"Mommy!" Roland called as he entered the house. Regina sighed to herself. She was hoping to have a few peaceful minutes before Roland came home from school. She left work early because a migraine had been plaguing her since she woke up to ready the boys for school that morning. She had even vomited two times at work. Regina's secretary was nice enough to get her some Excedrin but it didn't quite touch the headache and thusly offered to drive Regina home. Once home, the secretary sat Regina down on the couch and made her some soup before heading back to the office to clear Regina's calendar for the rest of the day. Regina still sat on the couch with the lights dimmed and a blanket draped around her body.
"Mommy!" Roland called again. Welp, Regina thought to herself, mommy mode: on.
"In here, sweetheart!" She called out to Roland.
"There you are mommy! Why are the lights out? Did the power go out again? Or are we playing scawy monsters? Is Daddy gonna save us like last time?" the little boy asked as he clambered onto the couch to sit next to his mother. Regina leaned her head against Roland's while he cuddled against her. An idea popped into her head.
"Why yes, Roland. We are playing scary monsters! I think I heard them in the kitchen! I think a safer place for us to be would be in mommy's room, whadya think? Does that sound like a good idea?" She hoped the boy would be enticed with the idea of playing scary monsters. Although, last time they played Roland ended up sleeping with her and Robin for two weeks straight. It was worth the risk for the reprieve she needed from her migraine. She picked up the little boy and swung him onto her hip and headed up the stairs.
"Mommy wait! What about afternoon snack? Are the scawy monsters going to eat it all?" Roland asked in a hushed whisper. Damn. She forgot all about making Roland's afternoon snack while she waited for the headache to abate. Hmmm, what to do, what to do.
"Why don't you head upstairs and I'll see if I can sneak safely past the scary monsters and get us something to eat? We could be hiding out for a while, huh?" Roland shook his head eagerly. She placed him onto the floor so he could head upstairs. Regina headed towards the kitchen trying to think of what snacks they could eat without making too much of a mess for Regina to clean up later. She pulled open the refrigerator. She really needed to go grocery shopping. There were some pre-portioned apple slices and some grapes. Oh, juice boxes! And grape jelly. Roland loved peanut butter and grape jelly sandwiches. Regina pulled the items from the refrigerator and placed them on the counter so she could make the sandwiches. She grabbed the picnic basket from on top of the refrigerator and placed the fruit, juice and sandwiches inside. Another thought occurred, pickles. Pickles would go excellent with peanut butter. Perhaps Roland would like chips, sour cream and cheddar flavored chips. She shut the light out and padded upstairs so Roland would think she was being sneaky to escape the monsters in the kitchen.
She reached her bedroom and found Roland sprawled across the bed. He was actually being a good little boy by working on his homework. Regina smiled at the image and for a quick moment forgot all about her migraine.
"Mommy! Were you able to get us survival food?" Roland inquired as he tossed his crayons aside.
"Survival food?" Regina parroted as she padded across the room and sat on the floor so she could pull out the contents of her picnic basket.
"Yeah, you know! So we don't starve while we wait for Daddy to come and fight off the monsters!" Roland exclaimed in a hushed whisper.
"Oh! Why yes, yes I managed to secure us some fruit, sandwiches and juice!"
"Did the monsters see you?"
"They almost did! But I was super quiet! We'll still have to be quiet up here. The monsters have excellent hearing. Let's eat up okay?" Regina said as she reached straight for the sandwich pickles and placed them onto her sandwich. It was the most beautiful sandwich she had ever seen. Or maybe it was the hunger pains, she did not finish the soup her secretary made. Regina took two bites of her sandwich and stopped.
"Momma, are you okay? Don't you like your sammich? Better eat up! We might have to help Daddy fight off the monsters!" Roland said leaning forward, scolding his mother.
"It's okay sweetheart, mommy's quite full now. She's gonna lay down on the bed. Do you think you can keep watch over mommy? Protect her from the scary monsters until Daddy can come rescue us?" Her migraine was now making her nauseated. Roland shook his head quickly up and down.
"Yes Mommy! I will pwotect you from the scawy monsters! But maybe you should hide over there," Roland pointed to the side of the bed away from the door.
"I suppose you're right. Let me get out the sleeping bag and I'll go over here so the monsters won't see me, ok? You can finish up your homework and color right in front of me, ok?"
"Ok!"
Robin entered his house. His eerily silent house. Whereas he expected the television to be playing Finding Nemo for the hundredth time and pots and pans clinking from the kitchen, he heard nothing, nothing at all. He checked is phone. There weren't any messages from Regina
saying that she'd been held up somewhere. Strange, he thought, this wasn't like his wife at all. A slight panic began to rise in his chest. He double checked the kitchen to be sure no one was there. The lights were out but remnants of sandwich making were on the counter. It wasn't like Regina to not put the dishes in the sink or dish washer after making Roland an afternoon snack. Now he was a little more panicky. He decided to check upstairs. First, he stopped by Roland's room and saw no signs of the boy. Then he checked Henry's room. Sometimes Roland liked to read Henry's comic books when Henry wasn't there. Nope, no sign of his son there either. Lastly he decided to check his and Regina's bedroom.
"Shhhh! We're hiding from the scawy monsters!" Roland loudly whispered when Robin pushed the door open.
Robin chuckled, "What? What are you talking about?"
"There are scawy monsters in the kitchen! Mommy and I are hiding here waiting for you to come and save us! Did you get the monsters? They're in the kitchen! Mommy was brave and sneakeded past the monsters to get my afternoon snack. But she didn't finish hers," Roland frowned as he finished recounting to his father the afternoon's events.
"Oh, I see, yes yes, I defeated the scawy monsters and I came to let you and mommy know that it was safe to come out. Where exactly is your mother?" Robin asked his young son. Immediately glancing around he didn't see her anywhere he might have expected to.
"Shhh, she's sleeping over there." Robin looked towards the bed.
"Over there where Roland?" Roland pointed again and walked over to where Regina had fallen asleep in the sleeping bag beside the bed. Robin let out a soft chuckle.
"Oh my Regina. Did you tucker Regina out my boy?"
"Tucked out? No, I didn't tucked Regina. We can't tucked in without reading a stowy!" Robin chuckled again at his son failing to grasp the meaning of "tuckered out". He placed a hand on Regina's cheek. She didn't move. Hmm, Robin thought to himself, Regina must have been really tired to have fallen asleep on the floor while watching Roland. He stooped to pick her up and placed her on the bed.
"Are we tucking her in now daddy? What about a stowy? Are we gonna read her a stowy? She won't be able to hear it, Daddy, she's already asleep!" Now Robin was beginning to understand how Regina might be just a tad exhausted if Roland talked her ear off all afternoon.
"Not now my boy. Yes, Regina is already asleep. Why don't we head downstairs and see what we can find for dinner?" Roland leapt up into his father's arms and they headed downstairs.
Regina woke with a start. She felt a little disoriented. Where was she? When did she get into bed? And where was Roland? She jolted out of bed.
"Roland?! Roland where are you?"
"Uh oh, sounds like Mommy's awake! Why don't you go get her and let her know you're okay, huh? I'll finish up down here. Henry, can you go ahead and set the table, dinner's almost ready and your mom just woke up."
After Robin tucked Regina into bed, he took Roland downstairs to raid the kitchen, except there wasn't much in the kitchen to raid. So he made a list of food they needed seeing as Regina had not gone to the store recently. Just as Robin was finishing the list, Henry walked in looking for his afternoon snack. Roland told Henry he could get a sandwich out of the survival food Regina had packed while they were waiting to be saved from the scawy monsters but Robin cautioned Henry that Regina was asleep and probably would not appreciate being woken up. Henry agreed. Robin offered they all go to the store and make dinner tonight so Regina could get the rest she needed.
"Here I am mommy! Daddy saved us from the monsters! You felled asleep. Daddy tucked you in, but we couldn't read you a story. Can we read a stowy when I get tucked in?" Roland finished off as she picked up the young boy and held him close.
"Of course we can read a story. You scared me, my little guy! I had no idea where you were! Where is daddy? Is he downstairs?"
"Uh huh, he's making dinner! He said we could make dinner so you could get rested! I hope you like what we cooked!" Roland hopped out of Regina's arms once they reached the dining room.
"I'm sure I will. Hey honey, thanks for letting me sleep. I've had a migraine all day. Thanks for saving us from the scary monsters," Regina chuckled as she placed a kiss on Robin's cheek while he placed the final dish on the table.
"No problem dear. We even got a little grocery shopping done. I hope I did alright," Robin replied as they all sat down to the table. Regina slapped a hand to her forehead.
"Oh, I completely forgot I was going to go shopping after work today, I'm so terrible."
"Don't worry about it! You don't have to take care of everything now, we're partners!"
"Yeah mom, we're a family, we help each other out! And it was fun not having you there to say no to dessert!" chimed in Henry with a chuckle.
"Oh, you got dessert, did you? That's the last time I let you guys go shopping without me! Now, what do we have here?" she offered a smile to show she was just kidding around.
"Well, my culinary skills aren't the greatest, but Roland thought beanie weenies would be good. I also steamed some fresh veggies in case the beanie weenies weren't your style." Robin grinned as he lifted the lid off the casserole dish. The grin Regina had plastered to her face suddenly faltered. She had the distinct taste of bile rising up her esophagus. The queasiness she felt from earlier was still there even after her nap and migraine were long gone.
"What's the matter dear? You don't like it? I saw there was some soup on the stove, would you like me to reheat that instead?" Robin put a lot of work into his beanie weenies and he did not think they turned out all that bad.
"No dear, it looks wonderful. Perhaps my headache is still lingering." She said as she spooned some of the beanie weenies onto her plate. She lifted the spoon to her mouth and took a bite. There, that wasn't so bad, she thought to herself. She took another bite. Her stomach was starting not to agree with her. She decided to try some steamed veggies instead.
"How was school Henry, did you have a good day?" Regina questioned, hoping to distract herself from the queasiness that did not seem to be doing any better even though she was eating.
"Oh, it was great! Aside from having homework, ugh" Henry rolled his eyes. Regina's vision blurred ever so slightly and then she realized her beanie weenies and veggies were not going to stay down. She stood up abruptly and barely made it to the downstairs guest bathroom.
"What's wrong with mommy? Did she not like our beanie weenies? I'm sorry mommy," Roland began to cry and chase after his mom.
"Uh, hold it right there mister. Why don't you stay here with Henry and I'll go check on mommy, okay? Henry can you take Roland into the den and put on a movie?"
"A movie? On a school night, before bed? Sure! Let's go Ro!" Henry scampered towards the living room while Robin headed towards the bathroom. On second thought, he thought to himself, perhaps a cool cloth and a glass of water would be better. Robin doubled back to the kitchen to grab a glass of cool water and also put the kettle on to make peppermint tea to soothe Regina's stomach.
By the time Robin made it to the guest bathroom Regina was sitting up against the wall with her head hanging between her legs.
"Here you are dear, cool water."
"Oh, thanks. I'm so sorry. How is Roland? I hope I didn't upset him too much."
"It's alright dear, you're really not feeling well, are you?" He sat down on the edge of the tub. Regina shook her head no.
"It would seem not. I really thought I was better. My headache was gone! But then those beanie weenies. Might I suggest the cookbook next time? Here, help me up." Regina reached out and took Robin's hands to pull herself up. She took the glass Robin offered and swished the water around in her mouth before spitting it out to rid her mouth of the acrid taste of vomit. She then exited the bathroom to go find Roland.
"Hey, I heated some water to make you some peppermint tea. My grandmother's cure-all for an upset tummy. Go have a seat with Roland and Henry and I'll bring it to you." Robin kissed Regina on the forehead as she headed towards the den. She found her boys sitting on the sofa, quietly, for a change.
"Hey boys, what are you watching?"
"Mommy!" Roland hopped of the sofa to allow Regina to sit down before climbing onto her lap. "I'm sorry you didn't like our dinner," he said with a frown.
"Oh darling! Don't be sad! Mommy just has an upset tummy. Your dinner tasted great!"
"An upset tummy? Why is it upset? Did we do something to make it angry? Should we apolo, apolo, what's the word Henry?"
"Apologize. No, you don't apologize to upset tummies. Sometimes they just get angry even though you didn't do anything, like that kid who likes to push you around at school sometimes." Henry responded before turning his attention back to the movie. He was going to get as much movie time on a school night as he could get away with before his mom noticed.
"A kid pushes you around at school?" Regina quizzed Roland.
"Sometimes, but Henry says that kid is just upset he's not as awesome as me and I shouldn't worry about it!"
"He did, did he? Well just because he's not as awesome as you doesn't mean he can push you around like that sweetheart. Next time he does it you need to tell an adult, okay? You should tell your teacher, hmm? Now, what movie are you watching?"
"Ummm, I think it's called The Lion King, Henry helped me pick it!"
"Henry, this doesn't look like The Lion King."
"Yes it is mommy! Henry showed me on the box where it says The Lion King, see?" Roland held up the DVD box that most definitely did not say "The Lion King"
"Henry." Sensing his wife was about to fuss at Henry, Robin shoved her tea into her hands.
"Hey boys, I think it's time to turn the movie off and head to bed, okay?" The boys started to protest but Robin held up his hands. Henry turned the movie off and headed towards the stairs with Roland trailing close behind. Robin sat down next to Regina and she leaned against him.
"I don't know why parents choose to have more than one child. I can't take this," she sighed.
"Oh, you're just not feeling well today. Look, we don't have to get Roland ready for bed, Henry's gonna do it for us! You're gonna finish off your tea and then head upstairs. I'll finish up in the kitchen and then I'll come tuck you in, complete with a story. Whadya say, hmm?"
"That sounds most wonderful. But if you don't mind, I'm just gonna head up now with my tea and if you feel like bringing up another mug that you want to sip on and then share with your wife, well who am I to stop you?" she grinned before standing uneasily to head to bed.