Sunlight 2 - Continuing on with the Verse.
See "Simple Joys of Sunlight" for the information on this verse.
This vignette is going to be longer and covering Peter's first attempted at solo care of infant Neal for a full day with El away.
Spending the Day with Daddy
He was nervous. He shouldn’t be, or at least that was what he told himself. He had handled Neal alone as an adult. Elizabeth had gone out before and left them alone. Oh who the hell was he kidding? That was only for a few hours and usually Neal was napping or just finished with a feeding. He was going to be responsible for Neal’s full care for twenty-four hours. Peter looked up at the clock, his mind numb with all the duties that would entail. El had made him a four page list including do’s and don’ts - he groaned as don’t number 1 was doing work while Neal was awake. She had underlined it and put it in bold. “You don’t mind if I look at this file, do you?” He asked Neal. Neal gave him a slobbery, drool smile and his blue eyes twinkled. Peter felt sorry for the poor people with an ugly baby who were simply deluded into thinking the kid was cute. He had one of the truly beautiful children. Neal was batting at the mobile Clinton had helped Peter install over Neal’s play mat.
“aa ga aa” Neal burbled, happily batting a butterfly on the mobile and making it jingle. He looked very proud as he repeated the motion. It filled Peter with wonder to see Neal discovering the world, or at least this part of Neal. Neal kicked his feet with glee. It was as if he had made some momentous discovery.
“You play with Hoodi and your mobile. Daddy is going to just do some work.” He opened the folder. What El didn’t know won’t hurt her. He was right in the same room and he couldn’t see any dangers. Satchmoe was lying next to Neal.
Peter made it a point to look up every several paragraphs. Each time Neal was engaged in his mobile or mouthing Hoodi’s ear. He heard Satchmoe’s tail thumping.
Satchmoe didn’t understand how his good buddy Neal was suddenly this tiny thing. He didn’t really care though. The smell told him it was Neal and that was all he really needed or wanted to know. Neal was fun and kind to him. Sometimes this little one would pull his fur while petting him, but he sensed it was simply because right now the little one didn’t know any better. He considered it his duty to help his human Mommy and Daddy watch over Neal. He would alert them to dangers, and also to the powerful eye watering aromas that could be produced. He would go and nudge them until they went over and fixed the problem. He tried with Mozzie but Mozzie was hopeless at understanding dog and Satchmoe wasn’t big for opting to master the human tongue.
He didn’t even mind the jingling. He took a whiff and hurriedly covered his nose with his paw. Yep, as if on cue, the cute smiley thing had dropped a stinky. Peter was less than two feet away. He would wait a second. Mommy was able to pick up on stinky at that distance. He figured that Daddy was very smart and he surely would notice. He did hope it would be soon. He needed to go outside and clear his nose with the enticing smells of grass, flowers, and the morning news courtesy of the fire hydrant. Pudge the Pomeranian was going for his snip date and he wanted to find out how he did. Humans always took as much time as they wanted on their papers of which Satch thought there was really only one good use for and that was in an extreme emergency. It annoyed him that human’s didn’t extend the same courtesy for them to go and read their paper on the fire hydrant.
Peter took a deep breath and groaned. He looked up and saw Satchmoe and his worst fear was confirmed. Peter understood changing diapers came with the territory. El insisted that the duty be shared and it was a ‘father/son bonding experience’. Peter was all in favor of bonding but he preferred activities that didn’t look and smell so disgusting at times he had to fight the urge to run to the toilet and heave. He had been to crime scenes that looked and smelled better than a baby diaper. He looked up and grinned. Neal had figured how to propel himself a little via rolling. It amused Peter though that Neal didn’t have mastery on the reverse gear. He would roll until he met a roadblock and look annoyed and confused. He would proceed to try to take down the roadblock until an adult heard the frustration and discretely repositioned the baby so Neal could go back on his merry way. Neal was at the roadblock of the TV. He seemed to have a love/hate relationship with it. Neal loved the TV that he could watch his stuff on, but he hated the roadblock the entertainment center made and its inability to get out of Neal’s way. He felt he was making his intensions perfectly clear and that the furniture was being stubborn.
Peter girded up his courage and a clothespin he’d snuck into the house at the advice of some veteran fathers and picked up Neal. He cuddled his son and headed off to the nursery to face his fate with courage and dignity befitting an FBI agent.
TBC… J
This vignette is going to be longer and covering Peter's first attempted at solo care of infant Neal for a full day with El away.
Spending the Day with Daddy
He was nervous. He shouldn’t be, or at least that was what he told himself. He had handled Neal alone as an adult. Elizabeth had gone out before and left them alone. Oh who the hell was he kidding? That was only for a few hours and usually Neal was napping or just finished with a feeding. He was going to be responsible for Neal’s full care for twenty-four hours. Peter looked up at the clock, his mind numb with all the duties that would entail. El had made him a four page list including do’s and don’ts - he groaned as don’t number 1 was doing work while Neal was awake. She had underlined it and put it in bold. “You don’t mind if I look at this file, do you?” He asked Neal. Neal gave him a slobbery, drool smile and his blue eyes twinkled. Peter felt sorry for the poor people with an ugly baby who were simply deluded into thinking the kid was cute. He had one of the truly beautiful children. Neal was batting at the mobile Clinton had helped Peter install over Neal’s play mat.
“aa ga aa” Neal burbled, happily batting a butterfly on the mobile and making it jingle. He looked very proud as he repeated the motion. It filled Peter with wonder to see Neal discovering the world, or at least this part of Neal. Neal kicked his feet with glee. It was as if he had made some momentous discovery.
“You play with Hoodi and your mobile. Daddy is going to just do some work.” He opened the folder. What El didn’t know won’t hurt her. He was right in the same room and he couldn’t see any dangers. Satchmoe was lying next to Neal.
Peter made it a point to look up every several paragraphs. Each time Neal was engaged in his mobile or mouthing Hoodi’s ear. He heard Satchmoe’s tail thumping.
Satchmoe didn’t understand how his good buddy Neal was suddenly this tiny thing. He didn’t really care though. The smell told him it was Neal and that was all he really needed or wanted to know. Neal was fun and kind to him. Sometimes this little one would pull his fur while petting him, but he sensed it was simply because right now the little one didn’t know any better. He considered it his duty to help his human Mommy and Daddy watch over Neal. He would alert them to dangers, and also to the powerful eye watering aromas that could be produced. He would go and nudge them until they went over and fixed the problem. He tried with Mozzie but Mozzie was hopeless at understanding dog and Satchmoe wasn’t big for opting to master the human tongue.
He didn’t even mind the jingling. He took a whiff and hurriedly covered his nose with his paw. Yep, as if on cue, the cute smiley thing had dropped a stinky. Peter was less than two feet away. He would wait a second. Mommy was able to pick up on stinky at that distance. He figured that Daddy was very smart and he surely would notice. He did hope it would be soon. He needed to go outside and clear his nose with the enticing smells of grass, flowers, and the morning news courtesy of the fire hydrant. Pudge the Pomeranian was going for his snip date and he wanted to find out how he did. Humans always took as much time as they wanted on their papers of which Satch thought there was really only one good use for and that was in an extreme emergency. It annoyed him that human’s didn’t extend the same courtesy for them to go and read their paper on the fire hydrant.
Peter took a deep breath and groaned. He looked up and saw Satchmoe and his worst fear was confirmed. Peter understood changing diapers came with the territory. El insisted that the duty be shared and it was a ‘father/son bonding experience’. Peter was all in favor of bonding but he preferred activities that didn’t look and smell so disgusting at times he had to fight the urge to run to the toilet and heave. He had been to crime scenes that looked and smelled better than a baby diaper. He looked up and grinned. Neal had figured how to propel himself a little via rolling. It amused Peter though that Neal didn’t have mastery on the reverse gear. He would roll until he met a roadblock and look annoyed and confused. He would proceed to try to take down the roadblock until an adult heard the frustration and discretely repositioned the baby so Neal could go back on his merry way. Neal was at the roadblock of the TV. He seemed to have a love/hate relationship with it. Neal loved the TV that he could watch his stuff on, but he hated the roadblock the entertainment center made and its inability to get out of Neal’s way. He felt he was making his intensions perfectly clear and that the furniture was being stubborn.
Peter girded up his courage and a clothespin he’d snuck into the house at the advice of some veteran fathers and picked up Neal. He cuddled his son and headed off to the nursery to face his fate with courage and dignity befitting an FBI agent.
TBC… J