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JAKE
Iwas still wrapping my mind around the concept of twins as I set Josh into the bathtub to clean him up. From the other side of the bathroom, Izzy let out a miserable sound as she threw up.
Coop had pulled her hair up and out of her way. Archie and Frankie had picked them both up from school on their way back from their appointment. They weren’t the only ones being hit by a stomach flu.
“Daddy,” Josh said in a quavery voice. “I don’t feel good.”
“I know you don’t,” I said, the bath was lukewarm water only because Josh definitely wasn’t. He had a fever and from the way Izzy was throwing up, I’d imagine she had one too. “We’re going to fix it.”
“I want Mama,” Izzy said after Coop wiped her face and flushed the toilet.
Yeah, they always did. “Let’s clean you up first,” Coop suggested. “Dad went to the store to get some stuff for your tummies. Mama has Charlie at the moment.”
“Is Charlie sick?” The demand in Izzy’s tone chased away some of her unhappiness. I stole a glance over to find her staring at Coop with the fiercest expression.
God, she was so Frankie at that age. Our little girl was almost a carbon copy of her mother. Tough. She’d happily throw down if it came to that. Fearless.
Loyal to a fault.
“We don’t know yet, little miss,” Coop told her in a tone that brooked no arguments even if he didn’t have to raise his voice one iota. It was impressive. “Let’s finish cleaning you up and then you can try some crackers.”
“I didn’t get it all over me, Pop. I was careful.”
“I know you were,” he said, nudging her toward the door. “Let’s change anyway. Probably be more comfortable out of the uniform.”
Her sigh was everything and I caught Coop’s eye roll followed by a swift grin.
“Daddy,” Josh said, laying his head against my arm. “I’m gonna be sick again.”
I twisted and got the bowl under his face before he puked. Some days, I looked at my life and thought, who planned for this? Two kids throwing up, the likelihood that we’d have a third one doing it anytime now, and the simple fact we’d probably have a round of it go through all of us.
We really needed to avoid Frankie getting this. Granted, we might not have a choice, but fingers crossed.
When Josh finished, I dumped out the bowl into the toilet and flushed it away before going back to him. The hard flush to his cheeks was diminishing and I used a washcloth to spread the cooler water over his neck and back.
“You’re doing good, bud,” I promised him. “You’re doing real good.”
“I don’t like this.”
“Yeah, me neither. We’ll fix it though.” I gave him another five minutes in the bath. I wanted the heavy flush out of his cheeks and that fever reduced. I checked with the forehead reader before I took him out. Down a couple of degrees.
Better.
When I wrapped him up in a towel and lifted him out, he rested his head against my shoulder. Coop had Izzy squared away, so I took Josh for clean clothes. Jeremy was in his room when we came in and he gave Josh an assessing look.
“I brought up some Sprite and Crackers if we’re feeling up for it.”
“I’m hungry,” Josh said and Jeremy grinned at him. “Thank you, Grandpa Jere.”
“You’re quite welcome, Mr. Joshua. Do we want pajamas or play clothes?”
Josh looked up at me and I winked at him. “Whatever you feel like, bud. You’re not going back to school today.” The next day wasn’t looking likely either. Not when he had to be fever free for twenty-four hours.
“PJs please,” Josh answered.
Jeremy went over to the dresser and pulled out some Transformer ones that Josh had gotten from my parents on their last visit. They’d gotten Izzy the superhero ones she really wanted and Transformers for Josh.
After I dried him off, Jeremy helped him get dressed and then I headed back to the bathroom to hang up the towel. We stored buckets under the sink for these occasions.
