More spots appeared on Violet over the next few days, so Rosemary and Lillian set a schedule with Dottie and Abigail as to who would work and who would stay home with Violet. On Monday morning, Lilly had agreed to stay home and care for Violet since Monday was one of her usual days off anyways. Rosemary was, of course, playing the role of worried mother even though Lilly had watched Violet plenty of times beforehand, "Take her temperature every half hour, apply the calamine lotion on her arms, legs, chest, and back every hour, use the cotton balls to dab the itchy spots on her face, if she gets really uncomfortable, let her take an oatmeal bath, just pour the oatmeal in the tub, and if she scratches her spots too much and distraction doesn't work, tape the oven mitts to her hands. I know it sounds stupid, but it keeps her from scratching. Make sure to keep her well hydrated with water and juice, I have a pot of chicken noodle soup still heated on the stove, if she wants something and you have to run to the mercantile, Aunt Elizabeth is next door, and if there's a true emergency, Dad and I..."
"MOM!" Lilly shouted, "We'll be fine. I've had chickenpox before, remember?"
"Alright," Rosemary sighed, only half reassured, "I'll be home around three. I love you."
"I love you too, Mom," Lilly kissed her mother on the cheek. Rosemary left and Lilly went upstairs to check on Violet, only to find her younger sister doing some strange dances in the middle of her bedroom floor, "Violet, what are you doing?"
"It itches and Mommy won't let me scratch my spots with my hands so I'm trying to find different ways to scratch the itchy spots," answered Violet.
"Here, let me put some more lotion on the really itchy areas," said Lilly. Violet sighed, but complied and sat down on the bed, "Where's it itch the most?"
"My back and my tummy," Violet replied. Lilly began to spread the lotion over Violet's pox-covered back, "Wait, won't you get chickenpox if you come too close to me? Because Mommy says I have to stay home because I can give the other kids chickenpox."
Lilly shook her head, "No, I can't get chickenpox from you. I already had chickenpox when I was little and you can only get it once."
"Oh thank God!" shouted Violet.
"Violet Noelle Coulter!" Lilly scolded.
"Sorry," Violet apologized. Once Lilly was done coating Violet's back and abdomen, Violet handed Lilly Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and sweetly asked, "Can you read to me?"
"Of course, Violet," smiled Lilly. She sat down next to Violet on the bed and began to read more of the novel though Lilly noticed how much Violet was squirming next to her, "Are you alright, Violet?"
"How DID you keep yourself distracted from how much you itched?" asked Violet.
"Well, Mommy made me wear the oven mitts like she makes you do, and I had chickenpox at the same time as Aaron, so I spent my time alternating between blaming him for giving them to me or demanding he scratch my itchy spots," Lilly admitted and Violet smiled, "But sometimes, when I got really itchy, I would think of a really funny memory to distract me. Like the time Daddy told a joke and Aaron laughed so hard that milk squirted out of his nose," she giggled at the recollection.
Violet wrinkled her nose, "I don't remember that."
"Oh, you were growing in Mommy's tummy then, so you wouldn't remember that," Lilly said, "Well, what about last year's Christmas pageant where you were Mary and Josh Flynn was Joseph, but he forgot the lyrics to Silent Night so he sang Jingle Bells instead."
"Yeah, that was funny," admitted Violet in amusement. Lilly read to her sister some more until she noticed Violet had fallen asleep next to her. She woke her long enough to take her temperature and also put the oven mitts on her just to be safe before going downstairs to make herself some lunch. Lilly figured she'd try to get Violet to eat when she woke up again. Once she was finished eating, Lilly went back to reading London Calling. To be honest, she was only reading it because of her mother's insistence (she knew her mother would always have that ambitious performer in her, no matter where she lived), but thankfully, the play was pretty good so far. Lilly heard a knock at the door and glanced out the window before answering it, "William, what are you doing here?"
"Oh, I was on my lunch break and I stopped by the café to see you and you weren't there, so I figured you were here," he shrugged.
Lilly stepped aside to let him into the house, "Well, today is one of my days off and even if it wasn't, Violet has chickenpox, so Mom and I will be alternating with staying home and taking care of her this week."
"Ooh, that's not fun. I remember when Mary, Charlotte, Dad, and I all got chickenpox at the same time," chuckled William, "But that explains why Aunt Rosemary and Violet weren't in church yesterday," he glanced at the book, "What are you reading?"
"Just some play Mom insisted on me reading. You know my mother; she still tries to keep up with the latest plays and theater news even if she's no longer on Broadway," Lilly waved her hand in the air.
"Well, it's what Aunt Rosemary loves. You can't blame her for her passions," said William. Lilly sat down next William and William grabbed her hand, "So, how have you been?"
"Pretty good, I mean you know everything that's involved with treating chickenpox: calamine lotion, oatmeal baths, oven mitts…"
"Oven mitts?" William raised an eyebrow.
"Maybe that's just in the Coulter house," admitted Lilly, tilting her head.
William chuckled, "You're so adorable," he leaned in to kiss her.
They kissed for a few more moments until they heard someone shout, "WILLIAM, WHY ARE YOU KISSING MY SISTER?!"
Lilly and William quickly pulled apart and Lilly stood, "Aaron!" she gave her best smile, "What are you doing here?" she asked through gritted teeth.
"Dad left one of his binders in his office, so he sent me to get it. What is William doing here and more importantly, why is he kissing you?" asked Aaron.
"Well, most people in courtships kiss," stated William, standing as well.
Aaron's eyes widened, "Courtship?! My best friend and my sister! I can't believe this!"
"Lilly, can I have some orange juice?" asked Violet from the top of the stairs.
"Yes!" Lilly called. She quickly poured the glass and glanced between William and Aaron, "Don't…hurt each other," she said before she quickly disappeared upstairs.
The two friends stood there awkwardly for a few moments before Aaron motioned for William to join him outside, "William, a moment," William hesitantly followed his best friend outside before Aaron turned to face him, "Man, you realize you were kissing my SISTER!"
"Yes, your sister whom I asked to court me. And your sister who accepted the offer," clarified William.
"Does Dad even know about you two? Did you even ask his permission?" asked Aaron furiously.
"Yes, I asked Uncle Lee a few days ago and he gave me his blessing," William crossed his arms over his chest.
"But why my sister?" asked Aaron, beginning to pace, "You're telling me there aren't other girls in Hope Valley for you to court?"
"Because I've cared about her for a really long time! I've just never had the courage to ask Uncle Lee or her until now," explained William, "And she's older than you anyways."
"I know she's older than me, but that doesn't mean I don't feel protective of her," said Aaron, "You know about the history between your Dad and my Mom now. It didn't work out for them."
"Doesn't mean it won't work out for me and Lilly," argued William.
"Seriously, another Thornton man with another LeVeaux/Coulter woman? History is doomed to repeat itself," shouted Aaron, "And I've seen everything Aunt Elizabeth goes through every time Uncle Jack leaves on some sort of dangerous assignment. I am NOT letting you put my sister through all of that!"
"And how are you going to do that exactly?" questioned William in amusement.
"I'll just…forbid you from seeing her," said Aaron trying to sound intimidating.
"Well, given the fact that Uncle Lee has already given me his permission, Aunt Rosemary is okay with the courtship, and Lilly has agreed to court me, then what are you going to do to stop us from seeing each other?"
"I'll just…I'll just get Dad to change his mind," said Aaron.
William snorted in hilarity, "Yeah, good luck with that endeavor."
Aaron groaned in anger and stormed off towards the saw mill, gripping the binder as tightly as he could.