Passion's Instinct

Thirty Seven

Natalie

The next morning when I woke up, Hayden was already gone at hockey.

I sat up in bed, feeling good. But feeling good just meant the day was just going to get worse and worse as it went.

Kota jumped up in bed with me, lying in Hayden's spot. She laid her chin on his pillow, and I smiled, saying, "You're pathetic."

She looked up at me, wagging her tail. I laughed and scratched her head, giving her the attention she wanted.

"Where are the kids?" I asked her. She stared up at me with wide eyes, and I continued to talk to her even though I knew she didn't understand a word I was saying.

"Let's go, Kota. Let's go see what they're doing."

I climbed out of bed. Kota followed me into Temple's room, where she was talking to her stuffed animals and sitting up in her crib.

When Temple realized I had walked in, she dropped her animals and stood up in her crib, smiling. "Mama!"

I took her out of her crib and kissed her, sitting her on my hip. "Good morning, baby."

"Daddy?" she asked, looking up at me.

"He's not here right now, but he'll be back later."

"Where?"

"Hockey."

"Oh."

I pushed her hair back on her head and kissed her again. She laughed and gave me a light kiss back on the tip of my nose. "Do you want to go see Sawyer now?" I asked.

She nodded.

We went into Sawyer's room, where he was reading a picture book. "Good morning, honey. What are you reading?"

He looked around at me and went back to his book. "'Are You My Mother.'"

At first I was confused on why he would ask me that, but then I laughed. "Right. That's a book. Do you like it?"

"Uh huh."

I knew he didn't want me to bother him any longer; he never did when he was reading. I walked downstairs with Temple an as she ran into the living room to play, I started making breakfast.

There was a knock at the door, and I furrowed my eyebrows. "That's weird. It's only 9:00." I walked to the door and opened it to find Hayden there.

"Hayden?" I hugged him, and he pulled me close, kissing the top of my head. "This is a surprise."

"Yeah, well... I really don't feel well, so I that's why I'm home." He pulled back, looking at me and tucking a strand of hair behind my ear.

He walked past me farther into the house, carrying his duffel. His jersey was still on, with his number and last name on the back. "Ah, I gotta lay down," he said.

I followed him into the living room, where he greeted Temple with a kiss and tossed his duffel on the couch. He laid down, taking his jersey off and laying it over the back of the couch, so he just had a plain white t-shirt on.

"I feel so hot," Hayden grumbled, taking his socks and shoes off. He laid there on the couch with his hand over his face, his eyes closed.

"I've had a migraine ever since last night," he said, rubbing his temples.

"Did you take something?" I asked, pulling the thermometer out of the closet and sitting beside him.

"Yeah," he said, uncovering his face to look at me.

"What was it?" I asked, uncapping the thermometer and looking at him.

"Uh... I took some Ibuprofen this morning. Just a few hours ago."

"Do you want some ice for your neck? How about a massage?" I offered as I stuck the thermometer in his mouth.

"A massage would be nice," he said before closing his mouth around the thermometer.

"You have to sit up, though."

Hayden sat up, leaning against the back of the couch, and I climbed behind him and started massaging his back, moving slowly up to his head and temples.

"That feels awesome, Natalie," he commented, laying his head back.

"Good."

The thermometer beeped, and I took it out of his mouth. The display showed 102.

"You have a fever. Do you want to go upstairs and lay down with ice? It might make you feel a little better."

"Sure."

I turned to Temple as we both got up. "Hey, Temple? Is it okay if I go help Daddy upstairs real quick? I'll be right back down."

She nodded, and I smiled. "I'll be right back."

Hayden and I walked upstairs, and as soon as Hayden got into our room, he took his shirt off, changed from jeans into shorts and got into bed. I turned the fan on in our room and brought him some ice to put behind his neck. I rubbed peppermint oil on his temples, forehead and back of his neck and kissed the tip of his nose.

"I'll be back in about twenty minutes, Hayden."

"Got it," he mumbled, rolling over to face me.

As I made my way out of our bedroom, he called my name.

"I love you, babe. Thanks for helping me."

I turned around to face him, smiling. "Of course. I love you too."

As I walked out of the room, I thought about Hayden and hoped he would feel better soon. It would be unfortunate for him and the rest of us if he got worse, and I knew how he felt anyway and hated feeling that way myself.