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When Courtney doesn't come downstairs after their nap, Shayne isn't immediately concerned.
There's lots of different reasons they might not come down; sleeping longer, aging up, aging down, or even getting distracted by something upstairs and forgetting to come down.
Whatever the reason is, Shayne heads upstairs to check on them, carefully opening the bedroom door to find them sitting backward in bed with their forehead resting on the wall.
“Good morning,” he murmurs gently, smiling sadly when they turn around to look at him with tears streaming down their face.
“What's wrong, baby?” he asks gently as he sits on the bed, pulling them into his lap.
They whine as they push their palm into their forehead, “Ouch.” they mutter with their eyes clenched shut.
“Migraine?” Shayne clarifies, sighing sadly at their slight nod, “I'm sorry princess, how about we try some medicine?”
Courtney whines again, resting their forehead against his neck as he stands and carries them to the bathroom.
“Can you swallow a pill for papa?” he questions as he opens the medicine cabinet, grabbing the liquid one when they slightly shake their head.
“I know,” he assures them as they whine again, “This isn't fun.”
Shayne gets a syringe of medicine and holds it up to their lips, smiling proudly when they obediently open their mouth and swallow the medication.
“Such a good baby,” he coos as he returns to their bedroom, “Anything papa can do to make this any better?”
They don't respond and he carefully places them back in bed, “Papa's gonna go get your ice pack and some water, want a snack too?”
“Kitties,” they answer, eyes still closed and Shayne chuckles quietly.
“I'll try to get them to come up with me,” he assures them as he leans down to kiss their forehead, “Papa will be right back.”
He leaves for a little over five minutes, returning with a tote bag and Bones in his arms as well as being trailed by Birdie.
“Kitty delivery,” he says as he places Bones in the bed, feeding him a treat in the hopes he'll stay.
“Bones” they murmur happily as they pet him, a small smile on their face.
Shayne watches them as he empties the bag and sets up everything he brought upstairs.
“Can you drink some of this for papa?” he asks as he holds out a bottle of water.
Courtney looks up at him and pouts as they reach for him.
“I've got you,” he murmurs as he settles himself into bed, the little immediately crawling on top of him with Bones flopping himself into Shayne's side.
This time when he hands the water to them they take a couple sips before resting their head over his heart, sighing contently when Shayne rests an ice pack over their forehead.
They continue to pet Bones drowsily as they let their eyes flutter shut, making a quiet happy sound when they feel Birdie settle on their back.
Shayne hums tunelessly, knowing Courtney likes the feeling, while he cards his fingers through their hair.
The four stay like this for a long time, both cats slowly falling asleep while Courtney’s hand slows down, sleep beginning to overtake them.
As they drift closer to sleep, Shayne carefully pulls the ice off their forehead and pushes the bottle back against their lips.
Courtney instinctively latches on, their hand movement stopping as they slowly fall asleep.
He carefully removes the bottle, replacing it with a pacifier when they continue to attempt to drink in their sleep.
Shayne watches them sleep for a while, smiling when Bones readjusts himself to curl around Courtney’s hand.
Wanting to keep this memory forever he carefully reaches for his phone and takes a picture before grabbing his book to read while he waits for his family to wake up.
-... .. .-. -.. .. . / .- -. -.. / -... --- -. . ...
Having just taken a nap, Courtney doesn't sleep very long, blearily looking up at Shayne.
“Papa,” they whine through their pacifier, pulling his attention away from his book, “Ouch.”
“Not feeling any better?” he questions sadly, holding their water out for them again.
They let their pacifier fall out, trading it to take sips from their water. “Maybe little,” they answer, sliding the pacifier back into their mouth.
Shayne rubs their back gently, “Do you wanna keep cuddling with papa? Or maybe we can listen to something?” he suggests as he checks his watch, “I can order dinner if you want me to stay up with you.”
“More ice?” they ask quietly, rubbing at their forehead, “Pizza?”
He laughs, carefully moving Courtney and the cats before he sits up and slides out of bed.
“Gonna feed the cats and grab you more ice. I'll be back soon,” he tells them, leaning down to kiss their forehead before playfully tugging on the loop of the pacifier, "Don't fall back asleep.”
“Not tired.” they assure him as he collects everything to go downstairs, faceplanting into a pillow to wait for him to come back.
And they stay like that until he returns, giggling when they hear him make exaggerated steps towards them, rolling over and whispering ”boo”.
Shayne jumps in fake surprise, smiling at their giggles as he places a new ice pack on their forehead.
“Usual pizza?” he clarifies as he climbs back into bed, Courtney immediately resuming their previous position.
“Please.” they answer as he replaces the ice on their forehead, letting their eyes flutter shut again as they suck soothingly on their pacifier.
The room stays quiet as Shayne orders, the man returning his attention to Courtney with an eye roll, “No sleeping, baby.” he reminds them.
“Not sleeping,” they say petulantly, “Relaxin' eyes.”
He chuckles, bringing his hand down to rub their back again, “Pizza will be here in about 45 minutes, we could listen to a book.”
Even though Shayne usually would read to them if they had the choice, both because they love his voice and the pictures. They also had audio books to play when they needed to wind down in the car or when Shayne was busy.
“Treehouse?” they ask and he opens his phone to search through the series.
“Dinosaurs, lions, Hawaii, or pirates?” he lists off, saying a few favorites and a new one.
They think for a moment before picking the new one, “Hawaii.”
“Good choice.” he compliments, pressing play on the book and placing the phone on their back.
The book is about 40 minutes long, so Courtney relaxes into their papa as they listen to Jack and Annie learn to surf, pacifier still moving rhythmically in their mouth.
The story ends and Shayne quickly picks up his phone as they roll off of him to stretch.
“Pizza?” they mumble hopefully, gasping in excitement when they hear the doorbell ring.
“I've got all the lights off and the curtains closed downstairs,” he tells them as he lifts them into his arms, “We don't want pizza sauce on our sheets.”
He carries them downstairs and retrieves the pizza. Juggling the boxes and the little, he walks to the dark kitchen, placing both at the table before grabbing plates and drinks.
Courtney smiles as they take a sip of their apple juice, waiting for their papa to make them a plate, “Thank you pizza papa,” they murmur as he places the plate in front of them.
“Anything to try and make my baby feel better.” he tells them, taking a bite of his food, “Especially when it means we get a delicious dinner.”
“Pizza every day?” they try, pouting when he shakes his head, “Worth shot.”
Shayne laughs and the two eat their pizza in relative quiet, the two have an almost whispered conversation about the book they listened to.
“Papa,” they whine as he takes their empty plate away, “Ouch.”
He places the plates down in the sink before retrieving the little again, “Let's get everything we need down here so we can stay up there,” he says, moving around the kitchen and collecting a few bottles of water as well as more ice and Courtney’s heated blanket.
The duo head upstairs with Courtney in his arms, gently placing them on the bed before situating all their stuff. Satisfied, he climbs into bed himself, allowing the little to climb back onto him.
“Sleep?” they mutter hopefully, letting their eyes flutter shut as he covers them both in the heated blanket.
“You can sleep,” he assures them gently, pushing their pacifier back into their mouth before they can place Horsey's claw in there.
Courtney sighs contently as Shayne starts rubbing their back as well as carefully scratching their scalp.
He begins to hum, slowly but surely pulling the little to sleep.
Glancing at his watch, he closes his own eyes. Figuring it's better to sleep now in case they wake him in the night.
-... .. .-. -.. .. . / .- -. -.. / -... --- -. . …
Shayne is brought back into consciousness by someone gently caressing his face.
“Papa my head better,” they whisper when they notice his eyes cracking open, “Not sleepy anymore.”
“What time is it?” he asks, still partially asleep, “Is it still sleeping time?”
They shake their head, “Papa usually up now,” they assure him, “Wanna shower please.”
He laughs, pushing himself up to sit, being mindful of the little on his chest and the cats surrounding him, “We can do that.” he tells them easily, chuckling fondly when they hop out of his lap and rush to their bathroom.
Shayne follows them with a fond smile, before helping the energetic little find toys that'll work in the shower.
“I happy I feel better,” they tell him, pulling out a water wheel.
He places a gentle kiss on their temple before heading over to set the water temperature on the shower.
“Me too, baby” he murmurs more to himself, “Me too.”