Interesting Things Happen At School: Baby Boy
Chapter Seven: Everyday Angels That Bring Us Closer And Baby's First Wash
NOTE: 1. The idea that is going to be shown in this chapter belongs to my good friend and fellow reader, kekemina, this is partially her doing : ). 2. I'm typing this on my iPod so everything you see capitalize is pretty much meant to be italized.
XxX
JACK
I'm not really one for drama, but Kim's attitude got to me. How could she just act like that? For some stupid, random reason or two, I thought that Kim LIKED me and might even love me, and then I just went and acted like a possessive freak. I screwed up! Dang it, I screwed up! And then I messed up even more by running away with our son.
I looked down at him.
He was the only reason I didn't grab my skateboard and skate away as fast as I could.
I didn't know much about being a dad, but I knew that stuffing your kid into a backpack and skating around recklessly definitely did not fit into the "good dad" column.
I was so mad. I was furious.
I took a deep breath and looked down at my baby. I knew in that instant that I would do anything for my little boy. Kim's dad was pressuring her to put him up up for adoption, but damn him and everybody else who tries to separate me from my kid. Though I didn't completely understand it, I knew that I would do anything in the world for him, be anything he needed. A father, a role model, a friend-
I heard Kim's voice. She was yelling, telling me to stop, but my anger flared my pace and before I knew it, I was almost running.
"Jack! Jack, wait!" Kim said and got out of the door of the mini van.
I only stopped because I heard the desperation in her voice.
"What is it, Kim?" I asked, if you listened closely, you could hear the anger laced in my words.
As Kim approached me, it started raining lightly. I looked down at my baby, making sure that he didn't get wet and cold.
"Jack, why did you run away? And why don't you two get back in the car? Both of you are going to catch a cold."
"You know what, Kim? I'm just going to go home with my son and clear my head. Because I'm as confused as heck and I don't want to tell you anything that I don't really mean. And I mean it, too. Today's stress and what not are getting to me and I just KNOW that I'm going to scream at you and say something I don't really mean."
"Why don't we walk and talk then?" she said in a soft and soothing voice. "I need to explain something to you, and like you said, I don't want to say anything out of anger."
I stared at her.
"Well? Talk."
"Let me just tell my dad where I'm going. Is your house far from here?"
"Nah. It's only a couple blocks over, but it's not too far from here."
"Okay, hold on a second."
She left and I looked down at my son. He seemed cold. I took my plaid shirt off, leaving me in a v-neck, and wrapped the shirt tightly around him.
Kim returned and the familiar silver mini van disappeared from sight in a matter of minutes.
The rain stared beating harder on us while we walked in silence and I stopped and gave Kim my backpack.
"What?" she asked me, looking puzzled.
"There's a hoodie in there that will probably fit you a big too big, but it'll keep you from getting sick."
"But what about you? You only have a thin shirt on. YOU'RE the one who's going to get sick."
"Kim," I said, a bit angry already, "just put it on, please. I don't get sick very much myself, but you're...you're more-" I wanted to say fragile, but knew that she would object. "Look, the point is, you're probably going to be around our son a bit more than I am, and I don't want either of you to get sick, okay?"
She nodded and stopped, pulling the hoodie over her small body. I put the hood over her head and took my backpack back.
I cuddled my baby son closer to my chest, trying to give him warmth.
"Jack, why don't I carry something? I don't mind, you know."
I shook my head.
"I know you don't mind, but they're both mine." I didn't notice it until the words were out, but I sounded really bitter and upset. "My backpack, my son, let me carry it and get over it, princess."
We were both quiet for a while and I kept thinking, 'You're messing up even more and in the end you will loose her as a friend and not only that, but you will also loose your rights as a father too, so get a get a grip on it, Jack.'
"Jack, will you let me talk without interrupting me?" she said at last quietly.
"Yes, Kim, you may," I said without looking at her.
"You're not really mad, are you? I know it's hard with what's going on and everything, especially since my dad doesn't like you, but I promise that he'll warm up to you. Before we go to sleep tonight, we have so many things to discuss. If we're giving him up for adoption-"
"No way," I said, but she continued her list as if she hadn't heard me.
"-we need to give him a name that's beautiful and matches how he looks, we need to discuss what we're going to do if you're paternity test comes back negative and we need to work out a schedule out for if we do keep him."
"Kim, even if your dad makes you give him up for adoption, that doesn't mean that I have to give up my rights over to the court. I'm not going to let anything get in between my son and I, I swear on the life of the people that I love the most. In a matter of hours, he's shown me that my life would be incomplete without him in it. And Kim, even if he's not my biological son, which I doubt, he's still going to be mine legally and in my heart, you know?"
She nodded.
"Yeah, I do, and you know why I gave the guy I was talking somebody else's name?"
I shook my head.
"You really want me to guess why you were flirting with a guy?"
I got into a mob and grabbed Kim's hand so I wouldn't loose her. Some people, I noticed, were giving me us looks, and I immediately saw why: the baby in my arms. After we got out of the crowd, an old lady waiting by the bus stop motioned to Kim to come over to her. Kim glanced at me and I nodded, letting go of her hand. The bus stop was one of those with a bench and a little "house" so it was warmer in there and dry.
"Here," the lady said and gave Kim her big umbrella.
"Ma'am, it's okay," Kim said. "I'm sure that-"
The lady wiggled her finger at Kim. "No, young lady, is that over there," she pointed at me, "your baby and boyfriend?"
"Uh..." Kim stuttered. "Yeah, they are."
"It's pouring cats and dogs, sweetheart," the elderly kind woman said. "You have a baby and one of the firsts thing you do is keep babies from getting sick and that means no rain for the little one, you understand?"
"But-"
"But nothing. You take the umbrella or I'll walk with you you home. You choose."
"Ma'am," I said, "we're only a block away from my house, you don't need to worry about us. I think the baby's pretty warm and Kim and I are young and strong and I'm sure you're over-worrying, ma'am."
"Not to worry? Don't tell me NOT to worry until YOU have had five children and nine grandkids. It's kind of a thing you always do once you're a parent. I know how it is with you young people, you don't like help, you think you can do it all. Well, guess what? Your son needs you and taking this umbrella is for him, not for you, smarty pants."
Kim laughed lightly.
"How do you know our baby's a boy?" I asked.
She pointed at my arms.
"Just a feeling, and look, he's sticking his head out. Be careful with him, okay?"
I glanced down at my son and notice that his pacifier was just about to fall. I opened my hand as it landed on it.
Screeching, crying, whatever it was, it was horrible. I shushed him and rocked him from side to side, kissing the side of his head.
"Kim, I think he wants you," I said and handed him over to his mother.
"Here," the lady said, handing me her umbrella as Kim managed to shush our son. "Don't say anything, boy. And take care of them."
She nodded at Kim and our baby.
She put her hand on my cheek and kissed it, leaving afterwards. It was raining too hard to look through the glass walls (which were spray-painted) and watch the lady as she walked away. She must have been pretty quick because when I went outside, she was nowhere in sight.
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I shook my head like a wet dog and shook out the rain from the umbrella before putting it down.
"So, what's next?" I asked Kim.
"Well, how about you take a hot shower while I clean our little baby up."
"No way am I going to leave you bathe him on your own."
"Why?"
"Because he's a boy and, you know, I'm a boy, so-"
Kim's voice rang out as she took my hoodie off.
"What? You think I'm going to call you every time I have to shower him 'cuz you're both boys? That's cute. It's not the first time I'll see a boy's part and gosh knows it's not going to be the last, so why bother?"
I blushed.
"I-I-" I said.
"I've had a dog, Jack, and over the years, I've seen my baby cousins being given baths, so it's cool."
"I'll go set up the tub, change out of this wet clothes and bring you some clothes too.
"What do you mean, 'set up the tub'?"
"For the baby."
She gave me a strange look.
"The baby will drown if ya put him in it. What you COULD do is get a small face towel and baby wipes. And could you bring me a small container of warm water that is not too hot but not too cold either? I would really appreciate that."
I got everything Kim asked me to get her.
"Here, you go-" I said as I got into the living room, but Kim wasn't there. "Kim?"
"In the bathroom, Jack!" she yelled.
I headed there and saw that Kim already had our baby half naked.
I laughed.
"What're you laughing 'bout?" she asked.
"Look at his face," I managed to get out before starting to laughter again.
The boy had a look on his face like he was stopped mid-cry.
Kim turned him around in her arms.
"Aw," she said. "It's okay, baby, Mommy's got you."
She kissed his forehead, but he still looked like he was going to cry. That was the first time I'd heard her call herself 'Mommy' and it made my heart swell because it was a sign that I was not dreaming this up.
"Hold on," I said and took out my phone, putting it on camera mode.
I took various pictures of Kim and the baby, but took some of just him as well.
"Alright, you can show me how to shower him now," I said.
"Jack, I think he either needs a diaper change or he's hungry," Kim said looking at me worriedly.
"Yeah, here's the thing. I don't have any newborn diapers and I wouldn't be able to do anything about hunger 'cuz I don't have any formula or baby bottles or whatever."
"It's not the hunger part I'm worried about. That I can handle, but I need you to run to the store and get diapers and baby clothes as soon as possible."
"Hold on, I think I got a solution." I left the room and went upstairs to my attic. There were boxes around and I looked around until my eyes settled on the boxes that said 'baby stuff.'
I looked around until I found some diapers and a yellow onesie.
When I went back downstairs, the bathroom door was closed.
I knocked.
"Kim, you guys okay in there?" I asked.
"Yeah, hold on a minute."
She opened up and peeked out.
"What's up?"
"Well, I got this," I held up my hands. "Is it good enough?"
"Yeah, I think it is. And if not, well use tape or something to hold it together. Like in that show, Baby Daddy."
"Tape?" I asked.
"Yep, let me just get him to stop eating, then, you could come in."
She closed the door and I felt like an idiot just standing there, so I made a trip to my room and got a change of clothing for Kim after I changed out of my wet clothes.
I returned downstairs and into the bathroom, where Kim was sitting on the floor with our baby on her lap, changing him. He'd started to cry and Kim was cooing at him to quiet down.
"I got you some clothes," I said as she looked up.
"Cool. Do you have a washing machine? 'Cuz the outfit you got for him smells like it needs a wash and I'm too tired to even think of doing it by hand."
"Yeah, I can do that. I just need to get your wet clothes, so I can wash those too."
She got up and handed me our baby. A moment later, she was only wearing her sports bra.
A small blush crept up on me and I turned around.
"What? You're embarrassed? Geesh. Thank goodness I don't have any baby fat left or anything like that. That would be embarrassing."
"I'm not...embarrassed. I'm just giving you privacy. And I don't think my mom's stuff fits you, so I hope those aren't too big either."
"It fits fine. I just need to roll up the legs of the pants. You can turn around now. You're not going to see anything horrifying or anything."
"Horrifying? So far I have yet to see anything about you that's HORRIFYING. By the way, we seriously need to give this little guy a name.
I keep trying to think of it yet he doesn't have one."
I chuckled.
"Do you have my phone, Jack?" Kim asked.
"Yeah, it's in my room."
"Can I use yours?"
"Yeah."
I dug it out and handed it to her.
"Why do you need it?"
"'Cuz I want to make sure that we do everything right. I mean, a baby can drown really fast if you don't know what you're doing."
"Oh, okay."
A minute passes by in silence as Kim reads something on my phone. The baby's asleep, so I just stand there, waiting.
"Okay, what it says here is that until his umbilical cord has fallen off, which should be like in a few weeks or so, we should just stick to giving him sponge baths with lukewarm water. We need to handle him carefully because he's going to be slippery. When we hold him we should support the head and neck with one hand and his bottom with another and we need some cotton balls and since we have no baby soap, we'll have to be careful as to use as little as possible. So, are you game?"
"I am if you are, Kimmy."
"If you weren't holding my son, I'd hit you, but to your great fortune, you are."
I smiled at her as she glanced at our son with a look of love and serenity in her face.
XxX
We were done. Yes! Finally! Done.
Today was probably one of the best days I'd ever spent. Sure, I was as tired as heck and it was only seven at night, but it had been magnificent. I smiled and looked sideways at Kim, who was sitting next to me under the blankets of my bed, watching a show called Baby Daddy.
I shook my head and put my arm around her shoulders, tugging her closer to me. Out of the corner of my eye I saw her happiness seep onto her features. She laid her head on my shoulder, then peeked into the blanket she had thrown over her shoulder.
"All done, baby," she said quietly as she pulled the blanket of off her shoulder and prepped the baby up on her shoulder, burping him.
It was-
Kim's laugh broke me out of my reverie.
I glance down at her.
"Nothing. It's just that three men with a little girl-they're just clueless as to how to treat a baby and they're really funny, too." She lowered the volume on my tv set and turned to me with a serious look. "There's something I need to talk to you about. It's important."
"Just out of curiosity, you're not pregnant again, are you?" I asked nervously.
"Yes, that's EXACTLY what I want to talk to you about," Kim said seriously.
My eyes widened.
"What?" I asked loudly.
She rolled her eyes and laughed softly.
"Relax, that's virtually impossible. Anyways, you know the guy I was talking to?" I nodded. "There's something about him that I need to tell you. Well, his past and mine are...linked, and when you walked out of the car with the baby, you probably just put yourself and our baby in moral danger."
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Soooo, how'd you like it? The third genre of our story if I had to choose one would be mystery. Anyhow, just to reassure you guys, this IS a Kick story, so if Kim gets together with somebody else, there must be a good reason behind it, which she will probably tell you herself. I know this was more of a filler, but I made it EXTRA long and gave you guys some Kick. So, can you pretty please review? It'll give me inspiration to upload the next chapter quicker.
REVIEW! (20 would make me static...)
XOXO,
emeralgreenlove.
