Early one morning, even before Rick and Alex were finished eating breakfast, Nanna and Evelyn left for town to buy warm outfits for the new baby, and also to have a ladies day out. Once they were gone, and once Rick finished his breakfast he decided to clean the kitchen and leave one less job for Marie to do when she returned to work tomorrow.
Alex was still eating his breakfast, which consisted of a bowl of Oatmeal, and a plate of scrambled eggs and cooked ham cut into small Alex sized pieces. He was still dressed in a sleeper, and wore a red and white striped bib around his neck, though it wasn�t helping much to keep his outfit clean.
At the kitchen sink Rick found the dish washing soap and a wash-rag in the cabinet underneath the porcelain reservoir, and after pouring a liberal amount inside the sink, and putting the stopper in the drain, he turned the water on hot, then walked to the table and started gathering dishes.
With no one really there to watch over him, Alex who was more or less finished with breakfast, started to spoon his oatmeal into his tumbler of milk, until it started to overflow onto the tray. Then he stuck his hand inside and squished the cereal together. Having great fun, Alex added his eggs and his fried ham into the mixture. Next he started to rub the contents of the yellow tumbler onto his face, then into his hair.
Too occupied with cleaning the dishes, Rick didn�t know what Alex was up too, and assumed as quiet as he was being he wasn�t doing anything he shouldn�t be. In a matter of ten or fifteen minutes the dishes were clean and stacked on a wooden drying rack, and once he let the water out of the sink and wiped down the counter, he turned to tend to his son. That is when he found Alex covered in his breakfast. �Alex what did you do?� Rick asked as he walked over to the highchair where his son was eating the contents of the mushed up breakfast from his tumbler.
�Ummy,� Alex said as he offered his father a bite by holding out a hand of the mixture, which dripped onto the floor.
Rick sighed and returned to the sink where he got a clean washcloth. He wet it down then went back to Alex realizing that he was going to have to give his son a bath to clean him off, and that he was also going to have to clean the floor and the entire highchair to get the food off before it set in.
~*~
In Alex�s bathroom while holding his sticky son facing away from him, Rick put a plug in the drain then ran the cold and hot water into the tub. While it was filling he stripped Alex�s sticky sleeper off of his body, then let him go long enough to run his hand in the water to mix it together making certain there weren�t any hot spots.
That little bit of freedom gave Alex enough time to get the baby powder off of the big bed they had moved into his room; which would one day be the bed he slept in, and spray a liberal amount of it all over the place. He was still doing that when he was lifted off of the floor and the powder was taken away from him, something he protested by screaming as loud as he could.
Rick got him into the water after shutting the hot and cold water off, then handed him his rubber duck which instantly stopped the loud head pounding screams. While Alex played happily with his toys, Rick was finding that getting dried, caked on oatmeal out of his son�s hair was not as easy as he had believed. He soaped and re-soaped his hair rubbing the strands together then rinsed the soap out only to find that his hair was getting all clumped together.
~*~
In town Evelyn and Nanna finished shopping by lunch, having purchased not only cloths for the baby, but also cloths for Evelyn to last throug hout her pregnancy. With the shopping behind them they settled in a small Greek Restaurant and while waiting for their food to arrive they talked about the baby.
�I just want Alex to be happy, but I�m still worried that he won�t understand what is happening, or even feel left out once the baby arrives,� Evelyn said as she sipped on a glass of cool water.
Nanna offered her a smile. �Not to worry Evie, he will adjust, and once the baby is more able to interact with him I�m sure they will be great friends,� she said.
The rest of lunch Evelyn talked about wanting to do some work at the museum, volunteering her time, so that she wouldn�t get behind in all of the new things happening in Egypt. �Hopefully they will allow me to bring this baby as they allowed me to bring Alex,� she said as they finished their meal.
�I�m sure they will. It sounds like you keep things in order when you are there,� Nanna said. Once the meal was paid for the two ladies gathered their several packages, then headed for Evelyn�s car.
~*~
After spending nearly forty minutes trying to get the food out of his son�s hair, Rick finally managed to do that, and then got Alex dressed in a one piece blue and white checkered outfit. Now the two of them were in the parlor, Rick reading the morning paper, and Alex pushing his blue wooden car across the carpeted floor. He pushed it to the steps where he sat for a few moments, then he began to crawl up them, getting to the very top without his daddy noticing. Alex stood up and ran to the entrance of the hall leading to his room. When he arrived there he ran to his dresser and pulled the bottom drawer open. He pulled out all of his socks and undershirts then went for the next drawer up. That drawer had all of his nappys, and after pulling all of them out, he carried a few into the bathroom and put them in his toilet as he had seen his parents and Nanna do lots of times before.
Downstairs Rick woke up, realizing he had dosed off, and stood up when he realized his son wasn�t anywhere around. The first place he looked was in the hall where Evelyn�s favorite plant was. Finding Alex wasn�t there Rick started to call for him as he looked in other places. �Alex,� he hollered as he ran out of the kitchen and headed upstairs. He ran down the hall to their room finding nothing but their furniture, then he heard Alex start to cry and followed the cries to his room.
In the bathroom Rick found Alex sitting in a puddle of cold water flowing out of the toilet, and quickly lifted him away from that puddle, tucking Alex under one arm while he shut the water off.
He looked in the toilet as the water swirled around, but didn�t see anything inside. �What did you put in there?� Rick asked as he carried his wet son into the bedroom. He found the bottom two dresser drawers open and saw the piles of underclothes and nappys, quickly put two and two together. �I think your dad is going to find some way to block off the stairs,� Rick said as he laid Alex down on the bed.
In response Alex smiled at him and reached out patting his hands.
Once Alex was dressed in a clean dry outfit, and a clean dry nappy, Rick took him back downstairs. After getting him settled in his playpen with a few of his favorite toys, he made a phone call to the plumber who usually came to the house when there was a problem.
~*~
Before leaving town, the ladies stopped by a small toy store where Evelyn purchased a few things for Alex, then they were on their way. �I hope he and Rick had a good time,� she said as she pulled the car into their drive way.
�I�m sure they did. He seems to really love the time he spends with his father.�
Once the car was stopped in front of the house, Nanna insisted that Evelyn go on inside to see her husband and son, assuring her that she could get what they purchased on her own.
In the Parlor Evelyn found her husband asleep on the couch underneath the huge picture frame windows, and on his chest lay their son who was also asleep. Quietly she walked over to them and knelt down, first kissing her husband on the lips then kissing Alex�s soft baby cheeks.
Her kiss roused him, and Rick sighed then opened his eyes offering her a tired smile. �How was the shopping?� he whispered.
�We had a really nice time together, and I found enough cloths to last until after the baby is born. What about the two of you? How was your time with Alex?� she asked as she gently rubbed her hand up and down her baby�s back.
�Tiring. He decided while I was trying to clean the kitchen to make a beauty mask with his breakfast. It took damn near an hour to get it out of his hair. Then he decided to flush three nappies down the toilet, so I had to call George out to dig those out. I think I liked it better when he was only interested in staying in the same room with us ,� Rick said as they both chuckled.
Alex stirred then lifted his head up as he opened his eyes.
�Hello my sweet boy,� Evie said as she kissed him again.
�Mum mum,� Alex said as he reached out for her.
Rick sat up giving Evelyn room to sit beside him, then put Alex on her lap as Nanna and Jonathan came in with all the packages. Usually Alex wanted to see what the packages had in them, but today he was content to sit on mum�s lap and soon went back to sleep.
�I think I�ll put him down upstairs, and have a rest myself,� Evelyn said as she felt suddenly tired.
�I think I may join you,� Rick said as he stood up, then helped her stand. Together they went up stairs and put Alex down for a nap, then went into their room bypassing the several bags and boxes on their route to the bed. Rick had Evelyn sit down then knelt down and unfastened the straps on her dress shoes and slipped them off of her feet.
Evelyn smiled down at him as he began to massage them. �Hmm, that feels nice, but I would much rather you lay here next to me,� She said.
In an instant he was laying with her, holding her in his arms as both of them fell into a much deserved rest.