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Author's Chapter Notes:
Added 10/29.

Thursday, March 20, 2008
1:50 PM

"I come bearing gifts!" AJ yelled as he stepped through Brian's front door.

"Up here," Brian said as he emerged from his upstairs hallway.

"Man, I can see your Rudolph nose from down here," AJ joked.

Brian coughed lightly. "Very funny. Put the ice cream in the freezer, would you? Bring your other 'gifts' upstairs." He went back into his bedroom.

"Sure. Jordan, go find Baylee okay?"

Jordan did as he was told. AJ put the ice cream in the freezer and went upstairs. "Oh, God, he's coughing!" he yelled dramatically. He then entered Brian and Leighanne's bedroom.

"Hey, Rok, how're you feeling? Here's the stuff you wanted." He took the bag over to the bed.

Brian was settling back in bed, pulling the covers up to his chin. He looked sweaty and pale with the exception of his red cheeks, and he was shivering.

"Dude, are you sure this is just a cold? You don't look so hot."

"I don't feel so hot..." he replied.

"Where's Leighanne?"

"Out running errands."

"And she left you like this?"

"It's really not that bad."

"Have you checked your fever?"

"Yeah, it's 102.4. I just took some ibuprofen for it before you got here."

"That's way too high for a cold, Brian, I think you've got the flu."

"Yeah, me too." He coughed some. "Could you hand me that water bottle?"

AJ did and he poured the last of Brian's NyQuil in the dosage cup. "Here, take this and get some sleep. I'll take Baylee and bring him back after dinner."

"Okay." Brian put the water bottle on the nightstand and took the NyQuil and laid back down. "I really appreciate this, thanks."

"No problem man, you just feel better. Later."

"Bye."

AJ walked out of the room and shut the door. He went downstairs and left with Jordan and Baylee.

"Do you wanna go back home or do something else, J?" AJ asked.

"I wanna go home." he answered.

"Okay. I had fun today."

"Me too, Daddy."

Once they got back, Jordan and Baylee went inside with Jordan's new toys and AJ put the new bike in the garage. He went inside to find Kim on the couch watching TV and he sat next to her.

"Hey, babe."

"Hi."

"Did you have a good time with Jordan? He told me you bought him a bike!"

"Yep, I did." He gave a crooked grin.

"So, J wanted Baylee to come over?"

"No, not at first. J wanted to go over to Brian's, but he's sick and Leighanne's running errands. I got him some stuff he needed and volunteered to take Baylee for the day so he could rest, so that cut me and Jordan's time together short. Oh well, he's doing what he wants to."

"Well, that was nice of you. Poor Brian...how's he doing?"

"He's feeling pretty crappy, he's got a fever, body aches, chills, cough, the works. He's got a bad cold or the flu or something. I hate this, we can't get sick now or anytime that we're in the middle of touring," AJ grumbled.

"It can't be helped, I just hope you don't get it. We've got that American Cancer Society benefit to go to tomorrow night."

"I know. It's at 7, right?"

"Yeah."
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About an hour after dinner, it was time to take Baylee back home. He and Jordan said their goodbyes and AJ and Baylee left.

"So, did you have fun, Baylee?"

"Uh huh, thanks, Uncle AJ."

"No problem, little B."

The car ride was pretty silent and Baylee was happy to be home. Both of them went inside and AJ talked to Leighanne for a few minutes in the kitchen.

"Hey, Leighanne," he greeted as he gave her a hug. "How's Brian feeling?"

"Not so good. He's really achy and tired and has a worsening cough. He's sleeping now and has been trying to all day."

"Are you gonna take him to the doctor?"

"I already made him an appointment for tomorrow morning. Hopefully he can give him some anti-viral meds or something."

"Yeah."

"So, Jordan is obviously feeling better."

"Yeah, he's gotta finish his antibiotics, but other than that, he's good."

"Good. Any plans for tomorrow?" Leighanne asked.

"Me and Kim have to go a dinner for the American Cancer Society tomorrow night."

"Oh. I'd be happy to watch Jordan for you guys."

"No thanks, you should just take care of Brian and Baylee. I'll ask Nick if he can."

"You'd pick Nick over me? I'm hurt, Alex." she pouted.

"Oh, stop, you don't need anymore stresses on top of a sick husband and a kid. Don't worry about it."

"Okay."

"Well, I better get going. Tell Brian I said to 'take it easy, listen to the doctor, and feel better,' alright?" AJ said as he walked to the front door.

"Sure thing. Thanks for taking Baylee today."

"No problem. I was happy to do it."

"Have a good night."

"You, too."

AJ got in his car and drove back home. By the time he got back, it was almost 8 PM and all he wanted to do was relax with a nice hot bath. It was perfect timing: Jordan would be taking a bath and getting put to bed soon, then he and Kim could just have the evening to themselves.

AJ went inside and called up the stairs, "Are you two in the bathroom?"

"Yeah!" Kim yelled back.

AJ went up the stairs and peeked in to check on them.

"You guys okay in here?"

"We're fine."

"Okay, I'll be in the bath if you need me."

"Alright."

He left the guest bathroom and went into their master bathroom. He filled the bathtub with warm water, added bath beads to it, lit some candles, turned off the lights, stripped down, and got in.

"Ah..." he sighed as his body immediately relaxed once he lay down in the tub.
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AJ got out and changed about an hour later. He was feeling pretty tired, it had been a long day and he just wanted to go to sleep. He went downstairs to say goodnight to Kim.

"Hey, Kim? I'm tired, I'm gonna go to bed."

"Alex, it's only past 9:15. Are you feeling okay?" she asked, worried that he had caught whatever Brian had. She also found it strange that he was wearing his black robe over his clothes.

"Yeah, I'm fine, I swear. I just wanna get some rest, you know how I never seem to get enough sleep out on the road no matter how hard I try. I'm gonna go catch up on some of it right now," he said.

"True. Well, I'll be up soon. Goodnight, baby." They both embraced and kissed, then AJ went upstairs to bed.
Chapter End Notes:
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