Chapter Text
It was Saturday night and it was just Melissa and Isaac at the house; John was taking care of the boys since Isaac seemed to be having nightmares. The attack happened Thursday afternoon and the three boys slept together just fine that night but Friday, Isaac woke up screaming and ended up scaring Scott and Stiles as well. Both adults figured that Isaac would feel less guilty this way- as it was Isaac felt absolutely horrible that he'd caused Scott to have an asthma attack last night. It had taken awhile for her to explain to Isaac that Scott wasn't going to die and that he didn't know his nightmare was going to happen so there was no reason to feel guilty.
"Come on Isaac, dinner time," Melissa called out as she set a plate down for him.
Isaac walked into the kitchen, still a little subdued but he at least smiled at her as he sat down. "Thank you."
"And after dinner it's bath time, then we can read a story okay?"
He nodded and picked up his fork, letting out a huge yawn before spearing a piece of chicken.
Melissa frowned a bit, "You okay Sweetie?"
"Just tired… I didn't go back to sleep last night, I was worried about Scott, and then…" he trailed off.
"What else?" Melissa pushed, fork on her plate now.
"If I closed my eyes… I-I," Isaac whimpered. "I would feel like I was back in the freezer, for disobeying Dad…"
"He can't hurt you anymore! And you know I'll never do anything like that to you right?" Melissa soothed, reaching out the ruffle his hair.
"I know, you're nothing like him. I just- I still feel scared sometimes… So I'm tired 'cause I didn't get a lot of sleep," he explained, poking at the food on his plate. "Do I have to eat dinner, I'm just really sleepy…"
"Yea you have to eat dinner. If you go to bed now with an empty tummy, you'll wake up at midnight with the shakes," Melissa told him. "At least eat the chicken and the peas, if you don't want the rice that's okay."
Isaac sighed heavily and dropped his chin onto his hand, slowly putting another piece of chicken in his mouth and chewing. He knew Melissa was right, going to bed hungry wasn't fun at all, but eating just took so much effort! It took him 15 minutes just to finish off the few pieces of chicken he had on his plate; then he was just pushing his peas around.
"I thought you liked peas?" Melissa asked, hoping that some conversation would help spark his appetite a bit.
The little boy smiled at her before scooping some into his mouth, "I do like peas. I'm just –huge yawn- ready for bed."
"Okay, I can see that you're really tired, just a few more bites and then we'll get you into the tub okay?"
He groaned, "Bath? Do I have to?"
Melissa laughed, "Yes you do, you spent most of today running around with Scott and Stiles! You're filthy! No wonder you're so tired though."
There were only a few more grumbles as Isaac ate his peas and pushed his plate away, leaving most of the rice untouched. Melissa figured that it would have to do before she grabbed his plate and scooped the rice back into the pan. She'd reheat her food after he was in bed, he obviously wasn't going to make it until she finished dinner. "Go get your swim trunks on, I'll be right behind you," Melissa told him. As he shuffled to the bathroom, she put her plate in the microwave and then tied up her hair. "I'm coming in, are you dressed?" She opened the door and found Isaac sitting on the floor, leaning up against the wall. He'd barely managed to get the trunks on before closing his eyes; Melissa sighed fondly as she turned on the faucet. Once the tub was filled she patted Isaac on his leg, "Come on Buck-o, into the tub!"
Isaac lifted a hand to wave her off as he groaned in his sleep, eyes not even fluttering. Melissa flicked some of the warm water on his face while calling his name, finally getting him to open his eyes.
"I know you're sleepy, just a quick bath okay?"
"'K" he mumbled, eyes half shut as he climbed into the tub. He pulled his knees to his chest and rested his chin on them, so that way he wouldn't fall into the water.
Melissa could tell that he wasn't going to be much help with the cleaning so she rubbed the soap between her hands and started washing his back and arms. At least this way she'd get the worst of the dried sweat off of him; she shook him lightly and handed him the soap. "I need you to wash your feet Kiddo. If I move you, you're gonna fall in the water." The last thing she wanted was for him to think she was dunking him in the water for being bad.
He mumbled as he opened his eyes, grabbing for the bar of soap blindly, barely managing to rub it between his fingers to work up the suds. While he was doing that, Melissa carefully got his hair wet and started shampooing it. Isaac slowly ran his soapy fingers between his toes, between his long blinks- having Melissa massaging his head wasn't helping him to stay awake at all. Thankfully it wasn't long before she told him to look up so she could rinse out the shampoo. "One star… twooooo…. Star. Th… three star," Isaac whispered, doing his best to keep his eyes open and count while the water cleaned his hair. "Fo-four…. Four star."
"Alright, let's get you dried off," Melissa told him, unplugging the tub and letting the water drain. "This is obviously as clean as you're getting tonight." She helped him out of the tub and onto the floor rug, pulling one of the towels down and draping it over his tiny shoulders. Now came the hard part: if she left him alone to dry off, he would surely just sit on the floor and fall asleep. But on the other hand, they never really covered if he was comfortable enough to be naked in front of her. She needed to make a choice though, he was already wobbling on his feet. "Hey Isaac, is it okay if I help you dry off? I'm afraid you're going to fall over and hurt yourself if I leave you alone."
"That's 'k," he told her.
Melissa smiled at him, thankful that he wasn't too shy about it. "Okay, I'm going to wrap the towel around you, I need you to put one hand on my shoulder, to stay balanced. Then I'll help you take off the trunks."
Isaac nodded in partial understanding, reaching out to put on small hand on her shoulder. Melissa then adjusted the towel around his shoulders so must of his front was covered; even though he said it was okay, she was still going to give him as much privacy as she could. Once the towel was situated, she reached under it and untied the drawstring and helped Isaac shimmy out of the wet swim trunks. After he stepped out of them, she grabbed the towel and rubbed it over his body, getting him as dry as she could. "Okay, time for clothes now, so make sure you stay balanced okay. I don't want you to hit your head," she warned.
Isaac yawned in response but his hand was still on her arm so hopefully she'd be able to recognize if he was losing balance. "Okay, right foot first," she told him, pajama pants rolled up and ready to go.
It took a few minutes since the little boy was slow to respond but she got him dressed and was toweling off his hair in under ten minutes and she counted that as a win. She picked him up and carried him up to her room, setting him down and pulling the covers around him.
"Isaac, hey, I'm going to be downstairs, cleaning up dinner okay. If you need me just call, I'll be right up. Get some sleep." She figured he must have heard her because he nodded his head and mumbled a goodnight to her as well. She kissed his forehead and made sure the covers were tucked in around his small frame, surely he was out like a light before she even got to the stairs.