Alright, so this was my first real "fluff" fic, because I just love cotton candy XD. It kind of explains why Sherman's hair sticks up the way it does in the front and is based off quite a few different things, a couple of my own headcanons, and some fanart drawings.
Mr. Peabody entered his 1 year old son's room. Sherman Peabody was lying on his back on his blue blanket on the floor, baby toys strewn all around him. He caught sight of Peabody and his face burst into a smile.
"Hello Sherman." the canine prodigy smiled warmly.
Sherman simply shrieked, rolled over and quickly began crawling away in the opposite direction. Peabody had been expecting this, ever since he had tried giving Sherman a bath Sherman decided he did not like them. And now whenever Peabody came in to give him one Sherman would crawl away. And Peabody had decided to let him escape a couple times and not give him one. A game had evolved where Sherman would try and crawl away and Peabody would try and catch him and if he didn't Sherman wouldn't get a bath.
Peabody had decided this time he was going to give Sherman a bath, whether he caught him or he liked it or not. So he quickly dropped to all fours and began slowly crawling after him. Sherman had decided that this was his favorite game. He laughed as he tried to crawl away from Mr. Peabody.
"And where do you think you're going?" Peabody said playfully.
He let Sherman crawl a few more feet toward his crib before pouncing on him and picking him up. Sherman let out a squeal and Peabody laughed as he picked Sherman up while tickling him. Sherman simply laughed and gripped his fur with his little hands while speaking gibberish. Occasionally "Stop Mistah Peababa." would escape his mouth.
"It's 7pm, so it's time for your bath Sherman." Peabody said as he took a paw and brushed Sherman's bright red hair off his forehead. Even though he was still a very young baby, the little shock of red hair Sherman had had when Peabody found him was quickly expanding and growing in on the rest of his head. Peabody knew he would eventually need to get Sherman a haircut, but he honestly didn't want to cut that beautiful red hair…
Sherman's face fell. "No." he said, and stuck out his lower lip.
"Now Sherman, you're going to have to learn to take a bath eventually, you need to keep clean somehow. I'm not a cat, I'm not going to groom you."
"No bath." Sherman said with an air of finality.
"Come on Sherman, why do you hate baths so much?" He didn't expect a full answer but got "Scawy." in return.
"Why are they scary?" No answer this time.
He quickly gathered a fresh diaper, onesie, and headed for the bathroom. Sherman saw where they were going and started whimpering and gripped Peabody's fur tighter.
"It's okay Sherman I'm right here. I'll be right next to you."
Sherman didn't seem too convinced and continued holding onto Peabody's fur. Peabody extricated Sherman's fingers from his fur and placed him on the rug next to the tub. He placed the diaper and PJs on the counter and sat back down next to Sherman and began undressing him. Sherman kicked and grunted and waved his arms around.
"I need to undress you Sherman, you can't take a bath with clothes on."
He finally managed to remove Sherman's clothes and diaper and picked him up and placed him in the water, he had filled it prior to entering Sherman's room. Sherman promptly started whimpering which then escalated into wails. Peabody removed him again and placed him on his lap and calmed him down.
"Shh, calm down Sherman it's ok, baths are nothing to fear."
"What am I going to do? I can't have him afraid of baths for his whole life. Wait, what was I reading in that parenting journal? Something about leading by example…."
Peabody sighed "Great, it will take me forever to dry off." He placed Sherman on the rug again and removed his glasses and bow tie and placed them on the counter. He lifted a leg over the tub and placed it into the water. It wasn't too hot as he made sure it was the right temperature when he had filled it up. He placed his other leg in and stood there. Sherman watched him intently.
"Wow, maybe I could get used to this." He slowly sank into the water, feeling it soak into his fur and reach his skin. He sat down and the water stopped at his chest. "I could definitely get used to this." He turned to Sherman and smiled. "You see Sherman? Whatever malevolent force you are afraid of while occupying the bath is nonexistent. Unless it prefers young children by the name of Sherman." Sherman laughed, Peabody figured the sight of him in the bathtub must be funny. It certainly wasn't his attempt at a joke, but Sherman would hopefully start to get those when he got older.
Peabody stood up again and grabbed one of the towels and wrapped it around his middle as he stepped out.
"See Sherman I'm fine." He rubbed the towel around his middle and his legs to get most of the water out and sat down next to Sherman again.
"Baths are nothing to be afraid of. Do you want to try it?"
Sherman frowned and shook his head. "No." He quickly crawled into Peabody's lap and wrapped his arms around him.
Suddenly an idea came to Peabody, he wasn't entirely comfortable with it, but if it would get Sherman into the tub without fussing he would do it.
"Do you want me to go in with you?" Peabody looked down at him. Sherman looked up at him, smiled, and nodded a fervent "Yes."
Peabody picked him up and got into the tub. He slowly sat down and placed Sherman in his lap again. While keeping one paw on Sherman he grabbed a boat, a couple rings, and a rubber duck that were in the basket sitting next to the tub and placed them in the water.
"Here, play with these." he said as he grabbed a washcloth from the rack next to the tub and began to swish it around in the water to get it wet. Sherman took the boat in his hands and began to push it through the water. Peabody grabbed a bottle of shampoo from the rack and squirted some onto the washcloth. He spread it around with his paw pad and began to scrub Sherman's back with it. He finally managed to clean every part of Sherman's body except his hair. He took the bottle again and squirted a small dollop onto his paw pad.
"Sherman, I need you tilt your head back for me. I need to wash your hair." He took Sherman's head and gently tilted it back toward him. He took a cup from the rack and dipped it into the water and slowly poured it over Sherman's head to get his hair wet. He then began to scrub Sherman's hair with his paws, working the soap into it. Sherman smiled and splashed as he felt his father's fur brush him. Peabody finally worked the soap into a good lather. He took the cup again and began to rinse it, pouring the water over Sherman's hair, making sure it didn't get in his face.
"Alright Sherman, all done." Peabody said. He lifted Sherman out and placed him on the rug again while stepping out himself and suppressing the urge to shake. He grabbed the towel he had used earlier and wrapped it around himself again. He grabbed another from the rack and sat down next to Sherman again.
"There. Was that so bad?" He cooed as he picked Sherman up and held him in his lap and began to dry him with the second towel. Sherman laughed and giggled as Peabody started on his hair. When he finally took it away Sherman's hair hung over his forehead again. Without thinking Peabody placed his tongue on it and licked upwards, causing it to stick up. Sherman looked surprised but then smiled and laughed.
"What in the world did I do that for?" he thought. "Well, Sherman seemed to like it."
He licked it again and this time Sherman closed his eyes and leaned into it. Sherman's hair was now stuck up straight.
Peabody smiled "I think I prefer it that way." Sherman was dry and so Peabody grabbed the diaper and pajamas from the counter and placed the diaper on Sherman and dressed him in the onesie. He then leaned over and pulled the plug from the tub and threw both towels into the hamper. He put his bow tie and glasses back on and picked Sherman up as he flicked the light off and left the bathroom.
He walked back to Sherman's room and placed him back on the floor again. He then proceeded to pick up all the toys and put them in their proper places in the toy bin in the corner. He picked Sherman up again and said, "Bedtime Sherman." Sherman grunted and fussed. "No." he said as tried to wriggle out of Peabody's arms. Peabody walked over to Sherman's crib and placed him in it. Sherman let out a cry that pulled at Peabody's heartstrings.
"What am I going to do? He's never fussed like this before about going to bed." He picked him back up. He got an idea, but he wasn't sure if it would even work. "I'm going to try singing to him, I've never sang before in my life so this should be interesting."
He walked over to the rocking chair nearby and sat down in it. He cradled Sherman in his arms and began: "Close your eyes, Have no fear, The monsters gone, He's on the run and your daddy's here..."
He felt silly but kept going as he began running a paw through Sherman's hair while he sang. The combination of Peabody singing and running his paw through Sherman's hair did the trick. Sherman's eyelids started drooping, pretty soon they were closed and he was sleeping. Peabody smiled and carefully got up and placed Sherman in his crib again. He planted a kiss on his forehead.
"Goodnight…my son."