Disclaimer: I do not own The O.C. Anything you may recognize belongs to FOX and Josh Schwartz. I only own Callie, Mei, and Jon.

A/N: This is set in future, post series.

Ryan's POV

I ended up getting off work late one night after having a long meeting with one of my newer clients. They had some concerns they wanted to address because of some bad experiences with building a home before. By the time I finally managed to get out of there, I felt utterly exhausted. As soon as I got through the door I dropped my keys on the table and then dropped onto the couch.

"Sounds like someone had a long day." My wife, Taylor, commented as she came over and sat next to me.

"You're telling me?" I chuckled. "My new clients had some concerns…and they wanted them all addressed tonight." They definitely made themselves heard. "This woman may give Julie Cooper a run for her money." I Julie Cooper could be a pain. I just hope I won't have to have many more conversations with this woman.

"How does some peach torte sound?"

"You don't have to ask me twice." I smiled at her and managed to sit up enough to give her a kiss. That sounded really good right about now.

"Just sit and I''ll get it."

"So where are the kids?" I asked as Taylor went into the kitchen. "It's too quiet." When you have three kids, usually it didn't get quiet when they were all home.

"Callie isn't home from soccer yet and I think Jon is in his room studying." Taylor answered.

"And Mei?"

"She went to her room as soon as we all got home," Taylor said. "She's been really quiet today."

"Maybe I should check on her." I made a move to get up, but was pushed back down by Taylor.

"You're going to relax for ten minutes and eat this." I knew better than to argue with her. Especially with how hungry I was. "Mei is fine, you know how she is."

I nodded, but still I had this feeling that I should check on her. Mei was our adopted daughter. We adopted her a few years back and she's always been more closed off than our other two kids were. So retreating to her room wasn't very out of the ordinary.

After finishing my torte, I pushed myself up. "I haven't seen my kids all day," I pointed out to Taylor so she didn't tell me to not worry. It was a fair excuse. "I'm just going to pop in."

I went to Mei's room, knocking gently before going in. I noticed the lights off and Mei was curled up in bed. "Mei?" I kept my voice low and she rolled over, rubbing her eyes.

"Mmmm," Mei groaned. "What is it?"

"Sorry," I said. "Did I wake you?" It was a bit odd for Mei to be going to sleep so early. Usually she stayed up later than the rest of the kids.

Mei nodded. "Yeah, but it's fine."

"Feeling okay?"

"Just tired." Mei tried to push it off but I didn't completely buy it. I put my hand on her forehead and she flinched away. "What are you doing?"

"You feel a bit warm." I noted.

"I was under blankets," Mei remarked. "I hope its warm under there." Sometimes I wondered if Mei was Seth's daughter with the amount of sarcasm she used daily.

"Looks to me that you might be getting sick."

"I'm not sick."

"Nice try, but I don't buy it." Mostly because I had tried to pass that off when I was in high school. "My parents didn't buy it either when I tried that."

"That's because you're a terrible liar." Mei quipped

"Better watch it," I warned. "Or I may have to get your mother."

"Please don't."

"Can you tell me what's really wrong then? What hurts?" I figured that was a fair compromise.

"My head and throat mostly, but kind of everywhere." Mei admitted.

"I'll be right back."

"Don't tell mom!"

I grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge and then went into the medicine cabinet. I didn't have to ask Taylor as the Advil was up front. I knew that would do.

"Are you feeling okay?" Taylor put a hand to my forehead.

"I'm fine," I tried to walk away, but Taylor wasn't letting me past. "Do not freak, but I think Mei's come down with something."

"But she didn't say anything!" I could see the fire in Taylor's eyes the moment she knew her daughter was sick.

"I think there is a reason for that," I put down the water and medicine and put my hands on Taylor's shoulders. "She doesn't want to be smothered."

"I don't do that!" Taylor protested and I crossed my arms. We should at least be honest and open about that. "Alright, but with good reason. Why are we still standing here? Our daughter needs us…"

"I am going to bring her the Advil and I think you should stay here."

"You expect me to do nothing?"

"That's exactly what I and Mei would want you to do." I knew the feeling of not wanting to be smothered. And Taylor could get carried away when the kids were sick. Not that it was necessarily a bad thing. When Callie and Jon were sick, I think they looked forward to that extra attention. But Mei was different. She would rather suffer in silence than deal with Taylor making a big deal over a cold. Mei had only gotten sick once before and Taylor might have gone a bit overboard with the care. It certainly didn't help that Mei had only been with us for two months at the time so we were still getting used to each other. I knew if I went easy with her, it might turn out better.

"Can I at least get you the thermometer?"

"Yes, but don't come in the room." That was a compromise. I knew she wouldn't like it. But we had to keep a watch on her fever. I went back in the room and sat on the edge of her bed. "I brought you some advil." I held it out to her and she sat up, not hesitating to take the pills and water from me.

"Thanks for not making a big deal," Mei laid back down. "It's just a cold."

"I will have to keep an eye on your temperature." Mei let out a groan hearing that. "I know, but I had to compromise to keep your mom from going mama bear on you." I chuckled slightly but Mei wasn't very amused. "You can put the thermometer in yourself," I offered. "I won't baby you. But it's important we keep an eye on it."

"Fine." Mei was annoyed but agreed.

Taylor stepped in and handed me the thermometer. I handed it to Mei and she put it in her mouth. She then handed it back to me when it beeped.

"101.8." I read, handing it back to Taylor. "That's a bit high, but hopefully the medicine will help."

"Can you leave me alone now?" Mei put her hands over her face. "And can you turn that music down? My head is gonna explode."

I hadn't even realized the music was blaring until Mei mentioned it. "I'Il tell your brother to turn it down."

I closed the door to Mei's room and then went over to Jon's room, knocking. "Hey Jon!" I called but I got no answer. "Can you turn it down?" There was no response and the volume stayed where it was.

"Jonathan," Taylor came over and knocked louder. "Did you hear your father?"

"Probably can't hear us." It probably was a stupid idea to knock, but we wanted to respect our kids privacy.

Taylor opened the door and we saw Jon with his head on his desk with the music blaring. I noticed the remote to his stereo was on the floor. We could assume that the loud music wasn't intentional, but it's beyond me how he could sleep through that. I grabbed the remote and turned off the stereo.

"Jon," Taylor shook him gently. "Baby."

"Mmm?" Jon groaned, opening his eyes slightly for a moment before closing them again.

"Buddy, wake up." Taylor shook his again and he sat up, rubbing his eyes.

"You must be the soundest sleeper I've ever met."

"Dad?" Jon asked. "When did you get home? Is it morning?"

"I just got home," I told him. "Its 7PM, are you feeling alright?"

"Tired," I could see that. "Big test tomorrow." He then quickly flipped open the textbook on his desk. "I need to review one more time…" I could see Jon struggling to keep his eyes open.

"I think you'll do better if you get some sleep and review in the morning." Taylor suggested.

"I will even quiz you in the morning." I offered.

Jon was obviously too tired to argue as he then crawled into bed. Taylor tucked him in and kissed him goodnight before we both left the room.

"That kid works too hard," Jon was only nine years old and sometimes I think he worked harder in school than I did in high school. "I never thought I'd have to confiscate textbooks from my kid."

"You shouldn't have given him your brains." Taylor chuckled. "You know how he is with those math tests. He and this other boy place bets on who can get the highest score."

"He's too young to be gambling."

"They bet on their pudding cups and fruit rollups." Taylor rolled her eyes. "I think I'll leave it for now." I didn't blame her. What's the worst we would have to worry about? Jon being too good at math?

Then we heard the front door open. I knew that must be our other daughter. We then heard a loud bang. Yep, that's her. I walked with Taylor and found our daughter at front door. There was mud all over her uniform.

"What was that?"

"My shoe hit the closet alright!" Callie was clearly pissed off.

"Did something happen at practice?" Taylor asked.

Callie motioned with her hands up and down her uniform and looked at us as if it were obvious. I gathered she was talking about the mud. "Sophie knocked me into the mud. It was so embarrassing! It's all over me." Callie complained. "I'm literally still tasting mud."

"Sounds delicious."

"Shut up, dad!"

"Go get cleaned up and we'll get you something to eat." Taylor told her.

"I think your mom got some dirt cake cookies."

Callie shoved me as she headed to the bathroom. Taylor gave me a look before walking into the kitchen. I guess I was the only one who thought that was funny.

"You've been talking to your brother too much."

"I try." I had to be able to come up with a dad joke here and there.

"Ryan," Taylor sighed. "That was probably way too soon."

"Dad," I turned around and saw Mei standing behind me, wrapped around in a blanket. "You might want to…"

"Mei, what are you doing up?"

"Callie is puking in the bathroom."

"What?"

"She was making a ton of noise," Mei explained. "I went to tell her to be quiet and the door was open enough for me to see."

I didn't waste time before going to the bathroom and to Callie's side. I rubbed her back and then held her loose hair back until she finished.

"I think it was the mud I swallowed." Callie sniffled.

"I don't know about that."

"I did feel dizzy at practice." Callie admitted.

"You should have told your coach and sat down."

"No way!"

"Are you finished?" I asked, deciding not to focus on that for the moment. Callie nodded. "Okay well change out of these clothes, rinse your mouth out and then we'll give you something for your stomach."

Callie nodded and went into her bedroom.

I turned to Taylor in the hallway. It seems we have our work cut out for us.

A/N: I was stuck on ideas for this story and I finally got some ideas! There will be a few more chapters. And be prepared, usually a sickness in a household spreads. So don't think Ryan is safe from it ;) Ryan and Taylor's kids Callie, Jon, and Mei are portrayed by McKenna Grace, Pierce Gagnon, and Peyton Elizabeth Lee.

Please don't forget to review.