Ersatz-doctor David diagnosed Alex with mild hypothermia, but to be safe, he treated it like moderate hypothermia. He kept Alex safely wrapped up inside his jacket until Kurt could get the bath running with warmish water. Kurt wanted to hate David for keeping his son from him, but David's reasoning was sound; David's body heat was gradually building up Alex's own external temperature so that the warm bath wouldn't cause any shock to the baby. Handing him over to Kurt, who could barely keep his own body temperature up, wouldn't help anyone.
As Kurt and David watched over Alex in the bathtub, David had Carol warm up a bottle for Alex. Warming him from both the inside and the outside would be better for him. The sugar in the milk would also help to give Alex some energy so his body could better regulate its own temperature.
Alex remained a bit sluggish, but was still perkier than he's been when David found him, by the time David thought it best to take him out of the bath. He wasn't cold anymore; he was no longer in any danger. But now the poor thing was exhausted; his impromptu adventure had taken a great deal out of him.
Kurt lay in bed, on his side, under the blankets with Alex. Alex had curled himself up against Kurt's stomach, appearing as a lump in the covers. To David, who sat in a chair next to Kurt's bed, the lump made Kurt look like he was pregnant, again. "I've never been so scared in my life."
David wasn't sure how to respond for a minute. He could offer a meaningless platitude, such as "me neither", or he could dig deeper and offer Kurt a piece of himself. He chose the latter. "After my mom died – long after she died, actually – my father and I were talking. He told me about how terrified he'd been of losing me. My mother also, of course, but more me. He told me that, for a parent, it's like you don't feel anything before you have children. Everything you ever 'feel': happiness, sadness, anger, fear…they're like shadows of emotions until you have children. Children make your emotions real. No one feels loss like a parent that's outlived their child. The only 'true love' is between a parent and their child. The worst thing that could ever happen is a parent burying their child." It had sounded better coming from his father; less heavy and depressing. He fell back on the meaningless platitude to lighten the mood; "I was terrified, too. Alex has become a pretty big part of my life. I think…Alex is kind of bringing me closure for what happened to my mom."
"I'm glad."
"You know…at the risk of you bitch-slapping me," Kurt narrowed his eyes at David. "If we hadn't found Alex," David shied away from the word "I"; he didn't want to raise himself up as some kind of savior, "and someone else had, they'd have no way of knowing who he belonged to…have you ever thought of, I dunno, ID or something?"
"He's a bit young for a driver's license don't you think?"
David licked his lips nervously. "No, what I'm saying is, don't get me wrong, I know Alex is your son and that he's a person, not an animal, but what about, like tags or something?"
"You want to put a dog collar on my son?!"
"He already plays with dog toys and has a dog pen. Why not a collar?" David made certain to surreptitiously scootch his chair out of Kurt's striking range.
"It's degrading!"
"Which is more important, dignity or life?"
xoxoxo
"You know, I've never been to a pet store before." Kurt sat beside David, cradling Alex in his arms as David drove. They had given Alex a day to recuperate before forcing him to go back outside. Alex had been leery about passing through the front door at first, but David had made sure his truck was already warmed up so it wouldn't be too traumatic for Alex.
Alex calmed once the truck got going and his tail started wagging back and forth in excitement as he watched the world pass by. When they passed pedestrians or people walking pets, Alex barked, either in threat or greeting, they couldn't be certain. "Never had a pet before?" Kurt shook his head. "Not even a goldfish?" Another negative head shake. "Huh. I've had a cat, two gerbils and a guinea pig."
"Gerbils, David? Really? Might as well grab a rat out of the sewer."
"Ah, come on. Gerbils are awesome. Their names were Bert and Ernie."
Kurt chuckled in light amusement, thinking about all the things he'd read online about Bert and Ernie since Don't Ask, Don't Tell got repealed. "Were they lovers?"
"I should hope not; they were brothers." Dave parked as close to the store as he could, pleased to, for once, be able, to take advantage of one of the parking spots designated for customers with young children. Kurt zipped up Alex inside his jacket until they got within the store.
David laid a blanket down on the bottom of a shopping cart and pushed it up to Kurt who promptly deposited his son in the cart. Alex would not sit still. He stood on his hind legs, his front paws balanced on the side of the cart so he could look at and sniff at everything they passed. Alex barked at every animal cage they passed until they got too close to a large white cockatoo. Alex barked once, prompting the bird to let out an ear-piercing squawk that cowed Alex into quiet submission. "Really Alex? You're the top of the food chain and you're going to let an uncooked Thanksgiving dinner talk to you like that?" Alex just continued to stare wide-eyed at the bird.
"Holy prada, look at all the toys! It's like Toys-R-Us for werewolf pups!" Kurt must have spoken a bit louder than he thought because a nearby shopper looked at Kurt, glared at Alex, and then "harrumphed" as she stalked away. Kurt pursed his lips. "Werewolves have a right to shop, too, you know!" He didn't quite yell it at her, but David could tell he wanted to. Kurt was a very proud person who didn't take well to being looked down upon.
Alex, for his part, ignored the subsequent noise his dad was making and only focused on the initial outburst. He practically drooled as he looked at all the different balls and ropes and stuffed animals lining the wall. David picked one up and gave it an experimental squeeze. Alex woofed delightedly at the noise it made. Kurt and David took turns picking toys up and forcing them to squeak for Alex's amusement. Seeing if they could tell which he liked the sound of the best. At one point, David picked up an elongated yellow toy and squeezed, only to find it didn't squeak so much as…crinkle? "What the…?"
Kurt looked at the toy in David's hands. "It sounds like a plastic water bottle."
David turned the toy over in his hand and found a Velcro flap that he undid; a clear plastic cylinder was revealed inside. "It is. It's like a Poland Spring bottle or something." David squeezed the toy again, a bit dismayed at its cheapness. Alex barked at the toy. Looking up, Kurt and David could see that Alex was practically vibrating with excitement. He only had one paw on the bottom of the cart now and had his second hind paw dug into the plastic latticework on the side of the carriage, trying to climb up and over to get at the toy. David crinkled the toy again, eliciting another bark from Alex. "You want this one?" Alex waited expectantly for David to stop teasing him and just hand the toy over!
Kurt took the toy from David and dropped it into the cart for Alex. He immediately lunged at the toy, pouncing on it and whipping it around by its fake ear. "Well, on the bright side I don't have to worry about the squeaker going bad. I can just replace it with a new bottle."
The bottle toy sufficed to occupy Alex while David and Kurt continued to explore the store. Kurt had never realized how many different products were made for dogs and puppies. Kurt ran his fingers over what looked like a hollowed-out ottoman, trying to divine its purpose when a salesman came up to him. "That's a small; if you're looking for one for your puppy, I'd recommend a jumbo. He looks like he's going to get pretty big."
"I'm sorry, but what is it? It's a bit awkward for a bed." It looked like it had a strange center of gravity and would be prone to tipping over. Not to mention difficult to get into.
"It's a puppy carseat."
"A carseat? For puppies?"
The salesman nodded. "Yep, you buckle the seat in like so," the salesman showed him the design on a nearby box, "and clip his harness or collar right there." The salesman pointed out a little loop on the actual product. "Personally, I prefer harnesses with these. A sudden stop with a collar and" the salesman put his hand up to his neck, made his eyes go wide as he mined strangling himself.
Kurt had done a lot of driving with Alex. Usually Alex would sit in the back seat or on the back floor, but occasionally he would climb up and over the center divide to get into Kurt's lap. It was cute, but even he wasn't so blind to see how dangerous that could be for them both. It had never occurred to him someone had actually solved that issue. "What size did you say?"
xoxoxo
Alex was starting to look a bit cramped in the shopping cart. There was the big fluffy car seat, his new toys, a couple jackets Kurt had forced him to try on, and a water fountain with a charcoal purifier and cooling tank. David just rolled his eyes at each new addition to the cart. They parked Alex behind them as they looked over the different collar and tag options. Kurt picked up what he considered to be an absolutely darling collar. It was black with clear rhinestones and a little bowtie.
"Absolutely not."
"He's my son."
"Yeah, and it's bad enough that he's got two gay dads and is a werewolf. You really want to give the other kids in the neighborhood reason to kick his ass once he gets into elementary school? You're going to give the poor little guy a complex."
Kurt snorted indignantly "Yes, well he won't be wearing a collar anymore by the time he gets to elementary school. Besides, if the other kids have a problem with him, that's their problem."
"Fine, but if you're going to scar him for life, at least take plenty of pictures so you can blackmail him when he's an unruly teenager bringing home girlfriends that have been pierced and tattooed up the wazoo."
Kurt rolled his eyes at David's dramatics and started looking over the different tag designs. David picked up something that looked like his father's nitroglycerin pill fob he kept on his keys. "What's that?"
David placed it against his eye and looked up towards the ceiling. It looked like he was administering eye drops. "Oh, neat. Check this out."
Kurt took the little cylinder and did as David had. Inside, Kurt could clearly see several lines of writing, magnified by a lens near Kurt's eye and backlit by the ambient lighting in the room. There was room for all of Alex's information: name, phone number, address, date of birth, vet's number (if he had one), and rabies vaccine number (if he had one). It was pretty nifty. Kurt put it down and selected a similar one of a different style. He placed it to his eye but found that he couldn't see anything in it. He could, however, hear David chuckling. He glared at David a minute before looking at the sign David was pointing to. Right above where Kurt had grabbed the piece of plastic, the sign read "USB Dog Identification". Pulling it apart like a lipstick tube, Kurt discovered it was indeed a USB drive. "Oh, now he's totally getting this. Alex is going to be the hippest little pup in Lima."
Kurt turned around to let Alex sniff at the little fob and give it the final approval. Alex wasn't paying attention, though. He was frozen, standing up in the cart, his tail slowly sashaying back and forth. Kurt hadn't even noticed he'd parked Alex in front of a wall of clear cages, all holding cats. Kurt expected all hell to break loose, but surprisingly, Alex remained calm. David, realizing at the same time as Kurt what a commotion that might have caused, slowly steered the cart and Alex away from the cats. Alex looked over his shoulder at the two humans and let out a pitiful whimper before looking back at the cats. "You want to see the kitties, Alex?"
"I don't think that's a good idea, Dave." Kurt put his hand on David's arm as David lifted Alex from the carriage.
"It'll be fine. That's not his aggressive noise. He's curious."
Kurt's stomach knotted in apprehension. He didn't want them getting kicked out of Petco for freaking out all the cats. Alex barking at a rabbit or guinea pig was one thing, but cats could cause quite an uproar when disturbed. A couple of the cats moved to different parts of their enclosure as Alex and David got closer. But a couple stayed where they were (probably out of sheer terror, Kurt thought).
Alex fixed his gaze on one that hadn't so much as batted an eye at him. It was a small, puffy, white cat with grey spotting: a kitten, probably not much younger than Alex. It was lying on its stomach, it's front and back feet tucked up under its belly, making it look like a hen on a nest of eggs. Its ears were perked forward, and its eyes were half hooded. It looked like it couldn't decide if it were awake or asleep. Alex tried scrambling out of David's arms, trying to get closer to the kitten. He let out a desperate whimper. The kitten looked up at Alex but then slowly shut his eyes to half-mast again.
A nearby clerk was watching them to make sure nothing bad happened. When David spotted her out of the corner of her eye, he summoned her over. "Can we check out that kitten please?"
"David I am not getting a cat. Alex is already one of the most spoiled babies ever. He does not need his own pet."
"Chill, Kurt, it's not for him." Not a total lie, but close. If Alex really liked the kitten and played nicely with it, David would adopt it for himself and just bring it over to play with Alex every now and then. Having a small animal around would also be a good way for David to keep an eye on Alex's aggressiveness. If he got along with the kitten, they probably wouldn't have to worry about Alex being a violent werewolf. The kitten would be the canary in the coalmine, so to speak.
The clerk unlocked a Plexiglas panel in the wall, prompting the kitten to start purring as it was scooped up around the midsection. The clerk held the kitten a safe distance away from Alex and slowly, ever so slowly, approached him, keeping a careful eye on Alex's responses. Once the kitten got close enough to Alex, Alex started licking furiously at it. The kitten purred even louder.