Tuddrussel thought parenting would be easy. He was dead wrong. Not only was he having a hard time calming Otto down during his designated gaming hour. Rather than shooting virtual aliens, Tuddrussel was sitting in Larry's room, struggling to give Otto his bottle of milk. The baby boy was bawling his eyes out; he was desperate for Larry to rescue him from that big mean man — except that big mean man was trying to spare him from malnutrition. Poor Tuddrussel sat hunched over in a wooden rocking chair with big, dark eyebags and wrinkles forming on his face. It was easy to tell that he hadn't slept in days.
"Come on, kid! You know you want it!" Tuddrussel desperately begged as he tried to feed Otto.
Otto pushed the bottle away as he continued to scream and cry.
"Kid, I know how much you want Larry, but he's busy right now! He's busy making dinner, cleaning up my messes, and doing his normal lame foo-foo things! Just cooperate and drink your milk! Okay?!" exasperated Tuddrussel.
Tuddrussel tried to shove the bottle into Otto's mouth, but the baby kept pushing it away. It was obvious that Otto was terrified of Tuddrussel, who felt more like a stranger than a father to him. Considering that Larry failed to expose Otto to other people besides himself, this was understandable. In all of Otto's life, it was only Larry who took care of him; the robot would feed him, change his diapers, rock him to sleep, and bond with him. Sadly, Tuddrussel was not his primary caregiver (pretty obvious judging by all the crying). Otto was so petrified of the bulky man, that he refused to drink his bottle in favor of screaming senselessly. Tuddrussel grumbled annoyedly as he gently coaxed the baby boy to drink his bottle, using calm words and plenty of encouragement.
"Come on, Otto… Larry's not always going to be there for you! You gotta know that even mommy has a life too!" badgered Tuddrussel as he forcibly shoved the bottle into Otto's mouth, causing the baby boy to scream even more.
Otto's incessant screaming and crying pushed Tuddrussel off the edge. For the past day, he had managed to compose himself when it came to dealing with Otto. Not anymore. Whenever he would try to do something peaceful with Otto, there would just be chaotic drama. When he changed Otto's diapers, he would get peed in the face. When he would cuddle Otto, he would be rewarded with back arching and blood-curdling screaming. The fact that this baby hated him made Tuddrussel feel left out. Nothing would make Otto happy (at least when Tuddrussel was around). As he clenched his teeth out of pure anger, Tuddrussel chucked the bottle at the wall, knocking over a portrait of Larry 3000 and his diplomatic partners.
"KID, SHUT UP! I GET IT! YOU WANT LARRY INSTEAD OF ME! JUST SHUT UP!" Tuddrussel screamed in Otto's face.
Tuddrussel screamed violently as he threw Otto into his bassinet. Of course, Tuddrussel's rough treatment of Otto made him cry harder. But Tuddrussel didn't care if Otto was crying frightenedly — being the self-centered jerk he was, Tuddrussel cared more about his own schedule than the needs of his adopted son. With burning fury flowing through his blood, he stormed off to his bedroom, where he threw himself onto his bed and began bawling his eyes out.
"WHY WON'T YOU SHUT UP, KID?! WHY?! ALL I WANTED TO DO WAS BOND WITH YOU! WHY WON'T YOU GIVE ME A CHANCE?! WHY DO YOU CHOOSE THAT STUPID ROBOT OVER ME?! WHY DO YOU HAVE TO BE SUCH A MAMA'S BOY?!" cried Tuddrussel, pounding his fists on his bed like a toddler throwing a tantrum.
He buried his face into his pillow and screamed loud enough to give Otto a run for his money. The commotion disrupted Larry from his chores, leading him to think that Tuddrussel was being strangled to death by a bird or something. The booming screams were sudden enough to make Larry drop his feather duster. There was definitely something wrong — he could feel it. Concerned about Tuddrussel, Larry decided to investigate. He opened the door to Tuddrussel's bedroom to find utter embarrassment.
"Oh, for heaven's sake, Tuddrussel… Why are you screaming?! You're a grown man, yet you're acting worse than a 2-year old!" chastised Larry.
Tuddrussel lifted his head off his pillow and turned toward Larry with tear-filled goggles. He tried to answer, but it was hard for Larry to understand due to his whimpering and sniffling.
"Come on, spit it out!" coaxed Larry.
"I… I… I… I'M JEALOUS BECAUSE OTTO CHOOSES YOU OVER ME! WHENEVER I HOLD HIM, HE JUST SCREAMS AND SCREAMS UNTIL I PUT HIM DOWN! HE THINKS I'M TORTURING HIM WHENEVER I FEED HIM OR CHANGE HIS DIAPER! HE EVEN PEED ON ME… ON PURPOSE!" bawled Tuddrussel as he punched his pillow.
Larry frowned as he watched Tuddrussel bawl his eyes out. He decided to comfort his partner by sitting on the bed beside him and gently stroking his back.
"I'm sorry that Otto hates you… Sometimes, it takes a while for babies to bond with their father," assured Larry as he stroked Tuddrussel's back.
Tuddrussel shoved Larry off the bed, "Uh… EXCUSE ME?! YOU'RE THE REASON WHY OTTO HATES ME! FOR THE PAST 5 WEEKS, YOU'VE HOARDED HIM AWAY FROM ME, REFUSING TO LET ME HELP OUT WITH THE PARENTING! I COULD'VE BEEN FEEDING HIM WHILE YOU DO YOUR PRISSY BALLERINA MOVES! YOU THINK I'M GONNA MAIM THE BABY BY LOOKING AT HIM?! WELL, I JUST DID! BEFORE I SNAPPED AND THREW HIM INTO HIS BASSINET!"
Larry gasped and covered his mouth; he was shocked by Tuddrussel potentially cracking Otto's neck for good. Tuddrussel knew that Otto was still a fragile newborn, yet he treated him like the gum stuck in his shoe. Sheesh, talk about a waste of anger management therapy!
"Tuddrussel! How could you?!" exclaimed Larry.
"What did I do?" asked Tuddrussel, oblivious to the emotional damage he caused Otto.
"What did you do? WHAT DID YOU DO?! Well, first of all, you threw Otto into his bassinet, failing to recognize that he is only a tiny, fragile baby! You're also not patient with him… which is unfortunate since I know how much you've always wanted a son. You're also not loving either… and that's such a shame! Don't you have empathy for anybody, specifically for an innocent baby?" Larry scolded as he violently pointed at Tuddrussel, who was quietly whimpering.
"Yes… I love Otto… but I'm just not ready for fatherhood," sniveled Tuddrussel, wiping a tear from his goggles. "You see, Sheila and I wanted kids back when we were married… We both wanted a son… but Sheila… can't have kids because of fertility issues… and she also thinks that I'm too immature to handle caring for a baby… we argued and fought over it daily… then she divorced me because she was annoyed by my immaturity and recklessness… end of story."
"Didn't you tell me that before?" asked Larry.
Tuddrussel nodded his head.
"Okay, so you've always wanted a son… but you're too immature to take care of one?" clarified Larry.
"Yes," answered Tuddrussel snivelly.
Larry flashed an assuring smile at Tuddrussel before hugging him, "I deeply apologize for what I've done to you in the past month… I should've let you help out with taking care of Otto. I really should have. Why I thought it was a good idea to hoard the baby away from you… is ludicrous in itself."
"Yeah, it was… AND NOW HE'S TOO ATTACHED TO YOU!" shouted Tuddrussel as he shoved Larry off the bed again.
"Aw, come on, Tuddrussel… I was only trying to-"
"LEAVE…. ME… AAALLLOOONNNNEEEE! I'M SICK AND TIRED OF YOUR PRESENCE! JUST LEAVE ME BE FOR THE REST OF THE NIGHT!" exploded Tuddrussel, violently lunging at Larry before plopping back onto his bed, continuing to quietly sob into his pillow.
Larry sighed defeatedly and walked out of the room, leaving Tuddrussel to his own devices. As he walked down the hallways of the space station, he could hear Otto wailing at the top of his lungs. The crying had grown more intense and piercing as time went on. He could tell that Otto was crying for him.
"I'm coming, Otto! I'm coming, I'm coming!" Larry called out as he rushed into his bedroom, finding a hysterical baby Otto flailing and squirming in his bassinet.
The robot scooped Otto in his arms and began to slowly rock and sway him. The rocking did not have any effect on Otto and he cried harder. This confused Larry since rocking usually worked for Otto. He tried everything he could to calm Otto down, whether it was checking his diaper, dressing him up in cozy footie pajamas, or wrapping him in a thicker blanket. Nothing worked, and Otto continued to cry. Larry felt like the worst mother in the world for not knowing what his son wanted. He had the mighty urge to do the same that Tuddrussel did earlier: shout at him senselessly. But why would he do such a thing to Otto? Instead of losing his temper, he continued to figure out what Otto needed.
"Calm down, sweetie…" whispered Larry.
Otto's stomach began to loudly rumble, leading Larry to believe that he was hungry. It had been a few hours since Otto had last eaten, so it was understandable he would've been craving another bottle. Well, Tuddrussel took over parenting duty for the day, which meant that Otto could've been starving for hours upon hours. It was no wonder the baby boy was crying — not only was Tuddrussel impatient with him, but he also neglected to properly feed him and change his diapers. Nonetheless, Larry understood Tuddrussel's struggles with Otto and decided to leave him off the hook (for now).
With the baby nestled in a blanket in his arms, Larry picked the bottle up from the floor, shaking it as he sat down in his rocking chair. He began to feed Otto, who promptly stopped crying when the bottle was shoved into his mouth. Otto glanced up at Larry as he grasped the bottle, making contended moaning and sucking noises. Larry smiled at the sound of these noises; he thought they were the most adorable things he ever heard.
"Aww, you're a hungry boy, aren't you?!" cooed Larry.
Otto grew sleepy as his belly gradually filled up with milk. His eyelids drooped as he yawned in between his strong sucking sessions. One minute he was vigorously chugging the bottle, and then the next minute consisted of fighting sleep. Otto wanted to keep gazing into Larry's eyes, but sleepiness kept beating him down. This wasn't a bad thing by any means — if anything, it meant that Otto fully trusted Larry as his personal guardian, protector, and mother. Unfortunately, the same couldn't be said for Tuddrussel.
"Drunk on milk, huh? Don't worry, sweetie… I've felt this way before," Larry grinned at the baby.
Otto eventually gave in to his sleepiness and closed his eyes. He traded his sucking and moaning for soft, gentle snores. While Larry thought this was adorable, he also wanted Otto to receive his fill of milk. Larry tried to wake Otto up by taking the bottle out of his mouth and jiggling him in his arms. Even when the bottle was taken out of his mouth, Otto still was fast asleep. This led to Larry giving up feeding Otto. He set the bottle down on the ground and gently swayed back and forth in the rocking chair.
"You know, Otto… Tuddrussel has been down in the dumps lately," Larry told Otto, moving him closer to his face.
Otto woke up in response to hearing Larry's voice. He focused his beady eyes on the robot as if he was getting ready to listen. Larry internally squealed when he noticed Otto locking his eyes with him — was this human trying to understand him? It seemed like it. Larry's grin grew bigger as Otto intently gazed into his eyes; he was head over heels for the baby's emotionless way of displaying affection. Even if there were no smiles or coos yet, it was still apparent that Otto was starting to truly love Larry like a mother. The fact that Larry's voice was naturally high-pitched and soft for a male robot helped a ton, even more so than Tuddrussel's deep, gruff mumbling.
"Yeah, you're afraid of Tuddrussel, aren't you?! Well, I should've not kept you away from him for the past 5 weeks! That was pretty stupid of me, hmm?! Don't worry, I promise I'll let you spend time with Tuddrussel... every boy deserves a father… not a jerk like me," Larry assured Otto before planting a kiss on top of his head.
Larry and Otto would spend the rest of the evening staring into each other's eyes. This was a healthy opportunity to develop a close relationship, getting to know each other's faces, voices, and personal aspects. Unlike Tuddrussel, Otto would never argue, fight, or judge Larry for who he was. The bond between mother and son was simply too strong for this world. If only Tuddrussel experienced the same without being met with sheer hesitance or hostility.