A/N Okay, so now that Halloween has come and gone, I have to tell you all about the rest of Collin's Halloween costume. First of all as I said he had his leather jacket, blue mohawk, and little blue electric guitar. But he also had a roadie (the daddy) who also drove the tour bus (little red wagon) when we went trick or treating. He also had his own personal groupie (me!). But here's the best part. I had a concert shirt! It said "Well Hungarians" on the front and "Well Hungarians 2003 Paying the RENT tour" on the back. Okay, so I'm pathetic, but I had fun with my baby on Halloween! And he looked so cute playing his little guitar! Any way, I wore the shirt to our playgroup Halloween party and one of the mom's asked me if that was a real group. I cracked up! Okay, enough from me. Here's the next chapter. Thanks for sticking with me for so long.

Kelby (aka the groupie)

Chapter 91

"Okay. Right. That's what I thought. Thanks." Cass hung up the phone.

"Well?" Maureen asked from the couch.

"If he's going to get them, they'll show up in a few days, but he's contagious right now."

"Great. So what do you do?"

"Quarantine him I guess." Cass shrugged. "No Roger. No Collins. And I guess we need to check to make sure everybody else already had them too."

"Well I had them when I was like five."

"Good. Me too."

"Mommy? Can I have a snack?" Collin called from his room.

"Yes. Give me a minute." Cass called to him before turning back to Maureen.

"What about the past few days?"

"Well, luckily, he hasn't really seen him. Roger's been at the bar the past three nights till after he went to bed. And he left before he got home from school. So I think I'm okay there. Let's just hope."

"Where is he now?"

"The Iguana. He had to place a liquor order then he'll be home. The bad thing is, because he hadn't seen him in a few days, Roger promised him they'd go do something today."

"Uh oh."

"Yes." She nodded sadly. "I suppose I should go pack up some stuff for him." Cass got up and walked towards their room. "So you want him or do I send him to Collins and Jason's?"

Maureen laughed. "We'll take him. I'm still surprised we were able to pry Mark and Roger apart so we could move downstairs to begin with!"

"Mommy?"

"I'm coming. Just hold on."

"I'll get him something." Maureen told her, walking towards the kitchen. She fixed Collin a snack and took it into him. After letting him beat her on a video game they came out into the living room.

When Collin saw the suitcase and the guitar in it's case by the door his lower lip came out and started to quiver. "Where's Daddy going?"

"Oh Sweetie…"

"Daddy said we'd go out when he got home." He started to cry.

"I know." She picked him up and sat down on the couch. "But you can't, not today. Not for a few days."

"Why?"

"Daddy's got to stay with Aunt Mo and Uncle Mark for a few days."

"Is he in trouble?"

Cass laughed. "No Daddy's not in trouble. And you aren't either. But Noah, at your school, he's got chicken pox and I'm afraid you're going to get them too."

"But I don't want a chicken. I want Daddy."

Both Cass and Maureen laughed at that. "No, I'm afraid you're going to get sick and we can't let Dad get sick. Remember?"

Collin nodded while his lip still quivered. In his whole three and a half years he'd been told that a number of times. He still never really understood it, but he accepted it somewhat. "But I wanna see Daddy."

"I know Baby. And Daddy will want to see you too. But not for a few days okay? Just till we know he can't get sick too. Okay? But you can call him. Whenever you want. Deal?" He nodded. "Okay. How about you take a nap now?"

She carried him into his room. After a few minutes she was able to get him to lie down. After Maureen left, Cass tried to get some work done. About an hour later she heard Roger's keys in the door. He opened it as far as the chain would allow.

"Cass." He called into the loft.

"Shhh. You'll wake him up." She closed the door and undid the chain.


"Why did you have the chain on the door?"

"Shhh. I don't want him to hear you." She stepped out the door and motioned for Roger to sit on the steps.

"What's going on?" He sat down, pulling her close.

"You have to move out for a few days." Cass told him softly.

"What?"

"Shhh. He's already upset. Don't let him hear you. His teacher called. I picked him up early. His friend Noah came down with the chicken pox this morning."

"So why do I have to move out? I had the chicken pox when I was little."

"Well, I called the pediatrician. Noah would have been contagious last week at school, making Collin contagious now. So then I called your doctor. He said it would be better to keep you away from him."

"Great." Roger dropped his head back against the wall. "So what does that mean?"

"It means you and Collins and anybody else who never had chicken pox has to stay away from Typhoid Collin for a few days." She tried to joke. "I packed some stuff for you. Mo took a bag of clothes and your guitar down to their place."

Roger let out a long sigh. "I hate this. This totally sucks!"

"I know Baby. It's only for a few days."

"But I promised him…"

"It's only a few days."

"I had chicken pox when I was little. I can't get them again."

"No, but you can still get sick." She turned and looked at him. "And he'll get over not seeing you for a few days easier than he'd get over you getting sick."

"I still hate this."

"I know Baby. I know."

******************

"Oh the poor kid is covered in red bumps Joanie. Plus I cut and filed his nails down to nothing so he won't scratch. Then on top of that I've got almost every square inch of him patted down in pick calamine lotion. If the whole thing wasn't so sad, it'd be funny."

"I know what you mean." Joanie laughed. "But other than that how are they?"

"Pouting. Both of them. Do you know Roger had Mark come in here, open up the screen and prop the window in Collin's room. For three days in a row he's been sneaking up the fire escape and bringing him ice cream."

"Oh that's so sweet. Do they know you know?"

"No. I figured I'd let them think they were pulling a fast one on me. Plus the little TV his playstation is hooked up to is moved closer to the window too. I think he's playing video games with him from the fire escape. Now instead of worrying about him getting chicken pox I'll end up worrying about him getting pneumonia from sitting out there."

"I'll talk to Roger. Get him to tell me so he still thinks they are fooling you. I'll make sure he's wearing a coat. You know Mark will too."

"True, but Mark's been avoiding me. I think he's afraid I can smell them scamming me or something."

"You have to love Mark for that." Joanie laughed. "What happened with Izzy and Krystal's little boy?"

"Well," Cass laughed, "I told Krystal about it the same day I found out, she almost ran over here with Mattie. She made them go play and like every fifteen minutes she kept telling Collin to give Mattie a kiss and a hug. She just desperately wanted that child to get them and get it over with."

"That's funny, but I can understand it. Did it work?"

"Yup. She called me this morning. He's all broken out."

"Well that's good. So can I talk to him?"

"Sure hold on." Cass moved the phone some. "Collin, Grandma's on the phone."

"Coming." He called back from his room.

"He's coming Joanie. He, hey, where did you get that pizza?" Cass asked as Collin walked out of his bedroom chewing on a pizza crust.


"I don't know." He shrugged.

"Oh he's gonna get it. I'll talk to you later Joanie." Cass whispered into the phone to Joanie who was laughing as she handed the phone to Collin.

"Hi Grandma! Know what? I got chicken pops! And Mommy won't let Daddy or Uncle Collins come home."

Cass heard him start talking as she walked into this room. She saw the napkin his pizza slice must have been on sitting on the windowsill next to a soda can and Collin's "Go Fish" card game. She opened up the window and leaned out. Cass could hear footsteps going down the fire escape just below her. "You're busted Davis!" She yelled down. The footsteps started back up the steps.


"Who me?" He looked up at her, giving her his most innocent look. "I wasn't doing anything, just going for a walk." He laughed.

"Right." Cass laughed back at him.

"How did you know I was out here?"

"The pizza crust that mysteriously appeared from his room."

"He sell me out?" He grinned.

"Nope. When I asked where he got it he said he didn't know. She gave him a look.

"That's my boy." H laughed. "When you going to let me come home?" He asked coming the rest of the way up.

"Maybe two more days. After he goes to the doctor."

"Okay. I don't suppose I can talk you into anything sooner?"

"Nope. Sorry. But I only kicked you out because I love you."

"If you loved me you wouldn't have made me go live with Mark and Mo again."

"Sorry Baby. But I miss you." She leaned out and ran her finger down his chest.

"Me too." He leaned over and kissed her.

"Mommy!" Collin called from the living room.

Cass broke away from him. "Sorry. Looks like I gotta go. You too."

"We gotta work on his timing." Roger grinned, pulling her in for another kiss.

"Mommy?"

"I gotta go. Just a couple more days. Love you Babe."

"You too."

Cass closed the window, being sure not to dislodge Mark's secret little wood slate that pushed the window open.