JAAN :: ZAYN

the fake baby

•zayn•

Zayn woke up to RyDae crying his eyes out.

He sat up on the hospital's pullout couch and blinked as his eyes tried to adjust in the lowlight. It was approximately two thirty in the morning, the sky was blackish blue and the waning crescent moon was out and somehow bright as hell despite the small size.

Zayn got up and quickly walked to the small hospital crib. "Shh, RyDae. Daddy's here," he picked his son up and held him in his arms. Zayn walked around the room tiredly, yawning on occasion.

Chi -- heavy sleeper Chi -- was sound asleep, curled up on the middle of the large bed and not even so much as a twitch at RyDae's crying. Zayn knew he was going to be the one doing this from now on, he just knew it.

RyDae became quiet again and Zayn saw he was finally back to sleep, his mouth parted open in some sort of half smile. He put the baby back in the crib and lied down on the couch.

But RyDae started crying again and Zayn picked him back up, shushing him and kissing his little forehead.

"What's with you, huh?" he asked, knowing he wasn't going to get a proper response. He kept crying, getting louder and his face turned red. Zayn set him on the crip, unsnapping his onesie and opening the diaper.

"Oh, man," Zayn grimaced, "really, Ry? You know I still don't know how to change diapers and you still shi--poop anyway. Do you hate me?"

"Zayn?" their night nurse, Marcia, knocked lightly on the door before entering, "is everything okay?" her voice was quiet as she walked towards them.

"Uh, no. He needs to be changed and I...I still don't know how to do it," he admitted sheepishly and Marcia just smiled.

"You didn't take classes or anything?"

"We did Lamaze stuff, but," he made a desperate D face and shrugged one shoulder, "I always ended up either dropping the fake baby or it'd be upside down or something stupid. And it looks so easy!"

"It is, Zayn," she just chuckled, "I'll walk you through It again."

"Okay," and Zayn stood back as he watched her change RyDae's diaper, his eyes following every move and his ears listening to every word she said.

"...and baby boys to from back to front," she gestured, "make sure he's all clean and put just a little baby powder so he won't get diaper rash or anything, okay?"

"Okay," he replied.

"Keep him lying on the backside of the diaper and flip the other piece like so," she put another flap over his stomach and stuck the tabs together so the diaper was in place, "got it."

"We'll see," he sighed, "thank you, Marcia."

"No problem, Zayn. Let me know if you need more help," she closed the door behind her and Zayn was left alone with his now quiet son.

"You're so fake, man," he told RyDae, "acting all upset until she got here."

The baby just gurgled, his tiny hand gripping Zayn's finger. His eyes were still closed and he wasn't frowning now that his diaper wasn't messy.

"You're cute, so I guess I'll let it pass."

•zayn•