Done Adulting Vol. 1 Ch. 74

By the third day, Jamie was alert and standing on his own feet and had more than a moment’s notice when he needed to empty his bowels, though Rebecca and Amanda kept him in double diapers to be safe. It saved at least one outfit from ruin. His head hurt, he felt like he’d never catch up on hydration, and he slept all but a few hours that day, but he was feeling and looking noticeably better.

The morning of the fourth day, Amanda woke him by placing the back of her hand on his forehead. “Wakey, wakey, buddy.” Jamie’s eyes opened, and to Amanda’s relief there was a spark in them again. “Your fever’s gone. How do you feel today?”

Jamie sat up, and Amanda put her hand behind his back to help him. “Sore; achy. Like I ran a marathon. And soaked. Which I don’t remember doing.” She stripped his wet diaper off him in the crib and carried him straight to the bathtub.

“How much do you remember from the last few days?”

“Almost nothing.”

“That’s for the best. Wish I didn’t remember it. You had everyone real worried. Aunt Lauren got all teary.”

“Lauren came over?”

“You don’t remember?” He shook his head. “She came over to give Mom and me a chance to catch a few extra hours’ sleep. You were laying on her chest crying in your sleep again, and she called you the most pitiful thing she’d ever seen.”

“Wonder what I was dreaming about.”

“I don’t think you were dreaming about anything. I think you just felt awful.” She ran the tub warm but not hot and cleaned him extra well.

Amanda was confident enough he was feeling better that they could tease each other again. “I filled the hole under the sandbox back in.”

“What hole?”

“We dug a grave, just in case. Under the sandbox, actually.”

“O darn.”

“I’m sure you’ll have more clever comebacks by the time you go back to daycare.”

“You mean The Source?” Jamie hadn’t recalled ever being so sick, but he was sure it had happened in his youth. One kid doesn’t wash his hands well in the bathroom, and then twenty-five out of thirty in the classroom has norovirus. He didn’t even wanna know what they called the virus he’d gotten.

Amanda got him dried off and into a clean diaper, using extra powder and dusting him under his arms and on his chest with it, and texted their mom to let her know his fever had broken and he was fully awake. She took him to the kitchen and fed him a bottle of formula and another of the LittleAde.

“How about some sun and fresh air today? Just in the backyard. And maybe something other than crackers to eat.”

“Mom’s at work?”

“Yeah.”

“Then I must be better.”

“Sorry I had to go to class yesterday.”

“That’s okay. I’m sure you needed a break from everything.”

“I just needed to go to class.” But not changing twelve diapers was nice too, she thought.

They went into the backyard, and Jamie felt better just being in the open air. Amanda moved two lounge chairs under the big tree. The days were still warm enough for laying out, but it wasn’t hot and the sun was weaker. Amanda put on her two-piece, and she stripped Jamie to just his diaper.

“Amanda?”

“Yeah, buddy?”

“Remember after the massage, when you held me after? Can we do that again?”

“I’ll do you one better.” Amanda went inside, noticing how much it smelled like a sick person was living there and vowing to scrub everything again after Jamie went down for a nap, and came back out with Jamie’s pacifier and a bottle of baby lotion. “How’s your tummy feel?”

“Normal.”

Amanda untaped Jamie’s diaper and had Jamie turn over on his stomach. She massaged the lotion in from the soles of his feet to his neck. She felt all the trigger points and uncooperative muscles the masseuse had mentioned. Jamie sighed at the good parts and held his breath through some of the painful parts. When Amanda was done, he felt loose and drowsy.

“Am I as good as a pro?”

“I like your hands more.”

“I’m sure I’ll get better at it, but this was my favorite part, too.” She reclined her chair back almost all the way and placed Jamie on top of her. She regretted she hadn’t done this when he first arrived. It was talked about a lot for newborns and in her little class textbook, but no one she knew had said anything about skin-to-skin time with littles. She made a mental note to suggest her mom try it. I’m gonna have a funny tan line, she said to herself. They fell asleep together that way.