Chapter sixteen | Hush little baby
Kids are a blessing, they said.
Kids are treasures, they said.
Clearly whoever said this didn't have a baby who wouldn't stop screaming.
I had lost count of the hours as Bartholomew screamed and wailed. No amount of rocking or lullabies were helping the little one to settle and both Declan and I were about to lose our shit. It almost midnight and Bartholomew had been on and off crying all night. He had been fed, changed, given his pacifier. Nothing would fucking work for this damn toy.
"Oh please make it stop." Declan groans softly, banging his head on the table.
"I'm trying!" I hissed as I rocked Bartholomew desperately.
"C'mon, you stupid toy," I murmured against his plastic cheeks, the echoes of sobs still in my ears, "Calm down just for one second, please." I rocked him gently and decided to start walking around the room, deciding to try and wake my legs up.
As I walked around the room in repeated circles, I continued to murmur in his ear, hoping my voice would drown out his.
It didn't.
His cries continued, almost in a louder tone, as if he were trying to drown me out. I sighed and focused on rocking him, a little bounce in my steps as I moved. This is exactly why I didn't want to participate in this stupid project, this is too fucking much for me.
"Oh my God, how long as he been at it?" Declan asked, coming up behind me, an annoyed look on his face. I glanced over my shoulder at the clock on the wall behind me.
"Almost two hours."
Declan came over and took Bartholomew from my hands, and I willing gave the little fucker up. Bartholomew continued to wail out, and I could see Declan becoming inpatient, his feet stomping against the floor as he rocked the baby.
"We tried feeding him." Declan said. "That didn't work." I reminded.
Declan let out a sigh. "And changing him?"
"That didn't work."
"Did you try giving him his pacifier–?"
"Yes! I've did everything." I suddenly whirled to face him, my nostrils flaring. "We've tried everything in the damn book and he won't shut up. I don't know what else to try!"
I was screaming. I'm was pretty sure it was frustration gradually leaking out of me and not an attempt to be heard over the also-screaming baby. My shouting most likely wasn't helping much, and was instead only serving to terrify the doll with the sensitive hearing and cause him to cry harder. "I fed him, I burped him, I changed his stupid diaper, twice! I tried giving him his pacifier but it won't even fit in his mouth anymore, I'm losing my mind because this damn thing won't stop crying!"
"What is your fucking problem!" I shouted at Bartholomew as Declan continued to rock him.
"Try singing to it." He suggested.
I sighed. "What iiiiiis your fuuucking problem?" I sung to the baby as I hovered over it as Declan rocked him.
A particularly loud burst erupted from Bartholomew. Oh what a little cunt, my singing was not that bad.
I groaned and clamped my hands over his ears, head bowing so my chin touched my chest in defeat. I showed all the signs of exhausted, I was tired and desperate for sleep and my last desire was to be up at two in the morning taking care of my pain-in-the-ass project baby. I looked like a college student who was up all night studying for an exam early the next morning, when I should have been looking more like a well-rested high school senior.
Declan forward and placed his hands on my shoulders. "Okay, just calm down. You freaking out is making him freak out more, so take a deep breath, and relax." I huffed, still annoyed and frustrated, but obeyed and inflated my chest with air. I repeated my actions from earlier: hold the breath and let it out slowly, the air forcing its way through my half parted lips and emitting a faint whistling sound. Declan gave my shoulders a rub. I could feel the muscles hidden beneath his fingers tense and contract whenever I released a howling reminder of my unhappiness. "Let's just take the battery out." I finally suggested.
"Take the battery out?" Declan repeated, his eyes widened in surprise. "Wynter, I get you're exhausted and can't think properly, but taking the battery out is like killing him." He narrowed his eyes at me, "Mr Kelly specifically told us never to do that and plus, that's an automatic F."
I shrugged my shoulders. "At this point I don't even care. Give me the baby Declan." I reached for Bartholomew, only for Declan to jump back.
"No! You're not about kill him over some stupid crying!" Declan then took off running around the place and I darted off behind him.
He ran into the opened kitchen. "Stop it Wynter!" He deadpanned. "And if I don't?" I say, as we both stood on opposite ends of the granite island.
"I can't deal with this anymore!" I yelled, reaching over and grabbing an orange from the fruit bowl, I threw it at Declan, but he quickly ducked and dashed towards the living area and I didn't hesitate to chase behind him.
"Wynter, if you want to get Bartholomew you're going to have to get through me first. I didn't put up with this child for a whole months for you to try and take the easy way out." Declan said as he stood on the opposite side of the couch.
I shrugged my shoulders and smirked. "Fine!" I threw myself over the couch and tackled Declan to the floor, Bartholomew flying out of his hands and onto the couch.
With Declan pinned to the ground, I tried to get up and go for the doll but Declan wrapped his arms around my waist pulling me back down. "God, you should've tried out for football with a hit like that." He groaned, rolling us over so I was now pinned under him.
"Get off me!" I spat, but before I could even think of something else to say, he attacked me again. "Leave Bartholomew alone first."
"What ar-" Before I could even finish, his hands moved from my wrists to the sides of my torso and then started tickling me.
I screamed and laughed at the same time from the sudden tingling sensation that surged through my body, tossing your body left and right in attempt to get away from him. This time he pushed my legs apart once he felt my foot brush up against his private area.
"You're evil!" I tried to fight the urge to laugh but I couldn't. It was killing me.
"Are you going to leave Bartholomew alone?" He asked once he stopped.
"Not until the brat stops crying." I was panting hard with my eyes closed. "He's driving me-" The words were stuck in my throat when I opened my eyes, he was so close, and the position of our bodies were in was kind of intimate. I felt my cheeks heating up as I tried to push him off of me, but my attempt was put to a halt once I heard silence.
"Are you blushing, Wynter?" He asked with a smirk.
"Shut up!" I pressed my finger again his lip. "Do you hear that?"
"No."
I smiled. "Exactly." It took Declan a while to register what had happened, but once he did his eyes widened. "He finally stopped crying." He cheered, pushing himself off of me, we both turned towards Bartholomew who was thrown on the couch.
"What's that blue thing hanging out his mouth?" Declan asked, and I wasn't until I narrowed my eyes at the doll that I too noticed that something was hanging from out his mouth.
Declan grabbed Bartholomew before I did, and he reached inside his small mouth and pulled what seemed to be a plastic sack, but it wouldn't come all the way out.
"Ew, what the fuck is that? Is he throwing up? Can he even do that?" I questioned, my face twisting up at odd sight.
Declan eyes narrowed as he shook his head no. "He isn't throwing up," He said before turning me to with a confused look. "Someone stuff ecstasy pills inside of him."
••••
Excuse any mistakes or errors
Dun dun dun
Why the fuck is someone putting drugs inside a fake baby?