Work Text:
“Why is he still crying?”, George groaned, covering his ears. Sapnap sighed as he kept bouncing the Little gently, trying to get him to calm down. Karl had regressed very young, young enough to where Karl couldn’t even tell the other three boys what age he was feeling, Sapnap told Dream and George it was called ‘babyspace’.
“I have no idea, Georgie”, Sapnap replied. “I’ve tried everything.” Their front door opened and Dream entered holding a couple of bags, having just returned from a shopping trip, per request from Sapnap.
“I think I got everything on the list”, Dream said. “Bottles, diapers, pacifiers, some distracting toys… he still hasn’t let up?” Sapnap shook his head.
“This boy has the lung capacity of a damn elephant”, he replied. “Could one of you boys get one of the pacifiers out of the package and boil it in some water.”
“Why?”, George asked. “I mean why do we have to boil it?”
“To clean the germs off, idiot”, Dream replied, grabbing one of the pacifiers. “Come on.” George got up from the couch and followed Dream into the kitchen.
“Is it normal for him to be acting like this?”, George asked, filling up a small pot with water. Dream shrugged, turning on the burner.
“I honestly don’t know much about age regression”, he replied. “If you have those questions I would ask Nick.” Dream put some of the pacifiers in the hot water and waited.
“I’m so tired”, George mumbled, leaning his head on his hand. Dream smirked softly.
“That’s what you get for streaming so late last night”, he said. “What time was it when you ended? Like 2 or 3 in the morning?” George groaned and shook his head.
“1”, he replied. Dream scoffed. “What?”
“I heard you up at 3”, Dream said. “What was that all about, hm?” George shook his head. “Not going to answer, huh?”
--
Back in the living room, Sapnap decided to put Karl into a diaper to make things easier when he needed to relieve himself. He succeeded in putting it on even with the Little crying his head off.
“There, doesn’t that feel better, little one?”, Sapnap asked. Karl continued to sob. “Baby, I wish I knew how to help you. You’re not hungry because I already tried to feed you.” George came out from the kitchen.
“I’m gonna go upstairs and take a nap”, he said. Sapnap shook his head. “What?”
“You’re going to stay down here and help us”, Sapnap replied. “You can sleep later. I need your help right now. Did you guys get the pacifiers done?” George shook his head.
“..not yet”, George mumbled. “..is it normal that he’s acting like this?” Sapnap shrugged.
“It’s not abnormal that he’s acting like this”, he replied. “I just can’t figure out what made him regress this young. Can you watch him why I use the bathroom?” George nodded and sat down on the couch while Sapnap got up to use the bathroom. When Sapnap came back, Dream was next to George, trying to give Karl a pacifier. “Clay, let me do it.” Dream handed the pacifier to Sapnap.
“I have never seen a baby act like this”, Dream said. “And I have babystat a lot of babies. What could’ve happened to make him act like this?” Sapnap shrugged.
“I wish I knew too”, he said, putting the pacifier in Karl’s mouth, which he immediately spat out. “Maybe try the toys? To distract him?” Dream got up and grabbed the bag, pulling out a rattle. He handed the rattle to Sapnap.
“Baby, look what I have”, Sapnap said, shaking the rattled in front of Karl. The Little sucked in a breath and let it out in one big sob that sounded like a blood-curdling scream. “Okay, he doesn’t like that. I’ll try to feed him again.” Sapnap grabbed the bottle that he had filled with warm milk, which by that time was cold milk. He held the bottle up to Karl and dripped some of the milk into his mouth. Karl shook his head wildly. “Can someone throw this milk out for me?” Dream nudged George who got up and took the milk to the kitchen.
“Shouldn’t you make him drink?”, Dream asked. “All the crying is making him lose fluids.” Sapnap nodded.
“I don’t wanna make him choke while he’s like this”, he replied. “Once he’s calmed down I’ll make sure he drinks a lot. I’m not too worried at the moment. I’m thinking of going upstairs in a little bit.” Dream nodded.
“If there’s anything else I can do to help, let me know”, he said. “I’m free the rest of the day.” Sapnap smiled and nodded. Both boys turned their heads to the kitchen when they heard a loud crash. “George?” George groaned and stomped into the living room.
“Why is he still crying?!”, he exclaimed. “Why is he so upset?! It’s so fricking annoying!” Dream sighed.
“George, you can go take that nap if you’d like”, Sapnap replied calmly. “I understand you’re frustrated, but your yelling is not going to make the situation go away. Okay?” George unballed his fists and sighed.
“I’m sorry, I’m just tired”, he said. “I’ll stay down here if you’d like.” Sapnap shook his head.
“No need, I’m going to head upstairs sometime here to see if I can get him calmed down in this room”, Sapnap replied, grabbing the pacifier and standing up, trying to find a comfortable position to carry Karl before going upstairs to the Little’s room. Sapnap sat up on Karl’s bed with Karl on his lap and gently put the pacifier in his mouth, making sure that he didn’t let up when Karl resisted the pacifier.
After a while, and a lot of resisting, Sapnap was able to get Karl to keep his pacifier in, and Karl’s eyes started to flutter close. Once Sapnap was sure Karl had surely feel asleep, he lifted Karl off his lap as he got off of the bed and set Karl gently on the bed where he was. Sapnap sighed in relief as he shut the door gently and went back downstairs.
“I’ve done it, boys”, Sapnap said. “I think he finally tired himself out.” Both Dream and George sighed in relief.
“And let’s hope he doesn’t do that ever again”, George replied.