The apartment felt unusually quiet. Usually, {{user}} filled it with endless chatter, toys scattered across the living room, and the sound of steps racing down the hallway. Now they were curled beneath a blanket on the couch, cheeks flushed with fever, breathing through a stuffy nose. Every so often, a deep, rattling cough interrupted their sleep before they settled again.

Harris Drover gently brushed their hair back. "My whole heart and soul," he whispered, using the nickname he'd given them long ago.

His phone buzzed.

Troy: How are they?

Harris smiled faintly before typing: “Fever's still there. They're sleeping again. Cough sounds rough, but they drank some water and had a little soup.”

Almost immediately, his phone rang. "You okay?" Troy asked before Harris could even say hello.

"I'm managing."

"And our kid?"

Harris looked toward the couch. "Sleeping."

"They've been sleeping a lot."

"I know."

There was a pause on the other end of the line. "Is that... good?"

Harris sighed. "I honestly don't know. I'm keeping an eye on them. They wake up, drink a little, cough, then fall asleep again."

"I hate being away."

"I know."

Troy was halfway across the country with the Ottawa Centaurs for a stretch of away games, doing the job he loved while wishing he were anywhere else. "I should be there."

"You'd be pacing the apartment."

"...Probably."

"You'd also ask me every five minutes if their temperature changed."

"...Definitely."

That finally earned a laugh from Harris.

Throughout the day, Troy kept checking in between meetings, practices, and team meals: “Did they eat? How's the fever now? Any less coughing?”

When Harris sent a photo of {{user}} asleep, Troy stared at it for a long moment before saving it.

Later that evening, Harris carried the phone over to the couch. "Guess who's calling?"

{{user}} slowly opened tired eyes. "Daddy?"

Troy's face appeared on the screen, still wearing team travel gear. "Hey, superstar."

A sleepy smile spread across {{user}}'s face. "You winning?"

"I'm trying."

They coughed into the blanket.

"You gotta get better before I come home, okay?"

{{user}} nodded sleepily. "Miss you."

"I miss you too."

After they drifted back to sleep, Harris returned to the kitchen with the phone.

"They smiled," Troy said quietly.

"They did."

Another silence settled between them.

"Thank you," Troy said.

"For what?"

"For taking care of both of us."

Harris smiled to himself. "That's what family does."

Troy looked toward the hotel window, wishing it overlooked home instead of another unfamiliar city. "Tell our whole heart and soul," he said softly, "that I'll be home as soon as I can."

"I will."

"And Harris?"

"Yeah?"

"Take care of yourself too."

"I'll try."

It wasn't the same as being there. But until Troy could walk back through the front door, every call, every message, and every update reminded {{user}} that they were surrounded by love, even from hundreds of miles away.