Baby Wayne Gets Sick for the First Time

The morning started like any other. Just as Emily and Alison were waking up, their twins came pounding in, jumping up and down on the bed like any other morning. And just like every morning, Emily threw the twins over her shoulders and brought them downstairs as Ali went to go get their baby boy Wayne.

But to Alison's surprise, her son wasn't standing up in his crib with open arms like he usually was. Instead, he was still laying down, quietly sucking his thumb.

"Hi sweetheart," Alison said, careful not to scare him, "it's time to get up."

When he still didn't stand up Alison started to get worried. She quickly made her way over to his crib and leaned over to pick him up.

"What's wrong, honey?" Alison asked, when he immediately pressed his face into her neck. She walked him over to his changing table and reached for a clean onesie. As she began to change him, she noticed how warm he actually was. She scooped him back up and quickly walked him downstairs.

When she reached the landing, she found Emily and the two girls already eating their breakfast, a plate and a bottle waiting for Alison and Wayne like every morning.

"Hey babe," Alison called, "come here."

Emily quickly stood up and walked over to where Alison was standing in the doorway of their dining room. "What's up?" she asked, pressing a quick kiss to her wife's lips.

"Does he feel warm to you?" Alison asked, gently rocking Wayne back and forth.

Emily's face quickly fell, worry written all over. She pressed her lips to his forehead for a moment, "Yeah, he's burning up. What's wrong, buddy?"

"I don't know, he was still laying down when I went to get him. Are the girls okay?" Ali asked.

"Yeah, they're fine. Maybe we should-" Emily started.

"Keep him away from them? Yeah I agree," Alison finished, "I'm gonna bring him back upstairs."

"Okay, I'll finish getting them ready for school."

"Okay," Ali said, "I'm gonna run him a warm bath, see if I can get him to cool down."

"Good idea," Emily asked, pressing a quick kiss to her son's head before returning to the girls.

20 minutes later, Alison was still in the bathroom with Wayne. Even with all his favorite toys in the bath, he didn't seem to be feeling any better and Alison was minutes away from going into mommy-overdrive.

"How's he feeling?" Alison heard coming from behind her. She quickly turned around to find Emily leaning up against the doorway of the bathroom.

"I don't know, I think he's getting worse," Ali said.

Emily pushed off the doorway and walked over to where Alison was sitting on the edge of the tub and began to rub her shoulders. She knew Alison always got extremely worried whenever any of the kids got sick. The first time the twins came down with a cold, Emily had to hide the car keys because she caught Alison trying to drive them to the emergency room.

"Maybe we should call the pediatrician," Alison offered.

"Already did. We have an appointment in a little over an hour," Emily said.

"Okay, good. Where are the girls?" Alison asked, turning to look up at Emily.

"They're downstairs. I called my mom, she's gonna come pick them up and bring them to school. They're also going to stay the night at her house tonight, we don't need them getting sick too."

"Thank you," Alison said, leaning down to pick Wayne up from the tub. Emily was waiting nearby to wrap him in a too-big towel.

"I also called us both out of work for today," Emily said, wrapping her arms around both her wife and son.

"What would I do without you?" Ali asked, pressing a soft kiss to her wife's lips.

"You'll never have to find out," Emily said, reaching for Wayne, "Come on bud, let's go get you into some comfy clothes."

An hour later, they were sat in an examination room at the kids' pediatrician, waiting (kind of) patiently for the doctor to come in. Alison held tightly onto Wayne, she tried to maintain a calm facade but Emily could tell that Alison was practically bouncing off the walls.

"Come here," Emily said, opening her arms to her wife.

Ali was thankful for the welcoming arms that wrapped around her, "I know I'm being ridiculous," she said.

"You're not being ridiculous. You're a concerned mom who's worried about her kid. It's one of the things that makes me fall in love with you all over again each and everyday."

"Really?" Alison asked, tears prickling the edges of her eyes. Emily always knew the right thing to say.

"Yes," Emily said, "but falling in love with you is second nature to me. It doesn't take much."

"You're cute," Alison said, a goofy smile spreading on her face.

"I know," Emily said, pressing a kiss to Alison's forehead.

A few seconds later, they heard a knock at the door and their pediatrician walked in.

"Hi hi," she said brightly, "how are we doing in here? I hear we have a little boy who's not feeling all too well."

"Yeah," Emily said, taking Wayne from Alison's arms and laying him down on the examination table, "he woke up this morning with a fever and he's been lethargic all day."

"Okay, it's probably just a cold. But since it's his first it's probably going to hit him a little harder than it would you or me. Did you try anything to bring down his fever?" the doctor asked as she started feeling Wayne's forehead and back of the neck.

"Yeah," Alison spoke up, "I gave him a lukewarm bath this morning but it didn't seem to help."

"Okay, try again later on if his fever still doesn't break. I'm going to write you a prescription for some cough syrup which will help a lot. Give him a teaspoon of it every couple of hours."

"Okay," Emily said, picking Wayne back up, "anything else?"

"Let him sleep as much as he wants, he'll sleep most of it off. And obviously lots of cuddles, they can cure almost anything," the doctor said smiling at the moms. "Are the girls feeling okay?" she asked.

"Yeah, they're fine. They're staying at my mom's tonight just in case," Emily answered.

"Good idea," the doctor said, turning to write up the prescription on a nearby pad.

"So he'll be okay?" Ali asked, still nervous.

"He'll be just fine," the doctor said, handing Alison the prescription, pausing to give her arm a reassuring squeeze on her way out.

A few moments later, Ali and Emily walked out of the doctors office, hand in hand, with Alison's free arm wrapped tightly around a sleepy Wayne.

"I hate when they get sick," Alison said buckling him into his car seat.

"Me too," Emily said, starting the car, "but he'll be okay."

"I guess we better get a jumpstart on his prescription cuddles," Alison asked, a smile gracing her face.

"I gotta remember that the next time I get sick," Emily said, thankful when it made Alison laugh.

"Well, it is what the doctor ordered," Alison said, throwing a wink in Emily's direction.

The rest of the drive was quiet except for Wayne's soft giggles in the back letting them know he was already feeling better.