The Troubles with Cat-Sitting

Hi everyone! Thanks for reading and hope you enjoy the story as it continues to develop:)..,

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"Today is December 7th, with the temperatures cold and a small breeze billowing throughout the streets. It's best to stay inside and keep warm! If you must travel today, bundle up and be sure to drink plenty of warm fluids; and stop by your local Ramen shop to warm you're bellies today too!"

"Thank you Mora for todays weather updates. Now, as we turn over to local news updates, I want to remind everyone that roads are expected to be slippery today as small snow flurries are coming down from the sky. Please be aware of this if you decide to drive today and make sure to pack extra winter gear and blankets in your cars in case of expected traffic backs up!"

CLICK!

...

Amu Pov:

The TV went silent as Amu turned off the screen with the tv remote. Setting the device back down on the coffee table, Amu peered over towards Ikuto in the corner, who was currently lying on his back playing with the small hanging toys of his play mat.

Whilst the journey of getting Ikuto downstairs (in part due to the weight difference between the teenager and Amu's ability to hold him in her arms for an extended period of time) has been challenging, once she had gotten to the living room, it was only a matter of finding the play mat and putting Ikuto onto it.

The play mate looked as if it came from a small, locally owned business as the embroidery resembled careful craftsmanship instead of factory processed. The mat was a light sky-blue shade, with the surrounding circular ridges white and small green vines with red roses decorating the edges of the mat; in the middle was a picture of a orange fox head, though the graphic was cutesy and animated in design and the overhanging handle that held the soft dangling toys was also blue. The three toys were forest-like animals, such as a bunny, a deer and a frog. It was perfect for a baby in size; Ikuto's head laid only on the mat with the rest of his body resting on a brown woven blanket Amu found in storage.

She had brought the star emblem pacifier Ikuto was using when he had been asleep before with her and promptly gave it to him once she noticed how antsy he was acting when they came into the living room; he was sucking on it whilst playing with the toys, his fingers brushing the soft creatures and kicking his legs about.

Just as the weather channel had informed Amu about the disastrous weather conditions for the day, Tsukasa had also called to let Amu know that, due to the terrible road conditions that he wouldn't get to the Tsukiyomi residence much later than expected, possibly closer towards dinner time was his rough estimation. He had asked Amu about her comfort with possibly needing to change Ikuto diaper's, to which Amu briefly shared her previous experience the 30 minutes before he called (Tsukasa got a kick out of Amu's story as he tried to hold his laughter on the other end of the phone). Otherwise, it would just be any additional changes and Ikuto's nightly bath that the girl would have to be concerned with if Tsukasa saw himself running any later than what he anticipated, and ended the call soon after that.

As Amu attempted to focus on her science homework, she heard a loud, roaring sound near Ikuto.

GRRRRRRRRRR

She turned her head promptly towards Ikuto, who was distracted with the toys to pay any attention to what she only could have imagined to be his stomach growling.

When was the last time he ate today?

...

The sticky note on the fridge left by Souko Tsukiyomi stated that Ikuto was slowly transitioning to hard foods again, but that to avoid any stomach problems or choking instances that soft foods, such as homemade rice porridge with a mix of nattō would be best suited for now.

Souko had also shared with Amu that Ikuto was using baby bottles for liquids, such as water and milk since he wasn't able to properly hold sippy cups just yet, and that Amu would have to be careful when feeding him to avoid spillage and extra messes.

As Amu carefully got Ikuto to sit in the designated high chair at the dining room table (which was near the couch and joint-shared living/kitchen room), she had situated the removable high chair tray to fit just under Ikuto's chest and buckled him into the seat with an attached black buckle.

From a small woven basket that sat next to a bowl of fruit on the kitchen's marble countertops were a set of cotton bibs; Amu had grabbed one out that was a light blue color with a darker blue accenting the outline of the bib, and white embroidered words that quote "Mama's handsome boy".

Amu had put the bib around Ikuto's neck and went to grab his meal from the fridge, having prepared it before. After closing the fridge's door, she grabbed a small silver spoon and went to sit next to Ikuto, who was eyeing Amu's every moves as the girl moved about the kitchen in a haste, the GRRRRR sound seeming to become much louder as the clock ticked by.

Mixing the rice porridge and the nattō together, Amu swirled the sticky porridge into the spoon and started to feed Ikuto slowly, having to catch falling bits of nattō that was escaping from his mouth multiple times as he still chewed mouth-open.

"Here you go, Ikuto. There's still some porridge left; let's not waste any!" Amu gently said as she finished spooning the last bites to Ikuto before heading to the sink to put the dirty dishes away. Taking a small cloth and getting water on it under the faucet, Amu went back and wiped Ikuto's face clean and proceeded to take him out of the high chair carefully.

The challenge of carrying Ikuto back and forth was a struggle for Amu, but she did feel slightly more accomplished once she got to the couch and laid Ikuto down into her lap, his head nearest hers and one of her arms scooping his long legs close. Her other arm held the premade baby bottle full of milk, which she had warmed up and started to put the nipple of the bottle to Ikuto's lips. He started to suck the milk slowly, closing his eyes as Amu adjusted herself to feed him and to gently brush Ikuto's hair out of his face.

Some of the milk had escaped the bottle but thankfully fell onto the bib that Ikuto was still wearing from dinner. As Ikuto continued to drink the bottle, Amu quietly hummed to herself and rocked Ikuto back and forth, twirling his blue hair into her fingers.

Within several minutes, Ikuto had drank the remainder of the bottle; Amu used the bib to wipe his mouth and took it off, setting it aside on the coffee table. As she adjusted her position on the couch, Amu quickly took notice of Ikuto's grunting, almost as if he wanted to say something but couldn't and was getting frustrated by it. Soon after the grunts came a sudden cry of pain from Ikuto as Amu, shocked by the sudden noise attempted to cradle him; his cries becoming angrier sounding and tears starting to fall from his eyes.

She rocked the boy back and forth, bouncing him a few times and quietly shushing him soundly but to no avail.

What was the matter?

...

"When did he start crying? Was it after his meal?" Tsukasa asked over the phone as Amu desperately cradled Ikuto, whose crying only intensified soon after having his bottle.

"Yes! I gave him his bottle of milk soon after- he started crying once he finished it!" Amu sadly shared as she continued to look at Ikuto, whose face was red hot angry with tears.

"Did you check his diaper?" Tsukasa suggested though the man was also attempting to focus on the hazardous roads he was driving on towards the Tsukiyomi household.

"Yes, but there was nothing!" Amu nervously stated as she readjusted her arms to fit her cellphone against her ears and hold Ikuto too.

"Ok; hm... Did you burp him after he had his bottle?"

Amu didn't think about that. In fact, the very idea of needing to burp a grown man, much less Ikuto flew right past her thoughts!

"No, I didn't. Let me try that and I'll let you know if it works! Thank you, Tsukasa!" Amu finished as she closed her cellphone closed, placing the device on the coffee table.

Positioning Ikuto to where he was sitting facing Amu on her lap, the girl gently guided Ikuto's head to rest against her right shoulder as her other hand reached up behind his back and slowly started to rub circles against Ikuto's black shirt.

Ikuto squirmed around, obviously uncomfortable as Amu insisted with the rubbing, though she gradually transitioned to small gentle pats. As she continued patting Ikuto's back, she bounced him up and down on her knee and played with his hair all the while softly humming a lullaby to Ikuto, whose crying and fussiness soon decreased.

BUUH RRUUUP!!! ;)

Quietness echoed the room; no more crying came out of Ikuto as the teen seemed to loudly sigh into Amu's shoulder.

A small smile reached across Amu's face as she finished patting Ikuto's back and adjusted his head to face hers.

"Do you feel better, Ikuto?"

Amu brushed Ikuto's hair out of his face as he shared a soft smile to Amu. Then, a set of quiet giggles came out of Ikuto as he reached to touch Amu's face and pink hair! Amu, shocked by the sudden touch came to sense and started to tickle Ikuto's sides and armpits as a share of laughter came out of the two good friends!

...

As Amu continued to cradle Ikuto in her arms, she only started to imagine what life would be like now with a baby Ikuto taking over her mind, and heart.

That's all for the day, so come back for more once I think of more ideas for these chapters!