Ronnie_R prompted: I was wondering if you'd be interested in writing some more baby Stef?
Most of the time, Stefan doesn't bother to bog himself down with Damon's title. Biologically, they're brothers. Legally, he's his father. And in all respects, he truly does do everything a dad does, or should do anyway. Yet, Stefan spent so much time looking at him as his brother…
So, he doesn't think about it too hard. That is until Damon acts exactly how an older brother would.
"Aw, Stefy's losing his baby fangies."
Stefan glowers at him, licking the spot where his upper right fang once was. He knew the day was coming. A part of him is lucky it didn't happen until he became honest about his classification.
For centuries, some vampires have lost their fangs and others would quickly grow in their place. It was a supernatural mystery until the classification system was put into place. Sure enough, the only ones going through this were littles. It's a part of their body allowing them to experience things most toddlers do: teething. There isn't a science to when it happens. Just the knowledge that it will.
Stefan's felt the loose fang for over a week, trying to will it to stay in place. There was no such luck when it fell out as he flossed. Damon vamped into the room off his groan. Protectiveness turned to that smirking brother face.
"You should put it under your pillow," Damon says. "Maybe the Tooth Fairy will pay you a visit."
"You're really enjoying this, aren't you?"
"Just a bit." Damon leans in the doorway. "Hey, remember when you first lost your teeth? You thought you were dying."
"Because you told me they wouldn't grow back! You said no one else went through that!"
Damon snickers. "Yeah, that was a fun 2 days." Stefan rolls his eyes. "It's just a rite of passage, Stef. I hear the other 3 will follow suit in no time. Plus, they grow back faster than human adult teeth."
"Yeah, that means the pain is going to be worse." Stefan wraps his tooth in some tissue and tosses it in the direction of his wastebasket. Damon catches it before he can. Stefan makes a face. "You are not keeping that."
"Of course I am." Damon tucks it into his pocket. "I'll put it with some of the locks I kept from your trim."
Stefan scowls at the mention of the state of his hair. It's bad enough he has this stupid cut, now he's losing his teeth. More and more, he's looking like a little boy.
He stares at his brother's pocket that contains his flesh covered tooth. Damon would be the type to save all of this. Stefan knows he has a "baby book" filled with mementos from his little spaces. As much as he'd like to pretend it bothers him, it is sweet. Stefan is reminded that most of the time, Damon isn't his dickish brother. He's an embarrassing and overprotective dad.
"I'll put it under your pillow first," Damon says, wiggling his eyebrows. "The Tooth Fairy is very much real."
Stefan holds back a smirk. "Oh, yeah? And how much does she pay these days?"
"How very sexist of you to assume there are only woman fairies," Damon chastises. "I've taught you better than that. Anyone can perform any profession." Stefan snorts. "I have it on good authority that for certain spoiled baby vamps, a crisp Ben Franklin is left behind. So…you want the tooth or not?"
Stefan holds out his hand. Damon smirks and places the tissue in it. He ruffles his baby's hair.
"Go, I need to start on dinner. Don't worry, I'll make something that doesn't require a ton of chewing."
Not even 24 hours later and Damon isn't laughing over the tooth incident.
Everything goes in Stefan's mouth. Toys. His bunny's ear. The remote. His tablet case. Every time Damon takes it away, the waterworks begin. Stefan even gnaws on part of the couch, desperately trying to take the pain away. The only way to keep everything out of his mouth is by Damon holding him. Yet, Stefan won't stay still enough for the swaddle. Damon struggles to get much done with Stefan clinging to his neck and whimpering. He can't even dress the little boy, leaving him in just his briefs.
"Bunny," Damon rubs his back as Stefan tries to chew on his big brother's shirt. "That's yucky." The tears well up in Stefan's eyes yet again. Damon sighs. "Do you want your paci?"
"No," Stefan whines, kicking his legs. "Yucky."
Damon should've seen that coming. Any stage of Stefan hates that thing. "You could suck your thumb?"
For some reason, that sets Stefan off. The tears start up again. Damon sighs, gently bouncing him. He's quickly growing exhausted. Stefan won't nap and also won't take his bottle, meaning he's tired, hungry and in pain. This is not a fun combination.
"I'm really trying, Bunny, DayDay's trying," Damon whispers. "I know you don't have the words right now. And you must be in so much pain. I hate seeing my little boy like this."
Stefan continues to wail. Damon heads back into the kitchen and grabs the abandoned bottle. He positions Stefan into a cradle position and tries to put it in his mouth.
"You can chew on this," Damon offers. Stefan whines louder, pushing it away and kicking his legs, getting his brother in the head. Damon yelps before growling. "Hey, hey, no! Stefan Antonio Salvatore, we do not kick."
Stefan silences, his eyes growing wide. Damon frowns at the kicked puppy look. He drops the bottle and cuddles him closer.
"I'm sorry, hey, I'm sorry." He kisses the top of Stefan's head. "DayDay's not feeling too great right now either. I shouldn't have yelled." Stefan rubs at his rosy cheek. Damon gave him some Tylenol but it wasn't near enough to dull a vampire size pain. "Listen, I know you may not be hungry, but can you eat? Just a little? The baba will help with the owie."
Stefan continues to rub with one hand, making a grabby motion with the other. Damon holds back a sigh of relief and grabs the bottle, sliding into a chair by the table. Stefan latches on, noticeably uncomfortable. This would be so much easier if he could feed the little one from his wrist. He's only vowed to do that in dire situations where it'd save Stefan's life. As much as this currently feels like the end of the world, teething does not constitute as life or death.
At least for a few moments, there's silence. Stefan may be in pain, but he's not crying or whining. Damon's anxiety lowers a bit, knowing this will help at least some. His brother will get through this.
Why does it feel like he's being tortured with vervain, then?
The realization that he has to go through this hell three more times washes over him. He doesn't know if he wishes they'd all fall out at once or if that'd just make this all even worse.
Damon gently rocks him, mumbling a soft Italian lullaby into his ear. Stefan settles some, the pain not leaving his face. He manages to down half the bottle before pushing it away. Damon accepts the smallest of victories and stands up, going back to pacing. He looks back to the fridge, the wheels in his head turning. Damon begins settling Stefan on the floor. The whining starts back up again. Damon counts back from 10, rubbing at his own eyes.
"5 seconds, Stef, I just need 5 seconds."
Stefan isn't pleased with that answer. Every move breaking his heart, Damon lowers him on the floor. Stefan shrieks, the tears falling again. Damon vamps to the fridge, doing his best not to cry. He flings open the door and roots through it. When she learned about Stefan's classification, Lexi sent Damon some stupid "Caretaking for Dummies" kit. It came with bottles, lullabies on tape (which he's still refused to open), pacifiers, parenting books…
"Aha!" Damon pushes back the remaining blood bags and finds the teething ring. The instructions in the package said to freeze it. Something about the cool being good for the impending fang. "I got it."
He turns back to his fussing baby brother and scoops him. Stefan frowns at the strange object in his brother's hand. It's made of baby blue silicone and shaped like a bunny's head, complete with ears.
"This should help," Damon says, his voice desperate. "Put it in your mouth."
Stefan accepts the ice cold ring, shivering a bit at the touch. He sticks it in his mouth. After a few nibbles, the whining ceases yet again and Stefan shuts his eyes. Damon expels a sigh of relief. Thank God for 21st century inventions. Back when they were kids, Giuseppe would've put whiskey on the gums. There's no way Damon is putting alcohol anywhere near Stefan's lips.
With Stefan contently sucking on the ring, Damon heads upstairs to his room. His brother remains in his arms as he collapses against the pillows, flopping on top of Bunny. He weasels the plushie out from under himself and tucks it beneath Stefan's arms. His brother snuggles it with one arm, still clutching to the teether with the other. Damon flicks on the TV, finding a rerun of the old Spiderman cartoons from the 90s. Outside the adventures playing out on screen and the sucking, there is peace. Calm. Quiet.
Damon's eyelids droop. He keeps jolting awake, checking on Stefan. His little brother watches his cartoons in a sleepy trance of his own.
"Stef," he mumbles. "Day's gonna take a nap."
No response. Damon tightens his grip on him and shuts his eyes. He slips into a dreamless sleep, covered in pure darkness and relaxation. He isn't sure how much time passes, but it feels good to be still. No tears, no…
Damon is brought back to life by a sudden scream. He nearly hits his head on the headboard. Stefan is whimpering once again, the teething ring on his chest. Damon holds back a groan as he grabs it, only to fill with dread once he realizes it's now room temp. This was the only teether. He makes a mental note to get some more…
Damon rubs Stefan's cheek, trying to bring him some comfort and prevent the crying. Much to his surprise, his brother grabs his hand and stares at it for a moment. Stefan latches onto the thumb and puts it in his mouth, chewing on it. Once again, there is silence. Damon's hand slowly covers in drool. There's a slight pinch every time one of his other teeth hit the skin.
Damon doesn't pull away. He watches as Stefan's eyes slowly close. His own follows suit. Both brothers do not move for the next 3 hours, getting some much-needed rest.
I wanted to include teething somehow in this fic. Couldn't tell you why, I just got the idea of clingy, very baby Stefan, who just wants his big brother. Also, Damon seems to handle most of Stefan's spaces relatively well...but even he struggles.
Anyway, let me know what you think! As always, feel free to leave prompts :)