A Family Crisis

[Shy-Diapers]

"Daddy!" Ava cried when she heard Sean. "When are you coming home? I miss you!" She said sadly.

[justagirl4fun]

"I'm not sure yet. We're waiting for some more doctors to check sissy out, but she might have to be here for a few weeks. She's having a lot of trouble right now and it's going to take a while for her to get better."

[Shy-Diapers]

Ava burst into tears when she heard her father. She couldn't stand being away from her parents for a night, let alone weeks. That was like an eternity to the four-year-old. "Come Home now!" She demanded.

[justagirl4fun]

"Honey, I can't come home today. But how about this? If sissy is doing better tomorrow morning I'll come home and pick you up from pre-K, and we can go to McDonald's for lunch and spend the afternoon together. How does that sound?" Ava only went to pre-K for a few hours in the morning, but Sean figured that would give him enough time to stop into work and talk to his boss about taking some time off, pay some bills

[Shy-Diapers]

"Promise?" Ava sniffled. She just wanted things to go back to the way they used to be not

[justagirl4fun]

"I can't promise. If sissy is still very sick I have to stay here but if she's doing okay I'll be home."

[Shy-Diapers]

Ava sighed. "Okay." She said sounding disappointed. She gave the phone back to her grandma and curled up on the couch with her bunny.

[justagirl4fun]

Sean hung up and went back to Scarlett's room. "Babe, you wanna go get some sleep now? I'll be fine with her. I'll call you after the therapists see her so you can get back before the doctor returns."

"So, how about we go to the movies?" Edith suggested. "And then we can go to lunch. Won't that be fun?" She hoped she could keep Ava distracted for the rest of the day so she wouldn't be so sad.

[Shy-Diapers]

Lillian shook her head. "I'll rest after the therapists come. I don't want to miss anything important."

[justagirl4fun]

"If you say so. At least let me take her for a little while," Sean said, reaching for Scarlett.

[Shy-Diapers]

Lillian carefully transferred Scarlett over to Sean and stroked her hair.

[justagirl4fun]

The rest of the morning and early afternoon was a flurry of activity, with various therapists, doctors, and nurses coming and going. At one point a nurse changed Scarlett's diaper. Until then the girl had been unaware she was wearing one, but by now she was really awake and becoming more alert and aware of everything. She swatted at the nurse with her left hand and shook her head. She shot Lillian a pleading glance and tried to give her usual "no diaper, I big girl!" argument, but it came out pretty garbled and unintelligible.

Sean had to chuckle seeing a bit of his toddler's feisty personality reappear. Ever since she got her big girl panties she pitched a fit whenever she was put in a diaper, even if it was bedtime.

Edith checked the movie listings and got herself ready. "Okay Ava, do you want to see Moana, or Sing?"

[Shy-Diapers]

Lillian felt bad for her baby, but was happy to see her back to her self a little. "I know you're a big girl honey. But you're sick right now so that's why you're wearing a diaper. Just like sissy wears a pull-up sometimes when she's sick." She tried to reason with Scarlett.

[justagirl4fun]

"Sure baby, if that's what you want." Edith helped Ava into her coat, hat and mittens, grabbed her purse, and headed for the door.

[Shy-Diapers]

Ava skipped to the car and climbed into her seat, being able to buckle herself all the way in it by now. "Grandma are we gonna go to the theater with the comfy chairs?" She asked, referring to the semi-recent AMC they had gotten in town with reclining red leather seats.

[justagirl4fun]

(I'm so sorry I haven't been around much. A hobby of mine has unexpectedly turned into a little side business. It's keeping me busy, but I sure can use the extra money so no complaints.)

"Sure, we can go there. I haven't been there yet!"

(I'll probably skip over what's going on at the hospital until the doctor comes back later on. I didn't want to just skip over the stuff with Ava though.)

[Shy-Diapers]

(That's completely fine. I understand. I'm not on much because I caught both a cold and the stomach bug.)

Ava smiled and behaved the whole way to the theater. "Grandma can I have a soda?"

[justagirl4fun]

Edith thought for a minute. "Well, you can have either soda, or candy. Not both."

[Shy-Diapers]

"Soda!" Ava quickly decided. She wasn't a big candy eater, so soda was the obvious choice. "And popcorn?"

[justagirl4fun]

"Well, what would a movie be without popcorn? If course we'll get popcorn!" Edith drove to the movie theater and held Ava's hand as they crossed the parking lot. She paid for the tickets and led Ava to the concession stand. "Okay, last chance. Just popcorn and soda? Or you can get water, lemonade, or iced tea and candy instead of soda," she offered.

[Shy-Diapers]

"Soda grandma." The four year old said. Once the snacks were paid for, she ran over to the big soda machine that allowed you to have all different flavors and combinations. She filled her cup up. "Is there butter on it grandma?"

[justagirl4fun]

"Oh yes. Plenty of butter." Edith took Ava's cup so it wouldn't get spilled and led her to the correct theater. "Where do you want to sit?"

[Shy-Diapers]

Ava smiled and skipped to the theater. "Third row!" She squealed, tugging her grandmother to the third row from the screen and to the center. She sat down and pushed her shoes off before reclining with a giggle.

[justagirl4fun]

Edith sat down and put Ava's soda in the cup holder, then filled an empty cup with popcorn for her so she wouldn't dump the whole bag over.

[Shy-Diapers]

Ava drank her soda throughout the movie and ate a lot of popcorn. By the time the movie was over, she was squirming a lot, being desperate for the bathroom, but the girl didn't want to miss the movie.