Bath Time
Title: Bath Time
Theme: Bubbles (#31) - taken from 101_kisses
Genre: Humor
Rating: PG
“Okay, shortie. Let’s get you all cleaned up for mommy and daddy, okay?” Zared looked down at the red eyes staring up at him. Her pink curls were in complete disarray, dotted with a couple leaves and twigs. There were artistic streaks of blue marker along one of her cheeks, while red and green decorated her hands. Her knees were dark with asphalt, chalk, and dirt, and he felt relatively certain that a beach would appear upon diaper removal.
Chibi-Usa stood surprisingly still, even accommodating Zared when he told her to raise her hands or step out of her pants. However, when he tried to settle her down into the bathtub, she said, “No!” very loudly and clung to his arm like a koala bear.
Instead of just plopping her into the bathtub like he’d done yesterday - promptly before getting scolded by Ami when Chibi-Usa shrieked in agony - he lifted her up once more and talked in the weary voice of the defeated. “It’s time to take a bath, Chibi-Usa. You’re all dirty.”
“I wanna bubble bath.”
Zared shrugged. “I can do that.”
Still cradling the naked toddler, he opened the cabinets to choose one of Ami’s many bubble bath bottles. Shifting through the containers with one hand, Zared could see that most of them were at or near empty.
“No wonder our water bill’s so high,” he told Chibi-Usa. After a minute more of searching, Zared gave up. “Chibi-Usa, we’re all out of bubbles. Aunt Ami used them all.”
“I want bubbles!” Chibi-Usa insisted. “Please!” she added after a moment.
Zared sighed. There was only one way he was going to get the girl clean, and he had to because she was getting picked up in a couple hours.
Of all the times for Ami to get called into work.
Loathed to take the girl into public on a shopping trip, Zared asked, “Where we gonna get bubbles, shortie?”
The girl responded by sticking two of her fingers in her mouth and sucking.
One ingenious thought and a mental pat on the back later, Zared settled the girl into a bathtub where the bottom had disappeared under a shallow layer of small, white bubbles. He had no toys, so he supplied her with the red plastic Silo cups once been reserved for beer pong. He scrubbed away at her hands and cheek while she poured water in and out of the cups. He grimaced only slightly when she blew, or more accurately spit at the bubbles in attempts to make them float.
By the time Usagi and Mamoru knocked on their door, Chibi-Usa was entirely clean, if a bit disheveled, and mostly clothed.
Usagi helped Chibi-Usa put her shirt back on before sweeping her up into an embrace. Chibi-Usa threw her arms around Usagi’s neck, cuddling against her shoulder. Usagi rubbed the girl’s back and squeezed her tight, leaning her face into the head of pink curls.
“Thanks again,” Mamoru told Zared. “I hope it wasn’t too bad.”
“You know I love Chibi-Usa,” he said instead of responding. “How was your trip?”
Usagi interrupted before Mamoru could respond.
“Why does my child smell like your dishes?”
Zared managed a sheepish smile while Chibi-Usa sleepily mumbled, “Bubbles.”
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Notes: Please do not wash your child & your dishes at the same time. It’ll wreak havoc on their skin & I think you’re technically not supposed to give them bubble baths when they’re really young anyway. However, some environmental companies claim to produce dish washing liquid that can be used as bubble bath. Just, y’kno, FYI. :)