flipflop_diva

We were at a standstill.

She stared at me unblinkingly. I stared back at her just the same.

In my hand, I clutched the vial, full of its shimmering bright pink liquid that reminded one of bubble gum, something sweet and innocent and fun, not the poison she knew it was.

I moved the vial toward her. She pressed her lips together and turned her head, struggling in her restraints that were supposed to lock her in place. She got in a good kick despite them.

I didn’t falter. I moved ever closer, reaching out and taking hold of her chin, so little in my grip.

Her mouth opened despite itself. I jammed the vial in as deep as I dared, pressing the plunger and releasing some of the contents.

She managed to free her head from my grasp, shaking it angrily. But the little vial was still more than half full of its sinister pink liquid, and I would not be stopped.

This time I was more calculating. I stood over her as she shifted again in her restraints, searching for a way out. But, just as I knew it would, her mouth eventually opened, her nose being too congested to fully breathe out of, thanks to something far more horrible than me.

As soon as I spotted that little gap between her lips, I reacted, shoving the vial back inside and pushing again on the plunger. She screamed angrily at me, tears starting to fill her eyes.

“It’s not that bad,” I told her. “One more time, and this will all be over.”

She didn’t believe me. Her hands were gripping on to her restraints by then, and her feet were kicking, bouncing off my belly as I bent over her one last time.

I waited, calculating, showing no mercy.

Her mouth opened again, sucking in air despite itself, and I jammed in the vial for the last time, plunging the rest of the liquid in as hard as I could.

This time, though, she was ready for this intrusion. She spit it back out, covering my shirt and her outfit, a line of pink from neck down her chest.

She stared at me triumphantly. She knew she had won.

I sighed and undid her restraints, lifted her from her car seat and took her back upstairs to change her outfit.

Baby: 1
Mom and medicine: 0

Until tonight. And then she’d better watch out. This story’s ending had nine more doses to go before it would be fully resolved.

This story brought to you by the adventures of giving my poor baby her medicine for her ear infection, and written for