Friday 4th September 2020, 1am
It was the final weekday of Emma and Anna's first week of year three and all seemed to be peaceful in the penthouse. But all of that was about to change…
"Mummy… Mum wake up." Jac rolled over and opened her eyes to see a dark shadow besides her. She flicked the lamp on and revealed that Anna was standing there in her pyjamas with a flushed face. "I don't feel well." She mumbled.
"What's the matter darlin'?" Jonny croaked as he slowly got up and walked around Jac's side of the bed.
"My arms and legs hurt and I'm really hot." She replied grumpily.
"Yeah? Oh you poor thing. Come on, I'll come and get you into bed and mummy will get you some nice strawberry medicine to make you feel better." Jonny said before he led Anna back to bed. Jac went to the kitchen and got a bottle of strawberry flavoured Calpol before she entered Anna's bedroom where the duvet was on the floor and her daughter was sitting up in her bed with her father on the floor beside her.
"Right, open up." Jac said softly as she poured the white liquid onto the plastic spoon. Anna then took the sweet tasting medicine in one mouthful. "Good girl." Jac whispered as she tucked a few strands of her hair behind her ear to keep it out of the poorly girl's face but she then noticed several red spots behind her ear and on her neck. "Okay, now lie down and try and get some sleep."
"But–"
"I know it's hard sweetheart but the sooner you get to sleep, the sooner you'll feel better." Jonny whispered reassuringly.
After spending almost half an hour soothing Anna and stroking her hair until she had fallen asleep again, Jac and Jonny had gone back to their own room and collapsed into bed.
"Did you see the spots around her neck?" Jac asked quietly.
"Yeah, I think she had some coming through on her face as well. Chickenpox is just what we need." Jonny muttered. "Right, I suggest we take alternate days off of work; we don't want to call Victoria in while Anna's ill, because Anna'll want you or I to look after her. So do you want to take tomorrow – which is technically today – or do you want to do Monday?" Jonny asked quietly.
"I can't do today I've got a Hertzig patient so I'll stay at home on Monday." Jac stated.
"What about Emma?" Jonny questioned.
"Well, I'll take her to school in the morning and we'll just have to see." Jac sighed.
"I'd prefer it if she got chickenpox at the same time as Emma and plus, the older they get, the worse it'll be so… Well, we just won't do anything different. We won't keep them apart or anything and we'll see what happens." Jonny stated. "Come here." He smiled as he wrapped his arms around his sleepy wife and gave her a cuddle. He kissed her on the forehead as she rested in his arms and then the pair fell asleep hoping that they could get some decent sleep for the morning which was soon approaching.
8:30am
In the morning, Jac had driven Emma to school alone because Jonny was staying at home with Anna. It was only Emma's fourth day at the new school as they had had in inset day on the Monday, but usually she had her sister to calm her nerves. This time, she had arrived alone and she was dreading the day ahead.
"Right, I'll pick you up at 3:10pm." Jac stated as she cut the engine and pulled up outside of the school gates. "Emma? Come on, I've got to get to work." Jac stated as she got out of the car and opened the back door so that she could take out Emma's school bag.
"Can't I stay at home with Emma and Dad? Please? I might be ill too." She pleaded after getting out of the car in her grey trousers, light blue polo shirt and royal blue jumper with her long auburn hair in a French plait.
"If you feel ill, and I mean really ill, then tell the teacher. But for now, there's nothing wrong with you. You're not hot at all and you're fine." Jac stated after she had felt her forehead with the back of her hand.
"Emma!" A young girl shouted as she ran up to her.
"Is she a friend?" Jac queried.
"Bye Mum!" Emma shouted as she ran off with the girl so that she was with someone she knew.
"I'll take that as a yes." Jac said sarcastically as she got back into her car and then drove to the hospital for a day of work.
3:30pm
Jac had just brought Emma home from school when she found Anna sitting on the sofa with her knees up to her chest, crying. Jac had been informed by her husband that the spots had spread all over her body in the recent hours and – though they were not yet itch or sore – Anna was distressed because she still felt unwell in general and she hadn't even eaten any lunch.
"What's the matter with Anna?" Emma asked worriedly.
"Sweetheart, why don't you go to your bedroom and I'll come and help you tidy up in a minute?" Jonny suggested. "Good girl." He praised as she reluctantly stomped into her bedroom. "I've tried everything but she won't stop sulking and crying." Jonny said exhaustedly before he went to Emma's bedroom and closed the door behind him.
"Anna, I know right now you feel horrible but you'll get better soon okay?" Jac said softly as she knelt down on the carpet in front of the sofa. "Almost everyone on the planet will get chickenpox so you'll just have to put up with it I'm afraid." Jac stated. She watched her daughter as she said nothing in reply, but she reached her arms out so Jac leant in and gave her a hug. "Right, why don't I get your duvet so that you can get comfy on this sofa, and I'll put a DVD on for you?" Jac suggested.
"Okay." She nodded as she sniffled and then wiped her tears away with her pyjama sleeves. "Can Honey sit with me?"
"If I can find the little rascal, sure." Jac nodded with a smile. She went to Anna's bedroom and grabbed her duvet before she had a quick look around for Honey, the 4 month old, very playful yellow Labrador. She eventually found the animal in her bedroom, but she was rolling around on the carpet and she had chewed one of Jonny's trainers into hundreds of pieces. "Ooh, you are so lucky you picked one of his shoes and not mine." Jac stated as she picked the mischievous little so and so up with one hand and she carried her over to the sofa to her daughter.
A little while later, Emma and Anna were sitting at opposite ends of the sofa watching a Disney movie on the large flat screen TV and Jac and Jonny were stood in the open plan kitchen observing them from afar.
"If I write a list, could you go shopping please?" Jac requested quietly.
"Yeah sure." Jonny nodded as he grabbed a sheet of lined paper from a nearby notepad and he searched a few draws until he found a biro pen.
"If Anna will eat anything, it'll be tomato soup so get some tins of that. She'd probably like some of those Disney princess ice lollies. We need bread, semi-skimmed milk, something for us for dinner, Emma can have soup as well… Um, oh and get some chamomile lotion, some more Calpol and maybe some cooling pads for fevers."
"Okay." Jonny nodded as he quickly wrote the items down.
"Oh, and can you get these for me please?" Jac requested as she unzipped her handbag and took out a white and green sheet of paper – it was her repeat prescription for the medication for her endometriosis. "I forgot to do it at work today."
"Yeah sure." Jonny nodded as he folded the paper and put it in his pocket. "I need a pint tonight." Jonny exclaimed as he wrote down 'beers' on the list.
"After you've been shopping, you can drop the stuff off and go down the pub with Mo or whoever." Jac stated.
"No, I can't leave you to look after them by yourself."
"Jonny, I can look after my own daughters and plus you've been looking after Anna all day, you should take a break. Not to mention the Australia trip."
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah, you haven't been to the pub in ages, go." She ordered.
"Okay, thank you." Jonny said gratefully as he kissed her on the cheek. "Right, I won't be long. Text me if you think of anything else you want."
11pm
Jonny couldn't stay at the pub too late because he worried about his children and about Jac having to cope so he returned home after a few drinks and a catch up with Mo. He quietly unlocked the front door and opened it to find Jac was asleep on the sofa with her mobile phone loosely held in her hand and the TV switched on the late evening news. It sounded like both of his daughters were asleep too.
He switched the TV off and then gently woke his wife because if she slept there all night, she would wake in the morning with a stiff neck.
"Jac… Come on, come and get into bed." He said softly as he rubbed her arm. "Come on lazy bones." He joked as he grabbed her hands and slowly pulled her to her feet. "Were you waiting for me to come home?" He asked curiously.
"Kind of." She muttered.
"What do you mean kind of?" Jonny laughed quietly as they entered their room.
"Well I was partially waiting for you and partially trying to stay awake on the sofa because I was waiting for Anna to wake up again. She took ages to get off to sleep." Jac stated as she pulled back the duvet and slid into the double bed.
"Sorry, I shouldn't have gone out."
"No. You've looked after them all day; you deserved a break." Jac stated. "Have you noticed that they're both calling me mum now most of the time, not mummy?" Jac asked sadly.
"I bet you never thought you'd be upset about that a few years ago." Jonny smirked. "They're doing the same with daddy. Although they do call me daddy if they want something." He smirked as he cuddled her under the covers. "You have had chickenpox before haven't you?"
"Yeah." She nodded. "What about you?"
"Yeah, I had it when I was 16. I'd just done my GCSEs and I was supposed to have a really long summer break but I spent the first two weeks in bed because I had it really bad. How old were you?" He asked curiously.
"I can't remember." She shrugged before she stifled a yawn.
"Come on, let's get some rest before Anna wakes up again."
