Growing Up
2 – Little Baby
Genma ran. He ran as fast as he could, through the forests and mountains, with the crying baby in his arms. The boy was otherwise naked, only wrapped in his teenage clothes. Now they weren't far away anymore – Genma was standing on a rock, and saw something heart-warming: the grand city of Tokyo in the distance. It would take maybe just an hour or two, and they would be back at Tendo dojo.
And so, finally they arrived there. Ranma had fallen asleep in his father's arms a long time ago. Exhausted and panting, Genma knocked the dojo door and walked in...
"Hello..." he called out. "...Anyone?"
"Is it you, Gen-?" he heard Soun's words. As the man walked to him and saw the infant in Genma's arms. "Holy! What has happened?! Is... is that Ranma?!"
"I think I know what happened. He ate a bunch of cursed berries. Here", he handed over the last berry Ranma had given him.
"Hmm... Maybe Kasumi could be able to tell what berry this is, and what could help", Soun nodded.
Genma slowly walked to the living room, holding his son, trying not to wake him up. He sat down on the floor and just stared at the little baby in his arms.
Soon not only Soun and Kasumi, but also Akane arrived in the living room. Both girls started smiling.
"Ooh, isn't he cute?" Kasumi squealed. "But yes, father told me about the berries he ate yesterday and caused this. Do you have any berries left?"
Genma handed over the one berry that was left. Kasumi sniffed it and squeezed it in her hands.
"Well?" Genma raised his eyebrow.
"Heh, I know what this is", Kasumi smiled gently. "It's called 'the berry of youth'. It turns the one who eats it into an infant, and grow one year in one day until reaches the age he or she was before eating the berry."
"So, in other words, Ranma will be back to his 16-year-old self in 16 days?" Genma asked.
"Yes. But until then, you have to take care of him. You think you can do it?"
"...Well I... I did it once, I think I can do it again."
"We have some baby supplies used by my daughters a long time ago in the storage", Soun said. "Genma, come with me, we can go get them together."
"Akane, hold him", Genma said as he shoved the baby into Akane's arms. She blushed a bit, holding a boy she was supposed to marry some day... But as Ranma opened his eyes and looked straight at her's, she smiled and stroked his forehead.
After a while Genma and Soun arrived in the living room. Genma was carrying a crib, Soun had a big box.
"Here. Put him there", Genma told Akane and pointed at the crib. Akane nodded and carefully put down the baby into the crib, covering him with a blanket.
"We must go to the mart", Genma said. "What do we need?"
"Diapers. Baby food. Infant formula. Maybe a pacifier, that is something we didn't have in our storage", Soun listed.
"One pack of diapers will do, as he will grow up enough in three days", Genma nodded. "Well, we will go, and you girls stay here with him", he said as he started leaving the house with Soun.
The men left. Kasumi, Akane and Nabiki were sitting in the living room, not realy knowing what to do. Ranma laid in his crib, sucking his thumb.
"16 days..." Akane sighed. "These first days will be tough..."
"But think about when he hits puberty in about 13 days!" Nabiki screamed. "He will act like a brat and he will have his voice change!"
"Let's not think about that", Kasumi said, trying to calm down her little sisters. But then Ranma started crying.
"Ah..." Akane sighed and reached over to the baby. She held and rocked him gently. "I wonder... Is there a baby bottle in the box?"
"Let me see..." Kasumi said and started digging the box. "Here", she said and handed over an old baby bottle to Akane. "Should I warm some milk for him?"
"Yeah, I was just about to say that", Akane nodded.
Kasumi took the bottle and went to the kitchen. She poured some milk in it and put it in the microwave oven for twenty seconds. Then she returned to the living room, smiling as she saw baby-Ranma in her little sister's arms.
"Here", she said as she handed over the warm baby bottle to Akane. She smiled and started giving the milk for him to drink. He sucked the milk slowly, closing his eyes.
The baby bottle was empty, and Ranma was lying in his crib, all quiet. The Tendo girls sitting beside him, smiling, waiting for the fathers to return. But the silence didn't last for long. The baby started crying, and Akane took him in her arms, rocking him.
"Shh, shh, it's alright..." she hushed. And then...
"Here we are!" they heard Soun and Genma shout out from the main doors. They walked in the living room with a few plastic bags.
The men sat down beside the girls.
"Okay, to stop this crying..." Genma mumbled and dug one of the bags. He found a pacifier and handed it over to Akane, who put it in the crying baby's mouth. He stopped crying instantly."...And three pajamas, one for each day until he reaches four years old. "A few jars of baby food and a few liters of infant formula..." Genma put the baby food and formula on the table in the middle of the living room. "...And the worst: diapers."
"Okay, now what should we do?" Soun wondered.
"You, mr. Saotome, will put a diaper on him", Akane ordered.
"...Who? Me?"
"Well, you Are his father..." Soun shooked his head.
"..." Genma gulped. "Okay then."
Genma opened the diaper pack and grabbed one. He put down the baby on the floor and stared at him. He hadn't done this in 14 years! And even those days, his wife, Ranma's mother, usually took care of these things.
As Genma put on the diaper, Ranma sucked his thumb and kicked a bit.
"Done!" Genma shouted out when the diaper was on. For a while nobody did anything, untill Akane handed over a light blue baby romper to Genma. He had no problem dressing him up – it was a lot better this way than the boy being completely naked.
Genma gently pet the boy's little tummy. Ranma started moaning, then crying. Genma sighed, took him in his arms, rocking him. The Tendo family smiled.
"You two look so adorable like that", Akane chuckled. Genma gave her an irritated look, but then looked back at his son. He had stopped crying, and had his eyes half closed.
The Tendo family left the Saotome duo together in the living room. Genma managed to rock the baby to sleep and carefully put him in the crib, covering him.
"Phew..." he sighed quietly, wiping his forehead. Quietly he sneaked out of the room to the kitchen, where the Tendos were.
"You know, Genma, you are actually a lot better father than I thought!" Soun laughed. All the three girls grinned, nodding.
Ranma slept for hours. It was about 3 PM when he fell asleep. Genma was so relieved. Maybe he would sleep the whole night, and be a bit older tomorrow?
The clock was about to turn 8 PM, when he started to hear crying.
"Oh no..." Genma sighed as he and Soun were playing shogi in the same room, as quiet as possible, not to wake the baby. But no. Genma walked to the crib and grabbed his son, holding him high.
"Hm... Your hair has already started to grow... This is a good sign."
Ranma was sobbing. Genma was wondering what to do, until he heard the boy's tummy rumble.
"He's hungry!" the man shouted out. "I guess he's still a bit too young for solid baby food. He needs mil k. Infant formula milk."
"I'll ask Akane to warm up some", Soun said and walked out of the room.
Genma sat on the sofa, holding Ranma on his knee, bumping him gently. But what was maybe a bit strange... he was starting to feel easier with this by the minute.
It took a while until Akane arrived in the room with a baby bottle of warm milk.
"There you go", she smiled and gave the man the bottle. Genma nodded and started feeding his son. He sucked the bottle with great appetite.
"You can't deny he's cute", Akane grinned and stroke the boy's silky hair.
"...I'm not."
Akane's eyes widened. But she nodded with a smile.
After the bottle was empty, Genma was able to get the baby back to sleep. And this was the last time he had to do it today – the boy slept all the way into the next morning.
