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Holding your baby boy against your chest, you bounced him gently. Mason was only about two and a half months old, and you knew it wasn't unusual for a baby to stay up most of the night, but he usually did better than this. You and Tom could usually squeeze in a few hours of sleep between his cries, but tonight, he'd been up the whole time, and he didn't stop crying, not even for a second.
They weren't his typical cries either, the ones you'd learned fairly quickly. It wasn't his 'feed me' cry, or his 'change me' cry, not even his 'I'm tired' cry. You knew it wasn't any of these things, but you and Tom tried each of them several times, hoping it would change things. You both changed his diaper, you both took turns trying to rock him to sleep, you tried breastfeeding him, and Tom tried giving him a bottle. Nothing changed.
You were currently standing in the middle of the nursery, still bouncing Mason gently. Tom was standing in the doorway, watching you. You felt frustrated with yourself because you couldn't figure out what was wrong with your baby boy. You were his mother, and it broke your heart to see him cry all night long. Tom moved closer to you, his hand sliding over your shoulders.
Turning your head to look at Tom, you almost broke down crying right then and there. His hand rubbed over your arm gently as you spoke, "Tom, there's something wrong. I don't know what it is, and that makes me a terrible mother, but I just know there's something wrong with Mason."
"Hey, hey," Tom cooed softly in your ear, pressing a kiss to your cheek, "you are not a terrible mother, Y/N. We'll get this figured out, and Mason will be okay. Everything will be okay. I'm going to go call my mum, alright? She might have some advice." You nodded slowly in response, and Tom pressed a kiss to your hair before leaving the room.
"Come on, baby boy," you whispered softly to Mason, your hand sliding up and down his back slowly. "Be good for mummy and daddy. I know you want to sleep." Tired of standing, you sat down in the rocking chair and started rocking him gently. He quieted a little as you rocked him, but he was still crying.
About 10 minutes later, Tom came back and Mason was just about asleep in your arms. You lifted your finger to your lips carefully so as to not disturb the now sleeping baby. He had finally tired himself out. You got up and oh-so gently placed him into the crib.
You felt relief flood your body as you stepped out of the room. He was finally asleep and the exhaustion hit you like a ton of bricks. "He's finally asleep," you whispered as Tom pulled you into his chest and swayed back and forth with you in his arms.
Your voice came out muffled against his shirt when you spoke again, "What'd your mum say, babe?" He pursed his lips and let out a sigh, which immediately worried you. You stood straight up, instantly feeling awake with worry, looking at your husband. "Tom. What'd she say?"
He shook his head, his hands running down the length of your arms. "Take a deep breath, my love. She said he might be sick. Maybe with a fever?"
Your eyebrows furrowed and you shook your head, "No, I don't think so, he didn't feel hot." You'd been holding your boy for hours, so he was definitely warm, but he hadn't felt feverish to you.
"That's what I said, too." Tom's hand slipped into yours and pulled you close again. "She said that he might be coming down with something. But she said not to worry. My mum just said to try to get him to sleep, and then just check on him. We can't do much till the morning anyway."
You nodded your head slowly; you trusted Nikki and her judgment. After all, she'd had several boys - one of which was your fantastic husband - and they'd all turned out great. You felt the exhaustion take over again and Tom led you back to bed.
The rest of the night went a little better than before, but Mason was still up every so often crying. Tom insisted on being the one who got up to take care of him. You felt bad that you weren't helping much, but Tom had insisted. Each time, he came back and said that Mason still didn't feel too warm, and he'd gotten him back to sleep.
Finally, early in the morning when Mason was crying again, you and Tom decided to just get up for the day. This time, when you picked your boy up, he felt hot. It wasn't a normal 'baby was just sleeping' kind of warm. He felt feverish, just like Nikki had predicted. Several emotions flooded through you; you were relieved to figure out what was bothering your baby boy, but it made you feel so awful that your baby boy was so uncomfortable and sick.
Unsure of what to do next, you decided that the best thing to do for now would be to change him and feed him like you normally would, and then you'd probably give Nikki another call to see what she had to say. Tom came in as you were changing Mason, and walked over to see him. "How's he doing?"
You paused and looked up at Tom, "Your mum was right. I think he has a fever."
Tom nodded and frowned slightly, leaning down to kiss his boy's head. "He does feel hot. Here, I'll finish changing him, and if you go get a bottle, I can feed him, too."
"Okay, I'll be right back." You leaned up to press a quick kiss to Tom's lips, and then you went down to the kitchen to grab a bottle.
As soon as you started warming the bottle, there was a knock at the door. You sighed and went to answer it. You looked a mess and didn't want to talk to anybody, so you opened the door reluctantly, only to find Nikki standing there. "Oh! Nikki, hi! I didn't realize you were coming."
She gave you a sympathetic smile and pulled you in for a hug. "I told Tom I'd come over last night when he called. Did he not tell you?"
You shook your head, walking back to the kitchen, "It was a rough night, he must've forgotten."
"I'm sure, I'm sorry about that. It's always so tough when your baby is sick. It's especially scary the first time."
You nodded, rubbing your hand over your face with a sigh, "I felt like a terrible mother, I just didn't know what was wrong with him."
Nikki shook her head with a frown, rubbing her hand over your back, "Oh, honey. You are not a terrible mother, it just takes time to learn. You and Tom are doing great. The two of you remind me of Dom and me when we were younger."
You couldn't help but smile, nodding your head as you picked up the now warm bottle, "Thanks, Nikki. Mason and Tom are upstairs, if you want to join us."
You made your way upstairs to find Tom rocking your baby boy gently. Mason wasn't asleep, but he also wasn't crying like he had been last night. Tom's eyes lit up at the sight of his mother, and he gave her a careful hug. You gave Tom the bottle to feed Mason as Nikki leaned down to kiss Mason's forehead.
She nodded as she stood up again, "He's got a fever. Just call your doctor, it'll be alright."
-
When you got back from the doctor's office with Tom and your baby boy, Nikki had cleaned up your house a bit. She had insisted on staying while the two of you were gone, even though you told her it wasn't necessary. Even with both you and Tom at home, Nikki stayed for the rest of the day, helping you take care of Mason, clean, and make food for you.
Later that evening, when Nikki went home again, you just about cried, you were so thankful for everything she'd done. You gave her a tight hug as you mumbled, "Thank you so much, Nikki. I can't even begin to explain how grateful I am. I can't believe I'm lucky enough to have you and Tom in my life."
Nikki smiled, "I know it's hard not having your parents closer. And you and Tom are doing so well; you're amazing parents. I couldn't ask for a better woman for my boy and my grandson."
