Three Problems

[J-Squared]

A/N: Hi! Probably just a one-shot. Hope you like! (Not really edited but...)

 

Recently, Heather had abandoned her Lilo & Stitch phase and had begun adoring cats. It was quite cute, if Wendall was being honest. Theo had some pets, so every time they visited, the three year old would seek out Theo's kittens. One day, Wendall had found her happily playing in the foyer with the 4 small kittens, all of them sitting patiently on different parts of her toddler body. One lay across her head, two on her lap and another on her shoulder. While this new phase was fun and rendered great picture opportunities, it also caused Wendall some small problems. First and foremost, Wendall was slightly allergic to cats, so spending all this time at Theo's mansion was not the smartest idea. His reaction wasn't terrible, mainly allergic tears and an incredibly runny nose. He could live, and after a week, his body pretty much gave up on trying to attack the cat dander in his system.

The second problem arose when Heather wanted her own cat. He wasn't vehemently opposed to the idea, after all, how could he say no to her when she pouted up at him. He could never resist her eyes, which always reminded him of Sarah. And he had to relent when Moore called him a few weeks ago begging to be allowed to get Heather a kitten for her birthday. He said he could get the kitten and Theo would get her all the equipment and some food to start off. Wendall definitely could never say no to those two. So, he stocked up on meds, tissues and laid out some ground rules for Heather which mainly consisted of no cats in his bedroom. And that's how a week later, there was a small white and grey fur ball darting across his living room at Heather's small birthday party get together. And surprisingly, everything turned out fine. The kitten was docile and listened very well to Heather. It would calmly sit on his lap and never strayed from the living room or kitchen into the back bedrooms. After a few days, Wendall had grown a soft spot for "Kale". Yes, Heather wanted to name it Kale and Wendall knows he has a problem saying 'no'.

And then there was the third problem. The third problem didn't cross Wendall's mind until, well, it became a problem a couple weeks later. Caleb had been out of the country when Heather turned 5, nannying for those two kids on their trip to London, so he promised to drop by when he got back. Caleb had a sweet gig going on and Wendall envied him for it. He got paid to play and watch children and he had a plane ticket and all expenses paid trip to London with the family to babysit for 2 out of the 9 nights they were there.

Caleb came over on a Saturday afternoon with Wes and Moore. Caleb was a bit nervous to see Wendall, they hadn't completely mended their relationship and Caleb still wished he could rewind time. Caleb began to blame himself for their rift and felt guilt creep up on him every time he saw Wendall. But for a brief moment, his fears washed away as Heather bolted out the front door and ran, jumping into his arms, squealing and laughing. He carried her back into the house, blowing raspberry kisses all over her small body. He set her down and watched her run into the kitchen vaguely listening to Moore and Wes greeting Wendall behind him. Almost immediately Caleb felt something was wrong. He felt tears pricking in the corners of his increasingly itchy eyes. He looked around for a cause because he was 99.9 percent sure he wasn't crying because he was sad or overly happy. And then he spotted it. Heather, standing in front of him, holding a little white floof. His nose was starting to tickle and suddenly he couldn't resist the urge to rub his eyes. He boyishly rubbed at his nose before stifling a sneeze into the crook of his arm. Dammit. He wanted to be mad at Moore and Wendall for not telling him about the new addition to the family, because they most definitely knew about the cat, but he couldn't exactly blame them when this was the first time in years they were actually talking to each other. It was easy to forget things like this. He thought about it a bit more as he continued to scrub at his nose before settling on hating them both anyways. He stifled another sneeze into his arm and before he knew it he couldn't stop. His sneezes were soft and quiet, but it didn't take long for Wes, who was all ears listening for any kind of sickness and preventing trips of the ER, to pick up on them. He put a hand on Caleb's shoulder and guided him outside, muttering a string of curses under his breath. Caleb could hear voices behind me and a frantic, "Shit, I forgot, oh my god, oh my god," from Wendall. Moore went inside with Heather, closing the door to give them some privacy.

"Hey, are you ok?" Wes asked.

Caleb nodded, rubbing at his eyes, "ye-ye-y-he-heh'kschu- yea, jus' need a min-min-min-min-ekschew!" He pinched his eyes, removing his contacts, "just need a minute." He signaled Wes to step away, but Wes only came closer, holding Caleb upright, rubbing circles on his back. Caleb pitched forward, sneezing violently before breaking off in a fit coughs. Coughs which never seemed to end and all Wendall could do was stare at the scene in front of him. He didn't feel qualified enough to help even though he was and always will be Caleb's big brother. He felt like an intruder on an intimate moment. Wes was good at calming Caleb and reassuring him, he was even calm himself. Which led Wendall to believe scenes like this happened often which tugged at his heart a little too hard. And when the coughing didn't stop, Wendall pulled an inhaler out of his jacket pocket and secured it in Caleb's hand. Calen turned away from Wes and Wendall as he took a puff from the inhaler. After a few more deep breaths and a final rub at his eyes, he turned back around with a sheepish smile on his face. "Sorry, guys. I wasn't expecting that, sorry."

Wendall's heart ached even more when Caleb apologized for his fit when really, Wendall should've been the one apologizing for forgetting. Caleb handed back the inhaler to Wes, laughing as he said, "I can't believe you carry that on your person all the time," ruffling Wes's hair. "Yea, well I have to, since you never carry the one you're supposed to. I have the rescue inhaler, it's not for regular use."

And in that moment, Wendall realized just how much of Caleb's life he had missed out on. He didn't get to encourage Caleb to stay in college, or congratulate him on his first job. He hadn't had the opportunity in 5 years to tell Caleb how proud he was of him or remind him that no matter what, he loved him because Caleb was family. It made Wendall sad that Wes had assumed his role, role of caretaker and big brother. He studied Caleb more as he playfully teased Wes, noting the aging and growth of his face, the broadening of his shoulders. He noted a necklace around Caleb's neck which he was certain was new. If he squinted he could make out the medical symbol and small writing, one of the medical ID tags. Wendall wondered what had happened that caused the need for the necklace. And if it was even possible, Wendall's heart sunk a little lower, regretting missing out on his baby brother's life.

Wendall shook his head a bit, clearing his mind from his painful train of thought, "I'm sorry, Caleb. I forgot and I'm sorry. We can go out for something if you're feeling it, or we can do this some other time, somewhere else. I'm sorry. Can I get you anything?"

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

And eventually 3 problems with the kitten and Kale turned into many more for Wendall, but Caleb kept giving him second chances and for a while every thing seemed perfect.

[Coffee Mug]

I don't know why this story still hasn't been commented and appreciated but anyway I LOVED IT! 

I love allergy stories and asthma too so double win for me  

thanks for posting, would love to read more!