"Oh, my word! Tim! I need a hug! What a day!" Jill sighed in bed that night "What with Mr Escape-Artist, Mr Attention-seeker and Mr Hungry! I've never felt so exhausted!"
"Well now there's Mr Tool-Man" said Tim cuddling up beside Jill, his hand creeping under the covers.
"Oh no Tim… no… absolutely not going to happen tonight" Jill swatted him off, however before Tim could protest their bedroom door creaked open, Jill sighed, she knew without even having to look which of her sons it would be "Randy, what is it?"
"Mommy, I can't sleep! I feel sick, I need you, can I sleep in your bed?"
"Oh no, not this again! You're not sick, go back to bed and go to sleep!" said Jill jumping out of bed and taking Randy's hand. She led him back to his bedroom that he shared with Brad and tucked him back into bed "Goodnight sweetheart!" she called through gritted teeth. She shut the bedroom door a little more briskly than she intended to and the smile she had plastered on her face quickly dropped back to a scowl. She fell back into bed heavily.
"Now what were we saying?" Tim said, his hand wandering and he made a small grunting sound.
"I was saying 'no' and you were saying 'goodnight' I think Tim" Jill prodded him and he let out a soft "oof" sound.
"Night night honey" Tim switched the light off and within seconds Jill felt her tiredness envelop her and she drifted into a deep sleep. She'd only managed about 10 minutes of sleep when she was woken with a start by the sound of a child crying "Mommy!" followed by a retching sound.
"Tim!" she elbowed Tim who sat up with a jolt
"What?!" he exclaimed
"Tim, I think one of the boys just threw up"
"Oh, that's nice" said Tim and lay back down, preparing to go back to sleep.
"No Tim! I'm being serious. I can't look after them if they're sick, it's too much risk to pass something on to Mark, he's so small, a bug now could land him in the hospital"
Tim groaned and rolled out of bed, he stumbled across the hall into the boys' room. He found Randy lying in bed crying. He'd been sick all over himself and, Tim noted, just for extra measure, his bed too. Tim tried not to retch at the acrid smell.
"It's ok Buddy" he said gently lifting the boy out of his bed "Mommy! I want Mommy!" Randy cried, clearly upset by the new nursing arrangements.
"Mommy's asleep now so you'll have to make do with Daddy" Tim said rather more curtly than he intended.
He carried Randy through to the bathroom and began to run the bath tub. He stripped off his disgusting pyjamas and threw them into the corner then plunged the crying child into the tub. The bathroom door swung open with a thud. Brad stood in the doorway looking a strange shade of green.
"Daddy! I don't feel so good"
Brad retched and threw up on the bathroom floor.
"Oh boy!" Tim exclaimed to himself. Watching the chaotic scene unfold, a small voice from behind in the bathtub echoed "oh boy!"
Somehow, over the course of the next hour (or was it three hours? Tim couldn't be sure) he managed to get both boys cleaned up, into fresh pyjamas and armed them both with bowls. Jill went to sleep in the nursery with Mark and, not wanting to face the job of changing all of the sheets, Tim took both the older boys into his bed with him.
The next morning, Tim lay in bed, reflecting on what had possibly been the worst night's sleep of his life. His whole body ached with exhaustion. "There is not enough coffee in the world that is going to keep me going today" he thought reflecting on the kicking, wriggling, snoring, poking and cover stealing that had punctuated his sleep approximately every 4 minutes. That was of course not to mention the fact that at least once an hour they seemed to tag team throwing up.
"Daddy!" called Brad. Tim opened his eyes and focussed on the blonde four-year-old sitting brightly in front of him in bed. Behind him Randy was curled up in a ball, still fast asleep, so that was one small mercy at least Tim thought. Brad eyed him perkily. "You look tired Daddy" he said more factually than sympathetically.
"Well I wonder why that could be" Tim muttered under his breath and then a little louder he said "Are you feeling better Buddy?"
"Oh, oh yeah I'm fine" Said Brad with a bright smile and he hopped out of the bed, seemingly fresh as a daisy.
"How?" thought Tim rubbing his eyes, "How do kids do that? One minute they're at death's door and the next they're right as rain again!"