A\N: I made myself a goal of writing 2,000 words per chapter for both of my stories. I has been a challenge for me but I've been pretty proud of myself. This chapter isn't quite 2,000 words but I am proud of how it turned out, which isn't usually the case as I am very self critical about my own writing.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

Spoilers: None

Warnings: None

Chapter 38

Elizabeth had been crying almost all night long, there were very few momenta of silence in between for anyone to get any sleep. Shane and Oliver had been trying everything possible to get her to sleep but nothing seemed to be working. She would sleep for twenty minutes and then be up start crying again. They were both exhausted but neither of them could sleep even if they wanted to. They were worried about Elizabeth and about their other children who had all complained about not being able to sleep multiple times.

It was now past midnight and Matthew; Lucas and Julia had only had an interpreted three hours of sleep. That was the least amount of sleep they'd had in a long time.

"Ugh!" Matthew groaned loudly as woke up to Elizabeth's crying and pressed his pillow up against his ears. "She's crying again!" He complained to his brother Lucas. He couldn't see him as the lights were out, but he knew his twin was sup as they had been talking for most of the night.

"It's not her fault, she's just a baby," Lucas said as he fiddled around in the dark for the switch to his Star Wars lamp. Once he found it the once dark room was now light enough for Matthew and Lucas to see each other.

"I hate babies!" Matthew flipped around onto his stomach and pressed his face into the pillow hoping that would lessen the noise. It didn't.

"Mommy and Daddy are helping her," Lucas explained, "Remember they told us when we went to their bedroom."

"I know," Mathew responded as he decided he wasn't going to get anymore sleep lying on his stomach.

"Matthew, Lucas," Julia opened the door to her brother's room, she was dragging her feet and carrying her Baby Shark and Flounder stuffed toys. "I'm tired," She started to cry, "Mommy and Daddy were mean." She frowned, "I wanted a hug, but Elizabeth is crying," She walked further into the room, "Can I sleep in here?"

"You can sleep with me," Lucas told his younger sister as he moved over in his bed to let her cuddle in close. "Mommy and Daddy are tired too. They want Elizabeth to sleep."

"But I wanted to hug her, she's my baby!" Julia explained as she frowned, "She should sleep in my room," She decided.

There was a soft knock on the door and Shane walked in. Her hair was messed up and she looked so tired even the kids knew she needed sleep. They knew to wait until she started talking. "Daddy is walking Elizabeth downstairs, I wanted to come and see you," Shane yawed.

"Mommy you're tired," Julia climbed out of Lucas' bed and gave her mother a hug, "Elizabeth can sleep in my room. She's my baby."

"Well that's a very nice offer Julia but Elizabeth needs to be with Mommy and Daddy right now."

"Why is she crying?" Matthew asked.

Shane lifted Julia up and then turned on the light to the boy's room. She carried Julia back to Matthew's bed and sat down with Julia in her lap. "Elizabeth is a little baby. She's crying because she's upset. Daddy and I are trying to calm her down, so she'll sleep. She' s very tired as well. She needs a lot of sleep. "I know she's been keeping you awake but I wanted to thank you for being so patient. You listened to Daddy and I when we explained you needed to go back to you rooms when you came to see why Elizabeth was crying so much.

"Mommy are you going to sleep?" Matthew asked.

"I'll sleep when Elizabeth gets to sleep, she'll be hungry again soon and then I'm hoping she'll sleep," Shane looked at Julia, "Come on sweetheart let be tuck you into your own bed before I need to feed Elizabeth. You know you need to sleep in your own bed." Shane stood up and lifted a very tired Julia into her arms, "Goodnight boys, try and get a much sleep as you can," Shane told her son's as she turned the light off as she exited the room. Shane carried Julia to her bedroom and tucked her in giving her a kiss on her forehead.

After exiting Julia's room Shane could still hear Elizabeth crying so she walked down the stairs and into the family room were a very frazzled Oliver was trying to soothe the baby.

"She might be hungry now," Shane approached Oliver, "I'll feed her down here and try to get her to sleep in my arms. That way you and the kids can get some sleep," Shane took Elisabeth into her arms.

"Yes," Oliver agreed with her, "You also need to sleep Shane. You have not slept well for two nights in a row. I am concerned you are going to get sick."

"Oliver, I'll sleep when Elizabeth's sleeps," Shane explained as she sat down on the couch. "You know nobody can sleep when she's crying. I don't know about you, but I don't want to deal with three cranky children as well as Elizabeth crying tomorrow. The kids should be able to sleep if I keep Elizabeth down here. You try and sleep too, one of us needs to be semi well-rested tomorrow."

"If you insist Shane," Oliver kissed her lips, when he pulled back from the kiss he gently kissed the top of Elizabeth's head and said, "I hope you are able to sleep in our bed later in the week. It is not good for you to be falling asleep on the couch with Elizabeth like this. Also, I sleep better if you are with me," He smiled.

"She'll sleep in the cradle in out room in a few nights," Shane assured him, "She's not used to us being able to hold her so much. She likes feeling safe and loved. And I sleep better in bed with you too," Shane told him.

Oliver leaned down to kiss Shane's lips once more before going back upstairs and attempting to get some sleep.

In mid-afternoon after lunch time Oliver was sitting on the front deck watching the children play outdid. Since he had wanted Shane to sleep and look after Elizabeth, he had spent the morning watching the older children. It had been a difficult morning with the children all being tired and grumpy but he somehow, he'd managed to get through it. With some difficulty he had gotten Matthew and Lucas into their ZOOM chats with their teachers and helped Julia put her hair in an Ariel braid. He knew the children were getting stir crazy inside the house, so he decided to let them play outside after lunch.

"Someone wants to see her Daddy," Shane walked outside holding a happy Elizabeth in her arms. She'd been able to nap whenever Elizabeth slept so she was feeling a bit more rested. "How are the kids doing?" Shane asked as she sat down next to Oliver.

"They are board," Oliver answered as he gladly took Elizabeth into his arms and held her, "I do not think this pandemic will lighten up anytime soon. The number of cases seems to be rising by the hour and there are more deaths every day. I do not think school will be back this year and I do not anticipate summer camps to be operating. I do not know how long the city will be shut down for, but I believe we need to start thinking of ways to entertain the children at home."

"I was thinking about that to," Shane told him, "I know we've never talked about this before but how about getting a in-ground pool. We have the space in the backyard and a pool will keep the kids entertained all throughout the summer. We can keep the play structure. It would just need to be moved. We can have a medium sized pool with a shallow end and a deep end. I suspect lots of people may be getting pools this summer so if we want it installed in June, we should order one fast. The pool area can be fenced off and we can have it locked so the kids can't enter without us," She further explained.

"Having a pool would help a great deal," Oliver pondered, "However I do worry about the safety issues even if we are here to watch the children. Even though they all know how to swim they're all still young. I do think it's something we need to discuss more about and do research on."

"I'm glad you're at least up to listening to the idea," Shane told him. "We can do some more research I just think we should decide by early next week so we can have it installed in June. That way we'll be able to get much more use out of it."

"Mommy!" Matthew ran up to her and hugged her, "Daddy needs to learn how to use IPads. I almost missed talking to my friends. I knew what the Zoom icon looked like though."

"Well I'm glad everything worked out," Shane kissed her son's cheek.

"Mom!" Matthew groaned out in embarrassment as he whipped off his cheek and then went to play with his brother and sister.

"My baby!" Julia raced towards Elizabeth and stood on her tippy-toes to see her. "Did she sleep?" Julia looked at Shane and wondered. "I hope she was good."

Shane had to hold in her laughter as she answered her daughter's question "She slept for almost an hour and she ate. Do you want to be a special helper again?"

"Yes!" Julia nodded excitedly.

"I don't want her in the sun to long, so we need to get her hat and then the playpen with the sun shield," Shane stood up, "You go get a hat for Elizabeth alright."

"I'll get her Ariel hat! Like mine!" Julia pointed to the hat she was wearing and then rushed back into the house.

"Her baby?" Oliver raised his eyebrow at Shane, "I assumed Julia would be jealous of Elizabeth. I am not sure what to make of her possessive."

"I think as long as is eager to help it'll be fine. She seems to like having some responsibilities. She hasn't bene in trouble since Elizabeth has been back from the hospital. I think if we keep praising her for helping and being a big girl her jealousy won't be as bad. Now I'm going to go and find that playpen," Shane walked back into the house.

Oliver watched his wife go back into the house and turned his head just in time to see Lucas fall from the top of the monkey bars and land on the ground with a loud thump.

TBC

A\N: Is Lucas going to be okay? Let me know what you think in your review or comments on Twitter if you want :)