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"Are you sure you'll be okay?" Danny Williams asked his nephew, Eric Russo.
"We'll be fine, Uncle D," Eric assured him.
"Are you positive? It's a whole day. That's a long time to entertain an infant."
"We'll be fine," Eric repeated.
Danny went on as if Eric hadn't spoken. "We wouldn't ask, but Grace has that cheerleading thing, and the governor wants all of Five-0 at this rally, and. . ."
Eric spread out his hands imploringly. "Don't you trust me, Uncle D?"
Danny's partner, husband, and soulmate, Steve McGarrett, answered before Danny could respond, probably in the negative. "Of course we do. Come on, Danny, we'll be late." Steve started out the door, hoping Danny would follow.
Danny lingered. "What are you planning to do? Just so I know you're not doing anything dangerous with my kid."
"Uncle D, I'm wounded. I would never do anything to hurt Matt. We're just going to the park."
"The park?" Danny sounded worried. "Are you sure you don't just want to hang out here? There's the beach, and the yard, and you can take him around the block if you want air. . ."
"He wants to pick up girls," Steve said.
"What?!"
"Hey, babies are a real chick magnet, Uncle D," Eric said.
"No!" Danny exclaimed. "No, no, no! You are not using my child to pick up girls!"
Steve tugged on Danny's arm. "Leave him be. It's harmless. You can't tell me you never used one of your siblings to get close to a girl."
"Thank you, Uncle S," Eric said. He made shooing motions. "Now, go. Matt and I will be fine."
Once his uncles were gone, Eric got Matt ready for their expedition. He was awed by everything it took to get an infant ready for an outing—diapers, wipes, juice, snacks, sweater (seriously? It was 90 degrees out), shoes, blanket. . .Eric didn't pack as much for a week's vacation. Just as he thought he was finally ready, he got a text from Steve. "Don't forget his stuffed dragon," it said.
Matt was asleep in his crib, and didn't wake when Eric carried him (and the stuffed dragon) downstairs and put him in the stroller. The park wasn't far, so they walked, Eric enjoying the day, hot as it was. Matt continued to sleep.
When they reached the park, Eric positioned himself strategically on a bench near the jogging path and waited for action. It wasn't long before a young woman stopped to see Matt.
"Is he yours?"
"My uncle's," Eric replied.
"Can I see him?"
"Sure." Eric pulled back the blanket so she could see Matt better. There, staring up at him, was a blue-eyed purple dragon. The dragon waved a claw at him. Eric hastily dropped the blanket back down. "Um, sorry, he's sleeping."
The woman blinked. "What was that?"
Eric thought frantically. "Uh, robot."
"For an infant?"
"Um, yeah." He stood up. "Look, it was really nice to meet you, but we need to be going."
"Oh, okay." She couldn't take her eyes off the blanket, which was now moving, as if Matt were squirming beneath it. As Eric watched, a hole appeared, and a long snout poked through it.
"That's some robot."
"Yeah, my uncle's in Naval Intelligence. He gets the latest technology."
The woman seemed more fascinated in the "robot" than the baby. "It looks really cool. Can I see it?"
"Maybe some other time."
"Oh, okay. Do you have a piece of paper?"
Eric stared at her blankly. "Huh?"
"Paper. So I can give you my number, and we can get together some time so you can show me the robot."
"Oh." Any other time, Eric would be elated, but right now he just wanted to get out of there before Matt made another appearance. Eric could hear chomping sounds, and the hole was getting bigger. "I don't think that's a good idea. Top secret technology and all that."
"Then why do you have it?"
"Look, I really gotta go. My uncles will be home soon, and they'll be upset if Matt isn't there."
"Matt? Is that his name?" The woman gave one last try.
"Um, yeah. See ya." Eric beat a hasty retreat. He hadn't gone 10 feetbefore Matt crawled through the hole in the blanket. "Mrrp?"
"Get down, would you?" Eric hissed at him. "Somebody will see."
Matt turned his blue eyes on his cousin. "Mrrp?"
"Seriously, I mean it, get down." Eric tried to cover him with the blanket, but there wasn't much left of it. He dug the sweater out of the diaper bag and dropped it over Matt, but it just covered his head, and Matt started munching on that, too. Eric snatched it back. "Can't you stay human for just 10 minutes?"
Matt mrrped again. Finally, Eric remember the stroller had netting to protect Matt from bugs and help shade him from the sun. Eric shoved the dragon back down into the stroller and fastened the netting. It wasn't perfect, but at least it obscured him somewhat. As long as he didn't eat it.
Eric raced home, grateful not to encounter anyone else. "That's the last time I'm taking you out to pick up girls," he told Matt as he placed the dragon in his playpen.
Matt mrrped in agreement.