Diaper Change

For the next hours the four men sat in Jon’s dressing room and played with the little girl. Isabella was passed around during that time. Everybody wanted to hold her for a while and they all remembered how it was when their kids were still that small.

Even though Isabella was relaxed when sitting with Jon, David and Richie, you could see she preferred being with Tico. She would snuggle closer to him, lean her head against his shoulder and listen attentive when he was talking Spanish.

“Uhm,…do you smell that?” David asked suddenly and lifted Isabella from his lap.

“Whew! Jesus!” he said and grimaced when smelling at the girl’s rear end. “It’s definitely not my turn. It’s been way too long since I did it. I’m out of practice.” He put Isabella carefully on Jon’s lap.

“Why me? Hector is younger than Romeo. I’m pretty sure Tico had to do it a little longer than me.” His friend protested.

“For your information, I can’t stand that smell, makes me through up, I never changed Hector’s diapers.” The drummer got to his feet before Jon could hand him the little girl.

“Oh, for God’s sake. You are such babies. Give me the little angel!” Richie demand and took Isabella from Jon.

“They are sooooo stupid, right princess. Come here, let’s get you changed.” He lay her down on the blanket, which Tico already spread out on the couch and started to undress her.

Carefully he peeled her out of her diaper, while talking constantly with her. “Oh, you did really well, didn’t you …you little stinker.”

Isabella squealed and gave him a little smile, as if she wanted to say: Damn right, I did.

“Here David, take this out.” Rich handed him the diaper.

“Oh, damn…” the keyboard player cursed and held the diapers as far away as possible from himself.

“Watch out! Stink bomb!” he announced loudly, while walking down the hallway.

“Such a stupid guy, right princess? Such a stupid guy.” Richie told the little girl, who gave him a big smile.

“So, now we get you all clean….see,… yes that’s better, right….” Jon and Tico watched Richie amused.

“So, princess and now the new diaper…swoop….under your little butt…..let’s see, do we have some powder or maybe creme here….oh, look we have, Lisa thought about that too….” He showed her the two items before using them.

“….ah, that feels good, right princess…now, we close the diaper here and here….and ….ta-tah…a not stinky Isabella!” he picked her up into his arms.

Jon and Tico laughed. “Well, I have to say…for not doing it over…what 13 years, you did pretty damn good.” Jon admitted.

“I’m a natural!” Rich told him grinning.

“Seems so, can I have my little girl back now?” Tico asked and reached for Isabella, who tried to get to him immediately.

“Your little girl?” Jon asked surprised.

“Uhm…yeah.” His drummer only answered and blushed a little.

He adored his son, everybody knew that, but there was something about a baby girl and especially about Isabella. Deep inside of him a little voice told him to keep her and make sure she would have everything she ever needed in her life, but he knew of course it wasn’t possible. Her father would want her back and he probably extremely relieved that she didn’t get hurt, during her little adventure.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Dinner Time

“You do know that the dinner is ready, right?” a female voice told them from the door. Normally the band members were first in line when food was concerned, but this time none of them showed up, so the crew really started to wonder.

“Uhm, yeah…” Richie answered and didn’t move. He didn’t want to leave Isabella yet. She reminded him so much of Ava as a baby and he wished once more he had more kids.

“Who is that little girl?” their wardrobe girl asked and stepped closer.

“That dear Lisa is Isabella. , who wandered the long hallways all on her own.” Jon told her.

“You have no idea where her parents are, right?” Tico asked her.

“No, but when she would be my little angel, she sure wouldn’t be here alone.” Lisa said and tried to take her from Jon.

A loud scream came from Isabella and she clung to him, pulling away from Lisa’s hands. Tears were streaming down her face and you could see she was deeply scared.

Shocked Lisa took a step back. “I’m sorry.” She stuttered and ran her hands nervously through her blond hair.

“It’s ok Lisa, you couldn’t know. She never did that before.” Rich tried to calm the shocked woman.

“Come here.” Tico whispered in a deep voice and held Isabella in his arms protectively. Softly he murmured in Spanish to her until she calmed down. He swept the tears away with his hands and kissed her cheek.

Isabella grabbed his fingers and pulled them closer to her mouth. Tico grinned.

“Sorry, Bella. There’s no food. But I’m sure we can find you something.” He looked at his band mates.

“She already has teeth, right?” David asked.

“Yep, she should be able to eat something else than milk.” Tico agreed, after he felt Isabella’s teeth at his fingers.

“How about I go and buy some of those glasses?” Lisa suggested, trying to make up for scaring the girl.

“No way!”

“She won’t eat it”

“That stuff tastes horrible!”

“Over my dead body!” The band members shouted.

“Whoa, what’s wrong with it?” Lisa asked surprised.

“It’s not good! Tastes horrible!” Jon told her with disgust. “I could never give it to her.”

“I’m pretty sure she wouldn’t take it. Heather tried it once with Ava and my little princess spit it right across the table!” Richie grinned at the memory.

“I’m sure we will find her something at the buffet.” Tico slowly walked down the hall with her. “But you could get us some diapers size two. What goes in, has to come out again.”

They all grimaced lightly at the thought and watched Lisa leaving in a hurry.

“Here Johnny, take her for a minute, I need to get something.” Tico handed him Isabella, who just pouted a little.

“Sure, we will check out the food.” Jon told him.

Walking into the room where the buffet was build up and some tables to eat. Everybody looked up when they spotted Isabella. Matt already asked if they knew where she came from, but unfortunately nobody did.

“Hi everybody. We figured out her name. It’s Isabella. Does anybody know her? Or has an idea where her parents might be?” Jon asked loudly. They all shook their heads no and watched amused how Isabella pouted immediately about Jon’s loud voice.

“I’m sorry, little Lady, I’m sorry.” Jon whispered and tried to stop her from crying again.

“Let’s see what we can find you to eat.” Richie grabbed a plate and walked over to the buffet.

“Here we have some potatoes…and they are …” he took a bite. “…not salty.” He put them on her plate.

“Here are some carrots….oh, and look at this…. a banana.” He held the yellow fruit up and Isabella tried to reach for it hungrily. Rich chuckled.

“You are hungry, princess, right?” he walked over to a table and started to mash the potatoes and carrots. The little girl watched his action with big eyes and started to move around in Jon’s arms anxious.

“Ok, ok…Bella. I get it, you wanna eat.” Jon sat down with her next to Richie. “We could use a baby’s high chair.

“I don’t think there’s one among our equipment, Johnny…” Tico’s deep voice let Isabella turn her head immediately and she gurgled happily.

“…but I found this.” Tico held up a bib from his Rock Star Baby collection.

“Here, mi corazón, you will need this.” Gently he put the soft grey cotton with a black guitar on it around her neck.

As soon as he was done Isabella opened her mouth wide and wanted someone to feed her. Richie obliged happily.

“I thought maybe she wants something to drink as well.” One of the women cooking for them said and handed Jon a mug.

“What’s that?” he asked a little concerned. Dorothea made him learn pretty fast what babies and toddlers are allowed to drink without getting problems with their teeth later.

“That’s apple juice. I reduced it with water.” She told him smiling. Jon nodded agreeing and handed Tico the mug.

“Any chance you have a baby bottle here as well?” the front man asked. Tico grinned and pulled one from a bag that was sitting next to him.

“Smart man!” David commented and peeled the banana for Isabella.

“Look, sweetheart. Would you like some?” he held up a small piece of banana and grinned happily, when the little girl reached for it and put it into her mouth.

“Yeah, that’s great, isn’t it?” David said and handed her another piece.

“She’s really beautiful.” The blond woman said still standing next to them and carefully ran her hand over Isabella’s head.

Immediately the girl’s eyes grew wide and she started to scream. The half chewed banana piece dropped out of her mouth on the bib and big tears were streaming down her face again.

Everybody in the room turned around shocked.

“Oh, no…not again.” Jon cursed and picked her up to calm her, but Isabella wouldn’t calm down.

“Tico!” Jon turned and handed the crying girl to his drummer.

“Shhhh…mi corazón. Everything is fine. Look, it was only this nice Lady.” He pointed at the surprised woman.

When Isabella spotted the blond woman, her screams got shrill. They all watched her in disbelieve.

“Ok, I really start to think, maybe she doesn’t like women.” David said while they all walked back with the still upset baby into Jon’s dressing room.

“Maybe her father raises her alone and she isn’t used to women?” Richie suggested and checked Tico’s bag for something that would calm Isabella down.

“Oh, look at this princess.” He held up a white teddy bear that was wearing a black rock star baby shirt and a matching cap. The little girl still sniffed lightly, but stopped crying and reached for the bear.

“Why are you carrying around that stuff anyway?” Jon wondered while pulling a chair over to the couch.

“Those are new product samples. They want my input on them” Tico explained and watched how Isabella pressed the teddy bear close to her chest.

“Well, I think the teddy, is a must have.” Richie told him.

“Yeah, I think so too.” The drummer agreed.

~ ~  ~ ~ ~ ~ ~  ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Isabella

“Hey Jon, dinner is ready….oh, who is that?” Richie wondered and entered his best friend’s dressing room together with David and Tico.

“No idea. Matt found her in the hallway.”

“All alone?” Richie asked confused and took the little girl from Jon. “Hi there princess.”

“Dada!” she shouted excited again and pointed at Richie this time. They all laughed.

“Well, not as far as I know princess.” Richie answered still grinning. “But maybe the shoe fits over there.”

Rich handed the girl carefully over to Tico. “Hola mi corazon. Cómo estás?”

As soon as she heard Tico speaking Spanish, the little girl started to babble all excited, ending her talk with the word “Dada!” and put her short arms around Tico’s neck.

“Uhm, she didn’t do that before. Maybe her parents speak Spanish with her?” Jon suggested.

“Maybe, but it wouldn’t help. She’s way too young to talk.” David said and leaned down to look her in the eyes.

“She has beautiful eyes.” He whispered completely capture by what he was seeing. Suddenly one of her tiny hands reached forward and grabbed a handful of his blond locks.

“Ouch!” David’s hand went around her wrist to stop her from pulling on his hair again. The other’s laughed.

“You don’t do that, mi corazon. No, no!” the drummer told her softly. She looked at his dark eyes for a minute and then let go of David’s hair reluctantly.

“Good girl.” Tico whispered and placed a soft kiss on her cheek. She smiled and leaned her head against his shoulder.

“She sure has a grip.” David said still rubbing his head. “But did you see that?” He reached for her hand again. “She has a little silver bracelet around her wrist and something is engraved.”

The other’s stepped closer and tried to take a look as well. But the little girl was too busy exploring Tico’s face with her tiny hands and wouldn’t let any of them stop her.

“Well, hopefully it doesn’t say that she needs any medication.” Jon said concerned and reached for the little girl again.

“You mean like adults who are having diabetes?” Rich asked and watched the girl worried.

“Yeah.” Jon agreed. “Come here little Lady. Let Tico get a good look of your wrist.”

She pouted lightly, when she had to leave Tico’s embrace, but let him check her wrist. Gently he pushed the pink sweater up her arm and exposed the thin silver jewellery.

“Isabella.” He read out loud.

The girl squealed out loud. They looked at her grinning.

“That’s your name, right? Isabella.” Jon said and she squealed again. Tico laughed softly.

“Well, we can at least call her by her name now.”

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~  ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Little Lady on her own

Jon sighed and sank down on the couch in his dressing room. They had just finished sound check for tonight’s show. Nobody knew they would play until the day before yesterday and the fans went crazy as soon as they figured out. The tickets were sold out in a day. Everybody wanted to be at their Christmas show this year.

When they all arrived for sound check about two hours ago the security had problems getting them into the venue safely. He had to admit he was rather happy that Dorothea and the kids stayed at home and didn’t join him. He would have really worried about them tonight.

Now all he could do was waiting for something to eat. Nothing in the world would get him out there again. He would probably not make it back in time for the show. Well, the buffet should be ready soon; he thought, closed his eyes to relax and stretched his back lightly.

“Jon?” There was a short knock at the door. “Look what a nice little lady I found.” Matt entered the dressing room smiling.

Jon grimaced. Please, no fans now. I really wanna relax a bit.

But when he opened his eyes, deep blue baby eyes were watching him curious. He smiled and got to his feet.

“Well, who are you, Beautiful?” he asked in a soft inviting voice. The little girl dressed in a pink sweater and pink little trousers reacted immediately and raised her arms to get to him. He chuckled softly.

“Come here, little Lady.” Jon smiled and took the girl from his brother.

“Who’s is she?” he asked Matt, while carrying her over to the couch.

“I have no idea. She was all on her own walking in the hallway. Nobody was with her.” His brother told him.

“Nobody was with her? How did she get in here?” Jon wondered while looking at the little girl worried.

“I have no idea. But she is definitely not walking for long, she fell a couple times until I reached her and she is missing a shoe.” Matt pointed out. He had seen his niece and nephews walking efforts and knew very well how it looked like when a toddler started to walk.

“Yeah,…and her feet are all cold.” Jon carefully touched her feet and rubbed them. “And she isn’t dressed appropriate for winter time. I wonder what happened.”

“Hmm, little Lady? Where’s Mommy or Daddy?” Jon asked smiling.

“Dada!” her little finger pointed immediately at him. He laughed.

“No, little girl. I’m not your daddy. But he probably worries where you are right now.” He turned his attention to Matt again.

“Ask the crew if they have any idea who she might be and let them make an announcement at the venue as soon as the people get in. Maybe she walked away from her family, while they were waiting outside.”

“You think someone would take such a little girl to a Rock concert? Jon, she’s 15 months old tops.” Matt was a little shocked.

“Yeah, I know that Matty. I have four on my own… remember? But who knows what their parents were thinking.” He answered a little aggravated. The girl on his arm looked at him with big eyes and was just about to cry.

“Oh, baby girl. I’m sorry. Shhhh…” Jon stood and walked around with her until she calmed down again. “I’m sorry. I promise I won’t talk like that any more.”

Matt tried not to laugh out loud. “I believe it when I see it.” He mumbled and left the dressing room to find the girl’s family.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Coming soon!

This little short story is spooking around my head since last weekend. I guess I was exposed to too many babies and toddlers. They seem to make everybody swoon and happy.

So, let's see how fast four Rock Stars fall for a little baby girl.

I hope you'll like it.

~ Kris ~