Chapter 19Nick
Chapter 19
Nick
OCTOBER | Tarot: Four of Wands
I was out at the dog park with Greg on a Wednesday when my phone rang. People so rarely called me that it surprised me to see Dylan Sorrento’s name on the screen.
“Hello?”
“Obi, thank God. Can I cash in that favor from you?” A kid wailed in the background.
“Yeah, sure. What’s wrong? It sounds dire.”
“Jeanine’s out of town and two of the kids are sick with something. You’ve got that immune system of steel. Can you come help me with them?” His voice softened. “It’s okay, sweetie, Daddy’s trying. Do you want another popsicle?”
“Yeah, of course. I can run Greg home or I can bring him along? He’s a good cuddle buddy. Do you need me to pick anything up?”
“Whatever, man. Just come if you can. Yes, baby, Uncle Obi’s coming over—” was the last thing before the call ended.
* * *
I walked in to abject mayhem at the Sorrento house. He had three kids: Greyson, 5, Alice, 3, and Bella, who was a little over one.
Greyson had a bit of a destructive streak and had clearly been working his magic in the playroom. Crayons, paper, and markers littered the floor, with the paper mostly torn into little shreds. Dylan had Bella on his hip in the kitchen, with Alice lying in a pathetic heap on the kitchen floor.
Dylan’s eyes were worried. “They won’t eat or drink anything and they’re burning up.”
“Oh, dang. Hey, Alice, can I pick you up, sweetie?” Her hollow eyes briefly acknowledged me, so I scooped her up. She slumped into my chest, her skin on fire. “Can they take fever meds?”
He sighed. “They won’t, as of right now.”
I twisted my lips, thinking back to my own childhood. “Hang on, let me call my mom. She’s a pediatric nurse.”
I went straight for FaceTime, knowing that would make her more likely to answer and not blow me off. She answered quickly, clearly in her art studio. While she was a nurse by day, she made lots of different crafts as a side hustle.
“Hey, Mom.”
“Nicky, what a surprise! You suddenly have a child?”
“This is Alice. She’s my friend Dylan’s. She’s really sick and so is her sister. When do we go to the ER? They’re both really hot and won’t eat.”
Mom stuck out her bottom lip. “Poor babies! Did you try giving them a bath yet?”
I glanced at Dylan for an answer. “No. Hi, Mrs. Oberbeck,” he said, popping into the frame.
“Look at those two sad little babies! Hi, Dylan,” Mom cooed. “Try giving them a bath to cool them down. Then see if they’ll take medicine. Half the time with fevers there’s nothing you can do but let their body do its job.”
“Thanks, Ma.”
“Nicky, you look good holding a baby, you know. Maybe one day?”
I chuckled. “We’ll see, Mom. We’ll go divide and conquer here. Thanks for the advice.”
Dylan took the girls up to run a bath while I took Greyson outside to throw a ball and play with Greg. Greg thoroughly enjoyed the attention. I pulled out some of my levitation tricks, which Greyson demanded I teach him. Then I let Greyson pick a show while I posted up with him and the two girls on the couch so Dylan could make dinner. The girls clung to me, Bella curled up on my lap and Alice tucked into my side. When they didn’t even get excited when I pulled a dime out of each of their ears, I knew they felt rock-bottom terrible. They were still pretty hot despite the bath. Poor girls.
This wouldn’t be my first stint as the team kid-helper. I spent a good amount of time being my teammates’ kids’ fun uncle, acting as a punching bag and roughhouser when their parents were sick of them. I’d even been forced into a bunny suit on Easter the year before, and an elf suit at Christmas. I felt honored that Dylan called me first when his babies were sick.
We had an unsuccessful attempt to get the girls to eat. We tried all their favorites: chicken nuggets, macaroni and cheese, Goldfish, smoothies. A text to my mom assured us that maybe they just needed to sleep it off and try to get them to drink water whenever we could. The girls and I dozed off on the couch, a picture of which Dylan was all too happy to send to the entire team with the comment, “more than just a netminder.”
Then I was awakened by a tiny voice somewhere around midnight.
“Fish?”
Bright eyes were a few inches from my face, and a tiny hand held a Goldfish to my lips. What’s a guy to do? I accepted it.
“Oh, thanks, Bella! Are you feeling a little better?”
“Read book,” she said, gesturing to a book on the arm of the couch.
“Yeah, yeah, okay.”
Dylan stirred next to me, where he held Alice, also asleep.
“Here, let me go change Missy’s diaper. I bet you’ve got a good one,” he said as he shifted Alice to me and scooped up a smiling Bella.
After they returned, I sat up, reading to Bella until she went back to sleep. I didn’t leave until Jeanine came home the next morning to take over, shooing me off the couch and promising to have me over for dinner when everybody was better.