Page 21 of 5+Us Makes Seven

I helped Natasha off the couch before I gathered my daughter in my arms. I could feel her hot on my heels as the two of us walked up the stairs. I settled my daughter into her bed and Natasha tucked her in, then leaned over and kissed my her heated cheek.

It felt natural to do this with Natasha.

Like she was a part of our family.

“Should we get her to a doctor?” I asked.

“Let’s talk in the hallway,” she said.

The two of us stepped out of Clara’s room and I shut her door behind me.

“I took her straight to the doctor after I picked her up,” Natasha said.

“What did Dr. Rosenbaum say?” I asked.

“They drew a bit of blood and took a urine sample to make sure there was no infection or anything, and after ruling all that out he thinks it’s simply the changing of the seasons. Tylenol to help with the fever, Benadryl at night to help her sleep, and I’m steaming her sinuses over the sink to open her up.”

“You’re what?” I asked.

“It’s when someone boils water and then pours it into the sink. The steam comes up, Clara breathes it in, and she drains. I’m teaching her how to blow her nose with it.”

“And she lets you do that,” I said.

“Eh, she’s a bit combative with it, but it works. I’m not a fan of pumping her full of medication at such a young age.”

“Neither is Dr. Rosenbaum, which is why I like him. And if it works, then it works.”

I stayed with Clara while Natasha went to go get the boys from school. We settled into our afternoon routine of letting the boys rest before they did their homework. I insisted we order pizza for dinner so Natasha could have a break, and after a little argument about it she finally relented.

She helped the boys with their homework while I woke Clara up to drink some water, then all of us settled at the table for dinner.

Clara didn’t eat much. She was more thirsty than anything. I felt terrible that she didn’t feel well. Clara slid from her chair and walked over to Natasha, then crawled in her lap and burrowed into her body.

I watched Natasha rock my daughter side to side in her arms while we all ate dinner.

“I’ll clean this up and get the boys to bed,” I said.

“I’m going to steam Clara’s sinuses one more time before I put her down. Then I’ll head out,” Natasha said.

I watched her get up and leave with Clara and the boys helped me clear the dinner table. I was proud of them for taking some responsibility for their dirty dishes. Nathaniel pulled out tupperware in the lower cabinets to put the pizza in and Joshua stacked the dishes in the sink. They had grown to be big helpers around the house ever since Natasha came six weeks ago.

While I tucked Joshua in we had a serious discussion about Natasha’s cell phone. And how he would do extra chores for the next two weeks to “pay” for it. He cried a little, mostly because he was embarrassed, but still progress.

I tucked Nathaniel in and found Natasha gathering her things at the front door. I walked over to her and put my hand on the small of her back. She looked up at me with those beautiful amber eyes and a smile blossomed across her face.

“She didn’t fight this time.”

“That’s good,” I said.

“Her mucus is still pretty cloudy, but that’s to be expected for something like this. If it changes to yellow or green, I’m going to have to take her back to the doctor,” she said.

“Whatever you have to do. I trust you,” I said.

“How did the boys go down?”

“Just fine, thanks to you.”

“I didn’t put them down tonight. You did.”

---