Chapter 3

they pulled up in front of the little house on a quiet, residential street, Starsky opened his door and jumped out of the car. As he started to run up the steps to the deck, Hutch called him back.

"Hey, get back here and help carry in these groceries." He scolded the excited brunet.

"Okay." Starsky said obediently as he strolled back over to the blonde's side. "Then can I have some ice cream?"

"Not until after supper." Hutch told him, as he handed his friend one of the bags to carry into the house. The two men carried the groceries into the house and Starsky helped put them away. He didn't even notice that he knew where everything went and put it in its proper place without any prompting. But Hutch noticed and took it as a positive sign.

Finally, Hutch stood up and said, "It's time to get ready for bed."

"I don't wanna go to bed yet. It's too early." Starsky complained. "Can't I stay up just a little longer?"

"Not tonight." Hutch said firmly. "You wanna take a shower first?"

"No…" Starsky said, shaking his head stubbornly. "Don't need no bath. I just had one yesterday."

"You need to take a shower every day." Hutch said patiently.

"Do not. You do but not me." Starsky insisted.

"I'm not going to argue with you about this, pal. You're going to take a shower and that's final."

"You're mean." Starsky said with a pout, crossing his arms over his chest and sticking out his bottom lip childishly. "I don't like showers. Can I take a bath with lots of bubbles?"

"I suppose." Hutch said with a fond smile. "Come on and I'll run the water for you." With little experience of his own dealing with young children, Hutch had to rely on his instincts when it came to dealing with the unusual situation he found himself faced with. A somewhat reluctant Starsky trailed along behind him as he walked into the bathroom.

Hutch turned on the water, adjusting it to a comfortable temperature and put down the stopper so the tub could fill. He found a bottle of bubble bath that one of Starsky's girlfriends had left behind and poured a generous amount in the water. Starsky giggled at the sight of the frothy bubbles that immediately surfaced.

"Okay, get undressed and take your bath." Hutch said, "I'll check on you in a little bit. I'll be right in the other room if you need anything." He left the brunet alone in the bathroom, closing the door quietly behind him as he exited the room.

Twenty minutes later, Hutch went to check on his partner and was annoyed to find water all over the bathroom floor while Starsky sat in the tub, happily slapping his hands in the bubbles. "Starsky!" Hutch said, in an exasperated voice. "Why did you make such a mess?"

Starsky stopped splashing and looked at Hutch solemnly. "What mess?" He asked innocently. "And why did you call me by my last name? My name is Davey."

"I'm sorry…Davey." Hutch amended, trying to remain calm. "I guess I must have been thinking about something else. Are you done?"

"I guess so." Starsky said, raising his hands and looking at his fingers. "I'm wrinkled enough." He stood up and climbed out of the tub, dripping even more water on the floor. Hutch grabbed a towel from the rack beside the sink and tossed it at him. "Dry off and then clean up this mess. I laid out your pajamas. They're on the bed." He left the bathroom, leaving Starsky to finish. "And don't forget to brush your teeth!" He called out as an afterthought on his way out the door.

A few minutes later, a nude Starsky strolled out of the bathroom. As he sat down on the bed, he looked down at the dark curls on his torso and groin, "Gee…I don't remember having any hair down there. Pop said I'd get some down there just like him when I got older but I don't remember having any."

"Uh…why don't you put on your pajamas?" Hutch suggested, deftly changing the subject before he had to explain to an adult Starsky that he had already gone through puberty.

"Okay." Starsky said, standing up and beginning to pull on the pair of navy blue pajama bottoms that Hutch had laid out on the bed. When he had finished, he crawled under the top sheet and looked at Hutch thoughtfully "Is this your house?"

"No, ..uh…it belongs to a friend of mine." Hutch said, thinking fast. "He gone for a few days too."

"I like it here. He's got some neat stuff." Starsky said, as he settled down on the bed. He looked at Hutch again, a hint of fear in his eyes. "I've never had to sleep by myself before. Nicky always sleeps with me…and Ma always keeps a light on in the hall cause I don't like the dark much."

"Do you want me to lay down with you until you fall asleep?" Hutch asked quietly. It wouldn't be the first time the two friends had shared the same bed, just not under these circumstances.

Starsky nodded solemnly and scooted over. "Will you tell me a story too? Pop always tells us a story before we go to sleep."

Hutch smiled as he settled down on the bed beside Starsky. He wasn't sure he even knew any bedtime stories. His parents had left his care to a succession of nannies or housekeepers and they had never had time to read him bedtime stories. "What would you like to hear? What kind of stories does your Pop tell you?"

"He tells us stories about being a cop." Starsky said sleepily. He curled up against Hutch's side and rested his curly head on the blond's broad shoulder. It was a simple gesture displaying the innocence of a trusting child.

Hutch smiled. Somehow the answer made sense. No wonder Starsky grew up wanting to follow in his father's footsteps. In a soft, soothing voice, Hutch began to tell Starsky a story about one of their more comical arrests. As he talked, the sound of his voice slowly lulled the brunet to sleep. When the sound of Starsky's breathing deepened and evened out, Hutch carefully eased himself out of the bed. He smiled down at his slumbering partner. Starsky had always resembled a little boy worn out from a hard day at play when he was sleeping. And, this time, that's exactly what he was.

Hutch left the bedroom, closing the door partway behind him and shutting off the light. He went into the living room to make his own bed on the sofa. Before turning in for the night, he picked up the phone and called Captain Dobey at home.

"Hello?" The Captain's gruff voice barked over the phone.

"Hey, Cap. It's me."

"How's your partner?" Dobey asked with a chuckle, imagining the problems that Hutch was encountering dealing with a six year old Starsky. "Is he driving you crazy yet?"

"It's not that much different than dealing with Starsky any other day." Hutch replied with a laugh. "I finally got him to go to bed after he made a mess in the bathroom."

"Welcome to the joys of fatherhood." Dobey teased him good naturedly. "Cal's almost fifteen and he still makes a mess in the bathroom. Rosie's the neat one." His tone turned serious "Does the doctor have any idea how long he's going to be like this?"

"No, he said it could be a couple of days or a couple of weeks. It all depends on how soon the swelling goes down. I asked Huggy to come over and watch him tomorrow so I can testify at the Morstien trial." Hutch said, referring to the trial they had been scheduled to testify at on the morning of Starsky's accident. The judge had postponed the case for four days and had been informed that due to Starsky's accident, so only Hutch would be testifying tomorrow.

"That should be interesting. Does Huggy know what he's getting himself into?"

"If he doesn't, he'll find out soon enough." Hutch stifled a yawn. "I'll see you tomorrow, Cap. I'm beat. I'm going to bed."

"Get your rest. You're going to need it now that you're a father." Dobey quipped. His rumble of laughter echoed in Hutch's ear as he hung up the phone.

Hutch lay down on the sofa and closed his eyes but, despite his weariness, sleep was a long time coming. Hutch had always wondered what it would be like to be a father. His ex-wife, Vanessa, had made it clear when they got married that she didn't intend to have children. She was too vain and didn't have the temperament to be a mother. When they were divorced, three years later, Hutch was glad that they'd never had children of their own. It would have been just one more thing Vanessa could use against him. So, instead, he had channeled his parental instincts into helping kids by becoming a big brother to a thirteen year old Latino boy named Kiko. But, being a surrogate father to a teenage Kiko was totally different than dealing with a six-year-old mind in the body of a thirty-four year old man.