The Good Hair Family Sitcom

S2 E5.3: Superheroes

Buffy's POV

"Cara Driscoll."

When her name is called, Marty and I stand up, but Cara is shaking her head anxiously.

"I changed my mind," she says. "I want to be a zombie."

"No, you don't," Marty tells her. "Come on."

He raises her hand, lifting her onto her feet, and she reluctantly trudges along behind her dad as the three of us walk down the hall where the receptionist directs us. We stop in a little room with one seat for Cara where she plops down, a seat for the healthcare worker who is not here yet, and a seat in the corner of the room where Marty sits down. Cara looks around as her hands fiddle with the metal frame of her chair. She gets a disgusted look on her face when she sees a poster with a diagram of the human organs.

"Is that what I look like inside?" she questions.

"Yup," I reply.

"Gross."

"I completely agree," Marty says.

Realizing nobody's come to give her her vaccination yet, Cara asks, "Did the doctor forget about me?"

"No," I answer.

"Probably not," Marty says, and I give him a nudge on the shoulder.

"No," I repeat.

"If they don't show up in the next ten second, can we leave?" Cara asks.

Right as she's done that sentence, a woman in blue scrubs walks in, putting a pout on Cara's face, but my expression turns to surprise.

"Kaitlin?" I say.

My old friend turns to me and lights up at the recognition.

"Buffy?" she responds. "I saw 'Driscoll' on the papers, but I wasn't sure if it was the same one."

She steps up to hug me. It's been so long since we've talked, but she's still has the same pearly smile from my memories.

As the two of us let each other go, Cara looks up at us, saying, "You know the person who's going to stab me with a needle?"

"She was on my middle school basketball team," I explain.

Cara glances to Marty, saying, "Great. They're conspiring against me."

"Cara's a little scared," I tell Kaitlin.

"I don't get scared," my daughter denies. "I have a rational aversion to getting needles."

Kaitlin chuckles lightly as she takes a seat in the chair beside my daughter by the counter of medical tools.

"Well, there's nothing to be afraid of," Kaitlin says. "It's just a tiny pinch, and it will be over before you know it."

"It's stupid," Cara whines.

"Cara—" I start, but Kaitlin brushes me off with a wave.

"It's alright," she says. "I have kids of my own. Triplets, actually."

"Wow," I respond.

"Yeah." She looks to Cara. "And I'll tell you what I tell them whenever they have to get needles. This is kind of like getting a superpower."

Cara raises an eyebrow skeptically. "How?"

"Well, every superhero has to go through a little pain to become extra amazing. You have to get a needle, and then you'll be able to fight off a disease whenever it tries to hurt you."