Author's Note: I thought I'd mentioned this before, but it seems I only did on my LJ, and not here - this story is set in a no-magic AU. Partly this is because there was no mention of magic in omens' original story upon which this is based, and partly because I think it's more interesting to have Justin and Alex (especially Alex!) having to deal with Ricky's diapers, feeding, etc. without being able to use magic.
Any improvements in my writing of Alex's dialogue are due to Save Vs. Magic, who beta'ed this. Go read his stories.
With that said, on with the story!
…
Oh, but every time I'm close to you,
There's too much I can't say
And you just walk away.
And I forgot to tell you I love you.
"I Love You," by Sarah McLachlan
...
"Alex... please. I know I told you we can only spend fifty dollars, but that doesn't mean we need to go look at every store and then go back to actually buy things. If it comes out to be a little more that's okay..."
Ignoring his statement, Alex continued to look through the rack, flipping along, giving most outfits only a second or so's consideration. Some she stopped and looked at, touching them, feeling the cloth... and working up Justin's hopes that maybe, just maybe, she would actually take it down to buy it.
But there had been no such luck so far. Instead, they were now in the fourth store they'd gone to (and who the hell knew there were so many places to buy baby clothes? Seriously - it wasn't like babies stayed this small for long!) "Please," he tried again. "Just buy something. Anything."
Alex took an outfit down, turned around and held it up to little Ricky. She frowned and bit her lip, considering - and Justin found himself looking at her as she did. She looked so serious, so… different from how he was used to seeing her. He'd never really seen her look quite so grown up. It looks good on her.
He hadn't really seen her that much in the last year, since he'd gone off to college. She'd lost a little bit of the baby fat in her face, and her body had filled out a little. The few times he'd been home, for Christmas, Spring Break, and a few weekends, the two of them hadn't really hung out. He'd spent more time with her in the last few days than the whole of the previous year, really.
At the hospital, he'd been too busy trying not to scream and climb the walls to really notice Alex - well, of course he'd noticed that she was there. After all, he'd been the one who'd called her and gotten her to come there. And really… he hadn't been sure what he was expecting when he did that. That is, he'd known that she'd come for him - they'd always been there for each other, since they were kids - but he hadn't expected anything like what -
Suddenly, Alex looked up from Ricky, and Justin realized she'd been talking for several seconds, and he had no idea what she'd been saying. "So I'm right, yeah?" Alex asked, then blinked as their eyes met. She cocked her head a little, then asked, "What?"
Justin blinked and swallowed. "What what?" He wanted to look away, tried to, but there was something about Alex's eyes, and he couldn't. Oh, God. I'm staring at her. Why can't I stop staring at her? She's going to be weirded out any second now….
Instead, though, she shook her head and smiled. "Wow - you really are out of it. Justin, you should have said something." Her hand touched his cheek, stroking it, and then, thankfully, she looked away, back down at the outfit she was holding against Ricky. "We'll get this one. And there's a couple of others here that I liked."
With Alex's eyes looking down instead of into his, Justin was finally able to look away. As he did, she draped the outfit onto his shoulder - the left shoulder, so she wouldn't cover Ricky's head - then turned back to the racks and flipped quickly back through them, looking for the outfits she'd mentally earmarked as possibilities.
Craning his head a little, Justin looked at what Alex had picked out. It looked... surprisingly practical, really. For herself, she tended to favor clothes that Justin thought of as 'girly', with relatively thin cloth, spaghetti straps, and other features that wouldn't stand up to a lot of wear-and-tear. The outfit she'd picked here, though, consisted of a little pair of denim overalls which buttoned along the inseam to give access for changing diapers, and a brown t-shirt which probably wouldn't show stains too badly.
Feeling curious, Justin pointed at the outfit with his chin. "Why'd you pick this?"
Alex looked at him. "What? Why? What do you think's wrong with it?"
"Nothing," he said, shaking his head. "It just seems... more practical than I expected."
"Yeah, well... I just keep asking myself, 'What would Harper buy?' Quality-wise, not style!" she clarified, holding up a hand. "No way I'm going to put Ricky through that."
Justin nodded slowly, impressed by Alex's logic. Come to think of it, while Harper's clothes might not be anything anyone else would wear, they were well-constructed. Which was kind of crazy, since she rarely seemed to wear the same outfit more than once, but, then, that was Harper.
"Anyways, a couple more, then we'll hit the food court for dinner, then take you home and let you get some sleep. Sound good?"
"Yeah." Justin nodded carefully, not wanting the outfit on his shoulder to slide off. Sleep did sound good, come to think of it. He'd run all over campus that morning, not just going to his usual classes, but also visiting the professors whose classes he'd missed on Thursday and Friday, explaining his situation. Doctor Rosenberg had told him not to worry about making up the homework he'd missed - she'd just not average it into his grade - and also to make sure to bring the baby by when he got a chance, so she could see it. She had three children of her own and loved to talk about them, so that hadn't been too unexpected.
Mrs. Amherst at the library had also been very understanding - unfortunately, though, the work-study program didn't give leave. Students only got paid for the actual hours they put in. That meant Justin needed to make up the eight hours of work he'd missed over the weekend - he really couldn't afford not to get that money right now. Thankfully, the library wasn't exactly overstaffed, so he'd been able to do two hours after his classes were over for the day. She'd invited him to bring Ricky by as well, and he'd promised he would in a few days.
Least understanding had been his sociology teacher, oddly enough. Justin had spent close to an hour in Mr. (he was a TA, still working on his doctorate) Milton's office - about half an hour discussing (arguing) it, then close to twenty minutes making up the quiz that had happened on Friday. Which Milton was going to give him a 15% markdown on. And he wanted to see the baby too, but Justin had the strong feeling that that was more to prove that there was a baby, rather than from any love of children.
His other two professors had treated the incident as just another speed bump on the road of academic life, not really seeming interested either way... and that was fine with Justin.
Then, of course, he'd come home to find Alex wanting to go out and shop for clothes for Ricky. Not that he had anything against the idea per se, but he was worried about money, and had expected that Mom would be wanting to shop for Ricky when she and Dad and Max visited over the weekend. Thus his insistence to Alex that they limit themselves to buying just a few outfits.
(And also - twelve dollars for what was probably about two square feet of cloth? Were they serious? Justin had gotten t-shirts for less that could probably have made three or four outfits for Ricky.)
Alex set another outfit on his shoulder, then crossed to a different rack, found a third one and added it to stack. After that, she picked up pack of cheap 'onesies': little outfits like a long t-shirt which could wrap around a diaper at the bottom and button together… and which reminded Justin more than anything else of old-man pajamas from cartoons, with the flap in the back.
"Okay," she said then, turning back to Justin and taking the outfits off his shoulder, then frowning. Setting them aside on a shelf, she said, "Give me Ricky. You're going to need your arms free to pay."
The pair of them moved together, Alex bringing her arms up for Justin to gingerly transfer the bundle of baby boy across. They still hadn't really gotten to practice this too much, though, and Justin was tired besides - so they shook Ricky enough to wake him up. His little face scrunched up (just the way Alex's did when she was woken up too early, Justin thought) and then he opened his eyes for a moment, still looking uncomfortable - and then began to make little unhappy noises, not yet really crying, but making it quite clear that he would be shortly if something wasn't done.
"See if he's hungry." As he said that, Justin slid his left hand under Ricky, feeling for the leg opening of his diaper cover.
"Right," Alex said, nodding. Keeping Ricky cradled in her left arm, she brought his right hand to his face and stroked one finger across his cheek. He didn't turn toward it, and she shook her head, saying "No, not hungry..." and then stopped and looked at Justin. "Uhh... what are you doing?"
Frowning and looking off into the distance as he kept feeling the smooth, rounded shape under the cloth, he said, "Trying to check his diaper."
"Well, you're not going to find his diaper on my boob."
"On your-?"
Justin stopped and blinked, looking at Alex, then blushed a deep crimson and pulled his hand away quickly, while Alex gave him an amused smile. "No worries. I hadn't had any action in a while anyway, so..."
As she saw Justin's vaguely horrified look, Alex's smile turned into a grin. "What about you? You gotten to first base with anyone since Marjorie?" Justin simply stared at Alex, and after a few seconds she rolled her eyes. "Oh, come on - here." She grabbed his right hand, pulled it against Ricky's leg. "Check him on the other side, and you won't have to worry about feeling me up by accident instead."
Looking down at the floor, still blushing, Justin slid his finger into the diaper - then immediately pulled it out, making a face. "He definitely needs changing. Umm..."
It was then that Ricky began to cry, drawing in a breath and then opening his mouth with a noise that, while objectively not all that loud, was certainly penetrating. Justin felt an immediate reaction of wanting to do something about it, and began looking around for somewhere to change Ricky.
"Come on," Alex said, turning to lead the way toward the back. "These stores usually have a family bathroom. We can all go in there." She was walking quickly, leaving Justin no choice but to grab the diaper bag and outfits and follow.
...
In the bathroom, Justin folded down the changing table, then moved aside to let Alex set the still-crying Ricky down on it. The little guy was squirming a little, and Justin put a hand on his belly to keep him in place, then grabbed the strap, pulled it across him, and frowned as he realized that the buckle was broken. "Uh... I guess I'll just have to hold onto Ricky."
"You are such a mother hen," Alex said, smiling and shaking her head. She was unzipping the diaper bag with Justin still holding it, and he held still to let her do that.
"And what? You'd let him fall off?"
"No." Alex gave Justin an annoyed look over her shoulder as he set the diaper bag down on the changing table. With his now-free hand, Justin unsnapped the bottom of Ricky's onesie, then started to open the sides of his diaper cover. Alex got the other side before he could switch to it. "Just... most guys aren't as careful as you."
"Let me get this one - you've been taking care of him all day." Justin tried to reach around Alex, but she shifted to the side, grinning a little as she cut him off.
If Justin were more awake, he would've been wondering why Alex, of all people, was being this nice. But he wasn't, and instead of thinking, he reached around his sister with his other arm, trapping her between himself and the changing table as he reached into the diaper bag and took out a wipe. "Hey!" she said, and then it was Justin's turn to grin.
"Sorry. Like it or not, I'm at least helping." He took the wipe to Ricky's bottom, leaning a little to the side to look over Alex's shoulder at what he was doing. She gave out an exasperated sigh - and also smiled, though Justin couldn't see that.
Justin set the dirty diaper off to the side, then used both hands to hold up Ricky's bottom as Alex slid the new diaper under him. Of course, that was when Ricky decided to let loose with a stream, sending it arcing up and onto Justin's arm. Alex made a little yelp and stepped back, pressing her against Justin in their current position, while Justin gritted his teeth, closed his eyes, and held on.
It lasted about two seconds, which was all the time it took for Alex's startlement to turn to laughter. "Oh wow - who's a good boy? Who's a good boy?" She leaned over and kissed Ricky on the nose, grinning at the grumbling noises that Justin was making.
Justin ground his teeth, and when he spoke, his voice came out a little shrill. "He's not a dog! Hurry up and get the diaper on him so I can wash this off already!" Alex straightened back up and pulled the diaper sides around and taped them into place, not hurrying at all.
"It's just a little bit of baby pee. It's not going to hurt you, tough guy." Half a minute later, she snapped the bottom of Ricky's onesie back together, then lifted him off the table onto her shoulder, and Justin moved quickly away to the sink and started rapidly scrubbing his hands and forearms like a doctor prepping for surgery, while Alex watched and laughed, rocking a no-longer-crying Ricky on her shoulder.
...
On the bright side, that did wake Justin back up. The two of them bought the clothes Alex had picked out, then stopped for a quick dinner (over which they filled each other in on their respective days). After that, they headed back to the apartment, where they sat on the old orange couch for a bit, watching TV. Tired, Justin let Alex have the remote, and half-dozed through the shows until Alex got up and bodily pulled him off the couch.
"Come on - you need to sleep some, so you can watch Ricky while I sleep. And you need to do it where you can get some real sleep, so get your butt in bed."
"No... I can sleep on the couch," Justin mumbled, shaking his head slowly, eyes drooping. "The bed's yours."
"We're not going to be sleeping at the same time anyway, most of the time, so we'll share it."
"I..." Justin stopped and turned around, blinking at Alex, and as tired as he was, he almost looked drunk. "Thanks." He paused for a moment, then said, "Why are you being so nice to me? You're never nice to me, Alex."
Alex felt a blush rising to her face, and rather than answer, she grabbed Justin by the arm, put a hand on his other shoulder, then turned him around and gave him a shove through the doorway, toward the bed. Quickly, she closed the door, saying through it, "Oh, I just figured I'd let Ricky play with Daddy's dolls while you sleep..."
The "ALEX!" through the door was immediate, and she grinned as she held the knob, keeping him from opening it.
...
