Protective Love

Chapter 11 - Morning Sickness

I woke up with a splitting headache and a sore throat. I slowly peel open my eyes and notice that William is sound asleep, snoring even. I am parched, my throat is scratchy and I need some water or tea or something. I stand up from the bed, but realize that I had done so too quickly as a splitting headache leaves my temples pulsing and my eyesight turns black and white dots surround me. After a few seconds of composure, I slip on my fuzzy house-slippers I packed with me and make my way to the kitchen. I turn on the kettle for some tea, grab a glass cup from the cupboard, fill it up with water from the fridge and gulp it down, water slipping down my chin in the process. Everyone is still sleeping, the sky outside is still dark. I turn my gaze to the clock on top of the stove and notice it’s six a.m. I wash my glass, dry it with a towel I found hanging off the cupboard handle and put it away. The kettle starts to whistle so I take out a coffee cup and grab a ‘Lemon and Ginger’ tea bag from the drawer, add the hot water from the kettle and stir in some honey I found in the drawer alongside the tea bags. I make my way to the balcony that we have leading off the living room, grabbing a blanket hanging off the sofa on my way out. I softly close the door behind me and cover myself with the blanket as I sip my tea and watch the sun slowly rise from the horizon.
*Cough, cough*
         My hands shake as I let out a dry cough. My mind starts to race as I realize that I am actually getting sick! My family’s reactions as they find out race across my mind, they WILL find out eventually. I really want to explore Arizona some more, see more of nature, but that entails exploring outdoors and the harsh weather that includes the blazing sun, strong winds, and I think it’s also supposed to rain sometime this week? None of our plans should be canceled due to that, but will we cut our vacation short because of me?
*Cough, cough*
         I finish my tea as the sun starts to peak above the horizon and the sky turns a lighter shade of blue with yellow, red, orange, and bright pink colors. I take a deep breath and close my eyes, enjoying the light breeze across my hair and face. It’s cooling my burning head a little bit, maybe all I need is to be outside in nature? I mean, from just a few seconds ago, I feel loads better being out here.
“Okay Viviana, remember what Dr. Smith told you when you get too anxious. Deep breaths and meditation techniques.” I tell myself.
         My grip from the coffee cup loosens as I take consecutive deep breaths and listen to the sounds around me. Birds singing to each other, leaves moving with the wind, dogs barking in the distance. I try to get a sense of what I feel: the smooth ceramic of the cup, tickling sensations across my cheek from the wind, soft fuzziness from my slippers I had slipped on.
*Cough, cough*
         I open my eyes wide as I feel nausea hit me. I quickly spin around and dash into the hotel room, leaving the cup on the kitchen counter on my way to the bathroom as quietly as I can so as to not wake anyone up. Realization hits me as I enter the bedroom and head to the bathroom: If William hears my terrible cough, he will put off the Grand Canyon tour we are planning on going on today for tomorrow or he will make me stay here with him while everyone else goes. I enter the bathroom and after locking the door behind me, I turn to the toilet and sink down to my knees, waiting patiently for my body to do its job. I wait, and wait, and after some time, realization dawns on me that I am not going to vomit. I slowly stand up and head to the sink where I turn on the faucet to cold water, splashing handfuls at a time on my burning face. I feel around me for a towel as my eyes are closed shut and water is dripping down my face. My hand touches a soft, small hand towel and I dry my face off. I lower the towel from my face and get a good look at myself in the mirror in front of me. Pale skin, dull, sunken-in eyes, soft blue bags under my eyes, and my once bright pink lips are now a cracked, whitish-color.
       Time for plan A: I reach for the makeup bag I left here in the bathroom and dig through it to pull out my foundation. I keep this baby for emergencies only since I am not allowed to put on any makeup. My best friend Vanessa back at home let me borrow hers. I never thought I would have to use it. I hate ruining my precious skin with things that I don’t particularly know what's inside or how it's going to affect my skin in the future. I put on three coats of it and in the end my pale face looks like I have some color to it, the bags under my eyes are hidden from view and as a finishing touch, I put on a little bit of lip gloss to give my lips some color. Satisfied with my look, I step out of the bathroom and glance over at my sleeping brothers. I can't go back to sleep, it'll ruin my makeup! I decided to watch some TV, seeing as it's only 6:55 am. I head to the kitchen and grab my coffee cup once again, refill it with hot water from the kettle and make my way to the sofa. The bed is pulled out and left untouched. I guess Cody didn’t want to sleep alone last night.
“Where's Cody??” I mumble to myself, placing my hot tea on the coffee table to let it cool down some.
       I walk to the other room where Sam and Damon are sleeping and see Cody curled up with Sam. Hmm.. maybe I wasn't the only one feeling lonely last night? I make my way back into the living room and turn it on, flipping through the channels until I see ‘Cake Boss’. I love this show! It's about a bakery that makes cakes, the owner is from Italy and his family works there alongside his friends. They get orders from ordinary people and also from rich, famous people too! Looks like he's doing a cake for the Statue of Liberty! I sip my tea and try to suppress my dry coughs.
It's seven thirty when Dean walks out of the room, his hair sticking up from his head and he’s shuffling his feet as he makes his way to the coffee machine. He lifts the container and studies it, expecting coffee to magically appear in front of him. A loud ‘hmff’ is heard and he starts to make coffee. Of course Dean and Sam are always the first ones to wake up out of all of us, they’re early birds. When he successfully put in the coffee grains and the correct amount of water, he turns around and leans against the counter, patiently waiting for the coffee to brew. He notices me watching him from the sofa and his left eyebrow arches up.
"Well good morning little one. What brings you up so early?" Dean greets me. "Umm.. I just couldn't go back to sleep." I stutter out
The coffee machine makes a beep as the coffee starts to brew. Dean turns towards the cupboards, pulls out two coffee cups and sugar.
“I already made tea for myself.” I whisper
Dean grabs the extra cup and sugar and places them back in their original spot. At that moment the machine beeps again to indicate the coffee is ready. Dean proceeds to fill up his cup with freshly brewed coffee and walks towards me, sipping at it slowly. When he is standing directly in front of me, he extends his hand out and I stare at it.
"Your hand is nice, thanks??" I replied shyly.
"No silly! Take my hand. We are going to change and go eat breakfast. They have buffet style here." He rolls his eyes and chuckles softly
Ohhhh! Wow I feel so stupid. I grab his hand and he leads me into our room softly, so as to not wake up William who is still snoring. I watch as Dean pulls out some clothes and hands them over to me, so I quickly pull them on. A pair of my nice dark blue jeans with a black tank top and a purple see-through shirt and my dark purple vans. Dean pulls on some jeans and a flannel shirt and grabs my hand once again. He leads me head out of the room, and I spot Sam in the kitchen already fully clothed, pouring himself a cup of coffee.
"Hey munchkin. Ready for breakfast?" asks Sam.
"Yea!" I yelp, a little puzzled he knew I was behind him with Dean as Sam didn’t turn around once since we entered the room.
Nodding his head, Sam grabs the room key and we all head to the elevator. *cough cough*
       Shit, I need to try to control my coughing! I panic and glance at my brothers, sending a quiet prayer that they didn’t hear me or choose to ignore me. Dean glances at me as we reach the elevator and sends me a curious look, like he’s noticing something weird about me. Oh no, is he noticing my makeup?! Is he suspicious about my dry cough? ‘Okay Vi, think!’ I practically scream at myself in my head. We enter the elevator and after pressing the correct button, Dean tilts my head up towards his face.
"What the hell?" He softly exclaims, studying me closely.
Sam turns towards us and gives Dean a 'what?' face.
"Vivi! What the hell is on your face?!" Dean starts to rub my cheek with his finger, pulls it away and I notice that he had wiped away some of the foundation I had applied earlier.
I start to panic, "Umm.. Dean, it's not what you think!"
Sam then grabs my face and turns it towards him, obviously wanting to see what Dean saw.
"Dean, look. It's a freakin' bug." He grabs the bug off my cheek and flings it at the floor, stepping on it.
"What?! A bug? Ewwww!!!" I wipe my cheek with my arm and dance around the elevator.
Dean grabs my shoulders, stopping me and turning me towards him in the process. "What did you want to say?"
*cough cough*
‘Great!’ I groan out loud, ‘This stupid cough blew my cover!’ I say in my head.
Dean’s eyebrow raises once again just as the elevator door opens to the breakfast room. I squirm around in his grip and when he loosens it, I dash under his arms.
"Oh look, breakfast!" I dash towards the food, grabbing a plate and filling it up with random shit that is in front of me, not even noticing what I’m piling on my plate.
"Don't run, Vi!" Sam yells behind me.
It's eight-thirty and everyone has come down to breakfast, all of us are eating at the table. Dean keeps giving me weird looks, but I just ignore him. We are all enjoying the atmosphere, soft chatter around us as we eat peacefully. Dean stands up and walks towards William, who is at the buffet line. I watch them talk and William glances at me a couple of times. ‘Shit.’ I start to panic as I watch William walk up to me.
"How do you feel Vi?" he asks, sitting down next to me, squinting his eyes, reminding me of a detective that has unlocked a hidden secret.
I look up at him, "I feel good! Can we do the tour today?"
William laughs, studying my every move, and making mental notes of my quick change of topic and my fidgeting under the table. "Of course! After breakfast and your morning check-up."
       I moan, my smile quickly turning into a frown and I lay my head down on the table facing William. I had forgotten about my check-up, it's a permanent part of my morning and nighttime routine that I completely spaced on it. ‘Okay, time for Plan B: lying!’ I smile to myself, feeling happy at my new brilliant plan. Hyped about the new plan, I lift my head off the table to continue eating and notice Cody giving me a very weird look, his eyes are squinted and his lips are pulled up in a ‘pfft’ manner. He rolls his eyes at my stupidity and I roll my eyes right back at him.
       After breakfast, Dean, Sam, Damon, and Cody head to the car to get everything we need for today ready while William takes me to the hotel room for my stupid check-up. I am lifted onto the bathroom counter and William starts by feeling my forehead, 'hmming' in the process. He grabs my arms and legs, I guess checking for any muscle weakness?
"OUCH!" I yelp when he lifts my knees.
       William gives me a weird look and continues with his 'work'. He grabs my wrist and checks for my heartbeat and watches his wrist watch. He makes me take in five deep breaths while he has a stethoscope he bought just for this on my back and chest. Dr. Smith had taught my brothers a few basic things they can do in my check ups and taking my heart rate and breathing rate with the stethoscope was part of it. He slowly runs his fingers over each of my ribs to see if my lungs are functioning correctly. Sometimes when it's hard to breathe my ribs start to hurt really bad and my brothers have noticed that I flinch and wince in pain when I’m breathing hard. I flinch when William’s fingers brush over a specific rib on my right side.
‘Well, so much for Plan B. Time for Plan C: begging.’ I tell myself as I watch William write down stuff in the journal they keep to keep track of, well of this shit.
       William gives me a stern look as he picks me up and sets me on the ground. He grabs a towel, runs it under the tap, then starts to gently wash my face, making sure to get all my foundation off and my lipgloss. By the time he is done, the entire towel that was once white is now a light brown color! I let out a small whimper as I stared at the ground, refusing to look William in the eyes. I can practically feel the disappointment and questioning look he is throwing my way. For my brothers, trying to hide something is as good as lying and lying is unacceptable in our family. It's worse than sneaking out, worse than getting drunk underage.
‘Oh god, time for my plan!’ I panic, "William please, I'm so sorry! I just really want to go to the tour and *cough, cough* ... I knew that you weren’t going to let me go *cough, cough*...." As I panic, my dry coughs get worse. Tears are streaming down my face as I start to realize that I’m not going anywhere today. I’m crying not because I’m sad or mad, but out of frustration with myself for ruining my plans and for nothing working out how I wanted them to. Sensing my panic, William starts to rub my back, "Stop. Now."
I’m oblivious to his command and continue to beg, "...a-and I d-don't want t-to stay here all d-day! … *sobs interrupt me briefly* ... I-I don't William! I didn't buy the makeup W-William I swear *cough cough*..."
William warns me again, "..Vi..." with a stern command, but I keep up my act.
"Vanessa gave it to me! Just in case I go do something fancy and that's it!" My voice starts to rise a notch as I try to get my point across to him.
"VIVIANA!! STOP!"
I flinch back, just now noticing he has been trying to grab my attention.
"Here. Swallow.” I grab my pills from him and swallow them with a glass of water. "Here is how this is going to work." William has his arms around me, so I probably won't escape, and he is staring at me with really stern, angry eyes. "You are going to stick with me and Dean ALL DAY. No leaving our sight, am I clear?"
I nod my head, whimpers and tears escaping from me.
"I need a verbal answer from you young lady."
"Yes Sir." I reply shakily.
"Good. Now if anything happens, you feel sick, your head hurts or whatever, you are to tell one of us immediately. We will go on the tour, but you have to sit with Dean in the back of the car on our way there and let him give you your  bottled medication." William slips a stray strand of my hair behind my ear as he looks me straight in the eyes.
"NO!! WILLIAM!!"
I quickly regret my decision in yelling as William grips my upper arm and turns me slightly so that my stomach is against the counter and slaps my butt hard three times. *SMACK, SMACK, SMACK*
"OUCH! *cough cough* but I’m not a baby!" I sob
"You are NOT a baby! This is for your HEALTH! You will not argue with me anymore. This is final. Am *Slap* I *Slap* Understood?! *Slap, Slap*"
"YES SIR! YES SIR!" *cough cough* By now I am crying hysterically, and William picks me up, lays me on his chest, and pats my back to get all of my coughing and crying over with. I slowly calm down, still hiccuping every now and then.
William grabs my emergency kit and we head down the hotel towards the car. Everyone is already inside as we approach, the car doors open and legs sticking out from the car as they patiently wait for us. I am still in William’s arms as he hands me over to Dean who is sitting behind the passenger's seat. I cling onto Dean's shirt, still crying a little while he gets my medical bottle ready. God I hate my sickness! People have no idea how lucky they are to not have to suffer like this. I gladly accept the bottle, knowing that if I don't another spanking is waiting just around the corner. I am spread out on the chair, super comfy to tell you the truth, and laying on Dean while he feeds me like a stupid baby. I hate this feeling right now, the feeling of being vulnerable. Cody is staring at me with this look like 'stop moving' as I twist around in Dean’s arms, kicking him a few times by accident.
"Twin, please be calm. You tend to get really car sick." He whispers
       After the stupid bottle, I crawl off Dean and settle in next to him into my own seat and put on my seat belt. Happiness engulfs me as I feel free and not like a baby. I notice quickly that we are super close to the Grand Canyon! I squirm around in my seat and turn to Dean, hitting his arm in excitement. "Calm down now Vi. I get it you're excited, but you have to remain calm or you will end up being that one annoying person in the group that everyone will hate and give you nasty glares." Dean smirks gently, and I smile at him, automatically understanding his stupid joke.
I always complained about that one person in a tour group that wouldn't shut up. They keep talking, and fidgeting, I always want to hit them!
"Ha. Ha. Ha. Very funny Dean."
William parks the car, and we all pile out, Dean grabbing my hand in the process. We make our way to the building to check in as I notice the sign plastered on the front door: ‘4 hour tour! The Grand Canyon!’ I get all giddy inside and start to jump up and down, Dean smirks and smiles down at me. This is going to be a long tour.

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I am slowly updating each chapter for this book as most of you know by now. For my new readers, I have been given the opportunity to publish this book on four different web-novel websites / apps. So chapter 12 will be the last chapter I FULLY edit / publish on Wattpad. The remainder of the chapters ( 13 and on) will stay exactly as they are now.

I appreciate every single one of you as it was you, my readers, who have gotten my book noticed by publishers! As a thank you and for my gratification, I will edit out the "important" parts of my chapters 13 + that show my characters Viviana and Cody as 12 year olds. They are now 8 years old and as such, I will edit so they are behaving as 8 year olds normally do. I won't be publishing the full new chapter here on Wattpad as I am going to be doing that on my other webpage, where I will be getting paid for it. If you are interested to read my NEW and IMPROVED book 'Protective Love' (which I promise you is much much better then this version), just let me know and I can redirect you to one of the four apps / websites that my book is being published on.
Thank you all!