FROG BABY 2: TAKING CARE OF TAD
(Disclaimer: I do not own these characters. They own me. :) Anyway, this is the sequel to Frog Baby.)
Todd Tolensky sat on the couch, his baby brother Tad lying on his stomach, watching "Teletubbies". Actually Tad, who was three months old, was on the verge of falling asleep, so only Todd was really watching it. He wasn't a big fan of "Teletubbies", but a lot of things had changed since Tad had come into his life.
Like battling the X-Geeks. Lance hadn't been happy when Todd showed up late, with Tad in a carrier across his chest.
"What are you doing?"
"I couldn't leave him! He's just a little baby!"
"I thought Mystique was watching him!"
"She had to go out." Only the top of Tad's little head poked out of the carrier. Todd was glad he had changed the infant before they left the house. If he could figure out how to stick a bottle in there too, they'd be all set.
"He'll get hurt!"
"No he won't! Not if you guys cover me!"
The X-Men hadn't known what to make of the little bundle strapped across Toad's chest.
"What is that?" Wolverine demanded.
"It's a baby," Toad said. "My baby brother."
"You have a baby brother?" Cyclops said incredulously.
"Like, no way! Where'd you steal that baby from?" Shadowcat looked at Toad like he was some kind of criminal.
"I didn't steal him! My so-called dad dumped him on me!" Toad insisted.
"So you say," Storm said. She looked skeptically at the tiny head poking out of the cotton/Lycra cocoon.
"He is my brother!" Toad shot back.
"There's an easy way to prove that," Cyclops suggested. "We could do a DNA test on him to find out—"
"Hey! You ain't getting your hands on Tad! You'll brainwash him and take him away from me!"
Tad yawned, opened his eyes, and looked around.
"It's a simple test," Jean Grey said. She reached for the baby, but Toad leapt away. "Todd, please! We won't hurt him, I promise!"
"Yeah, that's what you said when you talked me into coming to your place. I nearly got my butt fried! Not to mention that psycho 'training' session! No, you stay away from me and Tad!"
"Tad?"
"Yeah, it's short for Tadpole."
"Tadpole?" Everyone looked at Toad like he'd been drinking floor cleaner.
"What's wrong with Tadpole? It's cute!" Toad said defensively.
"I came up with Tadpole!" Blob boasted.
"Probably the only thought you ever had in your life," Avalanche retorted. Blob either didn't hear, or decided not to answer that. (Most likely the former.)
Tad started to fuss a bit, but then calmed down when Toad patted his back. At least, he thought it was his back. Hard to tell under the covering. After a few pats, Tad went back to sleep.
"Okay, Todd," Jean said, "we'll let you sit in with him while we do the test."
"Don't hurt him. He's only a little baby!"
"Like, we'd never hurt babies!" Shadowcat exclaimed. "Besides, he's so cute." She stroked the little wisps of hair on Tad's head.
"I'm taking him for walks from now on," Avalanche whispered to Toad.
"Yeah, sure you are," Toad shot back. "I will not let you use Tad in your insane scheme to get Kitty to like you! You do your own dirty work, pal!"
"Guys!" Jean interrupted. "Let's call a temporary truce until the test results are back. It won't do Tad any good if we're all fighting like this."
"She's got a point," Avalanche said. He extended his hand to Cyclops. "Truce?"
"Truce."
"Now this won't hurt a bit . . ."
Todd held Tad very still as Jean drew some blood from him. Todd was the one who was scared; Tad had no idea what was going on. He cried a bit when the needle went in, and that made Todd even more nervous.
"I thought you said you wouldn't hurt him!"
"Chill, Toad, he's fine," Kurt Wagner said. He reached a finger out to Tad, who clamped down on it. Fortunately, he didn't have any teeth yet, but he had a grip that was hard to break. "Zhe little darling's hungry, I think."
"Oh, no. I forgot his bottle!" Todd rushed out to the car to check. "How could I forget his bottle? Hope I didn't leave the diapers home too." No, they were in the bag, but the bottles were suspiciously absent.
"Uh, Todd, I think you dropped these."
He turned and saw Scott holding the bottle bag. "Oh . . . right. Uh, thanks, Summers."
"No problem." Scott went back inside, and a moment later, so did Todd. While he fed Tad, he asked, "What happens now?"
"Now we need to draw some of your blood, and Tad's, and compare them to see how close a genetic match they are. We'll also run the test to see if Tad has the X gene," Professor Xavier said.
Tad looked around at the strange room. He didn't seem to be bothered by all the fuss—in fact, he was actually having fun. He didn't even cry when they drew his blood. Todd, on the other hand, screamed bloody murder.
"Ow! What are ya trying to do, kill me?"
"Easy, Todd, it's just a little pinch, and then it's all over," Jean reassured him.
"Little pinch? That felt like someone trying to cut my arm off!" He yanked his sleeve back down and snapped, "C'mon, Tad, we're leaving!"
Tad was currently whirling around in the air in Kitty's arms. "Wheeeee!" she laughed. He was laughing too.
"Uh, Kitty," Lance said, "I don't think you should be doing
that. Not after he just ate."
"Huh? Doing what—"
BLERT! A curdled mess landed on the front of Kitty's pink sweater.
"Yuck!" She tried to wipe at it with a cloth, but that just made it worse.
"Yeah, he did that to me last night," Fred said.
"Uh . . . we'll just go now," said Todd. He gathered up all the baby stuff, put Tad back in the carrier (he seemed fine now), and hoped he could find his way to the front door.
"I'll show you out," Jean said.
They followed her upstairs. At the door she said, "We'll
call you with the test results."
"Yeah, you do that," Todd said, still rubbing his arm.
That had been two days ago. He knew that for a fact, because they'd gone out the day after he'd gotten over the flu. Tad had slept in Pietro's room the first night, Lance's the second, and last night he'd bunked with, of all people, Mystique. She'd surprised everyone by becoming attached to the little guy. This morning she'd started knitting him a blanket.
Todd was about to bring Tad into his room and put him in his crib when the phone rang.
When Tad let out a little cry, Todd patted his bottom until he settled down again. He answered the phone before it could ring again. "Hello?"
"I thought you might like to know the test results are in," Jean told him.
"And?"
"Tad is your brother."
"Oh. Thanks. Is he . . . a mutant?"
"Yes, he tested positive."
"Well, I figured that. Uh, was there anything else?"
"Yes, there is, actually. Do you know where Tad's mother is?"
"No." Todd tried to keep his voice down, so Tad wouldn't wake up, but he couldn't keep the bitterness out of his voice. "I've been calling and calling that worthless excuse for a father, but he never picks up the phone. I know he's there, but he doesn't want to talk to me. How could he do this to us?"
There was silence on the other end of the phone.
"Yeah, I didn't think you'd know, either. Thanks for the info."
"Wait," Jean said. "The reason I asked about Tad's mother is that if she has other children, they might also be positive."
"Yeah, well, so what? They can't be older than nine or ten anyway. We'll fight over them when they get their powers."
"Let me know if you find them," she said, and hung up.
Todd sighed as he replaced the receiver on the hook. Then he carried Tad into his room and laid him in his crib.
"We don't need that jerk, do we, Taddy?" he murmured as he spread a blanket over the sleeping baby. "You and me don't need anyone but each other."
He tiptoed out of the room and shut the door.
