Salene and Bray:Washing Mr. Stinky Pants(Baby Bray):Shower Room

[_salene_]

Salene left the Extra Cafe area by going through the secondary cafe, their usual meeting area, as the baby smelled pretty stinky and she didn't want to inadvertently ruin anyone's breakfast by parading his stinky pants by those trying to eat. She had just exited, missing Amber but running into Bray carrying a bag, "Hey," she greeted quietly. "You

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[_salene_]

Salene nodded, she did remember they had TGuns, but she didn't think Ryan had been wearing one. Salene supposed he could have taken one from someone else who had been in the rescue, she hadn't been in the house with them, she didn't know who was doing what, and she kind of liked it that way. "Thanks Bray," she said quietly. At least she felt better, she really needed to stop asking who, where, when, why, how and just accept what she knew as truth. Ryan had every right to be upset with The Guardian, not just for recent events, but for what had happened in their past too, and she couldn't exactly blame him for what he'd done. In fact, she just loved him that much more because she knew it was for her, for them, even if she thought it was wrong to kill someone else, she knew it had been the right thing at the right time.

Salene watched the water drain out of the tub and reached behind her to grab the duck towel, wrapping it around the baby as Bray lifted him out of the bath seat, pulling him in close to her to dry him off and keep him warm. She glanced over the baby to give Bray an annoyed look, "Stop apologizing," she said firmly. "If faulting myself for it is crap then so is faulting yourself," she said, wondering if that made sense. "It wasn't your fault, what you said, what you did, and it's just water under the bridge now," she stood up slowly with the baby and moved to lay him on the dressing bench, sitting next to him and drying him off. She reapplied his nappy then took the outfit laid out on the bench and dressed him, socks and all. "Don't worry Bray, I know you haven't had a chance to get to really know little Bray here, but he's going to grow up admiring his father, just you wait and see. You can't make up for lost time, but you can start being the best father you can be, and I know you have that in you. It's what I always admired about you," Salene blushed, looking away. She loved that about Ryan too, she didn't have feelings for Bray like that, not anymore, but she felt so strongly for Ryan, but beyond being a good father to his children, Ryan was more to her, he was a good husband to her, he was a good man, sweet and kind and helpful, loyal and caring, amongst other redeeming qualities that he only shared with Salene. These thoughts made her blush profoundly and she turned back to the baby, smiling down at his cute chubby little cheeks.

[_bray_]

Bray helped Salene wrap his son in a towel then stood back watching as she dressed him, feeling kind of helpless, he should be doing these things for his son. He did appreciate the help of course, but why didn't he have the guts to step forward and just take care of the child like he should? He nodded slowly, hadn't he just told her to stop apologizing? She was right, and he shook his head, looking down at the floor for a moment before looking back up. He opened his mouth to reply to her but he couldn't find the words, what did she mean she admired about him? Flashbacks to their past and Salene throwing herself at him made him blush, "I ah, but you're with Ryan," he said, taking a step back, looking uncomfortable. "I do want to be a good father, Sal, and a good husband to Amber, you're still going to marry us, right?" Bray shifted on his feet, he only had intentions of marrying Amber, though the Tribe was their family, Amber and his son were the most important people in his life to him.

[_salene_]

Salene looked up, alarmed, he had taken it the wrong way, and she couldn't help but laugh. "Yes, I will marry you and Amber. I promised her I would and I intend to hold up to that," she smiled, regaining her composure and trying to figure out how to tell him what she was thinking, to calm his fears. "I am with Ryan, you're absolutely right, and we're, well, I think we're reconnecting and finding each other again. I consider him my husband, we've gotten really close again this week," she smiled at the memories. "He's a great father, to children that aren't even really his. My one true regret to this day is the fact that I didn't," how did she put this the right way? "That I fell down those stairs and we lost the chance to be parents to our own child, and that I took away Ryan's chance at a happy life by joining up with the Chosen. I want to make it right Bray, I want to make him happy and give him a family, whatever that means. He makes my heart happy, I want to give back to him what he's given to me, I feel like I owe him so much," she smiled, looking down at the baby.

"This is a really cute outfit," she sat the baby up and dried his hair, "Now, you take this towel, and the washcloth, wring it out, and his last outfit, and put them all in the hamper out there, whoever has laundry duty will wash it later," she informed Bray, picking up the baby and smiling at him. "You need tribal markings, yes you do," Salene quickly put the baby seat away, grabbing the two ducks from the bath and repacking his shampoo into his bag. She carried him out into the main area of the shower room, tossing the two ducks into the box in the linen closet before moving and sitting the baby down so she could apply a blue dot under each of his eyes, just as Patsy had done for the ceremony earlier in the week. That was just too cute, she had to repeat it, and he looked adorable in his little outfit. She took the baby brush out and brushed his soft hair, though it liked to kind of stand up in the middle, and she thought that was kinda cute. "Ok, you get the bag, I have the baby," she instructed, taking the baby and waiting for Bray to hurry up and get the rest of the things together.

[_bray_]

Bray looked away, embarrassed. Whoops, he hadn't meant to, he'd taken what she'd meant the wrong way, and now he felt like a fool. He listened to her talk about Ryan, a small smile crossing his face, his gut filling with relief. How stupid of him, of course she loved Ryan, he'd heard all about them from Amber, how they had been almost inseparable all week, spending time together redecorating, and not to mention sleeping in the same room. Of course, that hadn't stopped her from...no he wouldn't think of such things, times were different, if Salene was still after him she surely would have tried when they were completely alone. "I'm sorry Salene I didn't mean to imply," he babbled out, blushing and gathering the things she told him to, placing them in the hamper. He took the bag from the shower room and walked towards her in the main part, "I'll take the baby, if you don't mind, actually," he offered, holding his hands out. He tucked his son on his hip, yes, he could handle this. His stomach was rumbling, and he could smell the scent of waffles still cooking, "I think I will go feed myself, maybe my son?" Bray didn't know, he'd probably been fed already, but he could try, he knew that much.

[_salene_]

Salene gladly let him take the baby, she did have work to do after all. "Yeah, Trudy fed him some waffles, you could try more, but Bray was decorating the floor and playing fetch with Trudy more than eating them I think," she laughed as they walked back towards the cafe, glad to see May and Dax were still there. She had quite a few words to say to Dax, though she knew he really wasn't to blame for Ram being in the Mall, she still wanted to yell at him. Maybe it was some kind of sadistic thing, he wanted so badly to be this body guard, protector of the Mall Rats, Super Dax! It annoyed her, she had been trying to convince him to knock it off, she had nothing against Dax coming with her out into the city, she did feel a bit safer when he and Alex were with her now as the crowds could get pretty rowdy at times, but he'd been stationing himself outside of her bedroom at times, or hovering when she was doing regular things. She'd yelled at him a few times for that in the past week, and now she had even more of a reason to complain. A serious threat had wandered freely into the Mall and where had Dax been? In bed was Salene's first guess, and she didn't want to make May feel bad, but she wanted to show him that no matter what, he couldn't always be the body guard he strived to be. That and they had to talk about the implications of Ram wandering the city freely, and he had to be informed. Salene smiled as she watched Bray carry his son, she knew it, he would be a good father, he just needed to believe in himself. "Well I'm gonna go take care of some City business, it was...fun I guess," she shook her head and looked a little confused but laughed. "I don't mean to be so stubborn, but I am here to talk to if you ever really do need someone to listen, you know," she shrugged and left him to head towards the Main Cafe.