Super Glue
Title Super Glue
Prompt: The Pocket kids have the flu, and it's an exercise in bonding for Jesse. H/C: Wild Card: Abandonment Issues.
Medium: Fic
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the real people mentioned. Situations are either totally fabricated or a fictionalized version of real events. Not written for profit.
Author(s): ficdirectory
Rating: PG
Warnings: None.
Notes: Written for nannerz2cool's request to the drabble meme & hc_bingo.
Kris woke up to the sound of someone vomiting. It was his least favorite thing about being a parent, but one of those things that he just had to deal with, no matter how much it grossed him out.
Katy, somehow, was still peacefully asleep, and he wanted to let her be. Technically, this was his fault. He had been the one with the flu. Despite her best efforts to keep their two sons, 9-year-old Jesse and 3-year-old Kaleb, healthy, it hadn’t worked.
Now Kris was better, and this was his payback.
He turned on fans as he went to block out the noise, checking first on Kaleb, because his room was closest and because he was more fragile medically than Jesse. Kaleb had been born three months premature and was more susceptible to germs.
Kaleb was sound asleep in his crib.
Down the hall, Kris heard the sound of the washing machine being opened and picked up his pace. He and Katy had taught Jesse how to do his own laundry, but they didn’t expect him to do it when he was sick.
Jesse, though, wasn’t a typical child. He had come to them months before, in the middle of the night - a foster child in need of an emergency placement. Jesse, Kris knew, was still learning what it meant to be a child in a family. What it meant to have parents who could keep him safe and do the things parents were supposed to do.
“Jess?” he called softly, his heart nearly breaking at the sight of this little boy, leaning against the washing machine, sweating and shaking, a trash can between his raised knees.
“I’m sorry,” he apologized quickly, his blue eyes wide with fear and bright with fever. “I’ll take care of it, I promise.”
“No, listen. You don’t have to take care of this. That’s what me and Katy are here for. You don't have to take care of anything, okay?"
--
Jesse would have usually argued, but he felt too sick to say anything. And too scared. He hadn't been sick since he'd come here - not like this - and he didn't know what it would mean if Kris or Katy ended up cleaning up after him.
Were they just being nice for now, and then later he'd get beat for it? That's what happened when he lived with his biological mom and her loser boyfriend.
Usually, he got left alone when he was sick. No one would be around, or if they were, they just pretended Jesse didn't exist. Sometimes, that had meant feeling really gross for days and days, until he felt well enough to get up and clean up after himself. But if his mom or her boyfriend did it? That always meant he could count on paying for it later.
It was Kris's fault, anyway. He got sick first. And he probably gave it to Jesse on purpose.
Now, Jesse probably had the Swine Flu and everything. And because he was a kid, it would be worse for him. He would get really sick - sicker than this - and then when he thought it couldn't get any worse, he would die. 'Cause that's what happened to kids and elderly people who got Swine Flu.
Jesse leaned his head back and closed his eyes. He didn't usually pray, but right now he did, just in case he was about to die.
"Please don't let me be alone...I don't wanna be alone..." he begged softly.
--
Katy stared in disbelief at Jesse. She had not taken care of herself when she was sick until she was grown. And she certainly had never washed her own sick sheets. But here he was, 8 years old, and washing his sheets, shivering with cold and sweating with fever, a trash can with old dryer sheets and lint between his raised knees.
Kris had gotten her up reluctantly, when Kaleb had started crying. Further investigation revealed disaster. A disastrous diaper malfunction and a sick toddler. Kris bravely dealt with that, but told Katy that Jesse was sick, too.
"Hey," she said softly, sitting down beside him.
He jumped and scooted away. "Don't, Katy. I don't wanna get you sick."
"Honey. It's okay," she reassured.
"But I don't want you to get sick and die..." he managed, tears sliding down his cheeks, as he scooted away from her and closer to the utility sink.
"Jesse, this is just the flu. I know you feel sick right now, but you're not gonna die. You're gonna get better," Katy winced as Jesse started to get sick again. When she had been a child, with a stomach bug, she had always cried. But Jesse just looked at her with a kind of desperation she had never seen.
"Please don't leave me alone," he begged, when he could speak.
Katy's eyes filled with tears. "You will never be alone today. Okay? Do you understand me? Kris or I will always be with you."
"'Cause I'm sorry, and I can't help it!" he wailed, as if Katy had never spoken at all.
--
Kris loved both his sons but at this moment, Kaleb was what could only be described as horrendous. He was smelly and disgusting and crabby and unreasonable.
"No want you, Daddy!" he sobbed, as Kris tried, in vain, to get him clean. "Want my Mama!"
"Oh, I know, buddy. Mama loves you and wants you, too, I bet."
Desperate, Kris pushed the button on the baby monitor he'd clipped to his waist, grateful beyond words that he had remembered to give the other one to Katy.
"Hey, how's Jesse?" he asked, hoping she remembered to turn hers on.
--
Katy leaned back against the dryer, and closed her eyes. Jesse was now sick every five minutes. It was nasty and revolting, but inside, Katy was throwing a party. Because sometime over the last few minutes, Jesse had made his way to her, and asked if he could lay his head in her lap.
"Do you love me?" he asked sounding unsure.
Katy cupped his hot little face between her hands and stared into his eyes. "More than you can imagine," she said seriously. "Yes, I love you."
In response, Jesse said nothing, but climbed awkwardly into her lap.
"My other mom...said she loved me, but she left," Jesse shuddered and broke off to get sick again.
When he was done with all this puking, somehow, she was going to have to get him in the tub.
"I'm not leaving you," Katy promised. "Wherever I go, you're coming too. Right here," she said, pointing to a spot on her forearm, "There's imaginary super glue. So, I can't stop holding you until you're ready.
The monitor on the laundry room floor crackled and Kris's voice came through.
"Jesse's okay," Katy said.
"That's good. Hey, buddy. Love you." Kris said. "Katy, Kaleb's sick, too, and he wants you."
Jesse cast her a worried look. "You can put me down now. I'll be ready."
Katy shook her head. "Sorry. I can't, remember. We're stuck together right now," she said smiling. She stood, with Jesse still in her arms and walked down the hall to where Kris and Kaleb had comandeered the bathroom. It stank to high heaven, but Katy ignored it, talking to Kaleb.
"Hode me, Mama..." Kaleb whined, his cheeks bright with fever as Kris washed him off in the tub.
"You can..." Jesse whispered. "I can be ready..."
"Sorry. Super glue," Katy smiled, kissing his forehead. She was relieved when Jesse relaxed in her arms.
To Kaleb, she said, "You know what? Mama and Jesse are gonna sit right here so we can all be together."
But he just cried, and looked sad, reaching his arms out to Katy.
"Don't worry...about a thing..." Kris sang quietly as he scrubbed. "'Cause every little thing gonna be all right."
--
It took time, but eventually Kris and Katy got Jesse, Kaleb, and all their laundry clean.
Now, the four of them were hanging out together on the hide-a-bed in the living room. Kaleb was sleeping fitfully sprawled across Kris while an episode of Mr. Roger's Neighborhood played on TV. Kris looked to be watching intently as Mr. Rogers sang It's You I Like. He sang along softly to Kaleb.
Jesse had a talent for almost falling asleep. The minute Katy was convinced he was out, Jesse would start in her arms, checking to be sure Katy was still there.
When Kris was singing again, Jesse liked to listen. But he stared at Katy, questions in his eyes. She could see him piecing something together for himself, so she waited, silent, until he spoke.
"Can I ask you a question and can you not laugh?"
She nodded, still quiet.
"So, love isn't being mean? You don't, like, hit your kid to make them behave better and stuff?"
"No, love is gentle. Like this. Feel how I'm holding you?"
He nodded. "And what else is it?"
"Love is patient and kind," Katy remembered, grateful she had memorized the love passage from the Bible. Instead of reciting the whole thing, she stuck to the things that would resonate the most with Jesse. "It doesn't get angry easily. It doesn't keep track of another person's wrong choices. Love protects. It trusts, and hopes, and never gives up on someone."
"How do you know all that?" he breathed, impressed in spite of his sickness.
"It's in the Bible," Katy told him simply.
"Oh. Well, the Bible should add one more thing."
"What's that?" Katy asked softly.
"Love is never leaving," Jesse said, relaxing against her and letting his eyes fall closed.
Prompt: The Pocket kids have the flu, and it's an exercise in bonding for Jesse. H/C: Wild Card: Abandonment Issues.
Medium: Fic
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the real people mentioned. Situations are either totally fabricated or a fictionalized version of real events. Not written for profit.
Author(s): ficdirectory
Rating: PG
Warnings: None.
Notes: Written for nannerz2cool's request to the drabble meme & hc_bingo.
Kris woke up to the sound of someone vomiting. It was his least favorite thing about being a parent, but one of those things that he just had to deal with, no matter how much it grossed him out.
Katy, somehow, was still peacefully asleep, and he wanted to let her be. Technically, this was his fault. He had been the one with the flu. Despite her best efforts to keep their two sons, 9-year-old Jesse and 3-year-old Kaleb, healthy, it hadn’t worked.
Now Kris was better, and this was his payback.
He turned on fans as he went to block out the noise, checking first on Kaleb, because his room was closest and because he was more fragile medically than Jesse. Kaleb had been born three months premature and was more susceptible to germs.
Kaleb was sound asleep in his crib.
Down the hall, Kris heard the sound of the washing machine being opened and picked up his pace. He and Katy had taught Jesse how to do his own laundry, but they didn’t expect him to do it when he was sick.
Jesse, though, wasn’t a typical child. He had come to them months before, in the middle of the night - a foster child in need of an emergency placement. Jesse, Kris knew, was still learning what it meant to be a child in a family. What it meant to have parents who could keep him safe and do the things parents were supposed to do.
“Jess?” he called softly, his heart nearly breaking at the sight of this little boy, leaning against the washing machine, sweating and shaking, a trash can between his raised knees.
“I’m sorry,” he apologized quickly, his blue eyes wide with fear and bright with fever. “I’ll take care of it, I promise.”
“No, listen. You don’t have to take care of this. That’s what me and Katy are here for. You don't have to take care of anything, okay?"
--
Jesse would have usually argued, but he felt too sick to say anything. And too scared. He hadn't been sick since he'd come here - not like this - and he didn't know what it would mean if Kris or Katy ended up cleaning up after him.
Were they just being nice for now, and then later he'd get beat for it? That's what happened when he lived with his biological mom and her loser boyfriend.
Usually, he got left alone when he was sick. No one would be around, or if they were, they just pretended Jesse didn't exist. Sometimes, that had meant feeling really gross for days and days, until he felt well enough to get up and clean up after himself. But if his mom or her boyfriend did it? That always meant he could count on paying for it later.
It was Kris's fault, anyway. He got sick first. And he probably gave it to Jesse on purpose.
Now, Jesse probably had the Swine Flu and everything. And because he was a kid, it would be worse for him. He would get really sick - sicker than this - and then when he thought it couldn't get any worse, he would die. 'Cause that's what happened to kids and elderly people who got Swine Flu.
Jesse leaned his head back and closed his eyes. He didn't usually pray, but right now he did, just in case he was about to die.
"Please don't let me be alone...I don't wanna be alone..." he begged softly.
--
Katy stared in disbelief at Jesse. She had not taken care of herself when she was sick until she was grown. And she certainly had never washed her own sick sheets. But here he was, 8 years old, and washing his sheets, shivering with cold and sweating with fever, a trash can with old dryer sheets and lint between his raised knees.
Kris had gotten her up reluctantly, when Kaleb had started crying. Further investigation revealed disaster. A disastrous diaper malfunction and a sick toddler. Kris bravely dealt with that, but told Katy that Jesse was sick, too.
"Hey," she said softly, sitting down beside him.
He jumped and scooted away. "Don't, Katy. I don't wanna get you sick."
"Honey. It's okay," she reassured.
"But I don't want you to get sick and die..." he managed, tears sliding down his cheeks, as he scooted away from her and closer to the utility sink.
"Jesse, this is just the flu. I know you feel sick right now, but you're not gonna die. You're gonna get better," Katy winced as Jesse started to get sick again. When she had been a child, with a stomach bug, she had always cried. But Jesse just looked at her with a kind of desperation she had never seen.
"Please don't leave me alone," he begged, when he could speak.
Katy's eyes filled with tears. "You will never be alone today. Okay? Do you understand me? Kris or I will always be with you."
"'Cause I'm sorry, and I can't help it!" he wailed, as if Katy had never spoken at all.
--
Kris loved both his sons but at this moment, Kaleb was what could only be described as horrendous. He was smelly and disgusting and crabby and unreasonable.
"No want you, Daddy!" he sobbed, as Kris tried, in vain, to get him clean. "Want my Mama!"
"Oh, I know, buddy. Mama loves you and wants you, too, I bet."
Desperate, Kris pushed the button on the baby monitor he'd clipped to his waist, grateful beyond words that he had remembered to give the other one to Katy.
"Hey, how's Jesse?" he asked, hoping she remembered to turn hers on.
--
Katy leaned back against the dryer, and closed her eyes. Jesse was now sick every five minutes. It was nasty and revolting, but inside, Katy was throwing a party. Because sometime over the last few minutes, Jesse had made his way to her, and asked if he could lay his head in her lap.
"Do you love me?" he asked sounding unsure.
Katy cupped his hot little face between her hands and stared into his eyes. "More than you can imagine," she said seriously. "Yes, I love you."
In response, Jesse said nothing, but climbed awkwardly into her lap.
"My other mom...said she loved me, but she left," Jesse shuddered and broke off to get sick again.
When he was done with all this puking, somehow, she was going to have to get him in the tub.
"I'm not leaving you," Katy promised. "Wherever I go, you're coming too. Right here," she said, pointing to a spot on her forearm, "There's imaginary super glue. So, I can't stop holding you until you're ready.
The monitor on the laundry room floor crackled and Kris's voice came through.
"Jesse's okay," Katy said.
"That's good. Hey, buddy. Love you." Kris said. "Katy, Kaleb's sick, too, and he wants you."
Jesse cast her a worried look. "You can put me down now. I'll be ready."
Katy shook her head. "Sorry. I can't, remember. We're stuck together right now," she said smiling. She stood, with Jesse still in her arms and walked down the hall to where Kris and Kaleb had comandeered the bathroom. It stank to high heaven, but Katy ignored it, talking to Kaleb.
"Hode me, Mama..." Kaleb whined, his cheeks bright with fever as Kris washed him off in the tub.
"You can..." Jesse whispered. "I can be ready..."
"Sorry. Super glue," Katy smiled, kissing his forehead. She was relieved when Jesse relaxed in her arms.
To Kaleb, she said, "You know what? Mama and Jesse are gonna sit right here so we can all be together."
But he just cried, and looked sad, reaching his arms out to Katy.
"Don't worry...about a thing..." Kris sang quietly as he scrubbed. "'Cause every little thing gonna be all right."
--
It took time, but eventually Kris and Katy got Jesse, Kaleb, and all their laundry clean.
Now, the four of them were hanging out together on the hide-a-bed in the living room. Kaleb was sleeping fitfully sprawled across Kris while an episode of Mr. Roger's Neighborhood played on TV. Kris looked to be watching intently as Mr. Rogers sang It's You I Like. He sang along softly to Kaleb.
Jesse had a talent for almost falling asleep. The minute Katy was convinced he was out, Jesse would start in her arms, checking to be sure Katy was still there.
When Kris was singing again, Jesse liked to listen. But he stared at Katy, questions in his eyes. She could see him piecing something together for himself, so she waited, silent, until he spoke.
"Can I ask you a question and can you not laugh?"
She nodded, still quiet.
"So, love isn't being mean? You don't, like, hit your kid to make them behave better and stuff?"
"No, love is gentle. Like this. Feel how I'm holding you?"
He nodded. "And what else is it?"
"Love is patient and kind," Katy remembered, grateful she had memorized the love passage from the Bible. Instead of reciting the whole thing, she stuck to the things that would resonate the most with Jesse. "It doesn't get angry easily. It doesn't keep track of another person's wrong choices. Love protects. It trusts, and hopes, and never gives up on someone."
"How do you know all that?" he breathed, impressed in spite of his sickness.
"It's in the Bible," Katy told him simply.
"Oh. Well, the Bible should add one more thing."
"What's that?" Katy asked softly.
"Love is never leaving," Jesse said, relaxing against her and letting his eyes fall closed.