AU: Babies Don't Have Rabies (Jamie)

[Chase Campbell]

”Ow!” The resulting look seemed far from remorseful. “Rhys, I swear to God. We. Don’t. Bite. Daddy. We – Rhys.” The teething baby just stared at his father, seemingly engaged in a full bore battle of wills with his father. “What am I going to do with you?” He was supposed to be entertaining the baby while James worked in the kitchen. After throwing on a baseball game on television, he’d expected Rhys to nod off like he usually did and everything would be fine.

Instead, the baby was very much awake, and very, very much in a biting mood. His dark eyes were roaming around the room, his little feet kicking against Chase’s lap as he held him still. “C’mon Rhys. Naptime.” His son looked back at him, and Chase could just feel him plotting again. He wouldn’t dare use his power on him, but some days it was awfully tempting. “What are you up to?”

Rhys grabbed onto his hand, smiling innocent as he nuzzled against it. Plotted or not, Chase once again ended up the recipient of a gooey bite. Okay, that was it. Scooping Rhys up against his chest, the trainer rose from the couch in the living room and marched into the kitchen, holding the baby at an arms’ length. “Take him before I get rabies or tetanus or something.” He loved Rhys, he did, but this biting phase had to end.

[Dr. James Campbell]

Okay, to be honest James thought it was a little funny.

He'd been through the baby years once before, though Ginny had never been such a vicious biter. Chase, on the other hand, was learning on the fly how to handle such a tiny person. He'd been doing very well at it too, at least until Rhys's teeth had started to come in.

James had been cleaning the kitchen and sanitizing everything after Nikki's attempt at making breakfast on his own that morning. (There had been eggs and almost certainly cross-contamination from them.) He knew Chase could handle the baby just fine, but apparently he was having an off day today.

"Okay, Chase. I'll take him for now. How about you sweep the floor so I can mop in a bit?" James took hold of their son and pulled a tissue from the box on the counter. He mopped up the baby's chin, tossed out the tissue, and headed over to the fridge.

Last night, James had put a couple of teething rings in the freezer. He took one out and held it against his son's mouth, and Rhys quickly got the picture and started happily gnawing away. "There you go, baby. That should help you feel better. Not chewing on Daddy."

[Chase Campbell]

Chase honestly had no idea what to do with babies. Kids, he could handle, both from experience being a trainer, as well as with his nieces and nephews. But babies? it had been just one source of stress of many when he'd been pregnant with Rhys, and now, though he was getting better, he still had his moments. Like now.

Once James had the baby, Chase rubbed his hand on his shirt, shaking his head slightly at Rhys' reaction to the teething ring. The trainer was still having a tough time figuring things out like just why Rhys would scream his head off one moment and be perfectly fine the next. James was just magical that way. "At least he doesn't bite you," he mumbled as he went to get the broom and dust pan.

One of the many benefits to living with someone like James was that everything was always in its' place. The broom was exactly where it should have been, and Chase set to work while James watched their son. This, he could handle, which was nice. He liked helping out. Especially when the alternative was being a human teething ring. He honestly loved Rhys, but he really couldn't wait for the teething phase to end. "You're so good with him," he said as he swept the floor. "If I was half that good, I'd be happy."

[Dr. James Campbell]

It only took Rhys a few moments of chewing on the chilled toy before he started to calm down. Really, soothing the baby wasn't all that hard, as he wasn't thatfussy. James planted a kiss on his son's feathery hair and carried him out of the kitchen, giving Chase plenty of space to start sweeping.

"Shh, shh, there you go." The recruiter swayed a little, rocking the baby. Rhys cooed and burbled something, then went straight back to his happy gnawing. "You're right. Teething rings taste much better than Daddy."

James laughed at Chase's comment and shook his head. No matter what he said to his husband, it seemed that the blond man was dead-set on claiming to be a bad parent. He couldn't let that stand. "You are more than half as good. Two-thirds as good, at least."

Okay, despite everything, James still liked to tease Chase.

"I mean it though. You just have to remember to give him one of the teething rings when he gets like this. Pretty soon it'll be over though and we'll have new challenges, like walking."

[Chase Campbell]

It wasn't that hard for James, clearly. Chase still had trouble differentiating the different cries their son made, not sure when he was hungry, tired, wet, or all of the above, as was the case sometimes. Yet James always seemed to have the answer, even in the early days when they were both exhausted and Chase felt like he couldn't even see straight, never mind think straight. Maybe he'd figure out one day. Like when Rhys was a teenager.

He eyed James from across the counter as he worked, shaking his head as Rhys settled right in. "Maybe that's the problem. I taste better." He could pretend that was the case, anyway. It made him feel a little better.

He doubted his skills mostly because he'd spent a large part of his adult life not exactly loving the idea of having his own kids. Things had changed after he'd met James and his hoards of nieces and nephews. They'd changed even more after meeting Ginny, and more when they'd adopted Niko. But he still wasn't 100% convinced that he'd be good at this, especially when he still couldn't even figure out what a simple cry meant. "Two thirds at most," he said back, but at least this time it was said with a little less self-depreciation.

God, walking. Chase didn't want to think about that. Despite the slight frustrations that arose with the baby, Chase still loved him as he was. "Does he really have to grow up? When he's not biting or yelling about something, I kind of like him like this." It was hard for him to get into trouble when the best he could do was roll around on the floor, or commando crawl around. "He stays out of trouble like this. If he grows up, it'll start with walking, and the next thing we know he's going to be out after curfew and running wild."

[Dr. James Campbell]

James laughed quietly and gently bounced Rhys in his arms. He had a lot more experience with watching kids grow up. There were all the nieces and nephews, sure, and Nikki had grown so much since he'd come to live with them. But he also had Ginny, and had been through all of this with her. He'd soothed her through teething and steadied her while walking.

And, okay, there had been a gap when he'd first gone to Hammel and when Lucy initiated the divorce. But she'd relented before Ginny had started kindergarten. Even at long-distance, he'd seen his little girl grow up. Now she was in college.

"I like him like this too." James pressed another kiss onto the top of the baby's head, then transferred him to his high chair. With the teething ring in his mouth, Rhys didn't make a sound. "But just think. Do you remember the first time you took Niko to swim in the lake? We're going to get a whole lot more of those first times with Rhys."

[Chase Campbell]

That comment made Chase smile. Yeah, there would be a lot of firsts with Rhys. First... everything, really. And that was oddly exciting. The trainer smiled as he continued to sweep the kitchen, thinking about all of them. First words, first steps. Really, first everythings.

"That'll be fun. First words, first steps..." He inched out of the kitchen to lay his chin on James' shoulder to look at their son. "First R rated movie... first tattoo..." He was kidding, yes, and he was sure that James would know that. Two could play at the teasing game.

Once everything was swept into the pan, Chase deposited the accumulated dust into the trash, making sure to knock the pan against the side so that none remained, then put both the broom and pan away again. "What else do you need a hand with?" With Rhys safely contained, he was happy to pitch in wherever else James needed him.

[Dr. James Campbell]

James affectionately swiped at his husband and laughed quietly. He didn't think either of their sons would be getting a tattoo anytime soon. Niko was a teenager, but a young teenager yet. "I think you're rushing ahead a bit. I'm looking forward to his first day of kindergarten."

He'd still been at Hammel as a student when Ginny had reached that milestone, and of course Niko hadn't been adopted until he was nine years old.

Once Rhys had been safely set up in the high chair, James went over to the closet where he kept the cleaning supplies and began setting up the mop. When Chase offered to help with something else, he shook his head. He wasn't going to ask Chase to mop when they both knew James would end up redoing it by the end of the night. (He knew his husband tried, but he never got the corners done as well as James liked.) "No, that's it. You go watch the game. Just remember that we have to pick Nikki up from soccer practice later."

Ah, domestic bliss.

((Wrap?))