January 23, 2015, 9:00 AM

Jeffrey was starting to become rather frazzled. The kids were crying again, and Jeffrey was starting to get very stressed out, since the kids were very scared, and they would start crying whenever Jeffrey left them alone, since they only felt safe with him, so he had to drag them around with him if it meant keeping them from crying again, as the kids crying was now a major source of anxiety.

"Guys, I know that ya want me to be with ye all the time, but sometimes, I have things to do." Jeffrey hastily explained to the crying kids. "I dunnae ever mean to leave ya alone forever. I just need to leave for a short time sometimes, since I have some other responsibilities as well. Surely, ye can take it-"

"We can't!" Littlefoot cut him off, surprising Jeffrey.

"Why?" Jeffrey asked, startled.

"Because..." Littlefoot sobbed, lowering his head, "we can't feel safe if you're not around..."

This surprised Jeffrey, and it revealed why the kids were so scared and would cry so often: he was the only person that they felt safe around. But when he thought about it, it made sense. When Jeffrey and the kids were about to get to the valley, the kids were very excited, since they thought that their families had gotten to the valley, but after searching for their parents in the valley, their hopes were crushed when they realized that their parents didn't make it, reducing them to the whimpering, sobbing mess that all 5 of them were now.

"Okay, okay, ye win." Jeffrey muttered. "It looks like I have nae choice but to stay with ye 5 and help ya work through these problems."

The kids stopped audibly crying at this, though they still had tears running down their faces. At that, Jeffrey began trying to help the kids work through their severe fear issues.

9:00 PM

Jeffrey had been trying very hard for the past 12 hours to help the kids work through their problems, but he wasn't making any headway, since the kids clung to their fear of being alone, which wasn't helping him at all.

"Guys, ye're nae helping." Jeffrey groaned. "Ye're supposed to let go of yer fear of being alone, nae cling to it."

"But we don't want to be alone!" Littlefoot wailed. The kids didn't understand that they weren't doing the right thing in terms of getting rid of their fears.

"Alright, well, I'm nae making much progress, so I guess one thing I can do is help ye 5 get to sleep." Jeffrey sighed.

So Jeffrey had to lay against Littlefoot's side to make the kids fall asleep. Luckily, the kids were heavy sleepers, like most hatchlings their ages, so they wouldn't wake up for much, if at all.

Once the kids were asleep, Jeffrey managed to stand up and walk away a few yards without waking them up. He used this opportunity to think about why the kids were so nervous and scared now, where 8 days ago, when the kids were about to get to the valley, they seemed so confident and happy once Sharptooth was dealt with. But then he remembered that he had carried a weapon with him while he was taking the kids to the valley, which made the kids feel calm and secure, since they knew that he could shoot to death anyone who threatened them. But he didn't carry the weapon with him anymore, so the kids were very skittish and scared. But it also gave him the perfect idea to prank the kids with when they woke up, since he actually had a S&W M29 (.44 Magnum) that he kept in his room most of the time. Maybe he would let the kids see him armed again in his own way?

"Hmm, now I know how to go about tis."