Olivia hadn't slept in five days and she was beyond exhausted. Someone at Brian's precinct had gotten fired so Brian had to go back to work sooner than expected and Olivia was left with Gracie at night. Just as Olivia's head contacted her pillow and she closed her eyes, the tiny screams filled her ears yet again. She groaned and made her way to the bassinet to pick Gracie up.

"Why won't you sleep?" Olivia cried, "it's been five days! I'm so tired." Tears spilled down her cheeks and she had no control over them. The lack of sleep had taken over and she knew she was losing it. She was still wearing the same pajamas she had on two days ago that had stains of spit up. She sat down on the edge of her bed with Gracie in her arms, rocking her gently. She had tried everything and Gracie only wanted to sleep during the day. Olivia tried to catch sleep whenever she could but there were so many things around the house that needed to be done. Gracie constantly needed things washed and Brian needed his work clothes clean and then a whole separate load for towels.

"She awake again?"

Olivia looked up, startled, as Brian entered the bedroom. "Yes," she cried, "I know it's not her fault but I'm so exhausted! I just want an hour of sleep. That's it!"

Brian smiled sadly at Olivia and her frazzled nerves. He had asked off of work early because he knew that Olivia needed a break. He took Gracie from Olivia's arms and rocked her gently, finally getting her cries to subside. "I've got her," he said, "you get some sleep."

Olivia nodded thankfully and fell back onto her pillow, closing her eyes immediately and instantly fell asleep.

Brian carried Gracie into the living room and turned on the music channel on the television. The soft melody played through the speakers as Brian rocked and patted little Gracie. Her eyes began to droop close so Brian kept doing what he was doing. When he was sure that she was fast asleep he stood up carefully and carried Gracie back into the bedroom, placing her in her bassinet. Olivia was snoozing and that was made evident by her soft snores.

"Both of my girls are now sleeping peacefully," he whispered as he planted a kiss onto Olivia's cheek. He crawled into bed next to her and wrapped his arm around her, missing the comfort of getting to sleep next to her. They were never in bed at the same time anymore and it looked like that wasn't going to change anytime soon. Gracie started wailing once again, waking Olivia from her slumber.

"I'm coming," she mumbled sleepily. She glanced at the clock before scooping Gracie into her arms.

"I would have gotten her," Brian commented.

Olivia sighed, "unless you miraculously grew breasts full of milk I don't think that would go over well." She sank back onto the mattress and lifted her shirt up, adjusting Gracie into the right position for her to latch on. When Gracie was content and sucking away, Olivia rested against the headboard.

"You're perfect."

Olivia shook her head. "Brian, I haven't slept in a week. I haven't brushed my hair. I'm wearing the same clothes I was wearing two days ago. The laundry is piling up and we are out of coffee."

Brian could hear the tears coating her throat and he hadn't realize until now just how exhausted his wife truly was. "Liv," he said, "we have the breast pump somewhere in the house. I will find it first thing tomorrow morning. You can pump some milk and I will watch Gracie for the day while you sleep. I know you think you can run forever without sleep but, you can't. I'll get some coffee tomorrow too."

Olivia sighed, "I love you."

"Love you too."

The next morning, Olivia rummaged through the house searching for the breast pump. After an hour she finally found it hiding in the bottom of the hall closet under a package of diapers. She pumped eight bottles, just to be on the safe side and stored them in the fridge. Brian had left earlier with Gracie and promised Olivia that he would be fine watching Gracie on his own for the day. With the house still a mess, Olivia laid down on the couch and closed her eyes, letting sleep overtake her and hoping for more than a few minutes.

When Brian returned from the grocery store he unpacked the bags and put the groceries away. He left the coffee sitting on the counter so it would be the first thing Olivia saw when she woke up. Gracie was fast asleep in her carseat so Brian went to work at cleaning the house. He figured it would be a piece of cake. All he had to do was throw the dirty clothes into the washer and clean the dishes in the sink. What he didn't realize was Gracie would fuss several times while he was trying to finish that task and each time he would have to check on her.

Hours passed before Brian finally finished and Gracie had been awake for sometime now. He grabbed a bottle out of the fridge and scooped her out of her carseat, plopping down on the couch by Olivia's feet. He looked at the clock and saw that it was pushing five in the evening. As we was burping Gracie, Olivia started to stir next to him and when she opened her eyes he smiled. "Did you have a nice sleep?"

Olivia stretched her arms into the air, "I sure did. What did you two do today? Stayed out of trouble, I hope."

"I cleaned the house."

Olivia looked at him like he suddenly grew another head. "You what?"

"I did the laundry, the dishes, went grocery shopping, it's all done."

"I knew I married you for a reason," she winked.

"Ouch," Brian joked, "that hurt."

Olivia sat up and scooted closer to Brian, happily accepting his kiss. "Thank you. Now we can do this again in another week."

Both of them laughed and Olivia rested her head on Brian's shoulder, watching as their little miracle happily slept in her daddy's arms.