Shawna's Story (A Johnny Cade Fanfiction) //CURRENTLY EDITING//

~22~

It was our fifth day in Windrixville and I woke up the next morning to Jonathan crying. I sat up and saw Johnny trying to change his diaper, but was struggling a bit.

"Need help?" I asked. Johnny jolted a little and looked over at me.

"Oh, hey," Johnny said, sounding relieved that it was just me. "Yeah, that would be great. He won't keep still, I can't tell if he peed or pooped." I nodded and crawled over to them, then sat down beside Johnny, looking down at Jonathan, who was turning red in the face from crying and kicking around.

"Someone is cranky today," I said. I carefully held Jonathan's tiny legs, rubbing one of them with my finger to calm him. "Come on, let Mama see what's the matter." I carefully opened the diaper and lifted the front flap. "It was just a pee," I said.

"Must be a lot if he was cryin' that hard," Johnny said.

"You probably would too if you had something cold, wet, and squishy stuck to your butt," I said, changing Jonathan's diaper.

"You got a point there," Johnny said. I nodded, closed up the used diaper, then fixed Jonathan's onesie, before picking him up. He had cried so much, he tuckered himself out and went to sleep.

"There we go," I said, wrapping him up in the coat like a blanket, gently cradling him when I finished.

"Sorry if we woke you," Johnny said. "I didn't wanna grab 'im, cause I was scared I'd hurt 'im."

"It's alright," I reassured. "When he's kickin' like that, you just need to hold his ankles a little and rub his leg just a bit. I'm not sure if it works on other babies, but it does the trick with him."

"Right," Johnny said, nodding.

"You're doing such a good job, though," I said. Johnny looked at me and smiled.

"You are too," Johnny said. "Still can't believe you were scared to have him before."

"I know, I can't either," I said, chuckling a little. "Steve and Pony whine just as much as he does."

"No I don't," Pony mumbled, eating a peanut butter sandwich.

"Yeah you do," I said. "You just stopped whining about your hair yesterday."

"I didn't whine," Pony denied. He won't admit it, but he would whine and touch his head every time he passed the broken mirror that was in the church. Johnny tried not to laugh and looked down at Jonathan, who started to move a little in his sleep.

"Whatcha doin' kid?" Johnny asked, gently rubbing Jonathan's cheek with his finger. Jonathan moved a little and began waking up, making a small kind of chirping noise.

"You want him back?" I asked, looking at Johnny. He nodded, I smiled softly, and carefully handed Jonathan back to him. Johnny cradled him and smiled all giddy, like a child getting a present on Christmas morning. I always loved seeing how happy he was to just hold Jonathan. He was crazy about Jonathan, and Jonathan just adored him. "I'm gonna try to walk around again. I'm not feeling too sore like yesterday." After I had Jonathan, I was practically immobile for hours, eventually I was starting to try to walk again, thank God for the many pews in this church, I had plenty to lean on while I tried to walk around.

"Okay," Johnny said. Pony finished up his sandwich, walked over to me, and helped me up carefully, letting me lean on him a little, while I took a few slow steps. I didn't feel too much pain this time, but I felt some slight cramping here and there.

"You're doin' good, sis," Pony encouraged.

"Thanks," I said, continuing to walk, keeping a hand hovered over the pews just in case. Eventually, I felt comfortable enough to take a few steps on my own, but Pony continued to walk beside me, just in case I fell again. I took a few slow laps around the front room of the church and finally sat down, once I felt comfortable moving on my own. "I can walk, whoo."