Good Old-Fashioned Lover Boy (JoeMazzello!JohnDeacon fanfic)

one hundred

Theodore was generally quite a happy baby; he barely cried, always seemed content and he slept a lot more than Arthur.

Like with their firstborn, they'd both tried to get Theo into some sort of routine - one that would let them get a decent night's sleep too but so far, their actions were pointless. He was up for almost half the night sometimes - just like tonight, positively wailing in John's ear as the bassist tries to settle him.

Roxy sits on the bed, watching worriedly as John paces back and forth, gently bouncing the baby as he does.

"John, let me take him," she pleads, "You've got-"

He shakes his head, "No, it's alright, I'm fine. You've got to sleep though, love."

"You've got the-" she stops when their bedroom door is pushed open, face falling at the sight of Arthur standing with his hands covering his ears, stuffed penguin by his feet, "Oh god,"

They were both up.

"Hey," John says over the crying baby, "What are you doing up?"

Arthur comes over to the bed, tossing the penguin onto it before he grabs hold of the blankets to pull himself up.

Roxy welcomes him into her arms, where he plonks himself down on into her lap, "Can you not sleep?"

He shakes his head, "Theo too loud."

John frowns - he'd completely forgotten that Arthur could hear the crying. He feels awful.

"I know he is," Roxy murmurs, "But he's just a baby. He can't tell us what's wrong so mummy and daddy are trying to work it out."

John sits himself down on the edge of the bed and Arthur crawls across to sit beside him, reaching back to grab hold of his penguin, which he sits in the crook of John's arm, by Theo's feet.

"What are you doing?" Roxy asks as he returns to her side.

"Pengy makes me feel better...maybe he can make Theo feel better too."

She puts her hand against her heart as John laughs, "Oh, you are just the sweetest."

"Okay, listen," John says as he stands, "I'm gonna take him downstairs and see if I can settle him down there."

"John, no," she shakes her head, "You've got that interview tomorrow morning and you haven't had any sleep."

He ignores her, "Take him for a minute, please."

Roxanne knows better than to argue, she knows that he'll tell her to get some sleep and that he'll see to the baby but still, in the weeks that they've been home, John had been doing most of the night feeds.

She cradles Theo against her chest as he continues to wail and Arthur covers his ears again.

2:30 was not a good time for anyone to be awake - much less a toddler.

"Are you sure you don't want me to take him?" Roxanne asks as John steps back into the room, "Your interview is at nine, John."

"I'll be fine," he kisses her as he takes the baby from her again, letting Arthur kiss his little forehead before heading for the door again, "'m an early riser no matter how little sleep I've had."

He closes the door softly behind him and Roxanne looks down at her son, who raises a hand to rub at his tired eyes before looking up at her.

"Alright," she whispers, pulling the blankets back, "In you get."

Arthur quickly scrambles under and Roxy knows that she shouldn't really be doing this, that she should put him back in his own bed so it doesn't become a habit but...she's so tired.