DC Headcanon's 6: Sparkle Sparkle!

Trade Off

It was quiet in the house.

Well it was quiet, because as soon as Indiana could feel himself slipping asleep a loud harsh cry came from the living room. Indiana groaned and threw a pillow over his head, telling himself to be patient, and someone else would get it and soon the house would be filled with silence once more.

A second passed.

Then a minute.

Then a second cry sounded out.

Indiana cursed and threw the pillow to the ground, secretly filled with worry. Why wasn't anyone attending to the cries? He put his feet on the cold floor and padded out of the room, opening his door and peeking down the hall. In the guest room at the end of the hall, the cries were mixed with snores, confirming Indiana's suspicions. Georgia and Kentucky were dead asleep, and the twins were up. Indiana sighed and walked down the hall, opening the door a crack and peeking inside. In the makeshift crib he'd found out in the barn, the twins wiggled around crying, begging for someone to answer their cries. Indiana tutted and walked over to the crib and looked down at the babies.

"Hey....hey now....it's okay. Go back to bed." Indiana whispered hoping that would put them to bed. It didn't. The twins continued to wail, and Indiana felt the urge to wake one of the dads up.

No, they were already exhausted from a long two days of traveling, leaving their home after threats from some confederation states to steal the twins. Indiana could remember how exhausted Kentucky and Georgia looked when he answered the door, how Georgia wouldn't let go of the twins when Indiana tried to take them, how easily they fell asleep as soon as they hit the bed. They needed rest.

"Uh......hey! If you sleep, I'll give ya some treats tomorrow!" Indiana said smiling. The babies continued to wail, and Indiana tried to think back to when his mom tended to his younger siblings, what did she check for when they cried?

Indiana gagged and reached under the blanket, praying to God that they weren't wet because he was definitely waking up one of the dads if they were. He sighed in relief, dry. But what else could it be? Indiana wracked his brain before snapping. MILK. Maybe they were hungry! The midwestern state dashed out of the room and went down to the kitchen, finding a half drunk bottle of milk still on the kitchen table, abandoned after Indiana answered the door to the exhausted parents. He quickly grabbed the bottle and ran back upstairs to the babies, who were still wailing.

"Ya hungry?" Indiana asked. Carefully he reached into the crib, sitting IDC up and putting the bottle to her lips. He was about to tip the milk into her mouth when a shout made him pause.

"THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING?" Kentucky yelled standing next to Indiana. Indiana jumped.

"I'm feeding 'em! They're hungry!" Indiana argued.

"You can't feed them directly from the bottle!" Kentucky hissed, taking the milk bottle from Indiana. He went back to the knapsack Georgia packed, that had been dropped unceremoniously by the bed, and opened the flap, digging around until he produced a tiny bottle. Kentucky poured a tiny bit of milk into the bottle before turning back to Indiana and the twins, handing him the bottle.

"Now try." Kentucky ordered. Indiana took the bottle and put it against IDC's lips, who jerked her head back.

"Oh come on!" Indiana whined as IDC was taken out of his eyesight.

"That means they just want holding." Kentucky muttered, picking DC up as well. The two babies instantly calmed, and Indiana sighed in relief.

"How long were they crying?" Kentucky asked, holding back a yawn.

"Ten minutes tops." Indiana explained. Kentucky nodded and continued to rock the babies, trying to get them to sleep. Indiana watched as the southern state fought to stay awake himself, head dipping and nearly falling asleep but always jerking back up at the last minute. He'd been awake for forty-eight hours and was finally beginning to suffer for it.

"Hey, lemme hold 'em. You need your sleep." Indiana suggested.

"Indie I can't ask you to do that." Kentucky pointed out.

"Nonsense, you guys risked your lives to get to my house, the least I can do is care for your children." Indiana said with a smile. Kentucky yawned, kissed both babies on their heads, then handed them off to Indiana.

"Two rocks will usually put 'em to..." Kentucky yawned.

"Go to bed Ken, I'll get 'em to sleep." Indiana said. Kentucky nodded and went back into bed beside Georgia, immediately falling back asleep. Indiana looked down at the two babies, who were wide awake, and began pacing around the room, up and down the hall, rocking them trying to get them to go back asleep. It felt like hours but eventually, DC's eyes slowly closed and then IDC followed her brother after. Indiana smiled as he walked back to the guest room; Kentucky's snores mixing with Georgia's again and the babies asleep, everything was good in the world. The midwestern state put the twins back into the crib and tucked the blanket around them, parenting didn't seem too bad now that he thought of it. Maybe he'd talk to Ohio and after the war they could....

A cry pierced the night air.

One of the twins was up again.

Indiana paused and slowly turned back to the crib, another baby's wails piercing through the night air.

It was going to be a long night.