Mr. Mom

"Aww, come on, Bex, I was just teasing you." Jean rolled behind his wife, noting her angry posture, her quiet facade, and the way her hip was poking off to one side. She was being sassy and he hated that. Usually when she got like this, he pissed her off royally. "Hey, I won't smoke around the baby, does that make the situation better? I'll go outside or something."

"You were supposed to go outside from the start!" She sighed and pushed a hand through her hair. "Jean, I swear, some days I don't know how you lived this long."

He gave her his usual smirk. "Dumb luck and a deal with the devil? Come on, I can watch my daughter. It'll be fine. You go to your meeting and Vanessa will be fine, I promise. I wouldn't actually give the baby a cigarette, I was just playing." He folded his arms across the arms of his chair, shaking his head. "If you really don't trust me, take her with you. But I'm a little upset that my own wife doesn't trust me enough to watch my own daughter. I mean, she's a baby, what's the worst she can do?"

"You really think my job is that easy?" Becky huffed, folding her arms and poking her hip out to the other side. She was starting to get that Latina fire he found so sexy, but not in this case. This was pure rage. "Let's see how well you do babysitting her for the day. You tell me how easy it is when I get home tomorrow."

"Woah, really? A whole day of uninterrupted time with Vanessa? This is a first. You've never let me have that much time with her alone." Mostly because she was afraid of exactly what they had discussed moments prior. That and she was obviously jealous that the baby loved him more. "Deal. We'll call you tonight and let you know how it goes."

Grabbing her uniform jacket off of the chair at the kitchen table, she smirked over at her husband. "Right, Jean. We'll see. I will tell you this much – she lives up to her name."

"I bet she does." He smirked and watched as his wife left, suddenly realizing in that moment that he had been paying no attention to the baby and didn't even know where she'd wandered off to. "Nessa?"

Somewhere off in the annals of the house, he heard a sharp adda, which prompted him to wander in that direction. Sitting on her butt in the middle of the hall was the dark haired blue eyed wonder, thumb stuck in her mouth for good measure to complete the innocent look. He smiled a bit and hoisted the infant into his arms. She was well over the age of infancy, but for some reason he always saw her as a baby. Despite her being two and already toddling along – at a quicker rate than he was – he still called her his baby. "Adda!"

He nuzzled his scratchy beard against her cheek and smiled, holding her against his shoulder. "Come on, Kiddo. I bet you want to go outside. Mama says you like to play with the pup." He whistled for the dog to follow, the large beast scampering down the hall and skidding to a halt next to him. Becky had trained it since infancy to recognize any changes in his behavior, so in a way it was a support animal for him and the baby. "Go, Fang."

The pup barked and ran off through the doggy door in the kitchen and waited impatiently outside. "Should I make you lunch first, Nessa? Mama said you might be hungry."

She held up her tiny hands and opened and closed her chubby palms. "Nutter belly!"

"Yes, yes," He chuckled softly and kissed her hair. "I'll make you a nutter belly sandwich."

Vanessa laughed as he brought her into the kitchen. He couldn't help it; that sound was music to his ears. It was the best thing he had ever heard and he loved making her laugh every chance he got. Keeping the toddler balanced precariously in his lap, he moved to the counter to get everything down. It was moments like this he was glad that Becky lived in a one-floor house. A few modifications made it home for him. He could stand now, but walking was still an issue. Grabbing the bread and incidentals to make the sandwich, he set them on the counter and looked to his daughter. "How do you like your nutter belly sandwich? More nutter than belly?"

"Lots of nutter!" She giggled and put her hands onto the counter, watching him. "Nutter nutter nutter!"

"Yes, all the nutter," He laughed opening up the jar for her. He'd learned quickly to use spoons around her, ever since the one time she got hold of a knife while they were cooking, he'd been terrified ever since. "You like a lot of nutter, so tell me when to put on the belly."

She tapped her index finger to her lip and watched while he methodically made the sandwich, then tapped his hand. "Adda, no belly."

Jean gave a shocked gasp as he looked down to his daughter. "No belly? Blasphemy! That's your mother's work. How can someone have a nutter belly sandwich without the belly?" He kissed her head and folded the slice of bread, handing it down to her. "There you go. One nutter sandwich for the biggest nut of them all."

"Adda, play." She muttered, taking a bite of the sandwich. She was pointing out the window at the dog.

He frowned at her, kissing her head. "After I clean up, princess." He set her on the floor and sighed. He hated letting her go. "It'll be a few minutes, you wait here."

For a while, the child listened. She tapped on the floor, banged on the doors of the cabinets, and even tried to pick up a spider with her fingers. But then she grew bored. And what do children do when they get bored? They look for adventure. She rolled onto her belly and started to crawl through the doggy door outside.

Focused on the task at hand, he didn't even notice that Vanessa was gone until he heard Fang barking up a storm. The dog was trained to protect him, and by extension, protect her. He turned when he noticed she wasn't in the kitchen anymore, his heart racing a million miles an hour. It was only a few seconds! Unlocking the wheels, he looked around, calling her name, when he caught a glimpse of her outside. "Vanessa?" Little else registered in his mind except for the fact that his precious baby girl was getting into trouble.

He raced over to the door and looked out at her. She'd already started down the sidewalk towards the street, but Fang was doing his best to keep her in place. He was running circles around the child, hoping to slow her down or stop her, but she wasn't listening.

For a while, Jean sat there, the sniper in him taking in the surroundings. Vanessa was in trouble and he kicked himself into a different gear. Locking the wheels on his chair, he raced down the driveway to quickly grab her from going into traffic, pulling her back and holding her so tight he thought he'd suffocate her. His heart was pounding in his ears, the fear evident in his trembling voice. "Vanessa Anne Havoc! Don't you ever scare Adda like that again, do you hear me?"

The child looked up at him with wide blue eyes, an awestruck wonder on her features. At first he thought she was going to cry, but she laughed wildly and pointed behind him. "Adda, did it!"

Jean looked up for a moment, his azure eyes confused by her words. What in the—when he turned to where she was pointing, he noticed it. He'd run a good 200 feet to grab her from going into traffic. And that was the motivator he needed. Maybe he could walk again, with the right triggers. Nuzzling her hair again, he softly kissed her head. "Vanessa, please don't ever do that to daddy again. I mean it. You scared me. I thought I was going to lose you."

Vanessa placed her chubby hands on his cheeks and kissed his nose. "Adda walked."

"Adda ran," He corrected, taking her hands in his and lowering them from his face. "I mean it, Vanessa. Never again."

The toddler nodded and looked up at him, this time her eyes wide with sadness. "Adda mad?"

"Adda is very mad. You could have gotten seriously injured. You could–" He was quiet for a moment, swallowing down the painful emotions that followed with the train wreck of possibilities. "You could have ended up like me."

"Adda." She climbed out of his lap and moved next to him, holding out her hands, palms down. Her feet were planted firm. It took him a moment to realize that it was Becky's stance. That's how she would help him up. "Come on, sugar!"

"Sugar?" Had Becky ever called him that? Then it dawned on him that she was saying soldier, which was an expression Becky used fairly frequently. "Yes Ma'am." He climbed to his feet rather unsteadily, using the guard rail to help himself back to his chair. He unlocked the wheels and moved back to where Nessa was sitting on the sidewalk. "Vanessa, daddy loves you."

"Adda me?"

"Yeah, you." He smiled a little and brought her up into his lap again, holding her close to his pounding chest. Just knowing she was okay was the comfort he needed.

When Becky came home that night there were crayon marks all over the walls, peanut butter and jelly smeared on the cabinets, blocks balanced precariously on the other side of the door, and her husband sleeping in the middle of the large living room with his daughter under his arm protectively. She moved to retrieve the toddler, taking her to her bedroom. Then she came back and sat down on the floor, poking her husband's nose. "So how did it go?"

"I ran today."

She smiled. "I told you she would keep you on your toes."

He shook his head and sat up, tugging his wife down into his lap for a kiss. "No, Becky. I ran today. I chased after her, like you told me to. For the first time in three and a half years – I ran. And it felt good."

"I'm so proud of you." Becky kissed his lips as a reward, laying her head against his shoulder. "I'm assuming that meant she did to you what she did to me."

"What did she do to you?" Jean asked hesitantly.

Becky laughed and closed her eyes a moment. "She tried to go for a swim in the bathtub alone. I told you, she lives up to her name."

"No kidding," He rubbed the back of his neck. "Remember when you joked about how you could teach us to both walk at the same time? I know it sounds weird, but I think she did that for you. It's like she knew that's what you were trying to do all those times. Becky, call me crazy, but Vanessa was proud of me when I was done, and she tried to help me up using your motivators."

"You're crazy and delusional. Let's get you to bed before your medication affects the rest of your functionality." She stood up, planted her feet, bent her body, and held out her hands to help him. "Come on, Soldier."

He couldn't help but snicker. Like mother like daughter.