Yep, it's me again with yet another story. This one I intend to be longer though. It's sort of kind of a sequel to my oneshot, What's in a Name, but you definitely don't have to read it to understand this story. This isn't going to be a continuing story but more of a series of short stories in the lives of Judd and Vicki Thompson as they try their hand in raising a child :) I rated it T for good measure but it's not too bad. Enjoy!

Vicki Thompson cracked open her weary eyelids as a high-pitched wail reached her ears. She sighed. This was the third time tonight. And the past few nights had gone the same way. The young 22-year-old hoped this wouldn't become a routine. She was exhausted.

She yawned and stretched as she looked over at the alarm clock and read the bright red numbers. 4:03 a.m. Vicki sighed again. Sleep was just not going to happen tonight. She managed to sit up and throw the covers off herself as her husband stirred beside her. The crying was becoming louder and more persistent. No way Judd was going to sleep through this one.

"Again?" he asked exasperatedly as Vicki stood up from the bed.

"Yep," Vicki confirmed as she yanked the covers from his side of the bed to remind him that she wasn't going to be doing this alone.

"Alright, I'm coming," he said as he too yawned, stretched, and slowly rose from their bed.

They walked the short distance to the other room in their small, one story house to where the crying was coming from. They entered and Vicki went straight to the crib to pick up their baby daughter. She started bouncing the baby to try to get her to calm down and then began checking the vitals.

"She's probably hungry. Just feed her," Judd said as he stood to the side uselessly. He never understood why Vicki insisted he always help her with their late night visits to the baby's room. He couldn't produce milk. All he ever did was watch as Vicki did her best to feed and/or hush the baby back to sleep and then they would head back to their room. That was hardly worth waking him up too when the baby woke up in the middle of the night.

"I just fed her. She can't possibly be hungry again," Vicki said, annoyed at her husband. Just because she was the mom didn't mean she had to do all the hard work. Yeah she was kind of stuck with the feeding part unless they switched to formula but that didn't mean that she had to be the only one to wake up multiple times throughout the night.

"Well at least try. You never know with her."

"Fine," Vicki said angrily as she tried to get her daughter to eat but that was obviously not the issue. The baby didn't even try to eat anything.

"Told you," Vicki said. She continued gently bouncing the baby to try and get her to go back to sleep but it wasn't working. She checked her diaper and found that it was clean. What could possibly be wrong with her?

"You don't think she's getting sick do you?" Vicki asked with worry.

"I don't know, maybe. She's done this multiple times in the last few days and it's usually not for an actual reason like a diaper change or something. Maybe we should call the doctor," Judd suggested wearily. Though they absolutely adored their daughter, the young parents had had enough. They were severely sleep deprived.

However, just then the baby grew very quiet and Vicki watched in awe as she slowly drifted to sleep. "What the heck was that for?" Vicki whispered as she placed her daughter back in her bed.

They left the baby's room and closed the door behind them, praying they would have at least a few more hours to sleep for the night. "She didn't even need anything and just all of a sudden goes right back to sleep. It's like she's torturing us for her own pleasure," Vicki said exasperatedly causing Judd to chuckle.

"Yeah, that must be it. The greatest pleasure Lainey gets from life is waking her poor parents up tons of times during the night just for the heck of it," Judd said sarcastically. "Well why else would she start wailing hysterically when nothing is wrong and then just fall right back asleep?"

"I don't know. Maybe this is just what babies do and it's all just another wonderful aspect of being a parent," Judd said as they walked into their room and collapsed on the bed.

"Yeah well if that's the case then don't be expecting any more kids from me anytime soon," Vicki said as she snuggled under the covers.

"Okay, sweetie."

"I'm serious. I am closing up my womb until further notice."

Judd had to laugh at that. "Honey, unless you're planning a surgery that I don't know about, the only person who can do that is God."

"Yeah well maybe God will have mercy on us and keep me barren for a little while."

Judd chuckled. "I love you, babe," he said as he leaned over and kissed her cheek.

"I love you too. Now lets try and get some sleep."

"Amen to that!"

The next day (or rather, later that same day) Vicki chatted with her mother while Shelly and Darrion played with the baby. It was a Tuesday tradition. All the girls of the Young Tribulation Force would meet at someone's house to have lunch and fellowship. The moms of the girls were invited as well so Vicki's mom, Judd's mom, Darrion's mom, and a few others were also there.

"I don't know what's wrong with her, mom. I mean she just starts crying in the middle of the night for no apparent reason and then when she decides she's done, she goes back to sleep. I can't figure it out," Vicki lamented to her mother.

"I think I know what's wrong her," Dawn Byrne said.

"Really, what?" Vicki asked, hoping she could finally put an end to all of this.

"She's a baby," Dawn stated matter-of-factly. Vicki gave her mother a look that could kill. "I'm serious sweetie. What you're describing to me is exactly what every mother in the history of the world has gone through. This is normal and its something you're just going to have to get used to. I did it three times and I still survived."

"How?" Vicki asked, utterly defeated.

Vicki's mom chuckled. "To be honest, I'm not really sure. This will pass though and she'll be a yelling teenager before you know it."

"Man, you really know how to kick someone when they're down."

"I'm sorry sweetie. That's just parenting. It's got its highs and it's got its very lows."

"So I'm beginning to see," Vicki said as she put her head on her hand and sighed miserably.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Shelly asked as she came over to the mother-daughter pair.

"Oh just lamenting the fact that I haven't slept in weeks."

"Yikes, that bad huh?"

"I don't even remember the last time I was this exhausted. I'm pretty sure I've never been this exhausted," Vicki said which was appropriately followed by a yawn.

"Well, if you want, the girls and I could all get together this weekend and watch Lainey for you so you and Judd can have a weekend alone."

Vicki's face looked so happy, it was comical. "Shel, you have no idea how much Judd and I would appreciate that."

"Oh it wouldn't be a big deal. I'm sure with all the girl power we have in the YTF we can take of her no problem, no matter how many times she wakes up in the middle of the night," Shelly said with a wave of her hand.

Vicki jumped from her seat and gave Shelly a crushing hug. "You have no idea how much this means to me, Shel."

"That's what friends are for," she said with a smile. "Besides, Lainey is just so cute."

"Oh, yeah. I forget sometimes," Vicki said with a tired smile.

After a challenging weekend with the baby, Shelly and Darrion stopped by the Thompson's house to deliver their exhausting little bundle of joy. The circles under both of the girl's eyes indicated how the weekend had gone for them.

The girls rang the doorbell, car seat and baby bags in hand. Vicki swung open the door with a large smile and greeted her friends with a shockingly cheery, "Hello! Come on in."

Shelly and Darrion maneuvered themselves through the doorway, which was difficult considering the sheer amount of things they were carrying and also having to be gentle with the baby, who was fast asleep.

Vicki helped her friends unload all of their luggage and then she gently took her daughter to her room so she could sleep peacefully. When she got back, Shelly and Darrion had collapsed on the couch in the living room.

"Why am I not surprised?" she asked as she sat down on one of the chairs.

"Seriously, I don't know how you do it. We had like six different girls taking care of one baby for two days and we're all exhausted," Shelly lamented.

"Yeah, I have so much respect for you right now, Vicki," Darrion added. Vicki had to chuckle.

"Well welcome to the world of parenting."

Both girls groaned. Before they had only seen the fun part of being a parent. They were the ones who got to play with the precious little baby before handing her off to her parents when something went wrong. Now, they had an idea of what it was like when there was no one to hand the baby off to anymore. It was a good thing both girls still had a little time before they got to experience parenthood for themselves.

"Well, you know how the weekend was for us. How was it for you guys?" Shelly asked.

Darrion sat up and her voice took on a suggestive tone, "Yeah, what did you guys do once you had the house all to yourselves for a little while."

"Oh it was amazing. We spent the entire weekend in bed."

Shelly chuckled. "I'll bet you did!"

Vicki leaned in closer to her girlfriends. "It was incredible. Can you believe that I slept for twelve straight hours!" she exclaimed excitedly. Shelly and Darrion shared a look. Sleep wasn't exactly what they were thinking about when Vicki said she and her husband had spent the whole weekend in bed.

"So, all you did was sleep?" Shelly asked, her voice a little deflated.

"Yeah, pretty much! We would sleep for a little while, then wake up and eat something, then go right back to bed. I swear it was the best weekend I've had in awhile! I'm so refreshed. Thank you guys so much for watching Lainey for us. We so appreciate it," Vicki said happily.

Shelly and Darrion looked uneasily at each other. So this was parenthood.

Well, what do you think? And in case you hadn't noticed from this story and my oneshot, I'm kind of obsessed with the name Lainey. That's what I want to name my daughter when I have kids :) And, like I said, if you want to know the story behind the name, read my oneshot. Review and let me know what you think and if I should continue!