"Mommy, Can I Lay In Your Bed?"

My teenage son is sick.

He became ill last night with the nasty part of the flu/cold virus circulating around faster than the dollar bills in the deep discounts current retail market. This is the face-in-the-bucket sick that has left this normally hyper, chipper, talkative, bubbly teenager looking more like a limp biscuit. He could only take a couple sips of water and moan something of a response.

He is missing school most of this week.

I woke him up from his illness-induced-sleep to move from this sofa to take a shower. He moaned as I helped him up the stairs. I thought he'd be okay when he rallied around 3pm to move from the loneliness of his bed to the comfortable noise of the family room. His sisters could've put lipstick or wigs on him and he wouldn't have noticed.

Once I tip-toe walked with him and gingerly climbed the stairs, teenage modesty took over and he assured me he could shower himself. After a few minutes and me putting fresh sheets on his bed, he stuck his head out the bathroom door, "mommy, can I just lay in your bed?"

I told him it would be fine, after all, last night he crawled into bed with his mom and dad. I smiled to myself, even teenagers need the comfort of their mom when they are sick. Glad I could be at home to nurture him.