Daddy Patrol

by Sharon De Vita

  “On a chair.”

  “What?” Frowning, Joe rubbed his stubbled chin. It was too early for him to solve riddles. “Cody, where’s your mom? And what are you doing on a chair?”

  “In bed,” Cody said. “My mom’s in bed, Coach Joe. And me and Connor, we think something’s wrong with her. She always gets us up for school and makes our breakfast and lunch. But we can’t get her up. We can’t get her up, Coach Joe. She’s still sleeping, and me and Connor are gonna be late for school.” He could hear the tears trembling in the boy’s voice and that, more than anything, had panic settling in.

  Joe shot to his feet so quickly he knocked his chair over backward. He couldn’t even imagine Mattie not being up to care for the boys unless something was desperately wrong with her.

  His heart jumped in his chest and his hands grew clammy, but he knew he couldn’t let Cody know he was concerned. He didn’t want to scare the boy any further.

  “Cody, listen to me very, very carefully. Okay, son?”

  “’Kay.”

  “Where are you. Exactly?”

  “On a chair.”

  Joe’s eyes slid closed. He’d forgotten that kids took things literally. “On a chair,” he repeated. “Okay, I got that. Why are you on a chair? And where’s the chair at?”

  “I couldn’t reach the phone, so Connor and I pushed a kitchen chair over to the phone and I climbed on it. Then I called you.”

  “That was a very smart thing to do, Cody. So you’re in the kitchen, right?”

  “Right.”

  “Now, is your aunt Maureen home?”

  “Nah, I heard her tell my ma that she had to go to another town or something. She won’t be back until Sunday.”

  Joe was already searching his desk for his car keys. “Okay, Cody, listen to me. I want you to do everything I tell you, exactly as I tell you, okay?”

  “’Kay.”

  “First, I want you to hang up the phone. Wait—Cody, not yet. Don’t hang up on me yet. Wait until I’m done. I’ll tell you when.”

  “’Kay.”

  “After you hang up the phone—”

  “When you tell me, right?” Cody asked with a sniffle.

  “Right. After you hang up the phone, I want you to very, very carefully and very slowly climb down off that chair. Do you understand me?” Visions of Cody falling backward off the chair and tumbling headfirst to the floor nearly made Joe’s legs buckle. He couldn’t bear the thought of anything happening to those boys. Not now. Not ever.

  “Yeah, I understand.”

  “Then I want you and Connor to go sit on the chairs in the living room and watch out the front window for me. When you see me pull up, and only me, Cody, no one else, I want you to go to the front door and unlock it. Do you understand?”

  “Yep.”

  “Now, Cody, do not open the door for anyone else, and don’t let anyone else into the house except me. Do you understand?”

  “Yep. Are you gonna help my ma?”

  “Yes, son, I promise. I’m on my way right now. Now you can hang up the phone, Cody, and remember what I said, carefully and slowly get down from the chair, then you and Connor go sit in the chairs in the living-room and watch for me.”

  “’Kay. Goodbye.”

  Joe dropped the receiver back onto the cradle, dug his keys out of the mess on his desk and called to Clarence. “I’ve got an emergency, Clarence. Can you keep a handle on things here for a while?”

  “Will do, Sheriff. Need any help?”

  “Not that I know of,” he called, already heading out the door. “I’ll check in with you later. Just call my cell phone if you need me.”

  “Will do.”

  Someone had stuffed lead weights inside her head, Mattie was almost certain of it. Why else would her head be throbbing so violently? And if that wasn’t enough, someone had set those lead weights to clanging, because she could hear them ringing, echoing loudly in her ears.

  Trying to stop the cacophony in her head, Mattie tried to turn over, and groaned when her body responded by sending a river of aches and pains up and down every joint and nerve ending.

  “Is our ma going to die?” Connor whispered, his lower lip trembling in fear.

  “No, son, she’s not.” Standing in the doorway, Joe kept an eagle eye on Mattie—who’d finally begun stirring, much to his relief—and draped one arm around each of the boys. “But she may feel like it. She’s got the flu, boys. Just a very bad case of the flu. Remember I explained that to you the other day when I first got here?”

  “I remember,” Cody said. “We sometimes get the flu, but Ma never gets sick. She’s never been sick before.” He glanced up at Joe, still a little scared. He’d never seen his mom in bed during the day before, and never for lots of days. “I didn’t know moms could get sick. I thought it was a rule or something that they couldn’t.”

  “Well, it probably should be a rule, Cody,” Joe said with a smile. “But it’s not.”

  “Connor?” Mattie’s voice was barely a whisper. “Cody?” Her throat felt as if someone had been running a lit stick of dynamite up and down it. She tried to swallow, and found the motion had her moaning in pain. Pressing a hand to her throat, she desperately tried to sit up, while trying to keep the covers close because she was so cold.

  “Ma?” Wide-eyed in fear, Connor took a step into the room, watching his mother shiver. “Are you awake?”

  “Yeah, I think so.” She hesitated, trying to get her bearings. She glanced down at herself, realizing she was wearing a short-sleeved cotton nightgown, which might account for why her arms were so cold. “Give me a minute and I’ll get up and get you guys ready for school.” She could do it, she was almost certain. All she had to do was manage to lift her head from the pillow, sit up, make her legs swing over the bed and then set her feet on the floor.

  Cody giggled. “Ma, we don’t gotta go to school until morning.”

  Mattie blinked, trying to focus. “Morning? It is morning.” With some effort she turned her head, saw darkness shimmering beyond her bedroom drapes, and Joe and the boys standing in the doorway, watching her intently. “Where did the morning go?”

  “Which one?” Joe asked with a smile as he moved into the room and gingerly sat down on the bed next to her. The rush of relief he’d felt when he’d realized she was finally awake made him realize he’d better sit down before he fell down.

  He couldn’t ever remember being this scared before, but then again, he’d never seen Mattie sick like this before.

  And he was quite sure he never wanted to see her this sick again.

  He felt her forehead. She was still warm, but nothing like she’d been the past couple of days. The worst of it was finally over.

  “Joe?” She blinked, wondering if he was a mirage, or a vision from one of her fantasies. She’d been thinking of him so much, dreaming about him so much, maybe he’d simply materialized out of her dreams. “W-what are you doing here?”

  “Taking care of you and the boys,” he said, plumping the pillow behind her head. When she looked at him wildly, he laughed, and drew the blanket up higher, tucking it under her chin. “You’ve got the flu—”

  “I do not!” she protested vehemently, trying to lift her aching head again. With a moan, she gave up and simply lay still, moving nothing but her eyes, and even that was some effort. “I never get the flu,” she insisted. “And I never get sick.”

  “Well, then, you’ve done a pretty good imitation the past few days.” He lifted her hand, held it in his, feeling a rush of gratitude that she was finally up and able to talk.

  “Who…who got the boys ready for school this morning?” If she lay still, and only moved her mouth and opened her eyes for a little bit of time, she could handle the pain and the clanging. She was almost sure of it.

  “I did,” Joe said, brushing her hair off her face with his hands. “This morning, yesterday morning and Monday morning.”

  “It is Monday morning,” she whispered, blinking at him.
“Isn’t it?”

  “Ma, it’s Wednesday,” Cody said with a laugh, moving closer to the bed. “Wednesday night. Coach Joe and us, we’ve been having a slumber party while you was sick. Coach Joe slept over. We watched movies together and he let us bring our pillows and blankets downstairs so we could sleep in front of the television.”

  “Tattletale,” Joe said in amusement, swiping a finger down Cody’s nose.

  “And we had pizza for dinner, too,” Connor added with a grin. “Twice. And Coach Joe, he let us stay up late. Real late,” he added, making Joe wince. “Then he got us ready for school in the morning and even made us breakfast—well, cereal anyway, and then he took us to school, too.” Connor rubbed his nose and inched closer to his mother, not so afraid, now that her eyes were open and she was talking again. “We was only late once. Well,” Connor added with a frown, “twice if you count today.”

  “Yeah,” Cody said, bravely inching closer to the bed as well. “And Coach Joe even helped us with our lines for the play. Now we remember them real good.”

  “Wednesday.” Wildly, Mattie looked at Joe, a million thoughts zooming through her aching head. “It’s Wednesday?”

  “All day,” Joe confirmed with a grin.

  “Oh Lord,” Mattie muttered, trying to gather enough strength to push the covers off so she could get out of bed. “The gallery. I’ve got to get to the gallery. Aunt Maureen is in Milwaukee for the week and I promised—”

  “You’re not going anywhere but back to sleep, Mattie,” Joe said, covering her hands with his and effectively stopping her struggle to get up. “I’ve got everything covered, so relax.”

  When she just lifted an eyebrow, he sighed, then went on, just to assure her that he indeed did have everything covered and she could relax and concentrate on getting well.

  “The gallery is being handled. Since Annie’s finished her last final, she’s been covering your shift for you, going in every afternoon to relieve Colleen.” He couldn’t help but grin at the shock on Mattie’s face. “She’s even sold a couple of pieces for you,” he added. “And my sister Sophie, the boys’ kindergarten teacher, has taken over your stint at baseball practice, coming straight after school and bringing the boys with her. So you’re covered there, too. And as for the boys, as you can tell by looking at them, they’re none the worse for wear. As soon as Gina heard you were sick, she started sending over full-course meals for me and the boys.” He straightened the edge of the blanket, needing something to do with his hands. She looked so fragile, pale and small, he just wanted to scoop her up in his arms and hold and protect her. Instead, he flashed her a smile. “So you see, there’s absolutely nothing for you to do. Or worry about,” he said, giving her hands a gentle squeeze. “We’ve got everything under control, truly. So just lie back and relax until you feel better.”

  Bewildered, and more touched than she could ever remember, Mattie merely stared at him. “Why?” she whispered, blinking back tears. “Why on earth would your family do all that for me?”

  “Why not?” he responded with a smile and a shrug. “I told you, Mattie, this is a small town. People help other people. Everyone’s part of the community and we help one another out. And you know how my family is. You’ve met most of my sisters, and once they heard you were sick, they simply jumped in to help. It’s really no big deal. You’d do the same for them, wouldn’t you?”

  “Of course.” Sniffling, she blinked quickly to clear the tears from her eyes. “But it’s a very big deal, Joe.” Especially to someone who’d never been able to depend on anyone to help her do anything, not since she was eighteen. Especially not her husband or her in-laws. But Joe’s family had pitched in and helped her, without thought or without looking for anything in return. “I…I don’t know what to say.”

  “Thank you will suffice,” he said, running a finger down her nose.

  “Oh, Joe, thank you,” she managed to whisper, reaching out a hand and laying it on his chest.

  Her mind could barely function or comprehend that his entire family had pitched in to help her and her boys, taking care of her and her responsibilities without missing a beat.

  She’d never experienced such overwhelming kindness or support before. Never. But now that she had, she realized just how wonderful it was to have a supportive, loving family, and she realized with a pang just how much she’d missed and how much her boys were going to miss by not having that family.

  “You’re welcome.” He laid a hand to her cheek. It was flushed and still warm, but at least she wasn’t burning up as she had been. “Your aunt called this morning.”

  “What did she say?”

  “She said you’re not to worry about anything. She and Clancy will be back late Sunday, but if you need anything in the meantime to call her. She gave me the number of her hotel, but I told her we had things covered.”

  “Clancy and Aunt Maureen are together?” Mattie asked in surprise, remembering the pact she and Clancy had made.

  “Apparently,” Joe said with a grin, “although I don’t think I’m old enough to want to know the details.” He straightened her blanket. “Now, think you could handle a little something to eat?”

  “We got some pepperoni pizza left, Ma,” Cody offered, and Mattie almost turned green at the thought.

  “I was thinking more along the lines of some soup,” Joe said, trying not to grin. “Gina sent over some homemade chicken broth with baby pastina. Generations of Italian kids have grown up on it. It’s guaranteed to make you feel better.”

  “I…could try a…little,” Mattie managed to say, putting a hand to her head, hoping to stop the pain. She wasn’t hungry, but she was so weak, she knew if she didn’t eat something, she wouldn’t be able to get her strength back.

  “Okay, boys. Let’s go down and warm up some soup for your mother.” Joe stood up. “I’ll bring some aspirin up for you as well, Mattie. That should take care of the marching band in your head,” he added with a smile.

  “Have we been taking good care of you, Ma?” Cody asked, hesitantly stepping closer to the bed.

  With a weak smile, Mattie reached out to her sons. “Come here, guys.” After glancing at Joe to see if it was okay, both boys moved closer to the bed. “You’ve been doing a wonderful job taking care of me. That’s why I’m almost all better.” She could see the fear shimmering in her sons’ eyes, reminding her once again that she was their sole stability and security. A wave of guilt rolled over her for scaring them. “I’m sorry if I scared you.”

  “We wasn’t scared,” Cody fibbed. “Coach Joe was here and he said you’d be okay ’cuz we was all gonna take real good care of you.”

  “He did, did he?” Mattie managed a smile for Joe. “Well, he was right. Her lids were getting heavy again and the clanging was starting to get louder, but she didn’t want her sons to know that. “I should be up and about in another day or so.”

  Joe just lifted his eyebrows, and then smiled, realizing she was merely trying to soothe the boys.

  Sensing Mattie had expended what little energy she had, Joe motioned the twins toward the door. “All right, guys, let’s go down and let your mom rest until her food’s ready.” Joe leaned over and kissed Mattie on the cheek. She clutched a hand on his shirt, wanting to feel him close if only for just a minute. “We’ll be back in a few,” he said, giving her another quick kiss before leading the boys out the door and down the stairs.

  With a sniffle, Mattie turned her head into the pillow and let the tears come, feeling sorry for herself. Everything ached, but especially her heart. Seeing Joe again was just a reminder of how much she loved him. But it didn’t matter, she realized. He would simply never allow himself to love her in return.

  Joe overslept Thursday morning. And then again on Friday. After pulling on a pair of ragged jeans and barely taking time to zip them all the way, he raced around barefoot and shirtless getting the boys up, dressed, fed and out the door to the school bus so they wouldn’t be late, feeling more like one of the Keys
tone Kops every minute.

  Since this was the last Friday of school before the last week of school, the boys only had half a day. Gina was picking them up and taking them to her house for a celebratory sleep-over with her own kids.

  He’d gotten Mattie to agree to it simply because he’d convinced her it would be good for the boys—which was true. He couldn’t believe how excited they’d been, whispering and talking excitedly into the night, keeping him up—hence he didn’t hear the alarm and woke up half an hour later than he should have.

  Plus, he’d told Mattie she really needed to rest for another day. Although she was better yesterday, and had even managed to sit up and get up for a little while, he still wasn’t confident she was completely well.

  So tonight would be a well-deserved night off for both of them.

  Standing at the window in the living room, watching the boys wave goodbye, Joe dragged a hand through his hair and turned to scowl at the mess in Mattie’s living room. He’d seen disaster areas that looked better.

  The boys’ sleeping bags and blankets—from their impromptu slumber party the past few days—were strewn all over the previously immaculate living room. An empty pizza container, several empty bowls with remnants of popcorn and an assortment of candy wrappers decorated the tabletops.

  Pillows, sheets and blankets were strewn from one end of the living room to the other.

  He knew he was going to have to tackle this mess before Mattie saw it, but right now he needed some coffee, and he needed to go check on her.

  He went into the kitchen and poured them both a cup of fresh coffee, setting them on a tray he’d found stashed in one of the overhead cabinets.

  Whistling softly he headed up to her room, realizing with a jolt this is what his life would be like if he and Mattie were…married. Quickly, he shook the thought away, knowing he couldn’t even allow himself to let his thoughts go in that direction. No point to it.

  Her door was open so he could hear her during the night in case she needed anything. She was still sleeping, her face in such quiet repose, he merely stood there for a moment, staring at her in silence, his heart aching with love.