It all started with little sneeze.
Mikey was having an okay day. It was going to be an interesting week since so much was going on for his family. It was Grace's first week in kindergarten and Mikey was going to be at home with one less child running around in the house. Rowan was going to be turning one soon and would be roaming around the house too, but Mikey knew she was still little. Ray got emotional sometimes saying, "my babies are going to be heading off to college soon." Mikey thought he was supposed to be the emotional mother with motherly instincts.
Grace was having a great week. When he would pick her up from school with baby Rowan, she would ramble on about her day. Since it was the first week, the teacher, Miss Hayley, wasn't going to go over any lessons yet. So far, Grace was amazed by the arts and crafts they were doing. Her drawings and paintings she made at school were hanging on the fridge for everyone to see. When Rowan started drawing, hers would be with her sister's too. She was too interested in her alphabetical, colorful blocks.
His girls and even Ray was having a good week. If his family was fine so was, he. Of course, life loved to throw curve balls at you. When everything was going fine, the unexpected had to happen.
"Achoo!" Grace sneezed after Mikey unbuckled her from her car seat and placed her on the driveway. She stood there wrinkling her nose while she waited for her mother to unbuckle her baby sister.
Mikey held Rowan on one side of his hip and walked towards the front door while Grace trailed behind. He unlocked the door and moved out of the way to let Grace go in first. When he entered the house, he heard Grace was release another little sneeze when she headed to her room. He placed Rowan in her highchair once he was inside. He heard little footfalls.
"Mommy, can I please have a snack?" Grace questioned when she entered the kitchen and took a seat at the breakfast bar.
"Of course." Mikey responded. He grabbed a cutting board, a knife, and two bananas. He grabbed two plates and started peeling the bananas before chopping them gently.
Grace fished out a little pink origami swan from her pocket and handed it to Rowan. "Look Rowan! I made it in class."
"Awe, that's sweet, Grace." Mikey placed a plate in front of Grace. He took the swan origami, so Rowan didn't try to eat it. "Did Miss Hayley teach you guys how do origami today?"
Grace nodded. "Yup!" She took a slice of banana and popped it into her mouth. "I made one for you and Daddy too!" Mikey didn't know if his smile could get brighter. At that moment, Grace sneezed again.
Mikey noticed she had done that three times. "Did you sneeze at all at school, Grace?" He was hoping to God that she was not getting sick. He remembered the last time Grace got sick Rowan caught the cold too. They were both okay, of course, but he always got worried when they were sick. He made sure to take them to the doctors and hear what they had to say. He followed all the instructions on the back of the medicine he gave them. Sometimes he forgets to take care of himself when he was taking care of his daughters.
"I did a little bit." Grace replied and sniffled before taking another banana slice. "Miss Hayley told me it could be allergies."
Yes, Mikey supposed that could be it. Spring had arrived and all sorts of flowers were blossoming. He had seen some pollen trees nearby at the school. It could just be allergies, but there was a gut feeling telling him that the chance of Grace having a cold was more likely. He hoped it was just allergies, but life could be unexpected.
"Well, just make sure to always wash your hands." He understood Grace knew basic hygiene, but you could never remind kids too much.
Grace nodded. "Okay Mommy!" she exclaimed joyously. Mikey kept an eye on Grace afterwards. He was hoping Grace wouldn't get so sick early on during the school year, but it couldn't be helped.
