Wes groaned as a streak of sunlight snuck through the window, his eyelids fluttering open as he was dragged out of sleep by the bright shine of the early morning. It took a moment to remember not only where he was but how old he was, smiling sleepily as he flexed the muscular bicep of his left arm - the arm under which his toddlerized neighbors still slept. Nick and Clark were snuggled up in each other's arms as they slumbered, a sight so precious and adorable that Wes was happy to do nothing more than watch over his sweet little sleepyheads.
That lasted until he was hit by the smell.
"Oh jeez..." Wes' nose reflexively wrinkled as he realized the degree to which Nick and Clark had used their overnight Pampers. He sighed as he slowly pulled back the covers, careful not to wake the toddlers - tricky as it was to keep a two-year-old asleep through a diaper change, Wes preferred the challenge over either boy realizing what they'd done. He gathered the necessary supplies and then gently pulled Nick from Clark's embrace, breathing a sigh of relief when they fussed a bit in their slumber but otherwise remained fast asleep. Wes rolled Nick onto his back and delicately stripped him of his diaper, wiping his weewee and tushie clean with practiced skill and efficiency. Soon the tiny boy was powdered and taped into a fresh pair of Pampers while still snoozing, Wes tucking him back under the covers before reaching for Clark and restarting the process. Though he worked with the same degree of caution and care in relieving Clark of his ruined diaper and wiping him down, he couldn't have known that the dark-haired toddler was simply not as heavy a sleeper as his baby boyfriend.
"Weth?" Wes' hand froze mid-wipe as Clark piped up in a tiny, groggy voice. "Wha' aw you...why am I...?"
Clark's eyes went wide as his button nose was hit with the scent of his and Nick's dirty, yet-to-be disposed diapers. In an instant the toddler was stone sober with shame from what he'd done.
"I...I did'n...I did'n mean to..." Clark whimpered as tears sprung to his big bright eyes. "I...I..."
"Shhhhh...it's okay, baby bear, it's okay." Wes cooed as he stroked Clark's impossibly soft hair. "Let daddy finish cleaning you up and then you can cuddle with Nick and go back to sleep, okay?"
Clark sniffed and wiped away his tears with a chubby fist. Though the mortified boy still looked on the verge of bawling at any moment, he nevertheless managed to give Wes a tiny nod of approval. The man smiled warmly at the toddler as he returned to the task, working more quickly now that he didn't have to worry about waking Clark up.
"There we go - all dry and clean." Wes finished diapering the toddler and gave his padded butt a playful pat. Clark was still a bit embarrassed but giggled just the same as the man helped him back under the covers. "Snug as bug in a rug."
"Mm." Clark murmured his assent, crinkling up a storm as he wriggled himself into a comfortable position beneath the blanket. "Weth?"
"What is it, sweetie?"
"...what was dat you cawwed me juth now?"
"You mean baby bear?"
"Yeah. Um." Clark smiled shyly. "I...I kinda wike it."
"Then baby bear it is." Wes leaned down to kiss a blushing cheek and was surprised when the toddler reciprocated the gesture, holding the man's stubbly cheeks steady with his stubby fingers as he planted a smooch on his strong, hard-set jaw. Clark giggled at Wes' look of surprise before snuggling back into Nick's embrace, where he drifted off to sleep in a matter of seconds. Wes smiled thoughtfully and rubbed his chin as he stood, quietly exiting the room and closing the door behind him. The boys deserved to sleep in after what he'd put them through, a wrong that he hoped to make right before the day was done.
First step? Call the chief.
"Feeling better? Good!" The Chief barked at Wes through the phone. He'd seemingly not noticed Wes artificially gravelling his voice to make it sound more like his 44-year-old timbre. "I knew you weren't the type to milk your sick days. You wouldn't believe how much time your fellow officers have been missing lately, it's absolutely pathetic and - "
"I am feeling better, Chief, but as I was saying..." Wes took back control of the conversation before his superior could go off on a tangent. "I was hoping you could give me a ride to the station, the doctor said I shouldn't drive after taking the medication she gave me."
"Hmph. Fine." The Chief snorted. "Eat and get dressed. I'll be there in an hour."
He hung up before waiting for a response. Wes rolled his eyes as he set down his phone and headed into the kitchen, feeling a little better about what he had planned for his asshole of a boss. Though he and the boys would need to prepare for the Chief's arrival, an hour was more than enough time for them to enjoy some breakfast first...
---
"Nick? Clark?" Wes smiled as he returned to the bedroom to find the pair of two-year-olds still sleeping and hugging each other as lovingly as ever. The man gently shook their delicate shoulders and chuckled as they murmured and burrowed themselves deeper beneath the covers. He hated to break up such an adorable scene but their oatmeal wasn't going to stay warm forever, and so Wes pulled the blanket back and scooped the still-sleeping tots up into his arms. Nick and Clark stirred as they were carried into the kitchen, both yawning and rubbing their eyes as they realized where they were. Both boys offered Wes a sleepy smile, and in return the man kissed the tops of their sweet little heads before setting their crinkly tushies down on the makeshift booster chairs he'd made of the thickest books he could find in the apartment.
"Try not to make as big a mess as last night." Wes asked with a wink as the grinning boys took the tiny plastic spoons in their pudgy little hands and went to town on the sweet mush the man had prepared for them. Though a spoonful went astray every so often, Nick and Clark had grown accustomed enough to their diminished coordination to feed themselves with a surprising degree of success - enough that Wes could finish his own plate of bacon and eggs before wiping their cherubic faces clean of the sticky bits that clung to their cheeks and chins.
"So...the Chief's going to be by in about twenty minutes." Nick and Clark looked at Wes in surprise as he finished cleaning them up. "I really didn't want to bring anybody else into this, but with the gun broken the way it is we need the extra years any way we can get them."
The boys looked uncertainly at each other for a moment before turning back to Wes, their adorable features set in precocious determination.
"Weah weady to hewp wiff whatevah you got pwanned, Weth." Clark declared.
"We twust you." Nick added.
"That means a lot to me, guys. Thank you." Wes beamed. "So, here's what we're gonna do..."