"Come on, Dallas," Lizzie begged. "You're a baby; you need to eat to live. Look at me; look at how yummy this food is." Lizzie dipped the spoon in her mouth, consuming all the mush on it. When she took the spoon out, she started to gag. She hastily looked for the trashcan and when she found it, she spit everything in her mouth into the can. She wiped her mouth with her arm and walked back to the crying Dallas. "See, it's good. That was good."
Dallas opened his eyes but he was still crying strongly.
Debra was on the other side of Dallas, witnessing Lizzie's failed attempts to feed her brother. "Lizzie, I don't think he wants to eat this," she said.
"I know, but he has got to stop crying," said Lizzie.
"He's crying because you dropped him on the floor."
"I didn't drop him on the floor. The couch dropped him on the floor. I was with you, 'member?"
"Look, maybe he hit his head." Debra began massaging Dallas' head with both hands. "Shhh," she hushed. "It's okay. Just relax. Shhh..."
It wasn't working; Dallas continued to cry.
"I don't think he likes that," Lizzie shared.
"Well, I don't know what's wrong with him."
"Maybe he wants his milk." Lizzie rushed over to the refrigerator and opened it right up. She grabbed the half-full pitcher of milk and set it on the table. She grabbed a glass from the cabinet and a straw from the drawer. She stuck the straw in the glass before pouring the milk in. "Ew, ew, ew, ew," she said while she poured the milk. Lizzie pushed the glass towards Dallas when she was done.
"Lizzie, he can't drink the milk like that," said Debra.
"You're right; he doesn't know straws work yet." She searched through the cabinets until she found a baby bottle. She took off the nipple and poured the milk from the glass into the bottle. "Ew, ew, ew, ew," she said as she poured the milk. She stuck the nipple back on and pushed the bottle in Dallas' direction.
Dallas kept crying so Lizzie pushed the bottle even closer. Debra snatched the bottle and tried to force it in Dallas' mouth.
"Come on, Dallas," she pleaded. "Drink the milk-y. Come on, you love milk, don't you?"
Dallas resisted from the bottle, still wailing.
"Why won't he drink it?" asked Debra.
"Because he's not hungry," responded Lizzie.
"I know that!"
Lizzie gasped. "Let's ask the kids if they know what to do."
"Lizzie, they're kids."
"But they're all we have!"
Lizzie lifted Dallas from his high chair and carried him out of the kitchen with Debra following them. They walked into the living room where the kids were spending their time. Leroy was sitting next to Linda on the couch while Krista was sitting in one of the chairs.
"Are you comfy, baby?" questioned Leroy, putting his arm around Linda.
"I'm not your baby," she said.
"So, baby, I was wondering if you want to be my date for the homecoming dance at my school."
"Um, no thanks. I'm not even allowed to date yet."
"Oh, that's okay. There will be chaperones there so they'll keep a good eye on us. But they'll never check the bathrooms."
He began to laugh but Linda pinched Leroy on his arm, making him fling it away from her shoulders.
"Ow!" he uttered, clutching his arm.
"Hey, guys," said Debra, coming closer to the kids. "Do you want to do us girls a favor?"
"Of course, if it involves being away from Leroy," responded Linda.
"That's nice. Um, we were wondering if you three know anything about making a baby stop crying."
"Uh, what do I look like?" asked Leroy. "The baby whisperer?"
"I heard if you sing to a baby, it calms it down," shared Krista.
"Oh, that makes sense," said Lizzie, bouncing Dallas in her grip. "But neither of us can sing."
"Hey, I can sing some Blackstreet," said Leroy while looking at Linda.
"I don't know who that is," she admitted.
"Listen, we are desperate to shut Dallas up," said Lizzie. "It's worth a try."
"I can try to sing to him," said Krista. "I love to sing."
"Oh, please, Krista." Lizzie walked over to her and handed the baby right over.
Krista held Dallas in her arms and began singing softly and sweetly to him.
The snow glows white on the mountain tonight
Not a footprint to be seen
A kingdom of isolation
And it looks like I'm the queen
Suddenly, the baby started to calm down and listen to Krista's saccharine voice. He opened his bright, brown eyes and looked at Krista's flawless face. Lizzie and Debra looked at each other in amazement. When Krista wrapped up her singing, Lizzie carefully took Dallas from her arms. She began holding him and rocking him.
"Oh, my goodie!" said Lizzie. "He stopped crying."
"Wow, Krista, that was really good," commented Debra.
Krista scrunched her forehead. "Good?" She stood up. "What do you mean, good? I was amazing!" She started tearing up and her voice was quivering. "Why doesn't anyone love my singing?" She zipped past the girls and ran upstairs.
Lizzie motioned her eyes to Debra. "What was that about?" she asked in a low voice.
"She's very sensitive about her talent," explained Linda.
For some reason, Dallas started wailing again. Lizzie glanced at him and sighed. Everyone else started to get frustrated.
For an hour, Dallas did nothing but cry. Lizzie and Debra ran out of solutions to make him stop sobbing. They were too tired to even come up with more solutions. They just sat beside the stairs, leaning against the wall. Dallas was in Lizzie's hands, wailing his head off. They could hear Linda and Leroy arguing upstairs somewhere. They just looked like suicidal vagrants.
"Are we going to be bad parents?" asked Lizzie, almost in a mumble.
"I don't know, Lizzie," answered Debra.
"Well, do you think I'm a bad sister?"
"Of course not."
"Then why can't I stop Dallas from crying?"
"Because you're like Sugar Kane: you're not that bright."
"So because I'm not a light or a stick of sugar, Dallas won't stop crying?"
"Whatever you want, Lizzie."
"Thank you for helping me."
"I wish I wasn't."
"You're supposed to be good at calming people down."
"Well, I can't do everything!"
"Sorry."
"No, I'm sorry. Are you sure he doesn't have a pacifier?"
"He does; I just can't find it anywhere."
"At least I don't have a headache."
"Yeah, lucky you."
Ding-dong! The doorbell rang. Lizzie stood up and carried Dallas in her arms. She walked over to the door and opened it. At the door was Andrea, who took a step inside.
"Andrea, what are you doing here so early?" Lizzie questioned.
"My date was horrific," answered Andrea. "I threw up on him."
"Oh, no! Were you sick?"
"No, I just felt throwing up on him. He was a complete nightmare. I guess I'll go back to fantasizing about Randall."
"You do that."
Andrea then noticed her other friend. "Oh, hey, Debra."
Debra stood up. "Hey, Andy." She waved at her.
"I didn't know Debra was here."
"Oh, yeah, she was helping me with Dallas," said Lizzie.
"Well, thank God for Debra. So I guess I'm going to take my sisters and head on out now."
Soon, Linda came running down the stairs, shown to be chased by Leroy.
"You are disgusting!" Linda said to him.
"It was only a joke," said Leroy.
"You," Andrea hissed at Leroy.
Leroy looked like a deer caught in headlights when Andrea darted after him. She was stopped by Lizzie; Debra shielded her brother. Linda stood back, really wanting Andrea to do something to him.
"I can't believe you're here!" Andrea shouted. "If I knew you were here, I would've left my sisters at home."
"Calm down, honey sauce," said Leroy.
"Oh, I'll show you honey sauce." Andrea struggled in Lizzie's one-arm grip.
"Guys!" Lizzie shouted. "Not in front of the baby."
"Krista, get down here!" called Andrea. She gave Leroy a threatening look while pointing at him.
Krista rushed down the stairs when she heard her sister's voice. Andrea grabbed Krista by the face.
"Did that boy hurt you?" asked Andrea.
"No," answered Krista, freeing herself.
"Let's go." Andrea put her arms around her little sisters and proceeded to go out the door. She turned her head at Leroy and said, "I better not catch you in the streets."
"I ain't do nothing," he said.
"I'm still gonna get you." She left the house with her siblings.
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