my heel, walking to the kitchen and pulling out various brands of beer and wine. It was just after midnight from what the clock above the oven reported. There was only one pizza place in town that would still be open. "That'll have to do."
"Hey buddy. We're going to go up there and see if we can get him to calm down." Paul smiled, his red hair and freckles making him look all of ten years old.
"Yeah, good luck," I muttered and turned to face the back windows of the kitchen. I pressed the phone to my ear and ordered the food. The doorbell rang again and I walked to it, tugging it open and nodding at three more friends of mine from my college days. "Any of you guys have younger siblings that you helped take care of?"
"Naw, not me man." Michael shook his head. "Seth is a doc though. He should be able to figure out what's up."
"Fuck you, Mike." Seth walked in and turned to me. "Where is he?"
"What buddy?" Michael popped Seth on the back. "An animal doctor is still a doctor. Shit."
"Totally different," Kent muttered beside them. "I'll start researching the situation. Where's your laptop and what's the little dude doing?"
Michael and Seth bounded up the stairs, simply following the sound of a pissed off kid. Paul and Jared had yet to calm Tyson and the hope of anyone being able to was dwindling fast.
"Computer's over there and honestly, I don't know what's wrong with him. Just type in 'excessive crying' and see what the options are." I shrugged and walked back to the kitchen, popping the top off a beer and drinking half of it before taking a breath.
"Dude. Little man is thoroughly pissed." Paul walked into the kitchen and took my beer from my hand, emptying the rest. "Did you drop him or some shit?"
"No." I grabbed another one and leaned against the counter. "He's been crying since my date and my babysitter got into a screaming match. It's been a hell of a night."
"Sounds like it. You want me to call Stephanie?"
"Your girlfriend?" I lifted my eyebrow.
"Yeah. She's babysat before. We could at least ask her what the hell to do next."
"Sure. Anything is better than sitting around him, praying for a miracle."
"You pray?" Paul chuckled and walked to the door, already knowing the answer to his asinine question.
I walked from the kitchen and took the stairs two at a time as sickness rolled through my gut. I needed the guys to help me solve the situation, but leaving the boy with them too long would only scare the tyke. Not having his parents for the last little bit had to have him out of sorts.
"Maybe that's it," I grumbled and walked into the room to watch the circus. Seth was trying to hold Tyson and survey his little body as if giving him a sad excuse for a physical. The other two idiots in the room were dancing around while Jared sung a fucked up version of Little Miss Muffet.
"Give him here, damn." I walked toward them and took Tyson from Seth, tucking him against my chest and giving them a hard stare. "None of you fuckers have had experience with a baby?"
"Um, no. We try to stay far away from the topic." Jared laughed and walked toward the door. "I'll call my mom. She'll tell us what to do."
"It's one in the morning. Your mom is up?" Seth moved out next and I followed him, leaving Michael to mill around the room, playing with various baby toys.
"True dat. Okay. When in doubt, use the internet for answers. Google is my God." Jared jogged past me down the stairs, leapt over the couch and landed by Kent, who grumbled something.
The doorbell rang and I handed Tyson off to Seth again before pulling out my wallet. I paid for the food and sunk down onto the couch as the guys went through video after video. We did a checklist of things that needed to be done.
Changed his diaper? Check.
Fed him in the last two hours? Check.
Checked for fever? Check.
The list went on and on. As it approached four in the morning, I'd had all I could handle. I politely kicked everyone out, not getting anywhere. Tyson wasn't crying much