Whimpers could be heard from beyond the crib, little rustles of an infant moving around in their swaddle followed. The father groaned and dropped his head, waiting to hear the ear piercing screams that followed.

A howl bounced off the walls and into Jimmy's ears that got louder. He pushed himself up from his desk where he trying to do this homework for his online school that he had be pushing off. He should be sleeping but knowing that the baby wakes up every two hours and the never ending pile of homework that could be traced back to about a month ago when he had to stop doing it to give birth to his daughter. The recovery journey was long and hard on him, making it not so easy to do his homework.

He slugged to the crib that was pushed up against one of the corners of the room which held the wailing infant. He looked down into the crib to see his daughter try to fight her way out of the swaddle. Sighing, he went to the dresser right next to the crib and grabbed a "clean" bottle and formula. He scooped some in the measuring cup they offered and dropped it into the bottle, making a tiny mess from missing the bottle. He already had a mess from the previous bottle so it didn't bother him. He grabbed a bottle next to dry formula and opened it, pouring it into the bottle.

"I'm coming, I'm coming." He told his daughter who didn't seem to hear or understand and kept on screaming. He picked up the bottle and shook it, mixing the two ingredients together. He grabbed a burp cloth and draped it across his left shoulder, setting down the bottle to make it easier to pick up his wailing daughter.

If possible, her cries got louder. He picked her up and cradled her in his arms, grabbing the bottle and putting it into her open mouth. She stopped crying all together once the taste of milk filled her mouth, looking up at her father as she ate.

He trudged back to his chair, pasting piles of a mixture of his and his daughter's dirty clothes, a small pile of toys that laid on a mat, baby books mixed with his textbooks from his old high school he used to go to before he got pregnant. He stayed until he started to show and left, never returning. None of his supposed friends reached out to ask where was he and why he left.

He sat down on his chair and sighed, swirling his chair to face his bed which had the most damage. A pile of clean baby clothes laid neatly on it next to his not so neatly pile of clean clothes for him. Next to that was gift from his mom from when he gave birth. It was a bunch of sensory toys that were too big for his daughter right now so they laid there untouched and collecting dust. Next to that was a bucket of changing supplies that sat next to a mat where he changed her throughout the day. Clean diapers littered around the mat to make it easier for Jimmy to pick them up at three in the morning.

A horrible smell whiffed through his nose, making him cringe and gag. It was either coming from him or his daughter. He felt her bum as she ate, making sure there wasn't a full dirty diaper but he felt nothing. He looked down at himself and realized that he had been wearing the same hoodie and pajama pants since the beginning of the week without taking a shower since last week. He sighed, knowing that the postpartum depression was going to be hard but not this hard.

A little whine made him looked down at his daughter who had finished the bottle and wanted to be burped. He took the bottle from her lips and lifted her up to his shoulder, patting her bum lightly. A knock on his door made him turn his chair, wondering who would be knocking on his door at this hour.

"Come in." His voice cracked with the words, from the lack of water and sleep. The door pushed open and in the doorway stood his younger brother. He got up and went towards him, who was wearing a long sleeve shirt and shorts with socks. He looked like he just woke up, making him feel guilty.

"Sorry I woke you up." He whispered, shifting his daughter a little. His brother shook his head, opening his eyes a little as he started to get adjusted to the light.

"No no, it's fine. Can you let me in, I want to talk to you." Jimmy nodded, backing away from the door to let him in. He walked in and shut the door, looking around the room which made Jimmy feel ashamed for how messy he let his room get. His brother caught his eye and smiled softly.

"Do you need help?" He tilted his head, wondering what he meant.

"Do you need help with cleaning this room?" Jimmy was about to answer but a burp interrupted him. He looked at his daughter looked a little sleepy after burping. He lifted her off his shoulder and cradled her in his arms, walking over to her crib to set her down. He placed her down and draped a blanket over her body to give her more warmth as his room was really cold. He turned back to his brother and looked around the room before looking at him.

"Um I think so. I was going to get it but I never got to it." His brother smiled and shrugged, going over to him.

"I'll help you, don't worry. Just tell me where everything goes." Jimmy nodded and started to pick up the piles of cloth on the floor, going over to the empty basket that sat on his bed and dropped the clothes in there. His brother started to clean up the bed, putting away the clean clothes with the guidance of Jimmy.

Thirty minutes passed and their were almost finished. On Jimmy's desk sat the dirty bottles that needed to be brought to the kitchen along with the overflowing basket of dirty clothes underneath. Jimmy threw the last onesie to his brother and he put it away in one of the drawers.

"Thank you. I was going to get to it but I guess I was pushing it off. This postpartum depression thing is hard on you." He turned to his brother and slung an arm around his shoulder. His brother laughed and nodded, patting his brother's shoulder.

"Anytime. I get it. I was reading up on it since mom mentioned something about it." Jimmy nodded and took his arm off his shoulders, going over to his closet to grab a pair of clothes. He turned to his brother and smiled.

"Can you watch her while I take a shower? She shouldn't need anything while I'm gone since it's not her feeding time." His brother nodded and watched Jimmy leave the room shutting the door behind him. He walked over to the crib and looked down at the baby, surprised to see her wide awake.

"Did we wake you?" A blank stare was his answer. He sighed and looked behind him to make sure Jimmy wasn't there.

"Do you want me to pick you up?" Staring at him blanking, he put his hands around her body and picked her up. Cradling her in his arms, he walked over to the Jimmy's bed and sat down. He sat up against the headboard with the baby still cradled in his arms. The baby looked up at her uncle blankly, blinking softly as she started to get tried. She yawned and closed her eyes, leaning her head over to the right to rest on her uncle's arm. He smiled, not daring to move his arm in the slightest way.

When Jimmy exited the bathroom, he went back over to his room and opened the door to the cutest scene. His brother had fallen asleep with his daughter in his arms, looking so peaceful. He smiled and grabbed the blanket, draping it over his legs and onto his stomach. He turned off the lights and climbed into bed with him, taking some of the blanket to cover himself. Resting his head onto the pillow next to his brother, he remembered times when they were younger when they would do this. Sleeping in each other's bed after a nightmare always brought comfort and they kept doing it until his brother turned ten, saying he was old enough to sleep on his own after a nightmare. It saddened Jimmy in a way that he couldn't sleep with his brother anymore but he was glad at the time to have his bed back.

"Jimmy?" He heard his brother speak and he sat up, flicking on the lamp next to his bed. His brother squinted and let his eyes adjust to the sudden brightness. He smiled at him and shifted his arms a little.

"Do you want to lay down?" He nodded and let Jimmy pick up his daughter before shifting down to lay his head on the pillow. Jimmy placed his daughter on his brother's chest and reached over to turn off the lamp. He laid down again and sighed.

"Why'd you give her to me?" His brother asked. Jimmy looked over and even though it was dark, he could tell he had a confused expression on his face. He patted his shoulder and then his daughter's back lightly, looking over at the outline of his brother.

"She needs bonding time with her uncle and besides, she hasn't been having a good night's rest lately so I think she needs someone new to lay on and sleep." He saw his brother nod and he turned his head towards the ceiling, his eyelids growing heavy with sleep. He closed them and let sleep take over him, to tried to fight it off.