Disclaimer: The characters of Diagnosis Murder do not belong to me. they have been borrowed for the purpose of this fiction only. They will be returned at the end of this story.
Author's Note: I decided to write about something I know a little bit about. Kids. This story is complete.
Steve's Daycare
Steve sat at his desk hoping that his phone wouldn't ring. He had exactly 53 minutes before his shift would be over. He had the next two days off and he couldn't waite to get started with some very much needed time off. He managed to arrange for the new manager that Jesse and he had hired to take his shifts for the next two nights at the restaurant for him. He planned to start with the ball game on the sports channel tonight. Maybe a late night movie from pay-per view could round up the evening. After sleeping in the next morning he planned to suite up, grab his board and hit the surf. Maybe he would call up that pretty red headed nurse that just started in the E.R. last month and take her out for supper and a movie.
The ringing of his phone brought Steve out of his daydream. Moaning to himself he reluctantly picked up the receiver and answered, "Homicide, Sloan here."
"Steve, it's Amanda. I need a big favor. We just had word of a 12 car pile up coming in and it looks like we are all stuck here for a while. Could you pick up the boys for me? The daycare closes in about an hour and I will never get there in time to get them."
"Sure. I should leave here in about 45 minutes. Is Dad going to be staying also?" Steve asked.
"Every available nurse and doctor in this hospital will be staying. Wait Steve, Nancy needs to talk to you." Steve waites wondering what Nancy needed to talk to him about.
"Steve I need a really big favor from you. Matt was going to pick up the girls for me and the truck broke down. He is still in San Diego waiting for parts. He won't get back until tomorrow. The girls are at the same daycare as Amanda's boys. Could you please pick up the girls and hang on to them until I can get over to get them?"
"Well, uh, I..." Steve stumbled not sure what to say.
"I know that it's a lot to ask and I wouldn't if I wasn't desperate." Steve could here the pleading in her voice and knew that he couldn't refuse her.
"Sure. If you trust me I guess I can handle a couple of little girls for a couple of hours. Just be sure that the daycare knows that I'm picking them up. I know how strict they are about their policy on strange people picking up the kids." Steve tried to sound confident. To be honest he wasn't sure about this whole thing. He didn't know the first thing about taking care of little girls.
"Steve, you don't know how much I appreciate this. I have to go now. They just arrived with the first of the victims. Thanks." Nancy was gone before Steve could even respond.
*So much for starting my two days off with solitude and a ball game. Oh well how hard could it be. After all I'm a cop. I've faced some of the worst criminal element of LA. I've been shot at. Hell I've been shot and I managed to survive. I can do this. I wonder how old they are. Doesn't matter. I can handle it. I like kids and kids like me.* Suddenly Steve was brought out of his musings with a bellow of "Sloan, my office now," from his supperior, Captain Newman.
Before Steve could even shut the door behind him, the Captain started in with his speech. "My wife is out of town for a few days and I'm in charge of the kids. I just got a call from down town ordering me to a meeting with the Chief and the Mayor. I need you to do me a favor and pick up my kids from the daycare. You should know it. I believe Dr. Bentley sends her boys there sometimes when her mom is unable to keep them. You've picked them up there right?" asked Newman.
"Well yes sir but." Steve started to try and explain to his Captain that he was already going to be picking up four kids in about thirty minutes. He wasn't sure he could handle two more.
"The car seat is in the backseat of my car so be sure you get it before you go. I don't plan to be more than a couple of hours at the most. Think you can handle it detective?" Newman looked at Steve as if daring him to refuse.
"Of course sir. I was on my way to pick up Amanda's boys anyway. I would be happy to pick up your children sir. Uh, sir what are their names. It may go easier if I at least appear to know the kids." Steve tried to make light of the situation.
"My son's name is Eric. He's five. The baby's name is Emily. She's nine months. You realize this will be the most important assignment you will ever have?" Newman glared at Steve in an effort to impress apon the Lieutenant that he was intrusting his children to his care and that they had better be no worse for the wear when he picked them up later that evening.
"Of course sir. Trust me. I'll guard them with my life. They'll be fine. I promise I haven't lost a kid yet." Steve laughed slightly trying break some of the tension that he suddenly felt grip his whole body.
"Steve I wouldn't ask but to tell you the truth you are the only one that I trust to take care of my kids. Your dad will be there to help won't he?" Newman actually trusted the good doctor more than his forlorn looking detective.
"Yes sir. He'll probably beat me home. I better get the car seat and get going sir. I promise to take care of your children. You said you would be there in a couple of hours right?" Steve asked Newman trying to form some kind of plan to insure his and the kids survival.
"I don't think I will be any later. Just in case Emily drinks regular milk if you need another bottle before I get there. You do have milk at your house don't you?" the Captain asked skeptically. He thought Steve was starting to look a little green.
"Yes sir. We always have milk and juice on hand. I'll see you later sir." with that Steve made his way to his desk and picked up his jacket and headed for the door.
As he removed the car seat from the back of his Captain's car he realized that getting six kids home in his truck was going to be next to impossible. He opted to take the car that the department had assigned to him instead.
All the way to the daycare Steve tried to figure out how he had managed to get himself hooked into all this. He could feel disaster hovering over him, as he got closer to the daycare center.
As he pulled up he could feel the sweat poping out all over him. It was bad enough when it was just Amanda and Nancy's kids. Now he had the added pressure of Captain Newman's kids as well. There was no room for error here. He hesitated slightly when he reached the door. He couldn't let the ladies who were in charge see the panic on his face. They might not let him have the kids if he didn't at least appear to know what he was doing. Who was he trying to fool? He had no idea how to take care of little kids. He didn't even know what to feed them. He was pretty sure that most of them could eat pizza. What if they didn't like pizza? Naw all kids like pizza. At least he knew that CJ and Dion did. He had watched them devour a whole pizza in a matter of minutes. Oh well. He could figure out meals after he got them home. That in its self was going to require a plan.
Steve approached the counter in the front lobby and showed his ID to the lady who was standing on the other side.
"Hi. I'm Steve Sloan. I'm suppose to pick up some kids and take them home with me." Steve told the lady.
"Yes Lieutenant. We have been expecting you. My name is Lisa. If you will come this way, the kids are ready for you. First we have to fit this car seat into the backseat of your car," she informed him.
"Another car seat? I already have one for the baby." Steve gave the lady a somewhat confused look as she brought out another car seat.
"Yes, but this is for Nancy's little girl. She still has to sit in a one because she is still to little. She is only two." she gave Steve a smile that he could swear had some kind of hidden meaning behind it.
"How old is the other one?" Steve asked with a hint of panic.
"She's four. She is very good to look out for her little sister though. Now let's get the kids loaded into the car so that you can be on your way." There was that smile again. This lady wasn't telling him something he was sure of it.
With some special arranging and reshuffling, Steve managed to get all six kids into the car buckled up safely for the short trip home. Just as he was about to get into the car himself the lady touched his shoulder in order to get his attention.
"I have a couple of things written down here for you to help with caring for the little ones. Kay is two and is being potty trained. Sometimes she will tell you but you may have to remind her. In her bag is a little seat that fits onto a regular toilet seat. It converts it into a smaller seat for her that way she won't fall into the potty and you don't have to hold onto her. It just snaps into place. Now Emily is still on baby food. She has two jars in her bag plus two bottles of milk. She is getting a diaper rash so don't let her sit around in a wet diaper. She is also trying to pull up to everything so if you have anything that could break in her reach I suggest you pick it up and move it. Do you have any questions Lieutenant?" she asked with that same smile.
"No. I think you probably covered everything. Thanks for the help. I guess I better go now," with that Steve got into his car and with one look at his little flock he started the engine and started towards home.
As he pulled out of the parking lot at the daycare, Lisa and a fellow coworker watched the car head down the road.
"Think he will survive those kids?" Lisa asked her friend.
"No way. They are going to eat him alive," replied the friend.
"Too bad. He was sorta cute." with that both ladies headed back to the building.
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Steve could have sworn that it was only about ten miles from the daycare to the Beach House. With the baby crying right behind him and the four year old and five year old yelling at each other over territorial rights in the back seat, it seemed like a hundred and ten miles. At last after what seemed like hours of driving Steve pulled up into the driveway. Now all he had to do was get all six kids into the house without loosing one. He assigned Dion and CJ each a kid to hold by the hand and escort into the house. He took the two youngest, one in each arm and brought up the rear. After juggling babies he managed to unlock the door and ushered the whole bunch in. He made all six kids sit on the couch (Dion held the baby) while he unloaded the car of baby bags and car seats.
Once he had everything in he approached the couch and laid out a few simple ground rules. No one was to go out onto the deck. No one was to leave the living room. No one was to go near the stairs. No one was to touch anything shiny. No one was to touch any buttons. After quizing the kids about the few rules he had presented to them he turned on the TV in hopes that the cartoon channel would keep them occupied while he looked up the number for pizza delivery.
Everything went pretty smooth for about the first fifteen minutes. Then suddenly everything went to pieces and Steve never got control again. First while he was trying to figure out how to use the disposable diapers so he would be ready when the baby needed changing he heard a terrible crash. As he ran into the living room he noticed that Emily was sitting in the middle of some videos. She was crying and Steve ran over and picked her up.
"What happened to her?" Steve looked at Dion and CJ who were trying to stack up the videos.
"She crawled over to the stack of videos and tried to pull herself up. I tried to stop her Uncle Steve but she fell over before I could get to her." Dion looked like he was about to cry while he explained to Steve what had happened.
"It's ok Dion. I think it just scared her. She doesn't seem to be hurt." Steve tried to reasure Dion as he walked the baby around the room cradling her and trying to comfort her. Soon she stopped crying and settled her head on his shoulder and seemed quite content as Steve continued to softly talk to her. After awhile he felt confident that he could lay her down on the blanket that he had laid out for her earlier. She seemed happy to lay on her tummy and play with some of the toys Steve had found in her diaper bag.
Since Emily seemed to be occupied at the time, Steve decided it was time to address the little group about supper.
"I think I will call in for pizza. Does that sound ok for everybody?" Everyone was all on board for pizza. "Now what kind do you want?" Of course that wasn't going to be as easy. It seemed everyone wanted a different kind. After about fifteen minutes of arguing and compromising Steve called in three large pizzas. One cheese, one pepperoni, and one hamburger. No onions or peppers on any.
As Steve waited for the pizzas to be delivered he decided to go ahead and feed Emily her baby food. As he opened the jars he nearly gagged at the sight of what he found in the first jar. How did babies eat that stuff. The second one didn't look so bad. In fact it looked pretty good. Of course applesuce is applesauce. Steve placed the first jar into the microwave and stood there for a minute trying to figure out how long it should be set for to warm the foul looking dinner. Finally he deciced on about a minute. Unfortunatley he didn't notice that he set the timer for ten minutes.
As the dinner was warming in the microwave he dicided to look in on the kids. They had been too quiet for too long. As he entered the living room he saw that everyone seemed to be enjoying the program on the TV. Suddenly he realised that something was wrong. Steve started counting kids and realized that one seemed to be missing. He quickly took inventory and discovered that two year old Kay seemed to be nowhere in sight. Sudden panic gripped Steve as he frantically started to search the rooms looking for the little blond toddler. He finally found her in the bathroom trying to put her little seat on the toilet.
"What are you doing in here?" Steve asked as he picked up the little girl.
"I have to go potty now," she informed the detective.
"Oh no." Steve mumbled under his breath. "Here let me put that on the seat. Go get your sister quick so she can help you ok." With that the little girl ran to her sister and dragged her back to the bathroom.
"Can you help her get onto the potty? This isn't something I know much about." Steve gave four year old Beth a pleading look.
Giving Steve a look that clearly said grow up, she informed him that all her sister need was a stool and she could go to the bathroom by herself.
"She's not a baby you know. She's nearly three years old." With that Beth turned and flounced out leaving Steve staring after her with a questionable look on his face. She certainly didn't talk like a four year old. She seemed so much wiser. Just then Steve felt a small tug at his shirt and looked down to see a little a angel face smiling up at him. "Could you get me a stool Mr. Steve? Please."
"Sure. Hang on just a minute."
Before he could locate something for her to use as a stool the doorbell rang causing a small riot from the rest of the kids. The sudden yelling and shouts of pleasure startled the baby and she started to scream. Steve opened the door to a young blond man with purple spikes sticking out all over his head. He had a set of headphones on and Steve could still hear the music comming from the set.
The kid shoved three large flat boxes at Steve and informed him that he owed him fourty bucks. Steve handed the kid a fity hoping for some change. Instead the kid pocketed the money and turned thanking the detective for the tip. With a sigh Steve shrugged his shoulders and turned to go back into the house.
He quickly placed the pizzas on the coffee table and picked up the baby trying to get her to be quiet. Sometime or another the TV had been turned up to sonic boom level. As he tried to get Dion's attention to turn down the TV there was a sudden explosion in the kitchen. With the baby screaming in his ear Steve quickly made his way to the kitchen to investigate the problem. There was the microwave smoking with the door hanging open and some sort of gooey stuff splattered all over everything within a five foot radius.
"Oh no. I must of over cooked the baby food. Now what am I going to feed her?" As he stood there looking at the disaster before him, he heard Kay screaming at the top of her lungs.
"I have to go potty now."
Steve had forgotten all about the little girl and quickly grabbed a case of bottled water and juggled it and the baby trying not drop either one as he ran towards the bathroom. As quickly as he could he arranged the water so that Kay could step up on it and get to the potty. Just as he got the water in place the phone started to ring. "What now?" he grumbled as he made a dash for the phone.
"Hello." Steve almost yelled into the receiver.
"Son?" It was Mark and after finding out that his son had been roped into babysitting he thought he should call and check on things to make sure everything was ok. Mark could hear a baby crying and several children yelling in the back ground. "Steve can you hear me?" Mark yelled into the phone.
"Dad is that you. Listen I can hardly hear you. Can I call you later? I'm a little busy right now. Bye Dad." With that Steve hung up the phone and started toward the living room.
What he saw when he arrived nearly sent him into complete shock. Pizza was every where. There were red smudge prints on the TV screen and all over one of the lamp shades. Dion and CJ were trying to get the two little ones to sit down and eat their pizza in one place but they were having too much fun chasing each other trying to cram pizza in the others mouth. Steve soon realised that he was in big trouble. For the life of him he couldn't figure out what to do. He was quickly becoming exhausted. He couldn't ever remember working so hard in his life. Nothing he had ever faced on the streets as a cop had prepared him for this. Suddenly there was a crash from the bathroom.
As he headed back towards the bathroom Steve groaned, "What now?" What he saw when he got to the door stopped him in his tracks. There sticking out of the cabinent under the sink was Kay's little bottom. She appeared to be looking for something.
"What are you looking for?" Steve asked the little girl.
"I need some paper please." she said as she backed out of the cabinent.
"It's right here on the spindle by the toilet." he told her with exasperation.
"I can't use that. It's not like the kind my mommy gets." she said with a pout.
"It's all we have. What difference does it make any way.? It's all used for the same purpose." At this point Steve was starting to loose his patience.
Suddenly Kay started to cry. "Please don't cry. I'll go get your sister ok?" With this Steve ran into the den where he found Eric on top of his father's desk writing in a very expensive medical text book.
"What are you doing?" Steve asked the little boy as he rushed over to him.
"I like to write my A B C's and I couldn't find any paper. See how I can spell my name?" The little boy beemed up at Steve as he displayed his work on several pages of the book.
"Look, thats very nice but it's time for you to get down and go sit in the living room with the rest of the kids and watch TV. Ok?" With that Steve helped Eric down from the desk and with the baby in one arm and Eric hanging onto his other hand Steve escorted the little artist back to the other kids. As he entered the room he asked Beth to see if she could talk her sister into using the toilet paper even though it wasn't like the kind mommy gets. He went to Dion and CJ to see if they could help keep an eye on Eric and keep him from getting into any more trouble when he noticed both boys were looking at him with pure disgust on their faces.
"What's wrong?" he asked while the two backed away from him.
"You smell bad Uncle Steve." contributed CJ.
"What do you mean I smell bad?" Steve said as he sniffed under his arm.
"I don't think it's you Uncle Steve." put in Dion.
Steve noticed both boys seemed to be looking at Emily. He forced his gaze down at the angel in his arms and suddenly realized that she was emitting a somewhat foul odor. Oh no. This could only mean one thing. Very carefully Steve took a peek into the baby's diaper. What he saw made him break out into a cold sweat. He had never changed a diaper in his life. And this one seemed to be filled with toxic waste. He could feel panic taking over his entire being. His worst nightmare was now being realized. Suddenly he felt a light touch on his arm and he heard someone calling his name as if from far away. He turned slowly and there standing before him was the most beutiful woman on earth at this very moment. She smiled at him and gently removed the little baby from his arms. Steve focused on what she was trying to tell him but the pure sensation of relief was over powering his ability to comprehend what she was saying. Suddenly she took a firm grip on his arm and shook him a little trying to get him to focus on what she was telling him. With all his effort Steve focused on her words and started to understand that she was there to help him.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
After Steve had hung up so abruptly on him, Mark realized that Steve was in trouble. The kind of trouble that he knew his son would never be able to handle on his own. After a brief conversation with Amanda and Nancy, Mark decided to check to see how his inexperienced son was doing. It only took those few moments on the phone for Mark to come to the conclusion that his son was way in over his head and would need reinforcements. The only thing Mark could think to do was to call Harriet Fleming his neighbor.
She and her husband Carl had become very good friends with the Sloan's over the years. They had always fussed over Steve and Carol when they were children. They never missed school plays, little league games, or graduations. They had been especially supportive when Katherine, Marks wife had died some ten years earlier. Harriet had always treated Steve as if he were her own. When Mark called she rushed over as fast as she could. Sure enough Mark had been right. Utter caos had descended on the Beach House.
"Steve go and get her diaper bag and bring it over to the couch and we'll take care of her first, ok?" Steve was off in search of the diaper bag knowing how a convicted criminal felt when given a reprieve at the last minute by the govenor.
Soon she handed Steve a freshly changed baby and a bottle of juice and told him to sit and feed her the bottle while she took care of the commotion that was erupting in the bathroom. After some serious reassurance and compromising Harriet emerged from the bathroom with a happy Kay by the hand and headed to the dinning room table where she deposited the two year old with a plate of cold pizza and a glass of milk.
Harriet noticed that there seemed to be some sort of goo dripping from the microwave onto the counter and after a closer inspection realized that it once had been a jar of baby food. After talking to Steve and questioning him about what the contents were she sent him to the little store down the road with a list of things to get. Steve was glad for the errand. He was more than glad to escape the "House of Disaster", even for just a few minutes. If he worked it right this could turn into at least a thirty minute trip.
While Steve was gone Harriet set about restoring order to the disaster that had befallen her neighbor's once emaculate home.
Steve tried to take his time and stay away as long as possible. Guilt soon over took him and he rapidly finished his task and made the short drive back to the beach house.
When he entered the house he noticed a quiet that had not been there before he left for the store. When he stepped into the living room, what he saw made his mouth open in amazement. Sitting at the table were Eric, Beth, and Kay happily drawing pictures with markers on manila paper. Dion and CJ were sitting on the floor with Emily tickling her little feet and enjoying the laughter that bubbled from the baby. Harriet was in the kitchen cleaning the last of the baby food that had exploded all over the counters. When she saw Steve she ushered him into the kitchen and began unpacking the bags. She soon had the baby food warmed and as she turned around to retrieve the infant she noticed Steve still standing there as if he were in shock. Concerned she crossed over to him and placed a gentle hand on his arm in order to get him to look at her.
"Steve, are you ok sweetie?" she asked him not liking the look on his face.
When he didn't immediatley respond to her question she tried again with a little shake. "Steve, look at me. What's wrong?"
Steve looked at her with confusion. "What did you do? I mean how did you...." he looked at her as if she had just walked on water.
"Steve it was just a matter of organizing. You let yourself get overwelmed. You lost control when things started to move too fast." she smiled up at him.
"No, I lost control when I agreed to do this. I don't know anything about how to take care of little kids. I mean I took care of CJ when he was a baby but Dad was always there to help and do the diaper thing. I was given bottle and rocking to sleep duties. This is amazing," he said as he looked around at the well behaved children.
"Tell you what, while I finish cleaning up the kitchen and the den, why don't you feed Emily this jar of food. When she finishes with this you can rock her to sleep." With that she aimed Steve in the direction where the baby was being happily entertained by the boys.
Steve picked her up and sat her on the table in front of the couch and sat in front of her to begin spooning in the warmed up jar of mushy food. The first two bites didn't seem to be to bad. She seemed happy to open her mouth and receive the offering of food. Suddenly without warning she spit the third spoonful of food out with such force that it landed on the front of Steve's shirt. Because he hadn't expected to be splattered with the food Steve responded by jumping up suddenly with a yell. This startled the little girl and she was soon crying. Steve felt quilty for scaring the baby and scooped her up and immediatley tried to sooth her. Harriet came running into the living room when she heard Steve yell out and quickly asked what the problem was now. Suddenly she noticed the glob of food starting to run down the front of his shirt and came to a conclusion on her own.
"Here let me take her and you go and clean yourself up." Harriet reached for the baby and picked up the jar of food and carried the baby with her into the kitchen to finish feeding her.
Steve left to go and clean up. When he returned Harriet was washing up Emily's mouth and hands and turned to hand him the baby. "Now you go and rock her to sleep while I fix the kids some ice cream."
Warily Steve took the baby and settled himself into the rocking chair and started rocking her gently. He watched her little face as he started to quietly sing to her the same little song that his dad use to sing to him when he was a baby. Soon she started to close her eyes and in just a short while she was soon asleep. Steve didn't want to disturb the sleeping infant in his arms so he continued to rock her until before he knew it he was dozing himself.
About an hour later he felt someone nudging him and looked up to see Harriet removing the sleeping baby from his arms. Just behind her Steve noticed that his Captain was gathering up the the diaper bag getting ready to take his children home. Once Harriet had taken Emily Steve got up from the chair and walked over to where Newman was standing.
Newman looked at the detective noticing the tired eyes and the slow movement. "Thanks for helping me out Lieutenant. I see you were smart enough to engage some professional help."
Steve squirmed a little at the last part of his Captains statement. "Yes sir. This is our neighbor, Harriet Fleming. She's lived next door to us every since we moved here. She was a great help. I don't think I could have done this without her." With that Steve gave her a grateful smile as he draped his arm around her shoulder, giving her an affetionat squeeze.
"Noncence. You were doing just fine. I just love children and couldn't resist coming over and helping out. I use to take care this big o boy when he was smaller you know. I like to think that I had a hand in raising him." She winked up at Steve and wrapping her arm around his waist returned the affectionate squeeze.
Newman noticed the pride in the older woman's eyes as she looked up at the man who she still saw as her little boy. "You did a good job. He turned out to be a good man and good cop. He's a real asset to our force. I'm proud to have him under my command."
Startled by his Captain's words, Steve looked up and noticed the sincerity in his superior's eyes and the smile on his face. "Thanks sir. It's a pleasure to be under your command sir. I like being a cop and I enjoy the people I work with."
Newman gathered his children and headed out the door. Steve took the diaper bag and followed behind to the car. He noticed that Newman had already replaced the car seat back into his own car as he placed the sleeping infant in and secured her with the straps. He placed his son next to his sister and secured the seat belts around him.
Straitening back up Newman offered his hand to Steve and shook the detective's hand. "Thanks again. You really helped me out. I usually call my sister-in-law when something like this happens but she is on vacation with her family this week and I found my self in a real bind. I appreciate you giving up your evening."
"It was no problem. I was happy to help out. They are cute kids. You must be very proud of them sir." Steve commented.
"I am. I just hope that I can keep them safe. Sometimes after a bad day at work I wonder what my wife and I were thinking when we decided to have them. Then I come home and see them and spend a little time with them and I soon realize that they are God's gift to us. They make all the bad stuff go away for a little while and I can relax and enjoy the good side of life. You need something clean and fresh to come home to so that you can get away from the garbage we have to deal with daily. Well, thanks again. Enjoy your weekend.", with that Captain Newman got into the car and drove his family home.
As he watched the car pull out of the driveway, Steve thought about what his Captain had just said and he knew that someday he too wanted a wife and a couple of children. But for now he still had four more in the house that probably needed some attention. He turned and headed back to the house. When he went in he saw Kay running towards him with her hands up.
"I have sticky hands. Can you wash them please." she beamed up at Steve with anticipation.
"Sure. Let's go get a wash rag and tackle your mouth while we are at it." Steve picked her up and headed for the bathroom.
After the icecream bowls had been washed and put away and all the sticky fingers and mouths had been washed Harriet and Steve settled everyone down for the latest Disney movie and some much needed quiet time. Kay crawled up into Steve's lap and settled herself to enjoy the antics of the colorful characters, which were involved in some high adventure. Not long Steve noticed the little girl was no longer laughing or wiggling but instead was snoring quietly. She was sound asleep. Steve reached out and brushed away a stray curl that had fallen on her little face. Suddenly he couldn't resist leaning over and placing a gentle kiss on the little girls forehead. Cuddling her closer he settled down to wait for her mother to retrieve her when she was able to leave the hospital.
About nine Nancy was able to gather her girls and head for the house. She gave Steve a kiss and thanked him and Harriet for taking care of the girls for her. Steve could see the tiredness in her eyes and suddenly he was very glad he could help her out. He carried Kay to the car and strapped her into the car seat for the trip home. After depositing her four year old into the opposit side of the car and making sure she was secured also, Nancy turned to Steve and gave him a hug.
"I know this must of been hard. I can't thank you enough for doing this for me. I was frantic trying to figure out what to do."
"Don't worry about it. I was glad to do it. Harriet was great to help. I pretty much did what she told me. She made the whole thing seem easy. But if you ever need me to do this again could you please pack a roll of toilet paper for Kay. She only likes the kind that her mommy buys. We almost had a small war over it." Steve grinned at Nancy as he helped her get into the car.
"I'll buy you a case and leave it for you." she laughed as she started the car.
When Steve walked into the house he heard Harriet ordering the boys into the bathroom to take their baths. She told Steve to get their extra clothes out of the guest room. Amanda always kept extra clothes for the boys so no matter what came up they always had a change of clothes for any occasion.
Once the boys were bathed and settled into the quest room Harriet turned to Steve and said."Now it's your turn. Go downstairs and get clean pajamas while I run you a hot bath."
"I can take a shower downstairs when I get ready to go to bed, and I'm not ready yet." Steve told the older lady.
With her lips set into a firm line she turned him towards the stairs and said, "Yes you are. You are going to take a bath and then I am going to put you to bed in your dad's room. He and Amanda will be about another three hours before they can leave the hospital. Amanda is going to come here and stay the night and she will sleep in your bed. You are going to sleep with your dad. You are tired and I want you to take a nice bath and go to bed. I don't want to hear any arguing from you either. Now go." With that she swatted him on the rear and headed for the bathroom to run him a bath.
As Steve sank down into the tub he knew that Harriet was right. He had never been so tired in all his life. The water felt good as he leaned back and closed his eyes. He had to admire women who had large families. It was a lot of work taking care of kids and running a house. His mother had been so good at it that he never realized how much work actually went into keeping a household running smoothly. After about thirty minutes of soaking Steve heard a little knock on the door.
"Steve, I think you better get out now before you go to sleep in there. Ok?"
"Yes ma'am." came the drowsy reply.
When Steve emerged from the bathroom decked out in a clean Teeshirt and pajama pants, he felt a little more relaxed and was more than happy to head toward his dad's bed.
Harriet made sure Steve was settled and tucked in properly before she reached over and kissed him on the cheek telling him good night. He was already asleep before she reached the door. She turned and looked at him for just a moment remembering the many times she had tucked him in when Mark and Katherine had left him and Carol in her care. He had really grown into a fine man. She was proud of him. Proud of what he stood for. Proud of the life he lived. She had wanted to be a good role model for the kids as they grew up. Both Steve and Carol had grown up to be solid citizens. Respecting others, and their community. She knew that her life had been richer having lived next door to these wonderful people for so many years.
About one o'clock Harriet looked up from the book she was reading when she heard the front door open. Mark and Amanda made their way into the den surprised to see her still sitting there waiting for them to come home.
"Harriet what are you doing still here. You should have gone home and went to bed." Mark admonished her.
With a wave of her hand she looked at the two tired doctors and said, "You know me. I don't go tell the parents come home."
"I can't thank you enough for coming over hear and helping him out. He was in real trouble when I called him earlier. Was he glad to see you?" Mark grinned when he asked her the latter.
"I think relief is a better word. He was about to cry when I came in. It really took a toll on him. I made him go to bed about ten thirty and before his head hit the pillow he was out. When I checked on the boys a few minutes ago I also checked on him and I don't think he's moved. You two look like you could use a little shut eye yourself. I'm leaving but I'll check in with you tomorrow and see how everyone is doing. Get some rest now." With that she slipped out the back and headed to her house.
Without even saying goodnight the two very tired doctors headed for their seperate beds and some much needed sleep.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Two months Later:
"Sloan. My office now please." Captain Newman ordered.
"Yes sir." Steve stood up and made his way into his superior's office shutting the door behind him.
"Steve, I need a favor. My wife is stuck at work and can't get away and I have to be at a budget meeting for our precinct in about thirty minutes. I need you to pick up my kids from the daycare. You can handle it can't you?"
Five minutes later Steve left Captain Newman's office and headed straight for his phone. After punching the numbers he could hear the phone ringing on the other end.
"Hello"
"Harriet, listen it's me Steve. Help me."
The End.
Author's Note: I decided to write about something I know a little bit about. Kids. This story is complete.
Steve's Daycare
Steve sat at his desk hoping that his phone wouldn't ring. He had exactly 53 minutes before his shift would be over. He had the next two days off and he couldn't waite to get started with some very much needed time off. He managed to arrange for the new manager that Jesse and he had hired to take his shifts for the next two nights at the restaurant for him. He planned to start with the ball game on the sports channel tonight. Maybe a late night movie from pay-per view could round up the evening. After sleeping in the next morning he planned to suite up, grab his board and hit the surf. Maybe he would call up that pretty red headed nurse that just started in the E.R. last month and take her out for supper and a movie.
The ringing of his phone brought Steve out of his daydream. Moaning to himself he reluctantly picked up the receiver and answered, "Homicide, Sloan here."
"Steve, it's Amanda. I need a big favor. We just had word of a 12 car pile up coming in and it looks like we are all stuck here for a while. Could you pick up the boys for me? The daycare closes in about an hour and I will never get there in time to get them."
"Sure. I should leave here in about 45 minutes. Is Dad going to be staying also?" Steve asked.
"Every available nurse and doctor in this hospital will be staying. Wait Steve, Nancy needs to talk to you." Steve waites wondering what Nancy needed to talk to him about.
"Steve I need a really big favor from you. Matt was going to pick up the girls for me and the truck broke down. He is still in San Diego waiting for parts. He won't get back until tomorrow. The girls are at the same daycare as Amanda's boys. Could you please pick up the girls and hang on to them until I can get over to get them?"
"Well, uh, I..." Steve stumbled not sure what to say.
"I know that it's a lot to ask and I wouldn't if I wasn't desperate." Steve could here the pleading in her voice and knew that he couldn't refuse her.
"Sure. If you trust me I guess I can handle a couple of little girls for a couple of hours. Just be sure that the daycare knows that I'm picking them up. I know how strict they are about their policy on strange people picking up the kids." Steve tried to sound confident. To be honest he wasn't sure about this whole thing. He didn't know the first thing about taking care of little girls.
"Steve, you don't know how much I appreciate this. I have to go now. They just arrived with the first of the victims. Thanks." Nancy was gone before Steve could even respond.
*So much for starting my two days off with solitude and a ball game. Oh well how hard could it be. After all I'm a cop. I've faced some of the worst criminal element of LA. I've been shot at. Hell I've been shot and I managed to survive. I can do this. I wonder how old they are. Doesn't matter. I can handle it. I like kids and kids like me.* Suddenly Steve was brought out of his musings with a bellow of "Sloan, my office now," from his supperior, Captain Newman.
Before Steve could even shut the door behind him, the Captain started in with his speech. "My wife is out of town for a few days and I'm in charge of the kids. I just got a call from down town ordering me to a meeting with the Chief and the Mayor. I need you to do me a favor and pick up my kids from the daycare. You should know it. I believe Dr. Bentley sends her boys there sometimes when her mom is unable to keep them. You've picked them up there right?" asked Newman.
"Well yes sir but." Steve started to try and explain to his Captain that he was already going to be picking up four kids in about thirty minutes. He wasn't sure he could handle two more.
"The car seat is in the backseat of my car so be sure you get it before you go. I don't plan to be more than a couple of hours at the most. Think you can handle it detective?" Newman looked at Steve as if daring him to refuse.
"Of course sir. I was on my way to pick up Amanda's boys anyway. I would be happy to pick up your children sir. Uh, sir what are their names. It may go easier if I at least appear to know the kids." Steve tried to make light of the situation.
"My son's name is Eric. He's five. The baby's name is Emily. She's nine months. You realize this will be the most important assignment you will ever have?" Newman glared at Steve in an effort to impress apon the Lieutenant that he was intrusting his children to his care and that they had better be no worse for the wear when he picked them up later that evening.
"Of course sir. Trust me. I'll guard them with my life. They'll be fine. I promise I haven't lost a kid yet." Steve laughed slightly trying break some of the tension that he suddenly felt grip his whole body.
"Steve I wouldn't ask but to tell you the truth you are the only one that I trust to take care of my kids. Your dad will be there to help won't he?" Newman actually trusted the good doctor more than his forlorn looking detective.
"Yes sir. He'll probably beat me home. I better get the car seat and get going sir. I promise to take care of your children. You said you would be there in a couple of hours right?" Steve asked Newman trying to form some kind of plan to insure his and the kids survival.
"I don't think I will be any later. Just in case Emily drinks regular milk if you need another bottle before I get there. You do have milk at your house don't you?" the Captain asked skeptically. He thought Steve was starting to look a little green.
"Yes sir. We always have milk and juice on hand. I'll see you later sir." with that Steve made his way to his desk and picked up his jacket and headed for the door.
As he removed the car seat from the back of his Captain's car he realized that getting six kids home in his truck was going to be next to impossible. He opted to take the car that the department had assigned to him instead.
All the way to the daycare Steve tried to figure out how he had managed to get himself hooked into all this. He could feel disaster hovering over him, as he got closer to the daycare center.
As he pulled up he could feel the sweat poping out all over him. It was bad enough when it was just Amanda and Nancy's kids. Now he had the added pressure of Captain Newman's kids as well. There was no room for error here. He hesitated slightly when he reached the door. He couldn't let the ladies who were in charge see the panic on his face. They might not let him have the kids if he didn't at least appear to know what he was doing. Who was he trying to fool? He had no idea how to take care of little kids. He didn't even know what to feed them. He was pretty sure that most of them could eat pizza. What if they didn't like pizza? Naw all kids like pizza. At least he knew that CJ and Dion did. He had watched them devour a whole pizza in a matter of minutes. Oh well. He could figure out meals after he got them home. That in its self was going to require a plan.
Steve approached the counter in the front lobby and showed his ID to the lady who was standing on the other side.
"Hi. I'm Steve Sloan. I'm suppose to pick up some kids and take them home with me." Steve told the lady.
"Yes Lieutenant. We have been expecting you. My name is Lisa. If you will come this way, the kids are ready for you. First we have to fit this car seat into the backseat of your car," she informed him.
"Another car seat? I already have one for the baby." Steve gave the lady a somewhat confused look as she brought out another car seat.
"Yes, but this is for Nancy's little girl. She still has to sit in a one because she is still to little. She is only two." she gave Steve a smile that he could swear had some kind of hidden meaning behind it.
"How old is the other one?" Steve asked with a hint of panic.
"She's four. She is very good to look out for her little sister though. Now let's get the kids loaded into the car so that you can be on your way." There was that smile again. This lady wasn't telling him something he was sure of it.
With some special arranging and reshuffling, Steve managed to get all six kids into the car buckled up safely for the short trip home. Just as he was about to get into the car himself the lady touched his shoulder in order to get his attention.
"I have a couple of things written down here for you to help with caring for the little ones. Kay is two and is being potty trained. Sometimes she will tell you but you may have to remind her. In her bag is a little seat that fits onto a regular toilet seat. It converts it into a smaller seat for her that way she won't fall into the potty and you don't have to hold onto her. It just snaps into place. Now Emily is still on baby food. She has two jars in her bag plus two bottles of milk. She is getting a diaper rash so don't let her sit around in a wet diaper. She is also trying to pull up to everything so if you have anything that could break in her reach I suggest you pick it up and move it. Do you have any questions Lieutenant?" she asked with that same smile.
"No. I think you probably covered everything. Thanks for the help. I guess I better go now," with that Steve got into his car and with one look at his little flock he started the engine and started towards home.
As he pulled out of the parking lot at the daycare, Lisa and a fellow coworker watched the car head down the road.
"Think he will survive those kids?" Lisa asked her friend.
"No way. They are going to eat him alive," replied the friend.
"Too bad. He was sorta cute." with that both ladies headed back to the building.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Steve could have sworn that it was only about ten miles from the daycare to the Beach House. With the baby crying right behind him and the four year old and five year old yelling at each other over territorial rights in the back seat, it seemed like a hundred and ten miles. At last after what seemed like hours of driving Steve pulled up into the driveway. Now all he had to do was get all six kids into the house without loosing one. He assigned Dion and CJ each a kid to hold by the hand and escort into the house. He took the two youngest, one in each arm and brought up the rear. After juggling babies he managed to unlock the door and ushered the whole bunch in. He made all six kids sit on the couch (Dion held the baby) while he unloaded the car of baby bags and car seats.
Once he had everything in he approached the couch and laid out a few simple ground rules. No one was to go out onto the deck. No one was to leave the living room. No one was to go near the stairs. No one was to touch anything shiny. No one was to touch any buttons. After quizing the kids about the few rules he had presented to them he turned on the TV in hopes that the cartoon channel would keep them occupied while he looked up the number for pizza delivery.
Everything went pretty smooth for about the first fifteen minutes. Then suddenly everything went to pieces and Steve never got control again. First while he was trying to figure out how to use the disposable diapers so he would be ready when the baby needed changing he heard a terrible crash. As he ran into the living room he noticed that Emily was sitting in the middle of some videos. She was crying and Steve ran over and picked her up.
"What happened to her?" Steve looked at Dion and CJ who were trying to stack up the videos.
"She crawled over to the stack of videos and tried to pull herself up. I tried to stop her Uncle Steve but she fell over before I could get to her." Dion looked like he was about to cry while he explained to Steve what had happened.
"It's ok Dion. I think it just scared her. She doesn't seem to be hurt." Steve tried to reasure Dion as he walked the baby around the room cradling her and trying to comfort her. Soon she stopped crying and settled her head on his shoulder and seemed quite content as Steve continued to softly talk to her. After awhile he felt confident that he could lay her down on the blanket that he had laid out for her earlier. She seemed happy to lay on her tummy and play with some of the toys Steve had found in her diaper bag.
Since Emily seemed to be occupied at the time, Steve decided it was time to address the little group about supper.
"I think I will call in for pizza. Does that sound ok for everybody?" Everyone was all on board for pizza. "Now what kind do you want?" Of course that wasn't going to be as easy. It seemed everyone wanted a different kind. After about fifteen minutes of arguing and compromising Steve called in three large pizzas. One cheese, one pepperoni, and one hamburger. No onions or peppers on any.
As Steve waited for the pizzas to be delivered he decided to go ahead and feed Emily her baby food. As he opened the jars he nearly gagged at the sight of what he found in the first jar. How did babies eat that stuff. The second one didn't look so bad. In fact it looked pretty good. Of course applesuce is applesauce. Steve placed the first jar into the microwave and stood there for a minute trying to figure out how long it should be set for to warm the foul looking dinner. Finally he deciced on about a minute. Unfortunatley he didn't notice that he set the timer for ten minutes.
As the dinner was warming in the microwave he dicided to look in on the kids. They had been too quiet for too long. As he entered the living room he saw that everyone seemed to be enjoying the program on the TV. Suddenly he realised that something was wrong. Steve started counting kids and realized that one seemed to be missing. He quickly took inventory and discovered that two year old Kay seemed to be nowhere in sight. Sudden panic gripped Steve as he frantically started to search the rooms looking for the little blond toddler. He finally found her in the bathroom trying to put her little seat on the toilet.
"What are you doing in here?" Steve asked as he picked up the little girl.
"I have to go potty now," she informed the detective.
"Oh no." Steve mumbled under his breath. "Here let me put that on the seat. Go get your sister quick so she can help you ok." With that the little girl ran to her sister and dragged her back to the bathroom.
"Can you help her get onto the potty? This isn't something I know much about." Steve gave four year old Beth a pleading look.
Giving Steve a look that clearly said grow up, she informed him that all her sister need was a stool and she could go to the bathroom by herself.
"She's not a baby you know. She's nearly three years old." With that Beth turned and flounced out leaving Steve staring after her with a questionable look on his face. She certainly didn't talk like a four year old. She seemed so much wiser. Just then Steve felt a small tug at his shirt and looked down to see a little a angel face smiling up at him. "Could you get me a stool Mr. Steve? Please."
"Sure. Hang on just a minute."
Before he could locate something for her to use as a stool the doorbell rang causing a small riot from the rest of the kids. The sudden yelling and shouts of pleasure startled the baby and she started to scream. Steve opened the door to a young blond man with purple spikes sticking out all over his head. He had a set of headphones on and Steve could still hear the music comming from the set.
The kid shoved three large flat boxes at Steve and informed him that he owed him fourty bucks. Steve handed the kid a fity hoping for some change. Instead the kid pocketed the money and turned thanking the detective for the tip. With a sigh Steve shrugged his shoulders and turned to go back into the house.
He quickly placed the pizzas on the coffee table and picked up the baby trying to get her to be quiet. Sometime or another the TV had been turned up to sonic boom level. As he tried to get Dion's attention to turn down the TV there was a sudden explosion in the kitchen. With the baby screaming in his ear Steve quickly made his way to the kitchen to investigate the problem. There was the microwave smoking with the door hanging open and some sort of gooey stuff splattered all over everything within a five foot radius.
"Oh no. I must of over cooked the baby food. Now what am I going to feed her?" As he stood there looking at the disaster before him, he heard Kay screaming at the top of her lungs.
"I have to go potty now."
Steve had forgotten all about the little girl and quickly grabbed a case of bottled water and juggled it and the baby trying not drop either one as he ran towards the bathroom. As quickly as he could he arranged the water so that Kay could step up on it and get to the potty. Just as he got the water in place the phone started to ring. "What now?" he grumbled as he made a dash for the phone.
"Hello." Steve almost yelled into the receiver.
"Son?" It was Mark and after finding out that his son had been roped into babysitting he thought he should call and check on things to make sure everything was ok. Mark could hear a baby crying and several children yelling in the back ground. "Steve can you hear me?" Mark yelled into the phone.
"Dad is that you. Listen I can hardly hear you. Can I call you later? I'm a little busy right now. Bye Dad." With that Steve hung up the phone and started toward the living room.
What he saw when he arrived nearly sent him into complete shock. Pizza was every where. There were red smudge prints on the TV screen and all over one of the lamp shades. Dion and CJ were trying to get the two little ones to sit down and eat their pizza in one place but they were having too much fun chasing each other trying to cram pizza in the others mouth. Steve soon realised that he was in big trouble. For the life of him he couldn't figure out what to do. He was quickly becoming exhausted. He couldn't ever remember working so hard in his life. Nothing he had ever faced on the streets as a cop had prepared him for this. Suddenly there was a crash from the bathroom.
As he headed back towards the bathroom Steve groaned, "What now?" What he saw when he got to the door stopped him in his tracks. There sticking out of the cabinent under the sink was Kay's little bottom. She appeared to be looking for something.
"What are you looking for?" Steve asked the little girl.
"I need some paper please." she said as she backed out of the cabinent.
"It's right here on the spindle by the toilet." he told her with exasperation.
"I can't use that. It's not like the kind my mommy gets." she said with a pout.
"It's all we have. What difference does it make any way.? It's all used for the same purpose." At this point Steve was starting to loose his patience.
Suddenly Kay started to cry. "Please don't cry. I'll go get your sister ok?" With this Steve ran into the den where he found Eric on top of his father's desk writing in a very expensive medical text book.
"What are you doing?" Steve asked the little boy as he rushed over to him.
"I like to write my A B C's and I couldn't find any paper. See how I can spell my name?" The little boy beemed up at Steve as he displayed his work on several pages of the book.
"Look, thats very nice but it's time for you to get down and go sit in the living room with the rest of the kids and watch TV. Ok?" With that Steve helped Eric down from the desk and with the baby in one arm and Eric hanging onto his other hand Steve escorted the little artist back to the other kids. As he entered the room he asked Beth to see if she could talk her sister into using the toilet paper even though it wasn't like the kind mommy gets. He went to Dion and CJ to see if they could help keep an eye on Eric and keep him from getting into any more trouble when he noticed both boys were looking at him with pure disgust on their faces.
"What's wrong?" he asked while the two backed away from him.
"You smell bad Uncle Steve." contributed CJ.
"What do you mean I smell bad?" Steve said as he sniffed under his arm.
"I don't think it's you Uncle Steve." put in Dion.
Steve noticed both boys seemed to be looking at Emily. He forced his gaze down at the angel in his arms and suddenly realized that she was emitting a somewhat foul odor. Oh no. This could only mean one thing. Very carefully Steve took a peek into the baby's diaper. What he saw made him break out into a cold sweat. He had never changed a diaper in his life. And this one seemed to be filled with toxic waste. He could feel panic taking over his entire being. His worst nightmare was now being realized. Suddenly he felt a light touch on his arm and he heard someone calling his name as if from far away. He turned slowly and there standing before him was the most beutiful woman on earth at this very moment. She smiled at him and gently removed the little baby from his arms. Steve focused on what she was trying to tell him but the pure sensation of relief was over powering his ability to comprehend what she was saying. Suddenly she took a firm grip on his arm and shook him a little trying to get him to focus on what she was telling him. With all his effort Steve focused on her words and started to understand that she was there to help him.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
After Steve had hung up so abruptly on him, Mark realized that Steve was in trouble. The kind of trouble that he knew his son would never be able to handle on his own. After a brief conversation with Amanda and Nancy, Mark decided to check to see how his inexperienced son was doing. It only took those few moments on the phone for Mark to come to the conclusion that his son was way in over his head and would need reinforcements. The only thing Mark could think to do was to call Harriet Fleming his neighbor.
She and her husband Carl had become very good friends with the Sloan's over the years. They had always fussed over Steve and Carol when they were children. They never missed school plays, little league games, or graduations. They had been especially supportive when Katherine, Marks wife had died some ten years earlier. Harriet had always treated Steve as if he were her own. When Mark called she rushed over as fast as she could. Sure enough Mark had been right. Utter caos had descended on the Beach House.
"Steve go and get her diaper bag and bring it over to the couch and we'll take care of her first, ok?" Steve was off in search of the diaper bag knowing how a convicted criminal felt when given a reprieve at the last minute by the govenor.
Soon she handed Steve a freshly changed baby and a bottle of juice and told him to sit and feed her the bottle while she took care of the commotion that was erupting in the bathroom. After some serious reassurance and compromising Harriet emerged from the bathroom with a happy Kay by the hand and headed to the dinning room table where she deposited the two year old with a plate of cold pizza and a glass of milk.
Harriet noticed that there seemed to be some sort of goo dripping from the microwave onto the counter and after a closer inspection realized that it once had been a jar of baby food. After talking to Steve and questioning him about what the contents were she sent him to the little store down the road with a list of things to get. Steve was glad for the errand. He was more than glad to escape the "House of Disaster", even for just a few minutes. If he worked it right this could turn into at least a thirty minute trip.
While Steve was gone Harriet set about restoring order to the disaster that had befallen her neighbor's once emaculate home.
Steve tried to take his time and stay away as long as possible. Guilt soon over took him and he rapidly finished his task and made the short drive back to the beach house.
When he entered the house he noticed a quiet that had not been there before he left for the store. When he stepped into the living room, what he saw made his mouth open in amazement. Sitting at the table were Eric, Beth, and Kay happily drawing pictures with markers on manila paper. Dion and CJ were sitting on the floor with Emily tickling her little feet and enjoying the laughter that bubbled from the baby. Harriet was in the kitchen cleaning the last of the baby food that had exploded all over the counters. When she saw Steve she ushered him into the kitchen and began unpacking the bags. She soon had the baby food warmed and as she turned around to retrieve the infant she noticed Steve still standing there as if he were in shock. Concerned she crossed over to him and placed a gentle hand on his arm in order to get him to look at her.
"Steve, are you ok sweetie?" she asked him not liking the look on his face.
When he didn't immediatley respond to her question she tried again with a little shake. "Steve, look at me. What's wrong?"
Steve looked at her with confusion. "What did you do? I mean how did you...." he looked at her as if she had just walked on water.
"Steve it was just a matter of organizing. You let yourself get overwelmed. You lost control when things started to move too fast." she smiled up at him.
"No, I lost control when I agreed to do this. I don't know anything about how to take care of little kids. I mean I took care of CJ when he was a baby but Dad was always there to help and do the diaper thing. I was given bottle and rocking to sleep duties. This is amazing," he said as he looked around at the well behaved children.
"Tell you what, while I finish cleaning up the kitchen and the den, why don't you feed Emily this jar of food. When she finishes with this you can rock her to sleep." With that she aimed Steve in the direction where the baby was being happily entertained by the boys.
Steve picked her up and sat her on the table in front of the couch and sat in front of her to begin spooning in the warmed up jar of mushy food. The first two bites didn't seem to be to bad. She seemed happy to open her mouth and receive the offering of food. Suddenly without warning she spit the third spoonful of food out with such force that it landed on the front of Steve's shirt. Because he hadn't expected to be splattered with the food Steve responded by jumping up suddenly with a yell. This startled the little girl and she was soon crying. Steve felt quilty for scaring the baby and scooped her up and immediatley tried to sooth her. Harriet came running into the living room when she heard Steve yell out and quickly asked what the problem was now. Suddenly she noticed the glob of food starting to run down the front of his shirt and came to a conclusion on her own.
"Here let me take her and you go and clean yourself up." Harriet reached for the baby and picked up the jar of food and carried the baby with her into the kitchen to finish feeding her.
Steve left to go and clean up. When he returned Harriet was washing up Emily's mouth and hands and turned to hand him the baby. "Now you go and rock her to sleep while I fix the kids some ice cream."
Warily Steve took the baby and settled himself into the rocking chair and started rocking her gently. He watched her little face as he started to quietly sing to her the same little song that his dad use to sing to him when he was a baby. Soon she started to close her eyes and in just a short while she was soon asleep. Steve didn't want to disturb the sleeping infant in his arms so he continued to rock her until before he knew it he was dozing himself.
About an hour later he felt someone nudging him and looked up to see Harriet removing the sleeping baby from his arms. Just behind her Steve noticed that his Captain was gathering up the the diaper bag getting ready to take his children home. Once Harriet had taken Emily Steve got up from the chair and walked over to where Newman was standing.
Newman looked at the detective noticing the tired eyes and the slow movement. "Thanks for helping me out Lieutenant. I see you were smart enough to engage some professional help."
Steve squirmed a little at the last part of his Captains statement. "Yes sir. This is our neighbor, Harriet Fleming. She's lived next door to us every since we moved here. She was a great help. I don't think I could have done this without her." With that Steve gave her a grateful smile as he draped his arm around her shoulder, giving her an affetionat squeeze.
"Noncence. You were doing just fine. I just love children and couldn't resist coming over and helping out. I use to take care this big o boy when he was smaller you know. I like to think that I had a hand in raising him." She winked up at Steve and wrapping her arm around his waist returned the affectionate squeeze.
Newman noticed the pride in the older woman's eyes as she looked up at the man who she still saw as her little boy. "You did a good job. He turned out to be a good man and good cop. He's a real asset to our force. I'm proud to have him under my command."
Startled by his Captain's words, Steve looked up and noticed the sincerity in his superior's eyes and the smile on his face. "Thanks sir. It's a pleasure to be under your command sir. I like being a cop and I enjoy the people I work with."
Newman gathered his children and headed out the door. Steve took the diaper bag and followed behind to the car. He noticed that Newman had already replaced the car seat back into his own car as he placed the sleeping infant in and secured her with the straps. He placed his son next to his sister and secured the seat belts around him.
Straitening back up Newman offered his hand to Steve and shook the detective's hand. "Thanks again. You really helped me out. I usually call my sister-in-law when something like this happens but she is on vacation with her family this week and I found my self in a real bind. I appreciate you giving up your evening."
"It was no problem. I was happy to help out. They are cute kids. You must be very proud of them sir." Steve commented.
"I am. I just hope that I can keep them safe. Sometimes after a bad day at work I wonder what my wife and I were thinking when we decided to have them. Then I come home and see them and spend a little time with them and I soon realize that they are God's gift to us. They make all the bad stuff go away for a little while and I can relax and enjoy the good side of life. You need something clean and fresh to come home to so that you can get away from the garbage we have to deal with daily. Well, thanks again. Enjoy your weekend.", with that Captain Newman got into the car and drove his family home.
As he watched the car pull out of the driveway, Steve thought about what his Captain had just said and he knew that someday he too wanted a wife and a couple of children. But for now he still had four more in the house that probably needed some attention. He turned and headed back to the house. When he went in he saw Kay running towards him with her hands up.
"I have sticky hands. Can you wash them please." she beamed up at Steve with anticipation.
"Sure. Let's go get a wash rag and tackle your mouth while we are at it." Steve picked her up and headed for the bathroom.
After the icecream bowls had been washed and put away and all the sticky fingers and mouths had been washed Harriet and Steve settled everyone down for the latest Disney movie and some much needed quiet time. Kay crawled up into Steve's lap and settled herself to enjoy the antics of the colorful characters, which were involved in some high adventure. Not long Steve noticed the little girl was no longer laughing or wiggling but instead was snoring quietly. She was sound asleep. Steve reached out and brushed away a stray curl that had fallen on her little face. Suddenly he couldn't resist leaning over and placing a gentle kiss on the little girls forehead. Cuddling her closer he settled down to wait for her mother to retrieve her when she was able to leave the hospital.
About nine Nancy was able to gather her girls and head for the house. She gave Steve a kiss and thanked him and Harriet for taking care of the girls for her. Steve could see the tiredness in her eyes and suddenly he was very glad he could help her out. He carried Kay to the car and strapped her into the car seat for the trip home. After depositing her four year old into the opposit side of the car and making sure she was secured also, Nancy turned to Steve and gave him a hug.
"I know this must of been hard. I can't thank you enough for doing this for me. I was frantic trying to figure out what to do."
"Don't worry about it. I was glad to do it. Harriet was great to help. I pretty much did what she told me. She made the whole thing seem easy. But if you ever need me to do this again could you please pack a roll of toilet paper for Kay. She only likes the kind that her mommy buys. We almost had a small war over it." Steve grinned at Nancy as he helped her get into the car.
"I'll buy you a case and leave it for you." she laughed as she started the car.
When Steve walked into the house he heard Harriet ordering the boys into the bathroom to take their baths. She told Steve to get their extra clothes out of the guest room. Amanda always kept extra clothes for the boys so no matter what came up they always had a change of clothes for any occasion.
Once the boys were bathed and settled into the quest room Harriet turned to Steve and said."Now it's your turn. Go downstairs and get clean pajamas while I run you a hot bath."
"I can take a shower downstairs when I get ready to go to bed, and I'm not ready yet." Steve told the older lady.
With her lips set into a firm line she turned him towards the stairs and said, "Yes you are. You are going to take a bath and then I am going to put you to bed in your dad's room. He and Amanda will be about another three hours before they can leave the hospital. Amanda is going to come here and stay the night and she will sleep in your bed. You are going to sleep with your dad. You are tired and I want you to take a nice bath and go to bed. I don't want to hear any arguing from you either. Now go." With that she swatted him on the rear and headed for the bathroom to run him a bath.
As Steve sank down into the tub he knew that Harriet was right. He had never been so tired in all his life. The water felt good as he leaned back and closed his eyes. He had to admire women who had large families. It was a lot of work taking care of kids and running a house. His mother had been so good at it that he never realized how much work actually went into keeping a household running smoothly. After about thirty minutes of soaking Steve heard a little knock on the door.
"Steve, I think you better get out now before you go to sleep in there. Ok?"
"Yes ma'am." came the drowsy reply.
When Steve emerged from the bathroom decked out in a clean Teeshirt and pajama pants, he felt a little more relaxed and was more than happy to head toward his dad's bed.
Harriet made sure Steve was settled and tucked in properly before she reached over and kissed him on the cheek telling him good night. He was already asleep before she reached the door. She turned and looked at him for just a moment remembering the many times she had tucked him in when Mark and Katherine had left him and Carol in her care. He had really grown into a fine man. She was proud of him. Proud of what he stood for. Proud of the life he lived. She had wanted to be a good role model for the kids as they grew up. Both Steve and Carol had grown up to be solid citizens. Respecting others, and their community. She knew that her life had been richer having lived next door to these wonderful people for so many years.
About one o'clock Harriet looked up from the book she was reading when she heard the front door open. Mark and Amanda made their way into the den surprised to see her still sitting there waiting for them to come home.
"Harriet what are you doing still here. You should have gone home and went to bed." Mark admonished her.
With a wave of her hand she looked at the two tired doctors and said, "You know me. I don't go tell the parents come home."
"I can't thank you enough for coming over hear and helping him out. He was in real trouble when I called him earlier. Was he glad to see you?" Mark grinned when he asked her the latter.
"I think relief is a better word. He was about to cry when I came in. It really took a toll on him. I made him go to bed about ten thirty and before his head hit the pillow he was out. When I checked on the boys a few minutes ago I also checked on him and I don't think he's moved. You two look like you could use a little shut eye yourself. I'm leaving but I'll check in with you tomorrow and see how everyone is doing. Get some rest now." With that she slipped out the back and headed to her house.
Without even saying goodnight the two very tired doctors headed for their seperate beds and some much needed sleep.
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Two months Later:
"Sloan. My office now please." Captain Newman ordered.
"Yes sir." Steve stood up and made his way into his superior's office shutting the door behind him.
"Steve, I need a favor. My wife is stuck at work and can't get away and I have to be at a budget meeting for our precinct in about thirty minutes. I need you to pick up my kids from the daycare. You can handle it can't you?"
Five minutes later Steve left Captain Newman's office and headed straight for his phone. After punching the numbers he could hear the phone ringing on the other end.
"Hello"
"Harriet, listen it's me Steve. Help me."
The End.