The last thing Mel Marcus needed while preparing for a case was her daughter's screaming. JR was still suffering from colic and Mel hated it because there was little she could do. It didn't matter what she tried, nothing to seemed to work and add on top of the fact that she was stressed from her case and she had Gus sleeping in the other room, she was at her last wit. So she packed a few things for Gus, JR, then packed the things she needed for work and drove to Debbie's house. When she got in the car, she had no idea where she was going. She hadn't even thought about it when she started driving, but she found her self driving to the house that belonged to the woman who had become like her mother to her over the years. Pulling into the driveway, she unloaded her kids, the stuff she had packed for them and herself and walked into the house.
Hearing the front door open, Debbie walked out of the kitchen, confused as to who would be home at this time of night. She was then pleasantly surprised at who walked through the front door. Carl was still at work and Debbie had just finished making dinner for when he got home and eating her own dinner, but she figured it would be nice to have some company for the rest of the night. But when Mel spotted Debbie, she silently passed her crying daughter over to the infant's grandmother, grabbed her case material and walked up the stairs, making her way to the guest bedroom and closing the door behind her. JR had quieted down while in the car, but when Mel took her out and walked into the house, she started crying again. Gus, who had been trying to sleep when they left, but couldn't, hovered close to his grandmother. Debbie immediately took the baby into her embrace and started shushing her, trying to sooth her crying. She cradled JR against her chest, which helped quiet down the crying just enough so Debbie could talk to Gus. She looked down at her grandson and could immediately tell he was tired.
"Are you tired, sweetie?" she asked as she wrapped an arm around Gus' shoulders and pulled him in close to her body. Feeling Debbie's arm wrap around itself around his shoulders, Gus stepped into his grandmother and rested his head against her hip, his eyes drooping.
"She's been crying all night. I couldn't sleep," he replied, referring to his sister.
"I know, baby," Debbie replied as she started bouncing the baby in her other arm soothingly, trying to quiet her down even more. "Why don't you go watch some TV while I go check on Mommy?" she asked Gus. He looked up at her and smiled sleepily.
"Okay, Grams," he said and walked into the living room, turned the TV on and found the cartoon channel he liked.
Before walking up the stairs, Debbie walked back into the kitchen, still shushing JR, and grabbed the bottle of wine she had opened earlier and a glass for Mel. She then made her way up the stairs and softly knocked on the door before letting herself in. Mel was sitting on the edge of the bed, her stuff sitting next to her, with her head in her hands. She just looked up at Debbie, tears in her eyes, threatening to spill over. Debbie was a much needed sight, especially with the bottle of wine she was holding. Seeing the tears in Mel's eyes, Debbie passed her the glass she had brought up. When the younger woman took it, she poured some wine into it.
"Having a newborn and a five-year-old is fuckin' hard," Debbie said, without even waiting for Mel to say something.
"She's been crying all night and I have a big case to get through," Mel said as she, almost angrily, wiped a tear from her cheek, mad at herself for crying. She was so stressed that it just kind of happened. She wasn't mad at JR. JR was the last person she was mad at. But with the stress of having Gus and JR, a big case, and the break-up of her and Lindsey, it was to be expected. She then took a big gulp of wine and sighed to herself. She looked down at her hands and glass of wine, not making eye contact with the maternal woman standing in front of her, her daughter still cradled in Debbie's arms. JR had finally quieted down. Her thumb had made it's way into her mouth, her arm resting against her grandmother's body and her nose nuzzled into Debbie's chest.
"I can watch the kids for the night. Get some work done, sweetheart," Debbie replied as she sat the bottle of wine down on the nightstand next to the bed Mel was sitting on. "It'll be nice to spend some time with the grandchildren." Mel looked up at Debbie, relief in her eyes.
"Thank you," she said. She smiled up at Debbie appreciatively. Debbie smiled at Mel and cupped her chin with a hand, rubbing her cheek with her thumb affectionately. Mel then looked at her daughter, who's eyes were fluttering open, fighting sleep, trying to stay awake. "It looks like you already have one happy grandchild," she noted as she looked at JR and smiled. Debbie also looked down at her granddaughter and smiled.
"She just needed a change in scenery, sweetie," Debbie said, quieting Mel's thoughts of feeling inadequate because she couldn't even stop her daughter from crying. "Now get some work done," she added as she smiled again at the woman who was like a daughter to her, turned around and walked towards the door.
"Thank you again, Deb," Mel called as Debbie closed the door behind her. Debbie looked down at the infant in her arms and started talking to the young girl in her baby voice, pushing JR closer and closer to sleep. By the time she walked down the stairs, the infant was in a light slumber, cuddled into her grandmother's body. Debbie walked back into the kitchen and wrapped a plate of food for Carl before walking into the living room, where Gus was barely holding on to consciousness. She sat down next to her grandson, who looked over at her and smiled sleepily. Without thinking about it, he cuddled into her body, resting his head in the crook of her shoulder. Debbie smiled down at him as she wrapped an arm around his small shoulders, pulling him in even closer. With the added heat and comfort from his grandmother, Gus tried even harder to hold on to consciousness until sleep took over. Noticing that Gus had too fallen asleep, she grabbed the remote control and found a show tune movie. Not more than an hour went by when JR rustled in the redheaded grandmother's arms and started crying, this time not from colic, but from hunger. Debbie carefully moved the sleeping Gus so she could get up, not wanting to wake him up, but he woke up anyways. Debbie watched as his eyes fluttered open.
"Sorry, sweetie," Debbie said. "I didn't want your sister to wake you up. Go back to sleep." Gus obliged and cuddled into the arm rest his grandmother was just sitting next to when Debbie stood up. Debbie smiled to herself and started shushing JR, who was still cradled in Debbie's arms, as she walked into the kitchen and softly bounced her around to quiet her crying. A few minutes passed by, the crying not subsiding when Debbie checked her diaper, which was dry. She then figured it was because JR was hungry, so she walked back into the living room and grabbed a bottle, warming it up when she made her way back to the kitchen. Once it was warm enough, she softly pushed the rubber nipple into JR's mouth, who then started suckling happily. Debbie started to walk around the kitchen soothingly just as Carl walked into the house. The first thing he noticed was Gus sleeping on the couch.
"Deb, honey?" he called out, quieter then he normally would, so he wouldn't wake Gus up. Debbie walked out into the living room, JR still hungrily suckling on her bottle. Carl closed the gap between the two of them, leaned down and gave Debbie an affectionate kiss. "Hi, beautiful," he said when he pulled away from the kiss and looked down at the infant in Debbie's arms. "Hi, sweetheart," he added to his, as his wife affectionately called her, granddaughter.
"How was work?" Debbie asked as she smiled up at Carl happily.
"It was fine. The usual," Carl replied. "It smells good in here," he said as the aromas from the kitchen met his nostrils.
"I made chicken parm," Debbie said as she laughed. She forgot how much men ate until Carl moved in with her. Vic didn't have much of an appetite because of the medication he was taking. "I made you a plate and wrapped it in aluminum foil. It's probably still warm." Carl pressed a kiss against Debbie's cheek and made his way into the kitchen, Debbie following close behind. Carl had unwrapped the plate of food, grabbed a fork and sat down in record time and Debbie laughed again as she sat across the table from Carl, JR almost done with her bottle. Almost immediately after sitting down, JR finished her bottle and Debbie rested it on the table before moving the infant around so she could be burped. Debbie rested JR against her chest and softly started to pat her back. Carl ate his dinner and watched on as Debbie took care of their grandchild.
"Is Mel okay?" he asked when he finished the bite of chicken he had stuffed into his mouth.
"Hm?" Debbie asked. "Oh, yeah. She's fine. She's just a little stressed so she's upstairs working on a case. We're taking care of the kids for the night," she added. When a bubble of air was heard from JR's mouth, Debbie moved her around so she was standing on top of her legs and the infant was looking at her grandfather. Carl waved at her and made a funny face, getting a giggle in response. Both grandparents laughed. JR started bouncing up and down in Debbie's lap as she happily babbled.
"We've got a happy granddaughter," Carl said as he laughed again and continued eating his dinner.
"That we do," Debbie said as she turned JR around so they were looking at each other. "You're happy right now, aren't you, sweetie?" she asked her granddaughter in her baby voice. JR continued babbling happily as Carl finished his food and put his dishes it into the dishwasher. JR then threw herself into Debbie's body and nuzzled her grandmother's chest.
"Oh honey," Debbie breathed as she rubbed her granddaughter's back affectionately. She made eye contact with Carl and smiled. "I think she's also tired," she said. Carl made his way around the table and planted a soft kiss on the top of Debbie's head.
"So is her grandfather," he replied.
"Well, then lets get you two to bed," Debbie said as she stood up and grabbed one of Carl's hands. They walked into the living room, hand in hand, but before they could walk up the stairs, Debbie stopped when she saw Gus. She passed JR to Carl, who took up the cradling position with her, and bent down so she was squatting next to the couch. She softly rubbed Gus' back until his eyes fluttered open. She smiled lovingly at him and spoke as he started moving around on the couch.
"Are we leaving?" Gus asked.
"No, we're going to bed, sweetie. Do you want to sleep down here or go upstairs with us?" Debbie asked.
"I want to sleep upstairs," Gus replied. He loved Debbie's house, but not when he was sleeping alone downstairs and everyone was upstairs. He hated hearing all the creaking noises while it was dark.
"Okay, lets go," Debbie replied as she picked up Gus, who in turn wrapped his legs around her waist, his arms around her neck and rested his head against her shoulder. Debbie affectionately kissed Gus' head as both her and Carl made their way up the stairs and into the master bedroom. About halfway up the stairs, Gus moved his head away from his grandmother's shoulder and looked up at her sleepily.
"Can I sleep next to Guppy, Grams?" he asked sleepily. Debbie looked down at her grandson and smiled.
"I think he would like that, sweetie," Debbie replied as she looked up at Carl as Gus rested his head back against her shoulder and held Carl's hand again while they walked the rest of the way to their bedroom. Once in the room, Debbie closed the gap between her and the bed and set Gus down on the bed. Carl handed JR over to her grandmother and went into the bathroom, spending a few minutes in there to get ready to go to bed. While Gus made himself comfortable in the bed, Debbie also crawled into bed with JR cradled against her chest and sat up against the headboard. Just as everyone was getting comfortable, Gus on the verge of sleep again, Carl walked out of the bathroom and also crawled into bed, mirroring Debbie's position. Gus, who hadn't quite fallen asleep again, moved around in the bed so he was cuddling with his grandfather happily. Ever since Gus started to grasp the concept of being a cop, just like his Guppy, he really started to find himself gravitating towards the older man, much to Carl's happiness. He was glad that the family took a liking to him, especially after the terms he first met them on.
"He likes you more and more every day," Debbie said as she laughed, leaned over and gave Carl an affectionate kiss. Carl laughed into the kiss and pulled away, happiness evident in his smile.
"So does that one," Carl said as he looked down at his granddaughter in Debbie's arms, who had fallen back asleep. "How many times is that now that you've managed to get her or Gus to stop crying when no one else could?" he asked. He had heard the many stories of nights when no one, not even Brian, who Gus always quieted down for as a baby, could quiet him down and Debbie came in and managed to quiet him down. Debbie just rolled her eyes, but before she could say anything, Mel walked into the room, only to see both grandparents sitting up against the headboard and both of her kids sleeping. She didn't want to over stay her welcome, so she figured she would go home, having done quite a bit of work in the time she had to herself. She leaned against the door frame as she watched the picture in front of her, a smile tugging at the corners of her lips. That's when she broke the silence, making her presence known to her kid's grandparents.
"His he asleep?" she asked she watched Gus' back move with each breath, cuddled up against his grandfather. Both Debbie and Carl looked over at the door and smiled at the woman standing there, watching them as they were now watching her.
"Yeah, he fell asleep a few minutes ago," Carl said as he looked back down at Gus.
"I should get him home," Mel noted to the happy grandparents. Debbie looked back up at Mel, who had also looked back at Gus when Mel asked if he was asleep.
"He can sleep here, honey," she said. "He's already asleep. He's been woken up quite a few times tonight." Mel looked between Debbie and Gus, clearly on the fence. "It's fine, honey. You know we both love spending time with him. Plus, he's very happy sleeping next to his Guppy."
"Okay," Mel said hesitantly. "But at least let me take JR home. I wouldn't want either one of you up all night with an infant." Carl looked over at Debbie and put his hands up, like he was letting her decide.
"You're going to have to take that one up with her. You know how bad she has the grandchildren fever syndrome," he said teasingly.
"No, I fuckin' don't!" Debbie said, a little shrill from defensiveness. Not only did she not convince herself, but she didn't convince Mel or Carl. But she knew that Mel breastfed and with having used the only bottle Mel packed, she agreed. "Only if I see that beautiful face when she isn't screaming," she said and with that, Mel walked into the room and the grandmother transferred the infant over to her mother.
"We can do that," Mel said as she laughed. "Thank you again," she said. "I'll pick him upbefore he goes to school," she added. Then she thought about it and since she was already picking Gus up, she figured she would take Debbie up on her offer to see JR when she wasn't suffering from colic. "Are you working tomorrow, Deb?" she asked.
"I'm working graveyard shift," Debbie replied. "Why?" she asked.
"Can you watch her for a few hours?" Mel asked. "It'll be easier if I drop her off while I pick him up. Lindsay can pick her up on her way home from work." It was Lindsay's week to have JR and Gus. While it was easier for her to not drive all the way to drop her off with Lindsay, dropping JR off while she picked up Gus and having Debbie watch her also had a lot to do with the fact that Lindsay was also the last person she wanted to see. A smile tugged at the corners of Debbie's mouth.
"Of course I fuckin' can," Debbie said. Both Mel and Carl laughed.
"Perfect. I'll come by around 7:30," Mel said and with that, exited the room, leaving a content Gus with his grandparents.