Baby

Cheryl is ripped from her sleep by the sound of her girlfriend whimpering. The redhead quickly sits up to turn the light on her nightstand on and looks over at Toni with worry. The smaller girl is fussing in her sleep, and Cheryl can see a thin sheen of sweat across her forehead.

Cheryl goes to reach out for her, touching Toni's arm gently. "Toni, wake up sweetheart. You're having a bad dream," she says as she nudges Toni's shoulder in an effort to pull her from whatever place her mind has her trapped in.

Toni's eyes snap open and she draws in a shallow gasp.

"It's okay. You're okay. I'm right, here, TT," Cheryl coos as she carefully pulls Toni closer to her.

"I'm so sorry, Cheryl", the pink-haired girl muffles into Cheryl's chest.

"Don't apologize for having a nightmare, Toni," Cheryl says as she rubs circles into Toni's lower back. 

"I-it's n-not j-just t-that," Toni stutters out. "I-I..." her voice trails off as she starts hyperventilating. Cheryl can feel her trembling against her.

"Breathe, Toni. Just breathe, TT." Cheryl says soothingly as she continues to rub Toni's back in an effort to calm her down.

"I wet the bed," the smaller girl says, barely above a whisper. She says it so quietly that Cheryl doesn't even realize what she had said until she can feel and smell the evidence of it on their bed.

"Oh..." she replies, not really sure how to respond to that.

The pink-haired girl starts hyperventilating again as hot tears flow freely down her face.

"Please don't cry, love. I'm not mad," Cheryl pleads as she gently grabs Toni's chin so they're face to face. Cheryl's heart breaks when she sees how distraught Toni is. 

"Y-you're not?" Toni asks through a hiccup.

"No", Cheryl answers simply as she cups her jaw, and delicately brushes her thumb over the apple of Toni's cheek. 

"So you're not going to throw me out or tell me to start wearing diapers?" Toni asks with a sniffle as she rubs the tears from her eyes.

"Of course not, TT. Why would I do that?" Cheryl asks incredulously. 

"I don't know, that's what my uncle did," she answers with a frown. 

"Is that why he used to lock you out?"

"One of the reasons..."

"Well, I'm not your uncle, TT. I know you didn't wet the bed on purpose."

"So you're really not mad that I woke you up and we have to change the sheets?"

"No, my love. And besides, this isn't the first time we had to change the sheets because of your bodily fluids", she teases.

Toni blushes. "T-that was different", she replies bashfully.

"Yeah? How so?" Cheryl asks with a smirk as she playfully squishes Toni's cheeks. 

"That was just you making me feel good and this was just me being a baby," Toni answers as she looks down in embarrassment. 

"TT, you're my baby, but you're not a baby. Because you have ADHD, it's just more common for you to wet the bed than it is for kids who don't have ADHD. It's not your fault, sweetheart," Cheryl tells her. 

"Yeah, but I'm not a kid. I'm 16," Toni says dejectedly. 

"You're still technically a kid. But maybe it's just worse because you're a deep sleeper," Cheryl reasons. The redhead's not a doctor, she's just trying to relieve Toni of some embarrassment.