Max had just gotten home from school. Today, he was wearing a long-sleeved shirt that had thin, vertical, red and blue stripes, with jeans and white illuminative sneakers. After completing his homework, he left his apartment to go see Kimmy. When he knocked on the door, Karen answered it; she was wearing a white blouse with jeans and white socks.

"Hey, welcome home, Max," Karen smiled. "We've missed you."

Max had been away for the weekend, visiting his aunt and cousins.

"Thanks. Can I come in?" Max asked.

"Kimmy has the chickenpox," Karen told him. "I wouldn't want you to catch them, too."

"I had chickenpox before, like, two years ago. My mommy says that I can't get them again."

Karen moved aside to let Max in. The boy walked down the hall and softly knocked on Kimmy's bedroom door.

"Come in," Kimmy said from the other side of the door.

Max opened the door and saw Kimmy in bed with the covers up to her stomach and Mickey Mouse laying beside her, on the right side of her pillows. The pillows were stacked on top of each other against the headboard so she could sit up. She was playing with her Quiz Wiz with red-spotted hands. Despite her messy bed hair and her usually smooth face being covered in small, red marks, Max thought she looked beautiful.

"Hi, Max," she greeted, folding her Quiz Wiz and setting it aside. "Me and Mickey missed you."

"I missed y'all, too. Um, can I still kiss you?"

"Yeah."

Max walked over to and kissed her on the left cheek, trying to avoid several spots. He sat on the side of the bed and rubbed her right arm up and down, unwittingly prompting her to scratch it.

"How are you feeling?"

"Itchy." She scratched her right shoulder.

"How long did you have it?"

"I first got my chickenpox on Saturday."

"I had chickenpox when I was little. I can't get them anymore for the rest of my life."

"How long will I have it?" She scratched her left arm.

"You'll have it for a few days. If you scratch yourself, you'll just make it worse."

"I know, but it itches so much," she whined, scratching the back of her left hand. Max lifted her itchy hand and gave it a kiss. "Thanks," she giggled, "that's a lot better."

They heard footsteps and Karen walked into the room with a brown, wooden tray in her hands. The tray had a white, ceramic bowl of chicken noodle soup in the middle, a silver fork and a square napkin on the right, and a half-full, orange Kool-Aid cup of orange juice with a dark blue bendy straw on the left. Kimmy folded her hands behind her head and Karen set the tray over her belly. She then brushed the bangs out of Kimmy's eyes and kissed her forehead.

"This will make you feel better," Karen said.

"Thank you," said Kimmy.

"Would you like anything, Max?"

"No."

Karen walked out of the room and closed the door.

"Max, would you please feed me my soup?" grinned Kimmy.

"Mm-hmm," snickered Max.

The boy put the fork into the soup, picked up some noodles, and held it to Kimmy's mouth. After blowing on it, she opened her mouth and he put the fork inside. She closed her mouth and he pulled it out and let her chew the food. They repeated the cycle until all the chicken and noodles were gone. When she drank all of the juice, he wiped her lips with the napkin and put the crumpled paper on the tray. Next, he picked up the tray, bowl, and cup and took it to the kitchen. As he was about to put it in the sink, Karen appeared from the living room and stopped him.

"I'll wash those right now," she said, taking the tray and setting it and its contents on the counter by the sink. "So, you must really like my daughter." She ran the water and poured detergent from a white Dove bottle into the bowl.

"Yeah, I do," Max said, shyly.

"I mean you must really, really like her." Max began to blush. Karen smiled, "I thought so."

"How did you know that?"

"You two spend a lot of time together. It's perfectly normal for a boy and girl to like each other when they spend a lot of time together. I remember my first crush was a little after Kimmy's age. I liked a boy that was in my class." She washed the inside of the sudsy bowl with a green and yellow sponge.

"What happened to him?"

"I never told him that I liked him. I was too afraid that he wouldn't like me back. All I did was look at him whenever I saw him. You two are much braver than I was. At least you two like each other instead of just one liking the other. I wish it was like that with me and my crush. Have you two ever kissed?" At this time, she was putting the bowl on the dish rack.

Max hesitated, but nodded his head.

"That's very sweet."

"You mean, you're not mad at us?"

"No, I don't mind. I think it's really cute for a young boy and girl to be infatuated with one another. She began to wash the cup.

"What does infac- infact- in..." Max asked, confusedly.

"In-fat-u-at-ed," she corrected him, "means that a boy and girl like each other a lot. Just like you and Kimmy."

"Oh."

Karen rinsed the cup out and put it on the dish rack, next to the other cups. She knelt down and pat Max on the head. "You can go back to her room, now. You wouldn't want to keep your girlfriend waiting."

Max went back to Kimmy's room and shut the door.

"What happened?" Kimmy asked, scratching her head.

"Your mommy was talking to me," replied Max. "She said that she knows that we're boyfriends and girlfriends."

"Oh?" Kimmy said, surprised.

"She told me that she's okay with it."

"Really?"

"Yeah."

"Wow. So now we can hug and kiss in front of her?"

"Yeah, looks like it."

"Cool," she said happily.

Max sat down on the side of the bed. "Do you want to play doctor?" he asked.

"How can we play that?" she asked.

"I have a toy doctor's bag in my toy crate. I can be a doctor and you'll be the patient."

Kimmy smiled. "I don't see much of a choice, but okay."

Max left the room and went home.

Kimmy picked up her Mickey Mouse doll and sat it in her lap. "You've got my chickenpox, don't you Mickey?" Mickey offered no response. She scratched his soft left ear. There was a pattern of knocks on the door. "Come in."

Max opened the door and then pushed it closed, but leaving it ajar. There was a light blue stethoscope around his neck. In his left hand was a small, black bag with a red cross on it that said: Pretend Doctor's Kit in small, white letters. He walked over to Kimmy and stood next to her. Next, he opened the bag and pulled out a real thermometer.

"Say 'Aah'," Max said. Kimmy said 'Aah' and he put the clear thermometer into her mouth. "Sit up so I could check your heart."

Kimmy sat up and Max put his stethoscope into his ears and on her chest, moving it to several spots. Next, he put it on her back and moved it to different spots. He took it out of his ears and pulled the thermometer out of her mouth. The thermometer was at 100 degrees. "What is it, Dr. Max?"

"You're sick." Kimmy smiled at him, amused by his stating the obvious. "I'm gonna test your knees now."

Kimmy removed the covers and sat on the edge of the bed, letting her feet dangle off the bed. She was wearing yellow pajama bottoms and white socks. Max took an orange, plastic reflex hammer out of the bag and tapped her left knee with it. Her leg quickly went up, making her laugh.

"That felt funny," she said. "Do it again."

Max tapped her right knee, causing her right leg to kick. Then, he pulled a red otoscope out of the bag and she looked at the wall in front of her. He put it into her left ear and looked inside; he saw nothing but darkness. Next, he took it out and put it into her other ear and couldn't see anything.

"There's nothing else in the bag, so I guess I'm done," said Max. He sat down next to her and put his arm around her. "Do you feel any better... dear?"

"A little," said Kimmy. You're a really good doctor. I feel a little bit better already."

"Thank you. You were a really good patient."

"You're so good to me, Max." They hugged and Kimmy crawled back to her pillows. Max tucked her in and kissed her lips one more time. "Mickey Mouse wants a checkup, too." She sat the toy on the edge of the bed.

Max proceeded to give Mickey a repeat treatment in the same order he did with Kimmy.

Kimmy moved Mickey's legs when Max hit them with the reflex hammer. Max cracked up when she lifted the doll's left leg to the point where it hit itself in the face.

"You have some big ears, but I can't see anything," Max joked as he looked through the otoscope.

When Max finished, he tucked Mickey into bed, beside Kimmy.

"Could you please read us 'Trouble For Thomas'?

"Yeah."

The bottom drawer of Kimmy's dresser contained several books. Max pulled out the story that Kimmy requested. Then he sat on the edge of the bed. Her head was resting on the raised pillow, so she could look at him.

Later, Karen walked over to Kimmy's bedroom door. She peeked through the gap between the wall and the door, and looked at the kids. She smiled at how cute they looked together and walked away. By the time Max was 3/4 finished, Kimmy was sleeping on her back, snoring softly.

"Goodnight, Kimmy," Max whispered. Gently, he kissed her forehead and returned the book. He quietly walked to the door and opened it, closing it as he left the room. He said 'goodnight' to Karen, who was watching the living room television, and left the apartment.