HI, how are you all? Hope you're well and staying safe! This is just a standalone for the challenge I set for 'Molly's sick and Charles looks after.' Thank you for everyone who has already got involved and anyone who is interested in more than welcome to add.

This is set in AU where Elvis is still alive and everyone is happy (Although a little ill)

Hope you like it.

The Pox

"Hello?" Charles answered his mobile phone, sounding as tired as he felt.

"Alright, Mate?" Elvis greeted. "I was looking for you on base but was told you were taking some time off…Everything okay?"

Charles sighed and rubbed his eyes as he sat down at the kitchen table. "Yeah, Sam has come down with the chicken pox… he's passed them onto Emilia and Rebecca is away on holiday so he's here for the duration."

"You playing medic's assistant then?"

"No, it turns out that Molly never had them when she was a kid so…"

"So you're the last man standing…." Elvis guessed.

"Something like that…" Charles replied. "And stop it."

"What?"

"Smirking!" He stated. "I can hear it in your voice…"

"Daddy!" His son called from upstairs tearfully before Elvis could reply and caused Charles to groan when his 9 months old daughter's cries followed.

"I better go…"

"Alright….and Charlie?"

"What?"

"Stay focused…stay alert…stay alive."

"Piss off!" Charles hung up the phone when he heard Elvis start to laugh.

He heard Sam call out again and quickly ran up the stairs, glancing at the clock to see it was after 8pm which meant it was way past both the kids' bed time. When he reached the top, he saw Molly coming out of their bedroom, moving slowly and with a blanket wrapped around her shoulders.

"Hey, get back to bed…"

"The kids…"

"I'm here…I can deal with them." He told her. "Bed, now and that's an order…"

"If I didn't feel so crap, I'd remind you I'm not in the army anymore…" She muttered as she turned to go back into their room.

Charles rolled his eyes before moving towards Emilia's bedroom. "I'll be right in, Sam…"

His heart broke when he saw his little girl sat up in her cot, tears running down her red face. When he entered the room, she instantly held her arms out to him.

"Come here, Beautiful…" He lifted her up, noting how warm she was. "Let's go see your big brother…"

He started to strip off her sleepsuit as he crossed the landing, leaving her just in a thin vest and nappy in hope it might help reduce her temperature.

"I didn't mean to wake her…" Sam said when Charles entered his room, sounding utterly miserable.

"It's okay, Scamp…I need to give her some medication anyway." Charles said softly, sitting on the edge of his son's bed. He held Emilia on his lap with one hand and reached the other out to feel Sam's forehead. "How are you feeling?"

Sam shrugged a little. "Achy and itchy."

"I'm sorry, Bud…chicken pox is pretty sucky, isn't it?" Charles replied sympathetically.

Sam nodded silently, with his bottom lip trembling slightly.

"Alright, here's the plan…I'll get you both some more medicine and then we'll read a story together before you go back to sleep."

"Okay…" Sam mumbled quietly, reaching up to rub his tear filled eyes.

"Try not to scratch them, Scamp…" Charles caught his hand as he moved to a spot on his cheek. "I know it itches but it'll make them worse."

"I can't help it…"

Charles frowned a little as he wondered how he was meant to get his 7 year old through the next couple of days without him scratching; at least they could put mittens on Emilia.

"I have an idea…" Charles settled Emilia on the bed beside Sam before leaning across and opened a draw. Sam watched his Dad curiously as he pulled out a pair of socks and was bemused when Charles rolled them onto his hands.

"Socks are meant to go on my feet, Daddy!"

"I know but it'll help like Emmy's mittens." Charles laughed lightly when he saw Sam still looking at his hands doubtfully. "Why don't you lie down while I'll go and get the medicine?"

"Okay…" Sam settled back against his pillow.

"Watch Emmy, okay? Make sure she doesn't roll off."

"I won't…" He put a protective arm around his sister.

Charles smiled at them both before standing up, knowing they would be okay for a few minutes; Sam took his big brother duties very seriously.

Running down the stairs to the kitchen, he filled up a plastic beaker with some water and grabbed the medication when he noticed he had a text message alert on his phone. He rolled his eyes when he saw it was a message from Elvis with a link to a Nurse's fancy dress uniform.

Returning to Sam's room, he found them exactly how he left them. He knew they must be feeling pretty rough because normally Sam would be doing anything to entertain Emilia and she adored the attention from her brother.

"Right, let's get this medicine into you…" Charles placed everything on Sam's little nightstand and sat back down on the side of the bed. First he gave Emilia a dose then Sam before producing two biscuits. "Don't tell Molly I let you eat in bed…"

Sam couldn't stop a small giggle as he took the biscuit knowing it was normally his Dad who wouldn't let him eat in bed not his step-mum. As Charles pulled Emilia back onto his lap, he broke the second biscuit up for her and knew he'd allow anything right now if it made his kids feel a little better.

"So, what story do you want to hear?" Charles asked.

"An army one…" Sam stated; he had never asked Charles to read him a storybook, he much preferred the ones he made up based on his life in the army.

"Okay…" Charles moved to leaned back against the wall and settled Emilia against his chest, stroking her back as he begun the story.

He wasn't surprised when they both were asleep after 5 minutes. He stayed a little longer to make sure Sam was fully asleep before quietly, sneaking out of the room. Moving carefully, he crossed over to Emilia's room and led her down. He sighed in relief when she stirred slightly but stayed asleep.

He ran a hand over his tired eyes as he headed back downstairs and glanced at his watch to see it wasn't even 9pm yet but it had been a long couple of days trying to take care of all three of them.

After having a quick tidy up, he decided he might as well get an early night too. He was surprised to find Molly awake, sat up in bed.

"Hey, how you feeling?" He asked softly.

"Bloody dreadful…" She admitted and couldn't stop a yawn. "And I feel as tired as you look."

Charles let out a small laugh, sitting down beside her. "It's like when Emilia was a new-born and none of us got any sleep..."

"Thank you though…." She reached out and took his hand.

"What for?"

"Looking after us all…"

"Of course, I'm going to look after you." He stated. "You don't need to thank me…"

"We might make a medic out of you yet…" She teased.

"I've done my fair share of medic's courses thank you, Dawes…" He shot back and frowned when he saw her moving to get up. "Where are you going?"

"Downstairs…"

"You need to stay in bed…" He tried to guide her back under the covers.

"But I need a drink..."

"Well, that's what I'm here for."

"You look shattered." She replied. "I can cope with going to make a cuppa."

He had to steady her when she got to her feet and wobbled slightly. "Please, just get back into bed…You still have a temperature."

"This is stupid!" She moaned. "It's a bleeding kids' disease…."

"Well, your mum says you spent so much of your childhood out with your mates that you never caught it with the rest of your brothers and sisters." Charles pulled the covers back over her.

"I wish I had now…"

"Right, you stay there and I'll make you a cup of tea."

She reached out and caught his hand before he moved too far away. "Will you come and sit with me? Keep me company."

He smiled and leaned down to kiss her forehead. "Of course."

Molly led back against the pillow with a sigh when he left the room. She hated that she was stuck in bed and wasn't able to look after the kids. Every time she tried to get up to help, she found she had no energy but luckily, Charles seemed to have everything under control.

"Right, I have tea, water, toast, paracetamol and some camomile tea…" Charles stated as he re-entered the bedroom holding a full tray.

Molly pulled a face. "The camomile tea better be for you…"

"Actually it's for your spots." He told her, setting the tray gently on the bed as he sat down and then handed her a mug of breakfast tea. "My mum says it'll help with the itching….If it doesn't work, I gave the kids an oatmeal bath earlier which seemed to help…"

"You going to bathe me too?" She teased, sipping the hot tea.

"Well, strictly for the good of your health of course." He replied with a smirk.

"Of course…" She rolled her eyes, putting her mug onto her bedside table when he held out the paracetamols and a bottle of water to her. "Thanks…"

"Try and eat some of the toast…" He said as he put the bowl of camomile tea on his own bedside table to allow it to cool. "You haven't eaten much at all over the last couple of days…"

"I've just felt too tired…" She stated, reaching for one of the four slices on the plate. "But I'm actually a little hungry so maybe I'm getting better."

"I hope so…" He sipped his coffee before taking a slice of toast too.

"I can't believe you're okay with me eating in bed…" Molly commented. "And you're eating too…"

"Don't tell the kids…"

"What's the marker pen for?" She asked, seeing it was the last item on the tray.

"Gets pretty boring being the only one awake so thought I'd play a little dot to dot while you're asleep…."

"Don't you bloody dare!" She elbowed him in the ribs.

He laughed and then pulled a piece of paper out of his pocket. Molly saw that he was writing down the times each of them was taking medication and was recording their temperatures.

"You really do have everything under control."

"I just want you all to get better…"

"I'm sure another day or so we will be…" She said softly. "It's just chicken pox…nothing to worry about… we all will be fine."

"I know but I hate seeing you all like this…" He sighed quietly. "Poor Emmy doesn't even understand… I wish I could make you all feel better."

"You looking after us is making us feel better." She reassured him.

Before Charles could reply, Emilia started to cry.

"She's definitely a James…cos us Dawes like our sleep." Molly joked just like she did every night their daughter woke up.

"Well, you've certainly been sleeping all day while I've been busy…"

"Oi! I'm ill!" She complained although knew he was only teasing.

He grinned at her as he got off the bed and headed for the door. Molly managed to eat a slice of toast and was sipping her tea as she tried to listen to what was going on in her daughter's room. After a few more minutes, she couldn't resist and got to her feet. She quietly made her way out of the bedroom and across the landing. She smiled when she saw her husband slowly walking around the room, their daughter securely in his arms. Watching him with her was one of Molly's favourite things. She teased him by saying he had turned Emilia into such a daddy's girl and that he was going to let her get away with murder when she was older. The truth was she loved how close they already were, even if it meant Emmy always wanting her Daddy.

"She okay?" Molly asked quietly when Charles looked up and caught her watching them.

"Yeah…she's gone back to sleep…" Charles whispered, still rocking her gently.

Molly stepped into the room and placed a soft kiss on her daughters head before looking back up at him.

"What?" He asked, laughing a little when he saw her staring.

"Nothing…" She smiled and shrugged. "Just…. I like seeing you as the badass army captain but I also love seeing you like this…looking after us all."

He shook his head slightly but couldn't fight a smile. "Are you flirting with me, Dawes?"

She laughed lightly and shrugged. "Always…"

He rolled his eyes, still grinning. "I'll just put her down and then I'll run you that bath."

"You're amazing." She reached up to kiss his cheek and then Emilia's before quietly leaving.

After lying Emilia back down, he waited another minute, stroking her hair softly to make sure she stayed asleep. He missed moments like this when he was away on tour, so much so that he began to wonder whether it was what he wanted to do anymore. It was crazy to think a few years ago he would never feel settle when he was at home. Now, he had never had felt so happy then when he was.

XxXxX

It was two days later and everyone was starting to feel better, so much so that Emilia had woken Charles up early with a great big smile and wanting to play. Sam wasn't that far behind and was requesting pancakes for breakfast.

"Morning…" Molly walked into the kitchen, stretching at just after 7:30am.

"Mumm..maama…" Emmy babbled from the floor where she was sat with some saucepans and a couple of wooden spoons.

Molly couldn't help but laugh a little as she started to bash on them. "Bit early for that, isn't it?"

Charles stood up and kissed her cheek as he moved to fill the kettle to make her a cup of tea. "Well, we've been up for a couple of hours already, haven't we beautiful?"

"You have? I didn't hear her…" Molly reached down to run her fingers through Emilia's hair and feel her forehead for a temperature. "She okay? I thought she was getting better…"

"She's fine…" Charles assured her, squeezing her shoulders gently. "She's definitely feeling better…I think she had enough of being sick and wanted to get up and play….Sam was up early too…he's watching some cartoons while we waited for you before we make some pancakes for breakfast."

"You should have woke me…I would have gotten up with them." She replied. "You could have had a lie in..."

"It's fine…It's nice to see them well again." He handed her a mug of tea and then picked up his phone when he got a message alert.

"What's so funny?" She asked curiously when he started to laugh.

"Remember a few days ago when you were at work and I took the kids to meet Elvis and Laura in a park and had a picnic?"

"Yeah…"

"Well, turns out you're not the only one who didn't have chicken pox when you were a kid." Charles turned the phone around to show her a photo of a very annoyed and spotty looking Elvis.

The End

Hope you liked it. Please review and I have another challenge for you.

An AU meeting for Charles and Molly….

Can be anything you like…they both could still be in the army….only one of them could be or either of them could…they can be younger, older…same age…Up to you!