BABIES

[connike]

the babies meme

guidelines
→ Leave a comment with your character's name, fandom, and any preferences you may have.
→ Another character replies and suddenly you are a loving (??) couple with a child or multiple children!
→ Go from there! You can do literally whatever you want, from silly day-to-day domestic shenanigans to threads involving pregnancies to more serious topics. If you're short on ideas, you can look to other memes like The Domestic Meme or The Family Meme for inspiration.

Comments

[captaincocksure]

[Jim chuckles, rounding the exam table to join them on the other side, to make sure he doesn't miss anything.]

She's very determined about what she wants. I like that.

[aviophobia]

You would.

[Dodging the cow again, McCoy makes his way to the door. He isn't going to feed her food from the replicator - it's fine for adults, but shit for growing minds and bodies.]

Coming?

[captaincocksure]

[Jim catches up with them as McCoy walks out into the corridor, and he falls into step beside the doctor, though his attention is still mostly on the baby he's carrying.]

Where are we going?

[aviophobia]

Mess. Like he -

- like heck am I feeding her anything from the replicators.

[captaincocksure]

[Jim actually, legitimately stops in his tracks, startled. Did Bones... seriously just not swear?]

...Bones, I'm sure she doesn't understand what you say.

...Does she?

[aviophobia]

She will eventually. Bad habit to get into.

[MARCHING. NOT LOOKING BACK. so not awkward.]

[captaincocksure]

[Jim has to scramble a bit to catch up; when he falls into step with Bones once more his hand goes up to the baby, unthinking, resting gently on the little girl's back.]

I'll try to mind my language.

[They reach the mess hall... and are promptly set upon by several female officers, as soon as they realize McCoy is holding a baby. There is a lot of cooing and fussing over her as Jim patiently explains where she came from.]

[aviophobia]

Don't crowd her. I said, don't crowd her. She's still getting used to being here.

Jim - here, take her. I'm going to go up front and see what we can get her.

[captaincocksure]

Jim patiently answers all their questions, and lets the baby be fussed over for a bit. By the time Bones returns, he's taken a seat at a table.

He wasn't sure what to do with her, so for now, the baby is sitting on the table, facing him, with his hands securely around her waist, his body close enough that her legs are resting against him and she can't fall. She's trying to mash the cow into his face again, and he pretends to bite its head every time she does, which makes her squeal and try again and again.

And he is completely oblivious to the fact that most of the other people in the mess hall are watching them, either amused or completely unsure what to make of their captain right now.

[aviophobia]

That feeling, that McCoy just experienced? That sudden rush of warmth through his chest and down into his stomach? The one that makes his lips curl up involuntarily and his step slow, the one that makes him watch his captain and the little girl he's holding with such a softness in his gaze that any crew at the nearby table suddenly realize why the CMO has never hit on Nurse Chapel.

It's his heart melting, again, for the second time in an hour.

He shakes it off, comes to the table and sets the tray down. There's real food for him and Jim, and a bottle for the baby.

"You've made a friend."

[captaincocksure]

Most people wouldn't catch the expression on his face in the moment before he shifts his attention from the baby to McCoy, but in that half a second it's clear that Jim wants that statement to be true, so very desperately. But by the time he's focused on McCoy, his usual mask of devil-may-care-brash-but-kind-underneath is right back in place. He shrugs.

"I guess. At least somebody around here thinks I'm funny." And then he spies the bottle. He shifts, so more of his arm is around the baby, freeing up a hand to reach for it. "Okay, so I know the theory--hold the baby, hold the bottle. But is there a specific technique?"

Meanwhile, it's clear she knows what's about to happen. She drops the cow and it lands in Jim's lap as she flails out an arm, trying to grab the bottle.

[aviophobia]

Leonard's lip quirks slightly, both at Jim's question and the baby's flailing. "It might be a little easier to show than tell." He picks up the chair from the other side of the table and sets it down next to Jim. "D'you mind?"

[captaincocksure]

"Please." He hands over the baby, and the bottle, and he turns in his chair so he can watch.

[aviophobia]

McCoy shifts the baby in his arms easily, settling her against his chest and supporting her head against his arm. He takes the bottle in his other hand and tilts it, gently stroking the nipple of the bottle against her cheek. She opens her mouth, and he lets her have the bottle.

"See? It's easy, just hard to explain."

[captaincocksure]

Jim manages to catch himself before he says something dumb, like must come naturally when you've already had one, anything that might remind Bones of his own daughter. Instead he nods, and smiles. "I think I got it. You're right--it was easier to see it than to have you try to explain it to me."

He moves Bones' tray closer, though he's not sure if he can eat and feed the baby at the same time.

[aviophobia]

McCoy nods. "You'll pick it up. Next time she eats, you can give it a shot. Don't drop her." He's teasing, of course; he's seen the way Jim holds the little girl, like she's made out of china, like she'll break if he breathes on her wrong. God help him if he doesn't remember how that felt, when Jo was so tiny and fragile in her daddy's arms.

"I'll eat when she's done. You go ahead."

[captaincocksure]

"I won't drop her."

...Congratulations, Bones, you've found the one subject on which your friend is apparently going to be earnest forever. He pulls his tray closer, picking up his fork.

"I can hold her when she's done, so you can eat."

[aviophobia]

"I know you won't." She's clutching at the bottle, holding as tightly as she can, but Leonard doesn't seem interested in relinquishing his grip. "Thanks. " He smirks. "You can burp her."

[captaincocksure]

"Yeah, I'll do that, I don't mind."

So sayeth the guy who has no idea what that entails.

"I just thought of something--what the hell are we going to do about clothes?"

[aviophobia]

That pulls even McCoy's immensely self-satisfied smirk up short. "...y'know, now that you say it, I don't know. We've got some pediatric hospital gowns in sickbay, but nothing appropriate for long-term use. When's our next shore leave?"

[captaincocksure]

"Week and a half." Jim taps the tines of his fork against his lips, thinking. "Can we make do with the pediatric gowns that long? Or... wait. I could have a word with ship's services? God knows they've mended enough of my torn shirts. They might be able to do something? Either with the gowns or something else."

[aviophobia]

"That's not a bad idea," McCoy mused, looking down at the girl in his arms. "I have some old t-shirts I wouldn't mind giving up."

[captaincocksure]

"Yeah, I could do the same. And the laundry's probably got old or extra sheets and blankets that could be remade to the appropriate size."

He rubs the baby's arm absently as he talks, which makes her flail out a little with that arm, trying to figure out where the touch is coming from. He holds out a finger, his smile brightening at once when she closes her fist around it.

"We ought to be able to come up with enough, between all that, to keep her warm and clothed until we get to shore leave and we can get her properly outfitted."

[aviophobia]

"Yeah," McCoy agrees, a little distractedly, watching those little fingers clamping down on Jim's. It's far more adorable than it has any right to be. He shifts his attention back to her bottle, noting the level. "And when we're all done eating, we can take care of that."

[captaincocksure]

Jim tugs a little at her fist. He's distracted, too, all his attention on the tiny fingers closed around his. He knows, logically, he was once this size, and his mother and others had to help take care of him. But he can't get his mind around it.

And then he wonders if his father felt the same way with Sam. And if, in those last handful of moments, any part of him felt cheated that he wouldn't relive any of this with Jim. Was it enough to know Jim would live, even if he wouldn't be there for any of it?

He shakes his head a little, forcing his attention back to the present moment. "Yeah, that sounds like a plan. What else does she need? Things to play with?"