Just us- SBI adoption story (Just me and him book 2)

Chapter 56: keeping busy

Wilbur's POV:

On Wednesday, Dad took us out to pick up some of the stuff for school we hadn't been able to get before. Oh and food, because he suddenly realised we had barely any food in the house.

It was alright, nothing special. Techno was at his judo camp. We dropped him off on our way into town and Dad promised we'd get lunch at Wagamama's as payment for having to get up so early in the holidays. But with Techno not there and Tubbo still suffering with the last bits of his mostly cleared-up migraine, helping Tommy had become my job, sort of.

I held his hand as we went around the shops and helped him choose his meal at Wagamama's. And it wasn't my job, I knew it wasn't my job, but there is a difference between helping out every now and again and it being your job. Older siblings always help out with younger siblings. And with no Mum or Techno or James: Dad would have never taken us out if he knew I was going to be unhelpful.

When I lay in bed that evening, watching some youtube on my phone and staying up later than I should have been, I realised how tired I felt. Maybe it was just the whole day of shopping and being helpful. But there was more of a tickle in my throat now too. I used my puffer and tried to keep myself calm. Everything was going to be fine. It wasn't a chest infection, not another chest infection. 

I reached for the glass of water on my bedside table and drank all of it. Once I'd convinced myself everything was fine, I nodded off to sleep and tried not to think about it any more.

Time skip:

Because Tubbo still not feeling well and my health being worse than it was even on Sunday, we had a lazy day on Thursday.

Dad was taking Tommy out for a walk and keeping him busy, whilst I lay on the sofa, pretending to watch minecraft videos on the TV but really just lying there, trying not to look as sick as I felt. And Tubbo was holed up in his room again, sleeping or laying quietly.

"Mate, if you're breathing gets bad, you call me and then call an ambulance yea?" I nodded in reply to Dad's instructions and heard the front door close. Suddenly the house was quiet and peaceful: much nicer. I love my little brother but he's not particularly good at keeping quiet. I knew how nervous Dad was to leave me alone, but as I saw it, he didn't really have another option.

Phil's POV:

I did my best to keep Tommy busy with quieter activities outside in the afternoon, not wanting to disturb my older sons sleep. But it was difficult when my youngest was so high on energy. To be truthful, I didn't help myself. I'd let himself have some orange starbursts at lunch as a reward for being quiet all morning but the extra sugar had kicked him into overdrive.

He was currently bouncing on the trampoline, giving me a moment to catch up on emails and order some stuff online for the boys going back to school. He launched himself through the open part of the net on the trampoline (which we should close, but don't because it can make Tommy feel trapped) somehow landing on his feet, totally uninjured.

"Hey mate." I said, as he ran over bare foot, hugging me immediately. "What do you want to do now?" I gave him his iPad, open on his page of the communication app with different activities.

So far this morning, we'd already played with dinosaurs, read his book, done some colouring, done some school work, read his book again and gone for a walk. I had forgotten how much Tommy enjoyed doing and we were rediscovering things we hadn't done for weeks, or months even.

"Go on a walk." The iPad said.

"We've already been on a walk today Tommy." He looked at me, facial expression unchanged and pressed the button again, letting it play out. "Okay, here's the deal. I'm too tired to take you on another walk today. I'm sorry but it's just not going to happen. When Techno gets home later, you can ask him if he'd like to take you on a walk. If he says no, you aren't going on a walk. Do you understand?"