Chapter 19: a moment to be a child
Alex stretched yawning before he realized he was being held by Nina, "not even waiting for me to be awake?" Alex groaned out as his diaper was checked. "Well I think you're going to like today so I made some phone calls-" Nina said getting a tired groan from Alex, "usually when you do phone calls that means I am either going to be dressed up in something humiliating or a treat" Alex said rubbing the sleep from his eyes.
Sighing as she sat down in the rocking chair for his usual feeding "hush that was only one time" Nina said pulling her dressing gown to the side before making Alex settle down and latch on, Alex smiled as he rested against her and started to drink letting her sweet and warm milk dribble down his throat.
Nina let out a sigh of relief kneading her other breast "these stupid drugs are making us make so much it's starting to hurt if we miss one of these" she said a look of relief spreading on her face, "and I bet he enjoys it too" Scorch said walking in before kissing Alex on the head before kissing his wife on the lips.
Alex rolled his eyes from the angle he had the pair of pokeparents saw it, "well anyway before someone's smart butt interrupted," Nina said patting Alex on his padded rear "your friends will be coming over today so remember to share your toys with our guests."
if Alex had rolled his eyes any more he would have turned into a living perpetual motion machine, though what an indeedee rolled in before quickly leaving made Alex choke on his breakfast. "Boys gonna have a tantrum" Scorch said chuckling with Alex practically smoking out of his ears, "TANTRUM! HAVE NONE OF YOU HEARD OF A WHEELCHAIR!" Alex yelled pointing to the oversized baby walker before gesturing down to his stumps.
"Also if you have neglected to notice, I HAVE NO LEGS! How am I going to move around? And most importantly why did you even buy it?" Alex asked feeling like his brain was about to blow a fuse, "well," Nina said putting Alex over her shoulder and rubbing his back in an attempt to calm him down, "we bought it for your next step of physio therapy, those friends from your little swim group are quite the energetic bunch" Nina said with Alex grumbling to himself.
He found himself strapped into it mostly against his will with Nina attaching the simplistic prosthetics over the usual flesh coloured socks after a quick inspection, "great give it a go" Nina said with Alex looking around the restrictive circular walker not liking the tray that went all the way around.
"I guess I should be lucky you didn't get one with stupid toys" Alex said before looking down at the tray and saw the little securing bits for said toys "sods law I am afraid baby boy" Scorch said walking out of the nursery. "Hang on how am I supposed to go down stairs?" Alex questioned slowly managing to rotate the walker to face Nina slightly proud of himself for being able to do so despite the discomfort.
"Well considering the baby gate at the top of the stairs just like before just call for me or one of the indeedee to come take you" Nina said with a smile, Alex had on his face an expression that was of extreme indignation but Nina held back laughter as it her baby boys annoyance manifested as a pout.
"Lets not keep the guests waiting when they show up then, think you can scoot yourself to the stairs?" Nina said with Alex groaning "this is the most humiliating thing I have ever done so far" Alex groaned not wanting to invoke sods law upon himself, as he willed what was left of his legs into motion.
He still needed assistance from his Pokeparents or his walking stick to move on his own two artificial feet but he had to admit this walker was starting to get him more used to walking with the fake legs he has been given, his left ones knee clicked audibly every time he lifted the limb with Nina walking out of the room Alex tried to pick up the pace ending up bumping into the railing letting him look down at the welcoming area of the manor.
"Up we go" Nina announced playfully using psychic to lift Alex walker and all walking down the stairs floating him as if he weighed nothing, placing him back on the ground Alex found this more annoying but humoured Nina with a smile before starting to scoot off towards the function room that acted like a improvised living room.
"And just like that you made him able to move faster" Jessy said walking by carrying buckets of berries from the orchards, Nina giggled "oh please if he was completely immobile that would be boring" Nina said walking with Jessy as an indeedee went to accompany Alex. "He isn't though, little guy moves fast even without the walker or the legs" Jessy pointed out as they headed into the kitchen, "I know" Nina sighed and Jessy put down the buckets with the other fruits in the fridge "I know that sigh something on your mind?" Jessy asked shutting the door.
"I want him to be able to relax basically just be a little kid again, I may not be his actual mother but what if I am being too much? what if I over do it with the babying? What if?-" Nina managed out before Jessy had a paw over her mouth, "you have one of your personal patients over today as well, he will be with his friends so don't fret just relax" Jessy says her show of both concern and calm not aligned with her eyes that seemed to stare at both Nina and the blender.
"I swear on Arceus's life you can be so laid back you're going to end up horizontal whilst standing" Nina said pinching the bridge of her nose.
Later…
"ALEX!" Lucy shouted as she raced into the function room the 30 year old girl putting most track runners to shame whilst at the same time almost losing traction and colliding with a wall, Alex stared at her "you good Lucy?" Alex asked in concern noting that she used both her arms to stop herself from sliding on the hardwood floor. "She's fine" Nate said hobbling in on a leg similar in design to what Alex wore the familiar click and creak of the ankle joints an oddity to hear not coming from under himself, Scorch walked with Riley and Francis following up behind all three chatting away.
"I read about this house apparently it used to be an indeedee colony, though it used to be a lot more degraded" Nate said looking around, "it still is" Alex said jabbing a thumb over his shoulder towards Bishop who gave a little wave towards the humans. Lucy zoomed over to Bishop despite the towering difference in height Bishop still had a smile on her face as Lucy bounced on her toes "I never caught an indeedee before on my travels they seemed to evade me" Lucy said, Alex and Nate looked at each other before back to Lucy "um Lucy if you were as energetic at the start of you trainer journey as you are now I think they could hear you running at them" Nate said chuckling.
"She was" Riley called from across the room with Alex and Nate looking confused at each other, "I practically run on caffine!" Lucy said zooming over to Riley who pulled out a sippy cup filled with a neon green liquid that the two boys assumed to be an energy drink. "Sooo got any toys?" Nate asked and Alex smiled then look deflated "I didn't bring any down.. to my room then" Alex said happily as he began to propel himself across the floor.
Alex slid slowly to a stop just outside the door hearing a giggles from Lucy and Nate, "what?" Alex asked towards the two other humans. "It's a tad bit comical watching you move about" Nate said as Alex resumed sliding towards the bottom of the stairs with Bishop following the trio, "I know it's like they-" Alex said before the other two chimed in at the same time "never heard of a wheel chair" the three humans said in unison.
"Would master Alex and master Nate like assistance going up stairs?" Bishop asked not in the more casual tone she had used on the trip to the market but a practised professional tone like a head maid, both boys answering with a variant of "yes" with the indeedee using psychic to lift the two boys up the stairs and over the baby gate with Lucy walking up behind.
"You two babies need to be carried up, I get to be a big girl and walk up" Lucy said with Alex and Nate holding in a laugh whilst Alex tried not to blush, "what?" Lucy said with Alex pointing at the diaper that peaked out from under her skirt. "Sure and big girls wear diapers" Nate finished for Alex the two boys breaking out into full blown hysterics, Lucy for once blushed the "girl with no shame" finding error in her statements with Alex giggling to himself only stopping when he bumped into the frame of the doorway.
The giggles from Alex was replaced with a curse before rolling into his room with Nate and Lucy coming in behind with the two being impressed with the amount of toys in the full toy chest, "did you buy out the whole toy store or something?" Nate asked hobbling over to the toy chest using it to help steady himself, "mum bought them for me… I guess I haven't had so much for so long I kinda just took what I could" Alex confessed with Nate and Lucy fortunately having a look of understanding.
But just as quickly they smiled again with the three starting to play with Bishop overlooking what they are doing even helping putting Alex on the floor so he could better play the little super hero game the 3 humans were playing with the action figures.
Their fun being interrupted about 40 minutes later by a knock at the door as Jessy stuck her fluffy head through the open door, "snack time little ones" the giant of a lopunny says as she strides in lifting Alex off the floor with Bishop floating Nate and Lucy. "But I was literally about to beat the super villain" Nate whined with Alex laughing, "I was gonna win we both know it" the two boys argued playfully as they were carried out.
"Ah professor" Nina said welcoming Professor Liston at the front door to the manor his kadabra following behind him as she welcomed what to her was a father figure, "you're never gonna stop calling me Professor are you?" Liston asked with Nina smiling at him "I am stubborn like my trainer" Nina said. The two shared a laugh with Nina looking to the kadabra "so Dan still as serious as ever?" Nina asked as the three started to make their way towards her office, Dan eye rolled though the three stopped to watch Alex and his friends being carried towards the function room.
"Hi Professor" the three infantile humans said before looking at each other with Liston chuckling out "oh my it's good to see 3 of my brightest students, just didn't think I'd see you all in one place, be off with you three I have an appointment with Alex's mummy" the professor said using the teacher voice all of them recognized before Nina, Liston and Dan walked away towards Nina's office.
"Wait we all had him as a teacher?" Alex questioned as the three were sat in front of the TV with some sandwiches and sippy cups of milk, "yea I remember… did he still do the thing when he did register?" Lucy asked with Nate and Alex tilting their heads "throwing books at us?" the two boys answered, the three stared at each other before laughing as Riley grabbed the remote and turned on the TV to a human cartoon channel.
At first Alex hated this channel being forced to watch it in his hostpital room, each cartoon was either a pre-revolution cartoon, remake with post-revolution propaganda or just straight up propaganda that tempted humans to just relax and be the little ones they were meant to be. But as time went on Alex found himself growing accustomed to it, it was annoying sometimes and had no favourites but he felt like it was helping him accept that his new life is here to stay.
It then hit him mentally like a truck that he is becoming childish again and it some how felt good, like this was how things were meant to be but since he is going to be childish anyway may as well suggest something childish and stupid. "We should see what mummy and the Professor are talking about" Alex suggested with Nate almost choking on his sandwich whilst Lucy smiled, "I am in" Lucy said excited with Nate swallowing his food "and why would we do that?" Nate asked with Alex shrugging.
"Boredom and I haven't done anything sneaky in a while" Alex said his voice now a conspiratorial whisper, Nate sighed as Lucy joined in on the whispering "yea but we are gonna need a reason to leave the room… actually I have that covered" Lucy said in realization with Nate and Alex looking puzzled. "At least tell us what you're going to do before you do it" Nate said with Lucy smiling and pointing to her mechanical arm and pulling at the compartment where the battery is, "just a little bit of misalignment and you will have all the distraction you need to slip on past" Lucy said with Alex and Nate impressed it didn't involve screaming and running.
With a nod of agreement Lucy tapped the battery compartments inside and closed it up, the limb went limp and Lucy prepared her totodile tears before getting up and sprinting towards the three pokeparents present crying her eyes out about her arm malfunctioning. It worked like a charm getting all 3 parents distracted and having to ditch his legs Alex quickly detached them and scrambled along the floor with Nate who hadn't ditched his leg.
"where to now genius?" Nate asked in a hushed voice with Alex pointing down the corridor "that way" he responded the two boys going as fast as they were able, which to anyone reading isn't very fast at all allowing Bishop to spy on them to make sure they didn't get into too much trouble.
Sliding around like a piplup on their stomach wasn't how he expected to be fulfilling his afternoon though the idea of him basically being on a spy mission was some how thrilling, Nate kept an eye out behind them as Alex dragged himself of to the barely open door of Nina's office and called Nate over the two peaking at what was inside, the boys felt they were going to get discovered until Nina calmed the professors kadabra saying it was probably the breeze making Alex feel accomplished with his stealth.
"Have you been staying off the brandy like I have told you?" Nina said taking note of the professors heart beat, "I may have dipped into it recently but not by much" Liston said with Nina eye rolling as she took out the strap to measure his blood pressure "arm please" she commanded with the professor going tight lipped. "She is going to find out either way, just tell her about it and what we know before I do it" Dan said with the professor taking off his jacket and unbuttoning his shirt, the entire time Nina was on edge about what intel the professor had this time.
"Goodness.. please tell me you actually went to a doctor for this" Nina half scolded as she looked at the patch over the gunshot wound dropping the strap to investigate it, "he has doctor Trix," Dan said looking at the professor "I dragged him myself" he added with the professor looking away for a moment.
"I already have Alex what in the name of Arceus was so important that you got shot for?" Nina asked with the professor looking Nina dead in the eyes, "Team Rocket, Galactic and even some members of Team Yell are gathering around a figure, one that has an interest in Alex" Liston said with Nina using her powers to shut the door tight blocking out Alex and Nates hearing of this conversation.
"Interest in me?" Alex pondered to himself before looking back seeing Nate yelping as he was picked up by his daddy with Lucy being held by her mummy as the woman had a "I couldn't delay them any longer" look on her face, Scorch reached down and picked up Alex with the cinderace having a very annoyed look on his fluffy face. "Alexander Edwards Trix, that was a dirty trick" Scorch scorned with Alex not even noticing his previous last name being his new middle name, the look of annoyance and disappointment on Scorch was something that brought a tear to Alex's eyes.
"Tears won't work on me young man, what do you have to say about this? You had us worried" Scorch said as the trio of parents walked away, Alex felt his lip begin to tremble as his mind ripped back towards being an adult the two mindsets in conflict with each other. What didn't help was when they got back to the function room the trio found themselves being sat in corners told they were allowed to leave in 5 minutes, Lucy whined and tried to escape a couple times whilst Nate slumped in the corner.
Alex stared at the corner his thoughts in conflict with each other his face twisting somewhere between anger and sadness, he recognized what he did was childish more angry at himself than he was Scorch but the 5 minutes felt more like 5 hours. He soon found himself being picked up by Scorch again his daddys eyes looking more soft in expression with a comforting smile, "i-i am sorry" Alex said burying his head into Scorches cheek trying not to cry.
"I wasn't mad at you before you think I was, daddy just got a bit worried since he couldn't find his baby boy" Scorch said nuzzling against Alex's face, the human blushed then looked to the others as they were all carried to the sofa.
"I am guessing we are not going to be allowed of your laps for the rest of the afternoon?" Alex questioned with the other two humans trying and failing to escape their parents laps, "yes" Riley and Francis said as Scorch reattached Alex's legs.
The rest of the visit was more mind rotting just watching the TV and each human being teased with how cute they are when the humans tried to talk to each other.
That night with Jessy taking her turn to put Alex to bed and give him his evening feeding Scorch went to go talk with Nina, the gardevoir was pacing back and fourth in their bedroom in her night gown. "Alright princess I'll bite the professor told you something that put you in the mood to turn a pharmacy into a harmacy what is it?" Scorch questioned putting his paws on his wife's shoulders, Nina looked like she was going to strangle someone until she looked into the soft fluffy features of her husband.
"Remnants of those criminal teams are being lead by of all people Alex's birth mother, the professor got SHOT Scorch he got SHOT bringing this information to us" Nina said a look of panic appearing on her face, Scorch put a finger over her lips "i'll make sure the Indeedees patrol at night, Tonk already haunts the orchards at night so nothing escapes his gaze, also if anyone armed does try to make their way even remotely close he has been made aware he has full permission to turn them to mulch" Scorch said.
Nina let every muscle in her body relax but Scorch could still tell she was stressed "I am guessing you want to stay with Alex tonight?" Scorch asked with the doctor nodding, "pfft you looked almost as childish as Alex doing that, il enjoy the extra bed room tonight" Scorch said planting a kiss on Nina and watching her grab a blanket before going off to Alex's room.