Page 38 of Take My Kiss
She seemed fine after her bath and even had Bellamy read her five bedtime stories, but I’m not surprised she’s sick, too. It was only a matter of time.
I put on my T-shirt, then follow Sam to his room. Lily’s pale and crying.
“It’s okay, sweetheart.” As I pick her up, she wraps her little arms around my neck.
“My tummy hurts.”
I rub soothing circles over her back. “Do you gotta throw up some more?”
“I dunno.”
“Sam, do you think you could strip the bed for me while I take her to the bathroom? Then I’ll come back and change the sheets.”
“Yeah, I can do that,” he says groggily.
“Thanks, bud. Be right back.”
After I get Lily cleaned up in the bathroom and put her in new jammies, I grab a bowl in case she gets sick again.
“I want Mommy,” she says against my chest.
No matter what I do to help her feel better, I’ll never compare to the comfort of her mom.
“You wanna sleep next to her?”
She nods.
I’ll lie on the floor next to the bed, so I can hear if she gets sick again.
“Okay, sweetie.”
“I need Benny.”
I grab her stuffed bunny from their room before bringing her into bed with Amelia. She passed back out after eating half the soup and drinking more water. She doesn’t even flinch when I reach over and check her forehead. Still warm, but not as hot as she felt earlier.
“I’ll be right back,” I whisper, tucking her in.
Sam’s lying on my futon, waiting for me.
“You feelin’ okay?” I kneel, checking his forehead.
“Yeah, just sleepy.”
Pulling up the blanket, I tell him, “Gonna put clean sheets on your bed, and then you can go back to sleep.”
Once I’ve made the bed, put the dirty ones in the wash, and tucked Sam in, I grab my blankets and a pillow. Lily’s knocked out when I enter the room.
The floor isn’t comfortable by any means, but I’ve slept on worse.
Luckily, everyone sleeps the rest of the night without another puking incident.
Not so luckily, I wake up stiff as fuck and exhausted.
chapter seven
Amelia
“Nah, she’s still sleepin’.”
