire in her arm, she reached forward, and undid Serah's car seat, and then lifted the baby out of the car.
She carried her daughters into the doctor's office, and then went up to the person at the front desk.
"We had an appointment." she told the person. "Serah and Claire Farron?" the receptionist held out a clipboard to their mother, which had a piece of paper held on it.
"Just sign their names here." she said.
"Okay, hold on just for a moment." she lowered down, and sat Claire and Serah on the floor. Before Claire could do anything, her mother grabbed her wrist and gave her a threatening look. "Do not move from this spot." she ordered. She stood back up, and then signed the sheet of paper.
A few moments later, the doctor called them in, and she carried Serah in, while she had to practically drag Claire. The door was closed behind them, causing Claire to frown. So much for her escape plan.
"Alright, Claire, you're up first." the doctor said. The little girl wrapped her arms around her mother's waist, and buried her face in her side.
"No, mommy, please!" she cried.
"Claire, he just wants to take your temperature right now." she explained, as she pat her daughter on the back.
"But he'll stick the needle in me!" she shouted, her cries being muffled out.
"Claire, just get it over with. It'll be less painful, I promise." her mother assured her. Claire was so scared that she was trembling, her mother could feel it. "Just let him take your temperature." she said. Claire turned her head, and looked at the doctor. He was holding a thermometer in his hand, but no needle. Yet.
She opened her mouth slightly, and he stuck the thermometer under her tongue. Then, he wrapped a black strap around her arm.
The strap tightened around her arm, visibly scaring her. "It's alright, sweetie, it's just taking your blood pressure." she explained. A few moments later, he removed the strap, and took the thermometer out of her mouth.
"Alright, now to take a look at your ears." he said. He took out a black object, and put a white cap on it, and then inserted it in her right ear, and held it there until a beeping noise was heard. Then, he did the same with the other. "Everything looks healthy." he said.
Then, he took the needle out, and she cowered behind the chair her mother sat in. Her mother reached back, and pulled her out. "No!" she cried.
"Claire, just get it all over and done with." she said, holding her daughter's arm. Instead of fighting back, she looked away, and closed her eyes. She felt something wet on her arm, and then waited. "Good girl." her mother said. She looked at her arm just as the doctor put one of those round bandages where she had felt the wetness.
"Alright, and now for the little one." he said. He gave her the same treatment when it came to the temperature, only she was a lot calmer in taking it. But when he took the needle out, she freaked out just as her sister had.
"No!" Serah shouted. "No! No! No!" she repeated, hugging her mother.
"Serah, you saw how painless it was for Claire." she said.
"Claire!" she shouted.
"Come on, baby, do it for your big sister." her mother said. Her mother knew her weakness. But even then, she was still scared when the doctor approached her. "Look at Claire, sweetie."
"Claire." Serah said. She reached toward her sister with one arm, while the doctor moved a cotton ball around on her arm, and then injected her with the medicine.
"There we go." her mother said. The doctor then put the same bandage on her arm, and then threw the needles away.
"Alright, Ms. Farron, if either of them get a fever, just give them some of the medicine you have been giving them, and they should be alright."
"Okay. Come on, girls." she said. She stood up, and Claire grabbed onto her hand. When they got outside, Claire climbed into the back seat, and their mother buckled Serah in her car seat. On the drive home, Serah pointed down at the ground.
"Claire." she said. Claire looked where she was pointing, and then she saw her pacifier. Claire undid her seatbelt, and got off of her seat, and then picked up the pacifier. Then, she got back in her seat, and Serah reached for the pacifier, grunting as she did.
Instead of handing the pacifier over, Claire stuck it in her mouth, and turned her head away.
"No!" Serah shouted. "No, Claire, no!" she cried. Her mother glanced back, and then sighed.