Done Adulting Vol. 2 Ch. 38

“Bath time for filthy bears,” Amanda said as she got Jamie out of bed. “Did you sleep well?”
 “Okay.” Obviously not well enough, it seemed to Manda, as he felt limp on her shoulder.
 “Did we keep you up too late last night?”
 “No.”
 “You alright? You seem out of it.” He was usually up by the time Manda or Becky came to get him in the morning. How littles could be so alert in the morning, Amanda never understood.

“I’m just tired still. Can I skip my bath?”
 “Sure. Wanna have a lazy morning?”

“Were we going to go do something?”

“We talked about meeting Lauren at the park with Sammy later, when Mom gets back from the store.”
 “I kinda just wanna stay home.”

“We can do that. Let’s at least get you changed.” Manda laid Jamie on the changing table and made quick work of his wet night diaper.

“Do you wanna wear clothes?” In the summertime, Jamie slept in just his diaper and a diaper cover. During the day, he usually wore shorts and a tee shirt, but sometimes he skipped the shorts if they were just at home.

“No.” Manda grimaced at him and felt his forehead. Not satisfied, she put him back on the changing table.

“What,” he asked.

“I wanna check you temperature.”

“No, please? I’m just tired.” Jamie hated having his temperature taken. She knew that and was sensitive to it, but Jamie wasn’t being himself. Maybe he was just tired, but his sluggishness had her big sister senses tingling.

“Shhh,” she cooed. “It’ll be over real fast.” She unfastened the diaper she’d just put on him. He whined a bit but didn’t try to stop her. Jamie was a pretty cooperative little, but sometimes when he really felt strongly about something, he’d at least argue if not try to delay it. “Roll over,” she said gently. Jamie huffed but did as he was told.

Manda opened the drawer on the changing table they kept the thermometer in and took it out of its cover. To calm Jamie down, she hummed the lullaby her mother, and often Manda, sang to him. She laid the thermometer next to Jamie and took the petroleum jelly from underneath the table. They usually used rash cream when he needed it. The jelly was only for this and for when his skin was chafed, as it sometimes was from wearing a wet bathing suit so often in the summer. Jamie had his face buried in his folded arms. Manda felt bad for him, but his quiet acceptance only made her suspect more he wasn’t well.

“Relax, Baby Bear.” With one hand, she tickled the small of his back, something that always made him a puddle, and with the other she rubbed some jelly into his button. He cringed, but held still. “1, 2, 3,” she counted for him as she slid the thermometer in. She resumed humming while she waited for it to beep, her clean fingers continuing to drift back and forth across his little-soft skin.

With the beep, she gently withdrew the thermometer. “You’re a little warm, but I wouldn’t call it a fever.” Half a degree wasn’t enough to be concerned, but it was enough to be wary. “I’m sorry, buddy, but I think we’re gonna have to do that again later.” He didn’t react. She cleaned him up, wiped the thermometer down, and wrapped it in a wipe to wash later. Sighing, Manda picked Jamie up and laid the naked little against her chest, patting his bottom as she rubbed his back. If he didn’t feel sick, he definitely didn’t feel himself, either.

“Ya know what,” she asked, “I didn’t get enough sleep last night, either, so we’re gonna go upstairs and take a nap in my bed. Okay?” He just nodded, a gentle nod with his head against her shoulder. With one hand under his bum, she got a diaper from the changing table, and hesitating at the dresser, she chose his lightest pair of footie pajamas and carried him upstairs. Laying Jamie on her bed, she put the new diaper on him and zipped him into his footies.

“I’m going to go get you some water. Can I get you anything else? You hungry?”

“Can I have some milk too?”

“Of course.” When she got back to the kitchen, Manda texted her mom to let her know she thought Jamie was coming down with something. She made two bottles, one of water and one of milk, and stopped in the nursery to get Jamie’s bear. Hearing a scratching, she went to the backdoor and let Kazoo in. The two of them went upstairs, where Jamie was dozing. Kazoo took up his spot at the foot of the bed. Amanda squeezed into the space that was left for her, nudging the dog to give herself more room. She tucked the bear on the other side of Jamie and brushed his lips with the bottle of milk.

“Jamie,” she whispered. “I got your breakfast.” He opened his eyes, and Amanda adjusted herself so she was sitting upright, shifting Jamie into her lap and letting his head rest against her. She brought the bottle back to his lips, and he slowly drank his breakfast.

“Mom will be home soon. Are you too warm?”
 “Uh-uh.”

“I missed these jammies. You look so precious in them. Wanna watch a movie with me?” She reached for her tablet on her nightstand and looked for a cartoon the two of them could watch. She hated Jamie being sick, but she did like these quiet moments when he seemed to naturally fall into being a loveably helpless, snuggly little with no encouragement needed.

“All done?” She held up the bottle to see how much he had, then set it on her nightstand. “Such a big boy drinking all his milk.” She lightly tickled his tummy through the sleeper. She was hoping he’d protest the babyish way she said it, but giggle anyway. He did neither.

“Can I go back to sleep?”

“Yeah. In fact …” She moved herself further down the bed so she could lay back, then turned him over so he was face down on top of her. “That better?”

“Mhmm.”
 “You want your paci?”

“Mhmm.”
 She looked at her nightstand and then opened the drawer, sure she had one of his pacis, but she didn’t. “I’m sorry, buddy. Guess I don’t have one up here. You can use your thumb if you want.” He sighed and was asleep.

When Becky got home, she went to the nursery, and not finding them there, she went upstairs and crept into Manda’s room. Both of them and the dog were asleep. Kneeling next to the bed, she felt Jamie’s forehead first. He was warm.

“Manda,” she whispered. Amanda opened her eyes and saw her mom, then looked down at the sleeping little boy on her chest. “What’s wrong?”
 Amanda nodded to the door and as gently as she could shifted Jamie to the bed, replacing herself with the bear in his arms. The two stepped into the hallway, and Becky glanced backward.

“He’s got a fever,” Becky said.

“He had a little bit of one earlier. He was just very tired when he woke up. He said he didn’t feel sick, but it was obvious he didn’t feel good either.”
 “Has he eaten anything?”

“Just a bottle.”

“Come help me unload.” They went downstairs, and Amanda helped unload the groceries and put them away. “I canceled with Lauren.”

“Hope Sammy won’t be too disappointed.”

From upstairs, they heard, “Manda?”

“I hate it when he’s sick,” Amanda said.  “He’s just so pathetic I wanna squeeze him.” The two of them went back upstairs, where they found Kazoo ready to play and Jamie with tears on his cheeks.
 “What’s wrong, baby,” Becky asked him
 “My belly hurts.” She lifted him out of bed. A pat to his bottom told her he had a messy diaper.

“Let’s go change your pants.” She felt his cheek while she carried him downstairs. When he was on the changing table having his dirty bum cleaned, Becky asked him, “Does anything else hurt?”
 “No. It really hurts.”

“Do you wanna throw up?”

“A little, but I don’t think I’m gonna.”
 Thinking it would help, Amanda put her hand on his belly lightly, moving it in a soft circle. Before she could say anything, Jamie cringed and curled up. “That hurts,” she asked.

“Yes.”
 “How bad, scale of one to ten?”

“Like a six.”

Becky glanced at Amanda, who looked back with concern. “Why don’t you finish this,” Becky said to her, “and I’ll go get some medicine for your tummy.”
 She walked to the kitchen instead and called the doctor’s office, explaining it was urgent to the receptionist. “Dr. Bowers,” he answered after she held for a few minutes.

“Hi, Doctor. It’s Rebecca Webb. Jamie is running a fever and his belly hurts to the touch. I wasn’t sure what to do.” She didn’t want to be the big who panicked needlessly and went straight to the hospital, but she thought he might need that.

“What other symptoms is he having?”

“He had a pretty yucky diaper, and he’s nauseated.”

“How bad does his stomach pain seem?”

“He said a six out of ten.” She heard the doctor sigh.

“Well, that could be a lot of things. Just to be safe, bring him to the hospital. I’ll let them know you’re coming.”

She felt her stomach drop and a hollow feeling in her chest as a lump rose in her throat. “Okay. Thank you.” She hung up and put her hands on the counter, collecting her thoughts. She didn’t want to scare Jamie or Amanda. She went back into the nursery and threw a few articles of clothing into the diaper bag, and said cheerfully, “The doctor didn’t sound worried, but he does want us to go to the hospital just to be safe.”

Amanda zipped his footies back up again. “Don’t worry, buddy,” though she was, “They’ll probably give you some medicine and send you right home.” Cradling him rather than putting him on her shoulder, she picked him up, and the three of them went to the car. Jamie didn’t say anything, his face twisted in discomfort.