Rating: K

Word Count=2666

Summary: At six years old, Hoss finds himself to be the middle child instead of the baby. Not quite old enough to be responsible but not quite young enough to be thought of as a baby anymore.

Disclaimer: I don’t own the Cartwrights or Bonanza. No copyright infringement is intended. Original plot and characters are property of the author. This story is for entertainment and no money was made from it.

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Middle Child Syndrome

Six year old Hoss Cartwright wandered around the big room downstairs, picking things up at random and then setting them down again. Everyone else was upstairs with six-month old Little Joe. Hoss had been excited about having a baby in the house at first. He was finally getting to be a big brother, like Adam. But he didn’t get to hold the baby like Adam did. Just because Adam was twelve, Mama and Papa seemed to think that he could do things like rock Little Joe to sleep and carry him down the stairs. Mama and Papa even let Adam do those things when they weren’t in the room.

Hoss looked up to see Adam coming down the stairs. Adam was smiling, Hoss noticed.

“You should seem him, Hoss” said Adam. “Little Joe can almost flip himself over. Pretty soon, he’ll be crawlin’ all over the house.

“Hmph” was Hoss’ only response.

Papa was next to come downstairs. Hoss noticed he was smiling, too. 

“Little Joe will be crawling sooner than you or Hoss did” he said to the boys.

Oh great, thought Hoss. Next thing I’ll have to watch where I walk so I won’t step on him.

Marie then came downstairs with Little Joe. Hoss noticed that his Papa and Adam looked at her and the baby. They had just been upstairs with him. You’d think they hadn’t seen the baby all day the way they were grinning.

“I think our petit Joseph will be getting teeth soon” said Marie.

Ben and Adam went over to Marie, who had Little Joe propped up on her shoulder. Ben was trying to open Little Joe’s mouth with a finger to feel for teeth. Adam made funny faces to try to get Little Joe to open his mouth. Hoss just looked on in disbelief.

“I think I got a loose toof” announced Hoss to no one in particular.

“Well, leave it alone, son” said Ben. “The tooth will come out on its own.”

Little Joe let out a squeal as Adam made a particularly funny face. Ben popped his forefinger into Little Joe’s mouth quickly. “I think I can feel one just below the gum” said Ben to Marie.

“Will the toof fairy bring me money if my toof comes out?” asked Hoss.

“Leave your tooth alone, son” said Ben as he pulled his now slobber-covered finger out of Little Joe’s mouth.
“Try eating some apples to loosen it up” advised Adam without even looking at Hoss.

Hoss went over to the fruit bowl on the table and grabbed an apple. As he bit into it, Marie said “You’re going to spoil your dinner, mon fils. Put the apple down for later.”

Reluctantly, Hoss set the apple down on the table.

Hop Sing poked his head into the dining room and announced “Supper leady in ten minute. Numbah 2 Son come help Hop Sing.”

“Go ahead, Hoss” said Ben as Little Joe clutched his father’s wet forefinger in a pudgy fist.

Hoss went into the kitchen with Hop Sing, expecting to have to dry dishes or mash potatoes.

“You sit here and these biscuit” said Hop Sing, pointing to three biscuits sitting on a plate. “Biscuit burn and no good. You do Hop Sing favah and eat so faddah no make big fuss.”

“But these biscuits look okay” said Hoss, eyeing Hop Sing with suspicion. Hop Sing’s response was a wink as he set a dish of butter and a knife down beside the biscuits.

When Hoss came out of the kitchen five minutes later, Ben and Adam were sitting by the fire.

“Where’s Mama?” asked Hoss.

“She took Little Joe upstairs to feed him” replied Ben.

“Little Joe shore seems puny” commented Hoss.

“He’s just a baby” said Adam. “Of course he’s puny.”

Adam went back to reading his book and Ben went back to reading the newspaper. Marie came downstairs as Hop Sing brought supper out to the table.

“Ya wanna play some checkers after supper?” Hoss asked Adam hopefully.

“I gotta finish my book so I can start on my book report” responded Adam.

“What about you, Papa?” asked Hoss.

“I’ve got to write some letters so we can bid on more timber contracts” said Ben.

“How ‘bout you, Mama?” asked Hoss, making sad puppy eyes.
“Oh, I can’t mon chere” replied Marie. I’ve got to get the buttons sewn back on your shirt, Adam’s new pants hemmed, and Papa’s socks darned. Maybe another time” Marie said with a smile.

Just then, a wail from upstairs announced that Little Joe was awake. Marie jumped up from the table and practically flew up the stairs.

“I’ve never heard anything cry so loud” said Adam.

“You had a good set of lungs when you were a baby” Ben said to Adam with a fond smile.

“What about me, Papa?” asked Hoss.

“You were a very happy baby, Hoss” replied Ben. “I don’t think anything ever disturbed you.”

“You woulda been too big to lug around if you’d been a fussy baby” added Adam.

“How come I cain’t rock Little Joe to sleep?” asked Hoss.

“Little Joe is a very fussy baby, Hoss” replied Ben. Plus, he needs someone with experience to rock him.”

“Well, how come Adam gets to rock him then?” asked Hoss with a bit of a whine.

“Don’t whine, Hoss” said Ben. “Adam rocked you when you were a baby, so he has experience. Besides, Adam had to help me when your mother passed.” Ben couldn’t bring himself to say murder in front of Hoss when speaking about Inger’s death.

“Little Joe prefers Marie to me or Pa” said Adam to Hoss. “He fusses a whole lot longer if we have to step in for her.” Adam was only trying to make Hoss feel better, but he didn’t think it was working.

Hoss stuck a finger in his mouth to check out his loose tooth. “Son, get your finger out of your mouth. If you need to get some food unstuck, use a toothpick” advised Ben.

Hoss started to pout, so Ben sent him up to his room. The little boy played quietly for a little while, but was soon playing noisily with his wooden horsies. He was making whinnying noises when Marie burst into his room.

“Please keep the noise down, Hoss” urged Marie. “Joseph has not been asleep long and I wish him to remain so.”

With that, Marie left Hoss’ room. Hoss climbed onto his bed and stared at the ceiling. He wished he could read like Adam so he could do something quietly like Mama wanted.

Hoss fell asleep fully clothed on top of the bed. When Adam came upstairs for bed, he checked in on Hoss. He managed to get Hoss out of his clothes and into a nightshirt without waking up his younger brother. Getting him under the covers was little harder, but he managed.

When Marie and Ben came upstairs to tuck their older boys in, they were surprised to find Hoss tucked under the covers and sound asleep. Marie brushed the hair away from Hoss’ forehead and kissed his angelic face. She was rewarded with a snore. Marie stifled a laugh as Ben kissed his son goodnight. They crept out of Hoss’ room to go remind Adam that he should be sleeping instead of reading.

In the middle of the night, Hoss had a nightmare. He dreamed that bad men were coming to take Little Joe away. Since he was never allowed to hold his baby brother, he couldn’t take him to safety. Hoss thrashed back and forth on the bed, his arms flailing at the bad men. With a loud thud, Hoss fell face down onto the floor. Within seconds, Little Joe was screaming and Ben was in Hoss’ room turning up the lamp. 

“Son, are you alright?” asked Ben with a look of concern. He noticed blood on Hoss’ lips and wiped it off with his thumb. Ben was able to get Hoss off of the floor and back onto the bed. Adam came in and saw Hoss sitting on the edge of the bed with tears flowing down his cheeks.

“I swallowed my loose toof, Adam” wailed Hoss. “Now the toof fairy won’t come.”

“It’s going to be okay, son” reassured Ben as he hugged Hoss to him.

“I want Mama!” cried Hoss.

Ben sent Adam off to get Marie. Adam could rock Little Joe while Marie comforted Hoss.

Marie entered Hoss’ room with a handkerchief in her hand. She gave Ben a glance and he quickly got up so Marie could take his place on the bed beside Hoss.

“What’s wrong, mon fils?” asked Marie as she rocked Hoss, his head against her chest.

“There were bad men, Mama. They tried to take Little Joe away and I couldn’t stop ‘em. That’s when I fell offa the bed and swallowed my toof.” The little boy cried harder as he again realized that the tooth fairy wouldn’t be paying him a visit.

“Hush, mon grand” soothed Marie as she rocked Hoss. “The bad men were only in your dream. Papa, Adam, and I are here. We wouldn’t let anything happen to you or Joseph.”

“But if I could hold Little Joe, the bad men wouldn’t’ve took him” said Hoss, sniffling.

Marie shot Ben a look suggesting that they needed to have a talk about their middle son. Ben looked a bit bewildered. He had thought Hoss was upset about swallowing his tooth.

Once Hoss was calmed down, Marie asked him if he thought he could go back to sleep. “Could Adam sleep wif me?” pleaded Hoss. Ben went to go relieve Adam and send him to Hoss’ room. 

When Adam entered Hoss’ room, Hoss asked him to sleep with him. Adam looked at Marie and she nodded her head to let him know she considered it okay for him to stay with Hoss.

Marie sat Hoss up and gave him a kiss on the forehead. She then got up to make room for Adam. Adam got into the bed with Hoss, who snuggled under the covers. Within minutes, Hoss was back to sleep. Adam stared at the ceiling as he listened to Hoss’ snores.

Back in their room, Marie whispered to Ben that they needed to let Hoss hold Little Joe now and then. Ben whispered back that he didn’t think that it would be a good idea. What if Hoss dropped Little Joe or squeezed him too hard?

Hoss awoke in the morning to find himself along. At first, he was worried that something had happened and everyone else was now gone. Then he heard Papa’s and Adam’s voices drifting up from downstairs. 

He stretched real hard before getting out of the bed. As his hands slid under the pillow, his fingers make contact with a coin. Hoss was surprised. He hadn’t left a tooth for the tooth fairy. Pulling the coin from under the pillow, Hoss was surprised to see a nickel. That would sure buy a lot of candy he thought.

Happily getting out of bed, Hoss got dressed to go downstairs. He made sure to put the nickel in his pocket so he could show Papa and Adam what the tooth fairy had brought.

Passing his parents’ room, Hoss looked in the open door to see Marie rocking Little Joe. She beckoned to Hoss with a smile. Surprised, Hoss entered his parents’ room.

“Would you like to rock your little brother?” asked Marie.

All Hoss could do was nod his head in reply. He was too surprised for words. Marie slowly got up so Hoss could sit down in the rocker. When he got situated, Marie handed the bundle that was Little Joe to Hoss. She got Little Joe positioned to her satisfaction. Hoss began to slowly rock as Little Joe looked at him with wide green eyes. Marie smiled as Hoss made cooing noises at the baby.

After five minutes, Marie reached to take Little Joe back. Hoss looked disappointed to be ending this moment. He reluctantly gave up his baby brother and stood up.

“I thought we would go downstairs” said Marie. “Would you like to carry Joseph down the stairs?” she asked Hoss.

He looked startled. “I don’t know, Mama. I’m not as ‘sponsible as Adam.”

Marie just smiled and said “I’ll walk down with you. Just hold Joseph up so he can see over your shoulder.” She handed the infant back to Hoss.

As they were going down the stairs, Marie spoke reassuringly to Hoss. He was taking each step slowly, afraid he would jostle Little Joe. Ben looked up from the table as Marie, Hoss, and Little Joe reached the landing. He jumped up, surprised, and was about to say something when Marie caught his eye. She shook her head and put a finger to her lips.

Adam and Ben went over to the staircase to await the trio. After what seemed an eternity, Hoss reached the first floor. He had done it! He didn’t even drop Little Joe. Smiling, Marie took Little Joe back from Hoss and gave him a kiss on the cheek. She then headed for the kitchen, kissing Ben on the cheek as she passed him.

“You did real good” said Adam to a beaming Hoss.

“You certainly did, son” said Ben proudly to his middle son.

Hoss practically walked on air over to the table. He started piling eggs and bacon onto his plate when he suddenly remembered the nickel in his pocket.

“Hey, Papa?” said Hoss.

“Yes?” replied Ben.

“The toof fairy came last night and left me a nickel even though I swallowed my toof.” Ben hid a smile behind his napkin. “I thought maybe I could buy somefin’ for Little Joe. Whaddya fink he would like?”

“Oh, I don’t know” said Ben. “Why don’t you buy something for yourself and then buy a peppermint stick for Little Joe?”

“Will ya help me pick somefin’ out, Adam?” asked Hoss with his puppy eyes.

“Sure, buddy” replied Adam.

Hoss finally felt secure in his place as the middle child.

The End