Chapter Six

So Mark and Roger were up most of the night trying to get Sam back to sleep. They finally got to sleep themselves at about 3:30...only to be woken up again at 5:00 by Greta, who started crying again. Mark rolled over onto his face, groaning into his pillow.

"I'm not getting her,"Roger called from his bed.

"I'll get her..."Mark moaned, slowly lifting himself out of his bed to go get the screeching baby.

"Uncle Mark?"Apparently, Greta's screams had also woken up some of the others kids. Lucy, Kristy and Thomas were now sitting up, staring at Mark as he picked up Greta.

"Oh! Uh...you're awake,"Mark said awkwardly. "Don't you wanna go back to sleep for a few more hours?"The kids all shook their heads. Mark sighed. "Well...I'm sure Roger would love to play with you guys then!"

"NO!"Roger shouted, covering his face with his pillow. The kids all laughed at this.

"See? Isn't he fun? Go jump on his bed!"Mark urged, as he carried Greta over to the microwave. All the kids ran over to Roger, and jumped up onto his bed. Roger sat up, glaring over at Mark.

"I hate you!"he called. The kids laughed again.

"You're funny!"Kristy said. Roger gave them all a deadpan look.

"You don't get out much, do you?"he asked. The kids also found this hysterical.

"Joke!"Lucy suddenly cried out.

"Yeah! Tell us a joke!"Kristy encouraged.

"I don't know any,"Roger grumbled.

"Everyone knows jokes! Tell one!"Kristy commanded. Roger sighed.

"You don't give up, do you?"

So Kristy, Thomas and Lucy spent the morning demanding jokes and stories from Roger, who responded cynically, to their utter enjoyment. Sam joined them when he woke up, and Mark walked around, feeding Greta...which did not stop her crying this time. So he spent even more time trying to figure out other ways to make her calm down. He tried rocking her, tickling her, bouncing her, burping her...but nothing worked.

At 7:00, the kids demanded breakfast. So Roger went over to the kitchen...only to realize that they had no food.

"Do you want me to go buy something?"Mark asked, rocking Greta back and forth.

"We don't have enough money,"Roger pointed out.

"Shit...er, isn't Joanne coming soon? We could ask her to bring something-"Mark began. Suddenly the door flung open, and Angel and Collins entered, holding a small white bag.

"Hey there kids!"Angel called.

"ANGEL!"the kids cried happily, jumping off of Roger's bed and running over to greet Angel and Collins.

"Hey, we brought you guys something!"Collins said, holding up the bag.

"Presents!"the kids asked hopefully.

"Even better...cookies!"Collins cried, opening the bag and holding it out for the kids to each take a huge sugar cookie. Mark and Roger looked at each other.

"There's breakfast."

"Aw, Mark, has that baby stopped crying yet?"Angel asked, as Mark danced around the loft with Greta frantically.

"Well, she slept for a good three hours last night..."Mark replied. "I fed her this morning and everything! Why won't she stop crying!"Collins suddenly coughed.

"Man, what is that smell?"he asked. "Did you guys knock over a trash can or something?"Suddenly Angel's jaw dropped.

"Ooooh...Mark, I know why Greta won't stop crying!"she said. Mark frowned.

"Why?"There was a pause, as he suddenly comprehended. "Oh no! Noooo! I am NOT changing a diaper!"

"Mark, you can't let that thing stink up the whole loft!"Roger snapped.

"But...but..."Mark stuttered, looking at the others for help. Collins leapt up.

"Er...hey kids! Uncle Collins is coming to play with you!"he said, running off.

"So is Uncle Roger!"

"And Auntie Angel!"Mark frowned as his friends abandoned him with the screaming baby.

"Gee, THANKS guys! I'll always be there for you TOO!"he shouted after them. Then he looked down at the wriggling little Greta.

"Oh God..."Suddenly the door opened again. Actually, it came closer to flying off its hinges...

"I'm here! We can start having fun!"Maureen cried, entering the loft.

"Maureen! Where's Joanne?"Mark asked.

"She's busy with something, she said she'd be over later,"Maureen replied. She suddenly grimaced. "Ugh! What is that...?"Then she spotted the baby, and Mark's miserable expression. "Oh."

"Maureen, please tell me you took some sort of baby-sitting class when you were younger!"Mark cried.

"Well...no. But don't worry, we'll figure it out! Come on, I'll help you!"Maureen said, leading Mark over to the counter. Mark put Greta down, backing away as if she were a bomb that was about to explode. Maureen examined her.

"Hmm..."she said, thinking. "You got any duct tape?"

Ten minutes later, Greta was silent again...wrapped in a large, duct taped diaper. Maureen grinned, satisfied.

"Not bad, Cohen. I think we've got this baby-sitting thing down pat!"she said happily. And she skipped off to join the others. Mark picked Greta back up...and she began sobbing again. He groaned.

"Not quite..."

Collins was running around playing tag with the twins(he was 'it') so Angel went over to where Lucy was playing with some building blocks.

"Hey sweet pea! What's your name?"she asked. Lucy looked over at Angel...and grinned.

"Lucy,"she answered. Angel gasped.

"What a pretty name! Do you know my name?"she asked.

"Angel!"Lucy said happily.

"Ooh, you're so smart!"Angel giggled, twirling one of Lucy's little red curls. Lucy reached over and grabbed a block.

"Play?"she offered, holding the block out to Angel. Angel smiled.

"Of course!"she said, taking the block. The two worked, building a little tower. When they were done, Lucy clapped.

"Done!"she said proudly.

"Yeah, we did a good job!"Angel agreed. Suddenly Sam came dashing by.

"You can't catch me!"he yelled back to Collins. Collins went stomping by...knocking over Lucy's tower. Angel gasped, and there was a moment of silence as Lucy looked down at her destroyed tower...and she burst into tears.

"Oh no! Don't cry honey! Oh...COLLINS, YOU ASS!"

Roger had gone off to play his guitar again, not wanting to play tag with the twins. Thomas had followed Roger, obviously not wanting to play either. He sat across from Roger, watching his fingers carefully as he strummed a quiet tune. Roger hadn't even noticed him until he let out a small sneeze. Roger looked up.

"Oh! Uh...do you want something?"he asked awkwardly. Thomas shook his head.

"No. You can keep playing,"he said. Roger sat uncomfortably for a second...then shrugged, and kept playing. Thomas kept his eyes transfixed on the guitar. Roger looked up again.

"Uh, are you just gonna sit there?"he asked. Thomas stared back at Roger with his big, blue eyes.

"Is that okay? I won't talk, or bother you. I promise,"he said.

"Okay...but I'm not telling jokes, or stories or anything,"Roger insisted.

"Okay,"Thomas replied. There was another pause...and Roger continued playing, Thomas still sitting there. Finally, Roger couldn't take it...

"Look, is there a reason you're sitting here watching me like this?"he demanded.

"I...I like your guitar,"Thomas said.

"Really? Do you play guitar?"Roger asked.

"No. My mom won't let me. She says it's too noisy,"Thomas sighed sadly.

"But...you want to play the guitar?"Roger asked. Thomas nodded. Roger sighed. He couldn't believe he was about to do this... "Do you want me to...to teach you a little bit?" Thomas looked up at Roger, almost as disbelieving as Roger himself.

"You would teach me? Really?"he asked.

"Sure,"Roger shrugged. A smile finally spread across Thomas' face, as he sat down next to Roger. Roger carefully placed the guitar in Thomas' little lap.

"Okay, you have to be very careful when you hold it...yeah, good, put your fingers like this...right. Okay, this note here is C, that's a good place to start..."

Hey guys! Haha, I got a lot of sympathy for poor Sam in the last chapter, that was cute! Benny will be back in the next chapter again though...

Rational Lunacy-I DID get your PM, and I responded, but since you haven't been able to check your mail I figured I should tell you! I don't think I'll use your idea for THIS particular story, but it's definitely a great idea for a continuation! Thanks!