The Morgan Clan || A Red Dead Story

Chapter 10; A Bath

First, the cowboy took up her arms and rubbed those down just so she would stop splashing him for one damn minute. Even if it was cute it was very annoying, having to blink back water from his lashes every five seconds. So he cleaned those first, then her tiny little hands, which he paused at to spread her fingers out and compare the size of her entire hand to his thumb (his thumb was bigger). Then, he cleaned her neck, or where there should've been one, and slid his hands down her stomach, wrapping them around her sides and sudsing her up. After that he washed all of the soap away with the cold, clear water of the creek.

Then he repeated this process, but with her legs, back, and butt. The baby was surprisingly patient, only whining when he cleaned between her legs and toes. She cried when he tried to wash her hair, but once he finally got his fingers into those tight curls she finally calmed down and let him do his work.

When he finally finished he sat back and watched her contently splash away, giggling all the while.

"She's cute, ain't she," he mused. There was a pause only filled with the sounds of nature and the baby's gleeful laughter before his partner answered.

"She is, very much so." The tone in Albert's words caused Arthur to look his way, revealing the disheartened expression on his face. The cowboy's heart clenched in response.

"I'm sorry, Albert," Arthur said, scooting over to the other man and wrapping an arm around his bare shoulders.

"No, no, it's fine. I told you, you're right. I stand by that. No matter how cute she is I understand she isn't ours to keep," the photographer sighed and continued in a mumble more to himself, "I must stop treating every stray thing we find as a pet." Arthur squeezed his shoulders and rested his head against the other's.

"At least we found her. Without us she probably would've died out here." Albert's response was an unamused laugh and a sad smile.

"That's very true. At least we found her." Both men turned to watch the child play by herself, completely content, before moving to continue their work. Arthur went to his place in front of her and Albert went to put the now clean bedrolls and shirt on the grass to dry.

"Alright let's get you and your blanket dried," Arthur said to the baby before he picked her up and placed her in the grass. He took off his shirt and dried her, then wrapped her butt up with a clean shirt Albert tossed him.

"There you are! Clean as a whistle!" He tossed her up in the air and caught her, producing a loud laugh from the both of them. Then he walked over to where Albert was putting away the extra soap bar and brush.

"You ready to head out soon," he asked, eyes trailing from the man's hands to his bare chest as he turned around. The stitches looked like they were holding well, despite Arthur having misgivings about them the day before. The other cuts looked angry, but luckily the bleeding had stopped overnight. In Arthur's honest opinion, Albert was going to be just fine. He seemed fine. He looked fine. Really fine.

"Just about, though I'm sad I didn't get to take pictures of the horses," Albert said with a glance at his camera. He sighed and returned his gaze to Arthur. Upon noticing where the cowboy's eyes were he chuckled.

"Do you like what you see, Mister Morgan," he asked. Arthur glanced up to him and down to his chest several times before answering.

"Very much so, Mister Mason," he replied, a smile slipping onto his features. Both of them blushed.

"Well, I also like what I see," the photographer said with a wink as he placed both hands on Arthur's rotund stomach and snaked them around his waist, fingers following the love handles and hands flattening out when he reached his back. Then Albert pulled the man close so that their noses were rubbing together and their hot breaths mixed together in the cool morning air.

In response Arthur reached up, cupping Albert's cheek and pulled him into a gentle kiss. It was slow and sweet, and would have lasted so much longer if the baby in Arthur's arms didn't grab his beard to get his attention.

"Ouch!" He pulled away unceremoniously and glared at the child who was undoubtedly extremely proud of herself for pulling both men's attention toward her. She giggled and started babbling. Her hands clapped together in triumph.

"She seems to want your attention as much as I do, Arthur," Albert said with a chuckle as he walked away to check on the state of the items drying in the grass.

"That she does," Arthur replied, glaring in slight annoyance at the almost smug looking baby he was holding.

"I think we ought to wait a while longer until we leave. I don't want to pack the bedrolls while they're still damp," the photographer said. Arthur looked over to him and nodded in agreement when his gaze landed on the still dark bedrolls.

"Good idea. Let's leave those here with one of the horses and head back to camp-" his stomach rumbled"- I'm starvin'."

"Alright. Ghost, can you stay back and watch these items for us?" Albert walked up to the large, white horse and gave her a pat on the back. She whinnied in agreement and trotted over to where Albert had stood before. Then she huffed and looked from left to right to show she was on guard. It made both men chuckle and the baby giggle.

"Let's go," Arthur said, whistling for Shadow's Cast to follow the small group of humans back to camp. She trotted alongside them, giving a whinny back to her friend before leading the way.