"Riley, you're five months old. You can sleep through the night now..." Topanga moaned in a whisper, reaching underneath the lamp to twist it on while cradling her whimpering baby in her arms. "You're old enough now...come on..."
Gently bouncing up and down while holding Riley, Topanga glanced to their bed as Cory groaned, his voice muffled as his face had flopped into his pillow in hopeless distress.
"How do we know that babies even sleep, Topanga?" Cory asked in monotonous sarcasm. "Did we read the instruction manual right?"
Topanga rolled her eyes and clenched her jaw at his pointless complaining. "Shut up if you're not going to help me."
Turning onto his back, Cory sighed as Riley continued crying. "What if we tried ignoring her? Maybe she'd go back to sleep."
"That didn't work last time, Cory."
"Does she need to be changed?"
Topanga paused to sniff briefly. "No, I can't smell anything."
"Is she hungry?"
"I just fed her a couple hours ago."
"Let me hold her for a second."
Sitting on the bedside, Topanga placed her in Cory's hands. He held Riley up in the air, gazing at his daughter, dressed in her tiny pink, flannel footie PJs. Tears dripped down her smooth cheeks, and her small brown eyes were bloodshot from crying and exhaustion.
"Hey, baby girl." Cory said softly, grinning to calm her as she looked into his eyes. "What's the matter? You're tired, too. So are Mommy and Daddy, it's 3:00 AM."
Laying her on his chest, Cory stroked her back and shushed her soothingly, feeling her chest quake against his as she began controlling her sobs. Topanga smiled at her husband's tender comfort as she reached for Riley's small hands and rubbed it with her thumb.
Maybe Riley had only wanted the presence and touch of her parents, because soon, all three of them were sleeping soundly in the bed together.