Pacey looked up and down the hall for hidden cameras. This had to be a joke. He waited a few moments, no one jumped out to inform him he was on ‘Candid Camera’ and no one appeared to offer any kind of help either. He stared down at the bassinet where his daughter had remained blissfully sleeping.

He swallowed thickly.

"All right, kid," he said softly, his voice echoing down the hallway. He took out his keys and it only took a few tries to get his door unlocked. "Here’s what we’re gonna do." He picked up the bassinet, "We’re going to go inside and…and you’re going to just keep sleeping, ‘kay? Then tomorrow, we’ll make a visit to Grams and then…" he trailed off. Then what?

He put the bassinet on the kitchen table and stared down at his sleeping child. Not tonight, was all he could think. Just not tonight. He ran a hand through his tousled hair, he had plans tonight. Plans that didn’t involve an abandoned baby on his doorstep.

The alcohol in his system was catching up with him, causing his head to pound viciously. What he needed was a good long sleep, then maybe he could think straight. He walked as quickly as possible down the hall to his room, depositing the bassinet on the floor beside his bed. He hoped she’d sleep through the night. Could a five-month-old sleep through the night?

Careful not to disturb her, he got undressed and slipped into the large bed. Sleep wasn’t easy in coming as he pondered the futility of the situation. When he finally did manage to fall asleep, it was with a plan in mind. First thing in the morning, he’d read through the papers Melanie had left him. Then get a hold of her parents. He didn’t care what the letter said, her parents had to care about the fate of their first grandchild. Then he’d see about taking her to Grams. The woman was an RN, right? She’d delivered Alexander. She’d know what to do.

Four hours later, Victoria revealed a plan of her own. A plan that contained only one sure-fire strategy. To scream as loud as her little lungs would allow.

"Oh, dear God!" Pacey groaned, pulling his head out from under the pillow. "What the…?" Her ear piercing screams melted into the cadence of the pounding in his head. He groaned and looked down into the bright pink face of his daughter.

Her features were all scrunched up, her fists waved angrily in the air. There was a blessed pause of pure silence as she took a deep breath to let out another howl. "No, no, no…" Pacey rolled unceremoniously out of the bed. And picked up the bassinet, "Come on now, kid. Please be quiet. I’ve got a monster of a headache and—"

Victoria Celeste Witter didn’t seem to care if her father was in pain, because she kept right on screaming her little head off. "Okay, okay," he looked for a place to set the bassinet down, wincing as her cries grew higher in pitch. He carried her out into the living room/kitchen and put her on the table, the only clear surface in the apartment.

"Shhh, shhh." He tried to hush her. "Okay, what do you need?" He looked into her red face. "Okay, fine then, don’t answer. All right…" he looked around his apartment, "What do babies need? Food, diaper, shelter and sleep. You already have shelter and you just had sleep…so food or a diaper."

He looked with dread into the bassinet, "Please be food."

Swallowing, he brushed back the blankets that covered her body and sniffed. He gave her a disgruntled look, "You must really hate me, don’t you?"

Victoria started crying even louder. "All right, already. Anything to get you to shut up." He looked around for something to lay across the table while he changed her. The closest thing was a towel he’d used for his shower yesterday and casually tossed over the couch.

He spread it over the kitchen table and pulled the last fresh diaper from the back of the bassinet. He put it beside the towel and then slid his hands underneath her armpits and lifted her out of the bassinet. "You’re gonna have to help me here, I’ve never done this before."

Her cries seemed to quiet down now that she was being held. Quieter, but still not gone. Nervously, he laid her down, and looked at her outfit. "Just like Mel to dress you as a little princess." He set to work removing her pink frilly pajamas, thankful he didn’t have to turn her over to undo the buttons.

Taking a deep breath he peeled back the tape on the diaper and pulled back the soggy plastic. He immediately put it back where he’d found it, his eyes wide. "You, little thing that you are, made that big mess?"

She stopped crying long enough to open her eyes. For a moment, Pacey was dumb struck by her shining blue eyes. Any hope he’d held out that she wasn’t his daughter was just extinguished.

"Holy Hannah, kid," He breathed. Blinking a few times, he pushed away his concerns for the moment, and concentrated on how to get her clean. Mel forgot to include any kind of baby wipes. He couldn’t leave her there while he went to get toilet paper. Could he even use toilet paper on a baby’s skin? He shook his head, "I’m not cut out for this," he groaned.

Victoria’s cries settled to a constant whimper as she watched the man above her wrinkle his brows. He put his hand over her stomach, holding her safely on the table with one hand. Then, he extended his body as far as he could to the box of tissue sitting on the end table where Jen had left it after watching a sad movie in his apartment. He struggled for a few moments, one hand resting on Victoria’s tummy, and the other stretched out to the box, the tips of his fingers grazing the cardboard, but not grasping it. He managed to knock it to the ground, and then was able to kick it close enough to where he could pick it up.

Disgruntled, he put the box beside the baby and pulled out a fresh diaper. How the hell were you supposed to get the dirty diaper off and the clean diaper on without getting the new one dirty? Biting his lip he ponder the problem while Victoria took a deep shuddering breath, preparing to let out another loud wail.

The possibility of that spurred him into action. He pulled back the top of the diaper, wrinkling his nose at the smell, carefully lifting her legs, hoping he wasn’t hurting her, he slid the diaper out from under her and put it aside. That seemed to appease Victoria some, and instead of a crying, she let out a whimper and a loud hiccup.

"Now what?" He wondered, he could let her legs down, but then he’d have the mess all over the towel. Or he could put the new diaper under her, but then it would get dirty, and as he understood it, the whole concept of changing a diaper was to put on a clean one.

Victoria’s whimpers started to grow louder, and in a stroke of genius, Pacey used one hand to hold her backside off the towel, and the other to start pulling handfuls of tissue out, which he then spread underneath her. Convinced the mass of tissues would protect his towel, he let her lower body down.

"All right," he nodded his head decisively. "Now we just need to get you clean, kid." He reached for a few more tissues, and lifted her bottom up again by the legs and started to swipe at the mess, doing his absolute best not to get his fingers anywhere near it. He grimaced the entire time, watching as the pile of dirty tissues mounted inside the messy diaper.

"There’s a reason I never helped Joey do this with Alex," he grumbled as he finished and slid the diaper underneath Victoria. When he went to fasten it, the tabs were missing. "What the…?"

He scowled and threw his hands up in defeat. Scanning the room, his eyes lighted on the junk drawer that was just within his reach. Again, placing a hand on Victoria’s stomach, he reached into the drawer and withdrew a roll of scotch tape. He started using it to fasten the diaper and then shook his head. It would never last, scotch tape was too weak. His eyes landed on the duct tape still visible in the drawer.

Perfect.

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