A/N: Hey guys. This chapter was suggested by Undercover Reader (Thank you for the suggestion and review sweety)
Chapter Plot: Every child gets sick, and its only in the parent's nature to care for them until they are well again. Its just in their nature.
P.S: In this one they have neighbors in this one but they are total assholes.
It was normal, if not healthy for a child to cry and it was also normal for their skin to be pink as long as the color isn't dark or varying. It was however, not normal for a child to cry for what seemed like hours on end and to have bright redish-pink blotches adorning their skin. Mr. Peabody knew this, and he also knew that those were usually tell tale signs that the child was ill. So here he found himself, at eight o'clock at night, attempting to deal with a sick child. Or rather, a sick baby in this case.
"No, they're just pink." He said into the phone that was held awkwardly between his shoulder and ear and even more awkwardly held his crying child. "Like fever spo- What shade? I'm not sure actually, I would say almost a rose pink... If that makes sense."
"Like real rose pink, or like strawberry pocky pink?"
"Wha- I don't even know what that is!" Peabody called into the phone, trying to be louder than Sherman's cries so the doctor could hear him. "Its just pink. Like those flowers of fifty-seventh street."
"Never been there. Whats the child's temperature?" The doctor on the other end asked next and that statement alone caused the dog to pale a bit. "Do you have a child-thermometer?"
"Actually, I don't." He admitted sheepishly while walking over to a nearby sticky note pad and marking it down, though the lack of an secure arm cause Sherman to cry louder. "You can buy those at a general store, correct?"
"You can, and I highly suggest you do that now before it closes." The doctor responded, rushing in one last thing before he hung up. "Call me back after you've done that."
The dog huffed and hung up the phone and then unceremoniously dropped it on the coffee table. Shaking his head, he picked up Sherman's blanket from the couch and swaddled the baby with it. Sherman, in turn, began to cry at a softer tone, making his crying all the more bearable. Though Peabody didn't feel comfortable taking the baby out this late at night, he knew that it had to be done. With this in mind, he gathered up both Sherman and his wallet and walked towards the front door of his penthouse. After this, it was just one quick elevator ride down to the first floor, or at least it would be until Sherman took this time to start bawling his eyes out in the crowded elevator.
"Could you please shut him up?" A man in a business suit muttered, giving the pair a scornful gaze.
"I didn't even know they let children in this building." Another said with a shake of the head. "Let alone babies."
"Is there something wrong with it?" Holy crap! There were only on the floor below the penthouse! How much longer was this going to take!? If Peabody wasn't so peace-loving then he would have told those prissy attendants to go shove it and to leave his poor boy alone. Instead, he took the obvious route and with a smirk, executed his plan.
"Yes. There is something wrong with him." Mr. Peabody muttered as he attempted to shush the baby by rocking him. "He is sick if you must know."
That shut everyone up and got them all to press to one side of the elevator, now terrified of the sick child. All except one, but Peabody didn't pay her any mind. Instead, he stood glaring up at the floor levels that were highlighted in bright red lights. Sherman took this moment to cough hard and then burst into another set of tears.
"Shh, its alright Sherman." Peabody muttered as he attempted to calm the child. "You're okay. Daddy has you..."
While other's cringed a bit at this sight, the woman that still stood next to the pair smiled. She then knelt so that she could be eye level with them and could speak a few words of encouragement. Peabody turned to her when he felt her presence and studied the woman's face. She was a young woman about twenty, with filmy grey eyes and a messy bun of sandy curls tied up on her head. She was dressed in a casual shirt and tight black pants.
"I take it it's his first time getting sick. Its never fun at any age." She said sweetly, ruffling the baby's hair gently. "I think its the one time that a child needs their parents the most."
Her cool hands seemed to calm Sherman a bit, now that his face wasn't so warm. In the background, the elevator dinged to the fifth floor and the doors opened, instantly, everyone expect for the dog, his pup, and the woman, left in a hurry. The door closed again and continued its decent down the elevator shaft, slowly making its way down to the main level. This gave the two adults time to swap parenting advice, well sort of.
"Cool washcloths normally help." The woman was saying, "It works wonders when they're teething as well."
"That's very interesting, I'll have to try that." Peabody said, attempting to appear interested but was also trying to calm a fussy Sherman, who by now had spit up on himself and was now crying again. 'Oh God, this is going to be a long night..."
"Can I try something?" The woman asked, and while the dog was a bit uncomfortable with having a stranger hold his child, he eventually (and very carefully) set the baby in the other's arms.
They were in an elevator after all, so there really wasn't much harm she could do in the enclosed space. Gently, the woman held Sherman so that his face was over her shoulder and her arms held him in place. One hand was under him and the other was placed on his back. She began to rock him back and forth carefully while patting his back gently. Mr. Peabody took note of the hold as well as the floor number. They were only at level three when she handed him back.
"You seem to know a lot about children." Peabody commented as he held Sherman in a similar hold as earlier.
"My little girl is four." The woman explained as the elevator finally came to a stop on the first floor. "My name is Source, er nickname is at least, by the way. I live on the sixth floor."
"Peabody, and it was very nice to meet you." The dog responded with a nod as he stepped out of the elevator and walked toward the exit of the building without another word.
The motorcycle seemed like a bad idea today, so a taxi-cab was hailed instead. This ride was shorter than the elevator ride and luckily Sherman had fallen asleep and did not cry. However, the driver kept on shooting them odd gazes through the rear-view mirror. His beady blue eyes seemed to bore holes into the dog's emerald ones. Peabody took this time to pay close attention to his son and cradled him even closer to his chest and nuzzled him in an attempt to calm him.
"And heres your stop." The taxi driver commented in his thick accent, turning to face the dog. "Should I keep the meter running or are you going to be a while?"
"I just need two things and then I will be out." Peabody replied, getting out quickly with Sherman and rushing into the store.
It was late as far as the store was concerned, so only a few cashiers and a customer or two were present in the entire store. The overhead music just made the whole place feel washed out and even more vacant. This made the dog all the more eager to get the hell out of the there and return home, so he quickly darted to the baby section. A pack of wash clothes were taken from their spot on the rack and upon arriving at the thermometer section, the dog found himself at a lose. There was the traditional glass one, but then there was also an odd blue one that looked like a hot-glue gun only the tip was yellow.
"Now... How would you use these?" He muttered as he took the two devices into his hands and flipped them around in his paws, looking for instructions.
Luckily, there was an employee nearby who noticed the dog's look of confusion and was happy to assist him. One scaring instruction lesson on both devices and Mr. Peabody decided that the blue one was best because it didn't require- Never mind. After this, he was pointed in the direction of a baby medicine isle and picked up the pink cough syrup that was safe for children of all ages and headed for the check out. His total was $22.50 (the thermometer cost a lot) and his total for the cab ride was $15.45. Regardless of the cost, he was just relieved that Sherman and him had gotten back home safety and with one quick elevator trip (yes this time it was quick) the two returned to their penthouse and entered the house.
"Now, lets see here..." Peabody muttered as he set Sherman down in his play swing and opened the thermometer box. "It needs double A batteries-"
He face palmed when he realized that not only was that the one thing he didn't have, but also that one of his only options now was to go out and buy them at the general store which would require another trip in that damn elevator. Deciding that risking another trip would be the death of him, he looked around the room, picked up the TV remote and opened it up in what he thought was a clever idea. With the thermometer ready to go, he went over to Sherman and slid the yellow top into the baby's ear and waited.
"98.9...99.2...99.9" He read aloud as the thermometer began to beep, singling its completion.
Muttering the number aloud so he would remember it, he quickly picked his phone up from the table and phoned the pediatrician. The call went through almost instantly and luckily, the doctor was still in, even at this late hour.
"Took you long enough. I thought after a while that you were trying to invent your own thermometer." The doctor's first commented was before he decided to turn semi-serious again. "What did it say?"
"99.9 degrees." Peabody answered, putting the phone between his shoulder and ear and using his free hands to hand Sherman a toy and to take out the pack of washcloths. "Now a woman on the elevator suggested washcloths, is that a-"
"Yes, its a good idea. It'll help bring his fever down." The doctor cut in suddenly. "Now do you own All Child's Cough Syrup?"
"As a matter of fact, I do." Peabody said as he went to the kitchen and stuck one of the clothes under the cool running tap.
"Half of a spoon full every four hours and he should be fine." The doctor said quickly, "If not then bring him to my office if it gets worse."
Mr. Peabody listened while wringing out the towel and while placing it on Sherman's forehead. He frowned at the thought of him not getting better as he measured out the cough syrup and after many tries, finally got the baby to swallow it. After getting off the phone with the doctor, the dog collected the baby into his arms and rocked him until he fell asleep. He remembered what the woman had said about a child needing their parents the most at times like this.
"You're okay, Sherman." He would whisper whenever the child would whimper as he carried him over to his large sit-chair.
Sitting down carefully, the dog adjusted the baby so that he was comfortable and carefully reached over to the chair-side table and picked up a novel he had left there earlier. He ran a hand over the hard-cover of the book and flipped to the page he had left off on. The Great Gatsby it was called, and while it was not one of his favorites, it was a good read. Sherman coughed hard and sneezed softly, instantly waking from his sleep and whimpering loudly. The dog frowned and wiped the baby's nose with another washcloth before sitting the child on his lap.
"Come now, Sherman." The dog said gently. "Lets read a story."
The pair ended up staying up long into the night, but luckily by the third does of medicine and the fourth cloth, Sherman's temperature before to go down and he was finally able to sleep. It hadn't been an easy night, and Peabody knew that it wouldn't be the only night like this and that research on this sort of thing would be best. It would still be stressful the next time Sherman got sick, but it would be easier than it was this time if the right amount of thought was put into it. Looking down at his now sleeping son, the dog smiled and knew that any amount of stress would be worth it. As long as his baby would be well again, then it was all worth it.