Old Flames

Old Flames: Chapter 21

Old Flames: Chapter 21

“Good news and bad news,” Dr. Kaufman said, entering the examination room at the hospital’s children’s clinic.  Lainie wanted Aaron to call the Chris’ pediatrician for an appointment, but as soon as he saw the name of that clinic on her refrigerator, he decided to ignore Lainie’s instructions and made other plans.  The twins’ normal clinic was notoriously busy, and Aaron wanted to make sure that Chris was seen by a doctor as soon as possible.  He called his Aunt Anita and asked for a favor.  An hour after picking up the kids from their grandmother’s -- who gave him a sour, but oddly indulgent smile -- he sat with Chloe and Chris in a cheerful room, amusing each other by making paper airplanes out of the bed-wetting literature hanging in a wall cubby.  

“Good news,” Aaron requested.  Any good news.  Chris had puked again upon their arrival at the hospital, and Aaron had been absolutely delirious that they’d made it to a toilet this time.

“The good news is that you don’t have influenza like your mama does, Chris,” Dr. Kaufman said, smiling gently.  

Thank God, Aaron sighed with relief.  Chloe looked at all the faces around her.  She’d been worried about Chris and talked nonstop about it since Aaron took over for Genna.  She put her tiny fists on her tiny hips, looking like a cute, little pissed-off Lainie-miniature, and Aaron almost grinned.  “Then what’s wrong with him?” she asked.  

Dr. Kaufman removed his glasses and bent down, very serious in face, yet the sparkle in his eye very much suggested at suppressed laughter.  “Well...Miss Chloe, I’m afraid that your brother has a mild stomach bug.  A tummy ache that makes him throw up.  He should be fine by tomorrow.”

Chloe’s brow scrunched up.  “There’s a bug in his tummy?  Like when I got that funny feeling when I started my new school and Mama said I must have butterflies in my stomach?”

Aaron leaned back on the wall, grinning widely and wondering how Dr. Kaufman would handle this.  Thomas Kaufman had been his doctor as a child, and the man knew his way around children, being as he’d been a pediatrician for almost forty years.  If anything, Aaron hoped to learn some pointers with this visit.  Heaven knows, this fathering business was still new to him.

“Oh, yes,” Dr. Kaufman said, pursing his lips to keep back a smile.  “But much worse, I’m afraid.  Butterflies are nice bugs, but your brother has a mean one inside him right now.  It’s making him very sick, but these bugs never last very long.”

Chloe’s eyes grew big, and Chris’ did, too.  “Like a wasp?” Chris asked, staring down at his bare stomach, waiting for the sting of that painful insect.

Dr. Kaufman did chuckle then.  He rose up to stand before the boy.  “Not quite that mean.”  He took a ragged, worn photo album from a cabinet and flipped through some pages.  Then he showed Chris and Chloe a picture of a microscopic, squiggly-looking worm.  “This is the bug in your stomach...very, very small and they don’t live long.  Your body will get rid of it soon, I’m sure of it.”

“How long?” Aaron asked, peeking at the picture along with the kids.  

The doctor replaced his glasses.  “We’ve been seeing this strain of virus a lot lately, and so far, the majority of the symptoms last twenty-four to forty-eight hours, but he’ll be weak for a few days after that.  You’ll need to keep him well hydrated, lots of Pedialyte or clear liquids, and small meals every couple of hours.  Keep the sugar to a minimum, since that will only upset his stomach even more.  The main concern is that while his body is fighting off the virus, his immunity will be low and susceptible.  Keep him away from crowds, and if at all possible, at home, in bed.  If he has a fever or the vomiting increases or continues after forty-eight hours, you’ll need to bring him back in.”  Dr. Kaufman turned to Chris.  “But I think this little guy is tough, huh?”

Chris still looked scared, but one glance at Aaron’s quirked eyebrow had him stiffening his spine and meeting the doctor’s gaze head-on.  “Yup, I’m tough, just like Mr. Aaron.  No bug will beat me!”

Aaron stood his ground when he heard those words, but he really just wanted to cradle that sweet, tough boy in his arms.  Not yet, he told himself.  Lainie was giving him a chance to prove himself here, and he couldn’t screw it up.  Aaron suspected that she changed his mind about letting him care for the kids because her mother had botched up the job after only one night.  Which only made him want to never let Chris and Chloe out of his sight ever again.

The anger burned inside of him.  While Lainie lay in a hospital bed, fighting off her own illness, she trusted her mother to keep her kids safe, and Genna Moon only worsened the situation by making Lainie worry for the safety of her own kids when she was unable to care for them.  Aaron vowed that when he finally convinced Lainie to love him back and marry him, he’d never leave his children unsupervised with their grandmother again, at least until they were old enough to fend for themselves.

Maybe not even then.

“Most likely he caught the bug at school,” Dr. Kaufman went on.  “When the diarrhea starts, you’ll know it’s almost over.  That’s the body’s way of expunging the bug from his system.”

Aaron stared, appalled, at the doctor.  Vomit, he could handle.  He didn’t have a weak stomach in that concern, but diarrhea...  This was a test, he thought.  The ultimate test.  Would he have what it took to overcome this?  

He gathered up the kids, checked out at the front desk, and drove back toward his house, only to groan to himself and make a u-turn in the driveway and head toward the nearest grocery store.  He hadn’t been home all that much these past few days, so he had no food worth serving to the twins.  Not to mention Pedialyte, or whatever the hell that stuff was called.  Aaron didn’t even know what it was.  He imagined some kind of super-drink that gave kids invincibility powers or something.  

At the grocery store, he loaded both kids into the shopping cart and dashed through the aisles as fast as he could, praying that Chris held out until they got home before his stomach revolted again.  

No such luck.

As they passed the meat section, the smell of freshly-butchered animal flesh took it’s toll on Chris’ sensitive belly.  Aaron immediately recognized the green parlor and the expression of dread.  He abandoned the cart, hefted both kids in his arms and ran to the bathroom, chanting, Thank you, God, that it was only around the next aisle.

They made it, but just barely.  Chris spewed as Aaron set him down next to a urinal, a brown, liquidity substance that vaguely resembled chocolate syrup.  Chloe backed away, her mouth turning down in a disgusted grimace.  Aaron tended to her brother, who’d started to dry heave after the first abdominal ejection.  He wetted paper towels to mop up Chris’ face and rubbed his back to soothe him, thinking that if this was the worse he’d have to deal with, everything would be just fine.  He can hold his head up when he handed them over to Lainie in the morning.

Then Chloe screamed.  A piercing, shrill sound that bounced off the tiled walls and embedded inside Aaron’s skull.

And with that, he felt his breaking point coming on, but he shoved it down to a region around his shins as he turned to her to see what was the matter.  Chloe had backed into one of the stalls, accidentally creaking the door open to reveal a gentleman lounging on the commode with his pants down around his ankles.  The man, bald on top but very hairy along his pale legs, almost had a heart attack.

“I’m so sorry,” Aaron said, removing Chloe from the man’s stall and quickly closing the door.  He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and started to laugh.

The whole situation was so frustrating and embarrassing and out-there that there wasn’t anything to do but laugh.  Both kids eyed him like he’d gone crazy, and maybe he had.  He was wrong.  It could get a lot worse.

Back at the house with his meager purchases -- he’d just have to make do, because he was not taking them back to the store with him -- he ran Chris a bath, set Chloe down in front of some cartoons, and took a second to breathe calmly and let Bowser back into the house.  How did Lainie do it?  He’d been at this parenting thing for only two hours, and he was exhausted.

However, he didn’t get a reprieve.  As soon as his mutt -- who was quite fond of water -- heard the bathtub running, he dashed toward the sound and jumped into the water with Chris, which caused Chloe to follow and climb in as well, fully clothed.  Water went everywhere.  On the floor, on the wall...hell, even on the ceiling.  After he got them all scrubbed down, dried off and dressed, he spent twenty minutes cleaning up the mess.

But it didn’t stop there.  Chris started to feel better while the kids watched some television, and he was keeping some liquid in his stomach -- Aaron never did find that Pedialyte stuff -- so the bickering began.  Chloe was watching some show about tiny mermaids that taught kids how to do basic math, but Chris complained that her turn was over and he wanted to watch Spongebob.  Aaron despised that show.

He compromised and flipped the channel over to a marathon of Looney Tunes, thinking, I grew up on Bugs Bunny.  It wouldn’t hurt them to experience a little cartoon culture.  But of course, the first time Chloe yelled out, “Stop breathing on me, you idget!” in Yosemite Sam’s gruff voice, and Chris shot her with his fingers, imitating Elmer Fudd, “Let me see the color of your spurting blood!”...well, Aaron turned off the television and suggested they do something else.  

“But we don’t have any toys, Mr. Aaron,” Chloe informed him from her spot on the carpet, her big eyes staring up at him.  So, the trio, plus Bowser, hopped across the street to Lainie’s semi-scorched house and gathered up a basket of toys to keep them occupied for the rest of the afternoon and some extra clothes.  Aaron was setting down the basket on the front porch to lock up Lainie’s house when he heard the door slam behind him.  He turned to see Chris and Chloe grinning at him through the glass pane in the door, with the dog barking joyfully behind them.

“Very funny,” he said, trying the knob.  Locked.  “Open the door.”  Their faces disappeared, and Aaron heard them giggling from the interior.  Then a crash sounded, a gasp, and Chris’ “Oooh, Mama’s going to get you!”

Aaron’s breaking point traveled up his legs to lodge at the base of his spine where he smashed it down with fierce determination.  He was not going to yell at them.  He was going to stay patient and calm and figure out the best way to handle their mischievousness without getting angry.  That’s what Lainie did, and Lainie was counting on him to do this.

Hell, he was counting on himself.  If he couldn’t handle one night with these little squirts, how could he handle a lifetime of being their father?  Lord, give me strength.  Aaron’s throbbing brain immediately flashed to twelve years in the future...Chris driving his first car, and Chloe dating...and he groaned, Lots and lots of strength, Lord.

Inhaling slowly, and in a loud, sad voice, he called, “I sure would hate to camp out in a tent all by myself, but it looks like I’ll have to.”

One...two...

Feet running...

...three...

Two pairs of bright eyes blinked gleefully at him through the door window.  They pushed and shoved at each other in their haste to get the door unlocked and opened.  “You have a tent, Mr. Aaron?”

“And sleeping bags?”

“And we can roast marshmallows?”

“And sleep outside?”

Aaron ran a hand through his hair.  “Well, that all depends.  Camping out is serious business.  I’m not sure if you two are up to it, seeing as how ya’ll just want to play mean games on me.”

The twins stood up straight, locked their heels together like German soldiers, and gave him the most comically grave expressions he’d ever seen on a child.  “We can do it,” Chloe said proudly.  “And we’ll be super nice!  We promise!”

This should be interesting to see.  “Alright then,” Aaron replied, clapping his hands together.  “How about we go set up the tent, have a little dinner and then go see your mama?”

They jumped with joy, and Aaron grinned to himself.  He was doing pretty good so far.  He managed to survive this long.  The rest of the night shouldn’t be too hard.

The trip to the hospital was quick.  Aaron, in good conscience, could allow either sick persons, Lainie or Chris, to visit for very long.  He didn’t want them to become even more ill.  Lainie cried a little when she saw her babies, and Chris and Chloe recounted their night with their grandmother and the afternoon with Aaron, which Lainie laughed at.  Then there was a round of hugs and kisses with mother and children.  Lainie expressed her gratitude to Aaron with more tears in her eyes, and he promised to be there in the morning when the hospital finally allowed her to leave.

Sitting out under the stars, Aaron played with the kids...Barbies with Chloe, Legos with Chris, and wrestling a Ken doll away from Bowser’s jaws, and soon he found himself snuggled up with all three in the tent, reading a story to the light of a battery-powered lantern.  When Chris saw the book that Chloe chose, he groaned and said, “Not again.”

“What’s wrong with this one?” Aaron asked.

“It’s the only one she likes.  It’s stupid,” Chris said, which earned him an elbow in the ribs by Chloe and her tongue stuck out at him.

“It’s the bestest story in the world,” Chloe announced, “and Mr. Aaron gets to be the Prince.”

Aaron smiled.  He kind of liked his new role.  “And who shall be the Princess?  You, Chloe?”

“Oh, no,” Chloe said, eyes wide with scandal.  “Mama’s the Princess, because they get married and fall in love and live happ’ly ever after.”

Aaron was really, really liking his role as the Prince.  “Do I get to kiss this Princess?” he teased her.  Chloe frowned adorably at him.  Chris sat very still, and Aaron wondered if he was about to puke again.

“Don’t be silly, Mr. Aaron.  You already have.”

Chris said, “Yeah,” in an accusing voice.  Aaron turned to him.

“Is something wrong, Chris?”

“Nuthin’,” he muttered, shifting away and scowling.  Chloe leaned into Aaron’s ear and whispered, “He’s mad because you’re not our daddy.  Only daddies kiss mommies.”

Aaron closed the book and studied both children.  He wondered if Lainie ever said anything to them about his relationship with her.  “I’m sorry that you lost your daddy, Chris, Chloe.  I don’t want to take his place, but in my heart, I feel that I can love you like your daddy did--”

Chris snorted.  “Daddy didn’t love us.”

Chloe slapped him on the shoulder.  “Yes, he did, Christopher,” she scoffed in a voice that sounded very much like Lainie would use.  “He’s up in Heaven right now, looking down on us.  He’s our Angel Daddy.  That’s what Gramma said.  And Hope at school has an Angel Daddy and a Real-life Daddy, so we can, too.  Isn’t that right, Mr. Aaron?”

“I suppose so,” Aaron answered slowly, keeping his eye on Chris, who had turned and was considering his sister’s amazingly insightful words.  Aaron kept quiet, hoping that Chris would say something, and eventually he did.

Chris looked up at Aaron and asked, “A Real-life Daddy will love us, huh?”

Aaron swallowed back thick emotion.  “Yes, Chris.  Real-life Daddies love their kids very, very much.”

The boy plucked at his pajama bottoms, averting his gaze from Aaron and his sister.  “Uh...I think you would make a real good Real-life Daddy,” he whispered.  Aaron closed his eyes and started to shake to keep from crying like some movie Drama Queen.  This was the mountain he’d been climbing up all this time.  The clean, crisp air at the summit was invigorating and empowering.  At the bottom on the other side was Lainie.  Now he only had to slide down the slope to her, and she’d relent and finally admit that she loved him, too.

Chris’ next words brought a chuckle from Aaron’s constricted throat.  “Do you know how to build a tree house, Mr. Aaron?”

An hour later, the kids finally fell asleep.  Chloe curled up on one side of him, snuggled against Bowser, and Chris on the other.  Night sounds echoed outside of their little shelter, a peaceful addition to their time together tonight.  Aaron lay on his back, his head pillowed on his hands, and stared at the dark ceiling of the tent.  

And trails of joy trickled out the corners of his eyes.

Unfortunately, the peace didn’t last long...but the diarrhea did.  Chris jerked upward, screaming and clutching his belly.  By then, the foul smell had penetrated the small tent.  Bowser jumped up, barked at Chris for waking him, and Chloe started crying because of all the noise.

The doctor did say, once the diarrhea started, the bug was almost gone, Aaron sighed to himself as he carried Chris into the house and sat him on the toilet.  He went back for Chloe and put her in his bed, blessing every supernatural power out there that she slept on the other side of the tent away from Chris, therefore she hadn’t been slimed.  Bowser laid down next to her and they both fell back asleep.

The rest of the night drifted by like molasses in January.  By 4 A.M., Chris had his second bath since the pooping started, and they were both beyond exhausted.  Aaron finally made up a bed of old towels in the bathtub and laid the boy down to rest, completely naked.  Aaron propped himself up on the floor with a pillow and closed his eyes, waiting for the next round to begin.

And sung, “I will survive...It took all the strength I’ve got not to fall apart...” quietly to himself, smiling because he knew he could do this.  He was going to be a Real-life Daddy someday.

*****

Lainie slept like a baby that night.  Her fevers stopped, and the medication being pumped through her system eased her aching muscles and joints.  So by seven the next morning, she was all packed up and anxious to finally get home.  All she had to do was wait for Aaron and the kids to come pick her up and check her out.

By nine, she called him.  “Hey, I’m ready whenever you are,” she told him.

“We’re almost there,” he said, and he sounded very tired.  Lainie wondered how his night went.  When he arrived with Chris and Chloe, who were both bubbling with happiness and looked fit as fiddles, though Chris a little pale, he stopped dead in the doorway, and said, “You are the most amazing woman, you know that?”

Laine took one glance at the shadows under his eyes, the day-old beard on his chin and the wrinkled condition of his clothes, and burst out laughing.

******