Notes: This is inspired by my own cold of the last week. Thanks to Mari and Sammy for once again taking a spark of an idea and making it fabulous!
Readers and REAL McRollers - Thank you for your amazing support! It is always appreciated.
Hope you enjoy … and stay well!
Home Sick (A McRoll in the REAL World Story by Mari, Sammy, and Ilna)
It was a sniffling, sneezing, coughing, stuffy-head kind of morning at the beach house.
After going to bed with some minor sniffles, both Angie and DJ woke up during the night with all the symptoms of a serious cold. Joni Lane had informed Catherine at pick up a few days earlier that there was something going around the school. In most cases it was just a bad cold but in a couple of instances it had progressed to bronchitis. Catherine was determined to nip things in the bud before they got that far.
"Cammie, come on, pretty girl, you can help me get more tissues," she said with a smile at how the dog was sticking like glue to her littlest human. Cammie took her responsibilities as protector of the children very seriously.
"I'm good, Mommy," Angie offered, using her father's often uttered term. Her voice was hoarse as she rubbed her nose with a tissue. "I can go to school."
"Me too. I'm just a little bit sick," DJ added from the doorway of Angie's room, as he attempted to stifle a series of sneezes.
"Neither of you is going to school. You both have colds," Catherine chuckled, tousling DJ's hair. "But you'll be better with some rest and plenty of fluids. Get back in bed, sweetheart," she turned to Angie, "and you stay in bed, baby girl. I'll be right back with some juice and a little breakfast."
"But …" Angie started to argue.
"No buts," Catherine said in a tone that let both children know there was no point in arguing. "You know the rule. You don't want to make any of your classmates sick, do you?"
"No," Angie said as she flopped back against her pillow.
"I guess not," DJ said. "Can I call Michael and ask him to get my homework for me and let me know what we did in class?"
"I think that's an excellent idea," Catherine said. Anticipating Angie's next question she said, "I'll call Ms. Lane and ask her to set your homework aside and Daddy can pick it up later. How's that sound?"
"Good," Angie said, sensing it was the best deal she was going to get. "I hope we have lots."
Catherine chuckled and headed for the kitchen. "Only you, baby girl. Only you."
Downstairs, Steve was placing the last of his breakfast dishes in the dishwasher after wrapping up a call with Danny. He called out, "Everything okay, Cath?" just as she descended the last step into the living room.
"There's no way they can go to school," she answered. "Which didn't make either of them happy."
Steve grinned. "I'll bet. Should we call your folks?"
"No." She shook her head."I rearranged my schedule, I'll stay home with them. It might even work out better. I have to get my budget recommendations report done for Lea by Friday and that might be easier without the distractions at the office. I can work while the kids sleep."
She smiled as Steve handed her a plate with two breakfast sandwiches of eggs and cheese and grabbed two water bottles filled with orange juice and some napkins.
"Expedient," she said and pecked his lips.
"Not my favorite reason for that word, but true," he replied. "We have a situation in Ewa Beach, Danny's on the way, I told him I'd meet him there."
"Go." She smiled. "They'll eat and hopefully go back to sleep for a few hours." She started for the stairs with him right behind her. "Steve, go. I've got it."
"I'll just give them the juice and say goodbye." He grinned. "I have to get my badge and weapon anyway."
"Mommy, can I stay down here with you for a little while?" Angie asked in a groggy voice as she stood rubbing her eyes at the top of the stairs. "I can't fall asleep because I can't stop coughing."
"Come here, baby girl." Catherine pushed her lap top aside and opened her arms to her daughter. As the little girl settled beside her on the couch Catherine checked for any sign of a fever.
"You can't have any more cough medicine for an hour or so but how about if I get you a popsicle?" Catherine suggested. "Do you think that might help?"
"Yes." Angie nodded. "Especially if it's a red one."
"Red it is." Catherine got up and headed towards the kitchen.
"When you get back we finish watching Tangled?" Angie asked. "I'll go get DJ. He'll want to see it, too."
"DJ's sleeping," Catherine said. "Let's not wake him up."
"But I want to watch it," Angie sniffled.
Catherine knew by the tone of her daughter's voice the little girl wasn't feeling well at all. Angie was not typically the kind of child that whined.
"You and I can watch it now and then we can watch again later with DJ," Catherine suggested. "Does that sound good?"
"I guess so." Angie nodded. "Can I have a glass of juice too, please?"
"Of course you can." Catherine smiled. "I'll be right back."
Ninety minutes later, after finishing up Tangled and watching several videos of people riding sleds and building snowmen, Angie was ready to head back to bed. Her latest round of cough medicine was doing its job and by the time Catherine had tucked Angie in her eyes were already drifting closed.
"Get some sleep, baby girl." Catherine kissed her forehead. "I'll see you when you wake up."
She made her way back to the living room and had just opened her laptop when another voice greeted her from the top of the stairs.
"Mommy, I'm a little hungry," DJ said. "Can I have some soup, please?"
"I think we're out of chicken," Catherine said apologetically. "Will vegetable beef do?"
DJ nodded. "Can we watch the end of Tangled?" he asked as he walked down the stairs dragging his Cubs blanket with him. He stopped and thought for a minute. "No, we should wait for Angie. I know she'll want to see it too."
"I don't think that will be necessary." Catherine leaned over and kissed his forehead to check for a temperature. "She watched it while you were sleeping. You get comfortable on the couch and I'll get your soup then we'll watch."
"Thanks, Mommy." DJ spotted her laptop on the coffee table surrounded by file folders. "Are you gettin' lots of work done?"
Catherine smiled and kissed his forehead again. "I'm getting all the important things done."
When Steve called mid-morning to check in, Catherine told him that somehow the kids had gotten on opposite schedules and the morning had been a little chaotic.
"Do you need me to come home?" he asked.
"No." Catherine's heart warmed knowing without a doubt he would be there in a second if she told him she needed to get some work done. "I'm fine. It'll get done, you guys just be careful out there."
As the morning turned to afternoon, she found herself juggling between her two sick children: comforting them, making soup, and smiling softly at Cammie's attempts at caregiving.
"Cammie, good job," she said with a soft smile and kiss to her head after the dog gently lifted the fallen box of tissues and placed them back on Angie's bed.
As they headed back to the living room she heard the unmistakable sound of Steve's truck in the driveway.
"What are you doing home?" she asked when he came through the front door. "Did you wrap the case already?"
"No, but I figured with Angie and DJ running on opposite schedules right now you could use another set of hands," he said. "Danny, Chin and Kono can handle things without me for the rest of the day."
"You are an amazing father." She kissed his lips softly. "And an incredible husband."
He wrapped an arm around her waist. "Teamwork makes the dream work."
She looked around the room at crumpled Kleenex, empty soup bowls and a pile of laundry. "I'm not sure whose dream this is," she snorted.
"You go ahead and do what you need to do," Steve said. "I'll get this stuff cleaned up."
An hour later Catherine was making progress on her report when Cammie nudged her hand, then turned to look at the door, letting out a soft whine in the back of her throat. She'd been so engrossed in what she was doing she hadn't heard anyone pull in.
"What's up, Cammie?" Steve asked as he returned from putting a load of clothes in the washer. "We're supposed to be letting Mommy work."
A split second later they heard a knock at the door.
"Are we expecting anybody?" Steve asked.
"Not that I know of," Catherine said.
Steve made his way across the room as quickly as possible before the knocking woke up the kids. Cammie followed closely at his heels. He opened the door to find Danny standing there holding up a paper bag with a wonderful aroma wafting from it. "I picked up some of Jirou's chicken soup. Figured it might help. Especially if you add pastina."
"Aww, thanks, Danny," Catherine said. "That's really thoughtful of you. We actually ran out earlier so this is perfect."
"From someone who knows the fun of a kid with a cold," he replied with a small smile, holding out the container of soup. "Hopefully it helps."
"I'm sure it will," Catherine said, stepping forward to take the container.
"Kiss them for me, I'm going to interview Kalami." He pointed at Steve. "You stay, I'll call you if he gives us anything."
Steve shook his head. "Call me either way. And Danny? Thanks."
"I'll put this in the refrigerator and boil water for pastina," Catherine said, carrying the container to the kitchen as Danny let himself out with a wave.
Steve followed her. "It's nice to know we've got some backup," he said, nodding toward the soup container. "Operation Cold Recovery got an upgrade."
Catherine chuckled, her eyes softening as she looked at him. "You really are something else, you know that?"
"I learned from the best," Steve quipped, his lips quirking into a grin as he bumped his shoulder lightly against hers.
"What's so funny?" Catherine asked as she emerged from the bathroom that night once both kids were sleeping to find Steve sitting on the bed chuckling.
"Nothing really." He smiled that smile that still made her heart melt even after all these years. "I was just thinking about how far things have come since Operation: Influenza."
"Well," she sat down beside him and smiled, "for one thing, you're a much better caregiver than you are a patient."
"Sorry about that." He kissed her cheek. "When I was helping Angie pick a book for storytime earlier she kept saying that she was going to gymnastics tomorrow and I told her that that probably wasn't going to happen and she insisted it was and…." He trailed off.
Catherine barked a laugh. "Like looking in a mirror, isn't it?"
He nodded. "I get it now."
"Remember that next time you get sick," she said.
He smirked. "I don't get sick."
She wrapped her arms around his neck. "Thanks for coming home early today." She kissed him lightly. "We make a very very good team. The common cold has no chance against us."
"Teamwork makes the dream work," he said with a gravelly voice.
She straddled his lap and purred in his ear. "What do you say we give that superior immune system of yours a workout?"
"As always, Lieutenant, I love the way you think."
Hope you enjoyed!
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