AN: Thank you to Green-Extreme-Ninjetti13, Sandy Yu, SweetPinkGreenWhiteMother13, and SweetPinkGreenWhiteShyMom13 for favoriting this story so far! I really appreciate the support!
Tommy rolled over, searching for Kim and felt that the bed next to him was cold. He squinted at the clock and realized that it was 2am and let out a sigh. This couldn't be good, the toddlers normally woke him up first- so this had to be something else. He heard a gag come from the bathroom and he let out a groan. Kira and Jay had come down with an awful stomach bug earlier this week and he really hoped that she was just having a morning sickness episode. Before he could check on Kim, he heard the pitter patter of little feet sprinting down the hallway. The door flew open as Jay stared up at him, vomit covering his pajamas. It was going to be one of those nights.
"Da I sick. Jay sick," Jay pointed at himself as Tommy walked over to him and felt the fever that he obviously had. He gingerly removed the pajamas and realized that he had also had a blowout. He took a deep breath, grabbed a towel from the floor, and wrapped it around Jay before he walked down to the toddlers bathroom. Kira met him in the hall wailing before she vomited on the floor and he stared up at the ceiling for a moment, before scooping her up under his other arm. That was three out of four and he wasn't hopeful that he'd managed to avoid this virus.
"Wan Mama," Kira cried as she smeared snot on Tommy's chest as she rubbed her face against him.
"Mama's sick too," Tommy comforted as he placed both of them in the empty tub and then dug under the sink for extra diapers. While they were mostly potty trained, with how sick they were, diapers would be easier. He felt his stomach lurch and he let out a shaky breath. He could not go down with this bug too. He didn't have time to try to fight it down before he dove for the toilet and threw up. This had to be some circle of hell and based on his past life, he probably deserved it.
"Mama!" Kira wailed and Tommy tried to sit up before he found himself throwing up again. The twins wailed as he threw up until his stomach was empty and he looked over to see that they had thrown up again as well. He switched on the water, threw a hand over in it to make sure it wasn't too hot, and he then stripped Kira of her pajamas before climbing into the shower with the two of them. This was definitely a night where just taking a shower and washing everyone off was going to be much easier than trying to do anything else.
"Tommy," Kim whispered and he peeked out of the shower curtain to see that she had gathered various layers of clothes that had been abandoned as he stripped children from vomit soaked clothes. He tossed her Kira's pajamas and then stripped off his boxers and tossed them to her as well. He was covered in vomit and desperately wanted to feel even slightly clean. "They're sick too?"
"Yeah and I just threw up five times," Tommy said as her eyes widened and she let out a groan. They had had this happen one time before and it had nearly taken them out. "I'll get them clean-ish. Buckets in the living room?"
"Yeah," Kim said as he watched her catch herself against the doorway.
"Drop those there, go lay down. I'll get it." He scrubbed down the toddlers a bit more quickly, realizing that this could get much worse because she was pregnant. He let out a grateful sigh as she dropped the laundry and then headed towards the living room. He listened and heard the television click on. Thank goodness she had made it to the couch. He managed to get the crying toddlers clean and then wrapped each of them in a towel before wrapping a towel around himself. He mentally worked through what medicine he needed to get in which child and made a decision to just throw on diapers and put them under blankets. Otherwise they were going to have so many pairs of little clothes to wash. He thought he hated laundry when he was single. He had a newfound hatred with trying to match up tiny socks and coordinating outfits.
"Mama!" the twins chorused as Tommy placed them on the couch and they dove for Kimberly. She snuggled them for a moment before looking up at Tommy and he nodded.
"I'm going to go grab some medicine and pedialyte," Tommy said as Kim gave him a grateful look. He walked around the dark loft, grabbing things for his family. He passed Kim all of the basics and then walked back to their bedroom, stepping in vomit along the way. He hopped the rest of the way to their bedroom and through to their bathroom to wash his foot off. He took a glance in the mirror and noticed how pale he looked- this was going to be a long day. He threw on a pair of boxers and a t-shirt before steeling himself to go back out and help with the tots. He was normally the worst when it came to being sick, but he was not going to let Kim do more than snuggle toddlers if he could help it.
"He's burning up," Kim whispered as Tommy walked past her with all of the dirty laundry. He started the laundry and then walked over to pick Jay up. He grumbled as Tommy held him, but soon settled. "How are you feeling?"
"Not great. But I can move around safely. You just hold Kira and I'll get up with him every so often to sponge him off, we've got to give the tylenol a chance to work," Tommy said as he stretched out on the couch next to her and she scooted over and leaned against his side. "Baby, you're warm too."
"I took some Tylenol after I threw up. I just have to wait it out Tommy, I can't take anymore." Kim adjusted her body to try to get more comfortable and found herself laying in his lap with Kira curled up on her chest. She continued to fight down bile because she knew she couldn't afford to throw up much more and she needed to keep the medicine in her body. He felt her fighting against getting sick and massaged the base of her neck, where she normally held most of her tension. Maybe he could get her back to sleep, rest would do her the most good.
Tommy looked up at the clock and let out a sigh. 2:45. It felt like the last 45 minutes had been three hours and he just had to hope that this would run through their family quickly.
"Yeah, we can get that for you. I just want to make sure I've got this right. You need karate classes covered for today and tomorrow; academy classes covered for today and tomorrow for you and Kimberly; someone to go grab gatorade, pedialyte, ginger ale, crackers, rice, chicken noodle soup, and children's tylenol," Grant paused as Carrie stared over at him and he nodded. "Okay, I'll get someone to run that over. Just rest Tommy, we can take care of two days."
"They alright?" Carrie rolled out of bed and walked over to her part of the closet to find something to wear for the day. He was always amazed at how much her time styling other people reflected in the absolute madness that was her wardrobe. His day to day clothing was much more uniform like.
"Doesn't sound like it. He said that everyone woke up at around 2 o'clock last night with a stomach bug." Grant gave her a quick hug and then tossed on something that would work for the dojo. It was easiest for him to cover the toddler class this morning and he could call other instructors to get the rest of the day taken care of. "Can you get the Academy classes covered? It sounds like they weren't able to restock from the last time the twins got sick."
"Day care has not been treating them well." That was an understatement. The Oliver toddlers had come home with every virus imaginable since the beginning of the year when they had started daycare. Tommy had not been happy to send them, but had agreed because of the socialization and other benefits. They were pretty sure that Tommy might be pushed over the limit with this episode.
"It'll probably be a really late night for me at the dojo. Don't wait up for me." Grant hastily packed his bookbag and Carrie stilled him for a moment. He stared at her as he tried to figure out why she had stopped him. "What?"
"I'll come over there once I'm done for the day. At the least I can help get the dojo cleaned up for tomorrow and heading into the weekend."
"I'd really appreciate that. I've got to run if I'm going to grab all of this and get the dojo open for toddlers. Love you."
"Love you too."
Kim sat on the floor in the bathroom covered in vomit and diarrhea. She stared up at Tommy as he took a screaming Kira out of her arms and plopped her in the shower. She had lost count of the number of times that they had showered off today. She had come in here to throw up again and had been followed by a grumpy toddler who had gotten sick shortly after her.
"I'm starting to think we should just stay in the shower." Tommy pulled her to her feet and helped her out of her clothes. He could tell that she desperately wanted to just sleep, but Jay and Kira had been extra clingy with her. He had tried to take them away to give her that rest, but they had screamed so much that she had just come back to the living room. "You want to try our bed again?"
"Mama!" Jay cried as he toddled in and threw up on their feet. Kim looked up at Tommy as tears streamed down her face and he quickly got her cleaned off before grabbing Kira out of their shower and then picking Jay up.
"Baby- shower, put in your ear plugs, and get some sleep. I've got them." Kim let out a satisfied sigh as the hot water hit her skin and he knew that she had heard him. The twins screamed as he carried them out and he stopped by their bedroom to grab some lavender lotion. He knew things would get better if they could just take a nap. While he was holding it together best, he was desperate for some rest as well.
"Dada wan Mama," Kira moaned as she pulled at his shirt and desperately tried to get down. "Wan Mama."
"Mama's sick. I know you want Mama, but Mama needs to rest right now to keep growing baby brother. We can take a shower and then get a popsicle or take a shower and then take a nap," Tommy offered as Kira continued to wail, but Jay perked up at the word 'popsicle'. "Do you want to take a shower and then get a popsicle, Jay?"
"Pa da ba da," Jay squealed and Tommy laughed. He had forgotten that Jay could not even come close to saying popsicle.
"What do you want, Kira?" Tommy asked as she blew snot bubbles in his face and he gently wiped her face off with a baby wipe. She let out a deep sigh and he waited.
"Pat-sickle," Kira whispered as she played with the collar of his shirt and he nodded.
"Okay, bath and then two popsicles coming right up." They giggled as he placed them in the tub and dumped in a bit of bubble bath. They soon started splashing around and he hoped that this meant that they were at least feeling better. If he could just get them to feel better, he would be able to focus on Kim and himself a bit more.
"Let's switch," Kim whispered as she placed her hand on his shoulder and he jerked awake. "I got about four hours of sleep. Did you just get to sleep?"
"I don't know. Have you eaten anything?" That was his bigger worry. She had had a handful of low blood sugar episodes with the twins and he did not want to repeat any of them during this pregnancy. With how sick they had both been, today seemed like a day that was setting up for that perfectly. "Eat or drink something and then we can switch."
"Did they go down right away?" Kimberly walked around the kitchen, picking through the groceries Grant had dropped off earlier before grabbing a sleeve of crackers and a bottle of gatorade. She glanced around and noticed the remnants of toddler meals, but could tell that Tommy hadn't eaten. She fixed him a glass of ginger ale and got another sleeve of crackers for him. "Here."
"Thank you." Tommy grabbed the glass from her and chuckled at the sleeve of crackers. This is what their life had come down to- getting through virus after virus and eating all the saltine crackers. She settled on the couch and sipped on her gatorade, praying it wouldn't come back up. Her morning sickness had been milder this pregnancy, but today had more than made up for it. Tommy finished his drink and then slowly moved sleeping toddlers off his chest to place them in their sleeping bags. "Come here."
Kim crawled over next to him and he wrapped his arms around her. He needed to know that she was able to get to him if she got to feeling worse and this was the only solution he had. He placed his head on top of her baby bump and finally fully relaxed. He couldn't remember the last time he had been this sick, but he had to admit that it had been nice to just spend the day with his family.