Fic - Mom Hands
Ah-HA! I tracked down this ficlet! I wrote it as a birthday gift for sinnerforhire 2 years ago. Oh it was making me so crazy!
It wasn’t a new experience for Jensen to see the signs of illness coming on and to soldier on in spite of them. It wasn’t that he couldn’t use a few days rest to baby himself on occasion, but he wasn’t the second banana on Dark Angel or Smallville anymore; with so many people’s jobs depending on him showing up for work every day Jensen wasn’t inclined to slack off.
Most of the time he could exert the power of his mind over his body and with extreme focus manage to muddle through. But his body was so much craftier than his mind and understood that “weekend” and “vacation” really meant “time to collapse” and just bided its time. Which was how he ended up at the airport, semi-conscious and befuddled; falling asleep on the plane had been a terribly bad idea. Sleeping on the plane had sent the memo to his body with the subject line: “We’re finally on vacation!”; coughing, fever and sore throat ensued.
He certainly had every intention of making his connecting flight from San Antonio to Dallas; it seemed his luggage had already made the connection so why shouldn’t he follow? But Jared’s mom had come to greet him at the airport like she always did when he was in Vancouver for an extended stretch. After the Padalackis engaged in some enthusiastic hugging, Jensen was ready to be greeted too but Mama P reached for his face instead of grabbing him in her arms.
“Are you sick, honey?”
Too late, Jensen realized he should’ve avoided the Mom Hands. He was pretty sure he tried to argue about the need to make his flight, but Mama P was a steamroller and wouldn’t hear any of it. “I can’t in good conscience put you on a plane in your condition! What would your mama think?”
And that was the end of that argument.
Falling asleep in the car was almost as bad as sleeping on the plane. With two naps in such rapid succession, Jensen’s body was clearly getting the message that work time was over and it was definitely time to fall apart. Jared had to steer him through the house because Jensen couldn’t work out where he was going.
Once they reached Jared’s bedroom, Jensen sat down hard on the bed. “Dude, what just happened?”
Jared chuckled, “The same thing that happens when a force runs into an immovable object…crash and burn.”
Jensen squinted blearily. “Seriously? Physics metaphors?”
“I didn’t realize you were in such bad shape, Jen.” Jared sat down next to Jensen, his face full of concern. Jensen hated making people look like that.
Jensen smirked, “I am a pretty good actor…” He might’ve pulled the line off if he hadn’t started hacking up a lung.
Mama Padalecki magically appeared in the doorway. “JT, what are you doing sitting there? Get that boy in the shower and find him something to wear.”
Jared was on his feet and pulling Jensen to his before his mother finished talking. “Yes, Mama.” Jensen found himself propelled down the hall and shoved into a bathroom. A shower did sound pretty inviting, who was he to fight the tide? Or, in the case, the gravitational power of the Padalecki.
Twenty minutes later Jensen was feeling much more human, but totally exhausted. A neatly folded pile of Jared’s sweatpants and a t-shirt had made its way to the counter of the vanity next to the towels and a large bottle of Tylenol. Jensen supposed he should be grateful he had something of Jared’s to wear and not something Dr. Jeff had left behind. Still, he felt like he was swimming in Jared’s shirt and the pants were long enough to trip on.
Making his way back to Jared’s room, Jensen could overhear Mama P on the phone. “I just couldn’t put him on a plane like that, not when he’s running a fever. So I figured we’d keep him for a day or two and then maybe the boys will drive him home on the weekend. I think as long as someone picks up his luggage at the airport it’ll all work out.” Then she laughed brightly at something that was said on the other end.
It took Jensen a moment to realize that Mrs. P was arranging a sleepover with his mother. It boggled the mind.
Jared’s room was empty when Jensen arrived. With no better plan, he dropped his clothing in a heap on the floor and fell face first onto the bed. He was pretty sure Jared wouldn’t mind. Somewhere in the distance as he was drifting off to sleep there was a conversation about Jeff coming over to see him; Jared did try to step in on that one pointing out that Jeff was an orthopedist and not a general practitioner, but Jensen was fairly certain that Dr. Jeff would be joining them for dinner. He smiled into the pillow and let himself fall truly and deeply asleep.
It wasn’t a new experience for Jensen to see the signs of illness coming on and to soldier on in spite of them. It wasn’t that he couldn’t use a few days rest to baby himself on occasion, but he wasn’t the second banana on Dark Angel or Smallville anymore; with so many people’s jobs depending on him showing up for work every day Jensen wasn’t inclined to slack off.
Most of the time he could exert the power of his mind over his body and with extreme focus manage to muddle through. But his body was so much craftier than his mind and understood that “weekend” and “vacation” really meant “time to collapse” and just bided its time. Which was how he ended up at the airport, semi-conscious and befuddled; falling asleep on the plane had been a terribly bad idea. Sleeping on the plane had sent the memo to his body with the subject line: “We’re finally on vacation!”; coughing, fever and sore throat ensued.
He certainly had every intention of making his connecting flight from San Antonio to Dallas; it seemed his luggage had already made the connection so why shouldn’t he follow? But Jared’s mom had come to greet him at the airport like she always did when he was in Vancouver for an extended stretch. After the Padalackis engaged in some enthusiastic hugging, Jensen was ready to be greeted too but Mama P reached for his face instead of grabbing him in her arms.
“Are you sick, honey?”
Too late, Jensen realized he should’ve avoided the Mom Hands. He was pretty sure he tried to argue about the need to make his flight, but Mama P was a steamroller and wouldn’t hear any of it. “I can’t in good conscience put you on a plane in your condition! What would your mama think?”
And that was the end of that argument.
Falling asleep in the car was almost as bad as sleeping on the plane. With two naps in such rapid succession, Jensen’s body was clearly getting the message that work time was over and it was definitely time to fall apart. Jared had to steer him through the house because Jensen couldn’t work out where he was going.
Once they reached Jared’s bedroom, Jensen sat down hard on the bed. “Dude, what just happened?”
Jared chuckled, “The same thing that happens when a force runs into an immovable object…crash and burn.”
Jensen squinted blearily. “Seriously? Physics metaphors?”
“I didn’t realize you were in such bad shape, Jen.” Jared sat down next to Jensen, his face full of concern. Jensen hated making people look like that.
Jensen smirked, “I am a pretty good actor…” He might’ve pulled the line off if he hadn’t started hacking up a lung.
Mama Padalecki magically appeared in the doorway. “JT, what are you doing sitting there? Get that boy in the shower and find him something to wear.”
Jared was on his feet and pulling Jensen to his before his mother finished talking. “Yes, Mama.” Jensen found himself propelled down the hall and shoved into a bathroom. A shower did sound pretty inviting, who was he to fight the tide? Or, in the case, the gravitational power of the Padalecki.
Twenty minutes later Jensen was feeling much more human, but totally exhausted. A neatly folded pile of Jared’s sweatpants and a t-shirt had made its way to the counter of the vanity next to the towels and a large bottle of Tylenol. Jensen supposed he should be grateful he had something of Jared’s to wear and not something Dr. Jeff had left behind. Still, he felt like he was swimming in Jared’s shirt and the pants were long enough to trip on.
Making his way back to Jared’s room, Jensen could overhear Mama P on the phone. “I just couldn’t put him on a plane like that, not when he’s running a fever. So I figured we’d keep him for a day or two and then maybe the boys will drive him home on the weekend. I think as long as someone picks up his luggage at the airport it’ll all work out.” Then she laughed brightly at something that was said on the other end.
It took Jensen a moment to realize that Mrs. P was arranging a sleepover with his mother. It boggled the mind.
Jared’s room was empty when Jensen arrived. With no better plan, he dropped his clothing in a heap on the floor and fell face first onto the bed. He was pretty sure Jared wouldn’t mind. Somewhere in the distance as he was drifting off to sleep there was a conversation about Jeff coming over to see him; Jared did try to step in on that one pointing out that Jeff was an orthopedist and not a general practitioner, but Jensen was fairly certain that Dr. Jeff would be joining them for dinner. He smiled into the pillow and let himself fall truly and deeply asleep.