A/N: Back from my extended hiatus! Sorry I was away so long. I really needed to refocus on school—I was getting so burnt out and I had no creative energy in me. This is a very short little vignette that I received as a prompt from the wonderful percyjacksonfan135. Shout out to percyjacksonfan135 for all the help and for the inspiration. I hope this lives up to what you wanted! Basically, the prompt is for Zach and Gray as children. Gray's a baby and their parents are too busy fighting to attend to his crying. So big brother Zach to the rescue! This was a great way to dive back into the JW fandom. I reckon I've still got a story or two left in me before I move on. Enjoy and let me know what you think!
Five-year-old Zach Mitchell peered at the wailing toddler through the slats of the crib. Gray had long-since cried himself hoarse, sitting miserably in his padded prison and desperately seeking a response from someone. He could hear his parents downstairs, in the midst of yet another heated argument that had started almost the second they had put his seven-month-old brother down for a nap.
"You woke him. He's crying. Do you see what you do, Scott?"
"Me?! You're the one who started shouting, Karen!"
"I started shouting because you weren't listening! I ask you to do one thing for me. One thing while I put Gray down for his nap and you can't even manage that! What am I gonna do?"
Gray's wailing got louder.
"Leave him! He'll be fine! He'll go back to sleep in a minute, just watch."
"You're ridiculous, Scott!"
Zach screwed his eyes shut, tried to think of what to do. His parents' voices were just muffled sounds now and he didn't care to listen anymore. Gray was doing that thing that always bothered him—crying without noise. It was unnatural. Unsettling. The infant's mouth hung open, his eyes scrunched up and full of tears but there was just no sound. The older brother locked eyes with the younger and the baby's blue eyes seemed to be begging him to do something. A little pang of hurt hit Zach square in the chest when he realized how lonely Gray had to be right now. And Mom and Dad won't even come up here and hold him or try to make him feel better.
Zach knew a lot for his age. He knew how to toast bread and pour cereal into a bowl and work the microwave when he was hungry. He could brush his teeth and tie his shoes and comb his hair and he even washed behind his ears sometimes without being told. He could pretty much take care of himself. And he had to because from a young age, his parents had been more than willing to ignore him while they tried to sort out their own issues, which inevitably led to more shouting and more crying and more ignoring. But Zach was a big boy. He was almost six and he could handle it. Gray was little and this was new. For the longest time, their parents had been better. They didn't argue, they always paid attention to Gray when he needed it. The older brother couldn't figure out what had changed now but clearly the infant was just as confused as he was.
"Shhh," Zach tried shushing the baby the way his mom did sometimes when Gray got fussy. A gentle, soothing hiss made by slowly expelling air through slightly parted lips. It didn't work. Gray whimpered. Another tear fell from his blue eyes and he began to reach for his older brother, his small, chubby arms extended as far as they could go until he toppled over from reaching too far.
There were no footsteps on the staircase, no pounding feet approaching the nursery door indicating his mom or dad was coming to the aid of their youngest son. There was only the sound of Gray's ragged breathing and sniffles and whimpers as he struggled to pull himself back to a sitting position. Zach was well and truly alone, pondering how he could give this baby what he needed, what his parents were clearly too occupied to provide. Gray was looking at him again, one tiny, closed fist rubbing over one eye, then the next. He couldn't help but feel the infant was compelling him to act.
How does this thing work?
The baby had fallen silent as Zach tried to pinch the latches that would drop the side of the crib and allow him access to his little brother. Gray seemed to sense help had come. Finally, the front of the crib lowered with a muffled whump and Gray was immediately reaching for him again, baby fat trembling as he strained and leaned forward.
Zach took hold of his little brother under the armpits, the way his mother had shown him to pick the baby up. Gray squirmed involuntarily as he was lifted in the air and pulled closer to his older brother. Zach had only picked the infant up a few times. Usually his mom or dad handed the baby to him to hold and took him back shortly after. But there was still no sound of approaching footsteps or any indication they were even concerned. The older brother rested the baby on his shoulder and tried to bounce gently on the balls of his feet, the way his parents did when they were trying to put Gray down for a nap. Gray's cheek collided gently with Zach's shoulder as the baby rested against his big brother. He hadn't resumed crying, which Zach took to be a good sign.
"Shhh," he tried to soothe his baby brother. Gray jerked a little in his grasp, then settled against his shoulder once more. "It's okay," Zach whispered. "Everything's okay. I'm here. I'm not gonna let anything happen to you." The infant emitted a murmured gurgle, barely audible, and seemed pacified at last.
Zach's heart skipped a beat as he heard the sound of footsteps thudding down the hall toward the nursery. A moment later, the door eased open and his mother was standing there, clearly surprised by the scene unfolding before her.
"Zach? Sweetheart? What're you doing?"
"He was crying," the boy responded, a note of accusation in his tone. "He wouldn't stop and no one came so I picked him up."
"Thank you, sweetheart," the mother answered gently. She reached for Gray. "I can take it from here." Gray began wailing the moment her hands found purchase on his chubby sides and the baby pulled away from his mother's grasp, burying his face deeper into the crook of Zach's neck. Both brother and mother seemed surprised. "Why don't you hand him to me?" Karen tried again.
Zach hesitated, then finally began to shift his baby brother toward his mother. Again, the infant began to fuss and the child could see tears forming in the baby's eyes. "I think he wants me," he told his mother. Gray kicked and reached forward as if trying to pull himself toward his older brother.
"Okay," Karen jumped back, hurt leaking into her expression as she forced a smile. "Okay. You got this, Zach." She took another step back toward the door as Zach eased himself into the rocking chair his mother used for nursing.
"I got this," the boy whispered, shifting Gray so that the infant was cradled in his arms. He peered down into his little brother's face. "I got this."
A/N: Much shorter than I usually write, but I really wanted to dissect a short moment in Zach and Gray's childhood before Zach became a moody teenager. What did you think? Love it? Hate it? Leave a comment and let me know—I'd love to hear from you! Thanks for reading!