A/N I've just had to do one of the hardest things that I've ever had to do, and that's say goodbye to my precious doggo of 14 years. Right now I just feel empty inside, and am hoping that losing myself in the HA fandom will help pull me out of this funk. So, please, spam me with happiness. Let me hear some happy stories of you and your fur babies. I don't care if it's cats, dogs, rats, birds, reptiles. Whatever kind of pet makes you happy, I want to hear about it.
Now, I've had this chapter written and ready to go for a while, but things have been a bit stressful around here, so I'm finally getting to posting this now:
I haven't done this in a while, but I have a song for you to listen to when you get to the end of this chapter. If you can, you should take a moment to listen to the song Unchained Melody by the Righteous Brothers. I'll post a link here, but you'll have to fix it up to get it to work: /RXARHZmpgvw Of course it goes without saying that I own no rights to anything to do with this song what so ever. Now, Please enjoy -
As Time Goes By
Chapter 27
Helga walks the downstairs hallway in an effort to appease her crying daughter. She had been wakened from a sound sleep a little over an hour ago when Joy's cries started coming across the baby monitor. Not wanting to wake Arnold, she quickly shut off the receiver and headed to the nursery.
As soon as she looks into the crib her nose is assaulted by the stench of an exploded diaper. She picks up her crying daughter, being careful to hold her away from her body in an effort to keep her own clothes from becoming soiled. Stripping the offensive nightie off of Joy, she starts to reach for a baby wipe, but realizes that there isn't a wipe in the world that can take on this mess. Closing the box of wipes, she takes Joy into the bathroom and quickly runs a warm bath. Getting down on her knees, she gently lowers the child into the tepid water and begins to clean her up. The warm water does wonders in calming Joy and lowering her cries to a disgruntled grumble.
Once she is cleaned off, Helga quickly dresses her in some clean pajamas and takes her downstairs where the two now parade up and down the quiet hallway. Helga hums a low tune into Joy's ear as she rests her cheek on her forehead. Her motherly instincts tell her that Joy is running a low fever and she gives a roll of her eyes. "Just perfect." She whispers to no one in particular as she continues her pacing.
Another thirty minutes pass by when Arnold's alarm finally goes off. Not wanting to disturb his wife, he is quick to turn it off. He pushes himself to a sitting position and that's when he notices that he is alone in the bed. He wonders which child it was that dragged Helga from her slumber, and shuffles his way out of the bedroom.
His question is answered the minute he steps into the hallway and notices the opened nursery door. He heads downstairs where he joins his wife and daughter. He follows alongside of Helga, matching her step for step while they talk. "How long has this been going on?"
Helga gives a shrug of her shoulders. "Oh, I don't know, what time is it now?"
Arnold gives his best guess. "It's just a little past 6:30. Is Joy okay? I didn't even hear her wake up."
Sensing that Joy has finally fallen back asleep, Helga stops her pacing. "Yeah, she started crying maybe an hour and a half ago."
"Hmm, that's off schedule for her, usually she doesn't wake up until after my alarm goes off. Is she feeling alright?"
Helga hands Joy to Arnold and starts to head back upstairs. "I don't think so, she feels a little feverish to me, and she made a mess of her crib. I need to go clean up her crib before we can put her back down."
Arnold follows her into the nursery, stopping short the minute the smell of the soiled linens hit his nose. "Ooof! That's quite a stink."
"Heh, tell me about it." Helga replies while tearing the dirty sheet off the small mattress. Placing it with the soiled nightie, she gets out a fresh sheet and walks back to the crib. "That stuff is going to have to soak before I can even think about washing it."
Arnold waits for Helga to finish fixing up the crib before he places Joy back down to finish her sleep. "If she is coming down with something, I don't know if we should leave her with your parents this evening."
It's been a long time since the two of them have had any real alone time, and Helga is reluctant to give it up. "No, I don't want to change our plans just yet, let's see how the day plays out. If she doesn't get any worse then I'm sure it will be just fine. Besides, I can tell by feeling her forehead that it's just a low grade fever, nothing to worry about. Yet."
Arnold chuckles as he follows her out of the nursery. Once back in the hallway, she turns to look at him. "Did I say something funny, Arnoldo?"
Arnold shakes his head. "No, but I just can't help to notice the difference between child number one and child number two. If this had happened when Phillip was her age you'd be going crazy with worry." He pauses for a moment before continuing on. "As a matter of fact, this DID happen with Phillip, and if I remember correctly, you were a basket case."
Helga is quick to go on the defense. "That, Arnoldo was a completely different situation. When Phillip got sick that first time he had a much higher temperature, and had it coming out both ends. There's no comparison between then and now."
Arnold leans in to give her a quick kiss on the cheek before heading to the bathroom. "If you say so, Helga. I'd better get in that shower or I'll be late for work. I'll see ya downstairs in a bit."
"Heh, whatever." Helga says as she stomps off towards the stairs.
xxxxx
After starting a fresh pot of coffee, and putting some oatmeal on to slowly simmer, Helga goes upstairs to wake up Phillip. She enters the quiet bedroom, stopping at Mr. Cheezy's cage, making sure that he is locked up tight inside. She has made it a point to check his cage each time she enters the room, ever since a particular incident about a month ago when she found the cage door opened and one contented rat balled up and sleeping peacefully by her son's head.
She searches the cage and worries when she doesn't see the rat. Moving her face closer to the bars she gives a startled jump when the hanging pineapple house suddenly moves. Taking a quick step back, she glares at the small face that peeks out from the pineapple's door, swearing that she heard a low chuckle coming from his direction.
Keeping her eye on the rodent, she sidesteps her way to Phillip's bed where she takes a seat next to her sleeping child. Reaching out, she gently runs her fingers through his spiky blonde hair and calls his name. "Hey, Phillip, it's time to get up."
He scrunches up his face and sticks his bottom lip out in a pout, his words coming out in a mumble. "Not yet, Mommee. I wants to sleeps more."
Moving her hand from his hair to his shoulder, she gives him a soft shake. "I know, sleepyhead, but it's time to get up. You don't want to miss your big Valentine's Day party, do you?"
His eyes open wide at the mention of the party, and he quickly sits up. "Oh, yeahs, I forgotted about the party! We still has the cupcakes, right?"
Wondering just where her child thinks the cupcakes would have gone, she lets out a chuckle. "Yes, Phillip. They're on the kitchen counter with the valentine cards you filled out for your classmates. Now come on and get dressed, your breakfast is ready."
Phillip gets out of bed as Helga leaves the room. Taking a moment to check on Mr. Cheezy, he opens the door and reaches his hand inside the cage. Without hesitation Mr. Cheezy jumps from his pineapple house to Phillip's hand, then scurries up his arm to sit on the boy's shoulder. Phillip takes the rat with him to the bathroom, the small rodent peering over the boy's shoulder to the stream of water that mostly makes it into the waiting bowl. When he's done, Phillip walks over to the sink, and stands on the plastic step stool that he uses to help him reach the faucets. He gives his hands a quick washing and heads back to his bedroom without drying them off.
Reaching up to his shoulder, he gently grabs Mr. Cheezy and holds him up so they're eye to eye. "Sorrwy, Mr. Cheezy, but I has to puts you back in your cage. Mommee will gets vewy mads if I was to brings you down to bweakfast. But don't worries, I'll bwing you some toast pieces when I'm done eating."
Placing the rat back into his cage, Phillip walks over to the clothes that he had picked out the night before, and quickly gets dressed. His stomach gives a bit of a churn, and on a normal day, he would probably make a plea to stay home from school. But with this being a special party day, there's no way he's going to miss it. So, ignoring the signs that something's not quite one hundred percent, he waves good-bye to Mr. Cheezy and heads downstairs.
Upon entering the kitchen Phillip heads straight for the cupcakes that sit waiting on the counter by the back door. Pulling up a chair, he climbs up to check on the sweet treats, piquing Helga's curiosity. "What's ya doing there, Phillip?"
Phillip gives her a smile. "I's just making sure alls the cupcakes are still there."
Helga places her hands on her hips. "And just where did you think they'd go?"
Satisfied that all is well in cupcake land, Phillip shrugs as he gets down from the chair. "I don'ts know, someone could has snuck in the house during the night and tooked some."
Grabbing a bowl of oatmeal, Helga takes it to the table, placing it down at Phillip's spot. "I really doubt anyone would risk breaking into our house for a chocolate cupcake. Now come on over and eat your breakfast."
Doing as told, Phillip shuffles over to the table and slides into his chair. Picking up his spoon, he props up his head with his free hand as he plays with his breakfast. He lets out a loud sigh, catching Helga's attention. "What's wrong, why the big sigh?"
Continuing to stir the rapidly cooling cereal, he gives his shoulders another shrug while mumbling. "I dunno, I just felts like sighing I guess."
Placing two more bowls down for her and Arnold, she picks up her spoon and points to his bowl. "Well, you'd better get a move on and start eating. I have to get you to school a little early today, I have a doctor's appointment that I can't miss."
A pout begins to form on Phillip's face. Throwing down his spoon, he crosses his arms in front of his chest and leans back in his chair. "I don't feels like eating any yucky cereals today."
Getting a little irritated, Helga scoops a bit of brown sugar into his bowl in an effort to entice him to eat. She gives it a stir then points to his spoon. "Well you're not gonna be able to have a Valentine cupcake later if you don't eat your breakfast now."
He gives her a side glance that does not go unnoticed, and reluctantly picks up his spoon, mumbling as he shoves a small spoonful of cereal into his mouth.
Helga narrows her eyes at him. "Do you have something to say to me?"
Listening to his better instincts, Phillip just shakes his head and spoons up another small mouthful. "No, Mommee, I's don't."
Helga is about to reply when Arnold comes into the kitchen. Grabbing a mug of coffee, he joins the others at the table and takes a seat. Phillip's face brightens when his dad sits down, and he seizes the opportunity to change the subject. "Daddee! Guess what day it is today."
He knows the answer, but asks Phillip anyway. "I don't know, Philly, what day is it?"
With a victorious smile, Phillip raises both arms over his head. "It's Valentime's Day!"
Arnold acts surprised. "Oh, that's right, and it's your big party day too, right?"
Phillip nods his head. "Yep, and I'm going to has a chocolate cupcake later!"
Arnold picks up his spoon and adds some brown sugar to his own bowl of cereal. "Well that's just fine, Phillip. If there's any leftover, save me a vanilla one, okay?"
"Okay!" Phillip shouts as he gets down from his chair and runs to Arnold, giving him a kiss on his cheek. "I gots to go finish getting ready for school. Bye Daddee."
Realizing that Phillip just finagled his way out of eating breakfast, Helga yells after him as he leaves the kitchen. "Hey, you didn't finish your oatmeal!" Letting out a huff, she picks up his bowl and takes it over to the sink. "I swear, that child. I wonder if he's feeling okay, he usually devours his oatmeal, especially once I put brown sugar in it."
Arnold drains the last bit of coffee from his mug and shrugs. "I wouldn't worry about it, he's probably just excited about the party. You know how kids get when there's cake involved. Anyway, I'd better get going too."
Getting up, he grabs his briefcase and drops a kiss on Helga's cheek. "I don't want us to miss our dinner reservations, so I'll be home on the early side. I'll see you soon, love you."
She replies with a quick, "Love you too." Before turning around to clear the table. She gives a little chuckle and shakes her head when she picks up Arnold's half-full bowl and thinks to herself, "I swear those two are like two peas in a pod."
xxxxx
There's a skip to Helga's step as she walks through the medical building's parking lot and back to her car, her cranky daughter letting out grunts of disapproval. Buckling Joy's carrier into its base, she thinks about the list of things she still needs to get done before her and Arnold's big date. Sliding into the driver's seat, her phone starts to ring, causing Helga to let out an annoyed "Criminy, who the hell is that?"
Looking at the caller id, she sees that the call is from Urban Tots, and she can't help thinking that this cannot be a good thing. Accepting the call, she utters a tentative, "Yes?"
She immediately recognizes the voice on the other end. "Hello, Mrs. Shortman, this is Miss Francine from Phillip's school."
A feeling of foreboding comes over her, and she has a sneaking suspicion of where this conversation is going to lead. "Oh, hi Francine. What can I do for you? Is everything alright? I did bring in enough cupcakes, didn't I?"
She can tell from Miss Francine's voice that this call has nothing to do with cupcakes. "Oh, no, Mrs. Shortman, the cupcakes are fine. I'm afraid that it's Phillip that's not doing so well."
"I knew it!" She thinks to herself before replying back to Phillip's teacher. "Oh? What seems to be the problem?"
"Well, he had a little mishap in the bathroom a little while ago, causing us to check his temperature, and I'm afraid your son isn't doing too well. I think it would be best if you were to come get him."
Rubbing her face with her free hand, Helga knew that she should have listened to her motherly instincts this morning before sending Phillip off to school, and without any further questions, she assures Miss Francine that she is on her way and will be there soon.
With the traffic lights on her side, it takes her less than fifteen minutes to make it back to Urban Tots. With Joy in tow, she enters the classroom and scans the room. She is greeted by Phillip's teacher who ushers her to a back room where a sleeping Phillip is being watched over by the classroom aide. She notices that he is not wearing the same clothes that he arrived to school in and can only imagine what's waiting for her to take back home with them.
She gives a little jump when she hears Miss Francine's voice from behind. "The poor little guy was complaining of a tummy ache so I sent him to the bathroom, but unfortunately he couldn't get his pants off fast enough."
Helga turns towards Phillip's teacher, noticing the plastic bag that she is holding out to her. Taking the bag, Helga gives her apologies. "I'm so sorry to have put you through dealing with this. I should have listened to my instincts when he said he wasn't hungry for breakfast this morning."
Miss Francine gives her a sympathetic smile. "Oh, don't worry about it, it's all a part of the job."
Helga's never really thought about the things a teacher must endure throughout their day, and is suddenly very happy with her own career choices. "Well, I have to give you credit, I don't think I could put up with a lot of the stuff you teachers go through on a day to day basis. Other than Phillip and Gerry, have there been many other children out sick?"
Miss Francine nods her head. "Oh, yes, there seems to be something going around lately. Let's see, we have Otto out sick today, Gerry is still out, and two of our girls have been out since Monday."
After hearing this, Helga is suddenly very anxious to leave, and walks over to retrieve her sleeping boy. Placing Joy's carrier on the floor, she kneels down by Phillip's side and gently shakes his shoulder. "Hey, Phillip, it's me, Mommy. I've come to take you home."
Slowly opening his eyes, Phillip looks around the room that he is in without lifting his head. It takes a moment before he remembers why he's lying on a mat on the floor of Miss Francine's office. He shifts his gaze over to Helga now and begins to cry. Helga immediately does her best to sooth her weeping child. "Hey there, Philly, it's okay, I'm here now, and everything is going to be fine. Come on, let's get up and go home, okay?"
Phillip's cries grow louder while he shakes his head. "No, no, no, I don't wants to go home. If I go home I'll miss the Valentime's party and I won't gets a cupcake."
Helga reaches down and picks Phillip up, holding him so his head rests on her shoulder. She talks softly into his ear. "It's okay, Philly, that cupcake won't taste very good to you right now anyway."
His tears wet her shoulder as he talks through sobs. "B-b-but I was weally wanting one so bad."
Helga's motherly heart breaks a bit at her son's disappointment. "I know Baby, but I tell ya what. How about we go home now, and when you're all better, and can actually enjoy a cupcake, I'll take you to the store and let you pick out one of those really fancy ones with all the frosting. Okay?"
His sobs begin to subside and he rubs his nose across Helga's shoulder. "You pwomise?"
He can feel Helga's cheek rub up and down against the side of his head. "Yes, Baby, I promise."
His body goes limp now, his arms hanging at his sides, and he becomes dead weight in her arms. "Okays." Is all he gets out before he closes his eyes and falls back a sleep.
Struggling, Helga tucks the bag with Phillip's soiled clothes under her arm and reaches down to pick up Joy's carrier. After assuring Miss Francine and her aide that she can make it to the car on her own, the trio head back to the boarding house. Heaving a disappointed sigh of her own, Helga calls Chez Paris as she drives to cancel the night's dinner reservations.
She starts to make a mental note to herself to call Arnold to let him know what's going on, but it is forgotten when a duet of screams come her way from the back seat.
Raising her eyes to the rearview mirror, she looks at her son's tearstained face. He calls out her name as she pulls into the driveway of the boarding house. "Mommee, I don't feels good."
Hitting the garage door opener, she pulls into the garage and calls back to Phillip while sliding out of the car. "I know, baby, just hold on and I'll help you out of your seat."
Opening the rear door, she leans in and hovers over Phillip while opening up the straps that hold him into his car seat. He begins to cry harder. "I weally, weally don't feels good."
She removes the straps and prepares to lift him out of his seat when her eyes open wide. Phillip lifts his gaze up to her and she immediately recognizes the look on his face. She starts to shake her head no at the same time that Phillip opens his mouth. It's as if the bowels of earth have been opened up, the molten mixture of this morning's breakfast and last night's dinner spewing out at her, hitting her smack dab in the middle of her heaving chest.
A loud "NO!" escapes her, but it does nothing to stop the contents of Phillip's stomach from completely covering the front of her. The one thing it does do, however, is startle Joy, causing her to scream even louder.
It takes a moment for her to gather her senses and finally react to the situation. Pulling Phillip from his seat, she tells him to wait where he is while she retrieves his sister. Steeling her nerves, she reenters the car and releases Joy's carrier from its base. Looking down at her crying daughter, she realizes that Joy has had an accident of her own, and it takes every bit of her willpower not to retch at the smells that begin assaulting her.
Backing out of the car, she grabs the bag containing Phillip's soiled clothes and takes her disheveled crew into the house, having no idea how to even begin cleaning up the mess she is now confronted with.
She looks down at herself and the first thing to hit her is the smell. Her gag reflex begins to kick in and it's all she can do to rip her soaked shirt off of her. Grabbing it at the hem, she pulls it over her head without thinking and ends up with a face full of congealing vomit. She realizes her mistake a little too late, and all she can do now is to finish the process by ripping the shirt the rest of the way over her head, and throwing it to the floor where Phillip's soiled school clothes lay. She runs to the kitchen sink, turning on the faucet and cupping her hands under the running water. She cleans her face up, not noticing the small chunks that still cling to her hair.
When she's done, she grabs a dish towel and dries her face, then tosses the towel on the floor with her shirt. She turns to look at her children, thoughts of what to do next run through her mind. Grabbing Phillip first, she strips him down to his undies, and adds his soiled clothes to the rapidly growing pile that sits on the kitchen floor, figuring that once things are more settled she can then deal with the laundry.
Turning her attention to Joy now, she does a face palm when she notices the extent of her exploded diaper. She does her best to hold her breath as she removes Joy's sleeper. She uses the clean parts to wipe away as much of the mess as she can, then adds it to the pile.
Standing up, she carries Joy in one arm while lifting Phillip up with the other. She walks them both upstairs and into the bathroom where she runs a warm bath, thinking that if she can just get the kids cleaned up and into bed then she can have a shower of her own. Phillip refuses at first to get into the tub, and it takes a minute or two of cajoling before he finally acquiesces and gets into the warm water.
She leaves him to soak while she lowers Joy into the water at the other end of the tub. Giving her a quick washing, she takes her out of the water and wraps her up in a towel, laying her on the floor next to her so she can now concentrate on her son.
Grabbing a clean washcloth, she gives him a good scrubbing while softly assuring him that everything's going to be okay. Once he's clean she helps him out of the tub and wraps him up in a towel of his own before having him follow her into the nursery.
She quickly dresses Joy before laying her down in the crib, but the child will have nothing to do with it, and starts to cry once more. Frustrated, Helga begins to lose her cool. "Criminy, Joy, give me a break here, will ya?"
She turns to Phillip who is now shivering as he stands wrapped up in his wet towel. Getting down on one knee, she gives him some instructions. "Listen, Phillip, I need to go upstairs to your room and get you a clean pair of pajamas. I'm going to need you to stay here and keep an eye on Joy. When I come back down you're going to get into your pajamas and I'm going to put you in the empty room next to Mommy and Daddy's bedroom, okay?"
"You means the bedroom with the bed that comes out of the wall?" He asks through a shiver.
Helga gets up and nods her head. "Yeah, the one with the Murphy bed. I don't want you all the way up in your bedroom when you're this sick. Now, just hold on, I'll be back in one minute."
"Okay, Mommee." Phillip says as Helga rushes out of the room. She runs up the stairs to Phillip's room, giving Mr. Cheezy's cage a wide berth on her way to her son's dresser. She quickly picks out a couple of pair of underpants and a clean pair of pajamas and rushes back downstairs.
When she reenters the nursery a familiar smell hits her nose and she is scared to look into Joy's crib for fear of what she might find. Gathering her nerves, she peers into the crib and whispers a low "Crap."
With a third exploded diaper now to deal with, Helga hands Phillip his clothes. "Here, Philly, can you dress yourself for Mommy? I need to clean up Joy again."
Phillip nods his head and takes the clothes from his mother. Turning back to Joy now, she lifts her up and realizes that she is going to need to change the crib sheet yet again. Once she's undressed Joy she is relieved to see that at least the diaper only leaked from the leg holes and not all the way up to the waist, so this clean up job is not as bad as the other two were.
With both her children finally in clean clothes, she leads Phillip to his temporary room and while cradling Joy in one arm, she uses her free hand to pull down the Murphy bed for Phillip. Once the bed is securely in place, she motions for him to climb in.
She moves to the other side of the bed and sits down so she can nurse Joy until Phillip falls asleep. Reaching for the hem of her shirt she realizes for the first time that she is still only wearing a bra and gives an exasperated sigh.
There is a welcomed moment of quiet as Phillip drifts off into a fevered sleep while Joy contentedly suckles from Helga's breast. Ten minutes later Helga deems it safe enough to get up and bring Joy back to the nursery. She places Joy into her crib and quietly tip-toes out the door.
Looking down at herself, she wrinkles her nose at her stained pants and heads to her bedroom for some clean clothes. She thinks about how good it will feel to finally be clean while taking the fresh change of clothes to the bathroom. She turns on the shower and begins to remove her jeans when she hears Phillip calling for her. Giving her head a shake in disbelief, she pulls her pants back up, then remembers this time to put on a shirt. Turning off the shower, she calls out to Phillip as she walks. "Okay, Phillip, Mommy's coming."
She enters the room only to see her son sitting up in the bed, a puddle of fresh vomit beginning to soak into the bedsheets. Her shoulders slump and she lets out a frustrated, "Oh, Phillip."
The boy starts to cry again, which causes her to forget her frustrations and rush to his side. Assuring him that everything is okay, she begins to undress him when she hears her second child let out with a patented Pataki scream.
And so the afternoon goes, with one change of clothes after another, and all thoughts of a romantic Valentine's night the furthest thing from her mind.
xxxxx
A large smile spreads across Eugene's face as he hangs up his phone and throws it onto the bedside table. Jumping off the hotel's plush bed, he runs up to the bathroom door and swings it open.
A rush of steam hits him in the face as he rushes inside. "Hey, Jeremy, hurry up, I have some good news!"
Jeremy pulls aside the shower curtain just enough so that he can poke his head out. "Hey, slow down there. What's got you so excited?"
Eugene walks over to the toilet and places the lid down. Taking a seat he talks while Jeremy finishes his shower. "Well, you know how last night you said you wished that we could do something to celebrate Valentine's Day?"
Jeremy's voice fights with the sound of the shower and he has to yell a bit to make sure he's heard. "Yeah, what about it?"
Eugene begins to gloat. "Well, what would you say if I was to tell you that I scored us dinner reservations at one of the poshest restaurants in all of Hillwood?"
Jeremy turns off the shower now, and reaches for a towel. "I'd say that you'd better not be joking and getting my hopes up."
Eugene stands back up now and points to his chest with his thumb. "Well, I did, and I'm not joking. I was actually able to score us a table at none other than one of Hillwood's finest French restaurants, Chez Paris."
Jeremy gives Eugene an impresses look. "And just how did you do that, especially with it being the middle of the afternoon ON Valentine's Day?"
Eugene shrugs his shoulders. "I don't know, just our lucky day I guess. Someone had just called to cancel their reservation right before I called. How's that for luck?"
Jeremy wraps the towel he was using around his waist and heads back into their room. "Well, that's good for us, but bad for whomever had to cancel. I wonder what came up for them to cancel at the last minute like that."
Eugene follows Jeremy out of the bathroom and sits on the bed. "Who knows, maybe they got into a big fight or something. Oh, who cares, we've got dinner reservations!"
Jeremy slips on a pair of boxers and turns to look at Eugene. "Yeah, that's all well and fine, but, what are we going to wear? I certainly didn't pack anything fancy enough for a five star restaurant."
Eugene thinks about it for a moment then gives a snap of his fingers. "I know, what do you say to us spending the afternoon on a shopping spree? My treat. We can buy the works, suits, new shirts, shoes, everything!"
Jeremy sits down next to Eugene. "Your treat, huh?"
"Yep! My treat."
Jeremy reaches out and pulls Eugene towards him and smiles. "Well then, I say let's do it!"
xxxxx
Arnold drums his fingers on the top of his desk while listening to the parents of one of his students swear up and down that it must be the school's fault that their son is failing half of his classes. He's heard the spiel before, parents placing their child's unruly behaviors on everyone but themselves.
On a normal afternoon he would just sit it out and let them finish their tirade, but today he has other, more pressing matters on his mind, and after a good twenty minutes he finally cuts them off. "I understand what you're saying, Mrs. Sanders, but I really think this is something that would be much better discussed in person. Why don't we set up an appointment for whatever time works best for you? Say one day next week perhaps?"
After listening to a litany of reasons why such a meeting would be most inconvenient for them, they settle on continuing the conversation over the phone in the next day or two. With that matter settled, for now at least, Arnold is quick to gather up his stuff and get out of Dodge before another call has a chance to make it through. Stopping at the office to let them know that he will be out for the rest of the day, he high-tails it to his car.
Once settled behind the wheel of his beloved Packard, he turns on the radio, his body immediately relaxing once the first strains of soft jazz hit his ears. As he drives home he is hit with inspiration, and makes a quick stop into Vitello's Flowers. His imagination gets away with him as he pictures himself waltzing into the boarding house, carrying a bouquet of two dozen red roses and a heart shaped box of candy, presenting it with a flourish to his waiting wife. His plans are dashed, though, when he notices that the price for just one rose alone with a splash of baby's breath, is a whopping fifteen dollars. He doesn't need to do the math to know that there's no way he's going to put out that much money for something, that on a normal day, would cost a quarter of the price.
Remembering the time that Helga had sustained that bout of amnesia, he settles on a nice arrangement of yellow and white daisies instead, thinking that they fit Helga's personality much better anyway. He adds a small heart-shaped box of chocolates to the flowers and makes his purchase. His smile grows as he pulls into their garage and imagines the look on Helga's face when she sees the gifts that he has for her.
With thoughts of a quiet evening consisting of just the two of them running through his head, he is taken aback when he opens the door that leads from the garage to the kitchen. The first thing that assaults him is the stench, and he finds that he must cover both his mouth and nose in order to endure it. Wondering if the plumbing has perhaps backed-up somewhere in the house, he begins to look for the origin of the smell. He starts to walk but stops short as he's about to step into a pile of festering clothes. Stepping around the mess, he leaves the kitchen to go in search of the remainder of his little family.
He starts to walk towards the staircase, but stops when he hears movement coming from the family room. Changing direction, he steps into the doorway of the small room to see his wife pacing the floor with their whimpering daughter.
She has just paced the length of the family room, and turns to head back the other way when she sees her husband watching her. He stands with his eyes wide opened in a concerned shock, the bouquet of flowers and heart-shaped box are held forgotten at his sides.
Their eyes lock and it takes a second for him to talk. "Wh-what happened?"
She has kept it together the whole afternoon, being strong for her children, but she loses it at the sound of her husband's voice. With a deep inhale of breath, and a shudder of her shoulders, she begins to tell him about her day. "O-oh, A-Arnold, it's been just awful!"
He walks up to her and takes her in his arms. She leans into him, their whimpering daughter caught between them. He places his arms around her and starts to pull her in close when for the second time since coming home he is hit with the horrible smell of a day gone wrong. He notices dried bits of stuff he doesn't even want to think about stuck here and there in her hair, her shoulder's stained with a mixture of drying snot and spit-up. There are stains on her pants and shirt, and dried trails of tears line her cheeks.
He wants to step back and get away from the smell, but doesn't have the heart to abandon her in her time of need. Instead he talks to her through a soothing voice. "Oh, Helga, when did this all start? Where's Phillip? Is he sick too?"
Helga nods her head and talks into his shoulder. "Yes, I got a call from the school right after my doctor's appointment and had to go pick him up. And – and on the way home they both got sick, and Phillip threw up on me, and I – I took off my shirt and, and they were both crying, and pooping, and throwing up. They've both gone through two sets of bed sheets, and several pajamas, and – and – and I didn't even realize that I was practically topless until I tried to nurse Joy."
He takes a small step back and places his hands on either side of her face, lifting her gaze to his. "Why didn't you call anyone for help? Or call me? I could have come home."
She shakes her head while continuing to rock Joy. "I – I was so busy between the two of them I couldn't think. Just as I would get one cleaned up the other would start in again."
"Well where's Phillip now?"
"He – he's in the bedroom next to ours. He finally settled down about an hour ago. I was able to get a little chicken broth down him and he's been asleep ever since."
"So you've been dealing with this all day?" Helga says nothing, and just nods her head.
Looking at her in the state she's in tugs at Arnold's heart, and he finally comes to his senses enough to be of help. "Oh, Helga, you poor thing. Here, let me have Joy. I'll take care of her, and you can go upstairs and take a nice hot shower. How does that sound?"
Happy to finally have some relief, Helga hands off their fussy daughter. "That actually sounds fantastic. Oh, I did have the foresight to cancel our dinner reservations. I'm so sorry that the day's turned out like this, Arnold."
"Come on, Helga, you had no control over both kids getting sick at the same time, so stop worrying about it." He pauses for a moment but speaks up again when an idea hits him. "Hey, how about I order us a pizza while you take a shower. Okay?"
Helga nods her head as she slowly walks away. "That actually sounds delicious to me right now. I haven't had a thing to eat all day and I'm starving. Thanks, Arnoldo."
xxxxx
With Helga upstairs, Arnold heads down to the basement to where the washer and dryer is. Next to them is a deep wash basin which he proceeds to plug up and fill with water. Heading back up to the kitchen he uses the arm that is not holding Joy to grab the pile of soiled clothes. Walking back downstairs, he throws them into the filled basin to soak overnight.
Once that chore is done, he wets some paper towels and cleans up the spot on the floor where the dirty clothes were sitting. Happy with the job he's done, he finally remembers to call in their pizza. With it being a sort of holiday, the wait time is a bit longer than normal, so he heads back to the family room and puts on some slow music. He puts the flowers and chocolates that he had bought on top of the coffee table, then uses the sliding light switch to dim the lights. Once things are to his liking, he sits in his favorite reclining chair with Joy and waits for Helga to come back down.
Meanwhile, in the upstairs bathroom, Helga stands under the spray of the hot shower, relishing in the feel of the water as it washes away the days mess. She soaps up her hair, giving it a good scrub before rinsing and doing it again. She is tired and her body is sore, and she is in no hurry to finish. She allows herself a few extra minutes to let the water do its magic and before too long she is relaxed and ready for nothing more than food and the company of her husband.
When done, she wraps a towel around her hair before slipping into her old, comfortable nightgown. Before leaving the bathroom, she gives her hair a last rub then hangs up the towel. With her hair still damp, she heads downstairs to join Arnold.
Arnold gets up from his recliner when he sees her, and meets her in the middle of the room. Sensing that her mother is close by, Joy begins to fuss, so Helga takes her from Arnold. They stand facing each other and Helga nods her head towards the flowers and candy. "Is that for me?" She asks through a quiet smile.
Arnold nods his head in reply and takes a step closer to her. "Yeah, I thought it would be a nice start to our night.
Helga gives a little chuckle. "Heh, some night this has turned out to be."
Arnold takes another step forward and pulls her close while leaving just enough room between them for Joy to lay comfortably against Helga's chest. He places his forehead to hers and they begin to slowly sway to the music that plays from the radio. "To be honest, I can't think of any place else I'd rather be right now then right here in your arms."
A tear fills her eyes and she leans her head in so that his cheek rests just above her ear. He begins to croon along with the singer on the radio as they dance.
"Oh, my love, my darling
I've hungered for your touch,
A long, lonely time.
And time goes by, so slowly
And time can do so much,
Are you still mine?
I need your love
I need your love
God speed your love to –oo-oo meee."
Joy decides to cut her parents a break and falls asleep in Helga's arms as they continue to move their bodies to the rhythm of the music. The ending note of the song gets lost as Arnold leans in and gently places his lips to his wife's. The kiss is soft and tender, their lips lingering as they each savor the taste of the one they love.
The magical moment comes to a premature end when there is a knock at the front door. Breaking the kiss, Arnold takes a step back. His voice is deep and hoarse when he speaks. "That must be the pizza."
Helga nods her head in agreement. "Yeah, I guess so."
Arnold reaches out to brush a strand of Helga's damp hair behind her ear. "Tell you what, why don't you take Joy upstairs to the bassinet by our bed and I'll bring up the pizza and a couple of Yahoos and we can have dinner in bed."
Liking the idea, Helga nods her head. "Okay, sounds perfect."
They head out of the room, each going their separate ways once they hit the hallway. As Helga disappears up the stairs, Arnold greets the pizza guy at the door, leaving a generous tip for the guy's efforts. Taking the pizza to the kitchen, he opens the box to reveal a heart-shaped pepperoni pizza. He chuckles at the unexpected shape and grabs a couple of sodas and some napkins.
Thinking that the night might not necessarily be at a total loss, he is anxious to get upstairs now and takes the steps two at a time.
He enters the bedroom, holding the pizza box out with a flourish and announces, "I have arrived with heart-shaped sustenance in hand for my lady!"
He is stopped short when he looks at Helga and sees that she has passed out in pure exhaustion on her side of the bed. Disappointed, but hardly able to blame her, he gets into bed and sits up next to her.
Not wanting to wake her, he puts the pizza box on his lap, then leans down and places a kiss to the top of Helga's head. "Happy Valentine's Day, my love." He whispers before digging into his dinner.