Who: Nina and Gabe When: During the hellmouth plot Where: Merlin and Audrey's place What: Looking after Ben Rating/Warnings: Low/None Status: Complete
Nina still couldn’t quite believe that she and Gabe had ended up with Ben in quite the way they had. There had been an increase in violent attacks again only this time it appeared to be either animals or people who were complete savages. But Audrey had gotten stuck at Baxter’s so rather than take Ben with him to go and get her Merlin had asked Nina to watch the baby. Gabe had been round for lunch and they had both agreed to look after the little boy.
Luckily he was sleeping right now, but they’d been left with toys and bottles for when he woke up.
Gabe had figured the latest round of crazy was the OC up to no good again. This time, however, he was really concerned. The crime spree had been one thing. But this was downright scary, even for him, so watching the baby of friends of his was no problem; odds were good he would have checked on them anyway. Even if Merlin was a wizard. The added bonus to the babysitting was that he got to also keep an eye on Nina and if it came to it while Merlin was off picking up Audrey, protecting them both as well.
At the moment, however, inside the house it was nothing but normal. It was quiet. The baby monitor was nearby, a small group of baby toys were scattered about the living room, and Gabe was on the couch with Nina watching some random daytime show while they waited for the baby to wake up.
It was actually rather nice, not at all much different to their usual afternoons when they managed to spend it together. Cosying up on the sofa was pretty much their favourite way to spend a good few hours. And Nina definitely didn’t mind Gabe being here to keep an eye on her since it allowed her to do the same with him.
When the baby began to stir Nina looked up at Gabe, “Think he’ll like to watch with us?” she said with a grin before moving to retrieve the baby.
Gabe smirked and watched Nina get up to fetch Ben. “Only if Baby Einstein’s on. Should I fire up the Netflix? My sister says it’s a godsend with her kids.” Gabe said it only half serious. Personally he was a little torn plopping a kid in front of a television for most of a day. His grandmother hadn’t let them touch the TV, they barely watched it except for Saturday mornings. Otherwise they were studying, playing games they made up themselves, or going over to a neighbor’s to play.
Gabe stood, deciding after a long moment to following Nina. He headed where she’d gone to the baby’s room.
"I think we can manage without it" Nina said before disappearing to retrieve Ben. She wasn't a huge fan of lots of television and at 5 months old he wasn't going to really pay attention to it anyway.
She was rocking him in her arms as he gurgled away when Gabe came in, "He is a ridiculously happy baby" but then he had Audrey and Merlin for parents.
Gabe smiled at the sight of Nina and Ben. Granted, she was a nurse so he knew she'd be amazing with any age range, but there was something really sweet about this moment. He smiled and leaned against the door frame, watching them. "He is. You're right, they are lucky." Gabe hadn't been over at the right times to see Ben awake, he'd only seen the baby less than a handful of times since he'd been born.
Gabe crossed the room and stuck a big hand out, tickling Ben's tummy. "Hey little man." He cooed softly.
Nina liked babies, they were cute and innocent and held so much potential. It was kind of amazing. She smiled and laughed a little as Ben giggled and took hold of one of Gabe's fingers to try and suck it. "I think that may be his way of saying he's hungry"
"I think so too." He chuckled. Gabe teased Ben, letting him pull his giant finger close so the baby opened his little mouth expectantly, before he pulled away. He repeated it a couple of times, chuckling.The strength of babies always marvelled Gabe. He finally relented and let Ben nom on his finger, the tiny gums chomping down.
"All right little man, let's get you some chow." He tried to free his hand but the baby grasped it with his other and refused to let go. Gabe smirked and looked up at Nina. "Mind if I take him?" For the briefest flicker of a moment the thought crossed Gabe's mind about if this was what it would feel like to be a family. It felt nice.
The teasing game overjoyed Ben and the baby gave high pitched squeals of delight which made Nina laugh as she watched them.
"Of course" she said handing him over carefully to her boyfriend, she had to admit it did feel nice to experience what it might be like to have a family of their own and it was definitely lovely. "I can warm the bottle if you want to take him into the living room.
The baby nearly disappeared enfolded in Gabe's big arms. He cradled Ben expertly and without any sign of nervousness that one might have expected from him. "Sure," he said as he watched Nina start to go. "Lemme just check his diaper for any...surprises." Ben didn't smell but it didn't hurt to check with him just having gotten up from his nap.
Nina wasn't surprised by how gentle Gabe was, he'd been nothing but gentle and sweet with her but she was surprised by how expertly he handled Ben. "Good idea. Thanks" Nina nodded leaving Gabe to the nappy while she sorted out the bottle.
Gabe got to work with Ben on the changing table. Years of having to take care of younger cousins (some actual, others more like family friends) had made diaper changing a muscle memory. He undid the diaper, checking and lifting a babbling Ben by the legs to get rid of the apparently wet diaper. "All right, buddy, let's get you a nice, clean, dry diaper - ack!" Gabe started as Ben relieved himself...all over Gabe's shirt. He flailed for a rag to toss onto the infant's nethers and by the time he remembered the alternate way to deal with rampant pee, Ben was done.
Gabe sighed and smirked at the squeeing baby. "Punk." He finished up cleaning, powdering and putting on the new diaper, saying "You're lucky I'm used to this." Gabe pulled off his wet t-shirt and slung it over his shoulder, and now bare chested, picked up Ben. He held him up with two huge hands before pretending to let him drop, repeating the classic baby ritual and eliciting squeals dogs probably heard blocks away. Gabe laughed along with him.
Nina had no idea what was going on but she left the bottle to heat in the warm water when she heard those squeals. Ben sounded like he was having the time of his life with Gabe and she had to admit she was curious about what was happening. So she moved to the bedroom to have a look.
The sight of Gabe barechested and playing catch with the baby had her grinning and leaning against the doorframe, now this was a moment she’d like to hold onto for a long time. It just gave her such a nice warm feeling inside, “I take it he got you” she said with fond amusement.
Gabe turned around in surprise at the sound of her voice, feeling his face flush. He grinned sheepishly. "Yeah. Wouldn't be the first time. Shoulda remembered to throw a wipe on there or something. Guess I’m a little rusty.” He shrugged off the shirt into his hand. “Think Merlin and Aud would mind if I threw this into the wash?” It occurred to Gabe this was the first time he’d been shirtless in front of Nina, and he was feeling the heat in his face as he got more self aware. Ben gurgled and threw his face against Gabe’s shoulder, trying to gnaw on it and drooling all over him in the process. “Hey! I am not lunch, little man.”
"I don't think they'd mind at all" Nina told him, her gaze running over him. She couldn't help it, she had an incredibly hot boyfriend who she hadn't seen shirtless before. Right then she decided it needed to happen more often. Moving forward she smiled, "Well you can't blame him" she said as she reached for Ben so she could feed him in the kitchen, "You do look very tasty" she flushed as she said it but remained smiling.
Gabe knew he was probably an embarrassing shade of red by now. He grinned his trademark ‘Groot’ grin. “Oh I do, huh?” He replied, raising an eyebrow. He was used to other women’s comments back when he’d worked as a bouncer, but when they came from Nina, they took on an entirely new significance for him. He leaned in and stole a kiss as he passed the baby to her. “Guess we’re gonna hafta make some time for a taste test.” He teased, murmuring it into her ear. He was surprised at himself, since he’d been the one setting the pace of their relationship. Perhaps it was time things moved forward a bit.
Nina had such a soft spot for that grin it was ridiculous but he did look so damn cute when he did it. Normally she wasn't the kind to make those kind of comments but with Gabe it seemed to come naturally, she figured it was a good thing she was so attracted to her boyfriend. "I think that's a good plan" she said flushing herself before pressing a kiss to his cheek after taking the baby from him. She was happy with whatever pace he set but would never mind moving things forward.
Gabe smiled and followed her out of the baby’s room, detouring to toss his shirt in with the laundry. It took him a moment to figure out the machine, they were all computerized these days, a far cry from what he grew up with in the South Bronx in the 80s. Even though he had a modern set at home, they were all slightly different. Which button was the right cycle, temperature, why is it binging with every touch? He finally got it right, and headed back into the kitchen, feeling keenly self aware as he was still shirtless and in jeans. Even the baby had more clothes on than he did. “Merlin and Aud are gonna wonder what the heck’s going on if they see us like this.” He chuckled.
Had Nina realised she would have offered to help with the washing machine but she was busy feeding Ben in the kitchen. “Audrey is more likely to make some kind of teasing comment and Merlin would just give you this knowing grin of his” she laughed, personally she rather hoped they wouldn’t be back for a while since she could get used to Gabe walking around with no shirt on.
Gabe chuckled and joined her and Ben, sitting down in a chair. He leaned back and watched with a sort of soft smirk on his face. Motherhood looked good on her. "All right since you twisted my arm I'll tell you how I'm so awesome with babies." He said spontaneously, with a silly grin. "In addition to little brothers we had a rotation of kids in an' out of our house. Abuela took care of some of the neighbors kids so their parents could work. Basically neighborhood daycare." The 'house' was more of a two bedroom apartment in a four story walk up that was pre-war era. Larger rooms than modern places, but with all the kids and relatives coming and going it might as well have been a micro version of Grand Central station. And of course his grandmother's operation was nowhere near legal, but it was a cultural thing. You did what you had to to help your neighbors out. “So I learned how to change diapers and feed and stuff real quick once I was old enough.”
“That was going to be my next question, you took on the nappy like a pro” Nina said before listening to his story. “Oh my goodness. We had a couple of other kids come and go but it sounds like it was constantly busy at your place” she said, “I think it’s nice though, that you got to be so involved. It’s a sign of a good community, helping each other out like that”
Gabe shrugged a little, not quite frowning. "I guess now I'm seeing the benefits but it's hard growin' up in a place with so many people. Hard to get anyone's attention, y'know?" He shifted a little; not wanting to dampen the mood he then said, "But that's the Latin community for ya'. I can tell you there was no shortage of food as thank you's." That only happened if the parent wasn't able to pay her that week. Abuela was flexible. "All that rice and beans, I'm still surprised I didn't walk away from that place lookin' like the pillsbury doughboy!" He laughed, smacking his washboard abs.
Nina took his hand and kissed his knuckles, “You can have all of my attention anytime” she told him sweetly, she understood how hard it could be when you were a kid and just wanted a little attention but couldn’t get it. She smiled and her eyes followed his hands, “You are far from that” she told him, a slight blush highlighting her cheeks.
Gabe smiled and kissed her fingers in return. He could only imagine what it must have been like for her in foster care; that hunger for attention probably rivalled his at that age. “Same here.”
“Thanks,” he grinned, and noticed her blush. Ben suddenly coughed against the bottle. “Oh, looks like he might need a break.”
The first couple of years had been hard but then she’d been put into foster care with the most wonderful couple who she’d remained with until her foster mother had died. So while it hadn’t been an easy childhood it had, mostly, been a happy one.
“Oh, sorry love” Nina said to Ben removing the bottle and carefully placing him on her shoulder where she had already placed a towel so she could burp him.
“Throw up on her shoulder, little man!” he teased. “Miss the towel!” He snickered.
Nina laughed, “You know if you want to see me without my top on you only need to ask” Nina teased him as she patted Ben on the back.
Gabe blushed like crazy, trying to figure out what to say in reply to that. “Looks like we’re going to have to add that to the list with the taste test.” He smirked. Yep, it was time they needed to step things up a bit.