Caws and Coughs

Hello! Another Crow story! I don't own Duke, but I kinda-sorta own Marty, Maryanna, and Clara Jo! Pink is completely mine, though, so don't take! Oh, and the little girl in this fic is patterned after a cute little girl I see all the time in Ohio! Enjoy, peoples! I was just in the mood to write this cuz I had bronchitis at the time LOL!

"NO, PINK! NOOO! NOOOOOO! NO MED-SIN! NO YUCKY OLD MED-SIN!! NO BAD MED-SIN FO' WAY- CHEL!" Seventeen-year-old Pink sighed. She was spending her evening baby-sitting Rachel, the (usually) adorable little three-year-old girl who lived across the street from her. They'd been having a good time together, playing with Rachel's stuffed animal "babies" (All of whom happened to also be named "Rachel") and playing outside with Rachel's schnauzer, Megan. Rachel had a fairly exuberant temperament and the fact that she was suffering a cold and a bit of a cough at the moment did hardly anything to dampen her spunk. Now that it was bedtime, however, she was refusing to take the cold medicine that her parents had left out before they went to their dinner.

"Rachel, please," Pink reasoned. "This medicine will make you feel better. It'll help you not to cough all night!" She then uncapped the bottle and held it to her nose. "How bad can it be, anyway?" She took a small sniff. "OH, EW!" she cried, slamming the cap back on the bottle of orange-soda-flavored Triaminic. "Y'know, you might have a point there, hon."

"NO BAD MED-SIN FOR WAYY-CHEEEELLLLL!" Rachel cried so lustily that poor Megan dropped her stubby tail down and cowered under the kitchen table.

"Okay, okay, take it easy! We've established that I'm on your side, haven't we?" Pink reassured her. Then she got an idea.

A few minutes later, Pink was on the phone with Marty, one of her crow friends. Marty worked as a bartender full time and was hardly ever seen without his apron.

"Hello, this is Marty!"

"Hi, Marty-"

"Is this Pink? Oh, hi, Pink! What are you up to?"

"Well, I'm babysitting Rachel tonight, and we've been having fun so far-"

"But?"

"…But she has a cold, and her parents left her medicine to take."

"Aww, she's sick? That's no fun, for you or her. Go ahead and give her the medicine!"

"I wish it were that easy, Marty, but she doesn't want to take it! She keeps saying it's yucky. I actually smelled it, and I have to say she's right!"

"That's tough. Sounds like she doesn't want to have it, but if she doesn't, she's gonna be up all night coughin', and sniffin', and blowin' her nose-"

"I think that at this point, if that meant that she got to skip the medicine, she'd be all for it," Pink replied, sighing. "I'm such a failure as a babysitter."

At this, Marty laughed a sweet, rolling, ticklish belly laugh. "Aww, don't talk that way, Pinkers. Tell ya what, I'm coming over to where you are. I got two boys of my own; there's gotta be somethin' I can do to help!"

"Oh, would you, Marty? Thank you so much! You crows have ideas for everything!"

"I'll invite Maryanna along, too! She works in Child Psychology, you know!"

"Okay, great!"

And about 15 minutes later, Marty arrived at Rachel's house- along with Maryanna, Clara Jo, and Duke.

"Hi, guys!" Pink greeted them. "I know Rachel will love meeting you guys!"

"I'm looking forward to meeting her, too!" Maryanna replied. "She sounds like such a sweet little girl!"

Duke was about to step inside the house when Pink moved in front of him. "Duke, is there any chance you can put out your cigar?" she asked him. "I've got a 3-year-old with a bad cough in here."

"Oh, sure, sure," Duke answered, and stubbed out the stogie that he took big drags from whenever he was frustrated.

Eventually, everyone made it inside, and stood in the foyer admiring the house and all the signs it gave of bearing a 3-year-old within.

Suddenly, Maryanna sneezed. "Ahhhh-CHOO!" she went. "Oh, Pinkie, is there a dog in here?"

Pink was about to reply when everyone heard a scatter of giggles. "The big birdie made a sneeze!"

Pink, who was beginning to feel just a tad overwhelmed at this point, spun around and saw little Rachel standing there, clad in a Mickey Mouse Clubhouse nightie with Minnie Mouse on the front. Far from startled at the sight of four huge, bipedal crows standing in the foyer, the little girl giggled again and stared at all the crows.

"Awww, this must be little Rachel!" Marty cooed fondly as he went over to pick her up and give her a cuddle. "Hello, sweet child!"

"Oh, what a cutie!" gushed Clara Jo. She then pulled a soft underfeather out of her tail and tickled Rachel's face and bare feet.

Duke, on the other hand, simply stayed off to a corner and gave a small smile and nod to the little girl when their eyes met. Excessively gooey displays of affection were not for him.

When Marty finally put Rachel down, Pink took her hand and guided her over towards Maryanna, who had settled into a chair and was wiping her nose with a purple satin hankie that had the sentiment, "I think I'm going to sneeze!" embroidered in the corner.

"Now, Rachel, this is Maryanna! Can you say,"Hello, Maryanna?" Pink prompted Rachel.

Rachel looked up at Maryanna and giggled again. "You make a big sneeze!"

"I'm so sorry," Pink apologized to Maryanna.

"Oh, don't be! She's adorable!" Maryanna replied happily. She stretched out her wings and beckoned Rachel to come and settle down in her lap. "And I'm sorry to be such a downer, but I think my allergies are starting to act up!"

"What are awwer-dees?" Rachel asked, looking up at Maryanna questioningly.

"Allergies, my sweet little girl, are awful, bothersome things that can make you sneeze a lot! Other kinds of allergies can make your tummy hurt or have a hard time catching your breath!"

"In fact," Pink interjected, "Rachel, can Megan go into another room while Maryanna visits?"

"How come?" Rachel asked, staring up at Pink. Rachel and her little dog did everything together.

"Well, sweetheart, I'm afraid that Maryanna's allergic to Megan! That's why she sneezed that big sneeze just a few minutes ago!"

At this, Megan looked up at Pink and growled as though she had been affronted.

"Sorry, Megan, nothing personal," Pink apologized as she patted her on the head. Then she turned her attention back to Rachel. "So, can Megan stay in a different room, sweetheart? Poor Maryanna's just gonna to blow us all away if she has to be cooped up in the same room as a dog!"

Rachel giggled at the thought of them all being sent flying by one of Maryanna's big caw - choos. "Aw'wight, Pink!" she finally acquiesced. She motioned Megan to follow her out of the room. "Come on, Megan! Come wif Way-chel! Way-chel has tweat fo' you!"

Maryanna watched them go, and started to sniffle. "Poor little puppy dog! 'Tain't her fault she makes me sneeze so!"

"Aaww, well, it isn't your fault, Miss Maryanna! You can't help yourself!" nineteen- year -old Clara Jo assured Maryanna.

Rachel returned from putting Megan into her room and surveyed the sniffly Maryanna. She didn't want the sweet Common Raven who had shown her nothing but kindness to be sad. The three-year-old toddled over to Maryanna and latched herself around her leg.

"Don't be sad, Mawwy-Anna! Now you won't sneeze anymore!" she giggled as Maryanna swung her leg forward to see Rachel clearly. "Wheeeeee!"

"Oh, thank you, sweetheart! I'm awful sorry you had to put your puppy in another room! I'll try not to make myself TOO much of a nuisance!" Maryanna promised.

Rachel snuggled into Maryanna's leg. "You vewwy soft birdie, Mawwy-Anna! I hug you!"

"Aaaawww, that's very sweet of you, Rachel! You've already made me feel tons better!" Maryanna replied happliy. Then she took Rachel in her arms and started to tickle under her armpits with her beak. Rachel laughed uproariously.

"You better watch out, kiddo! I'm gonna get under your arms!!! Kootchie coo!! Tickle - ickle - wickle - prickle - pickle!!" Maryanna teased as Rachel squirmed in her arms.

All of a sudden, Rachel stopped laughing and began to cough due to her cold.

Maryanna grew alarmed and set Rachel down. "Oh, sweetheart, what a terrible cough that is!! I'm so sorry! We shouldn't have played tickle!"

Pink walked over to pick Rachel up and set her on the counter. "Oh, Maryanna, it's not your fault! Rachel hasn't had her cough medicine yet!"

Rachel became fully alert upon hearing this, and protested, "No! No! I don't want any med - sin! It's yucky!"

Pink was starting to grow impatient. "It's not yucky, Rachel. It'll keep you from coughing all night! Surely you don't want to cough all night!"

"I want to! I want to!" Rachel cried. "I gonna cough and cough all night an' no one's gonna stop me!"

Duke laughed. "Whoa, hear that, Pink? She knows her own mind! You gotta look out!"

"Thanks a lot, Duke. You're being a huge help here," Pink sighed.

Maryanna decide that now was as good a time as any to take control of the situation. She stepped forward and faced the defiant and overtired Rachel.

"Baby, you don't want to cough all night!" Maryanna told her. "I cough at night sometimes because I have asthma, and it's terrible!"

Rachel now regarded Maryanna with renewed interest. "You be coughing all night?" she asked softly.

"Uh - huh; sometimes!" Maryanna replied. Then she began digging in her purse and finally produced the Symbicort inhaler that she carried with her everywhere.

"Wha' dat?" Rachel asked, pointing to the snorkel - shaped device.

"This is the medicine I take when I cough at night, sweetheart!" Maryanna informed her. "This inhaler has special medicine inside it that opens up my chest so the air can get in! It really turns off my cough, so to speak!"

Pink smiled and rolled her eyes good - naturedly at Maryanna's silly rhyme. She looked closely at the inhaler's label. "Oh, I see you've changed inhalers," she said to Maryanna.

"Yeah, honey. I didn't really like Advair, so Doc Talondrawe switched me over to Symbicort!"

Rachel lit up. "We have that movie!" she said excitedly.

Maryanna looked at her. "Have what movie?"

"Simba and Lala! We have the Simba and Lala movie!" Rachel announced.

"She means "Simba and Nala" from "The Lion King," Pink explained to Maryanna.

"Oh. Well, I'm afraid it's not the same thing, baby," Maryanna answered Rachel.

Then Maryanna got an idea. Maybe the best way to show Rachel that taking medicine was not so bad would be for Maryanna to show the little girl how she used her inhaler. She had captured Rachel's interest, anyway; it was worth a try.

"Miss Rachel, I'm going to show you how I take my coughing medicine." Maryanna said to the girl, leaning close.

Rachel's eyes widened with awe. "You are?"

"Yes, I am, sugar! And then you'll see how the medicine helps me and makes me feel good all over!"

Rachel then added, "An' then you take Way - chel's med - sin so Way - chel not have to!"

Clara Jo laughed at her. "My, my, aren't you the little negotiator?"

Maryanna laughed, too. "No, no, baby, Maryanna's only taking her coughing medicine! Taking someone else's coughing medicine makes my asthma worse!"

Before Rachel could protest, Pink stepped in to further engage her. "Can you help Maryanna count the number of breaths she needs to take from her inhaler? You're good at counting, aren't you?"

"Yes! Yes! I can count!" Rachel exclaimed happily.

Maryanna took the two halves of her spacer out of her purse and carefully fitted them together. Then she shook her inhaler and attached it to the narrow opening at the tube's end.

"All right, my spacer's all set! Are you ready to help me count, Rachel?" Maryanna asked.

"Ready!" Rachel announced.

Maryanna pushed down on the top of the inhaler, which issued a blast of spray into the spacer. She took a breath.

"One!!" Rachel cried.

Maryanna smiled around the mouthpiece and took another breath.

"Two!!!" Rachel squeaked.

Maryanna took another breath.

"Fwee!" Rachel cried excitedly.

And so on until all the medicinal spray had been inhaled. Maryanna carefully took apart her spacer and put all her equipment back in her purse.

Maryanna turned to face Rachel. "See, Rachel? Taking medicine isn't yucky; it's very helpful! I won't cough any tonight, thanks to my inhaler!"

"Now Rachel, why don't you show Maryanna how you take your medicine?" Pink asked Rachel. "After all, she showed you hers!"

Rachel paused for a moment, then smiled at Maryanna. "Aw'wight! Rachel show Mawwy - Anna!"

And she downed the orange soda - tasting Triaminic without complaint. To cement the lesson to be learned, Pink and all the crows applauded heartily. Marty even snuck up behind her, gave her a tickle, and told her how proud he was of her.

"Man, you're better about takin' medicine than my two boys back home!" he complimented.

"You go, girl!" Clara Jo exclaimed.

Maryanna was happy that her tactic had been successful. She knew from experience that bribes almost never worked. If you gave a child a piece of candy as a reward for taking necessary medicine, then the child developed the idea that obtaining a bribe was the main objective; not keeping themselves well. She knew that children wanted to obey and do what adults expected of them, but sometimes just needed some direction in order to perform the tasks required of them.

Just then, Pink's cell phone rang, and she answered it. "Hello? Oh, hi, Mrs. Makinnon! How's your dinner? Oh, good! And your movie? Oh, glad to hear it! Well, it's all good over here; Rachel's taken her medicine, and ... no, no, she was very good about it, don't worry!"

The crows were trying their very hardest to avoid making any background noise while Pink was on the phone with Rachel's mother, but Clara Jo gave a small, startled caw when she accidentally stepped into Megan's water dish, Rachel laughed, Marty shushed her quite audibly, Duke swore in a stage whisper, and Maryanna.....

"Aaaahhh...AAAAAaaahhh....AAAAAaaahhh... CAAAaaaWWW - CHOO!"

Pink glared at all four of the crows and then returned to her phone conversation. "Hmmm? Oh, that's just the TV!" she said, with a nervous titter. Then her eyes widened. "You'll be home in ten minutes?" she restated incredulously.

Duke turned around to face his fellow crows. "Whoa, hear that, cats and kittens? We better think about splittin' soon!"

"Okay, see you then! Bye!" Pink said, wrapping up her phone conversation. She snapped her phone closed and faced her friends. "Uh, guys? You should probably start - "

"Say no more, Pink!" Duke interrupted her. "We're on our way out! We don't wanna make Rachel's parents mad!"

"Yeah, Pink, see ya tomorrow, maybe," Clara Jo said as they all headed towards the foyer of the house.

"Goodbye, Pinkie! See you soon, baby!" Maryanna cooed as she gave Pink a hug. Then she turned to Rachel. "Your puppy can come out now, okay?"

"Okay! Bye - bye, Mawwy - Anna!" Rachel said, giving Maryanna a kiss on the tip of her beak.

"AAAaaawww, honeybunch!" Maryanna cried, pulling the corners of her hat down to hide how she was blushing.

"Bye, Rachel!!" the crows called as they headed out the door.

"Bye - bye, Big Birdies!" Rachel called back, waving exuberantly.

After they had left, and the dog had been let out, Pink took Rachel aside.

"Rachel? Can we keep tonight our little secret, do you think?" she asked.

Rachel smiled. "Aw-wight, Pink!"

The End