#altno3

This combines two prompts from whumptober cuz I'm not gonna keep up so I’m just calvinballing it. Anyway this fic is madwife but the next one might not be cuz one of the alternative prompts gave me an idea and so how do youns all feel about madmoon huh. 👀

Also this is set after season 2 so there are ~spoilers~ pls be careful

A day late I know but here it is. Max doesn’t know how to deal with baby Kal when he’s sick. (Max uses gender neutral pronouns and one of the common parent “names” I’ve found is renny, so basically the gender neutral for mommy or daddy). This is still light on the whump but I’m having fun. 

“Kal’s sick,” Max said into the phone. They were staring down at their baby’s flushed cheeks and teary eyes. Watching their miserable two-year-old was making Max feel teary themself. They hated to see Kal sick, especially when Emily wasn’t around. She was out with Marcus scoping the streets and who knew what else for their little gang of rebels.

Emily sighed into the phone, “He hasn’t been feeling good all day,” she sounded tired. “Just take his temperature and give him some children’s cold medicine, there should be some up in the medicine cabinet. I’ll be home as soon as I can, Marcus and I are almost done.”

“Yeah okay,” Max said, “Be safe, see you when you get home.” They hung up the phone and slid it back into their pocket. “Okay little guy, let’s see what’s up.” Kal reached up for Max and they leaned over the playpen to pick him up. The toddler wrapped his arms around Max’s neck, burrowing his face into their chest. 

The little whine Kal gave was the saddest thing. Max bounced him lightly and carried him into the kitchen. They put him down on the counter below the medicine cabinet and pulled down the medicine and the thermometer. “You have to hold this under your tongue okay? Just for a minute and then we can get some of this tasty medicine in you and you can sleep in renny’s bed okay?” The toddler frowned at the thermometer but nodded, opening his mouth and letting Max put it under his tongue. Max watched the numbers slowly creep up higher than they liked. They pressed a kiss to Kal’s forehead and pulled the thermometer away. “Okay you, this is not allowed,” Max said, opening the medicine bottle and filling the little measuring cup. Kal was a good sport about taking it, his face squishing up in disgust at the taste. Max scooped him up off the counter and carried him slowly towards the back bedroom, avoiding toys that littered the living room floor.

The coughing started not long after Max put Kal in bed. It was a soft, miserable little sound that rapidly became chesty and left Kal gasping for air after a fit. Max sat Kal up, propping him against their chest. “It’s okay Kal, it’s okay,” they tried to sooth their baby. They kissed the top of his head, feeling the sweat dampened strands against his lips. Another cough tore through his chest. “I’ve got you,” Max murmured.

“Renny,” Kal whined. “Cold.”

“I know sweetheart, I know but you can’t cover up right now,” they said and fumbled for their phone, holding Kal tighter. They dialed Quinn’s number again, this time she picked up. “Quinn, Kal’s sick,”

Quinn sounded distracted when she responded. “Uh-huh,” there was a soft rustling of paper. “Did you give him cold medicine?”

“Yeah but…” Max could feel a little tremor go through Kal’s body.

Quinn cut him off, “It’ll take a little for the medicine to kick in then, give it time,”

“But he’s getting worse,” Max said, feeling the little tremor again. They adjusted their hold on Kal, rocking him gently. “I think his fever is going up, his skin is so hot and he started coughing really bad.”

“Just give the medicine a half hour to kick in and let him rest,” Quinn said.

The tremor was getting worse. “Can you come over, just to check on him, please Quinn? Emily is out patrolling with Marcus.”

She sighed and Max could hear her slam something down. “I’m working on something very important right now Max, I’ll come over later if he’s still feeling bad.”

Kal whimpered and the tremors turned to fits. “Quinn what’s happening, he’s shaking so bad, Quinn, Quinn,” Max’s voice rose in octave and they tried to hold Kal still. “Quinn what’s going on?”

“Max, deep breath for me, he’s probably having a seizure, it happens in kids when they get high fevers. I’ll be there in five minutes, hold him on his side and keep him calm okay? I’m coming.” Quinn said, she sounded sure and calm which helped to bring down Max’s anxiety. “Can you do that for me?”

Max stared down at Kal’s convulsing body. “W-what?”

“Max, carefully turn him on his side for me, I’ll be right there.” Quinn said.

“Y-yeah, okay,” they took a deep breath and very carefully turned Kal onto his side. The convulsions were easing but Kal was breathing very fast. Five minutes felt more like five hours to Max but Quinn’s voice brought them back to reality. They could hear her calling through the apartment. “Our room!” Max called back and rubbed Kal’s back gently. “Auntie Quinn is here, your going to be okay,” they said, it was more for their own benefit than Kal’s. Kal seemed to have drifted off to sleep after the seizure.

Quinn came quietly into the bedroom and sank down beside them. “Okay, let’s look at you,” she said and carefully maneuvered Kal onto his back. Max moved so they wouldn’t be in the way of her examination. “Max, when did his fever start?”

Max shrugged, watching her hands move expertly over Kal. “I don’t know, he’s been miserable all day and I didn’t know what to do.” They kept a hand in Kal’s hair, stroking, comforting, even though Kal seemed to be sleeping. The contact was comforting for Max and they didn’t want to be apart from their son. “This is Emily’s job, I’m no good when he’s sick.”

“It’s okay Max,” Quinn said, she had pulled an external thermometer from her bag and ran it across Kal’s forehead. “His fever is high, but I think the medicine is kicking in. We’ll just keep an eye on him tonight and make sure he gets plenty of fluids.”