Mariposa101: Thank you for reading!

Ava's eyes fluttered open and a groan rose from her throat in pure discomfort.

Looking around, she saw that she was still in her bedroom at her father's beach house. Lady was no longer beside her on her bed, but she now rested on the floor as if she had been shoved to her doom.

Ava winced as she tried to swallow, a new and dull pain in her throat making the simple task difficult. She could feel her pajamas sticking to her skin and when she tried to pull the material away, the cool air hit her, causing a shiver to go up her spine.

She decided that it was better not to move.

A lone miserable tear slid down her face, opening the door for more to follow. She wasn't sure what time it was, but she knew it was the next day because the sun was shining through her curtains.

A knock on the door indicated that someone wanted to come in, but it wasn't like Ava could say anything right now.

"Baby?" Her father spoke gently. "I'm coming in, okay?"

The hinges on the door were well oiled, because they didn't make a sound as Dan entered the room. Not even the metal of Ava's bed creaked when he sat down on it.

Ava whined when he placed his hand on her forehead.

Dan tried his best not to panic, but Ava's skin felt like a furnace. He didn't need to use a thermometer to know that her fever was high.

Nathan used to get high fevers like this and it scared him every time.

But he knew exactly what to do.

Scooping Ava up into his arms, he quickly brought her to the bathroom and turned on the water with every intention of giving her a bath. He knew that lukewarm water would reduce the heat coming from her skin better than ice would.

"Baby, you're soaked." He grimaced, ridding her of her drenched pajamas, but leaving her in her undergarments for modesty, though he knew they'd have to come off eventually.

"Cold….." Ava managed to croak, though it was clear that the simple word hurt to say.

"I know, Baby." Dan placed a hand under the nozzle as the tub filled up with water, double checking to make sure the temperature was right. "You're gonna feel better soon."

Once the tub was full, he gently placed Ava in the water, which caused her to shiver. He was thankful that her hair was braided so it had less of a chance of getting wet. He also assumed that Ava would have to take a bath like this at some point, so he already pre-wrapped the child's cast in plastic so it wouldn't be destroyed.

Pulling out his phone, he texted Karen to tell her what was happening. He knew that she would want to know exactly what was going on.

"Alright." Dan set Ava down on the couch and handed her the remote. "I'm gonna make you some breakfast. What do you want?"

Ava, who benefitted greatly from the lukewarm water of the bath, put a finger on her chin as if she were in deep thought. Her throat still hurt too much to actually talk, but she held her hand in a fist as if she were holding an ice cream cone.

"Ice cream?" Dan smirked. "You haven't even had breakfast yet."

Ava pouted and pointed to her throat. She knew she wasn't supposed to have dessert this early, but this was a unique situation and she didn't think that she'd be able to have anything else without pain.

"Okay, but if your mom asks, it's your fault." He joked.

Ava smiled in satisfaction and turned on the tv, flipping through the channels before deciding to watch Sesame Street. She loved the show very much in previous years, but she now watched in secrecy for fear of getting caught or teased.

The last thing she needed, was for Sarah and Eliza to find out about this and have something else to tease her about.

Ava figured that since her father was in the kitchen, he wouldn't really notice what she was watching right now.

Her fingers played with Lady's floppy ear as her eyes became glued to the television set. She giggled quietly at the ridiculous antics of Mr. Noodle.

"Here you go." Dan handed her a bowl of chocolate ice cream.

Ava smiled in thanks, taking a spoonful before sighing in relief.

"What's this you're watching? Sesame Street?" He asked as he sat beside her.

Ava nodded, wary of his reaction.

"Good show." Was what he said. "Nathan watched this a whole lot when he was your age."

Ava's jaw dropped in shock!

She couldn't picture her big brother watching something like this when he was nine. He was always so tough and grown up.

"Don't tell him I told you." Dan winked before the doorbell rang. "I'll be right back." He told her, jogging over to the door.

When he opened the door he wasn't surprised to see Karen outside. After all, he was the one who texted her so she could come over. As much as he loved taking care of Ava, he knew the little girl needed to be in a familiar place.

Plus, he couldn't miss too much work. The dealership couldn't run itself.

He and Karen were going to have to figure out this arrangement in order to make it work.

"Hi….I….uh, I got your message." Karen knew this was going to be awkward, but she hoped that they could just ignore that in favor of taking care of their daughter.

"Come in." Dan stepped to the side. "She's inside watching tv. I gave her a fever reducer last night. She woke up with another fever this morning, so I let her sit in the tub with some warm water and I'd recommend giving her something after she's finished eating."

Karen nodded, allowing him to lead her into the living room where Ava was happily feeding herself the rest of her cold treat.

"Hi, Sweetheart." She leaned down and kissed the child's forehead, her subtle way of checking her temperature. Ava's skin had a little heat to it, but it wasn't anything that felt urgent. "How do you feel?"

"Hi, Mama." Ava croaked. "My throat hurts, but Daddy gave me ice cream and it feels better now."

"I'm glad to hear it."

Ava watched the way her parents avoided looking at each other. She wasn't entirely too sure about their history, but it made her sad to think that they really couldn't be in the same room together without it being awkward.

Still, that had no bearing on her relationship with either of them so she didn't have to worry about it.

"Are you gonna take me home?" She asked her mother.

Dan was really good at taking care of her, but Karen had a special way of doing things.

It was a Mama thing.

"Of course." Karen cupped her chin, just happy to see that she was doing alright. After getting a phone call from the child's teacher, she was really worried about what she might find this morning.

"Ava, I'll call later to see how you're doing." Dan assured her, not wanting to make this any more awkward than it was going to be.

"Okay." Ava allowed her mother to take the bowl from her and swing her up onto her hip. "Bye, Daddy. Thank you for taking care of me."

"Ava, go to bed."

Ava looked at her brother and huffed, trying her best to cross her arms with her cast. "No. I don't wanna. I slept a whole bunch already. I'm not tired."

"Havana-Rose Scott. I'll call Mom." Lucas threatened.

He had been trying to get her to go to bed for the past ten minutes, but nothing was working. Ava just insisted that she wasn't tired and she didn't want to sleep.

"You wouldn't bother Mama while she's working. That's a bluff." She leaned on the back of the couch to face him.

"I swear—"

"—You shouldn't swear. It's not polite." Ava smiled, knowing she was getting on her brother's nerves. "Mama won't like it. She'll wash your mouth out with soap."

"I've had it."

When Lucas reached for her with the intention of lifting her up and physically putting her to bed, Ava whined and tried to push his hands away. "No! Please, I wanna stay here! I'm bored! I'm not even sick anymore!"

It had been a few days since Ava originally came down with her sickness, so it wasn't a lie that she was feeling better, but Karen was taking precautionary measures to make sure that she wouldn't get sick again.

"Okay." Lucas relented. "But you can't start bouncing off the walls yet. You have to sit down and stay still."

"Okay." She nodded. "I can do that. Wanna watch a movie with me?"

And just then, a lightbulb went off in Lucas' head.

A movie was the perfect way to get Ava to finally go to sleep. He could see that she was tired and it was getting closer to her bedtime, so he didn't want to fight with her. If he put the movie on and let her cuddle with him, she would be out like a light in no time at all.

"Sure." He smiled.

"Lady and the Tramp?" She sniffled, her stuffy nose still bothering her.

"Go ahead, Babygirl."

Ava grinned and pushed the VHS tape into the VCR before sitting down on the couch, waiting for Lucas to sit next to her.

Lucas held up his pointer finger to tell her to wait a second before rushing into the kitchen to get a bottle of water. It was a reusable one with a straw so nothing would spill. He wasn't sure how much liquid Ava had in the past few hours and he knew that between him, the movie, and the drinking, she'd have trouble not falling asleep.

"Alright." He sat down on the couch once he got back to the living room. "Here."

"Thank you." She happily accepted the drink, putting it to her lips as she leaned against him.

Lucas waited a moment before he put an arm around her and pat her back with a soft rhythm.

Ava's eyes fluttered, but she quickly shook her head to rouse herself awake. She was determined to watch this film.

It was her favorite and she wouldn't be doing it any justice if she fell asleep in the middle of it.

Unfortunately for her, her body was determined to win this battle.

As Peggy Lee's voice warbled a soft lullaby, Ava's head nodded and her eyelids grew heavier and heavier. She stopped drinking her water, but the reusable bottle remained in her hands and her muscles relaxed.

Lucas looked down at her and saw what she was trying to do, so he continued his soft ministrations, pulling his sister down so she was resting her head on his leg.

And that's what did her in.

As soon as she was comfortable, Ava lost the battle of wills and promptly fell asleep.

Lucas took the water from her and placed it on the coffee table in front of them, knowing he now had to choice but to watch the rest of the film because he couldn't get up.

"You, Havana-Rose, are a piece of work." He whispered, rubbing her back. "But that's okay. I wouldn't have you any other way. Sweet dreams, Babygirl."