Alfred sat on the floor in front of him with his knees drawn up to his chest "OUCH! daddy! that hurts~" he whimpered as the impossibly close toothed comb caught once more.
"Sorry Alfred" he muttered, removing it and wiping it off on the paper towel in his lap. He was almost done going through every inch of the deceivingly thick blonde hair. they had already been at this for thirty minuets .
"It's burning daddy!" cried Matthew as he sat in the bathtub next to them, a miserable look on his face. as his hand was over the side, holding his brothers in comfort for the yanking. He had started out sitting in front of Alfred, holding both hands whispering comfort, but Ivan had moved him into the tub, applying the disgusting smelling spray to sit for the last bit of Alfred's comb out
"Only four more minutes Matvey…" Ivan looked back down on his task, seeking out the damn bugs. He had assumed that since Alfred and Matthew were not real dogs, that meant he was never going to need to deal with fleas. Well… it wasn't fleas.
Over the weekend, Matthew and Alfred had driven down to their parents house for their nieces seventh birthday party. Being the super cool fun uncles they were, they had jump in to play with all the kids. What no one had realized at the time, was one of those little darlings had had lice.
Luckily for Ivan, It had been caught before the parasites had made their way to his own hair, but neither of the boys got off free. Ivan had notice Matthew first, a yelp coming from him as he sat on the couch scratching. concerned, Ivan had investigated only to find Matthew had scratched behind his ears raw. looking closer he had notice the tell-tale , unmoveable, white dots. A quick inspection of Alfred had confirmed they both had the pests.
"Alright Alfred… you are done. take the towel and throw it in the laundry da?" Alfred stood, looking miserable and nodded as he padded from the room.
Ivan looked at his watch. thirty seconds left. "Okay Matthew, time to rinse." he grabbed the shower head and turned it on, tipping Matthews head back as he rinsed the chemicals out. His fingers caught in the tangle of curls as he went. he was not looking forward to trying to get through Matthew's hair… He had been tempted to cut it first, Make the process easier, but he adored those curls. Still the scissors were on hand incase it proved impossible.
The bug killing solution was out, and Ivan wrapped a fresh towel around Matthews head before helping him to sit on the floor in front of the toilet like Alfred had done. Ivan was just getting a new piece of paper towel setup when the larger twin came back in. he moved to lay on the floor, head in Matthew's lap, reaching up to take his hand.
It was only a quarter of the way through the task when Matthew started crying. the comb snaring at almost every stroke. Ivan cringed watching Alfred's finger slowly turn red from circulation being cut off. "I'm sorry Matvey…" he murmured, feeling awful for the sounds he was drawing out, but knowing it was a necessary evil.
"s'ok" the boy croaked in return flinching as another knot caught. He really was not good at this… "Alfie…"
"it's okay bro" Alfred reach up, brushing a tear away.
Finally, an hour and a half later, the last section of hair had been combed through. Ivan had almost broken down himself, asking several times if Matthew was sure he didn't want Ivan to just cut it and make it easier. but it was done now. no impromptu cutting required. just a lot of crying, and some sore fingers. Ivan sighed in relief as the boys set off to gather the bedding and towels to be washed. He picked up the instructions that came with the lice kit to ensure he had gotten every step and his eyes widened in horror.
' check head daily, repeat combing until no nits are seen'