Sineater asks: For Whumptober, 29. Sleep Deprivation - with our boi Scotty, of course.

In discussion with Sin and Maria we decided a 5+1 set of vignettes…These will start mild whump but will get whumpier...

Sleep Deprivation: a state caused by lack of sleep, either voluntary or involuntary.

He'd been so thrilled when his parents had told him was going to be a big brother. He wasn't sure what that meant, but his Mommy and Daddy were so excited and Scott responded in kind, finding he was looking forward to the day when he would meet the baby that would make him this 'big brother' thing.

As his Mom got bigger Scott got more excited. He was already a light sleeper, regularly surviving on less sleep than specialists recommended. Now, he was barely sleeping more than a couple hours a day. The rest of the time he spent talking to the bump or talking about being a big brother.

And then one day the baby kicked while Scott was hugging it. Scott looked up, wide-eyed with wonder, and Lucy chuckled at her son's expression.

From that moment on Scott spent every second he could as close to his Mom as possible. He even crawled into bed with his parents on every opportunity. Pretty soon it began to wear thin on his Mom, though. Scott might survive on little sleep, but Lucy definitely needed hers.

A couple of weeks before the due date Scott started to get cranky. The usually happy toddler was becoming short-tempered and frankly emotional. It was having a knock-on effect on Lucy who was spending all her time with him and becoming more and more exhausted as Scott refused now to go to sleep in case he missed his baby being born.

Nothing Jeff or Lucy did could reassure him that they wouldn't let that happen. Over the course of a week they lost their happy son and in turn got a child who swung from completely hyperactive (and loud) to totally lethargic and quiet with no middle ground.

Still Scott wouldn't fall asleep and the bags under the two-year-old's eyes were bigger than his parents.

In desperation Jeff called his Ma.

Grandma Tracy took one look at the currently hyper child running around as if he'd been drinking coffee all day. Scott screamed when he caught sight of his grandma, running over and hugging her legs tight. Ruth couldn't believe how bad he looked even though he had already let go of her and zoomed off with a 'Look Grandma, I'm a plane!' shout.

Ruth sighed. Lucy was dropping where she stood and Scott was 'flying' circles around his Mom making plane noises at the top of his lungs. She could see Lucy was on the verge of tears.

Stepping forward and timing Scott's circles, Ruth grabbed Scott's hand to the boy's shock. But before he could pull one of his temper tantrums – which for a two-year-old were truly epic – she'd picked him up and suggested they go find Daddy's plane.

The offer stopped the temper in its track. This was new and Scott didn't quite know what to do. He'd never seen his Daddy's plane up close. But that might mean leaving his Mom and Baby…Scott was confused as to what he wanted.

Then Ruth yawned. Scott, still with his arms around her neck, yawned in return. As did Lucy. Ruth grinned inside and yawned outside again, with both Scott and Lucy following suit. Time to put her plan into action.

Getting Lucy sat down was easy. Getting Scott to sit still with his Mom was not, until the baby gave another kick right on Scott's hand and then Ruth knew wild horses wouldn't pull the boy away.

She made warm milk with honey and while that was warming she put on some very quiet soothing music. Ruth joined them on the couch and they drank together. She smiled as both Scott and Lucy's eyes began to droop.

Within minutes they were asleep. Ruth covered them with a blanket while she set about cooking dinner and planning other activities that she knew could get a sleep-deprived toddler (and his parents) some much needed sleep before the new baby arrived and they got even less…