Authors Notes: Had this thought yesterday after I made part 2 because I myself am sick. Poor little Wu. Dedicated mostly to Sylphee for her awesome fanart of Cole with the baby. If you haven't seen it go to tumblr and check it out. you will not be disappointed :D
What to do?
One shot 3
It had been close to three weeks since the baby had showed up. Cole had successfully integrated himself as the baby's father figure. Reading every books he could get hold of. He considered himself quite the expert now. Close behind him was Zane miraculously. He never had much experience with babies, but for some reason he had a small program locked in the back of his hard drive that told him a lot about the subject upon wondering about it. His father thought of a lot of things. They quickly became the babies dads.
Cole rolled over in bed and looked down at his drawer just under his bed and smiled down at the baby who yawned cutely. The covers once again all over the floor and not on him. Cole shook his head.
"Alright kid you have got to keep that blanket on or you'll catch a cold. Its winter now." He told him picking him up and lay him down on his matress. Like every morning he would lay on his side and play with Wu the name they decided to give the baby now that they knew no one was looking for a baby with his descriptions. The baby belonged with the ninja and they planned to teach him everything as they did Lloyd. Paying it forward as it were as Master Wu did to the ninja. Specially Zane who was an orphan himself without family. Well sort of.
"Cole...dude…" Kais voice drifted from his own bunk. "Its still dark out."
"Its 6am you know perfectly well its dark around now. So get up lazy." Cole called back over to his red clothed companion. Kai yawned and stretched.
"Its to cold for…" He grumbled a lot more under his breath so the baby didn't hear him or learn any horrid language.
Cole felt his bed lean heavily toward the outside. Zane leaned in to look at Wu. Wu looked at him and giggled wildly as usual.
"Hey whose that huh?" Cole asked tickling his stomach. The baby squealed and reached out for Zane who just smiled kindly at him.
"I know you can't answer." Zane chuckled and held up a bottle. "Look…" He said and the baby made a grab for the bottle.
"Look what Zane has. Want to go to Zane while I go to the bathroom?" Cole asked holding Wu out to Zane. Zane willingly took the baby and sat down on the bed.
"Zane you should put a blanket on him. He'll catch a cold." Nya said putting a small blanket over the baby. One of his socks were missing and Nya hated that. She rooted around in the drawer and found it.
"He seems to lose more socks every day. I suspect he does it on purpose to get your attention." Zane said pulling the blanket back down. Zane pulled the bottle from the babies mouth and began to burp him. Wu made a small noise that concerned Zane. Zane pulled back and looked at the baby. His bottom lip poked out a little and he started to cry. Zane looked around a little unsure of what to do or what the matter was. Cole came running back from the bathroom.
"Whats the matter tincan?" He asked taking the baby and held him up. "Daww Wu whats wrong huh?" The sound came first, then the action. Cole looked more surprised then mad. The warm liquid slid from his chin. Baby throw up from his chin to his chest. He looked at the floor and then the baby again. Zanes bright blue scanner drifted over the baby. His look of concern was immediate.
"His temperature is higher then it should be Cole." He said and took the baby from him so he could get changed out.
"Guh whats that smell?" Jay asked looking on from his bunk. The baby seemed to cry louder at being called smelly. Zane pulled the sticky clothing from the baby and walked him to the sink.
"It would seem that Wu is ill." Zane told Jay. Jay pulled his blankets up to his nose and groaned.
"Best quarantine him that way it doesn't catch on." Nya said bringing a towel and fresh clothing over for the baby.
Harumi looked into the room having been in the kitchen with Lloyd. Being the ever early risers.
"Breakfast is re…" She saw Cole wiping up the barf and Zane bathing the baby. "Uh oh…" She said and moved so Jay could run past with clothing. He was probably going to get dressed in another room away from the smell. Nya shook her head and held the towel out for the sick baby. He cuddled into the warm towel and made a whimpering noise.
"Its alright Wu. You didn't do anything wrong. Everyone throws up from time to time." Nya cooed to the baby.
"What are some good things to do with children when they are sick?" Zane asked following Nya around. Nya thought for a moment.
"Cold water for a compress. We also need some infant medication to help combat the fever too." She said and looked up at Cole who was already getting on his boots, and jacket.
"I'll call mom and see if she can recommend anything." Jay said. He also had a jacket on.
"I'll go get a cloth and large bowl to place the water." He said walking from the room. Nya looked down at the baby and at Kai who was still hiding under his blankets. He hated the cold.
"What?"
"You not going to help? You used to care for me when I was sick." Nya said. Kai thought about it for a second and shrugged.
"They gotta learn." He said and pointed to the baby cloths. "Towels aren't good blankets. Get him dressed...and put socks on him in that sleeper!" He said loudly.
About an hour later Jay and Cole came back into the bedroom. Zane had hold of the baby on his bunk. The baby was half asleep clinging to the ice ninja. His cold hand was on the back of the infant's neck. He realized his own hand was much cooler then the washcloth.
"You shouldn't believe how many stores we had to go to." Jay said putting down a small bottle of pink liquid.
"Apparently a lot of kids catch colds right about now. We found Borg inside one of the stores trying to get that medication. Said we should stop by and he'll have a look at Wu." He said looking at the infant who tried to smile at him. His smile disappeared. Wu let loose a little wale before making a gagging noise. Zane held him aloft for a moment. He tried to throw up, but nothing came up. Zane shook his head and sighed.
"Dry heaving." He said and sighed looking up at Cole. "He just can't keep anything down."
The group jumped when the door slammed open. Jays mother Edna walked in slowly followed by Ed.
"Well of course he won't be able to keep anything down. He's a baby and all he eats is milk. Milk is no good when its overheated like that. It curdles. Edna walked over and looked over the baby.
"Jay why didn't you tell me you had a baby on the ship? Ed tell him he should tell us these things. We could have brought over some of his old clothes." Edna said and smiled at the little baby.
"So uh...who does the baby belong to?" Ed asked looking around at the boys. Choosing to ignore his wife's constant bickering about kids.
"Mine." Both Cole and Zane said at the same time. Ed looked a little confused. It was true. His adoption papers said that the parents were both Cole and Zanes respectively.
"We found him." Nya offered bringing over a burp rag for Edna to clean up her sleeve which now had some drool.
Edna picked up the medication bottle and gave him a little under the tongue.
"There we go sweetheart. Lets see how that helps hum?" She sat down on the bed causing Zane to scoot over just a little.
"He'll be fine boys. Babies get sick all the time. We brought some popsicles. He can suck on one of those. It'll help cool him down a little." Ed said motioning for Jay to go grab one. Jay rolled his eyes and did what he dad said for once. He looked over his shoulder at his mom and secretly smiled imagining what it would look like for his mom to hold his own kids. Nya blushed knowing just what he meant.
A little later on in the afternoon after Ed and Edna had left teaching Cole and Zane a little more about caring for a child while sick. Wu slept on in his little bed in Coles drawer.
"You know we should really consider giving him a proper bed to sleep in." Cole told Zane. Zane nodded his head and covered the sleeping baby with a blanket tucking it in on either side knowing perfectly well that he'll get kicked off anyways. He just didn't like blankets.
"You know who else hated blankets?" Lloyd said from the desk. "Uncle Wu." He said munching on a wasabi chip. Zane looked up at Cole. Cole blinked and looked back down at the baby.
"No you don't think…?" Cole asked Zane who shook his head and looked at Lloyd.
"It wouldn't be impossible." Zane said officially.
"Nah...couldn't be Uncle Wu…" Lloyd laughed trying to not sound to nervous. "No…" He shrugged and went back to his chips.