Eight minutes had passed since I disconnected my call with my father. Bella was still in the store, purchasing her dinner, I suppose. While I remained outside with my loud, grumpy infant whose diaper smelled very repulsive.
Seriously, the stench rolling off of him could put a cow farm to shame.
Gagging, I held Anthony in my arms, bouncing him up and down at a very safe distance. I had assumed that would calm him, but it seemed to have the opposite effect. Same with rocking him back and forth at arms length. Nothing helped. His cries were blaring, making me on the verge of having a panic attack.
"Anthony, I know you're uncomfortable, so am I." I said, feeling smothered by the horrible scent.
The only response my son had was to cry his eyes out.
Right then and there, I was about to have a nervous breakdown. I had no idea what to do and Anthony kept crying. More than anything I wanted to quiet him down and get rid of the gut-wrenching smell.
Suddenly, I began to wonder how Bella handled situations such as these. That's when it hit me. When I first saw her earlier in the evening, walking out of the bathroom at the restaurant, she was carrying a large blue bag.
A diaper bag!
That meant she had the necessary items for these rather unfortunate human circumstances. Holding my stinky, cranky baby at arms length, I held my breath as I took one step one forward, and another.
Soon my feet hit the pavement and I was fretting. I was headed to the unknown and had no idea what to expect.
Anxiety was coursing through me as I walked through the parking lot, going over to Bella's station wagon, she'd left unlocked. With every step I took Anthony seemed to become louder, and the horrible aroma that was coming off of him seemed to be more potent. I was not sure how that's possible.
Anthony screamed. He was clearly miserable.
Not about to speak, I gave my son a comforting pat on his back. Unfortunately, that did not do much to quiet him.
Once I was at Bella's car I opened the door to the backseat, grabbed the diaper bag and shut the door. Since the trunk of her station wagon had a nice big flat surface, I assumed would be the perfect place for this job. I quickly went around to the back of the car and opened it.
Having never changed a diaper myself, I had no idea how to perform this act. However, I had seen movies and shows that had babies in it, as well as diaper changes. So, I was aware that you usually put a plastic mat down to set the baby on. With that being said, I unzipped the bag.
Anthony let out another loud scream. It hurt my ears. I wished he'd stop crying.
With him still shedding tears, I opened the bag and found the mat. I had expected it to be blue, matching the car seat and the diaper bag, but it wasn't. Instead, it was white with little yellow…
"Ducks." I said out loud, trying not to breathe. But of course, I did.
I gagged at the stench.
Simultaneously, I began thinking back to what Alice had said, when we were leaving Sizzlers, about her odd vision of a fleet of ducks, and Anthony's blaring cries became quieter. He turned his head to look at the mat with the happy little ducks. Quickly, my mind was filled with images of rubber ducks, the emotions behind the thought were full of fascination and enjoyment. Quickly, I began to understand that my boy really liked rubber ducks.
Despite the unfortunate circumstances and the unholy smell, a smile spread across my face. My baby son told me something that he really liked through his mind.
He looked at me and made a small sound. I had no idea what that meant. He repeated the same noise.
"I'll clean you up." I promised, placing him on the mat.
It was very uncomfortable to speak, but I knew with him hearing my voice, it would be comforting. Which is why I was making that sacrifice. At the exact moment I placed Anthony on the mat, my phone rang, and he began crying… again. I could have let it ring, but since it was the ringtone I had programmed for when my mother calls, I didn't. I made sure to answer it.
"Mom?" I spoke into the receiver as I put it on speakerphone. With the task I was faced with, and knowing my mother's calls are never short, I thought handsfree was the best way to go. I placed my phone next to the diaper bag.
"Edward, is it true?" Came my mother's voice through the phone. Her tone was a mixture of excitement and worry.
Anthony's big green eyes moved in wonder. He seemed to be searching for who the voice belonged to.
I grabbed the diaper bag and started removing every single item out of the bag, setting them in an orderly fashion on the floor of the trunk, above my son's head. To see exactly what I was working with. Placing the items in a neat roll with the smallest items that happened to be a pair of socks, on the left. To the largest item, which happened to be a packet of diapers, on the right. I took in the sight of everything, wondering if I would need every signal item for this unfamiliar task: especially a rattle, a small picture book, and a teddy bear. As my mother's words sank into my mind, I figured Alice must have informed her that I was in need of assistance.
"Alice told you I'm about to complete a diaper change for the first time?" I said in a rush and quickly shut my mouth.
"No." Mom answered, a bit confused. "But your father told me you have reunited with Bella and you two have a newborn baby."
I didn't need to see my mother to know she was bursting with joy.
"Yes, that's all true. I have a son named Anthony." I gagged on my words.
The horrible scent was forever imprinted in my brain. Not to mention inside my nostrils and on my clothes.
Anthony giggled at me, then cried. He was uncomfortable and counting on me to help him.
"Aww. Is that him?" Esme spoke in a loving tone. "He sounds so precious."
Hmm. Precious was not the word I would use to describe him at that moment. More like pungent. But then again, my mother wasn't able to smell what I could. She wasn't here.
"Mumm, hmm." I did my best to give my mother an answer without opening my mouth.
I wanted to ask her how exactly I was supposed to change a dirty, horrible smelling diaper, because she would know. But asking her would require me having to open my mouth, which would cause me to breathe less than fresh air. Which is why I was keeping my mouth shut.
Anthony cried louder as I began undressing him. His clothes were soiled. It was very nasty to touch. They needed to come off and be tossed in the trash. Even though I was trying to help he did not seem happy with me. Anthony's tiny first waved in the air as he let out a loud call of distress.
"Oh, my goodness, he sounds so tiny and so sweet. I bet he's adorable." Esme was on cloud nine now. Lost to the sounds of my cranky son.
I didn't respond.
"You must bring Bella and the sweet baby over here. You hear me, Edward?"
My mother's words were a demand, and I knew there was no way out of this. She wanted to meet my child and I'm sure Carlisle did too. Which was only fare since they were my parents and had been for so long, but what if Bella didn't want to? It was up to her, not me. I wasn't about to make any choices for her. Not ever again.
Without opening my mouth, I gave my mother a muffled yes as I unfastened the tabs on Anthony's overly full diaper.
"Good." She said, "Where's Bella? I would like to speak to her."
Getting ready to remove my son's diaper I gave a muffled response, telling her I didn't know where Bella was. I wasn't sure if she heard me since Anthony's cries became even louder. My mother continued talking, but was no longer listening. I was scared to death to pull back the diaper and reveal the disaster that awaited me.
My mother talked and Anthony cired. I stood there staring in fear at his diaper. I was really not sure what to do next. More than anything I wished Bella was here to do this, but she wasn't and I couldn't make myself move.
Anthony was screaming as his mind filled with images of Bella changing his diaper and how she did it. These images showed the first step to the last. The images that made their way to my mind had me studded.
I was getting a diaper change tutorial from my newborn son.
Fascinating.
After that I made quick work. I cleaned him up, and began redressing him in fresh clothes. All while he quieted down, and my mother was still pattering about something I wasn't paying attention to. Not wanting her to waste her breath any further, I quickly promised my mother I would call her back. She accepted that, holding me to my every word as I knew she would. With a promise from me that she would get to meet her grandchild, we disconnected. I grabbed my phone, shoving it in the pocket of my jeans.
Before I could begin the cleanup of the solid items that needed to be disposed of. As well as all the items I removed from the diaper bag, I heard familiar footsteps. I made no attempt to turn in that direction as I grabbed the small blue and white striped item. The item resembled socks with the way they were folded together, however, they were baby mittens. My son wanted them on his hands, at least that's what his thoughts suggested. I did what he wanted. Once I placed them on his tiny hands and he smiled.
'Whoa! Edward changed Anthony's diaper on his own?' Surprised thoughts flew into my mind.
I knew those thoughts. They belonged to Bella.
At once, I turned to see her staring at me with an impressed expression on her beautiful face.
"I changed his diaper." I gloated and she laughed.
"I see." She smiled.
The way she smiled at me was like old times. Her smile took me back to the times we were together in Forks, when she was my girl, before I fucked up and complicated everything. For a second or two everything felt right, and I wanted to take her in my arms and kiss her.
The urge was strong.
I almost did. But my phone rang, ruining the moment.
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Thanks for reading. :)))
I never imagined real life would get in the way of writing and I'd have to take a long break after my chihuahua was tragically ripped apart by large dog, and my kid was having nightmares about that, and keeping me up at night. But that's what happened in January 2022. Real life got in the way and I had to take a break from writing. Having three WIPs while dealing with real life is too much right now. So, I'll finish one fic at a time. First Family Emergency, then Day Bleeds into Nightfall before I begin posting for this story again. Sorry.
No matter how small or big your thoughts are on this chapter, please leave a review. I'd be happy to hear from you.