AN-- It's a short update and this section may get longer, but I didn't want to leave you all hanging so long.
"Mommy! You're home!" Tess cried as she hurdled towards Carol, who had wearily entered their friends apartment. "Do you know what? Me and Rachel and Daddy went to the zoo today and we saw Rhinos and Gorillas and we got ice cream too!"
Carol smiled and hugged her child, trying to become as enthusiastic as she was, "That sounds like a lot of fun, Tess. Did you take pictures?"
"Yes!" she shouted as she ran towards the camera. "Look, mommy! See! There's me and Daddy and the gorillas are eating lunch and there's the rhino and Rachel and there's me and Rachel on the carousel and that's the polar bears and the penguins and… do you think they like the sun?"
"I bet they like the cold a little better then the sun, but I'm sure they were very happy to see you, Tess." Carol laughed. She pulled back to get a better look at Tess and saw the makeup on her face. Eyebrows raised, she looked over at Rachel, "Makeup?"
"It's just a little bit and I mean we're going to wash it off before we go to bed." Rachel said, unsure if she should be apologizing.
"Isn't it pretty mommy? When Kate is better we're going to all be big girls and look super pretty with makeup on like you!" Tess said as she attempted to climb up Carol like a tree.
"Rachel did a very nice job Tess, and it is pretty… but I think it's time to wash it off now and get ready for bed, okay?" Carol said calmly. It wasn't so much that she didn't want Rachel to put makeup on Tess, more that she wished she'd been consulted first. As Tess and Rachel went off to prepare for their second sleepover, Carol let herself collapse onto the couch.
"How is she, Carol?" Elizabeth asked, concerned by the worried expression on her friends face. "Do you think she'll be coming back tonight?"
"I, um, I doubt it. She was doing okay for a while but her temperature spiked and she just can't stop vomiting." Carol sighed.
"Is this normal for her?" Mark asked, seconds later receiving a death stare from Elizabeth.
"She does tend to get pretty bad when she's sick, actually." Carol responded, head resting on a couch cushion. "She's always been that way, she's either completely well or on her death bed. It's the weirdest thing… and Tess is the exact opposite. She's always got a complaint, but when she actually gets sick she's got minor versions of what Kate seems to get and she's over it in a day or two."
"We saved some food for you if you'd…" he trailed off as Carol hopped off the couch and walked over to where she'd seen and smelled the leftover Chinese food. "I guess that vending machine didn't do much for you."
"Oh, it did plenty… but I missed breakfast and lunch. Vending machines count as midday snacks," she chuckled, "not dinner."