Luke helped to switch out the loads of laundry. Michael felt bad for the kid. He was way too worked up over something so little. "Luke," he began when the fourteen year old looked up at him. "It's okay. I'm not upset. Like you said, it was an accident."
"Oh-okay," Luke replied.
Upstairs Calum was still stuck over Ashton's knee. SMACK "s-seven!" Calum cried out. He didn't like keeping track of the smacks he was given, or the being in this situation.
SMACK SMACK SMACK SMACK SMACK SMACK SMACK SMACK SMACK SMACK "I'm sorry," Calum tried.
"Count, or I'm starting over." Ashton warned. Calum counted out the smacks and tried to keep his voice even.
SMACK "eighteen!" Ashton finished up around sixty. Calum was sobbing by then and his numbers were barely audible. Ashton sat the crying boy on his lap.
"I expect a lot more from you Calum, ditching will get you in this same spot, so don't even think about doing it again." Calum nodded in response.
He was tired and not feeling his best from the spanking. "We'll have dinner in a bit, okay?" Ashton laid Calum down under his covers and kissed his forehead before leaving.
***
"Can you get the plates Luke?" Michael asked. The blonde did as asked. "Is Calum still asleep?"
Ashton answered, "yeah. I'll wake him up in a bit."
"I'm up," Calum yawned tiredly. His hair was sticking up in places. The boy's sweats were hanging loosely off his legs.
"Good morning sleepy head!" Michael sang brightly causing Calum to stick his tongue at him.
"I didn't sleep that long, but I'm kinda dizzy though," Calum sighed as he sat next to Ashton. Ashton immediately flung his hand up to Calum's forehead.
"You feel a bit hot," the older of the two replied.
Michael looked over with worry. "You're sick? Should I get the thermometer?" Michael instantly was placing his hand on the kiwi boy's head.
"I'm fine. Just a bit dizzy is a-"
"Let me find some medicine okay?" Michael rushed to the cabinet, ignoring the water that was boiling out of the pot. Luke sat there with his arms crossed. No one rushed to him when he felt a little dizzy.
"Daddy-" Luke tried to warn him of the water on the stove but no one was paying attention.
"Here, take these," Michael handed Calum two white pills. Ashton put Calum on his lap.
"Dad m'fine," Calum said uncomfortably.
"I don't know. You feel awful warm," Ashton said nervously. Calum rolled his eyes. His parents are too overprotective sometimes.
"Daddy-" Luke tried again. Michael had hurried off to the bathroom to get the thermometer. Once he returned he stuck the thermometer in Calum's mouth and went back to the stove.
"Sh*t!" He hissed as he quickly turned off the heat. Luke glared at him in disdain. "Why didn't you tell me the water was overflowing?" Michael asked Luke. The blonde threw his arms in the air.
***
Calum had a temperature of 102.2 degrees. Ashton and Michael kept asking him if he wanted or needed anything. The kiwi boy just said no and tried to sleep. Luke was close to snapping. How could his parents go and baby Calum in such a way? They've never done that before.
Luke was ignored for almost the whole night except when Ashton came and shut his bedroom light off, telling him to go to sleep.
Calum was feeling worse as time went on. His head started pounding and he had chills. His face was paler too. Ashton had the boy on his lap while Michael fell asleep on Ashton's side.
Luke tried to sneak downstairs in the middle of the night but got yelled at and told to go to sleep or he'd be in trouble. The blonde was so mad that he locked himself in the bathroom. "It's not fair!" Luke pouted. "I hate Calum! This isn't fair!" Luke cried out.
Eventually he wore himself out and fell asleep in the tub.
Calum was getting fed up with all the babying. He just wanted to go to sleep but Michael and Ashton were pampering him and taking his temperature constantly. "I'm going to bed," Calum declared.
"You can sleep on the couch tonight until you're better babe," Michael said with a smile.
"M'fine," Calum snapped, standing up to go to his room when a wave of nausea hit him, along with a new wave of dizziness. The kiwi boy fell to the floor with an "oomf!"
"Aww babe!" Ashton helped him up. Calum made a mad dash to the downstairs bathroom and got sick.
"I think he has what Luke had a bit ago," Michael called. Calum wanted to just die and not deal with being sick. He could handle himself just fine, and usually he didn't get it too bad but his parents would not leave him alone for a second.
"I don't have what Luke did. I just got too dizzy. I am fine!" Calum croaked. He rubbed at his eyes, knowing sleep would overtake him soon.
Ashton came and carried him back to the couch. "Do you feel like you might be sick again?" Calum shook his head, "no." Michael put him on his lap and pushed his hair out of his face. Calum rolled his eyes at his parents behavior. They're too overprotective.
Luke kept waking up and falling back asleep every so often. Around four a.m. he woke up to another feeling of wetness around him. Panicking at the sight of his wet pants, Luke woke up a bit more. "Not again!" He whined. The blonde could vaguely remember having a nightmare before wetting himself, but it wasn't as bad as the ones that would wake him up in the middle of the night screaming.
Luke changed out of his wet clothes and into a pair of sweats that he found on the floor. Instead of starting a load of laundry he just threw out the wet clothes and went to sleep in the tub again.
My writing went from good, to bad, to worse. I am sorry. Also, my next book will be Muke's Kids and the side ship will be Larry. What ages should Calum and Ashton be? I'm thinking about making them younger but I wanna know what you guys think.
