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"He's a baby, Finn, not a bomb." Ezra chuckles, watching his boyfriend hold their friend's six-month-old son like he's a lit firecracker. "You can hold him a little bit closer without either of you running the risk of spontaneous combustion."
Finn wrinkles his nose, continuing to hold the baby at arms'-length. "I wasn't expecting him to be so... so..."
Ezra allows him a moment to find the word he's struggling for, before suggesting, "Small? Fragile?"
"Yes." Finn says, earnestly confused and more than a little bit in awe.
It occurs to Ezra that Finn likely has very little experience handling children—infants, in particular. Children aren't all that common in Lunaris, even now that the Hunter has put an end to the ruthless string of murders that'd rocked their beautiful little town. And despite the fact that most realize that they have nothing to fear from the members of Clan Kazimir, a vampire is a vampire is a vampire, and vampires and children don't mix.
Perhaps, before he was changed, he was less... awkward around children. Or perhaps he was always like this, unsure what to do with the gummy-handed little bundle of joy that seemed to have an unending fascination with his ears. (He remembers Briar saying something about the fact that Alkar absolutely refused to babysit the little boy anymore after the infant had tried to rip one of his ears off of the top of his head—Briar had tried to explain that that was just what children did, and that the little one had tried, on more than one occasion, to rip the hair right out of August's head, but the lycan-hybrid simply wouldn't hear it). It was good that Alden was a very forgiving baby, able to win most people over with that bright, toothless smile of his. He was fairly patient, too—except when it came time to eat. Then, he was an actual monster.
[Ezra had been in the shop, taking down an order for a custom fertility potion, when it'd happened. It was just about time for Alden to be waking up from his mid-afternoon nap, when a blood-curdling scream from his living room caused half of the potion bottles on his shelves to erupt in a shower of glass. The poor customer had received such a fright she'd run out of the store without bothering to finish her order, and Ezra had a sneaking suspicion she wouldn't be back. Not that he could really blame her—he'd been frightened, too, to the point where poor Finn hadn't known whether to try and calm the screaming child or come check on him first. In the end, he'd settled for something in the middle, which had caused the rest of his merchandise to meet an unfortunate, and highly messy, end.
It wasn't Alden's fault. There were times when even adult witches had trouble controlling their magic—it was unrealistic, and unfair, to expect a six-month-old to have perfect control of their powers. He didn't break anything that couldn't be replaced easily enough, although he wasn't going to bother attempting to replenish his stocks until Briar Rose and August were back from their vacation. He didn't want to have anymore accidents.
It was already going to be hard enough attempting to convince Briar that he sold out of his entire stock of potions in the three days that they were gone.
He really didn't think she'd believe that a freak storm tore through the town and only ended up destroying his house.]
"He's certainly a little cutie pie, isn't he?" Ezra ruffles the shock of purple-black hair on top of the baby's head, and gets a bright little giggle for his efforts. But soon enough, Alden's attention returns to Finn, and his long, pointy ears. "And he is utterly enamored with you."
"He looks exactly like Gus." Finn says, like he can't decide whether that's a good thing or a bad thing.
"That would make sense, seeing as he's Gus' child. Children tend to at least resemble their parents." Ezra says, "I think he looks more like Briar Rose, personally. Though I suppose his hair is quite a bit like August's." It's more black than purple, true, but he can see the beginnings of the familiar ombre coloring.
Finn is silent for a moment—he winces when Alden grabs ahold of one of his ears and yanks, and Ezra steps in to gently loosen the infant's iron-clad grip. As Ezra's fingers graze over his own, he finally finds the confidence to ask, "...Have you ever thought about having children?"
"I... maybe, one day, with the right person? In case you haven't noticed, there isn't exactly room for a child in my life right now." He gestures around, and Finn can see what he means. While he finds the witch's house to be comfortable, cozy—lived in—it's filled to the brim with hazards for children. Case and point, the thousands of shards of glass that Ezra had had to clean up from the broken potion bottles.
"You're good with them. Children, I mean." Finn is still holding the little boy at arms'-length. Ezra doesn't know how his arms haven't started shaking from the strain.
"You're good with them, too. Really." He adds, when Finn arches a brow, suspicion clear on his face. "Don't look at me like that. You know that I'm right."
"...The only reason that Briar asked me to babysit was because Alkar said no and Omen... well, you know." Omen, bless his heart, was actually really good with Alden. But he usually babysat with Alkar, so now that the lycan was on strike... Plus, with Omen unofficially-officially living in Ezra's house, it was like Finn and Ezra were babysitting anyhow.
"She asked you to babysit because she trusts you." Ezra corrects, his tone brokering no room for argument.
Once upon a time, when Briar Rose had first come to Lunaris, she'd asked Finn why she should trust him. He'd told her a bit about the monstrosities that he'd committed early on in his un-life, and how he'd decided that he was going to dedicate the rest of his days to making amends for what he'd done. Given their somewhat rocky first encounter, the Hunter really had had no reason to believe him—let alone trust him. But, in that moment, she'd made the choice to take him at his word, and had yet to regret her decision.
Ezra could not think of another Hunter who would go to a vampire and ask them to babysit their six-month-old child (except maybe Piper, but she was a decent sort—many of the Hunters who'd come through Lunaris in the months leading up to Briar's arrival had not been so open-minded about the supernatural denizens of their quiet little town). But then, he'd never met another Hunter quite like Briar. Not only had she been confident that Finn would be up to the task, but she'd mentioned, off-handedly, that it would also be a good way for the vampire to build up his sense of self-worth. He was so much more than the mistakes that he'd made in the past, and she would do anything to help him see that. And what better way to restore one's confidence in themselves than to let them see themselves through the eyes of an innocent child?
Ezra had been one-hundred percent on-board with the idea, and even now that they'd encountered a few bumps in the road, he was still confident that everything would work out. If his suspicions were correct and Finn had next to no experience with children, then a fairly steep learning curve was to be expected. Even those who had a natural connection with children could find themselves confused and frustrated at times.
That sort of thing just happened when the person you were dealing with could only communicate via strings of sound that were almost words and tear-filled screams.
The witch's train of thought is broken by the baby giving a soft little yawn, his body slumping a bit in Finn's hold. Finn looks to Ezra, that anxiousness returning.
Ezra offers him a small, reassuring smile, as a thought occurs to him, "Would you like me to show you a better way to hold him?"
Finn shifts the tired baby in his arms, contemplating. Then, he nods. "W-Would you?" He seems a little upset with himself for needing to ask for help, but there's no reason to be embarrassed about this sort of thing, and Ezra is determined to show him as much.
Ezra's smile blossoms into something beautiful as he nods, "Of course."
The witch comes to stand behind the vampire, so that his stomach is pressed taut to the older man's back. The position is a little awkward, seeing as Finn is significantly taller than him, but it works well enough for Ezra's purposes. Ezra wraps his arms around Finn's middle and directs him to bring his arms in a little bit closer. Once Alden is tucked comfortably against his chest, he directs Finn to move his left arm so that he's supporting the baby's body, and then move his right so that the baby's head is tucked into the crook of his elbow. The baby gives a pleased little coo as he snuggles down into Finn's arms, smacking his lips as he stretches out his little legs and lets his eyes begin to droop closed. Finn's eyes widen, his panic even more tangible as Alden begins to drift off to sleep—
"Just relax..." Ezra says, keeping his voice soft and low in order to avoid waking the baby back up. "I'm right here... I've got you. I've got you both." He presses a soft kiss to the back of Finn's neck, before pressing his face into the space between Finn's shoulder blades.
He can feel the way Finn begins to relax—slowly at first, and then all at once. His golden eyes remain locked on the little boy as he whispers, "Thank you."
"No reason to thank me, love." Ezra stays in place, continuing to provide that extra little bit of support, even though he's confident that Finn can manage well-enough on his own. "How're your ears feeling? Are they sore?" He has to stand on tip-toe to plant a gentle kiss to the tips of Finn's ears, but he's more than willing to put in that little bit of extra effort to be able to kiss his boyfriend's 'wounds' and make them better.
Finn rolls his eyes, "Let's just say I can understand why Alkar doesn't want to babysit anymore."
Ezra snorts, unbelievably grateful that he's standing behind his boyfriend and that the other man cannot see his face. "Aww, don't tell me that you honestly don't want to watch this little angel again..." 'Angel' might be a little bit of a stretch, but he truly is a sweet little boy, quirks and all, and he hopes that Finn can see that.
"I didn't say that." Finn says, a little defensive. But then he relaxes, "Don't forget that we still have to survive the rest of the weekend. I'm not sure if the house could survive another babysitting gig." He points out, causing Ezra to shudder. He didn't need to remind him of all the time he'd spent cleaning the glass off of the floor in the storefront.
"That's not a no." He recovers easily enough, his full lips curling into a smile.
Finn shakes his head, "No, that's definitely not a no."
Finn was right—they'd only been watching Alden for a couple of hours, and were very lucky that Ezra's house was still standing. They still had two and a half days before Briar Rose and August returned from their vacation, and anything was liable to happen during that time. But that was part of the fun of babysitting; babysitting baby witches, in particular. You could never quite predict what would happen next.
Despite that uncertainty, Ezra knew one thing for sure: with this beautiful vampire at his side, he could stare into the endless depths of the unknown with a smile.
And from the surge of love and warmth he felt tenderly prodding at the corners of his mind, he knew that Finn felt the exact same way.