Sleeping Beauty

by Nelson



February 2005

Dedicated to AJ.



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Mmmm," Zach moaned in pleasure with Nelson's ministrations.

"You like that?" Nelson asked, smile spreading across his face at Zach's responsiveness.

Zach closed his eyes, nodded and said, "Lower. Yeah…oh, right there…"

Nelson worked his thumbs in little circles over the sole of Zach's foot. "There?"

Zach nodded and said, "Yeah."

"Does it make you feel better?" Zach's thumping head barely moved up and down as he enjoyed the attention. Nelson said, "You still sound horrible. At least you haven't had a fever today."

"I know," Zach said. "To the right."

Nelson paused from rubbing Zach's feet in his lap to answer the phone. "Hello?"

"Who is it?" Zach asked, still stretched out on the sofa.

Nelson held up a finger to Zach and said, "Really? It will take them a good four hours to get here. No, I'll come there. Zach is sick… Uh, huh… Relax. I'll see you in a bit."

"Well?" Zach asked on a voice still coarse from the virus he was fighting.

"It was Justin. Jordan's water broke and…"

"TMI!" Zach squeaked. He covered his ears quickly before he had to hear anything about cervixes effacing or dilating, or any other gross baby-birthing details.

Nelson laughed and squeezed Zach's feet some more. "Okay, long story short, I need to go meet Justin at the hospital."

"Why?"

"No one is there to watch Christien until Mom and Dad get back. They had to cut their trip short but they're on their way home. Justin can't coach Jordan and watch Christien at the same time. I can't bring Christien here with you sick."

Zach threw the blanket off him and started to get up. "Okay," Zach said. "I can be ready in about…"

"Whoa," Nelson interrupted with a hand on Zach's arm. "Where do you think you're going?"

"To the hospital," Zach said. "With you."

"No, I don't think so," Nelson corrected. "You'll stay here."

Zach scowled his disapproval and said, "Why?"

"If because I said so isn't enough," Nelson said with a wink while standing, "then because you're still sick. You don't need to be running around, much less going to a hospital where others definitely don't need your germs." He covered Zach's feet with the blanket and tucked it back around him.

"My germs are just fine. I'll keep them to myself," Zach said.

"I know you will," Nelson said dropping a kiss to Zach's forehead, both to settle his Brat and check for fever, "because you're staying here."

"But I want to go…" Zach started to say. "I feel better today."

"And I said…?" Nelson responded, pushing Zach's hair back from his forehead.

Zach fell against the sofa cushions and crossed his arms. "No."

"Bingo." Nelson slipped his shoes on by the staircase and said, "I'll be back as soon as I can. I'll be calling you to keep you posted, but call if you need anything."

Zach's pouting look didn't seem to faze Nelson in the least, but it did earn Zach another peck to the forehead. "Quit fuming. I'll be home soon," Nelson said.

"I'm not so sick that I should be left out of all the excitement," Zach groused.

Nelson caught Zach under the chin with a curled index finger. "I said 'no'." Zach lowered his eyes although his face was turned up to Nelson. Nelson asked, "Clear?"

"Clear," Zach said, his voice cracking from not being fully recovered.

"Good. I won't be that long, and if last time is any indication of how this delivery will go, you'll be over this virus before the baby gets here."

"What do you mean?"

"She was in labor a long time with Christien. I'll be home as soon as Mom and Dad get here to watch Christien. I'll see you." Zach folded his arms glaring at Nelson's back as he walked away, leaving Zach alone.

********

Christien played in his mother's room, hyper at being somewhere new, which was always exciting to a 7-year-old. The assigned nurse came in to check Jordan's progress once again, and Justin and Nelson corralled Christien out into the hallway.

Nelson and Justin looked up when the door opened and the nurse came back into the hall. "She's still at four centimeters. Not quite time for an epidural or to call the doctor in."

"Still?" Justin asked.

The nurse smiled as she passed him in the hall. "The baby will come when she's ready, Daddy."

"Babies are funny like that," Nelson said with a chuckle.

"Damn," Justin said. "I get so nervous waiting." He pushed through the door and went back to Jordan's side. "How are you, honey?"

"Okay for now," she said.

"It's been three hours," Justin complained.

Jordan said, "Is that all? It feels a lot longer."

The contraction monitor was scratching lines on the strips of paper feeding through it, and Nelson looked over in time to see the marks spiking. "Contraction, coming right up."

"Oh, crap," Jordan said as she gripped the sides of the bed.

"Christien," Nelson said. "Let's go in the hall, okay?"

"What for?" Christien said even as he came over to Nelson.

Nelson took the smaller hand in his and said, "I want something to drink."

Nelson looked down the hall toward sound of the dinging elevator as he and Christien came out of the breakroom. He stopped in his tracks as a familiar form, wearing a red jacket he recognized, stepped through the elevator doors behind several other people. "Zach," Nelson said evenly, eyeing his partner.

The people in front of Zach dispersed down the hallway, leaving Zach feeling unusually bare in the empty corridor, despite being fully dressed. Zach swallowed and tried to maintain eye contact. "Hey, Nelson. What's up, Christien?" Zach said.

Christien broke into a run to greet Zach and he slung a little arm around Zach's legs while he balanced his can of Sprite. "Uncle Zach!"

"I didn't expect to see you here," Nelson said. His jaw clenched as he worked to control his emotions.

"I felt better," Zach said. "I thought I'd stop by."

Christien slurped his Sprite and said, "You sound funny, Uncle Zach."

"That's because he's sick, Christien," Nelson said, "and should be at home resting."

Justin came out of the hospital room and saw Zach. "Zach. I thought you were sick," he said.

"Hi, Justin," Zach said on a raspy throat.

"Man, you sound horrible," Justin said. Zach recognized the worried expression on Justin's face, having seen a comparable one many times on Nelson's. The two men's similar expressions, build and blond hair gave them away instantly as brothers.

Nelson said, "He does sound rough, doesn't he?"

Zach knew the look in his partner's eyes. It was the controlled expression he used when he was trying not to strangle Zach. Zach cleared his throat and said, "I just wanted to come by and see how things were, that's all. I didn't want to miss anything."

"What? Nelson didn't call you?" Justin asked. "You're falling down on the job, bro."

"No, I'm not. I called him. I told him we had a long way to go." Turning his attention back to Zach he added, "I guess he had to see for himself."

"I wanted to be here, too."

"Thanks for stopping by, buddy, but you sound awful," Justin said.

"I don't feel so bad," Zach said.

Justin clapped a hand to Zach's shoulder. "You should go home and wait. I'd hate for you to have a relapse or something on our account."

Nelson slipped his hands in his pockets and said to Zach, "I'd feel better if you went home, too." Zach nodded.

Justin said, "I have to get some more ice chips for Jordan. Duty calls. See you later, Zach. We'll keep you posted. You want to come with me, son?"

Zach watched as the last of their audience followed Justin down the hallway, Christien's little feet having to do double time to keep up with Justin's bigger stride.

"Sorry, Nelson," Zach said, responding to the cold glare he was getting.

"No. I don't think you are. Not yet."

"I wanted to be here, too," Zach said.

"I told you to stay at home and that is exactly what I meant. You were counting on the fact that I wouldn't say anything to you with the family around."

Zach studied the shiny tile at his feet and said, "I thought you'd let me stay once I got here. And I do feel better."

"You don't play me like that. I won't have it."

Zach glanced up at Nelson and then right back at the floor. "I wasn't playing you."

"Oh, yes you were. And I want you to go back home where I told you to stay."

"But I'm just laying around. I can sit here as good as I can sit at home."

Nelson's questioning brow rose. "You're about to have trouble sitting anywhere."

Hell, Zach thought. I walked right smack into that one. "I'm sorry," he said again, knowing there wasn't anything left to say.

"Go home, go straight to bed. Mom and Dad should be here in an hour or so then I'm coming home," Nelson said. "I don't want you out of the bed for anything other than the bathroom, food, fire or flood. Got it?"

"Yes, sir," Zach mumbled. He raised a hopeful glance to Nelson. "But do I feel better. Really."

"Home," Nelson said, unwavering. Nelson reached out and pressed the down button on the elevator, keeping vigil until he saw Zach get inside. He felt like folding as he saw his partner's pitiful expression as the elevator doors closed. Nelson shook his head and he walked back down the hallway.

*******

Nelson could hear the television playing downstairs when he came in from the garage. He dropped his keys in his pocket as he stood over the sofa where Zach was, lying right where Nelson left him earlier. "You are really trying to get your butt blistered, aren't you?"

"What?" Zach asked innocently.

"Don't 'what' me. You know exactly what."

Zach's found something interesting to look at on the floor. "I came down for cough syrup."

"And you failed to go back to bed because…"

"I don't know."

"Go upstairs," Nelson said as he aimed the remote at the television, silencing it.

Zach couldn't seem to get up right away, stalling as much as he could. "Is the baby born yet?"

"No. Upstairs," Nelson said.

"But, Nelson…"

Nelson's patience was gone after Zach disobeyed him twice in one night. He counted quickly, leaving barely a beat between the numbers, "One… Two…"

"I'm going, I'm going," Zach said at once. He left the lap quilt lying in a puddle on the sofa and rushed up the stairs.

Nelson sighed and sat on the sofa, holding his head in his hand for a few minutes before he followed Zach up. It was getting late, and he was tired, neither of which changed the fact that he still had to deal with what happened.

The shuffle of Nelson's feet on the carpet made Zach instinctively clutch the covers to his chest. His eyes were fixed on the bedroom door, and he watched as it swung open and his partner filled the frame instead. "I'm sick," Zach said as a reminder of his fragile state.

"Yet you were well enough to come traipsing down to the hospital after I told you not to," Nelson said. Nelson hitched up his jeans and took a seat on the edge of the bed at Zach's side.

"But I didn't want to miss it! It's my niece being born, too," Zach said, scooting back against the headboard. Nelson shook his head and held out his hand. "But, Nelson!"

"But nothing. You willingly made a decision to disobey me. You know how I feel about that." Nelson snapped his fingers in Zach's direction and stubbornly kept his hand outstretched. "Come on," Nelson said.

"But, I don't feel good!" Zach repeated.

"Didn't you come to the hospital because you said you felt better?"

"Well, better isn't 100%."

Nelson leaned over and took Zach's hand since it didn't seem he was going to come on his own. Nelson dragged him over his lap and quickly slipped Zach's boxers out of his way.

He swatted one cheek, then the other. "When I say to stay at home," he said, "I mean for you to stay here."

"Ow! Okay, okay!" Zach said. He struggled against Nelson's hold, and gripped the comforter in his fists.

Nelson smacked Zach's rump a couple more times, paused and asked, "What were you thinking? You knew you were going to get in trouble from the minute you decided to come to the hospital."

"I don't know!" Zach yelped as Nelson resumed with two particularly hard swats to the same place.

"You had to be thinking something." Nelson swatted Zach's seat twice more. "So, what was it, Zachary? What were you thinking?"

Zach answered in a hoarse whisper, "I just wanted to come. And that it wasn't fair that I couldn't."

"And I said 'no'. End of discussion," Nelson responded, with a few more swats. Tears pricked the backs of Zach's eyes and his vision began to blur even as his throat tightened. Nelson paused again and said, "It's bad enough you disobeyed me to begin with but then to refuse to stay in our room like I told you, too…"

"I was bored," Zach rasped.

"You'd better stop rationalizing why it is you should disobey me, Zach. It's going to make for some very uncomfortable sitting."

The tears had just begun to flow when Nelson brought his hand down a final few times. He put Zach on his feet and pulled his underwear back into place over his pink cheeks. Holding back the covers, Nelson said, "Back in bed." Zach crawled between the sheets, and Nelson said, "I want you to stay in this bed like I told you."

"I said I was sorry," Zach said tearfully.

"I know, and it's okay. You just need to finish out your time in bed like I told you to begin with." Nelson left the room as soon as he pulled the blankets back around Zach.

Zach curled up around his pillow, his feelings hurting worse than his butt as he thought Nelson was leaving him alone out of disappointment. Zach cried into his pillow, feeling sorry for himself. His throat was starting to hurt again, and his head adopted a rhythm to match the slight pulsing of his behind.

His breath caught when he felt the shift of the bed with Nelson's weight. "Come here," Nelson said gently.

Zach kept his back turned, preferring to face his pillow rather than his lover. "Zach. I have some medicine for you," Nelson said.

Zach blinked and wiped tears away as he rolled over. "You went for medicine?"

"Where did you think I went? Did you think I wasn't coming back?"

"I don't know. You just never…" Zach said, his face crumpling again. "Leave me… after…"

Nelson realized his error immediately, although too late. "Hey. Come here," Nelson said, tugging Zach up so he could get his arms around him. "I'm sorry, Zach. I just wanted to get your medicine and didn't think about how that would look to you. I wasn't leaving you to punish you. I just wanted to get something for your throat."

"I didn't know."

"I know. I'm sorry." He stroked Zach's head and kept his arms around Zach speaking softly to him while he calmed down. The tears turned to sniffling, which finally turned to hitching breaths. "We're good," Nelson said. "Right?"

Zach nodded and gripped Nelson tightly around the chest. "We're good. I'm sorry I came to the hospital tonight. I just felt left out."

"I know but you needed to rest," Nelson said. "Doctor's orders."

"I'm not that sick."

"You're sick enough. Your throat has to hurt with the way it sounds," Nelson said. "And, I get to decide how sick you are."

Zach pulled back and looked at Nelson. "You didn't seem to think I was too sick to spank," he said, wearing a perfectly wounded expression.

"That was more like a sound swatting and you know it," Nelson said. "If you weren't still sick, you would have gotten the full deal instead of a swatting and an evening in our room."

"It still hurt," Zach complained.

Nelson gave a soft laugh. "I meant for it to."

"I knew you were going to say that," Zach said.

"Take your pills," Nelson said, shaking two out of the vial.

"My head hurts now, too," Zach said taking the pills from Nelson, swallowing down the antibiotics. "Can I have some Advil?"

Nelson cut his eyes at Zach. "For what? Your behind or your head?"

"I meant for my head, but…"

Nelson sighed and said, "Well, I want your butt uncomfortable, but not the rest of you. I'll get you some Advil."

Zach looked gratefully at Nelson. "Thank you," he said with a small smile. "My head is really thumping."

"I'll get you something," Nelson said.

Zach threw the Advil to the back of his throat and swallowed. "Can't I go back downstairs? Please?" he asked. "It's boring up here."

"No, you're staying here where I told you to stay," Nelson said gently but with a firmness that didn't allow for any arguments. "Unless you'd like more of a spanking..."

"No," Zach answered. "That's okay."

Nelson kissed the top of Zach's head. "I didn't think so. I'll stay with you though. Let me get more comfortable and I'll be right back."

Zach let Nelson go reluctantly, and he lay back on the bed. He immediately chose to stretch out on his side when his butt touched the mattress. "'Sound swatting' my a--butt," he said, admiring the way Nelson's ass filled out his jeans as he walked away.

"Yes, I soundly swatted your 'a-butt'," Nelson said over his shoulder with a grin.

"Tops have a weird sense of humor, you know that?"

Nelson pulled his shirt over his head and said, "Not weird, just unappreciated."

*********

"You look good," Nelson said, leaning in to kiss his sister-in-law on the cheek.

"Thank you," Jordan said as she came into the house.

"Hey," Zach said. "Let me help you with that." He took the diaper bag from Justin leaving him to juggle the car seat base alone. "Why the car seat?"

"Just in case you need it," Justin said. "The carrier pops right into the base. Here you go."

"Let me see this little girl," Nelson said smiling. "Hi, doll." He moved the blanket out of the way so he could see the six-week-old wonder that was his niece.

"Thanks for watching her for a few hours," Jordan said, hoisting the baby carrier onto the coffee table. "We just couldn't resist a night out since Christien is at a sleepover."

"No problem," Nelson said. Zach leaned over to look at the baby. Nelson gently picked her up, and her eyes stayed closed while she slept peacefully. She barely wiggled before she settled in Nelson's arms.

Nelson nodded politely through the list of things to do and not to do that Jordan listed from memory. The two finally said their goodbyes after Justin pushed Jordan along so they would have time for dinner before the movie.

"I'm glad we're watching her together," Zach said. He sat close to Nelson on the sofa and tucked a finger in the baby's palm. Her little fist closed around it instinctively while she slept.

"You would be fine without me," Nelson said.

"I would be scared I wouldn't know what to do with her," Zach said.

Nelson couldn't resist a smile while he admired his niece. "What's scary about this pretty little thing? She's a sleeping beauty."

"Um, let's see," Zach said, ticking off things as they came to his mind. "Changing her for one, bathing her if I had to, crying that won't stop, mixing the formula right, burping her…"

The baby stretched in Nelson's arms and her squinty, infant eyes opened to focus on the faces peering at her. "Hey, there, Madison," Nelson said, his voice naturally rising to a falsetto and softening. "How's my girl?"

Zach mimicked Nelson's baby talk in a version of his own. "Hi, sweetie," Zach said. "You decided to wake up." Her little fingers wrapped more tightly around Zach's finger as she became more alert.

"Want to hold her?" Nelson asked.

Zach looked uncertainly at the little bundle of pink and white dwarfed in Nelson's arms. "She's so little. I'm afraid I'll break her or something."

"You've held her before," Nelson laughed. "Say, 'I'm a tough girl, Uncle Zach'," Nelson said into the blanket. "Aren't you?"

"You've had experience when Christien was little," Zach said, somewhat nervous to take the baby from Nelson. "He was unbreakable by the time I came along."

"You're fine. Besides," Nelson said. "I have to use the bathroom."

"Thanks for sharing," Zach said with a grin.

"That's it. Watch her head," Nelson said. He transferred Madison to Zach's arms, and Zach marveled at her.

Alone with Madison, Zach smiled in wonder as he watched the tiny mouth stretch into a yawn. She blinked and looked at him, her mouth opening in a little "o" like she had something important to say but couldn't seem to find the words. "You're a pretty little thing," Zach said. He fingered the blond wisps of hair encircling her face and ran the back of his finger down her smooth cheek. "So soft," he said. He picked up her tiny hand and looked at the miniature appendage, seeing the lines and curves in shrunken detail.

Nelson interrupted his thoughts when he returned. "Did you miss me?" Nelson asked, sitting back on the sofa. He slung his arm across the back behind Zach's shoulders. "Nothing got broken or anything, did it? All her fingers and toes are still there?" he joked when he saw Zach checking her fingers.

"Yes, we survived a whole minute and a half."

"Good."

Still looking at the tiny hand, Zach said, "She's so perfect."

"That she is," Nelson said.

Without warning, Madison started to cry. "Uh, oh," Zach said. "Maybe not entirely perfect. Time to go see Uncle Nelson." He slipped his hand under Madison's butt and head, turning her to Nelson.

He offered the squirming baby to his partner and Nelson said, "Oh, no. You need the practice." He said as he stood up. "Want to change her or fix a bottle?"

"Bottle," Zach said without hesitation, still handing the baby over. "You're the doctor. You're used to bodily fluids and excretions."

"It's just sugar water," Nelson said. Switching to his baby voice, he said to Madison, "Isn't it?" He took her in his arms, relieving Zach of the responsibility of figuring out the mechanics of diapering.

"It's *pee*," Zach said. "Nothing sugary about it." Zach pulled an empty bottle and a canister of formula out of the diaper bag, searching the can intently for directions. "How do I do this?"

Nelson laid the baby on his shoulder and held his hand out for a diaper. "One scoop to two ounces of water if I remember right, but double check."

Zach felt in the bag for a diaper while he continued to read the back. "Here you go," he said, handing Nelson a diaper. "I'm going to give it a try."

"Okay," Nelson said. "Let's see what we have, little beauty. No surprises, I hope."

Zach dug the scooper in the can and came up with the right amount of powder. He vigorously shook the bottle, keeping his finger over the nipple to keep from getting splattered with formula. He watched a clump or two float by. "Nelson! It isn't dissolving very well."

"You used warm water, didn't you?"

"Crap," he muttered to himself. "No," he yelled toward the other room. He emptied and rinsed the bottle, starting from scratch, and finally got the formula mixed to his satisfaction.

Nelson pulled the bottom of the baby's gown down around her curled up legs just as Zach came back with the bottle. "Here you go," Zach said.

"Why don't you feed her?"

"I don't know…" Zach said. Madison started crying again and Zach pushed the bottle more firmly toward Nelson.

"Try it," Nelson said. Finally convincing Zach to feed her, Nelson propped a pillow under Zach's elbow so he could hold the baby comfortably while she ate.

"She's going back to sleep, I think," Zach said, watching her eyelids raise and lower sleepily.

"Sleeping Beauty. They sure do sleep a lot at this age."

"Yeah."

"How much has she had to eat?" Nelson asked. "You might need to burp her."

Zach pulled the bottle away, and Madison's lips sucked at the empty air, her tiny mouth working as though the nipple was still between her lips. He held the bottle up at eye level to find the ounce marks on the side. "About an ounce?" Zach said.

"I think that's about right for burping her. Do you know how?" Nelson asked. Zach looked at him incredulously, and Nelson smiled. "It's easy. Sit her up, hold her chin in one hand. That's right. Now sort of tip her forward."

When Zach leaned Madison over, a burp bellowed up from her belly before he even started to pat her back. He and Nelson looked at each other then burst out laughing. "That was big for such a little lady," Zach said. He patted her on the back to see if any more air was trapped inside.

By the time she was finished eating, she was back to sleep. Nelson wrapped an arm around Zach's shoulders and admired Madison in Zach's arms. "You're a natural, Zach," Nelson said.

"You think? I don't know for sure about that," Zach said, "but I don't think I'll break her."

"You won't," Nelson said. "I'm sure of it. I felt just as clumsy when they had Christien. It's a quick learn, though."

"Yeah, she's not so scary after all." Zach looked over at Nelson after admiring the baby a moment. "Do you think…? Never mind."

"What?"

"Well…"

"What is it, Zach?"

"Do you ever want to have kids?" Zach asked.

Nelson lifted his eyebrows in a mix of wonder and thoughtfulness. "I'm not sure. I never really thought about it, you know?"

"Me, neither, really. But she just makes me think… I don't know…"

"It's certainly something we could talk about. I wouldn't say absolutely not, but I wouldn't do anything right now."

"No, not now, but later. Much later," Zach said. "When I'm out of college and have my career on the right path. Maybe then we could talk about it."

"Sure," Nelson said. He peeled back the baby blanket, noticing the blond locks sticking to Madison's head where she was beginning to sweat. "Let's uncover her a bit. You know, if we decide never to have kids, we have a niece and a nephew we can love."

"Yeah, we do. But you get to change them."

"Me? Why should I have all the fun?" Nelson asked with a twinkle in his eye.

"I have to draw the line somewhere, Nelson."

"Come on, Zach. You're not telling me you can't change a little bitty diaper, are you?"

"No, I'm sure I *can*. That isn't the point."

Nelson started laughing and turned Zach's face by his chin to kiss him. "You always make me laugh, you know that?"

"I try," Zach said, kissing him again. "But I wasn't kidding. When we babysit, let's agree that you get the diapers."

"I think we should share that rewarding responsibility."

Zach considered it. "Fine, I can agree to that," Zach said. "I'll take the wet ones and you take the… number twos."

"What?!" Nelson laughed. "How is that fair? You won't get the full baby experience if you don't change a 'number two' occasionally."

"I'd rather not, thank you," Zach said smiling.

"Where's your sense of adventure?"

Zach said, "I'd rather find adventure somewhere other than in a dirty diaper."

"You don't know what you're missing," Nelson said.

"Oh, I think I do," Zach said. "Deal?"

Nelson smiled and said, "Deal."

The end.