The Misadventures of Raising Allen Walker

~2~

"Are you sure you know what you're doing? Need any help?" Leaning his shoulder up against the wall of the spare room, he watched as his brother tried fitting the diaper on the baby, the small boy having finally been washed and cleaned up as best as possible only a bit ago. Nea could watch as Mana huffed in annoyance, trying to figure out what he was doing wrong in his attempts to dress the underweight infant. It didn't help that said infant was being fussy, skin scrubbed as red as his disfigured little arm, and letting his new parent know how displeased he was.

"No I don't know what I'm doing but I'm sure I can figure it out. Allen please stay still and calm down so I can get you dressed, you'll warm up when you're clothed and then you'll be able to eat, okay?" Flinching unwillingly as the fussing nearly tripled, he questioned why they had taken in the boy in the first place, mentally kicking himself at the condition little Allen was in the night before. Watching the other slump a little, most likely giving up, he paced closer about a foot or two.

"You doing okay Mana? Didn't give up did you." Trying not to sound as teasing as he was, he laughed a little at his brother's light and tired glare towards him.

"Nea…" Smirking, he moved to his brother's side, crossing his arms over his chest. Both of Mana's hands were against the towel he had put under Allen so the bed sheets wouldn't get soaked, holding the small baby from rolling off the furniture.

"Yes Mana? Need something?" Watching his elder twin frown at him, he gave a smile. Oh he definitely knew he was irritating Mana, but knowing wasn't going to stop him.

"Please help me dress Allen, I can't figure out how everything is supposed to go and with him fussing so much it's even harder." Watching as the younger of the two of them failed to hold back his laughter, Mana closed his eyes again, expecting Nea to walk off. Maybe he should just wait for Allen to calm down before he made his attempts at getting clothes on the tiny baby. Blinking a little as he saw his brother's hands next to his, he couldn't help but smile, glancing to the other.

"Sure I will, we'll figure it out together. I'll make sure he doesn't roll while you get him dressed." Nodding, he grabbed the diaper he had been trying to use. It took a few moments for him to catch both kicking feet, and with a bit of verbal input from Nea that the article in his hand was backwards, he was able to get at least the diaper on his son. Whilst his attempt and success at getting something on the baby, Allen had started to calm down bit by bit, probably from how there were now two sets of warm hands holding him.

"You think that's enough for now? I mean it'll probably be easier to finish dressing him after he eats." Asking aloud, he felt as Nea backed off.

"It's your choice, but I'll go try make a bottle. It's just putting that powder into water and shaking it, right?" Shaking his head a little, he carefully picked Allen up and held him against his chest before grabbing a thick blanket to wrap him in.

"It's a bit more than that, Nea. It's supposed to be warm, but not hot. I'm pretty sure you're supposed to test it against your inner wrist to make sure." Watching Nea blink a few times as he spoke, he wrapped the blanket around Allen loosely. The two of them stood there for a few more moments in moderate silence before the baby in his arms started fussing again.

"Okay explain that to me while I'm doing it, because it sounds like a load of bullshit." Narrowing his eyes at his brother's words, he tapped his foot for a few moments before he could see Nea visibly realize what he had said. "Oh come on, we've had him for less than a day and you're already this protective of him? It was one word and I doubt he can understand us to that extent yet. Just, please Mana, explain what you were telling me, I'll try to keep my words in check as best as I can around Allen." Sighing a little, he nodded, following Nea into the other room. Watching his brother grab what he directed, he tried to explain what needed to be done as Nea worked. Being handed the bottle after the fact, he wasn't surprised with how quickly Allen took it.

"Was that a record? For a moment there he looked like he hadn't eaten for days." Laughing a little at Nea's words, he tried to take the quickly draining bottle from Allen to let the baby breathe, only getting resistance and squirming limbs in response.

"Well this is the fourth time I've fed him since we found him, and its doubtful that someone fed him while he was in that box. So I'm not surprised that he's hungry." Watching confusion spread over Nea's expression as Allen finally gave him the empty bottle, he grabbed a dish towel and threw it over his shoulder. Setting his son against the cloth, he went along with the same thing he's done the previous three times he's fed Allen.

"I don't remember you feeding him more than once last night, when did you feed him?" Sighing softly as he heard the little one burp, he kept the boy in place as he gave his brother a look, mentally wondering if he'd be getting annoyed again purposefully.

"He was in my room with me last night, so I'm not surprised you didn't hear him crying. I fed him twice between when you went to bed and when the sun had risen." Unable to hold back his yawning anymore, he tried to blink away his grogginess. Allen had finally stopped being fussy, and that meant he could hopefully get sleep finally, well if he was willing to sleep during the day, let alone being away from the baby in his arms. Nea must have been able to tell what he was thinking, because his twin tried to take the bundle from him, himself stepping back.

"Mana, please give me him. You need sleep, I'll take care of him while you do. Timcanpy can set me straight if I do something stupid. You look exhausted, Allen kept you up all night and I'm sorry I wasn't there to help. Just please, get some sleep, I can handle him while you do. I made his fourth bottle, and I helped you get the diaper on him so I think I can handle him for at least a few hours." Sighing at his brother's words, he reluctantly handed the thin baby over, rubbing his eyes with the heel of his palm as he tossed the dishrag onto the counter.

"Alright, you have him for a while. But if you need me get me, I don't care if I'm asleep. If something happens I need to know about it." Feeling a kiss pressed to his temple, he tried to cover up another yawn before returning the gesture, pressing a light kiss to Allen's forehead as well. Feeling a hand grab his arm before he got too far, he glanced back briefly.

"Asking this now so you don't think it happened while you were asleep, but did you know about this injury over his eye on the left side?" Blinking a few times as he tried to process the words in his exhausted head, he nodded briefly.

"I saw it while I was giving him a bath, he was so dirty that I couldn't see it at first. I was going to bandage it so it didn't get infected but I must've forgotten." Watching Nea nod, he felt the same warm hand push him further toward his room.

"I'll get it covered, you get to bed Mana." It felt like he was pacing as an undead on his way to his room, practically passing out once he reached his bed.

Waking back up to a silent home, he had to squint to see his clock with his sleepy eyes. By how dark it looked outside he could already tell that he had been asleep for a few hours at the least, the clock telling him it was close to nine o'clock at night. Sitting up on his bed, he tried to use his fingers to get the tangles and snags from his long hair. Standing from his bed, he fixed his shirt as he walked down the hallway, peeking into both Nea's and Allen's rooms only to find them empty. He found the reason why upon reaching the family room. Grabbing one of the cameras from the shelf above the fireplace, he took a quick picture of the scene before him. Mana didn't think he'd get to see this again, so he wanted to take a picture before the memory lost to time.

Nea definitely wouldn't enjoy him sharing the picture with the family, but it'd be fun to remember later on.

Pacing closer to the couch after putting the camera back, he smiled at the empty bottles and the dishrag that were on the coffee table. Pulling the blanket off the back of the couch, he was careful to not wake either of them as he draped it over the trio. Stepping back a few feet, he couldn't keep the smile off his face, even while he collected the mess from the coffee table. Walking back to the kitchen to clean up after his brother, he left said brother where he was sleeping on the couch, holding Allen on top of his chest with one hand while the other rested on top of Timcanpy's head.