Holding Nicole to his chest with his left arm and his right arm full of the last of the baby supplies, Arthur used his foot to close the door. Walking over to the buggy, he tossed the stuff in and climbed behind the steering wheel. Realizing Nicole was in a diaper only, he reached back to grab a baby blanket and draped it over her.
With his right hand, he steered the buggy back to the house and noticed the sky had gotten very dark. When he pulled up to the back patio, he looked over at the lifeless Rudy. “Hey, thanks for coming, I got to save Nicole, thanks to you,” Arthur said, getting out of the buggy.
Opening the back door, he ferried the supplies inside and heard Nicole coo. He moved her off his shoulder and cradled her with two hands so she was looking at him, chewing on her fist. “Hey, sweetheart,” he smiled and then leaned down to kiss her, but his beard stuck her and Nicole started crying.
“Oh, you don’t like the beard?” Arthur asked, grabbing the diaper bag and pulling out the stuff for another bottle. Again, when the bottle hit her lips Nicole sucked hard, forgiving him about the beard.
It was two p.m. when Nicole finished the second bottle and Arthur grabbed the carrier and set her inside it. Sound asleep in the carrier, Arthur carried Nicole into the master bathroom and set her on the counter over Wendy’s sink.
He pulled out his clippers and found his straight razor. In a few seconds, there was only stubble left of his beard as Arthur looked at his reflection in the mirror. Finding the shaving cream, he lathered up and opened the straight razor and cleaned the stubble off. Rinsing his face off when he was done, Arthur looked in the carrier to see Nicole staring at him.
“Stickers are gone,” he smiled and Nicole squealed with a toothless grin. Picking the carrier up, Arthur headed back to the living room and dug out a little onesie and put it on Nicole.
“Let’s go find you some food at the store and then you are getting a bath,” Arthur said, getting up and heard thunder rumbling.
“Fuck!” he snapped and Nicole squealed with a grin. He looked down at her smiling. “Yeah, I can’t get you out in the rain, your body has been stressed enough.”
Nicole just cooed and then chewed on her fist as Arthur nuzzled into her neck, making her squeal again. Pulling his head back, he found a wide toothless grin of approval of the ‘no beard’. “Let’s see how much food you have, then make the call.”
Putting Nicole back in the carrier, he set her on the kitchen island and grabbed a glass from the cabinet. It looked like Arthur was measuring cocaine as he carefully measured each scoop. When he was done, he looked down at Nicole. “Seven bottles. I think we should leave in the morning.”
Nicole just chewed on her fist so Arthur took that as her agreement. Picking the carrier up, he talked to her as he moved through the house, gathering towels and rags. Thinking the rags were too tough for Nicole’s skin, Arthur opened his dresser and pulled out a t-shirt. Everywhere he moved a line of dogs followed, wondering when they could play with what he was carrying around.
Grabbing the baby shampoo and soap he’d taken from Nicole’s house, Arthur moved back to the kitchen and spread a towel out on the island beside the baby carrier. “You stinkie,” Arthur said, making a face and turning on the sink, getting the water lukewarm.
As he talked to Nicole, he grabbed some scissors and cut his shirt into small squares for baby washcloths. When he was done, he laid Nicole on the towel and stripped her down. Putting her in the sink, Nicole looked around not really sure of this.
Arthur talked to her as he washed her and the skies opened up outside. Looking out the window over the sink, he could barely see Rudy’s body out back with the rain coming down so hard. Nicole kicked her feet and splashed the water, really loving this sensation.
“Yeah, if Wendy was here, we would be closing all the shutters,” Arthur smiled down at Nicole. “She really hates storms.”
Giving a squeal when Arthur wet her head, Nicole looked up at him smiling, feeling the warm water on her body. When he was done, Arthur lifted her up and laid her on the towel, then wrapped her up. “You smell brand new,” Arthur laughed as Nicole chewed on her fist as her head lay on his shoulder while he dried her off. Putting her down, Arthur pulled the baby lotion out of the water, hoping it was warmer. After lathering Nicole down, he swaddled her back up in the towel.
With his free hand, he dumped powder in three bottles and then poured water into one. When he started shaking the bottle up, Nicole tried to lift her head up. She knew that sound and liked it. Carrying her to the living room, Arthur sat down in his recliner.
“I know you don’t have a diaper on, but we need to let your bottom breathe,” he told Nicole, moving her to the crook of his arm. As the bottle headed for her, Nicole’s mouth gaped open. When she’d latched on, Arthur started rocking the recliner.
Not able to help it, Arthur chuckled, seeing Nicole’s eyes getting very heavy. He looked in front of him and saw all four dogs sitting, staring at the small form in his arms. “Yes, we have a new member,” Arthur smiled.
Even asleep, Nicole never stopped sucking hard. When the bottle was finished, Arthur burped her and just let her sleep on his chest as he rocked. As he sat there, Arthur started making a mental list of
