The First Night
"She cried earlier and every light in the house blew."
Did the lights blow all at once? How Sarah Jane and baby Sky spent their first night together.
Sarah Jane gasped when the baby cried and all the lights around her exploded. She curled the baby close to her body, not wanting the child hurt by flying glass. Sarah winced as she felt a bit of glass cut her through her robe. The baby continued to cry and Sarah Jane could hear more lights exploding.
"Shhhh, please be quiet! Please be quiet!" Sarah Jane whispered, bouncing back and forth. She had never taken care of an infant before, but she felt that bouncing around might quiet the child. Sure enough, the baby grew silent. Sarah breathed a sigh of relief.
"Let get you upstairs and show you to Mr. Smith." Sarah Jane turned around, closed the front door and headed up to the attic.
"Mr. Smith, I need you." The wall came apart and Mr. Smith was revealed.
'What can I do for you Sarah Jane?' The Xylok replied. Sarah bounced the baby back and forth.
"This baby was left on my doorstep just moments ago. I need you to scan the surrounding area; find out how far away whoever left her has gotten." Mr. Smith began to whir and then began to shut down.
"Mr. Smith, what are you doing?!" Sarah Jane exclaimed.
'My scan concludes nothing. However, I have discovered that several of the lights in the house have blown.' Sarah Jane shrugged at his words.
"It was the baby; when she cries, lights explode."
'As I have concluded. Goodnight Sarah Jane.' And with that, Mr. Smith shut down, the walls moving back into place to cover him up.
"Mr. Smith!" Sarah Jane cried. "Mr. Smith, I need you!" No matter how many times Sarah called, the Xylok would not come out.
"Fine." She huffed. The baby in her arms gurgled, her little hands reaching for Sarah's hair. Her fingers wrapped around a lock of hair and she yanked at it, trying to get the hair closer to her mouth.
"Oh no you don't." Sarah Jane scolded, freeing one of her own hands and detangling her hair from the infant's grasp. The baby made a face and Sarah feared she would cry again. Sarah Jane was about to hand the child back her hair in order to quiet her when the baby scrunched her nose up tight and let a tiny sneeze. Sarah held her breath, praying the baby wouldn't cry again. The baby's eyes widened and a big grin spread across her face. The child let out a high pitched squeal and the computer began to beep loudly as did the digital clock in the corner of the attic. Sarah could hear other objects in the house beginning to beep loudly. Sarah Jane rolled her eyes and bounced the baby twice.
"When you cry, things blow up. When you laugh, you set off alarms. What else can you do little one?" The child looked up at her innocently and let out a gurgle. Sarah Jane smiled and moved around the attic, shutting off the computer and the digital clock.
"Let's go and shut everything off and then we'll figure out what to do with you."
After all of the blaring electronic devices were shut off, Sarah Jane made her way to her room, bringing the baby's carrying case with her. She closed her bedroom door and crossed over to the bed. Very slowly and very carefully, Sarah placed the baby in the middle of the bed. Almost instantly, the child began to wriggle, attempting to move around. Sarah Jane moved quickly and placed two pillows on the infant's left side, making sure the baby couldn't roll away and used her body as the barricade on the baby's right side.
"You are going to be such a handful, aren't you?" Sarah pulled the baby's blanket out of the carrier and placed it gently over the child. The baby grasped at the white blanket and rubbed it against her face. She sighed and let out a tiny yawn.
"Oh, are you sleepy?" Sarah Jane cooed.
'Where did that come from?' She thought. 'I'm a mother, but I've never raised a baby! I face aliens and save the world on a daily basis; I'm Sarah Jane Smith! I don't coo!' Sarah Jane looked down at the baby, who looked up at her with very sleepy eyes. She blinked twice before closing her eyes. Within minutes she was asleep.
"Thank God." Sarah sighed. She hadn't realized how trying this baby was until the little girl had fallen asleep. She settled down against the mattress, her face level to the child. After a moment Sarah hesitantly reached out and stroked a finger across the baby's cheek. The child whimpered softly and nuzzled Sarah's finger.
"Hmm…soft, not rubbery." She commented before yawning herself. "I'm going to try and get some sleep now." She whispered to the sleeping infant. "Could you sleep until morning?" Sarah Jane closed her eyes, sleep overcoming her.
Sarah Jane was awoken by the sound of wailing and bulbs exploding. She bolted upright, jolted out of her sleep.
"What is it?! What wrong?!" She cried, quite alarmed. For a moment, Sarah forgot about the baby lying next to her until the light display of her bedside clock exploded. She quickly maneuvered herself and picked up the screaming child.
"Shh, it's okay, I'm here, I'm right here. Everything is going to be fine." The baby, once in Sarah Jane's arms, quieted quite quickly. Sarah Jane tried twice, unsuccessfully to put the quiet baby back down on the mattress. Both times the baby cried.
"You are a temperamental little thing, aren't you?" Sarah Jane asked as the child began shoving her fist in her mouth.
"Don't put your fist in your mouth. Goodness knows where that fist has been." Sarah Jane reprimanded lightly, removing the fist from the child's mouth. The baby stared up at her sadly for a moment before moving on. Sarah grabbed the baby's blanket and used it to dry off her little fist. Suddenly, there was something wet sucking at her breast.
"Oh!" Sarah Jane let short cry, jumping slightly. She looked down to find the baby sucking and nuzzling her breast, searching for a nipple to latch onto. The little girl was now using her fist that Sarah had let go of to pull herself closer to Sarah Jane's breast. Sarah sighed and stroked the baby's head.
"I'm sorry little one; I don't have anything in there for you." The baby didn't seem to listen and just kept sucking; she let out a tiny frustrated noise when nothing came out. Sarah Jane shifted around a bit until she had her legs crossed widely and her right hand was under the infant's head. Slowly, she pulled the baby away from her breast. The little girl flailed her arms about, whimpering loudly before settling. Sarah Jane put the child in the middle of her crossed legs. Sarah examined the little girl in front of her.
"You know what? I think I should call you something other than 'little one.' What do you want to be called?" The child just stared up at Sarah, cooing and babbling.
"Alice?" The baby made a face and Sarah Jane nodded. "You're right; Alice is not the right name for you."
"Abby? Adelaide? I could call you 'Addie.' No; those aren't right either. Amelia? Valery? Belle? Lana? Ashley? Clara? Callie? Samantha? Riley? Paige? Kayla? Holly? Alicia? Jaime? Polly?" It was Sarah Jane's turn to let out a frustrated noise. "Naming Luke was easy. Why is name you so hard?" The baby giggled and Sarah Jane checked that her alarm clock was unplugged.
When she turned back to the child, she realized the baby had spit up, and it was dribbling all over her face.
"Oh baby…" Sarah moaned. She moved the child to the middle of the bed and trapped her in between two pillows.
"I'll be right back; don't move." She told the child, moving off the bed. The baby watched Sarah Jane walk to the door and then began to scream. Sarah spun around; the bulb in closet shattered and Sarah Jane could hear the bathroom lights exploding. She took another step away from the child, knowing she could get a washcloth from the bathroom in less than a minute. Sarah took another step and the cries intensified. She looked back at the screeching child and noticed the street lamps popping.
"I am way out of my depth; I need help." Sarah Jane muttered. "First thing in the morning, I'm calling Rani and Clyde." Sarah quickly crossed the room and reached for the child. The baby's cries became more silenced as she reached up for Sarah Jane.
Sarah bounced the baby back and forth on her way to the bathroom. She grabbed a wash cloth and wet it with some warm water. She dabbed it around the infant's mouth, cleaning her up. Sarah Jane shifted the baby so the baby girl's head rested against her shoulder. She could hear the baby sigh contently and she could feel the little girl's hands fisting her robe.
"Are you done being difficult?" Sarah asked, rubbing a hand up and down the child's back. The baby just snuggled closer, rubbing her face against Sarah's shoulder.
"Let's go see if we can find a clock you haven't exploded yet and see what time it is."
In the end, Sarah Jane and the baby were in the attic. Sarah Jane switched on her computer quickly to check the time.
"Six thirty. I'll wait until seven o'clock before I call Rani and Clyde." Sarah flicked the computer screen off and waltzed around the attic, murmuring quietly to the little girl. Sarah Jane felt her arms getting tired and remembered the baby carrier in her room. She moved swiftly down stairs and maneuvered the baby to cradle her in her right arm. Sarah picked up the carrier and headed back up to the attic.
"I'd like to do a couple of things that I can't do with you in my arms. I'm going to put you in your carrier and you're going to be very quiet. Understand?" She asked, standing in the attic's doorway. The little girl looked at her with determined eyes. Her chubby fist grabbed at Sarah's nightgown and refused to let go. The baby twisted, grabbing at the nightgown with her right hand, digging her face into Sarah's breast. Sarah Jane winced and began to pull the child from her. The child let out a screech and the light bulb at the top of the attic stairs shattered. Once again Sarah had to curl her body around the little girl, shielding her from the glass.
The small explosion caused the baby to shriek louder, snuggling as close as possible to Sarah Jane. Sarah moved to the couch, taking the carrier with her. Sarah Jane sat down and moved the baby back so her head was on Sarah Jane's shoulder. Sarah rocked back and forth frantically, attempting to calm the child.
"Shh, it's alright, it's alright!" She consoled the screaming child. "God, what am I going to do with a baby?" She moaned. "A baby that causes lights to explode when she cries and alarms to go off when she laughs? What am I going to do?!" The baby began sucking on Sarah's shoulder and she was about to shift the infant away when she realized it was calming the little girl down. Sarah Jane ran her hand up and down the baby's back and the infant's cries finally stopped. Sarah relaxed and laid against the couch, letting the baby girl snuggle herself into Sarah's shoulder. Sarah Jane felt herself getting sleepy, her own body snuggling into the couch, letting her eyelids fall shut.
Once again the sound of popping light bulbs and infant cries woke Sarah up. The light in Sarah Jane's small library in the corner of the attic burst as well as the overhead light. Sarah Jane soothed the little girl in her arms before crossing quickly over to her computer and checked the time.
"Seven ten. Brilliant!" After shutting off her computer, Sarah Jane heaved a sigh of relief.
"I'm so very glad I'm not alone anymore." Sarah told the baby, heading downstairs to grab her cell phone so she could send both Rani and Clyde an urgent text message.