Not Meant to Sit on Babies (Chapter 5)

Still unsure what to do about Dallas' weeping, Lizzie laid him down in his crib. She told Debra that she and her brother had to be gone before her parents arrived. Therefore, Debra let Leroy know and the two were on their way out.
"Thank you for coming over, Debbie," said Lizzie, following her friend towards the door. "I really appreciate it."
"Hey, that's what friends are for," smiled Debra.
"Baby stuff?"
"Baby stuff."
"Ugh, Debra," whined Leroy. "I don't want to ride the tandem bike."
"Do you want to walk home?"
"No."
"Then you're getting on the bike."
"Ugh! Fine."
"Are you sure you don't want me to stay a bit longer?" Debra asked Lizzie.
"No," answered Lizzie. "My parents said that they would be here by nine. They also said to put Dallas to sleep by eight but it's past eight. So I don't want you to be here when my parents do what Abraham did and murder me."
"They're not going to murder you."
"You're right. They'll probably poison me in my sleep."
"Well, I pray that you don't get into trouble, Lizzie. So I might as well get going."
"Good night, Debra."
Debra opened the door. "Good night, Lizzie." She walked out.
"Good night, honeycakes," said Leroy before walking out.
"Bye, Leroy," Lizzie giggled.
Debra tugged Leroy by the ear before Lizzie closed the door. She sighed before walking up the stairs. She made her way to Dallas' room, speaking softly.
"Look, Dallas, I love you very much but you need to go to sleep. I know you don't really sleep after eight, but please do so for me. I don't know why you're crying and I feel like a bad sister for not knowing what's wrong with you. However, I would appreciate it if you stop and get some shut-eye. That means to shut your eyes."
Lizzie entered the room and caught Dallas still in his crib with his eyes closed. He was very quiet. She leaned over the crib to make sure she was seeing him correctly.
"Dallas, are you alive?" she asked.
He was softly snoring, his chest moving up and down.
"Oh, thank God." Lizzie put her hand on her chest. She then picked up the blanket in the corner of the crib and flattened it out over Dallas' body.
Lizzie later heard the door from downstairs opening and her parents chattering. She didn't want to look guilty of any sort so she ran over to the bookshelf and grabbed a random book. She sat down in front of Dallas' crib and opened the book. Her parents walked into the open door of the room and caught Lizzie reading the book in her hands.
"And then the prince and the princess lived happily ever after," she uttered. She closed the book and looked up at her parents. "Oh, hey, mom and dad," she said softly. "I was just reading Dallas a long story."
"I can see," Lizzie's mother said, walking further into the room.
Lizzie stood up and hid the book behind her back.
Her mother peeked into the crib. "Was Dallas any trouble?" she asked.
"Oh, not at all," Lizzie answered, shaking her head. "We had tons of fun. We played around; it was good. I fed him and changed his diaper. It was easy, breezy, beautiful Cover Girl."
"Well, I'm glad that you handled everything, Lizzie."
Lizzie's father put his arm around his wife. "Yeah, I'm so proud of you," he said. "Maybe you should babysit more often."
Lizzie giggled. "Oh, you don't have to."
"No, I insist."
Lizzie frowned. "Well, don't."
"Okay... Well, I guess we should let our little boy sleep."
"I know I need some shut-eye," shared Lizzie's mom.
"Then let's go shut our eyes," suggested Lizzie.
Her parents smiled at her before walking out of the room. Lizzie slowly began exiting the room. When she was at the door, she turned around and whispered, "Good night, Dallas". She turned off the light and closed the door. As she walked through the hallway, she muttered to herself, "Now where are my car keys?"