Chapter 103

On Tuesday morning as Richie woke up he reached out to pull Sarah closer to hold but his hands only found a much smaller person. Regardless, he pulled him closer to cuddle him instead. Next to his wife, getting some Daniel cuddles was a close second. He finally opened his eyes to see if they were alone and found it was indeed just him and Daniel in bed. Lifting his head, he read the alarm clock on Sarah's nightstand. Past 10am, he had missed making breakfast for his teenagers before school again. He supposed he had a decent excuse not to get up. In his arms, Daniel seemed comfortably asleep, his mouth slightly open as his poor little nose was stuffy. He felt the same way but didn't want to disturb his son to get up and find some Tylenol's for himself, even if he'd feel better if he did, Daniel needed his sleep. Half of last night has been spent awake by Daniel being fussy, keeping his parents up as they tried to get him back to sleep.

A few minutes later he could hear the bedroom door opening, he looked up to see Sarah walk into the room. Seeing her made him stir inside his boxers regardless of how he felt. Her long blonde hair fell over her shoulder as she pushed the door closed behind her and continued on into the bedroom. She always looked so lovely and today was no different.

Sarah placed a plate, bottle and a mug on her nightstand before looking over at her husband and son.

"How are you feeling?" Sarah watched as Richie very carefully let go of their son to reach for the iPad on his own nightstand.
He unlocked the screen and opened up the notepad app he had been using since the day before. He cleared it before touching the screen to write out his message with his fingertip.
OK
"Yeah?" Sarah asked, not being too sure of that. "I brought you some peppermint tea with honey. The peppermint will help your stuffiness and the honey will sooth your throat."
He gave her a little smile as an answer.
"Have you taken any meds this morning?"
Richie shook his head slowly and added onto the iPad JUST WOKE UP.
"Okay." Sarah got up from the bed slowly as to not wake Daniel up. She watched the little boy snuggled up against his dad, his mouth still half open as he slept.

A few moments later she returned with the little container of Tylenol cold and flu, this time the daytime variety.

Repeating Sarah's actions, Richie slowly let go of Daniel entirely so he could arrange his pillows and sit. He accepted the pills Sarah gave him, along with the mug of tea she passed. Having noticed her little boy earlier, Sarah reached for the container of Vaseline she had for him and carefully applied some to his lips.

"Poor boy." She said, looking up at her husband. "Maybe later you and Daniel can take a steamy hot shower." She suggested.
His eyebrow raised in question.
"The steam would clear his nose, and yours." Sarah pointed out. The medication only did so much after all.
He nodded his response, a shower would feel pretty good.
"I brought you breakfast." Sarah remembered, reaching for the plate she had brought up. "Just some toast with jam."

They both looked down when they heard rutling sheets between them as Daniel stretched and looked up at both of them.

Richie took the plate that was offered to him to free Sarah's hands so she could pull her little boy into her lap. As she sat against the pillow covered headboard, she pulled up her knees so Daniel was snuggled close against her.

He took a bite of toast as he watched Sarah give Daniel his medication, rather making sure he was comfortable than letting him announce when he was feeling bad. He chewed his second bite as Sarah reached for the bottle of milk to pass to Daniel. He didn't often had milk anymore unless he needed soothing before bed or now, when he was sick.

Richie watched as Sarah held their son close as he drank. She stroked his hair out of his eyes, then continued stroking the soft brown locks that were only growing longer. Her face was full of love and care as she did so. He could always read it off of her and it was something he would always admire. The way she looked always gave away how she felt and he loved when she looked at him with the same expression. With Sarah, he always knew he was loved. That was a feeling he would always return.

When Daniel offered his empty bottle, Sarah placed it back on the nightstand, then looked over at her husband with a gentle smile.

"How was your toast?" She asked when she noticed the crumb filled plate already on his nightstand.
AMAZING he wrote on the iPad, making sure she could read it.
Sarah raised an eyebrow at him. "Yeah? Toast with jam was amazing?"
He pulled up the keyboard onto the iPad instead of using his finger to type out "anything you make is amazing."
Sarah read it before looking up at him. "I think you're just being sweet. Maybe later I will make you some chicken noodle soup."
DELICIOUS
Sarah scooted closer with Daniel in her arms and reached in to kiss her husband.
He pulled back after a few seconds to grab his iPad again. YOU'LL GET SICK.
"I'll take the risk." She smiled before giving him a quick peck again.

It was a little before noon when Sarah decided to go ahead and make lunch for her husband and take a break from the morning TV shows they had been watching to keep themselves and Daniel somewhat entertained. Before she left, Richie headed to the bathroom where he caught himself in the mirror. He had seen himself in many shapes but sick was never a good look. He could really use a shower right now, plus Sarah had said it would make him feel better.

"I think I'll take a shower while you make lunch." He said when he walked back into the bedroom, his voice was still hoarse but not as bad as it had been the day before. It was coming back, Sarah's teas with honey had helped a lot. It was only a cold, he knew that.
"What about Daniel?" She asked.
"The steam will help him too, right?"
Sarah nodded, it would. "Yeah, I'm sure he would appreciate his nose clearing up too."

Richie could only agree to that, congestion was always annoying. He picked Daniel up from the bed, kissed his wife quickly and carried his son to the bathroom. Making sure the door was closed behind him, he started up the shower, turning it to it's hottest setting to steam up the room before turning it down to a tolerable temperature for showering. Meanwhile Daniel found his bath toys.

When she finished preparing some chicken noodle soup with toast, Sarah started a kettle with hot water to make a new cup of tea for Richie. She heated another bottle of milk for Daniel and added a small amount of honey for him as well. Once everything was ready to go, she headed up the stairs to their bedroom. They'd mostly stuck to their bedroom the last two days but she could see Richie was getting bored very quickly of that.

The bathroom was filled with steam when she walked into the room, he sure had taken the steamy shower seriously. "I've got lunch ready." Sarah said as she walked in and closed the door behind her again, not letting his steam escape.
"Soup?" Richie asked, not very excited at the prospects.
Sarah grabbed a towel from the rack as she watched him turn off the water. "Yes, chicken soup is good for you."
"Lots of other things are good for me too." He said as he opened the glass shower door, letting Daniel sit and play a little longer as he accepted the towel from Sarah and patted himself dry before tying it around his waist.
"Such as?"
He quickly pulled her close and kissed her deeply. "My beautiful wife." He answered once he pulled back again.
"Maybe once you're better." Sarah pointed out as she grabbed another towel to get Daniel out of the shower as well.
"I'm sure I'm better already." He claimed quickly.
Sarah looked up at him as she held Daniel wrapped in his towel in her arms. "In the last half hour?"
"Definitely."
"Maybe, it's just the steam clearing your head too much." Sarah joked.
Giving in, he started to put on the pj pants he had been wearing. "We'll see tonight."

After lunch, the three of them moved to the living room, which was a nice change to the bedroom of the last two days even though they watched the same TV programs as they would in bed.

Before he knew it, Daniel was asleep on his chest again, something he was very grateful for and had been for the last week.

Their TV show finished and when Richie didn't ask if she wanted to watch something else, Sarah looked over to see he had fallen asleep as well. Just as she had done before, she pulled a blanket over him and turned the TV off to grab a book. Taking the quiet as the perfect time to get some pages read.

The front door opening, made Sarah look over the back of the couch to see who was entering. There were only two possibilities and they'd be together anyway. "How was school?" She asked when Ava walked into the living room and Noah headed upstairs.
"It was alright, nothing exciting." Ava sat down in her dad's chair, dropping her bag onto the floor next to it. "How are dad and Daniel?"
Sarah looked at them both asleep as well. "I think your dad is starting to feel better, Daniel's a little slower."
Ava frowned in thought at that.
Sarah noticed it right away, she knew what she was thinking. "It's just a cold. The doctor said he'd be fine in a couple days." She assured her.
Ava nodded. "Do you want me to make dinner?"

Sarah felt quite pleased with how much she had been able to read. It wasn't always easy to squeeze in time where she could just sit and read her book but with Daniel comfortably asleep in his dad's arms, she had to peace of mind she needed to relax. Ava had gone upstairs and Sarah had continued her book until she heard her husband start to snore next to her. Feeling bad for him, she got up and made him another cup of tea and found him the Tylenol's for when he woke up.

"What's for dinner?"
Surprised, Sarah looked up at him, she had just reached down to put his mug on the coffee table. She shook her head and answered. "That's your first thought when you wake up? Are you just always thinking of food?"
"No, sometimes I think of you."
Sarah chuckled and rolled her eyes as she sat down next to him, reaching for Daniel. "Maybe you are starting to feel better after all."
"You're right, it's just the meds." He said as he reached for the pills now that Sarah was holding Daniel.
Sarah reached out to feel his head as he sat back after taking the meds, holding his mug of tea. She frowned a little, "you do feel a little hot still."
He nodde, knowing how he felt and sipped his tea.
"Should I wake him up?" Sarah looked down at her son. "It's almost 5."
"No."

When Daniel finally woke up and had another dose of medication, he made his way off of his mother's lap and crawled over to his toys to keep himself entertained. Toys always made him happy but with his parents watching him, he looked over at them once in a while. Seeing how mommy was half paying attention to a book as daddy laid down on the couch with his head in her lap, watching TV and him. Mommy's fingers absentmindedly playing with daddy's hair as she tried to read. She did that to him too.

"Dinner's ready." Ava announced as she walked into the living room with a large stack of grilled cheese sandwiches and extra plates an hour later.

Having had such a long nap, Daniel wasn't as tired after dinner as he usually was. To him, it didn't matter if his parents wanted to sleep, he wasn't ready yet.

Relenting, they gave up on trying to settle him down with them and let him play a little longer.

"Are you feeling tired yet?" Sarah asked her husband next to her.
"Not yet." He said even though he could easily fall asleep if he wanted to.
"How's your throat? You've been talking most of the day but you don't sound too bad."
"It's alright. The tea you keep making really helps."
That made her feel good about herself. "You'll be able to sing in two weeks then?"
He nodded. "It's just a cold baby, not vocal chords." He pointed out.

They finished their last TV show when Daniel finally crawled over to the couch. He didn't bother with pulling himself up to demand to be picked up but just sat down, waiting for the same result. His parents were quick to catch on and Sarah picked him up to take him up to his room. Richie followed her but went to say his goodnights before meeting her in the bedroom.

He pulled off his warm socks before getting into bed. "Where's Daniel?" He asked.
"I thought he could sleep in his own bed tonight. I want to cuddle my husband." Sarah replied as she did exactly that. "He claimed he was feeling better earlier."
Richie sighed, holding her closer. "I'm sorry sweetheart, I'm really tired, I just want to sleep."
She pulled away a little to look up at him with a knowing smile. "I know. I was just bugging you."
"Meanie."
"I love you too." She said before reaching in for a quick kiss. "Go to sleep."