Chapter Text
After Mark let out a couple small burps, Wade resituated the baby and got to his feet. Careful to not disturb Bob, Tyler and Jack, they relocated to their shared bed. Mark was laid on the bed with his pacifier, blanket and Tim while his Daddy locked the guard rails into place and climbed in next to his baby boy. It had been a long day for everyone and sleep was certainly something they were all looking forward to.
Unfortunately, sleep was not something they got to enjoy for long. Since Mark fell asleep during his first bottle for the evening, he was woken up by his empty tummy at the ungodly hour of two in the morning. At first, the baby couldn’t figure out why he had woken up. Squirming around, he found his diaper wasn’t wet enough to be a bother, his blankie and paci were still there, Dada was still snuggling him, and no one was making any sound- well, no one other than Papa, who was snoring like a bear with a chainsaw. Mark huffed a sigh through his nose as he sucked on his paci and fussed as he tried to figure out why in the world he was awake. As he stretched a bit, he got his answer when his stomach let out a fierce growl that came with a hunger pang. He whined around his paci and wriggled unhappily as he tried to get the feeling to stop. It seemed like the more he moved the more angry his tummy became until it was too much for him. His whines escalated until he was crying too loud for Dada to sleep through it, which also woke Papa Tyler and Little Jackie.
“Hey, hey, what’s the matter, Buggaboo?” Wade groggily inquired as he struggled to sit up.
Mark didn’t answer. He felt too Little and words weren’t making sense to him. All he knew was that his tummy was angry and Dada needed to fix it.
“What’s going on?” Tyler questioned as Jackie joined the chorus of woes.
“I dunno… I just woke up to him crying,” Wade answered, checking around for all of his baby’s comfort items. “He’s still got all his snuggle stuff…”
“Does he need a change?” Tyler prompted, flicking a lamp on.
“Why are the munchkins crying?” Bob grumbled out, still half asleep as he held Jack close and rubbed his back.
“Mark started crying and Jack just kinda joined in,” Tyler explained. “Did you check to see if his diaper is full yet?”
“No, I’ll check,” Wade responded, sliding Mark onto his lap and checking the little one’s diaper. “He’s barely wet so I doubt that’s what’s bothering him. He usually only kicks up a fuss if he’s pooped or about to leak…”
“Did he finish that second bottle that we made him before bed?” Bob piped up as he shifted to sit up and cradle Jack in his lap as the older Little calmed down a bit.
“He never ended up drinking any of it,” Tyler reported as he looked at the full bottle sitting on the coffee table next to the pull out bed. “It’s still sitting over here.”
“He’s probably starving if all he’s had is one bottle in the last 24 hours,” Bob pointed out, kissing Jack’s temple as he fussed and squirmed.
“Yeah, sorry, I should’ve tried to get him to eat more,” Wade apologized, laying Mark on the bed and sliding out of it.
Mark didn’t appreciate the distance from Dada in the least and let everyone in their room know by increasing his volume. Tyler felt a horrible emptiness in his gut like something fundamental was missing as his heart felt a pang of sympathy for his infantile friend. The poor baby had a rough day and didn’t even mean to disturb his roommates, but he was too tiny to take care of himself.
“It’s okay, Pumpkin, Dada’s still here,” Wade reassured, lifting Mark into his arms and bouncing him as they made their way to the living room.
“Do you want me to make a fresh bottle for him since your hands are kinda full?” Tyler offered, wanting to do something to help his friends.
“That would be great since he’s not gonna let me set him down,” Wade submitted, walking back and forth from the end of one bed to the other.
Tyler hauled himself out of the sofa bed and got to work on making a fresh bottle. While it heated in the warmer, he looked between Wade bouncing his crying baby and Bob murmuring sweet things to the sniffling toddler in his arms. He had a caring side to him but he classified as more of a neutral. In the moment, he was kinda jealous… As tiring and frustrating as it could be to be a caregiver, it was super rewarding and relaxing. Tyler was brought out of his musings as the first bottle was finished and he started making second by the cries of Baby Mark getting louder. Wade had made his way over and was looking to Tyler as if he had a request he hated to ask.
“The first bottle’s ready. I figured we should make two since he’s probably really hungry…” Tyler suggested, slipping the second bottle into the warmer.
“Can you get him started for me?” Wade asked, looking a bit desperate. “All that soda just hit me like a brick wall and I can’t just lay him down by himself and Bob’s busy with Jackie.”
“Of course!” Tyler agreed, shocking himself with how desperately he wanted to hold the baby. He extended his arms and took the crying baby Youtuber from his friend’s arms and started to rock him. “Hey Buddy, it’s okay… Papa made you a baba to fill your little tummy…”
Wade dashed off to the bathroom with a grateful smile to Tyler. It took a moment before Mark quieted to hiccups, confused as to why Papa Ty had him instead of Daddy. He gave up on trying to puzzle it out as Papa Ty snuggled him close and slipped his baba in his mouth. As they settled in on the pullout bed, Mark studied Papa’s face. Papa seemed really happy to feed him even though he was just stupid helpless baby… Was Papa Ty supposed to be a Dada too? The more Mark thought about it, the more it made sense, all the times that Papa tried to get him to eat better or exercise when they were big and how quiet but supportive he was of everything they did while they were big… He wasn’t too masculine or rough or antisocial, he was just trying to make sure that he wasn’t overstepping boundaries while still caring for his friends as if they were his Littles… Satisfied with his conclusion, Baby Mark smiled around the bottle in his mouth as he continued to nurse and lazily arched his back in an attempt to stretch as his tummy filled up, his feet mindlessly and gently kicking at the mattress in a failed attempt to gain purchase to stretch even more.
“I bet you feel a lot better with more food in your tummy, huh?” Papa Ty murmured, snaking the hand that had previously supporting and patting his diapered bum up to rub his tummy in soft circles. “Daddy’s really gonna have to watch your eating habits, Bug.”
Baby Mark cooed around his bottle, making Papa smile even more. Yeah, Papa Ty would be a great Dada… Speaking of Dada, Mark grinned around his bottle and made grabby hands for his as Wade pretended sneak around the back of the sofa bed and mock pounce on him. Dada was so silly! He wasn’t a kitty cat! Dada’s don’t sneak and pounce! Silly, Dada!
“There’s my happy little cuddle bug!” Dada cooed, retrieving Mark from Tyler’s grasp, making sure his Little’s bottle came with. “Papa Ty would make a good Dada, wouldn’t he, sweetheart?”
Mark continued to smile and nurse as he watched Dada and nod a little. That’s exactly what he’d been thinking! Clever Dada! He must’ve been reading his mind.
“It’s easy when the Little is Mark or Jack…” Tyler shrugged off, not sure he could be a caregiver 24/7 or even the majority of the time. As great as it seemed a lot of the time, he wasn’t sure it was the right thing for his everyday life. “The other bottle should be ready soon.”
“Give it some thought though, yeah?” Wade insisted, rocking his baby in his arms and lovingly returning said baby’s gaze. “Mark is a sensitive little one and he doesn’t take someone caring for him lightly. If he trusts you, imagine how special it would feel to have a baby or toddler you’ve never known before put their trust and love and safety into your hands…”
“Maybe…” Tyler conceded, softly smirking as Baby Mark turned to grin and coo at him.
He rose to his feet and grabbed the second bottle from the warmer. Bob and Sean had already begun to slump over and doze off. Tyler followed Wade to the bed and helped the two settle in again. Papa gave Baby a goodnight kiss on the forehead and proceeded to turn all the lights down or off as he headed back to the pull-out bed. As he laid there, he wondered if his friends were right… Would he be a good caregiver for someone like Sean and Mark? Would he be better with a baby or someone older? Would it be different with a girl? Would he prefer a boy or maybe a girl would be a better match? What about the permanence of the headspace? He could handle an almost scheduled regression with plenty of adult time, but could he have a Little that was in headspace 24/7? Is it even possible for him to get anything done? Would he get disliked or deleted off of YouTube if he became a caregiver or did videos with his Little?
Tyler tried to quiet his rapid fire mind and focus on the soft sounds of Wade humming while Mark sniffles and sucked on his bottle. There were so many things to consider, that it kind of hurt his head… But at the same time, there was the overwhelming thought of how amazing it would be to wake up and have someone who was so happy to see him and needed him so much… He was already secretly looking forward to any chance at babying Mark (when appropriate of course) but the thought of being able to be a part of something and relate to more people in his life while bringing in another Little for Mark and Sean to be able to relate to and play with… It was just overwhelmingly positive. Emphasis on the overwhelming part… Tyler sighed and tried to focus on how wonderful and awe-inspiring it was to see Mark so tiny and trusting, so happy to have his Papa Ty make it all better… Yeah, this deserved some real thought and the Baby Shower just might be the perfect chance to get some more experience and talk to some veterans of the Caregiving and Age Regression world.