No Regrets

Chapter Twenty Six - For One So Small

KATIE'S POV

  "Oh gosh! I'm going to puke!" I exclaim. Covering my forearm, Mollie's shirt, and a little on my shirt are chunks of regurgitated mashed squash and baby formula. The smell nearly as bad as the barf itself, I have dealt with spit-up; but this is projectile vomit. Dominick asked me to help him get Mollie ready for her bath while he got the bathtub ready.

  I am trying to think of a place in the room to set Mollie so that I can clean her off. "Dominick!" I call out. "Dominick! Get in here!" I yell after a minute.

  "What's wrong? What happened?" Dominick asks rushing into the room. Standing in the doorway, I watch as Dominick's expression goes from worried to holding in laughter after taking a look at my arms. However, my brother fails to keep in his laughter and bursts out laughing.

"She likes you." he says as he tries to stop laughing. I shoot a glare at him.

  "Well, take her so she can show her fondness for you." I say walking toward him. I hold Mollie out to him and sh begins to squirm a little. Dominick carefully takes her from me and walks to the bathroom.

"Thanks for being my vomit-shield." he jokes.

  "Remind me to repay the favor." I reply following a few feet behind. I begin washing the vomit off of my arms as Dominick carefully removes Mollie's shirt. While drying off my hands, Dominick places Mollie in her bath chair. "Custody case is going to be re-opened in a few months." I mention.

  Dominick doesn't respond at first. He turns off the bath water and pulls one of Mollie's bath toys out of the basket. "I know, why do you mention it?" he replies. He plays a bit with the bath toy in front of Mollie before handing it off to her.

  I lean against the counter and try to act casual. I don't want him to know that I've rehearsed this conversation in my head for at least a week. "You haven't said anything about whether you want to try for joint-custody. In fact, you'e hardly talked about it. I'm simply curious." I say.

"Well, stop being curious and start on your homework." Dominick says didn't. He doesn't turn to look at me; but I can imagine the expression on his face.

"I already finished with my homework. Don't avoid my question, what do you want? You can be honest with me." I say.

"I want you to stop pressing the topic and go do something else." he says while dipping a wash cloth into the bath water.

"This is important, Dominick."

"It is also something I do not want to discuss with my little sister."

  I let out a scoff. "Wow, of course that is how you will get out of this." I say rolling my eyes, "You know what, forget I said anything." I say leaving the bathroom.

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DOMINCK'S POV

  Mollie's temperature went down a little thanks to a cool bath. However, she is still running a low-grade fever. I did not buy the fever-reducer from the grocery store due to the potential risk harming her. Instead, I came back home and looked up fever-reducing home-remedies online. A cool bath was highly suggested on several forums.

  Katie is currently in her room talking on the phone with someone, probably Sawyer about their project. Mom is already asleep in bed and Dad got called on an unexpected business trip. His current client requires and demands a lot more in-person meetings than many of his usual clients.

  Mollie begins babbling some gibberish as I try to get her to sleep. She giggles a bit and smiles up at me a few times. I smile back, relieved to see her acting like her usual happy self.

  Tomorrow, I have a huge test in biology; but I might use having a sick baby as an excuse to get one more day of studying. I place Mollie on my shoulder and walk across the hallway to Katie's closed bedroom door. I softly knock on the door, "Katie, I know you're awake. I hear you on the computer." I say.

  Katie stops typing on her computer and doesn't make a sound. "Look, I know you mean well but sometimes I just don't want to share everything, with anyone. So... goodnight." I say before heading back to my room.

  I hear Katie's door creak open a little. "Goodnight." a soft voice says before the door shuts. My lips curl into a smile and I shut my bedroom door behind me. I double check to make sure my cellphone is charging on my bedside table and my backpack is ready for tomorrow, in the case I do end up going to school.

  I gently lay Mollie down on the bed within a wall I'd made out of pillows. One pillow on her left and one of her right. If my theory is correct, one pillow will keep her from rolling of the bed and the other will keep me from accidentally rolling onto her during the night.

   Pine is also in between the two pillows and I make sure Mollie knows she can reach him before I change my clothes. I don't take my eyes of Mollie for more than a blink of an eye. She doesn't seem to be able to roll off the bed; which means as far as I know the pillow wall is working.

  I get in bed and make sure Mollie is all good. She has her pajamas on and her baby quilt on her. I turn of my bedside table light and... fail to go to sleep.

  I can't help but check on Mollie every minute or two. Even after she has fallen asleep, I can't resist the instinct to check to ensure she is still doing good. Around three in the morning, Mollie's temperature starts to rise again. Mom and Katie are both asleep, and I don't want to wake them up do something I'm sure I can handle.

   I do the first thing I can think of. I remove the quilt off Mollie and gently take her pajamas off, leaving only her diaper on. I take my shirt off and discard of it somewhere on my bedroom floor. I remove the pillow that was between Mollie and I. I lay down flat on my back with only head propped up by a pillow and rest Mollie on my chest.

   I place Mollie's quilt back on her for a little warmth. I feel her tiny chest moving against mine as she breathes deeply, lost in her dreams. I can her small heartbeat which soon my heart begins to mimic. She is so warm, too warm. I hope this works.

   Her tiny hands move and stretch out across my chest. How can someone so small get to be so warm? I ask myself. I look down at her, taking in her small curls. I feel something in my heart clench while simultaneously relaxing. 

***AUTHOR'S NOTE****

I said this update would be posted yesterday, but... I had an unexpected paper I HAD to write for school. However, here's the chapter. I stayed up late just to write it; because I want to try and keep my promises to you all.

I've dedicated this chapter to someone who recently discovered and has enjoyed this story. They're comments have brought a smile to my face. To that person I want to say, thank you for your comments. Thank you for sitting down and reading my story. I really appreciate your support.

THANK YOU FOR READING! HOPE YOU ENJOYED IT!

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