Chapter 11
A loud squeal of joy made Shane wince. “Oh, my, GOD!” Amanda cried, scooping up the angelic blonde baby into her arms. “He’s SO adorable! And he looks just like you, Wes!” She cuddled Ray, who was staring at her with wide eyes. Clearly the baby was startled by this loud stranger who was currently holding him.
Whistle beamed at her gushing adoration of his baby. “Yes, he is like me. My…” he searched quickly for the things that Shane had told him to say, “My COUSIN and I looked very much alike.”
“He must have,” Amanda replied. Her face sobered for a moment. “I’m sorry to hear about your loss, Wes. But at least your cousin had someone to take care of his baby.”
“Yes,” Whistle replied, glancing at his Lamhulae. Shane nodded slightly to tell him he was doing fine. “We will take good care of our…HIS little one.”
“Ray,” Amanda cooed, smiling at the baby. She bounced the baby a little in her arms. “It’s really nice to meet you. I’m your Aunt Amanda, and this is your cousin Matt,” she nodded at her son, who was standing there looking rather bored. Being a teenage boy, he wasn’t that interested in babies.
Ray blinked up at her solemnly. Then he made a sort of “ba ba,” sound, for Whistle had been mentally teaching him the sounds a baby should make (after seeing videos and t.v. shows with babies in them). Amanda was delighted by this utterance.
“Are you hungry, little guy?” she asked. “Hmm?”
Shane’s lips twitched. He looked at Whistle, who was obviously discovering just what Shane had meant about what happened when women got around babies. Amanda was making noises back at the baby, whose eyes were wide once again. Ray had a finger stuck in his mouth as he tried to understand about just who this new person was. “He’s not hungry, Amanda,” he told his sister aloud. “We just fed him like an hour ago.”
“Okay. But I bet he needs his diaper changed,” she replied.
Shane decided to humor her. “I’ll show you where the changing table is,” he told his sister. “And Matt…why don’t you and Wes play a video game together? I know you have trouble holding the controller…” he nodded toward the heavy cast that Matt was wearing. “But there might be one or two you guys could play together…”
His nephew brightened up at this suggestion. Whistle smiled at the boy and went with him into the living room to look through the games that Shane had bought for both Whistle and Matt to play when he came over. Shane took Amanda to the guest room that had been made over into the nursery, although Ray still slept in his crib in their bedroom. Shane didn’t like to be too far from the baby, not after that horrible scare with the Darklings and the crisis over the baby’s ‘birth’. But everything else took place in the nursery, including diapering.
Amanda laid Ray down on his back on the padded bench and took off his jumper, and then she pulled back the tabs on the diaper and checked his bottom. “It’s been awhile since I did this,” she mused. “But I guess it’s like riding a bicycle. I remember when Matt was this age. He was adorable. Although I think Ray here is even more adorable,” she added as she tickled the baby’s rather pouchy belly with her fingertips. He squirmed and giggled, much to her delight.
Shane smiled as she fussed over his son. “I’m sorry I didn’t call you a few days ago when Wes and Ray arrived here, sis,” he told Amanda.
She shook her head. “That’s all right. I can understand that you wanted time alone with them, especially this guy. It’s always good to have time to bond with your child,”
Amanda said. “It must have been such a surprise for you, Wes bringing a baby back with him rather than you guys having to adopt somewhere else.”
“Yeah, but it’s great. It might have taken us awhile to adopt a child since we’re a gay couple. We might even have had to go overseas or something. But now we’ve got Ray, so we don’t need anything else,” he looked lovingly down at his son, clearly showing that he was a proud father.
Amanda beamed at him. She was glad to see her brother so happy. And of course, she was delighted to have a baby to make much of, since Matt was a teenager now. Her nephew was totally cute, a true darling. She’d have to force herself not to drive out here every day to make much of him. But she felt wistful. Since her husband had died, she hadn’t felt a great need to try to find someone else. But a baby – she would love to have a sibling for Matt. And soon, since she wasn’t getting any younger. She didn’t want to be a fifty year old woman going to her child’s high school graduation.
“Shane,” she said aloud as she pressed the tab back down (the diaper didn’t need changing).
“Yeah?” he glanced at her curiously.
Amanda hesitated. “What would you think about me…having another baby?” she asked him.
Startled, he stared at her. “Umm…with who, Amanda?” he asked in puzzlement.
She smiled crookedly. “A sperm donor,” she replied simply. “I still haven’t gotten over Dave,” she went on, the grief she felt over her dead spouse still strong even though it had been almost three years. “I don’t know that I ever will. And even if I do, it might not be in time to have a baby with someone else. I don’t want to have one in my forties. That’s ridiculous, no matter how many women are doing it now. It’s dangerous, and raising a teenager in my fifties – gah. I’d have no energy left to keep up with him or her. So it has to be soon if I decide to do it. And I want to get your opinion,” she looked up at him soberly, her fingers caressing Ray’s chest lovingly.
Shane hesitated. He saw that his son had activated all of his sister’s nesting and maternal instincts. But was there anything wrong with that? Amanda had done a good job being a single mom to Matt since her husband had died. While in a perfect world a child would have two great parents, one was enough. After all, a lot of kids ended up with two parents – but bad ones. One good one would be infinitely better than two bad ones. And besides, he and Whistle could be father figures to the child, just as he’d been to Matt these last few years.
“I think it’s a feasible idea if that’s what you really want, Amanda,” he told her seriously. “I’ll be there with you every step of the way, you know that,” he added as her face lit up. “But what about Matt? What will he think?”
“I’ll talk it over with him before I decide anything,” Amanda replied, beginning to put Ray back into his jumper. “I know that he always hoped for a sibling when he was younger. But…” she sighed. “Poor Dave.”
Shane said nothing. His brother-in-law had suffered from a low sperm count; it had been a miracle that he and Amanda had actually had Matt. A second baby would have been a miracle. They might have tried the sperm donation route, or adoption, if Dave had lived; but just when he and Amanda had given up hope of having another on their own and had started to look into other options, a medical check-up on Dave had discovered a tumor in his brain. It had been inoperable and fast moving, and had killed him within five months.
He was glad to see his sister recovering from the devastation of her loss enough to contemplate having another child. Hopefully she’d eventually find someone else to love, although he could understand it if she didn’t. If he’d lost Whistle to the Darklings…he wasn’t sure that he would have survived, let alone have been able to find someone else. People always said that you’d move on, find someone else – but some loves were too hard to get over.
“Well, you have my blessing,” he told her as she did up the snaps on the front of the jumper.
“Thanks, Shane. Umm…do you think that Wes would…err…be my sperm donor?” she asked hesitantly.
His jaw dropped in shock. He gaped at her. She looked apologetic but hopeful. “Ray here is so adorable,” she breathed, picking the baby up and cuddling him. “I’d love to have one just like him. And Wes isn’t related to me or anything…Do you think I could ask? If he says no I’ll go to a sperm bank instead.”
“Err, I don’t know,” Shane replied. “I guess you could ask him.” he said, thinking he’d have to explain the whole concept to his Lamhulae later on. He wondered, even if Whistle said yes, whether the being’s sperm could be used to make a baby. It should be able to – after all, Whistle’s body was mostly like a regular human male’s.
Amanda looked relieved. “I’ll ask him a bit later. For now, let’s let him and Matt play video games and enjoy themselves.”
Shane nodded. “We’ll go into the kitchen and make some coffee,” he told her. She held the baby on her hip as they made their way out of the nursery together.
Ray had relaxed and accepted his new aunt by the time that Matt and Whistle came into the kitchen. She had him in the high chair and was playing little games with the baby, like pat-a-cake. Ray was laughing and squealing, while Shane sat in a chair nearby and smiled at the pair of them.
“Hey,” he said to his Lamhulae. “How’d the game go, you guys?”
“I won,” Matt said triumphantly. He held up his good arm in the air and pumped it victoriously. “I still got it!”
Shane grinned as Whistle smiled at the boy. The being clearly didn’t care that he’d gotten his butt kicked at the video game. He walked over to plop down into a chair next to Shane. “How is the little one?” he asked.
“Fine. He’s really getting along with Amanda,” Shane replied softly.
Whistle’s crystalline blue eyes turned to look at his baby and Shane’s sister. It was clear that Ray was comfortable now with the human woman. This pleased him. He wanted his Lamhulae’s family to accept their child. Matt spoke up: “Can I have something to drink, Uncle Shane?”
“Of course,” he got up and went to fetch Matt some orange juice from the fridge. He’d bought some smaller portable bottles of it, and the boy took it with his good hand after Shane had opened it for him.
Matt sipped at the juice as he watched his mom play with Ray. At first he didn’t seem that interested, until the baby laughed sunnily and kicked his legs when Amanda tickled him. Then he sat down next to her and put his juice on the table, reaching out to pat the baby’s cheek with his fingertips. Ray’s blue eyes moved over to fasten on him, wide and interested. “Hi,” Matt said.
Ray replied “Goobah,” or something similar, which made Matt laugh. He waved his fingers in front of the baby’s face, making the blue eyes follow them. His mother looked delighted by his reaction to the baby, which Shane could understand. If Matt didn’t want a sibling, then Amanda wouldn’t go through with her plans to have a baby. She wouldn’t want her son to be resentful and angry at his new brother or sister.
“So what do you think of your new cousin, Matt?” she asked.
“He’s kinda cute, I guess,” the boy replied with a shrug.
This was a teenager seal of approval, and she knew it. Her smile was bright. “Yes, he is. You were cute like this at one time. What happened?” she teased, grinning at him.
Matt rolled his eyes. “I’m not a baby now, Mom,” he pointed out.
She mock sighed. “Yes, babies always grow up. It’s such a shame. I sometimes wish you could have remained a baby forever.”
He eyed her. “So you would have been happy if you’d had to spend the rest of your life listening to me crying and having to change my diapers?”
She grimaced. “A very good point. You’re right. Babies have their drawbacks too, no matter how cute they are. I suppose if I want something cute that I have to take care of forever – or at least for a long time – I’ll get a dog or a cat. Those are like having babies, only without the diaper changing or the crying.”
“I’d like a dog,” Matt replied judiciously.
“Would you? Well, why not? We could go to the pound and adopt one for you if you want,” Amanda said indulgently.
“Cool,” he replied happily. Then he hesitated, looking first at the baby and then at his parent. “Hey, Mom? How come you and Dad never had any other kids? I remember asking you once before, but you said I was too young and you’d explain it later.”
Amanda sobered as Shane glanced at her across the table. “It wasn’t for lack of trying, kiddo,” she told him. “But unfortunately for us your Dad had a low sperm count. I assume you know how babies are made?” she added cynically, knowing how well informed kids were these days.
He nodded. “So Dad was shooting blanks?”
She snorted in laughter. “Not quite, which is how we managed to have you. But close enough, yes, which is why you never had any brothers or sisters. I know you wanted one when you were younger – how do you feel about it now?” she asked tentatively.
He looked surprised at the question. “Umm, I don’t know. I mean, it’d be a baby and everything. Babies aren’t any fun,” he added scornfully.
Her lips twitched as Shane fought back open laughter. “I know they aren’t, but you could play with him or her in a couple of years.”
“By then I’ll be in high school. It won’t be cool to play with some little kid,” Matt replied. Then he gave her a sharp glance. “Why are you asking, Mom? I mean, Dad’s dead…”
Sadness fell over her face. “Yes. But I’d still like to have another child. And before you ask, there wouldn’t be any man involved like a stepfather or anything. I could go to a sperm bank if I had to. You know what one of those is?”
“Yeah. It’s where the guys jacks off into a cup and they freeze the stuff so they can put it into women who want babies,” Matt replied promptly. “So you’d just get pregnant by some random guy?” he demanded in disgust.
“Well, no. I was thinking of asking Wes to donate his sperm first,” she said with a glance across the table at the blonde. Whistle blinked in puzzlement, turning a baffled look on Shane.
Matt looked startled, and then approving. “That’d be kinda cool. I mean, he could be the baby’s Dad without having to live with us or be married to you or anything.”
Amanda looked hopeful at this statement, turning an imploring look on the completely puzzled Whistle. “Would you do it, Wes?” she asked eagerly. “Would you be a sperm donor for me?”
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A loud squeal of joy made Shane wince. “Oh, my, GOD!” Amanda cried, scooping up the angelic blonde baby into her arms. “He’s SO adorable! And he looks just like you, Wes!” She cuddled Ray, who was staring at her with wide eyes. Clearly the baby was startled by this loud stranger who was currently holding him.
Whistle beamed at her gushing adoration of his baby. “Yes, he is like me. My…” he searched quickly for the things that Shane had told him to say, “My COUSIN and I looked very much alike.”
“He must have,” Amanda replied. Her face sobered for a moment. “I’m sorry to hear about your loss, Wes. But at least your cousin had someone to take care of his baby.”
“Yes,” Whistle replied, glancing at his Lamhulae. Shane nodded slightly to tell him he was doing fine. “We will take good care of our…HIS little one.”
“Ray,” Amanda cooed, smiling at the baby. She bounced the baby a little in her arms. “It’s really nice to meet you. I’m your Aunt Amanda, and this is your cousin Matt,” she nodded at her son, who was standing there looking rather bored. Being a teenage boy, he wasn’t that interested in babies.
Ray blinked up at her solemnly. Then he made a sort of “ba ba,” sound, for Whistle had been mentally teaching him the sounds a baby should make (after seeing videos and t.v. shows with babies in them). Amanda was delighted by this utterance.
“Are you hungry, little guy?” she asked. “Hmm?”
Shane’s lips twitched. He looked at Whistle, who was obviously discovering just what Shane had meant about what happened when women got around babies. Amanda was making noises back at the baby, whose eyes were wide once again. Ray had a finger stuck in his mouth as he tried to understand about just who this new person was. “He’s not hungry, Amanda,” he told his sister aloud. “We just fed him like an hour ago.”
“Okay. But I bet he needs his diaper changed,” she replied.
Shane decided to humor her. “I’ll show you where the changing table is,” he told his sister. “And Matt…why don’t you and Wes play a video game together? I know you have trouble holding the controller…” he nodded toward the heavy cast that Matt was wearing. “But there might be one or two you guys could play together…”
His nephew brightened up at this suggestion. Whistle smiled at the boy and went with him into the living room to look through the games that Shane had bought for both Whistle and Matt to play when he came over. Shane took Amanda to the guest room that had been made over into the nursery, although Ray still slept in his crib in their bedroom. Shane didn’t like to be too far from the baby, not after that horrible scare with the Darklings and the crisis over the baby’s ‘birth’. But everything else took place in the nursery, including diapering.
Amanda laid Ray down on his back on the padded bench and took off his jumper, and then she pulled back the tabs on the diaper and checked his bottom. “It’s been awhile since I did this,” she mused. “But I guess it’s like riding a bicycle. I remember when Matt was this age. He was adorable. Although I think Ray here is even more adorable,” she added as she tickled the baby’s rather pouchy belly with her fingertips. He squirmed and giggled, much to her delight.
Shane smiled as she fussed over his son. “I’m sorry I didn’t call you a few days ago when Wes and Ray arrived here, sis,” he told Amanda.
She shook her head. “That’s all right. I can understand that you wanted time alone with them, especially this guy. It’s always good to have time to bond with your child,”
Amanda said. “It must have been such a surprise for you, Wes bringing a baby back with him rather than you guys having to adopt somewhere else.”
“Yeah, but it’s great. It might have taken us awhile to adopt a child since we’re a gay couple. We might even have had to go overseas or something. But now we’ve got Ray, so we don’t need anything else,” he looked lovingly down at his son, clearly showing that he was a proud father.
Amanda beamed at him. She was glad to see her brother so happy. And of course, she was delighted to have a baby to make much of, since Matt was a teenager now. Her nephew was totally cute, a true darling. She’d have to force herself not to drive out here every day to make much of him. But she felt wistful. Since her husband had died, she hadn’t felt a great need to try to find someone else. But a baby – she would love to have a sibling for Matt. And soon, since she wasn’t getting any younger. She didn’t want to be a fifty year old woman going to her child’s high school graduation.
“Shane,” she said aloud as she pressed the tab back down (the diaper didn’t need changing).
“Yeah?” he glanced at her curiously.
Amanda hesitated. “What would you think about me…having another baby?” she asked him.
Startled, he stared at her. “Umm…with who, Amanda?” he asked in puzzlement.
She smiled crookedly. “A sperm donor,” she replied simply. “I still haven’t gotten over Dave,” she went on, the grief she felt over her dead spouse still strong even though it had been almost three years. “I don’t know that I ever will. And even if I do, it might not be in time to have a baby with someone else. I don’t want to have one in my forties. That’s ridiculous, no matter how many women are doing it now. It’s dangerous, and raising a teenager in my fifties – gah. I’d have no energy left to keep up with him or her. So it has to be soon if I decide to do it. And I want to get your opinion,” she looked up at him soberly, her fingers caressing Ray’s chest lovingly.
Shane hesitated. He saw that his son had activated all of his sister’s nesting and maternal instincts. But was there anything wrong with that? Amanda had done a good job being a single mom to Matt since her husband had died. While in a perfect world a child would have two great parents, one was enough. After all, a lot of kids ended up with two parents – but bad ones. One good one would be infinitely better than two bad ones. And besides, he and Whistle could be father figures to the child, just as he’d been to Matt these last few years.
“I think it’s a feasible idea if that’s what you really want, Amanda,” he told her seriously. “I’ll be there with you every step of the way, you know that,” he added as her face lit up. “But what about Matt? What will he think?”
“I’ll talk it over with him before I decide anything,” Amanda replied, beginning to put Ray back into his jumper. “I know that he always hoped for a sibling when he was younger. But…” she sighed. “Poor Dave.”
Shane said nothing. His brother-in-law had suffered from a low sperm count; it had been a miracle that he and Amanda had actually had Matt. A second baby would have been a miracle. They might have tried the sperm donation route, or adoption, if Dave had lived; but just when he and Amanda had given up hope of having another on their own and had started to look into other options, a medical check-up on Dave had discovered a tumor in his brain. It had been inoperable and fast moving, and had killed him within five months.
He was glad to see his sister recovering from the devastation of her loss enough to contemplate having another child. Hopefully she’d eventually find someone else to love, although he could understand it if she didn’t. If he’d lost Whistle to the Darklings…he wasn’t sure that he would have survived, let alone have been able to find someone else. People always said that you’d move on, find someone else – but some loves were too hard to get over.
“Well, you have my blessing,” he told her as she did up the snaps on the front of the jumper.
“Thanks, Shane. Umm…do you think that Wes would…err…be my sperm donor?” she asked hesitantly.
His jaw dropped in shock. He gaped at her. She looked apologetic but hopeful. “Ray here is so adorable,” she breathed, picking the baby up and cuddling him. “I’d love to have one just like him. And Wes isn’t related to me or anything…Do you think I could ask? If he says no I’ll go to a sperm bank instead.”
“Err, I don’t know,” Shane replied. “I guess you could ask him.” he said, thinking he’d have to explain the whole concept to his Lamhulae later on. He wondered, even if Whistle said yes, whether the being’s sperm could be used to make a baby. It should be able to – after all, Whistle’s body was mostly like a regular human male’s.
Amanda looked relieved. “I’ll ask him a bit later. For now, let’s let him and Matt play video games and enjoy themselves.”
Shane nodded. “We’ll go into the kitchen and make some coffee,” he told her. She held the baby on her hip as they made their way out of the nursery together.
Ray had relaxed and accepted his new aunt by the time that Matt and Whistle came into the kitchen. She had him in the high chair and was playing little games with the baby, like pat-a-cake. Ray was laughing and squealing, while Shane sat in a chair nearby and smiled at the pair of them.
“Hey,” he said to his Lamhulae. “How’d the game go, you guys?”
“I won,” Matt said triumphantly. He held up his good arm in the air and pumped it victoriously. “I still got it!”
Shane grinned as Whistle smiled at the boy. The being clearly didn’t care that he’d gotten his butt kicked at the video game. He walked over to plop down into a chair next to Shane. “How is the little one?” he asked.
“Fine. He’s really getting along with Amanda,” Shane replied softly.
Whistle’s crystalline blue eyes turned to look at his baby and Shane’s sister. It was clear that Ray was comfortable now with the human woman. This pleased him. He wanted his Lamhulae’s family to accept their child. Matt spoke up: “Can I have something to drink, Uncle Shane?”
“Of course,” he got up and went to fetch Matt some orange juice from the fridge. He’d bought some smaller portable bottles of it, and the boy took it with his good hand after Shane had opened it for him.
Matt sipped at the juice as he watched his mom play with Ray. At first he didn’t seem that interested, until the baby laughed sunnily and kicked his legs when Amanda tickled him. Then he sat down next to her and put his juice on the table, reaching out to pat the baby’s cheek with his fingertips. Ray’s blue eyes moved over to fasten on him, wide and interested. “Hi,” Matt said.
Ray replied “Goobah,” or something similar, which made Matt laugh. He waved his fingers in front of the baby’s face, making the blue eyes follow them. His mother looked delighted by his reaction to the baby, which Shane could understand. If Matt didn’t want a sibling, then Amanda wouldn’t go through with her plans to have a baby. She wouldn’t want her son to be resentful and angry at his new brother or sister.
“So what do you think of your new cousin, Matt?” she asked.
“He’s kinda cute, I guess,” the boy replied with a shrug.
This was a teenager seal of approval, and she knew it. Her smile was bright. “Yes, he is. You were cute like this at one time. What happened?” she teased, grinning at him.
Matt rolled his eyes. “I’m not a baby now, Mom,” he pointed out.
She mock sighed. “Yes, babies always grow up. It’s such a shame. I sometimes wish you could have remained a baby forever.”
He eyed her. “So you would have been happy if you’d had to spend the rest of your life listening to me crying and having to change my diapers?”
She grimaced. “A very good point. You’re right. Babies have their drawbacks too, no matter how cute they are. I suppose if I want something cute that I have to take care of forever – or at least for a long time – I’ll get a dog or a cat. Those are like having babies, only without the diaper changing or the crying.”
“I’d like a dog,” Matt replied judiciously.
“Would you? Well, why not? We could go to the pound and adopt one for you if you want,” Amanda said indulgently.
“Cool,” he replied happily. Then he hesitated, looking first at the baby and then at his parent. “Hey, Mom? How come you and Dad never had any other kids? I remember asking you once before, but you said I was too young and you’d explain it later.”
Amanda sobered as Shane glanced at her across the table. “It wasn’t for lack of trying, kiddo,” she told him. “But unfortunately for us your Dad had a low sperm count. I assume you know how babies are made?” she added cynically, knowing how well informed kids were these days.
He nodded. “So Dad was shooting blanks?”
She snorted in laughter. “Not quite, which is how we managed to have you. But close enough, yes, which is why you never had any brothers or sisters. I know you wanted one when you were younger – how do you feel about it now?” she asked tentatively.
He looked surprised at the question. “Umm, I don’t know. I mean, it’d be a baby and everything. Babies aren’t any fun,” he added scornfully.
Her lips twitched as Shane fought back open laughter. “I know they aren’t, but you could play with him or her in a couple of years.”
“By then I’ll be in high school. It won’t be cool to play with some little kid,” Matt replied. Then he gave her a sharp glance. “Why are you asking, Mom? I mean, Dad’s dead…”
Sadness fell over her face. “Yes. But I’d still like to have another child. And before you ask, there wouldn’t be any man involved like a stepfather or anything. I could go to a sperm bank if I had to. You know what one of those is?”
“Yeah. It’s where the guys jacks off into a cup and they freeze the stuff so they can put it into women who want babies,” Matt replied promptly. “So you’d just get pregnant by some random guy?” he demanded in disgust.
“Well, no. I was thinking of asking Wes to donate his sperm first,” she said with a glance across the table at the blonde. Whistle blinked in puzzlement, turning a baffled look on Shane.
Matt looked startled, and then approving. “That’d be kinda cool. I mean, he could be the baby’s Dad without having to live with us or be married to you or anything.”
Amanda looked hopeful at this statement, turning an imploring look on the completely puzzled Whistle. “Would you do it, Wes?” she asked eagerly. “Would you be a sperm donor for me?”
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