Welcome to Gaia! ::

It was hot but the chill AC felt good on Dessie’s warm face. It wasn’t even like they were doing overly strenuous things, it was mostly cleaning and painting. The apartment that the young woman was moving into had been well maintained as it lay dormant but Dessie wanted to make it her own. To change the walls, to hang up paintings and photos, to even start some plants in the windows. To make the space as bright and lively as her family was. The furniture movement would come later, and by movers too. Yes there were enough bodies to help move the heavier things but half those bodies now had little ones to chase around, Aeisha was at home resting with Mirabelle, Xander and Yatora were wrangling the twins, Rose was not doing squat since her baby was expected by early July so no strenuous activities. That pretty much left Lily and Eli but they had their own lives so once everything was chosen a moving company would be doing the heavy lifting. But for now it was up to Dessie, with Lily’s impeccable eye for detail and color, to figure out how to design the condo. The previous tenant and the new tenant. It was kind of symbolic.

Dessie sighed and stretched a bit, arching her spine and absently rubbing the small of her back. She was just drained! Who knew that just wiping things down and prepping for paint would be so much work? At least she didn’t feel ill right then. It was so damn strange really, one moment she was fine the next it felt like she was about to lose the little bit of food she was able to consume. However there were no other symptoms of illness. No fever, no cough, no real aches or pains. Yeah sure, she felt tired sometimes but that’s what happens when you were trying to get your feet under you after several years away. That and the twins were a real handful. They were fun but boy could they wear an older sister out.

With Xander’s growing family and the desire to be a functioning part of society Dessie had decided to move out of the house and into the condo that Lily once lived in. It was sad in a happy sort of way since she wanted to give them their space, and she really needed her own space too, but it would also be a bit heartbreaking not to wake up in the morning to the madness that was the Jacobs household. Or to have impromptu concerts as the sun set when the urge to play her guitar struck. But it wasn’t like she was gone forever, nor was she quite ready to leave that mad house. It would take a bit longer to have the apartment ready to move in, until then Xander and crew were stuck with her. With that thought making her grin Dessie turned away from the windows that gave a fantastic view of the city, and picked up the notebook with all the design ideas on it.

“Hey Lily, any idea where the paint samples went?” She asked as she absently stepped into the other room, glancing around for the stack of paint chips. It had to be around her somewhere. Dessie spotted one of those star charms that were handed out during the city festival but no paint sample fan anywhere. “Lily?” Her ‘Aunt’ had stepped out to get them lunch but Dessie could have sworn she heard the door rattle earlier, but the lack of answer meant the other woman wasn’t back just yet. “Hmmmm,” Icy blue eyes squinted as she absently scratched behind her ear. “Odd. Very, very odd.”

“The paint samples, you know the fan, it's somewhere but I have no clue where.” Dessie turned towards Lily and frowned even as she waved a hand in the general direction of the apartment, before she started to follow the other into the kitchen. “That's cool. Colin asleep?” The blond took the cue from the muted voice of her ‘Aunt’, it was funny since Lily was only six years older than her. “Grapes? Can’t say-” She paused in her denial of even having seen the grapes when the smell of the Indian food hit her.

She liked the flavors and spices of the dishes… normally. This time however it made her gag. The normally fair skinned woman went even paler, one hand quickly clamping over her mouth while the other wrapped around her violently protesting stomach. Dessie had a split second of just trying to breath before she raced for the bathroom. Once there she, as quietly as possible, was viciously ill.

After wiping her mouth with some toilet paper and flushing the mess she just made, Dessie just sat there, her back against the wall, eyes closed, grateful for its coolness that seeped into her. She barely cracked her eyes open when Lily came in, blue eyes taking in the glass of water that was put down within reach on the counter. “No, just some toast really.” Her stomach was upset with her that morning too so she had made the decision to stick with light things, like saltines and toast… mostly toast. “It’s probably a touch of food poisoning or some stomach bug or something.” She said absently as she leveraged herself off of the floor and gratefully took the water.

The first few mouthfuls went towards rinsing her mouth out, the rest to help calm her still twisting tummy. “I’ve been keeping an eye on my temperature so it's not a cold. Also been trying to give the kids a wide berth especially with Mirabelle.” Dessie explained even as she turned on the sink and splashed some cold water on her face. “Maybe it's the heat. It’s getting miserably hot out there after all, after the last few years my system likely just isn’t used to it.”

Feeling a bit better now, the nausea came and went most of the time, Dessie sighed and absently ran her hand over her aching abdomen. “Only for a day or two,” she lied. It was more like a week-ish that the symptoms really started. More like around the time the baby was born, that's when it really started to feel like every strange or strong smell made her want to toss her cookies. But she kept silent on that because she didn’t want to freak out the family, especially since it was probably nothing serious. “I will, tho not Xander. He has enough on his plate right now.” She tried to do the math, Maribelle was not quite two weeks old… had she been sick that long?

“Yeah, that might be best,” she muttered, lost in thought, her eyes staring at the floor but not actually seeing anything. Maybe Lily was right. A doctor visit was probably for the best, if only to find out why she was randomly being sick. With a sigh she exited the bathroom, looking a bit worse for the wear then when she went in. At least she wasn’t green again. “Sounds like a plan. I think we have most of the colors picked anyway so it's just prep work and painting now.” Dessie gave the kitchen a wide berth but she still asked, “If there is white rice or naan bread that might be fine.” She paused for a second and then asked, “I don’t suppose there are any pickles are there? I kind of really want some pickles.”

“Yeah but I really don’t want him to take anything to the twins or the baby. It’s why I’ve been doing my best to give them space.” Dessie also wasn’t an overly social person. With the house so full it was hard to not run into someone. A real challenge when it sometimes felt like any strong smell made you feel sick. The blonde nodded and settled on one of the chairs that was still in the furnished condo.

After a second of contemplation she pulled out her phone and turned to Google. She knew that it wouldn’t likely be right but if she was really sick it might start her in the right direction. ’Common causes include food poisoning, a tummy bug (viral infection), drinking a lot of alcohol, and being pregnant.’ One word in that Google answer had her staring at her phone as the realization hit her.

“What?” She absently said when Lily came back, quickly locking the phone and putting it away. “Oh. No, that should be fine. Just let me know when they get here. I’m goin’-“ she absently waved at the walls like she was going to contemplate the paint scheme again. Instead she just… zoned out. Lost in her thoughts.

There was no way… right?

Right?

Right!?!?