Jaxon

Watching

     Hace was woken up in just a few hours by the alarm of the motion detector from Jaxon's room going off. He sighed and turned on his TV. Ardent was awake. He had rolled onto his stomach and was pulling himself to the side of the cage. Hace watched the camera for a while and started to wonder why he never just watched Ardent. He was always carrying him and doing other things with him, but he never just sat down to see what he does when he's not there. He remembered that he did that once when he first got Ardent. That was how he came up with his name, watching how much spirit he had in him. He decided he'd just lay there for a bit and watch.

     At first Ardent had just pulled himself up to the side of the cage and then pulled himself into a sitting position. Ardent looked around and seemed to be a bit board. 'I'll have to remember to put more toys in there for him while he sleeps.' Hace made a mental note.

     Then Ardent looked up and seemed to study the cage. He ran his hands over the bars, his fingers following the shape of each square next to him. His eyes slowly looked around the room. He looked at the bedroom door. He watched the door for a bit before he seemed to pull himself up a square at a time, pausing every few squares to look back at the door. Hace watched curiously. He wondered what Ardent was up to. There was no way he could get out, he made sure to lock the top. Ardent seemed to give a mischievous smile as he pulled himself all the way up to the roof. Then he crawled hand over hand across the roof, his legs dangling.

     "Is he...?" Hace watched at Ardent pulled himself up and let himself down. He was controlling his breathing and making slow movements. "He's exercising! Where did he learn to do that? And look at how strong the little guy is!"

     Hace watched longer then he probably should have. Ardent's fingers slipped, and he feel back into the bed. Hace jumped to his feet and ran across to the room. Ardent was propped up on his elbows and was smiling at Hace. He was trying to act like nothing just happened. Unfortunately, the way he landed, he had burst the diaper and it had started to leak down his legs.

     "Buddy! That's nasty!" Hace carefully picked him up under his arms and brought him into the bathroom. He set him down in the tub for a bit while he quickly cleaned up the bed, so it didn't start to stink. He went back to Ardent and sighed as he looked down at him. Ardent looked terrified. He had somehow gotten out of the safety basket and was trying to pull himself up the smooth sides of the tub.

     "You shouldn't have been doing that. You could have hurt yourself." Hace found himself talking to Ardent more and more, like he was suddenly going to get an answer.

     He removed the soiled clothes and the diaper and set up Ardent in the basket again. Ardent started to breath heavy. Hace knew how to make him feel better. He turned on the water and pointed at it. "What is that?" He said almost like he was talking to child. Ardent sniffed a bit and looked up at Hace with his beautiful blue eyes. "Ardent." Hace said as he pointed to the water that was coming out of the faucet.

     "Water." Ardent reluctantly said.

     "Good boy." Hace tapped the side of the tub now and hoped he could get Ardent to understand that baths are not a bad thing. "Bath."

     Ardent immediately perked up. He looked at Hace's mouth as he said the word again a few times. "Booreth. Baaat. Bath." Hace pet him and give him a kiss on the top of his head. Ardent didn't seem to notice the water now. He was touching the sides of the tub and kept saying his new word. It wasn't until he felt the water on his stomach that he started to panic again.

     "It's ok. Baths are good. Get you nice and clean."

     "Clean?" It was almost like Ardent was picking up every other word Hace was saying now.

     "Yes. Clean." Hace took a rag and started to wipe him down. "Clean."

     "No clean!" Ardent yelled as he tried to push Hace's hands away from him. "No bath!"

     He knew Ardent hated baths, but he had never fought Hace before. Hace was kinda torn in two. He was loving that Ardent was so smart and seemed to really be coming out of his shell. At the same time, he was starting to realize how much harder it was going to be to take care of something this smart. Ardent had only learned a few words, but he was already putting them together and using them to fight with Hace. He really needed to set boundaries with him.

     "This is going to be fun." Hace said under his breath as he listened to Ardent continue to say 'no bath' over and over. Ardent started to swing his arms and splashed the water. It flew up and hit Hace's face. Ardent smiled and started to hit the water again. "Hace bath!"

     After getting way more water on himself then he wanted, Hace drained the water and wrapped a fluffy towel around Ardent. Ardent had stopped screaming, but he was still throwing a bit of a fit. He had his arms folded and was pouting.

     "I might have to time your baths while your asleep. For some reason you really don't like them." Hace dried them both off and got Ardent dressed him back up for the day. Applying the new ear drops was actually easier then he thought it would be. Ardent only whined a little.

     After breakfast, Hace set Ardent on the couch while he started to get his to-go bag together. Ardent's eyes widened as he watched Hace walk back and forth for a bit, trying to get everything in the bag. Hace stopped and smiled at him. "We're going out for the morning since I got some work done already. I heard there was a special pet shop downtown that might have items for handicap Inchoates like you. I figured it wouldn't hurt to check it out."

     Hace finished getting the stuff together and decided that he'd look for a bigger bag when he got to the supply store too. He slipped a harness and leash on Ardent and carried him and the bag out the door. After locking the front door, he took them to the car and secured Ardent into the safety seat. "It's a bit of a drive, so if you need anything just tell me." 

     Hace paused for a moment when he realized what he said... he wasn't sure why he said that, but he really felt like talking to Ardent was the right thing to do. He knew that Ardent was learning a lot of words, but how many did he really understand? Was he just mimicking? He looked like he was learning to write... but what if he was just writing down things he saw?

     Hace pulled himself out of his thoughts and tossed the bag in the car and closed the door. He got in and they were on their way. Hace looked back at Ardent about ten minutes into the trip. He couldn't help but smile. Ardent was sound asleep with his face slightly smashed into the side of the seat.