“Can I go check on her?” Layla asked.
“Sure.” Blake wasn’t worried about her waking her up. In fact, he kind of hoped she did, so Amelia could get something to eat. “Her bedroom is the first door on the right. The door’s open.”
Layla got up and hurried to the hall that led to the bedrooms.
“I brought you some soup,” Charli said, leaning forward to tap the bag. “Along with a few other things.”
“You didn’t have to do that, but I sure appreciate it.”
“Will’s mom made the soup,” Charli told him. “She swears her chicken noodle soup will cure what ails you. We always have several containers in the freezer since she keeps us well stocked.”
“I’m sure that Amelia will enjoy it.”
“She’s not a fussy eater?”
“Not normally, but she didn’t even want berries when we got home from church. She’ll normally eat them whenever possible.”
Layla came back out and sat down next to Charli. “She’s still sleeping.”
“I really hope this is just a case of her being overtired.”
“Will you be able to take time off work if she’s still sick tomorrow?”
“I think it will be fine, but I should probably text Stan to give him a head’s up. I just hope that if she is sick, she hasn’t infected anyone else.”
Charli shook her head. “Don’t worry about that. If someone else gets sick, that’s just life, you know. I always say that it seems like the only thing a child willingly shares are their sick germs.”
“What do you do when Layla gets sick?”
“Grandma comes and stays with me,” Layla volunteered.
“Yep. My mom watches Layla if she’s sick when I need to work. Misha’s mom stays with Jay’s kids if they get sick.”
“That’s good that you have that support. I don’t think my mom would ever offer to stay with a sick child. I’m not sure she even stayed with us when we were sick. Usually. she just left us with the housekeeper.”
Layla frowned. “That seems… sad.”
“It is,” Blake said. “You’re lucky to have such a great mom and grandma.”
“I love them,” Layla said with a beaming smile, so like her mom’s. “They’re great.”
Charli put her arm around Layla’s shoulders. “You’re pretty great too.”
“Daddy?”
Blake looked over to see Amelia coming out of the hallway. She came over to him and crawled up into his lap before turning to look at Layla and Charli.
“How are you feeling, Berry?” he asked as he touched her forehead. She felt warm, but not overly so, and it probably had to do with her being bundled up in bed.
“Not so tired now.”
Blake was glad to hear that. “Are you hungry?”
She nodded. “Can I have berries?”
“How about you have a little soup first, then you can have berries?”
Amelia appeared to consider that for a moment, then nodded. “Soup’s good.”