Baby Bear

Cub Care

Captain Barnacles started doing his little 'routine' whenever he was alone. Sometimes he didn't have to go on missions, and he'd spend a full day doing it. Other times, it could only be done at bedtime.

Mostly, he stayed in his room, with the curtains out up, even at night. He'd wear a diaper and a onesie or t-shirt, and booties, and play with some of his toys. He had a rattle, a teddy bear, and some blocks. He also had plenty of coloring books. He found himself coloring a lot.

No one else seemed to question anything. It was all going smoothly, not even the Vegimals knew. Barnacles felt relaxed, and happy, no longer having to worry about everything and everyone at once, not having to be the adult all the time for everyone else. He knew he should be ashamed, but he could bring himself to care. His anxiety and depression were clearing up a little, and the others were starting to notice little changes is him. He was more passive, and less stressed. He seemed cam all the time, and didn't seem so worried, like he'd started to look a few weeks ago.

"What d'ya think's gotten into him?" Kwazii pondered aloud in the HQ one day. Everyone except the captain was there, working or reading, [or, in the Vegimals case, throwing papers around.]

"I don't know,"  Dashi responded thoughtfully. Shellington peered over the rim of his book. "Maybe you should ask him?"

Kwazii was about to list the reasons why that was a bad idea, when Peso piped up. "Oh! That reminds me; I've got to give check-ups to the fish in this reef!" Shellington's eyes widened. "I'll come with! I've been hoping to gather some data. Some of these fish live only in this part of the ocean!"

Dashi and Kwazii shared a fond smile at Peso's worry and Shellington's enthusiasm. "I'll go with you," Dashi offered. "I can help you with microphone controls." Professor Inkling sat up a little straighter. "I could certainly use some space." Kwazii smiled. "I'd like to come, but I promised Tweak I'd test drive the Gup B for her." Tweak just shrugged. "Just once, so I know it won't blow up." The crew laughed, [except for Kwazii] and ran down the Octoshute.

'So it doesn't blow up,' Kwazii scoffed to himself. He just had to do three laps around the Octopod, and he'd be done.

'One,'

He wondered about the captain. A couple months ago, it was like he couldn't smile anymore. He seemed stressed, seriously overworked, and a lot more worried than usual. But, that day he was alone on the Octopod, or doing his errands, something had changed.

'Two,'

He was calm, relaxed, and was no longer constantly looking over his shoulder on missions. He seemed to have cleared up his workload. Maybe he just needed to clear his head.

Kwazii neared the end of his final lap, when something caught his eye. The captain had his curtains up. He usually didn't do that, but it seemed to be happening more and more. Cat-like curiosity welled up in him, and he brought the Gup back inside. Once Tweak had gone off to test the upgrades, he scurried up to the captain's room.

"Captain?" He called as he entered. The doors opened and shut automatically, allowing him to just walk in. At first glance, everything seemed normal...until Kwazii almost tripped over something. He looked down to see...a rattle. As in, the kind reserved for babies. Blinking in confusion, Kwazii looked around the room, noticing things that shouldn't have been there; a bunch of coloring books, with crayons scattered about. A couple of pacifiers sat on a shelf, waiting to be used. Kwazii was quick to notice they were too large for a normal baby. His earlier theory that the captain was babysitting vanished, which led him to another theory.

'But the captain wouldn't do that, would he?' It made no sense. Why would he want to?

Kwazii's gaze traveled to the captain's closet, which was open. A bunch of things had been tossed out, revealing the thing that proved Kwazii's theory; a package of diapers, much too small for a cub. He whirled around, looking for the captain. Where was he?