Her husband was out with his friend for the night so it was just her and the kids. She had practically forced him to go out, he needed a night away from the kids and his pregnant wife.

It was a Friday night so the kids were able to stay up as late as they wanted to. Which was never very late since they could only stay awake a couple hours after their usual bedtime. The three were sitting in the living room watching TV, it was a pretty normal evening for them.

Or at least it was until her son came back into the living room and said, "Mom, Charlotte's sick."

"What?" she asked sitting up and looking around the room to find her daughter.

The nine year old walked in looking paler than usual, "I managed to make it to the toilet Mom. You don't need to worry."

"That's not what I'm worried about." She singled for her daughter to come closer and placed her hand on the child's forehead. "You're burning up, how long have you felt sick."

Her daughter paused for a moment sitting down and snuggling next to her mother, "All day."

"All day? You felt sick all day and didn't tell me?"

"I didn't want you to worry." she admitted looking down at her lap.

"Charlotte, it's my job to worry."

"But you're pregnant and Dad says it's not good for you or the baby if you worry too much."

She let out a long frustrated sigh. Her daughter took taking care of their family very seriously. The slightest suggestion on how to help someone made her jump into over protective mode.

"Taking care of sick you isn't going to harm the baby. What does make me worry is knowing that you went to school feeling sick."

"I'm sorry Mommy." she apologized as the tears came to her eyes.

She pulled her daughter close to her chest and tried to calm her, "You have nothing to apologize for."

"I'm going to be sick."

The nine year old jumped from the couch and ran straight into the bathroom. Her mother walked as quickly as she could behind her and made it in time to hold back her child's hair as she threw up into the sink.

"James can you get that!" she shouted as she heard her cell phone ringing in the background. "Are you done?" she asked her daughter next.

The girl nodded her head and backed away from the sink. Her mother ran the water cleaning up the mess. She wrapped her arm around her daughter and helped her out of the bathroom.

"Charlotte threw up." they both heard as they walked back into the living room.

Her daughter's cheeks turned bright red and she knew it had nothing to do with the fever.

"Give me the phone James." the mother ordered after she got her oldest settled on the couch.

"Here's Mom Dad." her son spoke into the phone before handing it to her.

"Hi Logan." she said trying her best to sound calm.

"Charlotte threw up?" he asked skipping the pleasantries and getting straight to the point.

"Twice so far. She says she's felt sick all day."

"I'm coming home now."

"Don't do that, you've been looking forward to this all week."

"You need my help. Dick and I can reschedule for another day."

"I can take care of her, you enjoy the rest of your night. Bye."

She hung up the phone before her husband could argue.

"Is Daddy mad?" her daughter asked nervously.

"No of course not, he's just worried. James can you get me the thermometer and a glass of water?"

Her son nodded his head eager to help out. While they waited for him to come back she pulled the throw blanket off the back of the couch and wrapped it around her daughter.

"I want you to rest okay?"

The little girl nodded her head and laid down on the couch with her feet propped up on her mother's legs. Instantly she fell to sleep, exhausted from keeping her health a secret all day.

She was thankful that the thermometer they owned was the kind that went into the ear since she was able to check her daughter's temperature without having to wake her. She did have a fever, which was not surprising, but it was manageable and nothing to worry about.

"Is there anything else you need Mommy?" her son asked.

"No, why don't you go into your room and play. I don't want you getting sick."

"Not going to happen. With Daddy gone I'm the man of the house and have to watch out for you and Charlotte."

"Did Daddy tell you to do that?"

Her son nodded his head and sat down the chair next to the couch. There was no fighting with him now, Daddy's words were gold when it came to orders about the family.

The two remaining family members went back to watching TV, though that didn't last for too long. Neither of them were able to stay awake and they quickly joined the oldest daughter in slumber.

She didn't know how much time had passed when she heard motion in the room. Through blurry eyes she saw her husband picking their son off the chair and carrying him presumably to his bedroom.

"How is she?" he asked when he came back into the living room.

He crouched down to be level with their daughter and stroked her sweaty brow.

"She hasn't thrown up or woken up since you called. I thought I told you to stay with Dick."

"I couldn't have any fun knowing she wasn't feeling well."

"Are we making a mistake having a third baby?" she asked after a moment of silence.

He looked up at her, "Of course not. Why would you ask that?"

"Because I sent our oldest child to school sick today and didn't even know she wasn't feeling well until our son told me she threw up. If I can't take care of the two we already have, how am I going to manage with a new baby?"

"Veronica, just because you didn't know Charlotte was sick doesn't mean you can't handle a third. You are an amazing mother and our kids are so lucky to have you. And you know how our daughter is, she hides how she is feeling until it's too late. You can't blame yourself for sending her to school sick. She takes after her mother that way."

She nodded her head in agreement, though she still didn't feel any better.

"Do you want me to take her to her room? I can watch her for the rest of the night."

"No, I don't want to let her out of my sight. Will you make the bed up in our room please?"

"Of course." He gave their daughter a kiss on the head before standing up to kiss his wife. "I'll come get both of you as soon as I'm done."

She watched him walk away before turning her attention back to their daughter. She was still fast asleep and her cheeks were still red from the fever.

She knew that they were in for a long weekend, stomach bugs usually lasted longer than a day and their son was bound to catch whatever his sister with her large stomach in the way, she was going to do her best to take care of her sick children.