Lucas pushed open the door with his elbow, his arms full of wet and soggy shopping bags as Michael slipped in under his arms. Struggling towards the small table, he dropped everything with a loud sigh of relief. Michael had dropped his wet coat on the floor and had gone immediately to the tv, turned it on and started jumping on the bed as if it were a trampoline. "Michael," Lucas reprimanded in a weary voice and the boy dropped to lie on the bed. He started pulling the milk, yogurt and sandwich meat out of the bags and put them away in the refrigerator.
After putting away all the groceries, he took out the clothes he had bought for Michael. Intending
to put them on top of the dresser, he started across the room, but he didn't see the toy truck on
the floor, tripped over it and ended up sprawled on the carpet. "We really need to pick this place
up," he groaned as he rubbed his injured elbow.
On the way to the bathroom, he grabbed dry clothes. The rain had started the morning after
Kristin had stopped by and hadn't let up for two days. It was a hard, chilly rain and they had
spent most of the time in the hotel room. Michael, who was used to a large house and a large
backyard was becoming increasingly restless and needed an outlet for his charged up energy.
The walls were starting to close in around them and in a desperate attempt to 'have fun', they had
gone out for dinner and shopping.
Shopping with a five year old was not an experience that Lucas wished to repeat anytime soon.
Of course, Michael knew how he was expected to act in public, but as any young child would, he
took full advantage of Lucas' lack of parental know how. In other words, there was a lot of
whining accompanied by I want this! Lucas was soon resorting to bribes to make the child
behave, which Michael cheerfully exploited. As a result, Lucas had a massive headache, no
money left and a sore heel from having a grocery cart rammed into it repeatedly by Michael. Plus
he was soaked to the skin.
After changing in the bathroom, he left his wet clothes in the bathtub and came back into the main room, drying his hair with a towel. "Michael..." he started before he noticed the boy was no longer on the bed. Looking up, he found the boy sitting in front of his laptop, pounding on the keys. A glass of water that had been sitting there had been knocked over, drenching important research papers and dripping off the side of the table.
The stress from the last couple of days bubbled over as a horrified exclamation escaped his lips.
"No!" Running over, he grabbed Michael out from the seat, swinging him up and away from the
computer. "No! I told you over and over again NOT to touch my things!" Face red, he was
yelling at the boy as the printer spit papers out into the air. He grabbed the computer, moving it to
the other side of the table, and threw the towel over the puddle on the table. Furiously, he typed,
watching as programs jumped on and off the screen. Quickly, he ran through the set up, trying to
figure out if all the parameters were still set correctly.
A scowl firmly attached to his face, Michael stated, "I was working, like you do, Lucas."
Lucas whirled around, and Michael back up slowly, his eyes wide with fright. "Don't TOUCH
my things!" Lucas roared, coming closer.
Giving a small whimper, Michael ran around the bed, crouching down and hiding on the other
side.
Stunned by the response, Lucas froze and took a deep breath. Oh, my, God, I'm acting like ... my
father, he thought in a panic. Michael must think I'm an ogre. Sitting on the bed, he rested his
head in his hands. What the hell am I doing here? Getting his emotions under control, he called
quietly, "Michael. It's ok. I'm sorry I yelled. Come here please?"
Blue eyes peeked out over the bed at him and Lucas tried to project a calm peaceful attitude.
Patting the bed next to him, he repeated, "Come here. We need to talk."
Michael still stood there, watching him warily. Then an idea came to Lucas. "How about I show
you how to use the laptop? Would you like that?" It occurred to him that Michael was definitely
above average in the intelligence department, just as the scientists had hoped. If he taught
Michael how to use the computer, then the kid wouldn't think of it as a play toy. Maybe they
could run out tomorrow and pick up a few of those kiddie programs he saw in the store.
Pulling up another chair, he sat in one and Michael came over to sit in the other one. The boy was
quiet as Lucas showed him some things on the computer and explained different programs and
functions but soon, the five year old was smiling again. They even sent email to Nathan and
Kristin.
After the computer lesson, they broke out some junk food and watched tv. The atmosphere was
still tense and Michael was still cautious around him, keeping space between them. Lucas didn't
push it, knowing that he had scared the kid. Hell, he had to admit he had even scared himself. It
had certainly become a week of over the edge emotions. He was going to have to make some
decisions soon, about the future. Hiding away in this hotel room was not working for either of
them.
Glancing over, he saw that Michael had fallen asleep at the end of the bed, his legs hanging off.
Groaning softly as he got up, he pulled down the sheet and maneuvered the warm soft body into
a comfortable sleeping position. The boy was so little, so sweet looking. He felt like a total jerk as
he thought about how he had yelled earlier. Gently, he touched the boy's silky hair and marveled
at the fact that this living breathing creature was his own flesh and blood. For the first time, he
bent down and kissed his son on the cheek. Climbing into his own bed, he laid on his back
staring at the ceiling, thinking about the future until sleep finally claimed him.
A few hours later, a strange noise woke Lucas from a deep sleep and he bolted straight up in bed.
There was another noise from the bed next to him and a disgusting smell made him wrinkled his
nose. Flicking on the bed light, he saw Michael sitting up, his hair and clothes covered with throw
up.
"Lucas?" The boy called in a weak voice. In a flash, Lucas was at the other bed.
"Michael!" Oh, God, what do I do now? "I'll be right back," he promised as he darted into the
bathroom. Wetting a face cloth with cool water, he grabbed the trash can and raced back to the
bed just in time to witness the boy gagging. Unfortunately, it was too late, and Michael erupted,
spraying Lucas' shirt with vomit.
"Ugh!" How could some one so little have so much in his belly, he wondered. Pulling off his
dirty shirt, he stuffed in a grocery bag and threw it in the trash can. Going into the bathroom, he
dampened a wash cloth and wiped Michael's hands and face with the cool cloth. Gingerly, he
pulled Michael's dirty shirt up over his head, and then pulled his pants off. "I'm going to have to
give you a bath." Michael was able to walk shakily into the bathroom and sat on the toilet seat
while Lucas filled the tub with a couple of inches of water.
The boy didn't say a word the whole time, and slouched in the bath tub, exhausted. Awkwardly,
Lucas managed to wipe him with a wash cloth, rubbed shampoo in his hair and used a cup to
rinse out the soap. He bundled Michael in a large towel, and carried him back to the beds.
Rubbing him dry, he found clean underwear, sweat pants and a sweat shirt and helped the boy
into them. Finally, he pulled the corners of the dirty sheets up into a pile. Boy, he was going to
owe the maid a big tip for this one. The whole time Michael's pale face with tired blue eyes stared
at him.
Picking up the phone, Lucas called the desk and asked for some clean sheets and a blanket,
hanging up without giving an explanation. Feeling rather nauseated himself, Lucas decided a
quick shower wouldn't hurt. He could leave the bathroom door open if Michael needed
something. Besides, it looked like he had fallen back to sleep. Maybe the whole thing was over
already. Leaning forward with his forearms, his forehead resting against the wall, he let the hot
water beat on his shoulders. He dried off and wrapped the towel around his waist, leaving the
bathroom. Happily, Michael was still asleep. Wondering where the clean sheets were so that he
could make the other bed and go back to sleep himself, Lucas cracked the room door and looked
out in the hallway. The requested items were sitting there on the floor. Nobody was in the hall, so
Lucas went a few steps out of the room to pick up the pile. It took him a little more effort then he
realized to hold the towel in place with one hand and grab the linens with the other so he moved
out a little more.
*CLICK*
The door shut behind him and in an instant, he realized his mistake. Knocking softly on the door,
he called,"Michael? Michael, I need you to open the door." Then he started knocking louder.
"Michael? I need your help...please?"
Shit. Good move, Wolenczak. Some genius you are. What if the kid gets sick again, and wakes
up, and realizes he's alone. Gathering his courage, he wrapped the towel tightly around him, he
marched to the front desk. Two female guests walking down the hallway, passed him. One
whispered to the other and they both giggled. His cheeks flushed bright with embarrassment as
the words "nice towel" floated back to him. The night clerk just raised an eyebrow at his attire
and handed him an extra key without a word. Lucas ran back to the room, gathered the sheets
and blanket while still trying to maintain a grasp on the towel, and awkwardly opened the door.
As he dropped the clean sheets on the floor and rummage through his clothes pile to find some
clean clothes, he thanked his lucky stars that Michael was still asleep. Gathering up the dirty bed
linens, he threw them into the bath tub and made up the bed. Sighing softly, he found a
comfortable portion ready let sleep reclaim him. Unfortunately, that's as far has he got because
Michael was calling for him again.
Two hours passed slowly and Michael threw up four more times and he fell in and out of a
restless sleep. Lucas was soon reaching the hysterical stage. Using his laptop, he hacked into the
seaQuest medical data base and he was horrified to find all sorts of illness with throwing up as a
side effect. Wrapping Michael in the blanket, he pulled his pants on and grabbed his wallet.
Carefully, he lifted the boy up and cradled him against his chest. Kristin would know what to do.
***