Juliana Cade

Sleepless Nights

   ~ Third Person ~

Johnny woke to Juli's crying. Her distressed cries once again filled the house. They had gone to the hospital a few days ago for the doctor to take a look at Juli's health. The doctor had said Juli caught a simple cold but it would take a little longer to pass since she's just a baby. So that meant lots of sleepless nights filled with her cries and discomfort. He walked over to the crib and lifted the wailing infant, resting her head on his shoulder. She was so tired she didn't even rebel when Johnny did so. She only cried louder in response. It seemed like it was the only thing she could do was cry so everyone in the neighborhood could hear her.

"I know...I know...shhhhh, shhhhh...you're okay, sweetie. Shhhh...you're okay...you're okay." He spoke. His voice dull from exhaustion. This was the third sleepless night in a row, and it got harder and harder every time. All Johnny wanted was to sleep for a solid ten hours and to have Juli get better. She was miserable. She wouldn't sleep and when she did it was only for an hour or two. She wouldn't stop crying. It's like the only thing she can do to feel better is cry and cry and cry...

     Johnny slowly made his way into the kitchen lightly bouncing his little sister. He could feel her grab onto his shirt with her tiny hand as she cried. The older boy sighed. While Juli was crying he successfully made a bottle nearly one handed.

                        ~ Johnny's POV ~

     I repositioned Juli in my arms. Her cries were almost echoing off the walls by then. I put the bottle into her mouth to silence her. You could not believe the relief I felt to see that instead of pushing it away, she began to eat.

     "At least your fever went down..." I said, not to really anyone. When I did I got a tiny grunt from Juli, it was like she was agreeing with me. She really must've been hungry cause she finished that bottle pretty fast. Luckily I remembered to take a burping rag with me so I didn't have to walk all over the place like a mad man. I burped Juli, but this time she didn't spit up. Thank God, I did not wanna deal with that again. I'd never blame her for that. It 'ain't her fault, she's just a baby. I smiled at her. She's just the sweetest little thing, and definitely the best thing that's happened to me. My smile faded when she started crying again. I started to bounce again trying to keep her quiet.

     Already knowing what was wrong, I walked through the house and opened the door to our room. I undid her diaper and did what needed to be done, throwing away the dirty diaper away faster than lightning. 'Nasty'

     "I'll never get used to that." I muttered, and I meant it. By now Juli was dozing off. I slowly picked her up and started humming a lullaby while K rocked back and forth. She went to sleep rather fast. Hopefully for the rest of the night. I laid her back down in the crib and went to bed myself. Before I dozed off, I looked at the clock; 3:00 AM.

     Hopefully this will be a good rest of the night. I've got school tomorrow. 'Ugh!' I absolutely do not wanna got there. Rumors have been goin around a lot, each one making me just more and more annoyed with it all. I'll jus' deal with it tomorrow. I slowly but surely fell asleep, hoping the rumors would die down soon...