Page 43 of Jared

“Yeah, I'm going to have responsibilities there too, right?”

Steve smiled and patted his hand. “We can do this.”

Dr. Roberts cleared his throat. “You fellows do understand it might be a girl, right?”

“Oh! Yes, I just didn't want to call the baby 'the baby' or 'it'.”

“Alrighty then,” Dr. Roberts beamed, wiping the gel from Jared's midsection with a paper towel. “I'll see you in two weeks then, but you can call me or Dr. Schaeffer if there's anything, or even if you just have questions.”

Jared sat up and pulled his T-shirt down. “Thanks, doc. Um, Steve, after this, can we go look at cribs? I saw this nice one on Amazon that lets the baby sleep next to us safely, but I'd like to look at one before just ordering.”

“How about we grab some lunch first. We can look up a local stockist for the one you want while we wait for our food.”

Jared nodded. “I just don't want to do everything last minute, and well, doing something makes me feel more in control, you know? Especially as we get to make our own decision on it.”

Steve nodded. “Great thinking. Getting to make a conscious decision on things probably will help us feel like we've gotten a handle.”

“It's called a what? A Snooze Pod?”

“Yeah. It's a bedside crib that can be used as a rocking cradle when sat on the rocker base, and you can also lift it off the base and use it like that, sat on the floor. The base has a shelf under it, where you can put diapers, clean clothes, sheets, whatever.”

“Man, you've really been looking at this stuff, huh?”

“Yeah, well, I was pretty sure that magic wouldn't randomly grow the bit which grows a baby, then reabsorbs that into the body over a couple of months after the baby is born, just for no reason. Stood to reason the magic had decided to make a baby. I'm still not sure what you fertilized though. Not like I make eggs or whatever.”

Steve scratched his head. “Yeah, that part is weird. But the doc did say the accounts all say conception happened over there, not here. Maybe it's like the rooms, yeah?”

“You mean, the magic decides randomly it's time for an addition and boom! There's an extension?”

“Yeah, maybe. I dunno. So much lore has been lost.” Steve looked frustrated.

“Yeah, I'm sure it has, with all the needed secrecy and all.” Jared turned his head to gaze out the window, then turned back to look at Steve earnestly. “I'm in that place where it's all so very, very weird, but the weird is becoming normal. But this is the very weirdest, so much so that it's even weird for you, which makes me feel that I've hit the limit. Surely nothing weirder than this can happen, right? Besides, I love the idea of being a dad. Sure, later might have been more convenient, but then again, when is a time ever really perfect? And the doctor said he'll be like any other shifter baby, so after the bizarreness of how he or she comes into the world, we're back to the normal kind of weird.”

Steve blinked. “Yeah.Okay.” His lips quirked. “So you think we're all weird?”

Jared flushed. “No, more like 'weird' as in not, you know,” he waved his hand about, “your everyday kinda 'normal'.”

Steve laughed. “I get you. I was just playin'.Anyways, there's a stockist not far from here who supposedly sells this pod thing. I thought babies slept in their own room though, with a baby monitor.”

“It's recommended they don't for the first five to six months. Then they can go in their own room. I don't want to go overboard on their room though, as baby stuff is expensive. I did see some cute stuff on the Ikea website though and we could really do an awesome nursery without spending too much. Though I will admit the Snooze Pod is very expensive, but we can sell it on after, or keep it in case we have another one...”

Steve reached across the table and grasped Jared's hand in his, giving it a light squeeze. “Don't worry about that. We're not broke, you know.”

“I know,” Jared said. “But I don't like wasting money either and really did love the Ikea stuff. Plus it's all good quality stuff.”

“Okay then. I will admit to knowing nothing about babies except they are cute and eat and poop a lot. Oh, and throw up on people's shoulders. I think I need a book or something.” Steve picked up his phone and began thumbing the screen.

“You ordering one now?”

“Yeah. There's so many though. Think I ought to just ask my mom?”

“We can ask her about a lot of things, but I've been reading the Dr. Sears website. Get his book. I don't think you can just use a manual though.”

“Nah, but it'd be nice to know some basics, right?” He paused, then sat his phone back down. “You're right. If we get stuck, we can just ask mom and stuff, right? Or the doc.”

“Yeah. Tell you what though, since our food is taking so long, can you look up diaper services and check their reviews while we're sat here? I forgot to charge my phone last night.”

“Diaper services?”