"So I just had all three kids puke on the floor at the same time. The dog decided to try and help me clean it up. How was your morning?"

"Um, no dog, but there was puke involved," Austin replied with a little chuckle. "Sarah's displaying all signs of becoming a vomitorium for the next 24 hours."

"How's Isa and Junior?"

"They seem fine. I loaded them up with those vitamins and stuff you insisted that I was going to need. They are currently fighting over who gets to ride the dog like a horse and who gets to go to the store with Danny, so I think they're good."

"I think the kids must have picked something up at school, but Avery seems the worst. She was up all night."

"Oh man. Sarah just started this morning."

"Do you want to bring her over here? Quarantine her and save the others?"

"I can't add another sick kid to your triage list."

"Yeah you can. I mean, if you're okay with it, maybe we can avoid six vomitoriums."

"I'll talk to Danny and call you back."

"Okay. I've gotta go, Ben's convinced he's about to die."

"Both ends?"

"Poor thing."

"I'll call you back in a bit."

They hung up the phone and Lindsay went into the other room where Ben was laying on the couch, his head hung over the side.

"Filled up my throw up bowl."

"Oh sweetie that's okay. Do you want a new one or do you want to have your turn in the bathroom?"

"The bathroom. I wanna lay on the floor. It's cold."

"Okay. Let me go get your brother out."

She took the bowl and went into the bathroom where Colton was laying on the floor, his head pillowed on a wadded up towel.

"Hey sweetie, can Ben have the bathroom now?"

"Yeah. I wanna watch TV."

She cleaned out the bowl and helped Colton to his feet, holding him up because he was pretty wobbly. She tucked him into the couch, then took Ben into the bathroom and got him situated with the towels. She wasn't sure what the novelty of sleeping on the bathroom floor was, but it was giving them something to smile about, so she'd take it.

"Okay, you just yell if you need me."

Ben nodded and she went back into the other room to check on Avery, who was curled up on the smaller couch, holding her blankets up to her chin and staring up at the ceiling.

"How are you feeling sweetie?"

"Daddy?"

"He went to get some ginger ale and crackers and some other stuff to make you feel better. Do you want to try some water?"

"No mama. Lap."

"Okay. But only for a few minutes, I have to start more laundry."

Avery nodded and Lindsay picked her up, careful to make her movements slow and gentle so she wouldn't upset a momentarily calm belly. Avery snuggled in happily and yawned, rubbing her eyes. She still hadn't slept and it wouldn't be long before she had no fight left in her and would hopefully sleep for several hours. They all sat quietly for quite a while, watching Nickelodeon cartoons and yawning. None of the kids had said much all morning, even Ben who was normally so full of words that it nearly burst from him. Today they were all very mellow.

"Mama!"

The cry wasn't one she'd heard before, so she carefully tucked Avery back in to the couch and went into the small bathroom where Ben was. He'd gotten sick again and there was a mess all over the floor.

"I try to get to the potty," he said. "But I not make it fast enough."

"That's okay sweetie."

"But mama, it come out my other side too. I need a bath!" he wailed forlornly.

It took everything in her not to break down and cry out of frustration too, but she cleaned him up as best she could, then helped him upstairs and into the tub.

"Mama, don't tell no one about this."

"I won't."

"Dunner don't need to know."

"He won't know. Let's get you cleaned up."

He continued to cry as she scrubbed him down and put him in clean pajamas.

"There, is that better?"

"Yeah. I would like daddy though."

"I'm not good enough?"

"You is. I just want daddy too."

"He'll be home soon. Let's go back downstairs."

He raised his arms and she lifted him up, carrying him down the stairs and trying to gauge his temperature. It was hard to determine because he'd just been in a warm bath, but he did feel better than expected.

"Mama, I threw up, but I made it to the toilet," Colton reported, looking quite happy at the news. "And Austin called your phone and she said to call her back."

"I will as soon as I clean up the bathroom."

She settled Ben onto the couch next to Colton and smirked as Avery climbed up with them, all three holding onto their plastic bowls as if they were lifelines. She couldn't help but take a picture of it, awful circumstances, but it was kind of cute anyway.

It took a long time to clean the bathroom and Adam returned home before she finished, sticking his head in the door to say something to her, then quickly backing out again.

"Don't be a chicken, Adam."

"How does it smell so bad?"

"I'm not even going to get into that. Did you get the stuff?"

"Yeah and there's a little something extra in the kitchen for you."

"Is it a Xanax?"

"Hilarious."

She finished cleaning the floor and threw all the dirty towels into the wash, setting them to a rinse cycle before she would wash them.

"Okay, I need to call Austin. Sarah's sick too."

"You offered to take her didn't you?"

"Well yeah, but only because I don't want the other kids to get sick."

"You're so nice. I doubt Sarah would be any trouble anyway. Probably make Avery feel better."

"That's what I was thinking."

"Mama! Aves threw up again!"

"Round five."

Sarah had not been in the door more than one minute before she threw up in the dead potted plant next to the door and burst into tears.

"I'm sorry auntie! Now you won't want me to stay with you!"

"Oh Sarahlove that's okay. That plant was dead and now Adam doesn't have any excuse for not throwing it out. You did me a favor."

"Okay. I am just very sick."

"I know. All the kids are sick here too."

"Ma and daddy let me decide to come here. I said I would because I don't want Isabeth and Daniel to get sick too. I don't want them to catch my germies. And if I cannot be at home I want to be here."

"Well good because we're glad you're here."

"I packed her a bunch of extra clothes just in case," Austin said, handing the backpack to Lindsay. "Are you sure about this, Linds?"

"Of course. We'll be just fine."

"Okay. If you get in over your head, give us a call and we'll come get her."

"No ma, you can't come until I am better. I don't wanna make the kids sick. Okay? Deal?"

"Okay sweetie. But if you change your mind, we can manage."

"Alright. Maybe you should go now so you don't make my germs travel home with you."

"You call me if you need me, okay baby?"

"Okay ma. Auntie will take care of me. I love you."

"I love you too, Sarah Claire."

After a few more minutes of hesitation Austin left the house and Sarah took Lindsay's hand.

"Auntie, my tummy really hurts a lot. I didn't want to worry my ma. I need to go lay down."

"I thought you might. Let's get you situated on the couch and I'll get Adam to clean up that plant."

"I'm very sorry."

"It's okay honey. Here, you can share a couch with Avery."

Sarah climbed in under the blanket and sighed, looking down at the plastic bowl on the floor.

"What's that?"

"That's in case you need to be sick and you can't get to the bathroom."

"Oh, I always get to the bathroom," Sarah assured. "But just in case."

Lindsay smiled and checked on Avery, who'd been snoozing on and off since her last use of the bowl. Her fever was still raging and the cool cloth on her forehead needed to be changed.

"Hey Sarah," Colton said softly, sitting up a little. "Remember how Logan got sick at school and then he had to stay home for a lot of days? Maybe we caught his germs."

"Yeah I bet so. Because he shared my pencil. And he's a pencil biter. So he got spit on there."

"Yeah. And I played Wall-Ball with him and we high fived."

"I guess that's how we got sick, huh Colton Matthew?"

"Yep."

Lindsay smiled and went into the bathroom to freshen up Avery's cool cloth, then returned to place it on her little forehead.

"Hi mama."

"Hi sweetie."

"Water?"

"No, you need to wait a little bit before we try again."

"Oh. Hi Sayuh!"

"Hi Averylin. Your cheeks are very red."

Avery reached up and touched her cheeks, then crinkled her nose.

"Hot."

"You still look cute with red cheeks," Colton commented, changing the channel. "And Sarah you look pretty too, even if your eyes are watery."

"Thank you Colton Matthew," she whispered shyly, her eyes drifting down to the blanket. Ever since they'd been placed in the same first and second grade class they'd been finding out that they had a lot in common. She'd been calling him by his whole name mostly because she liked to be formal but also because no one else called him that and she felt like it made their friendship a little more special and quite honestly, she liked sharing something with him that Isa didn't. She didn't want to steal her sisters best friend by any means, but this made her feel important too.

"Maybe we should just wrap you in plastic for the rest of the day, huh Ben?" Adam asked as he carried Ben down the stairs, having just had to change his clothes once again.

"That would be a silly idea, daddy. I think I got all the throw up and other stuff out of me. Hi Sarah."

"Hi Benjamin. How does your tummy feel? Hurts?"

"Comes and goes," he said bravely, pulling the blanket around himself. "Dunner's not sick?"

"No, Daniel and Isabeth are both okay."

"That's good. But sad that you are throwin' up too. Did you bring extra clothes? This is my number four jammies today."

"Oh no. I make sure to throw up in the toilet."

"That's good Sarah," Ben said with a nod. "I are not so fortunate."

"Yeah and neither are mama and I," Adam said, leaning down to kiss Sarah's cheek. "Hi sweetheart. How are you doin'?"

"I'm okay. Your beard feels scratchy on my face."

"Imagine how it feels on mine."

She gave him a little smile and pulled the blankets high around her. Her heart wanted to be at home with her family, but she was very afraid of making them sick, so her mind comforted her with the fact that she could be here with her second family who loved her very much.

"Do you think they might all sleep for a few minutes?" Lindsay whispered, retrieving Avery's stuffed animal off the floor and tucking it under the quilt with her. "I need to eat something very soon."

"I concur, even if the idea of food seems abhorrent right now."

They went into the kitchen and fumbled around quietly, putting together sandwiches and taking them to the table where they sat and ate, holding hands and not saying much. They were both exhausted, having not slept all night long after being up fairly early the day before. They could have taken the time to get some sleep now but they both knew that they would be so out of it that they might not hear it if the kids needed them.

"I'm glad you're home today," Lindsay said after a moment.

"I'm glad you're home too. We make a pretty good team."

"Like a smelly bucket brigade."

He smiled and tugged on her hand until she stood up and moved into his lap.

"I'm sorry about last night," he said, running his hand up and down her back.

"Why are you sorry?"

"Because sometimes I listen to your words and ignore your heart. I shouldn't have done that."

"Adam…"

"I should know by now that you only have good intentions."

"You don't trust me."

"Yes I do. I think I'm just afraid of those good intentions backfiring. I'm going to have to stop being afraid at some point."

"You're getting there," she said, leaning into him and closing her eyes.

"I wouldn't be at all without you. You've made me better Linds. Always."

"Like you said, we make a good team."

"I wouldn't want to clean up puke with anyone else."

"Call Hallmark, we've got a Valentines day winner."

"I love you baby."

"I love you too. I might love sleep almost as much right now."

"I think we can both smush down into the recliner like we used to do."

"I liked us pre-kids."

"Me too."

They stood up from the table and went into the other room, checking the kids once more before they curled up into the recliner together.

"Can I tell you something Adam?"

"I thought you said you didn't have any more secrets."

"It wasn't a secret. Just something I never told you."

"Okay, what's that?"

"I used to dream about you."

"When?"

"Before we were dating. I would have dreams about us just like this. I always woke up so happy. But I thought that if I dreamed about it, it couldn't come true. So I tried to not think about it so I wouldn't dream it. I didn't realize until just now how much I wanted this even back then. I don't think I even understood it."

"Did you stop dreaming it?"

"Not until I was living it. And no, I don't care how cheesy that was."

He chuckled and ran his fingers through her hair wondering for the millionth time how he got so lucky.

"Adam?"

"Yeah?"

"Thank you. Even if your kids seem to have an endless supply of puke."

"My kids? Excuse me?"

"You're a boy so you are gross, so the kids are yours when they're doing something gross. A to B to C."

"I can't even argue with that."

"Mission accomplished."

"Go to sleep. You're much less trouble when you're sleeping."

"Haven't I been saying that to you for years?"

"Yes. Close your eyes. And your mouth."

She winked three times, their own Morse-code "I love you," then closed her eyes and settled against him, taking advantage of the few moments of quiet and peace.

"Hey Sarah," Colton greeted, coming into Avery's room and finding Sarah tucked into the bed. "Did you get to talk to your ma on the phone?"

"Yes. Aren't you supposed to be in bed?"

"Yeah but I wanted to come and check on ya. Because I didn't get to say goodnight."

"Oh."

He knelt next to the bed and pressed his cheek to the mattress, just like he'd seen Adam do so many times when he wanted to talk to Lindsay while she was still in bed.

"Are you feeling better Sarah?"

"No. My tummy hurts still."

"Mine too. Are you sad that you're not at home?"

"No, I'm okay."

He smiled and patted her shoulder.

"You know what?"

"Hmm?"

"I love Isa a lot. She's my best friend. I love you a lot too. I like how you are different than Isa. How you are calm. Sometimes keepin' up with her makes me tired. I like that you are always sweet."

"Thank you, Colton Matthew."

"You're welcome. Can I think of a nickname for you?"

"Like what?"

"I don't know yet. I'll think of somethin' and let you know."

"Okay. I need to vomit."

"I will hold your hair back."

He helped her from the bed and into the bathroom where he held her hair as promised and rubbed her back, while she threw up in a way that could only be described as dainty.

"Here, have a new cup to swish your mouth out."

She nodded and took the paper cup, rinsing her mouth before rubbing at her eyes.

"I don't remember what it feels like to be not sick," she said with a little sigh.

"Me neither. I feel a little better than I did before. I will help you back to bed. I could even sit by you until you fall asleep."

"Okay. I would like that."

They went back into the bedroom and she climbed under the covers while he sat down on the floor, shivering from the fever. She sat up and handed him one of the extra blankets from the end of the bed and he smiled in gratitude.

"Thanks Sarah."

"You're welcome. I'm wonderin' something."

"What are you wonderin'?"

"Just how come you are being so gentle to me?"

"Because you're sick. I want to take care of you. That's what friends do. And I am practicing to be a doctor too."

"Oh."

"What do you want to be when you grow up, Sarah?"

"I don't know. I think I would like to have a fun job. I would also like to be a mommy. I would like to have a nice home and a smile always on my face. How do you want to be, 'sides being a doctor?"

"I want to have a happy house. I want to have a wife that I love as much as daddy loves mama. I want to have children and teach them to help people. And when I die I want the world to remember me as someone that did a lot of good."

"That's very noble."

"What's noble mean?"

"Um, it means like… you know how Papaw Mac always does the rightest things? And he is wise. It means havin' high goals for yourself."

"Oh. You are like that too."

"I try to be," she said with a yawn. "I think I need to go to sleep now. I have a headache."

"I'll stay right here until you are all the way asleep. I will even hold your hand so you know I'm not goin' nowhere."

She smiled and he held her hand, waiting until he was certain she was asleep before standing up and planting a kiss on her cheek and going back into his own room.

"Cole? Where was you at?" Ben asked tiredly.

"I was sayin' goodnight to Sarah."

"Do you got a crush on her or somethin'?"

"No. She's just Sarah and I love her. We don't have no other Sarah do we?"

"No, guess not."

"I just think she should feel special, that's all."

"What about Isa?"

"Isa don't need to be telled she's special, Ben. She makes herself special and she knows it. Sarah is another story."

"Sarah's a story?"

"Don't you know? All girls is stories. They are like real big books. And you can't just read the back of it and 'spect to know them. You have to take time to read every page. You have to treat them good. And just maybe they will let you have a part in their story. That's what daddy told me."

"Wow, that's cool. I didn't know girls was stories. Is sissy a story?"

"Yeah, but her story don't got many plot twists yet. Mostly it's just about eating and yelling right now."

"Oh. So mama and Austin and Jo-Jo are long stories huh? Because they are old?"

"Yeah, I bet so."

"I'm glad to learn this, Cole. Thanks for sharin'."

"You're welcome Ben. Goodnight."