If you asked, Matt probably wouldn't have remembered his own name, he was exhausted.
It was sick season in the Sturniolo household. Two toddlers with ear infections, a six year old with a chest infection and two week old with colic. Nobody was sleeping and everyone was on edge.
"Daddy, is the baby broken?" Followed by a chesty cough.
Matt watched his daughter, Kayla's eyebrow furrow with concern.
Matt smirked and kissed her head. He could hear the wails coming from your bedroom across the hall and the sound of your footsteps.
"No, he isn't broken" Matt promised. "He's sad, isn't he?"
"He cries a lot"
Matt laughed. "He does, doesn't he?" She took a deep breath and started coughing again. "How are you feeling? Is your chest still sore?"
She nodded and rubbed her eyes. "A little, Daddy"
Matt leaned in and kissed her forehead, happy that it wasn't as warm.
"You don't feel warm anymore" his finished, rubbing her damp hair.
She smiled, leaning forward from the edge of the bed and wrapping her arms over his shoulders.
"No..I'm cold and sleepy"
"And sleepy" he repeated. "How about one of Daddy's sweaters? Would that be better?"
Kayla's cheeks brightened and she nodded. "Yes, please"
Expecting this, Matt had a sweater and a few blankets in the dryer once the kids were brought upstairs for bed. His Mom did the same for him and his brothers when they were sick with the flu.
"There you go" he hummed. She swam in his sweater when he put it over her head. "Is that better?"
His tiny daughter nodded before he pulled her blanket over her and kissed her forehead. She looked like a burrito all tucked up in her body.
"Goodnight, princess"
"Goodnight, Daddy"
The thing Matt loved about having a house full of kids, was that there was always someone hugging his legs or tugging at him to get his attention. It felt nice that someone always needed him. It felt nice to know he was the one the hug the bad dreams or fix scraped knees or sick tummies. He liked being a safe place for his kids. Even if it meant being sleep deprived.
He felt a cheek rub against his pant leg. "Hey" He looked down and spotted his oldest son. He picked up the tires little boy, who dropped his cheek to Matt's shoulders. "You feel warm"
"Ears" James whined, lifting his head and pulling on his ear. "Daddy, ears"
Matt frowned, adjusting the toddler. "Your ears hurt?"
James nodded, cuddling into his father and cuddling his hot face into Matt's neck.
"I know your ears hurt. I'm sorry, dude"
Cody was doing better with his ear infection than James was. The doctor was happy with how quickly his passed. He was still tired and not back to his usual self, but he was better than James, who became clingy. He cried if he couldn't sleep with you or Matt and it was rarely Matt he wanted. Having a two week old baby and a clingy toddler wasn't easy. He was too young to know that the baby needed his Mommy more than his Daddy.
"Should we go to sleep? Are you ready for bed?" Matt braced himself for the answer. With a sick house and a baby who's colic acted up at bed time, no one was getting much sleep.
