BABY BLUES

Chad Dylan Cooper woke suddenly in his room at the sound of fussing being quietly hushed by a female voice. The teenage boy groggily sat up in his bed, pulling on his robe and rubbing his tired eyes before walking towards the noise. He stood in the doorway for a quick second, looking at the disheveled brunette girl who desperately tried to sooth the crying infant in her arms. However, the attempt was in vain.

Sighing heavily, she placed the baby girl on her shoulder, patting her back softly.

"Come on, Baby Charlotte," Sonny whispered, humming softly as Chad smiled.

He approached her, holding out his arms. "You're tired. Lemme have a turn."

"No Chad, I'm fine," she insisted, the child cuddled in her arms. "You have to work in the morning."

"You're going to fall asleep holding her. Honestly, Sonny. I don't have to be at the studio until 10 tomorrow anyhow," he insisted. Finally, with a grumble, she stood up and delicately placed their daughter in Chad's arms before leaning down kissing the child on the head.

"Good luck," she added with an eye roll before exiting to the bedroom.

Chad situated himself in the rocking chair, snuggling the baby in the crook of his arm. When Charlotte began to fuss again, he softly began to sing to her until her cries subsided and her bright blue eyes stared up at him with wonder.

Chad remembered the exact moment he found out he was going to become a father. He had been panic-stricken. After all, the idea of an 18-year-old having a baby with his 17-year-old girlfriend wasn't the exactly best life choice, especially in Hollywood.

Chad had been leaving to shoot his new movie in Australia when he could tell something was wrong with Sonny. She hadn't been feeling like herself for a couple of weeks and had started acting awkward toward him a few days before his flight. She was irritable, queasy, and just plain tired all the time. Sonny had meant to tell him about her pregnancy before his flight boarded but had chickened out at the last minute. Six weeks later, after he'd arrived home, Tawni had finally told him for her.

He remembered Tawni's words vividly:

"She's scared, Chad. She thinks that you're going to hate her forever."

It had been a huge blow. Sonny was pregnant, he was going to be a father, and everything was going to change forever. Their careers would be ruined and their parents would never forgive them. He was in full freakout mode, but had Tawni soon snapped him out of that.

"Get it together," the blonde comedian had told him. "She needs you right now."

That afternoon he had found Sonny hidden away in the photo booth that sat in the prop house, her head hung low. He took a seat at her side, placing his hand on her knee. Her long, dark eyelashes fanned across her cheeks as she stared at the floor. He knew that he loved her more than anything—this was Sonny, after all. Maybe this baby would change their lives, but it didn't have to change the way he felt about her.

"Do you have something you want to tell me?" he'd finally asked her, just wanting to break the dead silence in the room. For some reason, he needed to hear the words from her. Everything seemed to be suspended in time right now and he just wanted her to say it so they could move on to the next step in their lives.

But she couldn't.

Her bottom lip trembled as she looked up at him with sad brown eyes. "Chad, I-I.." She stuttered, shaking her head quickly. She gasped with a sob, and he quickly wrapped his arms around her. "It's okay," he insisted. "Tawni told me." He let her cry in his arms for a good while—she had been holding this in for weeks now. "I'm going to be here. I love you," he told her with all the sincerity in the world. She sighed in relief, quickly wrapping her arms around him in return. Chad closed his eyes as they held on tightly to one another.

And now here he was, less than seven months after that moment in the prop house, rocking his new infant daughter in his arms. Things had changed so quickly. Only three weeks ago, he'd never even held a baby in his arms and today he had become an expert at soothing a crying infant back to sleep.

He smiled at his daughter—a little girl with a tiny tuft of dark brown hair and the most dazzling blue eyes he'd ever seen. Chad had beamed with pride when he realized his little girl had inherited his eye color. Sonny had to remind him that all Caucasian babies had blue eyes, but Chad knew deep down that his Charlotte Dawn Cooper would have those same ocean blue eyes the rest of her life.

His perfect little girl now back asleep, he gently carried her to the bassinet that sat next his bed, placing her in quietly. He crawled back into bed, trying his best not to wake Sonny in the process. When he sighed in relief and closed his eyes, he felt her stir next to him in the bed.

Sonny sat up. "Is she asleep?" she asked him, astonished.

"For awhile at least," he whispered with a chuckle. It was a rarity that they actually got the privilege to sleep together at the same time, but the look on Sonny's face right then was not one of joy.

"What's wrong?" he quickly ask her, bracing her arm with his hand as she sobbed.

"She likes you better than me. I'm her mother. I feed her and take are of her all day long and she hates me!"

It wasn't the first irrational breakdown Sonny had had since the baby was born. She had been quite weepy for awhile now, getting upset over the smallest of things. Sonny's doctor had assured Chad it was normal to be a bit sad for the two weeks after giving birth, when a mother's hormones were changing. But Charlotte was almost three weeks old now, and Sonny was crying more than ever.

"Shhh," he quickly moved to calm her before she woke up the sleeping infant only feet away. "You know that's not true. You are a wonderful mother, Sonny," he assured her. He pulled the sobbing girl into lap and cuddled her into his arms as she wiped the tears from her face with the back of her wrists.

"Sometimes when you're at the studio I just feel so overwhelmed," she finally admitted. "I know this sounds horrible, but I don't know if I can do this. I'm always worried I'll screw up."

Chad nodded as he moved to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear. "I know it's really hard right now, Sonny, but it won't always be like this. I promise," he soothed. "When we get our own place, it'll get easier. Mackenzie Falls will be over and you can go to college while I work on my movie career."

To say things had been tough lately would be an enormous understatement. Sonny had moved in with Chad and his parents shortly after it was revealed that they were expecting. Mrs. Cooper was a very opinionated and controlling woman, making the sudden move even harder on Sonny. Sonny had tried her best to please Chad's mom, but it seemed impossible at times. While Mr. Cooper wasn't around enough to care about the situation, his wife couldn't seem to stop believing that Sonny had "ruined" her son's life on purpose.

Chad knew his mother meant well, but her attitude towards the mother of his child had made a hard situation even worse. He knew it was normal for Sonny to become upset about all of this, but it seemed that the once happy-go-lucky brunette had died a little on the inside. The fact that the once confident girl was second-guessing herself now was killing him.

But it seemed that everything about their relationship had changed, as much as he didn't want it to.

They fought now. It wasn't the same superficial fights about walk-a-thons and Tween Choice awards that they had once shared. No, now it was about Chad being gone for long hours at the studio and the daily spats with his mother. Chad knew he loved Sonny and Sonny loved him, but sometimes it was all too much to take. She was going through something major right now that was affecting the relationship between them.

Sonny needed help, that much he knew.

"I think maybe you should see a doctor," he finally whispered and she stiffened in his arms.

"I'm fine, Chad," she replied in an irritated voice.

"You've been really depressed lately."

"It's just baby blues. I'm not depressed." She removed herself from Chad's lap, swinging her legs over the side of the bed and scowling. Chad quickly moved to her side.

She had seemed so distant lately, and Chad new that not being able to be with her friends was a part of the problem. Not that she didn't speak to the Randoms anymore; they were just living different lives now.

"I know you really miss work and being creative," he told her. "But you'll find something else you love to do. This will pass eventually and the world will still see that you're the same sweet girl you always were."

"I think the world has already made up their minds about me," she muttered.

After her pregnancy was revealed to the press, Sonny had left So Random! She hadn't had much of a choice in the decision. A pregnant teen couldn't exactly star on a children's show, and once she had given birth, Sonny knew mothers would not approve of her public image.

Chad had been allowed to finish out the last season of Mackenzie Falls. It seemed that the controversy over a teenage father was not nearly as big as the one Sonny had been dealing with right now. Chad knew it wasn't fair that he hadn't been forced to leave his show, but it was essential that one of them maintain their career with a baby on the way.

"There's nothing wrong with admitting you might need to talk to someone," he said as Sonny crossed her arms defensively over her chest. "Sonny, look at me," he lifted her chin with his finger, his gentle blue eyes gazing into her warm brown ones. "I don't think it's just post-pregnancy blues. You really haven't been yourself lately. It's been so long since I've seen you genuinely happy."

Sonny sighed as tears rolled down her cheeks. It was hard to admit that she wasn't perfect. She had strived for so long to do everything right, and admitting she couldn't get through this on her own was killing her.

"Please, do this for me. Do it for Charlotte."

She finally nodded and Chad placed a gentle kiss on her lips. "I love you, Sonshine."

Sonny smiled. "I love you, too."

A/N: I've been having a bad week, so I wrote this as therapy. I guess it's a lot different from what I'm used to writing, but I've had this in my head for quite awhile. It's a bit depressing and a bit sappy. I see a lot of Channy pregnancy fics and, to be honest, they tend to be pretty unrealistic. Anyways, there it is. I like writing one-shots even though most people don't really bother to read them lol.

May turn it into a two-shot, but not before I update my other multi-chapter. :)