Sara carefully measured the instructed amount of antibiotic for Liz's strep throat out onto a spoon; She knew Liz hated the medicine but she wanted her to get better.
Her eyes watered as the smell of the drug wafted up to her nose; She felt terrible that Liz had to ingest such a foul smelling thing.
"Liz, come take your medicine," Sara called to her daughter.
Liz walked sadly into the kitchen; She did look a bit better. Her eyes were no longer as glassy and she wasn't coughing as much.
She climbed onto her favorite chair and opened her mouth. She braced herself for the horrible tasting medication.
"Mommy that tastes so bad," Liz gagged after swallowing the dark liquid that had smelled as bad as it tasted.
"I know sweetie. How about a popsicle?"
Sara stood up from her seat to get Liz something to take the flavor out of Liz's mouth but her daughter stopped her.
"No, that's okay. Daddy and I are watching Spongebob."
Liz jumped out of the chair and ran off to Gil.
Sara smirked; The thought of her entomologist husband watching a show about a sponge living in the ocean was very amusing.
She walked toward the living room with a smile on her face. Quiet laughter could be heard coming from the room.
"So… Spongebob?" She asked, leaning on the door frame.
Gil and Liz were seated on the floor, side by side, laughing at the television.
"It's rather funny," Gil chuckled, lying down completely on the floor and patting the spot next to him, inviting Sara to join the two.
"What is so funny about misinforming our children?"
She ambled into the room, stepping over Lily's sleeping form, and sat down next to Gil.
"Nothing at all, it's just funny for some odd reason."
He tugged on her arm, forcing her to lay down next to him; She propped herself up with her right elbow and watched Liz giggle at the odd creatures on the television screen.
"You're working tonight, too, right?" Gil inquired, tracing Sara's jaw with his index finger.
She nodded, causing her hair to fall in her face.
"Yeah. That reminds me; Liz? Aunt Catherine is going to babysit you tonight."
Sara felt bad for not remembering to tell Liz Catherine was going to babysit; It broke her heart to leave Liz at home, even if she knew Liz loved it whenever Catherine came over.
"Okay. I need to get Lily some water. Come on, girl!" Liz scampered out of the room with Lily in hot pursuit, not caring at all that her parents would be gone later that night.
Gil sat up and moved to the couch; Sara scooted her way backward so her back was against the couch.
Without any warning, he began rubbing her shoulders.
Sara moaned quietly, the every day stress that built up moving from her body with Gil's tender movements.
She closed her eyes and dropped her head, hair falling around her face.
"You really should do this more often," She laughed.
Gil smiled; He loved it when Sara was happy. It happened more often than it used to, but not nearly enough.
"I'm that good, huh?"
With his thumbs placed at the beginning of Sara's shoulder blades, he applied a small amount of pressure and moved inward.
Sara sighed; She couldn't believe how amazing his back massages were.
"Mmm-hmm. It's astounding; You read insect magazines all the time and you can massage like that? Wow," Sara smirked.
Gil nodded silently, still softly kneading Sara's neck.
Hours seemed to pass and finally the phone rang, jolting the couple from their trance-like state.
"Mommy! It's Aunt Cath!" Liz called from the kitchen.
Sara stood up, gave Gil a kiss and rushed off to get the telephone; Gil sat on the couch in disbelief. How was it that Catherine always called at the worst times?
"Liz, you are not supposed to answer the phone, honey," He heard Sara remind Liz.
Running footsteps echoed down the hall and a moment later, Liz ran into the living room with a smile.
"Did you answer the phone?" Gil inquired as Liz climbed onto his lap.
"Yes. It was ringing!"
A plunking sound from the television forced them both to look toward it; Spongebob was still on.
"Gil, we are going to be so late! Get dressed!" Sara called.
She ran up the stairs; How could she have forgotten to check the time?
It could have been that Gil's back rub distracted her. Or that she just simply didn't care about going to work tonight. Either way, it was not acceptable to be late.
"Sara, I am dressed. What's your hurry? I mean, Catherine's not even—" Gil started from the bottom of the stairs but was cut off by the doorbell. "Here yet."
"She called to say she was a block away! What is wrong with me? I should have checked the clock!"
Gil abandoned his questions to answer the door; He walked the few steps to the door and pulled it open.
"Hey," Catherine greeted happily. "Sorry I'm late!"
"It's okay; We're not exactly on time."
Sara rushed down the stairs as she finished pulling the blue and black t-shirt over her head.
"Hi, thanks for babysitting. We'll see you later!" She hastily informed Catherine, who was standing by the door, still donning her coat and hat.
"Thanks. Sara, tell Liz goodbye," Gil laughed.
"Bye Liz. We'll see you in the morning," Sara gave Liz a quick peck on the cheek.
As Gil followed her out the door, a harsh reality struck her; She was the kind of parent she had never wanted to be.
"How could I forget to kiss my own daughter goodbye?" She asked while the two got in the Tahoe.
"We were in a hurry; It's okay. I'm sure it happens to every parent at some time or another. Don't worry about it, okay?"
Sara nodded; Gil gently kissed her on the cheek then started the vehicle.
As he backed the car out of the driveway, narrowly missing Catherine's car due to her rather poor parking job, she couldn't help but keep the subject on her mind.