Disclaimer: So far as the characters and story goes, I don't own 'em and I never did. This story is a derivative work from Dawson's Creek, however I claim no rights to it.
The baby's chest rose and fell as she took in heavy breaths. Her small body was exhausted from hours of unbroken crying before finally having cried herself to sleep. She wore nothing more than a diaper and the nakedness of her pink skin; the residual effect of a now broken fever. Joey eyed the baby wearily as she wiped a damp towel across the baby's forehead. The baby stirred and grunted but did not wake.
Joey took a few step back from the crib and quietly collapsed onto her bed. She sighed and closed her eyes. Every muscle in her body ached for sleep, and the drowsy hot summer night didn't make matters any better. Even with the windows wide open, the mild hot breeze offered little comfort. Still, some wind was better than the sweltering, immobile heat; at least she could breathe this way. It was not long before sleep swept her away.
When he entered the house he was greeted by darkness and silence. He set down the bulky box he carried and closed the door behind him.
"Jo?" he called out tentatively, above a whisper.
"Sweetheart?" He flicked on the light.
More silence.
She must be asleep, he reasoned as he carried the box and drop it on the living room coffee table. He tore open the box and pulled out a large fan which he promptly assembled. Just hours before, Joey had called him to inform him, in her most agitated and disgruntled voice, that the air conditioner had broken and that the baby's feverish cries were driving her mad.
"It can't be that bad." he'd responded.
The other side of the line went dead with silence and he knew that she was giving him her patent look of disbelief and aggravation. Funny, he thought. That look can pass through telephone lines.
"Okay, okay. I'm sorry. I didn't mean it like that. Look, Jo. I don't know exactly what you expect me to do, I'm kinda swamped here--"
"It's okay. I'm not asking for anything. I just wanted to hear your voice," she paused. "...or anything resembling human verbalization. Unfortunately, the discovery channel isn't featuring gorillas today, so you will have to do."
He smiled. "I take it that the baby's cooing doesn't qualify?" he chided.
"Ugh! Cooing? I don't think she even knows how. You know, this girl is going to grow up to be a whiner, and we have you to blame for that."
"Me? How did I manage that?"
"Well, obviously its genetic. She got those traits from you," Joey grumbled. He'd almost laughed at her irrational accusations, but he knew better than to provoke her. Their banter may have been playful enough, but he couldn't bring himself to poke fun at her when she was so emotionally drained. The phone call hadn't lasted very long. Joey had to go back to tend the baby and he was needed to take over the staff. However, he remained distracted with thoughts of his wife and daughter, and resolved to get away from work somehow. It was several hours before he could finally escape.
He took off his shoes at the doorway of their room and crept in quietly. He set down the fan and pulled out a Rite Aid Pharmacy paper bag from his pants pocket. He had remembered that the Children's Tylenol was running low and bought some just in case. It was difficult to see in the room without light at first, but he instinctively managed his way across the room to the crib without stumbling or bumping into anything.
He set down the bag on the adjacent stand and stood over the baby. He pressed his hand on his daughter's forehead and smiled. Her fever has finally dissipated. He leaned down and touched his lips to the baby's forehead. The baby stirred. He pulled away but the baby had already waken from sleep. She gazed up at him lazily, her blue eyes matching his own, and extended her small fist toward him. Her eyes almost smiled beneath her exhaustion.
"How's my girl?" he whispered as he took her small fist in his hand. She responded by latching her small fist around his pinky finger. His heart ached with emotion. He marveled at the smallness of her hands as her fingers clutched tightly around his. Even now, five months since her birth, it amazed him just how much she looked like her mother. No matter how much Jo claimed that the baby looked like him, her resemblance to her mother was uncanny.
As quickly as she'd wakened, the baby fell back to sleep. He pressed one last kiss on her cheek before prying away from her grasp. He slid out of his jacket and tossed it on the dresser. It had been too hot to wear the damned thing, but it made him look professional. Now he was simply relieved to be free of it. He set up the fan in good position between the crib and the bed and turned it on high. The room's temperature immediately dropped by many degrees. He took notice of the wide open widow and was glad he'd bought the fan. Even with the window open, the room had been insanely hot.
Undoing his tie he turned his attention to the bed. Bathed in moonlight, Joey lay on their bed, fully dressed and sleeping above the covers. She must've just knocked out, he thought as he dropped his tie to the floor and unbutton his shirt. He took a seat at the foot of the bed and took her shoed feet in his lap. He untied the laces and dropped the shoes onto the floor. Staring down at her jeans he wondered if he should wake her; removing them would not be an easy task. Nah, he figured, she needs her sleep. He stood over her and unbuttoned her pants. He paused as he began to pull them down, musing at the kinkiness of the situation. A sly smile spread across his lips as he imagined her reaction were she to wake up at that moment.
Removing her pants proved to be a lot easier than he'd speculated. Reacting by impulse, Joey turned to her side and he was able to pull off her jeans in one quick tug. He also took off her socks and quietly dropped her clothes in the hamper. Joey lay back on her back, still asleep and completely unaware of being undressed. She now lay in strap top and boxers and couldn't have looked more beautiful to him. He took a seat beside her on the bed and ran his fingers through her sweat matted hair. He pressed the palm of his hand against her sweat dampened forehead and was surprised to find her a little too warm. He crept to the bathroom and soaked a clean wash cloth with cold water. When he returned to the bed he gingerly pressed the wet cloth to her head.
"Pacey?" Joey murmured as her eyes fluttered open. She began to sit up but Pacey gently pushed her back down.
"It's okay. Just lay back and rest."
Joey nodded and looked over at the clock. She shot up at the realization of the time.
"My god. Pacey, it's only eight-thirty. The restaurant doesn't close until one tonight. What are you--"
"I got worried," he said as he pressed the wet cloth to her lips. "I left Benny in charge, he'll be closing for me tonight."
Joey pushed the cloth away from her lips. "But Saturday nights are your busiest nights. You should go back, you still have time."
Pacey ran the cloth across Joey's forehead and down her cheek. He hardly seemed to have heard a word she said. Joey closed her eyes, enjoying the cooling sensation of the wet cloth.
"Why didn't you tell me that you have a fever, Jo." Pacey asked softly.
"Hm?" Joey looked up at Pacey in surprise.
"You're warm."
"It's no big deal, Pace. Besides, its going down."
"But you're exhausted. I can't have my girl wearing herself out on a sick baby when she's sick herself. At this rate, you'll be worn thin by the time you go back to work from maternity leave."
Joey smiled and rested her forehead against his.
"You're so good to me, you know that? How is it that one person can be so good for you?"
"Just promise me that you won't push yourself like this, Jo. You had me worried."
Joey embraced Pacey and brushed her lips against his neck. Pacey closed his eyes, enjoying the sensation of her lips on his skin. Joey pulled back and stared into Pacey's worrisome eyes. She brushed her fingers across his jaw line, then pulled him into a slow and deep kiss. Instinctively, they lay themselves back on the bed without pulling away from each other, their bodies resting on their sides. Pacey wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her against him just as Joey pressed her chest against his. They pressed their clothed bodies tightly, almost desperately, as if they could not get enough physical intimacy.
As if distracted, Joey broke the kiss and pulled away. Pacey stared, startled, and was about to question her, when she took hold of his shirt and slid it off his shoulders. They continued like this for some time; kissing and touching, never speaking. They could hear nothing more than the drumming of their fevered pulses and their wrangled breath. Ultimately, both were too exhausted to do more than touching and kissing, and fell asleep entangled in each other with the fan buzzing in the background.
Pacey shot up from bed and smacked the snooze button on the alarm. It took him a moment to realize the wailing came from the baby and that it was barely only two in the morning. He looked down at Joey, who remained deep in sleep, and crept out of bed. He stood over the crib and tried to shush the baby to sleep, but her wailing persisted and her bright red face grew redder. He pressed his hand on her forehead and her chest to check for her temperature but it was normal. Pacey grabbed her pacifier and put it to her lips but she turned her head away and shoved it aside with her tiny fist.
"Not hungry, eh?" he whispered as he took her from the crib and held her against his bare chest. He squeezed her diaper, hoping that all she needed was to be changed, but it was dry. Pacey rocked her, and glanced at Joey, fearing that the baby's screams would wake her.
"Come on, little one. You don't want to wake Mommy, do you?" he whispered into the baby's ear. "Mommy needs her rest right now. And I wouldn't mind getting some too."
Pacey heard a slight groan and realized that Joey was beginning to stir.
"Okay, you little siren, looks like you and daddy are taking a little trip to the livingroom," he said to the baby as he carried her out the room. He flicked on the livingroom light and the baby momentarily stopped crying, startled by the sudden flooding of light. However, the silence was short-lived and her wails raged on.
"Lets see," Pacey said as he continued rocking her. "How about a story, eh? Did I ever tell you about the time Mommy and Daddy became prisoners in a Big K Mart? Eh?" The baby's wails grew louder and Pacey felt the onset of a headache pinching at his temples.
"Okay, no stories then." He looked about the livingroom for some kind of a solution when he spotted the remote control. "How about some television, then?" He turned on the tv with the remote and flicked through the channels.
"Oh, lookie there, sweetie" he said as he stopped at the discovery channel. "Look, look. It's a cute and fuzzy little bunny." He turned the crying baby's attention to the giant television screen. "Oh, and look, a big fuzzy mountain cat. You like kitty cats don't you, eh?" Relief washed over him as the baby's cries began to subside.
"See, he wants to play with the bunny." Onscreen, the mountain cat leaped ferociously at the rabbit. Pacey quickly turned off the tv before the carnage got too graphic. "Okay, we've had about enough of that, right?" But it was no use. His daughter's screams started up again, as fierce as before.
"Oh, no no no no. I thought we were good now. Come on, sweetie. Daddy needs his rest too." Pacey began to wonder if he would ever make it back to bed.
Joey woke to the hum of the fan. She reached for Pacey but found only more mattress.
"Pace?" She called out, but got no answer. She crawled out of bed and looked into the empty crib.
"Pacey?" She called out once more.
Joey looked down at the overgrown fan on the floor as she took notice of it for the first time and smiled. She saw a vague glow seep from beneath their bedroom door; she walked over and pressed her ear against it, barely making out the sounds of a crying baby and someone talking. Joey opened the door and quietly made her way out. She stood at the end of the dark hallway and hid herself behind the wall as she spied Pacey rocking the baby in his arms. He was speaking to her with affectionate exasperation as he tried to put her to sleep.
"What must I do to get you to go back to sleep?" Joey overheard him say. "Oh, I see. You want the song, don't you? Come on, you know Daddy doesn't like to sing." He looked at his daughter's beet red, tear stained face and realized he didn't have any other options left.
"Fine. You win, you little siren." Pacey paused and cleared his throat.
"Oh, I could hide 'neath the wings of the blue bird as she sings. The six o'clock alarm would never ring." Pacey paused for a moment to clear his throat once more. The baby now gawked up at him expectantly. Her crying had stopped at soon as he'd started to sing, and did not seem to mind the way her father's voice cracked and wavered. He continued with the song, glad that it had the desired effect.
Joey stepped into the living and walked toward her two favorite people. However, Pacey was too lost in song to notice his wife approach. By the time he finished his first rendition of the chorus, the baby had already become noticeably subdued. He softened his voice as the baby's eyes fluttered with sleep and repeated the chorus once more.
"Cheer up, Sleepy Jean. Oh, what can it mean..." Pacey trailed off as he realized that he was no longer singing alone. He looked up to find Joey singing along and smiling. She nodded at him to continue. "To a daydream believer and a homecoming queen..." They stopped. Joey stood directly before him and leaned forward to kiss the back of the baby's head.
"She's asleep," Joey whispered, her face just inches away from Pacey.
"Yeah, finally. She's got an evil set of lungs on her," Pacey answered in the same low voice.
"Like I said, she gets that from her father," she chided and planted a quick kiss on his cheek.
The baby groaned between them and both parents looked down at her in alarm.
"Let's do this together, 'kay?" Pacey said looking into Joey's eyes.
She nodded. "Okay."
They sang the song from beginning to end and repeated the chorus a few extra times to make certain that the baby had gone into deep sleep. Pacey couldn't have been happier as her cradled his little girl in one arm, and held his best girl close with the other.
Author's note: I would appreciate some feedback. Thank you. I hope you enjoyed this fiction