"Hey, Kiddo!" Deeks called as he searched for the three year old. "You wanna go for a walk?" Usually a walk, which inevitably came with a visit to the park, brought Caleb running, but now he was worryingly silent.
"Caleb?" he called again, ducking into the living room. He gasped, sprinting to the stairs with surprising speed. Caleb turned at the sound, his face strained as he struggled to lift 6 month old Olivia. He currently had a hand under each armpit so Olivia's little face was scrunched up and her feet dangled a few inches above the third step. She didn't seem to mind, but did look vaguely curious. "What do you think you're doing?" He just managed to keep himself from shouting.
"I'm gonna show Livie my dinosaurs," Caleb explained reasonably. "I put them in the doll house and it's super cool."
"How 'bout you give Olivia to me," Deeks said, gingerly extracting her from Caleb's grip.
"She is kinda heaby," Caleb noted, shaking out his arms. Deeks' heart was still racing a little heavily from the unexpected excitement and he crouched down on the stairs, patting the spot next to him. Caleb sat too, looking curiously up at his dad.
"Buddy, you know how we talked about being careful with Olivia?" They'd had the discussion with Caleb the first time just a week after Olivia's birth when they found him trying to feed her a goldfish cracker.
Since then, they'd had many similar incidents where Caleb thought he was being helpful, but gave his parents mini heart attacks.
"I was careful. I didn't let her head get floppy and I bringed a pac'fier." As proof, he pulled a squashed object from his pocket and proudly offered it to his dad. Pulling in a deep breath, Deeks reminded himself that Caleb was still little and learning.
"I think it's fantastic that you thought of all those things, but Olivia's still too big for you to carry up the stairs on your own. It would have been really bad if you dropped her," he told him gently and Caleb's face fell.
"I don't wanna hurt Livie," he whispered, his lip trembling slightly. Why did he have to be so darn cute? Maintaining a gentle, yet firm voice, he cuddled Olivia in one arm and pulled Caleb against his side with the other.
"I know. So next time ask me or mommy to help you. You can always ask for help, ok?" Caleb nodded, looking ashamed for a moment. Hopefully the near disasters would be on hold for a few days. After a couple minutes, Caleb glanced up hopefully.
"You help me take Livie upsairs so I can show her my house?" he asked, scampering up the stairs before he could respond. He came rushing back down. "Maybe Livie can fit in da house!"
"Oh darling. You and your brother are going to have so much fun. And so many bruises." He shuddered a little and held Olivia a little closer as carried her up to Caleb's room.