Babysitter's Club

[catchacold]

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[boilover]

diapers have sizes

what sizes is for like a small baby? do you know? what did lisa have???

[catchacold]

They say the ages on the side. For babies you have to look at '1-3 months' or whatever's applicable. They even have some that are by weeks.

...why?

[boilover]

okay gotcha thanks

what is formula?

[catchacold]

It's a powder that you put into milk in the right dosage and substitutes for breast milk.

What the hell are you up to?

[boilover]

Good, gotcha.

Can a baby sleep on a bed or does it need like a crib?

[catchacold]

They need a crib. Otherwise they might roll out of bed, plus, cribs have a different kind of mattress that works better for them.

Where are you?

[boilover]

but like short term could it just like rest on top of a mattress and not roll off? Or could they sleep on the floor?

Shopping for food and stuff. Why?

[catchacold]

You shouldn't short term put a baby on the floor. Also, if you sleep in the same bed, YOU might roll on top of it.

Because I want to ask you what the hell you're doing why.

[boilover]

So it HAS to be a crib. Cool, cool.

Just curious. You know. Wondering. I'm in the baby aisle and I was curious and stuff.

[catchacold]

I know you like picking up babes, but that ain't what that means.

Talk to me.

[boilover]

Well, I'll know what to do if a girl I pick up has a baby or something

I should really go...

check in later?

[catchacold]

Stay exactly where you are.

[boilover]

... what?

why?

I'm in the cereal aisle? Am I like near a bomb or something?

[catchacold]

"You have a baby." Leonard said it from right behind Mick, of course somehow casually leaning against the aisle, his eyes on the baby. He lifted his hand to wave and while the baby was too little to do much, he was already smiling. Happy baby. Cute.

"Tell me what's up. Baby looks familiar."

[boilover]

"It's wet, I think it peed. Are those gonna work?" He nodded his head towards the trolley he had, where baby things had been throw in. Bottle, formula, diapers, talc, all the stuff he saw when he googled 'what do babies need' and he was pretty sure that was what he needed. He was holding Teddy sort of awkwardly, like he was afraid it'd get too close to him and he pulled a face when he looked at him. The baby was in a scrappy looking bear onesie for warmth but it looked old, worn and not very costly.

Lazy as mom couldn't even dress him nice before dumping him off. "It's nothing. I'm gonna get rid of it soon, no worries. I don't do babies."

[catchacold]

"Mick. That's your child, isn't it?" It was pretty obvious. Leonard pulled out his wallet for a quick check, than looked at what Mick had in the trolley already. "You're gonna need a lot more stuff. Do you even have clothes?" Leonard walked closer to them both, holding a hand out to the kid and smiling when a tiny hand clamped around his finger. "A boy or a girl?"

[boilover]

"It's not! Look, I had a fling and some bitch dumped it on my doorstep, doesn't mean it's mine. It's like a baby. It's not my baby and she can't fucking prove it, okay?" Mick insisted as he glared down at the kid, who wriggled and reached out, making a happy noise as it held onto Leonard's finger, wriggling a little. "I dunno? I don't want to look, it's creepy." Could he look at a babies ... down there area? It was a baby! "We don't need clothes, I gotta return it. I can just dump it somewhere over night and then give it back to her."

[catchacold]

"You want to give the kid to someone you don't even like that doesn't want it?" Leonard just raised an eyebrow and reached up to stroke the baby's cheek. "You can look into adoption agencies, but it ain't gonna be easy. Besides, the system's pretty broken. Look at Axel." His broken boy. Leonard looked up at Mick and down again, then back up. "Bad news, Mick. That kid looks like you."

[boilover]

"He's not mine, she can have him back. She can raise him. She did all this time!" Mick knew she probably wasn't an option, her note said not to look for her, she couldn't cope and she had to leave him. Outside in the hallway, crying and cold. Mick almost stepped on the baby going out to smoke. He pulled a face at the kid and then held it out to Leonard like it was a dirty football. "It looks nothing like me, get lost. Here, just ... just leave it in the display crib and let's run."

[catchacold]

"I'm not leaving your child anywhere." Leonard took the tiny baby from Mick and cradled it in his arm, gently rocking it. "Did she mention if she'd named the baby?" Leonard looked down at the kid, trying to estimate. "Just a few weeks old, I'm guessing. She say anything about when it was born? Birth certificate? You got anything?" He knew they had to figure this stuff out fast. "You need to get a bottle. Did you buy one yet? And pacifiers."

[boilover]

"Nope, just a letter where she whined for like two pages. Had it in an alley after prom, didn't want to tell her parents, too much stress to hide it and then she left it with me. She didn't really mention a name. Or gender. Just 'baby'." Mick pulled a face and looked at the baby, head tilted to the side. It looked at him, just blinking and watching, clearly curious. "The bottle is in the trolley. Do I put water in it? I guess I can use the tap in the bathroom." Mick shrugged his shoulders. "I didn't get one of those pacifier thingies though. He sucks his hand plenty."

[catchacold]

"Great." What else did one even say to that, other than that this was the world's calmest baby? "You're lucky he's so damn happy, given he apparently got one crappy set of parents." There, that should bring his point home. "And, no, Mick. A baby that age can only drink milk. Mother's milk, ideally, but in this case formula in normal milk will have to do. So we need to pick up some fresh milk. And the pacifiers are important for how the mouth develops, stuff like that, so you need those."

[boilover]

"You think it's a he?" He had a son... huh. Weird. That was a weird concept. He frowned at the list and rubbed at his head, groaning in frustration. "This is such bullshit! I just made all that money from our job, I was going to get some nudies, DVDs and a fucking new set of headlights and now I gotta piss it all away on fucking baby stuff? What the hell?!" Of course Mick was getting angry, he was Mick, he did that. He huffed angrily and kicked at a shelf of cereal, causing some boxes to fall off and Teddy, who had been nice and calm up until now, started to cry. Of course he did, his daddy was being loud and angry.

[catchacold]

"I'll pay for the stuff you're getting now, Mick. I just had a great haul the other night. Now calm down, you're upsetting him. I ain't gonna let you make your son cry like some asshole father. Got enough of those." Leonard rocked the child a little, turning around. He was pretty sure it was a son, just from the looks of him and some other hints, but they'd know for sure soon. "Now see if we can't find a blanket and towel for him. You need somewhere to lie him down for changing, might as well. And there's special shampoo and stuff for babies."

[boilover]

"Can't you go get that stuff?" Mick huffed as he pulled a face and, eventually, he headed off to get what he was hold. He came back with a baby towel, a pacifier, some clothes, a blanket and the shampoo. He watched Leonard with the kid for a moment before pulling a face. "If you get the rest, I'll do the -- the thing. I think I can do it?" How hard could changing a diaper be? It was like putting on pants that fastened at the side.