Blaine balanced his cranky toddler on his hip as he tapped Kurt's contact name in his phone. Madeline wrapped her arms around his neck and sniffled.
"Hello?" Kurt answered.
"Hey," Blaine said. He balanced the phone between his shoulder and ear as he tried to buckle her into her car seat. "I got a call from the daycare. Madeline has a fever so I'm bringing her home. How is Micah?"
"He threw up again," Kurt sighed. "I tried to get him to eat lunch but he took three bites and got sick. We're on the couch watching Disney."
In the middle of the night their four-year-old son had woken up sick and feverish. Kurt didn't have to work on Fridays so he stayed home with him. Coincidentally their eighteen-month-old daughter decided to get sick at the same time. It was going to be a long weekend with two sick toddlers.
"I'll be home in a little bit. I'll cook dinner tonight," he offered.
"Okay," Kurt replied. He sounded worn out. "See you in a little bit." Blaine put his phone in his pocket and began to drive back to their apartment. Madeline was normally so full of energy, but she sat still in her seat, dozing in and out of sleep.
Once they were home Blaine carried her through the lobby of their building and up to their floor.
"Papa," she whined, pulling on his hair. Blaine gently tugged her little hand away from his head.
"We're almost home," he told her. "Want to see Daddy and Brother?" she nodded sleepily, barely keeping her little brown eyes open. Blaine stepped inside their tiny apartment and shut the door quietly. Kurt was in pajamas, surprisingly, and Micah was curled up on his lap.
"Hey," Kurt said to him, yawning. Blaine kicked off his shoes and set his daughter down next to her brother.
"Hey. I'm gonna go change clothes. Then I can take care of them. You need a break." Kurt nodded but didn't say anything back. Blaine gave him a quick kiss before he went back to their master bedroom and changed into comfortable pajamas. Kurt came in several seconds later and went straight for the bathroom. He didn't even bother to shut the door behind him as he suddenly doubled over. "Kurt?" his husband didn't reply, but threw up violently and out of the blue. Blaine hurried to his side and eased him down so he was sitting on the edge of the bathtub.
"I'm okay," he choked, pressing his hand over his mouth. Blaine rubbed his back and felt his forehead.
"You're sick, too," he said. Two sick toddlers, and now Kurt was ill as well. Blaine could only hope he wasn't next. Then who would take care of all of them? Kurt shivered and rubbed his eyes.
"I'm okay," he repeated. "You can't take care of all three of us." He stood up and Blaine made him get into bed.
"It's fine," he assured him. "I'll get you a drink here in a minute. Let me go check on them before they get into trouble." Kurt nodded and shut his eyes, and Blaine went back into the living room.
"Where's Daddy?" Micah asked. Madeline held her arms up and Blaine picked her up.
"Daddy is sick like you," he told him. "Papa's going to take care of you. Are you hungry?" Micah shook his head and stuck his thumb in his mouth.
"I hungry," Madeline spoke up. Blaine carried her into the bedroom she and Micah shared and took her shoes off, then dressed her in the same pajamas she wore the night before.
"What do you want to eat?" he asked her, taking her into the kitchen. "How about some applesauce?" she nodded, so Blaine spooned her some into a bowl. He decided to break the rules and let her eat on the couch.
"My tummy hurts, Papa," Micah moaned. Blaine wanted to get back to Kurt, but he couldn't just ignore him. Blaine sat by him on the couch and brushed his hair back from his face.
"You feel hot. Do you want to take a bath to cool you off?" he asked. He nodded slowly, clutching his prized blanket in his arm. "Alright. Hang on one minute. I'm going to check on Daddy." Blaine got up and grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge, then quietly went back to the bedroom. "Kurt?" Kurt rolled over to face him. He looked incredibly pale, and barely awake. "How do you feel?"
"Tired," he mumbled. "Micah wore me out. M' stomach hurts. Are they both okay?"
"They're fine," he reassured him. "Madeline's eating and I'm going to give Micah a bath to cool him off. I brought you some water. Do you want to take some Tylenol or something?" Kurt shook his head as he took a drink.
"I just want to sleep," he murmured. "I'll be okay." Blaine kissed his cheek and ran his fingers through his soft hair.
"I'll check on you later. Tell me if you need anything." Kurt nodded, closing his eyes again. Blaine started a bath for Micah and got him cleaned up. He was sleepy once he got him dressed in clean pajamas, but wouldn't get in bed. Madeline insisted on being held the whole evening and couldn't get comfortable. She couldn't talk very well yet, but it was clear her ears were bothering her. Blaine wanted to get them settled down so they would hopefully fall asleep, so he put a movie on.
Half an hour into Toy Story 3, Kurt shuffled into the living room. His hair was sticking up in every direction, and he looked like he was still half asleep.
"Daddy," Micah said, scooting over to make room for him.
"Hi, baby," he said weakly. He stroked Micah's hair and laid his head on Blaine's shoulder.
"How are you feeling?" he asked him.
"I don't know," he said slowly. "I think I have a headache. I wanted to make sure everything was okay." Blaine kissed the top of his head.
"We're fine," he told him. "I think you should be getting some rest. I'm trying to get them to fall asleep so I can come take care of you." Kurt sat up and sighed.
"I'm fine," he argued weakly.
Kurt stayed for a little bit, but then went back to bed. Micah was starting to feel sick again and Madeline began to cry from her ears hurting. Blaine was getting overwhelmed with having to take care of three people. Micah threw up in the bathroom and began to cry as well as his sister. Blaine got him cleaned up and let him have some juice to drink to calm him down, and he gave them both children's Tylenol. They seemed to have worn themselves out by crying, and once he turned the movie back on they fell asleep quickly. Madeline was sprawled out on his lap, and Micah was curled up against him, huddled under his blanket. Blaine carried them to their room one by one and tucked them in snugly. After giving them each a kiss on the forehead he decided to check on Kurt again.
The lamp on his nightstand was on, and he was watching TV idly.
"Are they asleep?" he asked. Blaine nodded.
"Mm hmm. Micah threw up, but I gave them both medicine and they fell asleep. How are you?" he asked. Kurt set the remote down and blinked slowly.
"I got sick again," he confessed. "Right after I came back here." Blaine frowned. He would've thought he would have heard him if he threw up.
"You should've told me," Blaine said to him. "Have you had anything to drink? I don't want you to get dehydrated."
Kurt nodded, closing his eyes. "I'm fine. Can you stay in here? I don't want to be alone anymore." Blaine felt bad for not getting to spend time with him and take care of him properly.
"Yeah, I'll stay," he promised. "Do you need me to get you anything?" Kurt shook his head, and Blaine turned off the lamp before carefully crawling into bed next to him. Blaine was physically and mentally worn out from taking care of three people at once. He was more than ready to go to sleep. Kurt flipped onto his stomach, and Blaine rubbed his back. He hated when Kurt was sick. He would always try to blow it off as just being tired or a few allergies. If was much easier when he came out about it and admitted he was sick.
Blaine spent the majority of the night up with one child or another. Madeline couldn't sleep because of her earache, Micah threw up and wanted to stay awake all night. Blaine tried to keep things under control so Kurt wouldn't be woken up. He got their son all cleaned up and gave them both some warm milk to relax them. Micah went to sleep, but Madeline continued to fuss endlessly, and insisted on being held.
It seemed to take hours to get her to fall asleep. The minute she dozed off Blaine was back in bed. Kurt had woken up from all the commotion.
"What happened?" he mumbled.
"Nothing," Blaine lied, snuggling up next to him. "They don't feel good. I got them back to sleep. How are you feeling?" Kurt yawned and blinked slowly.
"Better," he sighed. "Still tired. Let's go to sleep."
"I like that idea." Blaine draped his arm over his husband and had no trouble falling asleep. With any luck the next day would be better for all of them.
Author's Notes:
So Kurt and Blaine have two kids. I figured they would at least want one boy and one girl, but three kids would be a little overwhelming, especially for living in a little New York apartment. Biologically Micah is Kurt's and Madeline is Blaine's. Let me know what you thought!