An Emergency Change of Command, 16
by pari106
pari106@hotmail.com
http://www.geocities.com/pari106/damain.html
Disclaimer: See part 1; Code: M/Z, Logan/Syl; Zane, Krit, All; Rating: PG-13
An Emergency Change of Command, 16
by pari106
Zack and Jondy were still sitting, side by side, on the front steps.
"So you told her how you feel, then?" she asked.
Zack didn't answer.
"Zack…"
Zack sighed. "Sort of."
Jondy raised a brow. "Sort of?"
Zack looked at her through the corner of his eyes. Then he sighed.
"No."
Jondy gave him a smug smile that said 'I told you you couldn't do this alone.'
Zack sent her a look that said something unpleasant.
Then his features softened into a smile as he thought of Max. He'd come close. He
thought he was doing pretty good.
"I'm planning to, though," he told his sister now. "Tonight."
Jondy smiled back, the smugness being replaced by real hope that her sibs could find
happiness together. It didn't bother her anymore, thinking about Max and Zack as her
brother and sister, but still thinking about them as a couple. They were who they were.
She was who she was. And what they were could not be confined or defined by normal
standards. As long as Max and Zack could be happy, she'd be happy.
"Good," is all she said.
They didn't say anything more for a moment, just sharing a moment of silence.
Then the silence was broken.
Suddenly, a very harried Zane came running up to them. And he was holding little Max
under the arms.
And little Max had a decidedly bare toush.
Jondy didn't know who looked more stunned…little Max. Zane. Or Zack.
Okay, so she was a little stunned herself.
Zane did not generally run around his cabin carrying bare-bottomed babies.
"What the h…" In his stupor, Zack had completely forgotten their 'no cussing around the
kid' rule. But a sharp slap to the back of the head from Jondy soon reminded him.
"Hey! Watch i…"
And whatever he was going to say next was abruptly lost, as Zane planted the scantily
clad tot in Zack's lap.
He said something, but he said it in such a breathless rush, that it all came out as though
in one syllable.
What he'd said, sounded something like:
"GottatakeherCan'tstoptotalkSorry…"
And then Zane just kept on running.
But, as he did, he did manage to call over his shoulder:
"I'm sorry! I didn't know those goddamned diapers were so fragile!"
Zack and Jondy got the distinct impression that he wasn't talking to them.
And then Zane was gone, and sure enough, Krit suddenly came racing from the same
direction Zane had arrived.
And he…
Zack and Jondy watched, with jaws nearly dropped. In Zack's lap, little Max watched, as
well. With a primal type yell, Krit pursued his brother. Again.
"Zane!" he screamed.
Then he rushed by, without even paying acknowledgement to the three people sitting on
the porch.
Silence.
And then:
"Uh, Zack…Krit…he smelled bad," Jondy finally said, wrinkling her nose.
Zack looked down at little Max, who stared innocently back up at him.
And, suddenly, he had a good idea why Zane had been running…
And then he shoved little Max into Jondy's hands.
"Hey!"
"You have to take her," he said simply.
"What? No I don't!"
Then she shoved her back.
"Jond…just…what am I supposed to do with her?"
Jondy raised a brow. Amused, despite the predicament, by her fearless brother, who was
so obviously thrown off by this little girl.
"Exactly what you expect me to do with her, I'd say."
"I don't know what to do with her!" Zack insisted.
"And I do?" Jondy countered.
Then a horrible thought occurred to Zack.
He looked at little Max. Then he looked in the direction Zane and Krit had run. Little
Max looked at him, then in the same direction, then back at him. And she smiled, a huge
baby smile.
Zack shot to his feet, holding the dangerously diaper-less child at arm's length.
"Well, someone has to do something!" he told her, giving her a meaningful look.
"What?"
Then it occurred to her.
Diaper. There was a reason babies wore diapers. And, undoubtedly, that was the same
reason Krit now smelled like one.
"Oh…"
"Yeah, 'oh' !"
"Uh…I'll get one. Just a sec!"
And Jondy dashed off to the Jeep.
While she did, Zack stared warily at little Max. And she stared back, face expressionless.
Then she smiled.
Zack shifted from foot to foot, staring in the direction in which Jondy fled. She was
rummaging through the back of the Jeep, pulling things out in abandon.
'hurry…hurry…hurry…'
But eventually, Max became uncomfortable with her position, and she began to squirm.
And when Zack looked at her, and she smiled, he finally decided 'What the heck?' She'd
already gone, right? How many times could a baby go at once?
Tentatively, he slowly pulled the child back to him, slowly easing her more comfortably
into his arms.
Okay…alright…so far so good…
He stared at the child, and she stared back. She smiled, and he slowly smiled back.
This wasn't so bad.
"Listen, you just keep your fluids to yourself, and I'll do the same, okay?" he said. Max
gurgled, having no idea what he said. "Got that, soldier?" he said, the command behind
the words ruined by the baby-talk sort of way Zack said them. This was a first for Zack.
He did not baby talk.
And if little Max ever said differently there would be hell to pay.
Little Max, apparently, was not intimidated.
She laughed again. Then peed all over him. At just the same time as Jondy was running
up, breathing heavily.
"Here!" she said triumphantly, having finally found the elusive diaper. She waved it in
the air.
Then she took note of the situation – Zack's expression, the baby's laughter, and Zack's
now wet shirt.
Jondy put her arm down. Zack just stared at her.
If she'd taken the time she'd taken to find that diaper, in battle, they would all be dead by
now.
A fate much preferable to the one he had just suffered, Zack would say.
He spoke slowly, clearly, and tonelessly.
"Take her. Take her now. Don't argue. Just…," Zack's eyes fluttered closed and open
again, and he looked to the heavens as Max peed. Yet again. "Just take her," he said.
So Jondy took her.
Without a word, Zack walked back into the cabin to change.
And Jondy burst into laughter.
Then she felt something wet against her shirt.
"What the…."
by pari106
pari106@hotmail.com
http://www.geocities.com/pari106/damain.html
Disclaimer: See part 1; Code: M/Z, Logan/Syl; Zane, Krit, All; Rating: PG-13
An Emergency Change of Command, 16
by pari106
Zack and Jondy were still sitting, side by side, on the front steps.
"So you told her how you feel, then?" she asked.
Zack didn't answer.
"Zack…"
Zack sighed. "Sort of."
Jondy raised a brow. "Sort of?"
Zack looked at her through the corner of his eyes. Then he sighed.
"No."
Jondy gave him a smug smile that said 'I told you you couldn't do this alone.'
Zack sent her a look that said something unpleasant.
Then his features softened into a smile as he thought of Max. He'd come close. He
thought he was doing pretty good.
"I'm planning to, though," he told his sister now. "Tonight."
Jondy smiled back, the smugness being replaced by real hope that her sibs could find
happiness together. It didn't bother her anymore, thinking about Max and Zack as her
brother and sister, but still thinking about them as a couple. They were who they were.
She was who she was. And what they were could not be confined or defined by normal
standards. As long as Max and Zack could be happy, she'd be happy.
"Good," is all she said.
They didn't say anything more for a moment, just sharing a moment of silence.
Then the silence was broken.
Suddenly, a very harried Zane came running up to them. And he was holding little Max
under the arms.
And little Max had a decidedly bare toush.
Jondy didn't know who looked more stunned…little Max. Zane. Or Zack.
Okay, so she was a little stunned herself.
Zane did not generally run around his cabin carrying bare-bottomed babies.
"What the h…" In his stupor, Zack had completely forgotten their 'no cussing around the
kid' rule. But a sharp slap to the back of the head from Jondy soon reminded him.
"Hey! Watch i…"
And whatever he was going to say next was abruptly lost, as Zane planted the scantily
clad tot in Zack's lap.
He said something, but he said it in such a breathless rush, that it all came out as though
in one syllable.
What he'd said, sounded something like:
"GottatakeherCan'tstoptotalkSorry…"
And then Zane just kept on running.
But, as he did, he did manage to call over his shoulder:
"I'm sorry! I didn't know those goddamned diapers were so fragile!"
Zack and Jondy got the distinct impression that he wasn't talking to them.
And then Zane was gone, and sure enough, Krit suddenly came racing from the same
direction Zane had arrived.
And he…
Zack and Jondy watched, with jaws nearly dropped. In Zack's lap, little Max watched, as
well. With a primal type yell, Krit pursued his brother. Again.
"Zane!" he screamed.
Then he rushed by, without even paying acknowledgement to the three people sitting on
the porch.
Silence.
And then:
"Uh, Zack…Krit…he smelled bad," Jondy finally said, wrinkling her nose.
Zack looked down at little Max, who stared innocently back up at him.
And, suddenly, he had a good idea why Zane had been running…
And then he shoved little Max into Jondy's hands.
"Hey!"
"You have to take her," he said simply.
"What? No I don't!"
Then she shoved her back.
"Jond…just…what am I supposed to do with her?"
Jondy raised a brow. Amused, despite the predicament, by her fearless brother, who was
so obviously thrown off by this little girl.
"Exactly what you expect me to do with her, I'd say."
"I don't know what to do with her!" Zack insisted.
"And I do?" Jondy countered.
Then a horrible thought occurred to Zack.
He looked at little Max. Then he looked in the direction Zane and Krit had run. Little
Max looked at him, then in the same direction, then back at him. And she smiled, a huge
baby smile.
Zack shot to his feet, holding the dangerously diaper-less child at arm's length.
"Well, someone has to do something!" he told her, giving her a meaningful look.
"What?"
Then it occurred to her.
Diaper. There was a reason babies wore diapers. And, undoubtedly, that was the same
reason Krit now smelled like one.
"Oh…"
"Yeah, 'oh' !"
"Uh…I'll get one. Just a sec!"
And Jondy dashed off to the Jeep.
While she did, Zack stared warily at little Max. And she stared back, face expressionless.
Then she smiled.
Zack shifted from foot to foot, staring in the direction in which Jondy fled. She was
rummaging through the back of the Jeep, pulling things out in abandon.
'hurry…hurry…hurry…'
But eventually, Max became uncomfortable with her position, and she began to squirm.
And when Zack looked at her, and she smiled, he finally decided 'What the heck?' She'd
already gone, right? How many times could a baby go at once?
Tentatively, he slowly pulled the child back to him, slowly easing her more comfortably
into his arms.
Okay…alright…so far so good…
He stared at the child, and she stared back. She smiled, and he slowly smiled back.
This wasn't so bad.
"Listen, you just keep your fluids to yourself, and I'll do the same, okay?" he said. Max
gurgled, having no idea what he said. "Got that, soldier?" he said, the command behind
the words ruined by the baby-talk sort of way Zack said them. This was a first for Zack.
He did not baby talk.
And if little Max ever said differently there would be hell to pay.
Little Max, apparently, was not intimidated.
She laughed again. Then peed all over him. At just the same time as Jondy was running
up, breathing heavily.
"Here!" she said triumphantly, having finally found the elusive diaper. She waved it in
the air.
Then she took note of the situation – Zack's expression, the baby's laughter, and Zack's
now wet shirt.
Jondy put her arm down. Zack just stared at her.
If she'd taken the time she'd taken to find that diaper, in battle, they would all be dead by
now.
A fate much preferable to the one he had just suffered, Zack would say.
He spoke slowly, clearly, and tonelessly.
"Take her. Take her now. Don't argue. Just…," Zack's eyes fluttered closed and open
again, and he looked to the heavens as Max peed. Yet again. "Just take her," he said.
So Jondy took her.
Without a word, Zack walked back into the cabin to change.
And Jondy burst into laughter.
Then she felt something wet against her shirt.
"What the…."
