Page 108 of The Chosen One Universe: Volume One

She leaned into him for a second before running upstairs. Vaughn carried Ollie over to the couch and found Ben stretched out watching his show with glassy eyes. “Ben? What’s wrong, buddy?”

“I don’t know. I don’t feel so good.”

“Okay.”

Vaughn leaned down and pressed his hand to Ben’s forehead. He was warm. Too warm. And suddenly it dawned on Vaughn why he had a houseful of cranky, tired kids. They were about to get hit with a plague. He carried Ollie into the bathroom and grabbed the thermometer from the cabinet along with a stack of disposable ear pieces and a handful of alcohol wipes. This really didn’t bode well for his evening plans. At all.

He carried everything back into the living room and sat Ollie down on the couch. He checked his temp first. Ninety-nine. He cleaned the thermometer and checked Ben. A hundred even. The other kids came over, and they all had low-grade fevers.

He grabbed his phone and called his mom, who was still at the clinic. “How’s your dinner coming? You need help? I saw Nana and Sam leave a minute ago.”

“Dinner is off. The kids are sick. Can you bring supplies over? I don’t have a ton of stuff here at the house.”

“Oh, no. And yes, I’ll be right over. What do you need?”

Vaughn rattled off a list of necessities before ending the call and turning his attention back to the kids.

He picked up his phone again and called Sam.

“Need me back so soon?” Sam asked.

Vaughn could hear the smile in his voice. “I need you to alter your shopping list.”

“Yeah?”

“Chicken soup, lots of Gatorade. A new bottle of pain reliever. Some tissues.”

“Oh, no,” Sam said. “They’re sick. That explains so much. Why didn’t—”

“Don’t do that. You didn’t miss anything. Everything’s low grade. There’s a bad flu bug going around, and I have a feeling they’ve got it.”

“Okay. I’m on it. We’ll be back as quickly as we can. I love you.”

“I love you, too.”

“I want Papa,” Ollie whined.

“Papa will be home in a little bit,” Vaughn said as he rubbed Ollie’s back. “Let’s go get you some juice, okay?”

“Apple.”

“Apple works. You want to help me pour or do you want me to do it?”

Ollie stuck his face in Vaughn’s neck instead of answering.

“Yeah, I feel the same way, little man.”

Vaughn managed to get all the kids cups of juice. They had a collection of cups with lids and straws they’d somehow accumulated over the past few months. Sam let the kids keep water with them while they did their school work, but he wouldn’t risk them not having lids near their books.

He carried Ollie back to the couch and sat him down next to Ben. He leaned back against his brother and Ben wrapped his arm around Ollie’s waist. They kept a collection of cozy blankets folded up in the linen closet, so Vaughn headed there next and made sure each kid had a fresh, clean blanket. Ben’s documentary ended, and Vaughn replaced it with one of their favorite cartoon movies.

Everyone had settled down, and they’d all curled up in a lump on their big sectional couch. He had a sneaking suspicion that he was in the calm before the storm. The front door opened, and his mom came bustling in followed by an alarmed-looking William. Sam’s dad absolutely doted on the kids, and they doted on him right back.

“All of ‘em?” William asked.

“Yep. You should consider staying over at Mom and Dad’s for a few days.”

William glared at him until Vaughn held up his hands in surrender.