February 23rd 2024

Chapter 54
The Feeling of Care

The third day of the break did not get off to the start they would have hoped it would go. Suddenly, they had Gracie back on crutches after the trouble with her hip, and they weren't sure what it would mean for the days to come, but they did know that they for sure wanted to be near her, to look after her in what way she might need. Even as they thought of this though, they would remember they also had Mackenzie with her leg, and the two sisters advancing through their respective pregnancies, who were finding it more and more preferable to sit, to find a comfortable position and stay that way… It wasn't as though they couldn't get anything done, but oh did the couch look inviting, all those cushions…

Lucas had earned some bonus points in convincing the kids that it would be a good idea to do the calendars after breakfast instead of before, pointing out the way some of them would want to hurry up all the others to finish looking in their calendar boxes because they were just so hungry. This way, they could take their time… and their mom and aunt could get comfortable without having to get up a minute later. He followed this up with asking Marianne, Lucy, Kacey, Remy, and Aubrey to go to the store with Wyatt and Finn and him for what they'd need ahead of the cooking and baking for Christmas. This would leave the couch-bound quartet in the capable hands of Nurse MJ and his trusty assistant Nurse Haley. Did the two of them look the slightest bit too eager to tend to 'the injured and preggo' of the house? Time would tell.

"Do you want me to check in on you from time to time?" Lucas whispered when he leaned over the back of the couch to say goodbye, and Maya chuckled.

"I think we'll be okay," she told him with a serene smile and a covert bit of signing. Bring me chocolate, please? Mackenzie made a noise like she'd seen it and Maya gave her a quick look before turning back to Lucas. Her, too.

"You got it," Lucas laughed before leaning to kiss the top of her head, and moving to do the same with their daughter. Mackenzie reached out her arms so he went as far as he could over the back of the couch to hug her before heading out with the others.

"They've been in there too long," Nellie looked to her sisters and niece as the four of them were left sitting across the couch, taking up the majority of the U-shape between them, especially with the dogs coming along. There was very little noise over the room, enough that they could hear their 'nurses' back in the kitchen.

"What are they doing?" Mackenzie wondered.

"Whatever it is, we'll probably find out soon," Gracie shrugged, otherwise focused on Yankee and Liberty, the pups always the most patient when they were both looking from scratches from a hand alternating between them.

"I bet there's costumes," Maya added, and the others barely had time to look at her that MJ and Haley came sweeping out of the kitchen, decked out in their best and most rapidly constructed outfits and carrying a pair of trays.

"Alright, alright, ladies, thank you for your patience," MJ greeted them, and there may not have been a spotlight in the room, but he sure 'performed' as though there was one, and it followed him wherever he went. "Nothing but the best for our favorite patients." Haley snorted at his word play and went to set her tray and MJ's on the coffee table. He didn't miss a beat, moving with this new freedom of his hands, right over to the newest addition to the couch gang.

He'd been nine years old when Gracie had her accident, and it had been so terrible to see her in the hospital, injuries fresh and pain on high for all they'd done to alleviate it. He could not handle seeing any of his siblings hurt, sure, but then Gracie had always been the quietest of them, sweet little Mouse-Mouse, and the memory had only ever made him that much more protective of her. The incident the previous day had taken him back to that day, and as good of a show as he gave of being the most entertaining little fake nurse in town, they could all see him carrying this urge to just put his arms around his big sister, keeping her near, keeping her safe. Gracie saw this as well as the rest, so she happily played into his act.

"Now, Miss Hunter, is there anything else I can get you? Do you have enough pillows around you? Good and cushioned in there?"

"I think so, yes," Gracie nodded.

"You look like someone packed you for transport, so yeah, I'd say," MJ agreed. Nellie snorted, and MJ held out his finger toward her. I'll be with you shortly, Miss Hunter. "How about your blanket from upstairs though?" he looked back to Gracie, and she smiled.

"That'd be great, yeah," she agreed.

"Good, I'll just…"

"Got it, on it!" Haley sped off up the stairs before he could go any further.

"How about snacks, you want any? A nice beverage? We have a selection of holiday mugs, and some comedy straws, which are a must right now," MJ informed his sister, and Gracie nodded, leaving it up to him to decide. He knew her enough to pick out what she'd want.

All the Friar kids would weep for the day when their Uncle MJ would eventually move out of the house, and Mackenzie would be right there at the front. Oh, how could she not? She was and had always been her parents' 'funny macaroni,' and even before he'd lived just upstairs from her, she had been bonded so tightly to the one of her mother's siblings she associated most with her own comic mind. Those two together were a guarantee, a promise for lifted spirits, for uncontrollable giggles, and her love for him was only matched for the love he held for her. Since her injury, he had always been right there, ready to provide if she ever had any need. There was next to no limit to what he could and would do for her.

"Alright, alright, Mackity-Mack-Mack," MJ sidestepped and dropped into a crouch, chin on his fist, in front of his niece, pulling an instant laugh from her, glowing over her features and reflecting onto her uncle's face. "How are the toes? Itchy at all?" They barely stuck out, but she could see them, complete with her toenails painted a bright pink by MJ himself.

"No, no itch," Mackenzie reported. "Look, Grandpa did a camera," she pointed to a spot in her cast.

"When did he do that?" MJ smiled.

"At the hospital," Mackenzie pointed back to Gracie to complete her answer. Last night.

"I want to see it, too," Gracie stated.

"Yeah, I didn't see it," Nellie jumped in, even as Haley had come over to look, the blanket now laid over Gracie.

MJ could see no better way to resolve this and entertain his niece at the same time, so he carefully lifted her off the couch and carried her to one aunt and the other to show them the camera. Mack laughed, enjoying this very much and insisting that he show her to her mother, too, and to the dogs, before he could set her down back in her spot.

"You are not picking me up," Nellie pointed at her little brother when he turned toward her.

"Wasn't going to," MJ held his hands in surrender. "What if you bit me or something?" he joked, and she gave him a good glare up until he offered her a snack from the table and she snatched it away at once. The exchange had made Mackenzie laugh, and the sound could always bring a smile back to her aunt's face, even if she squinted at her brother, 'reminding' him that he was on thin ice. MJ presented her with a book he'd kept out of sight until then, like he'd known he would need a peace offering sooner or later, and Nellie was so surprised to see it - when she'd been meaning to read it for a while already. She took the book and stared at him for a moment before her face relaxed into a smile.

"Thank you." He gave her a wink and a half-bow.

"Anything else? Are you good with the pillows? Do you want the big guy down here? Don't know how it would fit, but we can certainly try," MJ offered, frowning like he was trying to picture how to put his sister and her pregnancy pillow on the couch. "Maybe if you were in the corner there? We can just…"

"No, no, no, I'm good. Got my book now, I'm great."

"Alright, great! Great is good. Moving on to the last and certainly not the least of our patients here. Haley?" he signaled her forward, and she came to stand next to him as they looked upon their eldest sister.

"You two are looking at me like hairstylists looking at a disaster, stop it," Maya frowned.

"What? No, are you kidding?" Haley laughed.

"You have the best hair out of… all of them," MJ started, then indicated his other sisters, before running a hand through his own hair with a grin.

"It's like he's trying to get us to smack him," Nellie reflected, looking to her twin, and Gracie slowly nodded.

"I'd tell him he needs to sing for our forgiveness, but he'd probably do that anyway," she replied.

"Oh, he is," Haley leaned back to look at them. "Why do you think we're dressed like this? I'm supposed to be his backup."

"Well, see, now I can't do any of that," MJ sighed.

"See, this is what I keep telling you, baby brother," Maya tapped the empty space on the couch next to her and he went to sit, because who would he be if he denied his patient, right? "Sometimes, you have to know to quit while you're ahead. You just be the best little fake nurse in town, with… just a touch more humility, even if you do have the best hair in the family… after the one who gave it to you," she pointed out, and all four of the Hunters gave a 'yeah, she's got a point' nod. Wherever he was at the moment, Shawn Hunter would be smiling, whether he knew why or not. "Now… where's my snack?" Maya asked, and MJ sat up, motioning for Haley's assist.

"Admit you were going to click your fingers," she told MJ.

"I'm not doing anything like that," he insisted.

"Yeah, he's more about the…" Nellie demonstrated a little summoning clap, and her sisters laughed, MJ joining in after a second. She had a point.

With the six of them - and the dogs - all packed in around the couch, comfy with all the pillows and blankets they could need, the December morning feeling magical as ever, there was really nothing better for them to do than put on a movie. The choice was left to the smallest among them, with her Aunt Haley happily submitting herself to become a new backrest for Mackenzie, her arm around her. When the others returned, the movie was nearly over, but everyone was happy to keep on enjoying their quiet day, so after everything that had been brought home was put away, the living room filled up, the couch left to those who needed it most while the others sat on the ground. When the time would come, the merry fake nurses would jump into action again, seeing about bringing lunch to the cozy and the recovering masses of the Friar household.

TO BE CONTINUED

See you tomorrow! - mooners