Daddy Duo

Chapter 16

Cat

"Thank you so much for letting us watch Solo for you," said Quatre.

Duo and Hilde had dropped Solo off for a weekend at the Winner/Barton estate.

"I can't believe it's been a year and a half since he was born," said Quatre to Trowa, holding the squirming little boy.

Solo was busy trying to escape from the firm grasp of his Uncle Quatre, who also happened to be one of his godfathers.

"Down," he said, frowning at Quatre and pushing his small hands against Quatre's pink shirt.

"No, you can't get down until Uncle Trowa fixes the baby gates," said Quatre.

There were now gates at the bottom and top of one staircase, and Trowa was busy installing the last two.

It was at the last minute that they had realized that Solo was too little to navigate the double staircases up each side of the main room, but big enough to want to try.

"Down," said Solo, his bottom lip beginning to quiver a little.

"Come on," said Quatre, "lets go outside and look at the fish."

They went out on the back veranda and Quatre led Solo over to the koi pond, full of large fat goldfish.

"Fishy!" said Solo, lunging suddenly toward the edge of the pond.

Quatre squeaked and grabbed him at the last minute before he tumbled headlong into the shallow water.

"Bad idea," said Quatre, panting a little.

"Down," said Solo, squirming around in Quatre's grasp to see the fish again.

"Fishy!" he said emphatically, pointing at the pond.

"Maybe we ought to use that little harness and leash that Hilde left for us," suggested Trowa, coming outside to stand next to Quatre. "You know, tie him up."

"He's not a dog!" said Quatre. "We'll just have to keep him entertained and happy for two days, how hard can it be?"

Trowa said nothing, but he sighed, blowing up his long bangs. For a second, Quatre saw two green eyes looking doubtfully at him.

"Do you really want me to answer that?" he finally asked.

"Are the gates all installed?' asked Quatre.

"I'm done," said Trowa. "The decorators are going to love our new touch," he smirked a little.

"Fortunately, they're not hard to remove," said Quatre, although secretly, he was hoping they wouldn't want to, someday.

Trowa watched Quatre carry the protesting toddler back into the house. "Maybe he'll get this baby obsession out of his system," thought Trowa, following them into the house.

It wasn't that he hated kids. He actually liked them, most of the time. He just wasn't sure he wanted one, not yet, anyway.

"Maybe he's hungry?" said Quatre, carrying Solo into the large kitchen.

Maybe," echoed Trowa, sitting down at the counter on a tall stool. "This oughta be good," he thought, watching Quatre try to open the large, walk in refrigerator with one hand and hold onto a struggling Solo with the other.

"Why don't you let me take him?" Trowa said finally, as Solo grabbed a carton of eggs from the bottom shelf and half of them went crashing to the floor.

Quatre looked up, his normally cheerful and placid countenance flushed and irritated.

"Thank you, that'd be a big help," he said with faint sarcasm.

"You look a little frustrated," said Trowa neutrally, picking up Solo and setting him on his lap.

"Let's watch Uncle Quatre cook lunch," he said in Solo's ear, which made Solo giggle and reach up and pull on his ear where it had been tickled by Trowa's bangs.

Enjoying the sound of the toddler's throaty giggle, Trowa ran his finger down his side, making Solo squeal with laughter.

"Okay, enough of that," he said to Solo. "We don't want to get you too wound up."

"Come on, I'll show you how to juggle," said Trowa, bending down and taking Solo's hand and walking him to the kitchen door.

Solo followed along obediently, looking up at the tall man, holding on to his index finger.

"Where are you going?" said Quatre, pulling out ingredients and cookbooks.

"To play," said Trowa, leaving Quatre with a dumbfounded look on his face.

"Okay," he said wearily, "I never thought of that."

"Ball!" said Solo, pointing up in the air.

"Four balls!" said Trowa, adding another colorful sphere to the three he had been juggling.

"Four!" said Solo, pointing again.

The spinning balls were mesmerizing. Solo was sitting on a chair in the living room watching Trowa intently.

"Five!" said Trowa, adding one more. It was getting tricky now, and he was worried that he was a little rusty. Not that Solo seemed to mind.

"Five." repeated Solo, laying his head sideways on the arm of the low overstuffed chair he was sitting on.

"You two speak the same language, no wonder he likes you," said Quatre, coming into the room still wearing a blue apron that said, 'Arabs Do It Hotter'.

Trowa was focused on his juggling and didn't reply.

"Six," he said quietly, and added another ball. Six balls are quite difficult and after a few attempts, he dropped one.

Solo giggled, "Fall down!" he said. "Again!" he said, rolling off the low chair in a fit of laughter. Fortunately, he landed on his feet and toddled over to Trowa.

Gradually, Trowa let all the balls fall on the floor, until he had one left in his hand. He went over and presented it to Solo, who pounced on it saying, "Ball!"

"Lunch is ready," said Quatre, smiling at the scene of Trowa and Solo gently rolling the ball between them on the floor.

"Eat!" said Solo, looking up.

"Eat," repeated Trowa.

Solo walked over to Quatre and held up his arms. "Cat!" he said.

"I think he said 'Quatre'," said Quatre, startled.

"No, he said 'Cat'," said Trowa.

"He says 'kitty' for 'cat'," argued Quatre, picking up Solo and kissing him on the cheek.

"He calls everything small and furry 'kitty'," said Trowa.

"He said my name," said Quatre stubbornly.

"I believe you," said Trowa, going over to him and putting his arms around Quatre and kissing him.

"Big hug!" said Solo, slightly squeezed between the two of them.

He squirmed a little and then put his head on Quatre's shoulder.

"He's so adorable," said Quatre quietly. He put his head against Solo's and Solo hugged his arms around Quatre's neck tightly.

"Cat," he said.

"See?" said Quatre triumphantly, "He's saying my name." He stuck his tongue out playfully at Trowa.

Solo chuckled and said, "Bad boy!"

"He wasn't quite this cute a while ago," pointed out Trowa.

Quatre gave him a look from behind Solo's red-brown curls.

"Okay, he's adorable," said Trowa, surrendering to the inevitable.

"Eat!" said Solo, pointing toward the kitchen.

Both men snorted.

"Well, we know for sure he's Duo's now," said Quatre, carrying Solo through the kitchen door.

40 minutes and a spilled sippy cup of apple juice later, Solo was beginning to fall over into his macaroni and cheese.

"Bath and a nap," said Quatre, going over to release Solo from the highchair.

"Bath," Solo repeated sleepily.

Quatre carried Solo up to the bathroom and knelt down, turning on the taps to just the right temperature.

Solo offered no resistance as he was divested of his t-shirt, overalls and diaper, and set down in the warm bath.

He perked up a little when Quatre put in the bubble bath, and began to poke the bubbles with his fingers and grin.

Trowa was in the kitchen cleaning up the last of the mess around the high chair and after he wiped up the last of the juice, he went upstairs to see if Quatre needed any help.

The bathroom was steamy but empty, so he went into their bedroom and Quatre was sprawled out on the bed, snoring faintly, having taken off the now wet and food-stained apron. Solo wearing only a diaper was asleep against his chest.

Trowa pulled the comforter over both of them and quietly left the room.