Fussy
A piercing wail cut through the night. Oh, no, Salim thought as he stirred from his bed. The cry was nothing new to him; having a fussy baby made him used to such sounds. But it might pose a problem to the marine currently crashing on Salim's couch. Which was why Salim tried getting a babysitter for Zain while Jason was visiting. The babysitter fell through at the last minute, leaving Salim to desperately plea to Allah that his infant son might sleep through the night just this once.
Allah, it seemed, did not listen.
[It's all right, son, Daddy's here,] Salim whispered, reaching to lift his crying son from the crib. He began to gently bounce and sway, rubbing Zain's back, humming softly. Sometimes that was enough to lull his son back to sleep. This time Zain kept crying.
“Salim?” Jason's voice called to him from the living room. A moment later he heard a knock at his door. “You good in there?”
“Zain woke up,” Salim answered apologetically. “I think he's hungry.” Jason didn't respond. Salim opened the door one-handed and found the American waiting.
Jason looked like a completely different person outside of his combat gear. He wore boxer-briefs—Salim had been unconsciously picturing an American flag design and was surprised to see these were fairly plain—and a muscle shirt. His dog-tag were visible, hanging from a silver chain on his neck. Jason's brown hair was messy from his recently disturbed sleep.
Salim didn't realize he'd been staring until another wail from Zain brought him back to reality. Jason's lips moved up into a little smile. “Kid's got a pair of lungs, don't he?” he remarked.
“He's hungry,” Salim repeated. Jason nodded and flicked on a lamp so Salim could find his way to the kitchen. “Thank you,” he said. He started gathering what he needed to feed his son, trying to juggle it one-handed since Zain usually got even fussier if Salim put him down.
“Lemme hold him,” Jason offered.
“Oh, no, that's all right,” Salim assured him hastily. “I've done this a thousand times.”
“I got two empty hands, Salim. Lemme hold the kid.” Salim wanted to argue again, but he wasn't sure why. He was just so used to doing this alone. Salim relented and held out his son.
Jason was very careful in taking Zain into his arms. Salim had to correct the arm positions and how Jason supported the baby's head, and soon Zain was snug in the American's arms. Zain's cries dimmed a little as he was exchanging hands. He and Jason stared at each other, and for a moment Zain was almost calm. But then he started crying again.
“Oops. Better go make that bottle, Salim.” Jason's eyes met his and Salim felt his heart skip, his body warming. He quickly looked away to focus on preparing his son's bottle.
Salim knew all the steps by heart. After his wife left him and Zain, he taught himself very quickly how to prepare baby formula. It was a little strange doing it with both hands or without securing Zain in his baby seat. Zain had settled again and he turned to see Jason had offered his finger for the baby to latch onto. He was singing to Zain and rocking him, making Salim's heart skip again.
“What is that song?” Salim asked him.
“The Pokemon theme song,” Jason explained. “Sorry, I know it's an earworm, but it's the only kid's song I know.”
“The what theme song?”
“It's a kid's show. I used to watch it when I was gettin' high.” Salim shook his head, turning away to hide his amused smile. The bottle was soon ready. He held out his arms to take his son back but Jason asked, “Mind if I do it?”
“You want to feed him?” Salim clarified.
“Sure. Why not?”
“You're my guest. He already woke you, and--”
“Babies cry,” Jason reasoned with a shrug. “I knew what I was gettin' into.” Salim didn't know what to say. “Salim, do you know what the Marine Corps motto is?” Jason didn't wait before answering: “Semper fidelis. It's Latin. Means 'always loyal' or 'always faithful.'” Salim still said nothing, waiting to see where Jason was going with this. “You havin' a baby don't change that for me.”
Salim was still speechless. He handed over the bottle and Jason encouraged Zain to take it. Salim watched, feeling almost numb with shock. He had seen the extent of Jason's loyalty to him before, down in the catacombs. It somehow felt different here. There were no alien forces to battle, no life-or-death threats. This was ordinary, mundane, normal. This was a baby who disturbed their sleep.
“Hey, what's wrong?” Jason asked worriedly. “You okay?” Salim wiped the tears off his cheeks.
“I'm just tired,” he lied.
“Take a nap,” Jason advised. “I got this.”
“I want to stay up with you,” Salim insisted. He darted a glance at Jason, feeling suddenly shy. Seeing this man hold Zain so carefully, so gently, without a single complaint had Salim's pulse going faster.
Tonight showed him a possibility he hadn't considered. He was secretly grateful to Zain for being so fussy.
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