TDBB14

"Tear drops on my balance beam"
Chapter 14

14 chapters already?! Dang! Anyway, I love doing these! And I love all of the people who continuously review and give me confidence (you know who you are :D) now I only have 9 oneshots left until we get to the good parts! If you think that's too much, then just tell me and I'll cut it down! On with the story!

-Babies-

Svetlana loved babies.

It was an unspeakable love. She loved their chubby cheeks. Their toothless smiles, and the way they squeak and coo is just too cute to pass by.

Whenever her an Manitoba watched TV, she'd see a Gerber commercial or a crib advertisement. When she saw the adorable faces of the newborns, she couldn't help but smile. The gymnast when lean in to coo adorable words at the babies through the screen.

"Sheila?" Manitoba would snap her out of her baby trance. "Why are ya so interested in babies?"

"What's not to like?" She retorted. "They are so cute! They have chubby cheeks and they make the cutest of noises!"

"-And the 'cutest' of messes..." The male would reply.

"You don't know anything about these adorable creatures!" Svetlana chuckled.

"I've seen my cousin Audrey with her kids, it didn't take long to figure out they were a handful."

"who's says taking care of a baby had to be hard? All you have to do is feed them, change them, and play with them! And that doesn't seem hard!" the gymnast slumped next to her friend an stared more at the TV. "And add some love to it too!"

Manitoba just sighed and continued to watch.

A few hours later, the phone sitting in the kitchen started to ring.

"Not it!" Svetlana said quickly.
"Not i- Aw man.." Manitoba came up too late.

He walked into the kitchen to answer the ringing phone.

"Audrey! Slow down! I cant here
You- you need a maybe-hitter?!" The phone was buzzing angrilly with voices.

Svetlana peered into the kitchen to see Manitoba yelling into the phone.

"But I can't! Can't you get someone else? No? I know I promised but...fine! Fine! Send her over!" the male hangs up the phone and rubs his eyes in frustration.

"What was that all about?" the gymnast asked.

"That was my cousin ,Audrey. She has somewhere to go and she can't find a baby sitter! I owe her, so I'm stuck with her new daughter, Effie, for the weekend."

Svetlana's eyes lit up like a kid on Christmas.

"A baby!?" She squealed. "I love it! When is she coming?"

Knock-knock!

The door thumps for a moment until the two roommates race to the door. Once opened, they see a car seat, sitting right next to two large baby bags. Inside of the seat was a baby. A small baby, rather 2 months old. She had jet black hair, pale skin, and hazel eyes.

"Now." Manitoba replied.

The female gymnast in the doorway literally did a flip with joy.

"Ooh! Effie is so cute!" She grabbed the car seat and rushed back inside while Manitoba took in the bags.

"She is so adorable!" the female squealed as she picked up the curled up infant. "And so tiny! Yes you are! Yes you are!"

"She is a cute little Sheila isn't she?" The male says.

Effie was calmly curled into a little ball and was safely put in a thick outfit. She made a few cooing sounds and tugged on Svetlana's hair. Which made Svetlana smile even more.

"Look. Audrey left us a list!" The australlian dug a paper out of the bags. He Began to read. "Manitoba, here are the basics for taking care of Effie. Feed her every hour, change her 45 minutes after she eats, entertain her with toys and put her on a blanket, she goes to bed by 7..And lastly, be prepared to get up during the night."

"Get up during the night? That shouldn't be hard at all! Not from this bundle of joy!"

"Your right, Svet! How how hard could it be?"

-10 minutes later-

"Okay. I've had enough!"

Manitoba had to scream over Effies bloody cries. She was just crying herself out. Which filled the rooms with screams.

"What?" Svetlana said as covered her ears. "I can't here you?!"

"I SAID-!"

Effie suddenly stopped crying in Manitoba's arms and got a relieved look on her face. A smell suddenely lingered in the room, which made the roommates choke and cover their noses in disgust.

"Aw, Gross!" Manitoba exclaimed as he held the baby out and smelled her. "Whoah! Thats a big one! Your turn to change her!"

"No way! It's your turn! I changed her the last five times..in this hour!" Svetlana replied.

"Those were only little compared to this!" The male held out the infant, a diaper, and some powder. "Change her!"

"Ugh, FINE!" The female snatched Effie and the diaper. She left the living room to go into the bedroom. It took 10 minutes, but Svetlana finally came out, covered in powder, but a calm, smiley Effie in her arms. "I got her, but we might want to repaint the bedroom." she said wearily and passed the baby girl back to Manitoba.

The day consisted of constant feeding, rocking, crying (once from Manitoba), and playing.

The two "Parents" finally got some sleep. They set up a basinet and layed Effie down on her stomach. She fell asleep after being fed 6 times and changed about 20.

It was only 10 pm when Effie started wailing. The two submerged from their sheets and groaned.

"That's your que." Svetlana moaned.

Manitoba Smith just got up and fed Effie a warm bottle until she calmly fell back asleep.

It was all quiet, at least until Effie woke at 2 in the morning. Now it was Svetlana's turn.

She tiredly picked up the baby, fed her, rocked her, and tried to change her. But after that, Effie was still crying.

The crying kept Manitoba up, he got up from his bed and sat next to Svetlana.

"She still isn't going to sleep?" He asked.

"No." Svetlana said as she rocked the girl softer. "hmm, I think I have an idea. Why don't we sing to her?"

"Sing? You think that'll work?"

"it's worth a shot. My mother used to sing it to me when I was a baby."

Manitoba knew the lullaby. Svetlana had been saying it in her sleep many times. He knew she was a soft and angelic singer. So he'll try to stay in tune.

Then, Svetlana started singing.

Where the dreamy volga flows
There's a lonely russian rose
Gazing tenderly
Down upon her knee
Where a baby's brown eyes glisten
Listen

Manitoba: ev'ry night you'll hear her croon
A russian lullaby

Svetlana: Just a little plaintive tune
When baby starts to cry..

Manitoba: Rock-a-bye my baby
Somewhere there may be

Svetlana and Manitoba: A land that's free for you and me
And a russian lullaby

Effie immediately quieted down. Her voice went from cries, to wimpers, to peaceful snores.

The two gaze at eachother in releif and set the baby down to sleep.

The weekend passes by very quickly. Effie started to grow on the two. They always played, and laughed together like a family. Effie felt like they were her second parents. How they cared for her and loved her everywhere.

Svetlana and Effie were playing peek-a-boo when there was a knock at the door. Manitoba opened it to find Audrey.

"'ello cousin!" she greets. "I'm here for my Effie!"

"Right. She's with my friend." Manitoba actually looked sad to see Effie leave. She was such a joy to have around, it was hard to let her go.

"Such a good girl, Effie!" Svetlana cooed as the baby giggled.

The gymnast saw Audrey and frowned.

"It's your mommy ,Effie. Bye-bye." Svetlana sadly handed the baby to her mother and waved goodbye. She swore that Effie was waving back at her.

"Don't worry you two. You can see Effie any time you need!" Audrey said as she left. "Goodbye."

Svetlana nearly burst into tears. She loved that baby so much, she never wanted to let go.

She slouched on the couch next to her roommate.

"Well, she's gone." She said.

"Yup. Ya know, the little Sheila was really growing on me." Manitoba smith replied.

"Me too. And it was fun to take care of her." The gymnast smiled. "But you helped a lot! You really know how to handle a newborn."

"Heh, thanks." The male replied. "But you did more than I did. You changed the diapers and played with her. I think you'll make a good mom some day."

"aww, thanks." Svetlana gave her roomate a hug and went to get something to drink.

Everything went pretty smooth after that, only now, Manitoba has a bad habit of cooing at the babies on Tv commercials.

Woah, this is my longest chapter! I love writing about Svetlana and Manitoba bond, they are Soooooo cute! This has to be my favorite! Anyway, you know what to do!