Age: Less than a year old
There was a jingle of little golden bells attached to red pointed hoods followed by a giggle as the jolly man approached them. They shrieked silently and scurried about from under him, grinning madly in triumph when they succeeded in avoiding their employer's large black boots. Santa Clause heaved a sigh of irritation.
"Shoo, with yer little pointy heads. Why must you always be under foot?" North said in irritation as he worked his way down the stairs, trying not to step on his elves. He finally reached his destination and ushered them away, closing his intricately carved door with a satisfied hum. He turned towards his desk and smiled happily.
As he walked forward, he admired the very delicate ice carvings unmeltingly perched on different shelves and tables, all for the next toy production to be made this year. Each and every one of them magical in their own way, he marveled. He sat down and scooped up the tiny pickaxe to begin his work. He raised it to the ice and began chipping away when he paused, ears perking up.
There was a crackling sound.
His attention was finally drawn to the baby monitor and he finally recalled that he'd recently installed the baby monitor to his belt so that he could hear if little Jack Frost was awake from his nap. The little white monitor crackled with soft sounds, making North wonder what the little Guardian was doing. Jack had only been with him for two days, so it was getting quite hard to get used to being in charge of a mischievous winter spirit in the body of a human baby. Nevertheless, North was overjoyed at the chance to help the boy out. He'd been alone for far too long for North's liking, and it was time to make up for the problems solitude had caused.
Sniffles snapped North out of it and he wondered if he should ignore Jack's distress before deciding to get up. He hurried his way towards the nursery, not far from his own quarters, and knocked gently on the door before opening the snowflake-themed nursery room.
Jack was sitting up in the crib and looking teary-eyed, his face a slight red. The larger man approached the crib with a slight worried frown marring his face. Jack's cheeks were wet from his silent sobs and he was clenching his little fists tightly, little feet shifting in their tiny pastel blue socks. North felt his heart ache slightly at seeing the normally very independent boy so heartbroken looking.
"What has saddened you, Jack?" North queried, knowing the boy couldn't answer him. He reached down into the crib and lifted the boy up into his arms, surprised when Jack buried his face against his shoulder. A nightmare, perhaps? North wondered what to do before deciding to simply rub the boy's back gently, calming the former winter spirit. Pitch did have that control to bring forth nightmares no matter where the child itself was, especially a believing child like Jack consequentially was.
Jack didn't want to answer North, knowing the man could probably deduce it. He'd been sleeping peacefully, Sandy's work at play while he dreamt of snowball fights and snowmen. The dream had changed and suddenly Jack had been falling through the lake again, a nightmare that occurred every now and then since he'd regained his memories long ago. He sniffed again, trying to stem the flow of tears before looking up miserably as North spoke.
"We shall drink warm milk then to the workshop for some fun, yes?" North suggested and Jack thought about it before nodding in agreement. The two headed for the kitchen where a handful of elves were attempting to create some sort of concoction that North hastily put a stop to.
Jack was placed upon the granite counters as North settled the mess the elves were causing, the littlest guardian watching in amusement. Nightmares soon forgotten, the baby turned his head to the shiny equipment within his reach. Falling flat on his onesie-covered tummy, he started his trek to his new goal.
North heaved a sigh as he finished running a towel through the spilled juice from his elves. Turning around, he let out a shout at the sight of his young charge reaching for the blender full of the leftover juice from his no good-doers.
"Jack!" he shouted, only for him to be too late. The lid slipped off as the blender tipped and a wail of fright sounded from the baby as juice soaked his little body from his chocolate hair to his formerly blue socks.
"Ah, Jack has done a naughty thing," North scolded as he fished around for another towel and called for a Yeti to prepare a bath. Jack struggled as his guardian lifted him up with the towel wrapped around his red-colored body. He hadn't had a bath from North (or even Jamie) so the thought was NOT what he wanted at all. He hadn't meant for the juice to collapse on him!
'Least I can get out of this onesie… but cmon! A bath!?' Jack mused as he wiggled, carted off to the grand washroom just a little ways off from the nursery. A yeti emerged from the room with a satisfied murmur of his language before trotting off, leaving North to whisk the light blue onesie off the boy and the socks before removing Jack's diaper. Long past the embarrassment of being naked, Jack cared only that his clothes were removed against his will. He glared at North. The large man chuckled and set the baby down into the tub before he lathered up a scrub.
Meanwhile, Jack ooed and awed at the magical toys placed in the bath tub. He'd never had a chance to play with such items before, especially since his first time as a human had been so long ago and they never had these toys before. He prodded a quacking duck with one chubby baby finger, giggling in delight when it made an indignant quack. North chuckled and began to lather the boy's soft hair up with baby shampoo. He was able to make quick work thanks to the distractions of the newest toys. Jack squealed happily (perhaps not realizing he was squealing) as he dunked a plastic octopus underwater repeatedly, watching bubbles emit from it in response.
"Now we must be wiping the body, no?" North said as he began to scrub at the little body with great care. Jack squirmed in protest, wanting to play with his new toys, but eventually yielded to the larger man. He gave the Guardian indignant baby ranting until he was done, however. Jack found himself whining when he was rinsed off and lifted out of the fun with a fluffy towel. Comfortable it may be, he wanted to play!
"Is back to feeding," North chided gently as he carried the naked baby back to the nursery and got him dressed back into a comfortable diaper around Jack's waist, putting the baby into a pair of denim overalls atop the dark red and white shirt he'd put on him. He added warm little socks and lifted Jack back up, intending to take him back to the kitchens. Jack huffed and prodded at North's beard, giving it sharp tugs to showcase his irritation. North yelped a few times but didn't react. He placed Jack in a handcrafted high chair instead, sending slightly smug looks to his charge before prepping a bottle of warm milk for the child.
Jack whined in protest, drumming his little hands and feet against the plastic contraption. This wasn't fun at all! He wanted to be able to move himself, not be stuck sitting in some stupid baby thing that kept him from even standing up! Jack felt frustrated tears well up in his eyes and he brushed at them with the palm of his hand, wanting the watery substance to stop. He hadn't ever cried as a spirit, so why did fate have to be so cruel as to allow him to cry over this stupid frustration? He sniffled, rubbing stubbornly, only to be suddenly lifted up and cradled in North's arms. He blinked up at him, watery tears abating for now. North smiled gently, his caring face slightly sad and concerned as he held the rubber teat up to Jack. The former winter spirit sniffed again before opening his mouth and letting the comfort drink enter his mouth. Instantly he settled into the familiar rhythm of sucking the liquid down, feet twitching in a kick slightly as he curled up against the warm fur coat of his new guardian, eyes shutting slowly. He felt relaxed immensely from the milk and being held so comfortably that he began to drift.
North had moved to the rocking chair in the nursery when Jack opened his eyes again. It was starting to become daylight, probably four hours since he'd woken up the first time. Jack yawned, noting the absence of the bottle, and turned over in North's snoozing arms to rub his face against the fur coat again. He rather liked the feel of it and small hands grasped a fistful of the material, consequentially cooing in delight. This was such an odd, but wonderful, sensation. Being held. He wished he'd been able to remember this feeling but his earliest memories were of human Jack Overland holding his sister, being perhaps four years old. Being a baby wasn't in any of his memories, and thus being held had never been remembered by neither human Jack or spirit Jack.
Maybe this was a gift of some sorts? A making up for being alone so long? Jack would certainly hope so. While spending 14 years as a human would have its downside, he had the guardians now. A smile crossed his lips and he closed his eyes again, cuddling against his portable warmth source happily.
Maybe this wouldn't be so bad after all.
Author's Note: It's short, I know. But it's just a little prompt of North taking care of Jack initially. Warning though, the story might skip around. I'm still thinking of age prompts for Jack at different ages. If he's 10 next chapter or 2, don't fret. He might go back to being 1 in the chapter afterwards. As it took so long to respond, my only excuse is that it. Was. Hotttttt at my house with no AC and thus I hid away at work or college 24-7 until it is FINALLY cold in my area. Hurrayyyyy!
Cheers,
Kiamii