Virgil checked the thermometer, adjusting his mask some, "Still a little high, but not too bad."
Miguel quietly sobbed into Alfredo.
"I know, Bubba, trust me," he rubbed his back, "Open up."
2099 saw the bottle of medicine and pulled the blanket over his face, "Nuh huh. Nasty."
"I know its gross, but you have to take it so you can get better," he pulled at the blanket, "Come on, take your medicine please."
"No, no. Give it to Alfredo, he's more sick," Mig shook his head, putting the Llama in front of himself.
"I'll give him medicine next," he pushed the toy aside, "Open your mouth."
"I don't want it."
"Miguel," daddy stated sternly, "Do you want me to tell mommy you're not taking your medicine?"
"No," he sobbed, "Don't tell mami."
Virgil rubbed his back, pulling him to sit up, "Be a good boy for daddy, come on."
2099 leaned over, tears streaming down his cheeks before taking the large spoonfuls of liquid.
"There we go, that's my good boy," he smiled under a mask, "Do you want your milky?"
Miggy sniffled, nodding weakly. He felt hot and cold and exhausted.
"Here we go," Virgil handed him the bottle. Mig normally drank from a cuppie but they wanted to avoid spills, "And we give Alfredo his," he pretended to give the plush medicine, "There we go. Now you should both feel better soon."
Mig watched him leave the room, quietly sucking his milk.
X
Miguelito's eyelids slowly opened. When his vision cleared he could recognize Jess wiping his forehead and face with a damp towel.
"Gotta get this fever down," she tsked, "Mr. 'I don't get sick'."
"Do you think I got something interdimensional?" tears formed in his eyes as he gripped her arm. He wouldn't be surprised, it would only make sense. The universe saw him happy again and that can't fly, oh no.
"Oh my," Jess was going to kill Virgil, "No baby. You have the flu. The same thing daddy had, ok? You don't have some intergalactic sickness."
He covered his eyes, sobbing pitifully, "How do you know?"
She sighed, "I can confirm with a doctor. Would that make you feel better?"
"No, I don't like doctors. They try to hurt me," he shook his head.
"Well I can get one from HQ, would that be better?" She wiped his neck, putting an ice pack on his head, "You need to eat."
"No, no doctors," he hugged her waist, laying his head against her thigh.
"If I can't break this fever you're not going to have a choice," she grabbed his bowl of soup, "Ok, pumpkin, sit up so you can eat."
Mig slid himself up to lay against her side, allowing her to spoon soup into his mouth.
"There we go. We're gonna have to thank Nana again for all that food she gave us. I thought it was much at first, but I guess that seasoned mom's intuition let her know we weren't done with sickness in the house yet."
Mig sniffed, hugging tight to her, "Thank you. Always take care…"
"I know, I know, hush," she set the bowl down, "No," she brushed his large hand off her breast, "you can have another bottle, water or tea."
"I want you," he complained, leaning into her more.
"You are sick."
"You let Gunner nurse when he's sick."
"Do I let you nurse when he's sick? No I don't, because I don't want you sick."
Mig whined, "He's not even here."
"I still have to pump, Miguel," she gently unwrapped herself from his hold and stood from the bed, "Do you want some hot tea?"
"Hate tea," he turned away, sniffling into his pillow.
"That's not true," she dismissed his fussing, giving him a throat lozenge to suck on, "You'll feel better soon," she rubbed his cheek, taking her leave.
"Thought he didn't get sick?" Virgil sprayed everything with Lysol. He was not getting sick again.
"He thought that too," she shrugged, "Gonna throw him out a window when he's better, giving you forewarning."
"I'll alert the neighbors."
X
"Put the blanket down," Spider-mom was losing patience, "You can take this last dose and be done for the night."
"I don't want it, it's burning my throat," he complained, gripping his bedding tight.
"Boy," she scoffed, "You just ate this spicy whatever Bre-ma gave you. I know it was spicy, I smelled it as soon as I opened the container. It cleared my sinuses heating it up."
"I don't want it," he repeated, turning away.
Jess pulled the blanket aside, swatting his bottom, "That is enough. I'm gonna leave you here with daddy when I take the others to the aquarium."
Mig rubbed his rear, sulking, "I want to go too."
"Then stop all this nonsense and take your medicine," she scolded, "You are already going to be in a hefty amount of trouble when you're over this."
Confusion washed over his face, "What did I do? Why am I in trouble?"
"A 101 degree fever doesn't spring out of nowhere. So that tells me you probably weren't feeling well when you woke up," she pointed to him, "And instead of telling me or daddy you took yourself to HQ and stayed there at least 2 hours, knowing you didn't feel good."
There wasn't a defense he had to those accusations. He merely bit his thumb, averting his eyes.
"I am very cross with you. You still are not taking your health seriously," Jess scanned him up and down, "Open your mouth and take your medicine."
Mig obeyed silently, cringing as he swallowed.
"Now lay back," she demanded, "Do you still have a headache?" he shook his head sullenly, "You can talk Miguel."
"No," he muttered, laying against his pillow, staring at the wall as he hugged both his stuffed toys.
Jess smoothed his hair back, "Are you just saying that so I'll go away?"
"No."
She leaned forward, kissing his temple, "Mommy loves you very much, ok. You just rest so you can get better soon."
His eyes water as he nodded.