Erika's (soon to be Erik) brother was at school, boy's school where all the interesting stuff was, so the next order of business was Mom. Erika's mother had never taken her rage and frustration out on her daughter the way all-too-many mothers did in the hellscape the world was for the female sex. Erika had never been sure if this was because on some level her mother loved her, or whether she was just too broken. But for whatever reason her mother was going to get the flu.
"Ma" and there was something about how Erika spoke, some new note of authority that made her mother, currently engaged in cleaning the kitchen for the second time that morning in the vain hope of averting her husband's wrath, stand up and pay attention to her daughter. Rather than explain, Erika simply said "Hold still" and put her mouth over her mother's mouth and nose, breathing gently into her, and finally sneezing directly into her mother's mouth.
"The, flu?" her mother asked. Erika answered by raising her mother's hand to her own cheek as her mother felt the sandpaper grating of new hair coming in on Erika's face. "Now you have it too."
"Your father?"
"Him too. Brother is next."
It was the first time Erika had ever heard her mother laugh.